Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, January 26, 1999

Wild tale sends Spanish back to Gulf shore

by Jim Bradshaw

Adding two-and-two together, the Spanish became certain that the wrecks at the Rio de la Flores and at San Bernardo Bay belonged to La Salle and that the French colonists had either starved to death or been killed by Indians.

But then, in September 1687, when Spanish officialdom was beginning to breathe easier, Governor Munibe sent an Englishman named Robert Wilkinson went to Veracruz. Wilkinson had been accused of piracy and claimed to have visited a French town named Saint-Jean on the coast of the Gulf near Espiritu Santo Bay.

Wilkinson said that in June 1685, he signed aboard a French vessel that had been sent to warn Saint-Jean settlers that the Spanish were planning an attack on the town. After a three-week voyage, he said, the ship anchored at the mouth of a large river. The next day, three Indians and a Frenchman came to the ship by canoe. When they came aboard, Wilkinson said, he found that the Frenchman was an old friend of his by the name of LaFleur.

According to the tale, the ship Captain, with Wilkinson and LaFleur, then paddled some 30 leagues upriver to Saint-Jean. The place was strongly fortified. There were about 400 residents there, but many more lived along the river -- all told, some 1,000 Frenchmen, Wilkinson said.

He said he stayed at the settlement for more than six months, that he'd fallen in love with and married a widow who owned a plantation on the river. He said he was on his way to London to sell some property when he was accused of piracy. He said all he wanted to do was to return to Saint-Jean and spend the rest of his days there, living in peace with his lady-love.

The story was a parcel of lies. But the viceroy was a prudent man. He decided to send out another expedition, guided by Wilkinson, to search for Saint-Jean. Wilkinson promised the viceroy that he would find the river and the town again.

The expedition, led by captains Andres de Pez and Jean Enrique Barroto, left Veracruz in early March 1688, going first to Mobile Bay. Slowly and carefully, the Spaniards examined the rivers and indentations of the coast. They didn't find the great river they were looking for, and continued to sail to the west.

By the time the expedition reached Cape Mud, Wilkinson had been placed in irons. He finally admitted that he had never actually seen the town himself, but had only been told about it. He was forced to sign a sworn statement that all of his story was based on hearsay.

Although the Spanish were once again at the mouth of the Mississippi River, they ignored it, and headed for home.

By the time they arrived at Veracruz at the end of April, Wilkinson was once again stoutly maintaining that he had been told the truth from the very beginning. He was no pilot, he argued, and never claimed that he could find the town by himself. All that he'd promised, he said, was to show the way to the town if the Spanish found the river.

When he was reminded of his confession at Cape Mud, he said he didn't remember what he'd said there. All he knew was that he had spent several months at Saint-Jean and that his wife still lived there.

"If she does," the viceroy told him, "you are not going to see her for a long while." Wilkinson was sent to the galleys.

The Spanish breathed easy once again, inclined to believe that the whole tale of French settlement was about as real, as Wilkinson's rnythical Saint-Jean.