My final project will be based upon De Pauger and imagined letters between him and French authorities. These letters will follow throughout his life and will show his projects through his eyes. As De Pauger spent many of his years envisioning New Orleans, I will primarily focus on this time frame. This letter is not complete and is very much a rough draft, but I will share with you a short example of what a letter might look like. For some context, Louis-Pierre Le Blond de La Tour was the chief engineer of Louisiana who worked alongside De Pauger to construct the grid system for New Orleans.
04/03/1721
Dear De La Tour,
I have been commissioned by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the governor of this colony, to lay out a plan for the city of New Orleans. With your help, I entrust we will be able to design a city unparalleled except by Paris. My current plan is to form a grid along the Mississippi Rivers bend. This should help align the city and make it pleasing to the eye. There are some settlements to the east that are not to my plan and I fear will be an encumbrance. The center of the city should be a Church and I plan to design the city around it. Around the Church will be a courtyard and from this heart, will be streets, houses, and business. I look forward to meet you and discuss this idea further, some planning and care must be taken so that it will be perfect.
Your Business Partner,
Adrien De Pauger