Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

CARTE PARTICULIERE DU FLEVUE [sic] S.t LOUIS dix lieues au dessus et au dessous DE LA NOUVELLE
ORLEANS ou sont marqué les habitations et les terrains concedes à Plusieurs Particuliers AU MISSISSIPY (n.d.,
n.d., [ca. 1723].)
Jean Baptist Bienville may have had his finest hour at the age of nineteen when he bluffed a British captain into turning back at the
bend of the Mississippi known to history as Détour des Anglais, or English Turn. Although its configuration would be better
understood in later decades, the famous double bend is shown in detail on this ca. 1723 map of the New Orleans area “ten leagues
above and ten leagues below” New Orleans. The young French officer’s bravado in 1699 put him, literally, at a turning point in history
as he convinced the British captain to turn back with a claim that the French were already established further up the river with armed
vessels to protect them. Less familiar is the wider context of the story. As every good sailor knows, a sailboat can tack against a
NOTABLE NEW ORLEANIANS: A Tricentennial Tribute
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