Jean Baptiste Brevelle
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Jean Baptiste Breville
Jean Baptiste Brevelle | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1698 |
| Died | 1754 |
| Other names | Jean Baptiste Brevel, Jean Baptiste Breville |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1718-1754 |
| Known for | Early settler and soldier of the first European settlements in Louisiana and NE Texas (Fort St. Jean Baptiste des Natchitoches and Le Poste des Cadodaquious) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2: Jean Baptiste Brevelle II and Marie Louise Francoise Jean Brevelle |
Jean Baptiste Brevelle (French: Jean Baptiste Brevel) was a French-born American trader, explorer, and one of the first soldiers garrisoned at Fort St. Jean Baptiste des Natchitoches in present-day Natchitoches, Louisiana and Le Poste des Cadodaquious in Texas.[1]
Brevelle arrived in French Louisiana during the construction of Fort St. Jean Baptiste des Natchitoches in 1719. Commandant Claude Charles du Tisné had arrived to the outpost just a few years earlier to convert the 2 huts built in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis into a fortified post on Red River of the South to establish France's claims to the region and to prevent the Spanish forces in the province of Texas from advancing across the border.[2][3][4]
Brevelle's military and trade assignments took them to various Native American, Spanish and French settlements throughout present-day Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma including Le Poste des Cadodaquious (also known as Le Posts des Nassonites) in Bowie and Red River County, Texas. This post was founded by Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe, and it is the first European settlement in northeast Texas. The post was garrisoned by a detachment from Fort St. Jean Baptiste des Natchitoches. Brevelle traveled and mapped the areas along the Red, Sabine, and Trinity Rivers where he lived among and traded with the Natchitoches, Adai, Hasinai, Nasoni, Yatasi, Tawakoni and Kadohadacho Indians.[5][6]
Family life
Brevelle took a young Caddo woman from the Village of the Adays near the El Camino Real (English: The King’s Highway).[7] She was given the Christian name of Marie Anne des Cadeaux, named for Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mother and grandmother of Jesus. Brevelle so loved Anne that he obtained permission from Fort Commandant Louis Juchereau de St. Denis to marry her and free her from slavery. After the publication of three banns, they were married in 1736 in the Catholic Church in Natchitoches.[8] Anne bore two children, who would become the first Creoles of Isle Brevelle.[9][10]