Ladvocat, Pierre-Francois. Le Champ-d'Asile ou carte des etablissements fondes dans l'Amerique. Paris, 1819.

Ladvocat, Pierre-Francois

Le Champ-d'Asile ou carte des etablissements fondes dans l'Amerique

Paris, 1819

14 x 21 inches 

In 1818 about 400 Bonapartist refugees from France, some with families, settled on the Trinity River near modern Liberty, Texas, forming the colony, Le Champ d’Asile – the field of asylum. The colony lasted only six months – being disbanded in July 1818.  The surviving colonists were absorbed into the francophone community in New Orleans.

Although the colony itself had no particular impact, the fact that it ever existed at all had profound international repercussions.  The realization that an armed group had settled in Texas prompted the signing of several treaties establishing the borders of the United States, Mexico, and Louisiana.