CHAPTER V
BY the cession to Spain in 1762 of that portion of Louisiana lying west of the Mississippi River the French, who had slowly extended their settlements into that region, were, against their will, made subjects of an alien government. When Spain undertook to extend its dominion over its newly acquired possessions, the Acadians and Creoles resisted and drove the Spanish officials from the country.
In 1768 Governor Don O'Reilly, the new Spanish ruler, landed at New Orleans with a strong force, suppressed the insurrection, and inaugurated Spanish rule. The population of Louisiana, at this time, was about 13,500, although more than seventy years had elapsed since the first French colony had been established. But few settlements had been made west of the Mississippi, the most important of which were at St. Genevieve and St. Louis.
The use of Spanish courts, laws and language was decreed in the province to the intense disgust of its French population. Spain at this time claimed the region on both sides of the Mississippi River for the first three hundred miles above its mouth, and west to the Pacific Ocean. Spain was endeavoring to strengthen her grasp on American territory along the Gulf of Mexico and throughout the country lying north and west. The free navigation of the river to its mouth became of vital importance to the United States, as it was the only commercial outlet for its possessions in that valley.
As the great prairies were yearly attracting settlers from the eastern States, Spain realized that before long she would be compelled to yield the free navigation of the lower river unless the inhabitants of the upper valley could be alienated from their allegiance to the United
