add greatly to its prosperity. Some of the leading republican minds
  and most distinguished authors of France, who, since the usurpation of
  the "Man of the 2nd December" have been exiled from their country for
  opinion's sake, are engaged in this enterprise. A welcome and success
  to all say we.[2]

It is not known just how many were in the party, but some joined
Cantagrel and Roger at Cincinnati and others were hired along the way to
do labor at La Réunion. Brisbane explained that the work of Cantagrel
was to explore the country and decide on a definite location for the
project, begin the erection of buildings for the first immigrants, sow
crops, prepare gardens, vineyards, and in general construct the
colony.[3] He further stated that it was hoped that "a body of
intelligent and enterprising Americans" would be "attracted to the work
by the noble aim which it holds out, and the advantages of a higher
social life which it offers."[4] Other parties of immigrants soon
followed, some small, some large. One of these parties was reported by
the _National Intelligencer_, Washington, May 7, 1855, as having passed
through Anderson sometime previous to the date. It says:

  The Central Texan says that a party of French emigrants, about forty
  in number, passed through Anderson a few days ago enroute to Dallas.
  They belong to the Colony which M. Considerant is engaged in
  establishing. He proposed to introduce about two thousand this year.

M. Cousin, Belgian, conducted a party of twelve, eight Belgians and four
Frenchmen. One of this party was a young man named Guelles, son of the
French Consul-General at Jura, who had been exiled to Belgium. Savardan,
who disliked Considerant and his group, never tired of telling how
Considerant and his wife had persuaded this youngster to accompany the
party, even against the wishes of his mother, who yielded only when
Madame Considerant promised to look after the boy very carefully.
However, once in America, Guelles was turned loose to manage for
himself. He left the colony to live with some people near by and soon
fell ill with tuberculosis and died.

One of the largest groups was assembled by Dr. Savardan. He was one of
the outstanding disciples of Fourier in France and had assisted in the
formation of other phalanges. Savardan was ready to leave Brussels the
week Cantagrel left, but he and Considerant could not agree on terms.
Nevertheless, without agreement, he gathered his party at le Havre and
sailed on the _Nuremberg_, a ship of 1800 tons, on February 28, 1855.
Savardan had forty-three people and a considerable amount of material
which he was bringing to La Réunion. There were five members of this
party from Jura who remained in New Orleans and did not finish the trip,
eleven from Carcassonne, three from the Hautes-Alps, three from
Ardennes, four from Chateau-Renault, seven from Mons, one from Orleans,
one from Rouen, four from Paris, and four from Chapelle-Gaugain.

They all had a very pleasant trip which took its course from le Havre to
the Azores, where they passed on March 12, through the West Indies, and
from thence to New Orleans. Here the _Nuremberg_ stopped and the
colonists and materials were loaded on to another ship bound for
Galveston. On April 25, Dr. Nicolas, one of the leaders, and ten others
left for Galveston because they could not any longer endure the stifling
heat at New Orleans. Savardan and the other colonists tarried a few days
longer in order to purchase supplies for the party for the remainder of
the trip. The purchase consisted of:

      20  barrels of biscuit, some sweet and some             1000 pounds
          unsweetened
      10  half barrels of beer                                2000 pounds
      50  pounds of candles;
     100  pounds of coffee;
      50  pounds of chocolate;
       6  pounds of alcohol;
     130  pounds of Swiss cheese;
     200  pounds of beans;
     180  pounds of salad oil;
     200  pounds of smoked pork tongues;
     150  pounds of lentils;
     370  pounds of prune marmalade;
      20  pounds of mustard;
      25  pounds of onions;
      20  pounds of pepper;
     110  pounds of dried apples;
     650  pounds of rice;
     100  pounds of lard;
      20  pounds of sardines in small boxes;
     100  pounds of sausage;
     100  pounds of salt;
      68  pounds of white sugar;
     137  pounds of brown sugar;
     120  pounds of vermicelle and macaroni;
    1000  pounds of wine in two barrels;
     360  pounds of vinegar;
     300  pounds of whiskey; and
      25  pounds of powder and 100 pounds of bird shot.

The total weight amounted to 7000 pounds and cost, including freight
charges to Dallas, $1,000.[5]

The party embarked from New Orleans on May 3 with five women and one
young man, Christopher, added to the party. Savardan had been advised
that Considerant and his family would join his group at New Orleans, but
they did not arrive. However, they joined them later at Galveston.
Considerant brought with him his wife, a small child, M. Cesar Daly, and
two other Frenchmen from the North American Phalanx named Maguet and
Willemet. Galveston was reached May 5, and from here they sailed on a
small steamboat, the _L'Eclipse_, up Buffalo Bayou to Houston. Here
additional wagons and horses were purchased and teamsters were hired to
take the provisions, some of which had been sent from New York,
Cincinnati, and New Orleans, to La Réunion.

On May 18, the French wagon train, guided by a farmer who lived near
Dallas and who had come to Houston to sell two bales of cotton, moved
out through the woods toward Dallas. Some of the colonists were riding
horses, two or three riding in carriages, and some were walking. A few
of the men who had been drafted as teamsters were laboring with oxen,
trying to get them to move along. Poorly built wagons and the absence of
roads greatly hindered progress. They camped at night all together for
protection against Indians, the women and children sleeping in the
wagons and the men and boys on the ground. Eggs, milk, and poultry were
purchased at farm houses as the caravan traversed the sparsely settled
districts; some stealing was done, but, generally speaking, the
colonists conducted themselves well on the entire trip.

All the way from Houston to La Réunion Savardan reports the colonists
were expecting welcoming groups from La Réunion to come out and meet
them. This, of course, never occurred because the people already at camp
were finding it difficult to keep things going. They arrived at La
Réunion June 16, 1855.[6]

Several other groups and individuals arrived at La Réunion during the
following eighteen months. In fact, many arrived just in time to see the
colony disband, leaving them to shift for themselves. Philip Goetsel, a
Belgian, had a ranch of seventeen sections on Mountain Creek, twelve
miles west of Dallas, on which he established a colony of Belgians.
Several cabins were built on low lands which were subject to overflow;
other improvements were made, but the colony never did become more than
a dependency of La Réunion. Goetsel, however, planned to build a huge
city upon the land, which he proposed to name Louvain in honor of his
home city in Belgium. He had invested thirty thousand francs in La
Réunion and when he noticed that it was going to pieces, he demanded his
money with the intention of investing it in the "Louvain scheme." The
directors of La Réunion refused him his share on the grounds that he was
building Louvain in opposition to La Réunion and that it would draw all
the trade away from the community stores of the colony.[7] Still another
party, time of arrival uncertain, was the one led by M. M. Raizant
composed of nine people. These apparently came by New Orleans and
Galveston, perhaps preceding Savardan's party.

La Réunion was made up of high class, well educated and cultured people.
A brief biography of the founders of the colony has already been given
in the first chapter of this book, but a short sketch concerning several
will here serve to give the reader a better comprehension of the
colonists as a group.

Dr. Augustin Savardan had already helped to establish phalansteries in
France before coming to Texas. He had also organized and supervised an
orphans' home in Paris which Napoleon III had helped to sustain. He was
one of the first men Considerant and his colleagues called into
conference in Brussels when they began the organization of the
European-American Colonization Society, and they asked him to act as
chairman in one of their first meetings. In his report of his practice
as a physician at La Réunion, he stated that he treated 226 patients and
served in many other capacities during his stay here.[8]

Julien Reverchon came from a distinguished family in France.

  His father, J. Maximilien Reverchon, was born at Lyons in 1810, and
  died at Dallas in 1879; and his mother (born Mlle. Florine Pete) was
  the daughter of a distinguished Lyonnaise advocate. Julien's
  grandfather, Jacques Reverchon (1746-1829), was a Jacobin member of
  the National Convention (1792-95), as well as the Council of Five
  Hundred and of the Council of Elders. This Jacques Reverchon the
  _revolutionnaire_ is that same citizen-representative from Saone et
  Loire, Rhone-et-Ain, whose reports on the rapacity of the Maratists at
  Lyons have been quoted in Taine's _Les Origines de la France
  Contemporaine_.[9]

Julien and his father came to La Réunion as members of a colony arriving
there in December, 1856. The father was a trained agriculturist and
attempted to direct the colonists in scientific farming. He told them
that if they would plow and stir the land deep in the fall and plant
early in the spring, good crops would be produced. The men, however,
were inexperienced in farming and Reverchon had little success.
Nevertheless, in spite of the most severe drought that Texas had
experienced in a long time, Reverchon grew crops, planted fruit trees,
and introduced advanced methods in Dallas County farming.[10]

  One of the most interesting names is that of François Santerre, farmer
  and ex-soldier, who remained with his wife and children near the
  colony site, engaged in sheep raising and farming when the colony
  disbanded. His varied interests included a love of books, particularly
  of the sixteenth century edition of Ovid's _Metamorphoses_ which he
  took with him on six business trips he made to France.[11]

This book, among others, was in the possession of his son, Gustave,
former owner of the La Réunion Fruit Farm. His eldest son, Germain, was
one of two surviving immigrants in 1930, the other being M. Guilbot, who
lived near Alvarado.[12]

There is partial information concerning several others who were
outstanding in the colony. Madame Clarisse Vigoureaux, mother-in-law of
Considerant, was author of several books, and also intensely interested
in Fourierism. Emile Rémond was a scientific farmer and writer on soils.
A recent writer in explaining what Rémond did in Dallas County says,

  The clay resources of Dallas County very early attracted the attention
  of the pioneers, particularly the French, who settled the French town
  of La Réunion west of Dallas in 1854. Prof. E. Remond (1840-1906) of
  this colony was particularly active in his investigation and
  experiments with the clays of the county. He made successfully brick,
  vitri-brick, and sewer pipe. Prof. Remond was the first to import a
  plastic brick machine. He was also first to use the lime and shale for
  making concrete and instigated the founding of the Iola Cement Plant.
  Remond made brick in South, East, and West Dallas, at Dawdy's Ferry
  and Mountain Creek.[13]

Allyre Bureau, a director of the colony, was a trained musician who had
been director in the Odeon, a national theater in Paris. He tried to
revive the dying colony in 1856, but failed, and started to return to
France toward the close of the Civil War in the United States. He
contracted yellow fever near Houston and died in a sanitarium located
about fifty miles north of that city. Several architects were in the
group, among whom may be mentioned Ureidag, Flemish, who submitted plans
for the Dallas County Court House, and John B. Louchx, who was later
alderman and one of the fourteen bachelors who came to build houses and
prepare the ground for the coming of other colonists. Ben Long came from
Zurich, Switzerland, and later introduced a group of Swiss colonists in
Dallas. Before his death, killed while serving as a Dallas officer, Long
served as United States Commissioner, as Mayor of Dallas, and as an
officer in the Sheriff's office.[14]

Texas and Dallas were very fortunate in having a group of men and women
possessed of such attainments settle in their midst. Generally speaking,
Considerant was correct when he estimated that the French colonists who
were planning to come to La Réunion were far ahead in culture and
learning of the average Texas settlers in the state at that time.

On February 10, 1855, however, the _Texas State Gazette_ expressed in an
editorial a feeling of uneasiness when it announced that

  According to a recent letter from Strausburg, which is published in
  the National Gazette of Switzerland, the Socialist Party in Alsace is
  about to emigrate en masse to Texas, where one of their chiefs, the
  well known Victor Considerant, has purchased a large quantity of land.
  The departure of emigrants is to take place during the ensuing
  year.[15]

As far as can be determined, there is no roll of the colony in
existence, and thus statements of the survivors and descendants of those
in the colony must be taken as authority on the number who made up the
colony. One writer refers to a roll containing over three hundred names
formerly in the possession of the colonists. This roll, however, has
been lost and the writer had to depend upon the memory of the colonists
and lists given in various articles. Some of the survivors stated that
there were as many as 550 people in La Réunion, but it appears, through
a process of checking and rechecking, that the above-mentioned roll was
perhaps the complete roll of the members, and therefore there were no
more than three hundred in the colony at any one time--perhaps that
number included all that ever lived in the colony during its
existence.[16]

                               CHAPTER VI
                         LA RÉUNION, THE COLONY

La Réunion was located three to four miles west of the Dallas county
court house near what is generally termed the "Old Fort Worth-Dallas
Pike," on the south bank of the Trinity River. The ground is now
occupied by a small settlement, Cement City, and several farms. The soil
is poor as compared with other lands surrounding Dallas, but the
location is very attractive as to scenery. The hills and valleys are
still partly wooded with elm and blackjack, and must have been more so
eighty years ago.[1]

The Dallas site was really second choice as the original plan was to
settle in Cooke County. However, arriving in Cooke County several months
after the first visit, the agents for the colony found all the land
already occupied or claimed by speculators, railroad companies, and
American colonists. This forced the selection of another location, since
the company did not feel justified in paying a large sum for land that
could be obtained elsewhere more reasonably. Victor Prosper Considerant,
founder of the colony, had spent two weeks near the Dallas location in
1853 in the home of Mr. Gouhenans and was favorably disposed toward
accepting it as the site for his future colony. Roger, another leader of
the colony, later joined Considerant in insisting on the choice. Allen,
Cantagrel, and other members wanted to settle at Fort Worth, at Belknap,
and even farther west, but upon the insistence of a few of the
colonists, supported by Considerant, the Dallas site was chosen and
further search was abandoned.[2]

The ground occupied in Dallas County consisted of various surveys from
time to time, but the actual ownership never surpassed a few thousand
acres. On January 7, 1855, James Knight of Fort Bend County conveyed to
Considerant one league and labor of land, which was probably the first
land purchased at the price of one hundred dollars for 320 acres.
Finally, during the following year, a map of the proposed La Réunion
with a description of its survey was placed on record in the Dallas
County courthouse.[3]

This land was at first controlled by Considerant and was listed in
Dallas County records as his personal property. Such an arrangement was
in full accord with the agreement made between Considerant and the
company in Belgium before he came to the United States as an agent with
full power, acting for the European-American Colonization Company. In
fact, he agreed with the company that any and all purchases of whatever
nature made by him while in America would become the property of the
company.[4] This was done so that no one would be able to accuse him of
using the funds of the company or his official position for his own
personal advancement.

There were some advantages in the choice of land, but the disadvantages
were far greater than the advantages, the colonists later learned. For
water the settlers had to depend largely upon fissure springs coming
from the Austin Chalk formation.

  In these springs the water which collects along certain of the more
  porous layers of the chalk rock is permitted to come to the surface
  along the more or less open fissures between the faulty blocks.
  Sometimes wells were dug in draws and low drain ways, which wells were
  often unsanitary as was shown by the number of cases of fever amongst
  the colonists during their stay in La Réunion.[5]

Savardan hints in several places in his book that Considerant did not
want to develop this land--this, however, appears unwarranted. The facts
seem to be that the French colonists were not able financially or
otherwise to develop the phalanstery or the land as it should have been
developed.[6] Inexperience, lack of capital, and the climate all
contributed to the lackadaisical policy which was followed.

Considerant had explained in his _Au Texas_, to those who contemplated
investing in the company, that La Réunion was to serve as a center from
which would radiate numerous lines leading to other counties, or even to
other states. Not only were there to be other colonies growing out of
the central foundation, but there was to be continual in-coming and
out-pouring of individuals. These individuals, having lived in the
colony and having imbibed of its policies, would go out and settle
nearby on new ground, but would retain their connection with the
establishment in a cultural and commercial way.

In line with such a policy, Considerant began almost immediately to
purchase land for such expansion. Savardan severely criticizes him for
this, but such action was in full accord with Considerant's intention as
announced in _Au Texas_. However, Considerant erred greatly, almost
criminally, by not waiting until La Réunion, which was to be the center
of all activity, was firmly established. The facts are that he never
remained at La Réunion a sufficient length of time to establish anything
or to become familiar with its problems and possibilities. The first
purchase in the expansion move was made, May 17, 1855, which amounted to
fifty-one and one-eighth acres near the present city of Houston. This
plot was to be used as a way-station, where incoming colonists could
rest and become acclimated to the Texas weather.[7]

Some of the prominent leaders at La Réunion wanted to establish several
rest camps along the road from Houston to La Réunion, but this was never
put in operation. Savardan, the critic, says that A. M. Bussy proposed
to establish stores and gardens from which the incoming colonists would
receive supplies; Considerant not only opposed this but did not even
want a store at La Réunion.[8] On account of the climate and lack of
development, this Houston way-station served little good and was soon
abandoned. Two men, one of whom was a physician who had been in charge
of the camp for a short time, were forced to leave Houston on account of
a severe fever epidemic. They arrived at La Réunion weeks later, where
Savardan treated the men and brought them to a slow recovery.[9]

The second extension of the central colony was in Uvalde County where a
purchase of more than fifty thousand acres was made.[10] Some of the
settlers wanted to build the second colony near Fort Belknap. They
pointed out that the distance was not more than half of that to Uvalde,
and that better land could be secured for less than half the price of
Uvalde land. In addition to this, the United States Army would be at
hand to protect them from the Indians which would not be the case at
Uvalde.[11]

However, Considerant went from Austin, where he had been working with
the legislature trying to get a grant of land for his colonists, to San
Antonio with a state senator. Considerant was apparently introduced to a
land speculator and developer, who borrowed $10,000 from him. Later
Considerant was severely criticized for this act but he explained that
it was a legitimate business deal. Nevertheless, it appears that he fell
into the hands of clever land speculators who had been introduced to him
by the senator and that he was stripped of the remaining cash belonging
to the company which he had in his possession. The deal caused
considerable criticism and disagreement among the men at La Réunion.

Considerant answered the criticism by pointing out the success of the
colonists at Castroville, New Braunfels, and Fredericksburg. These
colonies had been established about ten years, he claimed, and all were
successful. He had visited Belton in 1853, at which time there was no
settlement, but in 1855 many stores and brick houses had either been
built or were under construction. Hondo also was flourishing and several
buildings were under construction there.

Considerant could dream of phalansteries all over Texas, linked together
by trade and culture, and talk of a super-race bred from a vigorous and
active American people mixed with the cultured French; in fact, he might
be classed as a great dreamer and philosopher, but as a manager of
commercial affairs or as to meeting the land speculators on even terms,
he was a sad failure.[12]

His financial accounts with the company were, apparently, always mixed
and his dealings with the individual colonists were never satisfactory.
Several men were sent at various times to investigate and audit his
accounts, but each time at their departure the old system--rather lack
of system--would develop again.

When the colonists reached the location where they expected to find a
flourishing colony, buildings, and growing crops and cattle, they were
always disappointed in finding everything in confusion and disagreement.
This is especially true of those arriving after the first six months;
those coming earlier entered the undertaking with faith and hope in the
ultimate success of the phalanstery. Both Albert Brisbane and
Considerant, chief proponents of the colony, had urged the company
agents and prospective colonists not to hurry over until all
preparations had been made to receive them. Furthermore, Considerant
urged the agents over and over again not to send out men who were not
farmers; it was his purpose to form an agricultural colony and introduce
industry only as needed. However, both the agents and the people
disregarded this advice; no farmers were sent, and the colonists were
thrust upon Considerant before any preparations had been made. Becoming
discouraged over the prospects, within a few months after the beginning
of the establishment, Considerant wrote to France advising that further
plans be suspended as the colony would very likely cease operation.[13]
Nevertheless, La Réunion was established and those people arriving from
Europe set immediately to work constructing houses in which to live. The
town which was built on the grounds was nothing like the phalanstery
which had been proposed.[14]

The following quotation shows that in addition to the President's
office, in April, 1856, the colony possessed several other important
buildings,

  ... a building for making soap and candles, a laundry, a building for
  offices, a kitchen, a grocery store, beehives, a chicken house, a
  smoke house, a forge, a cottage for the Executive Agent, and have
  begun the construction of two dormitories of eight apartments each, to
  be given to different households.[15]

Three years later, in 1859, a visitor, after describing the general
merchandise store, says, "Réunion contains a fine and commodious
store-house, blacksmith shop, hotel, a bootmaker, tailor and mechanic's
shop. Coombs' steam mill is only one mile distance from La Réunion."[16]
The same writer, in describing the store, said:

  We are indebted to the courteous and gentlemanly proprietor of the La
  Réunion store for a lot of choice cigars and a jar of delicious brandy
  pears. They have at La Réunion a well selected stock of new and
  fashionable goods, which they are prepared to sell at unreasonably low
  prices.[17]

In 1919 a visitor surveying the ruins wrote:

  Some distance from this structure, possibly 200 yards, were the
  remains of a store and concrete building about thirty feet or more
  square which was the commissary for the colony; thick walls were still
  several feet high on the four sides. Between this ruin and the
  residence were outlines of old fence partitions preserved by
  indigenous shrubs, prickly pear, hoar hound, etc., with now and then a
  plum tree survival.[18]

These buildings were constructed of wood and stone. Because of lack of
knowledge concerning the climate, the colonists did not realize the
necessity of good construction for protection against the "northers" and
consequently suffered severely from the cold.

When a sufficiently large group had settled at La Réunion, the people
met to form a society which they called "The Society of Réunion."[19]
Objectives of this Society were: acquisition of the domains of La
Réunion, Dallas County, the development of agriculture, the construction
of industrial establishments, and the formation of a council for making
public decisions. The operating or social fund of the society was fixed
at $600,000 representing 4800 _actions_ at $125. The Society of Réunion
was to act as a local office or clearing house for the business of the
colony and to deal directly with the European Colonization Society of
Texas. It was not to replace or to usurp the prerogatives of the parent
society.

In addition to possessions in the form of buildings, the Society put
into cultivation 430 acres of land; purchased 500 head of cattle, some
sheep, pigs, and fowls; dug wells, built a few short, shallow canals;
bought mowing, reaping, and threshing machines; and secured two
half-sections of land near the settlement. A very large garden was
planted and developed, one that did not justify the funds invested but
excited the curiosity of all who visited the colony.[20]

At first the store was successful and apparently did a very good
business, as one report shows an average of $330 a month business, with
profits ranging from twenty to thirty per cent. This trade came largely
from outside the colony, and seems to have been due to the fact that the
store was stocked with better goods more reasonably priced than those in
stores farther from the surrounding settlers.

There was a co-operative kitchen in which the majority of the colonists
had their meals. During Cantagrel's directorship the colony had four
long tables in the dining room. On each table was a large bowl of
pottage and one of meat which were passed around in family style. Quite
often, according to Savardan, the bowls reached the last two or three
people completely empty, and there was no more food to replenish the
dish. The men paid twenty-two sous each day for board; the women
eighteen sous; and children from six to twelve paid twelve sous; while
children under six paid six sous. Savardan was opposed to the
communistic arrangement at the table for he said such arrangements gave
privileges and thus made "nobilities of the great eaters and head
waiters, while the small eaters had to take what was left." He suggested
a return to the restaurant as the most democratic plan, for then each
fellow would get what he paid for. The hotel, or "family style," serving
proved unsatisfactory, and six members were appointed as a commission to
investigate the comparative cost of hotel meals and restaurant serving.
Cantagrel presided at the meeting. This commission found that the
"family style" was not paying expenses, so they decided to establish a
sort of cafeteria in which each was given the same portion. However,
this arrangement could not be instituted until May 10, 1856, because
Considerant would not surrender his house for the purpose. During the
first three months of operation the new plan was very successful and was
able to improve the meals by serving various foods such as chicken,
beef, pork, and mutton. But when Cantagrel left and was succeeded by
Dethoya the project disintegrated because the chief waiter or cashier
began to steal the money and serve poorer food. When so much trouble
arose, Dethoya had twenty people to sign a proof of his honesty. Madame
Considerant also sided with him against Guillmet.[21]

The co-operative kitchen broke up into dozens of small ones, one of
which was able to have good food at twenty-five sous per day. People
withdrew into separate institutions and planted small gardens. Slaves
brought them fish for which they paid twenty-five cents for ten or
fifteen pounds. Savardan's group lived there for six months after the
breakup of the general colony.

For a time the colonists were not interested in stocking the land or
planting crops. Most of them came fairly well supplied with money and
did not find it necessary to work for their daily living until their
reserve funds began to dwindle. Then, according to one report, sheep,
cows, hogs, and chickens were purchased, even against the advice of
Considerant. The cattle numbered about six hundred when the final survey
of affairs was made.[22]

It is exceedingly difficult to reconstruct the system of work carried on
in La Réunion. In one place it is said that the laborer received
one-third of the products of his labor; in another statement it was said
that each worker was paid a stipulated sum and that near riots occurred
in an attempt to get higher wages. Toward the end of the colony's
existence the "reserves" were apportioned to each man according to his
deserts. Just how these reserves were accumulated is not clear; however,
they appear to have consisted of money or goods stored up in excess of
the actual demands of the colony. In some cases the reserve accumulated
from contributions made by incoming colonists and in other instances it
was formed from excess production.[23]

Nevertheless, there was some order and plan even in this chaos. There
was to be a council of six men, in addition to Considerant, which was to
govern locally all of La Réunion. Then, there was the Council of
Workmen, supported by all workers, which elected two workers to be added
to the council of six. This Council of Workmen was formed by organized
groups of laborers who elected one member from each trade group. For
example, Mr. Louckx was committeeman of the workers in wood. Dailly was
head of metal workers, and other trades were similarly organized.[24]

Men were assigned to certain work; quite often they were changed day by
day. This led to waste and inefficiency. On one job six men were
employed in marking cattle, and because of their ignorance they often
burned the cattle severely, marking only about twenty-five each day.
However, in May, 1856, a young veterinarian, M. Louis, took charge of
this trade and marked as many as seventy a day. Dr. Savardan tells how
he, a trained physician, and several professional men were set to
cutting wood. Considerant, noticing that they were destroying the
younger trees, called their attention to it, whereupon two of the
woodcutters became very angry and contended with him. These same men
also built fences, dug wells, and did other odd jobs about the place. In
spite of the apparent universality of labor, there was some complaint
that all were not showing returns from their labors, and contention
arose as to whether all should produce something of general value.

  "_En réalité, depius l'expérience malheureuse du Texas--et mème bien
  avant--on ne pouvait plus dire que Victor Considerant était un
  représentant authentique du socilisme etopique at pacifique._"

                                 Translation

  "In reality since his unhappy experience in Texas--and even
  before--one is able to say only that Victor Considerant was an
  authentic representative of Utopian and pacific socialism."

  Maurice Dommanget, _Victor Considerant, sa Vie, son Oeuvre_, p. 218.

                              CHAPTER VII
                              THE BREAKUP

La Réunion was a failure from the moment it started; it was never a
success. Of course, a historian cannot predict what would have happened
under certain given conditions, but it seems reasonable to believe that
any other type of colony formed by the same people under the same
conditions would also have been a failure.

In the first place, Considerant was not a suitable man to head such an
enterprise. His theory of colonization as propounded in _Au Texas_ is
reasonable enough and, if followed, could probably succeed under
favorable conditions. However, his weaknesses were his personal attitude
and his lack of administrative ability. Savardan says that Considerant
was a great organizer and promoter but did not possess a sense of
continuity or of development. He easily became discouraged and soon lost
interest in proposed plans and procedures. When he arrived in New York
in 1854 on his return to Texas, he was met by the denunciation of the
Know-Nothing Party (American Party.) Tirades against foreigners made by
leaders of the party were diplomatically and ably answered by
Considerant's pamphlet, _European Colonization in America_, but in spite
of his confident tone exhibited in this pamphlet, he became discouraged
from that moment. His absolute faith in the sense of justice of the
American people, as stated in _Au Texas_, vanished and he was forced to
realize the absurd servility of people who will subject themselves to
demagogues in time of national hysteria. Considerant never exhibited any
sign of vigor, initiative, or enthusiasm after the publication of his
address to the American people.

When he joined Savardan's party in Galveston, a change in his attitude
was evident. He was sullen, withdrawn, and sensitive to criticism.
Instead of going with the party from Houston to Dallas, he went to
Austin and then to La Réunion. However, there is no indication in the
records of any initiative on his part to put the colony in shape, or of
any plan of unity of development worked out. The moment he reached La
Réunion he began to think of leaving it. In a conversation between
Cantagrel and Savardan in April, 1856, before all the colonists had
arrived, Savardan understood that Considerant had come to the conclusion
to disband the colony, to parcel out the land to colonists and others,
and to break up the community affairs. Savardan states that not more
than ten per cent of the colonists wanted to divide up the land, that
most of them felt that they could not exist independently.[1]

Considerant, leader of the whole undertaking, was never in the colony
for any length of time. He was alternately at Austin, San Antonio, or
Uvalde, and consequently, when he was at La Réunion, he could not make
any decision because he was unacquainted with the workings of the
organization. Apparently, refusal of the state legislature to grant the
lands which Considerant had expected to obtain for the colonists
completely destroyed what hope he had left; it was after this refusal
that he wrote to France advising that no more colonists be sent.[2]
Finally, after an absence of five months, he returned to the colony from
a trip into Southwest Texas, and being convinced that the colony was
doomed, appointed a successor to himself and suddenly, on July 7, 1856,
departed in secret.[3]

Considerant, in his pamphlet _Du Texas_, assumes all blame for the
failure of the La Réunion experiment and confesses that he had a serious
lack of confidence in himself. After his plans failed, he became a
despairing and broken man, often planning to end all by
self-destruction.[4] It is certainly true that this lack of
self-confidence prevented success of the colony.

The second reason for its failure was the mismanagement of financial
affairs. Considerant reported about 1857 that "During two years, the
greater part of the disposable funds were wasted under my own eyes."[5]
But Savardan gives a different story: he lists several funds which he
claims Considerant, himself, wasted. His evidence is as follows:

  a. $3,000 wasted by an inefficient gardener who, Considerant insisted,
  should be at the head of the agricultural work.

  b. That Considerant paid double price for meat when it could have been
  raised on the farms of La Réunion. There were no sheep or pigs--$300.

  c. That he bought carriages and horses for himself which he did not
  need, at least they were better than were required, for which he
  charged the society under the head of personal expense--$300.

  d. That he built for himself and family a cottage instead of living in
  the commodious buildings of the colony with the remainder of the
  colonists and charged the cost to personal expenses--$1,000.

  e. The horses that were lost by theft or death unnecessarily and the
  carriages and other equipment which soon depreciated in value because
  of lack of sheds, etc., the poorly constructed houses and other
  buildings, which would soon have to be replaced--$10,000.

  f. The failure of Considerant to pay his own passage and
  transportation as other colonists had done--$100.

  g. Numerous trips from San Antonio to Uvalde for the purchase of land
  when one or two trips would have been sufficient.

While the above does not convict Considerant of serious mismanagement,
it does indicate a lack of system. However, in another place he is
charged with using funds without giving any account to the directors,
and of entrusting the financial affairs of the colony to dishonest
men.[6]

Even though the society owned all its tools, cattle, and other property,
there was apparently no method used to check the use of this property
until toward the close of 1856, nearly two years after the organization
was started. Bussy, who had charge of the equipment, became disgusted
and resigned; then Savardan took over the work. He listed all equipment
and tools on cards and then numbered each object so he could keep up
with all the property belonging to the company. The records of this
checking were kept in a large book which he left at La Réunion on his
departure therefrom. All the cattle, hogs, and other livestock were also
numbered, and a proposal was made that even the colonists themselves
should be assigned a number by which their accounts could be checked.
All property loaned and assigned to members of the colony had to be
checked out and a record of it kept by a young man appointed as
caretaker. This scheme apparently worked well and the serious loss of
materials which had occurred previously was checked. However, a minor
reform such as Savardan made could not revitalize the faulty financial
system.[7]

In addition to mismanagement there was downright dishonesty and
misapplication of funds. This was especially true in the mismanagement
of the restaurant and in the keeping of accounts with individuals of the
colony. Savardan stated that Cousin took $98.00 from him which he
deposited with the treasurer of the colony for safe-keeping. Others had
the same experience. Apparently some one applied to the courts in Dallas
for redress, for on July 16, 1857, the Dallas court made inquiry as to
the administration. Considerant refused even to attempt a settlement of
the accounts and the company sent a Mr. Simonin to La Réunion from New
York to audit the accounts. He spent three months in the colony and
investigated more than 200 accounts, arranged them satisfactorily, and
then turned the business over to another man also sent from New York.

A third reason for the failure of La Réunion was the failure of the
Americans to participate in its promotion and settlement. Both Brisbane
and Considerant had planned to have as many Americans as Frenchmen in
the colony, but there were never more than twenty and perhaps less than
a dozen. One colonist tells about Pendleton and Newton, two American
carpenters, who joined the colony. They knew nothing about Fourierism
and had merely heard about socialism. Their wives wore bloomers, being
followers of Mrs. Blummer who advocated freedom of women's dress.
Savardan said that he had no objections to bloomers as they were an
improvement over the old "hoop skirt" which flew up every time a woman
sat down in a carriage. In addition to these four Americans there were
only a few others, all of whom had left the colony by September, 1857.

Lack of interest on the part of the Americans might be explained on the
grounds of the intense American nationalism of the time, the sad
experiences of Peter's Colony, and the "law of reserve" which had caused
a very sudden rise in the price of land in the vicinity of La Réunion.
After Brisbane's visit and the first flush of excitement and investment,
very little attention was paid by Americans to the experiment. The
attitude of the Texas newspapers and the total lack of interest, even
hostility, of the state legislature, certainly contributed to the
failure.

The climate might be cited as a fourth reason for the breakup of the
colony. The years 1855-1857 seem to have been unusual years judging from
reports of the colonists themselves and of other Texas settlers living
in various parts of the state. Considerant reports that the winter
1856-1857 was a very cold one, and was considered by old settlers to
have been the coldest in their memory. Another colonist says that there
were twenty-three days of ice in January and from February 7 to March 2
the temperature measured an average of fifteen degrees above zero inside
the cabins. This statement is supported by Bureau who arrived in La
Réunion January 17, 1857, and found the temperature fifteen degrees
below zero. The cold brought great suffering to the settlers, especially
to women and children living in the poorly built cabins.

When spring came there was no relief. Drought took the place of cold.
Springs dried up and the obtaining of water became a serious problem.
Crops came up only to wither and die under the blast of dry winds.
Cattle had to be driven to the river for water, but there was no water
available for the gardens. The farmers found it difficult to raise
anything, especially since they refused to follow instructions of the
scientific farmers in the colony. Thus, cold weather, drought, and
discouragement undermined the morale of the group and one by one the
settlers began to disperse.

Nevertheless, after these things are taken into consideration, and all
due allowances are made for these factors, there remains the pertinent
fact that the colonists could never agree. There were racial divisions,
Belgians vs. French, and conflicts arising between individual members.
The most severe disagreements were between the leaders rather than in
the rank and file. Savardan, the most garrulous and troublesome of the
whole group, tells numerous stories about these misunderstandings. He
states that Considerant, Rogers, and Raizant made every effort in their
power to prevent colonists from coming to La Réunion. Barclay, a Swiss,
came to the colony in 1855 with twenty others, all healthy and strong,
intending to become permanent settlers. However, because of the attitude
of the colonists, especially of Considerant, all except one soon left
and established themselves elsewhere. He also wrote about the coming of
Santerre and his family. Santerre sold his farm in France and with seven
children started to America. They were dumped on the shore near a
Houston farm without anyone to guide them, finally reaching the farm
after much trouble. There Raizant did everything he could to prevent
them from continuing their journey to La Réunion, but without success.
When the family did arrive at La Réunion, Cousin tried to make them
leave by the use of sarcasm.[8]

Once when Savardan accused Cousin of forgery of a document which placed
him in control of the colony, Cousin threatened to place Savardan in
prison, whereupon Savardan immediately withdrew into the house and
challenged Cousin to enter, at the same time reminding him of the
American law which gave a man the right to protect his own home. After
considerable trouble the two men were quieted and the incident passed
without any serious results.

Several times, near riots occurred when the men of the colony met to
discuss various complaints, those concerning wages especially. Sometimes
these disturbances would be ended by the appointment of a committee to
consider the matter, after which very little was done--in fact, nothing
could be done, as the company had no resources with which to pay nor to
make good losses which had occurred. These continual bickerings would
have destroyed the colony had nothing else entered the situation to
hasten the end. Finally, no socialistic experiment could have been a
success under frontier conditions in Texas. The doctrine of Utopian
Socialism is a system which deals with industrial conditions and could
hardly be applicable to the agrarian frontier. In addition, the
capitalistic system had greater rewards to offer individual efforts than
did the Utopian social dream.

Thus, a fantastic plan of a French socialist colony came to an end,
wrecked upon the individualistic tendencies and weaknesses of its
membership. Texas has been made richer culturally by the attempts of
these dreamers to better conditions and transform the society in which
they lived, even though no economic gain came to these individuals.

                                APPENDIX

                      A. Partial List of Settlers

This list has been compiled from all the bibliographical data used in
this research, including the census report of 1850 and 1860. There are
doubtless duplications since no effort has been made to check transfer
of a son or daughter from a family list to a new family by marriage,
etc. American reporters of that time and writers of a later date were
not accurate in spelling French names. A careful check of names has been
made on tombstones in the Old French Cemetery. Many times names were
found such as "Dumirel" with no first name and no further appearance. In
this case the name was listed just as it appeared. This list is not
complete but it contains more names than any other list known at this
time. The symbol (S) has been used where the spelling or listing is
different but evidently of the same family. The most helpful list and
the most complete is by Eloise Santerre contained in her thesis,
_Réunion ... with a Biographical Dictionary of the Settlers_. She also
identifies each settler wherever possible.

  Achard, E.
  Allen, John
  Amyard
  Baer, two sisters
  Baer, Gaspard, wife and four children
  Bar, wife and son
  Barbeau
  Barbier, Alexander, wife, children: Alexis and François
  Barbot
  Barret, Francois
  Begnier
  Belinger
  Bernard, wife and mother-in-law
  Bessand, wife, son and daughter
  Besseraux
  Besseron, Adel
  Billard, wife and son
  Blot
  Boger
  Boll, Henry, wife Elizabeth, children: Henrietta, Lizatte, Mrs. Ernest
              Arnold, Charles, and Jacob
  Boll (S) Henry, wife Elizabeth, children: Ann and Minnie, (relative)
              Lena
  Boll, Henry, Sr.
  Bollanger
  Bonneville
  Bossereau, Abel
  Bossereau, Catherine
  Bouge and wife
  Boulay, Dominique, wife Isabelle, son Adolphine, sister, niece
  Boulay, Francois (uncle of Dominique), children: Domine K. and Adolphe
  Boulay, J. F., wife, daughter Louise
  Bourgeois, Lucien and wife Louise
  Boyer
  Brison
  Brisson
  Brisot, Pere
  Brochier, A., wife
  Brochier, O. (brother of A. Brochier)
  Brochier, P.
  Brunet, Eugene (brother of Joseph Brunet)
  Brunet, Joseph, Father
  Bucher
  Bureau, Allyre, wife, three sons and daughter Alice
  Burki, Emil
  Bussey
  Candie, daughter
  Cantagrel, Francois Jean, wife, children: Simon and Josephine
  Capy, Charles, wife Notiva, (seven children): Mrs. Segarri, Alfred
  Carpenter, Noel, wife and daughter
  Chamboard, wife and daughter
  Charpentier, Joseph, wife Elizabeth and children: Joseph Alfred, and
              Nativa
  Charron
  Chavennes
  Christian, M.
  Christophe, Henry
  Cillard, Jules
  Coiret, Francois, wife, (two daughters): Mathilde
  Coleman, Louis
  Colin, Denis
  Colm, Francois
  Come, Sebastien
  Considerant, Francois, wife, daughter and three sons
  Considerant, Victor Prosper
  Corne
  Cousin, Vincent
  Cretien, Athanase, wife Augastine, children: George and Emil
  Crisset, Josephine
  Dailly, Abel, wife Catherine
  Daly, Ceaser
  Danderet
  Debray
  De Guelles
  Deiterall
  Dellard, wife, son and two daughters
  Delasseau, Michel, wife Amelee, children: Angele and Anatole
  DeLord, Alphonse, wife, son and two daughters
  Derigni, wife and son
  Destnet, Henri, wife and daughter Marie
  Despart, Henry
  Dessau, Mlle.
  De Vry
  Dillard, wife, son and two daughters
  Divion
  Doderet
  Doelly, Abel
  Dominique
  Drevet
  Droxal
  Dumirel
  Desseau
  Duterall
  Duythoya, Tristan, daughter
  Enginard, (Enginaid)
  Ettienne, wife
  Eymar
  Farine, Nicholas, wife Jeannette, (second wife) Miss Mills, son Albert
  Ferguson
  Forette, Antoine
  Franchot
  Frishot, Achille
  Frishot, Desire Christophe, wife Susan, children: Laura, Henrietta,
              and Bertha
  Frishot, (S) Christopher Desire, wife, two daughters and two sons
  Frishot, D., (S) wife Susana, daughter Laura, (relatives) Pere, D.,
              and Hershel
  Frishot, Leontine (perhaps daughter of Phillip)
  Frishot, Pierre Philip, wife Marie Adeld Simmonett, children: Achille
              and Leontine
  Frick, Heinrich, wife Barbara, children: Adolph, Otto, and Henry
  Frique
  Gaudel, Mlle.
  Gaudel, daughter
  Giard, Pierre, three sons: Pierre, Joseph and Francois
  Girard, Francois (S)
  Girard, Pierre (S)
  Godelle, Mlle.
  Goetsels, (Goodseels) John, wife Lucine, children: Philip, Colette,
              Clemence, and Jennie
  Goetsel, Philip (son of John Goetsel)
  Goetseed, (Goodseels) (S) Lucine, children: Philip, Colette, Clemenie,
              Jennie, Ana, Lena, and Jean
  Gordia
  Goudsill, wife, son and three daughters
  Gouffre, A. J., wife and son
  Gouhenans (perhaps not a member of colony)
  Grimot, Pierre
  Grisset, Pierre, wife Josephine, daughter Marie
  Grisset, (S) Josephine and daughter
  Guerin
  Guillemet, August, wife Marie E., children: Angelle, Alexandrine and
              Augustine
  Guillemet, (S) Auguste, wife Marie, children: Angel, Augustine,
              Alfred, and Amen
  Guillemet, Augustine (daughter of Auguste)
  Guiller
  Guillot, August and wife (son of Maxime)
  Guillot, Maxime, wife Mary, son August
  Guillot, Remy
  Guyot, Remy, wife and son
  Gusman
  Haeck
  Haize, Jules
  Henry, (Henri) Paul R., wife, children: Paul, Rene, Marie and Asea
  Henry (S)
  Hetten, F. T.
  Heymens, F. T., A and V. (relatives)
  Hitten, Gustavus
  Joffre, Christophre
  Jones, Samuel S., wife Louisa, daughter Guillilmine
  Knopfli, Jacob, wife Barbara, daughter Elizabeth
  Lagogae, Jean Baptiste, son and daughter
  Lang, Benjamin, wife Eugenia, children: Mrs. Louis F. Rick, Mrs. F.
              Rick, and Mrs. Anna Lotzinhiser
  Lanotte, Jules, wife Josephine, children: Jules and Alice
  Lanotte, (Lonet), (S) Alexander, wife
  Lassagne
  Lavinge
  Leinhardt, George
  Le Pere, Lagogue
  Leray
  Lescrenier, (Le Lecrenier)
  Lesonier
  Long, Ben
  Lord, M. D.
  Louckx, John B., wife Mary, second wife Louisa, (seven children): Mrs.
              Thomas B. Matney, Mrs. Willard Boyer, Minnie, and Marie
  Louckx, Mrs. Louisa Lenison (S), (perhaps wife)
  Louis, Louis, wife Margaret
  Loupot, Francois
  Loupot, Jean, wife Rosina, children: Rosina, John, Ema, Maxime, and
              Emile
  Loupot, John
  McDelore, Aut., wife Augustine, Jennie
  Maguet
  Manduce, John
  Manduel, John (S)
  Mansion, Emanuel, wife Jeannie
  Marins
  Marius, Antoine, accompanied by brother
  Marold
  Mayrus
  Michel, Ferdinand, wife Salomee
  Migoureaux
  Mique
  Monduel, Jean, wife, daughter Julia
  Monpate, two sons and daughter
  Morize
  Moulard, Mrs. Jean, daughter Julia
  Moulard, John, wife, daughter and son
  Naton, (Newton)
  Nicholas
  Nusbaimer, Robert Jacques
  Nussbaimer, (S) Jacob, wife Dorothes, children: Mary and Theodore
  Pascal
  Peier, Jacob
  Peier, Jean
  Peloux, wife and daughter
  Pendleton
  Perison
  Petit, wife, son and daughter
  Pierquet
  Pierson
  Pimpare, (Pinpare), Rene, wife Isabelle
  Potevin, (Poitevin), Guillome, wife Anna Dusseau
  Priot, (Prict), Jean, wife Leontine, children: Ernest, Ernestine, and
              two other sons
  Protat, (Prota), Antoine, wife and two daughters
  Prunet, Joseph
  Quinet, Nicholas, wife children: Ledre and Matilde
  Raijan
  Raizant, (Raizen), (S)
  Regnoir
  Reinhardt, George
  Remond, Emile, wife Cesarine
  Renier
  Reverchon, Jacque Maximilien
  Reverchon, Julian Maximilien, children: Julien and Louise
  Roger, (Rogers)
  Rose, Jules, wife and son
  Rouby
  Royer, Julius, wife and son
  Royer, (S) Joseph
  Santerre, (Saunterre), Francois, wife Marie, children: Apploinaire,
              Cesarne, German, Luce, Emmanuel, Raphael, and Gustave
  Santerre, (Saunterre), Germane (son of Francois)
  Santerre, (Saunterre), Gustave (son of Francois)
  Savardan, Dr. Augustin
  Scherer
  Sellier
  Steere
  Stiffel
  Taupin
  Thevenet, Michel, wife, children: Marie, Charles, Henry, and Philip
  Thivnet, Bessare, wife and daughter
  Toidevin, wife
  Tourneville
  Tuillot, (Teulot), R., wife and son
  Vacher, Alexandrine, wife and daughter
  Vaizian
  Valentine
  Vanderbosch, (Van Den Bosch), Guillam (William J.), wife Collet
  Vardack
  Vigoureaux, Madame Clarisse, daughter
  Vilmain
  Vogel
  Voirin, Charles, wife and two sons
  Voision, Pierre
  Van Grinderbeck, Guilliame (William), wife Clemence
  Van Grinderbeck, Louis
  Vreidag, Rudolph
  Wealms, John, wife Barbara, daughter and two sons
  Wealms, (S) John, wife Barbara, children: Clemantine and John H.,
              (relative) Dominic
  Willemain
  Willemet, F. L., wife and two daughters
  Willis, wife, daughter and two sons
  Willdme, Richard
  Witiker
  Yeuch

                       B. PLAN OF THE PHALANSTERY

               [Illustration: B. PLAN OF THE PHALANSTERY]

                    C. ACTS INCORPORATING THE COLONY

                              CHAPTER CCCX

An Act to Incorporate the European and American Colonization Society in
                                 Texas

Whereas, A company under the name of the European and American
Colonization Society in Texas has been formed in Brussels between Victor
Prosper Considerant, Allyre Bureau, Charles Francois Guillon, Jean
Baptiste Andre, Goden Lemaire and their associates, on the 26th day of
September, A.D. 1854, as appeared by an act deposited at the office of
Mr. Hedweld, Notary in said city, and duly legalized and certified on
the 20th day of January, AD. 1855, by the Consul of the United States at
Antwerp, the nature and object of which said company consists in the
Union of intended colonists creating a joint stock, and constituting an
agency to enable its shareholders to emigrate to Texas to colonize, to
improve lands, to transfer hither their manufactories, to introduce new
culture and new branches of industry. And whereas, the objects of said
association are calculated to develop the resources and add to the
population and wealth of this State. Therefore, Be it enacted by the
Legislature of the State of Texas,

Section 1. That Victor Prosper Considerant, Allyre Bureau, Charles
Francois Guillion, Jean Baptiste Andre, Godin Lemaire and their
associates, successors be, and they are hereby constituted a body
politic and corporate, by the name of the European and American
Colonization Society in Texas, with power and authority in said
corporate name to have succession, to make contracts, to have and use a
seal, to acquire by purchase, donation or otherwise, and to own, manage
and alienate property real, mixed and personal, to sue and be sued, to
plead and be impleaded in law and equity in like manner and as fully as
natural persons, to carry on, conduct and manage any kind of
manufacturing, mechanical or agricultural business, to issue shares and
negotiate them, to borrow money by mortgage on its property or
otherwise; to have a President, Directors, Secretaries and Treasurers,
and all such officers and agents as the company may deem necessary, and
to prescribe their powers and duties; to make such by-laws, rules and
regulations, not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of this
State or of the United States, as they may deem necessary and proper for
the government of said company and the management of its affairs and
interests, and to possess generally all the powers, rights, immunities
and privileges necessary to carry into effect the provisions and objects
of the said association.

Provided, that a majority of the Directors of said Company and the
President thereof shall be residents of Texas, and that the principal
office shall be kept in this State, where all writs and citations shall
be served. And further provided, that this act shall not be so construed
as to entitle said company to the benefits of any law granting lands or
money to any railroad, manufacturing or colonization company, nor shall
it authorize said company to prohibit slavery in any Territory occupied
by it.

Section 2. The capital stock issued by the said Company shall not exceed
one million dollars, to be divided into shares of such values and
entitling the share holders thereof to vote in such manner as shall be
prescribed by the by-laws of said company; the duration of which shall
not exceed twenty years from the passage of this act.

Section 3. That the shareholders or corporators of the company, by this
act incorporated, shall be liable for all debts and obligations of said
company in the same manner and to the same extent as general partners
are by law now liable.

Passed, September 1st, 1856.

  Special Laws of the Sixth Legislature of the State of Texas passed at
  its adjourned session convened July 7, 1856 (Austin 1856) 216-217, in
  H.P.N. Gammel, _The Laws of Texas_, 1822-1897, Vol. IV (Austin, 1898),
  pp. 762-763.

                               CHAPTER 32

An Act amendatory of an act entitled an act to incorporate the European
              and American Colonization Society in Texas.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That
the third section of the above entitled act be so amended that the same
shall hereafter read as follows: That the Shareholders or Corporators of
the Company shall be liable for all debts and obligations of said
Company, to the extent of the Capital Stock subscribed or owned by each.

Section 2. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its
passage.

Approved, January 6th, 1858.

  Special Laws of Seventh Legislature of the State of Texas (Austin,
  1858), 26, _ibid._, p. 1204.

                       D. LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION

                                                           New York City
                                                       November 10, 1854

  His Excelly
  Gov. Pease

  My Dear Sir:

Permit me to introduce to you my friend Mr. F. Cantagrel of France--He
is a gentleman of _high standing_ and _acquirements_ and goes to Texas
to see the country and may perhaps establish himself there for
life--Being a stranger, he will be thankful for any advice, aid or
consel you may extend to him, will be regarded a personal favor by me
and duly reciprocated by us both.[1]

                            Very respectfully,
                                 (Signed)
                                                           H. W. Merrill
                                                                Bt Major
                                                                     USA

  To/His Excelly
      Gov. M. Pease

                                           Legation of the United States
                                              Brussels, January 14, 1855

  Dear Sir:

Although not acquainted with your Excellency, yet as the diplomatic
representative of our country I take the liberty of addressing you this
note for the purpose of introducing to your acquaintance and attention
the distinguished Republican, Mons. Victor Considerant of France; who is
about leaving Europe with a number of his Countrymen to settle and
establish a Colony in your state. Mons. Considerant is an ardent
republican and has not escaped the persecution usually attendant upon
the advocates of these opinions in Europe. Our Countrymen, I trust, will
receive him the more cordially. He is a gentleman of means education and
intelligence, and will be a most valuable acquisition to your state.
Under these circumstances it is not necessary to commend him both good
office and kind consideration of the governor of the free and chivalrous
state of Texas.

I have the honor to be, Sir, with very great respect your Countryman &
old Servant.[2]

                                 (Signed)
                                                            J. J. Seibel

  To/His Excellency the
      Governor of Texas

  The State of Texas
  County of Travis

Know all men by these present that I James Knight of Fort Bend County.
State aforesaid for a good & Valuable Consideration. The receipt of
which is hereby acknowledged, have by these presents doth hereby grant
bargain and convey unto Victor Prosper Considerant, his heirs and
assignees all the right title and interest that I have or may hereafter
acquire of in the certificate no [3169/3270] for one league and labor of
Land issued by the Commission--is of the General Land office on the 19th
day of January A D 1854 which said certificate was issued to me as
assigned of James McLaughlin

Witness my hand and scrawl for seal this 7th Jany A D 1855.[3]

  E. R. Peck
  John C. Higginson
                                                            James Knight
                                                                  (Seal)

[1]Texas Archives, Governor's Letters--Pease.

[2]From Archives of Texas, Governor Pease's Letters.

[3]From Texas Land Office--Dallas Co.--James McLaughlin, File 853.

                               REFERENCES

                              Introduction

[1]For a brief study of socialism see Thomas Kirkup, _A History of
    Socialism_ (New York, 1909); John Spargo, _A Summary and
    Interpretation of Socialistic Principles_ (New York, 1906); Harry W.
    Laidler, _A History of Socialist Thought_ (New York, 1927). For a
    more extended study, Donald Drew Egbert and Stow Persons, editors,
    _Socialism and American Life_ (Princeton, New Jersey, 1952), 2 Vols.

[2]A. C. Pigou, _Socialism Versus Capitalism_ (London: Macmillan and
    Company, 1938), p. 2; Egbert, _op. cit._, I, iii.

[3]_Ibid._, 1.

[4]Egbert, _Socialism and American Life_, I, Introduction.

[5]See also Max Beer, _A History of British Socialism_, London, 1929, I,
    160-180; Egbert, _op. cit._, I, 156-172.

[6]H. W. Laidler, _Social-Economic Movements_ (Thomas Y. Cromwell, New
    York, 1946), 98.

[7]_Socialism, Utopian and Scientific_ (Chicago: 1914), 74; Egbert, _op.
    cit._, I, iii.

[8]Engels, _op. cit._, 91.

[9]This conclusion does not coincide with the discussion in _Socialism
    and American Life_, I, 215-522 by Daniel Bell. It appears that Bell
    used an indefensibly wide interpretation of Marxianism to demand so
    many pages to relate the actions of the followers of Marx. An
    example, from the viewpoint of this author, may be noted on page
    250. The discussion in these two hundred and fifty pages is a
    splendid story of American Socialism but hardly of Marxian Socialism
    in America.

                               CHAPTER I

[1]D. O. Wagner, _Social Reformers from Adam Smith to John Dewey_ (New
    York: 1934), 213-239. Harry W. Laidler, _Social-Economic Movements,
    An Historical and Comparative Survey of Communism, Cooperation,
    Utopianism: and Other Systems of Reform and Reconstruction_ (New
    York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1946), 44-117. For general discussion
    concerning the period see _Revue des Deux Mondes_, XXIIIe Annee,
    Seconde serie de la Nouvelle Period, III, No. 1, 1853, 320-345, and
    especially, 1852, No. 3, 508-545.

[2]For a criticism of Fourier's ideas and system see Mme. C. Coignet,
    _Victor Considerant, sa Vie, son Oeuvre_ (Paris, France, 1895), 5-9;
    Frederic Engels, _Socialism, Utopian and Scientific_, translated by
    Deward Aveling (Chicago, 1914), 63-66; Harry W. Laidler, _A History
    of Socialist Thought_ (New York, 1927). For a more extensive
    biography, _La Grande Encyclopedie Nouvelle Biographie Generale
    depuis les Temps les plus Recules Jusqua nos jours_, XII; Coignet,
    _op. cit._, 2-5. Fourier's chief works are _Le Noveau Monde
    Industrial et Societaire_, 1829; _Traité de l'association
    Domestiquée Agricole au Attraction Industrielle_, 2 Vols., 1822; _La
    Theorie des Quarte Mouvements et de Destinées Générales_. For
    materials on related discussions see A. Grandin, _Bibliographie des
    Science_, etc. For a biography see F. August Bebel, _Charles
    Fourier, Sein Leben Und Seine Theorien_ (Stuttgart, 1888).

[3]For a plan of phalanstery see Appendix B. Compare Albert Brisbane,
    _Social Destiny of Man_: or, _Associations and Reorganization of
    Industry_ (Philadelphia, 1840), 353-354. For an extensive study see
    items listed in Egbert, _op. cit._, II, 132-135.

[4]Frederic Engels had a very high appreciation of Fourier; he said:
    "Fourier is not only a critic; his imperturbable serene nature makes
    him a satirist, and assuredly one of the greatest satirists of all
    times.... He was the first to declare that in any given society the
    degree of woman's emancipation is the natural measure of the general
    emancipation." See Frederic Engels, _op. cit._, 64-65. Ferrari, "Des
    Idées de L'école de M. Fourier depuïs 1830" in _Revue des Deux
    Mondes_, XI, August 1, 1845, No. 3, 389-434.

[5]Eugene Fourniere, "Le Rèigne de Louis-Philippe, 1830-1848," in
    _Histoire Socialiste_, 1789-1900, edited by Jean Jaures, 322-326.

[6]Coignet, _op. cit._, 1-16. For a list of his writings see _Victor P.
    Considerant, in LaRousse du XXe Siécle_, II, 425.

[7]Coignet, _Victor Considerant, sa Vie, son Oeuvre_, 11-22; see also
    Eugene Fourniére, _op. cit._; Savardan, _Un Naufrage au Texas_
    (Paris, 1858), iii, 11-23.

[8]Coignet, _op. cit._, 29-34.

[9]_Ibid._; Albert Brisbane, _A Mental Biography With a Character Study
    by His Wife, Redelia Brisbane_ (Boston, 1893), 194; Hereafter cited
    as _Mental Biography_; Savardan, _op. cit._; Victor Prosper
    Considerant, _The Great West, A New Social and Industrial Life in
    Its Fertile Regions_ (New York, 1854) _passim_. Hereafter cited as
    _The Great West_.

[10]Eugene Fourniére, _op. cit._, 444.

[11]Brisbane, _Mental Biography_, 195.

[12]Brisbane, in the preface of Considerant, _The Great West_; see also,
    Considerant, _Contre M. Arago Réclamation addresse a la Chambre des
    Deputies par les Redacteurs du Feuilleton de la Phalange. Suive de
    la Théorie Droit de Propriété_, Paris, 1840.

[13]Albert Brisbane, _op. cit._, 315.

[14]_New York Tribune_, January 1, 1853, quoting the _Allegemeine
    Zeitung_.

[15]Albert Brisbane, _op. cit._, vii. For a short bibliography of
    Brisbane see Charles A. Madison, _Critics and Crusaders_ (New York,
    1947-1948), 114-133.

[16]Albert Brisbane, _op. cit._, 177; a further development of
    Brisbane's ideas along this line is found in his _Social Destiny of
    Man_.

[17]Brisbane, _Mental Biography_, xi; For a discussion of Brisbane's
    efforts in literature and propaganda see John Humphrey Noyes,
    _History of American Socialist_ (New York, 1870), xvii, entitled
    "Literature of Fourierism."

[18]Brisbane, _op. cit._, 211.

[19]See _infra_. iv: footnote 25.

[20]Brisbane, _Social Destiny of Man, or Associations and Reorganization
    of Industry_ (Philadelphia, 1840), 5-40.

[21]Brisbane, _op. cit._, 40.

[22]For a full list of writers and supporters see Noyes, _History of
    Socialism_, 211-231; C. Nordhoff, _Communistic Societies of the
    United States_ (New York, 1875).

[23]For additional information concerning Fourierism in the United
    States, see William Alford Hinds, _American Communities_ (Chicago,
    1902), 221, 254, a list of phalanges on page 224; Albert Shaw,
    _Icaire, A Chapter in the History of Communism_ (New York, 1884),
    ii.

                               CHAPTER II

[1]Victor Prosper Considerant, _Au Texas_, 1st, 1-6. There are two
    editions of this book, and, unfortunately, notes were taken from
    both. The editions will be referred to as 1st and 2nd.

[2]_Ibid._, 6; Coignet, _Victor Considerant, sa Vie, son Oeuvre_, 74,
    states that Considerant came directly to the United States in
    response to an invitation from Brisbane, intending to establish a
    colony.

[3]Considerant, _op. cit._, 8; Coignet, _op. cit._, 175.

[4]_Ibid._, Part I, especially 16-17.

[5]_Picayune_ as quoted in the _Northern Standard_ (Clarksville, Texas),
    May 21, 1853.

[6]Considerant, _Au Texas_ (1st ed.), 23-28.

[7]Considerant, _The Great West_, 4-5; _Au Texas_ (1st ed.), 28-29.

[8]Considerant, _The Great West_, 6; _Au Texas_ (1st ed.), 32-33.

[9]"The town of Preston, from which all this misery for the Red Man
    emanates, is a collection of low groggeries and a few stores, lining
    the high bluff bank of the River.

    It is notorious as the scene of some most cold-blooded and cruel
    murders, committed in open day, and with--up to that time--perfect
    impunity. This, together with the detestable traffic I have just
    alluded, whiskey traffic has brought such a stigma upon the place,
    that the very name is sufficient for all that is ruthless and
    vicious."

    W. B. Parker, _Notes Taken During the Expedition Through Unexplored
    Texas_, 72.

[10]Letter written June 9, 1853 from Cooke County, quoted in the
    _Northern Standard_, June 18, 1853.

[11]Considerant, _The Great West_, 9-10; _Au Texas_ (1st ed.), 37-44.

[12]_Ibid._, 42. The Icarian movement was an attempt to form a French
    colony which had preceded Considerant's colony by several years.

[13]_Ibid._, 10-11. Perhaps the tomatoes were of the climbing variety.

[14]Considerant, _The Great West_, 10-11; _Au Texas_ (1st ed.), 44-45.

[15]Considerant, _The Great West_, 11.

[16]_Ibid._, 14.

[17]_Ibid._, 20.

[18]_Ibid._, 23.

[1]Considerant, _The Great West_, 27. The whole of _Au Texas_ is a
    defense of the colonization scheme, in which Considerant is
    continually reminding the colonists and those who furnished the
    money that no golden promises were ever made.

[2]_Ibid._, 27-28.

[3]_Ibid._, 30-31.

[4]_Ibid._, 31.

[5]_Ibid._, 32.

[6]_Ibid._, 35.

[7]Herman Studer, _Auswanderung nach hoch--Texas, Was wir in Texas
    wollen; Andeutungen Ueber Organization der Arbeit_ (Zuerich, 1855);
    Considerant, _Description du Phalanstere et Considerations Sociales
    sur l' Architect antique_ (3rd ed.), Libraire Societaire, Paris,
    1846, 64.

[8]Considerant, _Du Texas, premier Rapport a Mes Amis_, (Paris, 1857),
    7.

[9]_Ibid._, 8-9. This surprise and disappointment of Considerant in
    having all his advice disregarded might explain Considerant's
    attitude toward Savardan's party at New Orleans and Galveston, as
    given in Savardan, _Un Naufrage au Texas_, ch. ii.

[10]Considerant, _Au Texas_, (2nd ed.), 276. The title is sometimes
    written the _Société Europeene de colonisation du Texas_.

[11]Savardan, _Un Naufrage Au Texas_, 14; see also Coignet, _Victor
    Considerant, sa Vie, son Oeuvre_.

[12]Savardan, _op. cit._

[13]Considerant, _op. cit._, 272-274. Agencies were to be established at
    No. 2 Rue de Beaune, Paris, France, and in New York, with Brisbane
    as agent for the United States--Considerant, _The Great West_, 60.

[14]Considerant, _Au Texas_, (2nd ed.), 240.

[15]Appendix of statutes of the Society, _ibid._, 271.

[16]Considerant, _A Petition to the Honorable, the Senate and the House
    of Representatives of the State of Texas_ (Austin, December 10,
    1855), Enclosure c, 7.

[17]Quoting an extract from a letter to his excellency, the Governor of
    Texas, in _ibid._, 5.

[18]Considerant, _Au Texas_, (2nd ed.), 199-217.

[19]_Ibid._, 197, 301-324.

[20]Considerant, _The Great West_, 42; _Au Texas_ (2nd ed.), 127-131.

[21]Considerant, _The Great West_, 59-60.

[22]Considerant, _Au Texas_, (2nd ed.), 306-310.

[23]Considerant, _The Great West_, 28-29.

[24]Considerant, _Au Texas_, (2nd ed.), 306-310.

[25]Considerant, _The Great West_, 25.

[26]_Ibid._, 37-38; _Au Texas_, (2nd ed.), 320-321.

[27]Considerant, _The Great West_, 30-31; see also succeeding footnote.

[28]Considerant, _Au Texas_, (2nd ed.), 189-190.

[29]Considerant, _The Great West_, 37-38.

[30]Considerant, _European Colonization in Texas_, 15; _The Great West_,
    37-38; _Au Texas_, (2nd ed.), 167-170.

[31]_Ibid._, 169 ff.

[32]Considerant, _The Great West_, 44.

                               CHAPTER IV

[1]Considerant, _European Colonization in Texas, An Address to the
    American People_, New York, 1855, 4-6; _Du Texas_, 5-6.

[2]Considerant, _European Colonization in Texas_, 5.

[3]_Ibid._, 6-7.

[4]_Ibid._, 6-16.

[5]Also quoted in Considerant, _op. cit._, 31.

[6]For Considerant's reply see his pamphlet _European Colonization in
    Texas_; for editorial of _Washington Sentinel_, see _Texas State
    Gazette_, October 13, 1855; For the letters see _ibid._, June 2,
    1855, October 13, 1855.

[7]_Texas State Gazette_, October 13, 1855.

[8]Letter from J. L. to Editors, dated at Washington, May 2, 1855, as
    quoted in _Texas State Gazette_, June 2, 1855.

[9]_European Colonization in Texas._

[10]_Ibid._, 32.

[11]_Austin State Gazette_, Aug. 11, 1855; Compare this article with the
    one written in the issue of September 22, 1855, wherein those who
    had suffered from persecution were advised to, "Come to the gallant
    West, where freedom is as expansive as the prairie, and as generous
    as the soil. Come to the West and let the golden grain you raise be
    sent back to feed the men whose ruthless hands would, as did those
    of Cain of old, strike down the toiling tiller of the soil."

[12]_Texas State Times_, August 4, 1855.

[13]_Ibid._

[14]_Ibid._

[15]_Ibid._; For opposition to other foreigners in Texas see _Texas
    State Times_, June 16, 1855, and also June 21, 1855.

[16]August 14, 1855.

[17]As quoted in _The Standard_, February 24, 1855.

[18]August 25, 1855.

[19]_Texas State Gazette_, October 13, 1855.

[20]_Ibid._

[21]Albert Brisbane, _Social Destiny of Man_; or _Associations and
    Reorganization of Industry_, ix, especially pps. 101-102.

[22]Considerant, _European Colonization in Texas_, 35-38.

[23]_Texas State Gazette_, August 11, 1855.

[24]Savardan, _Un Naufrage au Texas_, specifically states that the
    legislators would have no neutrality but actual participation
    favorable to the slavery question.

[25]_New York Tribune_ as quoted in the _Texas Sun_, November 17, 1855.

[26]The petition is entitled "_A petition to the Honorable, the Senate
    and the House of Representatives of the State of Texas_," and is in
    the Library of the University of Texas. Search of the state archives
    was made for the original document, with other information which
    Considerant referred to in the petition, but was not found, due to
    the fact that the records were not systematically filed at the time
    of the search.

[27]Considerant, _European Colonization in Texas_, 4ff. states his
    attitude toward this opposition and the reasons for his application.

[28]Extract from a letter to his Excellency the Governor of Texas, as
    quoted in "_A Petition to the Honorable, the Senate and House of
    Representatives of the State of Texas_," 5.

[29]_Dallas Herald_, August 16, 1856.

[30]_State Gazette Appendix_, Austin, No. 79, Sixth Legislature, Adj.
    Sess. 205.

[31]_House Journal_, 1856, 566, and _Austin Gazette, Appendix_, No. 70,
    205.

[32]_Senate Journal_, 1856, 340-341.

[33]_Ibid._, 341.

[34]_Ibid._, _Adj. Session_, 394.

[35]_Senate Journal_, 1856, 412.

                               CHAPTER V

[1]_Dallas Herald_, as quoted in _The Standard_, February 24, 1855.

[2]_Dallas Herald_, as quoted in the _Clarksville Standard_, February
    24, 1855.

[3]In preface of Considerant, _The Great West_.

[4]_Ibid._

[5]Savardan, _op. cit._, 37-38; the numbers really indicate livres
    instead of pounds.

[6]The account of Savardan's trip and the others mentioned above are
    found in Savardan, _Un Naufrage au Texas_, chap. iv.

[7]Savardan, _op. cit._, 201-203.

[8]_Ibid._, chap. iv.

[9]Samuel W. Geiser, "Naturalists of the Frontier," in _Southwest
    Review_, October, 1928-July, 1929, XIV, No. 3, 331. An adequate
    biography of Julien Reverchon is given in this article by Mr.
    Geiser.

[10]_Ibid._ See also Preston Sneed, "Letter signed by Napoleon is in
    Dallas," in _Dallas News_, Sunday, May 8, 1927.

[11]I have been able to locate only a few detached pages of his diary.
    These pages were in the possession of a grandson of the La Notte
    family or Lanotte.

[12]Esubia Lutz, "Almost Utopia," in _Southwest Review_ (October,
    1928-July, 1929), Vol. XIV, No. 3, 321-330. Since writing this
    article Germain Santerre has died. See also George H. Santerre,
    _White Cliffs of Dallas, the Story of La Reunion, The Old French
    Colony_, Dallas, 1955, 137-142.

[13]Ellis W. Schuler, "The Geology of Dallas County," in _University of
    Texas Bulletin_, No. 1818, March 25, 1918.

[14]See Appendix A for a partial list of the colonists and see also
    Eloise Santerre, _Réunion_, a Translation of Dr. Savardan's _Un
    Naufrage au Texas_.

[15]_Texas State Gazette_, February 10, 1855.

[16]The list of names contained in Appendix A was collected from
    articles, papers, and books written concerning the colony and does
    not represent any special investigation in unprinted sources. "The
    story of Old French Town" in the _Dallas News_, March 26, 1922; and
    also Santerre, _op. cit._, are perhaps the best sources available
    for names.

                               CHAPTER VI

[1]Victor Prosper Considerant, _Au Texas, le premier Rapport a mes Amis_
    (1st ed., Bruxelles, 1855), 44; _The Great West, A New Social and
    Industrial Life in its Fertile Regions_ (New York, 1854), 9-10;
    _European Colonization in Texas, an Address to the American People_
    (New York, 1855), 18. The greater part of this chapter first
    appeared as an article in _The Southwestern Social Science
    Quarterly_, XVII, No. 2, September, 1936.

[2]_A Petition to the Honorable, the Senate and the House of
    Representatives of the State of Texas_, Austin, December 10, 1885;
    Savardan, _Un Naufrage au Texas_ ..., p. 30-31.

[3]_Deed Record_, Dallas County, _Book K_, 67-69; also _Book F_,
    410-411.

[4]Considerant, _Au Texas_ (2nd ed.).

[5]Savardan, _op. cit._, v.

[6]Phalanstery was the name given to a unit of the colony in writings
    supporting the movement.

[7]Deed filed in Harris County _Record of Deeds, Book D_, 164; see also
    County of Dallas, _Deeds Record, Book K_, 174-176.

[8]Savardan, _Un Naufrage au Texas_, 148-149.

[9]_Ibid._, v.

[10]_Southwest Review_, (October-July, 1928-1929), XIV, 324-325. A list
    of the tracts purchased is found in Dallas County, _Deed Record_,
    Book K, 67-73.

[11]Savardan, _op. cit._, 244-246.

[12]Compare, _Ibid._, 160 ff.

[13]Savardan, _Un Naufrage_, 206-213.

[14]Considerant, _Au Texas_, _passim_, for definite explanation.

[15]Savardan, _op. cit._, 179 ff.

[16]_Dallas Herald_, November 23, 1859.

[17]_Dallas Herald_, June 1, 1859.

[18]Vincent, "The Story of Old French Town," _Dallas Morning News_,
    November 23, 1919.

[19]Savardan, _op. cit._, vii.

[20]_Ibid._, vii.

[21]_Ibid._, 191-193.

[22]_Ibid._, 153-154.

[23]_Ibid._, 179, 180 ff.

[24]

      a. Considerant and council of six (supposedly elected by people).
      b. A Director, apparently responsible to the Council.
      c. Worker's Council (elected from the different groups of
      workers). Two from this organization were elected to serve in the
      council of six.
      d. In addition to these committees there were numerous minor
      groups--one of the store, and one of the hotel--each one exerting
      some influence on local affairs.

    Savardan, _Un Naufrage au Texas_, _passim_.

                                    CHAPTER VII

[1]Savardan, _Un Naufrage au Texas_, 175-178.

[2]_Ibid._, 172, 206-207.

[3]Considerant, _Du Texas_, 14-16; Savardan, _op. cit._, 188.

[4]_Du Texas_, 9-13. He died in Paris, France, 1893.

[5]_Ibid._, 1.

[6]Savardan, _op. cit._, 150.

[7]Savardan, _Un Naufrage au Texas_, 151-153.

[8]Savardan, _op. cit._, 169-170.

                              BIBLIOGRAPHY

A selective bibliography is given here, listing only items important to
the development of the Colony. Other items will be found in footnotes,
especially for introduction and Chapter I.

Adair, W. S., "Old French Settlement Near Dallas," _Dallas Morning
    News_, March 26, 1922.

Boyer, Louise, "The Story of Old French Colony," in _Dallas Morning
    News_, June 15, 1924.

Bougle, C., "Victor Considerant," _Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences_,
    Vol. IV, New York, 1931.

Brisbane, Albert, _A Mental Biography, with a Character Study by His
    Wife Redelia Brisbane_, Boston, 1893.

    _Social Destiny of Man: or, Associations and Reorganization of
    Industry_, Philadelphia, 1840.

Brown, John Henry, _History of Dallas County, Texas, from 1837-1887_,
    Dallas, 1887.

Bryan, Louise Estelle, _Considerant and His Texas Utopia_ (M.A. Thesis)
    Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, 1924.

Coignet, Madame C., _Victor Considerant, sa Vie, son Oeuvre_, Paris,
    France, 1895.

Collard, P., _Victor Considerant, sa Vie, ses Idees, Dijon_, 1910. (not
    cited).

Considerant, Victor Prosper, _A Petition to the Honorable, the Senate
    and House of Representatives of the State of Texas_, Austin,
    December 10, 1855.

    _Au Texas, la premiere rapport a mes amis_, Paris, 1954.

    _Au Texas! Ou Exposé fidèle des hauts faits de science sociale,
    exécutés par les grands hommes de la Phanage et de la Démocratie
    pacifique dans le Nouveaux Monde_, Paris, 1856.

    _Au Texas, Rapport a mes amis; Bases et status de la Sociéte de
    Colonization Europeo-Americaine, au Texas; Les bases d'un premier
    establissement societaire_, 2nd edition, 1855, Bruxelles.

    _Contre M. Argo Reclamation addressee a la chambre Des deputes par
    les Redacteurs du Feuilleton de la Phalange. Suivi de la Théorie
    Droit de Propriete._ Paris, 1840.

    _Destinée Sociale_, 3 Vols., Paris, 1834-1844.

    _Du Texas; premier rapport a mes amis_, Paris, Librairie Societaire,
    1857.

    _European Colonization in Texas; An Address to the American People_,
    New York, 1855.

    _Mexique: Quatre Lettres au Maréchal Bazaine_, Bruxelles, 1868.

    _The Great West; A New Social and Industrial Life in its Fertile
    Regions_, New York, 1854.

    _Théorie du Droit de Propriete, et du droit au travail_, 1848, N.P.
    (Bound with Contre M. Argo in Texas University Library.)

    _Three Hundred Millions of Dollars saved in Specie by the Meaning of
    a Word: Letter to Secretary McCulloch from Victor Considerant_ (La
    Conception, Texas). New York, 1867.

_Dallas County Deeds Record_, Courthouse, Dallas, Texas. (Examined files
    only from 1852-1870.)

_Dallas Herald_, Dallas, Texas.

    Newspaper published in Dallas, not connected with the present paper
    bearing the same name. Investigated incomplete files, at the
    University of Texas, covering the period from July 3, 1855, to June
    20, 1860.

_Dallas Morning News_, Dallas, Texas, (Examined files only from
    1915-1931.)

_Democratie Pacifique_, Paris, France, July 30, 1843.

    Newspaper published by the Fourieristes immediately after Fourier's
    death. Not used in the preparation of this account.

Engels, Friedrick, _Socialism, Utopian and Scientific_, tr. by Edward
    Aveling ... with a special introduction by the author, Chicago,
    1900.

Fourniere, Eugene, _Le Reigne de Louis-Philippe_, 1830-1848, in the
    _Histoire Socialiste_, 1789-1900, 12 Vols., edited by Jean Jaures,
    Paris, 1901-1908.

_Galveston News_, Galveston, Texas.

Gammel, H. P. N., _The Laws of Texas_ 1822-1897, Vol. V., Austin, 1898.

Geiser, Samuel Wood, "Naturalists of the Frontier; Julian Reverchon" in
    _Southwest Review_, XIV (October, 1928, July, 1929), 231-342.

Grandin, A., _Bibliographie Générale des Sciences Juridiques Politiques,
    Economiques et Sociales de 1800 a 1925_, 3 Vols., Paris, 1926, also
    supplement for 1926, 1927 and 1928.

Laidler, Harry W., _Socialism in Thought and Action_, New York, 1920.

"Letters of the Governors" (Manuscripts), _State Archives_, Austin,
    Texas.

Lindsey, Philip, _A History of Greater Dallas and Vicinity_, 2 Vols.,
    Chicago, 1909.

Louis, Paul, _Histoire du Socialism en France de la Revolution a Nos
    Jours_, Paris, 1925.

Lutz, Esubia, "Almost Utopia," in _Southwest Review_ (October,
    1928-July, 1929), Vol. XIV, No. 3, 321-330.

Madison, Charles A., _Critics and Crusaders_, New York, 1948.

Markham, S. F., _A History of Socialism_, London, 1930.

_New York Tribune_, Jan. 1, 1853-1855. New York.

Nordhoff, C., _Communistic Societies of the United States_, New York,
    1875.

_Standard_, Clarksville, Texas. Scattered files and a few bound numbers
    are in the Texas University Library. This paper is sometimes known
    as the _Northern Standard_.

Olmsted, Frederick Law, _A Journey Through Texas; or, a Saddletrip on
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    York, 1857.

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    B. Marcy, U.S.A., through unexplored Texas in the fall of 1854_,
    Philadelphia, 1856.

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                                 INDEX

                                   A
  Abolitionists, 76, 77
  Adair, W., 82
  Aims of the colony, 49
  Allen, John, 33, 37, 68, 96
  _Allgemeine Zeitung_, 25
  Austin, 44, 99, 108
  _Austin State Gazette_ (_Texas State Gazette_), 67, 69, 71-72, 76-78,
          83, 94
  Azores, 88

                                   B
  Belgium, 23, 25, 44, 52, 62, 96
  Blanc, Louis, 9
  Blummer, 112
  Bourland and Manion, letter of recommendation, 40
  Brisbane, Albert, 17, 25, 29-33, 54, 85, 100, 111
  Brussels, 85, 87, 91
  Bryan, 84, 88
  Bureau, Allyre, 93
  Bussy, A. M., 98, 108-110

                                   C
  Cantagrel, Francçois, 85-86, 96, 103, 104, 108
  Capitalism, definition, 11, 55-56, 58
  Carcassonne, 87
  Castroville, 99
  Cement City, 95
  Chapelle-Guagain, 87
  Chateau-Renault, 87
  Choctaw Agency, 39
  Cincinnati, 38, 86, 95
  Colonists, 85-86, 89-94
  Communism, 28, 48, 58
  Considerant, Victor Prosper, birth and life, 21;
      escape, 25;
      contributions, 25-29;
      first trip to U.S.A., 35ff.;
      trip to Texas, ii;
      ideas concerning Texas, 40-44;
      return to Europe, 44;
      ideas on colonization, iii;
      leading attacks, 64-66;
      attitude toward slavery, 77-78;
      plans suicide, 109;
      departed in secret, 109.
  Co-operative kitchen, 103-104
  Cousin, M., 87, 114

                                   D
  Dallas, 41, 61, 89, 93, 95, 111
  Dallas County, 92, 93, 96, 102;
      courts, 111.
  _Dallas Herald_, 67, 75
  Daly, M. Cesar, 95
  _Démocratie Pacifique_, 23-24, 25
  De Morse, Major, 40
  Dickson (of Red River), 82
  Dwight, John S., 33

                                   E
  Engels, Frederic, 10-14
  Erie (Lake), 42
  European-American Colonization Society in Texas, 82, 84, 96, 102
  Evans, W. M., 82
  Experiment in Texas, 48

                                   F
  Fort Belknap, 98
  Fort Graham, 41, 44
  Fort Smith, 38, 39
  Fort Worth, 41, 42;
      soldiers in, 42, 63, 96
  Fourier, Charles Francois, photograph 1; 14, 17;
      birth and life, 18;
      teachings, 19-20;
      writings, 18, 21;
      idea tested, 22;
      death, 22.
  Fourierism, 17, 23, 30, 32-33, 111
  Free-soilers, 76

                                   G
  Galveston, 88, 89, 91
  _Galveston News_, 67, 74
  Godain-Lemaire, 52, 54
  Goetsel, Philip, proposed colony, 90
  Godwin, Parke, 33
  Gouhenans, M., 41, 95
  Greeley, Horace, 33, 75, 78
  Gregg, G. G., 82
  Guillon, Charles Francois, 52

                                   H
  Harrison County, 82
  Houston, 89, 90, 93, 96, 98, 114

                                   J
  James, Henry, 33

                                   K
  Kingsley, Charles, 10
  Knight, James, 96
  Know-Nothing Party, 64, 65-66, 107

                                   L
  _La Reunion_, founders, 15, 17, 91, 93;
      population, 94, 95, 97;
      remains, 101-102
  La Salle, Saint Jean-Baptiste, 10
  Lechevalier, Jules, 26
  Long, Ben, 93
  Lowell, James Russell, 33, 36

                                   M
  McDade, Senator, 84
  Macy, Captain, 37, 63
  Marx, Karl, 14
  Merrill, Major, 42, 62, 63
  Muiron, Just, 18, 21, 22, 26

                                   N
  Napoleon, 25
  Napoleon III, 91
  _National Intelligencer_, 86
  New Harmony, 12, 14
  New Orleans, 52, 88, 89, 91
  Newton, 111
  New York City, 35, 38, 44, 52, 107, 111
  _New York Tribune_, 67, 75, 77, 79
  _Northern Standard_, 75
  Nuremberg, 88

                                   O
  Owen, Robert, 9, 12-14

                                   P
  Paget, Amedee, 22
  Paris, 28
  Pellarin, 22
  Pendleton, 111
  _Phalanstére_, 22, 23, 26
  Phalansterians, 22, 49, 99
  Phlange (phalanx), 19-20, 22, 23, 36
  Philippe, Louis, 25
  Preston (Texas), 39-40

                                   R
  Raizant, M. M., 90, 113
  _Reforme Industrielle_, 23, 26
  Remond, Emile, 92
  Renaud, 22
  Reverchon, Julien, 91-92
  Rodbertus, Johann, 10
  Roger, 85, 86, 95, 113

                                   S
  Saint-Simon, school, 25, 29
  San Antonio, 44, 99, 108, 110
  Santa Fe, 37, 61
  Santerre, François, 92, 113-114
  Savardan, 87-88, 90, 91, 98, 114
  Shaw, Francis G., 33
  Socialism, definition, 10-11;
      types, 11-12;
      Marxian, 11;
      Utopian, 12; 14, 31
  _Société de colonisation_, 52;
      articles of incorporation, 53-55;
      concerning capital, 56-57;
      groups within, 57-58;
      cooperation with other societies, 59-60;
      center of commerce, 61;
      incorporation, 82-84, 96
  _Standard_ (_Northern Standard_), 75
  _State Gazette_ (_Texas State Gazette_) Texas, 40, 42, 43, 44, 47, 49,
          54, 63

                                   T
  Texas settlers, character, 43-44
  _Texas State Gazette_, see _Austin State Gazette_
  _Texas State Times_, 67, 73
  Trinity River, 33, 41, 95

                                   U
  Ureidag, 93
  Uvalde County, 98-99; 108

                                   V
  Vigoureaux, Mme. Clarisse, 21-22, 92

                                   W
  Wakefield method, 48
  Washington, D. C., 63, 70
  _Washington Sentinel_, 67, 69, 76
  Whittier, John G., 33

                                   Y
  Young, Arthur, 23

                                   Z
  Zurich (Switzerland), 93

LA REUNION, A French Settlement in Texas, by W. J. and Margaret F.
Hammond, is the story of one of the great romantic attempts to settle
Texas. It is also the failure of several hundred Europeans to realize
their dreams.

This venture was led by Victor Prosper Considerant who headed a group of
several hundred colonists that came to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in
1855 to establish La Reunion a few miles west of Dallas, Texas.

Considerant intended this colony to be an experiment. However, those who
joined him thought in terms of actual accomplishments. Most of the
colonists were college graduates. Many of them were professional people
who were successful in European countries. They knew nothing of Texas
Frontier life and were not prepared for the heavy demands the climate
would make upon their existence. Even though these factors contributed
to the disintegration of the colony and experiment, the chief reason for
failure was the contrast of this socialistic dream with an unlimited
capitalism.

While La Reunion is a product of historical research, the authors have
related the story in an interesting, brisk style. The gathering of all
footnotes on specific pages instead of placing them at the bottom of
each page will be found to be more convenient in research.

                          Transcriber's Notes

--Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
  is public-domain in the country of publication.

--Corrected a few palpable typos.

--In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
  _underscores_.