The Chicken War

The rooster was adopted by the French as a symbol of nationalism. It's pretty fitting to use it as a way to tie them with Texas. This chicken medallion symbolizes the role of France in Texas in the 18th century. It can be seen at the Pavilion of France, Fair Park, Dallas.

Today's history is about a panic in 1719 caused by... chickens.

Phillipe Blondel, commander of the French post at Natchitoches (Fort St. Jean Baptiste in Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana), put together a group of seven men to raid the Spanish post of Adayes (San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes Mission near today's Robeline, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana), which stood a mere twenty or so miles from the French fort. Considering that the Adayes (Adais) mission had only been built two years earlier, the French were eager to demonstrate to the Spanish that they had already claimed this region.

The Adayes were kin to the Caddos. The Spanish decided to build a mission at their ancient village to proselytize, while also gaining a foothold closer to the French territorial claims. After all, there was a massive war going on in Europe at the time, so of course the colonial powers wanted to replicate that in the New World.

Unfortunately for Blondel, only a friar and a soldier were present at the mission for the Adayes during the French raid. The French men stole some of the mission's vestments and supplies, then raided the hen house to take the chickens. Blondel's stolen chicken freaked out his horse, who bucked him off, and then the entourage rode back to the Natchitoches village.

Instead of laughing their heads off that a French commander could be undone by a chicken, the two men from the Adayes village who witnessed the raid ran off to the Los Delores Mission in San Augustine (San Augustine County, Texas). This led to a chain reaction, with the Spanish in eastern Texas leaving their missions to flee to San Antonio in expectations of a French invasion.

After a couple of years, the Spanish reoccupied the missions and eventually, inter-colonial trading and familial relationships developed instead.

In 1936, the Chicken War of 1719, as this series of unfortunate events is called, was inadvertently commemorated by the artists of the Texas Sesquicentennial Fair. When the the Pavilion of France to symbolize one of the six nations whose flags once flew over Texas was erected, the State Fair of Texas committee decided to immortalize France with a chicken, the national symbol of France (and yes, it's supposed to be a rooster). The emblem is still visible in Dallas's Fair Park.