'Étienne Périer' was the fifth
governor of the
Louisiana colony. He became governor in
1727. His governorship was marked by the arrival of the first
Ursuline nuns in
New Orleans in 1727 to establish the first
convent within the limits of what was to become the
United States as well as a war against the
Natchez Indians due to bad relations with
Chepart, the commander at
Fort Rosalie. After agitating the indians by demanding that they give up either their village or their land, the Indians launched an attack on
November 26,
1729 and killed nearly three hundred persons at Fort Rosalie. The French retaliated and by
1731 had killed or captured most of the Indians. The captured Indians were sent as
slaves to
Santo Domingo, and the few remaining free moved further westward and joined the
Chickasaw Indians. This marked the end of the Natchez Indian Nation. In the same year, the
Company of the Indies petitioned the
King of France to take back their charter, thus ending their control of the colony. Périer remained governor for two years after Louisiana was returned to the king but became frustrated with deteiorating relations with the Chickasaws and lost interest in the colony. He resigned, and
Jean-Baptiste le Moyne de Bienville was chosen to yet again be governor of the colony.
References
★ Davis, Edwin Adams. ''Louisiana the Pelican State.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1961. LCCN 59:9088.