View of the Balize at the mouth of the Mississippi

Description

Watercolor on paper of "View of the Balize at the mouth of the Mississippi", January 7, 1819, from the Latrobe sketchbooks, by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. This scene features U.S. Schooner "Firebrand" in the foreground flying the flag of the United States. In the background is the island and former French fort La Balize, which sat at the mouth of the Mississippi River and was critical for ships going to and from New Orleans. Settled and built by the French by 1721, the settlement was inhabited by fisherman, pilots, merchants, and their families. It was destroyed numerous times by hurricanes and the flooding of the river. It came under control of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Following further destruction and rebuilds in the ensuing decades, in 1865, the village was formally abandoned and the new town of "Pilotstown" was established further upriver.