One hundred and thirty-two years
later Marquette passed by on his way down the river, and nine years
after him La Salle, but so far as is known, neither stopped at the site
of Memphis, though they must have noticed as they passed, that the river
is narrower here than at any point within hundreds of miles, and that
the Chickasaw Bluffs afford about as good a place for a settlement as
may be found along the reaches of the lower river, being high enough for
safety, and flat on top. The first white man known to have visited the
actual site of Memphis after De Soto, was De Bienville, the French
Governor of Louisiana, who came in 1739. De Bienville found the
Chickasaw village where De Soto had found it two centuries earlier; but
whereas De Soto managed to avoid battle with the inhabitants of this
particular village, De Bienville came to attack them. He fought them
near their village, was defeated, and retired to Mobile.
Thus this part of the United States belonged first to Spain, and then to
France; but in 1762 France ceded it back to Spain, and in the year
following, Spain and France together ceded their territory in the
eastern part of the continent to England. The next change came with the
Revolution, when the United States came into being. The Spanish were,
however, still in possession of the vast territory of Louisiana, to the
west of the Mississippi.
Pages:
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531