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ETIENNE DE VAUGINE: SOLDIER, PLANTER, TRADER By Gertrude C. Taylor* Early in 1773, Luis de Unzaga, then Spanish governor of Louisiana, received from Gabriel Fusilier de la Claire, commandant of the Attakapas, an inventory of the indigo plantation of Etienne de Vaugine. (1) While this inventory is a commentary on the economic history of the French regime in Louisiana, it is also an insight into the political, social, and economic structures of both French and Spanish colonial governments. Both France and Spain embraced mercantilism, an economic system of commerce through which the mother countries profited from exploitation of their colonies. France's neglect of Louisiana, the conniving of inept governors, and corruption in the military brought nothing more than misery upon the colonists, and they soon turned to looking for whatever they needed wherever they could find it. This practice usually meant an illicit trade with the English or a mutually illegal trade between the colonists and Spanish possessions. Although her rule improved the economy of Louisiana, Spain, when she took over the colony, decreed such strict mercantilist ordinances restricting trade that the colonists, demanding something more for themselves, sought trade beyond the limits of the law. It became good economy, then, for them to patronize the cheaper source of supply and to ask no questions as to the origin of the goods or its source of supply. Into this world of economic confusion came Etienne de Vaugine, a man who had learned very early the ways by which to open the doors of economic opportunity in a land where political intrigue was a means of achieving this goal. And for the remainder of his lifetime, De Vaugine used his talents to insure himself and his family the better things of life. Etienne Martin de Nuisement de Vaugine was born July 5, 1724, the tenth child in a family of high rank by itself and by its alliances. His father, Sieur Etienne Martin de Vaugine was a well established merchant in Vosves, France, and his mother, Emeranthienne Hardouin, came from the highest social rank in the city of de Joiney. (2) Young De Vaugine began his military career July 15, 1742. On October 22, 1744, he was named cadet en pied, and April 15, 1745, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal * The author expresses gratitude to the staff of The Center for Louisiana Studies and to Miss Jeanne Castille for help in the translation of French and Spanish documents. 1. Fusilier de la Claire to Unzaga, Jan. 14, 1773. Seville, Spain, Archivos General de Indias,Papeles procedentes de Cuba, legajo 189A:41. Henceforth cited as PPC with legajo and folio nos. On March 27, 1773, Unzaga acknowledged receipt of that inventory. PPC, 189A:45. For this inventory see Laura L. Porteus, "Inventory of De Vaugine's Plantation," Louisiana Historical Quarterly, IX ( 1926), 570. De Vaugine's plantation was located on Bayou Teche a few miles below the present village of Loreauville. It was a land grant from Luis de Unzaga in 1772. Original measurements were 40 arpents front by 40 arpents depth on the east side of Bayou Teche and 40 arpents front by 20 arpents depth on the west side. Its southern boundary was approximately at the present Belle Place location, extending north to the present Teche-Lake Canal. See Gertrude C. Taylor, Land Grants along the Teche, Part II. The same tract later became the property of Joseph Broussard. 2. Gervais Macaisne, "Un Jovinien à la Louisiarie au XVIIIe siècle," Bull., Soc. sciences, Yonne, t. 107 (1975), 62-64