Louis Juchereau de St. Denis

In late 1699, St. Denis joined the second expedition of Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville (his first cousin), which departed from La Rochelle and travelled to Louisiana.

The fort was constructed in 1700 on the Mississippi River about 20 kilometers below the future development of New Orleans; it was designed to protect French interests against the Spanish and English in the region.

The intent was to protect the territorial boundaries of French-Louisiana and halt the eastward expansion of the Spaniards, whose local government was based on the Rio Grande in south Texas.

He traded with the Caddo Nation there and freely sold them guns; additionally, St. Denis developed a somewhat friendly relationship with the nearby Spaniards, despite the objections of the French governorship.

However, Commander Diego Ramón captured Denis and arrested him at San Juan Bautista, Coahuila for having violated Spanish trade "restrictions".

In the meantime, St. Denis courted the Ramón's step-granddaughter, Manuela Sanchez-Navarro, a descendant of the conquistadors of the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Nuevo León, Mexico, and got her to promise to marry him.

However, St. Denis managed to defend his case and the city authorities suggested him to lead the Domingo Ramón expedition to East Texas, whose purpose was the founding of missions, with the title of commissary officer.

During the last few years of his life, St. Denis did not consider himself capable of continuing to maintain command of Natchitoches, as he explained to Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas through a letter he sent him on 10 January 1743.

[7] Denis was a very questionable character since the time when he commanded Natchitoches, as the Spanish authorities were suspicious of their possible links with the Government of France.

[3] St. Denis played an important role in the generalization of knowledge about the physical geography of both the Spanish and French empires in North America, as well as fostering relations between the European settlements in both areas.