Rousseau Hounds

[lmorgan]

I'm not starting this topic to open a debate about French hounds. I'm starting this topic to open dialogue and research about something that has been bothering me for quite a while. In another thread, Liontracker made referece to the Rousseau family of Louisiana and their hounds. As a absolute fanatic on antebellum Louisiana history, I started to do my research on the Rousseaus.

One of the only references I could find was from an old ABGHA Full Cry article by E.S. Traverse where he mentions a Percival Rousseau from Pointe Coupee, Louisiana and the multitude of hounds of pure french ancestry that they later dispersed across Texas and the deep south. Upon further research, I found that what Traverse said in Full Cry was almost identical to what Mel Farber of Kansas said in a letter to Don Crowder of Tennessee back around 1980. In fact, Traverse's writing is almost word for word what Mel wrote to Don. I've heard it said that E.S. was a young kid at the time he was writing for ABGHA and often just repeated what he was told. I'll take that at face value.

However, the historian in me wouldn't let the whole Rousseau deal rest. I live just a couple of parishes away from Pointe Coupee Parish, so I started digging in the geneological and historical archives I have available. Unfortunately, much of what Mel Farber wrote about Percival Rousseau just doesn't add up. First of all, Percival Rousseau was born in PC Parish, but (according to family legend), he was orphaned during the Civil War and was raised by relatives in Kentucky. Family legend also says that he and his sister were "rescued" for the Yankees by a slave, but I discredit that since the Federals who invested Pointe Coupee Parish in 1864 would have had little interest in a five year old boy. Percival Rousseau did travel to Texas as an adult and then to New Orleans where he made his fortune. After making his fortune, he immigrated to France to study art. He is best known today for his portraits of bird dogs. After hours of exhaustive research into his art, the only reference I can find of Percival Rousseau and scent hounds was a painting he made of a pack of 30+ hounds baying a panther. He does have literally dozens of bird dog paintings to his credit. He did say in an interview that he painted dogs so well because he "grew up with hounds" and was an avid bird shooter his entire life. Yet I am unable to find any link to him owning any kind of hound except bird dogs. Also, since he was a mere toddler when the war broke out and his brothers and father supposedly left in the Confederate Army, then his "growing up" actually occurred in Kentucky and not Louisiana.

Mel also mentions that the Rousseau family actually came to Louisiana to start plantations through large land grants granted by King Louis XIV. I can find no reference to any land grants being deeded to the Rousseaus that far back. I certainly can find no reference to hundreds of hounds being dispersed by the family after the Civil War.

If they were dispersed, then I doubt a 5 year old boy who just lost his entire family was tryng to bring "hundreds of hounds" with him to Kentucky.

I'm hoping that others can shed some light on Mr. Rousseau and his supposed connection to the American Blue Gascon Hounds of today.

[liontracker]

Wow! Larry that is an eye opener if I ever read one! My hats off for taking the time to research this far. In the posts to follow, I too hope intelligent conversations will prevail. If this leads where I think it will, then the Porcelaine connection to the soutwestern dryground hound will be shaken to the core. Upon further thought, the prepoderance of this type of evidence, leads me to question the complete history and accuracy of lineage, of the entire American hound dog species...with Blueticks at the top of the list...Wow!

[bob baldwin jr]

Imorgan :Any clue as to where he may have landed in KY.

[lmorgan]

Tim,

I'm not trying to start a debate. If there were a line of purebred (or even mixed breed) hounds from Colonial Louisiana that greatly impacted today's coon and big game hounds, then I'd like to know about it. I'm certainly not trying to refute anything. However, so far, none of the information I've uncovered on Percival Leonard Rousseau (1859-1937) lines up with the "legend" I read in the old ABGHA column. If there were hounds in that family, it must have been earlier than Percival. I thought I had hit gold when I uncovered a short film clip of "Percival Rousseau and his Hounds" from his kennel in France in the 1920s. I was hoping for Grand Bleus, expecting Porcelaines, and got a bunch of setters and pointers, complete with shaggy coats and flag tails. Pretty bird dogs, though.

[liontracker]

I'm hoping that others can shed some light on Mr. Rousseau and his supposed connection to the American Blue Gascon Hounds of today.

I didn't think he had a connection to the Blues?
I thought the connection was to the SW hounds?

Did your Full Cry article mention that he left 65 hounds here and took the rest to France? That is what someone read to me over the phone from an old article.

[lmorgan]

Bob,

I don't have a clue about his life in Kentucky at all.

Tim,

So far, no mention of him bringing any hounds with him to France or bringing any hounds from there to here. One article did say that he owned a kennel in France and traveled back and forth between France and the US regularly. As far as I can find, he never returned to Louisiana after becoming and artist. He owned a home in Connecticut and spent his time there. Again, from what I can tell, the "hounds" they keep referring to were actually pointers and setters. He was very well known for his love of bird hunting.

Ironically, he actually began his artistic career painting nude portraits and landscapes, but slowly changed to dogs because he "knew them so well". He was regularly commissioned by pet owners to paint their dogs for him. I've seen paintings of bird dogs, German Shepherds and a couple of other "pet" breeds. No hounds yet, though the Panther hunt scene was famous in the early 20th Century and he received a letter from Theodore Roosevelt praising him for it's authenticity. As for the connection to the blues, I think Mel was just trying to make the connection with the relationship between the big blues and the purebred french hounds of old.

[lmorgan]

Did your Full Cry article mention that he left 65 hounds here and took the rest to France? That is what someone read to me over the phone from an old article.

I've only read one Full Cry article from E.S. Traverse that mentions Rousseau. The other, similar account, is from a hand-written letter from Mel Farber himself. My question is where did these hounds come from if he indeed left 65 here and took the rest to France. This guy was no older than five or six years old when he traveled out of Louisiana and moved to Kentucky to live with relatives. My guess is that he and his sister were not thinking about hounds at their age, they were thinking of survival. The scorched earth policy of the yankee invaders left little to bring with you other than the clothes on your back. When Federal troops would "seize" a southern plantation, it was common practice to steal anything that could be carried off and kill anything that couldn't. Sherman's men were noted for killing hounds, house cats and family pets all over Georgia (along with livestock, chickens, etc) in his march to the sea. Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Banks' policy in Louisiana was very similar except that he kept the cotton he found and sold it for his own profit. Point Coupee parish is sugar cane country, not cotton.

Maybe there were other Rousseaus besides Percival that were the real houndsmen? I'm not sure. My research is certianly not conclusive. I was hoping someone else could shed some light on this whole mystery. Im not ready to say that there were no great hordes of Rousseau hounds. I just haven't found any evidence so far.

[blueticker78]

This all got me very interested so I did some research and I didnt come up with any more hard proof then anyone else but most mentions of the rosseau porcelaines was before his time. He did however make his way back to LA as a young man he in his early twenties worked as a cattle driver between texas and mexico and then opened a import buisness in La I think New Orleans then he went to france and later he traveled between france and CT. and also NC. Everything I read about the Porcelaine hound states that these hounds came with french immagrints during the french revolution as well as other breeds, but I cant find any specifics on what families or where some of these hounds may have dispersed to once they got here I do infact believe that they played a role in the make up of the SW big game hounds but its hard to say how much or where or who used these hounds. Larry could you post a copy of the Porcelaines and the panther I couldnt find a picture of it I would like to see it if you can post it and dont mind.

[liontracker]

I will see if Rob will scan and send me the aritcle he read to me and post it.

[Mr.pacojack]

This is a pretty good read, Thanks Larry. Real interresting how things get turned around,like, the language in the old days. Hound or hounds pretty much discribed any ole dog.And then later translated as a scent hound or in this case the french hound.
Makes you wonder about any breed of dog we now have today.

[Brady Davis]

Very true Devin, you know it's funny but the same type of word errors happen in just about everything...The bible and all. Going from French to English is very strange and does not translate correctly or exactly at all. (I know this cause I just wrote a lion hunting article for "Chien Courant" which is the largest hound mag in france)...

Words like "Chien Courant" that translate to mean "hound" actually means "running dogs"...how many guys would screw up that and beleive they were talking about actual running dogs and not scent hounds?!

[Mr.pacojack]

Sad but true, but I think alot of breeds were built on this type of misconceptions.

[lmorgan]

Everything I read about the Porcelaine hound states that these hounds came with french immagrints during the french revolution as well as other breeds, but I cant find any specifics on what families or where some of these hounds may have dispersed to once they got here I do infact believe that they played a role in the make up of the SW big game hounds but its hard to say how much or where or who used these hounds. Larry could you post a copy of the Porcelaines and the panther I couldnt find a picture of it I would like to see it if you can post it and dont mind.

There are a few families with nobility links that fled France during the French Revolution and settled in Louisiana, but just as many (or more) ended up in the Caribbean or other states. I read once that there was an entire "colony" of French nobility that settled in Alabama after the Revolution. Maybe we're looking in the wrong direction? I don't know.

As for the panther hunt painting, I haven't been able to find it either. Just references to it. I hope someone else can find it. I'd really like to see it.

[lmorgan]

Sad but true, but I think alot of breeds were built on this type of misconceptions.

I don't know how much was willfull misleading and how much was a simple misunderstanding. How many of those "founding fathers" were truly educated in hound origins and how many were doing what they could and with the resources available to build a better hound that suited them? Maybe we've put them too high up on a pedestal?

At the end of the day, what difference does it all really make? We have what we have and we're all going to do what we have to do to keep feeding hounds that suit us.

[Brady Davis]

Sad but true, but I think alot of breeds were built on this type of misconceptions.

I don't know how much was willfull misleading and how much was a simple misunderstanding. How many of those "founding fathers" were truly educated in hound origins and how many were doing what they could and with the resources available to build a better hound that suited them? Maybe we've put them too high up on a pedestal?

At the end of the day, what difference does it all really make? We have what we have and we're all going to do what we have to do to keep feeding hounds that suit us.

I agree and I think it proves the point for all of us to keep perfect records. You know, we talk a lot about the hounds of old time and guess what...In awhile people will be talking about our hounds and what we did so let's help them KNOW what we did.

Larry, I agree as well that we have what we have and we are all trying to better what we have....Great post, hopefully more info surfaces.