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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un saul cliche, i^ est film6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE HISTORY OF ILLINOIS AND LOUISIANA UNDER THE FRENCH RULE EMBRACING A GENERAL VIEW OF THE FRENCH DOMINION IN NORTH AMERICA WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION OF ILLINOIS BY JOSEPH WALLACE Counselor at Law Author of " Life of Colonel Edward D. nuker," etc History recommends itself as the most profitable of .Indies -T Cari. VLR CINCINNATI ROBERT CLARKE .^ CO 1S93 >^ 1 2413 |,jALLf\cGp' ('OPYRIOIIT, 1S9H, BY JOSEPH WALLACE. f PREFACE. •'No pericxl in the history of one's own country," says an elt gant historian,* " can be considered altogetlier unin- teresting. Sucli transactions as tend to illustrate the pro- gress of ittj constitution^ laws or manners, merit the utmost ivttention. Even remote and minute events are objects of a curiosity, wliich, being natural to the human mind, the gratification of it is attended with pleasure." With this conception of the interest and utility of his work, the author undertook to compose the following history. Much has been written and printed at different times (in State, county and general histones), respecting the French in Illinois and Louisiana, but it is mostly in an abridged or detached form, and one rarely finds any con- nected and consecutive view of the French domination, from its commencement to its close. Although the territory compnsed within the limits of the present State of Illinois was ruled by France for ninety years, it was never as a separate colony or province, but always as a dej)en(len{'y of either Canada or Louisiana. Ilencc, no history of Illi- nois, during that early period, can be considered complete, which does not embrace that of the Province of Louisiaiui, of which it so long formed a part. In the preparation of this volume the writer, without laying claim to what scholars cull origiuul research, has ex- * Robertson. (iii) IV Preface. 1 !'' amined every available source of information relating to his theme, so as to verify facts, reconcile or explain con- flicting dates and accounts, and render it as accurate and trustworthy as possible. No parade need here be made of the various authorities consulted and freely used by him, since they will be disclosed in the progress of the narrative itself. In writing Indian, French and Spanish proper names, the author has, as a rule, conformed to the received or- thography, though it is not always easy to determine just what that is, since standard writers still differ considerably in this particular. Among the early annalists there was no recognized rule, nor could well have been any, in regard to nomenclature, and therefore each writer was a law unto himself. This, together with the different geographical locations often assigned by them to the same aboriginal tribes, gave rise to more or less contradiction in their nar- ratives, which have been a source of perplexity to mod- ern historiographers. Although this work is primarily confined to the doings of the French in the Mississippi Valley, yet such a general view is taken of their transactions in other parts of the continent as to render it, in some measure, a corapendious history of the French Dominion in North Amei'ica. Without overlooking any important or familiar fact, the author has introduced much matter that will be new and curious to the general reader. In gleaning so wide a field, and in carrying the book through the press at a distance from his residence, he may have fallen into some errors and inaccuracies, but it is believed these will be found few in number and restricted to minor details. ^ It might be thought superfluous, at this time and place, Preface. v to descant upon the absorbing interest that must ever at- tach to that pristine period of American history of which we ^vrifce, hackneyed as it is. But the new and Strang^} ex- periences of the early explorers and colonizers of this con- tinent can never be repeated, and the record they made will stand unchanged for all future time. The Indians, too, who then peopled the sohtudes of our forests and prairies, have vanished never more to return, leaving behind them, as the only enduring vestiges of their presence, the names which they gave to the physical features of the country. " Their names remain, but they arc fled, For ever numbered with the dead." There are now no other new continents or large islands to be discovered ; all the habitable globe has been overrun ; and henceforth the business of civilized man upon it will be to possess, enjoy, cultivate and develop its marvelous re- sources. To the descendants of the pioneer French colonists in North America, and particularly to those residing within the great Basin of the Mississippi, the theme of this gen- eral narrative must have a peculiar and perennial attraction. In the daring and memorable achievements of their heroic predecessors, they may not only cherish a just and lauda- ble pride, but find solace and satisfaction for that inscruta- ble decree of fate, or Providence, whereby this vast, most fertile and favored region, was wrested from their grasp to ultimately become the geographical center of one of the mightiest, most enlightened and progressive empires on the face of the earth. In concluding theee prefatory observations, it re- mains for the writer to acknowledge his obligations, in the prosecution of his laborious researches, to the repeated kind offices of the intelligent and efficient librarian of the VI Preface. II ( ! ill Illinois (State) Historical Library, and also to the assistant librarian of the State Library. The copious and comprehensive index at the close of the work will be found very convenient for reference, and not without occasional use in elucidating the text of the history. Sprinofifld, Illinois, September, 1893. Pre s • i < I i 1 Inti CONTENTS. PAGE. Preface Ill CHAPTER I. 1497-1690. Introductoby Narrative; or, Discovery and Settlement of Can- ADA CHAPTER II. 1539-1671. Discovery of the Mississippi River, and of the Norte-wbst. ... 24 CHAPTER III. Iv3r?-1675. The Great River Voyage of Joliet and Marquette 45 CHAPTER IV. 1666-1680. La Salle and his Early Explorations yj CHAPTER V. 1675-1701. Father Louis Hennepin ■■"•••• 96 CHAPTER VI. " • 1680-1681. La Salle and Tonty ••...... 115 _ CHAPTER VII. : ' 1681-1683. La Salle's Exploits Continued ^ _ ,„q mm '* 1 ] f; 1 i I i.l .ii dl Mi I'- li ^11 Contents. CHAPTER VIII. 1684-1687. Last Great Enterprise of La Sallk 153 CHAPTER IX. 1687-1689. . Survivors of La Salle's Texan Colony 175 CHAPTER X. 1689-1712. Illinois as a Dependency of Canada I94 CHAPTER XI. 1698-1711. Permanent Settlement of Lower Louisiana 212 CHAPTER XII. 1712-1717. Louisiana under M. Crozat— Demise of Louis XIV 233 CHAPTER XIII. 1717-1723. ^ French Finances, and Law's Mississippi Company 249 CHAPTER XIV. 1718-1732. Lieutenant Boisbriant's Rule in the Illinois — The Natchez War 270 CHAPTER XV. 1732-1752. Louisiana Under the Direct Government of the Crown 288 CHAPTER XVI. 1742-1756. Progress of Events in the Dependency of Illinois 304 Contents. ix CHAPTER XVII. 1753-1760. The Mi.JOKABLE Seven Years' War 319 CHAPTER XVIII. 1760-1765. Indian Conspiracy and War of Pontiac 342 CHAPTER XIX. 1764-1769. Occurrences in Lower Louisiana 363,, CHAPTER XX. 1764-1778. Illinois under the British Domination .' 384 CHAPTER XXI. General Description op the French Colonists 404 Hi!' M •i\ I t HISTORY OF ILLINOIS AND LOUISIANA UNDER THE FRENCH RULE. CHAPTER I. i 1497-1690. INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE ; OR DISCOVERY AND SSTTLEMENT OF CANADA. The first Europeans to roach the shores of America were the Northmen, or Scandinavians, who, during the early *niddh.' ages, formed settlements in Iceland and southern Greenland. Thos^e hardy and daring sea-rovers grac ady extended tiieir voyages westward from Green- land to the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland, and, by the beginning of the eleveutli century, appear to have es- tablished themselves on the rocky shores of New England, about Massachusetts and Narraganset bays. They named the new country Winland, or Vinland, from the profusion of wild grapes found growing in its virgin forests. But the Northmen ettected no lai'ge or du- rable settlements upon this (tontinent; and when their colony of Vinland was eventually abandoned, or extermin- ated by lu^ ii'itives, it was, doubtless, soon forgotten. The only remaining traces of their presence on the New Eng- land coast are two or three ;iide monuments,* aud a few doubtful Runic inscriptions. The fact of their prima, dis- Y covery of the continent, liovvever, is attested by the Sagas, or ancient histoiical records of Iceland. But the time was not then ripe for the opening of the " Notably, the old stone tower at Newport, Rhode laland, which in believed to be a relic of the Northmen. Early Voyages to North America. !l New World to European colonization and civilization ; nor were the people of western Europe sufficiently advanced in wealth, intelligence and nautical science, to profit by so im- portant a discovery. To Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus), must ever be accorded tlie imperishable honor, of ha.ning made known to the nations of the Old World the pathway to the Western Ileniisphere ; yet it is by no means certain that lie ever touched the continent of North America, and he died in ignorance of the extent and transcendent value of his achievement. But tlie true and lasting discovery of Northern Amer- ica was made by Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), a Vene- tian navigator, who had become domiciled in the com- mercial city of Bristol, England, prior to the year 1493, and who afterward voyaged the North Atlantic under the patronage of King ITenry VII. It is a singular fact, and worthy of remark here, that the maritime powers of Europe, with the exception, perliaps, of Portugal, should have owed their early possessions in America to the skill and daring of Italian navigators, although not u single American colony was ever establislied by the Italians tliem- selves. Within one or two years after the return of Columbus to Spain, from his first renowned vo}^age of discovery, the adventurous spirit of John Cabot induced him to propose to Henry VII., of England, to undertake a similar voyage, with tlie two-fold object of discovering new lands, and ol finding a northwest passage to the Indias. The proi)osal of the V^enetian was received with favor a. id encourage- ment by that cautious, yet sagacious monarch. And on the fifth of March, 149G, he issued a commission to Cabot and his three sons (Louis, Sebastian and Sanchez), author- izing them to " sail to all parts of the east, west, and north, to discover countries of the Heathen, unknown to Cliristians ; to set up the king's ensigns there; to occupy and possess, as his subjects, such places as they eould sub- due, giving them the rule and jurisdiction — to be holden, on paying to the king, one-fiftli part of tlieir gains." Early Voyages to North America. 8 nor id in I im- nuist made 3 the at lie i (lied Dt" his ^mer- Vene- coni- 1493, under ngular powers Bhoiild no skill single theni- Innibus n\y, the [)ropose nn'ugo, luid oi Lroposal jounige- .nd on |o Cabot lauthor- ll north, l)\vn to occnpy ^ild Huh- holdon, Under this broad commission three ships were at length equipped for the enterprise — partly at the expense of his majesty, and the remainder by private persons. With these vessels, manned by some three hundred seamen, the elder Cabot, and his son Sebastian, sailed from Bristol., in May, 1497. Taking a westerly course over the track- lers ocean, the bold conmiander, on the 24th of June, sighted a shore which he named Terra Primum Visa (land first seen), and which is supposed to have been pome part of Newfoundland. lie thence steered northward, parallel with the coast of Labrador, as far as to the entrance of Hudson's strait, when he was obliged to turn back on ac- count of the ice and the increasing discontent of his crew. After discovering many islands and coasting the mainland southward to the vicinity of Cape Ilattoras, a mutiny is said to have broken out among his sailors, in consequence of which he returned to England. During the ensuing year (1498), Sebastian Cabot was sent out with two sliips, on a second voyage of discovery. He again visited New- foundland, and other [)oints on the eastern coast of North America, but did not attem})t any conquest or settlement of the country. No authentic journal of these two voya- ges was ever published, nor were they soon followed up by other like enterprises on the part of the English govern- ment or peoj)le. Yet, it was upon the discoveries of the Cabots, and the subsequent attempts at colonization un- and Nor- Hand, and la.ve been of Quebic mving, be- nile wide; jreadth oi ance, En-- 866-18721, Quebec Founded by Champlain. 13 pily frustrated by his vigilance, and the conspirators were ]i dealt with by martial law. Mechanics and laborers were now put to work, and ir. the course of a few weeks a cluster of wooden buildings f arose on the shelving bank of the river, under the shadow ^of that lofty precipice, since known as Cape Diamond, which towered above them. These rude edifices were sur- : rou!ided by a stout palisade or wall, pierced by apertures for small cannon, and were thenceforth occupied as the * headquarters of Champlain and his semi-military colony. Such was the inconsiderable beginning of the historical city and fortress of Quebec. Having thus provided a se- cure place for his men and munitions, the resolute leader pushed out into the circumjacent country, with a view to making it tributary to the French power. It was from about this time that Canada and Acadia began to be ofli- cially designated as Nouvclb' France, though this ambitious appellation had been long before applied to the coast of the country by the navigator Verrazano. f| In order to secure the fi'iendsliip and support of the •neighboring Montagnain and Algonquin Indians,* in fur- f therance of his designs of interior exploration and inter- 1 course, Champlain now^ undertook, with dubious propriety, 'I to aid them in their ceaseless warfare with the Iroquois, or I Five Nations,! who inhabited the region lying mostly within 'v the limits of the present State ot New York. Victory, ot I course, attended his superior arms in the first encounters I with them, but it intensified the hatred of tliose proud and I fierce warriors for the Indian allies of Champlain ; it led to an alliance of the Iroquois with the Dutch settlers, and af- terward with the English, and lonof prevented the French from advancing southward into the beautiful and fertile Valley of the Ohio. On the other hand, it is doubtful if the *The Algonquins, proper, dwelt on the Ottawa river, and hence were called Ottawas by the French ; but they gave name to the entire family of kindred tribes (about thirty-eight in all), known as Algonquins. tThe use of the word nation, as applied to a single Indian tribej though sanctioned by the usage of the best writers, is; nevertheless, a misnomer. b I 14 Discovery and Settlement of Canada. jniiil i^ lirst French colonist could have maintained, for any con- siderable time, an attitude of strict neutrality between those ever-vwarring Indian nations ; so that the policy they adopted may have been the only feasible one open to them. In the early summer of 1609, Champlain, with a few armed men, joined a hunting and war party of their Mon- tagnais allies on an excursion into the territory of the Iroquois. Ascending the broad St. Lawrence to t^e mouth of the Richelieu, or Sorel River, and pushing up the latter to its source, he discovered and partially explored that be?aitiful lake which still bears liis name. On its sylvan shores he found game exceedingly abundant, and particu- larly the fur-bearing beaver. W^hile exploring the south part of the lake, our French and Indian party fell in with a band of Mohawk warriors, when a sharp light ensued, in which several of the latter were slain and others taken prisoners. Champlain had now to witness an exhibition of that protracted and cruel torture to which the savages often subjected their male captives, which filled him with such horror that he obtained permission of his allies to shoot the poor creature dead with his arquebuse, and thus ended his anguish. Leaving Pierre Ohauvin in command at Quebec, Cham- plain returned with Captain Pontgrave to France in Sep- tember, 1609 ; but he came back the next spring, bringing fresh sup|»lies, and a number of artisans for his embryo colony. In the autumn of this year (1610), the Montagnais again called on the French for military assistance against their enemies, which Champlain gave in order to secure the co-operation of the former in his own interior explora- tions. Moving with his Indian allies up the St. Lawrence and the river Sorel, he assaulted and captured a stronghold cf the Iroquois, but received a severe wound in the action. If the French at this epoch could have forecast tl j future of their Canadian colony, they would no doubt have occu- pied the Iroquois country in force, and seized control of the Hudson River, so as to exclude the Dutch, and secure another and shorter outlet to the ocean. Such a course .}» hu beca tion •f >^^^l ^^H object Indian onU'r of Advent of the Becollects. 15 ly con- Btween ;y they > them. a few r Mon- of the mouth e latter id tliat sylvan 3articn- e south in with 3ued, in 8 taken liibition savages im with lilies to nd thus Cham- 11 8ei/- ■iiiging embryo \tagiiaiH against secure ixplor.i- iwrence )nghol(l action. J future re occu- itrol of secure | course was recommended by M. Talon at a subsequent period, but it was then too laie. In August, 1611, Champlain again crossed the Atlantic to France, w^here lie sliortly married a girl named Helene Boulle, who was only twelve years old, and who was called his " child wife." She had been reared a Protestant, but became a Catholic after her marriage. On the assassina- tion of Henry IV., in 1610, De Monts lost his influence at court, and the merchants of his company having become tired of the continual expense of the Canadian coloniza- tion scheme, it was about to be abandoned. At this junc- ture, Champlain induced the Count de Soissons to take hold of the matter; and on the 8th of October, 1612, that nobleman was commissioned governor and lieutenant-gen- eral of New France. Champlain was now appointed lieu- tenant under him, and continued to act in this capacity until after the rights of De Soissons had been transferred to the Prince de Conde. Keturning to Quebec in the spring of 1613, Cham[>lain undertook to explore the Ot- tawa River, but did not proceed very far at this time. In I the autumn of that year he sailed to Old France, and organized a trading compmiy for Canada. . , In 1615 he brought over four Recollects, or Recollets* (three priests and a lay brother), to attend to the spiritual needs of his colony. They embarked at Ilonfleur, and arrived in Quebec the 25th of May. The names of these first missionaries were, Fathers Denis .Tam«''t, Jean d'Olbeau and Joseph le Caron, and lirother Paciflcus de Plessis. It was with mingled cu'.'iosity and astonishment that the natives of the St. Lawrence Valley first beheld these gray friars, with their shaven crowns, sajidaied feet, and long cassocks of coarse woolen clotli. Their first care, on ar- rival, was to select a site and begin the erection of a con- vejil or '.'eligious house for their use. The itaramount oliject of these monks was the conversion of the pagan ^Indians to Christianity; and, undismayed by the many *The UecolkH'tH wore a reformt'd branch of the old FranciHcun I order of friars. 16 Discovery and Settlement of Canada. obstacles and perila that confronted them, they met in council and assigned to each his province in the wide field of their proposed labors. By patient and persevering effort, they established missions at various points among the Moiitagnais and Hurons in Canada, but at length, find- ing the task too great for their limited numbers and re- sources, they applied to the Jesuits for assistance. In 1616 Champlain accompanied his Indian allies in another expedition against the Iroquois, and afterward ex- plored the river and valley of the Ottpwa. Journeying thence westward, he appears to have discovered Lake Nipissing, and the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, sleeping in their primeval solitudes, aad engirt with dense forests of pine and cedar. By these different expeditions, our veteran explorer was enabled to form a niore accurate idea of the geography of the Canadian country; inclosed by great lakes and rivers, and opening into vast interior re- gions, it seemed to him to afi:ord unlimited scope for both conmiorce and settlement. ■ As early as 1611, the Jesuits, not without opposition and delay, had started a mission at Port Royal, in Acadia,* and when they received an invitation to enter Canada, they eagerly accepted it. But, owing to the prejudice existing against their order in the colony, it was not until 1625 that they gained a foothold on the banks of the St. Lawrence. During that year Fathers Charles Lalemunt, Enomond, Masse, and Jean de Brebeuf, with two lay brothers, reached Quebec, where they were at first ill-received by the inhab- itants, but were generously lodged in the liouse of the Re- collets, on St. Charles River. In the following year (1626), three other Jesuits, to wit, Fathers Philibert, Noirot, and Ame de la None, with a lay l)rother, arrived at (^lebee, and brought out with them several mechanics and laborers.! * It was on the 22d of May, IGll.that Pierre Biard and Etieluond Masse, two Jesuit priests, landed in Vttadia. Tliey liud been ready to Bail from Franee tl;»> year before, but were prevented from doinji: so by the directors of iho eolony. See Charlevoix Hist. New France, vol. 1, p. 203, note. T Charlevoix' Hist. New France, vol.2, pp. 35,87. First Appearance of the Jesuits. 17 Bt in field ering [nong find- id re- ies ill rd ex- leyi ng Lake seping forests 8, our ;e idea ^ed by ■ior re- >r botli OHition adia,* a. they c:3ting 25 that renf'(\ moiul, eacliod inliab- he He- 1(1626), lot, and »c, and [orers.t iiiclnond Iri'luly to In^ HO by lo, vol. 1, .rd :Wli They were the first representatives in Canada of that cele- brated religious society, whicli was destined to play so im- portant a part in her ecclesiastical and civil aftairs. The Jesuits had just fairly entered upr .i this chosen theater of la- bor, when they were interrupted and dispersed by the English invasion of the St. Lawrence Valley in 1629 ; but, four years later, they resumed their missionary work on a larger scale, and wrestled vigorously with heathenism in the north- ern wilderness. Cheerfully enduring every form of hard- ship, and confronting every extremity of personal danger, they penetrated the wildest recesses of the forest and lakes, and planted the cross, the symbol of their faith, among the most ignorant and savage tribes of the interior. Quebec continued from the beginning to be the center of their operations, tron. whence missionary priests and teachers were dispatche,!i! away, and their niisKions broken up. But b}' the treaty of St. Germain en Laye, March 29, 1632, Canada was restored to its former proprietor, and Champhxin was soon thereafter commissioned anew by Richelieu as director-general of the colony. At that time there was considerable discussion at the French court as to whether Canada were worth repos- sessing, so little was it valued. On the 23d of May, 1633, the veteran Champlain, hav- ing sailed from Dieppe with three ships and two hundred new settlers, arrived once more at Quebec, and with him returned John de Brebeuf, the indefatigable Jesuit mis- sionary. No sooner had Champlain resumed conmiand in the colony, than he addressed himself to the task of restor- ing order, and of repairing the waste occasioned by the English occupation of the country. One of his first cares was to restore and strengthen the defenses of Quebec, which his quick military discernment and experience had taught him was the key to the St. Lawrence River and connecting lakes. During the next two years he also erected a fort on Richelieu Island, in Lake St. Peter of the St. Lawrence, and founded the post of Trois Rwieres, or Three Rivers, between Quebec and Montreal. But Cham- plain had now attained to the age of sixty-eight, and was worn out in the laborious service of his country. After an illness lasting two months, he expired at his quarters in Quebec on Christmas day, 1635, just one hundred years from the time of Cartier's first visit to the spot. He died without issue, and his young wife soon afterward entered an Ursuline convent, in which she passed the remainder of her days. Champlain appointed M. de Chatoaufort to di- rect the affairs of the colony until the arrival of his suc- cessor, Charles Huault de Montmagny, a knight of Malta, who reached Canada in 1636, and renuiined eleven years. We may not pause here to enlarge upon the personal and general character of Samuel de Champlain. He was a many sided man, and in his time played many parts. He " presented the rare intermixture of the lieroic quali- ties of past times, witli the zeal for science and the prac- tical talents of modern ages." Apart from liis high merits Canada as a Boyal Province. le 1 as ji (liKL'overer and scientific exi)lorer, he was an intrepid negotiator with the aboriginal tribes, and possessed execu- tive abilities of the first order. During a period of twenty- seven years (saving three years of enforced absence), he ably administered the affairs of the nascent colony, and ilevoted all his energies to the arduous duties of his posi- tion. Amid difficulties and discouragements that would have overwhelmed a less resolute and persevering man, he firmlv fixed the authoritv of France upon the banks of the noble St. Lawrence, and thus achieved for himself a con- spicuous and enduring place in the Gallic history of the country. Although traffic with the Indians was quite lucrative in his (hiy, lie does not appear to have personally engaged in it, for his thoughts were intent on higher things. As a military commandant he was just and firm, according to the maxims of his age, though his justice was ever tempered with clemency. A devout Catholic, he was zealous in promoting the religious welfare of the colonists, and in the effort to convert tlie aborigines to Chris- tianity. In his writings he is charged \\\^\\ credulity for repeating the absurd stories told liim by the Indians ; but, though a[»pareiitly fond of the nuirvelous, we are not to infer that he believed every thing he wrote, since much of it was related as hearsay. Charlevoix draws his character in flattering terms, and speaks of him as the "Father of New France." * For twenty-eight years after Champlain's death, tlie nianagement of public affairs in Canada was continued in the hands of the Iftindred Associates, or partners, who ruled the colony arbitrarily in their own interests, and thereby restricted its nornuil growth and development. Hut in i^\^bruary, 1(U;8, they voluntarily abandoned their charter to the king. In the following April, Louis XIV. issued an edict constituting a Sovereign ('ouncil, empow- ered to carry on the government of the jtrovince. New France thus becanu^ a royal i)rovince, with the laws and customs of the Parliament of Paris, and Quebec was con- ^n Charlevoix' New France, vol. II, p. 81). •m 20 Discovery and Settlement of Canada. m ! ii I •iii" im>' stituted a city. The white population of Canada then num- bered but twenty-five hundred souls, of which eight hundred, including the garrison, were at Quebec* At this transition period, Augustine de Saftray de Mesy was commissioned governor of the new province, and M. Talon intendant. De Mesy arrived at Quebec in September, 1663, and officiated until his death, which occurred May 5, 1665. He had been ap[)ointed on the recommendation of the Jesuits, but after- ward disagreed with them, and his administration was in- felicitous. At or before this time, however, the Marquis de Tracy was appointed viceroy, or lieutenant-general of New France, with Daniel de Remi, Sieur de Courcelles, as governor, and Jean Baptiste Talon intendant. They ar- rived in the St. Lawrence during the summer of 1665, and entered upon the duties of their respective offices. Under the new and more orderly system of government, the French-Canadians enjoyed domestic tranquillity and in- creased prosperity for a series of years. But this was in- terrupted toward the close of that century by l)order wars with the English settlers of New England and N^ew Yor... In 1690, hostilities then existing between France and En- gland, an army was raised in New York and Connecticut to march agaiiist Montreal, though it did not advance beyond Lake Champlain. This army of militia was intended to co- operate with an expedition by sea, under the connuand of Sir William Phipps, who sailed from Boston with a fleet of some thirty vessels. Entering the St. Lawrence in the month of October, and ascending it to Quebec, he landed a part of his troops, and laid siege to the city both by land and water ; but he was repulsed and driven off by the Frendi garrison under the veteran Count Frontenac. Sub- sequently, in the year 1711, the attem})t against Quebec was renewed by Sir Ilovenden Walker, with a fleet of thirty sail, and a large number of transjtorts carrying troops, under one General I fill. But, after having lost ten of his trans- ports by shipwreck at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, he * Kiu^Ht'ord'rt Hist, of Canada, vol. I. :^>^, # 'tfe Quebec and Montreal. 21 abandoned the expedition in disgust and returned to En- gland. By the treaty of Utrecht of April 11, 1713, Louis XIV. restored to England Hudson's Bay, ceded to her New Found- land and the larger part of Acadia, and renounced all claim to the Iroquois country, reserving to France the valleys ot the St. Lawrence and Mississippi, and the region of the Upper Lakes. Prior to that time New France embraced not only the Canadas and all of Acadia, but parts of North- ern New York and New England. It was not ujitil after the English attack by Phipps in 1690, that the French first attempted the construction of stone fortifications at Quebec, the town having been pre- viously protected by i)ali8ades and earthworks. Thus was begun on a small scale that elaborate and unique system of fortification, now covering with its nivelins about forty acres, which crowns the summit of Cape Diamond at an elevation of three hundred and twelve feet above the level of the St. Lawrence, and which has been not inaptly termed the Gibraltar of America. Whoever has stood upon the parapotted and breezy heights of this renowned fortress could not have failed to be im}ires8ed with its exceeding military strength, or charmed with the magnificent and un- rivaled view it commandsof the surrounding rivers, valleys, villages, and distant mountains. The relative value and importance of the citadel as a place of defense, however, has been greatly diminished by the improved military science of the }>resent age.* Before closing this preliminary chapter, it is fitting that we should concisely yet distinctly trace the origin and primordial history of Montreal, the sister city of Que- bec, and the great emporium of the Canadas. Montreal is situated on the southeastern side of the large, triangular island of the same name, at the head of ship navigation on the St. Lawrence River, and at the foot of that great chain of improved inland waters whicli stretch westward to the • It was during a visit to this historic citadel that Daniel Webster caught the inspiration of one of his finest strains of eloquence. 22 Discovery and Settlement of Canada. m ! !!:i:i>r m''I I'iiiijii extremity of Lake Superior. Within the extended limits of the present Canadian Dominion, no nobler site could well have been selected for a large commercial city. From this vantage point the majestic St. Lawrence, unbroken by any considerable rapids, flows on in one broad and deep channel for six hundred miles to the ocean, bearing upon its ample bosom the rich and varied products of an empire. Montreal was founded in 1641-42, on the site of the ancient Indian village of Hochelaga. It was officially christened V'dle Marie, or City of Mary, and for many years was known by that as well as its present name. As early as the year 1636, Jean Jacques Olier de Verneuil had formed an association in France, for the purpose of colo- nizing the island of Montreal. These associates purchased the Island of Jean de Lauson, August 7, 1640, and, in order to remove all doubts about the title, obtained a grant of it from the Company of New France, on the 17th of December, in that year. In the sunmier of 1641, they sent out the Sieur de Maisonneuve, a gentleman of Champagne, with a company of about forty colonists, including some ecclesiastics, to make a settlement. Maisonneuve arrived at Quebec on the 20th of August, and thonce proceeded up the river to Montreal, where he was duly installed governor of the island. After wintering his colonists in Quebec and Sainte Foy, he returned to Montreal in the spring of 1642, and, on the 17th of May, having heard solemn mass, he began an intrenchment around his encampment. Subse- quently, in 1656, the proprietorship of this company was transferred to the Society or Seminary of St. Sulpice, which had been founded by Father Olier, at Paris, in September, 1645, for the special training of candidates for the priest- hood. The Sulpitians took possession of the island in 1657, and established there a seminary and missionary es- tablishment, which has maintained its footing down to our time.* Although of a distinctively religious origin, and never * For a further account of the movement toward the first settlement of Montreal, see Charlevoix* Hist. New France, Vol. II, pp. 125 to 130, and accompanying notes. Montreal. 23 the political capital of Canada, under the French regime (except for a short time after the fall of Quehec, in 1759), Montreal early became the commercial metropolis of the colony, the repository of its wealth, and the center of its incre sing fur-trade. The town was not regarded by the colonial authorities as c. place of special military conse- ({uence, nor was it ever regularly fortified until 1758, and then under the stress of war and expected English invasion. While its history is hardly so thrilling, or distinguished by so many vicissitudes, as that of Quebec, it is still replete with events of deep and abiding interest. It was here, during the lengthened period of the Gal- lic rule, that most of those secular and missionary expedi- tions were finally equipped and sent out to the West, which first disclosed to European eyes the boundless extent and physical resources of the interior of North America. Here, from time to time, were wont to rendezvous and go forth to explore and subdue the savage wilderness, those little bands of Recollet friars and Jesuit priests, those high-bred and intrepid soldiers of fortune, those hardy adventurers, voyageurs, traders and trappers, whose deeds of daring and discovery, of courage and constancy, of penance and piety, of sufiering and self-sacrifice, have been immortalized in prose and in verse. 24 Spanish Discocery of the Mississippi. CHAPTER II. 153i)-J671. DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND OF THE NORTHWEST. m ^'■I'itf 'i -i 'I'M :i,'1i| Itilli ''' According to Spanisli colonial chronicles, the Missis- sippi Kiver was discovered by Hernando de Soto,* an am- bitious soldier of fortune, who, after acquiring wealth and distinction under Pizarro in Peru, returned to Spain, and was commissioned by the emperor, Charles V., to be gov- ernor and captain-general for life of Cuba and Florida. Having obtained tiie imperial permission and authority to undertake, at his own expense, the exploration and conquest of Florida,! De Soto raised and equipped a force of six hun- dred picked men, SpaniartNand Portuguese, besides twenty officers and twenty-four ecclesiastics. With these he put to sea from San Lucar, Spain, on April 6, 1538, and before the end of May arrived at the port '>f St. Jago de Cuba, then the seat of government, in the southeastern corner of the island. Here he tarried a few months to arrange his affairs of state, and then proceeded to Havana, where he vv^as joined by his consort, Dona Isabella, and all of his troo}>s. It was on the 18th of May, 1539, after fourteen months of busy preparation, that the captain-general and his splen- did armament, v/ith nodding plumes and waving banners, embarked for the shallow and treacherous coast of "West Florida. Before setting sail, however, he appointed one of his trusted friends in Havana to act with his wife in the government of Cuba during his absence. His ileet con- sisted of live large ships, two caravels, and two brigantines, * Variously written by different authors Ferdinand, Fernando, and Hernando de Soto. tThis large peninsula had been discovered and named by Ponce de Leon in 1512, but little was known of the interior of the country. Soto's Expedition through Florida. 25 kIo, ami jnce (le carrying six hundred and twenty soldiers, and two liundred and twenty-three horses.* They also carried a numerous retinue of priests, servitors, and camp-followers, and a large herd of swine. The horsemen were all furnished with shirts of mail, steel caps and greaves, after the military fashion of that age. The fleet quit the harbor of Havana witli a favorable wind, but was becalmed on entering the Gulf of Mexico, and did not reach its destination u!itil the 25th of May, when it came to anchor at the Bay of Espiritu Santo, now called Tampa Bay. On the 30th of that month De Soto debarked his troops, horses and baggage, and pitched his camj) on the seashore. After some little skirm- ishing with hostile parties of the natives, in which several of his light-armed troops were wounded, he took possession of the deserted village of Ucita, situated about two leagues up the bay. This place he proceeded to fortify by throw- ing up intrenchments, etc., and made it his base of opera- tions. , ' Learning from an Indian captive that a Spaniard was living not many leagues away, who had been a soldier in the unfortunate expedition of Pamphilio de Narvaez, in 1527 or '28, the governor sent an escort for him and had him brought to his lieadquarters. This Spaniard was a native of iJeville, and his name was Juan Ortiz. He ap- })eared at the Spanish camp with his face painted, and otherwise accoutered as a savage. On being interrogated he stated that he had lived among the Florida Indians eleven years, and knew their language very well, but could not tell much about the country, only that there was no gold in it. Taking him for a guide and interpreter, De Soto now set out to penetrate the interior with all his army, ex- cept sixty foot soldiers and twenty-six horsemen, who were left behind to guard the fort.f After spending the remainder of tliat season in ram- bling through the tangled forests and everglades of the * Narrative of Luis Hernandez de Biedma, or Biedura, factor of the s'xpedition. t Biedma's Narrative. 26 Spanish Discovery of the Mississippi. |M'I peninsula, he wintered in the territory of the Appalach- ians, near the northwestern coast, and during the next spring marched to the northeast, traversing what is now Georgia and a part of South Carolina. Arriving early in May on the banks of a wide river,* near a large village of the Cofitachiqui, the Indian (pieen of that nation sent her sister with a present of a necklace of beads to De Soto, and canoes with which to cross the river. When he r-^ached the village, the queen gave him the use of one- half of it in which to lodge liis men, and also sent him a present of many wild hens. Searching the graves of a dis- peopled town in that vicinity for treasure, the Spaniards discovered a great store of pearls, which, however, had been injured by being buried in the ground. They also found two Spanish axes, and some beads resembling those brought from Spain for the purpose of trading with the Indians. It was conjectured that these last articles had been obtained in trade from the companions of Vasquez de Ayllon, who, sailing from Ilispaniola, had landed at a port on the coast of Carolina in the year 1525. Ilenuiining at the village of the Indian princess sev- eral days, the Spanish governor next marched north- westward, crossing the southern spurs of the Blue Ridge Mountains, j nd thence bent his general course southward through the pi'esent State of Alabama, inquiring every- where for tl e precious metals, often hearing of them, but finding little or none. The aborigines, living along thin extend'.'*,' and tortuous route, were sometimes hostile, and at oibvr times friendly, but nowhere offered any effectual resistance to the progress of the invaders. The privations and sufterings of the Spaniards were often severe, and their adventures bordered closely on the marvelous.f About the middle of October, 1540, Soto and his army arrived at a large palisaded town called Mavila, or Mauvila (Mobile), which was situated on the Alabama Ri ® Supposed to be the Savannah Kiver, and probably in the Chero- kee country. t Thomas' History of the U. S. * Per Soto's Expedition through Florida. 27 ilach • next s now Li'ly in ige of it her Soto, en he tf one- hini II [' i\ (Us- miards !r, had 3y also V those ith the .68 had :^\iez de a port J8S sev- north- Uidge thward every- mi, but ntf thin ile, and tt'ectuiil ivations d their and his ivila, or ; labania *^ Hlie Chero- ^ Liver, a short distance above its confluence with the Toni- bigbee. The nati'^'es of that southern locahty had con- ceived a strong aversion toward the Spaniards on account of their reimted inliumanity, and this was intensified l)y the arbitrary action of the latter in seizing and holding as prisoner, for a time, the Indian cacique, Tuscalosa, for sus- pected treachery. This bitter state of feeling soon burst out into a >doody conflict, which lasted several days, and duriiiir which the Indian town was firod and reduced to ashes, together with a great many of its inliabitants, and a part of tiie baggage of the S[)aniards. According to some Spanish accounts, twenty-five hundred of the natives either died in battle, or were suffocated and burned to death, at Mavila. Ilaviiiff now lost about one hundred of his men and forty-two horses, since landing in Florida, De Soto went into camp for a few weeks to rest his little army, and care for the wounded. Any one but this proud and headstrong captain would have here renounced his scheme of barren conquest and fruitless search for mineral wealth, and joined his brigantines which had arrived at the harbor of Ochuse,* only one hundred miles away. But still lured forward by the hope of finding some rich country, he broke up his camp and marched to the northwest. Fighting his way through the woods and across rivers into the heart of the Chickasaw country, he put his troops into v/inter quarters at the s»nall village of Chicaca, on the upper waters (it is Bupposed) of the Yazoo River. Early in the following March, Scto, as had been his custom, made a requisition ijion the principal cacique of the neighborhood for two mndred men to carry his baggage to tlie banks of the Lississippi. To this unexpected demand the wily sachem ^ave an evasive answer, and, instead of complying with it, jcretly collected his warriors at night, and attacked and 5t fi.re to the village in which the Spaniards were lodged; lus causing the destruction of the clothing and stores of latter, as well as the loss of fifty-seven of their horses * Pensat'ola Bay, the Achusi of La Vega. 28 iSpanish Discovery of the Mississippi. m ■m I 'I i ]' Mil ft "> iiiy'i-iii and fourteen men, who perished in the light and flames.^j This frightful disaster occasioned the Spaniards a month'sj delay, during which time forges were erected, swords re tempered, ashen lances made, and every effort put forth toj repair their irreparable losses. At length, late in April, 1541, the indomitable coni' maiider again resumed his uiarch, and, after struggling for] a week or more through the intervening wilderness of for- est and swamp, and meeting and overcoming stubborn op position from the natives, he reached the long sought Mis- sissippif — the Rio Grande of De la Vega, and the Rio del Espiritu Santo of tlie Spaniards generally. The character| of tliis mighty stream has not materially changed in the lapse of three and a half centuries. It was then descrilni! (at the place of crossing) as almost half a league wide, and flowing with a swift current in a deep channel. The river was always muddy, and trees and timber were continuall} floating down it. The Indian town where Soto iirst struck the main river, was called Quizquiz, or Chiscii,; names now incapable of identification. The actual ap- pearance of the Spanish captain, and of his tattered and battle-scarred followers, nuirshaied on the low banks of tlit Mis8i88ij)pi, was no doubt tame enough iti contrast with tlu brilliantly pictured representation of the scene on canvasf Kere the resolute adventurers were detained riearly a month, constructing pirogues and barges to convey thoiii- pelves, liorses and baggage, over the river. They appear ti have crossed to the western side at the fcjtof the lowisi Chickasaw bluff, a short distance below the site of the ]>rosciit city of Memjthis. SucJj, at all events, is the geneially n ceived opinion, though a few modern writers endeavor t * See Bit'dma's Narrative. t" There in probably no r-ver tliat lias had ho many names hh tliis great river. The name MechiHapa was afterward written Missisipi, niul finally MiHfe'i88ippi. The? IndiaiiH, aceording to their different looalitii- and langua|&,o.s, had different nanieB for it. Soto flrfit knew it by tin name of Chuoagna. The French Reveral timen rhange;ed in tlit de8cribo(i wide, and The river ontimially Soto iirst r Chisca,'; ictual ap- tered and iks of tlu it witli tilt >n canviij I nearly a vey thoiii' appear ti he lowest - prertoii! lally re-i leavor toJ fix the place of their- crossing b«^low the junction of the Ar- kansas.* After passing the Mississippi^ Soto and his caravan moved in a northwesterly direction to the Indian village of Pacaha, situated not far to the west of the modern New Madi-id, Missou ri. Stopping there some twenty-seven days, he sent out small parties to explore the country, and after- ward marched north and west to the highlands of White River, the northern limit of his expedition. Still seeking the rich realm described by Do Vaca,t the Spanish captain uow changed his course to the soutiieast, and came to a .Urge town of the people called Quigata. This is supposed to have been on the river Arkansas, near Little Rock. But he was again tempted westward, up into the region of the Ozark mountains, and on his route may have i)a8sed by the Hot Springs, one of the fa >led fountains of youth. He liixt wintered at the town of VicjinqvM' or Autiamque, ■iliich was probably on the [J})per Arkansas, though some writers plare it on the headwatci's of the Washita. It was here that Juan Ortiz, the interpreter, died much regretted. In March, 1542, De Soto left V'icanque and descended the Valley of the Arkansas, to get information in rcgai'd to ^he sea. lieturningto the banks of the Mississippi, he tixed hi; fortified camp at a village called Guachoya, or (^luach- Oyan(pie,I which was ^)robably situated not far below the lontiuence of the Arkansas. The commander now found his iiealth and strength declining uiuler the fatigues and anxieties of his disaitpointing enterprise, and his lofty i ride tave way to a settled melancholy. This was accom[)anieu *Sen tluMlitt'ercnt opitiiotiH on this mooted quostiou collected iu a lote to Baneroft'H History of the V. 8. (edition of 187')) vol I, p. iV.). See llso a lengthy note on the '" Route of PeSoto," in the appendix to B, phipp'H History of Soto and Florida ^riiiladelphia, 1881), pp. (176-<)81. tCaheea de Vaea was second in command of the expedition of Nar- fftez in 1528, and it is asserted or conjectured that he discovered one of »e njouths of the Mississippi. + Home modern writers, including Bancroft, locate (iuachoya near le mouth of Red River; but we prefer to follow Mr. Mc('Ullough, Mr. |lhea, and others, who would conHne He Soto's wanderings west of tho Ireat River to tho Valley of the Arkansas and its trihutariis. ! diiiiiiiliiii! If ^'^ Spanish Discovery of the Mississippi. ; by a malignant and wasting fever, of which he died on the 5th of June, 1542, being aged about forty and six years. The knowledge of his death was kept a secret from the In- dians of the locality, who yet surmised the fact, and his body, wrapped in a mantle, was buried witliin the camp or town. But to eft'ectually guard the corpse against outrage by the superstitious savages, it was exhumed a few days after, and placed in the hollowed trunk of an oak, and then lowered at midnight into the deep bosom of the Father of Waters,* an appropriate resting-place for its daring discov- erer. It is related that his sympathetic and devoted wife expired at Havana within three days after hearing the sad tidings of his end. According to the more credible authorities, Hernando de Soto was born at Xeres de los CaV.ell^ ^ in the prijici- pality of Estramadura, tSpain, about tue ^ cur 1496. He was the scion of a noble yet impoverished family, and was in- d'^.bted to one Pedrais d' Avila for the means of pursuing an university course. After this he went to the West In- dies, and joined Pizarro's expedition to Peru. In his ex- ploration and attempted conquest of Florida, he is said to have expended more than one hundred thousand ducats. Garcilasso de la Vega, in his "History of the Conquest of Florida," gives us this concise yet flattering delineation of De Soto's person and ol aracter: "He was a little above tlie medium height, hi. 1 a cheer- ful countenance, though somewhat swartliy, aiisi v .; an ex- cellent horseman. Fortunate in his enterprise- 1 leath had not interrupted his designs; vigilant, skillful, amwitious, patient under difficulties; severe to chastise offenses, but ready tr pardon others ; charitalile and liberal toward the soldiers; brave and daring, as much so as any captain wlio ■*'Tlv« Knight of Klvas statcH, in his narrative, that iSoto died on the 2lBt of May, 1542, and alw) given a ditlerent account o." liis final burial from that currently accepted, lie Hays: " Luysde Mohcopo comn.andcd hiin (Koto) to be t&ken up, and to caet a great deal ^f sand into the mantlcH in whiidi he wan wound, wherein he was carried in a canoe, and thrown into the river." ,mi on the years, he lu- ud his imp or utrage tV days id then ther of discov- id wife the sad rnaudo prinei- Lle was tva8 in- Lirsuiiig ^e8t Iii- his ex- eaid to ucats. IKpK'Ht neation Survivors of Soto's Expedition. 81 d on tilt' al burial in.aixifii 'j^ into the a canoe, had entered the new worhl. So many rare qualities caused him to be regretted by all the troops."* By his last will, De Soto appointed Luis de Musooso d'Alvarado, his favorite lieutenant, to succeed him in com- mand of the army, which had been reduced by disease .ind casualties to one-half its original nundjer. The real pur- pose of the expedition was now abandoned, the only object of the survivors beiiig to quit the country as best they ^night. Doubting his ability to lead the men back to Cuba by way of the Mississippi and the Gulf, the new commander set fcrth on a long and hazardous journey to the west and southwest in hopes of reaching the Spanish settlements in northern Mexico, as De Vaca claimed to have done after the failure of the exi)odition of Narvaez, to which allusion has been nnuk>. In the course of this archious march, ex- tending over seven hundred miles, Muscoso and his troop traversed a consideral)le part of the Valle}' of Red Kiver, and passed by some tribes who were found still inhabiting that country when it was first explored by the French, nearly a century and a half later. The most westerly town reached by our band of adventurers was named Nacachoz, or Nazachoz, in western Texas. Here they saw pottery, tur([Uoises, and cotton mantles from Mexico, and met with an Indian woman who had l)elonged to a S}»anish expedi- tion sent eastward from the Pacific coast a few years before, (-ontinuing to advance ten days longer, tliey crossed a con- siderable river,:|: when they found themselves in a desert region j)eopled by rovii\g .md jiredatory tribes. Disheartened at tlie cheerless prospect, and fearing treachery from their native guides, the Spaniards now faced about and retraced their weary course to the Mississippi. Arrived once more at Guachoya, where Soto had deceased, they determined to construct some v^essels with which to descend to the sea and return to their own country. But not findiiig the requisite facilities f«n che work, they as- * Soe Rhipp's History of De Soto and Florida, p. A'.W. fSupposfd to have been the I't'cos branch of the Rio Bravo del Norte. !i if 32 Spanish Discovery of the Mississippi. cended the river to the village of Minoya,* where they went into winter quarters and stayed six months. Here they set up a forge, and worked all their iron and chains into nails and spikes. They cut and dressed timbers, split boards, laid keels, and thus built seven light brigantines, in which they laid loose planks for decks, and afterward stretched rawhides and mats to protect themselves from the Indian arrows. It was on the 2d of July, 1543, that the shattered remnant of Soto's once proud array, now reckoned at only three hundred and twenty -two men, embarked in their slender brigantines, with a canoe attached to each, and began to drift down the great river. During the voyage, they suftered great annoyance and injury from the Indians along the Lower Mississippi, who were exasperated at the Spaniards on account of their cruelties, and who followed them in canoes for many days, and harassed them with re- peated attacks, both by laud and water. In one of these encounters with the savages, according to the Knight of Elvas, Viie brave Juan de Guzman and ten soldiers were slain or drowned iu the river. Escaping at length from their enemies, and having sailed as they computed two hundred and fifty leagues, Muscoso and his followers reached the Gulf of Mexico on the 18th of July. From thence, instead of venturing to cross the open sea in their weak craft, they coasted its low sbores to the west and south for fifty-two days, and, after undergoing incredible hardships, finally arrived at the town of Panuco, in M<^xico, on the 10th of September. "The inhabitants of Panuco," says the old chronicler, Garcilasso de la Vega, "were all touched witli pity at beholding this forlorn remnant of the gallant armament of the renowned Hernando de Soto. They were blackened, haggard, shriveleg clad only with the skins of deer, buffalo, * Or Aininyo. The precise location of tiiis village, where the brig- autineB were built, can not now bo settled, its SpaniHli-Iiulian name havinji; left no trace, but it \h supponed to huve been on a hmuiII river that put into the Mississippi a few miles above the luouth of the Ar- kansaH. of a here * Fo Ition, set [Gentlen ^ffl^BioUK of ha|iH the Survivors of Soto's Expedition. 33 XU'O, nco," •e all )t' tlie Soto. hiiH- ttUlo, bears and other animals, and looking more like wild beasts than liuman beings.* This wonderful yet disastrous expedition, covering a period of over four years, was practically the beginning of the history of the United States of North America ; for the ''■-,) migrations and wars of the savage tribes, who had hitherto -." occupied the whole country, are of hardly more historical value than the flights and skirmishes of so many hawks ^ and crows. In this category we would not class the old "s Mound Builders, of whom and whose works so much has ■ been learnedly written, while so little comparatively is really known. They, too, were probably Indians, though of a more intelligent and civilized type than those found licre by the Europeans. Subsequently, in the year 1557, owing to the implaca- ble hoistility of the natives, and to the loss of the crews of several Spanish ships that had been wrecked on the coasts of Florida, the King of Spain gave orders for the military reduction of thai; country. Accordingly, in 1559, an ex- pedition of fifteen hundred men was equipped and sailed from Vera Cruz, Mexi-o, under the c(mimand of the vet- .|eran Don Tristan de Luna. He landed with his army at I St. Mary's Hay, iiow Pensacoia, and advanced northward |into the interior, and thence westward to the Mississippi, ||in the country of the Natcliez Indians. In the meantime ydisHcnsions and revolts arose among liis troops, which im- Ipaired the success of the expedition, and necessitated a V retrograde march to the coast, where vessels soon alter >' arrived and cai'ried the survivors back to Mexico. I llencotbrth the MissiHsi[)pi Iliver apjtears to have been I neglected and tbrgotten by the Spaniards, although they ^liad exi>lored it for nearly a thousand miles, and were ac- jquainted with at least two of its principal western tributa- For full, if not uIwnyH trust worthy aocomitH of De Hoto's expedi- [tion, HtH* the contcnipcirary chronicles of l?ie(hnii or IMednra, of the ejrn, sevj.ral Knglish ver- {(ientlei uin of Elvas, and of (Jarcilasso de la V Bionsof wlncihare in print. That of Biodnia Im the shortest, and per [ha|iH the most autlientio. 3 rirTirf-ffrtt- -tt- 84 French Discovery of the Northwest. ¥m 'I' ii !!'i!!:i!i|i Ties. It was afterward laid down on their maps of West Florida as a comparatively unimportant stream, and was not always distinguished by its original Spanish name; nor is it certain that any ship of that nation had ever entered and ascended the great river from the sea. Spain thus abandoned the Valley of the Mississippi to its primitive wildness and savagery, partly because of the great difficulty of penetrating the country, but chieliy for the reason that no El Dorado, no glittering gold, was found in all that semi-tropical region to attract and satisfy Spanish cupidity. Nearly a hundred years had elapsed after Soto's prinuil discovery, when Jean Nicolet, an intrepid French roya(/ent\ reached the vicinity of a northern affluent of the Mississip})!. John Nicolet was a son of Thonuis Nicolet, of Cherl)ourg. France, lie came to Canada as a youth in 1618, and was shortly after sent by Champlain to reside with the barbar- ous Algonipiins on the Isle des AUamettes, situated in the Ottawa River, above Chaudiere Falls. He stayed with them two years, following them in their periodical hunts, partak- ing of their fatigues and privations, and often suffering keenly from the pangs of hunger and the brutality of the savages. In the meantime, however, he acquired an inti- mate knowledge of the Algonquin language, then generally spoken on both the Ottawa River and the northern banks of the St. Lawrence. Nicolet afterward went to residi' among tlie Nipissings, on the shores of the lake of that name, with wliom he remained about nine years. Here he lived as an Indian, speaking their harsh tongue, having his own little cabin and establishment, and doing his own fish- ing and trading. But he still continued a Frenchman and a Catholic, and at length returned to the confines of civili- zation, because, as he said, *' he could not live without the sacraments," which were denied him in the depths of the wilderness. After the repossession of Canada by the French in July, 1632, the Sieur Nicolet was employed as a (iommissary and Indian interpreter for the company that governed the col- ony. In 1634, or tliereabouts, he was sent as an agent or Jean Nicolet. 35 West i wiiH ;; nor itered I thus mitive Henlty n tluit II that pidity. priiiud 11 age I ()\ ih8ip]>i. •boui'i?. lid WHS barbar- l hi the th them [partak- iftering of the ail iiiti- iieraUv banks ) res'uU' of that lere lu' niig his '11 tirtll- liaii aii'l If eivili- lout the of tho liii July, lary and -^j^ ]he col- Igeut or embassador to the Wimiebagoes, wlio dwelt near the head of Green Buy of Luke Michigun.* They hud quarreled with the Nez Perces, or Beaver Indians, whose hunting-grounds lay to the north of Lake Huron, and who were friendly to- ward the French, Nicolet was charged, among other things, to negotiate a peace with those discordant tribes. But the main object of his expedition appears to have been to solve the problem of a western and more direct route to China, which country was supposed to be situated not far beyond the most westerly of the great lakes. Agreeably to the best accredited account of his cele- brated journey, Nicolet set out in a bark canoe, w^ith seven Huron Indians for guides and huntsmen, and ascended the Ottawa River to a station above Allumette Island. Turning thence to the west, he traveled by way of Lake Nii)is.siiig to the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, and followed its rugged and forbidding coast up to the Rapids of St. Mary, where he held interviews with the natives of those parts. Returning down tho strait of that name, he next en- tered and passed through the Straits of Michilimackinac — about three leagues in length — emerging on the watery ex- panse of Lake Michigan, or Lake of Illinois, as it was first known by the French, of which he was entitled to the ■"In no record, contemporaneous or later," says Mr, Buttt;rfield, " Ih the date of his journey thither given, except approximately. The fact of Nicolet having made the journey to the Winnebagoes is first no- ticed by (Father; Yimont, in the Relation of 1G40, p. 35. He says: " Le iIhUi' ray tout maintenant le cote du md, ie diray an paaaant, que le Sieur Ni- roh't, interpretfr eii langne Ahjonq^nne et Huronne pour ^femeur8 de In Nouvellf France, ?«' '« donnc les noms de ces natiom qiCil a visiU'e luij memne pour la plupart dans leur pays^ tous ces peuples eiitendant L'AlgoiKpiine, excepte lea irnronns, que ont vue langue d part comme aum, les Oitinipigou ou gens de liter.'' The year of Nicolet's visit, h will be noticed, is left undetermined. Tho extract only shows that it must have been made in or before 1639." Mr. Butterfield then goes on to show, pretty conclusively, that Nicolet made his voyage to the northwest in l(i34, returning thence the follow- ing year. Mr. Parkman, however, fixes the tinie of the journey be- tween 1635 and 1638, and Mr, Shea "u 1639. To the last named scholar is ascribed the credit of liaving been the first to identify the " Ouinipi- gou, or Gens de Mer," of Father Vimont with the Winnebagoes, Hee " Nicolet's Discovery of the Northwest," by C. W. Butterfteld (Cincinnati, 1881), pp. 42-45, and accompanying notes. ■'S*i< 36 French Discovery of the Northwest. honor of discovery. After uoidly threading his course around its wild, northern shores to the Bay of Noquet, an arm of Green Bay, he made his way over the hitter to the mouth of a stream flowing in from the west, where he met a tribe of Indians called the Menominees. From thence he resumed his voyage up Green Bay toward the Winnebagoes, who, having received word of his coming, had sent a num- ber of their young braves to meet him and escort him to their villages. Nicolet found the Winnebagoes to l)e a numerous peo- ple, living in bark and skin covered lodges, and speaking a guttural language radically different from that of the Huron and Algonquin Indians. They belonged to the great fam- ily of the Sioux or Dakotas, and were the only l)ranch of that stock who dwelt so far eastward of the Missis- sippi. Nicolet's arrival created a great sensation among the Winnebagoes, for he w.as the first white man to visit them, and four or five thousand of the tribe assembled to greet him. Each of the j)rincipal chiefs gave a feast in his honor, at one of which a hundred and twenty beavers are said to have been served. On taking leave of the Winnebagoes, he journeyed for six days up Fox River, and thence passed through Lake Winnebago to the homes of the Maskoutens, or Mascoutins, who afterward became banded with the Miamis. It seems that the Sauks and Foxes had not as yet migrated from the East to this sec- tion of the country. Hearing from the Mascoutins of a nation called the Illinois, we are told that he continued his progress southward and visited some of the villages of that people. While exploring the Fox River, he also heard of the Wisconsin ; but as the account given by him of this tributary of the Mississippi is vague and confused, it is by no means certain that he either saw or navigated any part of it. " It has been extensively published," says Mr. Butter- field, " that Nicolet did reach the Wisconsin, and float down its channel to within three days (sail) of the Missis- sippi. Now Nicolet, in speaking of a large river upon which he had sailed, evidently intended to convey the idea '"'i ast in ,-Ajj savers )f the ^vwU River, '\N lomes ■ ;i« ecame -M 8 and M is sec- '■1 3 of a ' 4" •[ ed his res of i also y him fused. igated ; utter- float H ^issis- « upon 'v'lL^H e idea Jean Nicolet. m of its being connected with tlie lake, that is, with Green Bay. Hence he must have spoken of Fox River. But Viniont (Relation, 1640, page 36) understood him as saying that had he sailed three more days on a great river which flows from that lake, he would have found the sea," or "great water" of the Indians. On his return trip, Nicolet stopped to form the acquaintance of the Poutouatamis (Pottawatomies), who occupied the islands in the mouth of Green Bay, and there met with a friendly reception. Sliortly after arriving at Quebec from his tour to the far west, he w^as sent to the Three Rivers, where he resumed and continued his duties as commissary and Indian interpreter. On the 22d of October, 1637, Jean Nicolet was mar- ried in Quebec to Marguerite C/Ouillard, a god-child of vSam- uel de Champlain, and by this union became the father of one child, a daughter. Four years later (1641), he was associated with Father Paul Ragueneau in making a treaty with a large band of the Iroquois, who, having entered Canada, were threatening the post of Three Kivers. "About the first of October, 1642, he was ailed down to Quebec to take the place of his brother-in-law, Olivier de Tardift', who was general commissary of the Hundred Partners or Associates, and who sailed on the 7th of that month to Old France. The change was very agreeable to Nicolet, but he did not enjoy it long; for in less than a month after his arrival, in endeavoring to make a trip to iiis former place of residence, to release an Indian prisoner in possession of a band of Algonquins who were slowly torturing him, his zeal uad humanity cost him his life. On the 27tli of October, he embarked at Quebec, near 7 o'clock in the evening, in the launch of M. de Savigny, which was headed for Three Rivers. He had not yet reached Sillery (four miles above Quebec), when a north- east squall raised a terrible tempest on the St. Lawrence, and filled the boat. Those in it did not immediately drown. Nicolet had time to say to M. de Savigny, ' Save yourself, sir, you can swim ; I can not. I am going to God ; I recommend to you my wife and daughter.' The 38 French Discovery of the Northwest. il! wild waves tore the men one after another from the boat, wliich had capsized and floated against a rock ; and four of the number, inchiding Nicolet, sank to rise no more." * Thus was overwhelmed in the surging billows of the St. Lawrence, while on an errand of Christian charity, the Sieur Jean Nicolet, the first European, whose slender canoe cleaved the limpid waters of Lake Michigan, and thefirst who is known to have set foot in the level prairies of Southern Wisconsin. His untimely death was regretted in common by his countrymen and the red men. The story of his ad- venturous yet useful life has been worthily written, and his memory survives in the name of a county and town in Lower Canada. It may seem strange that the Mississippi River, drain- ing as it dees the heart of the continent, should have re- mained so long unknown throughout its course to the English colo .ists on the Atlantic seaboard ; but they evinced no early disposition to venture beyond the moun- tains that walled them in on the west. The vague story of an English voyage up the great river in 1048, has found some advocates, though it is quite improbable, considering the fact that the Gulf of Mexico was then a closed sea to all European vessels save the Spanish. In a book, descrip- tive of the Province of Carolina, published by Dr. Daniel Coxe, in London, in 1727, it is affirmed that a certain Col- onel Wood, residing at the Falls of James River, Virginia, discovered different branches of the Ohio and Mississipjii Rivers between the years 1654 and 1664. " It is possible, however (says Col. R. T. Durrett, in his elaborate historical address on the anniversary of Kentucky's Centennial of State- hood), that Dr. Coxe has credited Col. Wood with an ex- ploration that was made by Captain Thomas Batts, at a little later date. In 1671, Gen. Abraham Wood, by the authority of Governor Berkeley, sent Captain Batts with a party of explorers to the west of the Appalachian Mountains, in search of a river that might lead across the continent to- *" Discovery of the Northwest hy Jean Nicolet; with a Sketch of his Life and Explorations." By C. W. Bntterfield, pp. 82-84. Englhh Attempts to Reach the Mmissippl. 39 :oricai State- Im cx- a little |horit\ lirty of [iiB, ill lilt to- ward China. The journal of tlieir route is rendered ob- scure by meager descriptions, and the change of names since it was written ; but it is possible that they went to tlie Roanoke, and, ascending it to its headwaters, crossed over to the sources of the Kanawha, which they descended," probably to the Ohio. But it does not appear that either of those Virginia explorers ever penetrated beyond the re- gion of the Upper Ohio. In the meantime, however, the French Jesuits and fur- traders were pushing deeper and farther into the wilder- ness of the northern lakes. About the year 1634, three Jesuit priests, Brebeuf, Daniel and Lalemant, planted a misi.ion among the Ilurons on the shores of Lake Simcoe, and another on the southeastern border of Lake Huron. In 1641 the Fathers, Isaac Jogues and Charles Raymbault, embarked upon the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, for the Sault de Ste Marie, wliere they arrived after a tedious canoe passage of seventeen days. They were met there by a con- course of some two thousand natives (probably Ojibwas), who had been ai)[>rised of their coming, and to whom they proclaimed the mysterios of the Romish faith. Father " Raymbault died in the wilderness in 1642, while jiursuing liis missionary labors and discoveries. The same year, Jogues and Bressani were captured and tortured by the l!i- diaiis. Then followed the havoc and destruction of an Iro- quois war, by which the Jesuit missions were broken up, and many of their priests were either tortured or put to death. "Literally did those zealous missionaries 'take their lives in tlieir hands,' and lay them a willing sacrifice on the altar of their faith." For a number of years, therefore, all further French I x}»loration was arrested. "At length, in 1658, two daring Iraders penetrated to Lake Superior, wintered there, and brought back tales of the ferocious Sioux, and of a great western river on which they dwelt. Two years later (1660), tlie aged Jesuit (Rene), Menard,* attempted to plant a mis- * Recent publications," says tlu' late John (iihnary Shea, "have placed a Jesuit mission on the lake (Superior), and even on the Missis- sippi, as early as 1653 ; but the Relations have not the slij,'lite(st allusion m French Discovery of the Northwest. •lilfir ilii! jiiiip^ I'liUll INilili sion on the southern shore of that lake, but perished in the forest by famine or the tomahawk. Allouez succeeded him, explored a part of Lake Superior, and heard in his turn of the Sioux and their great river, the ' Mesissipi.' More and more the thoughts of the Jesuits, and not of the Jesuitn alone, dwelt on this mysterious stream. Through what re- gions did it How, and whither would it lead them — to the South Sea, or the Sea of Virginia; to Mexico, Japan, or China ? The problem was soon to be solved, and the myss- tery revealed."* The dittereut enterprises of the Jesuits and fur-tradorn having made known the country of the northwest, the French-Canadian officials took steps to extend over it the jurisdiction and authority of the King of France. Pursu- ant to this end, on September 3, 1670, Jean Talon,t the ac- tive a^d able intendant of New France, selected and com- missioned Simon Francois Daumont, Sieur de St. Lussou, as his deputy to go in search of cop' ^r mines, and to hold a general conference with the indi^ is tribes about the outlet of Lake Superior. To avoiu any pecuniary outlay on the part of the provincial government, the resources ot which were rather limited, it was arranged that St. Lussoii should remunerate himself for the expenses of his expedi- tion by trading with the Indians. He set out from Quebec to the fact, aud speak of Menard as the first. The Jesuits named (Fatiier Dug6rre and otliers) as being concerned are not mentioned in the jour- nal of the superior of the mission, nor in any printed Relation, nor in Ducreux, nor in Le Clercq. Tlie fact of a mission at Tamaroa prior to Marquette's is perfectly incompatible with the Relations, and if estab- lished would destroy their authority." — Shea's History of the Discovery and p]xploration of the Mississippi Valley (N. Y., 1853), p. 23, note. *Parkman's Introduction to his " La Salle and the Great West." tJean Baptiste Talon was the second intendant of New France, aud the first, we believe, under the royal government of the country, which prospered under his administration. He was intendant, or rather su- perintendent of justice, police, and finance— the position being next iu rank and dignity to that of governor. He was first appointed to this office in 1663, and served till 1668, and again from 1670 to 1672, when lie returned to Old France and accepted the position of principal secretary in the king's household. Talon was born in Picardy in 1625, and died at Versailles in 1691. His portrait in oil is preserved in the Hotel-Dieu of Quebec, and presents hiui as a handsome and courtly gentleman. witl full com ous of J men coul , he li und( qual Ilei • viou the! and nati^ ing meet Mari ward Indii by hi send of 16' unde 11 own set o: the w the 51 in ad-! ing c groun and I ■ prised sundr I writte arrive p St. Lusson's Conference with Western Tribes. 41 with a company' of fifteen men, in several canoes, taking a full supply of goods and other needed articles, and was ac- companied by Nicliolas Perrot as Indian interpreter. According to Parkman, few names are more conspicu- ous in the animls of the early Canadian royagcurs tlian that of P*errot ; not because of the superiority of his achieve- ments over those of many others, but for the reason that he could write, and left behind him a tolerable record of what he had seen and done. Like Nicolet, Perrot was a man of undoubted courage and address, and exhibited both of these qualities in his dealings with the various tribes of red men. He was now about twenty-six years of age, and had pre- ' viously been in the' employ of the Jesuits. The Sieur de St. Lusson and party wintered on or near the Manatoulin Islands, in the northern part of Huron Lake, and occupied the time in hunting and bartering with the natives for their furs. >[eanwhile Perrot, after first send- ing messages to the tubes of the north, inviting them to meet the deputy of the Canadian intendant at Sault de Ste Marie in the ensuing spring, continued his voyage west- ward to Green Bay, and pressed the same invitation on the Indian nations inhabiting that ulterior region. Flattered by his visit and personal attentions, they all promised to send deputations as requested. Accordingly, in the spring of 1671, the principal chiefs of the Pottawatomies (who also undertook to represent the Miamis in the absence of their own old chief), the Menominees, Winnebagoes and Sacs, set ofi in their light canoes, and paddled their way over the watery plains to the Sault, whither they arrived about the 5th of May. St. Lusson and his Frenchmen were there ill advance to receive them. The Indians of the surround- ing countrj'^ now came flocking in from their hunting grounds, attracted in part by the fisheries at the rapids, and partly by the polite messages of Perrot. They com- ]tri8ed the Crees, Monsonies, Amikoues, Nipissings, and sundry other petty tribes, with names too barbarous to be written. When the representatives of some fourteen tribes had arrived, and after the usual feasting and sleeps, St. Lusson 'I 42 French Discovery of the Northwest. prepared to eyeeute the special commission with which he had been charged. Accordingly, on the 14th of June, in presence of the assembled Iiidians and Frenclimen, includ- ing four Jesuit priests* in the vestments of their office, he proceeded to take formal possession, in the king's name, of Sainte Marie du Sault, as also of Lakes Huron and Supe- rior, the Manatoulin Islands, and all the countries, lakes, rivers and streams, contiguous or adjacent thereto. A tall wooden cross was now erected, for the adoration of the natives, and close by its side was planted a stout cedar post, to which was affixed a metal plate engraven with the royal arms of the Bourbons. A hymn was then sung, and one of the Jesuit priests offered up a prayer for the King of France; after whicli the Frenchmen discharged their mus- kets and cried vivc le roi. When these formalities were ended. Father Allouez addressed the Indians in a solenni harangue '..i their own language, to which they stolidly lis- tened while smoking their stone pipes. Soon after the French party had left tl)i> place of assembly, some of those coppcr-hued sons of the forest removed the metallic plato from the post to which it had been nailed, and approj)natod it to their own use. This was done, says Mr. Parkman, not so much from any knowledge of the true im[)ort of the pljite, as from their superstitious fear of its influence as a charm. i:iut the general effect of this notable convocation and conference witli the indigenous tribes of the northwest was favoral)le to the French commercial and political inter eats, as well as to tlieir designs for the future exploration of the great riVer and regions beyond. As a part of the history of this expedition, it is stated that tlie costly i)res- ents made by St. Lusjjio'. to tlie Indian chiefs, and other necessary expletion of tlie bold undertaking which he had projected, and which was prolific of such important and far-reaching results. Owing to repeated disagree- ments between himself and (governor Oourcelles, in regard to tlie jurisdiction of their respective offices, both requested to be and were recalled. Failing health was also assigned m a reason for the governor's retirement. It is not im- probable that the intendant, as the more brainy and ener- getic man of the two, had trenched upon the governor's au- thority. : Not long afterward, in the autumn of 1672, Louis de J3"'»de, Comtede Palluan et Frontenac was sent out to Can- adw as the successor of Courcellcs. Count Frontenac be- longed to the high n<>hlvst official life was crowned with success, and with the plaudits of his countrymen, He died in Quebec in 1698, at an ad- vanced age, and was interred in the Church of the Recollet Fathers, to whom he was warmly attached. ' But to resume our principal theme. Upon the recom- mendation of Talon, before his iinal departure for France, Governor Frontenac charged Joliet with the conduct of the exploration of the Mississippi, " as being a man ex- perienced in this kind of discovery, and who had been al- ready very near that river," Apart from this official sanction of the enterprise, about all the aid afforded to Jo- liet by the provincial government, was one assistant ami. a bark canoe. Of Louis Joliet* himself, some account nuist needs W given before starting him on liis great exploration. Th* son of Jean Joliet, an humble mechanic, he was born ii, Quebec, September 21, 1645. When of proper age, he wa< put to school at the Jesuit Seminary in his native town Here he made excellent progress in his studies, and eviniiVi a special taste for hydrography. (/om[)leting his curriculuii, at the seminary in 1666, he took some minor orders in, the church, but soon discovered tliat he had no call to tlie priesthood, and therefore exchanged the cassock for tiu' trader's garl). In October, 1667, he appears to have sailed to France, and remained there until the next year. Eiitoi- ing upon his new career in tlie spring of 1669, he was 8eiit| by Intendant Talon, with a young companion, to look fori copper mines in the wild, western region of Lake Supo rior, but returned without success from this mission. He| *Thi8 Burname has sovcral synonyms, as for example, Jollyet, Jolliet, and Joliette; but it is usually written Joliet. • furtl held spriii undo of J( seenii tion < was t conv( the li Jacqi guisli was c ment motlK gen ci- ne vol I voliin becon bus a] that S( contiii tatioui , Jesuit %this St Cu[)()n ii |Chami %niiHsioi ranct ;o Can M ,nt wil ly his iidiani 0th ot ;o l)egi Fat] pril, )f his ju- Lntend- lid was tuated, len the der thv Fronte- of hi? )laudit> ail ad- ElecoUet iduct ofP nan ex- been al-' official id to Jo- ant and- leeds l)t: m. Th. born iii I, he wib e town evincvil •ricuhiii, rders ii; 11 to tlh Vol- tlu' e Hail*''i Kilter- an siMit ook t'i'i ,e Su)"'- n. 11' fe, .J oily ft, Father Marqueite. 47 further appears to have been present at the grand council held by St. Lusson with the Northwestern tribes, in the spring of 1671 ; bu*^ whether as a member of his party is undetermined. The selection of Father Marquette, as the companion of Joliet in the proposed exploration of the Mississippi, seems to have been made informally on the recommenda- tion of the superior general of the Jesuits at Quebec. He was doubtless chosen on account of bis known zeal for the conversion of the western Indians, and his proficiency in the languages or dialects s[»oken by the different tribes. Jacques, or James Marquette came of a family distiur guished in the walks of both civil and military life. He was cradled in the ancient town of Laon, in the depart- ment of Aisne, France, in the year 1637. From his pious mother {nk Rose de la Salle), he imbibed an ardent and generous temperament, predisposed alike to piety and lie- nevoleuce. In 1654, at the youthful age of seventeen, he voluntarily joined the Society of Jesus, of which he was to become so eminent a member. After two years of studi- ous a[)plication, he was, in accordance with the custom of that society, employed a part of his time in teaching, and continued in the faithful performance of his unosten- tatious duties until 1666, when he was ordained to the Jesuit priesthood. No sooner luid he been invested with this sacred (^niracter, than lie showed an inclination to go u[)()n a foreign mission ; but the ecclesiastical Province of Champagne, in which lie was enrolled, embraced no such mission. He was therefore transferred to the Province of France, and in the summer of that same year (1666) sailed to Canada, arriving at Quebec on the 20th of Se[)tember. Manpiette was now twenty-nine years old, ami buoy- ant with life, health and hope. At first he was destined by his superiors to the mission among the Montagnais Indians, in the Valley of the St. Lawrence; ami on the . lt)th of October he started from Quebec for Three Rivers, "to begin the study of that language under the instruction of Father Gabriel Drouilletes. lie remained there until April, 1668, when, his original doatination having been i 48 (rreat Hiver Voyage. ¥■' ''^•''J^t Ml: 111* ii! i;i!i ■! {; changed, lie was ordered to prepare for the Ottawa mi' sion. In the meantime he had acquired a fair knowledge of the Algonquin tongue, and was thus qualified for enter- ing his new field of labor. While waiting at Montreal for the departure of the Ottawa flotilla, he met a party of the Nez Perce or Beaver Indians, who were returning to their home in the northwest. Setting out with them, he jour- neyed up the river Ottawa, through Lake Nipissing and down French River to Lake Huron, and thence around its northern shore to the outlet of Lake fSupe.'ior Here, in company with Claude Dablon, a zealous and intrepid brother Jesuit, he founded the mission of St. Mary of the Falls, otherwise known as Sault de Ste Marie. After building a log house and chapel, and converting a number of the savages to an outward belief in Christianity, Mar- quette was directed to proceed to La Pointe St. Esprit, situated on the Bay of Chegoimegon, near the southwestern corner of Lake Superior, and arrived thither September 13, 1669. At this far westerly point. Father Claude Allouez had established a Jesuit mission among the Chippewas in 1665, and with it was opened the usual French trading post. It was from representatives of the difterent south- western tribes, and })articu]arly from the Illinois, who came hither to barter their furs and skins, that Fat'.er Marquette first learned of the grand river, of unknown ength, which took its rise in several lakes in the countrv of the far nortli, and flowed southward past their hunting grounds, and which they called "Mechisipi,*' or "Mesissi})!,'" meanini; "Great River" or " Father of Waters," The information thus derived inspired the benevolent heart of the priest witli an ardent desire to explore that mysterious river, and to ftromulgate the gospel to the pagan dwellers on its banks. But in the summer of 1671, he was obliged to with- draw, *vith the Huron portion of his flock, from his station at the liead of what is now called Ashland Bay, in conse- quence of the increasing liostility of the Sioux, a fierce and roving people, who inhabited tlie grassy [)lain8 to the southwest of Lake Superior. Returning eastward along Ion JoUet and Marquette. 49 a mr ledge Biiter- al for 3f the their jour- g and ,11(1 its ere, in itrepid of the After lumber ^', Miir- Esprit, kvestern iber 13, A^Uouez pwHB in trading soutli- |i() came rquette , which |r nortli, |(Ik, and leaning hnatioii ytricst rer, and » on itM |,o witli- station li conse- |a iierce in to the 1(1 along |he southern border of that great hike, Maniuette next ■proceeded to found the mission and Indian school of St. Ignatius,* or Ignaea, at the point or neck of land on the north side of the Straits of Michilimackinac, now called Mackinaw.! During the -nsuing year, he appears to have visited, with Fathers Allouez and Dablon, the western shores of Lake Michigan, and to have prochiimed the Faith to the friendly tribes in that region. It was on the 8th c^f l)ecend)er, 1»)72, that the Sienr Joliet arrived from Quebec at the palisaded mission-house- of Point de St. Fgnace, with instructions from (tov. Fronte- nac to take Pevr Marquette as a companion on his expedi- tion for discovering the Mississippi. The Father's journal of the same opens with the following pious reference to ^liet's arrival : "The day of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy irgin ; whom I had continually invoked, since coming to is country of the Ottawas, to obtain from God the favor being enabled to visit the nations on the river Missis- i^p])i — this very day was precisely that on which M. Joliet arrived with orders from Count Frontenac, our governor, and M. Talon, our intendant, to go with him on this dis- covery. I was all the more delighted at tliis news, because I saw my plans about to be acconiplislied, and found my- self in the happy necessity of exposing my life for the salvation of all those tribes, and especially the Illinois, who, when I was at St. Esprit, had begged me very earn- estly to bring the word of God among them." During the ensuing winter. Messieurs Joliet and Mar- quette nuide the necessary [(reparations for their journey. *' We took all possible precautions," writes Marquette, ♦' tluit if our enterprise was hazardous, it should not be fool-hardy. For this reason we gathered all possible in- foimation from the Indians who had fre(iuented those *iSo named afteir tht> father of the JeHuit order. tMaokinai! and Mackinaw are diminutives or contractions of the Idian word Missilimakinae, which, according to Lippincot's Gazettoer, luuld be pronounced Misli-il-e-mak-e-naw. 50 Great River Voyage of iHIl! :1 I Hi PI'IM'I'U T;art8, and from their acconntB traced a map of all tlie new country, marking down the rivers on which w^e were to sail, the names of tlie nations througli which we were to pass, the course of the great river, and wliat direction we should take when we got to it." This rude map was after- ward revised hy the priest, who also entered all facts of value i!i liis note-book. On the 17th of May, 1678, according to the Gregorian calendar, the explorers set out from Saint Ignace on their perilous voyage. They embarked in two ligiit yet strong and elastic bark canoes, with live French canoe-men and men of all work, whose names we are unable to give. For provisions, they carried a little Indian corn and some jerked meat. They also took a suitable assortment ol goods for distribution as presents among the natives to he met on the wav. After coastins; around the northern curve of Lake Michigan — a wilderness region then, nii(i practically a wilderness still — they entered the little rii^er Menominee, which ituts into Green Bay from the north- west, to visit a tribe called the Folle Avoine, from the wild oats or rice found growing along Lhat stream, and upon which they largely subsisted. The Jesuit missionaries had preached the Faith to these Indians for three or four years, so that thev were accounted " very good Christians." When informed of Marquette's design of going to discover distant tribes, to instruct them in the mysteries of his holy religion, they were much surprised, and did all they could to dissuade him. "They represented," according to his jouriud, "that he would encounter those nations who never pardoi\ strangers, but kill without reniorse and without cause; that the wars which had broken out between ditlbrent people, who would be upon our route, would expose us to the manifci^t danger of being carried off by some of the bands of war- riors who are always in the field; that the great river ii< very daiigerous, when the channel is not known ; that it is full of hideous monsters, who devour altogether men and canoes; that there was also a demon, whom they could see from a great distance, who closed the passage of the river and destroyed those who dared to approach him ; and, in of I was 1 lind - skii \ had ■M ^ til at ■.'■MM 1 thei I "^^' ^K n\' \ ^m H iiiuik '>^g 1 t 1 t*vil, ^B n 1 JoUet and Marquette. 51 conclusion, tluit tlio heiits were bo exceeoive that we should meet death inevital)ly." In reply, Marquette thanked tlieni tor tlieu- good ad- vice, but said that he could not follow it, since the salvation of souls influenced him, for wliich lie would gladly give up his life. He ridiculed their pretended demon, and told them that he aiul his comi)ani<)ns could i)rotect themselves from the marine monsters, and would keep on their guard to avoid the other dangers threatened. After praying with and giving these poor Indians some instructions, the good father and his French companions separated from them and crossed the bay to the mission of St. Francis Xavier, which had l)een principally founded by Father Allouez in 16H9, and was located on that- narrow tongue of land running up between Green Bay *■ and Lake Michigan. Quitting this missionary station early in June, the voyagers proceeded southward to the mouth of Fox River, at the head of the bay, and thence up that river, the rapids of which were surmounted with considerable ditH- culty. They next crossed Lake Winnebago, and shortly came to a village of the Miamis, Masc )utins, and Kicka- poos, banded together, the first named of whom were the most civil and liberal. This village was pleasantly seated on an eminencfe in the open prairie. It was then the limit of French ex[)loration in that quarter, and all beyond it was a fcrra uwognlfa. Father Ahir(|uette was rejoiced to lind standing in the village a handsome cross, adorned with skins, girdles, bows and arrows, which these simple natives had made as offerings to their Great Manitou,t "to thank him that he had had i)ity on them during the winter and given them a profitable hunt." " We had no sooner arrived," says Marcpiette's journal, •' than Mons. Joliet and 1 assembled the old men (of the village). I said to them|that he had been sent on the part of Monsieur, our governor, to discover new countries, and *Tlie French first named tluB large arm of the lake Baie des Puans, (ir Stinking Uay, on' aeeonnt of the otFensive vapors exhaled from its iimddy and slimy siiores. t A word used by the Algonquin tribes to signify a spirit, good or evil, having control of their destinies. mtmmskntmm^i ill 52 Great River Voyage of I oil the part of God to make clear to them the lights of the gospel, etc., . . . and tliat we had occanioii for two guidcH to conduct us on our route. On asking them to ac- cord tills to us, we made them a }>resent, which made them very civil, and at the same time they voluntarily answered us hy a present in return, which was a mat to serve as a bed during our voyage. The next day, which was the 10th of June, the two Miamis they gave us for guides embarked with us in sight of all the inhabitants, who could not but be astonished to see seven Frenchmen, alone in two canoes, daring to undertake an expedition so extraordinary and so hazardous." Taking a southwesterly course through the labyrinth of small lakes that intersected the flat surface of the coun- try, the explorers soon reached the water-shed dividing the waters flowing to Lake Michigan from those falling into the Mississippi. On their arrival at the portage to the Mascon- sin, Ouisconsing, or Wisconsin River, the two Miamis guides helped them to triins[)()rt their canoes and luggage across it (a distance of about two miles), and then left them to re- turn to their own people. Having flrst invoked the protec- tion of the Blessed Virgin, as the special patroness of their ex- pedition, the Frenchmen re-entered their canoes and glided down the shallow channel of the Wisconsin, over shoals and through rapids, past islets covered with vines and under- brush, and along banks of alternating timber and prairie, where they saw many deer and bufl'aloes grazing. After a navigation of forty or more French leagues,* our explorers arrived, without accident, at the discharge ot the Wisconsin ; an-100 English or statute miles. t It wuH on the eastern bank of the Missi88i()pi, about Ave mik\* above the month of the Wisconnin, that the village of Prairie du Chieii was established a century later by some French traders. It owed its name to a band of the Fox Indiana, called the " Dog Band," that loni,' resided there. ^M Jol''''t and Marquette. 53 fhts of or two to ae- 3 them 5\vere(l ve as a le lOtli l)arke.''' largt' tit ju'V fii- ettc, '*I at my^- so long Inglisli "I' ive inilt>8 du Cli it'll owed its that loug turned, and which the pious priest named J{ii:iere de la^ Coiu-eptioi) ; but they found it ruther narrow at the point of om.rgence, and elsewhere of varying width. For the en- suing week, they somewhat leisurely descended the noble stream, attentively observing its high, bold ami pictures(pie bluffs, its thickly wooded banks and islands, clothed in the full verdure t»f snnnner, and meeting with all manner of wild birds, beasts, tishes and creeping things, but seeing no Iniman being. At night they went asliore and prepared their frugal repast, nuiking but little tire, and tlien nu:)ored their canoes out in the water, and some one of the i)arty was always (ui guard for fear of a surjirise. At length, on the 2")th of dune, having advanced over eixty leagues, and being in latitude below forty-one de- grees north, the voyagers discovered the foot-prints of men in the sand on the western shore, and v well-beaten path leading \i\t to a prairie beyond. Here Joliet and Mar- quette left their canoes in the care of tlieir men, an(i started out to reconnoiter. Following the path for nearly two leagues, they canu> in siglit of an Indian village, on the banks of a small river (sup|)osed to be the l)es Moines), and beyond it, ujion a hill, two other villages. Apj)roach- iiig the lirst, they piously commended themselves to God, and uttered a loud cry; on htniring which the savages sal- lied out of their cabins, and, apparently recognizing the two Frenchmen by tlieir dark robes, sent four of their eld- ers to meet them. The inhabitants of these villages called themselves lUiniu'ek, or Ulini, that is to say " men," or "superior men." They were otherwise known as Peon- areas (Peorias), and Moingwenas, and belonged to a loose confederation of five or six tribes, who went under the general appellation of the lllini, or Illinois,* and whose principal residence was on the river of that name, east of the Mississijipi. Marquette had before met representatives of this nation at the mission of St. Esprit on Lake Supe- rior, and umlerstood their language (a dialect of the Al- gonquin) Hufiiciently well to hold conversation with them. The French added tlie termination " ois" for the sake of euphony. I ■■tfiaiili 54 Great River Voyage of i!;r !l At the door of tlie M'igwain, wli'.-.e he and Joliet were at first received, stood an old man, entirely naked, with hi'^ hands outstretched toward the sun, apj»arentiy to sliade his eyes. Wl)en tliey drew near lie greeted them with tliis friendly and tine sahitation : '' Tlie sun is beautiful, French- men, when thou comest to visit uh ; all our town awaits tliee, and tliou shalt enter in peace into all our cabins." And when they had entered therein, he softly said: "It is well, my brothers, that you visit us." Aftei" exchauifiniJ^ civilities and smoking the peace cal- umet here, the visitors were conducted to the village of the principal chief or sachenj, who, assisted by two of his nude dignitaries, extended to them a ceremonious yet cordial welcome. In this gathering of the chiefs and peojde, whoso curiosity was greatly excited by the presence of the white men among them, Marquette after first nudcing them four presents, announced tlie mission of Mons. Joliet and him- self, lie told them about the invisible God who created them, and who wished to reveal himself unto them. He then S}»oke of the great Chief of the French, who " would have them know that it was he who had produced peace throughout, and had subdued the Iroquois." Finally, he requested them to give him all the knowledge they possessed in regard * the sea, and of the nations through whose ter- ritories it would be necessary to pass before reaching it. In his reply, the Illinois chief could give his visitors but little information about the distant sea; but he besought them not to go any further, because of the great dangers to wliich they would be exposed. Always at war with the surrounding tuitions, these Indians could not understand how it was possible for the Frenchmen to travel in safety from one section of the country to another. The council and speech-making were followed by a generous feast of four courses, viz : Saf/nmiffee,^ fish, boiled dog, and ])ufi'alo meat, served in large wooden platters. The boiled dog, although an Indian delicacy, was politely 'Tliis was a coiinnon iin-irinim' ni-i.i ii hi 'I'lHI'i'' Great River Voyage of Tliifi was iieiir the iiioutli of Piasa Creek, and two miles above tlie inodern city of Alton. A few miles farther on, while rowing in smooth water, and still conversing about the " monsters," the voyagers were unexpectedly caught in the muddy and impetuous current of the Pekitanoui (Mis- souri),* coming in from the northwest, and swe[>t over to the Illinois side. Escajnng this danger, they paused on their oars to view the outlet of that powerful stream which changes the character of the Mississipjti, and doubtless took note of the ftict that for several miles below the waters of the two rivers refused to coalesce. Continuing their course, they 80(Ui jiassed, on their right, the forest crowned site of St. Louis, and lower erceived Indians on the eastern l)ank, who stopped and waited for them to approach. Manpiette immediately showed his decorated calumet, which was accepted by the savages as a token of peace ; and wdien the Frenchmen had put to shore, they placed about fifty fei'tabovo the base of tbe clilf ; ]jut thfou(;tb the combined action of tbe eleiiieiits, and tbe work of the quarryman, they are now totally obliterated. * If wo niight i-redit the nncerttiin narrative of the Baron de la Honton, he tirnt explored the MisHonri liiver early in 1081), ascending it as far as tbe inoutb of the Osage. 8ee Ln UimtviCs Voi/ogeH (English ed., London, 17115), vol. I., p. i:^(>. t These were the Khawanocs. Sbawanese, or Shawnees, who JODBti- tuted one of tliC most restless and migratory of the Algonijuin tribes, and are celebrated as tb-j tribe of Tecumseb. Joliet and Marquette. 57 in bined P re now (le la (ling it isli eel, •OIlBti- tribes, were feartted upon butialo moat and bear's oil, witli some iswliite |)lun)s as a dessert. These Indians belonged to a ' tril)o tailed tbe Monsoupelea, and wei-e armed with fusees that had been procured from nations who traded with the English on the coast of Carolina. They told tlieir visitors tha. the sea might be reached in ten (lavs' sail, but this proved fjdlacious. Continuing their ra;)id descent of the grand river, the voyagers next approached, on theii" riglit, a village of th ' .Metchigamta,* who showe tnule with them. As for the rest, we should expose ours* Ives v» vy much by ])assing further on, for the reason that their enemies were making continual irruptioni^ upon the river, which they cruised upon continually." f While this i)ublic talk was going on, the Indiaiin brought to their guests, on platters or dishes of wood, flometimes saganiittee, tlicn wliole ears of corn, and then a • It is conjectured tliut IIiIh wuh what wiiH iiftcrward known uh the Kappa viliiijfc of \\w ArkanHaw. 1" ManiiU'ttc'H Journal dn Voyivje, Joliet and Marquette. 59 piece of dog-meat. The people of this tribe are described as being very lil)eral witli what they possessed, ])ut as liv- ing poorly in bark cabins, and not daring to go to hunt the wild cattle for fear of their enemies. They liad, however, abundance of Indian corn, which they cooked in large earthen vessels, and jtlenby of watermelons. The men went naked, wearing their hair short, and boring the nose aiul ears to put in them rings .»f glass beads. The women were indifferently clad in skins, and wore their hair plaited in two braids, which fell behind the ears. Messieurs Joliet and Marquette now conferrrerl together as to whether they should continue their voyage, or con- tent themselves with the discoveries they had already made. Being [>ersuaded that the Mississippi had its discharge in West Florida, at the Gulf of Mexico, and not to the east on the coast of Virginia, nor to the west in the Gulf of California, and being, moreover, apprehensive that if they went much farther soutii they might fall into the hands of the 8j)aniards, and thus lose the fruits of their long voyage, the}' discreetly decided to reti'ace their course. Accordingly, on the 17th of July,* after a (hiy's rest, the explorers turned their canoes ur- the great river, and had nmch difliculty in stemming its powerful current. * Mai-quette's Journal here siiys: "After a month's navigation in (h'Hi'c ling the MiisHisHippi, from the forty-sfeond degree to the t'.iirty- fourth and more, and after liaving publiHlied tlie (iospel to all the na- tions 1 had met, \ • left the village of the Akansea on the 17th of July ti retrace our steps. " flaking allowanee for their inoorreet latitude, wiiich \va.s about one dogi too low, or near the eipiator, it HeeniH that tlie I'xplorers de- Hoend 1 below the Soth paralUd to a village in the vieinity of tho presen own of Helena. Nor is it incrtMlible, as argued by Home writers, that tin y should hav(> sailed so far to the south in thirty days' time. It is apparent from Mappu'tte's narrative that they were equipped with hght canoes, oars, and sails for rai)id traveling; that, after quitting the Illinois, their stoppages were few and of short duration; and that going with the current, and favored ity the annual rise in tlw river, they could witliotit dirticnlty iuive averaged thirty-six miles per Arkansas. Charlevoix, in describing tlu* birch-bark ca- noes, says that, " with a good wind, they can make twenty leagues in a 60 Great River Voyage of But few incidents are recorded of this tedious and toil- Bome homeward trip, wliich they made under tlie sweltering sun of midsummer, and exposed by night to the noxious exlialations from the buyous and morasses bordering the river. When they again approaclied the mouth of the Ilh- nois, liaving been told by the Indians that this river afforded a more direct route to the great lakes than that of the Mis- sissippi and Wisconsin, they entered and followed it to the northeast. As the voyagers ascended its sluggish channel, they were delighted with the stream and the varied aspect of the adjacent country. • - " We had never seen any thing like this river," says the father in his journal, "for the richness of the soil, the prairies and woods, tlie buffaloes, the elks, the deer, the wild cats, the bustards, the swans (or wild geese), the ducks, tlie paroquets, and even the beavers. It is made up of little lakes and little rivers. That upon which we voyaged is wide, deep, and gentle for sixty-five leagues. During the spring and part of the summer, it is necessary to make a portage of half a league." f In ascendii'g the Illinois River, their first stop of any length was at a village of the Peorias, the location of winch is not mentioned, though it was probably on or near Peoria Lake. " Here," says Marquette's narrative, " I preaclied for three davs to them the mvsteries of our faitl', in all tlieir cabins, after which, as we were .about to en»'»ark, they brought to me, at tlie edge of the water, a (lyin^. 'nfant, . which I baptized a little while before it died, for the suiv.i- tion of its innocent soul." Higher uj) the stream, the voyagers found a village of the Illinois called Kachkaskia, containing seventy-four cab- day, but, without Bails, they nuist be good canoe-men to make twelve leaj^..e8 in dead water." It iH trno that La Salle, T( ntv, St. Cosme, and othors of th(! early voyagcHTK made no Hueh quick time aH that on the Mi88i8Hij)pi. Hut their southern voyages were mostly undertaken in the winter or early spring, with heavier canons and baggage, and they were otherwise encumbered or imj)eded in their i)rogre8K by a following of Indians. tThis portage was from tlie Des I'laim's bnnich of the Illinois to the Chicagou, which empties into Lake Michigan. of •ill>- icir 3red JoUet and Marquette. ' 61 ins, where tliey were very kindly received by the inhabit- ants ; so well pleased were the hitter with the teachings of the good priest, that they made him promise to return and further instruct them. One of the chiefs and a young brave of the tribe conducted the Frenchmen thence to the Lac lies Illinois (Lake Michigan), l)y which they at last returned to the mission of St. Francis Xavier on Green Bay, at the close of September. They had left this station four montlis before, and during tluit time had traveled a cii-cuit of about twenty-seven hundred miles through regions hitherto unvisited by wliite men."* The two explorers now shortly separated, never to meet again on earth. When Father Mar([uette reached the mis- sion on Green Bay, his constitution was seriously impaired by the fatigues and hardships incident to his prolonged journey, and he was detained there by sickness during the ensuing year. In September, 1674, having partly regained his liealth, he completed his journal of the voyage down the Mississippi, and sent it to his superior at Quebec. An imperfect copy of this journal, it seems, soon found its way to Paris, and into the hands of Mons.Thevenot, an enter- prising Parisian publisher. Appreciating the interest and importance of the narrative, he published it in 1681, in a volume styled Recuil de Voyages (Collection of Voy- ages), under the particular title of " Voyage et deeouverte de qulquc pays et nations de U Amerique Septontrionale,'' to- gether with a rude map of the Mississippi Valley; sev- eral English translations of which are extant. When this journal of Father Marquette first appeared *The following table of the distances traveled over by M. Joliet and Father Manjuette is taken from Sparks's Life of Maniuette : Miles. From the Mission of St. Ignaee to Green Bay, about. :il8 From (ireen Bay (I'lians) up Fox River to the portaj:e 175 From the portage down the Wiseonsin to the MlHsissippi 175 From the moutli of the Wiscoiusin to the mouth of the Arkansas. . 1 ,087 From the mouth of the Arkansas to the Illinois River 547 From the mouth of the Illinois to the Chicago (Creek) 306 From the Chicago to Green Bay, by the lake shore 2(iO Total 2,767 ''I ii' !'i 62 Great River Voyage.' in print, its authenticity was denied, especially by the writers in La Salle's interest, who aitected to treat it as a fiction, or narrative of a pretended voyage. " Indeed," writes Mr. Shea, "the services and narrative would hardly have escaped oblivion, had not Charlevoix brought tliem to light: in \\\u great work on Xew France." But the oppor- tune discovery in 1844 of the original nnanuscript of Mar- quette's journal and map,* in tlie keeping of the hospital nuns of the Hotel-Dicu at Quebec, to whose care it had been transferred, with other papers, from the old Jesuit College in that city shortly before the year 1800, has settled the question of its genuineness beyond dispute. f The narrative itself has a peculiar value, owing to the loss of .Toilet's original pa[)ers of the journey. It is also note- worthy for the terseness, simplicity, and charm of its style, particularly in the descriptive passages. Aside from some pro- pensity on tlie part of its priestly author toward hypcrbole,| and waiving the question as to how far he and Joliet actu- ally went below the junction of the Ohio River, his journal iray be accepted as a true and striking picture of the Mis- 8issi}>[»i Valley, iind of its savage inhabitants, at that i>ris- tine period of the country '« history. Marquette had an ob- servant eye for the various phenomena of nature, and his brief expUmation of the lake tides has not been greatly im- proved upon by the deductions of modern scientists. Having at length received from the sui)erior of his order at Quebec the requisite authority to estaldish a mis- sion on the Illinois Uiver, and his health now seeming to be restored. Father Marciuette started for his new mission on the 25th of October, 1074. Leaving the station of St. Francis Xavier in a canoe, with two French attendants, he *Now preserved among the old records in St. Mary's College, Mon- treal. t Moses' History of 111., vol. 1, j). M. JTluB tendency to exa>j;geration characterizcB, in a greater or less de- gree, the writings of all the early explorers of America. It was doubt- less nnturiil to those men of impressible imaginations, in th(^ continual presence of now and surprising objects ; for their minds had not been trained to that accuracy of Btateuient which is exjjected from reputable modern travelers. Marquette's Last Visit to the Illinois. 63 niui Vlis- )n6- ob- []m im- \m luis- g to >8iou [' St. ^, lie Mon- sK tie- .oubt- timial bi'tm itiil)le coasted along the Green Bay Inlet to its southern tennituis, and tilt lu-e nuide a i)ortage across the narrow peninsulatothe western shore of Lake Michigan. En route, he overtook a party of the I'ottawatoniie and Illinois Indians, and jour- neyed with them up the lake. About the 23d of November, the missionary was ag.iin seized by his old niahidy, the dys- entery, accompanied with hemorrhage, ln't pushed on, un- daunted by disease and snowstorms, until the 4th of December, whe.i he and his companions reached the mouth of Chicago Creek. Finding it bridged with ice. they uioved up its frozen surface about two leagues, following the south branch, and there stopped and built a cabin, which is believed to have been the first white human habitation erected on the site of the metropolitan city of Chicago. Being unable to i)roceed farther, the sick j)riest and his two attendants wintered in this dreary abode. He passed his waking hours in }»rayer and meditation, and said mass every day. In the latter part of January, he was visited by a deputation of three Illinois Indians, who brought him provisions and beaver skins, and wanted in return jjowdcr and merchandise; but he gave them only the latter. During the winter he also received a visit from a French trader or trapjter, who was stationed some fifty miles awav, and who had heard of his illness. Again recovered sonunvhat, Father Marcpiette resumed his journey on the 29th of March, KiTi), and, going byway of Mud Lake and the rivers ])es Plaines and Illinois, he ar- rived at the village of the Kaskaskias o!i the 8th of April. It was here, near the site of the present town of Utica, that he began his mission, to which he gave the natne of the "Inmuiculate Conce[)tion of the Blessed Virgin." But it was only for a little while that he was able to teach the benighted Indians; for " continued illness soon obliged him to set forth on that return voyage, which brought him to a lonely grave in the wildei'uess."' On the eve of his de[)ar- ture from the village, he convened the inhabitants, to the inmiber of two thousand, on a meadow hard by, and there on a rude altar, exhibited four pictures of the Vir- gin Mary, explained their significance, and exhorted the 64 Great River Voyage. mm m r?'' chietH and people to embrace; Christianity. It may be re- marked, en, passant, that the doctrine (now dogma) of the Immacnhite Conception of the V^irgin was a favorite tenet of the Jesuits, and that Father Marquette was especially devoted to it. Quitting the Indian village a few days after Easter, he was escorted by a band of the Kaskaskias to Lake Michigan, and, on taking final leave of |them, he promised that either himself or some other missionar}- would return and resume his labors among them. •"He seems to have taken the way by the mouth of St. Joseph's River, and reached the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, along which he had not as yet sailed. His strength now graduall}^ failed, and he was at last so weak that he had to be lifted in and out of his canoe, when they landed each night. Cahnly and cheerfully he saw the approach of death, for which he prepared by assiduous prayer; his office he regularly recited to the last day of his life; a meditation on death, which he had long prepared, he also made the subject of his thoughts. And as his kind but simple companions seemed overwhelmed at the pros- pect of their approaching loss, he blessed some water with the usual ceremonies, gave them directions how to act in his last momenis, how to arrange his body, and how to commit it to the earth. He now seemed but to seek a grave; at last, perceiving the mouth of a river, he pointed to an eminence as the place of his burial. "His companions, Pierre Porteret and Jacques , still hoped to reach Mackinaw, but the wind drove them back, and they entered the river by the channel Avhere it emptied then, for it has since changed. They erected a little bark cabin, and stretched the dying missionary be- neath it, as comfortably as they could. Still a priest, rather than a man, he thought of his ministry, and, for the last time, he heard the confessions of his companions, and en- couraged them to rely on the protection of God; then sent them to take the repose they so nmch needed. When he felt his agony approaching, he called them, and, taking his crucifix from around his neck, he placed it in their hands, and, pronouncing in a firm voice his profession of faith. 1 teinj Death of Marquette. #6 liem le it id a bc- :]icr last eii- i(ent |i he hia lids, lith, thanked the Ahnighty for the favor of permitting him to die a Jesuit, a missionary, and alone. Then he relapsed into silence, interrupted by pious aspirations, till at last, with the names of Jesus and Mary on his lips, with his eyes raised as if in ecstacy above his crucifix, with his face all radiant with joy, he passed from the scene of his labors to the God who was to be his reward. Such was the edify- ing and holy death of the illustrious exp.'orer of the Miss- issippi, on Saturday the 18th of May, 1675."* Obedient to the instructions they had received, the two surviving attendants of the dead priest bore his body to the spot he had designated, committed it tenderly to the earth, and placed over it a rude cedar cross. Then, re- entering their canoe, they wended their way to Michili- nuickinac, to carry the sad tidings to the Jesuit Fathers at St. Ignace. The river, at the mouth of which Marquette died, is a small stream, in the western part of Michigan, which, according to Parkman, long wore his name, but it is now changed to a larger neighboring stream. Two years later, in the spring of 1677, a party of Christianized Kiskakon Indians, from about Mackinac, who had been hunting in the vicinity of Marquette's grave, disinterred his remains, cleaned the bones after their cus- tom, put them into a birch bark box, and transported them to St. Ignace. On the passage thitlier, they w^ere joined by other Indians in canoes, and the convoy moved in procession, singing their doleful funeral songs, until they reached the landing at the mission-station. Here the re- vered relics of the missionary were received by Fathers Nouvel and Pierson, the priests then in cliarge, in presence of all the Frenchmen and natives of the place, and were deposited, with solemn religious rites, in a vault under the 'Life of Father Marquette, in Shea's " Discovery aud Exploration of tlie Mississippi Valley," j). LXX, and seq. Note. — The account of this eminent missionary-explorer's death by Charlevoix, formerly so generally received, is inaccurate in many par- ticulars, because it was derived from tradition, and not from the con- temporary narrative of Father Claude Dablon, and others. 66 Great River Voyage. :\\ lit floor of the log chapel. In process of time (the mission being afterward abandoned) their resting place was utterly forgotten, but it was discovered by a clergyman of Michi- gan, in 1877, two centuries after the event. So lived and died, at the age of eight and thirty years, the meek and pious, yet fearless and self-sacrificing Pere Jacques Marquette. He was a model of the religious order to which he belonged, and deserved to have been beatified, if not canon- ized as a saint. His disposition was cheerful and happy, and his hold upon the hearts of those aborigines with whom he came in personal touch was something wonderful. This was doubtless owing to his uniform kindness toward them, to the purity of his private life, and to the grace and charm of his manner in the exercise of liis priestly func- tions. Nor is it incredible, as related by a contemporary, that the Illinois Indians should have regarded him as a messenger sent to them from the Great Spirit. His name holds a conspicuous and honored place in the history of the Jesuit mission ies of North America, and is inseparably associated with the discovery of the CJppec Mississippi. It is otherwise perpetuated in the appellations of several counties, towns and streams, in the different states of the northwest. Still, Illinois owes him a monument suitable to his character and services. We must now resume and complete our skeleton sketch ot Joliet's active and diversified career. After returning with Marquette to Green Bay, in September, 1673, he did not immediately proceed to Canada to report his discoveries, as is commonly supposed, but spent the following winter and spring in the upper lake country (engaged, no doubt, in the fur trafiic), and during the next summer resumed his journey to Quebec. Passing down Lakes Huron, Erie and and Ontario, he made a brief halt at Fort Frontenac, which had been erected the year before, and was then com- manded by LaSalle. The latter was probably among the first to learn the result of Joliet's voyage of exploration on the Mississippi, and may, perhaps, have seen his map and journal, which were soon afterward lost. The Sieur Jolit^t, had thus far been highly favored by fortune, and it was not Subsequent Career of Job'et. 67 until near the end of his long journey that he met with any serious mishaii But by the accidental upsetting of his canoe in the LaChine rapids, above Montreal, he lost his two canoe-men, and all of bis valuable pajxirs. In a letter penned shortly after to (,-overnor Frontenac, he thus feelingly refers to his misfortune : "I Lad escaped evory peril of the Indians; I had passed forty-two rapids, anert to try his own fortune in this newly opened country. As before stated, the superior and priests of the Semimiry of St. 8ulpice had become fcuchd proprie- tors of the large Isla'.f^ of Montreal, and wished to have it settled and improved They now made young La Salle a libci'al otter, which, under the advice of his brother, he accepted. It was the grant, on easy conditions, of a large tra-'t of Mid land on the north side of the St. Law- rence, about ten miles above the then village of Montreal, but still on the island of tiuit name. The lot-ality was ex- posed to incursions from the hostile lro([uois, but it was very conveniently situated for thefur-iratfic. Taking pos- session of his nev donuiin in the fall of 16(>7, he uuirked out the l)ou)ulai'ies of a village, and began to dispose ot his lands in snudl parcels, after tlie French * ustom, to actual Hi'tllers, who wiU'c to pay liim an annual rental tlu^'efor. Tlie place subse«|Uently took the name of La Chine, which was given to It in derision of Its proprietor's early schemes for the tliscovery of a wesiern i»assHge to Chimi. Mean Hhile, to ([ualily himself for the stirring life before him, he commenced studying thr Indian languages, and particularly the Inxpiois, in which he made eoi'sidcrable proticiency. ft'ino liis frontier jiost on the banks of the noble St. Law re I rhe dist and, lik age, he Ocean. visited Oiitari* took its at so gr mouth. Ohio, ai and, wit ])08ed to The stor that he ( rc'i»aired tile l'roj( gave hii stood pr nothing, and intei ary aid v was uiid ('hine to disposed Seminar} ainountir canoes ai At t ■^inlilar ui its, the pi sioii at th pr()[)08ed distarit w this purp tThJH IIm' a hi,.! .1. Truuvd, but His First Appearance Hi Vdiiada, 73 Lawrence, the thougbts of La Salle often wandered over the distant and untrodden regions toward tiie setting sun, and, like other inquisitive and s[)eeulative minds of tiuit ao-e, he dreamed of a western water-way to the Pacific Ocean. While thus working and musing, he was one (hiy visited by a small band of Henecas,* from thesoutb of Lake Ontario, who told him of a river called the Ohio, which took its rise in their country, and tlowed ofi-'to the sea, but at so great a distance that it took eight months to reac^h its jiiouth. In this exaggerated statement, tbe AlK'gbany, Ohio, and Mississi[»[i were all considered as one stretim, iiiMl,with the geographical ideas then prevalent, it wassup- jiosed to fall into the Sea of Cortes, or Gulf of (California. The story of these Indians so kindled Lii Halle's inuiginalion that he determined to make an ex]>edill»ui to vctil'y it, iind re[)aired to Quebec to obtain (lov. CourcelleH' approval of the i)roject. Both the governor and Intendant promptly gave him the desired letters of authority. In fact, they stood prepared to sanction any enter{)rise tjnit cost them iiotliiiig, and yet promised an extension of French tralfic and intei>ourse anuMig the western Indians. As no pecuni- ary aitl was proffered by the (^ainidian officials, La Halle was under the nei'essity of selling his " <*oncession " at La (•liine to raise funds for liis exploration. He accordingly disjyosed of his improvements there to tbe superior of tbe Seminary of Ht. Hidpice, and with the proceeds of tbe sale, amounting to twenty-eight hundred livres, punfbased four canoes and the re(juisite suj»r»lies for tbe expfdition. At the same time tbe Senunary was [ireimi ing for a similar undertaking. Kmulating tbe example of the Jesu- its, the priests of this association bad already founded a mie- sion at tlie Ibiy of Quintef on Ontario Lake, and they now proposed to extend their operations to tbe tribes i>i the distant west. An ex[)edition was therefore set on foot for this purpose, under tbe management of Katlnus l)oHi(M'de •On(« of tlio flvo triboH thon compoHinif Ha- IroiiutuH Nntion. tThis misBioii wuh cstubliHlKMl lUl)llll^ tlu; (^ayugas in KKIH, by till' AIiIm' lie I'Viit'lon, ii hrotlicrMf \hv author of TcleinacliUH, and Cliindo 'rrutivo, but it ilooH not appear to havo bcou v«^ry HiKHu^Hsful. 74 La Salle and His Early Explorations. l!' t"!ii i*i Oasson and Rene de Galinee. But on going down to Que- bec to procure the requisite outfit, they were advised by the governor to modify their plans so as to act with La Salle in exploring ihe unknown river to the southwest. In accordance with his suggestion the two expeditions were merged into one — an arrangement ill-suited to the temper of young La Salle, who was formed by nature for an untrammeled leader rather than a co-partner in any en- terprise. It was on the 6th of July, 1669, that the combined party, numbering some twenty-two men, with seven canoes, embarked upon the St. Lawrence. Accompanying them were two other canoes, carrying the party of Seneca Indians who had wintered at La Salle's settlement, and who were to act as guides and interpreters. On the 2d of August, after having stemmed the impetuous current of the St. Lawrence, and threaded the mazes of the Thousand Isles, the adventurous explorers emerged upon the broad and deep bosom of Lake '^)ntai5o. Passing thence to a small bay in the sout^ * i part of the lake, they were pi- loted by their guides to the village of the latter, near the Genesee River. Arrived there, they expected to find other guides to conduct them to the sources of the Ohio ; but the Senecas refused to furnish a guide, and even burned before their eyes a young prisoner taken from one of the western tribes, he being the only person who could luive served them in that capacity. This, with other unfriendly treatment experienced by the party of La Salle, caused them to suspect that the Jesuit priest at the village, who acted as their interpreter, was jealous of their enterprise, and had purposely misrepresented it to the Indians, in order to defeat it. After lingering at this place about a month, they had the good fortune to meet with an Indian from an Iroqupis settlement near the head of the lake, who told them tliey could there find wliat the^ wanted, and othu'ed to be their conductor. Gladly accepting his profi'ercd assistance, the explorers left the Senecas ar\d coaste( .. un"^ up the soutbern shore of Lake Ontario, pasu'oi. in !,htr. \\'v the month of ^r^M'Vt^^ His First Journey of Exploration. lb of the Niagara, and on the 24th of September reached the village of Otinawatawa, near the present town of Hamil- ton. Here they were received by the natives in a friendly manner, and La Salle was presented with a Shawanoe pris- oner, who assured him that the Ohio could be reached in six weeks' time, and that he would guide his party thither. Pleased with this proposal, they were about to set out on the journey, when they unexpectedly learned of the arrival of two other Frenchmen at a neighboring village. One of them proved to be Louis Joliet, who was returning to Que- bec from a trip to Lake Superior. He gave to the Sulpitian priests a copy of a map that he had made, representing such parts of the upper lakes as he had visited, and, at the same time, told them of the Pottawatomies and other tribes in that region, who stood in great need of spiritual in- struction. On receiving this piece of information, the missionaries resolved that the Indians on those lakes must not sit in outer darkness, and that the discovery of the Mississippi miglit be effected as well by a nortiiern route, as by going farther southward. La Salle remonstrated without avail against their determination, for it was in accordance witli their original design. He had been troubled for some time with an intermittent fever, and finding liis remonstrance unheeded, he informed them that his physical condition would not admit of his accompanying them farther. This plea of sickness was no doubt a ruse to bring about a separation, which was now agreed upon. After the solemnization of mass La Salle and his men fell back to Lake Ontario; while the Sulpitians descended Grand River to Lake Erie, and thence pursued their voyage up the lakes. On arriving among the Indians at Ste. Marie du Haut, they found, as La Salle hud surmised, the Jesuit fatliers already established in that western region, and that they wanted no asHiHtance from the ])ric8ts of St. Sulpice. The latter therefore retraced their lonely course, and reached MontrealonthelSthof June, 1670, without havingbegnn any mission or converted any Lidians.* • But De (ialiuce, after liiH roturii, unulv the earliest inup of the Upper Lakes kuowu to exist.- rarknuin'B " La .salle ami tlie (Jreat West," p. L'L ^ 76 La Salle and his Earbj Explorations. The course pursuecl b^ La Salle, after his separation from the Sulpitian priests, > involved in obscurity. It i> affirmed that some of his un n now forsook him and re- turned to La Chine, which is not improbable. He is known to have kept private journals or records of his exploration^ at this period, which were in existence as late as 1756, but they never saw the light of print. The oidy contempo- raneous and connected record of his movements is contained in a pamphlet bearing the title of " ITisfoire r/e Monsieur d la Salle.'"' It gives an account of his explorations and of tlh state of parties in Canada prior to the year 1678, and pur ports to have been derived by its unknown writer from L, Salle himself, in the course of a dozen conversations had witi him in Paris, whither he had gone from Canada in the au- tumn of 1677. According to this anonymous memoir, Lu Salle, after leaving the head of Lake Ontario, went to a vill;i'""nt Freneli writer, asserts Miat In 1070-'71 La Salle deReeruUd tin' Ohio to tlu' MiRsissippi i Dussieux, Canada, p. 37); but the proof haw not hccn jiiven, and, not improbably, is a dclii- Bion, an no notice of the fact appears in any document of the time, and the friends of La Snlle woulria word sign reveal its Wabash w With years 1671 before cite party on I Luke lliii Lake Mic lake ; that Illinois) tl( Mississipp* allel of la His Discovery of the Ohio. 77 in a memorial addressed to Count Frontenac in 1677. Moreover, Lis rival, Joliet, made two maps of the region of the Mississippi and great lakes, on both of which the Ohio is Uiid down, though not correctly, with inscrip- tions to the eft'ect that it had been explored by La Salle. But his exploration of this n(jble river (which the French appr()})riately nanied La Belle Biriere, from the Irocpiois word signifying beautiful), was not sufficiently extensive to reveal its true character, nor to disclose the fact that the Wabash was simply one of its tributaries. With regard to La Salle's ])eregrinations durijig the years 1671 and 1672, we learn from the apocryphal memoir before cited, that he embarked with aii ex})lorii»g or trading party on Lake Erie, ascended the Detroit and St. Clair to Luke Huron, passed the Straits of ?vlichilimackinac into Lake Michigan, and on to the southern extremity of this lakr ; tliat he thence crossed the country to a riA/er (the Illinois) flowing to the southwest, which he foHowed to the Mississippi, and thence down that stream to the 36th }>ar- alk'l of latitude. Arrived thither, and being convinced that tile great rivtir had its discharge in the Gulf of Mexico, he returned on his course, intending at some future time to explore it to its mouth. l/ittk', if any, weiglit <'an be allowed to tlie above .iicredihle story. La Hiillc was, ul this [leriod, leading the life of a c.ourcur de bois. It is doulitless true that he was employed in some work •!' exploration. Lideed, it appears from an official despatch of M. Talon in 1671, that he had been "sent southward and westward to ex()lore"; but tliis nniy have only referred io tlu' region south of \he lower lakes, and it is not uidikely that at this ;in»e he made tlie discovery of the Ohio. Mr. Parkjium, in hi^ "La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West," after learnedly discussing this obscure and controverted portion of \a\ l**alle's career, thus concludes: "La Salle discovered the Ohi(», and in all probability the Illinois; but that be discovered the Mississippi has not been proved, nor, in the light of the evidence u»' have, is it likely to b"." For our own part, we very much ((iiestion if he «ver saw the Ibinois Kiver, or any branch of 78 La Salle and His Early Explorations. it, prior to December, 1679, though, as suggested by Mr. Shea, he might have reached the mouth of the St. Joseph ill Lake Michigan. The expedition of Joliet and Marquette had well nigh demonstrated the fact that the Mississippi emptied its vast volume of waters into the Mexican Gulf; but this was far from satisfying the mind of La Salle, who wished to see an«l know for himself. He had read th.3 published narra- tives of the Spanisii adventurers in the southwest, and heard the vague stories of the Indians, and he seems to have entertained the idea (first put forth in Marquette's jour- nal) that, by ascending the Missouri, or some other western affluent of the Mississippi, it would be found to interlock with another stream running southwest to the Vermilion, or Gulf of California, and thus attbrd the desired passage to the Pacific* Xor was this theory so chimerical as it might first appear; for by mounting the Platte River to its source in the Rocky Mountains, one may thence readily pass to the headwaters of the Colorado, which fiows off into the Gulf of Culifor?iia. But, above all. La Salic longed to trace the Mississippi itself to the sea, and thus acquire for himself the distinction he coveted, and for his sover- eign an embryo empire. It was several years, however, before he could resume and carry out any of his bold schemes of exph^-ation and discovery. In the meantime, he sought and gaiiunl the patronage of Governor Frontenac . No sooner had that astute func- tionary been iiistalied in oflice, than he eagerly scanned tlie resources of the colony, and prepared to bring them under his own control. Ilising advised that the InKjuois, at the instigation of the English, were ijitriguing with the Ind- ians of the upper lakes to break their failii with the Frerwih, and transfer their trade in furs from Montreal to Alhuiiy *Tho (ieluHlvo Idott of a water-way to the PaclHr WU8 partly derived hy the French from tlie Hpaiiiards, who, durnig the prcce(llng century, had scoured the coaatH of Mexico and - posed to give him a few moments of audience."— I'arkmau's Discov- v of the Great West, p. m. t This was an empty kind of honor, with which the Kings of France were wont to gratify the vanity and reward the services of their niuro deserving subjects. His Letters Patent from the Kitif/. 81 During the two following years, while all New France was beini{ rent and torn by civil and ecclesiastical feuds, he was busily occupied in clearing his lands, strengthening his fort, and developing his seigniory. In addition to furnish- ing the stipulated military and clerical forces, and erecting a chapel for the use of the latter, he built three or four decked boats, or brigantines, to carry freight on Lake On- \iino, — to the head of which it was next proposed to ad- vance. He was now on the high road to fortune, if riches laid Ix'cn his only object, and he consequently became a nark for the shafts of the envious and malevolent, or those whose opinions and interests conflicted with his own. Meanwhile, he did not relinquish his favoriti' design of exploration. In the autunm of 1677, he again went to France, and laid his plans before Jean Bajjtiste Colbert, then minister for the colonies, and the great promoter of French industry and conmierce. LaSalle dilated upon the innnense extent of the western country, its endless natural resources, and the advantages that would accrue from colo- nizing it and opening trade with its numerous native tribes. For this i>urpose, he asked permission and authority to ex- j)lore and build forts in the westj^rn valleys, with seigniorial rights over all hands, that he might discover and colonize within the period of tvv^enty years. His peiition was fa- vorably considered by the minister, and Letters were accord- ingly issued to him by the crown. But he was required to complete his enterprise within live years instead of twenty, iiH desired. Following is an Knglish cojn' of" tliis curious utid inqiortant state paper: H 11 "• Luids, hy the Grace of God, Kinci of France ami Naoarre: "To our dear and well-beloved Robert Oavelier, Sieur de la Salle : " We have received, with favor, the very bumble pe- tition which has been presented to us in your name, to per- mit you to endeavor to discover the western part of our icountry of New France, and we have consented to this 'proposal the more willingly, because there is nothing we 6 '■ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^^t [ 'fe^ ' '" ""^^/^ ^^6r i/x ^ fc ^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.4 1.6 6" — p> ^ % ^ •J^W M ^ Photographic Sciences Corporation •V 33 WIST MAIN STRUT ^VEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) (I73-4S03 '■ 82 LnSffUe avd His Early Explorations. ■( !l have more at heart tluiu the discovery of this couiitr^^ througli which it is |>robahle tliat a passage may be fouiul to Mexico ; ami because your diligence in clearing the lands which we granted to you by the decree of our coun- cil of tlie 18tli of May, 1675, and by letters patent of the same date, to form habitations upon the said lands and to put Fort Frontenac in a good state of defense, the seigni- ory and government whereof we likewise granted to you, attbrds us every reason to hope that you will succeed to our satisfaction, and to our subjects of the said country. For these reasons and others thereunto moving ns, we have per- mitted and do liereby permit you, by these presents, signed by our liand, to endeavor to discover the western part of our country of New France, and for the execution of ilm enterprise, to construct forts wherever you shall deem it necessary; which it is our will that you shall hold on the same terms and conditions as Fort Frontenac, agreeably and conformably to our said letters patent of the 13th of May, 1675, v/hicli we have confirmed, as far as is needful. and hereby confirm by these presents. And it is our pleasure that they be executed according to tlieii' foi'm and tenor. " To accom[dish this, and every thing above mentioned, we give you full powers, on condition, however, that you shall finish this enterprine within five years^ in default ot which these ju'esents shall be void and of none effect; that you carry on no trade whatever witli the savages t;alkMl Oiifaoitacs,* and others who bring their beaver skins and other peltries to Montival ; and that the whole shall be done at your exjtense, and that of your company to whicli we have granted the [trivilege of the ti'ade in buffalo skinn: and we call on the Hieui* de Frontenac, our governor ami lieutenant-general, and on the Hieur de Chesneau,t intend- ant of justice, police j. He waH an enemy of both Frontenac and \.i Salle. First Great ExpediJon to the West. 88 their signatures to these presents; for such is our pleas- ure. " Given at St. Germain en Laye, this 12th of May, 1678, and of our reign the thirty-fifth. ''By the King, Louis."* " Colbert." Inasmuch as no pecuniary aid was to be received from the government. La 8alle had to look to his monopoly of the future trade in Ijuitalo skins for the support of his ex- pensive enter[>rise. Meantime, his relatives were induced to Muike him further advances of money, and some of them iKicame shareholders in tlie venture. He also found a use- ful ally in La Motte de Lussiere, who became a partner in the company, and who joined him on the eve of liis em- barkation for Canada. La Salle sailed from Uochelle on his return the 14th of -'uly, 1678, bringing with him about thirty men, besides an ample supply of stores, implements for building vessels, et';. After a two months sea voyage, he reached Quebec, and theijce proceeded up the St. Law- rence to his seigniory <>f Frontenac. His new enterprise aroused jealousy and o[)position from the start, among the old Canadian traders ; but our resolute Nonnan was ac- custoiued to grapple with obstacles and opposition, and he energetically proceeded to organiz.e Ids expedition. Having laid aside as impracticable his scheme of a western passage to ('hina and Japan, and convinced that the Mississippi emptied into the Gulf of Mexico, he had substituted a vast plan, which sliould eventually plant on the shores of the Gulf the mitional colors of Fratice, and open to her the wliole interior of this continent. Of the men whose services Lc Salle bad seeured in France, and wlio were destined to win honor with him in his great explorations, the most useful ami trusted was Hruiry de Tonty,t or Tonti, as it is written in Italian, lie was a native of the Neapolitan town of (4aeta, Italy, whore he first saw the light about the year 1650. !lis *' Frontenac'H Higiuitiuv wan atftxed to this patent November 5, 1(}78. t Tonty hud \wvn a pfnlri/ of the Prince de (Jonti, by whom he wt»8 recoinmendetl to La Halle. . ; 84 La Salle and His Early Explorations. 11 father, Lorenzo di Tonti, was sometime governor of Gaeta, but fled to France to escape tlie political disturbances of his own country. lie was an ingenious linancier, and the in- ventor of the Tontine system of annuities, which he intro- duced into France during the latter part of the seventeentli century. Henry de Tonty entered the Frentih military service in 1668, and served as a cadet two years. He next served four years as a midshipman, at Marseilles and Toulon, and made seven caujpaigns, four in ships and three in galleys. While at Messina, Sicily, he was made lieutenant and then captain of the iirst company of a regi- ment of horse. In assisting to repel an attack of the enemy on the post of Libisso, his right hand was shot oil by a grenade, and he was taken prisoner and detained for six months, after which he was exchanged. He then re- paired to France to obtain some favor of the king, who gave him three hundred livers. Returiiing to Sicily, he made a camitaign as a volunteer in the galleys ; and when the troops were discharged, being umible to obtain employ- ment on account of the general peace, he enlisted under La Salle, in his expeditions of discovery. Notwithstanding the loss of his right hand (which, however, was replaced by one of iron or copper), and a constitution a^tpiU'ently feeble, his indomitable energy made him the superior of most men in physical endurance. His experience, too, as a soldier, and his luitural intrej)idity,well fitted him for the life of a military explorer. Moreover, his Hdelity was such that neither the frowns of adversity, nor the intrigues of secret or open enemies, could ever swerve him from the interest of his patron and employer. The Sieur La Motte, before mimed, was also a man of enter- prise and integrity of character, but not so efficient or valua- ble an assistant to La Salle as the little veteran De Tonty. The spiritual directors, wlio were selected by the chief for this memorable expedition, were expected to officiate as chaplains and missionaries at such forts and trading })0HtH as might be established. Following are their names: Father Louis Hennepin, the first in respect to ability and enterprise; (iabriel de la Ribourde, venerable for his years, and his long and unselfish clerical labors ; the amiable and His First Grcnf Expedition to the West. 85 devoted Zenobious Menibre ; and the pious Melithon Wat- teiiu, who was stationed at Niagara and made it his mission. All of these were Flemings, or natives of Flanders, and all were Recollet friars, of the mendicant order of St. Francis. It would doubtless have been more conducive to La Salle's interest if this had been otherwi^^o, since the Jesuits already occupied the upper lake region, and had planted some mis- sions in the northern i>art of the country of th^^ Illinois. Under such circuiustances, they were naturally jealous of any infringement upon their assumed territorial jurisdiction by members of another branch of tlie motlier cliurch, and were inclined to throw obstacles in tlie way of the latter. Soon after his returii from France to Fort Frontenac, La Salle dispatched fifteen men with merchandise to Mack- inac and Lake Michigan, to barter for furs, and instructed them, after executing tlieir commission, to repair to Green Bay, on the border of the Illinois, and there await his ar- rival. The first important step in his westward progress, one which had been long contemplated, was to establish a fort or hiock-li«)Uje at the outlet of the Niagara channel. For this purpose, on November 18, 1678, La Motte and Henne- pin emi)arked, vv^tli fifteen men, in one of the briganthies that lay at the landing of the fort, and started up Lake On- tario. Being retarded in their passage by rough weather, it was not until the Hth of December that they reached the mouth of the Niagara. Here, after several weeks, they were joined by La Salle and Tonty, who had been detained in [irocuring the necessary supplies. They, too, encoun- tered adverse winds on the way, and the pilot to whom La Halle had intrusted one of his boats disregarded his instruc- tions, and suffered her to be wrecked. The crew managed to escape, but the cargo was lost, excepting the ropes and anchors intended for use in constructing the new vessel. The appearance of the F|«onch upon the lake excited the suspicions of the Seneca Indians, who iniiabited its southern sliores, anlenients and merchandise. Tlie energies of La Salle were next dinscted to the con- struction of a sailing vessel, with which to navigate the up- per great lakes. The spot chosen for this important experi- ment was at or near the mouth of Cayuga Creek,* on the eastern bank of the Niagara, and some five miles above the Fallis. This difficult and tedious work (made doubly so by their want of proper facilities) was formally begun on the 22(1 of January, 1079, and was prosecuted under the per- sonal supervision of the Sieur de Tonty, whose knowledge of marine architecture was thus brought into active requisi- tion. The Senecas, it is averred, tried to burn the vessel while on the stocks, but she was launched by the middle o\ July, and was then towed farther up the river to be rigged. The builders celci)rated her completion l>y tiring cannon and singing songs in commemoration of the event. And well they might felicitate themselves upon their achievement; for she was the first sail-rigged and sea-going craft that ever spread canvas to the breeze on our inland seas. Tiie little schooner was armed with five small cnnnon and three large muskets, and on lier prow was carved the wooden figure of a griflin,t from which, in eom[)liment to the ar- morial bearings of Count de Frontenac, she I'eceived her *Ah usiuil in Kuril chror, the place of tho buildinj^ of the "(iriflin" is disputed. Some conUiiid for a eito known as tin- "Old Ship-yard, on the Little Niaj?arn. tOr griffon, accordinj? to the French orthography. Tlic veBsel was of sixty tons burden, and wuh cHtiniated l)y Henne;)in to have coet sixty thounaiid livres, or about $1'J,()0(); but thiH in('ludeIy the givat lakes in every direction, in the peaceful and gainful pursuits of i-om- nierce. .After a pleasant navigation <^f five (hiys, the voy- agers entered the noble channel of the Detroit, aneedily engulf (heir little bark, with j'll onltoard. In this extremity i)f peril. La Salle and the friars fell upon their knees to say their ]irayers, and invokeelts procured during hei" outward passage, were to be carried to Niagara for the benefit of his creditors. This transaction was in violation of the letter and spirit of La Salle's royal patent ; but IiIh pecuniary necessities were sucli at the time as to justity or excuse a liberal interpretation of the terms of that instru- ment. The pilot and five sailors, to whom he committed the charge of the Griffin, were instructed, after they had landed her valuable cargo, to return with t'le vessel to the southeastern part of Lake Michigan. The Griffin set sail from Green Bay on the 18th of September, but was never afterward heard of. It would have been better for the doomed vessel if she had never sailed on this return trip, and better still, perhaps, if La Salle had continued his own voyage in her to the head of the lake. On the next day (the 19th), he embarked witli his re- maining men, fourteen in lunnber, in four canoes, for the mouth of the river Miamis, afterward known as the St. His Firsi Great Expedition to the West. 89 Joseph.* Tlio canoes were heavily laden with a forge, im- plements, arms, etc., and their progress w^as retarded hy tempestuous weather. After a perilous passage along the western and southern shores of the lake, in the course of which the voyagers suffered keenl}' from hanger and ex- posure, they reached their destination ahout the first of November. Here the}' were disappointed at not finding the Sieur de Tonty, who had started from Michilimackinac with a party of twenty men, and was slowly making his way up the eastern side of the lake ; but he did not arrive until twenty days later. In the interval of waiting. La Salle, to keep his men from idleness, employed them in building a wooden fort, eighty feet long and forty wide, near the mouth of the river. It was completed by the end of November, aiul was named Fort Miami, after a neigh- boring tribe of Indians. Ample tinu' bad now elapsed for the return of the Griffin, and La iSalle, being much troubled at her non-arrival, sent two men down the lake to look for the vessel, and pilot her to the entrance of the St. Joseph. Different opinions were entertained respecting the fate of the Griffin. Hennepin l)elievt'd that she foundered in a storm in the nortb part of Lake Michigjm, which is (piite probable; others thougbt tiiat tl.. '"dians might have boarded and burnt her; wbilc \m Salle himself long cher- ished the notion that her pilot and crew, after disj)Osing of her valuable cargo, sunk her, and then ran away with tli'.?ir ill-gotten gains. Unfortunately, the loss of tliis much- prized vessel was irreparable, and it proved a serious blow to the success of his exjiedition. But, without longer delay, on I)ecend)er 8, 1079, the reunited party, numbering some thirty-three persons, with eight canoes, began the ascent of the St. -Joseph's liiver, en route to the Illinois. It was a miscellaiuM>us and rather pictures([ue company, comprising soldiers, friars, artisans, *At the mouth of tliis river, several years before, the Jesuit Fiither A llouez had collected some scatti-red bands of the Ilnrons and others, and established a missionary staticm, thereby making it a point known to these adventurers, and one which, knowinjt, they would endeavor to reach. See Breese's Early Hist, of 111., p. HMi. 90 La Salle and His Early Explorations. laborers, coareurs des bois, and a few Indians. After a fatiguing journey southward of twenty-five leagues, in which they had often to drag their canoes against the shal- low current of the river, they neared the site of the pres- ent city of South Bend, Ind. Thence a portage was made of two or three miles to the headwaters of the Te-a-ki-ki (Kankakee), which they reached with the assistance of a Mohegan Indian, whom La Salle had employed in the double capacity of guide and liunter for the expedition. I'he winter had now fidly set in, the earth being thickly mantled with snow, and as the adventurers paddled their weary way down the narrow, torturous stream, flowing through reedy and frozen marshes, the whole landscape presented a most cheerless aspect. To increase their mis- ery, they were distressed by the pangs of hunger until re- lieved by the fortunate capture of a large buffalo, which was found struggling in the mire of tlie river, and was soon slaughtered. Being thus regaiod, they resumed their canoes and reached without accident the junction of the Kankakee and the Des Plaines, which unite to form the Illinois liiver. Gliding rapidly down the channel of the latter, the voypgers shortly entered a region of bolder and more strik- ing scenery. On the right they passed the elevation called Buffalo Hock, standing out like an island in the valley, and farther down, on their left, appeared the tall cliff, since known as Starved Rock. A mile or more below it, on the nortli bank of the here expanded river (named by Henne- pin the Illinois Lake), stood the principal town of the Illi- nois nation, in which were counted four hundred and sixty lodges. These were made in the shape of long arbors, with a frame-work of posts and poles, and covered with double mats ot flat flags, so well sewed together that they were impervious to fain or s!iow. Each lodge had four or five fires, and each fire served one or two families. It was here, about tlie 25th of December, that La Salle and his hungry followers landed, in order to procure some maize, of which they stood sorely in need ; but, as had been foreseen, they found the village deserted sind silent, its inhabitants being away on their usual winter hunt. Some of the Frenchmen, He Arrices at Peoria Lake. 91 hov 3ver, discovered a supply of the desired grain stored in [lits. and of it they took enough to supply their wants, in- tending to pay for the same when tiie owners should be met. After resting and refreshing themselves for a short time, tbey re-embarked and continued thei»' course. On New Year's day, 1680, the V(»yagers again landed to hear mass, which was solemnized by the friars, and the exercises were closed by Ilenne})in with an encouraging address to the men. Two days afterward, Ihey entered that irregular fxpansion of the Illinois River (from seven to eight leagues in length) called Lac l^imiteoui, or Lake Peo- ria, meaning "•the place of fat beasts." Moving on cau- tiously toward th;* south end of the lake, where the river resumes its ordinnry width, they perceived smoke rising above the bare tree tops, denoting the presence of Indians, and on turning a sharp bend saw, on both sides of the stream, a number of })i rogues, and about eighty cabins tilled with peo]>le. This was on the morning of the fifth day after leaving the great village.* Having some reason to suspect an uncivil reception from the savages. La Salle now formed his small flotilla into a line across the river, so as to present us formidable an array as possible. As they thus swei>t d.own the stream to the village, some of the dis- mayed natives took to flight, and others seized their arms to make resistance; but, in the midst of their confusion, our little band of Frenchmen sprang ashore, armed and equipped for action. Awed by the bold and martial bear- ing of the latter, the Indians dei»uted two of their chiefs to present the peace calumet, which La Salle promptly recognized by showing one in turn, and thereupon a friendly intercourse was opened between them. This was succeeded by a feast, at which the more obsequious of the savages rubbed the uncovered feet of the friars with bear's oil, while others fed their guests with ])uflalo meat, ])utting the first three morsels into their mouths with much cere- mony, as a mark of great civility. When the feast was ended, M. de la Salle informed * See Hennepin's I)e»cni>ti()n ih' In LouhUtne ; Shea'K translation (N.Y., 1880), p. 1.%. 'm 92 La Salle and His Early Explorations. Nicauope, and the other j»riiicipal iiieti of the tribe, that in descending the river he had stopped at their great town, and had taken some corn from their pits to supply the lecessities of his men, but tliat lie was prepared to make tliem full compensation, lie then proceeded to explain the purpose of his visit, saying, in substance, that he had come to raise a fort in their neighborhood to protect them from the incursions of the Iroquois, and also to build a large canoe, in which to descend the "great river" to the sea and thence bring back goods to exchange for their peltry. lie further told them that if his plans did not meet with their ai»})roval, he would pass on to the Osages and Missouris, and give them the benefit of his trade and protection. These Peoria Indians readily assented to what he said al)out his plans and purposes, and were profuse in their expressions of friendship and good v/ill. Yet, despite all this, it soon bee ane apparent to La Salle that s<^cret ene- mies were striving to thwait his en^'erprise, and that the minds of the savages had been [>rejudiced against him in advance. A few days afterward there arrived at this village a Mascoutin chief named Monso, or Monsocla, who came equipped with presents and accompanied by several Miamis braves, and ^vho held nightly conclaves with the iiead men of the nllage. He professed to have been sent to warn the Illinois against the designs of La Salle, of whom he spoke as an intriguer and friend of the Iroquois, and that he had come among the Illinois only to open the way to their ene- mies, who were coming on all sides to destroy them.* Having thus re-aroused the distrust of the tickle-minded Peorias, the crafty chief and his party hastened away un- der the cover of night. In the altered and reserved de- meanor of the natives, La Salle now met a fresh difficulty, which taxed all his address and knowledge of the Indian character to overcome. It was not without reason that he attributed the meddlesome visit of the Mascoutin chief to the machinations of the Jesuit Father AUouez, whose prin- * Membre's Narrative in Le Clercq. Ba'ddlng of Fort Creve-cccur. 93 cipal station was aiiiong the Miamis, Ijut wlio liad been at the fi^reat town of the Illinois only a few months before. To add to the eoniniander's vexations, Honie of liis own men, who had been discontented from the start, now i)e- oanie snllen and mntinous, and endeavored to stir np disaf- fection among the better disjiosed. Not succeeding iti this to th'-ir satisfaction, they held private interviews witli the Illinois to excite their ill-will against La iSalle. As a last resort, the malcontents sought his life by secretly putting poison in his food. The effect of the |)oison, however, was neutralized by the timely taking of an antidote, and no ill- results followed. This was an age of poisoning, the prac- tice having been introduced into France from Italy ; and it appears that a similar atteiiijit had been nuide against the life of La Salle, not very long before, at Fort Fn )ntenac. Shortlv after the departure of the Mascoutin chief, six of the Frencb.men, including some of the best workmen, l)asely deserted their emjdoyer, and set oft" on their return to Can- ada. To this dastardly course they were partly inHuenced by previous disatt'ection, and partly by the dangers of the expedition, which had been artfully magniiied to their minds by the Indians. In order to stay further desertions, La S^Ue called the remaining men together, and told them that ne did not intend to take with him any but those who would go willingly, and tliat he would leave the others at liberty in the spring to return to Canada, whither tliey might go without risk and by canoe ; whereas, they could not then undertake it but with evident peril to their lives.* It was now mid-wintei-, and the commander, wearied with his accumulating difHculties, and finding it impractica- ble to proceed farther to the south, resolved to erect a fort, which might attortl shelter and security to his company until the opening of spring. The site chosen for this first European fortification in Illinois was a moderate sized hill, or termination of a ridge, on tlie eastern side of the river (as shown by Franquelin's, and Hennepin's old maps), and about half a league below the outlet of the lake where the * Hennepin's "Description of Louisiana," p. 173. 94 La Salle and His Early Explorations. explorers had tirst hiiided. The pjecise location of the fort, of which not a vestige remains, is clouded with doubt and controversy. Some would fix it at the village of Wes- ley City, four miles below the present city of Peoria; v. bile others, with rather more show of reason, contend for a site higher up the river, and over against vhe northern suburbs of Peoria. Interest in the subject has revived from time to time, and tlie relative claims of these two dilibrent sites were elaborately' discussed through the Peoria press in Jan- uary, 1890.* T^a Salle's men worked with a "good grace" on the fort, and by the first of the ensuing March, 1680, it was nearly finished, and was occupied. It now received tlie significant name of Creve-coeur, or Heart Break ; not, as has been often stated (on the authority of a passage in Hennepin's "New Discovery "), because of the commander's dejection at the desertion of his men and his increasing difficulties, but after tlie fortress of Creve-c^cur in Brabant of the Netherlands, whicli Imd lecently been taken by the Frencli arms and demolished. Sucl., more ihan two hundred and thirteen years ago, was the primal military occupation of Illinois by the Frencli, though no continuous white settlement was established at Peoria Lake until nearly or quite a century l-.ter.+ * In La Salle's day, wlinn tUe river carried a somewhat larger vol- ume of water than at prcHent, liake IMmiteou, is described by him as consisting of "three small lakes, which intercommunicated with each other by so many straits." (See part of a letter by I.a Salle 'U vol. 2 of Pierre Margry's t'oUection). The chief dilHcnlty now is to determine whether the explorer landentel says in his journal about this chain of lakes. In describing the passage of liis i)arty up llu' IJlinoi.- River, iu 1()87, he writes: "The 9th (September), we came into a lake ab FraiU'iHt'HiiH wcn^ an. ofMioot of tlie old Curmclite friarH, of Mount Carinel, raloHtinc. The order was (irsi I'HtabliHlu'd in Kuropc by St. Krancis, of AHBisi. Italy, in the year 1209. Through an excesH of Inunility, he denominated the monks of his order "little brethren," or " friars minor "- a name by vvbieli they are still distingnished. They are also ealled "gray friars," from the rolor of their dress. " It was a mendicant order (says Breese's Hist. 111., p. 102), vowed to the lowent poverty and the severest penance; gray coats and bar»( feet as badges of distinction, and an ei\tire devotion t<» \hv i)recept, ' preach my gospel to His Youthful Rambles in Europe. 97 lu- lls In I the province of Artoie, France, and his master of Novices was Father Gabriel de la liibourde, a man eminent in the order for his social p(>sition and exemplary life, who vean destined, at a later day, to die for the Faith, while labor- ing as a missionary among the savages in America. In order to learn Flemish, young IIennej)in went from Bethnne to Ghent, where a married sister of his resided, and where he stayed some time. As he ai>proached the age of manhood, he manifested a strong propensity to travel in foreign parts, which occasioned his sister much anxiety. With the consent of tlie general of Ids order, he first set oft" to see Italy, and visited the pritudpal Francis- can churches and convents in that country, as also in Ger- many. On returning home, he was sent to the convent of Ihilles in Hainault, where he discharged the, duties of a preacher for a year, and then went to Artois. He was thence sent to Calais, and afterward to the convent of Biez at Dunkirk, in both of which pla''es he ai)pears to have been employed to solicit alms for the fraternity. During his sojourn at those seaport towns, the strange stories he hoard related by old nuirinei's stimulated anew his cari- osity and desire to visit foreign lands ; and with a view to further gratify his. taste for travel, he went in the char- acter of a missioiuiry to the principal cities of Holland. Willie sojourning in that country, on August 11, 1(174, he was present, as an assistant chaplain, at the obstinate aiul bloody battle of Senefto, fought between the I^rince ot Orange and the Prince of ('onde, and he there foutul abundant occupation in relieving and (comforting tli(> wouikIihI and dying soldiers. At about this tiitu* Canada again becan\e a field ot labor for the llecollet missiomiries ; and Louis XIV., yield- ing to the appeal of (Governor Frontemic, ordered that five Itecollet religious be setit to Catuida, to reinforce the little tho l»(uithen,' marked its tiu'inbcMH. Kvom this and its Itindrod order, the DoininicatiH, Iuih tlie Koiuan (Uuirclj byen Ruppliod with many |)opoH, oardinah;, bisliopB, und other nototl occiesiuHlics, while in Haints tliey have been most wonderfully fruitful." 98 Louis Hmne/pin. I community of that order already established there. Friar Hennepin was one of the number chosen to go upon thiH mission, which he readily undertook. Receiving the re- quisite authority from his superior, he repaired to the sea- port of La liochelle, and there, in the summer of 1675, embarked in the same ship with Francois de Laval, ai) eminent prelate, who had been recently appointed Bishop of Quebec. Among his other fellow passengers was La Salle, wdio was now returning from France to Canada, and with wliose fortunes Hennepin was subsequently to become closely identified; but for whom, at their first meeting, he seems to have formed no admiration. After a somewhat eventful voy.age, they arrived in the month of September at Quebec, where Hennepin Wiin shortly appointed priest to the cloister of the Hospital Nuiih of St. Augustine. As the duties of this position were not onerous, he found time to make frequent excursions to the neighboring Frencih and Indian settlements, and visited, in turn, the Three Rivers, St. Anne, Cape Tourmente, Bourg Royal, Point de Levi, and the Isle de St. Laurent. Od tliese trips he went by canoe in the summer season, and in the winter his light luggage was drawn on the snow ]>y ii large dog, while he himself, on foot, was exposed to all tlio fury of the elements, with no covering save his cloak and hood, and with but wavy little to eat. In the fall of 167'', or the following spring, he was sent with h'at.her Luke Buisset to Fort Frontenac, where they founded a small convent. Soon after this, Hennepin made a journey to tlio Jesuit missions among the Mohawks, and others of tlio Five Nations. Extending his tour to Albany (called Fort Orange by the early Dutch settlers), he was well received by the Catholic residents, who, if we may receive his own statement, entreated him to stay there and become their pi'iest. When the Sieur de la Salle undertook his first great expedition to the West, he solicited Father Hennepin, among other of the Recollet friars, to accomj^any him af a chaplain and missionary. The restless arid irujuisitivc mind of Hennepin was fascirmted by the very dangers ot Hcmiepn at Niagara Falls. 99 so bold ail adventure, of which he was destined to become the principal chronicler. Accordingly, in November, 1678, he left Fort Frontenac with the advance party of the ex- pedition under La Motte. bailing slowly up Lake Ontario in a small brigantine, they reached the outlet of the Niagara River on the 6th of December, and, immediately after land- ing, chanted a Te Deurn in gratitude for their safe arrival, which was listened to with silent wonder by a group of the natives from a neighboring village. Hennepin, with a few companions, then went in a canoe up the river seven miles to the foot of the high bluff or escarpment overlooking the lake, and, climbing the rocky heights above what ia now Lewiston, soon came in sight of the great double, cataract of Niagara, "thundering in its solitude." We should not assume that the friar and his party were the, first Europeans to look upon these wonderful falls, since they had been known to the French from the time of Champlain ; yet he is popularly credited with their dis- covery, probably from the circumstanee that he wrote and published the first good description of them, barring his, extravagant estimate of their height.* Proceeding with his companions along the bank of the river to the head of the rapids, opposite the modern Canadian town of Chip- pewa, he thence returned the next day, and was tlie first *In his " Description of Louisiana " ( lt)8;>i, Heunepiu writes: " The river (Niagara) plunges down a height of more than Ave hundred feet, and its fall is oouiposed of two sheets of water and a caHcade, with an island sloping down between." In his " New Discovery," he increases the lit'ight of the falls to six hundred feet, and La Iloutan fixes it at abo'it the same figure. Father Charlevoix (Travels in North America, pp.. lo2-3), in endeavoring to account tor tiu'si" gross exaggerations, re- marks: "It is certain that if we nvuHure its heiglit by the three ir.ountains (or ascents) which we must tirst pass over, there is not mucli to bate of the six hundred feet which the map of M. Delisle gives it; who, without doubt, did not advance this paradox but on the credit of the Baron de la Houtan and Father Hennepin. t!harlevoix' own meas- urement of the cataract with a cord, in 1721, fell short of t!ie present altitude of the American Fall, which is 105 feet. In 1750, seventy years after the timej)f Hennepin, the (Ireat Falla were visiteil and carefully described by Professor Kalm, the eminent Swedish traveler. • 100 Louis Hennepin. m. II, priest to offer mass at the Falls of Niagara. He then hegan the erection of a bark chapel on the eastern side of the river, near the Great Rock, where the Sieur la Motte and his men were building a fortified house. Shortly after- ward he ac('ompanied La Motte, and iive other Frenchmen on a journey of thirty leagues through the snow-incumbered forests of western New York to the principal village of the Seneca nation, to negotiate witli the sachems for permis- sion to complete the house or fort at Niagara. Describing the elders of that village, Hennepin graphically says : " They are for the most part tall and well shaped, covered with a sort of robe made of beavers' and wolves' skins, or black squirrels, holding a pipe or calumet in their hands. The senators of Venice do not appear witli a graver countenance, and per- haps do not speak with more majesty and solidity than those ancient Iroquois." After the completion of the Griffin, Hennepin sailed in her, with La Salle and others, through Lakes Erie, St. Clair and Huron, and reached Michilimackinac on the 26th of August, 1769. Continuing his voyage in that vessel with the commander to Green Bay, and thence in canoes up Lake Michigan to the mouth of the Miamis, or St. Joseph, they shortly entered the country of the Illinois. On their way down the Illinois River, Hennepin observed indications of stone-coal, and other minerals, in the upper valley of that stream. The approach of the explorers to the outlet of Lake Pimitcoui, he tlius narrates : " Toward the end of the fourth day, while crossing a little lake, formed by the river, we observed smoke, which showed us that the Indians were cabined near there. In fact, on the fifth, about nine in the morning, we saw on both sides of the river a number of parakeets (pirogues), and about eighty cabins full of Iiulians, who did not per- ceive us until we had doubled a point behind which tlie Illinois were camped within half gunshot. We were in eight canoes abreast, all our men arms in hand, and allow- ing ourselves to go with the current of the river."* * " DoBcription of Louisiana," by Father Lduis Hennepin ; trans- His Description of Fort Crk'e-CtBur. 101 Some two weeks after the landing of the French ad- venturers here, and wlien it was uecided to erect a fort in the vicinity of their camp, Hennepin wont with La Salle to choose a site for the same. Of the biiihling of this fort the friar gives the following descriptive account : "A great thaw having set in tlie 15th of January [1680], and rendered the river free below the village, the Sieur de la Salle begged me to accompany him, and we proceeded with one of our canoes to the place which we were going to select to work at this little fort. It was a little mound about two hundred paces distant from the bank of the river, which, in the season of the rains, ex- tends to the foot of it ; two broad, deep ravines protected two other sides and a part of the fourth, which we com- pletely intrenched by a ditch which utiited the two ravines. Their exterior shape, which served as a counterscarp, was fortified with good chevaux de friese, and (we) cut this emi- nence down steep on all sides, and the earth was supported as much as was necessary with strong pieces of timber (and) with thick planks, and for fear of any surprise we planted a stockade around, tlie timbers of which were twenty-five feet long and a foot thick. The summit of the mound was left in its natural figure, which formed an ir- regular square, and we contented ourselves with putting on the edge a good parapet of earth capable of covering all our force, whose barracks were placed in two of the angles of this fort, in order that they might be always ready in case of an attack. "Father Gabriel, Zonobe, and I lodged in a cabin cov- ered with boai'ds, which we adjusted with the help of our workmen, and in which we retired, after work, all our peo- ple for evening and morning prayer, and where, being una- ble any longer to say mass — the wine which we had made from the large gra[>es of the country having just failed us — we contented ourselves with singing vespers on holidays and Sundays, and preaching after morning prayers. latdd from tlie French edition ot" 1683, with notes, etc. By John G. «hea (New York, 1880), p. 15b. 102 Louis Hennepin. ill* m "The forge was set up along the curtaiTi which faced the wood. The Sieiir de hi Salle posted himself in the middle, with the Sieur de Tonty ; and wood was cut down to make charcoal for the blacksmith."* On page 175 of the same work, Hennepin also tells us the fort "was called Crh'c-cocur" and that it was "situated four days' journey from the great village of the Illinois, descendiiig toward the river Colbert" (Mississippi). By the phrase " great village," he undoubtedly referred to the one that stood in the vicinity of The Rock. In his eecond publication, entitled "New Discovery," etc. (Eng- lish edition, London, 1698-1699, p. 103), Hennepin gives a shorter account of the construction of Fort Creve-c(Eur, containing, however, some further [»articulars, which we reproduce here. " I must observe," he writes, " that the hardest winter lasts not above two months in this charming country ; so, that on the loth of January came a sudden thaw, which made the river navigable and the weather as mild as it is with us in the middle of the spring. M. la Salle, improv- ing this fair season, desired me to go down the river with him to build our fort. After having viewed the country, we pitched upon an eminence on the bank of the river, defended on that side by the river, and on two others by two ditches (which) the rains had made very deep by suc- cession of time, so that it was accessible only by one way ; therefore, we cast a line to join these two natural ditches, and made the eminence steep on every side, supporting the earth with great pieces of timber. We made a hasty lodg- ment thereui)on, to be ready to defend us in case the sav- ages would obstruct the building of our fort; but nobody ottering to disturb us, we went on diligently with our work. . . . The fort being half finished, M. la Salle lodged himself in the middle with M. Tonti, and every- body took his post. We placed our forge along the cur- * Hennepin's "Description of Louisiana"; same edition as before cited, pp. 17G-178. .• Membre's Account of (he Illinois. 103 tain, on the east side, and laid in a great quantity of coale for that use." La Salle's own story of the building of Creve-cceur, as related in Pierre Margry's work (vol. 11.), does not dift'er essentially from that of Hennepin, nor does he appear to tix its location with any more precision. Tlie Indians con- tinuing friendly, the fort was substantially completed and occupied before the iirst of March. In tlie meantime, Father Membre devoted himself to missionary instruction among the Illinois, at their village or camp al >ut half a league above the fort. La Salle, it is told, had made a present of three axes to one of their chiefs named Oumahouha (meaning the wolf), on condition that he should adopt Membre as fiis son and care for him. The good friar visited the Indians daily in their lodges, and in spite of liis refiugnance to their filthy habits and disgusting numners, labored earnestly, though with scant success, for their spiritual etdighteument. Mar(piette had previously described the Illinois as having "an air of Viu- inanity, which he did not observe in any of the other nations seen on his route." But Membre, after a familiar acquaintance with this people, has portrayed them more nearly as they really were, in all their ignorance and degra- dation. " The greater part of these tribes," says he, " and es- pecially the Illinois, with wliom I have had most inter- course, make (the coverings of) their cabins of double mats of flat rushes, sewed together. Their villages are not inclosed with palisades, and being two cowardly to defend thcni, they take flight at the flrst news of a hostile army. They are tall of stature, strong and robust, and good arch- ers. They had as yet no flre-arms — we gave some to a few. They are wandering, idle, fearful and desolate — al- most without respect for their chiefs — irritable and tliiev- i«h. The richness and fertiJity of the country gives them fields every-where. They have used iron implements and arms only since our arrival. Besides the bow, tbey use in war a kind of short pike and wooden maces. Hermaphrodites are mnnerous. They have nuiny wives, and often take several 104 Louis Hennepin. Bisters that they may agree the better ; and yet they are so jealous that they cut oft" their noses on the shghtest provo- cation. They are lewd, and even unnaturally so, having boys dressed as women, destined for infamous purposes. . . . They are, moreover, very superstitious, although they have no religious worship. They are, besides, much given to play, like all the Indians in America that I am able to know.* Having come to the conclusion that Hennepin might be more advantageously employed than in preaching homi- lies to the Frenchmen at Fort Creve-cceur, La Salle re- quested him to lead an exploi-ing party down the IllinoiH and up the Mississippi river. The worthy friar, accord- ing to his own subsequent account, was very averse to this difficult and perilous undertaking, which yet was to make him famous. He set up the plea of bodily infirmity, claim- ing that he had ati abscess in his mouth, which had lasted for more than a year, and which required his return to Canada for medical treatment. His excuse, however, was not held sufficient, since neither of his two missionary as- sociates was so well qualified for the bold task as himself; Father Ribourde being too old and Membre too young. " Anybody but me," writes Hennepin, in his New Discovery^ " would have been much frightened with the dangers of such a jouriiey, and if I had not put all my trust in God, I should not have been the dupe of La Salle."* *See A Narrative of the adventures of La Salle's jiarty at Fort Cr^ve- ccexir, and in the Valley of the Illinois, by Zenobe Membre; printed in LeClercq's " First Establishment of the Faith in New France." En- glish translation, New York, 1881, vol. II, p. 134. * With reference to this adventurous river voyage, the Margry Re- lation has the following: " At the same time the Sieur de la Salle pro- posed to have the route he was to take to the river Mississippi explorer! in advance, and the course of that river above and below the mouth of the Divii.e river, or of the Illinois, Father Louis Hennepin offered to take this voyage, in order to begin and make acquaintance with the nations among whom he proposed to go and settle to preach the faith. The Sieur de la Salle was reluctant to impose this task on him, but seeing that he was resolute, he consented." See note in Shea's Henne- pin, p. 179. -■■"-. - His Famo^is Mississippi Voyage. 105 His compagnons de voyage were Michael Ako, or Ac- cault, and Picard du Gay, a native of Picardy, whose real name was Anthony Augelle. Accault was tolera!>' ' versed in the language of the Illinois, and, for this reason, and be- cause of his experience, he was made the business director of the party. Both of these men were robust and hardy, though physically, somewhat smaller than Hennepin. Be- sides being well clad and armed, they were supplied with a good canoe, a large peace calumet, and about one thousand livres worth of goods, to be used in trading with and con- ciliating the Indians who might be met on the river. The little party embarked near Fort Creve-coeur, on the even- ing* of the last day ot February, 1680. La Salle and the rest of his men quietly escorted them to the bank of the river to see them oft', and wish them a bon voyage. With a parting benediction from the good old Father Ribourde, who advanced to the waters' edge to bestow it, the voya- gers plied their light paddles, and were soon lost to sight in the shadows and bend of the stream. The Lower Illinois, on which they were now afloat, and which Hennepin called the Seignelay, is described by him as being as deep and broad as the river Seine, at Paris, and as widening out in several places to a quarter of a league. The first Indians met on the way were a party of the Peorias, who were returning up to their village, and M'ho used every eftbrt to induce the voyagers to turn back with them. Continuing to descend the river until the 7th of March, and having arrived within two leagues of its month, they found a tribe called the Maroas, or Tamaroas, numbering about two hundred tamiliew, who wished to take them to their village, which lay some distance below, on the bank of the " great river." Upon reaching the Mississippi it was discovered full of running ice, a sight well calculated to shake the strongest nerves. Being de- *Thi8 was the time of their departure, as stated by La8all<», and it would seem to have been selected on purpose to avoid observation and iuinoyance by the neighboring Indians. See La Salle's letter of Aug. '-*-*, 1082, in Margry, II., p. 245. 106 Louis Hrnncpin. tained from this circumstance till tlie 12th of March our intrepid voyagers re-emburked, and, turning the prow of their canoe against the sweeping current of the unexplored river, continued to ascend it, slowly and with difficulty, for the succeeding four weeks. On the 11th or 12th of April, having passed the mouth of the river Des Moines, tliey were surprised and captured by a war party of one hundred and twenty Sioux Indians, who were coming down the Mississippi in iifty canoes, in pursuit of a band of the Miamis. Having made this un- expected capture, the Sioux warriors held a council, and decided to return to their own country. Accordingly, on the next day, they began their homeward voyage, taking with them as prisoners Hennepin and his two companions. After a rapid navigation of nineteen days, and having passed tlirough Lake Pepin, wliere the savages kept up a terrible howling, they landed in a cove of the river a few leagues below the Falls of St. Anthony. Here the Sioux warriors hid their own canoes in a clump of alders, and then broke up the canoe of the Frenchmen, lest the latter might return in it to their enemies. They next divided the property of their captives, including Hennepin's vest- ments and portal)le chapel, and distributed their persons to three separate heads of families, to take the place of their sons who had been killed in war. This being done, though not without sharp wrangling among themselves, the Indians started northward across the country for their homes, taking their captives with them. After a hurried march of five days, during which the friar and his companions had well nigh perished from cold, hunger and fatigue, they reached the Sioux villages near Mille Lacs, Minnesota, about the 5th of May. The savage 'Iwellers in these northern villages were called the Issavi, or Isanati, and they formed one of the three divisions of the powerful Sioux Nation.* It was *"The earliest record of the Siouan languages," says Professor J. W. Powell, " is that of Hetinepin, compiled about 1()80. The earliest printed vocabulary is that of the Naudowessie (i. e., the Dakota) in Carver's Travels, first published in 1778." It is worthy of mention hero, His Life Among the Sioux. 107 with thin uncouth people that Hennepin spent the ennuing Hummer and early autumn. He experienced some rttUier hard unage at first, but, upon the whole, was better treated than might have been expected. He wae assigned to the care of a cliief named Aquipaguetin, whom he did not like, but who adopted him as a son, and took him to his lodge and village. Here, in consequence of his enfeebled condition, the Indians made for him one of their sweating baths, in which he was immersed three times a week, and derived mucli benefit from the treatment. Regaining his health, he studied the language and manners of this barbarous race, and acted as physician to such of them as required his services. But he did not find among these wild men any encouragement for the exercise of his clerical func- tions. " I could gain nothing over them," he tells us, " in the way of their salvation, by reason of their natural stu- pidity." Yet, on one occasion, he baptized a sick child ju8t before its death. At the end of about two months, Hennepin and his iWKociates in captivity were allowed to accompany a numer- oiiH hunting and fishing party of the 8ioux down Rum River, from Mille Lac to the Mississippi. Arrived thither, the restless friar and Du Gay, after obtaining permission from the chief, Ouasicoude, set out in a birch canoe for the nioiith of the Wisconsin, where they hoped to meet some |^ Frenchmen whom La Salle was expected to send to meet them, Accault did not accompany them on the journey, as he preferred to stay with the Indians. Rapidly descend- ing this hitherto unexplored part of the Mississij pi, our two voyagers soon drew aear the Falls of St. Anthony, so named by Hennepin in honor of his patron saint of Padua. He describes the falls as from forty to fifty feet high, with an island of pyramidal form lying nearly midway the stream.* Carrying their light canoe and luggage below I that 8orr.e philologists have traced an apparent analogy between the language of the Sioux and that of the Tartars in northern Asia. *A8 late as 1820, according to Schoolcraft (H. R.), the perpendicular height of the cataract, in its highest part, was about forty feet, its i breadth being twelve hundred feet. But by the constant reaction of 108 Louis Hennepin. the roaring cataract, they re-embarked, and held oo th^ir lonely way down the sinuon.s ''iver to the confluence of the Wisconsin, a distance of sixty French leagues from the falls. Finding no Frenchmen there to receive them, they returned disappointed, and joined a large band of the 8ioux who were hunting on the Chippewa, a stream which enters the Mississipp' from the east at Lake Pepin, and leisurely followed them back up the river. At length, after an irksome and anxious captivity of five and a half months, the friar and his associates were allowed to go free. Their release was effected through the opportune arrival of one of their own countrymen, Daniel Greysolon du L'hut,* A^ho, with five ar»ned Frenchmen, had penetrated into the Sioux country from Lake Superior. and made satisfactory terms with the savages. Toward the end of September, Father Hennepin and his compatriots — eight Frenchmen in two canoes — left the Sioux villages on their return to the French settlements, and journeyed south and east, via the St. Francis, the Mis- sissippi, the Wisconsin, and Fox Rivers, to Green Bay. Thence they coasted around the northern shore of Lake Michigan to Michilimackinac, where Hennepin spent the winter with the Jesuit Father Pierson, a former fellow- the water against the underlying strata of soit sandstone, and the conee- ■quent breaking off of the upper and harder table rock, the height o( the falls is now reduced to fifteen feet. Their natural beauty ha8 also been marred and obscured by the erection of nulls, and other works of civilized man. •Some additional notice of the Sieur du L'hut, or Du Luth, may li acceptable to the general reader. He was a native of Lyons, Franw and a cousin of the Sieur de Tonty, whom he more than once visitaiat Fort !St. Louis of the Illinois. Having come to Canada as a youpi; of- ficer, he led the life of a military adventurer, and became noted for his enterprise antl hardihood. In 1()H() he was ordered by De Nonville, then )jovernor of Canada, to fortify the Strait of Detroit. Proceeding thitlier with fifty men, he built a stockade called Fort St. " soph, and occupieil it till the summer of 1087, when lie headed a force of French and In- 5 I"' was commandant at Fort Frontenac, and retained this position for Home years. He died of chronic gout, in Canada, during the winter of .l7O9-'10, It was doubtless from this noted Frenchman, that the modern oommer- cial city of Duluth derived its name. He Returns to France. 109 townsman, at the missioR of St. I^nacc. On the 29ch of the following March, 1681, before the ice had disappeared from the straits, our restless friar, with a few boatmen, re- samed his journey eastward from Michilimaekinac* Drag- ging their canoes and provisions over tlie snow and ice un- til open water was reached, they then embarked and rowed along the western shore of Lake Huron to and through the St. Clair, and thence over Lake Erie to the Falls of Niag- ara. Making a portage round the fallw, they next entered Lake Ontario and sailed along its southern side thirty league to a large village of the Senecas, where Hennepin stopped for a while and renewed his acquantance with the chiefs of that nation. lie thence proceeded to Fort Fron- tenac, and afterward descended the St. Lawrence to Mon- treal, where Governor Frontenac then was. Here he was very graciously received by the governor, to whom he gave a graphic recital of his river voyages and captivity among the wild tribes on the upper Mississippi, and showed him the advantas:e8 to be derived from their discoverv. Taking ship at Quebec for Old France, Father Henne- pin reached that country again near the close of 1681, after an absence of six ye^rs. He then went to reside for a time at the Convent of St. Germain-en-Laye. After this he was * Mackinac, or Miohilimarkinuo, was then a placo of much less con- sequence than in 1088 (seven years later), when the Daron d" lii lion- tan was sent thither with a company of French troops. He giv the village of the llurons. These good Katlicrs lavish away all their divinity and patience in converting such ignorant infidels. . . . The amreurx dc /?oJ.i have a very small set- tlement here, thougli 'tis not inconsiderable, as being the staple (or nmrt) of all the goods that they truck wiMi the south and west savagv^s; for they can not avoid passing this way when they go to the seuts of th«y' llliuese and the Ouinamis (Miamics), or to the Baye des Puant anil the Hiver MissisHippi."— '« llontan's Voyages, Knglish ed., vol, 1., pp. 87, 88^ 110 L<^uis Hennepin. vicar and acting superior of the Recolleta at Chateau Gain bresis, where he was visited by his former companion, Father Zenobe Mombre, about 1(383. Subsequentl^y, he was Guardian for some three years of the KecoUet conveiii at Rentz, in Artois. During this time he was requested by his superior to return to the mission in Canada, but he de- clined to comply; his excuse being that the "particular lawH of his religious order did not .,>llige him to go beyond the sea against his will," and that the malice of his eneniien there would expose him to perish among the savages. At or before the year 169'^ owing in part to his in- triguing character, Hennepin was ordered by the MiniHter of Wur to quit the French realm ; and, with the consent of his superior, withdrew into Holland, wliere he gained pro- tection at the court of William III In order to travel in that country without attracting paicicular notice, he laid m'nh his monastic garb, but did not renounce his vows, and con- tinued to sign himself "Recollect a!jd Notaire Apostolique." Becoming tired of Holland, we are told that he ottered to return and again go as a missioiuiry to America, but that he was not permitted to re-enter France for the purpose, With respect to liis peregrinations in the last years of hi^ erratic and checkered life, we have no authentic informa- tion. It is stated by some writers that he went on a [)il- grimage to Rome, and was at the convent of Ara-celi in 1701, but that he returned thence, aiid died shortly after at Utrecht. He was tlien probably sixty -two years old. During his extended travels in North America, Friar H(!nnepin had kept a diary or journal, and his first labor on returning to France was to prepare it for publication. His first and n\ost valuable work, 1 ocause written from personal observation, and without any special motive to prevari> ate, was published at Paris early in »)aiMiary, t()8!{, and was dedicated to his (/hristian Majesty, Louis XIV. Its French title runs as follows : " Description de la Louisi- anc^ novellcnumt decouverte an su.d-ouesf. de la Nouvelle. France; Avec la CarU d.u Pays, Ics moeurs d (a maniere d.e vie des Son- vagcs. Dc.dik A sa Majestic. Par le R. P. Hennepin., Mn- sionaire Hecolleot el Notaire Apostolique." His Writings 111 Thin book became immediately popular, both in Prance and the adjacent countries, and translatioun of it soon ap- peareut less reliable, publication, did not see the light of print until fourteen years after the tirst. If is thus lengthily entitled in P'rench : ^^ Noii.cdk' Decoui'erte (fun tres grand pivjs^ sif.ue dans L' Amenqae^ entre le Nomaa Meriquc et la Mer Glaclale; Avec les Cartes et les Figures neeessaire, et de plus UHistoire nat- ureUc et morale, et L'S arantagcs qu' on peut tier par le etahlisse- ment dcs colonies. Le tout dediee d sv Majeste Brittaniqae, Gaillaume III., Par le Louis Hennepin,'' etc. A. Utrecht 1G97, Amsterdam 1698, and London l<)98-'9!).* In this book was first inserted the narrative of Henne- pin's pretended descent of the Mississippi to the Uulf, and and in the preface thereto, by way of ex[)lanation, he says : "'T is true I published part of it in the year 1684 (1683), ill my account of L(»uisiana, {)rinted at I'aris by order of the French king: but I was then obliged to say nothing of the course of the river Meschasipi, from the mouth of tlie river Illinois down to the sea, for fear of disobliging M. la *The FCnglish of this reads an tollowB: " New Discovery of a very (i teat Country, situated in Auierioa between New Mexieo and t lie Icy Sen; with some necessary maps and illustrations, and, moreover, the history, natural and moral, and the advantages that may I e had by the ostablishment there of some colonies. The whole dedicated to his Brittanic Majesty, William III. By I^>uis Hennepin," etc. Printed at Utrecht HM>7, .Vmsterdum U)!)8, and London I()()S-'<.«>. 112 Louis Hennepin. Salle, with whom I began my discovery. TIhh gentleman would have the glory of having discovered the course of that rivdr; but when he heard that I had done it two yearn before him, he would never forgive me, tliough, as I have said, I was so modest as to publish notliing of it."'*' Hennepin's third and smaller work on America, bear- ing the title of "■ NoHveau Voyage i within tliebrief time mentioned in liis " New Discovery." The story of liis feigned descent of that river to i\\Q Gulf of Mexico obtained general credence in tliis country, notwithstanding the man- ifest dit!i(!ulty of reconciling its dates and conflicting state- ments, until the api)earance of Spark's Life oi La Salle (in his series of "American Biographies," 1844— '47), since whi(;h time it has been rejected aH a fiction. irennej)in wouKl thus seem to have been guilty of deliberate falsehood, mikI in seeking to rob La Salle of his principal laurel, he only tarninhed his own fame. La Salle, however, is not deserv- ing of any especial commiseration ; for it appears from the anonymous brochure or memoir put forth in liis interest, in the year lt>78, that he was not unwilling to have the world believe he had discovered the Mississippi, before the historic voyage thereon by Joliet and Marciuette. *"Hof()n> this publicivtion, liowcvcr, Tonty'H Kelution had boon publisluul, iiiul, ill UiDl, u work ontitlcd : 'Tlio KstubliHhtnont of the Faitb in New KriuuH',' by tlu> Uocollot ininHioiuiry, Fntlier (Clirction) be Clercq, who ha«l derived his niateriulH roUitiiiK to La Salle'H expedition to the (Inlf from tlie letters which the Father Zenobe Membre, who ac- companied it, had written to the liiHhop of Quebec. Parallel passiigcR from Le Clerci] and Hennepin have been examined, so closely resembliiij,'. Id every injportant particular, as to compel the beMef that Ileunepin'e publication of KUm iH a piracy upon it, and a wicked attempt to deprive La Salle of his hard-earned honor."— Breese's I'kvrly Hist. 111., p. 128; Chicago, 1884. His Writinffs. 113 Hoiinepiii was, at this time, in tho service or [)ay of the J)utch-Eiigilsh court; and it \a atiinned that he was in- (hieed (perliapw rctiuired) to write a new account of hig travels and discoveries in North America, conii)risinij^ a nar- rative of his alleged voyage down the Mississippi to the sea, in order to favor the pretensions of King William HI., who wished to set up for himself a claim to the country of Lou- isiana. This statement (ku'ives plausihiiity from the circiim- stance that, in 1()99, two English vessels were sent to ex- plore the passes of the Mississip[)i. There were also other motives that influenced and may hcl[) to ex[)lain the friar's dubious conability, does not ex(;ul[>ato him tVotn censure. The whole ^ruth about the origin anoiled the nepulchers of the village dead,* Hcattered their hones over the adjoining [)lain, anected tlie scene of these acts of savage harl)arity and desecration, to ascertain whether Tonty and his hand had fallen victims to the vengeance of the in- va(ierK, La Salle stationed three of liis men here in conceal- ment to keep a close watch, while lie continued with the other four to descend the river. At ditterent points on the w«y, he dis(^overed the deserted caim)s of the opposing Indian forces, who had move {leriod from l(i78 to 10t)l. Friar Meinbre, in Iuh act'ouut of i\\\s exciting cpiHuck', coiivt-yH the idea tliat he himself wert with Tonty into the Iroqnoie camp, but this Ih not nuHtained l>v Tontv'H Narrative. • ■ Tontifs Adventures with the Iroquois. 125 and offered to give them, if they wished for peace, the beaver skins and some skives whicih they had. The Iro- (^uois chiefs were now enraged at the Sieur de Tonty, and loaded him with reproaches for having told them that the Illinois had twelve hundred warriors, and tliat tliere were sixty Frenchmen at the village. " I had ninch difliculty," writes Tonty, " in getting out of the scrape." However, on the next day, a nominal peace was con- cluded between the representatives of the two nations, and the Iroquois made some presents of necklaces and mer- chandise to the Illinois. But, in utter disregard of the treaty, the Iroquois immediately began to construct canoes of elm bark, with which to descend the river and fall upon the Illinois. In the meantime Tonty apprised tlie latter of their danger, and advised them to retire to some distant nation. Shortly after these events (on the 10th of September), Tonty and Father Membre were summoned to attend a coun- cil of the Irocpiois. It seems that they still entertained a wholesome fear of Governor Frontenac, under whose piotee- tion the Illinois were, and did not want to renew their war upon the latter in presenceof the Frenchmen. Theirpurpose, therefore, was to induce the French to leave the country. Accordingly, when Tonty and Membre appeared at the council, six parcels of beaver skins were brought into their presence. And the Iroquois spokesman, addressing Tonty, said, that the first two packages were to inform M. (ie Frontenac tl at they would not eat his children, and that ho should not be angry at what they iiad done; the third was a plaster to heal the wounds of Tonty ; the fourth was oil to anoint him and Membre, that they might not be fa- tisjued in traveling ; the fifth proclaimed tluit the sun was bright; and the sixth, and lust, required them to depart for the Frendi settlements.'*' These proffered gifts were scornfull^y rejected by Tonty, who, in imitation of tlie Iinllan mode of expressing coii- tenipt, indignantly kicked them away, and thus rebuked 'Tonty'8 Memoir of lOrS. 126 La Salle and Tonty. the Bavages for their insolence and perfidy. The council ended in recrimination and disorder, and on the next day the exasperated chiefs ordered the Frenchmen to quit the country forthwith. The Sieur de Tonty had now, at the repeated risk of his life, tried every expedient to save the Illinois from the fury of the invaders of their soil and homes, and since by remaining longer he would imperil tjie lives of his own men, he made a virtue of necessity, and speedily departed. On the morning of the 11th, he and liin five compan- ions embarked in a wretched bark canoe, with but scanty supplies, and made haste up the river. The same day, about noon, the canoe broke, and they landed to repair it and dry their peltry. While some, of the men were thus employed, Father Ribourde imprudently retired into a!i ad- jacent grove for the purpose of saying his breviary. As he did not return when expected, Tonty became alarmed tor his safety, and started out with a companion to hunt him. Witli the quick eyes of woodmen, they soon discovered the tracks of Indians, by whom it was thought the friar had been seized, and they fired guns to direct his return, if still alive. Not seeing or hearing any thing of him that afternoon, in the evening they built fires along the river bank, and then withdrew to the opposite shore, to observe who might :i|i- proach thorn. Toward midnight several Indians were seen flitting about the fires, and then vanished in the darkness. It was afterward learned that they belonged to a band ot young Kicdvapoo warriors, who had been hovering for some days about the Iroquois camp in (piest of scalps. By chance, it would seem, they had fallen in with the innocent old friar, whom they killed and scalped, liiding his body in a sink, ai I carrying away his breviary, which subsequontly came into the hands of one of the Jesuit fathers. Thus perished l)y the war-club of the merciless savage, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, the Recollet father, Gabriel de hi llibourde. lie was the 0!ily son and heir of a gentlenum of Burgundy, and had not oidy renounced his inheritane" and the world, to enroll irnnself among the lowly children of St. Francis, but even when advanced in life and honored Death of Father Ribourde. 127 with the first dignities of his order, had sought (in 1670) the new and toilsome mission of Canada.* While this painful tragedy was being enacted, the Iroquois invaders, unrestrained by the presence of French- men, were brutally desecrating the sepulchers of the dead at the great town of the Illinois, and preparing to furtlier wreak their vengeance upon the living. Starting down the river in pursuit of the retreating Illinois, they steadily followed them day after day ; but as both of the opposing armies moved in close array, neither was able to gain any material advantage over the other. At length, the Iroquois chiefs attained by strategy what their vaunted prowess and arms had failed to achieve. They publicly gave out that their object was not to destroy the Illinois, but simply to drive them frorh the country. Deceived by this artifice, the Illinois separated, some of them descending the Missis- hipjii River, and others fleeing across and beyond it. But the Tamaroas tribe, more stupid or credulous than the rest, lingered at their village, not far below the mouth of the Illinois, until they were suddenly attacked by a superior force of th(? enemy. The pusillanimous men are said to have fle ^ at the first onset, leaving their defenseless women and children, numbering several hundred, to tall into the hands of the merciless foe. Then followed those savage hiiti'heries and burnings, the horrible evidences of which were seen by La Salle only a few weeks afterward. Hav- ing'; scattered the timorous Illinois in every direction, and HRtiated their ;'jreed for carnage, the rapacious horde of Ircxiuois now set ofi' on a forced march to their own coun- try, taking with them a nund)er of ca[)tive squaws and papooses, whom they had reserved to grace their triumph on returning to their eastern homes. After the melancholy end of Father Kibourde, and the iiu'tlectual search for his body, Tonty and his men resumed their toilsome ascent of the Illinois River. On reaching the forks of that stream, they neglected to leave there any tSheji'e Hist, of the Diacov. uucl Explo. of the Miss. Viil., page 159^ nok. 128 ■Jm Salle and Tonty. mark or trace indicating their course, which might have served as a guide to La Salle, and saved him no little trouble. But evidently afraid of encountering some hos- tile band of Indians, they turned up the Des Plaines^^ branch of the Illinois, and made their way by short jour- neys to Lake Michigan. Their aim was to find an asylum among the friendly Pottawatomies. After coasting the lake shore for a considerable distance, their canoe became disabled, and their provisions failed them. Leaving one man in charge of their canoe and other articles, the Sieur de Tonty and the rest of the party set oft by land for the nearest Pottawatomie village, w^hlch lay some twenty leagues to the north. But as Tonty had a fever at the time, and \m limbs were swollen, he did not reach the village until the llth of Novemb'Cr. During this hard journey the travelera lived on v.ild garlic, which they grubbed from under the snow, and when they came to the village they found it de- serted, for the Indians had gone to their winter quarters. They, however, discovered a little maize and some frozen gourds, with wliich to appease their hunger. Returning to the lake shore, the Frenchmen re-em- barked and continued their voyage. Being again obliged to land, they found a fresh trail, and, following it, made a portage of a league across the peninsula to Greeti Bay. Entering an estuary of |the bay, called Sturgeon Cove, they appear to have ascended it several leagues, when they were stopped by a high wind, which continued for a week. Dur- ing this time they consumed all their little stock of provis- ions, and were in despair of being able to overtake the savages. Their shoes having worn out, they now made coverings for their feet of the late Father Gabriel's cloak. The stream liad meantime frozen up, so that they could not proceed farther in their canoe. When they v:c'^e preparing to set out on foot, two Ottawa Indians chanced lo arrive at their camp, and (jojvducted them to a village of the Potta- watomies. Here the tarnished travelers met a kind recep- tion, and had their wants liberally supplied. * Called by the IndianH the Checagou. Tonh/s Flight to G-reen Bay. 129 According to ;lie narrative of Father Monibre, Onang- hme, the head chief of the Pottawatoniies, was a great ad- mirer of the French, whom he had before befriended. And he was accustomed to say that "he knew of only three great esptains, Frontenac, La Salle, and himself."^' After recruiting somewhat from the extreme hardships of the journey, Father Membre went to spend the winter at the mission house of the Jesuits on Green Bay, while Tonty and the other four members of tlie party retrained with the Pottawatoniies. In the following spring, they all proceeded to old Mackinac, and there awaited the arrival of thei leader. * Both Tonty and Membre have left accounts of this journey of re- treat from the Illinois to the Pottawatoiuies. but, for the must part, we have followed the relation of the former. 130 La Salle' s' Exploits Continued. CHAPTER VII. 1H81-1683. LA SALLE S EXPLOITS CONTINUED. Reverting to La Salle, wiio was left at Fort Miami to recruit hifi powers and resources, we again resume the ac- count of his stii'ritig career. During the winter of 1080- 81, w}iile his fortunes seemed at the lowest ebb, he was never more active, or more determined upon achieving ultimate success. Believing that the then recent foray of the Iroquois into the country of the Illinois, was mainly for the purpose of extending their territorial pos- sessions, whence to draw fresh supplies of furs, and that those fierce warriors were also being used by his white ad- versaries to put an end to his own operations in this wide and attractive region, he evolved from his busy brain a plan to counteract their designs. His scheme was to unite all the different and ofte!i warring tribes of the West into a defensive league; to colonize such of them as would con- sent about a fort to be erected and maintained by him on the Illinois Kiver, and thus oppose an effectual barrier to the further incursions of the Iroquois and their adherents. This extensive plan exemplifies La Salle's fertility of re- source in emergency, and its success in execution was an- swerable to his ex})ectation8. After the close of the bloody and desolating wai- of Philip, of Pokanoket, with the New England colonists, in 1676, some of his vanquished allies quitted their eastern homes, and sought a refuge in the forests on the south- eastern borders of Lake Micliigan. These were mostly Abenakis and Mohegans, or Mohicans — the latter tribe having furnished the reliable hunter and servant, w}\o bad already rendered such useful service to La Salle. It was to these snuUl bands of Eastern exiles tliat our explorer first Confers with the Foxes and the Illinois. 131 addressed liiiiiHclf in the trial of ITih new ex[)edient for tlie furtherance of his general plans. lie found them very wiUing to Join their h)t witli his in any undertaking ne might propose, asking only the privilege of calling him their chief. His next move was to effect a reconciliation betwec!! the Miamis a!ul Illitiois, who, thongli kindred tribes, had been long estranged. Desiring to first confer with the Illinois, many of whom liad returned since the evacuation of their country by the Iroquois, La Salle set out with a party from Kort Miami on a journey thither. On entering the prairies, which were still white with snow, he and several of the men became snow-blind, so that they were obliged to go into ressed his regret at wliat had happened, and advised them to form an alliance with the Miamis, in order to prevent the recurreiu^e of like dis- asters in the future. He told them that he and his men would come back to reside among them, furnish them with Kiv-aruis and goods, and help them in repelling the hostile incursions of the Iroquois. Well {)leased witli this pro})0- sition, they gave him some maize, and promised to confer with other members of their trd)e and report to him the re- sult. Returning now to Fort Miami, La Salle sent La For- I'cst down Lake Michigan to MackiiuK^ whither it was ex- IK'cted that Tonty would go, and where both Avere to stay until he shouhl follow them. It still renuiined for liim to confer with tlie Miamis, and lie accordingly started with 132 La Salle's Exploits Continued. ton men to visit their principal village, sitnated near the poi'tage between the St. Joseph and Kankakee. Here he found a small party of Iroquois warriors, who had for some time demeaned themselves with great insolence toward the villagers, and hadspoken with contempt of himself and men. On being informed of tills, he sternly rebuked them for their arrogance and calumnies, and such was the fear his presence inspired among them that at night they Hed from the village. "The next day the Miamis were gathered in council, and La Salle made known to them tlie objects he v/ished to accomplish. From long intercourse with the Indians, he had become an expert in forest diplomacy and eloquence, and on this occasion he had come well provided with presents to give efficacy to his proct.edings. He began his address, which consisted of metaphorical allusions to the dead, by distributing gifts among the living. Presenting them with cloth, he tohi them it was to cover their dead ; giving them hatchets, he informed them that they were to build a scat- fold in their honor ; distributing among them beads and bells, he stated they were to decorate their persons. The living, while appropriating these presents, were greatly pleased at the compliments paid to their departed friends, and thus placed in a suitable state of mind for that which was to follow. . . . Lastly, to convince them of the sincerity of his intentions, he gave them six guns, a num- ber of hatchets, and (then) threw into their midst a huge pile of clothing, causing the entire assemblage to explode with yelps of extravagant delight. After this. La Salle thus closed his htirangue : "'He who is my master, and the master of all this country, is a mighty chief, feared by the whole world ; but he loves peace, and his words are for good alone. He is called the King of France, and is the mightiest among the chiefs beyond the great water. His goodness reaches even to your dead, and his subjects come among you to raiso them up to life. But it is his will to preserve the life he han given. It is his will that you should obey his laws, and make no war without the leave of Frontenac, who com- He Negotiates with the Miamia. 183 niands in his name at Quebec, and wlio loves all tlie nations alike, because such is the will of the great king. You ought, then, to live at ]>e.ace with your neighbors, and above 111! with the Illinois. You have had cause of (nuirrel with them; but their defeat has avenged ^ou. Though they are still strong, they wish to nuike peace with you. Be con- tent with the glory of having compelled them to ask for it. A^ou luive an interest in preserving them, since, if the Iro- quois destroy them, they will next destroy yon. Let us all obey tlie great king, and live in peace under liis protection. Be of my mind, and use these guns I have given you, not to make war, but only to hunt and to defend yourselves.'" * ITaving ended his mission to tlie Miamis nation. La Salle sent two of his men, with two of tlie Abeiiakis, to announce the result to the Illinois, in order to ]>revent further acts of hostility, and to recall tlie dispersed tribes. Moreover, he dispatched men with presents to the 8haw- necs, to invite them to come and join the Illinois against the Iroquois. All this being done to liis satisfaction, he left Fort Miami on the 22d of May, 1681, and, after a pleasant canoe voyage, arrived at the post of Mackinac about the middle of June. Here he had the happiness of meeting Tonty, Father Zenobe, and others of his men, from whom he had been separated for more than a year. " The Sieur (le la Salle (says Membre's Narrative, before cited,) re- lated to us all his hardshi|»s and voyages, as well as his misfortunes, and learned from us as many regarding him ; yet never did I remark in him the least alteration, always maintaining his ordinary coolness and self-possession. Any one but he would have renounced and abandoned the enter- prise ; but, far from that, by a firmness of mind and an almost unequaled constancy, I saw him more resolute than ever to continue his work, and to carry out his discovery." Before La Salle could resume and push forward his great enterprise to a successful issue, it was necessary for him to return to Canada, collect his scattered resources, and * Davidson & Stuve's Hist, of 111., let ed., p. {)3. See Relatiom dea D<:coiircries, coiupiUul for the government from La Salle's letters. 134 La Salle and his Exploits Continued. make terms with hia creditors. Tlie whole party, there- fore, embarked for Fort Frontenac. The U)ng and watery way was measured without any noteworthy incident, and by the end of July our untiring chief had reached Mon- treal, and was consulting with the capitalists and merchants who had been furnishing him wnth money and goods. His seigniory of Frontenac was already mortgaged for a large sum, much of which had been expended in profitless ex- plorations ; yet by surrendering some of his monopolies, by the aid of a rich relative named Plot,* and by the con- tinued favor and support of Governor Frontenac, he found means to appease liis more pressing creditors, and obtained advances for another respectable outfit. The season was well advanced before La Salle could complete his preparations, and again begin to move througli the great lakes. He started upon this third and crowning *-■ .' I * In order to secure this relative from loss in case of his death, La Salle executed ai nistrument in the nature of a will, of which the fol- lowing is a cop [Will of La Salle.] " Robert Cavelier, Esq., Sieur de la Salle, seignior and governor of Fort Frontenac, in New France, considering the great dangers and con- tinual perils in which the voyages I undertake engage me, and wishing to acknowledge as much as I am able, the great obligations which I owe to M. Francois Plet, my cousin, for the signal services which he has ren- dered me in my most pressing necessities, and because it is through his assistance that T have preserved to this time Fort Frontenac against the efforts which were made to deprive me of it, I have given, granted, and transferred, and give, grant, and transfer, by these presents, to the said M. Plet, in case of my death, the seigniory and property of the ground and limits of the said Fort Frontenac and its depending lands, and all my rights in the country of the Miamis, Illinois, and others to the south, together with the establishment which is in the country of the Miamis, in the condition which it shall be at the time of my death; that of Niagara and all the others which I may have founded there, together with all the barges, boats, great boats, movables and immovables, rights, privileges, rents, lands, buildings, and other things belonging to me, which shall be found there; willing that these presents be and serve for my testament and declaration in the manner in which I ought to make it, such being my last will as above written by my hand, and signed by my hand, after having read it and again read it (lu el rclu). "Made at Montreal the lUh of August, 1G81. [Signed.] " Cayelikr de la Sao^e." His Third Expedition to the West, 135 expedition with a company of thirty men (some of whom, however, quit his service before reaching Mackinac), and ten or twelve heavily-Uiden canoes. Passing up Ontario Lake to the vicinity of the prosci.t Toronto, he thence made a long portage to Lake Simcoe. It was October when he entered the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, and it was nor until the close of that month that his little flotilla was pushed out upon the northern waters of Lake Micliigan. As the voyagers crept slowly along tiie dreary eastern shore of the lake, skirted by high and, for the most part, barren 8aud-hill"s, we may conjecture some of the nielaneholy thoughts of their chief : "A past of unrequited toil and sad disappointment, a present embittered by the tongue of slander and hate, and the future clouded with uncertainty, must have intruded themselves into his mind, but could not for a moment divert him from the great purpose which, for years, had been the guiding star of his destiny." After a monotonous and toilsome trip, the leader and his men reached the well-known moutli of the Miami in the latter part of November, and drew their canoes ashore under the shelter of the palisaded fort. Here La Salle found his poor Mohegan and Abenaki allies, in their squalid wigwams, patiently waiting his re- turn, and from among them he chose eighteen men to ac- company him on his southern exploration. These, being added to his twenty-three French and Canadians, made a force of forty-one men. The Indians insisted upon taking with them ten of their squaws to cook for them, and three children, thus making a total of fifty-four persons. Some of these supernumeraries were useless and others a burden ; but there seemed no help for it, and they all went. Aban- doning the old route via the St. Joseph and Kankakee for one more direct, the advance party of the expeditloij, under the conduct of the faithful Tonty and Membre, set out from Fort Miami on the 2l8t of December, in six canoes, and coasted around the southern bend of the lake to the mouth of the little river Chicago. La Salle himself followed a few days later, with the rest of his men (the Indian contingent going by land), and rejoined the others on 136 La SaUe\ I'arknian'H UiBfovery of the CJrout West. 138 La Salle's Exploits Continued. drew his flotilla to tlie oppoBite shore, and there, on a pro- jecting point or cape, threw up an intrejichnient and felled trees to prevent a surprise. He then directed soine of his men to go along the bank of the river, and by signs, invite the Indians to come over to them. This being observed by some chiefs of the Akansas, they sent several of their young men in a pirogue, v/hich approached within gunshot of the French camp. Here the calumet of peace was dis- played, and two of the savages, standing up in their canoe, made signs for the Frenchmen to come to them. At this invitation La Salle sent one of his Canadians and six Aben- akis, who were received with manifestations of friendship, and were escorted back by six of the Akansas. La Salle thereupon nuule presents to them of tobacco and some goods, and they, in turn, invited him to visit their village. Being thus assured, he crossed the river witli his entire force to the village called Kappa, where he stayed throe days, and was feasted throughout with corn, beans, dried fruit, and fish. On the day after his arrival La Salle took formal possessioM of the country by planting a cross and setting up the -ivms of France; whereat the villagers, not knowing the purport of the ceremony, showed signs of great joy. The explorers were surprised to find here many domestic fowls, and some tamed bustards, which were prob- ably kept for ornamental purposes. They took their do- pafture on the 17th, and six leagues farther down the river, came to another village of the «ame i.vtion, called To!iingu, and three leagues beyond that still another,* the inhabitantH of which all received them hospitably. These Arkansiin Indians called themselves Oguappas, or (^uappas, and arc said to have formerly dwelt higher up the Mississippi. It was observed that they were much less morose and severe ill their nuuiners, and more open-hearted and generoiin than the tribes of the north, which was doubtless partly owing to (TuTuitic influences. - Having been furnished witii tlie requisite guides, the ♦.Toutel, who viHittMl tho ArkanHan five yoars lator, iiiakoH ineiition of only two villaKHH on the MiHsiHsippi; but there was a third on the ArkaoHUH, juwl al>ove itn mouth. He Descends the Mississipjn. 139 explorers thence coiitiiuied their voyage, and on the 22d, after passing the hilly site of Vioksburg, reached tlie terr*- tory of a tribe called the Taensas, who dwelt around a little lake or bayou, formed by the Mississippi. Ik'ing fatigued, La Salle sent Tonty and Membre thither witli presents. Arrived at the main village of the Taensas, they were agreeably surprised at the evidences presented of In- dian civilization. The houses were built of earth mixed with straw, and roofed with cane mats in the form of a dome, and were arranged around a square or quad- rangle. The liouse of the liead chief was a single room forty feet square, and tifteen feet high to the top of the roof. It was entered and lighted by one large door, in which the cliief sat in state, waiting the approach of hiH visitors. Around him were grouped some sixty old men, dressed in white robes made of the under bark of the mul- berry tree, and near him sat three of his wives clothed in like manner, who, to do him honor when he spoke to them, indulged in guttural cries. After [)aying their respects to these dignitaries, tlie Frcnciimen were conductey three roughly carved eagles, facing toward the rising mn; and, surrounding it, was a mud or adobe wall stuchled with sharp pointed stakes, on wliich were hung the skulls of their enemies who had been sacriticed to the sun. The district around the village was planted with ditferetit kinds of fruit and nut bearing trees and wild vines, whi(;h fur- nished a considerable part of tlie subsistence of the people. The chief of tlie Taensas sent provisions to La Salle, and the next day paid him a formal visit at liis camp. lie came with wooden canoes, attended by the otftcers of his Innise- hold, to the sound of the tambour and the wild music of the women. The (iiiief was clotiied in a tine white blanket, atid was preceded by two attendants carrying fauH 140 Tju Salle's Exploits Continued. of white t'eatlierB. La Salle received him witli great polit.p- neKB, made liim a few f>resent8, and ret^eived in return pro- visions, ai]d 8()me of their robes or bUmkets. During thJH interview the Indian })0tentate maintained a grave de- meanor, not unmixed witli curiositv and markK of friend- ship toward tlie Frenchmen. Re-end>arkijig on tlie strange river, and luiving ad- vanced twelve leagues fartlier, the ex})]orers (on the 26th) fell in with 8ome fishermen of the Natchies (Natcliez) na- tion, who were enemies of the Taensas, tliough a kindred people. With liis usual j)recaution, La Salle passed over to the opposite bank, and then sent Tonty to them witli tlio peace calumet. The Indians were found well disposed, and some of them crossed the river with Tonty to tlie Frencii camp. Although their village lay some three leagues in- land. La Salle did not hesitate to go thither, with Memhrc and a i>art of his men : and on their arrival, they met a kindly w^elcome. The chief of this village was a brother of the great chief or Sun of the whole mition, whose village lay several leagues do vn the river, and about one league from the present city of Natchez. After spend- ing the niglit at the first v,illuge. La Salle and his })arty proceeded the next day to the town of the Sun-chief, wIkm'c they were hatulsomely entertained, and, by permission. erected a cross bearing the king's arms. This proceeding was viewed with great satisfaction by the inhabitants, hut it would have been otherwise if they had understood its real significance. As with the Taensas, so here among the Natchez, the Ki'ciich visitors saw substantially built houscn. a royal residence, a rude temple of the sun, with its altar of perpetual fire, and an established form of religious worsliiji. The friar Membic, in his Narrative, speaks of both triben as being half-civilized, and as presenting a good field lor missionary effort. ^ ' : < On the way back to their camp. La Salle and party were accompanied by several of the head men of the Natclioz, and also by a chief of the Koroas, or Ooroas. This cliiot now conducted the explorers to his village, which was situ- ated ten l(>agues below on a pheasant eminence. Arrivoil He Reaches the Gulf of Mexico. 141 at the village, the usual Indian feast was made, and the customary presents were given and received. Here the vcyagers were told that they still had ten (hiys' sail to the Boa.* Leaving the Koroas on Easter Sunday, the 29th of March, they passed the mouth of Red River two days after- ward, and vstill keeping on their course for a distance of nearly forty leagues, they discovered some Indian iisher- nien on tlie bank of the river, and immediately heard the beating of drums and war-cries. Four Frenchmen were sent forward to offer them the calumet, but they had to re- turn in haste, because the natives let ily at them a shower of arrows. These Indians belonged to the Quinipissa tribe, and iu consequence of their hostility La Salle continued luH voyage two leagues lower c le Roi, the colunui was planted by the Sieur de la Salle, who, standing near it, recited, in a loud voice, tlie fc lowing declaration, which lijid been drawn uj) at his dictation by Jacques de la Metairie, a Caiuidian notary, wlio accompanied tlie expedition from Fort F'rontenac: " In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and victorious Princ.;, Louis, the Great King of France and Navarre, Fourteenth of that name, this ninth day of Ajiril, 1682, I, in virtue of the commission of his Majesty, which I hold in my hand, and v/hich nuiy be seen by all whom it nuiy concern, luive taken, and do now take, in the name of his majesty, and of his successors to the crown, possession ot this country of Louisiami, the seas, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits, and all the luitions, peoples, })rovinccs, towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisherius, streams, and rivers, comprised in the extent of said Louisiana, fnmi the mouth of tiie great river St. Louis, on the eastern side, Takes Formal Possession of the Country. 143 otherwise called Ohio, Alighin, or Chukagoiia, and this with tiie consent of the Chaouanons, Chicachas, and other people dwelling therein, with whom we have made alliance ; as also along the river Colbert, or Mississippi, and rivers which dis- charge themselves therein, from its source beyond the coun- try of tlie Kious, or Kadouessious, and this with their con- Hent, and with the consent of the Motantees, Illinois, Mesi- gtimeas, Natches, Koroas, which are the tnost considerable nations dwelling therein, with whom also we have made alliance, either by ourselves or by others in our behalf;* as far as its mouth at the sea, or Gulf of Mexico, about the 27th degree of the elevation of the North Pole, and also to the mouth of the river of Palms ; upon the assurance we liavo received from all these nations, that we are the first Eiu'opeans who have descended or ascended the said river Colbert; hereby protesting against all those who may in future undertake to invade any or all of these countries, people, or lands above described, to the prejudice of the right of his iruijesty, acquired by consent of the nations herein named. Of which, and of all that can be needed, I hereby take to witness those who hear nie, and dematid an act of the notary, as required by law." "To which the whole assembly responded with shouts of Vive le Jioi, and with salutes of fire-arms. Moreover, the Hieur de la Salle caused to be buried at the foot of the tree to which the cross was attached a leaden plate, on one side of which were engraved the arms of France, and, on the ()p))osite, the following Latin insci'iption : ^Jjudovkus Ma(jni(s Rcf/nat, Nono Apvilis, 31. fJ. (\ LXXXTl.,' etc. . . . "After which the Sieur de la Salle said, that his nuij- esty, as oldest son of the churcli, wtuild annex no country to his crown without making it his chief care to establish the Christian religion therein, and that its synd)()l must now be planted; which was accordingly don<' at once by erecting ■Tliorc is Home obscurity iti this cnutnonUion of placcR and Indijin iiutimis, arisinjj; from i}?noraiife of tlu' gcofiraphy of Uie country, ami tlie t'OiiHont of tlu' al)origin('K is, of course, asHumed ; l)ut it appears to liave beoH La Salle's design to talce possession of tiie whole territory watered by tl\o Mis8is8ip|)i and its numerous tributaries. 144 La Salle's Exploits Continued. a cross, before which tl*e Vexilla and the Domine salvumfae Refjem. were suii^. Whereupon the ceremony was concluded with cries of Vive le Boi. * " Of all and every of the above, the said Sieur de la Salle having required of us an instrument, we have deliv- ered to him the same, signed by us, and by the undersigned witnesses, this ninth day of April, one thousand six hun- dred and eighty-two. " La Metairie, Notary. a Witnesses : De la Salle. P. Zenobe (Recollect Mission- ary), Henri de Tonty, Francois de Boisrondet, Jean Bour- don, Sieur d'Autray, Jacques Cauchois, Pierre You, Gilles Meucret, Jean Michel (Surgeon), Jean Mas, Jean Dulignou, Nicolas de la Salle."* ' These formal acts, attesting La Salle's important geo- graphical discovery, gave to Louis XIV. a territory far more extensive than his hereditary European possessions, though not destined in the sequence oJ' events to become a permanent appendage of the French cvown. Having thus achieved the great object of the expedi- tion, our explorers began their return voyage on the 10th of April. As they laboriously ascended the current of the deep river, they were half famished, having nothing to eat but some potatoes and tough alligator meat. The adjacent banks were so low, and covered with thickets of canes and undergrowth, that they could not stop to hunt without making a long halt. On the night of the 12th, they slept at the village of the Tangibaos,t and the next day reached the district of the Quinipissas. Determined to have some maize at any cost, La Salle now sent out a party of his Abenakis to reconnoiter. They returned on the morning of the 14th, bringing with them four of the Quinipissas women whom they had captured, and thereupon La Salle went and en- camped opposite their village. The day after he sent one *See Historical Coil's of La., Part I., pp. 48-50. An authenticated copy of these proceedings was afterward sent to Paris, and deposited in the Department of the Marine and Colonies. t Supposed to have been near the site of New Orleans. His Return Voyage. 145 of the women back with presents of merchandise to indi- cate his good will, and the savages brought him in return a little corn. Being invited to cross tlie river to the vi- cinity of their village, the Frenchmen diii so, but kept strictly on their guard. Before daybreak the next morn- ing, they were attacked iji their camp by the Quinipissas, whom they easily repulsed, killing ten and wounding others, besides burning their canoes. This is the only recorded in- stance of the sacrifice of human life during the course of the expedition. R,e-em])arking on the evening of that day (the 18th), La Salle and his followers reached the village of the Ko- reas, about the first of May, but found them no longer friendly and obliging as before. Arrived at the district of the Natchez, they lauded and went out to their village, but, seeing no women tliere, Huspected some evil design. The Natchez gave them food to eat, but the Frenchmen ate it with their guns in their liands, fearing an attack from the great number of w^arriors by whom they were surrounded. Keturning hastily to their canoes, they held on their way up the river, stopping at the Taensas and the Arkansas, where they were v, ell received. Leaving the Arkatisas villages about the middle of May, La Salle pushed ahead with two canoes of his Mohegans, but ' falling sick on the river, he stopped at Fort Prudhomme, and was there joined by the rest of his comjjany on the first of June. Ilis sickness being protn^cted and danger- ous, the Friar Membre remained witli him to nurse liim. Meantime, Tonty was sent forward with a few compan- ions to Mackinac, to arrange his affairs. It was not until the first of July that La Salle recovered sufficiently to travel. He then resumed his voyage, and advanced by short stages to Fort Miami, and thence to Mackinac, whither he arrived early in September.* . ' • The Sieur de la Salle had at length triumphed over * For fuller details cencerning tliis niomorable and siicccgsful expe- dition, see the Narratives of Membre and Tonty, and tiie Proces Verbal of I^Metaire. 10 146 La Salle's Exploits Continued. every opposing obstacle, ainl though not finding flie long-sought passage to the Paeific Ocean, he had followed the Mississippi River to its entrance into the Mexican Gulf, and written his name liigh in the list of American dis- coverers. It remained for him to extend and utilize his discovery to the best advantage for himself and his sovereign. As the country of the Illinois formed the center of his operations, he now resolved to abandon the tedious and ditRcult line of access to it through Canada and the lakes, beset by so many enemies, and to open a passage to his western domain by way of the Gulf aiul Lower Missis- sippi. He proposed to build a fort on the head waters of the Illinois, and found there a French and Indian col- ony, which might serve the twofold purpose of a bulwark against the inroads of the Iroquois, and a central point for the fur-trade of the western tribes. And he hoped, before the close of the ensuing year, to establish another fort atid colony at the embouchure of the Mississippi, tiius placing the trade of the whole great valley under his control. TIiIh new enterprise was not unworthy of the genius of La Salle. It was his intention on his arrival at Mackinac to have gone at once to Canada, and thence to France, to procure aid from the king in the execution of his plan ; but his health and circumstances not permitting, he sent Father Membre with dispatches, making known the extent and importance of his discovery. Soon after this a report reached La Salle, that the Iroquois — those fierce Romans of the wilderness — wore about to renew their raid upon tlie western tribes, vvh such a hostile mov(;ment might be fatal to his projected colony, he deemed it the part of prudence to follow Tonty, whom he had already sent to the Illinois, and joined him at the great Indian town. This celebrated village stood on the northern side of the Illinois River (which here runs from east to west), about one mile from the modern town of Utica, in what is now La Salle county.* It thus occu- pied a part of the wide strip of bottom land lying between * Ho named in memory of the great ex[)lorer. Fort St. Louis of the Illinois. 147 the river and the bluffs to the nortli. The large quantities of human bones and implements of savage life that liave been turned up here, from time to time, by the plough- share of the husbandman, form tlie only vestiges of the populous tribes, who once made this attractive locality their principal abode. Along the southern border of the stream extends a range of irregular sandstone bluffs, which culminates a mile above the old village in a natural abut- ment, known to the early French explorers as Le Rocher^ but, at a later period, as the "Starved Rock." Severfil miles below this, on the same side, occurs a canyon in the hills and bluffs, through which the waters of the Big Vermilion, or Aramoni of the French, fiuu their way to those of the Illinois. Of the Starved liock and its sur- roundings, Breese thus enthusia tically writes : "It is a most romantic spot. I have stood upon the 'Starved Roc\ ' and gazed for hours upon the beautiful landscape spread out beneath me. The undulating plains rich in their verdure, the rounded hills beyond clad in their forest livery, and the gentle river pursuing its noiseless way to the Mississippi and the Gulf, all in harniv-nious associa- tion, make up a picture over which the eye delights to wander; and when to these are added the recollection of the heroic adventurers who first occupied it — that here the baiuier of France so many years floated freely in the winds, that here was civilization, whilst all around them was bar- baric darkness — the most intense and varied emotions can not fail to be awakened." * From the river which washes its base, the huge cliff rises perpendicularly to an altitude of one hundred and twenty-six feet; and only on one side, that next to the land, can it be climbed with difKculty. To the summit of this na+ural citadel, embratMiig an area of half an acre, La Salle and Tonty repaired in De- cember, 1682, and commenced the work of fortification. With the assistance of their men, they felled the stunted growth of pines and deciduous trees that crowned the * (I Early History of Illinois," p. 121. 148 La Salle's Exploits Continued. Kofk, and with tliese built a rude storehouse. Then they cut and dragged timbers, with great labor, up the rugged ascent of the ciift", and inclosed the top with a stout palisade. The fort was practically finished during that winter, and was named by La Salle Fort dc St. Louis, in honor to the reigning monarch of France. It was intended as the nucleus of a permanent settlement, and was con- tinuously occuj»ied "by the French until the year 1700, and occasionally afterward.* With the completion of the fortress (in the spring of 1683) the Illinois Indians began to gather about it, looking upon La Salle as the great chief who was to protect them from the Iroquois ; and the surrounding country soon again became animated with the wild concourse of savage life. Besides the Illinois, there were also scattered along the river valley, and among the neighboring liills and prairies, the fragments of at least half a dozen other tribes, namely : Miamis from the sources of the Kankakee, Piankashaws and Weas from the Wabash, Shawnees from the Ohio valley, and some Abenakuis and Mohicans from N^ew F4ngland. La Salle's dexterous diplomacy had thus been crowned with unexpected success, a result largely due to the general terror inspired by the ferocious Iroquois. In a memorial addressed to the French Minister of Marine, he reported the whole number of warriors around Fort St. Louis at four thousand, which would represent a popula- tion of twenty thousand persons. But this exaggerated number could only have been possible at particular seasons of the year, since those nomadic people went and came according as the fish, game, and wild fruits were more or less abundant. By virtue of the authority conferred in his patent. La Salle ruled his broad domain as a seigniory, and went through the form of parceling out f)ortion8 of the laud to * The outline of another fort or earthwork, which might have been a work of tiie early French, is yet to be seen on the rocky bluff about half a naile south of Fort St. Louis, near the edjje of the prairie. See Baldwin's Hist, of La Salle Co., 111., p. 55. He Corresponds with Gorcrno^^ La Borre. 140 his French followers. The latter, however, were too indo- lent und profligate to improve or derive any benefit from such grants, thinking more of their Indian concubines than of cultivating wild lands. To maintain his new colony, the chief found it necessary to furnish its membei*8 with mili- tary protection, and merchandise to barter for furs and pelts — no easy task in his situation. While he was con- certing and endeavoring to execute measures for the main- tenance and development of his colony, his rivals and ene- mies in Canada, from envy oi* short-sighted [)olicy, were doing all they could to defeat him. Unfortunately, his friend and patron, Count Frontenac, had been removed from office, and Le Febvre de la Barre, a headstrong and avaricious old naval officer, governed in his stead. From the outset of his administration, La Barre shov/ed himself a bitter enemy to La Salle. Yet the latter, busy witli his own affairs, and not knowing or assuming to know the jealousy with which he was regarded, wrote to the new governor from Fort St. Louis, under date Aj)ril 2, 1(388, expressing the liope that he would have from him the same support that he had received from his predecessor. After saying that his enemies would try to intluence the governor against him, he went on to give some account of his explorations. lie stated that, with only twenty-two Frenchmen, he had formed amicable relations with the different tribes along the Mississippi liiver, and that his royal patent authorized him to establish posts in the newly discovered country, and to make grants around them, as at Fort Frontenac, and then added : "The losses in my enterprise have exceeded 40,000 crowns. I am now^ going four hundred leagues south-west of this place to induce the C/hicasas to follow the Shaw- anoes and other tribes, and settle like them at Fort St. Louis. It remained only to settle French colonists here, and this I have already done. I hope you will not detain them as conreurs dcs bois when they come down to Montreal to make necessary purchases. I am aware that I have no right to trade with the tribes who descend to Montreal, and I shall not permit such trade to my men; nor have I 150 La Salle's Exploits Continued. ever issued licenses to that eft'eet. as my enemies say that I liave clone." Despite this reasonable request on the part of La Salle, the men whom he had sent to Montreal on business were detained there, and on the 4th of June he again wrote to Governor La Barre, in a more urgent strain, as follows : " The Iroquois are again invading the country. Laot year the Miamis were so alarmed by them that they aban- doned their town and fled, but on my return they came back, and have been induced to settle with the Illinois at my fort of St. Louis. The Iroquois have lately ;.iurdored some families of their nation, and they are all in terror again. I am afraid they Vv^ill take flight, and so prevent the Missouris and neighboring tribes from coming to settle at St. Louis, as they are about to do. Some of the Ilurons and French tell the Miamis that I am keeping them here for the Iroquois to destroy. I pray that you will let me hear from you, that I may give these people some assurance of pro- tection before they are destroyed in my sight. Do not suf- fer my men, who have come down to the settlements, to be longer prevented from returning. There is great need hereof reinforcements. I have postponed going to Mack- inac, because, if the Iroquois strike any blow in my absence, the Miamia will think I am in league with them; whereas if I and the French stay among them, they will regard us as protectors. " But, monsieur, it is in vain that we risk our lives here, and that I exhaust my means in order to fulflll the in- tention of his majesty, if all my measures are crossed in the settlements ])el()\v, and if those who go down to bring niii- fiitions, without which we can not defend ourselves, are de- taijied under ])retexts trumped up for the occasion. If I u?ii prevented from bringing up my men and supplies, as I am allowed to do by the permit of (Jount Frontemic, then my patent from the king is useless. It would be very hard for us, after having done what was required, even before the time prescribed, and i\\\vv suffering seviro losses, to havo our eilbrls frustrated by obstacles got up designedly. I trust that, as it lies with you alone to {)revent or [Kriiiit Corresponds with Gocernor La Bar re. 151 the return of the men whom I have sent down, ^ ^u will not 80 act as to thwart my plan«, as part of the goods which I have sent by them belongs not to me, but the Sieur de Tonty, and are a part of his pay. Others are to buy muni- tions indispensable to our defense. Do not let my creditors seize them. It is for tlieir advantage that my fort, full as it is of goods, shouUl be held against the enemy. I liave only twenty men, with scarcely one hundred pounds of powder. lean not long hold the cou';; vithout more. The Illinois are very capricious and un rli>i^ .... If I had men enough to send out to reconnoit-. r the onemy, 1 would liave done so before this ; but I have not enough. I trust that you will put it in my power to obtain more, that this important colony may be saved." (Dated at) "Portage de Chicagou, 4 Juni, 1683."* It was in vain, however, that La JSalle appealed to Gov- ernor La Barre for favor or suf)port in his enter[)rise. That functionary, on the conti'ary, was meantime writing letters to the Minister of Marine and Colonies, disparaging La Salle's discoveries, and. lu'ctending to doubt their reality ; saying, that "with a score of vagabonds he had })illaged hie countrymen and })ut them to ransom, and was about to set himself up as king, and that the imprudence of the man was likely to involve Caiuida in a war with the Iroquois." These calumnies, being repeated, at lengtii reached the ear of tiie French monarch, who, under a mistaken notion of the true state of affairs, wrote La Barre to this eli'ect: "I am convinced like you, that the discovery of the Sieur de la Salle is very useless, and that such enterprises ought to be prevented in the future, as tliey tend only to debauch the inhabitants by the hope of gain, and to diminish the rev- einie i'rom bejivor skins. "f Appai'cntly cmboldonc*! by the king's U'tter, the governor Hcizcd ujton Fort Frontenac, under p"ctext that La Salle had not fultilled the cou('itions of his grant by maintaining there a sufticient garrison; and, against the remonstrttuces *?arluiuin'8 Ln Sallo and tlic (iivnt \Vt>8t, i)p. 'ilMV-HOl. "t Letttr du Roy d Ln Jiarve, Cith Aont, l(i88, in Margry. 152 La Salle's Exploits Continued. of tho niort<^'ii)^ees of the fort iiiul .seigniory, he ejected La Salle's lieutenant, La Forrest, and put two of his own minions. La Cliesnaye and La Ber, in charge of the fort. No sooner were these a})pointees installed in office, than they hegan living oif of La Salle's stores, and they were afterward accused of selling what luul been provided them by the government for their own benefit. But not content with this arbitrary stretch of power, and bent 'ipon the ruin of La Salle, Gov. La Barre next sent tlie Sieur de Baugis, an officer of the king's dragoons, to Fort St. Louis, and made him the bearer of a letter to La Salle, ro(piiring his presence at Quebec. The position of the latter had now become intolerable, and lie resolved to proceed to France, in order to obtain relief from the vro'vn. Giving the command at Fort St. Louis to M. de Tonty, and bid- ding adieu to his French and Lulian retainers, La Salle departed for (Canada 5d)out the first of Octol)er. Enroute, he met Do Baugis, who infonued liim of the nature of hi8 errand. The former submitted to the indignity with as good a grace as possible under the circumstances, and sent a letter to Tonty to receive tho new comnuindant with duo courtesy. Arrived at Fort St. Louis, De Baugis and Tonty passed the winter there together, thougli not very harmoni- ously — the one comnuuiding in the name of La Barfe, and the otlier representing the interests of La Salle. hi the following spring they both ]u)d enough to do. The threatened incursion of the [ro([uois had boon post- poned, yet not abatidoned. Fti the last of March, 1(584, those restless and enterprising warriors, to the numb* of three hundred — taking advantage of La Salle's absen ", and incited thereto by certain of the provincial authoriti ,s of New York, who wished to divert tho fur-trado of tlio western Indians i'rom Montreal to All)any — ugain invaded the country of the Illinois, and laid siege to the rock-seated fort of St. Louis. But it proved too strong for their un- skillfid and unsteady assault, and after six days ettbrt they retreated with loss. He Anives in Paris. 153 chapti:r viii. 1084-1687. LAST (HIEAT KNTEHPRISE OF LA SALLE. The Sieur de hi Stillo arrived from tlic west jit Quebec early in Xovember, 1(>88, and there embarked tor Old France. He thus, unwittiui^ly, took a last leave of the wide and wild theater of Canada, where, for sixteen years, he had played 80 conspicuous a part as an explorer and negotiator with the Indians, sometinxes achieving signal triumi)lis, but, more often, exj)eriencing severe reverses of fortune. .Vfter an uneventful ocean passage, he landed at Rochelle on the 23d of December, and thence traveled by diligence to Paris; then and still the eije of France, and the gay capital of Eu- rope. Here he was joined by his lieutenant, La Forrest, and later on, by Zenobe Mend)re, both of whom had pre- ceded liim from Canada. Here, too, he found influential friends, who appreciated his merits aiid services to the crown. Among the niunber was his former patron, Count Frontenac, who, though in retirement for the time, gave liini the benefit of his influence, still considerable, at court. La Salle now prei)ared and laid before the Manjuis do vSeignelay,* Minister of Marine and C()lonies.^ two nunno- rials (including a petition for the redress of his grievances), sotting forth his dis(;overies and plans for the colonization of Louisiana. He proposed to establish a fortified colony on the river Colbert, or MisHissiiii)i, some sixty leagues above its mouth, and to nnd\e it the principal dei)ot for the trade of the great river valley. To accomplish this design, lie asked for one war vessel of thirty guns, a lew cannon for the forts, and authority to raise, in France, two hun- luy wiis rt son iind micooBHor of the gront Colbert, who died iieptomlHjr (I, Kisa. iii-^^'ii 154 Lai^t Great Enterprise, of La Salle. king's charge for one year. He furtlier proposed, with this force, and an army of Indian warriors, to be afterward raised by himself, to undertake tlie conquest of Xew Biscay (Durango), the most northerly intendency of Mexico, where there were not more than live hundred Spaniards. La Salle accompanied his memoi'ials with a maj), indicating his dis- coveries in the country called Louisiana, which, however, showed that he still had but an imperfect knowledge of the geography of tliat region. In the beginning of April, 1684, La Salle was granted an interview with his majesty, Louis XIV., to whom he un- folded his fascinating scheme. The time was opportune for his application. The grand monarch had been long incensed at Spain (with which kingdom he was now again at war) because of her jealous exclusion of French ships from her American ports, and he was anxious to gain a permanent footing on the shores of the Mexican Gulf, within easy reach of his West India possessions. It was, therefore, not (difficult to obtain the royal assent and patronage to an en- terprise which accorded so well with his own ambition. Our explorer had asked for the use of only one vessel, but the king, in his generosity, gave him four. At the same time, as an act of simple justice to La Salle, he wrote a letter to Governor La Barre, at Quebec, directing him to restore to the former i)osses8ion of Forts Frontenac and St. Louis ; and La Forrest was shortly sent back to Canada, empowered to re-occui)y both forts in La Salle's name. Active preparations were now begun for the colonizing expedition, and agents were sent to Kochelle and Rochefort to collect recruits. About one hundred and fifty ex-soldiers were enrolled, most of whom, unfortunately, belonged to the beggar and vagabond class. There was, however, one volunteer soldier, muned Henri Joutel, who came from La Salle's own town of Kouen, and whose father Inid been a gair, and snbseciuently became the principal historian of the exi»editi()n. La Salle had given orders to engage three or four mechanics in each of the principal trades; but the selection was so poor that when they reached their destina- Preparations for His Efpediiion. 155 tion it wa8 found that they were very indifferent workmen. Eight or ten families of respectable people, and some young women, attracted by the prospect of matrimony, offered to go and help found the now colony. Their offers were accepted, and considerable advances were made to them, as well as to the artisans and soldiers. Several adventurouB young gentlemen, of good families, also joined the expedi- tion as volunteers. Among them were two nephews of La Salle, the Sieur de Moranget, and the Sieur Cavelier, the latter being only fourteen years of age. One of the first cares of the leader had been to pro- vide for the ecclesiastical part of his enterprise, in which it became necessary to procure a special dispensation from the Pope. Applying to the superior-general of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, the latter appointed three })rie8ts to accom- pany him and found a new mission. They were Jean Cav- elier, brother of La Salle, M. Chefdeville, his relative, and M. de Maiulle, called Dainmaville by Joutcl. As the Re- collets had for a number of years actively seconded the de- signs of La Salle, he made it a point to take as many as three of those fathers with him also. He accordingly ap- plied to the superior of that order, who granted him the religions he desired, namely: Father Zenobious Membre, Huperior of the mission, Anastasius Douay, and MaximuH Le Clercq. Such was the personnel of the soldiers, artisans, emi- grants, }triests, and adventurers, who were to i)lant the standard of France and the cross on the wilderness shores of far-away Louisiana. It were needless to observe that, for the most part, they were ill-adapted l)y discipline or ex{)erience for the stern task set before them. The fleet, which was furnished by the king, consisted of four vessels, namely : Tlie .loly, a royal ship or frigate, carrying thirty-six guns; the Belle, a snuill frigate of six ^uns; the Aimable, a store-ship; and the St. Francois, a kotch of two masts. La Salle had asked to be given sole conunand of the expedition, with a subordinate officer and two or three pilots to !uivigate the ships, as he might direct. But the Marquis de Seignelay gave the comnumd to Captt 156 Last Great Enterprise of La Salle. Beaiijeu, of the royal navy, whose authority wa« restricted to the maiiagenient of the vessels at sea, while La Salle was to prescrihe the route they were to take and com- mand on shore. This division of authority displeased both men, and caused chafing and bickering between them from the start. Yet it was perhaps the best that Minister Seigtielay could do under the circumstances, as La Salle liimself was without nautical skill or experience. Beaujeu was a Franco-Norman, and an officer of api)roved valor aud experience, but envious, self-willed, irascible, and utterly wanting in the ([ualifications requisite to the founding of a distant colony. Moreover, his wife is said to have been dominated by the Jesuits, a circumstance that excited La Salle's suspicion. Amiroaching it, they twice lay to, but happily entered on the first of January, 1685, when a sol- onui mass of thanksgiving was celebrated by Father Anas- tase Douay. The voyagers were now upon that grcjit south- ern sea over which no French vessel, carrying the nationnl colors, nad ever before sailed. Steering northward, they urrivod on the 15th in sight of the Florida coast, when a 158 Last (h'e.at Enterprise of La Salle: violent wind compelled the Joly to stand off, but the Aima- ble and Belle followed close to the shore. La Salle had been told in St. Domingo that the Gulf Stream ran witb incredil)le velocity toward the Bahama channel. This false information, together with the incor- rect sailing directions he had received, set him entirely es- tray ; for thinking himself much farther north than he really was, he not only passed Appalache Bay without recogniz- ing it, but followed the coast westward far beyortd the out- let of the Mississippi, and would have continued to follow it, if he and his fellow voyagers had not perceived by its turning south, and by the latitude, that they had passed the hidden river. It will be remembered that when La Salle was at the mouth of the Mississippi three years be- fore, he had obtained its latitude, approximately, but not the longitude. Indeed, the mariners of that day knew lit- tle or nothing about longitude. The Aimable and the Belle at last came to anchor, about the middle of February, at Espiritu Santo Bay, on the coast of Texas, and there awaited the arrival of Capt. Beaujeu, who joined them a few days later with the Joly. A conference was now held bv the commanders, which re- suited in their resolving to retrace their course, and they returned ten or twelve leagues to a bay, which they named St. Louis, since known as St. Bernard, or Matagorda. As provisions began to fail, Beaujeu declined to further continue the search on that exposed coast, unless his crew was provisioned from the stores of the colonists ; to which La Salle ol)jected. Finally, the Sieur La Salle, impatient of further delay, anxious to get rid of his disagreeable col- league and command alone, and thinking that the lagoons of the coast might connect with the most westerly arm or outlet of the Mississi{)pi, decided to disembark his troops and colonists on the western shore of Matagorda Bay. To •this purpose, boats were sent to sound and buoy the inlet (o the bay. This being done, the little frigate Belle was taken in without accident on the 18th of February. On the 20tli the Aimable weighed anchor and started through the nar- row channel leading into the bay; but lier captain, M. He Lands on the Coast of Texas. 159 d'Aigron, being on ill terms with La Salle, disregarded his orders, and either through gross negligence or design drove the vessel on the shoals, where she stranded, so that she could not be got oft'. La Salle was sonie little distance from the seashore when this deplorable disaster happened, and was on the point of returning to remedy it, when he saw a large party of wild Indians approaching. This necessitated his putting his men under arms, and the roll of their drums ])ut the savages temporarily to flight, but he had trouble with them afterward. The storeship remained stranded for three weeks or more, without going to pieces, though full of water. The men saved all they could from her in boats, including a quantity of flour and powder, but could only reach her in fair weather. At length a gale arose, which completely wrecked the ship, and scattered the residue of her cargo on the waters of the bay. After the landing had been eventually eft'ected, which included eight iron cannon from the hold of the Aiiiuible, Beaujeu prepared to depart for France. Although he and La Salle had been at variance throughout the long vo3'age, their oflftcial relations became more amicable at its close, lie seems, at heart, to have wished La Salle and his enter- prise well, and was no doubt anxious to have it appear that he had discharged his duty as naval conductor of the expe- dition, so as to avoid censure from the Minister of Marine. Before quitting this low and dangerous coast, it is stated that he ottered to go to Martinique and return with addi- tional provisions for the colony, but that La Salle, from motives of pride and over self-reliance, declined the ofter.* On the 12th or 14th of March, after a polite leave-taking, Beaujeu sailed away in the -Toly, taking with him several of the better class of the colonists, who had lost heart in the enterprise. The remaining adventurers, to the number of about one hundred and eighty, now found themselves stranded * See the corro8i>on(lonco between Beaujeu and La Halle, printed In Vol. II of Margry's Publiiiations. 160 Last Great Enterprise of La Salic. * upon the borders of an unknown wilderness, nearly live hundred miles from the place of their original destination, and most of them were suffering, more or less, from dysen- tery and otliei- diseases contracted during their long sea- voyage. The first labor of the commander was to throw up an intrenchment on tlic sandy beach, and to erect therein a temporary building in which to shelter his people and goods, and to protect them from the depredations of the neighboring savage-. The house was constructed of drift- wood, cast up by the sea, and of the timbers and plank from their wi-ecked ship. Leaving Joutel and Moranget with a hundred men at this naval camp, La Salle next set out with some fifty others, including his brother and the Fathers Zcnobe and Maxime, to explore the interior of the liay, and seek a [)roper place to locate his colony. The captain or pilot of the Belle had orders to sound the bay and take his vessel in as far as he safely could. He accord- ingly advanced along the shore about twelve leagues, and anchored opposite a point which took the name of Hurler, from the officer who was ap[»ointed to command there. This post served as a station between the camp on the seashore and the fort, which La Salle and his party went (on the 2d of April) to establish at the western head of the bay. The site of the latter was fixed on a rising ground, two leagues up a small river called LaVache, now La Vaca, and in latitude about twenty-seven degrees north. The building of the foi-t was a work of severe and protracted labor, since there was no wood within a league, and all the timbers had to be cut and transported from a distance, many of them being brought from the wreck of the Aimable. By the 21st of April (Easter eve) the fort was so far advanced as to be ready for jiartial occupancy, and the Sieur de La Salle returned to the main camp. The suc- ceeding three or four days were devoted to celebrating with all possible' solenmity, under the circumstances, the festi- vals of the church, after which preparations were made for removing the women and children, and such of the sick as could be moved, to the new establishment. Meanwhile, however, a l^w of the soldiers had deserted, and others had iJnv irons of his Texan Fort. 161 died of the (iiseases contracted at St. Domingo, notwith- standing all the care they received, and the relief afforded by the use of broths, preserves, and wine.* When the fort was • ompleted, La Salle gave to it his favorite name of St. Louis. The naval camp at the mouth of the bay was then abandoned, and Joutel and his com- mand rojoinod the main body of the colonists. The fort was mounted with eight pieces of rusty old cannon, and had a sort of magazine under ground for the safe deposit of the more valuable effects, in the event of tire. Here, then, in this lone spot on the Texan coast, the ensign of France was flung to the winds of heaven ; here a rude chapel was raised, in which masses were said and /espers chanted by the missionary priests and friars; and here, too, in the grassy prairie hard by, a common field was opened, planted, and tilled for the maturing of crops. By this early yot transient occupation, the King of France gained a color of claim to the country which, though contested by Spain, was never finally relin