LOUIS, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre: To all who shall see these present Letters, Greeting. The Care we have always had to procure the Welfare and Advantage of our Subjects having induced us, notwithstanding the almost continual Wars which we have been obliged to support from the Beginning of our Reign, to seek for all possible Opportunities of enlarging and extending the Trade of our American Colonies, We did in the Year 1683 give our orders to undertake a Discovery of the Countries and Lands which are situated in the Northern Part of America, between New France and New Mexico: And the Sieur de la Sale, to whom we committed that Enterprize, having had Success enough to confirm a Belief that a Communication might be settled from New France to the Gulph of Mexico by Means of large Rivers; This obliged us immediately after the Peace of Ryswick to give Orders for the establishing a Colony there, and maintaining a Garrison which has kept and preserved the Possession, we had taken in the very Year 1683 of the Lands, Coasts and Islands which are situated in the Gulph of Mexico, between Carolina on the East, and Old and New Mexico on the West. But a new War having broke out in Europe shortly after, there was no Possibility, till now, of reaping from that new Colony the Advantages that might have been expected from thence, because the private Men, who are concerned in the Sea Trade, were all under Engagements with other Colonies, which they have been obliged to follow: And whereas upon the Information we have received concerning the Disposition and Situation of the said Countries known at present by the Name of the Province of Louisiana, we are of Opinion that there may be established therein a considerable Commerce, so much the more advantageous to our Kingdom in that there has hitherto been a Necessity of fetching from Foreigners the greatest Part of the Commodities which may be brought from thence, and because in Exchange thereof we need carry thither nothing but Commodities of the Growth and Manufacture of our own Kingdom; we have resolved to grant the Commerce of the Country of Louisiana to the Sieur Anthony Crozat our Councellor, Secretary of the Household, Crown and Revenue, to whom we entrust the Execution of this Project. We are the more readily inclined hereunto, because his Zeal and the singular Knowledge he has acquired in maritime Commerce, encourage us to hope for as good Success as he has hitherto had in the divers and sundry Enterprizes he has gone upon, and which have procured to our Kingdom great Quantities of Gold and Silver in such Conjunctures as have rendered them very welcome to us.
FOR THESE REASONS being desirous to shew our Favour to him, and to regulate the Conditions upon which we mean to grant him the said Commerce, after having deliberated this Affair in our Council, Of our certain Knowledge, full Power and Royal Authority, We by these Presents, signed by our Hand, have appointed and do appoint the said Sieur Crozat solely to carry on a Trade in all the Lands possessed by Us, and bounded by New Mexico, and by the Lands of the English of Carolina, all the Establishment, Ports, Havens, Rivers, and principally the Port and Haven of the Isle Dauphine, heretofore called Massacre; the River of St. Lewis, heretofore called Missisipi, from the Edge of the Sea as far as the Illinois; together with the River of St. Philip, heretofore called the Missourys, and of St. Jerome, heretofore called Ovabache, with all the Countries, Territories, Lakes within Land, and the Rivers which fall directly or indirectly into that Part of the River of St. Lewis.
I. Our Pleasure is, that all the aforesaid Lands, Countries, Streams, Rivers and Islands be and remain comprised under the Name of The Government of Louisiana, which shall be dependant upon the General Government of New France, to which it is subordinate; and further, that all the Lands which we possess from the Islinois be united, so far as Occasion requires, to the General Government of New France, and become Part thereof, reserving however to Ourselves the Liberty of enlarging as We shall think fit the Extent of the Government of the said Country of Louisiana.
II. We grant to the said Sieur Crozat for Fifteen successive Years, to be reckon’d from the Day of Inrolling these presents, a Right and Power to transport all Sorts of Goods and Merchandize from France into the said Country of Louisiana, and to traffick thither as he shall think fit. We forbid all and every Person and Persons, Company and Companies of what Quality or Condition soever, and under any Pretence whatever, to trade thither, under Penalty of Confiscation of Goods, Ships, and other more severe Punishments, as Occasion shall require; for this Purpose we order our Governours and other Officers commanding our Troops in the said Country forcibly to abet, aid and assist the Directors and Agents of the said Sieur Crozat.
III. We permit him to search for, open and dig all Sorts of Mines, Veins and Minerals throughout the whole Extent of the said Country of Louisiana, and to transport the Profits thereof into any Port of France during the said Fifteen Years; and we grant in Perpetuity to him, his Heirs, and others claiming under him or them, the Property of, in and to the Mines, Veins and Minerals which he shall bring to bear, paying us, in Lieu of all Claim, the Fifth Part of the Gold and Silver which the said Sieur Crozat shall cause to be transported to France at his own Charges into what Port he pleases, (of which Fifth we will run the Risque of the Sea and of War,) and the Tenth Part of what Effects he shall draw from the other Mines, Veins and Minerals, which Tenth he shall transfer and convey to our Magazines in the said Country of Louisiana.
We likewise permit him to search for precious Stones and Pearls, paying us the Fifth Part in the same Manner as is mention’d for the Gold and Silver.
We will that the said Sieur Crozat, his Heirs, or those claiming under him or them the perpetual Right, shall forfeit the Propriety of the said Mines, Veins and Minerals, if they discontinue the Work during three Years, and that in such Case the said Mines, Veins and Minerals shall be fully reunited to our Domaine, by Virtue of this present Article, without the Formality of any Process of Law, but only an Ordinance of Re-union from the Subdelegate of the Intendant of New France, who shall be in the said Country, nor do we mean that the said Penalty of Forfeiture in Default of working for three Years, be reputed a Comminatory Penalty.
IV. The said Sieur Crozat may vend all such Merchandize, Goods, Wares, Commodities, Arms, and Ammunition as he shall have caused to be transported into the said Country and Government of Louisiana, as well to the French, as Savages who are or shall be there setled; nor shall any Person or Persons under any Pretence whatsoever be capable of doing the like without his Leave expressed in Writing.
V. He may purchase in the said Country, all Sorts of Furs, Skins, Leather, Wool, and other Commodities and Effects of the said Country, and transport them to France during the said Fifteen Years: And as our Intention is to favour, as much as we can, our Inhabitants of New France, and to hinder the Lessening of their Trade, we forbid him Trafficking for Castor in the said Country under any Pretence whatsoever; nor to Convey any from thence into our Kingdom or Foreign Countries.
VI. We Grant to the Sieur Crozat, his Heirs or those claiming under him or them, the Property of, in and to all Settlements and Manufactories which he shall erect or set up in the said Country for Silk, Indigo, Wooll, Leather, Mines, Veins and Minerals, as likewise the Property of, in and to the Lands which he shall cause to be Cultivated, with the Mansions, Mills, and Structures which he shall cause to be built thereon, taking Grants thereof from Us, which Grants he shall obtain upon the Verbal Process and Opinion of our Governor and of the Subdelegate of the Intendant of New France in the said Country, to be by him Reported unto Us.
We will that the said Sieur Crozat, his Heirs, or those claiming under him or them, shall keep in Repair the said Settlements, Manufactures, Lands and Mills; and in Default thereof during the Space of three Years, he and they shall Forfeit the same, and the said Settlements, Manufactories, Lands and Mills shall be Reunited to our Domaine fully and amply, and in the same Manner as is mentioned above in the Third Article concerning the Mines, Veins and Minerals.
VII. Our Edicts, Ordinances and Customs, and the Usages of the Mayoralty and Shreevalty of Paris, shall be observed for Laws and Customs in the said Country of Louisiana.
VIII. The said Sieur Crozat shall be oblig’d to send to the said Country of Louisiana Two Ships every Year, which he shall cause to set out in the proper Season, in each of which Ships he shall cause to be imbark’d, without paying any Freight, 25 Tun of Victuals, Effects and necessary Ammunition, for the Maintenance of the Garrison and Forts of the Louisiana; and in Case we should cause to be laden above the said 25 Tun in each Ship, we consent to pay the Freight to the said Sieur Crozat, at the common Merchantile Rates.
He shall be oblig’d to convey our Officers of Louisiana in the Ships which he shall send thither, and to furnish them with Subsistance and a Captain’s Table for 30 Sols per Day, which we will cause to be paid for each.
He shall likewise give Passage in the said Ships, to the Soldiers, which we shall please to send to the said Country; and we will cause the necessary Provisions for their Subsistance to be furnish’d to him, or will pay him for them at the same Price as is paid to the Purveyor-General of our Marine.
He shall be furthermore oblig’d to send on Board each Ship, which he shall cause to set out for the said Country, Ten young Men or Women, at his own Election.
IX. We will cause to be deliver’d out of our Magazines to the said Sieur Crozat, 10000 Weight of Gunpowder every Year, which he shall pay us for at the Price that it shall cost us, and this for so long Time as the present Privilege shall last.
X. The Wares and Merchandize which the said Sieur Crozat shall consign to the said Country of Louisiana shall be exempt from all Duties of Exportation, laid or to be laid, on Condition, that his Directors, Deputies or Clerks, shall engage to give within the Space of a Year, to be reckon’d from the Date thereof, a Certificate of their Unlading in the said Country of Louisiana; under Penalty, in Case of Contravention, to pay the Quadruple of the Duties, reserving to our selves the Power of giving him a longer Respite in such Cases and Occurrences as we shall think proper.
XI. And as for the Goods and Merchandize, which the Sieur Crozat shall cause to be brought from the said Country of Louisiana, and upon his Account, into the Ports of our Kingdom, and shall afterwards cause to be transported into Foreign Countries, they shall pay no Duties either of Importation or Exportation, and shall be deposited in the Custom-House, Warehouses of Ports where they shall arrive, until they be taken away; and when the Deputies and Clerks of the said Sieur Crozat shall be minded to cause them to be transported in Foreign Countries, either by Sea or Land, they shall be oblig’d to give Security to bring within a certain Time, a Certificate from the last Office, containing what they Exported there, and another Certificate of their unlading in Foreign Countries.
XII. In Case the said Sieur Crozat be obliged, for the furtherance of his Commerce to fetch from Foreign Countries some Goods and Merchandize of Foreign Manufacture, in order to TRANSPORT them into the said Country of Louisiana. He shall make Us Acquainted therewith, and lay before Us States thereof; upon which we, if we think fit, will Grant him our Particular Permission with Exemptions from all Duties of Importation and Exportation, Provided the said Goods and Merchandize be Deposited afterwards in our Custom-House Ware-houses until they be Laden in the Ships of the said Sieur Crozat, who shall be obliged to bring in one Year, to be reckoned from the Day of the Date hereof, a Certificate of their unlading in the said Country of Louisiana, under Penalty, in Case of Contravention, to pay quadruple the Duties: Reserving to our selves, in like Manner, the Liberty of granting to the said Sieur Crozat, a longer Respite, if it be necessary.
XIII. The Feluccaes, Canoes, and other Vessels belonging to us, and which are in the said Country of Louisiana, shall serve for loading, unloading and transporting the Effects of the said Sieur Crozat, who shall be bound to keep them in good Condition, and after the Expiration of the said Fifteen Years shall restore them, or a like Number of equal Bulk and Goodness, to our Governor in the said Country.
XIV. If for the Cultures and Plantations which the said Sieur Crozat is minded to make he finds it proper to have Blacks in the said Country of the Louisiana, he may send a Ship every Year to trade for them directly upon the Coast of Guinea, taking Permission from the Guinea Company so to do, he may sell those Blacks, to the Inhabitants of the Colony of Louisiana; and we forbid all other Companies and Persons whatsoever, under any Pretence whatsoever, to introduce Blacks or Traffick for them in the said Country, nor shall the said Sieur Crozat carry any Blacks else where.
XV. He shall not send any Ships into the said Country of Louisiana but directly from France, and he shall Cause the said Ships to Return thither again; the whole under Pain of Confiscation and Forfeiture of the Present Priviledge.
XVI. The said Sieur Crozat shall be obliged, after the Expiration of the first nine Years of this Grant, to Pay the Officers and the Garrison which shall be in the said Country. During the Six last Years of the Continuance of this Present Priviledge: The said Sieur Crozat may in that Time propose and nominate the Officers, as Vacancies shall fall, and such Officers, shall be Confirmed by us, if we approve of them.
Given at FONTAINBLEAU the Fourteenth Day of September in the Year of Grace 1712. And of Our Reign the 70th.