Sauvolle
1st French Governor of Louisiana
In office
1699–1701
MonarchLouis XIV
Preceded bynone
Succeeded byJean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville
Personal details
Bornc. 1671
France
Died(1701-08-22)August 22, 1701
Fort Maurepas, Louisiana, New France
Military service
AllegianceKingdom of France
Branch/serviceFrench Navy

The sieur de Sauvolle (c. 1671 – 1701), known for certainty only by his surname,[lower-alpha 1] was the first governor of the French territory of Louisiana. He accompanied the brothers Iberville and Bienville on their first voyage to Louisiana in 1699 and their explorations inland. On May 2, 1699, he was appointed commander of the new Fort Maurepas, and in January 1700 he became the territory's governor. His journal is one of the earliest sources for the history of the region. Sauvolle died suddenly, likely from yellow fever, on August 21, 1701.[4]

Despite the survival of his journal entries and the journals of Iberville, almost nothing is known about Sauvolle: neither his ancestry nor the year of his birth, nor even much of his name. Iberville mentions him as "M. de Sauvolle".[2] Statements by various historians that his first name was Antoine or François-Marie, that he was the sieur de la Villantry, or that he was a brother of Iberville and Bienville are assertions not supported by multiple sources.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ His name is also recorded as Sauvole, de Sauvolle, and Sauvolle de la Villantry[1][2][3]
  1. ↑ Thompson, Maurice (1888). The Story of Louisiana. Boston, Massachusetts: D. Lothrop Co. p. 26.
  2. 1 2 Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne (1981) [1700]. "Second Voyage to the Mississippi: The Journal of the Renommée". In McWilliams, Richebourg Gaillard (ed.). Iberville's Gulf Journals. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 106–156. ISBN 978-0-8173-0539-0.
  3. ↑ Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne (1981) [1702]. "Third Voyage to the Mississippi: The Journal of the Renommée". In McWilliams, Richebourg Gaillard (ed.). Iberville's Gulf Journals. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 157–179. ISBN 978-0-8173-0539-0.
  4. 1 2 Hémard, Ned (2018). "Sauvolle, Man of Mystery" (PDF). New Orleans Nostalgia. p. 4.


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