No Man's Land: A History of El Camino RealNardini, Louis Raphael
History
No Man's Land: A History of El Camino Real
Nardini, Louis Raphael
El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail (Tex. and La.); Louisiana -- History
To the average reader it would seem that Dachicoin was risking five
horses which were of more value on this frontier than the supposed
profits of this particular trading trip, but Quitlami revealed to
Lotbotiniere that Dachicoin distributed these horses in good hands and
those people were obligated to take as good care of them as if the
horses belonged to them. Thus Dachicoin was assured of the good care of
his animals with no expense to himself.
The canoe or dug-out of Largen was a four-place canoe, which is a boat
that required four men to paddle it and would at the same time, besides
the human cargo, carry fourteen hundred pounds of freight. Thus equipped
Dachicoin and Quitlami set out from Natchitoches to the Distonies on
Saline Bayou in Natchitoches Parish, where he traded five of the knives
for two hundred gourds of salt, each gourd contained approximately one
pound of salt. From Natchitoches he carried the furs of Largen and small
gourds of finely chopped matot, ground leaves of the Sassafras tree.
This spice was an excellent trade goods of the Natchitoches tribe. The
spice, however, was sent by Blondell and was to be exchanged for some
personal things for the Commandant. He did, however, pay for Dachicoin’s
coat out of his own merchandise. Because of the success of the trading
trip Dachicoin’s name became popular along the frontier. His character
was such, that his word was his bond. He never bought any trade goods
outright to sell them for a profit as did the French traders. Always he
asked for goods on consignment. It was a familiar sight at Natchitoches
and at Los Adais to see Dachicoin arrange what he had received for a
consignment into three piles—one pile represented the cost of trade
goods and one the profits. The one who supplied the merchandise could
take his choice of two of the piles, the other went to Dachicoin for his
labors.
Dachicoin had taken for his wife, a squaw of the Hasinai said to be a
daughter of Bernardino, Chief of that tribe. Upon returning to the
Adais, Dachicoin spoke to Largen, who was at the time at the Adais,
explaining to him that he wished to be blessed in marriage by a priest
just as white men and women were when priests married them. Largen
explained to Dachicoin that if he were married by the Church it would be
contrary to the beliefs of the Caddos. (The Caddos believed in
separations or divorce—that a squaw or man being dissatisfied could
separate, the squaw taking the male children and the man the female
children. These separations occurred quite often among the different
tribes of the Caddos.) At this Dachicoin replied, “A man will have need
for only one woman if she is the correct woman for him and a woman needs
only one man if he is the correct man for her, my squaw and I understand
these things and I, Dachicoin say that it can be no other way.” Pierre
Largen sponsored the wedding at the Los Adais Church. It is said that
Father Margil De Jesus performed the ceremony.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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