Francois Derbanne's Party Attacked by Apaches on Journey from Natchitoches to the Rio Grande

Interpreter in uniform of a French Marine at Ft. St Jean Baptiste

Posted by Doyle Bailey for Tour Natchitoches with Barbara

Francois Derbanne's journey in 1717 from Natchitoches to the Rio Grand would have made a great script for Director John Ford with Derbanne played by the "Duke", John Wayne. In his own words the intrepid explorer writes:

"On the 8th (of April, 1717) we made 8 leagues (12 miles), we crossed Red River (or Colorado)...which is very wide when it is high and the woods on both sides are willows, ash and oak...After crossing it, we were attacked by sixty Indians, all on horseback, whom the Spaniards call Apaches".

Details of the attack include:

• Derbanne's party dismounted to defend themselves
• The Apaches shot many arrows but saw that Derbanne and his companions would not run and that they would not hand over their goods
• the Apaches "decided to go steal the mules, which were following behind us and were not loaded".
• The Indians had no trouble stealing the mules for there was only one Spaniard to drive them. They carried him off with them "and vanished with the twenty-three mules".

On the 21st, Derbanne records "We crossed the Rio Grands and came to the Presidio, where there is a captain and thirty soldiers and two missions...The Rio Grande is a fine river, deep enough for a pirogue at all seasons (a fact that would have been greatly appreciated by Derbanne due to the problems of navigating the Red River when the water level was low)...it is 200 paces wide".

When you Tour Natchitoches with Barbara, she will tell you other stories about her grandfather, Francois Derbanne (nine generations removed), and should you choose, show you the historically accurate replica of the French Fort St Jean Baptiste in Natchitoches.

To contact Barbara, go {here}

THE FRENCH CAME TO NATCHITOCHES IN 1714. NOW IT'S YOUR TURN