Why Dauphin Island Is One of TODAY'S WORLD-CLASS HERITAGE TOURISM DESTINATIONS & Will Always Be AMERICA'S MOST HISTORIC GULF ISLAND
Standing on top of the dunes that tower over Pelican Bay, one is struck by the timelessness of the scene; however, the sands of time are always shifting and the paths of those who came before us disappear. But over three centuries of the recorded history of Dauphin Island have left many clues as to who has trod these sands before us...
1) As the first place of anchorage during Iberville's initial voyage of discovery to claim the colony of Louisiana for France in 1699, Dauphin Island stands as the old Louisiana's FIRST PORT OF CALL.
2) The initial construction for the entire Intracoastal Waterway was Grants Pass which was dredged at the north end of the present-day Dauphin Island Bridge in 1839.
3) For 318 years Dauphin Island has been continuously occupied under 6 different flags. (many people ignore the brief occupation by the Republic of Alabama prior to the formation of the Confederate States of America.)
4) Dauphin Island has experienced 20 different armed amphibious invasions that have included the French versus Jamaican Pirates, The French and Indians versus Spain, The English versus Spain, The U.S. versus Spain, The U.S. versus Great Britain and The Confederacy versus the U.S.
5) In 1708, Jacques Le Roux, a ship's carpenter, arrived at present-day Dauphin Island and began building shallow-draft ships at the site of Old Mobile and on the island. These were the first large watercraft built on the northern Gulf of Mexico or in the Mississippi Valley.
6) According to Giraud, the first fish net used in old Louisiana was brought to Dauphin Island in 1717 and used in the waters off Dauphin Island.
7) The enduring qualities of cypress wood were discovered on Dauphin Island in 1709 and the entire cypress lumber industry, Louisiana's first profitable export, was founded on the island.
8) Dauphin Island is the ONLY geographic place name on the original 1712 Crozat contract with the French king. This contract became the definition of the territory claimed by the U.S. under the 1803 Louisiana Purchase with France.
9) The first slave ship from Africa to arrive in the colony of Louisiana dropped anchor at Dauphin Island in 1719.
10) The only man to ever be publicly executed by having his arm and leg bones broken on the wheel was born on Dauphin Island in 1715.
11) Bienville departed from Dauphin Island when he left on his voyage to found the City of New Orleans in 1718.
12) Dauphin Island was the ancient destination for most pre-historic people when they exited the present-day Mississippi River to portage their canoes at the present-day location of New Orleans.
13) Marine shells were a big-time pre-historic business. Almost all pre-historic males in the Mississippi Valley wanted to drink their sacred tonic from a lightning whelk shell. The demand for these shells was so great that Mississippi Valley archaeologists have discovered dozens of pottery cups made of clay in the shape of the lightning whelk shell. Cabeza de Vaca, a survivor of the failed Narvaez expedition, financed his journey to Mexico City by selling marine shells to natives in the interior. Dauphin Island's Indian shell mounds stand as evidence of the importance of this pre-historic commerce.
14) To the right of the altar of the chapel of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis (the floor of the altar is built above the room that holds the sarcophagus of Captain John Paul Jones) is a stained glass window of Admiral Farragut strapped to the mast of the U.S.S. Hartford at the Battle of Mobile Bay. An anchor of the Hartford, identical to the one in the courtyard at Dauphin Island's Fort Gaines, stands outside the Naval Museum at the Washington Navy Yard. The entire front foyer of the museum is dedicated to the Battle of Mobile Bay. The expression "DAMN THE TORPEDOES, FULL SPEED AHEAD" is now a part of our national consciousness.
15) In 1758, the Louisiana historian de Pratz wrote that Mobile was "the birthplace of French Louisiana" and that Dauphin Island was its "cradle." The events which took place on Dauphin Island between 1701 and 1722 occurred during the critical years which determined the success or failure of the Louisiana colony.
16) Dauphin Island's street names stand as a daily reminder of the individuals who make up the island's historic "Hall of Fame".
17) The greatest and longest alliance between two nations that the world has ever known began in the water off Dauphin Island when American officers shook the hands of the commanding officers of the Royal Navy's North American Expeditionary Force after the men received word that peace had been declared to end the War of 1812.
18) Plans for an American fortification on Dauphin Island were approve by Congress in 1818, however, it would take over forty years for this fort to be constructed. The legal and logistical obstacles that were overcome in order to build Fort Gaines have never been properly examined.
19) For two hundred years there was no adequate ship channel to accommodate large ocean-going ships coming into Mobile Bay. These ships anchored in the water off Dauphin Island and their cargo was transferred to smaller shallow draft boats that could navigate the shallow waters of the bay. Pilots to guide the ocean-going ships into Mobile Bay have always been necessary and Dauphin Island has been their home during most of the three centuries of maritime trade in present-day Alabama.
20) Numerous shipwrecks lay undisturbed in the sands beneath the water that surrounds Dauphin Island. These include the Confederate submarine AMERICAN DIVER, the Union ironclad Tecumseh and the French treasure ship BELLONE.
21) A granite survey monument erected in 1847 by Coast and Geodetic Survey Superintendent A. D. Bache, stands today in the courtyard of Fort Gaines. Although moved from its original location, it is the oldest known Coast Survey marker on the Gulf Coast.
lthough moved from its original location, it is the oldest known Coast Survey marker on the Gulf Coast
Standing on top of the dunes that tower over Pelican Bay, one is struck by the timelessness of the scene; however, the sands of time are always shifting and the paths of those who came before us disappear. But over three centuries of the recorded history of Dauphin Island have left many clues as to who has trod these sands before us...
1) As the first place of anchorage during Iberville's initial voyage of discovery to claim the colony of Louisiana for France in 1699, Dauphin Island stands as the old Louisiana's FIRST PORT OF CALL.
2) The initial construction for the entire Intracoastal Waterway was Grants Pass which was dredged at the north end of the present-day Dauphin Island Bridge in 1839.
3) For 318 years Dauphin Island has been continuously occupied under 6 different flags. (many people ignore the brief occupation by the Republic of Alabama prior to the formation of the Confederate States of America.)
4) Dauphin Island has experienced 20 different armed amphibious invasions that have included the French versus Jamaican Pirates, The French and Indians versus Spain, The English versus Spain, The U.S. versus Spain, The U.S. versus Great Britain and The Confederacy versus the U.S.
5) In 1708, Jacques Le Roux, a ship's carpenter, arrived at present-day Dauphin Island and began building shallow-draft ships at the site of Old Mobile and on the island. These were the first large watercraft built on the northern Gulf of Mexico or in the Mississippi Valley.
6) According to Giraud, the first fish net used in old Louisiana was brought to Dauphin Island in 1717 and used in the waters off Dauphin Island.
7) The enduring qualities of cypress wood were discovered on Dauphin Island in 1709 and the entire cypress lumber industry, Louisiana's first profitable export, was founded on the island.
8) Dauphin Island is the ONLY geographic place name on the original 1712 Crozat contract with the French king. This contract became the definition of the territory claimed by the U.S. under the 1803 Louisiana Purchase with France.
9) The first slave ship from Africa to arrive in the colony of Louisiana dropped anchor at Dauphin Island in 1719.
10) The only man to ever be publicly executed by having his arm and leg bones broken on the wheel was born on Dauphin Island in 1715.
11) Bienville departed from Dauphin Island when he left on his voyage to found the City of New Orleans in 1718.
12) Dauphin Island was the ancient destination for most pre-historic people when they exited the present-day Mississippi River to portage their canoes at the present-day location of New Orleans.
13) Marine shells were a big-time pre-historic business. Almost all pre-historic males in the Mississippi Valley wanted to drink their sacred tonic from a lightning whelk shell. The demand for these shells was so great that Mississippi Valley archaeologists have discovered dozens of pottery cups made of clay in the shape of the lightning whelk shell. Cabeza de Vaca, a survivor of the failed Narvaez expedition, financed his journey to Mexico City by selling marine shells to natives in the interior. Dauphin Island's Indian shell mounds stand as evidence of the importance of this pre-historic commerce.
14) To the right of the altar of the chapel of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis (the floor of the altar is built above the room that holds the sarcophagus of Captain John Paul Jones) is a stained glass window of Admiral Farragut strapped to the mast of the U.S.S. Hartford at the Battle of Mobile Bay. An anchor of the Hartford, identical to the one in the courtyard at Dauphin Island's Fort Gaines, stands outside the Naval Museum at the Washington Navy Yard. The entire front foyer of the museum is dedicated to the Battle of Mobile Bay. The expression "DAMN THE TORPEDOES, FULL SPEED AHEAD" is now a part of our national consciousness.
15) In 1758, the Louisiana historian de Pratz wrote that Mobile was "the birthplace of French Louisiana" and that Dauphin Island was its "cradle." The events which took place on Dauphin Island between 1701 and 1722 occurred during the critical years which determined the success or failure of the Louisiana colony.
16) Dauphin Island's street names stand as a daily reminder of the individuals who make up the island's historic "Hall of Fame".
17) The greatest and longest alliance between two nations that the world has ever known began in the water off Dauphin Island when American officers shook the hands of the commanding officers of the Royal Navy's North American Expeditionary Force after the men received word that peace had been declared to end the War of 1812.
18) Plans for an American fortification on Dauphin Island were approve by Congress in 1818, however, it would take over forty years for this fort to be constructed. The legal and logistical obstacles that were overcome in order to build Fort Gaines have never been properly examined.
19) For two hundred years there was no adequate ship channel to accommodate large ocean-going ships coming into Mobile Bay. These ships anchored in the water off Dauphin Island and their cargo was transferred to smaller shallow draft boats that could navigate the shallow waters of the bay. Pilots to guide the ocean-going ships into Mobile Bay have always been necessary and Dauphin Island has been their home during most of the three centuries of maritime trade in present-day Alabama.
20) Numerous shipwrecks lay undisturbed in the sands beneath the water that surrounds Dauphin Island. These include the Confederate submarine AMERICAN DIVER, the Union ironclad Tecumseh and the French treasure ship BELLONE.
21) A granite survey monument erected in 1847 by Coast and Geodetic Survey Superintendent A. D. Bache, stands today in the courtyard of Fort Gaines. Although moved from its original location, it is the oldest known Coast Survey marker on the Gulf Coast.
lthough moved from its original location, it is the oldest known Coast Survey marker on the Gulf Coast
posted by robertoreg at 8:21 AM
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