Robert S. Weddle

Look for my forthcoming review of this book in the East Texas Historical Journal

Robert Weddle’s latest in a long line of books on the Gulf of Mexico, and his second specifically about René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, and one of the ships in his final, ill-fated expedition to Texas, is a quick, fascinating, and multifaceted read. François Lagarde of the University of Texas offers the first English translations of several documents Weddle presents.

In the first section Weddle quickly and comprehensively recounts the purpose of La Salle’s expedition that landed in Texas in the winter of 1685, centering on the wrecking of the 180-ton armed cargo vessel Aimable and the legal battles that followed in France. On February 20, 1685, two days after the Belle entered the bay, the Aimable ran aground attempting to cross the bar into the bay. Some stores were salvaged from the wrecked ship, but many important items were lost to the sea.

La Salle, who had several disputes with Aigron, accused the captain of refusing offered piloting piloting aid and purposefully wrecking the ship. Aigron, with most of his crew, returned to France with the French naval ship Joly. When royal officials read La Salle’s report, Aigron was temporarily arrested and imprisoned, while the Aimable’s pilot Mengaud and gunner Pierre Georget sued Aigron and the ship’s owner Massiot for unpaid wages and damages for lost personal items. The case centered on whether Aigron intentionally grounded his vessel. The trail records, affidavits, and depositions are summarized in Weddle’s narrative and reproduced with short commentary in the second part of the book. Though documentary evidence concerning the final outcome of the case are missing, the suit against Aigron and Massoit likely failed, as the defense made it appear that plaintiff Mengaud only brought the suit because he was smarting from his dismissal as pilot. In the third section of the book, Weddle recounts the search for the remains of the Aimable in the mud underneath the Gulf.

Most importantly, Weddle’s informative account of the expedition, Aimable’s sinking, and Aigron’s trial all highlight La Salle’s unfitness for command. La Salle in the records of Aigron’s trial and in Weddle’s commentary appears petty and incompotent. Weddle at one point states that La Salle “is found wanting to a degree that warrants harsh judgement” (p. 39). Readers may question the editorial decision to place all of the primary source texts in a section after Weddle’s complete narrative summary of the story instead of weaving them into the narrative or making it a sort of primary source reader. Weddle’s latest work is a welcome addition to the corpus on La Salle and the Texas Gulf Coast.… (altro)