Documented ancestors of the Butte Indians are as follows:
Chitimacha – Marie Anna Theresa De La Grande Terre
Louisiana Natchez Missionary de Saint Cosme traveled to Mobile in November 1707. On the trail, he was attacked by a band of Chitimacha Indians who murdered him by hacking him to death. De Saint Cosme was feared and hated by local Indians due to his violent mistreatment of his indigenous slaves.
In January 1708, Bienville sent the a battle ship, Esperance, with arms and munitions to St. Denis at Fort La Boulaye. The arms and munitions were gifts sent with the intention of enticing other Indian tribes to make war upon the Chitimacha. Two days later with his combined force, St. Denis attacked a small Chitimacha village while they slept, killing the men and taking the women as well as innocent young children prisoners to be sold individually for 200 livres in Mobile as slaves. The boat “Esperance” later ran aground and was destroyed by a storm at the port in Massacre Island.
Marie Anne Theresa de la Grande Terre was captured during the raid of the Chitimacha village by St. Denis. Marie Theresa was bought by a French soldier, Jacques Guedon dit Nantois. They later moved to the new fort at Natchitoches and were married at Fort Adaes in 1721. It was at this time the priest gave her the Christian name of Marie Anne Theresa. De la Grande Terre is the designation of the Chitimacha tribe which means “of the big land.”
Jacques Guedon and Marie Theresa settled the fort at Lake End on a bluff overlooking the Bayou Pierre. It was there that they raised their family among other Native American families. They later moved back to Natchitoches were buried there. One of their daughters, Louise Marguerite Guedon who married Alexis Grappe, and their children became the founding families of the Butte Tribe communities which was establish in the mid-1700s.
American Indians of Texas Spanish Colonial Missions aka “Mission Indians.”
In the Butte family area, there are several names that would call attention to Texas Mission Indian bloodline: Desadier, Perez, Cordova, Pardee and Sanchez to name a few. Documented ancestors are: White Smoke & Two Moons, Joseph Pereda Desadier & Marie Luisa Perez, Maria Vicenta Perez (wife of Charles Simon), Bernard Sanchez & Modeste Simon, Charles Carlo Cordova & Marie Porcilla Desadier, along with others not mentioned here. Ask a council chief if you have a question about your ancestor.
Our records date back to the early 1700s. These records include various San Antonio missions’ birth, marriage and death records.
Regarding these Texas Spanish missions, the Spanish captured many Native American and made them slaves. These slaves were forced into the Spanish culture. The plan of the Spanish government and missionaries was to have the Native American Indians people move into their missions and have them assume the Spanish culture and religion. After 10 years of being on their own, and showing that they had forsaken their old ways, the Indians would be considered “Espanol” not “Indios.” On census records, one can see the transition as the years went by.
History has much to say about our Mission Indian ancestors. For now, it is important to know that our ancestors escaped the Spanish Missions in fear of future attacks by the Apache, Commanche, Osage and Wichita Indians who were raiding missions in search for horses, weapons and better hunting grounds. Our ancestors ended up in Nacogdoches. Some traveled south to Opelousas. All eventually found their way home to Bayou Bourbeaux in Natchitoches Parish.