tma 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 m 
 
 y 
 
 
 
 i/x 
 
 % 
 
 ^J^. 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 11.25 
 
 B IM 1122 
 
 US 
 U 
 
 1 
 
 /.o 
 
 6" 
 
 2.0 
 
 11.8 
 
 U IIIIII.6 
 
 c^^. 
 
 <;i 
 
 PI 
 
 * -^ 
 
 c 
 
 '-j-i 
 
 
 /?! 
 
 w 
 
 '^ ^ 
 
 /A 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 ^ 
 
 A 
 
 ^^ 
 
 s 
 
 ^ ^^s 
 
 :\ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 33 WESl MAIN STRUT 
 
 WEBSTER, NY. 14580 
 
 .716) 872-4S03 
 
 
 °^->^ 
 
 «■ 
 

 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Insth^ite for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microrepreductions historiques 
 
 ^ 
 
 iV 
 
 1981 
 
mm 
 
 mm 
 
 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best 
 original copy available for filming. Features of this 
 copy which may be bibliogruphically uniquit, 
 which may alter any of the imagus in the 
 reproduction, or which may significantly change 
 the usual method of filming, are checked below. 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 □ 
 
 n 
 
 Coloured covers/ 
 Couverture de couleur 
 
 □ Covers damaged/ 
 Couverture endommag^e 
 
 □ Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaurde et/ou pelliculde 
 
 Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 □ Coloured maps/ 
 Cartes g^ographiques en couleur 
 
 D 
 
 Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or hi'ack)/ 
 ere de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 Coloured inlates and/or illustrations/ 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 Rvilid avbc d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La reliure serree peut causer de t'ombre ou de la 
 distortion le long de la marge intdrieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during rf storation may 
 appear within the text. Whenever possible, these 
 have beep omitted from filming/ 
 II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es 
 lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, 
 mais, lorsque cela dtait possible, ces pages n ont 
 pes 4t6 film^es. 
 
 L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il iu! a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details 
 de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du 
 point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier 
 une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 modification dans la m^thode normale de filmage 
 sont irdiqu6s ci-dessous. 
 
 □ Coloured pages/ 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 □ Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommag^es 
 
 I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 
 Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul^es 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 ^1 Pages d6coior6es, tachetdes ou piqu^es 
 
 [^ 
 
 □Pages detached/ 
 Pages ddtachues 
 
 I ~T Showthrough/ 
 Lr_i Transparence 
 
 □ Quality of print varies/ 
 Quality in^gale de Time 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 pression 
 
 ^gale 
 
 iupple 
 Comprend du materiel supplementaire 
 
 I I Includes supplementary material/ 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Seule Edition disponible 
 
 Pages wholly or partially cbscjred by errata 
 slipi^. tissues, etc., have bean refilmed to 
 ensure the best possible image/ 
 Les pages totalement oi; partiellement 
 obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, 
 etc., ont 6t6 film^es d nouveau de fapon d 
 obtenir la meilleure image possible, 
 
 The c 
 to th« 
 
 Thei 
 possi 
 of th( 
 filmir 
 
 Crigii 
 begir 
 the li 
 sion, 
 othei 
 first I 
 sion, 
 or illi 
 
 The I 
 shall 
 TtNU 
 whic 
 
 Map! 
 diffe 
 entiri 
 begir 
 right 
 requi 
 meth 
 
 n 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentaires supplimentaires; 
 
 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction inJiqu^ ci-dessous. 
 
 10X 
 
 
 
 
 14X 
 
 
 
 
 18X 
 
 
 
 
 22X 
 
 
 
 
 26X 
 
 
 
 
 MX 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 24X 
 
 28X 
 
 32X 
 
The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks 
 to the generosity of: 
 
 National Library of Canada 
 
 L'exemplaire film^ fut reproduit grdce d la 
 g6n6rosit6 de: 
 
 Bibliothdque nationale du Canada 
 
 The images appearing here are the best quality 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in keeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le 
 plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et 
 de la nettetd de l'exemplaire filmd, et en 
 conformity avGC les conditions du contrat de 
 filmage. 
 
 Criginal copies in printed paper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All 
 other original copies are filmed beginning on the 
 first page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, and ending on the last page with a printed 
 or illustrated impression. 
 
 Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en 
 papier est imprim6e sont filmds en commenpant 
 par le premier plat et en terminant soit par ia 
 dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second 
 plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires 
 originaux sont fiimds en commenpant par la 
 premidre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration at en terminant par 
 la dernidre page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche 
 shall contain the svirbol — »- (meaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol V {meaning "END"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Those too large to be 
 entirely included in one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, as many frames as 
 required. The following diagrams illustrate the 
 method: 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la 
 dernidre image de cheque microficho, selon le 
 cas: !e symbole — ♦- signifie "A SUIVRE", le 
 symbole V signifie "FIN". 
 
 Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent gtre 
 fiim4s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. 
 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<ler 
 the auspices of Sir Walter Raleigh (1584-1587), that Eng- 
 hind based her title to the jn'^ncipal part of the immense 
 tcrritoi-y which she afterward accjuired in North America. 
 
 The Portuguese were the next to engage in this inviting 
 niaritime enterprise. In 1500, one Caspar de Cortereal sailed 
 from Lisbon with two well-ma!)ned caravels, lie visited Lab- 
 rador, ranged along its inhosjtitable coast for six hundred 
 miles, and entered the (ilulf of St. Lawrence. Returning 
 tlie same year to Tortugal, he set sail on a second voyage 
 of discovery in May, 1501, but was never again heard of. 
 His brother Michael sailed with two ships in search of him, 
 
 It is conjectured that both 
 ews fell victinifl to the savage 
 
i .;i 
 
 i:ii! 
 
 
 4 Early Voyages to North America, 
 
 vengeance of the natives of Labrador, some of whom had 
 been seized and carried oft* as slaves by Gaspar de Cortereal, 
 in his first voyage. Upon the strength of these northwest- 
 ern voyages, however, the Portuguese set up a claim to the 
 discovery of the whole continent. 
 
 The business of oceanic discovery in this part of the 
 New World, was afterward taken up by the French gov- 
 ernment. During the active reign of Francis I., an expe- 
 dition was fitted out, the command of which was given to 
 Juan Verrazano, or Verrazani, a Florentine navigator of 
 great skill, who liad signalized himself by his successful 
 cruises against the Spaniards. lie sailed from France in 
 Jaimary, 1524, with four vessels, but three of them be- 
 coming disabled in a storm, he completed the voyage in a 
 single shi}). After touching at the Maderia Islands, he 
 held a due westerly course, and encountered heavy seas, 
 b)it at length sighted land on the 7th of March, in the lati- 
 tude of North Carolina. Finding no secure harbor, he 
 anchored in the open sea, and sent his boats ashore to 
 open trafiic with the natives. lie next sailed southward 
 some distance, and tlieii turned his course to the north, ex- 
 ploring the eastern coast of the continent for six hundred 
 leagues, and naming it New Frunce, in compliment to his 
 royal [)atron. When he reached the fog-laden banks ot 
 Newfoundland, liis provisions began to fail, and he boie 
 away for home, whither he arrived late in July, 1524. Of 
 the subsequent career of Verrazano, but little is known. 
 
 It was not until the lapt?b of ten years that the French 
 renewed these hazardous enterprises ; when Jacques Car- 
 tier, or Quartier, a bohl and exi)orienced nuiriner of St. 
 Malo, in lirittany, having proposed another expedition, 
 was Hup})lied by the vice-admiral of the king with two 
 ships and one hundred and twenty seamen. Cartier put to 
 sea from the port of St. Malo, on the 20th of April, 1534, 
 and after four weeks of successful mivigation reached the 
 eastern Hhore of Newfounvlland, whicli, thougli visited by 
 fishermen, was still for the most i)art a terra, ivcoqnita. He 
 sailed nearly all round that groat islnnd, coasted the main- 
 land for a long distance, discovered nnd named the Golfc 
 
Carder's Voyages and Discoveries. 
 
 5 
 
 i 
 
 de St. Lorent, or Gulf of St. Lawrence, and entered the 
 Bay of Chaleurs. But by this time the season was well 
 advanced, and our navigator returned with his ships to 
 France, without having ascended the St. Lawrence River, 
 or even knowing that it was a river. He opened trade re- 
 lations with the natives of the country, and carried home 
 witli him two young Indians, who afterward served a use- 
 ful purpose as interpreters. 
 
 The degree of success that attended this initial voyage 
 encouraged the French monarch to further effort in the 
 field of trans- Atlantic discovery. Three ships were now 
 fitted out for a second expedition, which was joined by some 
 of the young nobility, and Cartier was given the command 
 thereof, with the designation of " captain and pilot to the 
 king." On the 19th of May, 1535, after a solemn mass at 
 the cathedral in St. Malo, the three vessels put to sea, but 
 were soon separated by a temi)est. After a boisterous and 
 tedious passage they all arrived safely in the vStrait of Belle 
 Isle, to the north of Newfoundland, in the last week of .hily. 
 From this point of rendezvous the captain took a south- 
 westerly course, and, having navigated the channel between 
 the south coast of Labrador and the large island of Anti- 
 costi, sailed slowly up that long and broad estuary, afterward 
 named St. Lawrence. By the 1st of September he reached 
 the mouth of the Chicoutimi, orSaguenay, coming in from 
 the northwest ; and on the 14th, after passing several low 
 islands, including that of Orleans, dropped anchor near the 
 entrance of a small river on his right, to which he gave the 
 name of St. Croix, now St. Charles. 
 
 This was immediately below that bold and striking 
 promontory which rises in the angle formed by the conflu- 
 ence of the two rivers, and which the natives of the country 
 called Quelibec (Quebec), from the sudden contraction of 
 the St. Lawrence at that point. While anchored in the river 
 opposite the present village of 'Beauport, Cartier was visited 
 on shipboard by one Donnacona, a neighboring Indian po- 
 tentate, who resided at the village of Stadacona, on the 
 peninsula of that name, and wlio came with a numerous 
 
Discovery and Settlement of Canada. 
 
 I ! "iilii 
 
 1 
 
 ! 1 : ■ 
 
 hi:! I 
 
 retinue of his braves in pirogues.'^ The French captain re- 
 ceived his copper-colored visitors with due formality, and 
 held converse with them through the two interpreters from 
 the coast of Gaspe, whom he had taken with him to France 
 in his voyage of the year before. 
 
 Having moored his two larger vessels inside the mouth 
 of the St. Croix, our brave and determined mariner, contrary 
 to the entieaty of Donnacona not to go further, continued 
 his voyage in the third vessel up the St. Lawrence. Ar- 
 rived in that expansion of the river since known as Lake 
 St. Peter, and Hnding the further advance of his ship im- 
 peded by obstructions in the channel, he quit it and pro- 
 ceeded in a l)oat, rowed by three of his men. On the 2d 
 of October he reached the Lidian village of Hochelaga,t 
 situate on the island of that name, which he denominated 
 Mont. Hoyal (Montreal), from the insulated mountain that 
 rises from the plain two miles behind it. After spending 
 a few days at Iloclielaga, and opening an amicable inter- 
 course with the inhabitants of the place, Cartier returned to 
 his ship, and descending the river rejoined his other ships 
 at the mouth of the St. Croix. Here, at the foot of the rug- 
 ged promontory of Quebec, his sailors had already begun 
 the erection of a temporary wooden structure, which was 
 soon finished, and in which they passed the ensuing winter 
 months, suffering greatly, not only from the rigor of the 
 climate, but from the ravages of the scurvy. Twenty-five 
 men died before the opening of spring, and out of one hun- 
 dred and ten then remaining very few were free from that 
 disease. J 
 
 Before sailing on his return to France, Cartier, accord- 
 ing to the custom of navigators in that age, took possession 
 of the country of the St. Lawrence in the name ofhissove- 
 
 * Pirogue (Sp. Piragua), originally an Indian word, signifying a dug- 
 out canoe. 
 
 tThia was also the original Indian name of the Wt. Lawrence, and 
 the French sometimes spoke of it as the Grand fleuve de Hochelaga. 
 
 t Upon the site of the temporary struoture occupied by Cartier and 
 his men was long afterward built the church of Notre Dame den Vir.toi.ren, 
 which fronts the market plaoe in the Lower Town of Quebec. 
 
 
 of hi 
 
 neig] 
 
 Croij 
 
 
 the ir 
 
 
 a fort 
 
 
 comi 
 
 
 Ln th 
 
 
 IIocl 
 
 
 iiaviij 
 
 '' .^u 
 
 long ( 
 
 '^H 
 
 and j 
 
 
 lengt 
 
 
 set SI 
 
 
 with 
 
 
 avoid 
 
 
 But, t 
 
 
 Cana( 
 
 ;■ *T 
 
 
 Huron 
 
 
 to Cart 
 
 
 ' 
 
Cartier's Voyages and Discoveries, T 
 
 veUm, by erecting a high wooden cross bearing the arms 
 of France, with this Latin inscription, Franciscus primus, 
 Dei gratia Francorum rex, regna. Leaving one ^^f his ships 
 that had been shattered by the ice in the little liarbor of 
 the St. Croix, he sailed for home with the other two on the 
 6th of May, 1536, and arrived at St. Malo on the 16th of 
 July. During the preceding winter Cartier's friendship 
 with Donnacona had become strained, and on his departure 
 he took with him that chief and several of his braves, whose 
 persons he had seized partly by force and partly by strata- 
 gem, and who subsequently died in captivity in France. 
 
 Some five years later, a scheme of regular colonization 
 was devised by the French government, in wdiich Cartier was 
 associated wich Jean Francois de la K()que,SieurdeRoberval, 
 who had been commissioned by the crown lieutenant-general 
 and viceroy of his American possessions. Accordingly, on 
 May 1, 1541, Captain Cartier sailed with five ships on his 
 third voyage to America, and arrived at his former winter 
 quarters on the St. Lawrence early in August. Sending two 
 of his ships home, he proceeded with the rest to search the 
 neighboring shores for a better haven than that of the St. 
 Croix, and found one to his liking nine miles above it, at 
 the mouth of Cape Rouge River. Here he landed and built 
 a fort which he named Charlesbourg Royal, and waited the 
 coming of his coadjutor with colonists to begin a settlement. 
 In the meantime he again ascended the St. Lawrence to 
 Ilochelaga, and examined the nature of the obstructions to 
 navigation in the river above that place. Owing to the 
 long delay in the arrival of Roberval, and to his impatience 
 and jealousy of that otficer, who outranked him, Cartier at 
 length relinquished tlie attempt to make a settlement, and 
 set sail on liis return to France in May, 1542. Meeting 
 with Roberval's ships at the harbor of Newfoundland, he 
 avoided their commander and held on his homeward course. 
 But, according to Lescarbot's history, he was sent back to 
 Canada* in the autumn of that year, l)y Xing Ifenry XL, to 
 
 *The name of Canada is believed to have been derived from the 
 Huron word Kan-na-ta, lueaniiig a collection of wigwams. According 
 to Cartier, it is an Indian word, Hignifying town. For ho wrote: " //'« 
 
8 
 
 Discovery and Settlement of Canada. 
 
 liii! 
 
 I'll 
 
 i i 
 
 II 
 ii 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 
 llliill 
 
 bring home Roberval and his colony. They appear to have 
 wintered together on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and 
 finally quitted it in June, 1543. 
 
 Captain Cartier's services as a navigator and discoverer 
 were recompensed by a patent of nobility, and also by a 
 seignorial mansion at the village of Limoilou, near St. Malo. 
 The latter years of his stirring life were mostly passed 
 at his seat of Limoilou, where he died childless about anno 
 1555, aged sixty. The printed journals of his American 
 voyages are preserved by the Quebec Historical Society, 
 but whether originally written by himself or not is unde- 
 termined. It is said that he advised the first French col- 
 onists in Canada to cultivate the good will of the natives 
 by every means in their power, and even to form matri- 
 monial alliances with them, in order to advance their mate- 
 rial interests. It is evident that this last advice was subse- 
 quently adopted, though with ephemeral rather than per- 
 manent advantage. 
 
 The discoveries made by Cartier and his associate mar- 
 iners turned the attention of France to the extensive Valley 
 of the St. Lawrence and its capabilities, and established he*- 
 claim to the country according to that peculiar international 
 code by which the maritiijne powers of Europe were wont 
 to apportion among themselves the territories of the West- 
 ern World. 
 
 Although Canada exhibited scarcely any of that smiling 
 and luxuriant aspect pertaining to the middle and southern 
 sections of the continent, it opened into regions of indefinite 
 extent, and the tracing of its vast chain of fresh-water seas 
 to their distant fountains presented more than ordinary at- 
 tractions to human curiosity and adventure. But for the 
 next sixty years, owing to internal dissensions and factional 
 and religious wars, French colonization in America was vir- 
 tually abandoned. / 
 
 It is true that in the years 1562 and 1564, Admiral Co- 
 
 1 
 
 appellant une lille Canada." Another early French authority makeB 
 the word mean terre, or land. The name eeems to have been primarily 
 applied only to the Valley of the St. Lawrence. 
 
The Huguenots in Florida. 
 
 1 
 
 
 ligiiy undertook to plant some Huguenot colonies in East 
 Florida; but the two expeditions sent thither under the 
 separate leadership of Jean Ribaut and Rene Laudoniere 
 ended in utter failure. After suffering deeply from ship- 
 wreck and sickness, their settlements at Port Royal and 
 near the mouth of the St. John's River were attacked and 
 destroyed by the Spaniards under the stern Don Pedro de 
 Menendez.* Ribault and his followers were massacred, 
 after a pledge of safety had been given them, and their 
 bodies were treated with tlie most shocking indignities — 
 "not," it was averred, "because they were Frenchmen, 
 but because they were her tics and enemies of God." Two 
 years later (1567), this barbarous massacre was fully avenged 
 by a Huguenot soldier named Dominique de Gourgues, wlio 
 sailed from Bordeaux with one hundred and fifty armed 
 men for that purpose. Aided by some Florida Indians, he 
 took and demolished the little Spanish forts on the river 
 St. Johns, and hanged all of his prisoners, not because they 
 were Spaniards, but that they were " traitors, robbers, and 
 murderers." After accomplishing this deed of savage re- 
 taliation, De Gourgues made no eftbrt to retain his conquest? 
 or to revive the French colony, but having secured all that 
 was of value at the forts, he re-embarked his troops and sailed 
 back to France. If the efforts of the French Protestants 
 to form settlements in East Florida had been countenanced 
 and sustained by the crown, it is believed that France might 
 have had a flourishing colony there long before England 
 effected a single permanent settlement in America. 
 
 We come now tc describe the first successful attempts 
 of the French to form durable settlements in the cold and 
 inclement districts of New France. The most conspicuous 
 figure of his day in these arduous aiul uncertain enterprises 
 was Samuel de Champlain. Born at Brouage, in the prov- 
 ince of Saintonge, about the year 1567, he belonged to a 
 noted family of mariners. His fatlier was a sea captain, 
 and he himself was early schooled in the art and practice 
 of navigation. After spending several years in the military 
 
 * Who founded St. Augustine, Fla., in 1505. 
 
10 
 
 Discovery and Settlement of Canada. 
 
 ii 
 
 ill 
 
 
 ii ; 
 
 •j! t 
 
 ; 
 
 i| 
 
 :; 1 
 
 i 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 s , 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 ! I 
 
 service of his country, he went with an uncle, who held a 
 high post in the Spanish navy, on a long voyage to Mexico. 
 Returning to France in 1601, he was urged by De Chastes, 
 Governor of Dieppe, to explore and prepare to found a 
 colony in the French possessions of North America, the 
 governor having received a concession from the king for 
 that purpose. This was an undertaking well suited to the 
 enterprising genius of Chaniplain, and he I'/jcordingly em- 
 barked at Honiieur on March 15, 1603, in a ship commanded 
 by Captain Pontgrave, an experienced mariner of St. 
 Malo. 
 
 On the 24th of May, after a rough and protracted pas- 
 sage, they dropped anchor at Tadousac, where the deep and 
 dark waters of the Saguenay enter the estuary of the St. 
 Lawrence. Leaving their large ship here, Pontgrave and 
 Chaniplain, with live seamen, continued their voyage in a 
 shallop up the St. Lawrence to the rapids, above Hochelaga. 
 As they slowly retraced their course, Champlain examined 
 and noted the rocky and wooded shores on both sides of 
 the river down to Tadousac. He then drew up a map of 
 the country, collected information about Acadia* (after- 
 ward called by the British Nova Scotia), and in the follow- 
 ing autumn returned to France, where he immediately pub- 
 lished a narrative of his voyage and observations, entitled 
 Des Sa a cages. 
 
 Ilis patron, De Chastes, had meantime deceased, and 
 the exclusive privileges that had been granted to him by 
 Henry IV. were transferred to Pierre du Guast, Sieur de 
 Monts, a gentleman of Saintonge, and an otHcer of the 
 king's household. Letters-patent were issued to the latter 
 in November, 1603, nominating him vice-admiral and lieu- 
 tenant-general of his majesty in the country of La Cadre 
 (Acadia), with full and exclusive power to trade in peltries, 
 and to make war and peace with the natives, from the 40th 
 to the 46th parallel of north latitude ; also to make grants 
 of land to French settlers. His i)atent embraced the whole 
 
 ■'This old poetic naino, writton Acadie in French, appears to be an 
 abbreviation of the Imlian name for one of the rivers of that conntry. 
 
French Settlement of Acadia. 
 
 n 
 
 it'ter- 
 low- 
 pub- 
 itled 
 
 , and 
 u y)y 
 ir do 
 f the 
 atter 
 lieu- 
 Ciidie 
 tries, 
 40th 
 rants 
 B^hole 
 
 be an 
 [itry. 
 
 ^ coast of N'ew Ennjland, no part of which had as yet been 
 I occupied by the EngHsh. The Sieur de Monts was a Cal- 
 f viuist, and had stipulated for the free exercise of his own 
 §fbrm of religion, but this W9« inconsistently enough coupled 
 I with an agreement that the Indians of the country should 
 ijbe instructed in the mysteries of pure Catholicism. Having 
 iiresolved to plant an extensive colony in his new domain, 
 SDc Monts now engaged the active assistance of Champlain 
 ijin his enterprise. They at once proceeded to hire and equip 
 ^^a number of vessels, large and small, with which they set 
 sail from Havre de Grace on the 7th of April, 1604, carry- 
 ing numerous colonists, traders, and stores. The commander 
 arrived with a part of his fleet ott Sable Island in the first 
 week of May, and thence stood along the south and western 
 Bhores of Acadia for several weeks, being undecided where 
 to make a permanent landing. At length, after exploring 
 the Bay of Fundy, he determined to begin a settlement on 
 the Island of Sainte Croix, in Ihe estuary of that name, 
 lying between the present Maine and New Brunswick. But 
 this location proved unfavorable from the lack of builditig 
 timber and fresh water, and during the next summer the 
 colony was removed across the bay to a place called Port 
 Royal, now Annapolis. When this transfer had been ef- 
 
 §fected, De Monts found it necessarv to return to France, 
 jjgleaving Pontgrave in charge of the new settlement. The 
 Scold, damp, and sterile peninsula of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, 
 ^fulfilled none of those hopes of speedy wealth that had al- 
 ;f|hired the French colonists hither. It yielded with difficulty 
 
 f^'he common necessaries of life, and the fur-trade was too 
 .^ iniited to be profitable. Its mineral resources long re- 
 trnuiined unknown. 
 
 In the meantime Champlain diligently explored the 
 rock-bound coast to the southward, as far as the sandy beach 
 f Cape Cod, making surveys and charts of the same, and in 
 607, re-embarked for France. His patron, De Monts, was 
 ccused of abusing his ample commission by capturing and 
 onfiscating all vessels that approached the American coast 
 ithiii the bounds of his territorial jurisdiction, and of in- 
 lerfering with the rights and endangering the safety of the 
 
f-.f*. 
 
 liiiill; 
 
 i ii.'iiiii 
 Hi 
 
 lip 
 
 ill ! 
 
 h 
 m 
 
 jil M it \i 
 
 12 
 
 Discovery and Settlement of Canada, 
 
 cod fislienneii on the shores of Newfoundland.* Never- 
 theless, he had sultieient inHuence at court to get his privi- 
 leges renewed for a time, on condition that his company 
 should form an establishment on the river St. Lawrence. 
 As now reorganized, the company was composed principally 
 of mercliants, who had only the fur trade in view, and this 
 led to a change in their plans and to the gradual abandon- 
 ment «)f Acadia as the seat of their operations. 
 
 In pursuance of this change of policy, the company 
 caused to be fitted out two ships at Honfleur, and confided 
 them to the charge of Messieurs Champlain and I'ont- 
 grave, with instructions to i)roceed to the St. Lawrence, 
 and tViere establish a trading post. They accordingly 
 sailed in the spring of 1608, taking out with them a suffi- 
 cient number of soldiers, traders and adventurers to form u 
 settlement. Arriving in the Lower St. Lawrence, about 
 the middle of June, they first touched at Tadousac, and 
 thence continued their course up the river. Having fixed 
 u})on Quebecf as the most eligible site for the projected es- 
 tablishment, C^hamjilain landed his company of advent- 
 urers there on July 3, 1608. This was one year after the 
 settlement of Jamestown, Va., by the English, and twelve 
 years before the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymoutli 
 Rock. The spot thus chosen was on the north side of the 
 St. Lawrence River, just above its junction with the St. I 
 Charles, and about one hundred and twenty leagues from - 
 the sea. No sooner had the commander begun to clear tlie| 
 ground for a settlement here, than he discovered a plot 
 among five of the men to take his life; but this was hap-| 
 
 * As early as the year 1504, the fishermen of Brittany and Nor! 
 mandy legan to ply their vocation on the banks of Newfoundland, and| 
 in 1517, upward of fifty vessels of different nations are said to have been^ 
 employed in it. 
 
 t " Tlie Indians of the country ga^e to this place the name of Quebio| 
 or Quelibee, which, in Algonquin and Abenaqui, noeans narrowingyhe-'i 
 cause the river St. Lawrence here narrows till it is only a mile wide: -| 
 whereas, just below the Me de Orleans, it still maintains a breadth of ,| 
 four or five leagues."— C-harlevoix' Historie cUi la NoHvelle France. P]nv4 
 glish translation, edited by John Gilmary Shea (New York, 1866-18721 
 vol, 1., p. 50. 
 
 jcure 
 
[ever- 
 
 privi- 
 
 npany 
 
 renee. 
 
 jipally • 
 
 id this 
 
 mdon- 
 
 nipany 
 )ntide(i 
 
 Pont- 
 vrenee, 
 rdingly 
 a suffi- 
 form a 
 , about 
 ac, and 
 ig fixed 
 cted es- 
 advent- 
 ifterthe . 
 
 twelve 
 ymoutli 
 e of the 
 
 the St. 
 les troiu 
 dear tlie 
 1 a plot 
 vas hu]>- 
 
 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<l far and wide. 
 
 During the year 1(J27 Cardinal Richelieu organized a 
 company of one hundred associates, called Lp Compagnie 
 (F No u cea II France yUiion whom was conferred the possession 
 and government of Canada, with a monopoly of its trade 
 and commerce, and freedom from taxation for fifteen years. 
 Under the restrictive regulations of tliis company, the col- 
 onists were all required to be Frenchmen and Roman Catii- 
 olics, a short-sighted ])olicy, which hampered the growth 
 and material prosperity of the cokiny. At this epoch the 
 village of Quebec did not contain above one hundred regu- 
 lar inhabitants. It had in fact a fort, a church, a convent, 
 and an hosjtital, before it contained a fixed population. 
 
 In July, 1629, after being blockaded for some time, 
 Quebec was taken by an English squadron under the com- 
 mand of Sir David Kirk, a Huguenot refugee of Scotch 
 parentage, who, with his two brothers, had been commis- 
 sioned to ascend the St. Lawrence for that purpose. Cham- 
 plain and his feeble garrison were now put on shij)board, 
 and transported as prisoners of war to England. In pass- 
 ing down the river and out to sea, they barely escaped being 
 recaptured by a French scpuidron nndi r Emeric de Caen, 
 who was coming to the relief of Quebec. Tlie .lesuit mis- 
 sionaries on the St. Lawreiuie were also deported or driven 
 o 
 
 w 
 
18 
 
 Discovery and Settlement of Canada. 
 
 liiilliiiii 
 
 ,l'::>,!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<l its name, call 
 ing it St. Louis, Colbert, etc." — Hhij.p's History DeSoio, p. 674. 
 
 I The latter is the name given by La Vega. 
 
Soto's Expedition through Florida. 
 
 m 
 
 I flames.^ 
 J, montli's 
 ^ords re- 
 t forth to 
 
 ible com- 
 
 ogling for 
 
 388 of for- 
 
 bborn op- 
 
 uglit Mis- 
 
 iG Kio (k! 
 
 oliarac'ter 
 
 >;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, shrivele<l up, and half- 
 naked, beii>g 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 exp<Mises, were more than repaid by the gifts of 
 valuable furs which he received from them in return. 
 
 *Tlu' names of theno pricHls were, Claude Dablon, HUi)erior of the 
 miHsions on the upper lakeH ; (ijibriel DreuilleteH, Claude Allouez, and 
 Ivouifi Andr<^. Louis Joliet Ik iiu'nti<<ncd uh uMinn^ the French men 
 present on the oecasiou. MarqueUc was away at the Mission of St, 
 Esprit, on Lake Suj)erior, but was toiujtelled to abandon it during that 
 year. 
 
Other French Enterprises. 
 
 48 
 
 ich he 
 lue, in 
 nclud- 
 ice, he 
 i,me, of 
 Supe- 
 hikes, 
 A tall 
 of the 
 ir post, 
 e royal 
 nd one 
 
 \\ui£. of 
 
 ir niUK- 
 i8 were 
 solemn 
 idly lif- 
 ter the 
 )f those 
 10 pUite 
 ])riate(l 
 rkiiian, 
 t of the 
 ice UH a 
 oeation 
 rtliwost 
 il inter 
 n'atioii 
 of the 
 ,' I » res- 
 other 
 giftH of 
 
 or (»f the 
 )IU'Z, ttiitl 
 
 •ncliint'ii 
 1)11 of St. 
 
 ring tlmt 
 
 It is deserving of mention here, that two years before 
 this time, La Salle, then a young and little known man, 
 had projected the discovery of the Mississippi. In July, 
 1669, he undertook, at his own expense, a journey to the 
 southwest for that purpose. Proceeding with a company 
 from Montreal up the St. Lawrence, and through Lake 
 Ontario to Lake Erie, he thence rambled southward and 
 discovered the Ohio River, which he followed down to the 
 falls or rapids at what is now Louisville. A year or two 
 after his return from this expedition, he is said to have 
 ascended the great lakes, and, pushing on to and beyond 
 the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, discovered the 
 niinois River, or one of its constituent branches. But of 
 this, more hereafter. 
 
 Such, in general, was the progress of French explora- 
 tion in the interior of this continent, and such was still the 
 limited state of their geographical knowledge in regard to 
 the Mississippi River and its tributaries, down to the time 
 0f eJoliet's and Marquette's voyage of discovery in 1673 ; 
 prior to whicli it is not known that any " pale face " had 
 fiver readied, or looked ai)on, the main trunk of that liquid 
 highway, above the mouth of the Ohio.* 
 
 Father Claude Dabloii, whose name tinds repeated mention in tht'He 
 panes, merits something more than a passing notice. He came as a 
 mlHsionary to Canada in 1055, and was at oiuu! sent to Onondaga (New 
 York), where \w remained, with one short interval of absunce, until the 
 iKsion there was broken up in 1(158. Three years later, he and Gabriel 
 reuilletes attempted to reach Hudson's Bay, by the Saguenay Uiver, 
 lUt were stop])ed at the sources of the Nekouba by Inxiuoih war pnr- 
 ies. In l()(i8, Dablon followed Father ManpUitte to the foot of Lake 
 iujierior, assisted in founding the mission of Sault de Ste. Marie, visited 
 tircen Bay, and, in company with Father Allouez, reached the sourci^s 
 of the Wisconsin. Returning thence to Quebec, he was made superior 
 1){ all the Canadian missions, and held this otlice with intervals ♦ill 
 
 * It is claimed that one Pierre Esprit Hadison, a noted myageiir and 
 trader, reached the Upper Mississip])! in 1()58-5U; but, if so, he never 
 ;gave the world the benefit of his discovery. An account of hii* alleged 
 (Bxplorations has been published somewhat recently. 
 
 m 
 
■"«*«?i«»s«M»«a 
 
 44 
 
 Father Dahlon. 
 
 . Mill 
 
 lUflfl 
 I i 
 
 III 
 
 iil'ii 
 
 i| 
 
 (I "III !' 
 
 fl' , 
 
 about 1693. He was still alive in 1694, but the year of his death is 
 U' linown. 
 
 As the head of the Jesuit missions, Father Dablon contributed in 
 no small degree to their extension, and, above all, to he exploration oi 
 the Mississippi by Marquette and Joliet. He published the Relations 
 of 1670-71, and 72, with their accompanying map of Lake Superior, 
 and prepared for the press those of 1672-73, and 1673-79, which, to- 
 gether with his narratives of Marquette and Allouez, remained a long 
 while in manuscript, for the reason that the pubdcation of the Rela- 
 tions was interdicted in 1673. He was versed alike in the learning oi 
 the cloister and in the mysteries of the forest, and, according to Dr 
 Shea, his writings comprise the most valuable collection of topography 
 of the northwest, which have come down to our day. , 
 
 TH 
 T< 
 
 idreacb 
 tiated 
 eiesipp 
 Louis 
 one of 
 ButM 
 witiies! 
 had pi 
 and fa 
 ments I 
 to tlie 
 to be ai 
 ae a re 
 prolta))! 
 getic m 
 thority. 
 No 
 J&uade, 
 .ikla a8 
 l|)ii^^ed 
 j|overiic 
 Ibiiiewli 
 ^iie; b 
 .#K;ed ii 
 irutivo 
 %\» eiieii 
 idB cour 
 fkvorite 
 Hiw po\v 
 
Talon and Frontenac. 
 
 46 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Rela- 
 
 1673-1675. 
 THE GREAT RIVER VOYAGE OF JOLIET A?JD MARQUETTE. " 
 
 To Jean Talon, the able and enterprising intendant, 
 already referred to, belongs the chief credit of having ini- 
 tiated the movement for the French discovery of the Mis- 
 BiBsippi. To effect this long desired object, he selected 
 Louis Juliet, of Quebec, to conduct the expedition, with 
 one of the Jesuit priests for his companion and assistant. 
 But M. Talon did not remain in Canada long enough to 
 witness the comi>letion 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<e of France, and was the ninth 
 governor of the colony after Champlaiti. lie was now 
 (jonu'wliat past middle life, and said to be broken in for- 
 tune; but he was a man of rare accomplislnnents, exj)eri- 
 eu't'd in statecraft, and endowed with uncommon adminis- 
 trsitive ability. Although haughty and intolerant toward 
 his enemies, he was ardently devoted to his friends; while 
 hin courtly manners and brilliant conversation made him a 
 faxorite and an ornament of the most cultivated circles. 
 His powers, as chief execMitive, were derived directly from 
 
 ««J* 
 
-M'lT"'' ^'*'^"™"'^™'"'*^"^'''^'''""^'"^^'^"*''^^ 
 
 ■"Wte'.i.^ 
 
 46 
 
 Louis Joliet. 
 
 ] 
 
 nil 
 
 iijiij 
 
 w'm^\ 
 
 the crown, and were absolute within the sphere of his ju- 
 risdiction, though partly checked by those of the intend- 
 ant. His government was aggressive and stormy, and was 
 beset by strong opposition and enmity, which eventuated, 
 after ten years, in his recall by the king. But when the 
 colony had been brought to the verge of "uin under the 
 weak administrations of LaBarre and De^onville, Fronte- 
 nac was reinstated in 1689, and the closing term of lii> 
 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<l, on the 17th of June (1(373), they en- 
 tered the Mississippi,! "with a joy," writes Marquette, '4 
 can not express." They were now embarked on that myt^- 
 terious river, to which their thoughts had been so lonir 
 
 ' ("f 
 
 ♦The common Freuch league is equal to only 2. 7t>-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<l 
 lot hut 
 canoos, 
 
 and ^0 
 
 byrinth 
 e conn- 
 ing tho 
 into tlio 
 J.ascon- 
 8 guides 
 across it 
 11 to re- 
 protoo- 
 leirex- 
 . glidocl 
 ivdh anil 
 under- 
 prairie, 
 
 ;ague>.''' 
 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 <li.sli among the natives of tlie Mississippi ' 
 Valley, and consisted of dour of maize, boiled in water and seasoned 
 with j^rease. 
 
Joliet and Marquette. 
 
 55 
 
 decliiit'd by the two guents, and was removed from their 
 presence. When the feast was ended, they were shown 
 over the vilhi.£re, which was found to contain three hundred 
 caV)ins. Before takin«r their departure, the head chief, 
 as a special mark of consideration for Father Marquette, 
 presented him with a mysterious e-alumet of peace, fanci- 
 fully decorated with feathers, whicli was intended to serve 
 him and his party as a safeguard on their voyage. 
 
 After spending a couple of days with these hospitable 
 'children of nature, the explorers re-embarked on the after- 
 noon of the second day in sight of all the villagers, who, 
 to the number of over five hundred, escorted them to their 
 canoes, which they greatly admired, having never seen the 
 like before. Being again afloat on the mysterious river, 
 our Frenchmen were soon borne by its swift current to 
 and through the slight rapids at the entrance of the Des 
 ^ Moines, and ther.ce on to the mouth of the Illinois, putting 
 in from the nortlieast. They next passed, on their left, that 
 gigantic and craggy wall of lime and sandstone rock, which 
 abuts the northern shore for twenty miles below the Illi- 
 nois, and which rises at some points to the height of four 
 hundred feet above the water. 
 
 "As we coasted along the rocks, frightful from their 
 height and vastness," says Marquette's journal, " we saw 
 upon one of them two monsters painted, (so) that we were 
 alarmed at first sight, and upon which some of the most 
 courageous savages dare not for a Ions- time fasten their 
 eyes. They are as large as a calf, have horns upon the head 
 like a deer, a frightful look, red eyes, a beard like a tiger; 
 the face something like a man's, the body covered with 
 scales, and the tail so long that it made the circuit of the 
 body, passing over the head an<l returning under the legs, 
 terminating like the tail of a fish. The colors that com- 
 posed it were green, red, and black."* 
 
 *The western Indians were not unacquainted with a rude kind of 
 picture-writiuo;. But it is supixised that these crude paintings, indis- 
 tinctly representing men and beasts, though an object of idolatrous wor- 
 ship to the savages, and long the wonder of the curious, were little more 
 than the exudation of colored matter from the rock itself. They were 
 
«iiii>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 <l(nvn, on their left, the mouth of the 
 gentle Kaskaskia ; and then they a}»proached that roundish 
 pile of rock, since known as Grand Tower, against wdiicli 
 the whole curi'cnt of the river seemed to set. This M^as 
 tlie demon or evil Manitou of which tlie northern Indians 
 Inid warned them, but it <li(l not prevent their {nissage 
 and safe arrival at the Ouabouskigou, the Ohio, or Oua- 
 bache of the Frent'h. "This river," says Marquette's 
 journal, " comes from the lands of the rising sun, where 
 there is a great number of people called Chaounons." f 
 The explorers now entered the lov» country — the region of 
 the reed cane, the cotton tree, and the cypress — where they 
 experienced no little annoyance froui musquitoes. Not far 
 below the conHuence of the Ohio, they j>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<l themselves very hostile, ai..i 
 
 ririade ready to attack them both by land atid water. Wliile 
 
 * -fhis companions put themselves in an attitude of defense, 
 
 ■Father Martp'.ette resolutely disjdaycd his grand calumet, 
 
 and ma<le signs that they had not come for war; "when," 
 
 L'Jhe tells us, "God touched suddenly the hearts of the old 
 
 {I,'"''',men who were on the shore, occasioned doubtless by the 
 
 Bight of our calumet, and they arrested the ardor of their 
 
 , j^young men." The Frenchmen then went ashore, though 
 
 '/not witliout trepidation, ami held u [)arley with the savages. 
 
 iThis v,as carried o»i at first by signs and gt\stures, for they 
 
 did not understaiKl any of the six Indian dialects that Mar- 
 
 qnette spoke. Fortunately an old man was soon found who 
 
 could si)eak a little Illinois, and lie acted as interj)reter. 
 
 After presents had been distributed among Mu!se peojile, 
 
 they beoame more civil, and ottered their guests sagamiitee 
 
 and iish, Imt declined to give them any information about 
 
 tlic nations or (country to the southward. 
 
 Having passed tlic night in much uneasiness at tliis 
 village, the voyagers re-embarked the next morning with 
 +hi'ir interi»reter, and were piloted by a canoe carrying ten 
 savages down tlie river, some eight leagues, to a large vil- 
 blue of the Akamsca, or Akansea. When within iialf a 
 ague of tlie village, they perceived two canoes coming to 
 eet tlieni, in tlie first of which an iiidiaii was standing u|) 
 »d holding in his hand a calumet, "with wiiich he made 
 jn;iny motions, according to the (Uistoin of the country." 
 
 *'Y\w Mt'tchiKHinoa, or Micliij^amicH, were a warlike triht', who ap- 
 t'ar to hav<« Hul^pequontly fuHcI with tho KaskiL^kiaH of lllinoiH. 
 
-58 
 
 Great Mker Voyage of 
 
 
 He approached, " Hinging very agreeably, tind presented it 
 to them to smoke, after which he gave them sagamittee, 
 and bread made of Indian corn, and tlien, taking the ad- 
 vance, made a sign to tliem to follow quietly after him." 
 
 Arrived at the village of the Akansea,* the French- 
 men were escorted to the platform, or scaffold of the war- 
 chief, which was strongly built and covered with fine mats 
 of rushes, upon which they were seated, having about them 
 the old men next to whom stood the warriors, and vfter tli« 
 latter a promiscuous crowd of squaws and children. Luck- 
 ily, there was found here a young Indian who understood 
 the Illinois language much better than the interpreter who 
 had acconq)anied them from the Metchigamea. With his 
 aid, Manjuette talked to the whole assend^ly, at the same 
 time making them some small presents, and told them about 
 God and the mysteries of the Catholic faith and worship. 
 
 When asked wluit they knew about the sea and the 
 nations who lived upon its shores, "they answered that 
 we could be there in ten days; that it was })ossible for 
 us to make the journey in five days, but that they were 
 not acquainted with the nations who dwelt upon it, be- 
 cause their enemies prevented them from having any 
 intercourse with the Europeans; that their tomahawks, 
 knives, and glass beads, which we saw, had been sold to 
 them in part ])y the nations to the east, and partly by a 
 tribe of the Illinois living at the west, four days' journey 
 from there; that the savages whom we saw with fusees 
 were their enemies, wlio shut up their })assage to the sea, 
 and })revented them from having a knowledge of the Euro- 
 peans and an> 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 <hiy, includ- 
 ing halts. This woulil have covered the distance of eleven hundred 
 JiiilcH, by the windings of the riv»'r, from the mouth of the Wisconsin 
 to that of th(> 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, an<l was on the point of disem- 
 barking, full of joy at the success of so long and difficult 
 an enterprise, when my canoe capsized after all the danger 
 seemed over. I lost my two men and box of papers 
 within sight of the iirwt French settlement, which I had 
 left almost two years before. Nothing remains to me now 
 but my life, and the ardent desire to --mploy it on any 
 service you may direct." * 
 
 M. Joliet finally reached Quebec in August, 1674, and 
 reported in person to the governor. Being separated at a 
 great distance from Marquette, and deprived of his papers 
 by casualty, he drew up a short account of his discovery 
 from recollection, and also sk:et<'hed out a map of the Missis- 
 sippi. Gov. F»'ontenac transmittvid these papers to France 
 during the ensuing JS\)vember, and in a dispatch of the 14th 
 of that month to Minister Colbert (inserted at the close of 
 this chapter), he wrote about the "great river" as an indu- 
 bitable fact.f Father Dablon, in his writings, also gives an 
 account of the voyage, "describing Joliet as one who had 
 been where no European had ever set foot." X No general 
 publicity was given by the French government to the dis- 
 covery of the Mississippi ; nor was Joliet entrusted with 
 any new commission to execute in the West. It is averred 
 that in April, 1677, he petitioned ( ' 'Ibert for permission to 
 settle with a colony in the country of the Illinois, but it 
 
 * This letter is inscribed on Joliet's map of his discoveries made in 1674. 
 
 tThe papers have been preserved in the Arch ires de la Marine at Paris. 
 It has been suggested that the map publishni by Thevenot, in connec- 
 tion with Marquette's Journal, was reproduced from the one made by 
 Joliet and forwarded to Paris, as above stated. The latter shows the 
 Mississippi to the Gulf, whereas Marquette's autograph map shows that 
 river not quite to the Arkansas. 
 
 JKingsford's History of Canada, I., p. 405. 
 
68 
 
 Great Mher Voyage. 
 
 was refused him on the specious ground that "Canada 
 ought first to be built up, strengthened, and maintained.''* 
 In truth, his modest merit seems to have been thrown 
 into the shade by the rising pretensions of La Salle, who 
 had won Frontenac's favor. 
 
 On October 7, 1675, at the age of thirty, Louis Joliet 
 was united in marriage to Claire Frances Bissot, daughter 
 of a wealthy Quebec merchant, who was extensively en- 
 gaged in trade with the northern Indians. In 1679 he 
 made a journey of business and exploration to Hudson's 
 Bay, going by way of the Lower St. Lawrence and the river 
 Saguenay. During the next year, in tardy recognition of his 
 valuable services to the provincial government, he received 
 a grant of the large yet barren Isle of Anticosti, lying in 
 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Taking possession of his island 
 domain in 1681, he erected a fortified house upon it, re- 
 moved his family thither, and embarked in the fisheries. 
 But in 1690 his establishment was destroyed by a naval 
 force from New England, under the command of Sir Will- 
 iam Phipps, who was on his way to attack Quebec; and 
 Joliet's wife and mother-in-law were made prisoners, and 
 held for some months. In 1693 he was appointed royal 
 pilot of the St. Lawrence River, and during the succeeding 
 year explored and mapped the bleak coast of Labrador, a 
 work involving great personal exposure. April 30, 1697, 
 he was invested with the " Seigneury of Joliette," a large 
 and since valuable estate, which lies on the north side of 
 the St. Lawrence below Montreal, in Beauce county, and 
 which is still possessed by some of his posterity. 
 
 Louis Joliet died comparatively poor in May, 1700, 
 being in his fifty-fifth year, and was buried, it is stated, on 
 one of the Mignan islands in the St. Lawrence. Without 
 possessing any very salient or brilliant qualities, he was an 
 intelligent, well-educated man, ambitious and enterprising, 
 undaunted by difificulty or danger, and faithful in the per- 
 formance of every public duty. Few, if any, of his con- 
 temporaries contributed more than he did to the geograph- 
 
 Fc 
 patch 
 Joliet 
 South 
 
 * P^Wt' Margry, I., p. 330. 
 
 * The 
 " ^Afount J 
 one and a 
 
DUpatch of Count Frontenac. 
 
 ical knowledge of this continent. His snrnume has been 
 fittingly preserved in the now flourishing city of Joliet, 
 Illinois,* and in the nomenclature of other western locali- 
 ties. His descendants appear to have inherited his virtues 
 and talents ; and several of them hold positions of high 
 trust and responsibility, civil and ecclesiastical, in the 
 modern Dominion of Canada. Among the number may 
 be mentioned the Hon. Bartholomew Joliet, and the emi- 
 nent archbishops Tache and Tachereau. 
 
 We have nowhere met witli any description of the per- 
 sons of either Joliet or Manpiette. Yet, in the absence of 
 such word portraiture, we may well imagine the former to 
 have been a man of medium stature, with a lithe, agile 
 ligure, black hair and eyes, sharply cut features, and a 
 swarthy complexion — the same being physical character- 
 istics of the average French-Canadian — while the latter 
 (Mar([uette) was probably taller, and of a more dignified 
 and conmumding presence. 
 
 Following is a translation of Count Frontenac's dis- 
 patch to Minister Colbert in relation to the return of M. 
 Joliet from his voyage to discover the Mississippi and the 
 
 South Sea : 
 
 Quebec, \Ath November, 1674. 
 
 The Sieur Joliet, whom ^[. Talon advised me when I arrived from 
 France to send to discover the south sea, returned here three months 
 since, and has discovered some admirable countries, and a navigation so 
 easy by the line rivers, that he found that from from Lake Ontario and 
 Fort Frontenac they could go in barques to the Gulf of Mexico, having 
 only to unload once, where Lake Erie falls into Lake Ontario. 
 
 These are some of the enterprises they could work upon when peace 
 is established, and it shall please the king to push these discoveries. 
 
 He has been within ten days of the Gulf of Mexico, and believes 
 that the rivers which from the west side empty into the great river 
 which he has discovered, which runs north to south . . . , and that 
 
 * The name, in this instance, was taken more immediately from 
 " Mount Joliet," a large natural mound in the valley of the Des Plaines, 
 one and a half miles southwest of the city. 
 
70 
 
 Dispatch of Count Frontenac. 
 
 they will find some communication by waters which will lead to the 
 Vermillion Sea and that of California. 
 
 I send you by my secretary the map which he has made and the 
 remarks which he is able to remember, having lost all his memoirs and 
 journals in the shipwreck which he suffered in sight of Montreal, where, 
 after a voyage of twelve hundred leagues, he came near being drowned, 
 and lost all his papers and a little Indian that he was bringing back 
 with h in. 
 
 He had left at Lake Superior, with the Fathers at Sault Ste. ^larie, 
 copies of his journals, which we can not obtain until next year ; through 
 these you will learn more of the particulars of that discovery in which 
 he u quitted himself very creditably. Frontenac. 
 
 
 
'mt. 
 
 La Salle and His Early Explorations. 
 
 71 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1666-1(580. 
 
 liA SALLE AND HIS EARLY EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 While to Joliet and Marquette are rightly accorded the 
 honor of having first brought to .he knowle(ige of the civil- 
 ized world the immense extent and grandeur of the Missis- 
 8il)pi Valley, yet the fortunes of the French in this part of 
 Northern Americii were greatly advanced by the energy, 
 enterprise, perseverance, and endurance of the Sieur de 
 la Salle. If the former had discovered and navigated the 
 Mississippi Kiver from the Wisconsin to the Arkansas, it 
 was reserved for the latter and his coadjutors to extend and 
 perfect that discovery from the Falls of St. Anthony to 
 the Mexican Sea. 
 
 Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle,* whose remarkable 
 career now claims our attention, was born at Rouen in 
 Normandy, France, November 22, 1643. His father, Jean 
 (Cavelier, and liis uncle Henri, were opnict meivhants and 
 hiirgliers of that ancient and still ' .".ely city. The son re- 
 ceived a liberal education, conmicnsurate with the means 
 of his parents, and with those marked traits of intellect and 
 character which lie early exhibited. As a school-boy, he 
 evinced an inclination for the exact sciences, and particu- 
 larly the mathematics, in which he a[tpears to have made 
 great proficiency. 
 
 While still a minor, La Salle l)ecame a member of tlio 
 Society of Jesus, and studied and taught for several years 
 ill their 8ch(»ols. Hut on attaining to man's estate, his 
 growing ambition and love of independence impelled him 
 to withdraw from that imperious and exacting order of re- 
 ft is told by one of his biographers that " he 
 
 ligionists 
 
 ' He is paid to liavc been (•uIUm! l,ii SulU' frnmim cstat'.' of that name 
 near Kout'ii, belonging to \hv (^avcliers. 
 
72 
 
 La Salle's Early Life. 
 
 vl 
 
 1!) 
 
 parted from them on good tenvm, and with an excellent 
 repntation for scholarship and strict morals," yet it is cer- 
 tain that he never afterward cherished any liking for tiie 
 order. In fact, his connection with the Jesnits caused 
 him to forfeit, under the rigid French law, the inherit- 
 ance to Avliich he would otherwise have been entitled from 
 his father, who died about that time. But an allowance 
 was made to him of four liundred livrcs a year (about 
 eighty dollars), the principal of which was advanced to 
 him for the first year; and, with this insignificant sum, 
 lie quitted his patermil home and sailed for Canada in the 
 spring of 1(36B. 
 
 We next find our youi'g adver.turer at Montreal, 
 wliither he had been preceded by his elder brother, the 
 Abb»'' Jean Oavelier, who was a priest of the order of St. 
 Sulpice, and whose pr'\;once there was an additi(Mial in- 
 ducement for Kol>ert 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'""<! of the Onondagas, in what is now New York, where 
 he obi.vined guides, and thence made his way southward 
 to a tributary- of the Ohio (probably the Alleghany), which 
 he descended to the main river, and followed it "as far 
 as to a rapid that obstructed it," at tlie site of what is 
 now Louisville. It is asserted by some writers that he 
 continued his descent of the Ohio from that point to itn 
 conHuence with tbe Mississippi, but this is no doubt a 
 fiction.* 
 
 This tour of ex]tloration is hupposed to have been 
 nuide during the fall and winter of 1669-'70; for it ap- 
 pears that the celebrated roi/affeur, Nicholas Perrot, met Lu 
 Salle in the early summer of 1670, hunting with a party of 
 Iroquois on the Ottawa. That he discovered the Ohio, is 
 a pretty well autlienticated fact. He himself affirmed it, 
 
 *" Pierre IVlarirry, a rec(>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 woul<l not ho likely to omit an expedition giving 
 him a prioritv to the diseovcry of the MiHsissippi ; nor would La yalle, 
 having a post al Niagara, ovt'rlook the advantagi'sof following the same 
 course to the Mississipi)!."— Note by J. G. Shea to WaHhington'u Diary 
 of his tour to the Ohio in 1753, printed in New York, 1800. 
 
 in a mei 
 Moreover 
 of tlie Mi 
 Ohio is 
 tions to tl 
 But his c: 
 approi>ria 
 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 <!entra) America in tjje vain qiiest 
 lor a HtrnU iirinnoutJug iho twci oceg^og. 
 
Founding of Fort Frontenac. 
 
 79 
 
 and N'ew York, he determined to couiiteriict that design 
 bv erecting a fort and depot near the ontlet of Lake Onta- 
 rio. Not wishing to excite the jealonsy of the Canadian 
 merchants and traders, he gave out that he only intended 
 to make a tour of observation to the upper part of the col- 
 ony. But, lacking means of his own for the enterprise, he 
 required the principal merchants of Quebec and Montreal 
 to each furnish him with a certain number of men and 
 canoes. When the spring of 167-3 had opened, he sent La 
 Salle in advance from Montreal to Onondaga, to invite the 
 Iroquois sachems to meet him in council at the foot of 
 Lake Frontenac (Ontario), while he followed at his leisure 
 up the St. Lawrence. In response to tlie invitation sent 
 them, the Indians resorted in considerable numbers to the 
 appointed place of meeting, and were well pleased with 
 the attentions there shown them by the governor, who was 
 the first Frenchman to address them by the name of "chil- 
 dren," instead of "brothers." Cajoled by his blandish- 
 mtMits and presents, and awed by his audacity and show of 
 force, they acquiesced in the erection of a fort at the m^uth 
 of Cataraqui Creek, where Kingston now stands. 
 
 The building of this fort (which was begun in July of 
 that year, and was called Frontenac after its founder), was 
 ill violation of the existing regulations of the king, which 
 rccpiired the fur-(U»a(ers to (uirry on their trade with tiio 
 natives within the borders of the rreni^h settlements. Still, 
 in view of lis importani'e as a means of overawing the 
 roHlbiKH li'oqiioJH, all ((jt'linb'iil obJcctionH were waived, and 
 provision was made for its nuillituinuioe, " Witji tlie aid 
 of a vessel tiovv btlllding,'* w|-lto8 l^'ronteiiac at tills Hliin, 
 '•we can comnuind the lake, keep peace with tjie Troquois, 
 
 and cut off the fur-triide from t)iu liJMgliHli. Willi aiiotlier 
 fort at Niagara, and a second vessel on the river above, wo 
 • nil coidrol flic entire chain of lakes." These exfensive 
 views accorded well with the schemes of La Halle, who, us 
 we shall see, was soon cniployed in piiUing iheni info 
 pnicfine. 
 
 Ill November, Hi74, LaSalle ernbiirkcd for France, 
 
 ! m 
 
 'I I 
 
 ! i 
 
 ! I 
 
 ; it 
 
80 
 
 La Salle and Mis Early Explorations. 
 
 
 lip 
 
 with letters of recommendation from the governor* and 
 others, and, on his arrival at Versailles, presented two pe- 
 titions to the king (Louis XIV.) ; the one for a patent of 
 nobility, in consideration of his valuable services as an ex- 
 plorer; and the other for a grant in seigniory of Fort 
 Frontenac and the adjoining lands. lie proposed to reim- 
 burse the king for the ten thousand livres which the new- 
 post had cost him ; to maintain it at his own charge, with 
 a garrison equal to that of Montreal, besides a score of la- 
 borers ; to form a French colony around it ; to build a 
 church whenever the number of inhabitants should reach 
 one hundred, and in the meantime to support one or more 
 Recollet friars; and, finally, to form a settlement of do- 
 mesticated Indians in the neighborhood. Tliese liberal 
 offers, on the part of LaSalle, were accepted by the crown; 
 and by letters-patent of the 13th of May, 1675, he was 
 raised to the rank of the untitled nobility. f At the same 
 time he received a grant of Fort Frontenac, and the lands 
 contiguous, to the extent of four and one-half leagues in 
 front and one-half league in dei)th, besides the neighbor- 
 ing islands, and was also invested with the government of 
 the fort and settlement, subject to the provincial governor. 
 After LaSalle's favorable reception at court, his more 
 wealthy relations in liouen advanced him consideral)le 
 sums of money, which put him in position to fulfill the 
 more important obligations annexed to his grant, and he 
 now returned to Caiuida the proprietor of what promised 
 to be one of the most valuable estates in the province. 
 
 * In a despatch to Minister Colbert, of tlie 14th of November, 1()74, 
 Frontenac thus conimends his favorite: "I can not help, Mousi ur, 
 recommending to you the Sieur de la Salle, who is about to go to France, 
 and who is a man of intelligence and ability — more capable than any 
 body else I know here, to ac('onij)lish every kind of enterprise and dis- 
 covery which may be entrusted to him, since he has the most pc'-^'xt 
 knowledge of the state of the country, as you will see if you are <Vm>- 
 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<n<l tiinince, and on the officers who 
 eomitose tlie supreme council in tiie said country, to afKx 
 
 *Tliu()tta\va8. 
 
 tJiiniui'H de CheeiU'au hud been appointed InU'iidant of New 
 France in May, IH7r>. 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, an<l when it was proposed to erect a fort 
 at the foot of the mountain ridge,* on the east side of the 
 
 * The blook-houso, which T.ii Sallt» afterward built where Fort 
 Niagara uow staude, was called Kort Coiiti. 
 
86 
 
 La ISallc and His Early Explorations. 
 
 river, they made objection. In order to gain their consent. 
 La Motte and La iSalle ))oth visited, in turn, the principal 
 village of tlie Seneca's situated near the site of the i)re8ent 
 Rochester, New York, and distributed presents freely 
 among their chiefs. Some diplomacy was also used Ijy La 
 Salle, and in liou of a fort, it was tinally agreed that the 
 Frenc]imcn iniglit erect a warehouse. This was now r.peedily 
 completed and inclosed with a palisade. If was used as an 
 abode by the men during the rest of that wintev, and, sub- 
 sequently, as a station and place of deposit for imi>lenients 
 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('lude<l a ciirt'o of furs. 
 
His Voijage '» the Griffin. 
 
 87 
 
 name. Every thing' was now ;n readiness awaiting the re- 
 turn of the commander, who had gone to Fort Frontenac to 
 i'ei)lenish liis stores, and was detained there by pecuniary 
 (litficulties. He arrived in the l)eginnins: of August, ac- 
 companied by Friars Kibourde and Membre, who were 
 going to distribute tlie "■ bread of life '" among the pagan 
 tribes of the southwest. 
 
 At length, on the 7th of August, U)79, with the dis- 
 charge of small artillery, and the chanting of the Te Veurn, 
 La Salle and his venturesome followers stepped aboard the 
 new vessel, which was wafted by a gentle wind out upon 
 the crystal surface of Lake Erie. Thus the Grithn, flying 
 from her mast-head the [)ennon of France, went forth as a 
 herald of civilization, and as tlie forerunner of that un- 
 counted multituvle of schooners, brigs, barks, propellers, 
 and other smaller ci'aft, which to-day ]>Iy 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, an<l found 
 its forest-studded banks tilled with different species of snndl 
 game, of which they shot and killed enough for their needs. 
 Ascending thence through J^ake ^t. Clair and the connect- 
 ing strait, they issued u[)on the sea-like expanse of Lake 
 Unroll, and in sailing over its dark and treaclierous depths 
 encountered a territic storm, which threatened to s)>eedily 
 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 invoke<l the aid of St. x\nthony of J'adua, 
 as the patron saint of tlieir cxiK'dition. It would seem tliat 
 the saint heard and answered tlieir ]»rayers ; for the Grithn 
 weathered the gale, and, on the next day, rode unscathed 
 into the Straits of Michilinuickinac. 
 
 A])proaching the roadstead at the mission of Saint Ig- 
 naee, they tired an artillery salute to announce their ar- 
 rival, and, inmiediately after landing, repaired to the mis- 
 sion chapel to return thanks to (lod for their receipt deliv- 
 erance from the fury of the ekunents. On this occasion 
 \m Salle wore a scarlet coat, trimmed witli gold lace, which 
 
88 
 
 La Salle and His Early Explorations. 
 
 he kept by him tor occasions of ceremony. lie wan re- 
 ceived here by tlic JcHuit priests and traders with an out- 
 ward show of respect and friendsliip, though they were 
 privately antagonizing his enterprise. The neighboring In- 
 dians now swarmed in canoes about liis armed vessel, view- 
 ing her with mingled feelings of wonder and terror. 
 "While ancliored at this station, the commamier found and 
 took into custody four of his men, whom he had sent up 
 the lakes with merchandise to exchange for pelts ; they 
 having disposed of the goods and pocketed the proceeds. 
 At the same time he sent Tonty to Sault de 8te. M ie in 
 pursuit of others, who were also caught. 
 
 Weighing anchor about the 2d of Septendjer, La Salle 
 cc ntinued his westward voyage, and next arrived at one of 
 the islands in the entrance to Green Bay, jutting out from 
 Lake Micliigan. Landing on the island, he was liospitably 
 received by a Pottawatomie chief, who had visited in Canada, 
 and here he was also met by the remainder of his advance 
 traders, who had honestly dis{)osed of his goods and collected 
 in return a large (piantity of furs. These were now conveyed 
 on board the Griffin, and, with other [>elts 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 lande<l and encamped at the foot of the second, or 
 of the third and lower sheet of water. .Xs partly conlirming La Salle, 
 it may be as wi'll to note what AL J(>ntel 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<tut half a league over, «'ii(h we crossed and returned into the chan- 
 nel of the river, oii tiie banks whereof we found several marks of the na- 
 tives having bei-n encamix'd. The 10th, we crossed another lake called 
 rinutehouy, and returned to the river.'"— ./w»r»a/ IliMoritjUc. 
 
 t For a more circu.nstantial account of the l)uiitliiig of Fort Creve- 
 eoMir, see extracts from Hennepin's writing.s in the next succeedin)^ 
 cliupter. 
 
^ '. 
 
 He Begins a New Vessel. 
 
 95 
 
 While the fort was building, La Salle put his best 
 mechanics to work on a brigantine, which, when built, he 
 proposed to freight with buffalo and other skins, to be col- 
 lected in his descent of the Mississippi, and thence sail to 
 St. Domingo or France, and dispose of the cargo. The 
 keel of the new boat was laid, forty-two feet in length 
 by twelv'e in breadth, and work on her hull was well 
 advanced by the end of February. Being without rig- 
 ging or sails for his vessel (they naving been unluckily 
 lost with the Griffin), the indomitable leader now formed 
 the bold design of returning over-land to Foi-t Frontenac, 
 to procure these and other appliances, leaving De Tonty in 
 command at Creve-cteur, while Hennepin should meantime 
 go up the Mississippi on a voyage of exploration, — La Salle 
 promising to send men to meet him at the mouth of the 
 Wisonsin, on his own return from the East. 
 
 |- 
 
 
96 
 
 Louis Hennepin. 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 1675-1701. 
 
 FATHER LOUIS H?:NNKPIN. 
 
 
 I 
 
 The name of Futlier Hennepin liaving been already 
 introduced in coi nection witli La Sailed history, it is 
 deen)ed proper to <levote the present eliapter to a delinea- 
 tion of his shifting and ronuintie career, since no more 
 picturesque and interesting personage is to be found in 
 the annals of French exploration and discovery in North 
 America. 
 
 About the year of grace 1640, in the ancient town of 
 Ath, in the interior province of Ilainault, and in what was 
 then a })art of the Spanish Netherlands, but is now a part 
 of the kingdom of Belgium, was born the celebrated Louis 
 Hennepin. With respect to his early domestic life, we pos- 
 sess no delinite information. In his writings he tells us 
 much about himself, but very little concerning his family, 
 from which it nuiy be inferred that he came of obscure 
 }»arentage. He appears to have been sent to scliool at a 
 tender age, and he quaintly informs us that while prose- 
 cuting his early studies, "he felt a strong inclination to 
 leave the world and to live in the rule of strict virtue." 
 He accordingly entered the monastic order of Saint Fran- 
 cis,* to spend his days in a life of religious austerit3^ His 
 novitiate was nnide in the Recollet convent at Bethune, in 
 
 ■*Tlu> 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- 
 <lians from the upper lakes in the war against the Senecas, In H)i>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<!s us. 
 tlii8 quaint yet interesting description of the mission and settlemetit : 
 "MiBHilimackinac is certainly a place of great importance. It lies in 
 latitude of forty-five degrees and thirty minutes; but as to its longi- 
 tude I have nothing to say, for reasons expressed in my second letter. 
 T i;< not Koove half a league from the fllinois Luke (Michigan). Here 
 tlif Hurons and Outaous have each a village ; the one being severed 
 from the other by a single pali.^'.ide. ... In this place the .lesuits 
 liavc a Uttle house or college, adjoining to a sort of (diurch, and inclostfd 
 with pales that separate it fron> 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- 
 peare<l in the English, Dutch, and Italian languages. It 
 contains a copious thou<rh desultory narrativ^e of La Salle's 
 first expedition to the West, and of Hennepin s own voy- 
 ages an<l discoveries in connection therewith ; and des{»it,e 
 its author's egotism and propensity to magnify his individ- 
 ual exploits, the work is equally entertaining and instruc- 
 tive. The style is simple and natural, and the language 
 perspicuous, though losing much of its origiiuility i:i its 
 English dress. He was an observant traveler, using his eyes 
 wherever he went, and his pictures of the wild country and 
 of savage life are very graplnc. He had studied the In- 
 dians attentively, an<l [lortrays their nnmners vividly. 
 
 His second an<l more comprehensive, i>ut 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 </' an pais pine grand 
 que ly En rope; avec les rejicxions des enterprises dii Siciir 
 de la Salle, fur les mines de St. Darhe,'"' etc., was issued at 
 Utreclit in 1698, and was also dedicated to tlie King of 
 England juid Holland, in that Ktyle of fulsome adulation 
 then in vogue. In his prefatory note to this book, tlie friar 
 speciously replies to those who had doubted tlie possibility of 
 Viis liavingsailed down and up the Mississipj>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 con<hict. Among these was his inordinate vanity, 
 which seems to have augmented with his years, and 
 prompted him to air ins personal grievances, and to pose 
 before the reading worhl as a persecuted man. Then again, 
 tho [trospeotive increase in the srle of his book, from the 
 insertion of new and entertaining matter, must have exer- 
 cised no little influence, particularly with his pulilishers. 
 
 Yet, apart from all this, there ai'e reasons for suspecting 
 that Hennepin himself was not responsible for all the fic- 
 tions printed in his "New Discovery." Tlie hand of an 
 anonymous and careless editor is traceable in various parts 
 of the book, which is said to have been altered even after 
 itstirst printing. This charitable view of the matter, while 
 it K'ssens ]Ienne[»in's cul[>ability, does not ex(;ul[>ato him 
 tVotn censure. The whole ^ruth about the origin an<l appear- 
 ance of his last two publications, though inviting attention 
 and inquiry, will probably never be known.* 
 
 But stilly witli all his faults and failings and tjaprices, 
 Louis Hennepin was no ordinary man, and his was no or- 
 dinary destiny. Distinguished not only as a traveler and 
 RecoUet missionary, he was also the flrst j)opular writer on 
 the French in North America.. Moreover, his memory is 
 lastingly linked with two, at least, of the great natural 
 
 *For a critical discjuisition upou this curious and recondite aubjec^t, 
 the iniiuring reader is referred to tiie late Dr. Shea's Notice of tho Life 
 and Writings of Fatiier Hennepin, in his annotated (tditiou of the " De- 
 ncriptiim de la Loumane" N. Y., 18H0. 
 
 8 
 
114 
 
 Louis Hennepin. 
 
 monuments of this country — the Falls of Niagara and the 
 Falls of St. Anthony ; and it was he who first publicly gave 
 the name to that vast and magnificent territory, lying mostly 
 on the west of the Mississippi, which is still worn by that 
 portion of it incorporated into the sovereign State of Lou- 
 isiana. 
 
La SatU Returns to Fort Frontenac. 
 
 115 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1680-1681. 
 
 LA SALLE AND TONTY. 
 
 It is now time to return to La Salle, the central figure 
 in this important and difficult enterprise. On the second ot 
 March, two days after the departure of Father HeniiCpin 
 from Creve-coeur, the resolute chief himself set forth on 
 his return journey to Fort Frontenac. He left Tonty, his 
 trusted lieutenant, in command at the Illinois fort, with a 
 company of fifteen men, and took with him four French- 
 men, hesides his indispensable Mohegan hunter. The last 
 month of the winter had been extremely cold, so that the 
 passage of La Salle and his little party up the river and 
 lakes was much obstructed by ice, either firm or drifting. 
 At Peoria Lake his men had to make sleuges for their two 
 canoes, and drag them over the frozen surface. From 
 thoncc they slowly and laboriously advanced, alternately 
 by land and water, amid the chilling rains and melting 
 snows of the opening spring. 
 
 Arriving at the great town of the Illinois on the 11th 
 of March, they found it still a solitude, and the roofs 
 of its lodges crested with snow, the copper-hued in- 
 habitants not having as yet returned from their winter 
 hunt. Encamping here, one of the hunters killed a stray 
 hufl'alo. and while his men were smoking the meat of the 
 animal. La Salle reconnoitered the adjacent country. Fall- 
 ing in with three Illinois Indians, he brought them to his 
 cam{sgave them food and presents, and secured from them 
 a promise to send provisions to his men at the fort. Dur- 
 ing his short stay at this place, he attentively examined 
 that rugged and precipitous <;lift', designated by him as Le 
 Itochir (The Kock), which had been passed without particu- 
 lar notice in his previous trip down the river. Being ini- 
 
llo 
 
 La Salle and Tonty. 
 
 pressed with its rare capabilities as a defensive position, he 
 soon afterward sent back word to Tonty to occupy and 
 fortify it. 
 
 Quitting the vicinity of tlie Indian town on the 15th, 
 the leader and liia party continued their toilsome ascent 
 of the Illinois and its Dos IMaines brancli until tliey ap- 
 proached the place where .Joliet now stands, when further 
 navigation was rendered impracticable by the firmness of 
 the ice in the river. Here they hid their canoes, strapped 
 their luggage on their shoulders, and started over-land for 
 Lake Michigan, distant about fifty miles. The country all 
 around was a flat and dreary waste, covered with half- 
 melted snow and intersected by swollen streams, some of 
 which they forded, and others they crossed on log rafts. 
 On the 23d of Marcli they were cheered by glimpses of tlie 
 southern extremity of the lake, seen through the openings 
 in the leafless forest trees ; at night they encamped on its 
 beach, and the next day followed its sandy shores east and 
 northeast to Fort Miami. Here La Salle found the two 
 men whom he had sent down the lake in the preceding- 
 November to look for the Grifiin, th.ey having gone to 
 Mackinac and returned without getting any tidings of the 
 missing vessel. He now ordered them to proceed to the 
 fort on the Illinois, and gave them a letter to carry to De 
 Tonty. In order to gain time, the dauntless ciiief, and his 
 travel-worn companions, next turned their steps eastward 
 across the- southern peninsula of Michigan. Their journey 
 through its gloomy and trackless forests was cJne of pecu- 
 liar hardship, since they could keep no fire at night for fear 
 of straggling parties of Indians. Coming to a tributary of 
 the Detroit, they made a log canoe and descended in it to 
 that river, and thence marched across the country some 
 thirty miles to Lake Erie. Here they embarked in a canoo 
 and coasted the northern shore of the lake as far east as the 
 mouth of Grand River, and then proceeded overland to the 
 post which La Salle had established below the Falls of Niag- 
 ara. From thence, with a party of fresh men, he pushed 
 down and across Lake Ontario to his seigniory of Fort Froii- 
 tenac, whither he arrived on the tith of May, 1(380., TIiuh 
 
La Salic s Financial Misfortunes. 
 
 117 
 
 within the brief interval of sixty-five days, he had per- 
 formed an arduous journey through tlie wiklorness of over 
 eight hundred miles, which, considering the season and 
 circumstances under which math', was a most remarkable 
 exhibition of pluck and physical endurance. 
 
 Arrived at his seigniory, La Salle found all of his af- 
 fairs in confusion. Not only had the Griffin been lost, with 
 her furs and pelts, but a vessel coming from France witti 
 a cargo for his com})any, valued at 2,200 livres, liad been 
 wrecked on St. Peter's Island, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; 
 and several canoes loaded with his merchandise liad been 
 swallowed up in the rapids of the St. Lawrence. More- 
 over, some of his agents had acted in bad faith with him, and 
 his creditors were preparing to seize upon the residue of his 
 property. But, in the presence of these accumulated mis- 
 fortunes, which would have crushed any other man, he was 
 neither disheartened nor swerved from his purpose. lie at 
 once hastened to Montreal to arrange matters with his prin- 
 cipal creditors, and such was still his credit and influence 
 there, fnat he was enabled to procure tlie requisite supplies 
 for continuing his great enterprise. Keturning from Mon- 
 treal to Frontenae, he was met by two messengers just ar- 
 lived with a letter from Tonty, stating that after his de- 
 parture from Fort Creve-coeur, a majority of his men there 
 had deserted the fort, and wasted or destroyed such stores 
 as they could not carry away. Following his letter, came 
 Ticws by two traders on the lakes that the deserters had 
 destroyed his fort at the mouth of the Miamis or St. 
 Joseph, and plundered his warehouse at Niagara. Being 
 farther informed that twelve of the perfidious wretches were 
 coming down the northern shore of Lake Ontario with evil 
 intetit. La Salle, with a party of nine trusty men, sallied out 
 to meet them, and coming upon them unawares, killed two 
 and captured seven of tlie number, whom he imjjrisoned 
 at Frontenae, to await punishment by a civil tribunal. 
 
 One of tlie chief difficulties attending the enterprises 
 of La Salle, and of other early French explorers in the 
 West, was to secure the services of reliable men. The wil- 
 
118 
 
 La Salle and Tonty. 
 
 derness was in a nieaaurc full of vagabond hunters, known 
 as roHirur.s dea hois, who had fled from the restraints of 
 eivilizatiou to lead lives of license and lawlessness, and 
 whose eonsequeiit freedom from care and immunity from 
 punishment for crime was a constant allurement to draw 
 others from legitimate employment. The provincial gov- 
 ernment of Canada made stringent regulations from time 
 to time for the sup])reKsion of this growing evil; but it was 
 easier to enact HU(^h decrees than to enforce them. 
 
 On the 10th of August, having completed his outfit, 
 and engaged the services of a lieuteiumt named La Forrest, 
 with a ('ompany of twenty-iive new men. La Salle again 
 set out from his seigniory for the Illinois country, to "suc- 
 cor the forlorn hope under To!ity." Taking the most di- 
 rect route, he passed uj) the river llund)er or Trent, crossed 
 Lake Simcoe, descended the Severn to the. Georgian Bay 
 of Lake Huron, followed its rugged eastern coast to the 
 Manitoulin Islands, and thence moved westward to the 
 Frencli post on the straits of Mackinac. Poinding it dif- 
 ticult to replenisli his stock of provisions there on account 
 of the enmity and jealousy of the French traders, and not 
 wishing to be delayed, he pressed on u^ Lake Michigan 
 with twelve men and four canoes, leavii g La Forrest and 
 the rest of the force to follow so soon as they could pro- 
 cure the needed supplies. On Noveml)er 28th, the advance 
 party under La Salle drew their boats ashore on the sandy 
 beach close to the v/recked fort of Miami. Here, for the 
 purpose of facilitating his progress, he left the bulk of 
 his stores in charge of five men, and continued his journey 
 with the remaining seven. Ascending the river St. Joseph 
 to the portage, he thence crossed to the Kankakee, and 
 rapidly descended its channel to the Illinois. 
 
 After entering the latter stream, our voyagers found 
 the adjacent prairies dotted over with fat buffaloes, and be- 
 ing in want of fresh meat, they put to shore and soon shot 
 a dozen or more of these favorite animals, the flesh of which 
 they cut into thin strips and dried in the sun for future use. 
 Resuming their canoes and passing the Rock, which 
 La Salle had directed Tonty to occupy, they saw no sign 
 
La Salle's Second Expedition. 
 
 119 
 
 there of any fortification, and }i(5arfl no tidings of that 
 trusted oiRcer. Approaohinj^: tlio ^^reat town of tlie lUinoiH 
 nation, a scene of havoc and ruin was proHentod to their 
 aHtonished night. A for(;e of five liundnjd Inxjuoin war- 
 rioPH liad then recently invaded tiieweHtern country, driven 
 away the IllinoiH, sacked their town, cut <lown their grow- 
 ing corn, and rifled tlieir corn pitH. Moreover, th('y had 
 desi>oiled the nepulchers of the village dead,* Hcattered 
 their hones over the adjoining [)lain, an<l stuck the skulls 
 ill (hM'ision on the cliarred poles of the hurnt lodges. 
 
 Having carefully in8i>ected 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<l southward in compact 
 hodies on hoth sides of the stream. Passing on through 
 Peoria Lake, and coming to Foi't Creve-coeur, he found it 
 dismantled, hut his unfinished hoat was still on the stocks 
 and hut little injiired. Some distanc^e farther down, and a 
 little way from ihe river, his eyes were met hy the revolt- 
 ing spectacle of the half-charred bodies of some Indian 
 women and children, who had been <n'uelly burned at the 
 stake by the Iro(|Uois. Still discerning no traces of his 
 lost men. La Salle went on to the mouth of the Illinois, 
 where for tlie first time, perhaps, he beheld that great and 
 mysterious river, which he had long desired to trace to its 
 unknown embouchure in the sea. It is said that those 
 who were with him proposed to proceed without delay 
 u|)on the projected voyage; but the prudent leader, having 
 his men and resources dispersed, and being uneasy about 
 the fate of Tonty, was compelled to wait a more propitious 
 op[)ortunity. - '-■■- ,. . - — .-- -^ - . 
 
 *According to the Jesuit Father Rasles, the custom of the Illinois 
 was not to bury their dead, but to wrap them in skins, and expose them 
 on scaffolds, or attach them by the head and feet to the boughs of trees. 
 But it appears that this practice was not universal among them. 
 
120 
 
 L(( Salle and Tovfy. 
 
 Returninij expeditiously up tlie Illinois, he rejoined 
 tlie three men who had heen left in hi<ling near the ruined 
 town, and, after jiroeuriui;: some half-burnt maize from the 
 pillaged granaries, tlie united [»arty re-entered their canoes 
 and j)addled u}» the river. When they reached the forks, 
 and had gone a short distance up the Kankakee branch, 
 they discovered on the bank a hut, containing a stick of 
 wood that liad been recently sawed, which was mistaken 
 for an indication that Tonty and company liad passed tliis 
 way. Quitting the stream and concealing tlieir canoes 
 near this point. La Salle and his party uiade their way 
 slowly, on foot, tlirough blinding snow storms, to Fort 
 Miami, wliitlier tliey arrived late in January, 1681.* Here 
 the weather-worn and exhausted travelers were warmly 
 welcomed by La Forrest and liis men, who, during the 
 absence of tlie chief, had repaired the fort, cleared some 
 land on which to raiee a crop, and prepared material for a 
 new vessel on the lake. 
 
 Leaving La Sallewithinthe wooden walls of Fort Miami, 
 to recuperate his energies and lay new plans for the un- 
 promising future, we must now^ go back and relate the 
 thrilling adventures of the Sieur de Tonty and his com- 
 panions. 
 
 As before stated, he had been left in command of Fort 
 Creve-coeur in March, 1680, with a garrison of fifteen men. 
 Two-thirds of these were worthless knaves, who disliked 
 La Salle, took no interest in his important enterprise, and 
 were ripe for revolt whenever the occasion ottered. 
 His departure for the East, therefore, was the sign*- lor 
 the open manifestation of their disaffection. A mon:h or 
 more afterward, when the two men whom the chief had 
 
 * During this retrograde journey, the great comet of ]680-'81 appeared 
 nightly in the heavens, with its brilliant and appalling train, covering 
 an arc of from sixty to ninety degrees. According to Mr. Parkman, La 
 Salle, in his correspondence, coolly referred to the comet as "an object 
 of scientific curiosity ;" whereas Increase Mather, the eminent Puritan 
 divine of New P^ngland, spok(! of it as " fraught with terrific portent to 
 the nations of the earth." 
 
Toniy Lctft in Command at CrSiJc-ccnur. 
 
 121 
 
 sent from Fort Miami, with a letter to Tonty, arrived at 
 Creve-coeur, they hrought with them depressing intelli- 
 gence. They told the already demoralized garriwon, " that 
 the Griffin was bat; that Fort Frontenac was in the hands 
 of La Salle's creditors, and tliat he was without means to 
 pay those in his employ." The belief now pervading the 
 garrison tl)at they would not be paid excited a spirit of 
 mutiny and mischief among them, wliich shortly found 
 the desired opportunity to ripen into action. No sooner 
 had Tonty, with a few of the men. departed' tq the Illinois 
 River to forti+'y the "liock," as ordered by his chief, than 
 those left behind proceeded to demolish the fort, and then 
 fled, with such arms, ammunition and goods, as they could 
 carry away. Two only of tlie number remained faithful, 
 one of whom hastened to apprise Tonty of what had hap- 
 pened. Alarmed at this revolt and desertion, he dis- 
 patched four men, by two different routes, to carry the 
 unwelcome news to La Salle, two of wliom. as we have 
 fieen, reached their destination. 
 
 Tlie Sieur de Tonty now had with him only five white 
 men, namely : the young and spirited Francois de Boisron- 
 det, L'Esperance (servant of La Salle), a Parisian youth 
 named Etienne Renault, and the two friars, Ribourde and 
 Membrc. With a part of this little band, the lieutenant 
 repaired to tlie deserted fort, collected the tools, forge, etc., 
 which had not been molested, and conveyed them up the 
 river to the great town of the Illinois, where he tempora- 
 rily fixed his quarters. But, as the sequel showed, it would 
 have been better if the forge and tools had been left where 
 they were. For tlie next five months the Frenchmen, 
 while anxiously waiting the return of their leader, enjoyed 
 the dubious hospitality of the savages. During this time 
 Tonty endeavored to make himself useful by teaching 
 them the construction of rude fortifications and the simpler 
 arts of military strategy, and the friars labored faithfully 
 to instruct them in the rudiments of Christianity. 
 
 In this way a fairly good understanding was maintained 
 with the natives until about the first of September, when 
 it was announced that an array of five hundred Iroquois 
 
HDhtai 
 
 122 
 
 La Salle and Tonty. , 
 
 and one hundred Miamis waa swiftly marching into the 
 country. It appears that a Shawnee Indian, on hia way 
 home from a vioit to the Illinois, had tirst discovered the 
 approach of the invaders, ar.d returned to warn his friends 
 of their impending danger. This intelligence created 
 the utmost consternation among the inhabitants of the 
 town; and Tonty, \yho had all along been an object of 
 suspicion, was soon surrounded by a crowd of excited war- 
 riors, who brandished their weapons and accused him of 
 being an emissary of the enemy. Owing to his imperfect 
 knowledge of the Illinois language, he was unable to ex- 
 plain the situation to their satisfaction, and in their fury 
 they seized upon the forge and in)plcme!;cs, brought 
 thither from Creve-coeur and threw them into the river. 
 Doubting their ability to successfully defend themselves, 
 since most of their young men were away on the war- 
 path, they hurriedly sent their sf^uaws and papooses down 
 the river to an island, wViere they were left in charge of 
 sixty old warriors. The remair.ing braves, to the number 
 of about four hundred, now spent the night in preparing 
 themselves for battle, painting their taces and greasing 
 their ])odie8. Early the next day the scouts, whom they 
 had previously sent out, returned and reported the Iro(pioi« 
 as near al hand, and armed with guns aiul swords obtained 
 from the English. They furtlier reported that they had 
 seen a cliief with the enemy arrayed in the Erench dress, 
 and signified their belief that it was La Salle. This 
 turned out to ])e simply an Iroquois warrior, wearing a 
 European hat and waistcoat, yet it s-erved to again nuiko 
 Tonty an object of dark suspicion. J3eing surroundetl by 
 a throng of infuriated savages, who threatened his life, he 
 only saved himself from their uplifted weapons by promis- 
 ing that he and his men would go out with them to meet 
 the common foe. Since no time was to be lost, the whole 
 available force of the Illinois now liurried across the river 
 and took [)osition on the plain beyond, just as the emnny 
 stealthily emerged from the tind)er that skirted the banks 
 of the Big Vermillion. Thus the two Indian armies soon 
 confronted each otlier, and, simultaneously raisiug tiie war- 
 
Tonty's Adventures with the Iroquois. 
 
 123 
 
 whoop, began to exchange shots and arrows, jumping from 
 side to side to elude each other's shots. At this crisis, the 
 Sieur de Tonty, knowing the Illinois warriors to be cow- 
 ards, and seeing that they were outnumberetl and likely to 
 bo defeated, determined to make an effort at negotiation, 
 and thus stay the unequal fight. Relying on the treaty of 
 peace then subsisting between the Iro([Uois nation and the 
 French, he laid aside his gun for a necklace of wami)um 
 and started, at the imminent risk of his life, to meet the bel- 
 ligerent invaders. An Illinois Indian accompanied him 
 part of the way, and they separated themselves from the 
 main body of the Illinois, who were actively skirmishing 
 with the enemy. 
 
 "When I was within gun-shot," writes Tonty, " the 
 Iroquois shot at us, seized me, took the necklace from my 
 hand, and one of them plunged a knife into my bi'cast, 
 wounding a rib neiir the heart. •'" However, having recog- 
 iii/ed me, they carried me into the midst of their camp, and 
 asked me what I came for. I gave them to understand that 
 the Illinois were under the protection of the King of France 
 and the governor of the country, ami that I was surprised 
 that they wished to break with the French and not con- 
 tinue t*t peace. All this time skirmishing war going on, 
 on both sides, and a warrior came to give notice that their 
 Ic'i't wing was giving away, and that they had ivcognized 
 some Frenchmen amongthe Illinois, who shot at them. On 
 (hearing) this they were greatly irritated at me, and held 
 a council on what they should do with me. There was a 
 man l)ehind me witn a knife in his hand, 'vho every now 
 and then lifted my hair. They were divided in opinion. 
 Ti'gantouki, chief of the Tsonnonthouans, desired to have 
 me burnt. Agoasto, chief of the Onnontagues,|- wished to 
 liave me set at liberty, as a friend of M. de la Salle, and lie 
 tarried his point. They agreed tluit, iii order to deceive 
 'lit' lllin()is, they should give me a mudvlaee of porcelain 
 lieuds to prove that they also were children of the gov- 
 
 •Membre tellHusthat " with his swarthy compk'xiun ami luill-sav- 
 ai^e (IreHs, they took hiiu (Tonty) for uu lutiiaii." 
 ^ Onoudajftw. ^ 
 
124 
 
 La Salle and Tonty. 
 
 ernor, and ought to unite and make a good peace. They 
 sent nie to deliver this message to the Illinois. I had much 
 difficulty in reaching them, on account of the blood I had 
 lost. On my way I met the Fat'iers Gabriel de Ribourde 
 and Zenobe Membre, who were coming to look after nie. 
 They exjtressed great joy that these barbarians had not put 
 me to death. We went together to the Illinois, to whom 1 
 reported the sentiments of the Iroquois toward them, adding, 
 however, that they must not altogether trust them."* 
 
 Shortly afterward the Illinois returned to their village, 
 and many of the Iroquois, under different pretexts, also 
 crossed the river and disposed themselves in menacing 
 groups about the place. These hostile demonstrations, be- 
 ing repeated the next day, caused the more timid Illinois 
 to seek safety in flight. Accordingly, at nightfall, tliey 
 set fire to their lodges, .;(vd 'ile the attention of tlie 
 enemy was diverted by tlie flame and smoke of the burn- 
 ing, they secretly betook themselves to their canoes, and 
 dropped down the river to join their women and children. 
 Tonty and his companions remained beliind to deal as best 
 they might with the faitbless Iroquois. The latter now 
 took possession of the village, and intrenched tliemselves 
 tlierein. 
 
 Two days later, when the Iroquois observed the scouts 
 of the Illinois on the neighboring hills, they thouglit that 
 Tonty had somr communication with them, and obliged 
 him and his J)arty to remove from the' i;bin into the fort, 
 or redoubt, of the former. Tliey th< ; .uested Tonty to 
 repair to the Illinois, and induce \\\o\i- , . ake a treaty of 
 paciflcation, for their vaunted courage haJ subsided. He 
 accordingly proceeded, vvitli Father Zenobe and a hostage, 
 to the camp of the Illinois. They gladly accepted the 
 peace proj)Osal, and sent a hostage in return to the IroquoiB. 
 But the in<!xperienced Illinois hostage soon disclosed to hie 
 cunning interviewers the numerical weakness of his peo^de, 
 
 *See M. do Tonty's Mmnnir of lOUI?, rovcrinp t,h(> {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 <!amp on the edge of a grove 
 until they could recover their sight. Resuming Ins journey, 
 hemetwith a band of the Outagamies (Foxes), whose chiefs 
 he drew over to his interest by means of ])resents. From 
 them it v/as learned that Tonty and his i)arty were safe 
 among the Pottawatomies, and that Hennepin had passed 
 through their country (Wisconsin) on his way to Canada. 
 This was welcome intelligence to La Salle, who, for several 
 months, had been very k xious about their safety. Fol- 
 lowing down the Kankakee River, he fell in with a ])arty 
 of the Illinois, who were stalking the prairies in quest of 
 game, and who related to him the unhap[)y occurrences of 
 the [)receding year. La Salle ex{>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\<t Exploifs Continued. 
 
 the 4t]i of .laiiuary, 1082. It was now the middle of winter 
 in this latitude ; the earth was tliickly carpeted witli snow, 
 and the streaniB were all bridged over witli ice. Tonty liad 
 caused sledges to be constructed, on whicVi the explorers 
 conveyed their canoes, baggage, and provisions up the con- 
 gealed surface of the Chicago, and thence over the portage 
 to the Des Plaines, or northern fork of the Illinois, which 
 was also found sheeted with ice. Filing down its smooth 
 surface, in long and picturesque procession, to the head of 
 the Illinois j)roper, and thence down that river, they j)assed 
 on their wintry way the great town of the Illinois, now 
 partly rebuilt, but temporarily deserted of its inhabitantH, 
 and at length came to open water at the foot of Peoria 
 Lake. Here were found encamped and spending the win- 
 ter a large number of Indii'Jis belonging to the great town 
 above. Having relinquished for the time liis project of 
 buibling a sailing vessel for navigati)ig the Lower Missis- 
 sippi, La Salle nuule no attempt to complete the one previ- 
 ously begun at Fort Creve-camr;* but, after obtaining u 
 supply of maize from the natives, and leaving some orders 
 with them, he and Ids Frenchmen resumed their canoes 
 and held on their course to the mouth of the river. 
 
 Arrived thither the 6th of February, they were obliged 
 to wait on account of the floating ice in the Mississippi, 
 and also for their Eastern Lidian8,'who liad fallen behind. 
 By the 13th, however, these laggards liad all arrived ; the 
 navigation was o{)en, and the adventurous leader launched 
 his snuUl flotilla on the current of the majestic river which 
 was to bear him south vvai'd to the sea. The voyagers trav- 
 eled rather tardily, since they carried no provisions exce}tt 
 Indian corn, and were compelled to hunt and nah almost 
 dailv. 
 
 About seven leagues below the nmuth of the Illinois 
 tliey found the Missouri River (called the Osage by Father 
 Mend)re) putting in from the west, atul pouring its yellow 
 and turbulent flood into the clearer and more placid waters 
 
 *0n their return vuyagf the next Huinmor (1082), the French ex- 
 plorevs are wiid to have found tliis uuliiUHhe<l bark burnt. 
 
He Descends the Mississippi. 
 
 137 
 
 of the Mississippi. On the 14th, they passed, on their left, 
 the village of the Tamaroas, containing one hnndred cabins. 
 The Indians were away on the chase, but the voyagers left 
 there some marks to indicate their presence and the course 
 they had taken. After several more days of rowing Jind 
 oailing down the impetuous river they reached the conflu- 
 ence of the Ouabache (Ohio), where they stoj)|)ed a short 
 time to replenish their stock of })rovisionH. Re-entering 
 their canoes, they advanced about sixty league. - without 
 stopping to encamp, because the banks o!i both nides were 
 low and swiimpy and full of rushes atul uiulerbrush. 
 
 On the 24th of February, the comnumder landed at tlie 
 Third Chickasaw Bluffs, not iar above the future site of 
 Mem}this,and the liunters were immediately sent out to scour 
 the woods for game. All of them returned in good time 
 except otie I'ierre Prudhomme. Fearing that he had been 
 seized l;y some prowling band of tlie Chickasaws, who fre- 
 quented that region. La Salle put several Frenchmen ai.d 
 Iridiuns on his trail, and, in the meantime, threw up an in- 
 trenchment and stockade. After nine days of active searcii 
 Prudhomnu', who had lost his way in the forest, was found 
 and brought into camp in a famished condition. To con- 
 sole the unfortunate hunter, La Salle named tiie newly built 
 fort ibr him, and left him with a few others in charge of it. 
 
 Again the explorers embarked; and with every day of 
 their adventurous progress, the mystery of tliis unknown 
 regioti was more and more unveiled. The hazy sunlight, 
 the mild and balmy air, the tender foliage, the ojtening 
 flowers, the cheery notes of the birds, all betokened the 
 revival of Nature, and that tliey had entered the realms of 
 spring.* 
 
 On the I'ith of March, having advanced some forty 
 leagues, and passed the village of the Mitchigameas, they 
 were astonished to hear on their right the btrating of In- 
 tliuri (lrun\s and war cries, enninating from a war-danee at 
 a village of tlie Akansas (Arkansas). Apprehenditig an 
 allack, Ltt Salle, under cover of a fog, immediately with- 
 
 • i> 
 
 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 conducte<l to the 
 temple near by, which was oval-shape<l and somewhat 
 larger than the royal residence. Within it were deposited 
 the boin'S of defunct chiefs, and in the middle stood an 
 altar, at the foot of which a tire was kept burning day and 
 night by two old prefres, or priests, wl\o were the directors 
 of their worsliip. The top of the temple was surmounted 
 I>y 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 <lown, when he landed at a 
 small village of the Tangibaos, which had been recently 
 pillaged, and contained (iead bodies. 
 
 At length, on the Hth of April, after nearly two months 
 of navigation, the explorers arrived at a point where the 
 river divides itself into three principal channels or [lasses, 
 which branch oft* to the Gul*^'. They landed and encamped 
 on the bank of the most westerly. The next day (the 7th), 
 La Sidle divided his company into three bands, to go and 
 explore the difterent passes. IFc himself took the south- 
 wentern, Tonty and Membre the middle one, and D'Autray f 
 the eastern. As the adventurotis leader now drifted <lown 
 the narrow (ihannel, between low alluvial banks, "the 
 brackish water gradually changed to brine, and the breeze 
 jrrew fresh with the salt breath of the sea." Then, lo ! the 
 broad, heaving bosom of the great Gulf itself opened to 
 his enraptured gaze, with its light-green waves foaming 
 and breaking upon the marshy shore; "without a sail, with- 
 out a sign of human life." 
 
 The three passes or outlets of the river were found to 
 be large and deep, and cpiite salt two leagu(^s below their 
 lieitd. With an astrolabe, whitdi La Salle always carried 
 
 *An ordinary' day'fi Huil witli tlie IndiaiiH vvaH I'roiii ton to twelve? 
 
 f Tlje Hieur D'Autray wuh a «on of M. Bourdon dWutray, then lately 
 'leccMWiMl, l)iit formerly j)ro<!urator nenoral of Ciuebeo. 
 
142 
 
 La Salle's Exploits Continued. 
 
 with him, he took t^ie latitude of the mouth, and ascertained 
 it to be about 28° 30' north, but kept this to himself. The 
 Mississippi was roughly estimated by the explorers at ei,t^ht 
 hundred leagues in length, and it was reckoned that they 
 had traveled at least three hundred and fifty French leagues 
 from the confluence of the Illinois, which was considerably 
 less than the actual distance by tlie river. After coasting the 
 spongy and reed-fringed beach for a short distance, La Salle 
 retraced his course to his camp ; and on the 8th the reunited 
 party mounted to a spot of dry ground on the bank of the 
 main river. Here, on the 9th of April, with all possible 
 solemnity, they performed the ceremony of taking »posses- 
 . sion of the country. A column had been j)repared, to wliicli 
 was affixed the arms of France, with this inscription : 
 ^^ Louis Lr Grand., Roi de France et de Navarre, regne; Lc 
 Neuvicme Avril, 1682." . 
 
 The Frenclmien were all mustered under arms, and, 
 while tne New England Indians of the party looked on in 
 wondering silence, the former, led by Father Zenol)e, 
 chanted the Te Deicm, the Lxaudiat, and other hymns in 
 praise to God for their great discovery. Then, amid dis- 
 charges of musketry and shouts of Vir>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- 
 <li'ed men, who were to be armed and maintaiiuMl at the 
 
 *H(.'i)»ii(>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 
 gai<iener to the ('avaliers. He proved a trusty and useful 
 ofti('(>r, 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. Ami<l the hurry aud bustle of 
 the embarkation. La Salle did not forget to write to his 
 aged mother a farewell letter, which has been preserved 
 among the family papers of the Cavcliers. 
 
 All things having been provided necessarv for the vov- 
 age, the little fleet, bearing about two hundred aud eighty 
 persons, including the crows of the vessels, sailed from 
 Kochelle on the 24th of July, 1684. When two or tljree days 
 out, the bowsprit of the frigate Joly broke, which compelled 
 Capt. Beaujeu to return to the portof Chef deBois to procure 
 a new one. This accomplished, the fleet again put to sea 
 on the first day of August, steering to the south, southwest. 
 After weathering the Island of Madeira, they entered the 
 region of the trade winds, and encountered two separate 
 storms, the second of which dispersed the vessels. The Joly, 
 in which La S'llle himself had taken passage, being a faster 
 sailer than the others, reached Petit Goave, ou the west coast 
 of St. Domingo, on the 27th of Se[»tember, and was soon after 
 joined by the Aimable aud the Belle. The St. Francois, laden 
 with provisions, ammunitiou, and tools for the new colony, 
 lagged behind, and put in at JN)rt de l*aix, whence she 
 sailed to join the rest of the fleet; but during the night, 
 while her ca{)tain and crew tliought themselves safe, they 
 were surin'ised by two Spanish juraguas, which captured 
 the ketch and lier cargo. The loss of tliis vessel was prima- 
 rily due to the negligence of Beaujeu, who had refused to 
 
Sea Voyage to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 15T 
 
 stop at Port de Paix, although requested to do so by La 
 Salle. This was the first of the series of disasters tliat lefell 
 the expedition. It depressed the hopes of the colonists and 
 (distressed the mind of La 8alle, who, shortly before his ar- 
 rival in St. Doniin^^o, had been seized by a violent fever, 
 which afterward affected his brain, and brought him to the 
 verge of the grave'. ' • ' 
 
 Owing to the continued illness of La Salle and other 
 causes, the remaining vessels of his expedition were de- 
 tained at the port of Petit Goave, for over six weeks. 
 During this time they laid in fresh provisions, a store of 
 Indian corn, and all kinds of domestic fowls to stock the 
 new colony. The French governor-general of the Isles,, 
 and the governor and intendant of St. Domingo, favored 
 the enterprise in every way, and endeavored to restore a 
 good understanding between La Salle and Beaujeu, so 
 necessary to the success of the undertaking. Meanwliile, 
 the soldiers and most of the crews plunged into every kind 
 of debauchery and intemperance, so common in the West 
 Indies, and thus contracted various diseases, of which some 
 died in the island, and others never recovered. 
 
 At length, on the 25th of Novend)er, the s<jundron, 
 now consisting of three vessels, weighed anchor and again 
 put to sea. La Salle and his trustiest followers sailing in the 
 store-ship Ainniblc. They pursued their way }»ast the Cay- 
 man Isles, touched at the Isle of Pines to take in water, 
 and thence sailed to Cape San Antonio at the western ex- 
 troniity of Cuba, where they anchored. Attracted by the 
 heauty of the spot, the French landed and rested here for 
 two days, and approi)riated to tlieir use some wine which 
 had been left by the S])aniards. For fear uf injury by 
 northerly winds, said to l)e j)revalont at the entrance to the 
 Gult of Mexico, on ai)i>roaching 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<pii8hed until the vast and in- 
 definitely defined territory of Louisiana was ceded to the 
 ojovcrnment of the United States. 
 
 The scenery environing Fort St. Louis was not without 
 its charms, and served in a measure to relieve that feeling 
 of despondency arising in the minds of the colonists from 
 their isolatif»n and misfortunes. At the foot of the stock- 
 ado inclosure flowed the river, swarming with fish and 
 water-fowl, and beyond that the ])ay, bordered by reedy 
 marshes, stretched away to the south-east; while to the 
 south-west lay two large ponds, with a forest in the dis- 
 tance. To the north and west rolled a sea of grassy prairie, 
 dotted at certain seasons with grazing buflalo and wild goats, 
 
 * 8ee Tie Clercq'e (Father Chretien) "First E8tal)li8hment of the 
 Faith in New France" (Vol. II), for an account of La Salle's attempt to 
 reach tlie Mississippi by sea, and of the establishment of a French col- 
 ony at St. Louis or Matagorda Bay. It is, in some respects, the best coa- 
 temj)oraneou8 narrative extant of that historical voyage. The discreet 
 father only hints at the unfurtun".i.e disagreement between La Halle and 
 Beaujeu, but this matter is set forth in detail by Joutel and others. 
 
 11 ... .ii 
 
162 
 
 Last Great Enterprise of La Salle. 
 
 ^m 
 M 
 
 and decked with the beautiful wild flower« for which Texas 
 is still remarkable. It was, in truth, as si act.' demonstrated, 
 a goodly land for the habitation of civilized man. But the 
 degraded aborigines, with such uncouth nanu s as Guoaquis, 
 Guinets, Bahamos, and Quealomouches, who then roamed 
 the coast of this southern country, had no thought of cul- 
 tivating the soil, or of any other useful labor, beyond the 
 requirements of a most meager subsistence. 
 
 Having provided as well as he could for the comfort 
 and safety of his people, La Salle now prepared to renew his 
 search for the hidden river. But lie tirst found it necessary 
 to make open war on the neighboring tribes of Indians, 
 whose repeated acts of hostility gave him no peace; and lie 
 accordingly set out for this purpose on the 13th of October, 
 with sixty soldiers, wearing wooden corslets to protect 
 them against the arrows of the savages. In different en- 
 gagements with them he killed some, wounded others, and 
 put others still to Hight. The execution thus done among 
 the natives inspired them with terror, and rendered the 
 colony somewdiat more secure than before. 
 
 About the 31st of October, 1685, putting doutel in com- 
 mand at the fort, with provisions for several months. La Salle 
 and his brother, with some fifty well-armed men, started os- 
 tensibly to seek the mouth of the Mississippi. The accounts 
 we have of this long and rambling journey are rather 
 vague and contradictory. The leader himself was reticent 
 as to his plans and purposes, and the story told by the elder 
 Cavelier is not very intelligible. They first passed eastward 
 along the northern shore of the bay, and examined the out- 
 lets of the rivers emptying into it, none of which seemed 
 large enough to form an arm of the Mississippi. La Salle 
 thence turned northward and westward and traveled the 
 country a long distance, in the hope, it would seem, 
 of reaching the borders of Mexico. At length, on the 
 13th of February, 1686, having come to a large river, 
 he built a small fort on its banks, in which he left a 
 part of his men, and with the others continued to explore 
 the country in the direction of Mexico. Still advancing, 
 he visited several villages and tribes, who treated him 
 
His Wanderings in Texas. 
 
 168 
 
 kindly, and from whom he gained considerable information 
 in regard to the Spaniards, who were generally hated by 
 the Indians in Texas. Under other circumstances, it would 
 have been no very difficult task to have gathered an army 
 of native warriors and led them across the Rio del Norte ; 
 but La Salle was without horses and a sufficiency of men 
 to prosecute his contemplated invasion of Xew Biscay.* 
 He was away on this expedition longer tlian he had expected, 
 owing to delays in rafting over so many rivers, and tlie ne- 
 cessit}', wherever he went into camp, of throwing up in- 
 trenchments to guard against Indian assaults. Retracing 
 their tortuous course, the leader and his followers reached 
 Fort St. Louis in the latter part of Marcli, tattered, weather- 
 beaten, and worn out by long marchings and vigils, but 
 bringing with them a welcome supply of fresh meat for the 
 other colonists. 
 
 Shortly before this the Belle, the only remaining vessel 
 of the colony, was lost on the farther side of the ba}', though 
 it was some weeks before particulars of the accident were 
 received at the fort. Through a lack of precaution on the 
 part of those in charge of her, she was wrecked with all her 
 stores, consisting of thirty-six barrels of flour, a quantity of 
 powder, some tools, and a lot of the clothing and personal 
 eft'ects belonging to La Salle. The priest Chefdeville, the 
 pilot, and four of the crew escaped with difficulty in a 
 canoe, but managed to save some of the papers and luggage 
 of their chief. Meantime, La Salle himself fell seriously ill, 
 the fatigues of his great journey, and the tidings of this- 
 last misfortune, having overcome his ph^'sical strength. 
 " In truth (says the priest Cavelier, in his lielation du Voy- 
 age)^ after the loss of the vessel, which deprived us of our 
 only means of returning to France, we had no resource but 
 in the Arm guidance of my brother, whose death each of us 
 would have regarded as his own." So long as the little 
 frigate remained, La Salle had the means of following 
 along the coast and finding the mouth of the Mississippi, 
 
 *AccordiDg to Mr. Shea, La Salle was lured by Penaloao, a renegade 
 Spanish governor of New Mexico, to undertake the conquest of the rich 
 mines in northern Mexico. 
 
164 
 
 Last Great Enterprise of La Salic. 
 
 and he might also have sailed to St. Domingo and ob- 
 tained succor for his colony. But now, all his plans heing 
 disconcerted and hiB attairs brought to a crisis, he resolved 
 to try and reach Canada by land. 
 
 This resolution was the result of dire necessity, and he 
 must have anticipated the difficulties and hazards likely 
 to attend its execution. Preparations were speedily n.Mlo 
 for the journey ; and on April 22, 1686. after celebrating tlio 
 divine mysteries in the little chapel. La Salle issued from 
 the gate of the fort, accompanied by his brother, his nephew 
 Mjoranget, the friar Douay, the younger Duhaut, a German 
 from Wittemburg named Hiens,* and others to the number 
 of twenty in all. They traveled on foot, each man carrying 
 his pack and weapons on his shoulders, and shaped their 
 sreneral course to the no>"th-east. Crossing the Colorado on 
 a raft, they journeyed through a pleasant country of altei- 
 nate prairie and woodland, decked with wild flowers, and 
 clothed in the fresh green liver}- of spring. After passing 
 the Brazos and Trinity, and other smaller rivers, they 
 reached the habitations of the Cenis Indians (then a power- 
 ful tribe, but now long since extinct), where they experi- 
 enced a friendly reception. Here the travelers were sur- 
 prised to see saddles, bridles, clothing, and various other 
 articles of Spanish manufacture, which these Indians had 
 obtained from their allies, tlie Comanches, who inhabited 
 the country bordering New Mexico. After quitting the 
 Cenis village, La Salle and his company advanced eastNvard 
 as far as the river Neches,t in the vicinity of which both 
 himself and nephew were attacked l)y malarial fever. This 
 mishap caused a delay of some two months, and proved 
 fatal to the success of the expedition. Wlien the sick leader 
 was sufficiently convalescent to travel, he found tliat his am- 
 munition was well nigh spent, and that four of his men had 
 
 * Iliens wn8 un ox-bucenneor, who liail joined La 8all«'H expedition 
 at I'"tit (ioave, In St. Doniiiigo. 
 
 tTlie name Tt'jas or Texas wan HrHt applied (by the Spaniards) iisa 
 loeal designation to a spot on the river Neelies, in the Cenis territory, 
 whence it extended to the whole country. — Yoakaiu's History of Texa**, 
 p. 62. 
 
His Journey to the Cenis Villaf/es. 
 
 165 
 
 deserted to the Assonis Iiidians. Under these untoward 
 circumstances, no better alternative presented itself than 
 to return to Fort St. Louis. Their return march was 
 greatly facilitated by the use of some horses, which La 
 Salle had bouglitof the Cenis, and they met with no serious 
 accident on the way, excepting the loss of one of their men, 
 who was seized by an alligator while attempting to cross a 
 largo river, supposed to Ir've been the Colorado. 
 
 The temporary excitement produced in the little band 
 of colonists by the return of their chief soon gave way to 
 a feeling of dejection akin to despair, and I^a Salle had a 
 Lard task to sustain their droo[)ing spirits. But the jour- 
 ney to Canada, by way of the Illinois, was their only hope; 
 and the chief, after a brief rest, prepared to renew the at- 
 tempt. In the month of November, while thus occupied, he 
 was again taken sick with a Hux, which prostrated him for 
 four or five weeks. At the end of this time he was once 
 more able tt; travel, and all hands at the fort were busied in 
 making from their scanty stores an outfit for his traveling 
 party. Christmas day again came, and was solemnly ob- 
 served. " There was a midiiight mass in the chapel, where 
 Menibre, Douay, Cj'velie:, and their ]»riestly brethren, stood. 
 in vestments stru. i^ely contrasting with the rude temple 
 and ruder garb of the w<>rshi})ers. And as Membre ele- 
 vated the consecrated wafer, and the lamps burned diiu 
 through the clouds of incense, the kneeling group drew 
 from the daily miracle such consolation as true Catholics 
 alone can know." * 
 
 It was on the morning of the 7th of .lanuary, 1G87, 
 that La Salle mustered his small comi»any of adventurers 
 for this his last journey. The five horses purvhased from 
 the Cenis Indians were brought into the inclosed area of the 
 fort, and loaded for the march. Assembled bore was the 
 jKior renuumt of tlie ct)louy — those who were to go, and 
 those who were to stay behind. The latter numbered some- 
 thing over twenty {>ersoiis. There was the Sieur Barbier, 
 who was to eoninumd in ]»' ce of .loutel ; the Manpiis 
 
 «p 
 
 Parknian's Lu fc>alle nud the Ure-it W.-et, p. 373. 
 
166 
 
 Last Great Enterprise of La Salle. 
 
 de Sablonniere, a dissolute young nobleman; the two friars, 
 Membre and Le Clercq, and the young priest Chefdeville ; 
 also a surgeon, some few soldiers and laborers, seven \\ omen 
 and girls, and a few children — all of whom were "doomed 
 in this deadly exile to wait the issues of the journey, and 
 the possible arrival of a tardy succor." La Salle had pre- 
 viously caused an earthwork to be thrown up around the 
 habitations of the colonists adjoining the fort, and had 
 taken other precautions for their safety. He now made 
 them a farewell address, full of touching pathos, and 
 delivered with that engaging air which this uidiappy man 
 sometimes assumed, and which moved them all to tears. 
 Then followed the painful parting scene. " We separated 
 from each other," says Joutel, "in a manner so tender and 
 80 sad, that it seemed we all had the presentiment that we 
 should never meet again." * At length, equipped and armed 
 for the journey, the adventurers tiled from tho gate, crossed 
 the little river La Vache, and held their slow march over 
 the prairie to the north-east, "till intervening woods shut 
 Fort St. Louis forever from their sight." 
 
 La Salle's traveling party was made up of some good 
 and several bad men, and was perhaps not wholly of \m 
 own selection. It comprised his brother and their two 
 i\ phews, Moranget, and the boy Cavelier, now aged about 
 <^eventeen; the friar, Anastase Douay; the trusty soldier, 
 Joutel ; Duhaut, a man of reputed respectable birth and 
 education; Liotot, the surgeon of the company; Iliens, the 
 German and ex-buceanoer ; the Sieur de Marie; Teissier, a 
 pil(^t ; L'Archeveque, a servant of Duhaut, and a few 
 others, numbering in all seventeen. Besides these, there 
 was Nika, La Salle's Shavvanoe hunter, who, together with 
 an(^t.her Indian, " had twice crossed the oc<'an with hini, 
 and still followed his fortunes with an admiring though 
 undemonstrative tidelity," f 
 
 I'liVHuing the same route as before, the travelers iid- 
 vanced over a level country of grassy prairies and wooded 
 
 ♦Joutel's Journal Historiquo. 
 
 t Purknian's iM Halle and tlio Great Woat, j). 397. 
 
Murder qf his Nephew^ Moranget. 
 
 167 
 
 rivor bottoms, meeting on tlie way a war party of the 
 Bahamos, and several other bands of Indians, more or less 
 friendly. They successively crossed the Colorado and the 
 Brazos in a portable canoe covered with bullocks' hides, and, 
 after passing several other smaller streanis, encamped neU^ 
 a western tributary of the Trinity, on the 15th of March. 
 
 La Salle was now in the vicinity of some corn and 
 beans, which he had concealed in a pit during his former 
 expedition, and he sent seven of his men to tind it. They 
 were Duhaut, Liotot, Ilieiis, Teissier, L'Arch(!ve(pie, Nika, 
 the Indian hunter, and S.^get, a servant of the chief. They 
 found and opened the cadie, but its contentH were unHt for 
 use. In returning, however, they killed two butialoes, and 
 sent Saget back to the main camp tor liorsei-! to bring in 
 the meat. The next <li»y La Halle (U'llered Moranget and 
 Be Marie to go with his sorvaut sin<l the horses to the 
 liunters' camp. Pro^'octling on their cn-and, the latter 
 found the carcasses of the buffaloes cu^ up and placed upon 
 a 8cafF(>ld to dry. In accordance with a custom among 
 hunters, Duhaut and his companions had put aside the 
 nianvw bones and other choice bits of the game for their 
 own jse. Seeing this, the hot-headed Moranget, wjiose 
 •juarrelsome tem})er had before involved him in difHculties, 
 lell into a th^o and abused and menaced I)uhaut and his 
 friends, and ended by appropriating both the snu)ked meat 
 a'ld the bone, to himself. This outburst of passion seems 
 to have kiiulled into an avenging tiamc an old grudge 
 which Duhaut had cherirtlM'/J toward Moranget, as well as 
 his uncle. 
 
 Duhaut thereupon withdrew, and privately conspired 
 with Liotot, Hiens, and others of their party, U[)on a bloody 
 revenge. Waiting until night, when the Sieur Moranget, 
 their principal victim, after taking his turn at watch, had 
 fallen asleep, the consj)irators silently approached the spot 
 where he la^% and while the others stood by with their guns 
 cocked, Liotot brai?ied him with an ax. Nika, the Indian, 
 and Saget, La Salle't* fuutman, were dispatched in the same 
 niamier. The last two died without a struggle, but it ap- 
 pears to have been othtjrwise with Moranget. The sa(!riiico 
 
168 
 
 Last Great Enterprise of La Salle. 
 
 of the unoft'ending Nika and Saget shows the deep-seated 
 villany of the assassins ; hut it was no douht made in order 
 to cut off all communication with the chief, whom they 
 had singled out as their next and main victim. And so 
 it often happens that the commission of one bloody crime 
 leads on to another, and still another, until at last the per- 
 petrator expiates his offenses with his own life. 
 
 Meanwhile, La Salle himself was at the main camp, 
 six miles or more away, impatiently waiting the return of 
 his nephew and part3\ Two days were thus passed in 
 painful suspense, when, on the morning of the 19th of 
 March, he started out in search of his missing relative and 
 servant, accompanied only by Father Douay and an Indian 
 guide. Joutel, whom he had at first intended to take with 
 him, was left in charge of the camp, with instructions to 
 keep a strict watch ; for it seems that La Salle, always 
 more or less suspicious, had observed the uiutinous spirit 
 of some of his men. 
 
 "All the way," writes Father Pouay, " he conversed 
 with me of matters of piety, grace, and predestination; ex- 
 patiating o'. ; ais obligations to God for having saved him 
 f'^om so many dangers during the last twenty years that he 
 had traversed America. . . . Suddenly, I saw him 
 plunged into a deep melancholy, for which he himself could 
 not account; he was so troubled that I did not know him 
 any longer; (and) as this state was far from being natural 
 to him, I roused him from iiis lethargy. Two leagues after, 
 we found the bloody cravat of his lackey ; he perceived two 
 eagles flying over his head, and at the same time discovered 
 some of his peo[»le on the edge of the river, which he ap- 
 proached, asking for his nephew. They answered in broken 
 words, sliowing us where we &lu)uld find him. We pro- 
 ceeded some stejis along the bank to the fatal spot, where 
 two of these murderers were hidden in the grass, one on 
 each side with guns cocked; one missed Monsieur de la 
 Salle, the other firing at the same time shot him in the 
 head ; he died an hour after, on the 9th of March, 1G87. 
 
 " I expected the sauic fate, but this danger did not oc- 
 cupy n»y thoughts ) ■ ■ : '■ "at'Hl with grief at so cruel a spec- 
 
His Assassination.- 
 
 -km 
 
 t^cle, I saw him fall a step from me, with his face all full of 
 blood ; I watered it with my tears, exhorting him to the 
 best of my power to die well. He had confessed and ful- 
 filled his devotion just before we started ; he had still time 
 to recapitulate a part of his life, and I gave him absolution. 
 . . . Meanwhile his murderers, as much alarmed as I, 
 began to strike their breasts and detest their blindness. I 
 could not leave the spot where he had expired without hav- 
 ing buried him, as well as I could, after which I raised a 
 cross over his grave."* 
 
 Such is the simple and pathetic narrative of the only 
 eye-witness, who has given us an account of La Salle's un- 
 happy death. So much of this narration as relates to the 
 alleged ma'iifestatlon of remorse by his murderers, to the 
 burial of his body and the erection of a cross over it, is ex- 
 pressly contradicted by Joutel, and is not sustained by any 
 writing of the elder Cavelier. Indeed, it is affirmed that 
 Douay told a different story at the time ; and it would seem 
 that he invented these fictions to soften the atrocity of the 
 crime itself, as also to sup])ort his own character as a priest 
 and num of resolution. As 8Up])lementary to the above, 
 we here give M. Joutel's account of the catastrophe : 
 
 " He (La Salle) seemed to have some presage of his 
 misfortune, iiicpiiring of some whether the Sieurs Liotot, 
 Hiens, and l)uhaut had not expressed some discontent. 
 And not hearijig any thing of it, he could not forbear set- 
 ting out the 20tli, with Father Aiuistasius (Douay) and an 
 Indian, leaving me the comnuind in his absence, and charg- 
 ing me to go the rounds about our camp, to prevent being 
 surprised, ami to make a smoke for him to direct his way 
 in case of need. When he came near the dwelling (camp) 
 of the murderers, looking out sharp to discover something, 
 he observed eagles fiuttering about a sjiot not far from them, 
 which made him believe they hid found some carrion, and 
 he fired a shot, which was the signal of his death and for- 
 warded it. 
 
 • Soe Douay's Narrative, in yheas Discov. and Explo. of the Miss. 
 Val., pp. 2ia-U. 
 
170 
 
 Last G-reat Enterprise of La Salic. 
 
 "The conspirators, hearing the shot, concluded it was 
 M. de la Salle, w o was come to seek them. They made 
 ready their arms, >nd provided to surprise him. Duhaut 
 passed the river, with Larcheveque. The first of them spy- 
 ing M. de la Salle at a distance, as he was coming toward 
 them, advanced and hid themselves among the high weeds, 
 to wait liis passing by; so that M. de la Salle, suspecting 
 nothing, and having not so much as charged his piece again, 
 saw the aforesaid Larcheveque at a good distance from him, 
 and immediately asked for his nephew, Moranget, to which 
 Larcheveque answered that he was along the river. At the 
 same time the traitor, Duhaut, fired his piece and shot M. 
 de la Salle through the head, so that he dropped down dead 
 on the spot, without speaking one word, . . . This is 
 the exact relation of that murder, as it was presently after 
 told me by Father Anastasius. 
 
 " The shot which had killed M. de la Salle was also 
 a signal of the murder to the (other) assassins for them to 
 draw near. They all repaired to the place where the 
 wretched dead corpse lay, which they barbarously stripped 
 to the shirt, and vented their malice in vile and opprobri- 
 ous language. The surgeon, Liotot,* said several times, in 
 scorn and derision : ' There thou liest, great bashaw ! 
 There thou liest!' In conclusion, they dragged it naked 
 among the bushes, and left it exposed to the ravenous 
 wild beasts."f 
 
 The precise locality of this gloomy tragedy, or suc- 
 cession of tragedies, can not now be determined. It is said 
 (correctly, we think) to have occurred on a small tributary 
 of the Trinity, since it was only about three days slow jour- 
 ney from thence to the nuiin trunk of that river. But Mr. 
 Sparks, in his Life of Lii Salle, s.iys, ^' the place was proba- 
 bly on one of tiie streams flowinf^^ into the Brazos from the 
 
 * Arcording to Tonty's Ilolation, Liotot's grievance ngainst La Sallo 
 was, that in the journey along the sea-coast, lie had compelled the 
 brother of Liotot, who could not keep up, to return to the cnmp, and 
 that in returning alone he was killed by the savages; but this is not 
 t'onflrmed by Joutel. 
 
 tSee Joutel's Journal, printed in the Hist. Coil's of La., edited by 
 B. F. French, N. Y., 1840, Part L, pp. 143, 144. 
 
His Character. 
 
 Ill 
 
 «a8t, — -perhaps forty or fifty miles nortli of tlie present 
 town of Washington, Texas." 
 
 Thus violently ended, at the age of forty-three years 
 und four months, the extraordinary career of Robert Cave- 
 lier, Sieur de la Salle ; a man celebrated alike for his 
 daring and discoveries, his merits and misfortunes. We 
 <!Ould have wished that his life had been longer spared, so 
 that he might have found means to extricate the remnant 
 of his Texan colony from impending destruction. The 
 character of La Salle has been drawn by many diflrerent 
 pens, yet, in. general, they have found it easier to sum up 
 his defects and failures than to set in a proper light his 
 transcendent virtues. His reputation as a successful ex- 
 plorer and colonizer would probably have stood higher 
 with his contemporaries and posterity, if he had never em- 
 barked from France on his last expedition to the Mis- 
 sissippi ; but then his name would be divested of much 
 of that dramatic and tragic interest with which it is en- 
 shrouded. 
 
 Hennepin, in the preface to liis '^Nevv Discovery," 
 written chiefly tor Dutch and English readers, uses this harsh 
 language in regard to La Salle's melanchcjly fate : " God 
 knows that I am sorry for ids inifortunate death ; but the 
 Judgments of the Almighty are just, for tliat gentleman 
 wuH kiHed by one of bis own men, who wept; at hist seiisi- 
 blii I hilt hn (»x|i(iHed tlicin to visible dangers without any 
 necessity, and for his private design." 
 
 \gain, in his " Nouveau Voyage," or contiiiuatio:i of 
 his "New Discovery,"* he writes in a different strain, as 
 follows: "Thus fell the Sieur iiobert Cavelier de la Salle, 
 a man of considerable merit, constant in adversities, fear- 
 less, generous, courteous, ingenious, and cai)able of every- 
 tliing. He labored for twenty years together to civilize 
 the savage humors of a great number of barbarous people 
 among whom he traveled, and had the ill-hap t" be mas 
 sacred by his own servants, whom he had enriched, lie 
 died in the vigor of his age, in tlie midtldJe of his coui'se, 
 
 •English edition. London, mm, \>. 'M. 
 
:_,. ; ^ 1 ^J , 
 
 172 
 
 hast Great Enterprise of La Salle. 
 
 before he could execute the design he had formed on New 
 Mexico." Elsewhere, in the same work, Hennepin further 
 Stays : " La Salle was a person qualified for the greatest un- 
 dertakings, and may he justly ranked amongst the most 
 famous travelers that ever were." 
 
 Henri Joutel, the fullest and most reliable historian of 
 La Salle's Texas expedition, has drawn the character of his 
 commander in these measured words : 
 
 " He had a capacity and talent to make his enterprises 
 successful; his constancy and courage, and extraordinary 
 knowledge in the arts and sciences, which rendered him fit 
 for anything, together with an indefatigable habit of body, 
 which made him surmount all difliculties, would have pro- 
 cured a glorious issue to his undertaking, had not all these 
 excellent qualities been counterbalanced by too haughty a 
 behavior, whicn sometimes made him insupportable, and 
 by a rigidness to those under him, which at last drew on 
 him their implacable hatred, and was the occasion of his 
 death.* 
 
 This careful Cbtimate seems just and impartial, though 
 Joutel did not know La Salle at his best, but rather when 
 liis constitution was broken by disease, and iiis temper 
 soured by misfortunes. Moreover, he lived too near him to 
 fully appreciate the magnitude and significance of his serv- 
 ices as a pioneer of civilization in Ncrth America. From 
 the charge of harshness antl tyranny toward his men. La 
 Salle, in a letter written to a business correspondent some 
 five years before his death, thus defends himself: 
 
 '' Tiie facility f :un said to want is out of place with tills 
 people, H'iio are libertines for the most part; and to Indulge 
 them means to tolerate blasphemy, drunkenness, lewclness, 
 and license, incompatible with any kind of order. It will 
 not be found thai I have, in any case whatever, treated any 
 man harshly, except for l)|p8phemicH and other such crimes 
 openly committed. ... I urn a Christiiin, and do not 
 want to bear the burden of their crimes." 
 
 ♦.Toutel's Jimvmil IJkloiUjne. 
 
His Charader. 
 
 173 
 
 Although proud, shy, cold, and austere in his general 
 deportment, La Salle was not incapable of inspiring strong 
 attachments among those to whom he gave his confidence, 
 and who had the penetration to discern the lofty bearing of 
 his genius. He required every sacrifice at the hands of the 
 men in his employ, but he himself led the way in every 
 difficulty and every danger. He was something of an en- 
 thusiast, and about his various schemes and enterprises 
 there was much that appeared visionary and impracticable ; 
 yet such was his persevering energy that he succeode<l in 
 many things where others would have faltered and failed, 
 and his failure to found a colony at the outlet of the Mis- 
 sissippi was largely due to circumstances beyond his per- 
 sonal control. 
 
 In no one [)articular was his superiority over contem- 
 porary explorers more manifest than in his intercourse with 
 the aborigines of the country, whom he every-where made 
 subservient to his designs. He was greatly respected by 
 the Indians throughout the Mississippi Valley. This was 
 attributable not only to his liberal and conciliatory policy 
 in dealing with them, but to his grave and taciturn man- 
 ner, which comported well with their own ideas of dignity 
 and decorum. It is worthy of remark, in passing, that he 
 nearly always traveled with a train of ecclesiastics, showing 
 u preference for the RecoUets. They went not merely as 
 missionaries to convert the heathen, »/ut to assist him in his 
 enterprises and wriln up liis doings, and were among his 
 most efficient and faithful coadjutors. He was not a pru- 
 ihint or successful business man ; liis transactions as an In- 
 dian trader and fur-dealer, though on a large scale, were 
 i|Bnt|)|y nllen(le<( with loss, and he died hopelessly Insol- 
 veni. His ambition was fume — liuue um a (Ijsi'ovcrer and 
 uxplorer of new and uid<nown lands. For the gratification 
 of IliJH [liiHHiiiii III) HiH'cificed Ins means, his comfort, lils 
 health, and finally life itself. His ])laiis were too extensive 
 and complex for Ills reHoiiiccH <»r »it'dil,and even liis iiii- 
 oonimon energy and Inrtilmb could not always uope with 
 Hie enmities and Jealoiisies thai '.^Mh' ciiiislHiitly arrny«?tl 
 ligftilWt him. KevertheleBS, he stands lu the hirtlory of tlio 
 
174 
 
 Last Great Enterprise of La Salle. 
 
 period as the foremost pioneer in North America. More- 
 over, he was the first chartered owner and occupant of Illi- 
 nois, and the first to establish a European settlement on 
 her soil. 
 
 Physically as well as intellectually, La Salle seemed 
 born to command. He was of a tall and martial figure, 
 and appears to have inherited a vigorous constitution, 
 which, however, was considerably impaired by sickness 
 and hardships in his later years. His picture represents 
 him with a fine oval face, and a high open fort-head. From 
 his Norman lineage he derived his pluck and tenacity of 
 purpose, qualities that nearly allied him to the ruhng class 
 of England. He was never married, and left no offspring 
 to perpetuate his name and fame. He held his lease of life 
 by the same fragile thread as the meanest camp-follower in 
 his train. He died a martyr to his own ambition and the 
 glory of France. He was one of those great actors on the 
 stage of our earlier continental history, about whom men 
 write and converse while he sleeps the sleep that knows no 
 waking. It has been felicitously observed of him, that " he 
 was as brave as the bravest, as pure as the purest, and as 
 unfortunate as the most unfortunate." 
 
 In MasRon's "Abridgment of Guizot's History of France," p. 45)0,. 
 is the foil Mwing condensed yet graphic, recital of La Salle's achieve- 
 ments: " La Salie, in his intrepid expeditions, discovered the Ohio and 
 Illinois, navigated the great lakes, crossed (descended) the Mississippi, 
 which the Jesuits had been the first to reach, and pushed on as far as 
 Texas. Constructing forts in the midst of ravage districts, taking pos- 
 session of Louisiana in the name of Louis XIV., abandoned by (some 
 of) liis comrades, and losing the most faithful of them by death, attacked 
 by savages, betrayed by his own men, thwarted in his prospects by his 
 enemies, this indefatigable man fell at last beneath the blows of a few 
 mutineers in 1687, just as he was trying to get back to New France. He 
 left the field open after him to innumerable travelers (and adventurers) 
 of every nation and tongue, who were one day to leave their mark on 
 those measureless tracts. It is the glory and misfortune of France to 
 always lead the van in the march of ci.iiization, without having the 
 wit to profit by the discoveries and the sagacious boldness of her chil- 
 dren." 
 
The Travelers Cross the Trinity. 
 
 175. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1687-1689. 
 SURVIVORS OF LA SALLE's TEXAN COLONY. 
 
 The surviving members of La Salle's traveling party^ 
 who were not in sympathy with his murder, refrained from 
 openly expressing their indignation through fear of their 
 own lives, and uneasilv awaited the issue of events. Mean- 
 while, Duhaiit and Liotot seized upon everything in the 
 camp belonging to the late commander, and arrogated to 
 themselves the command in his stead. 
 
 On the 20th of March, the day following the catastro- 
 phe, the combined party broke camp and recommenced 
 their journey, as if anxious to get away from the gloomy 
 locality. Impeded in their advance by heavy rains they 
 were three days in reaching the main stream of the Trinity, 
 which they crossed in a boat made of raw hides, swimming 
 their horses, ('ontinuing their slow march through the 
 timbered valley to the vicinity of another and smaller 
 ri">'er,* the travelers halted and held a council in regard to 
 their future movements. Being short of provisions, it was 
 decided that Li w tot, Hiens, Teissier, and Joutel should pro- 
 ceed to the villages of the Cenis Indians, about ten leagues 
 away to the north-east, and there barter for a supply of maize 
 and beans. Joutel was thus assigned to the companionship 
 of three villains whom he detested, and at the same time 
 suspected of contriving an opportunity to take his life, be- 
 cause of his fidelity to their late commander. But having 
 no choice in the matter, he dissembled his fears and set off 
 with his sinister associates. A day's ride brought them to 
 the nearest Cenis village, which consisted of a scattered 
 group of large, grass-thatched lodges, resembling huge hay 
 ricks. The Frenchmen were received with much ceremony 
 
 * Probably an eastern aim of the Trinity. 
 
im 
 
 %. 
 
 
 %.«#, 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 
 
 L'c:'- 
 
 ^^, 
 
 y. 
 
 C/j 
 
 ¥/. 
 
 t 
 
 l.vy |5o * 
 
 M iin 
 
 U£ 1^ |ii||2.2 
 2.0 
 
 1.8 
 
 I.I 
 
 1.25 
 
 u 
 
 tut 
 
 1.4 
 
 1.6 
 
 6" - 
 
 
 s^ 
 
 % 
 
 ^ 
 
 VA 
 
 V.^ 
 
 /%^^> ..^^^^ 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 ^\N 
 
 ^V 
 
 » 
 
 Ll>' 
 
 :\ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 r^ 
 
 o' 
 
 % 
 
 » WIST MAIN STREET 
 
 Wf>B$TIR,K.Y. MSSO 
 
 (7t6) 872-4S03 
 
 
 \ 
 
(s"- 
 
 v. 
 
 % 
 
 >■'»■ 
 
 ^ 
 
 r^ 
 
 o 
 
 \ 
 
176 
 
 Survicors of La Sailers Texan Colony. 
 
 by the painted and tattooed elders of the village, and were as- 
 signed a cottage in which to lodge. But these Indian hosts, 
 while feeding their visitors by day, did not hesitate to pilfer 
 from them by night as opportunity offered. They had no 
 religion worth considering, and, in common with the sur- 
 rounding tribes, were more or less addicted ^o cannibalism. 
 
 After a few days stay at the village, the companions of 
 Joutel returned to the French camp, leaving him to con- 
 tinue the traffic alone. During his sojourn there he met 
 with two French sailors named Ruter and Grollet (Jacques), 
 who liad forsaken La fealle on the occasion of his journey 
 to this region in the preceding year, and who were now 
 domesticated among the Cenis. When apprised of the 
 murder of his late eomnuinder, Ruter expressed both sur- 
 prisp and regret. 
 
 Some days afterward, Joutel was ordered to return 
 with the provisions he had purchased to Duhaut's camp, 
 and upon his arrival thither found a miserable state of af- 
 fairs. The elder Cavelier and Friar Douay had been treate<l 
 with harshness and contempt by Duhaut and Liotot, and 
 were constrained to prepare their meals apart to themselves. 
 Joutel now joined them, and around their own camp-lire 
 they talked of nothing else but how to escape from the com- 
 pany of the miscreants in which circumstances had placed 
 them. No other fepsible expedient presented itself except 
 to continue their journey to the Mississippi, and thence to 
 the Illinois and ('Unada, as origiiuiUy undertaken by La 
 Salle himself. In carrying out this j)lan, the first and prin- 
 cipal difficulty was to get the vonsent of Duhaut and Liotot; 
 for they had already announced their intention to return to 
 Fort St. Louis on the bay, and there build a vessel with 
 wb.ich to sail to the "West Indies. The announcement of 
 tliis impracticable purjjose — impracticable because their car- 
 penters were all dead, and they were without suitable ap- 
 ])liances and nuiterial for the work — showed that those 
 desperate men had no mind to peril their personal safety 
 by going to Canada. In pursuance of tliat resolution 
 lliens and three other members of the i)arty were sent to 
 the village of the Cenis to barter for additional horses. 
 
'i« 
 
 Survivors of La SaUe''s Texan Colony. 
 
 177 
 
 In tliis critical posture of affaire, the elder Cavelier, 
 with whom a sacriiice of truth cost no particular etibrt, 
 opened negotiations with the Sieur Duhaut. The old priest 
 represented that he and his friends were too much fatigued 
 by travel to undertake a journey back to the fort, preferring 
 to remain among the Cenis Indians, and requested a share 
 of the goods, for which he offered to give his note of hand. 
 To this preposition Duhaut, after consulting with his com- 
 panions, unexpectedly assented, but soon afterward changed 
 his mind on being told that it was the secret intention of 
 Cavelier and party to proceed to the Illinois and Canada, 
 lie then gave out that he would go with them to ext^cute 
 their dcMign, whicli disconcerted and troubled the latter. 
 
 Duhaut and the others appear to have remained at the 
 wuiio camp, east of the Trinity, through April a?id until 
 the first week in May, only advancing a little nearer to tlie 
 river which lay between them and the village of the Cenis. 
 Iliens and his tliree E'rench companions were still at the 
 village, l)eing detained partly by the overflow in the river, 
 but principally by the attractions of the Cenis women. 
 During his stay tliere he heard of Duhaut's new plan of 
 going to find the Mississippi, and declared to those witii him 
 that he was not of that mind, and refused his consent. 
 
 "After we had been some (hiys longer in the same 
 place," writes Joutel, " Iliens arrived with the two iialf- 
 siivage Frenchmen (Ruter and GroUet), and about twenty 
 iiiitives. He went immediately to Duhaut, and after some 
 (boated) discourse, told him he was not for going toW5»rd 
 tbe \tisHiHsi[t}»i, because it would be of (hingcrous conse- 
 <luonce for them, and therefore demanded his share of the 
 effects ho had seized. Duhaut refusing to comply, and 
 atlinning that all the axes were his own, Iliens, who it is 
 likely ha«l laid the (h^sign before to kill him, immediately 
 drew his jjistol and firctl it upon Duhaut, who staggered 
 about four paces from the place, and fell down dead. At 
 the wanic time Ruter, who had been with Iliens, fired Ids 
 inece upon Liotot, the surgeon, and shot him through with . 
 
 three halls. 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 The Assassins Assassinated. 
 
 "These murders committed before us, put me in u ter- 
 rible consternation ; for, believing the same was designed 
 for me, I laid hold of my firelock to defend myself. But 
 Hiens cried out to me to fear nothing, to lay down my 
 arms, and assured me he had no design against me ; but 
 that he had revenged his master's death. He also satisfied 
 M. Cavelier and Father Anastase, who were as much fright- 
 ened as myself, declaring he meant them no harm, and that 
 though he had been in the conspiracy, yet had he been pres- 
 ent at the time when M. de la Salle was killed, he would 
 not have consented, but rather obstructed it. 
 
 " Liotot lived some hours after, and had the good for- 
 tune to make his confession ; after which the same Ruter 
 put him out of his pain with a pistol shot.* We dug a hole 
 in the earth, and buried him in it with Duhaut, doing them 
 more honor than they had done to M. de la Salle and his 
 nephew, Moranget, whom they left to be devoured by the 
 wild ]>eaHts. Thus those murderers met with what they 
 had deserved, dying the same death they had put others 
 to."t 
 
 The Indian spectators looked with astonishment and 
 terror upon these brutal homicides, which put to shame 
 even their own thirst for blood. The Frenchmen present, 
 however, excused the deed to the savages by telling them 
 that those two men had been killed, " because they had all 
 the powder and ball, and would not give any to the rest." 
 Jean L'Archeveque, who had been entirely devoted to Du- 
 haut, was absent hunting at the time, and Hiens was for 
 shooting him on his return to camp, but was dissuaded 
 tiierefrom by Joutcl and the two priests. 
 
 The only excuse or apology Duhaut and Liotot luid 
 offered for their own atrocious crimes, was that they hud 
 been driven thereto by despair at their ill-usage. If they 
 
 * It is rolntt'd by Father Douny, in his account of theso uiuniiTH, 
 tlmt thi' Ihinh of Untcr'H pistol set fire to l^iotot's hair and clotliing, 
 wiueh were burned on his body, and that in this torment he died. Tiiis 
 hHi)i)('iuMl nearly two niontlis after the (h>ath of La SaUe. 
 
 tSee Joutel's .Journal in " Historical Collections of Louisiana," I'lirt 
 L, pp. 157, 168. 
 
Survivors of La Sailers Texan Colony. 
 
 179 
 
 had remained at home in France, and not been subjected to 
 any great temptations, tliey might have passed through life 
 as respectable citizens ; bnt, as it was and is, their names 
 must be consigned to merited execration and ignominy. 
 
 These latter tragedies came Uke a thunderbolt from a 
 cloudless sky, and cleared the way for the escape of the in- 
 nocent members of the party. Prior to this, however, Hiens 
 and his associate outlaws had promised the chiefs of the 
 Cenis to accompany them on a foray against a tribe called 
 tlio Kanoatinos, who dwelt some distance off to the north- 
 west, and with whom the former were ••t feud. To facili- 
 tate this purpose the surviving Frenchmen now decamped 
 and removed their head-quarters to the Cenis village. The 
 two Cavcliers, Jontel, Douay, and two others were lodged 
 in a cabin by themselves, where they were watched by the 
 villagers, while iliens and his six followers, armed and 
 mounted, went with the native warriors on their raid. 
 After an absence of less than a fortnight, the war party re- 
 turned, bringing with them several Indian prisoners, and a 
 number of scalps, as trophies of their victory over the 
 enemy. 
 
 When the savage feasting and rejoicing thereat, which 
 lasted several days, had come to an end, M. Cavelicr and 
 .loutel took occasion to inform Iliens of their proposed 
 journey to and up the Mississippi. The latter at first stoutly 
 ojij-osed the project, as he had no thought of going thither 
 himself, but finally consented on condition that Cavelier 
 should give him a writing certifying to his innocence of La 
 Salle's murder, which the priest did not scruple to do. For 
 the rest, Iliens treated his departing fellow-travelers with 
 the liberality of a successful freebooter, giving them a fair 
 proportion of the booty he had acquired by his recent vil- 
 lauous crimes. "Before our departure," says Joutel's 
 Journal, "it was a sensible aflliction to us to see that villain 
 walk about the camp in a scarlet coat, with gob' galons 
 (lace), which had belonged to the late Monsieur de la Salle, 
 and which he had sei/ed." 
 
 The escaping party was composed of seven persons, 
 viz.: the two Caveliers (uncle and nephew), Joutel, Douay, 
 
rjmfgmmm^ 
 
 180 
 
 Journey of the Escaping Party. 
 
 De Marie, Teissier, and a Parisian youth named Barthelemy. 
 Teissier was an accomplice in the death of both Moranget 
 and La Salle, but had received a pro forma pardon from the 
 elder Cavelier. They hud six indifferent horses, a quantity 
 of powder and ball, and some axes, knives, and beads, for 
 use in barter with the natives on the route. They left the 
 Oenis village without regret, late in May, and were attended 
 by three guides. Hiens embraced them at parting, as did 
 the other half-dozen ruflians who stayed with liim. The 
 general course of the travelers was to the north-east, iji the 
 direction of the Lower Ai-kansas, which was more than 
 three hundred miles distant. After several days travel 
 through an open country, i)assing hamlets and villages on 
 the way, they reached the luition of the Assonis, or Nas- 
 souis, dwelling near the river Neches, where they were 
 fairly well received. Here they were detained by continued 
 rain until about the 13th of June, when they again set 
 forward, with fresh guides, on their journey. 
 
 The travelers next approached the village of a tribe 
 called l)y Joutel the Nathosos, who inhabited tl:e country 
 between the Sabine and Red River. The dusky dwellers 
 in this village had hitherto known the Europeans only by 
 report, and coming out to meet their visitors, regarded them 
 with great curiosity. Desirous of doing the Frenchmen 
 special honor, they took them on their backs and carried 
 them into the village; but doutel, being a large and heavy 
 man, bore down his carrier so much that two other Iiulians 
 had to assist him, one on either side. Arrived at the chief 'h 
 cottage, their horses were uidoaded, and one of the elders 
 of the village ])roceeded to wash the faces of the visitors 
 with warm water from an earthen vessel. Then they were 
 invited to mount a scaflolding of canes, covered with wliitc 
 mats, where thi\y sat in the burning sun and listeiUHl to 
 several speeches of welcome, of which they did not under- 
 stand a single word. 
 
 Taking leave of this hospitable jteoplc, our travelers 
 next came to a village of the Cad'xhupiiH, where they ex- 
 perienced a similar reception, (crossing Red J^iver and 
 approaching the Washita, they arrived at the village of 
 
Survivors of La Salle's Texan Colony. 
 
 181 
 
 another natijn, who gave them a still more oppressive vvel- 
 como, As the leader of the party the elder Cavelier be- 
 came the principal victim of the Indian attentions. They 
 (lanced the calumet before him, singing as loud as tfioy could 
 roar, beat U[ion their calabashes, &tuck: feathers in his hair, 
 and performed various other antics. The old priest en- 
 dured tlie irksome ceremony as long as lie well could, and 
 then, pretending that it made him ill, he was assisted to 
 his lodge; but they continued to sing, howl, and dance all 
 through the night. The meaning of all this Indian cere- 
 mony was that their visitors should make them a })resent, 
 which was accordingly done to their satisfaction. 
 
 At length, after a wearisome journey of nearly two 
 months from the Cenis, during whicli time they had the 
 misfortune to lose one of tlieir number (I)e Marie), who 
 was accidentally drowned, the travelers drew near tc the 
 Arkansas River, at a place some fifty miles above its junc- 
 tion with the Mississippi. Conducted thither by their 
 native guides, they at last stood u[)on the banks of the Ar- 
 kansas, and, looking across to the farther side, beheld lui 
 Indian village, and l)elow and near it on a small eminence 
 was a cabin built of cedar logs, and a tall wooden cross, 
 evidently the work of French hands. Overwhelmed with 
 emotions of gratitude at their deliverance, they all knelt 
 down and, lifting up tlieir hands, gave thanks to the 
 Divine Goodness for having directed tlieir footstej)S to this 
 little outpost of civilization. I*resently, two white men 
 cinergod from the door of tha cabin and iired their guns as 
 a salute to the wanderers, who answered it with a volley 
 from their own. Then two canoes crossed from the oj)i)o- 
 site shore and ferried them over to the village, where they 
 were heartily greeted in their t)wn tongue by Messrs. Cou- 
 ture and I)c Launay, two of six men whom Henri de Tonty 
 liad stationed there during the preceding year.* The 
 whole distance from Fort St. Louis of Texas, to the Ar- 
 
 !•:' 
 
 * This station was nftiTward Itiiown to tlie Fronch as I'oHle anic Ar- 
 hima», and later, to tlie Americans, as Arkansas Post. The Arkansaa 
 Indians liad two villages on this river, the second one being near its 
 iiioutli. 
 
m 
 
 182 
 
 Tonty's Trip to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 kansas, following the route of the traveling party, was 
 computed by Fatlier Douay at two hundred and fifty 
 leagues. 
 
 It may be remembered that in the spring of 1685, 
 by an order of the King of France, M. de Tonty had been 
 reinstated in command at Fort St. Louis of the Illinois, 
 with the title of captain and governor. In the autumn of 
 that year, he made a special journey to Mackinac to seek 
 intelligence of his absent chief. Arrived thither, he learned 
 that a letter had been received from Governor Denonville, 
 then lately arrived from France, stating that La Salle 
 had landed on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and that 
 he had lost cue of his vessels there. Upon hearing this 
 news, Tonty returned to the Illinois, and organized an 
 expedition on his own responsibility, and at his own ex- 
 pense, to go to La Salle's assistance. Accordingly, on the 
 16th of February, 1686, he departed from Fort St. Louis, 
 with thirty Frenchmen and five Indians, in log canoes, and 
 descended the Illinois and the Mississippi to the Gulf, 
 which he reached in Holy Week. Finding no traces of 
 the French colony there, he sent some of his canoes to 
 scour the coast for thirty leagues on either side of the di- 
 verging outlet of the river. But all this search was futile, 
 for La Salle was then rambling in the distant wilds of 
 southern Texas. Disappointed yet not disheartened at liis 
 failure, Tonty wrote a letter to his commander, informing 
 him of this trip in quest of him, which he committed to 
 the keeping of an Indian chief of the Quinipissas tribe, to 
 be delivered so soon as an opportunity should offer. He 
 then returned with his force up the Mississippi to the moutli 
 of the Arkansas, which he entered and ascended some dis- 
 tance to a village of that nation. Here, on lands wliicli 
 had been previously granted to him by La Salle, the Sieur 
 de Tonty stationed six of his men, who volunteered to re- 
 main, and who were to report to him any information tliey 
 might gather from the natives or otherwise concerning liis 
 chief. 
 
 But to go back to the party of Cavelier and Joutel. 
 They tarried for several days at the French outjjost on the 
 
Survivors of La Salle's Texan Colony. 
 
 183 
 
 Arkansas, resting from the fatigues and anxiet es ot their 
 extraordinary journey. As chief spokesman of the party, 
 the elder Cavelier related to M. Couture and De Launay 
 the history of their long sea-voyage, and subsequent wan- 
 derings and sufferings in the southern wilderness, including 
 an account of La Salle's dismal end, which drew tears from 
 their eyes. For various prudential reasons, this last bit of 
 information was kept from the Arkansas Indians, who held 
 him in great respect, and imjyatiently expected his return. 
 
 The travelers departed from tlie house of the French- 
 men about the 28th of July, leaving behind tiiem their 
 horses and young Barthelemy, the Parisian, wlio afterward 
 told slanderous stories about La Salle's alleged cruelty to 
 ills men. They embarked with a number of the natives in 
 a pirogue forty feet long, belonging to one of the chiefs of 
 the village, and were accompanied part of the way by M. 
 Couture. Descending the Arkansas to the next village 
 (called Torrinian) of that nation, they tarried there until 
 the followii g day, when they went in two canoes to crofls 
 and ascend the Mississippi, which had been so long the ob- 
 ject of their search, and which Joutel terms, in his journal, 
 the " fatal river." After stopping to visit the third village 
 of the Arkansas, which was seated on the banks of the Mis- 
 sissippi, they thence proceeded up the river eight leagues 
 to Ka[)pa, the fourth and last village of that people. On 
 the 2nd of August our five travelers took leave of M. Cou- 
 tiu'c at the Kappa village, and re-embarked in a single canoe 
 with four Arkansas guides. In their north-bound voyage, 
 they found it recpiisite to often cross the river, and some- 
 times to carry their canoe and luggage, on account of the 
 rapidity of the current, and at night, for greater safety, en- 
 cam})ed on some one of the smaller islands. On the 19tli 
 they reached the mouth of the Ohio, to which their In- 
 dians made a sacrifice of sonie tobacco and buffalo steaks. 
 Leaving that behind them, and still ascending, they passed 
 the confluence of the turbid Missouri on the first of Sep- 
 tember, a!id the next day turned from the " F'ather of 
 Waters" into the quiet channel of the Illinois. 
 
 In navigating this central part of the Mississippi, 
 
184 The Escaping Party Ascend the Mississippi. 
 
 neither Joiitel nor Doiiuy observed any thing very remark- 
 able in the painted rocks of the Piasa, as described ])y 
 Marquette. " The 2nd " (of September), writes Joutel, " we 
 arrived at the place where the figure is of the pretended 
 monster spoken of by Fatlier Marquette. That monster 
 consists of two scurvy figures drawn in red, on the flat side 
 of a rock, about ten or twelve feet high, which wants very 
 much the extraordinary height that relation mentions. 
 However, our Indians paid homage, by offering sacrifice to 
 that stone." * 
 
 Father Dona}' saw, and briefly descriljes in his narra- 
 tive, certain rude figures on another rock, some forty leagues 
 below the mouth of the Missouri, which, on Thevenot's re- 
 production of Mar(£uette's map, is marked as the evil Mani- 
 tou of the Illinois Indians. Douay goes on to vState, that 
 " about midway between the river Ouabache (Ohio) and that 
 of the Massourites, is Cape St. Anthony ; it was to this 
 place, and not farther, that the Sieur Joliet descended in 
 1673." But in the above unsupported and improbable 
 statement, the Recollet father simply displays his own ig- 
 norance and jealousy of the prior discoveries made by 
 Joliet and Marquette; for it is morally certain that they 
 went a long distance below the confluence of the Ohio. 
 
 But to return from this digression. After entering the 
 Illinois River, it required ten days more of hard rowing and 
 pushing to bring tlie travelers to the rock-seated fort of 
 St. Louis, whither they arrived on the 14th of September, 
 and were once more among friends and countrymen. The 
 Sieur de Tonty was away in the east, fighting the Iroquois ; 
 but his lieutenant, Belle Fontaine, was in charge of the 
 fort, and his little garrison received the way-worn voyagers 
 with a salvo of musketry, which was supplemented by the 
 whooping of the Indian occupants of the Rock, who ran 
 down lo the river to meet them. As the season was grow- 
 ing late, our travelers were eager to press forward to Qua- 
 bec, in order to take shipping tliere for France. After a 
 few days of repose, therefore, they took leave of Belle Fon- 
 
 * Joutel's Journal IIiM<m<iu". See ante, Cluip. HI. of this work. 
 
Survivors of La Salle's Texan Colony. 
 
 185 
 
 taine and his men (from whom they had stiidioucly withheld 
 any knowledge of La Salle's death), and proceeded on their 
 way up the river to Lake Michigan. On arriving at the 
 mouth of Chicago rivulet, they emharked on tlie waters of 
 the lake in a canoe, which had been procured for that pur- 
 pose at the fort ; but being driven back by stress of weather, 
 they abandoned their design, buried a part of their eftects 
 on the lake shore, and returned to Fort St. Louis to spend 
 the winter. 
 
 At the close of the month of October, Captain Tonty 
 returned from the Seneca war, accompanied by several of 
 his French friends, and he now listened with profound in- 
 terest to the long and sad narrative of his travel -worn 
 guests from the south-west. With the connivance of his 
 party, the elder Cavelier did not scruple to practice on 
 Tonty the same deceit he had used with his lieutenant. 
 He told him that La Salle had been with them nearly to 
 the Cenis villages, and that when they parted from him he 
 was in good health, which was technically true so far as a 
 majority of the old priest's party was concerned. The 
 main purpose of this studied deception was to derive all 
 the pecuniary advantage he could from his character of 
 representative of his brother. Besides, both he and his 
 associates were still not without some ajiprehension from 
 the accomplicee of La Salle's murderers, should any of them 
 return to Canada or France. If the elder Cavelier bad 
 been frank and candid with Tonty, the expedition which 
 the latter subsequently undertook for the relief of the 
 Texan colonists might have been attended with better re- 
 sults. Friar Douay tells us that the presence of Tonty made 
 their stay at the fort much more agreeable, and speaks of 
 him, as "this brave gentleman, always inseparably attached 
 to the interests of the Sieur de la Salle, whose lamentable 
 fate we concealed from him, it being our duty to give the 
 first news to the court."* 
 
 The elder Cavelier carried a letter of credit from La 
 Salle — whether genuine or not, it were needless to inquire — 
 
 * Narrative of Father Anastase Douay, in Le Clercq's Elablmement 
 de la Foi, vol. \l. „ . 
 
186 
 
 Cavelier's Deception of Tonty. 
 
 requesting Tonty to furnish him with supplies, and pay 
 him 2,652 livres in beaver skins. On the strength of this 
 and his verbal representations, Cavelier drew upon Tonty 
 to the amount, it is averred, of four thousand livres in furs,* 
 besides a canoe and a quantity of other goods, all of which 
 were delivered to him on his quitting the fort, and for 
 which in return he gave his promissory note. The only 
 excuse for this deliberate deception and fraud was the des- 
 titution of the old priest and his companions, and the 
 further fact that he had a claim against his brother's es- 
 tate, which, however, he must have known was insolvent. 
 It seems hardly credible that during all this time, the Sieur 
 de Tonty should not have received a hint of, or even sus- 
 pected, the death of his former commander. 
 
 After living upon Tonty's generous hospitality for six 
 months, the Cavelier party finally departed from Fort St. 
 Louis the 20th of March, 1688. Seven days of travel up 
 the Illinois Iliver and its northern fork brought them to the 
 Chicagou, whence they again embarked on Lake M chigan, 
 and, after many perils, reached Michilimackinac on the 6th 
 of May.f Here the elder Cavelier disposed of a portion of 
 his ill-gotten furs to a trader, and received in exchange an 
 order on a Montreal house. Being thus supplied with funds 
 for the rest of the journey our travelers left Mackinac about 
 the 5th of June, and proceeded by way of northern Lake 
 Huron, French River, Lake Nipissing, and the Ottawa River 
 to Montreal. Here, after converting the remainder of their 
 furs into money, they provided themselves with much 
 
 * Tonty's Memoir does not make it so much. 
 
 tTlie Baron de la Hontan, who was tlien at Mackinac with a small 
 detachment of French soldiers, in a letter dated the 2Hth of May, thus 
 speaks of Cavelier and his party : " M. Cavelier arrived here May 6th, 
 accompanied by his nephew, Father Anastase, the Recollect, a pilot, one 
 of the savages, and some tew Frenchmen, which made a sort of party- 
 colored retinue. These Frenchmen were some of those that M. de la 
 Salle conducted upon the discovery of Mississippi. They give out that 
 they are sent to Canada, in order to go to France, with some dispatches 
 from M. de la Salle to the King. But we suspect that he is dead, be- 
 cause he does not return along with them." — La Houtans Voyages, vol. 
 l,p.87. 
 
Survivors of La Salle's Texan Colony. 
 
 187 
 
 needed clothing and other necessaries, and then went down 
 the St. Lawrence to Quebec, whither they arrived the 29th 
 of July. Taking: passage on the 20th of August for Old 
 France, they arrived in safety at Rochelle on the 9th of Oc- 
 tober, 1688, and thence proceeded to Rouen. The wander- 
 ers had been absent from home something over four years, 
 and during that period had performed one of the most ad- 
 venturous and remarkable journeys on record. 
 
 It was not until their return to France, that the gloomy 
 secret of La Salle's trao:ic death was disclosed. When it 
 was told to Louis XIV., he gave orders for the arrest of all 
 persons concerned in the murder who might appear in New 
 France, but no one was ever arrested. M. Joutel luul hoped 
 that a voyaX ship-of-the-line would be sent out for the rescue 
 of the surviving colonists on the coast of Texas; yet this 
 was not done. Being occupied with other and, to him, 
 weightier matters, the king left the miserable little band to 
 their fate. In fact, it was probably too late then to have 
 saved them from destruction. 
 
 The priest, Jean Cavelier, made a written report of 
 La Salle's expedition to Seignelay, the Minister of Marine 
 and Colonies, and also wrote a jouriuil of the sea- voyage to 
 the Gulf, which is in print, but was not brought down to the 
 time of his bro*-her's death. It is stated that he afterward 
 inherited a large estate from a relative in France, :uid " died 
 rich and very old." Apart from his natural prudence and 
 self-command, he had most of the defects without any of the 
 redeeming and ennobling traits of La Salle ; and the cor- 
 respondence of the latter shows that he entertained but 
 little aft'ection for this elder brother, who was •' always in- 
 terfering with or crossing his plans." 
 
 "Joutel," writes Parkman, " must have been a young 
 man at the time of the Mississippi expedition, for Charle- 
 voix saw him at Rouen thirty-+ive years after. He speaks 
 of him in terms of emphatic praise ; but it must be admit- 
 ted that his connivance in the deception practiced upon 
 Tonty leaves a shade on his character, as well as on that of 
 Douay." Joutel's Historical Jouriud of that expedition did 
 not appear in print until the year 1713. As he was only 
 
188 2'onty Attempts to Succor the Texan Colony 
 
 an ordinary scholar, it is fair to presume that he had the 
 ussistajice of a competent scribe in prejiaiing his work for 
 publication. Its generyl accuracy and impartuility are 
 unquestioned, though in the matter of dates it is perhaps 
 inferior toDouay's I^arrative. It contains the beat descrip- 
 tion extant of the country of Texas at that early day. 
 
 We now return to M. de Tonty. In September, 1688, 
 he was visited at his fort in the Illinois by M. Couture,* 
 and two Indians from the Arkansas, who danced the cal- 
 umet. It was then, for the tirst time, we are told, that he 
 learned with sorrow and indignation of t!ie lamentable 
 fate of his chief, and of the deceit that had bee.i practiced 
 upon him by the elder Cavelier and i)arty. The opinion of 
 this Fidus Achates of M. de la Salle is epitomized in his 
 observation, that " he was one of the greatest men of the 
 age." The leader whom he had so long followed was, in- 
 deed, beyond any human aid ; but the still surviving colo- 
 nists, languishing on the distant shores of the Glulf, might 
 yet be saved from extermination. lie tlierofore resolved 
 upon ai-. expedition for their relief, and furthenucre, if it 
 were found practicable, to make them the nucleus of i war 
 party to cross the Rio del Xorte into Mexico. Tonty'b 
 means or resources were utterly ina(le([uate to the accom- 
 plishment of so bold and ditdcult an undertaking ; never- 
 theless, he made the attem])t. 
 
 After some little preparation, this imjjulsive and chiv- 
 alrous man set off from his fortified roi'k early in J)e- 
 ceud)er of that year (l<)88),t in a large canoe, with five 
 Frenchmen, two Jnoian slaves, and a Shawnee hunter. 
 Passing down the Illinois and the Mississippi to the mouth 
 of Rod River, and thence up the latter stretim, he reached 
 the Natchitoches on the 17th of tiie ensuing February, and 
 the Cadoda«|nis on the 28th of Maivh. The Ca(l()da(iuiH 
 were allied with the Nachitoclies and the Nassoui. All 
 
 * Couture whh a nativi* uf Uouen, and a cari)enU'r by trade. 
 
 t Parkman'H " La SulUi and the (ireat West," p. 4;}}>. 
 
 Tonty'K own Memoir t avH that he Het out on tliis journey in Octo- 
 ber, 1UH(»; hut HH he i)rol)idtly wrote from reeolleotiun, hiw dutoH can not 
 alwuyb bo reliea ..pon. 
 
Survivors of La Salle's Texan Colony. 
 
 189 
 
 three of these nations chvelt in the Red River Valley, and all 
 sDoke Hubstantiallv the same lanffup gre. Upon his arrival 
 at the Cad()da([ins village, Tonty was told that ITiens and 
 his French confederates were at a village of the Naona- 
 diches, some eighty leagnes to the south-west. J^ut vs'hen 
 he was prepariiig to go there, all of his men refused to fol- 
 low him, excepiing one Frenchman and tlie Shawnee In- 
 diitU. Not being able to compel the attendance of the 
 others, he set forward on the 6th of April, with the two 
 men who were faithful, and five native guides. A few days 
 afterward, in crossing a stream, his French companion lost 
 his lug containing tlic most of their powder. But, un- 
 deterred by this accident he pressed on to the Naouadiche 
 village, lying east of the Cenis, where the criminals were 
 saiil to be. Arrived thither on the 23d, he found no traces 
 of Hiens and his associates. When he inquired for them 
 of the head men of the village, they told him different 
 stories, and when he charged them with having killed the 
 Frenchmen, the women began to cry, from which he in- 
 ferred that his diarge was true. These villagers refused 
 Tonty "-nides to further continue his journey, although, as 
 he tells us, it was only three days' travel from thence to 
 where La Salle had been murdered. Owing, therefore, to 
 his lack of guides, and the shortness of his ammunition, he 
 was obliged to relinquisii his purpose of eiuleavoring to 
 reach the fort on Matisgorda Bay. While at this Texan 
 village, he seems to have heard rumors in regi?rd to the 
 breaking up and destruction of the French colony on the 
 coast by the Indians. 
 
 In retracing their windii'.g track, Tonty and his com- 
 panions found the country tloodi'd by the heavy vernal 
 rains, and experienced incr 'diblc hardshiits in threading the 
 Red River wilderness. Thev had to construct a raft and 
 paddle through the water, sleep on logs laid one upon an 
 other, build ilres on the trunks of trees, and subsist on a 
 little bear and dog meat. lie says, in his memoir, that 
 he never suffered so much in his life as during this journey 
 back to ft.'e Mississippi, which was reached on the 11th of 
 July. Muicing Viis way tiience to the village of the CV)roa8, 
 
190 
 
 Spanish Expedition to Fort Si. Louis. 
 
 Tonty stayed there several days to recuperate, after which 
 he went up to his post on the Arkansas. Here lie fell sick 
 of a fever, brought on by exposure, which detained him till 
 the 11th of August. He then resumed his river voyage 
 homeward, and arrived at Fort St. Louis, of the Illinois, 
 late in September, 1689. Ten months were consumed in 
 this extraordinary journey, which was one of the longest 
 and hardest he ever made. 
 
 This unavailing attempt was the last that was made 
 to rescue the unhappy colonists from the savage immensity 
 which shut them out from home and civilization. Their 
 final extirpation by the Texa."" Indians was subsequently 
 leaiaed from the Spaniards in Mexico. By priority of dis- 
 cover}' and occu])ation, Spain claimed all the country sur- 
 rounding the Mexican Gulf, and the viceroys of Mexico 
 had been active and energetic in enforcing this claim. 
 The capture of one of La Salle's vessels off the coast of 
 St. Domingo had first made known his designs to the 
 Spanish authorities, and during the succeeding throe years 
 as many as four expeditions were sent out from Vera Cruz 
 to find and destroy his colony. They scoured the entire 
 coast, and even found the wrecks of his vessels, but owing 
 to the secluded, inland position of the French fort, it had 
 eluded their search. The Spaniards therefore rested for a 
 time in the belief that the intruders upon their territory 
 had perished, when fresh advices from the frontier prov- 
 ince of New Leon caused the viceroy to order a renewal 
 of the search. 
 
 Accordingly, in January, 1(189, Don Alonzo vie Leon 
 started with a strong body of horsemen from a military 
 post in the province of Quagila (Coahuila), and marched 
 northward over the barren mountains until he came to the 
 Spanish-Mexican town of Calhuila. He then turned to 
 his right, and, crossing the Kio Bravo del Norte,- entered 
 the territory of the Bahamos Indians. Guided thence by 
 a Fr<' oh prisoner (supposed to have been a deserter from 
 La ^ ille), he traversed the country to the north-east, 
 crossing in turn the Nueces, the San Antonia, and the 
 Guadalupe, and at length reached the Bay of St. Bernard, 
 
Survivors of La Salle's Texan Colony. 
 
 191 
 
 called by the Spaniards Espiritu Santo.* Arrived at the 
 French fort of St. Louis on the 22d of April, the Spanish 
 leader and his cavalcade proceeded to reconnoiter the 
 place. They found the dead bodies of several of the colo- 
 nists, who had been killed by blows or pierced by arrows ; 
 also a lot of old French books (mostly religious works) 
 scattered aroiind, and a number of iron cannon mounted 
 upon navy gun carriages; but no living thing was there, 
 and no explanation of the mystery was obtainable from 
 the stolid savages dwelling on the shores of the bay. 
 After an interval of several days, however, there ari'ived 
 at the Spanish camp two strangers, whose faces were 
 painted, and who were otherwise attired as Indians. They 
 were James GroUet and Jean L' Archeveque, the latter 
 having been one of the principal accomplices in the mur- 
 der of La Salle. Finding life insupportable among the 
 savages, these two Frenchmen had come, under pledges 
 of good treatment, to surrender themselves to the Spanish 
 commander. From them was obtained al)out all that is 
 definitely known in regard to the melanciioly end of the 
 occupants of the fort. 
 
 The neighboring Indians, as we have seen, had been 
 from the first on ill terms with the French' colonists; and 
 it appears that some three months before a band of the 
 savages had stealthily approached the fort, the inmates of 
 which had been sufi^'ering from the small-pox, to take 
 them by surprise. Fearing treachery, the French refused 
 their visitors admittance, but received them at a house 
 without the palisade, where the savages made a pretense 
 of trade. Suddenly, at a preconcerted signal, the hirger 
 part of this band of warriors, who had been in hiding un- 
 der the river bank, rushed from their cover, entered 
 the gate, and massacred nearly all of the French inmates. 
 L'Archeveque and Grollet stated that they, vith some 
 others of their comitanions, came hither from the Cenis 
 villages and buried fourteen corpesof the slain. The four 
 
 • See manuBcript map of the route of the SpaniardH in Margry'H 
 Collection. 
 
192 
 
 Final Destruction of the Colony. 
 
 children of a Canadian named Talon, together with an 
 Italian and a young Frenchman named Eustache de Bre- 
 men, were saved by some Indian women who had been 
 domesticated at the fort, and who hurried them away, 
 carrying the children on their backs. These young cap- 
 tives were all soon after surrendered to the Spaniards. 
 
 Conspicuous among those who are believed to have 
 thus perisiied under the war clubs and scalping-knives of 
 the vengeful savages were the two friars, Maxime le Clereq 
 and Zenobe Membre. And here it may be as well to col- 
 late the known facts in the adventurous life of the latter, 
 who died at about the ago of forty-four. Agreeably to a 
 statement of Hennepin, Membre was born at Bapaume, a 
 small fortified town in the south part of Artois, France, 
 about 1645. His name of Zenobius was probably assumed 
 on entering the Recollet convent in Artois. He appears 
 to have been a cousin of Father Chretien le Clereq, who 
 published an abridgment of his letters and journals in 
 L'' EtahUsseineyit de la Foi. With this cousin, he was first 
 sent out to Cjinada as a missionary in the year 1675. In 
 1682, after returning from the memorable expedition down 
 the Mississippi, he was sent by La Salle to lay the result 
 of that expedition before the government of France. 
 Having fulfilled his mission at court, he went to Bajtaume, 
 and there held the position of Warden to the Kecollets 
 until 1684, when, at La Salle's request, he was appointed 
 superior of the Hecollet missionaries who were to accom- 
 pany his expedition by sea to the Mississip})!. After the 
 stranding of the "Aimable" at the entrance to Matagorda 
 Bay, he came near being drowned while passing that ves- 
 sel in a boat, which was driven by the force of the waves 
 against the wreck and dashed to pieces. In January, 
 1687, when La Salle fitially left Fort St. Louis of Texas, 
 Membre was intending, as soon as [lossible, with the aid 
 of Father Maxime le Clereq, to establish a mission among 
 the friendly Cenis Lidians; but this project was never 
 carried out. 
 
 Father Membre was not a man of superior parts or 
 learning. His letters and journals are often involved and 
 
What Became of Heins and Others. 
 
 193 
 
 obscure, yet they bear intrinsic marks of fidelity, and show 
 him to have been a less prejudiced observer of men and 
 things than some of his clerical companions. Neither his 
 natal year, nor the month nor day of his martyrdom, is defi- 
 nitely determined ; but, surely, this amiable man and de- 
 voted missionary merited a better and happier destiny. 
 
 "L'Archeveque and Grollet were sent to Spain, where, 
 in spite of the pledge given them, they were thrown into 
 prison, with the intention of sending them back (to Mex- 
 ico) to work in the mines. The Italian was imprisoned at 
 Vera Cruz, The fate of Bremen is unknown. Pierre and 
 Jean Baptiste Talon, who were now old enough to bear 
 arms, were enrolled in the Spanish navy, and being capt- 
 ured in 1696 by a French ship of war, regained their liberty; 
 while their younger brother and sister were carried by the 
 viceroy to Spain. \s :h respect to the ruflian companions 
 of Heins, the conviction of Tonty that they had been put 
 to death by the Indians may have been correct ; but the 
 buccaneer himself is said to have been killed by liuter, the 
 white savage. And thus, in ignominy and darkness, ex- 
 pired the last embers of the doomed colony of La Salle."* 
 
 Here ends the wild, lurid, and most tragical story of 
 the first Gallic explorers and colonists of Texas ; a story 
 which exemplifies the familiar adage that truth is often 
 stranger than fiction. Such was the disnuil fate of others 
 of the earlier European settlements in America, until the 
 colonists became sufliciently numerous and powerful to 
 cope with tlie ravages of disease and the hostility of the 
 savages. 
 
 111 
 
 * Parkuian's " La Salle and the Great West," p. 445. 
 
 18 
 
■M 
 
 194 
 
 Illinois as a Dependency of Canada. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 168i>-1712. 
 
 'LLINOIS AS A DEPENDENCY OF CANADA. 
 
 After La Salle's ineffectual attempt to plant a colony 
 in the delta district of the Mississippi, it was over twelve 
 years before the government of France essayed another 
 experiment in that quarter. Busily engaged in a great 
 war with William of Orange and the German princes for 
 European supremacy, the French monarch had neither the 
 time nor the inclination to indulge in projects of distant 
 and expensive colonization. During this long interval 
 there was but little immigration into the Mississippi Valley, 
 nor were any steps taken by kingly authority for the gov- 
 ernment of the newly-acquired territory. Meantime, how- 
 ever, the Jesuit missionaries and fur-traders from Canada 
 were both active and enterprising ; the one in disseminat- 
 ing the Catholic faith among the aborigines, and the other 
 in bartering cheap goods and "fire-water" for their furs 
 and pelts. 
 
 Fort St. Louis continued for some years to be the seat 
 of French power in the Illinois, with Henri de Tonty as 
 commandant and governor, whose authority extended about 
 as far in every direction as his French -Italian imagination 
 chose to stretch it. In 1(300, or 1(391, the company of Foot, 
 in which he had held the rank of captain since 1684, l)iit 
 without receiving any regular pay, was ordered to be dis- 
 banded. Being thus thrown out of employment in the lino 
 of his profession, he made a trip down tlie lakes to Quebec, 
 and there j)rcpared and forwarded to the French Minister, 
 Count de Pontehartrain, a petition setting forth his mili- 
 tary and other service to his king and country, and praying 
 that a new command might be assigned to him. The truth 
 of Tonty's statements was certified to by the then aged 
 
Decline of Fort St. Louis. 
 
 195 
 
 Count Frontenac, who had been reinstated in the governor- 
 ship of Canada in 1689, and who remained in office until 
 his death at Quebec. In answer apparently to this peti- 
 tion, the proprietorship of Fort St. Louis of t^e Illinois 
 was granted to Tonty, conjointly with La Forrest, another 
 former lieutenant of La Salle. Here they carried on for 
 some years a limited trade in furs with the Indians. In 
 1699 a royal deci'ee was issued against the coureurs des boiSy 
 who had long lieen a source of disquietude to the Canadian 
 government ; l)ut an express provision was made in the 
 decree in favor of Messrs. Tonty and Forrest, who were em- 
 powered to send up the country, annually, two canoes laden 
 with goods, with twelve men, for the maintenance of the 
 fort. Again, in 1702, a provincial order was made to the 
 effect that La Forrest should henceforth reside in Canada, 
 and Tonty on the Mississippi, and the establishment on the 
 Illinois was aiscontinued. Some two years prior to this, 
 however, as the sequel will more fully disclose, Tonty joined 
 D'Iberville's colony in Lower Louisiana. He thus finally 
 })assed from the country of the Illinois, where he had been 
 a conspicuous and honorable figure for twenty'years, and 
 had a(rhieved for himself a name which will outlast the ef- 
 facing fingers of time. 
 
 The decline of Fort St. Louis was partly due to the 
 dispersion of the surrounding native tribes, but chietiy, 
 perhaps, to a change in the main route of French travel 
 and transit from the great lakes to the Mississippi ; the voy- 
 afjcuvs and fur-traders having found the portage shorter 
 and less difficult by way of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, 
 than the Illinois. In 1718, the fort was temi)orarily re- 
 occupied by some French traders, but, three years later, it 
 was again deserted ; and when Charlevoix passed by the 
 Rock in 1721, he saw only the remains of its palisade and 
 rude buildings. 
 
 The founding of Kaskaskia has been variously ascribed 
 to members of La Salle's jnirty, on returning from their 
 exploring expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi in 
 1682; to Father Jacques (Jvavier about 1(585; to Henri 
 de Tonty in 1686, and to .j;,liers still, explorers or mission- 
 
196 
 
 Illinois as a Dependency of Canada. 
 
 aries, at different dates, in the last quarter of the seven- 
 teenth century. But the Kiiskaskia of our time is not so 
 old as was formerly supposed. 
 
 The original site of this Indian settlement has heen 
 identified with that of the trihe of the same name, first found 
 on the banks of the Illinois River, at or near the wide bot- 
 tom lying immediately to the south of the modern town of 
 Utica, in La Salle county. It will be remembered that 
 when Father Marquette and his companions returned from 
 their voyage of discovery down the Mississippi (in 1673), 
 they stopped at .a village of the Kaskaskias,* on the Up- 
 per Illinois, which then comprised seventy-four lodges. 
 Being very hospitably entertained by the villagers, the 
 good priest, at their request, returned thither in April, 
 1675, and began a mission among them called " The Im- 
 maculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin." After the 
 departure and death of Marquette, as already related, 
 Father Claude AUouez was appointed to succeed him by 
 the superior general of the Jesuits at Quebec. , 
 
 Fathei" Allouez came to America from Toulouse, 
 France, in July, 1658, and had been actively and zealously 
 employed, with other priests, in planting Jesuit missions 
 among the Indians of the upper lake region. Having es- 
 tablished the mission on Green Bay, in 1669, he was as- 
 signed to its charge, including the neighboring tribes. 
 During October, 1676, he set out from that station, with a 
 few French attendants, on a voyage to his new mission at 
 the Illinois, and on the way skirted the western and 
 southern shores of Lake Michigan. In his narrative of 
 this roundabout voyage (printed in Shea's "Discovery and 
 Exploration of the Mississippi"), the Father says: 
 
 " In spite of all our efforts to hasten on, it was the 
 27th of April (1677), before I could reach Kachkachkia, 
 a large Illinois town. I immediately entered the cabin 
 where Father Marquette had lodged, and the sachems, with 
 
 * On Thevenot's reproduction of Father Marquette's map, the name 
 of this tribe is printed Cachouachouia, but on his original map, as pre- 
 served at St. Mary's College, Montreal, it is written Kachkaskia. 
 
The Jesuit Mission at the Illinois. 
 
 197 
 
 all the people, being aHsembled, I toUl them the object of 
 my coming among them, namely, to preach the true, living 
 and inmiortal God, and his son Jesus C'hrist. They listened 
 very attentively to my whole discourse, and thanked me 
 for the trouble I took for their salvation. 
 
 "I found this village much increased since last year 
 (meaning probably 1675). It was before composed of only 
 one nation, the Kachkachkia. There are now eight ; the 
 first having called the others, who dwelt in the neighbor- 
 hood of the Mississippi. You can (readily) form an idea 
 of the number of Indians who comiK)se this town ; they 
 are lodged in three hundred and tift3'-one cabins, easily 
 counted. They are i.ostly ranged on the banks of the 
 river. The place which they have selected for their abode 
 is situate at 40° 42' ; it has on one side a prairie of vast ex- 
 tent, and on the other an expanse of marsh, which makes the 
 air unhealthy, and often loaded with mists ; this causes nmch 
 sickness and frequent thunder. They, however, like this 
 post, because from it they can easily discern their enemies." 
 
 This description corresponds in the main with that of 
 Father Hennepin,* who says that the village was "situated 
 at forty degrees of latitude, in a somewhat marshy plain, 
 on the right bank of the river," which was "as broad as 
 the Seine before Paris." But some allowance must be 
 made for the old latitude, which was too low, and, with the 
 French explorers, was never more than approximately cor- 
 rect. That this Illinois village stood in the vicinity of 
 bluffs or high ground is evidenced by the remark of Al- 
 
 * The population of this great village liad still funher increased in 1680, 
 when Hennepin computed the number of lodges at four hundred and 
 sixty, with several tires to each lodge. The RecoUet Father Membre, 
 writing in the same year, fixes the number of cabins at between four and 
 Ave hundred, and estimates the entire Indian population at from seven to 
 (;ight thousand. This large estimate probably indutled the " Cascaskias," 
 whose village he locates south-west of the " bottom of Lake Dauphin 
 (Michigan), at about latitude 41° north." In Margry's publication (vol. 
 11., pp. 128, 175), as cited by Hhea, we are also told that the village of 
 the Kaskaskia proper, was two leagues below the mouth of the Peste- 
 gouki, or Fox (of Illinois), and six leagues below the confluence of the 
 Checagou (Des Plaines) and Teakiki, and that both it and the great vil- 
 age were destroyed by the Iroquois. . 
 
198 
 
 Illinois as a Dependency of Canada. 
 
 louez, that, " from it they could easily; discern their ene- 
 mies." 
 
 In his journal, just quoted. Father AUouez relates 
 that he relaid the foundation of the Illinois mission by the 
 baptism of thirty-five children, and a sick adult, who soon 
 after died. He further states that on the 3d of May, 1677, 
 the anniversary of the Feast of the Holy Cross, he erected 
 in the village a cross twenty-five feet high, and chanted the 
 Vexilla in the presence of " a great number of the Illinois 
 of all tribes." In 1679 he revisited this mission, and re- 
 mained until the approach of La Salle's expedition of that 
 year, when he withdrew to the north. In 1684 he again 
 repaired to the Illinois, accompanied by M. Durantaye, who 
 then commanded at Mackinac. He was there sick in 
 1687, when the Cavelier-Joutel party reached Fort St. 
 Louis from Texas, but left shortly after, on hearing that 
 La Salle was still alive. Although chiefly a missionary to 
 the Miamis, AUouez still clung -to his Illinois mission, 
 which he probably visited once more in 1689. He died at 
 Fort Miami, in 1690. He is described as the ablest of all 
 the Jesuit Fathers sent to the Illinois. A man of cold yet 
 persevering temper, he seems to have ruled his extensive 
 charge principally by the sheer force of intellect. 
 
 The immediate successor of Father AUouez, in the 
 Illinois mission, was Sebastian Rasles,* who embarked 
 in a canoe at Quebec in August, 1691, and completed his 
 lengthened voyage in the spring of 1692. After laboring 
 with the Illinois for a year or more, he was recalled to his 
 original charge among the Abenakis on the Kennebec, in 
 Maine. Here, after long years of laborious service, he was 
 barbarously slain by a party of Kew England soldiers in 
 August, 1724. 
 
 Father Jacques Gravier, who had visited the Illinois 
 mission as early as 1687, received it from Father Rasles. 
 With the permission of Captain de Tonty, he erected a 
 chapel within the palisade of Fort St. Louis, which over- 
 looked the Indian village across the river. His relation of 
 
 * Otherwise written Sebastien Rasle, or Ral^. 
 
The Jesuit Mission at the Illinois. 
 
 199 
 
 occurrences at the " Mission of the Immaculate Conception " 
 of the Illinois, from March 20, 1693, to February 15, 1694, 
 presents an interesting view of his toils and trials with 
 these Indians. He remained in general charge of the mis- 
 sion until 1697, when he was recalled to his former station 
 at Mackinac. In 1700, he made a canoe voyage, by way of 
 the Illinois and Mississippi, to the French establishment at 
 Biloxi. Remaining there some time, he returned to the 
 Illinois and resumed his labors among the Peorias. Here, 
 in an assault upon him, instigated by the medicine-men of 
 the tribe, he received a serious wound, from the effects of 
 which he subsequently died at the Mobile, about the year 
 1708. 
 
 Father Gravier was among the first of the Jesuit mis- 
 sionaries to investigate the principles of the Illinois lan- 
 guage, and to reduce them to grammatical rules. He was 
 an earnest, able, and faithful missionary priest. 
 
 Gravier was succeeded in 1697 by the Fathers Julian 
 Binneteau and Jacques (or Francois) Pinet, the latter of 
 whom went to labor among the Tamaroas. Of Binneteau 
 it is recorded b}' Bancroft, that, having followed the Illinois 
 in one of their annual hunts on the prairies bordering the 
 Mississippi, he was there seized with a mortal fever, ' and 
 his bones were left to bleach on the wilderness range of 
 the buffalo." His death occurred in December, 1699. 
 
 In 1698, came Gabriel Marest, or Maret, who, four 
 years before, had accompanied D'Iberville on a voyage to 
 Hudson's Bay, and had chanted aves to the benighted Es- 
 quimaux on its frozen shores. Father Marest was espec- 
 ially associated with the Kaskaskias, whose language he 
 easily mastered, and in which he compiled a catechism. 
 It was under his immediate guidance, in the year 1700, that 
 the mission to the Kaskaskias was removed from the Illi- 
 nois River to the Mississippi. The subjoined account of 
 the transfer and migration of the tribe is extracted from an 
 exhaustive article upon the subject by Hon. E. G. Mason, 
 of Chicago, printed in the " Magazine of American His- 
 tory," for March, 1881 (Vol. VI): 
 
 "But the evidence," says Mr. Mason, "that this mia- 
 
200 
 
 Illinois as a Dependency of Canada. 
 
 sion remained upon the Illinoip River until the year 1700, 
 and that there was no settlement hefore that time upon the 
 site of the Kaskaskia we now know, appears to be well 
 nigh conclusive. A letter written to the Bishop of Quebec 
 by John Francis Buisson de St. Cosme, a missionary priest, 
 describes the journey of his party from Michillimackinac 
 to the mouth of the Arkansas, by the Illinois and Missis- 
 sipj)! Rivers, in the year 1699. They stayed at the house 
 of the Jesuit Fathers at Chicago, and set out from there 
 about November 1st, on what one of th'^ir predecessors 
 calls the divine * river, named by the Indians Checagou, 
 and made the portage to the river of the Illinois. Passing 
 the Illinois village before referred to, they learned that 
 most of the Indians had gone to Peoria Lake to hunt. 
 Arriving there, they met the Fathers Pinet and Marest, 
 with their flock, of which St. Cosme gives a good account, 
 and he speaks of their work as the Illinois mission. 
 
 " The party journeyed onward under the guidance of 
 La Salle's trusty lieutenant, Tonti. While on the Illinois 
 River, certain Indians attempted to prevent their going to 
 the Mississippi, and intimated that they would be killed if 
 they did so. Tonti replied that he did not fear men ; that 
 they had seen him meet the Iroquois, and knew that he 
 could kill men ; and the Indians offered no further opposi- 
 tion. They reached the Mississippi the 6th of December, 
 1699, and the next day reached the village of the Tamarois, 
 who had never seen any ' black gown,' except for a few 
 days, when the Reverend Father Gravier paid them a visit. 
 A week later, they ascended a rock on the right, going 
 down the river, and erected a beautiful cross, which their 
 escort saluted with a volley of musketry, and St. Cosme 
 prayed that God might grant that the cross, which had 
 never been known in those regions, might triumph there. 
 From the context of this letter, it is evident that this cere- 
 mony took place not far below che site of the present Kas- 
 kaskia, which St. Cosme must have passed to reach this 
 
 * The term divine was applied to the river Des Plaines, which was va- 
 riously called Checagou, Chekagou, Chicagou and Chigagou, by the early 
 explorers. 
 
Transfer of the Kaskaskia Mission. 
 
 201 
 
 rock, but he makes no mention of such a village. Further- 
 more, within fifteen miles or so of Kaskaskia, there is a 
 rocky bluff on the Mississippi side of the river, then known 
 as the Cape of the Five men, or Cap Cinq Homines. This 
 is doubtless a corruption of the name of the good Father 
 St. Cosme, as appears from a map made a little more than 
 one hundred years ago, which gives both names, Cinq 
 Homines and St. Cosme, to this very blutf. It probably is 
 the identical one he ascended, and he could not have spoken 
 of the cross as unknown in those regions, had there been 
 any settlement so near the spot as the Kaskaskia we now 
 know. Tonti, who was the leader of this party, is thought 
 by some to have founded Kaskaskia in 1686. Nobler 
 founder could no town have had than this faithful and fear- 
 less soldier, but the facts just narrated make such a theory 
 impossible. 
 
 "Again in the early part of the year 1700, a bold voy- 
 ager, Le Sueur (on his way to the copper mines in the Sioux 
 country), whose journal is in print, pushed up the Missis- 
 sippi from its mouth, where D'Iberville had just planted the 
 banner of France, and passed the site of Kaskaskia without 
 notice of £uch a place. He speaks of the village of the Tam- 
 arois, where by this time, St. Cosme had taken up his abode 
 on his return from the south.* About July 15th, going 
 northward, Le Sueur arrived at the mouth of the Illinois, 
 and there met three Canadian voyagcurs coming to join his 
 party, and received by them a letter from the Jesuit Marest, 
 
 *It is doubtful if Father St. Cosme ever returned from the South as 
 above stated, unless for a brief season. He was born in France about 
 the year 1658, and ordained a Jesuit priest in l(i83. We next find him 
 engaged as a missionary in Canada, from whence, in the autumn of 
 1699, he was sent to establish a mission a-nong the Natchez Indians on 
 the Lower Mississippi. Arrived thither, he soon gained the confidence 
 of the Sun Chief and the esteem of his nation, but did not succeed very 
 well in converting those sun-worshipers to the Roman Catholic faith. 
 In 1707, being obliged to make a journey to Mobile, St. Cosme embarked 
 in a canoe with three other Frenchmen, and while sailing down the 
 river, they were set upon and killed by a band of the Chetimacha In- 
 dians. The Natchez, it is said, avenged his death by the slaughter of 
 a great part of the offending tribe. — See Appleton's Encyclo. of Amer. 
 Biog., vol. 5, p. 3G9. 
 
 * A • . 
 
202 
 
 Illinois as a Dependence of Canada. 
 
 dated July 10, 1700, at the * Mission of the Immaculate Con- 
 ception of the Blessed Virgin at tho Illinois.' The letter of 
 St. Cosme and the journal of Le Sueur seem to show clearly 
 enough that down to the middle of the year 1700, the pres- 
 ent Kaskaskia had not been settled, and that the mission 
 was still on the Illinois River. 
 
 "And, lastly, we have the journal of the vo^'age of 
 Father James Gravier, in 1700,* i'vorw the country of the 
 Illinois to the mouth of the Mississippi ; from which we 
 learn that he returned from Michilimackinac, and set ou' 
 from Chicago on the 8th of September, 1700. He says he 
 arrived too late at the Illinois, of whom Father Marest had 
 charge, to prevent tlie transmigration of the village of the 
 Kaskaskias, which was too precipitately made, on vague 
 news of the establishment on the Mississippi, evidently re- 
 ferring to the landing of D'Iberville the year before. lie 
 did not believe that the Kaskaskias, whom Marest accom- 
 panied, would have separated from the Pcorias and other 
 Illinois, had he arrived sooner, and he obtained a promise 
 from the Peoi-ias to await his return from the Mississippi. 
 After having nuirched four days with the Kaskaskias, Gra- 
 vier went forward with Marest, whom he left sick at the 
 Tamarois village, and departed from there October 9, 1700, 
 to go to the lower part of the Mississippi, accompanied 
 only by some Frenchmen. The Indians, with Marest, we 
 may presume, halted between the Kaskaskia and Missis- 
 sippi Rivers, where we soon after find them ; and tliuB 
 doubtless was accomplished the transfer of the mission to 
 its final location. The eagerness of the Illinois tribes to be 
 in closer communication with the French was probably in- 
 tensified by their desire to escape any furtiu'r assaults from 
 their dreaded enemies, and to rear their wigwams where 
 they would never hear the war-cry of the Ii'oquois. Both 
 motives would operate more powerfully wit.i the Kaskas- 
 kias than with any others, because they had been longer 
 
 * Retatior}, <m Journal dn Voyage dn li. P. Jacques Graner, de la Com- 
 pagide de Jfm», m 1700, depm» k ptiys de Jllinois jiu^tpr a. />' entbottchure des 
 Misgis»ippi, p. 08. CramoiBy ISerioB of lielations, N. Y., 1859. 
 
Transfer of the Kaskaskia Mission. 
 
 203 
 
 under the influence of the French, and because, in their old 
 location, they were the first to receive the onslaughts of the 
 relentless foernen of the Illinois. Hence they set out to go 
 to the Lower Mississippi, but Gravier's influence, and per- 
 haps Marest's ilhiess as well, led them to pause at the first 
 suitable resting-place. And when we consider tliat, a few 
 years later, this same Marest, who accompanied these In- 
 dians on their migration, was stationed at the present Kas- 
 kaskia, in charge of the Mission of the Immaculate Con- 
 ception, as appears from his letters ; that he died and was 
 buried there, as is shown by the parish records, and that 
 we hear nothing further of a mission of this name on the 
 Illinois River, we may reasonably conclude that the Kas- 
 kaskia of our time sliould date its origin from the fall of 
 the year 1700, and should honor James Gravier and Gabriel 
 Marest as its founders." 
 
 Shortly after the transfer of the mission had been ef- 
 fected, the site of the new settlement was fixed on the right 
 bank of the Kaskaskia or Okaw River, six miles above its 
 confluence with the Missis.^ippi, and nearly two miles east 
 of the latter river. It is not improbable that an Indian 
 settlement had previously existed here, though this is a 
 matter of conj<K'ture. The village was christened by the 
 missionaries "Z/f Village (V TmmacaUc Conception dc Cas- 
 vasqiiias ;^' but no regularity of design was observed by its 
 founders, nor was any attempt made to profit by the natural 
 advantages of its position. 
 
 At that pristine period, the scenery about Kaskaskia 
 was well calculated to attract and please the eye of such of 
 the French missionaries as had a taste for the beautiful in 
 nature. " The velvet verdure of the plain, the glassy sur- 
 face of the idle river, the lofty hill* (on the east), with its 
 stately forest, the air scented with the fragrance oi' its wild 
 flowers, the little springs gushing from its side in sparkling 
 beauty, all rej»osing in the sleep of nature, with their virgin 
 
 * The rivor at Kaskiiskia was tliree hundrtnl ami lifty feet wide, and 
 the bluffs opposite the tawu ripe to the height of about two hundred 
 foet. 
 
TSSSS^mmm 
 
 204 
 
 Illinois as a Dependency of Canada. 
 
 freshness upon them, — there was a landscape to charm her 
 most capricious lover." * 
 
 For the first few years of her existence, Kaskaskia is 
 little noticed in contemporaneous records, except as a mis- 
 sion station. The earl}'^ history of the place is mostly drawn 
 from the parish records, and the letters and journals of tlie 
 missionary priests. Some of these records are in the cus- 
 tody of the priest of the parish, and others are in the keep- 
 ing of the bishop of the diocese. The oldest record of the 
 church at Kaskaskia is the " Register of Baptisms of the 
 Mission of the Illinois, of the title of the Immaculate Con- 
 ception of the Blessed Virgin." The first entrv in it, ac- 
 cord'ng to Breese, bears date March 20, 1695. Retaining 
 the French spelling of the names, it reads as follows : 
 
 " In the year 1695, March 20th, I, Jacques Gravier, of 
 the Society of Jesus, baptized Pierre Aco, newly-born of P. 
 Michael Aco. Godfather was De JIautchy, godmother 
 Maria Aramipinchicoue ; Maria Joanna, grandmother of the 
 child."! 
 
 This entry is claimed to be a copy of the original rec- 
 ord, which was made before the removal of the mission 
 from the Upper Illinois River. The register was continued 
 until June 1719, when the mission of Kaskaskia was 
 changed into a parish. A new baptismal register was then 
 opened, which bears this French title : " Heglstre des Bap- 
 tems fails dans UEglisse de la Mission et Parois^^e de la Con- 
 ception de Notre Dame, commence le 18 Jain, 1719." 
 
 Marriage and burial registers were likewise kept from 
 quite an early date, and were continued down, with varying 
 regularity, until toward the middle of the ])resont century. 
 On these venerable records appear the signatures of many 
 men of note and ii.fluence in the early French history of 
 Illinois. 
 , In 1707, Father Marest was joined at Kaskaskia l)y 
 
 *Br(H>8(''H F':nrly lliHt. of III., p. 15.']. 
 
 t It is aflirnu'd that Miclmel Aco's wifo was the (lauj?liter of a Kas- 
 kankia ol»ief, and that he was the identioal Ako, or Accault, who accom- 
 panied Kriar Ihunu'pin in his voyage of exi)lon\tiou up tiie Mississippi 
 iu l'>80. 
 
Early History of the Present Kaskaskia. 205 
 
 Father Jean Mermet, who had previously attempted a mis- 
 siou among the Mascoutiiis and others on the Lower Ohio, 
 and liad also labored at the great village of the Illinois. 
 Mr. Bancroft, in the third volume of his History of the 
 [Jnited States, gives us the following distinct picture of 
 Father Mermet's labors and success at Kaskaskia : 
 
 " The gentle virtues and fervid eloquence of Mermet 
 made him the soul of the mission of Kaskaskia. At early 
 dawn his pupils came to church, dressed neatly and mod- 
 estly, each in a deerskin, or a robe sewn together from sev- 
 eral skins. After receiving lessons, they chanted canticles; 
 mass was then said in presence of all the Christians, the 
 French, and the converts, the women on tlie one side and 
 the men on the other. From prayers and instructions, the 
 missionaries proceeded to visit the sick and administer med- 
 icine, and their skill as physicians did more than all the 
 rest to win contidence. Iii the afternoon the catechism was 
 taught in the presence of the young and the old, v/hen every 
 one, without distinction of rank or age, answered the ques 
 tions of the missionary. At evening all would assemble at 
 the chapel for instruction, for prayer, and to chant the 
 hymns of the church. On Sundays and festivals, even after 
 vespers, a homily was pronounced ; at the close of the day 
 parties would meet in houses to recite the chaplets in alter- 
 nate choirs, and sing psalms until late at night. These 
 psalms were often homilies, with words set to familiar 
 tunes. Saturday and Sunday were the days appointed for 
 confession and communion, and every convert confessed 
 once in a fortnight."* 
 
 This description by Bancroft is chiefly drawn fnnn a 
 narrative letterwritten by Father Marest to Father (iermon, 
 dated November 9, 1712, and ]>ublished in the Lettrcs Edifi- 
 aiitcs, at Paris. In the course of that lettei-, Marest remarks : 
 "The Illinois are much less barbarous than the other Indians. 
 Christianity and their intercourse with tlie Frencii Inive 
 somewhat civilized them. ... It would be ditticult to 
 
 * Fnthor Mei-nu't continued to labor at the KankaHkia miesion unti! 
 liiH death in 17 IK. 
 
206 
 
 Illinois as a Dependency of Canada. 
 
 say what is their religion. It consists entirely in some 
 superstitions with which their credulity is amused." 
 
 These missionary priests were truly a heroic and self- 
 devoted class of men. Of their hard and trying manner of 
 life, the same father gives us some glimpses in his printed 
 correspondence. On Good Friday, in the year 1711, he set 
 out on a trip across the country to the Peorias, who wanted 
 a new mission opened among them. Concerning this journey 
 on foot through the wilderness, he thus vividly writes : 
 
 " I departed, having nothing about me but my crucifix 
 and breviary, and being accompanied bv only two savages, 
 who might abandon me from levity, or might fly through 
 fear of enemies. The terror of these vast, uninhabited 
 regions, in which for twelve days not a single soul was 
 seen, almost took away my courage. This was a journey 
 wherein there was no village, no bridge, no ferry-boat, no 
 house, no beaten path, and over boundless priiiries, inter- 
 sected by rivulets and rivers, through forests and thickets 
 filled with briars and thorns, through marshes in which we 
 sometimes plunged to the girdle. At night repose was 
 sought on the grass or leaves, exposed to the winds and 
 rains, happy if by the side of some rivulet, whose waters 
 might quench our thirst. Meals were prepared from such 
 game as might be killed on the way, or by roasting ears of 
 corn." 
 
 Father Marest was longer in missionary service with 
 the Illinois Indians than any of his })redecessors. lie died, 
 it is said, near Peoria, September 17, 1715. 
 
 It has been a mooted cpiestion among Illinois antiiiua- 
 rians as to which is the more ancient of the two villages, 
 Kaskiiskia or Cahokia. Pittman, in his account of the 
 Frencii Settlements, says that Cahokia "was the first settle- 
 ment on the Mississippi;" and in the "Annals of the West" 
 it is stated that "Cahokia appears to liave been a trading 
 post and missionary station earlier than Kaskaskia." These 
 statements are su})ported by the weight of probability, 
 though the ditterence in age between the two can hardly 
 exceed one year. According to Bnuise's History, the Jesuit 
 Fathers Pinot and Hinneteau established the mission at 
 
Founding of Cahokia. 
 
 207 
 
 Cahokia, and christened the little community which grew 
 up around it by the name of aS^^. Famille de Caoquias. It 
 is doubtful, however, if Father Binneteau ever labored at 
 this mission. 
 
 " The credit of establishing the mission of Cahokia, at 
 first called Tamaroa, belongs to Rev. Jacques Pinet, but at 
 what date has been a matter of dispute. Up to the time of 
 St. Cosme's visit to the Tamaroas in 1699, it appears that no 
 'black gown ' had been seen there, except Father Gravier 
 for a few days. The following year, however, when Le 
 Sueur had reached this village (where he remained seven- 
 teen days), he found three French missionaries, viz.: Rev. 
 J. Bergier, and Fathers Pinet and Joseph de Limogerj, and 
 also a number of Canadian traders, who were purchasing furs 
 and skins. In October of the same year (1700), Father 
 Gravier mentions the fact in his journal that, on his way 
 down the Mississippi, he stopped at the village of the Tam- 
 aroas, and found Father Pinet there, ' peaceably discharg- 
 ing tiie functions of a missionary, and Rev. M. Bergier, 
 also,' who had care only of the French. Father Bergier 
 remained at Cahokia until his death, July 16, 1710." * 
 
 Father Pinet met with unusual success in his mission 
 at Cahokia, and soon found his chapel too small to accom- 
 modate the crowds that resorted thither to tlie mass. The 
 Indians under his spiritual charge were the Tamaroas and 
 Cahokias, the latter being an allied tribe or branch of the 
 former. The imposing rites of the Roman Church were 
 well calculated to awe the senses of these ignorant and 
 superstitious savages, but the religious imi)ression8 made 
 upon their minds were feeble and transient, and when away 
 from the influence and guidance of the priests, they were 
 prone to relapse into the excesses of barbarism. 
 
 When the village of Cahokia was originally e8tal)li8hed 
 (say in 1699), it stood upon the immediate bank of the 
 Mississippi; but in the course of a few years the river 
 
 * " Illinois, Historical tuid StatiBtical." By John Mohcs, Chicago, 
 1889, Vol. I., p. 86. 
 
mm 
 
 208 
 
 Illinois as a Dependency of Canada. 
 
 shifted its bed to the west, so as to leave the village some 
 distance inland. It long remained a place of considerable 
 importance for trade, though there was never any thing 
 attractive in its situation or environs. At present it is a 
 straggling, decayed, and antiquated little village, seated on 
 a sandy ridge in the American Bott(mi, opposite Caron do- 
 let, and about one mile east from the Mississippi River. 
 
 Besides Kaskaskia and Cahokia, other French villages 
 afterward sprang up in that vicinity, which will be noticed 
 hereafter. Other and branch missions were also established 
 among the Illinois Indians by the zeal and enterprise of the 
 Jesuit clergy, who, prior to the introduction of any form 
 of civil government in the country, officiated in the double 
 capacity of spiritual directors and temporal rulers of the 
 people. 
 
 Although anticipating somewhat the chronological or- 
 der of events in our history, we make space here for the 
 following extracts from Father Charlevoix' interesting and 
 instructive description of the Illinois country, through 
 which he traveled with an armed escort in the autumn of 
 1721. Of Peoria, then still an Indian village, he says: 
 
 " The two following days, we traveled a charmin" 
 country ; and the 3d of October, about noon, we found our- 
 selves at the entrance of Lake Pimiteouy. It is the river 
 which grows wider here, and which for three leagues is 
 one league in breadth. At the end of these three leagues, 
 we find on the right a second village of the Illinois, distant 
 about fifteen leagues from tliat at the Rock.* Nothing can 
 be more pleasant than the situation ; it has over against it, 
 as in perspective, a very fine forest, which was then of all 
 colors, and beliind it a plain of immense extent, bordered 
 with woods. The lake and tlie river swarm with fish, and 
 their sides with wild fowl. I met also in this village four 
 French-Canadians, who informed me that I was between 
 four parties of enemies, and that it was unsafe for me either 
 to go forward or return." 
 
 * Hy the course of the river, the distance was nearer thirty thau fif- 
 teen leagues. 
 
/ . 
 
 Charlevoix' Visit to the Illinois. 
 
 209 
 
 Accompanied by two of the Canadians from Peoria as 
 guides, Charlevoix and party resunied their journey, and 
 next stopped at Cahokia, concerning which village, and the 
 missionaries stationed there, he thus writes : 
 
 " The same day (10th of October), we went to lay in 
 a village of the Caoquias and Tamarouas. These are two 
 nations of the Illinois which are united, and who do not 
 together make a very numerous village. It is situated on 
 a little river which comes from the east, and which has no 
 water but in the spring season ; so that we were forced to 
 walk a good half league to the cabins. I was surprised 
 that they had chosen such an inconvenient situation, as 
 they might have found a much better ; but they told me 
 that the Mississippi washed the foot of the village when it 
 was built, and that in three years it (the river) had lost half 
 a league of ground, and that they were thinking of looking 
 out for another settlement. I passed the night in the house 
 of the missionaries, who are two ecclesiastics of the Sem- 
 inary of Quebec, formerly my disciples, but who might now 
 be my masters. The oldest of the two (Dominique A. 
 Thaumer) was absent. I found the youngest (Francois le 
 ^lercier) such as he has been reported to me, severe to 
 himself, full of charity for others, and making virtue ami- 
 able in his own person But he has so little health, that I 
 think he can not long support tlie way of life which they 
 are obliged to lead in these missions." 
 
 Of Kaskaskia and its environs, the same traveler 
 writes : " I arrived next day (the 12th) at the Kaskasquias, 
 at nine in the morning. The .Jesuits had here a very tlour- 
 isliing mission, which has lately been divided into two, be- 
 cause it was thought proper to form two villages of sav- 
 ages instead of one. The most populous is on the side of 
 the Mississippi ; two Jesuits* have the government of it in 
 epiritual affairs. Half a league lower is Fort Chaitres, 
 about a musket-shot from the river. M. Duquet de Bois- 
 briant, a Canadian gentleman, commands Vicre for the Com- 
 
 * Fathers Boulanger and Kereben. 
 
 14 
 
210 
 
 Illinois as a Dependency of Canada. 
 
 pany, to which the place belongs ; and all the space be- 
 tween the two places begins to be peopled by the French. 
 Four leagues further, and two leagues from the river, there 
 is a large village of French, who are almost all Canadians, 
 and have a Jesuit for their priest. The second village ot 
 the Illinois is two leagues distant from it and farther up the 
 country, and is under the charge of a priest. 
 
 " The French here are pretty much at their ease. A 
 Fleming, who was a servant of the Jesuits, has taught 
 them how to sow wheat, and it thrives very well. They 
 have some horned cattle and fowls. The Illinois cultivate 
 the lands after their fashion, and are very laborious. They 
 likewise breed poultry, which they sell to the French. 
 Their women are sufficient!}^ dexterous ; they spin the buf- 
 falo's wool, and make it as fine as that of the English 
 sheep. Sometimes one would even take it for silk. They 
 make stufis of it, which they dye black, yellow and dark 
 red ; they make gowns of it, which they sew with thread 
 made of the sinews of the roebuck. They expose these to 
 the sun for three days, and when dry beat them, and with- 
 out difficulty draw out threads of great fineness. 
 
 "All this country is open. It consists of vast meadows 
 (prairies) which extend for twenty-five leagues, and are 
 separated by little groves that are all of good wood." 
 
 Remaining at Kaskaskia for a month, Charlevoix re- 
 sumed his way down the Mississippi, and reached the con- 
 fluence of the Ohio about the 15th of November, 1721. 
 With regard to this river (then still called the Ouabache), 
 and the advantage of having a settlement at its mouth, his 
 journal says : 
 
 " Immediately after this reach, we passed on the left 
 by the fine river Ouabache, by which one can go quite up 
 to the Iroquois, when the waters are high. Its entrance 
 into the Mississippi is a little less than a quarter of u 
 league wide. There is no place in Louisiana more fit, in 
 my opinion, for a settlement than this, nor where it is of 
 more consecpience to have one." * 
 
 * Vide "An Historical Journal of Travels in North America, utjder- 
 
Charlevoix' Life and Works. 
 
 211 
 
 be- 
 nch, 
 liere 
 ians, 
 je ot 
 n the 
 
 5. A 
 
 lught 
 Tliey 
 tiviite 
 
 They 
 rench. 
 le l)ut'- 
 higlish 
 
 They 
 d dark 
 
 tlireiitl 
 :liese to 
 d with- 
 
 eadows 
 iind are 
 
 roix re- 
 
 blie con- 
 
 ir, 1721. 
 
 ibache), 
 
 iutb, his 
 
 the left 
 luite up 
 jutrauce 
 ber of a 
 Ire fit, hi 
 it if< <>t' 
 
 taken by order of the King of France." By Father Charlevoix (English 
 Translation, London, 1763), pp. 284-2'Jl, and 303. 
 
 Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix, an eminent Jesuit scholar, 
 historian, and traveler, was born at St. Quentin, in the North of France, 
 October 29, 1682. At the age of sixteen he entered the Society of Jesus, 
 and while still a student of divinity was sent to Canada in 1705. During 
 the succeeding four years he taught in the Jesuit College at Quebec, 
 and afterward returned to France, where he was made a professor of 
 bellfK-lettres in one of the Jesuit universities. In 1720 he again came to 
 Canada, and during the next year ascended the river St. Lawrence, and 
 the great lakes to the head of Lake Michigan, from whence he entered 
 and traversed the Illinois country. Descending the Mississippi to New 
 Orleans, he thence visited the French establishments at Biloxi and on 
 the Mobile, and afterward sailed via St. Domingo to France, whither he 
 arrived (1722) after an absence of two years. 
 
 Charlevoix was author of several learned and valuable works. He 
 first published a history of the Catholic Missions in Japan, which was 
 followed by a history of Saint Domingo ; and in 1744 his Histoire de 
 NouveUe France, which had been withlield for nearly twenty years, ap- 
 peared in three large volumes. Although quoted and praised by schol- 
 ars, no translation of it was made from the French until somewhat re- 
 cently, when an edition in FiPglish, with copious notes, was published 
 by Dr. John G. Shea (N. Y., 1865-72), in six volumes. 
 
 About the year 1744, Charlevoix also published his Journal of Trav- 
 els in North America, in tlie form of letters addressed to the Ducliesse 
 de Lesdiguiere. It is averred that from this work the British Ministry 
 first gained a correct notion of Canada and its dependencies, and of the 
 great advantages to be derived from the possession of that country. 
 The last literary performance of our author was his History of Para- 
 guay, which contains a full account of the operations of the Jesuits in 
 that southern quarter of the globe. 
 
 Charlevoix died in La. Fidche, France, on February 1, 1761, at a 
 green old age. 
 
 I 
 
 lea, under- 
 
212 
 
 Settlement of Lower Louisiana. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 161)8-171]. 
 
 PERMANENT SETTLEMENT OF LOWER LOUISIAJ^A. 
 
 By the treaty concluded at Ryswick, in 1697, Louis 
 XIV. relinquished nearly all of his European conquests, 
 and recognized the Prince of Orange as King of England, 
 Temporary tranquillity being thus restored in Western 
 Europe, Louis had some leisure to devote to his American 
 possessions, and to the renewal of his former endeavor to 
 establish a colony at or near the embouchure of the Mis- 
 sissippi River. This monarch was obviously ambitious to 
 enhance the glories of his reign by creating for France a 
 colonial dominion on the sunny shores of the Gulf of 
 Mexico, which might rival the flourishing English settle- 
 ments on the Atlantic coast. Accordingly, in the begin- 
 ning of the year 1698, he gave orders for the fitting out of 
 a suitable expedition to colonize Louisiana. The command 
 of this royal enterprise was entrusted to Captain d'lber- 
 ville, a distinguished young naval officer, whose energy, 
 tact, administrative ability, and varied experience pecu- 
 liarly qualified him for so arduous and important an un- 
 dertaking. 
 
 Pierre le Moyne,* Sieur d'lberville, was a native of 
 Canada, having been born in Montreal, July 16, 1661. He 
 was, it is said, the third son of Charles le Moyne, himself a 
 gallant soldier, and was one of eleven brothers, seven of 
 whom died naval officers. When but a boy of fourteen, 
 Pierre entered the French navy as a midshipman, and by 
 meritorious service rose rapidly in his profession. In 1692 
 he became captain of a frigate, and, ten years later, cap- 
 tain of a line-of-battle-ship. During this period of active 
 
 *By some authors, this family name is written Lemoine. 
 
Iberville's Colonizing Expeditioji. 
 
 213 
 
 service, he acquitted liiniself not only as a brave and skill- 
 ful naval officer, but as an effieietit agent of the French 
 government in settling colonies in Acadia and Cape Breton 
 Island. In 1697 he made a cruise with his ship, the Peli- 
 can, into the misty and frigid waters of Hudson's Bay, 
 where he engaged and sunk an English man-of-war, cap- 
 tured her two consorts, and reduced Fort Nelson, or Fort 
 Bourbon, as it was called by the French. Returning to 
 France from this brilliant cruise, he sought and obtained 
 command of the new colonizing expedition to the Missis- 
 sippi. 
 
 On the 24th of September, 1698, Captain d'Iberville 
 set sail from Rochelle upon his distant and uncertain en- 
 terprise, taking with him M. de Sau voile,* and his young 
 brother, Bienville. His squadron consisted of two frigates, 
 the Badine and Marin, of thirty guns each (the former was 
 commanded by himself, and the latter by the Comte de 
 Surgeres) and two smaller ships, bearing a company of 
 marines and about two hundred colonists. A majority of 
 the latter were ex-soldiers, who had served in the armies 
 of France, some of whom were accompanied by their 
 wives and children. The other colonists were made up ot 
 artisans, laborers, and needy adventurerr,. They were all 
 supplied with the necessary clothing, provisions and im- 
 plements for beginning a settlement in the remote solitudes 
 of Louisiana. Stopping at Brest to complete his outfit, 
 the commander sailed from that port on the 24th of Octo- 
 ber, shaping his general course to the south-west. After 
 an auspicious passage, he dropped anchor in the haven 
 of Cape Francois, now Cape Ilaytjen, St. Domingo, late in 
 the following December. 
 
 On arriving thither, his fleet was joined by the war 
 ship Le Francois, of fifty guns, commanded by the Mar- 
 quis de Chateaumorant, who had received orders to escort 
 the expedition to its destination. Being thus reinforced, 
 
 *It is doubtful if Sauvolle belonged to the Le Moyne family of 
 brothers, though Mr. Gayarre treats him as a full brother, and tella 
 us that he inherited a fortune from his godfather. 
 
^ss^mmr ^jp 
 
 214 
 
 Settlement of Lower Louisiana. 
 
 D'Iberville again put to sea on the Ist of January, 1699, 
 taking the route via Cape San Antonio, at the western end 
 of Cuba. Having doubled that cape on the 15th of Janu- 
 ary, he steered northward over the Mexican Guif, and 
 reached the southern shore of Florida on the 24th. An- 
 choring his ships securely off the Island of Santa Rosa, 
 he then proceeded to reconnoiter the Bay of Pensacola 
 (called by the Spaniards Santa Maria de Galva), where he 
 found two Spanish war vessels, and a small fort and garri- 
 son. Upon sending in a boat with two officers, the Spanish 
 commander received them politely, but refused the French 
 permission to enter with their vessels. The Spaniards had 
 long been in possession of East Florida, but it was not 
 until they had learned that a French armament was fitting 
 out for the western coast of the peninsula, that they made 
 haste to establish this military post on Pensacola Bay. 
 The new erection, therefore, was an obvious indication of 
 their intention to anticipate, and, if possible, frustrate the 
 designs of the French in these waters. 
 
 Leaving Pensacola Bay and standing along the low 
 coast to the west, D'Iberville, on the Slst of the month, 
 cast anchor off Dauphin Island, lying on the west and near 
 the entrance of Mobile Bay. This Island was first named 
 by the French Isle de Massacre, from the circumstance that 
 on its level surface was found a mound composed 'f earth 
 and th^ bones of long dead Indians, who had fallen there 
 in coiiibr^. with their enemies. Sailing still farther west- 
 ward, the French commander next discovered a group of 
 small islands, to which was given the name of Isles des 
 Chandeleur. Anchoring his frigates near them, he went to 
 ex-imine the channel between Cat Island and Ship Island, 
 ruid, having landed his colonists on the latter, he caused 
 temporary huts to be erected there for their shelter from 
 the weather. The Marquis de Chateaumorant, having now 
 fulfilled his mission, and finding the waters on this coast 
 too shallow to remain long in safety with his large frigai-', 
 sailed away on his return to St. Domingo. 
 
 About the 11th of February, Iberville sent his brother 
 Bienville, with a felucca and canoe, to the mainland, which 
 
Iberville Enters the Mouth of the Mississippi. 215 
 
 lay about four leagues to the north of his anchorage. 
 Having entered a little bay, the exploring party discovered 
 several piroques filled with half-naked savages, who fled 
 with consternation at the approach of the Frenchmen. On 
 the next day, however, the latter contrived to intercept a 
 woman of the Indians, by whom they were enabled to 
 open an intercourse with her tribe, which was the Bilocci, 
 or Biloxi — a name given by the French to the bay itself. 
 On the evening of the same day there arrived at this bay a 
 war party of some eighty Bayagoulas, so called, who were 
 then at war with the Indians on the Mobile. From the 
 former it was learned, by the language of signs (for th M^e 
 was no interpreter,) that they dwelt oft' to the south-west, 
 on the shores of a large and deep river, called by them the 
 Malabouchid. Having ascertained by further inquiry among 
 the natives the probable distance and course of the un- 
 known river, Iberville prepared to go in quest of it. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 27th of February, he set oft* from 
 Isle de Vaisseau (Ship Island) with two shallops, carrying 
 twenty-four men each — one of which was commanded by 
 Bienville — and took with him as a guide Father Anastase 
 Doua}'^, who had been a companion of La Salle in hi^; last 
 Mississippi expedition. Sailing cautiously southward along 
 the low and marshy coast, at the end of three days the voy- 
 agers happily discovered the outlet of the " hidden river," 
 which it was believed no European vessel had as yet pene- 
 trated from the sea. On the 2d of March they entered 
 one of its principal passes, which Father Anastase* thought 
 he recognized as the Mississippi, from its turbid and seeth- 
 ing waters. On the 3d they began to ascend the river, and, 
 after seven days of sailing and rowing, had attained a dis- 
 
 * Father Douay, as Hennepin informs us, was a native of Quesnoy 
 in Ilainault, and, subsequent to his return from America in 1688, had 
 been appointed vicar of the Recollet convent at Cainbray. Remaining 
 there until summoned to join D'Iberville's colonizing expedition, he 
 probably returned with the latter to France in 1()9*.), since we find no 
 further mention of him in Louisiana. We were pleased to have met 
 with P6re Anastase once more; ; and now that he disappears from the 
 historic page, we can only say, hail ! and farewell. 
 
216 
 
 Settlement of Lower Louisiana. 
 
 tance of forty leagues from the Gulf. Here our explorers 
 came upon three pirogues filled with naked savages, who 
 hastily fled at their advance. One of the natives, however, 
 was overtaken in his flight, and by making him some trifling 
 presents, which gained his good will, he was induced to 
 bring V)ack his companions. They belonged to the tribe 
 of the Bayagoulas, and readily undertook to conduct the 
 Frenchmen to their village, further up the river, which was 
 reached on the 14th of March. It was found to contain 
 between four and five hundred inhabitants, and nmstered 
 about one hundred warriors. Among the villagers were 
 found stuffs of European fabric, said to have been given 
 them by La Salle or Tonty. The chiefs of the BayagoulaB 
 received their French visitors in a very civil manner, and 
 gave to them, among other things, a few domestic fowls, 
 which they claimed to have reared from some they had ob- 
 tained from nations to the west of the Mississippi, near 
 the seashore. Such fowls were not uncommon among the 
 southern Indians at this time, tliough it seems that they 
 were kept more as pets than for use as an article of food. 
 They were doubtless originally l)rought to the country by 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 M. d'Iberville was still in doubt whether the river he 
 ■was ascending was the Mississippi or not ; for lie had not 
 as yet seen or heard of the Tangibaos, of whom La Salle 
 had made mention. TTpon inquiry, however, it was ascer- 
 tained that tiiis snudl tribe had been destroyed by another 
 called the Mongoulachas, or Bayagoulas, the Quinipissas of 
 La Salle and Tonty. Soon afterward, Bienville found iu 
 tlie possession of one of these natives a letter wh'ch Tonty 
 had penned to La Salle, and left in the keeping of a chief 
 of the Quinipissas tribe, on the occasion of liis trip to tlie 
 Gulf in tlie spring of 1686.* This opportune discovery 
 
 ♦This letter of Touty's, to which we have previously nlluded, or so 
 much of it as was published, reads as follows : 
 
 " Vii.LAOK OF TirK Q iNU'iKSAs, April 20, 1085 (ItiHO). 
 
 "(Sir; Havinj? found the posts on which you had set up the King's 
 arms thrown down by driftwood, I luive [)lanted another further in, 
 about seven U'ligueH from the sta. where I left a letter in a tree be- 
 
Iberville Explores the Lower Mississippi. 
 
 217 
 
 dissipated all doubts in the minds of Iberville and his asso- 
 ciates as to what river they were navigating, and inspired 
 them with fresh confidence to continue their upward voy- 
 age. Among tlie Indians of this delta region, they also 
 found part of an old suit of Spanish armor, which was sup- 
 posed to have belonged to De Soto's army. 
 
 On the 18th, still cautiously ascending, our voyagers 
 passed on their right the Baton Houge, the first high 
 bank * they had seen since entering the river. Here was 
 established the northern limit of the hunting grounds of 
 the Bayagoulas. Some distance above that they came to a 
 point where the river made a long detour or circuit, and, to 
 save time, the commander caused the trees to be felled, and 
 transported his boats to the opposite side of the peninsula. 
 The Mississippi afterward cut itself a chunnol through this 
 point, V hich has ever since been known as ''Point CoiqySeJ' 
 On the 20th the explorers irrived at a large village of the 
 Oumas, containing over three hundred braves, who wel- 
 comed them with nmsic and dances, jind acquainted them 
 with the Indian ceremony of smoking the calumet of peace. 
 At this village they saw many d(jmestic fowls, which were 
 mostly kept for ornamental purposes. 
 
 Here the Sieur d'Iberville, learning that tliere was a 
 river or bayou to the eastward, which he could reach by a 
 short portage, and down which he might descend through 
 Hkes to the sea, left the Mississippi, with two canoes and 
 a guide, sending Bi Miville down the main river with the 
 large boats, under instructions to meet him at the Isle de 
 
 side. . . . All the nations havi 8ung the calumet to nie ; they fear 
 us excessively since you defeated this village. I conclude by saying, 
 that it is a great disapuointment to uie that we should return without 
 the good fortune of meeting you, after two i-anoes have coasted toward 
 Mexico for thirty leagues, and toward Florida for twenty-tive, etc." See 
 Charlevoix' New France, V., p. 123. 
 
 *0n this blutr, twenty-tive feet above high water, and one Innidred 
 and twenty-nine miles by th(> river above New Orleans, the French sub- 
 sequently established a fortlet and village (now cityi, which received 
 the name of Baton Rougr, or lied Post. This name, according to I^ 
 Page du Pratz's early History of Louisiana, is ilerived from the large 
 cypress trees that formerly grew there, tiie wood of which is red. 
 
 / 
 
218 
 
 Settlement of Lower Louisiana. 
 
 Vaisseau. Proceeding on his return course, Bienville 
 reached the island, without accident, about the first of 
 April. Here he was met by Iberville, who had arrived 
 before him, having come down through the bayou Man- 
 shac or Iberville, and the two connecting lakes or arms of 
 the Gulf, which he severally named Maurepaf. and Pont- 
 chartrain. , 
 
 On the 12th of April, M. d'Iberville went to examine 
 a small bay, lying several leagues north of Isle de Vais- 
 seau, to which he gave the name of St. Louis. Pleased 
 with the situation and appearance of this bay, he would 
 have removed his colony thither forthwith, but for the fact 
 that the water at its entrance was too sliallow for his ves- 
 sels of heavy draft. Finally, he decided to locate his es- 
 tablishment on the eastern side of the mouth of Biloxi 
 Bay, a northern arm of Mississippi Sound. The spot thus 
 chosen was tolerably healthy, yet sandy and unproductive 
 in the extreme. Its sterility, however, wa-s t" irticularly 
 objected to by the colonists, who thought nothing about 
 agriculture, but only of trading with the Indians, and 
 scouring the country for its supposed mineral wealth. 
 
 In his official report, D'Iberville thus describes the first 
 settlement ever made by white men upon the soil of what 
 is now the State of Mississippi : 
 
 " After having visited several places well adapted for 
 forming settlements, our provisions falling sliort, we 
 thought best to commence operations at the Buy of Biloxi, 
 four leagues north-west of the place where the ships were 
 anchored, and which could be approached at a diet i !<■ of 
 two leagues. We made choice of this place mereh m> 
 count of the road, wliere the small vessels can go and < i ^^ 
 at all time3, and where we could assist, without fear, with 
 a portion of the crew, in building the foit which I ordered 
 to be constructed there ; whilst, in the meantime, the place 
 most convenient for the colony can be selected at leisure. 
 
 ''This fort is built of wood, with four bastions; two 
 are made of hewn timber placed together, one .")ot and a 
 half thick, and nine feet high ; the other two of doubl'i 
 
Iberville Plants his Colony at Biloxi Bay. 
 
 219 
 
 palisades. It is mounted with fifty -four pieces of cannon,* 
 with a plentiful supply of ammunition." He left M. de 
 Sauvolle in command; DeBienville, as king's lieutenant; 
 LeVasseur, major; DeBordenac, chaplain; M. Care, sur- 
 geon ; two captains, two cannoniers, four sailors, eighteen 
 filibusters, thirteen Canadians, ten mechanics, six masons, 
 and thirty sub-ofi3.cer8 and soldiers (ninety in all). 
 
 M. d'Iberville named this fort for Count Maurepas, 
 who was then Secretary of Foreign Afl^airs. After causing 
 a gi'oup of log huts to be built around the fort for the use 
 of the colonists, and having them to plant a quantity of 
 beans and Indian corn, he distributed provisions for four 
 or five months, and, on the 3d of May, re-embarked for 
 Frmce. Sailing through the old Bahama Channel, and 
 touching at St. Domingo, he arrived in safety at the port 
 of Tiochefort on July 2, 1699.t 
 
 On the 22d of May, after the departure of Capt. d' 
 Iberville, Lieutenant Bienvilleset out with a small party on 
 an excursion into the interior of the country. During the 
 course of this trip, he was informed that a band of two hun- 
 dred Chickasaws, headed by two white men (supposed to 
 be Englishman from the colony in Carolina), had fallen upon 
 and destroj^ed a village of the Colapissas, situated on the 
 northern shore of Lake I'oTitchartrain. lie, however, met 
 with no enemy. Returning to Fort Biloxi, he again set oft, 
 on the 9th of June, with two canoes, to explore the coast 
 on the east. Having passed the mouth of Pascagoula River 
 and Mobile Point, he approached so near to Fort Pensacola 
 that he perceived it was still occupied by the Si)aniards. 
 
 About the first of July the colonists at Biloxi Bay 
 were cheered by the unexi>ected ari'ival of two Ijark ca- 
 noes, carrying several Cainulians and two Jesuit priests, 
 Father Anthony Davion and Father Montigny. They came 
 
 *Thi8 is manifestly an terror or misprint. Tlio real number of oan- 
 non mounted upon tlie fort, as stated by Ikncroft, Gayarr6 and otber 
 liistorians, was twelve. 
 
 tSec M. d' Iberville's brief oiru-ial nain.tive of this expedition, 
 l)riiited in " Historical CollecMons of Louisiana and Florida," edited by 
 B. F. Freneh. (New Series, N. Y., 1860), pp. 30-;{2. 
 
220 
 
 Settlement of Lower Louisiana. 
 
 by way of the Illinois and the Mississippi, and having 
 learned from the Oumas that the French were establishing 
 a colony near the Gulf, had come down to see them. After 
 a pleasant visit here of ten days, the two priests departed 
 to begin a mission among the Tonicas on the Mississippi, 
 near the Yazoo. -:•:■■'.■-■ -'■■■':■'-'■■''■ '-r.^^:.- "■■■::-:'■ :''."■ 
 
 In September of the same year (1699), while Lieuten- 
 ant Bienville was descending the Lower Mississippi, and 
 when at a point some twent3''-eight leagues from the sea, 
 he discovered in the river an English ship of sixteen guns, 
 commanded by one Captain Barr, who had left a consort 
 in waiting at the mouth. The English captain was not 
 certain that he was actually upon the Mississippi, and Bien- 
 ville gladly availed himselfof the opportunity to assure him 
 that it was not the Mississippi ; that the river he sought ran 
 much farther to the west, and that the stream on which he 
 was sailing was within the limits of a country that had 
 been taken possession of in the name of his majesty, the 
 King of France. By this deception the wily Frenchma!i 
 induced the English mariner to face about and return to 
 the sea ; and from this circumstance the place has ever 
 since bo'.ie the name of Detour des Anglais, or " English 
 Turn." 
 
 It is related as a fact, that on board Captain Barr's ship 
 was a Protestant Frenchman, who secretly handed to Bien- 
 ville a letter addressed to the King of France, in which his 
 majesty was assured that if he would accord liberty of con- 
 science to a Protestant colony in Louisiana, more than four 
 hundred Huguenot families, already inured to exile and 
 hardships, would immigrate hither from the Carolinas. 
 The letter was afterward transmitted to Count Pontchar- 
 train, the French Minister of Colonies, who, with the 
 harshness and bigotry of that age, returned for answer, 
 that bis " Christian majesty bad not expelled heretics from 
 his kingdom in order to establish them in America." 
 
 On the 0th of January, 1700, M. d'Iberville re-appeared 
 in the waters of the Gulf off Fort Biloxi, with two large 
 ships of war — the lienomme rating fifty guns, and the 
 Gironde forty-six — bringing with him sixty Canadian im- 
 
Iberville Raises a Fort on the Mississippi. 
 
 •221 
 
 migrants, and a fresh supply of provisions and stores for 
 the needy colonists. He also brought royal commissions, 
 appointing Sauvolle governor, or commandant of the col- 
 ony ; Bienville lieutenant, and Boidbriant major. By the 
 same vessels arrived Pierre le Sueur and thirty miners, 
 who had been sent by M. de Iluillier, of Quebec, to open 
 and work a copper mine which had been discovered on 
 the St. Peter's (now Minnesota) River, one of the afflu- 
 ents of the Upper Mississippi. Le Sueur, moreover, had 
 instructions from the governor of Canada to erect a fort on 
 the St. Peter's, to hold in awe the Sioux or Dakotas. He 
 departed in April on his mission to the far north.* 
 
 When the vigilant D'Iberville was informed by his 
 brother Bienville that two English ships had appeared in 
 the mouth of the Mississippi, he determined to forthwith 
 construct a fort on that river, so as to anticipate any future 
 attempt of the English to gain a foot-hold on its shores. 
 Having dispatched Bienville through tbe lakes and bayous 
 to the Bayagoulas, to procure guides to some suitable spot 
 on the lower part of the river, the comnumder himself left 
 Isle de Vaisseau, or Ship Island, on the 15th of January, 
 taking with him sixty men, two shallops, and two 
 smaller vessels loaded with the necessary provisions, imple- 
 ments, etc. After enteriiMjj and ascending the Mississippi 
 about eighteen leagues, he was met by Bienville, an.d they 
 selected a position secure from inundation, and there begun 
 the construction of a log and earth fort, which received the 
 name of Iberville. 
 
 Toward the middlb of February, while still engaged 
 upon the fort, M. d'Iberville was joined by the veteran Do 
 Tonty, who arrived with a party of twenty Canadians from 
 the Illinois, and who is said to have come in response to an 
 invitation that had been sent him from Sauvolle. Tonty 
 was now past his prime, yet his long and varied experience 
 
 *" Stoddard, in his SketchcH of Louisiana, on the authority of a MS. 
 narrative of La Ilarpc, says tliat Lo .Sueur ascended the St. Peter's River 
 to the mouth of Bhie iMirth lliver, where he erected a fort called 
 ^'Iluillier, which was abandoned the next year on account, of the hos- 
 tility of the Sioux."— Monette's Val. of the IVIisH., L, p. 200, 
 
■■■ 
 
 222 
 
 Settlement of Loiver Louisiana. 
 
 with La Salle, and his intimate knowledge of the principal 
 Indian nations of the Mississippi Valley, rendered him a 
 valuable acquisition to the southern colony. Availing him- 
 self of Tonty's presence and assistance, D'Iberville decided 
 to ascend the river as far as the Natchez, and establish ami- 
 cable relations with the natives on the way. Hastily or- 
 ganizing an expedition for this purpose, he set out with 
 Bienville and Tonty, proceeding in boats and canoes. 
 They lirst stopped at the Bayagoulas, where they remained 
 till the first week in March, when they proceeded to the Ou- 
 mas.* Continuing their upward voyage, they next reached 
 the Natchez, whose villages lay about three hundred and 
 8'3venty-five miles from the Gulf, by the windings of the 
 river. 
 
 When the great Sun-chief heard of the approach of 
 the French, he came forth from his village to meet them, 
 borne upon a litter, and attended by a large and picturesque 
 procession of his people. This nation, formerly very nu- 
 merous and powerful, was now reduced to about twelve 
 hundred warriors. The missionary St. Cosme, already re- 
 ferred to, had arrived the year before, and taken up his 
 residence among them. The better class of these Indians 
 appeared to D'Iberville much more civilized than any 
 others he had met with in the country. During his brief 
 sta}^ here, one of their temples was struck and set on tire 
 by lightning. The keepers of the temple thereupon solic- 
 ited the squaws to throw their infants into the fire, in 
 order to appease the anger of the divinity ; and a numljer of 
 children were thus sacrificed before the Frenchmen could 
 prevail upon them to desist.f Delighted with the l)eauty 
 of the Natchez country, and especially with the high, bold 
 bluff, which commands an extensive prospect up and down 
 tlie river, D'Iberville selected it for the future capital of 
 Louisiana, and suggested the name of Rosalie, which wae 
 given to the fort afterward built here by the French. 
 
 On the 22d of March, Bienville and St. Denis, attended 
 by twenty Oanadians and a number of Indians, set ofi' 
 
 * The village of the Oiunas, or Hounias, was situated two and one- 
 half leaguoH east of the river. 
 
 ♦Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. I., p. 152. 
 
Bienville's Excursion to Eecf River. 
 
 223 
 
 from the N'atchez on a tour of exploration to the westwanl, 
 which extended to Red Riv^^r, and occupied them nearly 
 two months. At the same time, D'Iberville, accompanied, 
 perhaps, by De Tonty,* returned to his fort above the 
 outlet of the Mississippi, and thence to the anchorage of 
 his ships at Isle de Vaisseau. Upon his arrival, he was 
 surprised to learn that the Spanish governor of Pensacola 
 had been there with a twenty-four gun ship, manned by one 
 hundred and forty marines, and some armed shallops, in- 
 tending tu drive the French from the coast. But finding 
 his force insufficient for this purpose, he had left a written 
 protest against the French occupation of the country, 
 claiming tliat it was within the limits of his Catholic 
 majesty's dominions in Mexico. The French, however 
 had come to stay, and paid little heed to the protest of 
 Spain, whose power and prestige as a nation were on the 
 decline. Having put his colony in as good a state of de- 
 fense as possible, and given Bienville command of the fort 
 on the Mississippi, M. d'Iberville sailed for France on the 
 28th of May, 1701. 
 
 About the middle of May, and before the sailing of 
 D'Iberville, Bienville returned from his western exi>edition. 
 He had ascended the Ouachita (Washita) a considerable dis- 
 tance, thence traversed the country westward to Red River, 
 and returned down the latter stream and the Mississippi, 
 having passed through a fertile region and visited several 
 Indian tribes, particularly the Yatasses and NaLchitoches. 
 The main object of this expedition was to search for mines 
 of the precious metals, and another was to ascertain the 
 pro])able distance to the nearest Spanish establishments on 
 the west. On the 22d of July in that year (1701), M. de 
 Sauvolle died, an early victim to bilious fever, leaving the 
 sole direction of attairs in the colony to Lieutenant Bien- 
 ville. 
 
 On the 18th of the ensuing December, D'Iberville 
 
 * As Tonty still retainod some interest in Fort St. Louis of Illinois, 
 it is not improbable that he -eturned there on business during that 
 year (1700), though we find no reliable record of such a journey. 
 
224 
 
 Settlement of Lower Louisiana. 
 
 
 again appeared in these southern waters with a French 
 armament, consisting of the Renomme, a fifty gun ship, 
 the Palmier, of forty-four guns, and a large brigantine. 
 His arrival was very opportune for the starving colonists, 
 whose number had been diminished by disease and casualties 
 to about one hundred and fifty persons, and who had been 
 driven to such straits as to have subsisted for some time 
 wholly upon maize. Considering the unfavorable condi- 
 tion and prospects of the colony, the commander now or- 
 dered the removal of the principal establishment from 
 Biloxi to the Mobile. 
 
 Accordingly, in the first week of January, 1702, Bien- 
 ville set out to execute the orders of liis chief, leaving only 
 t\\»enty men as a garrison at Biloxi. The site of the new 
 establishment was fixed on the west side of the Mobile 
 River, about eighteen leagues fioni the sea. Here a dejiut 
 was formed and a fort soon built, which received .the name 
 of Fort Loais de la Mobile. By the 20th of March, the 
 colonists had become settled in their new quarters, to which 
 were transported such of their munitions and stores as had 
 been kept on Dauphin Island. This removal brought the 
 French into somewhat closer relations with the Choctaws, 
 who iidiabited the country to the nortii of Mobile Bay, and 
 who were then at war with the Chickasaws. But M. 
 d'Iberville, before his departure for France, was enabled to 
 effect a truce between those puissant tribes. 
 
 On the 24th of June (1702), a Spanish shallop arrived 
 from Pensacola, bringing a letter from Don Francisco 
 Martin, governor of that post, stating that his garrison was 
 in a state of famine, and requesting a supply of provisions, 
 which was sent to him by Bienville. Again, on the 11th 
 of November, Don Martin himself arrived at Fort Louis 
 from Pensacola, with the intelligence that France and 
 Spain were at war with England. He asked for provisions 
 and munitions, and in view of the alliance of the two 
 former powers, his request was granted. In the meantime, 
 on the first of October, Father Davion visited the fort, 
 with two Canadians from the Yazoo River. They M'^ere 
 accompanied by Father Limoges, who was stationed among 
 
The Colony Meinforced. -' 
 
 226 
 
 the Natchez, and wlio informed Bienville that the Coroas 
 Indians had killed his missionary colleague, Foucault, and 
 three other Frenchmen. 
 
 On the 28th of November two Spanish officers arrived 
 at the French head-quarters from St. Augustine, Florida, 
 with a letter from the governor of that town, stating that 
 he was besieged by an English force from Charleston, with 
 a fleet of seventeen vessels, and some two thousand sav- 
 ages. In response to the appeal of the Spaniards for aid, 
 M. de Bienville gave them a liberal supply of munitions of 
 war, and also dispatched a force of one hundred men to 
 their assistance. It thus appears that, notwithstanding 
 the jealousies of the rival colonies, situated so near each 
 other, with conflicting territorial claims, the French gen- 
 erously assisted their neighbors on dift'erent occasions with 
 both provisions and ammunition. At this period the 
 Spaniards found great difliculty in maintaining their es- 
 tablishments in Florida. This was principally due to 
 the inveterate animosity of the Indians of the country, 
 who were encouraged in tlieir hostilities, and sometimes 
 nuitorially aided, by the English colonists of South Car- 
 olina. 
 
 In the summer of 1703, M. d'Iber'>'ille sent his brother, 
 Anthony le Moyne de Chateaugue, to .ouisiana, with sev- 
 enteen Canadian colonists, who carried with them imple- 
 ments of husbandry, etc. About the Ist of May, 1704, the 
 Pelican, a fifty-gun ship, arrived from France at Dauphin 
 Island, loaded with provisions and military stores for the 
 colony. She brought out two companies of troops to re- 
 inforce the garrisons, four priests, two nuns, and twenty 
 poor young women, who were shortly afterward married 
 to the bachelor colonists. This was the first shipment of 
 unmarried women lo Louisiana, and was followed by others 
 at intervals. ' ' . 
 
 During the autumn of that year there was much sick- 
 ness and mortality in the French colony, aiid the horrors 
 of famine were averted only by relief received from the 
 Spanish governor of Pensacola. On the 27th of October, 
 15 
 
226 
 
 Settlement of Lowi • Louisiana, 
 
 intelligence was received that the Spanish fort of Pen- 
 sacola had been destroyed by fire, together with a large 
 quantity of provisions, clothing, and stores; and at the 
 same time a request came that the French would send 
 them a schooner to carry the tidings of their disaster 
 to Vera Cruz. On the 11th of December news came that 
 the English were fitting out an armament at Charleston, 
 to operate against the French establishments at Biloxi a>id 
 on the Mobile, but this fortunately proved to be incorrect. 
 In January, 1705, a trader named De Lambert arrived at 
 the Mobile from a small French post on the Wabash (prob- 
 ably the Lower Ohio), which he had abandoned in conse- 
 quence of the hostile disposition of the savages in that in- 
 terior region. During this year war again broke out be- 
 tween the Choctaws and Chickasaws, which was character- 
 ized by more than the usual Indian barbarities. A tempo- 
 rary peace, however, was at length eftected through the 
 active mediation of the French under Bienville, though at 
 considerable personal risk to the latter. 
 
 On the 9th of July, 1706, Pierre le Moyne, Sieur 
 d'Iberville, died at sea, near St. Domingo, aged forty- 
 five years. He had been previously attacked with yel- 
 low fever, and barely escaped with his life. Unable to 
 sustain the enervating influence of a tropical climate, he 
 had retired to France to recuperate his broken health. 
 After a year or more he again sailed to the West Indies, 
 and was there stricken by a severe disease which termin- 
 ated his earthly existence.* He thus fell a lamented victim 
 to his sense of official duty, and of devotion to the service 
 of his king and country. We have already passed in re- 
 view the chief incidents in his active and fortunate career, 
 and need only add here a brief estimate of his character. 
 He was a man of great energy and determination of pur- 
 pose, and, as a naval commander, was quick and judicious 
 to decide, and prompt and bold in the execution of his 
 plans. Less learned, brilliant, and fanciful than La Salle, 
 he was better balanced, more practical, and therefore more 
 
 * Monette's " Valley of the Mississippi," Vol, I, p. 207. 
 
Misfortunes of the Louisiana Colony. 
 
 227 
 
 Buccessful as a colonizer. The idol of his Canadian coun- 
 trymen, he was justly recognized as one of the ablest cap- 
 tains in the French navy. His premature decease cast a 
 gloom over the infant colony of Louisiana, of which he 
 had been both the persevering founder and constant bene- 
 factor. His name is fitly perpetuated in one of the rivers, 
 as well as in a parish, of the Pelican State of Louisiana. 
 
 After the death of D'Iberville, contention and trouble 
 arose in the colony. Bienville was charged with sundry 
 acts of misconduct and mismanagement, and was dis- 
 missed from office, but his successor dying on the way 
 from France, he still retained the command. In January, 
 1707, intelligence was brought to the fort on the Mobile 
 that St. Cosme, the Jesuit missionary among the Natchez, 
 and three other Frenchmen, had been slain by the Cheti- 
 machas, as they were descending the river to the sea.* 
 Presents were thereupon sent by the French to the surround- 
 ing nations, to induce them to wage war upon that treach- 
 erous tribe. 
 
 In September, 1710, an English corsair, with an armed 
 party, made a descent upon Dauphin Island, and pillaged 
 it of property said to have been worth sixty thousand 
 livres. During the years 1709 and 1710, the Louisiana 
 colonists suifered severely from sickness and famine ; and 
 in March, 1709, there was a great flood in the Mobile and 
 other rivers, which inundated the houses of Fort Louis. 
 For this reason the French abandoned the fort, and built 
 another at or near the mouth of Mobile River, where the 
 city now stands. 
 
 Such, in imperfect outline, are the principal occurrences 
 ill the history of the colony of Lower Louisiana during the 
 first twelve years of it precarious existence. In the French 
 colonial annals of the period, nothing is more astonishing 
 than the number of canoe and boat voyages made by them 
 to every part of the wilderness Valley of the Mississippi. 
 The comparative ease and safety with which these long 
 and difficult journeys were performed indicated great tact 
 
 *See note in the preceding chapter, page 201. 
 
228 
 
 Settlement of Lower Low' a. 
 
 m 
 
 and facility on the part of the French in adapting them- 
 selves to the primitive modes of life and locomotion of tlie 
 aborigines, and in gaining and retaining their good will. 
 What has been remarked by the brilliant historian, Pres- 
 cott, of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico, may apply with 
 equal pertinence to the French explorers of the Mississippi 
 Valley : 
 
 " The mere excitement of exploring the strange and 
 the unknown was a sufficient compensation to the Spaiiirtli 
 adventurer for all his toils and trials. It seems to have been 
 ordered by Providence that such a race of men should exist 
 contemporaneously with the discovery of the New World, 
 that those regions should be brought to light which were 
 beset with dangers and difficulties so appalling as might 
 have tended to overawe and discourage the ordinary 8i)irit 
 of adventure." * 
 
 Recurring once more to Henri de Tonty, it may now 
 be proper to relate what little is known in regard to his 
 last years, and to sum up his character and career. In 1702 
 he was sent by Captain f^^berville on a mission to secure 
 the Chickasaws in the J h interest. The route taken 
 
 by him from Mobile is laid down on some of the old French 
 maps, but of the incidents of his trip, or the measure of suc- 
 cess that attended it, we have no knowledge. After this we 
 find no further special mention of his name, save that he died 
 in September, 1704, at Fort Louis on the Mobile.f That 
 was a sickly season with the colony, and marked by more 
 than the ordinary mortality ; and it seems probable that 
 no kind friend or priest was with our hero to chronicle the 
 particulars of his last hours, or if so the record thereof has 
 perished. At the time of his singularly quiet exit from the 
 scenes of busy life, Tonty must have been aged about titty- 
 four. Though not an old man in point of years, he was old 
 in experience and knowledge of the world, and especially 
 
 ■■'■ I'rescott's " History of the Conquest of Mexico," vol. 3, book vlL, 
 chap. iii. 
 
 1>'ee Charlevoix' History of New France, vol. Ill, p. 201, note by the 
 editor. 
 
Conclusion of Tonty's Eoentful History. 
 
 229 
 
 in the number and variety of exciting adventures through 
 which he had passed, as well in Europe as in America. 
 
 He could hardly be classed as a great captain or leader, 
 though he was not incapable of devising and executing 
 the boldest enterprises. As a first lieutenant, he rendered 
 invaluable services to La Salle, and next to his chief, con- 
 tributed most toward the exploration of the Mi8sissij>pi 
 V^alley. His courage and address were strikingly exhil)ited 
 in his intercourse with the Indians, both in war and in 
 peace; but his acts were mostly performed where there 
 were few to observe, and fewer still to record them. He 
 was "honest, sincere, generous, faithful, and brave" — the 
 beau ideal of a true soldier. These admirable qualities en- 
 deared him to all his compatriots in life, and have made 
 him a prime favorite with all of La Salle's biographers. 
 
 " Very few names in French- American history," writes 
 Parkman, " are mentioned with such unanimity of praise 
 as that of Henri de Tonty. Hennepin finds some fault 
 with him; but his censure is commendation.* The dis- 
 patches of lie governor, Denonville, speak in strong terms 
 of his services in the Iroquois war, praise his character, 
 and declare that he is fit for any bold enterprise, adding 
 that he deserves reward from the king. The missionary 
 St. Cosme, who traveled under his escort in 1699, says of 
 him : ' He is beloved by all the voyageurs. It was with 
 deep regret that we parted from him ; he is the man who 
 best knows the country; he is loved and feared every- 
 where.'" Parkman himself adds: "He seems never to 
 have received the reward his great merit deserved." f La 
 Salle, however, had done what he could for Tonty, and, as 
 already noticed, made him a grant of lands on the Ar- 
 kansas River. 
 
 He had a younger brother named Alphonse de Tont;y, 
 a captain in the French service, who long held command 
 at the post of Detroit, and against whom charges of pecu- 
 
 * When the " Griffin " was building at Niagara, Hennepin says that 
 Tonty took some offense at his Iceeping a journal, and tried to seize it. 
 t " Discovery of the Great West," note, p. 441. • 
 
230 
 
 Settlement of Lower Louisiina. 
 
 liiBBEIBBBiMMii 
 
 lation were preferred ; but no stain tarnishes the fair es- 
 cutcheon of the little, copper-handed Henri Around his 
 name more than that of any other of the French explorers, 
 is wreathed a halo of chivalry and romance, and only a 
 few years since, he was made the hero in a popular histori- 
 cal liction, entitled "The Story of Tonty." He is soine- 
 tinies referred to as the Chevalier de Tonty, but, though a 
 true knight, it does not appear that he ever received the 
 honor of knighthood. He did not share La Salle's antip- 
 athy to the Jesuits, but rather courted their favor, and in 
 return for his coimiderate attentions, they heralded \m 
 praises and helped to embalm his meniory. 
 
 As early as 1()97, s. book, purporting to be a Memoir 
 of the Sieur de Tonty, was published in France under this 
 title : ''Dern lores Deeouverfes (fans L'Amerique Septentriovoh\ 
 de. M. de la Salle, par Cheralier de Tonfi, Goiiverneur xiu Fort 
 St. Louis aux Illhiois. Paris, 1697. "'* Copies of the same 
 having found their way to New France, Tonty disavowed 
 to M. d'Iberville and Father Marest all responsibility tor 
 the work, whidi he characterized as full of errors and ex- 
 aggerations. But then he had written a memoir, and sent 
 it to J^aris in 1693, which formed the basis of the above 
 spurious publication. 
 
 The real or admitted memoirs of ITenri de Tonty are 
 embraced in the valuable collection of I'ierre Mai'gry, di- 
 rector of the Archives of the Marine and Colonies at Paris, 
 under this general title: '■'■ Decoiivertes et tliablissements dcs 
 Francais dans L' Quest et Sud de L'Amerique Septenfrionalc 
 {\Q14-n^4:),31emoirset Documents oriqinaux''' — Paris, France, 
 1877-78. Volume I of tliis publication contains " Voyages 
 et Uat des Francais sar les lacs et le Mississippi, sous les ordrfs 
 de M. de la Salle et de Tonty, du 1678 d 1684." Volume II 
 contains "Lettres of Henri de Tonty sur ce qu' d a appris de 
 M. de la Salle, Ic voyaye qn' il a fad pour V aller chercher, et son 
 depart prochein pour marcher contre les Iroquois, 1686-l()Hl)." 
 
 ♦ An EngliHh tmnslution of this mejiioir, or relation, was priiiti'il in 
 London in KiDH, ontitlod an "Aooount of M. do la Sallo'H Last KxjM'iii- 
 tion and DiecoverioB iu Nortli America," whieh wxa republished in Ni'W 
 York in 1814. 
 
Petition of M. dc Tonty. 
 
 231 
 
 ' os- 
 his 
 rers, 
 ily a 
 itori- 
 07ue- 
 igh a 
 r the 
 mtip- 
 lul in 
 d iiirt 
 
 cmoir 
 ix this 
 •iovole, 
 u Fort 
 e same 
 Lvowed 
 lity for 
 
 l 8cnt 
 above 
 
 u 
 
 uly are 
 
 ;ry, (li- 
 
 I'arifl, 
 
 '))ts <ifs 
 
 Itrioyialf 
 
 ^'ranoe, 
 
 Is ordrcs 
 iiiue II 
 
 D^jrw de 
 
 jr, f« son 
 
 [rintcil in 
 ll in Now 
 
 Besides the above, Tonty wrote and addressed to Count 
 de Pontchartrain a 8lu>rt memoir of liiniself (before noticed), 
 which is also printed in Margry's collection, as well as else- 
 where. It is witliout date, but is supposed to have been 
 written in the year 1690 or 1691. Following is an En- 
 glish version of this curious and interesting autobiographi- 
 cal paper: 
 
 Petition of the Chevalier df Tuiiti/ to Count de Pontchartrain, Minister of 
 
 Marine. 
 
 Monseigncur — Henri do Totity liuinhly ivprost'iits to your highness, 
 that he entered the niilitiiry service as a cadet, and was employed in 
 tiiat capacity in tlie years IWiS and !()()!>, and that he afterward served 
 as niidsliipnian four years at Marseilles atid Toulon, and made seven 
 campaigns, that is, four on l)oard ships of war, and three in galleys. 
 While at Messina he was made captain, and in the interval lieutenant, 
 of the first company of a regiment of horse. When the enemy at- 
 tacked the post of LibisHO, his right hand was shot away by a grenade, 
 and he was taken prisoner and conducted to Metasse, where he was de- 
 tained sijc months, and then exchanged for the son of the governor of 
 that place. He then went to France to obtain some favor of his majesty, 
 and the king granted him three hundred livres. He returned to the 
 service in Micily, made the campaign as a volunteer in the galleys, and 
 when the troops were discharged, being unable to oV)tain the employ- 
 ment he solicited at court on account of the general peace, he decided, 
 in 1()78, to join the late Monsieur de la Salle, in order to accompany 
 him in the discoveries of Mexico, during which, until 1082, he was the 
 only officer who did not desert him. 
 
 These discoveries being finished, he remaine(i, in 1«)8;^, commandant 
 of Fort St. Louis of the Illinois; and in 1(584 he was there attacked by 
 two Imndred Iroquois, whom he repulsed with great loss on their side. 
 I>\iring the same year, he repaired to Quebec, under the orders of M. de 
 la Barre. In KiHf), he returned to the Illinois, according to the orders 
 which he had received from the court, and from M. de la Salle, as a 
 captain of foot in a marine detachment and governor of Fort St. Louis. 
 In 1(58(), he went with forty men in canoes, at his own expense, an far aa 
 the Gulf of Mexico, to seek for M. de la Salle. Not being able to find 
 liim there, he returned to Montreal, and put himself undiu- the orders 
 of Monsieur Denonville,* to engage in the war with the Iroquois. 
 
 At the head of a band of Indians, in 1087, he proceeded two hun- 
 ilrcd leagues by land, and as far in canoes, and joined the army, when, 
 with these Indians and a company of Canadians, he forced the ambus- 
 cade of the Tsonnonthouaus.t The campaign being over, he returned 
 
 * Jiinquei RAiio de Brisay Doiionvlllu supcmudud L.i Ilarru, lii US8.5, an Koveruor 
 of Canada, and served about fi'ur yoarn. 
 + Or 9enoca», 
 
232 
 
 Petition of M. de Tonty. 
 
 to the Illinois, whence he departed, in 1689, to go in search of the re- 
 mains of M. de la Salle's colony ; but being deserted by his men, and 
 unable to execute his design, he was compelled to reliuquish it when he 
 had a ived within seven days' march of the Spaniards. Ten months 
 were pent in going and returning. As he now finds himself without 
 employment, he prays that, in consideration of his voyages and heavy 
 expenses, and considering, also, that during his service of seven years 
 as captain, he has not received any pay, your highness will be pleased 
 to obtain for him from his majesty a company, with which he may con- 
 tinue his services in this country, where he has not ceased to harass the 
 Iroquois by enlisting the Illinois against them in his majesty's cause. 
 And he will continue his prayers for the health of your highness. 
 
 Henri dk Tonty. 
 
 )!|i 
 ;!il 
 
 Nothing can be more true than the account given by the Sieur de 
 Tonty in this petition ; and should his majesty reinstate the seven com- 
 panies which have been disbanded in this country, there will be justice 
 in granting one of them to him, or some other recompense for the serv- 
 ices which he has rend ^> rod, and which he is now returning to render at 
 Fort St. Louis of the Illinois. Frontenac. 
 
Change of Officers in Louisiana. 
 
 233 
 
 CHAPTKR XII. 
 
 1712-1717. 
 
 LOUISIANA UNDER M. CROZAT — DEMISE OF LOUIS XIV. 
 
 Hitherto the small, isolated French settlements in the 
 Illinois, and those founded by D'lberville and Bienville on 
 the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, had been separate and 
 unorganized dependencies of Canada, or New France. But 
 they were now soon to be united in one large province, 
 under the designation of Louisiana, with a government de- 
 pendent upon and subordinate to that of New France. 
 This immense wilderness territory extended from Lake 
 Michigan and the Wisconsin river on the north to the 
 Mexican Gulf at the south, and from the Ohio Valley on 
 the east to the base of the Rocky Mountains and New 
 Mexico in the west. It was already known to possess a 
 temperate and salubrious climate, a rich and very produc- 
 tive soil, and to abound in fur-bearing aninnds; and it was 
 also believed to con lin metallic ores of untold value. 
 
 In 1711 the government of Louisiana was committed 
 by the French king to a governor, or commandant-general, 
 with other subordinate otHcers. The chief head-quarters of 
 this colonial government was established, as before, on the 
 Mobile, and a new fort was completed near tlie site of tlie 
 present city of Mobile. Tlie iSieur de Muys, who had been 
 commissioned governor, died on the outward passage from 
 France ; but M. Diron d'Artaguette, the commissiairc ordon- 
 noteur, who had arrived in Louisiana in 1708, entered upon 
 his official duties.* This, however, was provisional. 
 ;, In order to the more speedy and systematic devel- 
 opment of the commercial and mineral resources of tlie 
 
 'Bancroft's History, III., p. .'U;J; and Momsttu's IliHt. of Mjhs. 
 ValU'v, I., 2U1>. 
 
234 
 
 Louisiana under Crozat. 
 
 country, Louis XIV., by letters patent, bearing date at 
 Fontainbleau, September 14, 1712, and registered in the 
 Parliament of Paris on the 24th of September, granted a 
 monopoly of the commerce, and sole direction of the afiairs 
 of the new province (for the term of fifteen years) to M. 
 Antoine Crozat, Marquis de Chatel, a man of great wealth, 
 one of his majesty's councillors, and secretary of his house- 
 hold, crown and revenue. This royal patent constituted 
 the first regular charter of government for Louisiana. It 
 is a lengthy and elaborately drawn paper, the introductory 
 portion whereof reads as follows : 
 
 ^^ Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and Na- 
 varre, ■!,._, 
 
 " Tb all who shall see these present letters, greeting : 
 " The care we have always had to procure the welfare 
 and advantage of our subjects, having induced us, not- 
 withstanding the almost continual wars which we have 
 been obliged to support from the beginning of our reign, 
 to seek for all possible opportunities of enlarging and ex- 
 tending the trade of our American colonies ; we did, in the 
 year 1683 (1684), give our orders to undertake a discovery 
 of the countries and lands which are situated in the 
 northern part of America, between New France i id New 
 Mexico, and the Sieur de la Salle, to whom we committed 
 that enterprise, having had success enough to confirm a 
 belief that a coramuincation might be settled (opened) from 
 New France to the Gulf of Mexico, by means of largo 
 rivers, this o])liged us inmiediately after the peace of Rys- 
 wick to give orders for the establishing a colony there, and 
 maintaining a garrison which has kept and preserved the 
 possession, we had taken in the year 1683, of the lands, 
 coasts and islands, which are situated in the Gulf of Mex- 
 ico, between Carolina on the east and Old and New Mexico 
 on the west. 
 
 " But a new war having broke out in Europe shortly 
 after, there was no possibility till now of reaping from that 
 colony the advantages that might have been expected from 
 thence, because the private men, who are concerned in the 
 sea-trade, were all under engagements with other colonies, 
 
CrozaVs Royal Patent. 
 
 235 
 
 I cx- 
 
 i\ the 
 
 )very 
 the 
 ^ew 
 tted 
 in a 
 from 
 urge 
 UyB- 
 , and 
 I the 
 aiulrt, 
 Mex- 
 aIco 
 
 lortly 
 tluit 
 
 I from 
 
 II the 
 )iiie8, 
 
 which they have been obliged to follow. And, whereas, 
 upon the information we have received concerning the dis- 
 position and situation of the said countries known at pres- 
 ent by the name of the Province of Louisiana, we are of 
 opinion thu,t there may be established therein a considera- 
 ble commerce, so much the more advantageous to our 
 kingdom in that there has hitherto been a necessity of 
 fetching from foreigners the greater part of the commodi- 
 ties which may be brought from thence, and because in ex- 
 change thereof, we need carry thither nothing but commod- 
 ities of the growth and manufacture of our own kingdom, 
 
 " We have resolved to grant the commerce of the coun- 
 try of Louisiana to tlie Sieur Anthon}" Crozat, our council- 
 lor, secretary of the household, crown, and revenue, to 
 whom we intrust the execution of this project. We are the 
 more readily inclined hereunto, because his zeal an<l the 
 singular knowledge he has acquired in maritime commerce 
 encourage us to hope for as good success as he has hitherto 
 had in the divers and sundry enterprises he has gone upon, 
 and which have procured to our kingdom great quantities 
 of gold and silver in such conjunctures as have rendered 
 them very welcome to us. 
 
 "For these reasons, being desirous to show our favor 
 to him, and to regulate the conditions upon which we mean 
 to grant him the said commerce, after having deliberated 
 this affair in our council, of our certain knowledge, full 
 power and royal authority, we, by these presents, signed by 
 our hand, have appointed, and do appoint, the said 8ieur 
 Crozat, solely to carry on a trade in all the lands possessed 
 by us, and bounded by New Mexico, and by the English 
 of Carolina, all the establishment, ports, havens, rivers, 
 and principally the port and haven of the Isle Dauphine, 
 heretofore called Massacre, the river of St. Louis, hereto- 
 fore called Mississip[)i, from the edge of the sea as far as 
 the Illinois, together with the river of Saint Philip, here- 
 tofore called the Missoury's, and of Saint Jerome, hereto- 
 fore called Ouabache, with all the countries, territories, 
 lakes, within land, ami the rivers which fall directly o»' in- 
 directly into that part of the river St. Louis." 
 
236 
 
 Lmiisiana under Crozat. 
 
 The kind of government to be establiehed under this 
 patent, and the powers, duties, and restrictions imposed by 
 it upon M Crozat, are specifically defined in the Articles, 
 the first of which is thus worded : 
 
 I. " Our pleasure is that all the aforesaid lands, coun- 
 tries, streams, rivers, and islands be and remain comprised 
 under the name of the government of Louifiiana, which 
 shall be dependent upon the general government in New 
 France, to which it is subordinate ; and, further, that all 
 the lands which we possess from the Illinois be united, so 
 far as occasion requires, to the general government of New 
 France, and become part thereof,* reserving, however, the 
 liberty of enlarging, as we shall think fit, the extent of the 
 government of the said country of Louisiana." 
 
 Article II. granted "to the said Sieur Crozat, for fifteen 
 successive years, to be reckoned from the day of enrolling 
 these presents, a right and power to transport all sorts of 
 goods and merchandise from France into the said country 
 of Louisiana, and to traflic thither as he shall think fit." 
 And all other persons o; companies were herein forbid- 
 den to trade thither, under any pretense whatever, under 
 penalty of confiscation of goods and ships, and other more 
 severe punishments, as occasion should require. 
 
 Article III. permitted him " to search for, open, and 
 dig all sorts of mines, veins, and minerals throughout the 
 whole extent of the said country of Louisiana, ad to trans- 
 port the profits thereof into any part of France during the 
 said fifteen years." By this article there was also granted 
 to Crozat, in perpetuity, his heirs and others claiming un- 
 der him or them, the property of and in said mines, veins, 
 and minerals, which he should bring to bear, paying the 
 king, in lieu of all claim, the fifth part of all the gold and 
 silver, to be transported to France at Crozat's own ex- 
 pense (not including the risk of sea and war), and the tenth 
 part'of what efi'ects he might draw from the otner mines, 
 veins, and minerals, which tenth was to be conveyed to ths 
 
 *Thi8 provision was doubtless intended to apply to the northern 
 part of the Illinois country. 
 
Crozafs Royal Patent. 
 
 237 
 
 king's magazine in Louisiana. He was also permitted to 
 search for precious stones and pearls, paying the one-fiftli 
 part of the same to his majesty, in like manner as directed 
 for the gold and silver. 
 
 It was further herein provided, that the said Crozat, 
 his heirs, or those claiming under him or them the perpet- 
 ual right aforesaid, should forfeit the property in the said 
 mines, veins, and minerals, if they discontinued the work 
 during three years, and that in such case, the said mines, 
 veins, and minerals should he fully re-united to the king's 
 domain, without the formality of any process of law, hut 
 only hy an ordinance of reunion from the sub-delegate of 
 the intendant of New France, who should he in the said 
 country. 
 
 Articles IV., V., and VI. relate to and regulate the 
 trade to be carried on by said Crozat with the French and 
 Indians in Louisiana, an<l also to the mills and manufac- 
 tories he was authorized to set up in the said country. 
 
 Article VII. provides, that the royal " edicts, ordi- 
 nances and customs, the usages of the mayoralty and 
 shrievcalty of Paris, shall be observed for laws and cus- 
 toms in the said country of Louisiana." 
 
 The next succeeding six articles specify the minimum 
 number of ships to be sent out annually by the said Crozat 
 to said Louisiana, and oblige him to transport thither at 
 his own charge such of the king's troops as may be needed 
 for garrison dut}-; exempt from all duties the goods and 
 merchandise by him exported from or imported to the said 
 country, but require the same to V)e deposited in and de- 
 livered from the goveriiment custom and warehouses ; and, 
 further, grant him the use of the felluccas and canoes be- 
 longing to the king in said Louisiana, on condition that at 
 the expiration of his patent, he shall restore them, or an 
 equal number in their place, to the governor of the province. 
 
 The three concluding articles of the patent are worded 
 as follows : ' . 
 
 XIV. " If, for the cultures and plantations which the , 
 Sieur Crozat is minded to make, he tinds it i)roper to have 
 blacks in the said country of Louisiami, he may send a ship 
 
238 
 
 Louisiana under Crozat. 
 
 every year to trade directly upon the coast of Guinea, taking 
 l)ermi88ion from the Guinea Company so to do, (and) he 
 may sell those blacks to tlie inhabitants of the colony of 
 Louisiana ; and we forbid all other companies and persons 
 whatsoever, under any pretense wliatsoever, to introduce 
 blacks or traffic for them in the said country, nor shall the 
 said Sieur Crozat carry blacks elsewhere. 
 
 XV. " He shall not send any ships into the said coun- 
 try of Louisiana, but directly from France, and he shall 
 cause the said ships to return thither again, the whole 
 under pain of confiscation and forfeiture of the present 
 privilege. 
 
 XVI. "The said Sieur Crozat shall be obliged, after 
 the expiration of the first nine years of this grant, to pay 
 the officers and the garrison which shall be in the said 
 country during the six last years of the continuance of the 
 present privilege. 
 
 " The said Sieur Crozat may in that time propose and 
 nominate the officers, as vacancies shall fall, and sucli 
 officers shall be confirmed by us, if we approve then." '^ 
 
 Such are the material provisions of the ample charter 
 granted by the king to M. Antoine Crozat, in the hope 
 of receiving thereby rich monetary returns to replenish his 
 depleted exchequer. We have given the more space to the 
 exposition of this patent, because under it was instituted 
 the first civil government for the Province of Louisiana, 
 including the Illinois. 
 
 To eftectuate the main purpose of his grant, Crozat 
 sent out from France the necessary miners and mining 
 tools, with other artisans and laborers, and some slaves 
 from St. Domingo, to begin prospecting for the precious 
 metals. 
 
 On May 17, 1713, a large French ship arrived in the 
 waters of Louisiana, having on board Antoine de la Mothe 
 Cadillac,t the newly appointed governor of the colony, his 
 
 * For the full text of Crozat's Let' irs Patent, see " Historical Col- 
 lections of Louisiana," vol. IIL 
 
 tLa Mothe, or La Motte, Cadillac was born of noble parentage in 
 Gascony, France, about tlie year lOGG. bailing thence to America, he 
 
Officers of Crozafs Government. 
 
 239 
 
 family, and M. Duclos, intendant commissary. By the 
 same vessel was also brought a '^jommission naming Bien- 
 ville as lieutenant-governor. The coming of Cadillac and 
 his associates would have had a more salutary influence on 
 the future of the colony, if he and Bienville had acted in 
 concert; but they were mutually jealous of each other from 
 the outset, and each had his party of followers, which 
 proved detrimental to the interests of Loth. 
 
 At this early and unpromising stage of her history as 
 a colony, although over two thousand persons had been 
 transported thither. Southern Louisiana contained not more 
 than four hundred whites, twenty negro slaves, and about 
 three hundred head of horned cattle, which latter had 
 mostly been imported from St. Domingo. 
 
 The Sieur Crozat ex[»ected to realize handsome profits 
 from the fur-trade with the Indians, and if he had confined 
 himself to that alone, he would have succeeded better in 
 the end ; but the possibility of sudden wealth from the dis- 
 covery of rich mines of gold and silver was what chiefly 
 engaged the attention of his agents, and induced them to 
 the most lavish outlay of capital. To accomplish this ob- 
 ject, prospecting parties were sent out to various parts of 
 the country, and snuiU posts were established on the upper 
 waters of Red River, the Washita, the Yazoo, the Coosa,* 
 the Cumberland (near Nashville), and on other southern 
 rivers. Indeed, to such a degree were Crozat and his part- 
 ners afi'ected by this mania for the precious metals, that 
 they often magnified insignificant findings into supposed 
 realities of great value. But though gold and silver were 
 not to be found, either b^' washing, digging or boring, 
 large deposits of the less valuable ores of lead and iron were 
 found in what is now south-eastern Missouri. The mining 
 adventurers in this wild region drew their principal sub- 
 sistence from the French settlements of Kaskaskia and Ca- 
 
 served as a captain in Acadia, and in 1H94 was sent by Frontenac to 
 command at Mackinac; after wiiich, in 1701, lie founded the military 
 post of Detroit. During his five years' stay in Louisiana, he not only 
 otliciated as governor, but was a partner in Crozat's commercial ven- 
 tures. His name is perpetuated in a thriving lumber city of Michigan. 
 *That on the Coosa was called Fort Toulouse. 
 
240 
 
 Jjouisiana under Crozat. 
 
 hokia, to which they added such of their number as pre- 
 ferred to cultivate the soil and a fixed abode to the more 
 precarious pursuit of mining. Hence, from this source, the 
 Illinois colony derived a considerable accession of European 
 bone and muscle.* 
 
 Under the auspices of M. Crozat an attempt was made 
 to open trade with the Spaniards at Vera Cruz, by sending 
 thither a vessel laden with a valuable cargo of merchandise, 
 but it was not allowed to land either there or at any other 
 Mexican port. The occupancy of Louisiana by the French 
 had been regarded by Spain from the first as an encroach- 
 ment upon her territory, and a menace to her supremacy in 
 the Gulf; and, therefore, after three years of ineffectual ne- 
 gotiations with the viceroy of Mexico, Crozat was obliged 
 to relinquish his scheme of commercial relations with the 
 Spanish ports. Another project was to establish trade 
 overland with the interior provinces of Mexico, but in this 
 case, after repeated efforts, he also failed, his goods being 
 seized and confiscated and his agents imprisoned. Sordid 
 the fur-trade with the Indians prove so remunerative as 
 had been anticipated. English agents from Carolina were 
 active in their efforts to incite the Choctaws and Chicku- 
 saws against the French, and, wherever it was practica- 
 ble, they controlled the fur-trafiic by furnishing goods to 
 the Indians at reduced prices. Agriculture, the only source 
 of permanent prosperity, was of course neglected. At the 
 end of four years, he had expended about 425,000 livres 
 and realized only 300,000,t and he found himself unable to 
 meet his liabilities or pay his men. 
 
 On the 28d of August, 171 7, M. Crozat, despairing ot any 
 better success in the future, surrendered his vested rights 
 and privileges to the young king, Louis XV., who then oc- 
 cupied the throne of France under the regency of the Duke 
 of Orleans, and thereupon the government of Louisiana 
 reverted solely to the ofiUcers appointed by the crown. 
 
 *At a later period the French opened and worked lea<l mince, to 
 some exteul, on the Upper Mississippi, about (ialena and Dubuque, 
 t Davidson and .Stave's Hist. 111., p. 114. 
 
Bienville and the Natchez. 
 
 241 
 
 3re- 
 
 10 re 
 
 the 
 
 )eaii 
 
 tiade 
 
 ding 
 
 idise, 
 
 3ther 
 
 'eiicli 
 
 oacli- 
 
 icy in 
 
 ill iie- 
 
 jUged 
 
 ,h the 
 trade 
 
 in this 
 \)eing 
 
 J" or did 
 
 tive as 
 
 a were 
 hieka- 
 actica- 
 )od8 to 
 source 
 At the 
 livrefl 
 ble to 
 
 ot any 
 
 rights 
 
 lien oc- 
 
 Duke 
 
 hisiana 
 
 Icrown. 
 
 i lines, to 
 
 During the five years of his connection with the province, 
 ahhough it wae widely explored, the growth of the French 
 settlements therein was inconsiderable, and but little was 
 accomplished for their real benefit. The principal pros- 
 perity they enjoyed grew out of the enterprise of individual 
 merchants and traders, who, despite the restrictions of 
 Crozat's monopoly, managed to carry on a limited trade 
 with the natives and with some of the neighboring European 
 colonies. At the close of this epoch the colonists and 
 adventurers in Upper and Lower Louisiana, including the 
 king's troops sent thither to protect them, did not exceed 
 lifteen hundred souls. 
 
 From the foregoing revie.v of the Parisian Crozat's 
 operations in Louisiaiui, we turn to chronicle certain civil 
 and military events which transpired in the province during 
 that period. In February, 1716, Lieut. Bienvlile departed 
 up the Mississippi, under the orders of Governor Cadillac, 
 on an expedition to the Natc\iez nation, where some French 
 hunters and traders had already found a lodgment. 
 Having learned that five Frenchmen had been slain, and 
 that six more were still prisoners in the hands of the Xat- 
 chez, Bienville dissembled his knowledge of the matter 
 until he had induced the war-chiefs to meet him in 
 council, when they gave up their six prisoners. He then 
 reproached them with the murder of the other Frenchmen, 
 and refused to treat with them until the guilty authors 
 should be surrendered up to him. They replied that it was 
 not possible for sun-chiefs and men of valor to thus give 
 up their people. Upon this they were inmiediately put in 
 irons and imprisoned under guard. On the next day the 
 prisoner chiefs requested permission to send a deputation 
 to their grand chief, desiring him to send the head of the 
 chief Whitehead, who was the principal murderer. Bien- 
 ville having given his consent, the deputation v/as sent, and 
 returned, not with the head of that chief, but with another 
 who was M'illing to devote himself to death in place of 
 Whitehead. This and other similar offers the French com- 
 mander firmly declined. 7 . 
 .16 
 
242 
 
 Louisiana under Crozat. 
 
 In tho meantime he received a letter from a Canadian 
 among the Natchez, informing him that six pirogues of liis 
 countrymen were on their way down the river, and that, 
 ignorant of this rupture with the Indians, they woukl fall 
 into the hands of the latter. Bienville promptly dispatched 
 a canoe from his camp, which passed the Natchez village 
 unperceived, and, meeting the Canadian voyageurs, apprised 
 them of their danger. Not wishing to resort to extreme 
 measures against the Natchez, Bienville finally proposed 
 peace to them on condition that they should put to death 
 Big-beard, one of the murderers, and help to build 
 a fort for the French; which terms they complied 
 with. The fort was erected on an elevated bluff overlook- 
 ing the river, and on the site that had been previously 
 selected by M. d'lV^erville. It was named Rosalie in com- 
 pliment to the wife of Count Pontchartrain, formerly Sec- 
 retary of State for the Colonies. Thus was laid the mili- 
 tary foundation of the present city of Natchez, — the oldest 
 permanent white settlement on the Lower Mississippi, save 
 that of Arkansas Post, which was never a place of much 
 importance. Having re-established peaceful relations with 
 the Natchez nation, Bienville stationed a garrison at Fort 
 Rosalie to maintain it, and returned down the river with 
 the rest of his men to the French head-quarters. 
 
 Late in August, 1716, Louis .Tuchereau de St. Denis re- 
 turned to Fort Louis on the Mobile from an extraordinary 
 journey overland to Mexico, or New Spain. Two years be- 
 fore, in 1714, he had been sent by Governor Cadillac to 
 the middle provinces of Mexico for the double purpose of 
 finding a market for Crozat's goods, and of forestalling the 
 action of the Spaniards, who were supposed to be meditat- 
 ing an establishment at the Natchitoches. Having been 
 supplied by the governor with ten thousand livres worth of 
 merchantable goods, St. Denis, with twenty-four Cana- 
 dians, and an equal number of southern Indians, ascended 
 the Mississippi and Red River to the village of the Natciii- 
 toches, located on an island in the latter stream. Arrived 
 thither, he at first employed his men in building »^mie log 
 cabins for the use of those whom he intended to leave be- 
 
St. Denis' Ooeiiand Journey to Mexico. 
 
 243 
 
 hiiul. Then, taking witli him twelve picked Canadians, and 
 a few active young Indians, all well armed and mounted, 
 he quit the low valley of Red River, and boldly struck 
 across the far-spreading plains to the westward. After 
 twenty days' march, he readied a tribe of the Cenis nation, 
 in the vicinity of Trinity River. Being furnished by them 
 with fresh guides, the leader and liis troop traveled tlience 
 about one hundred and fifty leagues to the south-west, 
 when they arrived at the Spanish settlenient of San Juan 
 Bautista, or Presidio del Norte, situate some two leagues 
 bevond the Rio Grande. Here St. Denis was well received 
 by the Spanish commandant, Don Pedro de Vilescas, who 
 took him and the principal men of his party to his own 
 quaiters, and assigned lodgings for the remainder. 
 
 It was now near the close of the year 1714, and, after 
 a few days' rest, St. Denis began negotiations with Don 
 Pedro for the opening of a regulated trade with the French 
 colonists of Louisiana. But the Spanish officer informed 
 liim that he could do nothing without the permission of his 
 inmiediate superior, the governor of Caouis (Coahuila), to 
 Avhom he sent a courier for orders. The governor de- 
 cided that St. Denis would have to go to the capital and 
 see the viceroy in person. To this he assented, but was in 
 no hurry about starting, having meantime become enam- 
 ored of Dona Maria, the handsome daughter of Don Pedro. 
 At length, on setting out from Caouis, he wrote to the 
 Frenchmen-at-arms whom he had left at Presidio del Norte 
 to return to the Natchitoches. He made the journey south- 
 ward to the city of Mexico (distant over two hundred 
 leagues) with M. Jallot, one of his French companions, and 
 was escorted by a body of twenty -five Spanish horsemen. 
 Upon his arrival at the capital, St. Denis presented his cre- 
 dentials to the viceroy, who, after perusing them, sent him 
 to prison, where he was detained for three months, and 
 might have been kept in "durance vile'' much longer, if it 
 had not been for tlie personal intercession of some French 
 officers in the service of New Spain. After his liberation 
 he was generously treated by the viceroy, who spared no 
 effort to induce him to enter the military service of Spain. 
 
244 
 
 Louisiana under Crozat. 
 
 Among other arguments used for this purpose, the viceroy 
 told him that he was ah'eady a half Spaniard, since he 
 sought the hand of the daughter of Don Pedro de Vilescas, 
 and was to marry her upon his return to San Juan. 
 
 Prior to his departure from the city of Mexico, St. 
 Denis is said to have concerted a plan with the viceroy for 
 the planting of Roman Catholic missions among the Indian 
 nations in Texas. Quitting the Mexican capital about the 
 26th of October, 1715, he journeyed, witlt a snuill escort, 
 back to Presidio del Norte. Here he performed a valuable 
 service to the Spanish commandant, by pi eventing the re- 
 moval of certain dissatisfied tribes from the Rio Grande, 
 whose trade and friendship was of importance to the Span- 
 iards. Soon after this he married Don Pedro's daugliter, 
 with whom he lived happily for six months, when it be- 
 came necessary for him to return to Louisiana. But no 
 sooner had he arrived at the French head-quarters, and re- 
 ported to Governor Cadillac the result of his lengthened 
 mission, than he made haste to join another land expedi- 
 tion to Mexico. Arrived thither, he repeated some of his 
 former experiences, and was again imprisoned by the Span- 
 ish iUithorities, but managed to effect his escape. 
 
 Returning to Louisiana, in 1719, St. Denis was after- 
 ward a^tpointed commandant of the post of Natchitoches, 
 where he was joined by his wife and family, and where we 
 shall find him taking part in the Natches war. He was, 
 indeed, one of the most remarkable personages of his time 
 in the province, and the narrative of his Mexican adven- 
 tures reads more like the story of a paladin of romance 
 than sober reality. It is true that he accoini)lishcd little or 
 nothing in the way of establishing commercial intercourse 
 with the arrogant and exclusive hidalgos of Mexico, yet 
 his long journeys back and forth across the country added 
 greatly io the geographical knowledge of the French, and 
 enabled them to extend and confirm their alliances with 
 the principal aboriginal tribes of Texas.* 
 
 •From ('harlevoix' History of New France (vol. vi., p. '2 and 
 note), we glean some further particulars in regard to the clieckcrevl life 
 
Recall of Governor Cadillac. 
 
 245 
 
 Ire we 
 was, 
 time 
 Idveii- 
 Iniiiu'e 
 [tlo or 
 •ourBC 
 
 II, iviul 
 wit)i 
 
 2 and 
 led life 
 
 In January, 1717, soon after the return of St. J)e).r 
 from his first overland journey to Mexico, the governor 
 sent a sergeant with a few soldiers to take possession of 
 the before-mentioned island of Natchitoches, and to estab- 
 lish a military post there; it being regarded by tlie French 
 authorities not only as a place of strategic importance, l)ut 
 as a good location for interior trade with the natives of 
 that region. This was the commencement, of the still ex- 
 isting town of Natchitoches. 
 
 On tlie 9th of March, in that year, M. de ' ; !>? f:he 
 Cadillac, having served almost four years as goveiii.t' ot 
 Louisiana, and failing to give satisfaction, was relieved by 
 M. de L'Epinay, who arrived with three ships, bringing 
 out some fifty immigrants, an»l three com[>anies of infantry 
 to fill the depleted garrisons of the province. The retiriiig 
 executive returned by the same vessels to France, where he 
 died in the following year. Bienville, however, still re- 
 tained the position of lieutenant-governor, and, about 
 this time received the decoration of the Cross of St. Louis. 
 
 Heretofore the business of agriculture had been almost 
 totally neglected by the colonists, and they had often ex- 
 perienced a partial tamine in consequence of such neglect. 
 It was now proposed to form an agricultural settlement on 
 the banks of the Mississippi River, and to raise necessary 
 provisions for the consumption of the settlers. The grow- 
 ing of articles for export, such as rice, indigo and tobacco, 
 was also contemplated, for which the soil was found well 
 adapted. 
 
 It was during the year 1717, while looking for a suita- 
 
 of Louis Jiu'heri'UU de St. Denis. Born in Quebec, Canada, .Sei)teml)er 
 18, 167(), he was a 8(»u of Nicholas Juehereau Sieur de St. Denis, or 
 DenvH, ami an uncle of tlu' wife of M. (I'lherville. In 17'_'(), after his 
 sccoml expedition to >iexit'o, the C'iievalier de St. Denis received the 
 brevet of captain, and the insignia of the Cross of St. Louis— a military 
 order instituted by Louis XIV., in l<)9u, for the encouragenu;nt of the 
 otfioers of the army ami navy. In 1721, he \>!i8 sont with a detacliment 
 oi reguUir troops to Natcliitoches, and remained there in comniaml of 
 that post. The date of his death is not determined, tiioe.gh it was sub- 
 sequi'nt to the year 1731. It is t')l<l that he died much regretted by the 
 Indians of the lleci River Valley, with whose language and customs }\e 
 wuH entirely familiar, and over wljom he wielded an extensive influence. 
 
246 
 
 Demise of Louis XIV. 
 
 bio looation on tlie Mississippi, to become the nucleus of 
 the projected agricultural and commercial settlement, that 
 Bienville selected the tract whereon New Orleans now 
 stands, lying on the north bank of the river, where it 
 makes a great curve to the east, and distant one hundrc<l 
 and live miles from its mouth. The situation was low and 
 swampy, and by i\o means inviting to the superficial ob- 
 server; but with its ])roximity to the waters of Lakes 
 Borgne and Bontchartniin, and with a dee]» river chanm-l 
 to the sea, it promised idtlmately to become a commercia' 
 mart, — considerations which no doubt intluenced its choice. 
 Having fixed upon the site, Bienville afterward caused it 
 to be surveyed, and sent a party of woodmen there to 
 make a clearing. Such appears to have been the origin of 
 that great southern emporium, of Avliose gradual rise i)ito 
 prominence and importance, we shall have occasion to 
 furtiier speak in the sequel. 
 
 As a not )na[)propriate conclusion to the present chap- 
 ter, some general notice may iiere be taken of the demise 
 and character of Louis XIV., the Grand Monarqiie, under 
 whose authority all the discoveries, explorations, and set- 
 tlements by the French in the Mississipi)i Vallc}' had 
 liitherto been etfected. On .September 1, 1715, after a short 
 illness, the great king breathed his last in his palace at 
 Versailles, having reached the advanced age of seventy- 
 seven, and reigned seventy-two years. During the three 
 preceding years, he had been severely tried by domestic 
 afHictions. llis and>itious second wife, Madame de Main- 
 tenon, whom he had privately married, went into voluntary 
 retirement. He lost by death his son and heir api)arent, 
 llis grandson and eldest great-grandson ; so that his young- 
 est great-grandson succeeded to the crown under the title 
 of Louis XV. 
 
 Louis the Fourteenth had fallen lieir to the throne of 
 France in 1043, when less than six years old, and during 
 llis minority his motiier was regent of the kingdom, with 
 Cardinal Mazarin as her chief councilor. The reign of thin 
 Louis was the longest and, in many respects, the most il- 
 
Ills BeiijH and Character. 
 
 247 
 
 lustrious in the annals of France. Among the princes of 
 his time, lie stood pre-eminent in commanding presence, in 
 regal dignity, and in absolute power. After the death of 
 Mazarin, in 1661, he had no prime minister, but he wisely 
 chose great men for his assistu.its and ministers of govern- 
 ment. Under him Colbert and Louvois long filled the first 
 ofiices of state ; the former l)eing the great promoter of 
 French industry and numufactures, while the latter was his 
 able .'ind successful minister of war. Ilis foremost gen- 
 erals were Turenne, Conde, and Luxembourg, while Vau- 
 ban was his chief military engineer. The younger Mansard 
 was made head architect and su[terintendent of tlie royal 
 buildings. 
 
 During his reign, I'aris and its environs were adorned 
 with parks and public edifices to an extent previously un- 
 known. The most noted of these were the Ohsenrntoi re, the 
 Church of Val de Grace, the Colonnade of the LoHrrCy the 
 Hotel des Liiudides, the completion of the Palais Roycd, the 
 Place i(es VictoireSy the Place Vendome, and additions to the 
 palace of the TaUeries; but, above all others in extent and 
 miignificence, is the palace and garden of Versailles.* The 
 architecture of these various buildings, like the dress of 
 that agts is })rofuscly ornatj, and wanting iii })ure taste. 
 
 Louis XIV. was a numifieent jtatron of literature, 
 science and the arts, and some of the most celebrated 
 writers of France Hourished umler his reign. The French 
 toiigue was then cultivatcvl and polished to such a degree 
 that it tecame the language of court and diplonuitic circles 
 tlirouglH)Ut Kuro})e. lie made his ca))ital the gayest and 
 most luxurious in Kuro[)e. lie caused the court of Ver- 
 sailles to be every-where admired and imitated as a model 
 of taste and elegance, and of a princely and refined style 
 
 ■ " It was oil tliiH Hi>U>ii<li«l piUact'tliiit I.onis XIV. liivislicil tlu' wi'alth 
 uf 'uH |H'oj)K>, t(t jiivr cxiirrHsion to his own yraiulcur and HcKiHli ambi- 
 tion. It WUH l)uilt oil till' site of tlit' hunting lodnc of Lonis Xlll., teu 
 uiiios from Paris, wliii'h city Louis disUked, bccauHc he saw there only 
 tlif <'(lificeH and inoiuiiiifnt.s of otiicr kind's. Tiic huildiiinH conHtitutiug 
 till' palace, uiuiertukeu in Kilil, were roininittcd in 1(170 to the architect 
 Manward, and their construction was continued to the end of the reign."— 
 Avdtmtu' 8 History of France. 
 
248 
 
 Demise of Louis XI V. 
 
 of living. But as he sought ouly the gratification of hia 
 pride an<l vanity, his love of pageantry and pleasure, and 
 his thirst for dominion and renown, his personal rule ex- 
 tinguished all civil freedom, sound morals and manly sen- 
 timents among his subjects. Court favor, therefore, became 
 the aim and end of all individual effort, and adroit flattery 
 was the surest way to attain it. A venal age, virtue and 
 merit were but lightly esteemed. In fine, such were the 
 baneful effects of his policy and example, that from his 
 reign has been dated the decline of the great French mon- 
 archy, though it was accelerated by the incapacity of his 
 successors. , 
 
 The latter years of Louis' imperial sway were clouded 
 by reverses to his armies in the field, and by a spirit of 
 bigoted intolerance in his civil administration. His revo- 
 cation of the Edict of Nantes* was as imi)olitic as it was 
 unjustifiable, and his st'n-n ])ersecution of the Protestant 
 Huguenots drove from his kingdom nearly half a million 
 of his most industrious and useful subjects. But religious 
 toleration, as now generally understood and approved, was 
 in that age little known, and still less practiced, on the con- 
 tinent of Europe. The king believed and acted upon the 
 theory that unity of religious faith was essential to the 
 stability of his throne. His ruling principle of government 
 was embodied in the famous aphorism ascribed to him — Lc 
 etat c' est moi, or, "I am the state." f 
 
 To the readers of English history Louis XIV. is re- 
 membered as the generous friend and supporter of James 
 XL, the dethroned Catholic king of England. 
 
 Among the best known French works on this great 
 prince's reign are Voltaire's Sikie de Louis XIV., St. 
 Simon's Memoirs, and Louis XIV. ct so7i Sikie, by Alexan- 
 der Dumas. 
 
 * This famous ('(Hct had been enacted by Henry IV., in April, 15!)S, 
 and beinj? in the nature of a eomproiuise, it was deemed irrevocable. 
 The order for it revocation was iwHued October 22, 1085. 
 
 t The groat king may never have uttered these words, though they 
 perfectly express his Hentiments; for, in lOtiH, he wrote: "it is (Jod'H 
 will that whoever is born a subject should not reason, but obey.''— 
 Purkuuui's Old lieijiinr in Cniniild, p. 172. 
 
Sketch of John Law. 
 
 249 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1717-1723. 
 
 FRENCH FINANCES, AND LAW S MISSISSIPPI COMPANY. 
 
 The long wars and general extravagance of Louia 
 XIV. bad exliausted France, and entailed upon lier a 
 debt estimated at not less than two billions of livres, 
 or about four hundred millions of dollars. The people 
 were oppressively taxed, but still the surplus revenues of 
 the kingdom were wholly inadequate to meet the annual 
 interest on the indebtedness. The consequence was that 
 the government stocks sank to a merely nominal value, 
 and its credit was depressed to the lowest ebb. In this 
 dilemma, while the regency was casting about for some 
 means of financial relief, Jolm Law, the famous financier- 
 adventurer, appeared at the Court of Versailles with his 
 " magnificent credit system." 
 
 John Law, eldest son of a Scotch silversmith and 
 banker, was born in Edinburgli in April, 1671. He re- 
 ceived a liberal education, and at an early age discovered 
 a strong bent for finance. After the death of his father, 
 and before attaining to his majority, he became notorious 
 as a gambler and debauchee. Having unhappily killed an 
 antagonist named Wilson, in a duel, he fied to France to 
 avoid arrest. From thence he passed into Holland, where 
 he made a special study of banking in the great banking 
 house at Amsterdam. After perfecting his theory lie re- 
 turned to Edinburg in 1700, and shortly published a work 
 advocating the establishment of a bank which should hold 
 all the sources of revenue of the state in its own hands, 
 and, treating them as capital, should issue notes thereon, 
 and at the same time make a profit by discounting bills 
 and notes. His plan of banking was ridiculed by the 
 British wits of the day, and was discarded by the Scottish 
 
250 French Finances^ and Law's Mississippi Co. 
 
 Parliament. He then went with his scheme to Paris, 
 where it attracted considerable attention, but was utterly re- 
 jected by the old king and his comptroller-general of finance. 
 Law sojourned for awhile in Paris, leading a gay and 
 luxurious existence, playing high and winning large sums 
 of mojiey. But liis prosperous career was interrupted bj'^ 
 a message from the chief of police, ordering him to quit 
 Paris, on the ground that he "was rather too skillful at 
 the game which he had introduced." For several years 
 succeeding he shifted his abode from one state to another 
 in Italy and Germany, oft'ering his scheme of finance to 
 every court that he visited, though without success. The 
 Duke of Savoy, afterward King of Sardinia, was much 
 impressed with his project, but, after considering it for a 
 time, remarked : " I am not sufficiently powerful to ruin 
 myself." 
 
 Upon the decease of the great Louis, in 1715, John 
 Law returned to Paris with a fortune of half a million of 
 dollars, which he had acquired by gambling. Louis XV. 
 was then but a child, and during his non-age the govern- 
 ment was administered by Philippe, Due d' Orleans,* as 
 regent. The finances of France being at this time in a 
 bankrupt condition. Law soon gained a hearing at court 
 for his favorite banking project. The regent had before 
 been favor.ably impressed with the scheme, which suited his 
 bold and reckless spirit, and his taste for profligate ex- 
 travagance. Accordingly, on the 2d of May, 1716, (lespite 
 the opposition of his ministers and the Parliament of I'aris, 
 he granted letters patent to Law, authorizing him and his 
 brother William to establish a bank of deposit, discount 
 and circulation, under the firm name of " Law and Cooi- 
 pany," to continue for twenty years. The capital of this 
 institution was fixed at six millions of livres, divided into 
 shares of five hundred livres each, which were to be sold 
 for twenty-five per cent of coin, and seventy-five per cent, 
 of the public securities. The coin, which had been already 
 debased by an arbitrary edict of the regent, was held in 
 
 He wne n couein or second cousin of the youn>? king. 
 
Law's Banking Scheme. 
 
 251 
 
 the bank for the redemption of its notes. Inasnmcli as 
 the bank accepted at par government securities, on which 
 tlicre was a discount of seventy-eight per cent., and as 
 tliere was a general hick of private credit, its stock was 
 8(>on taken, and a very hicrative business was estabHshed. 
 Thus, while the bank was limited in its operations, and 
 while its paper really represeuc^d the specie in its vaults, 
 it seemed to realize all that had been promised for it. It 
 speedily acquired public confidence, and produced an activ- 
 ity in commerce that was unknown under the preceding 
 reign. Moreover, the bills of the bank bore an interest, 
 and as it was stipulated that they won hi be of invariable 
 value, and as hints had been adroitly circulated that coin 
 would experience successive diminution in value, every 
 body hastened to the bank to exchange gold and silver 
 for the paper money. In a few months the bank shares 
 arose enormously, and the amount jf its notes in circulation 
 exceeded one hundred and ten millions of livres. 
 
 Ilitlierto all had gone on well enough, and all might 
 have continued to go well, if the paper system had not 
 been further expanded. But Law had yet to develop the 
 grandest part of his scheme. He hjid yet to disclose his 
 i(U';il world of speculation, his El Dorado of unlimited 
 wealth. Ilin financial theory was, that the currency of a 
 country is simply the representative of its moving wealth, 
 and that this representative need not possess any intrinsic 
 vahie, as in the case of gold and silver, but might consist 
 ot'pa[ter, or any other 8ul)stance which can be conveniently 
 handled. lie held that while there was no standard of 
 prices or money, credit was every thing, and that a state 
 might safely treat eveni)ossible future }»roHts as the basisof a 
 jiaper currency. The English had brought the vast imag- 
 inary commerce of the South Seas in aid of their banking 
 operations ; and Law sought to bring, as a powerful auxil- 
 iary of his bank, the whole trade of the Mississippi A^alley. 
 To this end he now produced his Mississippi scheme, which 
 was to make him a conspicuous figure in the colonial an- 
 nals of Louisiana and Illinois. The prolific resources and 
 possibilities of Louisiana still filled tlie inniginations of tlie 
 
252 French Finances, and Law's Mississippi Co. 
 
 French people with visions of boundless riches. The ill- 
 success that had there attended the operations of Crozat 
 and his partners was not sufficient to dispel tlie illusion 
 from the public mind, or to beget therein more rational 
 views. The stories of its vast mineral deposits were art- 
 fully revived ; ingots of gold, the products of its supposed 
 mines, were exhil)ited at the Paris mint ; and the sanguine 
 court saw in the future of that province an empire, with its 
 fruitful valleys, growing cities, busy wharves, and exhaust- 
 less mines of gold and silver, pouring its precious freights 
 into the channels of French commerce. 
 
 As soon, therefore, as the charter of the Sieur Crozat 
 was animlled, Law proceeded, under letters patent from 
 the regent, to organize the Compagnie d' Occident, or Com- 
 pany of the West, which was based upon the plan of col- 
 onizing and drawing profits from the French possessions 
 in North America. The charter of the company was reg- 
 istered in the Parliament of Paris on the 6th of Septembei", 
 1717; and all of the king's subjects, including cori)onito 
 bodies, and even aliens, were allowed to take stock in it. 
 The capital was fixed at about one hundred -millions of 
 livres, divided into shares of five hundred livres each, bear- 
 ing interest at four per cent., which Avere subscribed for in 
 the public securities. As the bank was to co-operate with 
 the company, the regent issued an order that its bills should 
 be received the same as coin in all payments of the public 
 revenue. Law was made chief director of the company, 
 which v/as copied after the Earl of Oxford's South Sea 
 Company, originated in 1711, and which distracted all 
 England with the frenzy of speculation. 
 
 Among the more important privileges conferred on this 
 company by the government, was the exclusive control of 
 the commerce of Louisiana for twenty-five years, to begin 
 the 1st of January, 1718. All other subjects of his majesty 
 were prohibited from trading hither, under penalty of con- 
 fiscation of their merchandise and vessels; but this was not 
 intended to prevent tlie colonists from trading with each 
 other, or with the Indians. Power and authority were 
 also given the company to make treaties with the Indian 
 
Law's Credit System. 
 
 253 
 
 le ill- 
 rozat 
 usioii 
 tional 
 B art- 
 posed 
 guine 
 itli its 
 luuist- 
 eiglits 
 
 Drozat 
 
 : froiii 
 Coni- 
 
 of col- 
 
 essions 
 
 as reg- 
 
 ;ember, 
 
 rporato 
 
 k in it. 
 
 ions of 
 
 1, bear- 
 
 \ for in 
 e with 
 siioultl 
 pubru' 
 upany, 
 h Sea 
 0(1 all 
 
 ^)n this 
 itrol of 
 
 begin 
 ^lajcsty 
 
 )f con- 
 
 -as not 
 
 |b each 
 
 were 
 
 [udiau 
 
 nations, and to wage war against them in case of aggres- 
 sion or insult ; to import negro slaves into the province ; to 
 open and work all mines, free of duty ; to grant lands, even 
 allodially ; lo cast cannon, build ships of war, raise and 
 equip troops, and to nominate the jtrovincial officers, who 
 were to be commissioned by ths crown. In addition to the 
 above, the regent promised the company protection against 
 foreign powers, and presented it with all the forts, guns, 
 anmiunition, boats, and stores in Louisiana, that had been 
 surrendered by the Sieur Crozat. Nor was this all. Dur- 
 ing the continuance of its charter, the goods of the company 
 were to be exempt from duty, and the white inhabitants ot 
 the province from the payment of any state tax.* 
 
 The paper system of Law, and his scheme ot coloniza- 
 tion, were earnestly opposed by D'Anguesseau, the chan- 
 cellor, and by the Duke de Noailles, Minister of Finance, 
 who foresaw the evils that the system was calculated to pro- 
 duce. Finding that they seriously interfered with his plans, 
 the regent dismissed them from office ; but the opposition of 
 the Parliament of Paris was not so easily managed, since 
 that body aspired to an equal authority with the regent in 
 the administration of affiiirs. The chief hostility of the 
 parliament was directed against Law, a foreigner, a heretic, 
 and an adventurer. So far was this hostility carried, that 
 secret measures were taken to investigate his malversations, 
 and to collect evidence against him ; and it was resolved in 
 parliament that should the testimony collected justify their 
 suspicions, they would have him seized and arraigned for 
 trial, and, if convicted, would hang him in the court-yard 
 of the palace. Receiving intimation of his threatened dan- 
 ger, Law took refuge in the Palais Royal, the residence of 
 the regent, and implored his protection. The regent him- 
 self was embarrassed by the sturdy opposition of the parlia- 
 ment, which contemplated nothing less than a decree re- 
 versing his own measures of finance. However, by assem- 
 bling a board of justice, and bringing to bear the absolute 
 
 ■'History of Louisiana, by Francois Xavier Martin (New Orleans, 
 1827), vol. I, pp. 198, 201. 
 
254 French Finances^ and Lew's Mississippi Co. 
 
 aiitliority of the king, he triumphed over parliaiiient and 
 relieved Law from the dread of being hanged. 
 
 The credit system now went on with full sail. The 
 Company of the West, being identified with the bank, rap- 
 idly increased in power and privileges. One monopoly 
 after another was granted to it ; the trade of the Indian 
 seas, the slave trade with Senegal and Guinea, the farming 
 of tobacco, the roja] coinage, etc. Each nv.w privilege was 
 made a pretext for emitting more bills, and caused a pro- 
 portionate advance in the prices of stock. At length, on 
 the 4th of December, 1718, the regent gave the institution 
 the imposing title of the Royal Bank of France, and pro- 
 claimed that he had effected tlie purchase of all the sliares, 
 the jtroceeds of which were added to its capital. Arbi- 
 trary measures were now l)egun to force the bills of the 
 bank into artificial circulation. On the 27th of December 
 an order was made in council, forbidding, under severe 
 penalties, the payment of any sum above six hundred livres 
 in Id or silver. This decree rendered bank bills neces- 
 sary in all considerable transactions of purchase jind sale, 
 and called for a new emission. The prohibition was oc- 
 casionally evaded or opposed, but confiscations were the 
 consequence. 
 
 Tlie worst effect of this illusive system was the mania 
 for gain, or for gambling in stocks, that now seized upon 
 the French nation. Under the stimulus of lying reports, 
 and the compulsory effects of government decrees, the 
 shares of the company went on rising until they reached 
 thirteen hundred per cent. Nothing was talked of but the 
 prices of shares, and the immense fortunes suddenly nuide 
 by lucky speculators. The most extravagant dreams Avere 
 indulged concerning the wealth that was to flow in upon 
 the company from its colonies, its trade, and its various 
 monopolies. To doubt of these things was to excite anger, 
 or incur ridicule. And in a time of puldic infatuation, it 
 requires no small exercise of courage to doubt a popular 
 fallacy. 
 
 Paris now became the center of attractioi\ for the ad- 
 venturous and avaricious, who flocked thaher not only 
 
The Mnihafor Speculation. 
 
 255 
 
 t and 
 
 The 
 :, rap- 
 opoly 
 udian 
 rming 
 re was 
 a pro- 
 ^tli, on 
 itutiou 
 (1 pro- 
 Bliares, 
 
 Arbi- 
 
 of the 
 cember 
 
 severe 
 d livres 
 i, neces- 
 id sale, 
 
 as oc- 
 
 ve the 
 
 mania 
 d upon 
 reports, 
 ^^es, the 
 -cached 
 but the 
 V nuide 
 US "Were 
 
 u upon 
 
 I various 
 
 anger, 
 
 lition, it 
 
 [popular 
 
 tl\c ad- 
 |>t only 
 
 from the provinces, but from the neighboring countries. 
 A stock exchange was e8tal)lislied in u liotel on one of tlie 
 principal streets,* and immediately becamr» the resort of 
 stock jobbers and (*i»eculator8. Guards were stationed at 
 either end of the avenue to maintain order, and to exclude 
 liorse and carriages. The whole street swarmeti through- 
 out the day like a b<e-hive. Bargains of all kinds were 
 struck with avidity. Shuns of stock passed from hand to 
 hand, mounting in value, one knew not why. Fortunes 
 were made in a moment, as if by magic, and every lucky 
 bargain prompted tliose around to a more desperate throw 
 of the dii'. 
 
 To ingulf all classes in this ruinous vortex, Law di- 
 vided the shares of tiftv millions of stock into one hundred 
 shares each, thus accommodating the venture to the hum- 
 blest purse. Society was thus stirred to its very dregs, and 
 people of the lowest order hurried to the stock market to 
 invest their small savings. All honest, industrious pur- 
 suits, and moch^rate gains were now despise<l. The u}>per 
 classes were as base in their venality as tlie lower. The 
 highest nobles, abandoning all generous pursuits an<l lofty 
 aims, engaged in the vile scuffle for gain. Even prelates 
 and ecclesiastical bodies, forgetting their true o])jects of de- 
 votion, mingled among the votaries of Manmion. The 
 female sex likewise participated in the sordid frenzy. Prin- 
 cesses of the blood, and ladies of the first nobility were 
 among the most rapacious of stock-jol)bcrs. Meanwhile, 
 luxury and extravagance kept pace with this sudden inila- 
 tion of fancied wealth, and a general laxity of morals was 
 diffused throughout society. 
 
 Law went about with a countenance beaming with 
 satisfaction, and apparently dispensing wealth on every 
 hand. Even his domestics were enriched bv tlie crumbs 
 that fell from his table. Wherever he went his path was 
 beset by a base throng, who waited to see him juiss, and 
 sought the favor of a word or a smile, as if a mere glance 
 from him would bestow a fortune. The same venal atten- 
 
 * It was afterward reiuuved to the Place Vendome. 
 
256 French Finances, and Laivs Mississippi Co. 
 
 tion was paid by all classes to his family. The highest 
 born ladies of the court vied with each other in meanness 
 to secure the lucrative friendship of Mrs. Law and her 
 daughter. The w^e^dth of the banker rapidly increased 
 with the expansion of the bubble. In the course of a few 
 months he purchased some fourteen titled estates, paying 
 for them in paper money; and the unthinking public 
 hailed these vast acquisitions of landed property as so 
 many proofs of the soundness of his system. 
 
 The illusory credit continued its course triumphantly 
 for eighteen months. Law had nearly fulfilled one of his 
 promises, viz., to pay oft" the public debt ; but it was paid 
 in bank shares, which had been inflated several hundred 
 per cent above their real value, and which were shortly to 
 vanish like smoke in the hands of the holders. 
 
 Toward the close of the year 1719, the Mississippi 
 scheme had reached its culmination. i!^early half a million 
 of strangers had crowded into Paris, in quest of fortune. 
 The hotels and boarding houses were overflowing; lodgings 
 were procured with great difficulty ; granaries were turned 
 into bed-rooms; splendid houses were multiplying on every 
 side ; and the streets w^ere thronged with new and costly 
 equipages. 
 
 On the 11th of December, Law obtained another pro- 
 hibitory decree, for the purpose of drawing all the remain- 
 ing specie in circulation into the bank. By this it was for- 
 bidden to make any payment in silver above ten livres, or 
 in gold above three hundred. The repetition of decrees of 
 this nature, the object of which was to depreciate the value 
 of coin and increase that of paper, awakened distrust of a 
 system which required such bolstering. Sound financiers 
 conferred together, and agreed to make common cause 
 against this continual expansion of the paper system. The 
 shares of the bank and of the company began to decline in 
 value. Wary speculators took the alarm, and began to 
 realize ; a term now first brought into use, it is said, to sig- 
 nify the conversion of ideal property into something real. 
 
 The regent, discerning these signs of decay in the sys- 
 tem, sought to sustain it by bestowing oflice upon its au- 
 
Edicts of the Regent. 
 
 257 
 
 thor. Accordingly, in .lanuiiry, 1720, he appointed Law 
 to be comptroller-general of the linances. But before his 
 appointment, the banker had to abjure his Protestant 
 faith and take out letters of naturalization, — a feat of uo 
 great difficulty with him. 
 
 In February following, a decree was published in tlie 
 king's name uniting the Royal Bank to the India Com- 
 pany, by which last appellation the whole establishment 
 was subsequently known. By this time, the bank is said 
 to have issued notes to the amount of one thousand mil- 
 lions of livres ; being more paper than all the other banks 
 of Europe were able to circulate. Various compulsory 
 measures were now adopted, which gave a temporary 
 credit to the bank ; but with all these props and stays, 
 the system continued to totter. On the 22d of May a royal 
 edict was issued, in which, under pretense of having re- 
 duced the value of his coin, it was deemed necessary to 
 reduce the value of his bank notes one-half, and of the 
 India shares from nine thousand to five thousand livres. 
 On the 27th this oppressive edict was revoked, and bank 
 bills were restored to their former value. But the fatal 
 blow had at length been struck ; the delusion was at an 
 end ; and specie payments, except in small sums, were sus- 
 pended by the bank. 
 
 To avert popular odium from himself, the regent, on 
 on the 29th of May, dismissed Law from the office of 
 comptroller-general, and stationed a Swiss guard in his 
 house to protect him from the anger of the populace. 
 But he continued, in private, to co-operate with him in 
 his financial schemes. A general confusion now took 
 place in all financial aftairs ; and execrations were poured 
 out on all sides against the unfortunate banker. 
 
 About the middle of July the last grand efibrt was 
 made by Law and the regent to keep up the system, and 
 provide for the enormous issue of paper. A decree was 
 formulated, giving the India Company the entire monopoly 
 of commerce, on condition that it would in the course of 
 a year reimburse six hundred millions of livres of its bills, 
 17 
 
 I i 
 
 I 
 
258 French Finances, and Lavfs Mississippi Co. 
 
 #1 
 
 at a fixed rate per montli. On the 17th, when this decree 
 was sent to Parliament to be registered, it raised a storm 
 of opposition in that assembly, and a vehement discussion 
 ensued. In the forenoon of that day, several persons 
 were stifled in the crowd at the door of the bank, where 
 they had gone to change ten franc notes for specie to buy 
 provisions in the market. During the same day Law 
 ventured to go in his carriage to the Palais Royal. But 
 iH he passed along the streets, he was saluted with cries 
 and curses, and reached the palace in a terrible fright. The 
 regent, whose nerves were stronger, amused himself with 
 his fears, but kept him there and sent away his carriage, 
 which was assailed by the mob and pelted with stones un- 
 til its glasses were shivered. 
 
 In December, 1720, John Law finally quit Paris 
 and France, traveling in a private conveyance of the 
 regent. When he was fairly out of the way, a council of 
 the regency was summoned to deliberate on the state of 
 the finances and the affairs of the India Company. It was 
 then ascertaiiied that bank bills were in circulation to the 
 enormous amount of two milliards and seven hundred mil- 
 lions of livres, while the specie remaining in the kingdom 
 was estimated at not more than thirteen hundred millions 
 of livres. 
 
 Wlien Law left Paris, lie took with him only eight 
 iiundred louis d'or, and a few personal effects. The chief 
 relic of his immense fortune was a big diamond, which, it 
 it is said, he was often obliged to pawn. Ilis furniture and 
 library were sold by auction at a low price, and his landed 
 estates were confiscate*! to the government. In October, 
 1721, he went to England, and was presented at court to 
 his nuijesty George I. lleturning again to the continent, 
 he led an adventurous life, shifting about from i»laco to 
 place, lie received from France an lUiiiual [)ension of 
 tv/enty tlioiisund livres until the death of the Duke of Or- 
 leans in 172-), atid down to that time entertained hopes of 
 nrranging a sottlen: Mit of his accounts with the French 
 India Company, to which he was heavily indebted. I3y de- 
 grees, however, he sunk into obscurity, and finally died in 
 
ecree 
 itorm 
 ssion 
 rsons 
 yhere 
 
 buy 
 Law 
 
 But 
 
 1 cries 
 . The 
 f with 
 rriage, 
 les uu- 
 
 Parifl 
 of the 
 
 iiicil of 
 state of 
 
 It was 
 11 to the 
 ■cd n\\\- 
 lingdom 
 
 iiillious 
 
 End of Law's Career. 
 
 259 
 
 poverty in Venice, March 21, 1729, at the age of fifty-eight 
 years. 
 
 It is now generally conceded that John Law was a 
 very ingenious calculator, a sincere believer in his own 
 monetary theory, :i?id the founder to some extent of the 
 modern system of banking. The evil genius of liia sys- 
 tem appears to have been the regent, who in a manner 
 forced him on to an expansion of his paper currency far 
 bo3'ond what he had originally contemplated. " Law was 
 like a poor conjuror in the hands of a potent spirit that he 
 had evoked. lie only thought at the outset to raise the 
 wind, but the regent compelled him to raise the whirl- 
 wind." * 
 
 " Works on Law and his system are numerous," saya 
 the American Enc^'lopodia (X., p. 218) ; " but it is only 
 within the present century that justice has, to any degree, 
 hcen done to the extraordinary talents of \v^hich he was 
 really possessed." 
 
 The unsound financiering and mania for speculation, 
 originating with and fostered by the great " projector," 
 proved most disastrous to the nuiteria! and moral welfare 
 of France; yet a great impetus was given to the settle- 
 ment of Louisiana through the ag'jncy of his Company 
 of the West, which, ui der d.Hvjrent names and auspices, 
 was continued for fifteen years. The first efforts of the 
 company at colonizing the new province were upon a large 
 scale ; indeed, extraordinary measures were adopted for 
 this purpose. A royal edict was issued, authorizing the 
 collection and transportation of settlers to the Mississippi, 
 under which the streets and prisons of ]*aris and otiier 
 cities were swept of their mendicants and vagabonds. 
 These unwilling colonists were cotivcycd to the seaport of 
 Uochelle, and, with implements of all kinds for the work- 
 ing of mines, wore crowded on board of ships, and sent to 
 Louisiana. 
 
 * See the admirablo oHsiiy, entitled Thr Mimmppl Bubhlf, in the 
 "Crayon PapcrH," by Wusliinnton irvinw, from v.hich tlu> foregoing 
 sketch of Law's puraoaal canei is chictly coudeuBev.. 
 
 ^^mi^^^iMM^ 
 
lasBBE— 
 
 260 
 
 Louisiana under Laws' Company. 
 
 On the 9th February, 1718, three ships, of the West- 
 ern Company— the Dauphine, the Vigilante and the Nep- 
 tune arrived at Baupliin IsUmd to take possession of Lou- 
 isiana. After discharging their cargoes, these vessels 
 sailed on their return to France ; and on the 8th of March 
 two frigates, the Duchesse de Noailles and the Victoire, ca«t 
 anchor at Ship Island.* By the iirst named frigate came 
 Pierre Duque de Boisbriant, a Frencli-Canadian, who had 
 received the appointment of king's lieutenantf of the 
 province, and who was the bearer of a commission appoint- 
 ing his cousin, Bienville, governor and commandant-gen- 
 eral, in place of M. L'Epinay removed. Besides the of- 
 ofiicers and the soldiers belonging to the company, these 
 di^'crent vessels brought out about six hundred colonists, 
 who were intended to settle the various concessions or land 
 grants thrt had been nuulo to persons of prominence, as 
 inducemcLts to immigration. The new colonists were of 
 different ages, sexes and conditions, but mostly belongcii 
 to the poor and i,?j:norant class, yome of them perished 
 from the huk of thiift and enterprise; some from impru- 
 dence and the diseases incident to the climate; while 
 others lived and prospered by their own energy and in- 
 dustry. 
 
 In October, of that year (1718), Bernard de la llarpo, 
 one of the leading spirits of the province, at this period, 
 started to take possession of a grant or c:)ncession of land 
 that had been made to him on the upper waters of Ked 
 River. With a party of fifty Frenchmen, in two boats and 
 three pirogues, lie j>ushed up that stream to the >»'atclii- 
 toches, where he found M. Blondel in command of the 
 French fort, Hien recently erected there, and on the island 
 near by were about two hundretl Indians, belonging to 
 the Matchitochcs, Dulciiioes and Yatasse tribes. Lallarpo 
 thence continued to as* end the river until he reached the 
 nation of tlic Nassonis, whose villages were locate«l from 
 seventy to eiglity leagues above the Natchitoches. Upon 
 
 iF French's "HiHtorical Collections nf La." New Serit's (N. Y., 
 18(M>), I». I'l'»; iiIh" vol. II, First SericB, p. (iO. 
 
 t TliHt IB liiiiirnanl da roi, or lienttuiant-governor. 
 
Adventures of La ffarpe. 
 
 2(31 
 
 f the West- 
 d the Nep- 
 jion of Lou- 
 lese vessels 
 th of March 
 /ictoire, cast 
 frigate came 
 an, who had 
 untt of the 
 sion appoint- 
 luuuhmt-gen- 
 ;sklos the of- 
 .mpauy, these 
 rod colonists, 
 ssioiis or land 
 roiuinence, as 
 onists were of 
 )stly helongc'i 
 thelu perished 
 P from imprn- 
 limatc ; wliile 
 nergy and in- 
 
 de la Harpo, 
 vt this period, 
 'Sfiion of land 
 waters of Ked 
 two hoats and 
 to the ^atchi- 
 nmand of the 
 1 on tlie island 
 , belonging to 
 bes. Lallarpo 
 10 reached the 
 located from 
 itoches. T^l»»'^ 
 
 sv 8erU'B (N. "^ , 
 
 his arrival thither, he at first employed his men in coli- 
 structing a block-house for their use and tlio storage of his 
 goods, in which labor they had the friendly assistance of 
 the Nassonis. From this point of vantage, ho cd'torward 
 attempted to open a trade with the S[)aniards in Now Mex- 
 ico, and also explored the wide range of country between 
 Red Rivor and the Fppor Arkansas. Agreeably to his own 
 narrative, he ascended the Arkansas, or one of its con- 
 stituent branches, to the base of the Rocky Mouiitaina, 
 and there found several tribes living together III o?io large 
 village. In pursuance of the usual French policy, ho mode 
 himself well acquainted with the different Indian nations 
 iidiabiting tiiose wild and hitherto unviHited regions, and 
 formed amicable relations with several of them. IIIh 
 printed journal of his voyage and illHcoveries is charac- 
 terized by simplicity of stylo and ea^y credulity, but it is 
 none the less entertaining, and '"iitaiiiH, withal, much use- 
 ful information respecting tiie aborigines whom he vis- 
 ited.* It was not until tije end of the year 1710 that 
 La Uarpe rotiUHied to the head-quarters of (Jovernor Bieii- 
 ville. 
 
 BVom the beginning of operations by the Western 
 Conutanv in Louisia/ia. the directors thereof had evinced 
 much anxiety for the occupation of the (iulf coast, west 
 of the rivei Sabine, with a colony. But Governor Bien- 
 ville, believing in the [Kjlicy of concentrating the settle- 
 ments near the Mississippi, ha<l doc)i;*ed sending colonists 
 to that remote quarter, wlien; they wcMild b< exposed to the 
 Rttacks of both the Indians and Spaniards. At length, in 
 August, 1721, under sj)Ocial instructions li-om the direct- 
 ors, he iHsuod the following official order, addressed to La 
 llaipo, for tlio cstablirthnient of a post near the Bay of St. 
 Bernard, or Matagorda : 
 
 " We, Joan Ba[>tisto do Bienville, chevalier of the mil- 
 
 * Vide " Journal dti voyage df ht hiuiti(tM,faU par U S'r liernnrd de la 
 Hnrpi', it dt'» drroKirrliit ijii' if n Jiiil>» dan la pnrtii' de // micHt de relle colo- 
 nic," from the year l7IHto 1722, IncluHive ; priutod in tbo "Historical 
 ('olii'ctionB " of l^ouisiantt. 
 
2G2 
 
 Louisiana under Law's Company. 
 
 itary order of St. Louis, and commandant-general for the 
 kin<^ in the Province of Louisiana: 
 
 " It is hereby decreed that M. de la Harpe, command- 
 ant of the Bay of St. Bernard, shall embark in the packet, 
 ' Subtile,' commanded by Beranger, with a detachment of 
 twenty soldiers, under Belile, and shall proceed forthwith 
 to the Bay of St. Bernard, belonging to this province, and 
 take possession in the name of the king and the Western 
 Compan}' ; shall plant the arms of the king in the ground, 
 and build a fort.u[»on whatsoever spot appears most advan- 
 tageous for the defense of the place. 
 
 " If the Spaniards or any other nation have taken pos- 
 session, M. de la Ilarpe will signify to them that they have 
 no right to the country, it being known that possession 
 was taken in 1(385 by M. de la Salle, in the name of the 
 King of France, etc. " Bienville." 
 
 "August 10, 1721." * 
 
 Pursuant to this order. La Ilarpe sailed shortly after 
 uj)on his doubtful '' •. .^^rise; but on arriving at the bay 
 he found r.o safe liarbor, and owing to the opposition man- 
 ifested l)y the natives on its shores (who were partly iu- 
 Huenced by the S})aniardsin Mexico), he built no fort there. 
 Mindful, indeed of the fate of La Salle's colony, and un- 
 willing to expose his own men to savage massacre, he re- 
 turned to Daujihin Island early in the following Octobcr,f 
 und the enterprise was thereafter abandoned. 
 
 In 1719 the directors of the company sent out for pub- 
 lication in the province of Louisiana a proclamation and 
 schedule, fixing the prices at which goods and merchandise 
 were to be obtained in the company's stores at Dauphin Is- 
 land, Mobile, and Bilexi. To these prices an advance of 
 live per centum was to be added to goods delivered at New 
 Orleans ; ten per cent, at Natchez ; thirteen ut Yazous ; 
 twenty at Natdiitoches, and fifty at tlie Illinois and on the 
 
 * Monettc's " Valley of the MiHHiHHippi," vol. 1, p. 235. 
 tThe town ( f La Harpo, in Hancock f-ounty, III., appears to liav« 
 been so naiuo 1 i:- memory of this v^r-::' J •- !• 'tnan. 
 
Bienville Founds New Orleans. 
 
 263 
 
 r the 
 
 laud- 
 icket, 
 3nt of 
 tiwith 
 3, and 
 estern 
 round, 
 ulvan- 
 
 m pos- 
 
 V have 
 
 session 
 
 of the 
 
 LLE." 
 
 ly after 
 the bay 
 )n man- 
 [ivtly in- 
 
 t there. 
 Iind un- 
 
 , he rc- 
 lt:t<)ber,t 
 
 ItH to hav« 
 
 Missouri. Tlie commodities of the country were to be re- 
 ceived at the company's warehouses in Mobile, Biloxi, Ship 
 Island, and New Orleans, at the rates following, viz : Silk, 
 of which very little was produced, from one dollar and 
 iifty cents to two dollars the pound ; tobacco, of the beat 
 kind, five dollars the hundred ; rice, four dollars ; super- 
 fine flour three dollars ; wheat, two dollars ; barley and oats 
 ninety cents the hundred ; deer-skins from fifteen to twenty- 
 five cents ; dressed, without head or tail, thirty cents ; hides 
 eight cents per pound.-^ 
 
 No sooner had M. de Bienville superseded L'Epinay 
 as governor of Louisiana, in 1718, than he revived his 
 scheme for transferring the seat of government (»f the 
 province from the sterile sands of the Gulf coast to the al- 
 luvial banks of the Mississippi. Having already selected 
 a site for the new capital, he now sent the Sieur de 
 la Tour, chief engineer of the colony, with a for(;e of 
 eighty convicts (lately arrived from the prisons of France), 
 to clear a strip of land along the river, and trace out the 
 plan of the town. The settlement thus begun here was 
 named Noavcaa. Orleans, in honor to the Duke of Orleans, 
 then prince regent oi' France. But M. Hubert, commis- 
 sary of the colony and Company of the West, refused to 
 transfer the offices ana warehouses of the company from 
 Mobile and Daupliin Isjund, vhich were more accessible to 
 vessels from the sea. For this reason, New Orleans was 
 maintained for several years onlv as a small military and 
 trading [»ost. In 1720 La Tour surveyed the mouths or 
 passes of the Mississi})[)i, and reported that New Orleans 
 might be made a connuercial port. At this time it was a 
 collection of less than one hundred palisade cabin.'!, built of 
 cypress wood on low, nudarious ground, subject to inun- 
 dations, and surrounded by a forest or thicket of willows, 
 canes, and dwarf palmettos. In .lanuary, 1722, the town 
 vvas visited by Father Clmrlevoix, who thus recorded hie 
 inntressions of the place : 
 
 " Tlie environs of New Orlans have nothing very re- 
 
 t Martin's liiHtury of Louieiana, vol. 1, page. 219. 
 
264 
 
 Louisiana under Law's Company. 
 
 markahle. I did not find this city so well situated as I had 
 been told ; otliers are not 'f the same opinion." Again, he 
 writes : '' I have nothing 'o add to what I said in the be- 
 ginning of my former letter concerning the present state 
 of New Orleans. The truestidea that voucanform of it is to 
 represent to yourself two hundred persons that are sent to 
 build a city, and who are encamped on the side of a great 
 river, where they have thought of nothing but to shelter 
 themselves from the air, while they wait for a plan, and 
 have built themselves some houses. M. dePauger,* whom 
 I have still the honor to accompany, has just shown me one 
 of his drawings. It is very fine and very regular, but it 
 will not be so easy to execute it as to trace it on paper." f 
 
 The Mobile and Alabama Rivers had formed a favorite 
 line of communication with the northern interior, and from 
 its closer connection with the sea., Fort Louis on the Mo- 
 bile remaiiied a principal post ; but in August, 1723, the 
 ofileial quarters of Bienville were removed to l^ew Orleans, 
 and its destiny Avas fixed. Thus the central point of French 
 power in Louisiana, after hovering for over twenty years 
 round Ship and I3au]ihin Islands, and the bays of Biloxi 
 and Mobile, was at last permanently established on the 
 banks of the Mississippi, and the southern colonists began 
 to gather in settlements along that great river, so as to bo 
 within easy reach of the rising capital. Although many of 
 the French doubted the wisdom <>r propriety of Bienville's 
 conduct in thus changing the seat of government, yet time 
 has amply demonstrated the clearness of his foresight, and 
 the sounciness of his judgment in this important action. 
 
 From a mere provincial head-(puirter8 and central depot 
 for the commercial transactions of a single company. New 
 Orleans has since progressively grown to be the great em- 
 porium of the Lower Mississippi Valley, the recipient of 
 the trade of some fifteen thousand miles of river miviga- 
 tiou, to say nothing of her extensive railway connections, 
 
 *De f^ug^r WHH second or assistant (>ngin«er of the colony; and in 
 1722 he established the little post called Balize, at the south pass of tlio 
 Mississippi. 
 
 ' ' Jouinal of Travels i!i Nortli America," pp. 332, 334. 
 
The Province Divided into Districts. 
 
 265 
 
 3, the 
 
 rloiuia, 
 
 ^ yeavB 
 Biloxi 
 )n the 
 Ijegau 
 B U) be 
 any ot 
 Uo'8 
 t time 
 it, and 
 en. 
 
 ' depot 
 
 ,', New 
 
 at eni- 
 
 ,cnt of 
 
 aviga- 
 
 rtions, 
 
 ; and in 
 Lrt of tbo 
 
 and the busy port where the ships and merchants of all 
 nations do congregate. 
 
 Even at that early day her rare commercial advantages, 
 present and prospective, were well understood on the Paris 
 Bourse. Yet, all around the nascent city, was then a mat- 
 ted and marshy forest, "calculated by its dreariness and 
 solitude to inspire far other thoughts tl;au those of com- 
 merce, empire, wealth, and power." 
 
 At or before this time (1723), the Province of Louisi- 
 ana was divided for civil and military purposes into nine 
 districts, each of which was placed under the jurisdiction 
 of a separate commandant. These military districts were 
 named as follows : (1) Alibamons,* (2) Mobile, (3) Biloxi, 
 (4) New Orleans, (5) Natchez, (6) Yazoux, (7) Illinois and 
 Wabash, (8) Arkansas, (9) Natchitoches. The province was 
 also divided into three ecclesiastical districts. 
 
 We nmst now revert to the war which broke out in 
 1719 between France and Spain, and wliich extended to 
 their American colonies. On the 19th of April in that year 
 two ships arrived from France, bringing out some colonists, 
 and an abu'ulant supply of provisions and ammunition. 
 By these vessels, Governor Bienville received letters from 
 the court informing him that war iuid been declared in 
 Europe between France and Spain. TIk^ governor tiiere- 
 upon callud a council ol' his nllhtM'H, at uhidi it vvi|8 (je- 
 terniined to \\\\\\n\ an ill I in h on Fort Pen8a(!ola, bef(»h> ijie 
 Spanish garrison there could be reinforced. For this expe- 
 dition he assenmled his regular troops, together with some 
 Canadians and Indians, mid [>ut them under the command of 
 Captain de Ohatoaugue, his brother, and Captain de liiclie- 
 hourg. Embarking his little army in three vessels, the 
 commander sailed early in May to Santa Rosa Island, where 
 the Spaniards had an outpost. This the French seized 
 without opposition, and then advanced u])on I*ensacola, 
 which they invested and took by surprise; for the Spanish 
 commandant claimed that ho was not aware of the exist- 
 
 *T1u> district of the Alilnimoua lay between tli»' riv«ti» AlalMHAA 
 and Toinbigboe. 
 
266 
 
 Louisiana under Law's Company. 
 
 ence of war between the two nations. Having made him- 
 self master of Pensaeola, Bienville sent the prisoners he 
 had taken in a vessel with some troops, commanded by 
 Captain de Richebourg, to Havana. He then left his 
 brother, Chateaugue, in command of Fort Pensaeola, with 
 a garrison of sixty men, and returned to Dauphin Island. 
 
 The French, however, were soon compelled to relin- 
 quish their conquest. On the 5th of August two Spanish 
 vessels arrived from Havana before Pensaeola, and sum- 
 moned the commandant to surrender. This being refused, 
 a brisk cannonade began on both sides, and was continued 
 until night. On the next day the Spaniards again sent a 
 summons to Chateaugue to surrender. He asked f\)ur days 
 time to consider the matter, and was allowed two, during 
 which he sent by land to Dauphin Island for assistance. 
 Unfortunately, Bienville was not then in a position to af- 
 ford him any aid, and the attack was renewed. Captain 
 Chateaugue defended the fort as long as he could, but be- 
 ing deserted by a part of his garrison, he was obliged to 
 ca},)itulate, when he was sent a prisoner to Ilavanji. The 
 Spanish commandant was now reinstated, and immediately 
 set to work to n^pairthe injuries done by the cannonading; 
 and in order to strengthen the defenses of the place, he 
 erected a little fort on the Isle of Santa Rosa. 
 
 Soon after this the Spanish commander of Pensaeola 
 dispatched a large bateau, armed with six pieces of cannon, 
 to harass the French establiHhment on Dauphin Island. The 
 bateau being joined by another armed vessel, they opened 
 a sharp tire upon tiie island, which was stoutly returiiiMl 
 by the French ship, Philip, and a battery on shore. After 
 bornl)iirding the island several days, and nutking various 
 ineifectual aH<nii»ts to land llirir forces, the Spanish vessels 
 were compelled to vvitlidraw, their dei»arture l)eing hastened 
 by tlie unex])ecte(l appearance of u l*'ren<']i squadron of five 
 vessels, commanded by M. de (■hampmeslin. 
 
 This Hcet arrived before D iu})hin Islam! on the Jst of 
 Septendjcr, 1711), anti brought out about eight hundred peo- 
 ple, comprising officers, soldiers, and colonists, for TjoiiIb- 
 iuiiu. A eoiMH'il of \\^\- \m\\^ he|»j, || W|fB tjee|i|m) to re- 
 
2'he Capture of Pensacola. 
 
 267 
 
 11 m- 
 5 he 
 L by 
 his 
 with 
 id. 
 
 ■elin- 
 auish 
 sum- 
 'used, 
 inucd 
 leut a 
 V days 
 luring 
 itiince. 
 to af- 
 aptain 
 •ut be- 
 ged to 
 !■ The 
 diately 
 ading ; 
 aee, he 
 
 take Pensacola, and rescue the French sohliers who had 
 been taken prisoners by the Spaniards. Accordingly, on 
 the 7th of September, the entire fleet, with the exception 
 of one vessel set sail for Pensacola. The French and Cana- 
 dian troops, from Dauphin Island, who formed a little urmy 
 by themselves, commanded by the Sieur de St. Denis, were 
 debarked near the mouth of the river Perdido, to attack 
 the large fort by land, while the 8(piadron held on its way. 
 No sooner had the French ships of war entered and come 
 to anchor within the liarbor at Pensacola, than they opened 
 fire upon the Spanish forts and vessels. After a fierce can- 
 nonade of two or three liours, the Spaniards, numl^ering 
 about twelve hundred, surrendered, and were made prison- 
 ers of w^ar. Among them were found forty French de- 
 serters, twenty of whom weic hung at the yard-arn. of the 
 admiral's ship, and the remainder condemned to ten years' 
 labor as galley slaves. On the next day a Spanish vessel, 
 laden w^ith provisions and stores, entered the port of Pen- 
 sacola, not knowing that it had changed masters, and was 
 immediately captured by the French. 
 
 After the re-taking of i^ensacola, the two forts were 
 demolished, and all the houses were destroyed save four, 
 which were kept for the use of the small garrison left there. 
 The captured numitions and stores were transported to 
 Dauphin Island.* 
 
 But the operations of this inter-colonial war, which 
 lusted two years, were not wholly confined to the fringe 
 of European settlements on the coast of Florida and 
 f^udlHiullu. Advi'MtUHMiri whilu trnders and explorers had 
 already fouml a route across the wbl«' auil barren plains 
 of tlie west, IVolli tlie NfiHsoiiri Hivet* td New Ifexjco: am] 
 during the year 1720 a Spanish expedition was organized 
 at Santa Kivf to operate agiiliisl thoFreinli in Northern 
 
 Ist of 
 
 |ed peo- 
 
 Lonifl- 
 
 tfi re- 
 
 * piiniont's Historical Mt'inoir of l,ouiHiaiin. 
 
 lynji. — li waH during tlio autuiiiii ami wIiiIlt of that ymr itHfl), 
 that Governor Hiin villi' roniovod the main bnily I'f (ho colony from 
 Dauphin Island to Old Miloxi, and thence to New Hlluii, fin Mie went 
 side of the buy of that name. 
 
 \ Santa K<5 wiiu uuttled hy IIm-' Hpaniards ns early as 1582-'83. 
 
 ' " ^'-^i^-it^''^'^ 
 
 
^^iiegaHi 
 
 268 
 
 Louisiana under Law's Company. 
 
 Louisiana, while, at the same time, it was expected that a 
 fleet would assail the posts of the latter on the Gulf. 
 
 Accordingly a force of three hundred Spanish cavalry, 
 together with some traders, women, and a few priests, set 
 out from Santa Fe on their eastward march across the 
 country, guided by a band of Padouca, or Comanche, In- 
 dians, The intention of the loaders of the expedition was 
 to proceed by way of the Upper Arkansas, and to secure 
 the co-operation of the Osage Indians in a combined 
 attack upon the Missouris, who were friends or allies of 
 the French. Seventy only of the Spaniards appear to have 
 persevered in this dangerous enterprise, and they were con- 
 ducted by their ignorant guides so fVir to the north that 
 they struck the Kansas, instead of the Arkansas River, at 
 a point not far above its junction with the Missouri. 
 Here they unwittingly found themselves among the Mis- 
 souri Indians, who spoke the same language as the Osages, 
 The wily chiefs of the Missouris dissembled their own in- 
 tentions until they had ascertained the purpose of the in- 
 vaders, and received a supply of arms from them. They 
 then assembled their young warriors, and, falling suddenly 
 upon the Spaniards, put them all to death, save the com- 
 mander, who is said to have escaped by the tleetness of his 
 horse. 
 
 Such, in substance, is the story of the invasion and 
 attempted occupation of tlio country of the Missouris by the 
 Spaniards from New Mexico, whose objective point was the 
 Illinois. — (Martin's Hist, of La., pp. 234-5.) 
 
 The account of this Spanish expedition, as given in 
 Bossu's Letters of Travel, agrees in essential points with 
 the above, but varies from and is fuller in its details. He 
 writes : 
 
 " In 1720 the Spaniards formed the design of sotti' ig at the Mis- 
 souris, who are noar the Illinois, in order to confine us ( the French) 
 more on the westward ; the MissouriH are far distant from New Mexico, 
 which is the most northerly province the Spaniards have. 
 
Bossu's Account of the Spanish Expedition. 269 
 
 1)11 and 
 by the 
 |/as tlie 
 
 Iven in 
 
 ta with 
 
 He 
 
 Ithe :SIiB- 
 
 1 French) 
 
 Mexico, 
 
 " They helieved that in or<l>T to [)nt their colony in safetv, it was 
 necessary they should entirely tieHtroy the Missouris; but cm ludiug 
 that it would be impossible to subdue tliera with their own forces alone, 
 they resolved to make an alliance with the Usages,. a people who were 
 the neighbors of the Missouris, and at the same time their mortal en- 
 emies. With that view, they fornn-d a canivun at Santa Fe, consisting 
 of men, women and soldiers, having a Jacobine (Dominican) priest for 
 their chaplain, and an engineer captain for their chief and conductor, 
 with the horsi s and cattle necessary for a permanent settlement. The 
 caravan being set out mistook its road, and arrived at the Missouris, 
 taking them to be the Osages. Immediately the i:onductor of the car- 
 avan ordi'p'd his interpreter to speak to the chiel' of the Missouris, 
 as if he had bc'ii that nt the Osages, and tell liiin that they Wv-re come 
 to make an allianee with him, in onUr to destroy together the Missouris, 
 their enemies. 
 
 "The great vhi"f of the Mi.ssouris concealt'd his thoughts ut'on 
 this expedition, showcil tlio Spaniards signs of great joy, and promised 
 to execute a design witli them wiiieh gave him mu< u j>leasure. To 
 that purpose, lie invited tlu-m to rest for a few days after their tiresome 
 journey, till he had assemliled his warriors, and held council with the 
 old men ; but the result of that council was, that tli'-'y should entertain 
 their guests vtiy well, and affect the sincerest friendship for them. 
 
 " They agived together to set out in three days. The Spanish captain 
 immediately distributed fifteen (five) hundred muskets, with an equal 
 number of pistols, sabers and hatchets; but the very morning after tins 
 agi'eement, tlie Missouris came by break of day into the Spanish camp, 
 and killed them all except the Jacobin priest, whose singular dress did 
 not seem to belong to a warrior. . . . 
 
 ".\11 these tran.sactions the Missouris themselves related, when they 
 brought the ornaments of the chapel hither — ^to the Illinois). These 
 people, not kmwing the respect dae the sacred utensils, h ing the 
 chalice to a horse's neck, as if it had been a bell. They were dressed 
 out in these ornanu-nts; the rhief having on the naked skin tile 
 chasuble, with the paten suspended from his neck. 
 
 " The Missouris told him ( Boisbriant) that the Spaniards intended to 
 have destroyed them; that they bad brought him all these things as being 
 of no use to them, and that if he would, he might give them such goods 
 in return as w^re more to their liking. Accordingly, he gave them some 
 goods, and sent the ornaments to M. do Bienville, who was then the 
 governor of the Province of Louisiana. As the Indians had got a great 
 nun\ber of Spanish horses from the caravan, the chief of the Missouris 
 gave the finest of them to M. de Boisbriant. The}' had likewise brought 
 with them the map which had conducted the Spaniards so ill ; who came 
 to surrender themselves, confessing their intention to their enemies." — 
 Kutireau Voyages <u<.i Indies Occidentales, Far M. Bo»su, Capitaine dans les 
 JVfrupea d-e la Marine. A Paris, 17G8. English edition, London, 1771, 
 Part I., pp. 150-155. 
 
mm 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 "^/^O 
 
 m 
 
 €// 
 
 '^ 
 
 
 
 £s.^ 
 
 m 
 ^%6 
 
 I 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 11.25 
 
 |50 ""^* 
 
 25 
 2.0 
 
 m 
 
 1.4 mil 1.6 
 
 
 PhotogTdphic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WliST MAIN STREEI 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 
 
 (716) 873-4503 
 
A^ 
 
 is 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^'Jjrt^- 
 
 
i' iMHi li m il il i|i||i l lii m i L i m i .i ii.M ili| - |i Pn i f il >>«»^.i,www.j ; 
 
 ~ ' ''"^*-"i?iW>miIi>t.ritBtiti*.««iiiia^*<i>i«>iu«iS>7»^ 
 
 270 
 
 Boisbriant's Rule in Illinois. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1718-1732. 
 
 LIEUTENANT BOISBRIANT's RULE IN THE ILLINOIS — THE NATCHEZ 
 
 WAR. 
 
 Early in the month of October, 1718, Pierre Duque do 
 Boi8briant,as king's lieutenant for Louisiana, departed from 
 the Mobile up the Mississippi, with a considerable detacli- 
 ment of regular xroo)»s, to regulate aitairs in the Illinois, 
 and to establish a permanent military post for the better 
 protection of the French inhabitants in that inii»ortant part 
 of the province. Arrived at Kaskaskia, he temporarily lo- 
 cated his head-(iuarters there, which was the liivst military 
 occupation of the village ; but it was only for about tifteen 
 months that he ma<le it his residence. Selecting a con- 
 venient site for a post, some sixteen miles above and to the 
 north-west of Kaskaskia, he sent a nund)er of artisans and 
 lal)orers to work there, and by the s[)ring of 1720 they had 
 built and comjdoted the fort, which ^va8 thenceforth the 
 head-quarters of the comnnindant and the seat of authority 
 in the district. It was erected at the expense of the Com- 
 pany of the West, and was named Fort Chartres, or Fort 
 de Chartres, probably in compliment to the then Regent of 
 France, from the title of his son, the Due de Chartres.* 
 Tlio fort stood less tlian one mile from the Mississippi, and 
 a little to the east of an older fortlet that had been raised 
 by the adventurers under Crozat. This second fort wua 
 not a place of iiiucli military h.rength, being constructed 
 princii)ally of wood; but it subserved the purpose of its 
 builders and occupants, and in time was supplanted by that 
 extensive stone erection, at tlie same })lace, which figures 
 80 prominently in the later French history of Illinois. 
 
 * It might ulso have been bo called from a city of that name in 
 France. 
 
First Building of Fort Chartres. 
 
 271 
 
 [)i, an<i 
 
 |rt WHS 
 :rucUHi 
 of itrt 
 Iby tluit 
 
 Upon the building of Fort Chartres, a village began 
 to grow on the bottom between it and the river. The 
 "company" erected its warehouses here, and the Jesu'ts 
 built the church of St. Anne de Fort Chartres. Under tlie 
 jurindiction of the priest of tliis church, chapels were sub- 
 sequently erected at Prairie du Rocher and St. Philippe's. 
 After the rebuilding of the fort in 175<^, the village took 
 the name of New Chartres; and, a few years later, it is 
 said to have contained forty families. Part of the ancient 
 records of the parish of St. Anne have been preserved to 
 this day.* 
 
 Shortly after the occupation of Fori Chartres, all the 
 French villages in Illinois became extended and received 
 considerable accessions to their po})nlution. In 1719, a par- 
 ish was formed of the mission at Kaskaskia, of which, in 
 the succtoding year, Father Nicholas Ignatius de Beaubois 
 had charge. In 1721 the Jesuits estiibli.'hed a moiuistery 
 and college (so called) at Kaskaskia, and in 1725 the vil- 
 lage bec'ime incorporated as a town. At Cahokia, the Sul- 
 pitians erected a water-mill for grinding corn and sawing 
 lumber, and also imjtroved and stocked a tine plantation. 
 
 As the transactions of the Western Company were 
 multiplied and extended in Lower Louisiana, the district 
 of tiie Illinois was likewise beneiited ; for they furnished 
 a market for its surplns agricultural productions, already 
 considerable, and to the furs and pelts gathered in trafhc 
 with the Indians, as well as to the lead dug from the mines 
 of Missouri. But this was not all. The colonists could 
 now obtain from the c<imi)aiiy titles to their landed pos- 
 sessions, and thus be (luicted in any uneasiness they might 
 otherwise have felt in regard to theni. 1'he only tenure by 
 which they had hitherto held their village lots and parcels 
 of land was by verbal grant or mere acquiescence of the 
 Indiihs, with no reference to the king, "the lord para- 
 mount of the soil according to French law." 
 t The "company" had succeeded to the rights of the 
 crown in the land, and, though extensive domains were 
 
 History of Randolph Co., 111., etc., p. .WJ. 
 
272 
 
 BoisbrianVs Rule in Illinois. 
 
 granted by it to some favored or influential persons in the 
 soutliern part of Louisiana, there were but few in the north- 
 ern part who sought to secure more than those small par- 
 cels or tracts, the cultivation of which had inspired them 
 with a feeling of home. Moreover, it was important to the 
 managers of the company that the soil should be cultivated, 
 as a ready and certain source of subsistence to those at- 
 tached to it, vm\ for the success of all tlieir operations. 
 Disappointed in the eager search for mineral wealth, many 
 of the adventurers betook themselves from necessity to the 
 pursuits of agriculture. Grants of land were therefore 
 made, for the purposes of settlement and cultivatior, to all 
 who apjilied for them. The earliest recorded private grants 
 date back to 1722, a!id were mostly executed by JM. de 
 Boisbriant, commandant in the Illinois, representing the 
 king, a!id Marc Antoine de la Loire dcs L'^rsins, on behalf 
 of the Koyal Indian (Company, sucL-essor to the Company 
 of the West. The following is one of the earliest of 
 record : 
 
 " Pierre Duquet de Boisbriant, Knight of the Military 
 Order of St. Louis, and first King's Lieutenant of the 
 Province of Louisiana, commanding at the Illinois, and 
 Mons. Antoine de ia Loire des Ursins, principal Commissary 
 for the Itoyal India Com}>any, on the demand of Charles 
 Danie, to grant him a piece of land of five arpents in front 
 on the side of the Mitchigamia River, running north and 
 south, joining to Michael Philip on one side, and on the 
 other to Mele([ue, and in dei)th, east and west to the Mis- 
 sissippi. In conse([uence, they do grant to the said Charles 
 Danie, in socacje, the* said land, whereon he may from this 
 date conmience working, clearing and sawing, in ex[)ecta- 
 tion of a fornnil concession,* which shall bo sent from 
 France by Messrs. the J)irector8 of the Koyal India Com- 
 pany, and the said land shall revert to the domain of the 
 
 * This more " formal conoesBion " seems to have been neglected by 
 the t'ompHuy. 
 
Land Grants by the Company. 
 
 273 
 
 the 
 I'tli- 
 par- 
 
 I the 
 ited, 
 3 at- 
 ious. 
 uany 
 o the 
 ■efore 
 to all 
 i-rauts 
 \L (le 
 0- the 
 johalt' 
 lip any 
 est of 
 
 lU'cted by 
 
 said company if the said Charles Danie does not work 
 thereon within a year and a day. 
 
 " Given this 10th day or May, 1722. 
 
 (Signed,) " Boisbriant, 
 
 " "Des Ursins."* 
 
 Remarking upon the ahove and simihir grants, Judge 
 Breese writes : "Incipient titles were only granted hy these 
 officers, hut almost all of them ripened into a right without 
 the formality of a concession from the company in France, 
 and became allodial, tliough granted in socage, for the sim- 
 ple reason that they were considered of so little value as 
 property that the agents of the company did not trouble 
 themselves to see whether the conditions and services were 
 {>erformed or not. 
 
 '* The manner in which the settlers cultivated is pecu- 
 liar, I believe, to the French, and deserves a i)assing notice. 
 Th"y had not, as we have, separate fields, nor did they re- 
 side on the cultivated lands in general. They dwelt in 
 villages, on lots of ground containing generally an arpent 
 8(juare (less than the Knglish acre), which they inclosed 
 with pickets of cedar or other durable wood, sharpened at 
 the top, and apjtropriated it to the purpose of a garden, re- 
 serving a small part only for a barn, stable, and other f)ut- 
 liouses. Their farming lands were adjacent to the village 
 \n the neighboring prairie, divided into strips, sometimes 
 not more than half an arpent in width, extending originally 
 west from the Kaskaskia to the Mississipj)i liiver, a mile or 
 more in length, and uninclosed by any fence wliatever. 
 These farming strips, thus lying contiguous to each other, 
 embraced what was long known as the 'common field.'" f 
 
 It appears from a [)etition presented by the iidiabitants 
 of Kaskaskia to the district commandant of the Illinois, 
 early in 1727, that in the year 1719 Major Boisbriant had 
 caused to be drawn the lines of the grand square in the 
 
 * H« was aftt'rward killed in the iiuiHsacrc at Kort KoHalii; 
 t " Karly llintory of IlliiioiH," p. 173. 
 18 
 
•;?«^i^»'>**w«S!«*t^?-" 
 
 274 
 
 Boisbriant^s Rule in Illinois. 
 
 prairie which they then tilled, and de8ignate<l to cacli in- 
 habitant his respective parcel of land. He then established 
 a " common " for stock, lying outside of the lines of the 
 cultivated fields, and extending south to the mouth of the 
 Kaskaskia River, and also including the adjacent islands in 
 tlie Mississippi, and a strip of bottom land on the east side 
 of the former river, for their cattle, horses, and swine to 
 range upon. But the written instruments of concession 
 were not delivered to them by the Superior Council of" 
 Louisiana. 
 
 Under this arrangement, it was necessary to watch 
 their live stock while grazing on the common adjacent to 
 the cultivated lands, the idea not having occurred to them 
 until Boisbriant gave them the hint, that a fence would 
 protect them from their ravages and render watcliing use- 
 less. It was not, however, until 1727 that they did inclose 
 these lands by planting pickets upon the lines marked out 
 by Boisbriant, thus making a large field of several thousand 
 acres. The "commons" att'orded a rich pasturage for their 
 cattle and horses, and much of it was covered with a lux- 
 uriant growth of walnut, oak, and hickory, the mast from 
 which, added to the hazel-nuts, served to fatten their numer- 
 ous swine. 
 
 On the 22d of June, 1722, Messieurs Boisbriant and 
 Des Ursins granted to the inhabitants of Cahokia their 
 "commons," situated on the alluvial bottom between that 
 village and the Mississippi, and near to the present great 
 city of St. Louis. The same officials also confirmed to 
 them their "common field," which extended from the 
 bluffs that line the American Jiottcmi on the east to the 
 liigolet or creek of C^ahokia.* 
 
 In the following year, on .June 14, 1723, Boisbriant 
 and Des Ursins granted to I'hilip Francois de Renault, di- 
 rector-general of the mining oi)eration8 of the company, 
 one league s<juare of land in the south-west part of what is 
 now Monroe county, Illinois, and also a tract of land of 
 more than fourteen thousand acres at Peoria. Uenault wtis 
 
 * BreeHo'H MiHtory, pp. 174 to 170. 
 
JjOind Grants to the Sieur Renault. 
 
 275 
 
 m- 
 
 the 
 ' the 
 lis \\\ 
 , side 
 ic to 
 
 W of 
 
 watch 
 3Ut t«) 
 
 theiu 
 wouUl 
 ig use- 
 inclose 
 ed out 
 oiisand 
 jv tlieir 
 |i a bix- 
 
 t from 
 
 nuuior- 
 
 uit and 
 their 
 on that 
 it great 
 nicd to 
 om tiie 
 it to the 
 
 HHbriaiit 
 uuilt, di- 
 ompauy^ 
 f Nvhat ia 
 hind of 
 luiultwas 
 
 a man of fortune and entorpriso, who had left Lo Belle 
 France in the spring of 1719, with two hundred miners and 
 laborers, and every thing needful to prosecute the business 
 pertaining to his office. On the voyage to Louisiana, he 
 purchased at St. Domingo live hundred Guinea negroes to 
 work in the mines. Arriving on the Lower Mississippi, he 
 thence ascended the river in canoes to the Illinois and Mis- 
 souri, where gold and silver were supposed to exist in 
 abundance. Sanguine hopes were entertained by the stock- 
 holders ir^ the "company" at his anticipated success, but 
 they all eventually ended in disappointment. Prospecting 
 and mining parties were sent out into various parts of the 
 country. Diligent search was made for minerals on 
 Drewrv's Creek, in what is now Jackson countv; about St. 
 Mary's, in Randolph county; along Silver Creek, in Monroe 
 county; at several points in St. Clair county, an<l in other 
 l>arts of Southern Illinois, as well as in Missouri. ]>ut, 
 after expending a large amount of money and four years 
 of valuable time, Renault had to content himself with th«^ 
 gift of the before mentioned wild lands, and witli dull lead 
 instead of the glittering ores.* 
 
 On the concession made to him in Monroe county, lie 
 laid out a little vilhige, which he honored with his own 
 baptisnud appellation of " St. Philippe." It stood on the 
 plain, about one mile east of the Mississippi, and five miles 
 from old Fort Chartres. Like al' the other French villages, 
 it had its " common field," the allotments being made l)y 
 Ihe founder, and also its "commons," embracing a large 
 scope of the unappropriated domain. It contained at one 
 time sixteen houses, besides a snndl chapel, but in 1765 
 nearly all the inhabitants deserted it, and went to reside on 
 the western baidc of the Mississippi. Not a vestige of 
 either this or C'harte Village now renuiiu to tell the story 
 of their rise, progress, or decline. The name of tlie worthy 
 Renault, however, is still perpetuated in tliat of u precinct 
 and post-office of Monroe county. 
 
 * Later ^cologionl invt'stiLration Iuih hIimwii tliat silver jh coinbinod 
 with the lead mined in i\\'w region, but in hardly HUllieient quantities 
 to pay for its separation. 
 
276 
 
 Boishrianf s Rule in Illinois. 
 
 To Boisbriant yiimself, tlie Company of the Indies, be- 
 fore the 8urrender of its vast privileges to the crown, 
 granted what in Europe would liave been considered a 
 handsome principality, embracing several thousand acres 
 of rich bottom land, extending from the blutfs on the east 
 to tVie Mis8issi})pi. In 1733, he transferred this tine tract 
 to his nephew, Jean St. Therese Langlois, an officer of the 
 king's troops then quartered in the Illinois. Imitating 
 Renault's example, Langlois established upon his estate the 
 village of Prairie du Rocher, reserving to himself certain 
 seignorial rights recognized by the feudal law and the cus- 
 toms of Paris. He divided the land set apart for the vil- 
 lage into small, narrow allotments, with a "common tield," 
 as usual, to actual settlers, some of whose descendants 
 continue to cultivate it in a primitive way to the present 
 time. This village took its name from the rocky blutf that 
 bounds it on the east, and runs parallel with the river at 
 the distance of a league therefrom. It is situated about 
 three miles east of Fort Chartres, and, at the close of the 
 French dominion, com[)risetl twenty-two dwelling-houses 
 and a chapel. 
 
 Aside from tliose we liave mentioned, l)ut few grants 
 of any magnitude were made by the Royal India Company 
 to persons in Illinois. Good lands were far too abunthmt 
 in those days to be much cared for, or considered of any 
 particular value; otherwise, many of the French settlers 
 might have possessed dukedoms. At this })criod, the pres- 
 ence of the copimandant, and of the local officers of the 
 " company," together with a detachment of his majesty's 
 troojjs, at Fort Chartres, nuide it the focus of whatever of 
 wealth, culture, and fashion there was in the district of the 
 Illinois. 
 
 In 1725, Governor Bienville, owing to the jealousy and 
 opjtosition of his enemies, was recalled to France, and his 
 brother, ('hateaugue, was also deposed from his office of 
 lieutenant-governor in the colony. M. de Boisbriant, as 
 first king's lieutenant, now became governor ad interim of 
 Louisiana, with head-quarters at New Orleans, and liis po- 
 sition of major-commandant at the Illinois was filled by 
 
Gov. BknvUle Succeeded by Perier. 
 
 277 
 
 prcs- 
 )t' the 
 
 !ver of 
 of the 
 
 the Sieur de Liette, a captain in the royal army. Boishriant 
 was an aniiahlc and benevolently inclined gentleman, and 
 his administration of affairs was deservedly popnlar, both 
 in Upper and Lower Louisiana. In xVugust, 172(5, he was 
 relieved of his duties as eonmiandant-general of the prov- 
 ince by M. de Perier, an o^cer of the marines, and a 
 knight of St. Louis, who had been ai)pointed to succeed 
 Bienville. 
 
 Shortly after his arrival and installation in ofHce, Gov- 
 ernor Perier's attention was called to the Natcliez and 
 Chickasaw Indians, and to the insincerity of their profes- 
 sions of friendship for the French, lie thereupon ad- 
 dressed the directors of the In<lia Company, and urged 
 upon them, as his predecessor had done before, to provide 
 more effective protection for the white settlers exposed to 
 the hostility of those tribes. But his api)rclien8ion8 were 
 not shared by the directors, and no additional troops appear 
 to have been provided. 
 
 We now ai)proach one of tlie most memorable epi- 
 sodes in the French annals of Louisiana, viz, the war with 
 and destruction of the Natchez nation. The history of 
 this strange and interesting people has beeii imparted to 
 us by their destroyers ; and we may therefore presume that 
 all the more amiable and polished traits ascribed to them 
 are true. They and their kindred, the Taensas (who dis- 
 appeared as a distinct tribe before 1712), inhabited that 
 range of sutiny hills on the east side of the Mississij»j)i, 
 which constitutes one of the finest districts in the present 
 State of Mississippi. Their traditions pointed to the fact 
 that their ancestors had come from countries to the south- 
 west. Their language, Sabianism, human sacrifices, and 
 mound building, seem to connect them with the T'dtccs of 
 Mexico, or the Mayas of Yucatan. Their singular custom 
 of distorting the head by compression corresponds witli the 
 description of the ancient Mexicans, by liernal Diaz. They 
 are described as mild, friendly and brave, though preferring 
 peace to war, and as being very dissolute. 
 
 Compared with the Indians around them, the Natchez 
 might be called a semi-civilized people. It is true that 
 
278 
 
 Boishrlant' s Rale in Illinois. 
 
 some barbarous customs prevailed among them, but these 
 only indicate that a cruel and sanguinary superstition may 
 taint the character and manners of a people, otherwise 
 peaceable and humane. They had tixed laws or usages, 
 gradations of rank, and an established worship, with tem- 
 ples dedicated to the sun. They were governed by a chief 
 called the Great Sun, said to have been descended, in the 
 female line, from a man and woman who came down from 
 the sun, and built their first temple for perpetual fire, which 
 was ever afterward maintained. This temple stood on a 
 mound about eight feet high, with a pitched roof, and 
 in it three logs were kept slowly burning. The power of 
 the Sun-chief was absolute, as was that of the lesser suns, 
 or male members of his family. Such was the idolatrous 
 veneration in which the great chief was held by his sub- 
 jects, that he was never approached by them without 
 special marks of reverence. Next to the Suns were the 
 subordinate chiefs or nobles. The common people, called 
 puants, by the French, were apparently a mixed race of 
 Choctaws and others. In war the Natchez used bows and 
 arrows, clubs, and other Indian weapons, but they had no 
 metals of any consequence. They dressed in buffalo, bear 
 and other skins for winter, and in summer wore light robes 
 made of tlax, or the inner bark of the mulberry. They 
 had various feasts, wliich were duly celebrated ; and on 
 the death of a chief killed many of his retainers to attend 
 him in the future life. Their dead, after the practice of 
 the Indians in general, were kept on raised platforms till 
 the tiesh was consumed, when the bones were buried. 
 
 " The Natchez," writes Mr. Gayarre, " were of a light 
 mahogany complexion, with jet black hair and eyes. Their 
 features were extremely regular, and their expression was 
 intelligent, open, and noble. They were tall in stature, 
 very few of them being under six feet, and the symmetry 
 of their well-proportioned limbs was remarkable." This 
 description, liowever, could hardly apply to any but the 
 chiefs and nobles of that race. Originally a very numerous 
 people, they occupied and ruled the country iar up and 
 down the Mississippi ; but they begjin to decline before the 
 
Some Account of the Natchez Nation, 
 
 279 
 
 lese 
 
 nay 
 
 A'ise 
 
 iges, 
 
 tem- 
 
 ;j\net' 
 
 . t\ie 
 
 from 
 
 ,'hicb 
 
 on a 
 , and 
 rer ot* 
 
 suns, 
 itrous 
 s sub- 
 itliout 
 re the 
 
 called 
 •ace of 
 svs and 
 
 la 
 
 d no 
 
 bear 
 
 robes 
 
 They 
 
 d on 
 
 attend 
 
 tice of 
 
 ns till 
 
 m 
 
 a 
 
 light 
 Their 
 on was 
 stature, 
 nmetry 
 This 
 but the 
 [luerous 
 up and 
 fore the 
 
 appearance of the Frencli aniono- tliem, which has been 
 termed "the e.a of their doom." The causes assigned for 
 the dwindling of this race were, their frequent hecatombs 
 of luiman beings, tlie state of warfare in whicli they lived 
 with the neighboring tribes, the prevalence of lung diseases 
 among them, and the ravages of the snniU-pox. 
 
 The existence of the Natchez was know^n to Europeans 
 from the year 15G0, when Don Tristan de Luna led a Span- 
 ish expedition into their country from the southern coast 
 of Florida. La Salle, as we have seen, reached them in 
 March, 1682, and (riberville was tliere in the spring of 
 1700. Soon after that, they were visited by English traders 
 from Carolina. At this [)eriod tliey occupied a group of 
 iive villages, situated to the east and south-east of the pres- 
 ent city of Natchez, and about three miles from the Missis- 
 sippi River. The French both courted and dreaded this 
 formidable people, and in their intercourse with them had 
 need for the exercise of all their tact and skill in Indian 
 diplomac}'. In 171<), the Natchez having killed some 
 Frenchmen and made prisoners of others, IVienville, as 
 lieutenant of the province, coerced them to put to death 
 certain of the murderers, and built Fort Rosalie there for 
 the protection of the French settlers. In 1722 acts of hos- 
 tility were renewed by the inconstant Natchez, when Bien- 
 ville, as commandant-general, sent t\ui Sieur Paillou, with 
 a number of troops, to chastise them ; and in October, 1723, 
 the governor himself conducted an exi»cilition from New 
 Orleans against that people. Ujion arriving with his army 
 at the Natchez, he destroyed luo of their villages (White 
 Ai)ple and Gray Village), and compelled Stung-Serpent, 
 the great chief of the natii)n, to lu'ing him the heads of 
 Oldhair, ehiet of the White Ap}tle A'iliage, and of a free 
 negro, who had settled anuuig the Natchez and made him- 
 self the leader of an insurrectionary i»arty. Having thus 
 brought the war to an end, the governor returned to the 
 capital.* But the peace now made was insincere, and new 
 
 * Dumont's Memoir, in Hist. Coil's of I-a., vol. v. 
 
280 
 
 The Natchez War. 
 
 troubles arose froiri time to time betweoa the whites and 
 the IndianE. 
 
 The proximate cause (/f tlie war, which ended in tlie 
 extinction of tlie Natchez as a nation, was due to the ra- 
 pacity and tyranny of the Sieur de Chopart, or Chepart, 
 who was appointed commandant of Fort Rosalie in 1726. 
 lie first made himself objioxious to the French settlers at 
 Natchez ])y various acts of oppression and injustice, and 
 was ordered to New Orleans to undergo an itivestigation of 
 his conduct. But, at the solicitation of inHuential friends, 
 and with mistaken leniency on the part of Governor Peiier, 
 he was reinstated in liis command. On his return to his 
 post, in 1T29, Chopart took with him some negro slaves, 
 intending to establish a plantation in that locality. Not 
 daring to dispossess any of the French settlers, he resolved to 
 take possession of the Great Village of the Natcliez, which 
 was seated in a beautiful {)lain, intersected by the little river 
 St. Catharine. With this intention, he sent for the Sun- 
 chief, and by his interpreter, Papin, ordered him to remove 
 his people from the Great Village, since it was needed for 
 the erection of some large buildings. To so astounding a 
 proposition the great cliief replied, " that their nation liad 
 long been in possession of that village, and lived there ; 
 that tlie ashes of their fathers reposed tlierc, deposited in 
 the temples which they had liuilt ; that the French had 
 never yet taken lands by force ; that if they had settled on 
 their lands, the nation itself gave them sites in the hope of 
 obtaining protection and defense against their enemies; and 
 that many Frenchmen had given goods to the Indians in 
 payment for the lands they occupied." * 
 
 These representations made no impression on the 
 mind of the rapacious commandant, who repeated his order, 
 with the threat that, if it was not comj)lied with, he would 
 send the chief bound hand and foot to New Orleans. The 
 great chief seeing that he could not move the command- 
 ant, pretended to yield to his demand, and only asked two 
 moons (months) in which to choose and prepare a new vil- 
 
 *Dumont's Memoir, in Hist. Coil's of La., vol. v., p. (56. 
 
Tyrrany of the French Commandant. 
 
 281 
 
 lage for his nation. The time asked for wat^ granted by 
 Chopart, but on tl.e condition that the inhabitants of the 
 vilhige shouhl pay him a certain (piantity of poultry, bask- 
 ets of corn, j)ots of bear's oil and bundles of skins. 
 
 When the great chief returned to his village, he sum- 
 moned a council of his princii)al chiefs and warriors to 
 consider what means should be adopted to prevent their 
 village and lands from being taken from them by the 
 French. Many secret meetings and conferences were held, 
 and it was finally resolved to massacre not only the com- 
 mandai'i: and garrison of Fort Kosalie, but all the French 
 in their territory, and thus rid themselves of tlieir liated 
 presence. So soon as this barbarous resolution was taken, 
 they sent deputies to the principal Indian nations in the 
 province, requesting their aid in this sujtreme effort to pre- 
 serve their independence. The Choctaws, the Chickasaws, 
 and even the Illinois were invited to take part with them 
 in their meditated scheme of vengeance. The Choctaws 
 were the first and readiest to embrace t)ie quarrel of the 
 Natchez. They agreed to destroy all the French on the 
 lower part of the Mississippi, and for tlie execution of this 
 purpose fixed the day which ended the two moons granted 
 by the comnumdant. But as these Indians could not count, 
 they exchanged vith each other as many little sticks or 
 twigs as there were days, till tiiat fixed for the butcher} . 
 After tliis negotiation, the Natchez deputies returned to 
 their village, bearing the fatal bundle of sticks. These the 
 great chief carried to the temple, and every morning he 
 threw one of the twigs on the fire, wliich was kei>t burning 
 there. The Indians, meantime, remained quietly at their 
 Great Village, taking no steps to remove to another site. 
 
 Although kept very secret, the plot was neverthe- 
 less disclosed. The interpreter of the post, the sub-lieu- 
 tenant of the garrison, and several others were warned of 
 what was coming by certain Indian women, their mis- 
 tresses. Even the day (St. Andrew's-eve) of the bloody exe- 
 cution was foretold. But when this was reported to Cho- 
 part, the commandant, he refused to believe it, and went so 
 far as to order those who brought him the disquieting news 
 
S.r' > 
 
 
 282 
 
 The Natchez War. 
 
 to be placed under arrest. " Warned as he was, he might 
 very easily have prevented the misfortune ^vhich happened, 
 had iie chosen to do so ; it would have been, enough to put 
 the troops under arms, and fire a cannon even without ball. 
 But either because wine and the table had troubled his 
 Judgment, or that he vvae unfortunately prejudiced in favor 
 of the Indians, or that he believed them incapable of dar- 
 ing to execute such a design, he would not take any meae- 
 nres to thwart it ; and as his injustice provoked, so his ob- 
 stinacy crowned the evil and made it remediless."* 
 
 The fatal day for the outburst of the smothered ven- 
 geance of the savages, according to the count kept by the 
 Katchez, was the 29th of November, 1729. On the morn- 
 ing of that day the Sun-chief set out from his village, at- 
 tended by a numerous body of his warriors, with their 
 weapons concealed under their clothing, and with the calu- 
 niet raised aloft, they marched to the liouse of the com- 
 mandant, bearing the promised tribute of poultry, corn, 
 ^>ear'8 oil, etc. The soldiers of the garrison were abroad i»i 
 fancied security, and the savages immediately seized the 
 gates of the fort, so as to exclude them from ac,cess to tiieir 
 arms. At the same time the houses of the French, and a 
 boat at the landing, v/ere surrounded. The work of blood 
 now began, and before noon nearly all the Frenchmen can- 
 toned among the Natchez were slain. Two men only were 
 spared — one a carter and the other a tailor — and a few 
 others escaped. Su'.3h was the abhorrence and contempt of 
 the Natchez for Cliopart, that none of their chiefs would 
 kill him, and a Puant warrior was deputed to perform that 
 service. 
 
 It is related rhat the Sun-chief took his seat under the 
 projecting roof of the store-house belonging to the India 
 Company, and comi)lacently smoked his calumet, while the 
 heads of the Fnniciimen were brought one after another 
 and laid at his feet. Among the more prominent victims 
 
 * Duinont'H Historical Memoir, before c.ied. lie was a lii utenant 
 in th? French service, and .i participant in some of the events he nar- 
 rates. 
 
Massacre of the French at Fort Mosalie. 
 
 283 
 
 ligVit 
 >ned, 
 ) put 
 ball. 
 i biB 
 favor 
 : dar- 
 meae- 
 Lis ob- 
 
 d ven- 
 by the 
 niorn- 
 
 LgC, t^t- 
 
 \ their 
 
 le cahi- 
 
 c com- 
 
 ;, corn, 
 
 •road in 
 
 f.cd the 
 
 to their 
 
 1, and a 
 t" blood 
 on ean- 
 ly were 
 a few 
 I'lnpt of 
 would 
 nn that 
 
 iider the 
 lie Iiidia 
 Idiilo the 
 another 
 [. victims 
 
 llii iitenant 
 ItB he nar- 
 
 of this treacherour. massacre were, Father du Poisson, a 
 Jesuit missionary among the Arkansas ; Father Soulet, a 
 Capuchin missionary to the Natchez ; the Sieur de la Loire 
 des Ursins, wlio liad been ju<lge and commissary at 
 NateUez; M. de Koly and son. who had arrived only the 
 day before to visit their concession on St. Catherine's 
 Creek: and the Sieur Codere, commandant of the post on 
 the Yazoo, who happened to he at Fort Rosalie at the time. 
 The Frencli garrison of twenty men, at Fort St. Claude, 
 on the Yazoo, also shared the fate of assassination ; but this 
 was not until some weeks later, for the Natchez did not, at 
 first, admit the Yazoo Indians into the secret of their plot. 
 The total number of men killed was reckoned at not less 
 than two hundred and fifty. Several of the French women, 
 who attempted to defend their husbands or brothens, were 
 cut down by the pitiless savages ; but the greater part of 
 the won.'Mi and children were held up as captives, and the 
 negro slaves were kept for menial purposes. 
 
 When the tidings of this horrible nnissacre were car- 
 ried to New Orleans and Mobile, it created a general con- 
 "^^rnation. But Governor Ferier promptly took measures 
 of defense and retaliation. A vessel was disitatched to 
 France for acUlitional tr()o}>s and military stores, and mes- 
 sengers were sent with, the news, by way of Red River 
 and the Arkansas, to Fort Charties, in the Illinois. The 
 town of New Orleans was hastilv fortitied bv a ditch and 
 embankment, and each house was furnisiio'l .vith arms. 
 The governor assembled a force of regulars and militia to 
 move up the river against the Natchez, and confided the com- 
 mand of it to the Chevalier de Lubois, king's lieutenant. 
 
 (Governor Perier also sent the Sieur de Lery,* a capable 
 officer, familiar witn the Fndian hmguages, to sound the 
 Choctaws, and gain over that inconstant tribe <^o the French 
 interest. The Choctaws were piipied uv the ^yiii'-hez for 
 having niude their attack upon the French two days in ad- 
 vance of the time fixed bv their faiirot of sticks, and, more- 
 over, were dissatisfied with the reception accorded by the 
 
 ' Or I^e Sueur, acconliiig to eoine authorities. 
 
284 
 
 The Natchez War. 
 
 Natchez to their deputies, who had been sent thither a few 
 days after the massacre. Under these circumstances, the 
 Sieur de Lery, by distributing presents among the Choctaw 
 chiefs, easily induced them to serve tbe French in the cam- 
 paign, and he was followed across the country by over 
 twelve hundred of their dusky warriors. Entering the 
 Natchez territory, and advancing to the vicinity of the 
 Great Village, Captain de Lery and his Ciioctaw army en- 
 camped about the 28th of January, 1730, to await the ar- 
 rival of the French army from New Orleans. Still exult- 
 ing in their triumph, and not expecting to be attacked so 
 soon, the Natchez were spending their time in idle festivi- 
 ties and carousals. Early the next morning (the 29th), the 
 Choctaws rushed upon their village, liberated some of the 
 captive French women (whom they stripped of every thing 
 the Natchez had left them), and brought away a number of 
 prisoners and scalps. 
 
 In the following February the colonial troops arrived 
 from the capital, under the command of the Chevalier do 
 Loubois, wl:o laid siege to the fort of the Natchez on St. 
 Catherine's Creek. In the meantime the Natchez made 
 preparations for a determineil resistance; but upon the ap- 
 pearance of 80 superior a force, and hearing the discharge 
 of French cannon, they humbly sued for peace, offering to 
 restore the prisoners remaining in their handh, and forsake 
 the country. Anxious to save the captive women and 
 children, Loubois consented to postpone the attack for one 
 day. During the night of the truce, however, the Natchez 
 withdrew from tlieir fort and village so (juietly as not t(» 
 disturb the slumbers of their enemies. Their escape was 
 due to a want of vigilance on the part of the French of- 
 ficers, who may have connived at it, and the war was con- 
 sequently ])rolonged. Leaving a detachment of one hun- 
 dred and twenty men to rebuild Fort Tiosalie, wliich had 
 been destroyed by the Natdiez, the French commander em- 
 barked with the renuiinder of his army for New Orleans. 
 
 Some of the fugitive Natchez sought shelter and homes 
 with tlie Chicknsaws; ])ut the main body of the nation, 
 under the lead of the Sun-chief, crossed the Mississippi and 
 
 li; 
 
Extinction of the Natchez Nation. 
 
 285 
 
 few 
 the 
 ;taw 
 ■am- 
 over 
 the 
 ' the 
 y- en- 
 le ar- 
 ■xuU- 
 ed 80 
 ;st\vi- 
 l1, the 
 )f the 
 thing 
 .her of 
 
 Lrrived 
 
 jier «lc 
 
 on St. 
 
 made 
 
 lie ap- 
 charge 
 ring to 
 'orsako 
 
 "or one 
 atchez 
 not to 
 pe was 
 i\ch of- 
 iis con- 
 ho hun- 
 Icii had 
 [lev eui- 
 lleanB. 
 homes 
 nation, 
 Dpi and 
 
 eptablished a new viUage and fort on Black River, from 
 whence they continue 1 their acts of hostility. Thither they 
 were pursued by Governor Perier in January, 1731, with 
 a force of one thousand French and Indians ; and on the 
 25th of that month, partly by assault, and parti} by strat- 
 egy, he reduced their stronghold, capturing the Sun, liis 
 brother and nephew, forty warriors, and three hundred and 
 eighty-seven women and cliildren. These were sent to New 
 Orleans, whence they were shipped to St. Domingo, and 
 sold as slaves for the benefit of the " company." A renniant 
 of the tribe, fleeing farther westward, came in conflict with 
 tlie Natchitoches, by whom they were repulsed with loss, 
 aided l)y the French under the veteran St. Denis ; after 
 whicli they joined the C/hickasaws, and kept up a desultory 
 warfare on the Frencli settlers.* 
 
 " Thus perished the nation of the Natchez. Their pe- 
 eulia!' language, which has been still })reserved by the de- 
 scendants of tlie fugitives, and is, jierhaps, now on the 
 point of expiring — their worship (of the sun), their divis- 
 ions into nobles and plebeians, their bloody funeral riies — 
 invite conjecture, and yet so nearly resemble in character 
 the distinctions of other tribes that thev do but excite, 
 without gratifying, curiosity.'" f 
 
 *The Natchez lu'ver again appeared as a distinct nation. After a 
 consiiU'rable tin<e tlu'v moved to the Muskogeos, and in 1835 were re- 
 (hiced to ;{00 Konlfi. retniniiig their own hmguage and line of Suns, but 
 without reKtoriny tlieir temple or Hun-worship. For their language, the 
 only materials are the words preserved hy Le Page du I'ratz and otlier 
 early French writers, and a vocabulary taken by (iallatin, in 182(5, from 
 the chief Isalialateh. Dr. Hrintori traced the analogy between it and 
 the Maya. — Atner. Kncydo., vol. xii., p. l.'>8. 
 
 t Bancroft's History, vol. iii., p. \\(\A. 
 
 iVo^'.— In the vicinity of the modern city of Natcliez there are, or 
 were formerly, two or three grotips of ancient moum's of considerable 
 size, from which havi' been taken numerous relics, sudi as stone 
 "eapons, pipes, earthen vchrcIs covered with figures, fragments of pot- 
 tery, etc. It has been a (luestit)n among local anticjuaries whether these 
 tumuli were in any way the work of the Natchez Indians. Hut the 
 probabilities are, that while they may have been used as places of sep- 
 ulture by these or other Indians, yet that, if not mere natural eleva- 
 tions, they were originally the work of tlie more ancient muund builders. 
 
loiiiiSSSS 
 
 286 
 
 The Company Surrenders its Charter. 
 
 The heavy expenditures incurred in prosecuting tlie 
 war against the Natchez, the consequent loss of trade with 
 other tribes, the inadequate returns from its commerce and 
 mines, and the iinancial embarrassments following Law's 
 failure, induced the Company of the Indies to solicit leave 
 of the king for a surrender of its charter in Louisiana. 
 The petition was granted; and on the 10th of April, 1732, 
 by proclamation of Louis XV., the jurisdiction and control 
 of the government and commerce of the colony reverted 
 directly to the French crown. The Company of the West 
 and its successor, the Royal India Company, had held act- 
 ual possession of the Louisiana wilderness for fourteen 
 years, which, upon the whole, were years of prosperity. 
 During this period the white population of the province 
 had increased from something over one thousand to five 
 thousand, and the number of negro slaves from twenty to 
 two thousand. New Orleans had been made the seat of the 
 provincial government and the chief mart of trade. The ex- 
 travagant hopes at first entertained in regard to the precious 
 metals had not been realized, but the search for them had 
 attracted hither many immigrants, some of whom had now 
 made such progress in agriculture as to be self-sustaining. 
 Illinois contained at this time several fiourishing settle- 
 ments, the inhabitants of which were more exclusively 
 devoted to the cultivation of the soil than in any other 
 part of the province. 
 
 It has been observed by an Illinois liistorian, that all 
 industrial enterprises were, to a great extent, paralyzed by 
 the arbitrary exactions of the "com])any;" that the agri- 
 culturists, the miners, and the fur-traders of Illinois wore 
 held in a sort of vassalage, which enabled those in power 
 to dictate the price at which they should sell their products, 
 and the amount they should pay them for im]>orted mer- 
 chandise ; and that the interest of the company was always 
 at variance witn that of the jtroducer. 
 
 All of thin might have beetj, and perhaps was, sub- 
 stantially true. But "whoever takes a correct view of the 
 transactions of the Mississippi Company," says Major Stod- 
 dard, "must be ccnvinced that it was of infinite utility to 
 
Benefits of its Sway in Louisiana. 
 
 287 
 
 the 
 with 
 5 and 
 jaw's 
 lea^ve 
 ^iana. 
 1732, 
 outrol 
 v^erted 
 , West 
 id act- 
 urteen 
 ipcrity. 
 fovince 
 to five 
 enty to 
 t of the 
 The ex- 
 prccioiia 
 eiii had 
 uul now 
 ttiining. 
 Bettle- 
 
 ■lusively 
 jiy other 
 
 Louisiana, perhaps the preservation of it."* Judge Breese 
 also takes a very favorable view of the rule of the great cor- 
 poration in the Illinois. He writes : 
 
 " Their sway here was more in name than in fact ; for, 
 setting aside their power to grant lands, all real control of 
 the people (in Illinois) was with the Jesuits. Their busi- 
 ness pursuits were but little interfered with, and no arbi- 
 trary or forced exactions of their little abundance were 
 made. They did not tind, as is too often the case in others, 
 in this overshadowing monopoly, whose sole principle of 
 aggregation was wealth, a cruel and heartless tyrant, ready 
 and willing, in the various modes such corporatiouH can de- 
 vise, to plunder them of their small revenues, or oppress 
 them in any form. In their relations to it, it was as the 
 benefactor to the benefited ; and though the fortunes of its 
 proprietors were wrecked, the colony itself received a new 
 and inmiense impulse from its varied operations." f 
 
 * " Iliatorical Sketches of Louisiana" (Phila., Pa., 1812), p. 01. 
 t" Early History of Illinois," p. 180. 
 
 that all 
 ly/ed by 
 Ihe agri- 
 H)\s were 
 in power 
 l»r()dui'ts, 
 
 (teil iii^'i'- 
 lis always 
 
 !l 
 
 Iwas, svib- 
 
 Iw of the 
 
 lijt)r Stod- 
 
 utility to 
 
288 
 
 Louisiana Under the Crown. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 17^2-1752. 
 
 LOUISIANA UNDER THE DIRECT GOVERNMENT OF THE CROWN. 
 
 When the Royal India Company, successor to the 
 Company of the West, gave up its charter and vast privi- 
 leges to the crown, another government was at once organ- 
 ized for the Province of Louisiana, which severed it from 
 New France, and continued Illinois as a dependency of 
 Louisiana. By letters patent of the 7th of May, 1732, the 
 Superior Council of the province was re-organized, with 
 Perier as governor, Salmon as intendant commissary, and 
 Loubois and d'Artaguette (Diron) as king's lieutenants. 
 The ecclesiastical affairs of the colony were under the 
 more immediate supervision of a vicar-general, residing in 
 New Orleans. 
 
 In 1733 the Canadian, Bienville, much to his own sat- 
 isfaction and that of his friends, was re-appointed governor 
 of Louisiana in place of Perier, ^vho was promoted to the 
 rank of lieutenant-general as a reward for his important 
 services in the colony. The new commandant-general 
 reached New Orleans early in 1734, and the Sieur Perier, 
 resigning the government into his hands, immediately em- 
 barked for Prance. 
 
 During that year C!lai)tain IMerre d'Artaguette was ap- 
 pointed by Governor Bienville major-commandant for the 
 district of the Illinois, with head-quarters at Fort Chartres. 
 He was a young(>r brother of Diron d'Artaguette, the com- 
 missaire ordomiateur of Louisiana, and one of the most 
 conspicuous men in the province. Pierre d'Artaguette had 
 Herved with gallantry in the Natchez war, and was after- 
 ward sent by Perier to command at the new fort, which 
 
The Chickasaw Nation, 
 
 289 
 
 ) the 
 privi- 
 )rgan- 
 , from 
 ;icy of 
 52, the 
 1, with 
 ry, ami 
 enaiits. 
 er the 
 ling i»^ 
 
 iwn sat- 
 iveruor 
 to the 
 povtant 
 . general 
 Perier, 
 ely em- 
 
 vas ap- 
 for the 
 thartres. 
 the con- 
 he most 
 [ette had 
 lis after- 
 It, which 
 
 was built on the site of tlie old one at Natchez.* After 
 his transfer to the Illinois he had no pleasant path to tread, 
 as was the case with his predecessors. 
 
 The Chickasaw Indians — the Iroquois of the South — 
 had all along preferred an alliance with the English colo- 
 nists of Carolina, and had been stimulated by artful emis- 
 saries of the latter (if they required any stimulus) to re- 
 peated deeds of rapine and blood against the French, who 
 were waiting a favorable opportunity to make them feel 
 the weight of their resentment. The Chickasaws were 
 known to Europeans, or at least to the Spaniards, from the 
 time of De Soto. They inhabited the country intermediate 
 between Upper and Lower Louisiana, extending eastward 
 from the Mississippi River into Alabama, and northward 
 through Western Tennessee. They were a less numerous 
 people thr.n the Cherokees, or even the Choctaws, but they 
 made up in craft and pugnacity what they lacked in num- 
 bers. The presence of the Chickasaws in roaming bands 
 on the eastern banks of the Mississippi not only rendered 
 navigation perilous, but seriously interfered with trade be- 
 tween Kaskaskia and New Orleans, and many of the 
 French boatmen and myagcurs successively fell victims to 
 their muskets and tomahawks. Such, indeed, was the ani- 
 mosity of tins people that they sent emissaries to tlie tribes 
 of the Illinois to detach them from their long-established 
 friendship with the French settlers, and to persuade them 
 to make war upon and exterminate the latter. But the 
 Illinois rejected the proposition with scorn, and sent a 
 
 * The new Fort Rosalie, as seen and described by Captain Pittman, 
 in 17(')(), stood on the east side of th(> Mississippi, about six hundred 
 und seventy yards from the river, and at an elevation of one hundred 
 and eighty feet above the nsual water line. The fort was an irregular 
 pentagon, without baations, and was built of sawn or hewed plank five 
 inches thick. The buildings within the walls were a store-hoiise, a 
 house for the officers, a barrack for the soldiers, and a guard-house. 
 Tliesc houses were constructed of framed timbers, the spaces between 
 being filled with mud and Spanish moss. The fort was surrounded on 
 three sides by a dry ditch, and the fourth or north side was fenced with 
 pickets. Some traces of the ruins of this fort are said to bo still visible 
 at Natchez. 
 
 19 
 
B^BWOT 
 
 290 
 
 Louisiana Under the Crown. 
 
 deputation, headed by their principal chief, Checagou, to 
 New Orleans to otter their services to the governor. In an 
 interview with Bienville the chief presented the pipe of 
 friendship, saying: " This is the pipe of peace or war; you 
 have but to speak, and our braves will strike the nations 
 that are your foes." * 
 
 By authority of the King of France an invasion of the 
 Chickasaw country was now projected, with the three-fold 
 purpose of re-establishing safe coniniunication between the 
 northern and southern districts of the province, of reducing 
 those truculent savages to submission, and of driving the 
 English traders from among them. The French were not 
 wanting in a plausible pretext for commencing hostilities. 
 Many of the N^atchez Indians who escaped the war of ex- 
 tirpation against them had taken refuge among the Chick- 
 asaws, and become incorporated with that nation, where 
 they continued to cherish their hatred of the French. Bo- 
 fore the beginning of the year 1736, Governor Bienville 
 made a demand on the Ohickasaws for the surrender of 
 those fugitives, and foreseeing that his demand was not 
 likely to be complied with, he assembled an army to mareli 
 against them. Great preparations were made, considering 
 the military strength of the colony, to render the ex[)edi- 
 tion successful. In addition to the regulars and militia 
 raised in Southern Louisiana, the Governor sent Captain 
 Leblanc up the river to Fort Cliartres with orders to the 
 Sieur d'Artaguette, commandant of the district, to get in 
 readiness the troops under his command, together witli 
 such of the Illinois and other Indians as could be induced 
 to join the expedition. D'Artaguette was further ordered 
 to be in the Chickasaw country, with his forces, by the 
 10th of the ensuing May, and to there await the arrival of 
 the comnumder-in-chief and his army from the south. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1736, Bienville embarked at New 
 Orleans, with a force of five hundred and fifty-four French- 
 men and forty-five negroes, for Fort Mobile, the rendez- 
 vous of the troops. Resting here until Easter-day, the first 
 of April, the army ])egan to ascend the river in bateaux 
 
 * Bancroft's History, Vol. Ill, p. ;5(J5. 
 
Bienville's Expedition Against the Chickasaws. 291 
 
 to 
 an 
 of 
 rou 
 
 oil 9 
 
 the 
 fold 
 I the 
 icmg 
 r tbe 
 e not 
 lities. 
 )f ex- 
 31nck- 
 wliere 
 . Be- 
 envUlc 
 ider of 
 ;aB not 
 » riiart'h 
 kidcring 
 
 expedi- 
 
 nulitia 
 
 Japtaiu 
 to the 
 get in 
 
 er with 
 
 I induced 
 ordered 
 
 |, by tlie 
 'rival ot 
 
 ^th. 
 at Hew 
 l^reiieh- 
 rcndoz- 
 
 [, the tii'st 
 bateaux 
 
 and pirogues, which moved in line by force of oars. On 
 the 20th the army reached a place called Tombeebe (Tom- 
 bigbee), to which the governor had sent a company of sol- 
 diers nine months before to build a fort, intending it as a 
 place of defense and a depot of supplies. This fort was 
 on the Tombigbee River, and within the territory of the 
 Choctaws. The artillery which the French had brought 
 with them was now placed in position, and its discharge 
 broke, for the first time, the stillness of the surrounding 
 forest. Here the Choctaw chiefs, in consideration of a 
 certain quantity of merchandise, joined Bienville's expe- 
 dition with over six .hundred of their warriors. Re-em- 
 barking on the 4th of May, and continuing to ascend the 
 river, the troops reached the place of debarkation on the 
 24th of that month. They were now within seven or eight 
 hagues of the nearest and principal Chickasaw village, 
 which was situated only a few miles from the present 
 county town of Pontotoc, in ^Northern Mississippi, — a town 
 which still preserves the name of the Indian stronghold. 
 
 On the 25th of May (two weeks behind the pre- 
 arranged time), the commander formed his army in two 
 columns, and marched to within two leagues of the C^liick- 
 asaw village, when he halted for the night. P]arly the 
 next morning the impetuous Choctaws rushed forward 
 upon the village, expecting to take it by a coup de main. 
 But they found the Chickasaws awake and ready to receive 
 them ; and not only so, but protected b.y a strong fortifi- 
 cation of earth and timbers, which had been constructed 
 under the supervision of some resident Englisli traders. 
 During that day Bienville made two vigorous attempts to 
 carry the enemy's works by storm, but was repulsed both 
 times, and sustained a loss of thirty-two killed and sixty 
 wounded, including several commissioned officers. He 
 was, therefore, compelled to draw oft his army, leaving his 
 (lead on the field of battle. 
 
 During the night of the 26th, a party of Indians ar- 
 rived from another village, as they claimed, to present the 
 calumet and a letter to Bienville; but, provoked by the re- 
 verses of the day, he refused to receive them, and ordered 
 
292 
 
 Louisiana Under the Crown. 
 
 his Indians to attack them, which they did.* By this rash 
 conduct, the commanding general probably lost his only 
 opportunity of opening communication with D'Artaguette 
 and his associate officers, who were then prisoners in the 
 hands of the Chickasaws. 
 
 On the next day there was some skirmishing between 
 the Choctaw and Chickasaw warriors, but without any de- 
 cisive result. Discouraged at his unexpected failure, con- 
 vinced of his inability to reduce the enemy's formidable 
 works without cannon and the means of siege, and hearing 
 nothing from the army that was to co-operate with him 
 from the Illinois, Bienville now reluctantly abandoned the 
 expedition. Dismissing his Indian auxiliaries, he made a 
 retrograde march to his boats, and descended the river to 
 Fort Tombecbe. On arriving there, it is told that he threw 
 
 the 
 
 iron cannon 
 
 belonging to 
 
 the fort into the river, to 
 
 prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy, and re- 
 turned to New Orleans covered with humiliation at his dis- 
 astrous defeat. 
 
 Prior to these occurrences, however, Major d'Arta- 
 guette had set out from Fort Chartres in the last week of 
 February, with thirty regular soldiers, one hundred volun- 
 teers (including the Jesuit father Senat) and two hundred 
 Illinois and Missouri Indians, and descended the Missis- 
 sippi to the site of Fort Prudhomme, at the Third Chicka- 
 saw Bluff. Here he was soon after joined by the Sieur de 
 Vincennes, from the Wabash, with twenty Frenchmen and 
 about one hundred Miamis braves. The Sieur de Mon- 
 cherval was also dail}'^ expected, with a contingent of Ca- 
 hokias and Michigamies from the Illinois. Leaving a de- 
 tachment at the river landing, to guard the canoes and 
 heavier baggage. Major d'Artaguette set forward on his 
 march into the Chickasaw country, and advanced by slow 
 stages in order to give Moncherval a chance to overtake 
 him. But that officer did not arrive in time to participate 
 in the approaching battle. Having reached the appointed 
 rendezvous, which was on the head-waters of the Yalo- 
 busha, on the 9th of May, D'Artaguette waited ten days 
 
 * Dumont's Historical Memoir of Louisiana. 
 
D'Artaguette's Ill-fated Expedition. 
 
 293 
 
 'ash 
 
 3nly 
 
 lette 
 
 the 
 
 ween 
 y de- 
 , con- 
 dahle 
 taring 
 1 him 
 ;d the 
 lade a 
 iver to 
 threw 
 vcr, to 
 lud re- 
 liis dis- 
 
 d'Arta- 
 ,veek of 
 volun- 
 uiidred 
 Missis- 
 Ichicka- 
 lieur de 
 nen and 
 e Mon- 
 of Ca- 
 Ing a de- 
 loes and 
 on his 
 by slow 
 ,vertakc 
 [rticipate 
 >pointed 
 e Yalo- 
 ;en days 
 
 for the appearance of the commander-in-chief, ready to 
 unite with him attacking the enemy. 
 
 Meanwhile, according to Mr. Gayarre, a courier 
 reached his camp with a letter, said to have been written 
 by Bienville, stating that in consequence of unexpected ob- 
 stacles and delays, he would not be able to reach the Ohick- 
 asaws at the time designated, and authorizing him to act on 
 his own military judgment. D'Artaguette thereupon con- 
 vened a council of war, composed of his principal officers 
 and the Indian chiefs, and at this council it was resolved to 
 make an immediate attack upon the enemy's stronghold. 
 Accordingly, about the 20th of May, having formed his 
 impatient forces in order of battle — forces who had the 
 courage to strike, without the discretion to wait the proper 
 time — the commander led them against the Chickasaws. 
 The charge was daring and impetuous, and the enemy was 
 successively driven from two of his intrenched positions, 
 but in the assault upon the third D'Artaguette was se- 
 verely wounded and disabled, at the moment when the 
 victory seemed within his grasp. Panic-struck at the fall 
 of their leader, his Indian confederates, the Illinois and 
 Missouris, precipitately retreated, and were hotly pursued 
 for twenty-five leagues ])y the Chickasaws, in the flush of 
 triumph. The Mi amis, from the Wabash, appear to have 
 been guilty of deliberate treachery, they having been pre- 
 viously tampered with liy English agents.* 
 
 Father Senat and the chivalrous DeVincennes might 
 have botli escaped, but the former, true to his profession, 
 stayed to console the wounded and dying, while the latter 
 was so devoted to his unfortunate chief, that he would not 
 leave him in peril, "preferring rather to share his captivity, 
 and, if necessary, to die by his side." As a consequence, 
 they, with some fifteen other Frenchmen, including a 
 brother of Captain Louis St. Ange, fell into the hands of the 
 Chickasaws. The prisoners were, at first, civilly treated by 
 their captors, who expected to receive a large reward from 
 
 *See " History of Louisiaua," by Chas. Gayarr^ (New Orleans, 1885), 
 3d ed., vol. II., pp. 485-6. 
 
294 
 
 Louisiana Under the Crown. 
 
 the Frencli for tlieir safe return. But, after the discomfiture 
 and retreat of Bienville's army, the Chickasaw chiefs aban- 
 doned hope of securing an adequate ransom for their pris- 
 oners, and prepared to make them the victims of a sa/age 
 triumph. To this end they were taken to a neighboring 
 field and bound by fours to stakes; and neither valor nor 
 piety could save them from being tortured to death by slow 
 and intermitting hres. Two of the number were reserved 
 to be exchanged for a Chickasaw warrior, who had been 
 made prisoner by the French. 
 
 After this cruel manner perished the gallant D'Arta- 
 guette, the faithful Senat, and the lieroic De Vincennes. 
 We would not withhold the meed of sympathy due them 
 in their direful fate. At the same time it must not be 
 forgotten that, in hazarding an assault upon the enemy in 
 his fortified position, before the arrival of the main army 
 under Bienville, they invited the very fate that befell them, 
 and destroyed the chances of French victory in that cam- 
 paign. 
 
 The Chickasaws were now more defiant than ever, and 
 being elated with vanity over their success in repelling the 
 attacks of two French and Indian armies, they sent a depu- 
 tation of chiefs to announce their triumph to the English 
 authorities in Carolina, with whom they renewed their alli- 
 ance, and by whom they were supplied with arms and 
 amnmnition, as well as merchandise. 
 
 Ambitious to retrieve his own military reputation, and 
 also to recover the lost prestige of the French arms in 
 Louisiana, Governor Bienville resolyed upon a second cam- 
 paign against the Chickasaws ; but it was not until after 
 receiving reinforcements fi'om France that he was able to 
 renew this arduous enterprise. In the spring of 1739, hav- 
 ing previously' obtained the sanction of the French Minister 
 of Colonies, he again began active pr«^paration8 for the sub- 
 jugation of that fierce tribe, which had so successfully de- 
 fied his power and authority. Orders were sent out to 
 commandants of the various military posts in the province 
 to furnish as many troops as possible, which resulted in the 
 assembling of the largest and best appointed army hitherto 
 
Bienville s Second Campaign. 
 
 295 
 
 tr.re 
 biin- 
 pris- 
 , /age 
 jr.iig 
 r nor 
 ' slow 
 erved 
 been 
 
 Arta- 
 ennes. 
 : them 
 lot be 
 ;my in 
 I army 
 , them, 
 t cam- 
 
 er, and 
 ing the 
 I dcpu- 
 nglish 
 loir alli- 
 ns and 
 
 seen in LouiHiana. The general reudezvons was at tirst 
 fixed on the St. Francis River, just above its junction with 
 the Mississippi, where a fort and cabins were erected to 
 serve as a basis of operations. The coniniandant-gcneral 
 arrived at this post toward tlie end of June, and in August 
 he embarked his army and moved up to tlie mouth of Wolf 
 River, a small stream which falls into the Mississippi near 
 the present city of Mempliis. Here, on the bluff, another 
 and larger fort was built, with a house for the commandant, 
 barracks for the soldiers, store-houses, etc. It received the 
 name of Fort As8umi»tion, because the troops landed liere 
 on that day. 
 
 At this fort tlie army received reinforcements from the 
 north. The iirst to arrive was the Illinois force, composed 
 of about two hundred Frenchmen and three hundred In- 
 dians, commanded by Alphonse de Buissoniere, who had 
 succeeded the unfortunate D'Artaguette as commandant at 
 Fort Chartres. After that came Captain de Celeron and 
 Lieutenant de St. Laurent, with thirty cadets from Canada, 
 and a large following of Indians. These united troops made 
 a formidable army, numbering twelve hundred Frenchmen, 
 and double as many Indians and negroes. Owing in part 
 to the difficulty in procuring supplies, which had to be 
 brought a long distance, this large body of troops was al- 
 lowed to remain here in inactivity for six months.* In the 
 meantime, }irovisions became so scarce that they had to kill 
 and eat their horses, and sickness breaking out in the camp 
 carried off' a great number. Such were the ravages of 
 disease and famine, that by the first of March, 1740, not 
 more than two hundred French soldiers were fit for active 
 service. 
 
 In these straits. Governor Bienville sent the Sieur de 
 Celeron, with a body of French and Indian troops, to the 
 Chickasaws, with orders, in case they sued for peace, to grant 
 it in his name. When Celeron arrived with his force in sight 
 of the enemy's fort, the Chickasaws, believing him to be 
 
 * Mr. Gayarr6 attributes Bienville's inaction to his jealousy of 
 Noailles, who had been sent to command the army. 
 
296 
 
 Louisiana under the Crown. 
 
 followed by the whole Freiicii army, sent to him to ask for 
 peace, promising to renounce their English alliance and re- 
 sume friendly relations with the French. To confirm this 
 agreement, a party of their chiefs returned with Celeron to 
 Fort Assumption, and there entered into a treaty of pacifi- 
 cation with the governor, which was ratified with the cus- 
 tomary Indian ceremonies. Bienville now dismissed his 
 Indian auxiliaries, having first pa'd them oft* in goods, after 
 which he demolished his two forts, as being of no f'Tther 
 use, and re-embarktd for Xew Orleans.* 
 
 So ended, in April, 1740, the second campaign against 
 the Chickasaws. It was less inglorious and disastrous 
 than the first, but its results were far from satisfactory, and 
 by no means commensurate witli the costly preparations 
 that had been made. Having failed to redeem his tarnished 
 military record, and the prestige of the French arms in the 
 colony, the commandant-general thereby incurred the dis- 
 pleasure of his sovereign, and for this and other reasons he 
 was, in no long time, removed from ofiice. Toward the 
 close of the year 1742, he was superseded by Pierre Fran- 
 cois de Rigaud, Man^uis do Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, a native 
 of Quebec, and a man of distinguished family and social 
 connections. 
 
 Thus closed the otHcial career of Jean liaptiste le 
 Moyiie, Sieur de Bienville, in Louisiana, — a career which, 
 with some interruptions, extended through a period of 
 forty-three years, and which is without a parallel in French- 
 American history. Born at Montreal, in February, 1(380, 
 he was nineteen years the junior of his celebrated brother, 
 D'lberville, who introduced him when a mere lad into the 
 naval service, took him with him to Hudson's Bay, and 
 afterward on his first colonizing expedition to the Missis- 
 sippi. Age and care had now cooled tlu ardor tind energy 
 of Bienville's prime, and the luster of the honors achieved 
 in former vears was obscured under a cloud of cou*' cen- 
 sure, some of wliich, at least, was undeserved. In May, 
 
 * For more detailed accountH of this Chicikasaw war, soe DuiiKMit's, 
 Martin's, and Gayarro's Histories of T-ouisiaua. The account by Dii- 
 :iiont va the earliest and most authentic. 
 
Reiirement of Governor Bienville. 
 
 297 
 
 L for 
 il re- 
 . tliis 
 on to 
 acifi- 
 
 CU9- 
 
 d his 
 , after 
 -rtlier 
 
 o-ainst 
 Lstrouft 
 
 ■7' 
 
 and 
 
 i-utions 
 •uished 
 } in tiio 
 :he dirt- 
 ,son8 lie 
 ard the 
 e Fran- 
 uative 
 I social 
 
 Dtistc le 
 which, 
 Lnod of 
 JFrench- 
 •y, 1080, 
 |i)rother, 
 nto the 
 |iav, and 
 MisBis- 
 n energy 
 lichieved 
 |u-' -ien- 
 n May, 
 
 DunuMit'fi, 
 |it by Du- 
 
 1743, he sailed from New Orleans for France, thus leaving 
 Louisiana forever. Although under the displeasure of the 
 court the colonists were loud in expressing their regrets at 
 his departure ; and whatever errors or mistakes, insepara- 
 ble from human nature, he may have committed, his pop- 
 ularity in the province, where he had mostly lived from 
 early manhood to old age, had never been seriously shaken. 
 He has been justly styled the Father of the Louisiana col- 
 ony, of which his brother I)' Iberville was the fornder. 
 He left behind him a code, sometimes called Le Code Noir, 
 which was first promulgated in 1724, regulating the condi- 
 tion of the slaves, banishing the Jews, and proliibiting the 
 exercise of every relig'on except the Roman Catholic. This 
 code, with some modilications, remained in force in Louis- 
 iana until the cession of that country to the government 
 of the United States, when it was abolished, excepting 
 80 much of it as related to the African slaves. After re- 
 turning to France, Bienville lived for over twenty years in 
 dignilied retirement nt Paris. 
 
 But to return to Louisiana. After the peace of 1740 
 with the (^hickasaws, all the other aboriginal tril)cs in the 
 immediate Valley of the Mississippi recognized the domin- 
 ion of France, and became allies or friends of her colonists. 
 Trade with the natives was now renewed and enlarged, 
 and agriculture, freed from former restrictions, took on a 
 new life. The culture of fruit became general. The or- 
 ange, the lemon, and the fig tree began to blossom about 
 the houses on the Lower Mississippi, and near the shores 
 of the gulf; while farther to the north the apple, the peach, 
 the apricot, and the plum were successfully grown. The 
 sweet potaioe and the melon, extending over a wide range 
 of latitude, also contributed largely to the sustenance of 
 the people. Sugar-cane was brought by tiie Jesuits from 
 St. Domingo as early as 1744, and was first cultivated by 
 them in their gardens at New Orleans.* It was before thiw 
 
 * In 175H, M. d«^ IJreuil opcmnl r. HUgiir plantation on a largo scalo, 
 and erected the first HUgar mill in LouiHiana. His plantation occupied 
 the lower part of New Orleans, known as the su])urb of Ht. Marigny. — 
 Reynolda' Pioneer History, second edition, p. 64. 
 
SPHRI 
 
 298 
 
 Louisiana Under the Crown. 
 
 time that indigo began to be raised for export. The cotton 
 phmt was not introduced until some years later, when it 
 was successfully cultivated as far north as the Ohio. Every 
 vessel arriving from France added to the population of the 
 southern settlements; and many Canadians, fleeing from 
 the rigor of their northern winters, sought homes and hap- 
 piness in the mere genial climate of the Illinois. Under 
 the* stimulus of private and associate enterprise, commerce 
 between the northern and southern districts of the prov- 
 ince, and between New Orleans and foreign ports, was 
 largely augmented, Cargoes of flour, bacon, tallow, [lelts 
 a!id lead were animally transported in jateaux to New 
 Orleans, and thence reshippod to the West Indies or to 
 France, in exchange for rice, Lugar, indigo, and goods of 
 European manufacture. The dift'erent districts of the pi ev- 
 ince were mutually dependent, and, by means of the Mis- 
 sissijjpi and its numerous large tributaries, supplied with 
 focility each other's wants. Upon the whole, the decade 
 from 1742 to 1752 was one of unwonted prosperity in the 
 French history of Louifciana.-'^ 
 
 After some ten years of comparative peace and quiet, 
 the Chickasaws, notwithstanding their existing treaty obli- 
 gations, renewed their depredations upon the French colo- 
 nists, and again interruj)ted their trade on the Missi8^'ippi 
 River. To curb the marauding disposition of these savages, 
 and coerce them into submission. Governor de Vaudreuil un- 
 dertook another armed expedition to their forest fastiicsses. 
 Embarking at New Orleans, in 1752, with seven hundred 
 regular soldiers, he was joined on the way by a horde of 
 Choctaw braves, ready for the fray. His route was up the 
 Mobile and T,)mbigbee Rivers, the same as that taken by 
 Bienville in 1736. lie had cannon, munitions, and supplies 
 in abundance; y^t, like his predecessor, he failed to van- 
 quish the stubborn Chickasaws, who avoided an open battle, 
 and shut themselves up in their fortresses. The French 
 commander, however, destroyed some of their deserted 
 
 • Davidson and Muve's History, p. 127. 
 
The Beginrdng of Vineennes. 
 
 299 
 
 >tton 
 an it 
 Ivery 
 f the 
 from 
 [ hap- 
 Jiider 
 laerce 
 
 prov- 
 3, was 
 r, jielts 
 ) New 
 5 or to 
 lods of 
 e piov- 
 le Mis- 
 ad witli 
 
 decade 
 V in the 
 
 |d (luiet, 
 iity obli- 
 
 villages, and left a strong garrison at Fort Tombecbe to 
 liold them in restraint. 
 
 Reference having been made to the Sieur de Vineennes, 
 and to the sad fate that befell him in the lirst campaign of 
 the Chickasaw war, the inquiring reader may desire to 
 know sometliing more of his history, and also of the ori- 
 gin of the French village (now city) wliich is indissolubly 
 linked with his memory. Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de 
 Vineennes was the tenth child of M. Francois Bissot. a 
 leading merehant of Q.iebee, and was there born in Janu- 
 ary, 1688. He appears to have been a relative of Joliet, 
 the explorer, who was probably an uncle ly marriage. 
 Early bred to the profession of anns, young I)e Vineennes 
 was sent out to the West, where he soon became noted for 
 his uetivit}' and enterprise. In 1704, with a l>arty of Cana- 
 dian troops, he attacked an Ottawa band, and rescued from 
 them some Iroquois prisoners that had been taken in viola- 
 tion of treaties, thus averting a cause of war with the latter 
 nation. In the autumn of 1705, he was sent by Governor 
 de Vaudreuil* on a mission to the Miamis, who then prin- 
 cipally occupied the te»"Ptory immediately to the north-west 
 of the Upper Wabash. In 1712 he took part in the defense 
 of Detroit from an invasion of the Fox Indians, and during 
 that year was again sent as an agent to the Miamis. 
 
 As early as 1719, De Vineennes probably estaldished, 
 or aided in establishing, the trading post on the Wabash 
 whieh still bears his name; for it was about this time that 
 Fort Ouatanou, higher up the river, was also founded by 
 the French. A more ancient date than thi^ has been 
 claimed for the first settlement at Vineennes, but it <loubt- 
 less originated in the eonfomuling of the Wabash und 
 Lower Ohio together as one stream. 
 
 "Before the close of the year 1702 (sayp Dillon's His- 
 tory of Indiaiui, p. 21), the Sieur .iuchereau, a Canadian 
 otHeer, assisted by the Jesuit missioiutry Mermet, made an 
 
 "This was Philippe do Ixi^ivud Marqnipi do Vmulrouil, \\\\u had 
 boon appointed governor of Canada in 170:^ t(. Knceeod M. (U> Callieres. 
 Ho was the father of that IMarqnis de Vaudreuil, who became succes- 
 pivoly governor of r.ouisiana and of Canada. 
 
300 
 
 Louisiana under the Crown. 
 
 i 
 
 1 11;^ 
 
 attempt to establish a post on the Ohio, near the mouth of 
 that river; or, according to some authorities, on the Wabash 
 at the site now occupied by Vincennes." But La Ilarpe,* 
 and after him Charlevoix, fix the position of that post at the 
 mouth of the Ouabache (Ohio), which discharges itself into 
 the Mississippi. It was probably on the site of the more 
 modern Fort Massac, and the date of its establishment is 
 fixed by some French writers in the year 1700. 
 
 The neighboring Mascoutins, who later became jisso- 
 ciated with the Kickapoos, soon g.ithered about tliis post 
 on the Ohio for the purpose of barter, and Father Mermet 
 undertook, without success, to convert them to Christianity. 
 In 1705, or thereabouts, the post was broken up in conse- 
 quence of the increasing hostility of the Indians, and the 
 French traders fled, leaving their cftects behind them.f 
 
 *" In 1702 M. Juchereau, a French ofiic;;r of Montreal, accompanied 
 by thirtj'-four Canadians, attempted to form a settlement at the mouth 
 of the Oual)ache, to collect buiFalo skins."— P-xtnict from La Ilarpe's 
 Journal, dated Feb. 8, 1703, cited in Dillon's Hist, of Ind., p. 400. 
 
 f'Acording to the authority of La Harpe, and the later historian 
 Charlevoix, the French, in tiie year 1700, established a trading post near 
 the mouth of the Ohio, on the site of the more modern Fort Massac, in 
 Massac county, 111., for the purpose of securing buffalo hides. The 
 neighboring Mascoutins, as was customary with the Indians, soon gath- 
 ered about it for the purpose of barter. Their numbers, as well as the 
 expressed wish of the French traders, induced Father Mermet to visit 
 the place and engage in mission work. At the end of four or Ave years, 
 in 1705, the establishment was broken up on account of a quarrel of 
 the Indians among themselves, which so threatened the lives of the 
 Frenchmen that the latter fled, leaving behind them their effects and 
 thirteen thousand buifalo skins which they had collected. Some years 
 liter. Father Marest, writing from Kaskaskia, relates the failure of 
 !• ather Mermet to convert the Lulians at this post on the Wabash ; and 
 on the authority of this letter alone, and although I ather Marest only 
 followed tl\e prevailing style of calling the Lower Ohio the Wabash, 
 some writers \the late Judge Law being the first) have contended that 
 this post was on the Wabash and at Vincennes. Charlevoix says ' it was 
 at the mouth of the Wabash which discharges itself into the Mississippi.' 
 La Ilarjje, and also L(> Sueur, whose personal knowle(lge of the post 
 was contemporaneous with its existence, definitely lix its positicm near 
 the mouth of the Ohio. The latter gives the date of its bepinniug, and 
 the former narrates an ac(!ount of its trade and final abandonment. In 
 this way an antiquity has been claimed for Vincennes to which it is not 
 
Early History of Vincennes. 
 
 301 
 
 th of 
 ibaah 
 ,rpe,* 
 it the 
 f into 
 more 
 eut is 
 
 ; dsso- 
 
 18 post 
 
 lermet 
 tiauHy. 
 couse- 
 iiul the 
 m.t 
 
 lie mouth 
 a Ilarpe's 
 
 100. 
 historian 
 
 poHt near 
 kliiHsac, in 
 ides. The 
 jsoon gath- 
 ,.U as the 
 et to visit 
 f\ve years, 
 quarrel of 
 |v(>H of the 
 tl'ects and 
 t^ome years 
 failure of 
 |i\)asi>-, and 
 .larest only 
 |u- Wabash, 
 n>u(led that 
 mys ' it was 
 ississippi-' 
 ,{ the post 
 |)Hition near 
 inning, and 
 Inment. In 
 lich it is not 
 
 When the French first explored the Wabash, they 
 found the land on either side of the lower course of that 
 Htream in possession of the Piankashaw Indians; and Vin- 
 cennes was first known to the former as a Piankashaw vil- 
 lage, by the name of Chip-pe-coke^ or Brushwood. It was a 
 secluded spot on the eastern bank of the river, about one 
 hundred miles above its mouth. It was far removed from 
 the French settlements on the northern lakes and on the 
 Mississippi, and during many years it was a mere halting 
 place for the missionaries and fur-traders, who chose to 
 travel southward by the way of the Maumee and the Wa- 
 bash. Of this sequestered post very little was known to 
 the outside world until some time after the Sieur de Vin- 
 cennes became its commandant. The priests and traders 
 of Kaskaskia and Cahokia kept up some intercourse with 
 the place, but there was no regular conununicatioii with it. 
 The route thither by river was circuitous and dangerous, 
 while the Indian "trace" or trail across the intervening 
 wilderness of Illinois was beset by roving bands of blood- 
 thirsty Kickapoos. 
 
 Under the auspices of De Vincennes, who l)uilt an 
 earthen fort there about the year 1725, this Wabasli post 
 gradually assumed importance. He appears to have granted 
 lands, in small parcels, to the French settlers for cultivation, 
 and from the neighboring Indian chiefs they received a gift 
 of more than two thousand acres, wliich they approi>riated 
 chiefly as " conmions.'* * It is conjectured by Preese that 
 the land on which the village was built, and the "conmion 
 field" as well, were originally granted to De Vincennes by 
 the India Company, or by the governor of Louisiana after 
 the dissolution of the company in 1732, and that he, as 
 
 historically entitled."— " History of Vermilion County, lllinoiB," by 11. 
 W. Bt'ikwith (Chicago, 1S70), p. 102, note. 
 
 *"In 1742, some years after the foundation of the post of Vincennes, 
 the natives of the country made the French and their heirs an absohite 
 gift of the lands lying between the point above and the river Blandie 
 I White) below the village, with as much laud on both sides as might be 
 comprised within the. said limits."— Dillon's Hist, of hid., p. 402. See 
 also Memcial signed by sixteen of the inhabitants of Vincennes, dated 
 November 20, ITIKJ, and addressed to tlie president of the United iStates. 
 
302 
 
 Louisiana Under the Crown. 
 
 commandp.nt, parceled it out in small allotments to the 
 villagers. But however this might he, it was all included 
 within the dependency of the Illinois, and differed hut little 
 from the other villages in this provincial district. 
 
 The Sieur de Vincennes* was still commanding at this 
 post in 1735, and until the spring of 1736, when he was 
 summoned by Major d'Artaguette to join him, with a force 
 of French and Miamis, in his expedition against the Chick- 
 asaws, from which neither of these French officers ever 
 returned. But the post village which the former had 
 founded was thereafter variously known as Post de Vin- 
 cennes, Au Poste, Post Vincent, Post St. Vincents, and 
 finally Vincennes. Louis St. Ange de Bellerive succeeded 
 De Vincennes in command of the post, though in what 
 year is undecided. During liis lengthy incumbency, and 
 as early as the year 1749, he made some grants or deeds 
 conveying small lots of land to different settlers in the vil- 
 lage. These were executed on coarse paper, and were 
 signed by "St. Ange, commandant au 'postc Vincenne." 
 
 In 1749, a mission was established, under charge of the 
 missionary Meurin, at the Piankashaw village, which stoo"^. 
 near tlie site of Post Vincennes. In the course of the next 
 year, 1750, a small stockade fort was built at that place, and 
 another light fortification was erected about the same time at 
 the confluence of the Wabash and the Ohio. Between the 
 years 1754 and 1756 the white population of Post Vincennes 
 was considerably augmented by the arrival of immigrants 
 from Detroit, Kaskaskia, and New Orleans. During this pe- 
 riod the French settlers at Post Vincent, Ouatanon,t and the 
 
 * There is some little reason for supi)osinK that there were two men 
 of tliis name who figured in the Valley of the Wabash at or near the 
 same time. In a letter atUlressed to the Council of Marine, written at 
 Quebec, and dated October 28, 1715), M. de Vaudreuil says: "I learn 
 from the last letters that have arrived from the Miamis, that the Wieur 
 de Vincennes having died in their village, these Indians hav(^ resolvctl 
 not to remove to the river »St. Joseph." After citing the above extract 
 in his history, page 402, Mr. Dillon observes : " This report of the death 
 of Vincenne was untrue; or there was soon afterward, in the West, 
 another Krench officer who bore the name of M. tie Vincenne." 
 
 t Ouiatenon, Ouatanon, or Watanon, stood on the north side of the 
 
Early History of Vincennes. 
 
 303 
 
 the 
 ided 
 ittle 
 
 ;this 
 J was 
 force 
 liick- 
 
 ever 
 * had 
 ; Vin- 
 i, and 
 ;eeded 
 
 what 
 ;y, and 
 ■ deeds 
 :he vil- 
 1 were 
 
 e." 
 
 p of the 
 li stoo'\ 
 le next 
 ,ce, and 
 time at 
 ten the 
 [icennes 
 i grants 
 Ithlfl pe- 
 and the 
 
 Twightee village near the site of Fort Wayne, enjoyed a 
 state of almost unlimited ease and freedom. Living in the 
 midst of the forest wilderness, without taxes or church 
 rates, and in friendship with the neighhoring Indians, they 
 spent their days in hunting and fishing, and in trading for 
 pelts and furs, raising a few vegetables and a little maize 
 for the sustenance of their families. Many of them inter- 
 married with the daughters of the red men, whose amity 
 was thereby secured and strengthened.* 
 
 Wabash, not far below the present city of i^afayette. When Colonel 
 George Croghan visited this post in July, 17()5, he found there fourteen 
 French families residing witliiu the stockade. According to his printed 
 journal, Vincennes then contained from eighty to ninety families, and 
 was a " place of great consequence for trade." The fort was garrisoned 
 by only a few soldiers. 
 
 * Dillon's Hist. Ind., pp. 55 and 10!). 
 
 ..{, 
 
 I two men 
 near the 
 Iritten at 
 1" I learn 
 [ixo Si«iir 
 resolvi'd 
 |e> extrait 
 I he death 
 [he West, 
 
 ■■» A 
 
 
 lide of the 
 
304 
 
 Events in the Illmois Dependency. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1742-1756. 
 
 PROGRESS OF EVENTS IN THE DEPENDENCY OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 In 1742, when the Marquis de Vaudreiiil was made 
 governor of Louisiana, Captain Benoist de St. Clair was 
 major-commandant of the Illinois, having been appointed 
 two years before to succeed La Buissoniere,, But, early in 
 1743, St. Clair was superseded by the Chevalier de Bertel, 
 or Berthel, who held the position until 1748-9. 
 
 Among the earlier acts of his provincial administra- 
 tion. Governor de Vaudreuil confirmed to the inhabitants 
 of Kaskaskia tlieir right of "commons" — a right for which 
 they had petitioned the Royal India Company, through 
 their commandant, De Liette,* in 1727, but which had been 
 until now wholly disregarded. It will be remembered that 
 in 1719 M. de Boisbriant, as commandant at the Illinois, 
 had granted a right of commons to the citizens of Kaskas- 
 kia, but had neglected to put his grant in writing, and that 
 upon the surrender of the India Company's charter, in 1732, 
 the whole country became united to the royal domain, so 
 that the poor villagers continued in a state of painful un- 
 certainty for sixteen years. At length, in June, 1743, these 
 loyal subjects of the French king addressed a respectful 
 petition to the new provincial governor to confirm their 
 title ; and in August they received a favorable response 
 thereto in writing, Ol which the following is the more im- 
 portant part : 
 
 " Pierre de Rigault de Vaudreuil, governor, and Edme. 
 Gatien Salmon, commissary orderer of the Province of 
 Louisiana: — 
 
 " [Having] seen the petition to us presented on the 16th 
 
 * Breese writes this name De Lielte, and Mjuson De Siette. 
 
Confirmation of Kaskaskia's Right of Commons. 305 
 
 ;s. 
 
 made 
 ir was 
 jinted 
 irly in 
 Bertel, 
 
 iiiistra- 
 bitauts 
 ' which 
 hrough 
 id been 
 •ed that 
 [Uinoifl, 
 iaskas- 
 iid that 
 lin 1732, 
 lain, 80 
 ful nn- 
 3, these 
 jctful 
 n their 
 hesponse 
 lore im- 
 
 ll Edme. 
 [ince of 
 
 the 16th 
 
 day of Jujie of this present year, by the inhabitants of the 
 parisli of the Immaculate Conception of Kaskaskia, de- 
 pendence of the lUinois, tending to be confirmed in the 
 possession of a conmion which they have had a long time 
 for the pasturage of their cattle, in the point called La 
 Pointe (ie Bois, which runs to the entrance of the river Kas- 
 ^'askia, We, by virtue of the power to us granted by his 
 majesty, have confirmed and do confirm to the said inhab- 
 itants the possession of the said commons, on the following 
 conditions. 
 
 [Then follow the conditions in detail, which are omit- 
 ted here.] 
 
 " Given at New Orleans, the 14th day of August, 1743. 
 
 (Signed) " Vaudrieul. 
 
 " " Salmon." 
 
 Concerning the above act of confirmation, Breese 
 writes: " This confirmation took from the inhabitants the 
 islands in the Mississippi, and the land on the east side of 
 the Kaskaskia River, which the benevolent Boisbriant had 
 verbally granted to them ; nevertheless, they were content, 
 as it secured to them nearly seven thousand acres of rich 
 pasture and woodland, i'ov house-bote, plough-bote^ ji,e-bote^ 
 and estovers, and yielding, also, in great profusion, grapes, 
 plums, persimmons, the lucious papaw, the delicate pecan, 
 and other rich and delicious nuts ; whilst the ' common 
 field,' by this arrangement, did not embrace less than eight 
 thousand acres of tlie ricliest, deepest, blackest loam, cap- 
 able of itself of sustaining a numerous people.* 
 
 Kaskaskia continued from the first to be the most con- 
 siderable of the Illinois villages, and carried on a profitable 
 trade by the river with Natchez and New Orleans. From 
 Kaskaskia, as a parent hive, small swarms of colonists were 
 sent out, at intervals, to people the neighboring localities. 
 
 As early as the year 1735, according to tradition, a few 
 French Canadian families had fixed their abode on the west- 
 ern bank of the Mississippi,! attracted thither, no doubt, 
 
 * Breese's Enrly Illinois, p. 187. t 
 
 t The first inilitarv settlement of the French, in what is now the 
 20 " 
 
306 
 
 Events in the lllincris Dependency. 
 
 r^lM 
 
 by the salt springs and lead mines, which liad been opened 
 in that vicinity. This hamlet was located on the low river 
 bottom, and took the name of Misere, signifying poverty 
 or misery, but only in a comparative sense, when contrasted 
 with the older and more flourishing establishments on this 
 side of the river. After the great flood in the Mississippi, 
 in 1785, which completely inundated their village, the in- 
 habitants removed to the present site, on a blutf, three miles 
 north or north-west of the old one. The new village re- 
 ceived the name of Ste. Genevieve, by which it lias ever 
 since been known.* It is still a place of considerable im- 
 portance, with a noticeable admixture of the original Gallic 
 element in its population. The town has long been the 
 seat of justice of Ste. Genevieve county. Mo., and by the 
 last United States census, contained fifteen hundred and 
 eighty-six inhabitants. 
 
 The population of the French and Indian villages in 
 the district of the Illinois, at the period of which we write, 
 is largely a matter of conjecture and computation. Father 
 Louis Yivier, a Jesuit misMonary, in a letter dated June 8, 
 1750, and written from the vicinity of Fort Chartres, says: 
 
 " We have here whites, negroes, and Indians, to say 
 nothing of the cross-breeds. There are five French vil- 
 lages, and three villages of the natives within a space of 
 twenty-five leagues, situate between the Mississippi and 
 another river called (Kaskaskia). In the French villages 
 are, perhaps, eleven hundred whites, three hundred blacks, 
 and sixty red slaves or savages. The three Illinois towns 
 do not contain more than eight hundred souls, all told." f 
 
 This estimate does not include the scattered French 
 settlers or traders north of Peoria, nor on the Wabash. It 
 is stated that the Illinois nation, then dwelling for the most 
 part along the river of that name, occupied eleven diti:ereiit 
 villages, with four or five tires at each village, and each fire 
 warming a dozen families, except at the principal village, 
 where there were three hundred lodges. These data would 
 
 State of Missouri, u})pear8 to have been at Fort Orleans, on the site of 
 Jeiferson City, in 1719. 
 
 * Switzler's History of Missouri, p. 14:'.. 
 
 t Letirei* EdiJiautcH el r.iirieuKes, Parin, 1781. 
 
Form of the Provincial Government. 
 
 307 
 
 ened 
 river 
 verty 
 asted 
 I this 
 sippi, 
 le iii- 
 milesi 
 go re- 
 8 ever 
 \e im- 
 Gallic 
 en tbe 
 by tiie 
 ed aiul 
 
 the site of 
 
 give us something near eight tiiousaud as the total number 
 of the Illinois of all tribes. 
 
 It may be as well to observe here that the form of gov- 
 ernment, if not the character of tlie civilization, instituted 
 by the French in Canada and Louisiana, was materi'illy dif- 
 ferent from that contemporaneously established by the 
 English on the Atlantic seaboard. The government of 
 France was bureaucratic, and- more on the feudal type ; a 
 government \u which all power was concentrated in the 
 officers who administered it, while the pay.'^an.'^, or common 
 people, liad nothing to do but to obey the edicts and orders 
 of their rulers. It was a system more conducive to the 
 general equality and contentment of the people, than to 
 their individual freedom antl progress. 
 
 In the Province of Louisiana the governor and com- 
 mandant-general, the intendant commissary, and the royal 
 council exercised supreme authority in both civil and mili- 
 tary affiiirs, and were accountable only to the king from 
 whom they received their appointment. The governor was 
 invested with a great deal of power, which, however, was 
 checked on the side of the crown by the intendant, wlio 
 had the care of the king's rights and whatever pertained to 
 the revenue, and on the side of the people it was restrained 
 by the royal council, whose duty it was to see that the 
 colonists were not oppressed by the one nor defrauded by 
 the other. The council was styled Le Conseil Supmeur de 
 la Louisiane. It was composed of the intendant, who sat 
 as first judge, the procureur-general or king's attorney, 
 six of the principal inhabitants, and tlie registrar of the 
 province; and they judged in all civil and criminal nuxtters. 
 Every citizen had the right to appear before this body and 
 plead his own cause, either verbally or by written petition, 
 and the evidences of each party were submitted to and ex- 
 amined by the council. 
 
 The commandants in the various districts of the prov- 
 ince were appointed by the governor, for no fixed period, 
 and exercised all such executive duties as the exigencies of 
 their respective districts required, though not without per- 
 sonal accountability to the power appointing tliem. The 
 
308 
 
 Events in the Illinois Dependency. 
 
 major-cominandant, as he was stylerl, was usually connected 
 witli the governor by interest or relatiohship. " He was 
 absolute in iiis authority," writes Captain Pittman, "excep. 
 in matters of life and death ; capital offenses were tried by 
 the council at New Orleans. The whole Indian trade was 
 so much in the power of the commandant, that nobody was 
 permitted to be concerned in it but on condition of giving 
 him a part of the profits. Whenever he made presents to 
 the Indians in the name of the king, he received peltry and 
 furs in return ; (and) as the presents he gave were to be 
 considered as marks of his favor and love for them, so the 
 returns they made were to be regarded as proofs of their 
 attachment to him. Speeches, accompanied by presents, 
 were called }iaroles dc raleur; any Indians who came to the 
 French post were subsisted at the expense of the king 
 during their stay, and the swelling of this account was no 
 inconsiderable emohiment. 
 
 "As every business the commandant had with the In- 
 dians was attended with certain profit, it is not surprising 
 that he spared no pains to gain thair affections ; he made it 
 equally the interest of the officers under him to please them, 
 by i»ermitting them to trade, and making themselves agents 
 in the Indian countries. If any person (or persons) brought 
 goods within the limits of his jurisdiction, without his 
 particular license, he would oblige them to sell their mer- 
 chandise at I very moderate profit to the commissary, on 
 the king's account, calling it an emergency of government, 
 and employ the same goods in his own private commerce. 
 It may be easilj'^ supposed, from what has before been said, 
 that a v'rmplaint to the governor at New Orleans would 
 meet vvidi very little redress. It may be asked if the in- 
 habitants were not offended at this monopoly of trade and 
 arbitrary proceedings. The commandant could bestow 
 many favors on them, such as giving contracts for furnish- 
 ing provisions, or performing public works ; by employing 
 them in his trade, or by making their children cadets, Mdio 
 were allowed pay and provisions, and he could, when they 
 were grown up, recommend them for commissions. They 
 were happy if, by the most servile and submissive behavior, 
 
The Court of Royal Jurisdiction. 
 
 809 
 
 lected 
 
 [e was 
 excep ^ 
 ied by 
 ie was 
 dy was 
 giving 
 ents to 
 try and 
 i to be 
 , so the 
 of their 
 )resent6. 
 le to the 
 he king 
 ■ was no 
 
 they could gain liis confidence and favor. Every person 
 capable of bearing arms was enrolled in the militia, and a 
 captain of the militia regulated the cor fees and other per- 
 sonal service. 
 
 " From this military form of government, the authority 
 of the commandant was almost universal. The commis- 
 sary (district) was a mere cipher, and rather kept for form 
 than any real use ; he was always a person of low de- 
 pendence, and never dared to counteract the will of the 
 commandant." * 
 
 Subordinate to the major-commandant of the district, 
 each village had its own local commandant, who was usually 
 a captain of the militia. " Jle was as great a personage," 
 says Breese, "as our city mayors, superintending the police 
 of the village, and acting ns a kind of justice of the peace, 
 from whose decisions an appeal lay to the major-command- 
 ant. In the choice of this subordiiuite though inn)ortant 
 functionary, the adult inhabitants had a voice, and it is the 
 only instance wherein they exercised an elective franchise." 
 
 Al)out the year 1751, for the furtherance of justice, the 
 so-called "Court or Audience of the Koyal Jurisdiction of 
 the Illinois" was instituted at Kaskaskia. The proceedings 
 of this court were carried on before a single judge, without 
 the assistance of a clerk, sheritf, or lawyers, the judge him- 
 self entering his decisions in a book called " The Register." 
 Following is one of the decrees extracted from it, being the 
 opinion of the court l)y Justice Bucket : 
 
 "Between Louis Chancellier, plaintiff, by petition" on 
 the 18th of this present month — stating that having aban- 
 doned the prosecution of the suit which he had formerly 
 brought against the defendant hereinafter named (on the 
 subJBct of his negro woman, to whom a fright caused by 
 the son of the defendant has produced dangerous conse- 
 quences, since the said negro is afflicted with a falling sick- 
 ness in consequence of this fright) — on the one part, and 
 Pierre Fillet, called De la Londe, defendant, who plead that 
 
 *Pittman'8 "htate of the European Settlements on the Mississippi" 
 (London, 1770), pp. 53, 54. 
 
310 
 
 Events in the Illinois Dependency. 
 
 he would not answer for the deeds of his son, but would 
 say in defense of his son that this negro woman fell sick 
 of tliis sickness before tlie fright, and. therefore, the phiintitf 
 could not chiim any damages on account of the fright which 
 his son gave her, since the cause of her sickness is anterior 
 to that which he pretends to rely upon. 
 
 " The parties having been heard, we condemn the de- 
 fendant to make proof within eigbt days of what he ad- 
 vances, in order tliat it may be made to appear to whom 
 tlie right belongs, 
 
 "Done at Kaskaskia. Court held 20tli May, 1752. — 
 Bucket." 
 
 Here is another case of a hiter date, arising ex contractu^ 
 against an administrator: 
 
 " Between Raimond Brosse, called Saint Ccrnay, in- 
 liabitant of Kaskaskia, plaintiff, to the effect that the de- 
 fendant, Charles Lorain, be made to acknowledge a note 
 for sixty francs, executed by the deceased Louis Langlois, 
 and of Louise Girardy, his widow, and i»ow wife of Charles 
 Lorain, the aforesaid defendant, on the other part. 
 
 "The said note being examined, the parties heard, and 
 all tilings considered, we condemn the defendant to pay, 
 without delay, to tlie plaintiff the sum of sixty francs 
 (livres), the amount of the said note, and also the costs ot 
 suit, which we have taxed at twenty-eight francs and ten 
 cents (sols). 
 
 "Done at New Chartre, in our hearing, we holding 
 court, Saturday the fifth of June, 1756. — Chevallier." * 
 
 The practice, or mode of procedure, in thia and other 
 courts of the province was after the forms of the civil law, 
 very simple and brief, and probably as well calculated to 
 promote the true ends of justice c.s the more cumbrous 
 forms of tlie English common law, tilled with technical 
 jargon. Trial by jury was unknown here; the law and the 
 facts in every case being decided by the presiding judge. 
 
 •Brocse's Firly IliHtory, pp. 217-215). At the time Judge Hreese 
 ■wrote, the record of the proeeedinijfs of thiH high-soundincj court was 
 yet extaut, and it may be Btill. 
 
Mode of Administering the Government. 
 
 311 
 
 I Bick 
 aintift" 
 which 
 iitevior 
 
 ;he (le- 
 hc lul- 
 f whom 
 
 1752.— 
 
 mtrada, 
 
 nay, h\- 
 the de- 
 e a note 
 Langloia, 
 f Charles 
 
 vard, a»^^ 
 to pay, 
 by tVaiK'S 
 
 c;08t8 of 
 
 and ten 
 
 hohVmc: 
 
 kr." * 
 jnd other 
 Livil law, 
 Inlated to 
 •und)rons 
 Itechnieal 
 and the 
 
 Ig j^i^^^^'- 
 
 |dpo UreeHO 
 cjurt wiiB 
 
 .fudgments and decrees were executed by the captain of 
 militia, or the provost marshal, and no "stay laws" or 
 " valuation laws" impeded its operation, nor was there any 
 " redemption after sale." Occasion, however, did not very 
 often arise for the exercise of the judieial authority, as liti- 
 gation was expensive, and the people in general were peace- 
 able, honest, and punctual in their dealings with each other. 
 In fact, the most common mode of settling small difficulties 
 and disputes about money, etc., was by referring them to 
 the arbitration of friends and neighbors, or else by the mild 
 interposition of the village priest.* 
 
 Thus were exercised tlie executive and judicial powers 
 in the jtrovincial district of Illinois; of legislative }>ower8 
 tliere were none. The laws in force were the edicts and 
 ordinances of the King, and the "usages of the mayoralty 
 and shrievalty of Paris,'' These were introduced by France 
 into all her American colonies, but they were changed or 
 modified, more or less, by the ignorance or caprice of those 
 whose business it was to construe and ap[)ly them. The 
 peculiar local customs of the colony, also, had the force 
 of law.* 
 
 The pernicious system of monopolies still prevai'sd in 
 the province. In August, 1744, Gov. de Vaudreuil con- 
 ceded to a Frenchman named Deruisseau the exclusive 
 right of trading in all the country watered by the Missis- 
 sippi River, and the streams falling into it. This privilege, 
 which seems to have end)raced the entire district of the 
 Illinois, was for a term sometliing in ex(H'ss of five years, 
 hegii'.ning .January 1, 174."), and ti'nuinating on tlie iiv'tli of 
 May, 1750. Several conditions were annexed U) the grant, 
 such as the maintenance of the posts on the Missouri, and the 
 regulation of the prices at which goods were to be supplied 
 to the settlements. One of the reasons assigned by De 
 V'audrenil for granting this monopoly to Dcruisscau was 
 to deprive tiie colonists in tlie Illinois district of ail means 
 of carrying on any commerce with the Indians, and thus 
 
 Urt'OBe's Early IlliuoiH, pp. 221, 222. 
 
m 
 
 Ill 
 
 Mas 
 
 312 
 
 Events in the Illinois Dependency, 
 
 force them into the cultivation of the soil, and the raising 
 of produce for the southern market.* 
 
 In 1749, the Sieurde St. Clair was re-appointed major- 
 commandant at the Illinois, hut, in the autumn of 1751, he 
 was supplanted ])y the Chevalier Macarty, jy Makarty, an 
 Irishman hy hirlh, and a major of engineers. Macarty 
 served ahout nine years, and then jnelded the position to 
 Capt. Neyonf de Villiers. 
 
 Early in 1758, after a popular and successful adminis- 
 tration of over ten years, the Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal 
 relinquished the governership of Louisiana to accept the 
 higher lionor of governor-general of Canada. Ilis suc- 
 cessor in the former office was M. de Kerlerec, a captain in 
 the royal navy. lie arrived in New Orleans the 3d of 
 Fehruary, 1753, and on the 9th of that month, was installed 
 as chief executive of the province. 
 
 Let us now take a cursory view )f c miporaneous 
 military events, occurring heyond the confines of Louisiana. 
 In 1744, war was again declared hetween France and Great 
 Britain, and their trans-Atlantic colonies speedily became 
 end)roiled in the armed conflict, v/hich is known as the 
 Third Frencii War. The active military operations, so far 
 as they affected the French-American possessions, were 
 chiefly confined to the eastern seaboard. But to guard 
 against sur[)rise, or any sudden iiTuption of the Chickasaws 
 and other unfriendly tribes, some fresh levies of troops 
 were made in Louisiana, and the garrisons were strength- 
 ened at the principal posts in the province. 
 
 The most noteworthy episode of this forei/»M > was 
 the capture of the fortress of Louisburg, situate'' jjou 
 Cape Breton Island, by an army of four tliousand hien 
 from Boston, under the command oi Colonel (afterward 
 Sir) William Bepperell, in June, 1745. The reduction 
 of this stronghold, wliich had hitherto been considered im- 
 pregnable, was a iieavy blow to the French power, and 
 during the succeeding year a powerful fleet WiM-t fitted out 
 
 • GayarKi's Hist, of La., Vol. II, pp. 23, 24. ~ ■ .---.- 
 
 t Written Noyon in old Fronch (locutnents. , 
 
Peace of 1748 — Rebuilding of Fort Chartres. 31*3 
 
 iHing 
 
 vajor- 
 )1, lie 
 ty, an 
 icai'ty 
 ion to 
 
 miuis- 
 vagiuil 
 spt the 
 
 18 8UC- 
 
 »tain in 
 
 3d of 
 
 istalled 
 
 raneous 
 uisiana. 
 d Great 
 became 
 as tlic 
 H, so far 
 rt, were 
 I truard 
 ickasaws 
 troops 
 rongtli- 
 
 r ■ i was 
 
 Ind men 
 fterward 
 
 .^dnction 
 in'od ini" 
 
 rer, and 
 It ted out 
 
 in France to recover it and chastise its captors. The fleet, 
 however, was delayed, and its aim was frustrated by a 
 storm. But by a provi^^ion of the treaty of Aix-hi-Chapelle 
 (1748), Louisburg was restored to the possession of France 
 in exchange for certain territory tliat Enghmd desired in 
 India, — an arrangement very displeasing to the New Eng- 
 landers. 
 
 The peace of 1748, which conferred increased pros- 
 perity on the Province of Louisiana, was not destined to 
 be of long duration. Of the various causes at work to 
 bring about a renewal of hostilities between the two rival 
 powers, it is unnecessary now to speak, as we shall here- 
 after take occasion to pass them in review. But the fear 
 that the English might eventually gain a foot-hold in this 
 great Valley of the Mississipi>i was ever present to the 
 minds of the intelligent French inhabitants. And the 
 suggestion was made by I)e Bertel, commandant at the 
 Illinois, to the governor in New Orleuns, and through him 
 to the king, that additional means of defense were required 
 for the protection of these valuable possessions, hinting at 
 more troops and larger and stronger forts. 
 
 Nothing appears to have been done at the time, liow- 
 ever, excepting to enroll those al)le to bear arms into com- 
 panies of militia, and to provide for the nuiintenance of 
 garrisons at the more exposed places. 
 
 It was not until the year 1753, when Macarty was 
 major-commandant, that the rebuilding of Fort Chartres 
 was begun, in accn'dance with plans and specifications 
 furnished by M. Saucier, a French engineer.* This huge 
 structure of n)as()nry, an object of wonder and curiosity 
 to all who ever beheld it, was reared at an estimated cost 
 of over five millions of livres, or about one million dollars. 
 It was 80 nearly completed by the beginning of 1756, that 
 
 * See fjftterH of Travel tliroiijirh liOuiHuuia, by M. Bossu, imptain in the 
 KnMK'h MiirinoH, and afterward C'liovaHcr of the Onlcrof St. J.oujh. Im- 
 printed at Paris, 17()8; Kiifxlisli ed., London, 1771, p. 127. Of tlie fort 
 itHolf, HosBU fiayH (p. 158): " It is built of freestone, flanked with four 
 ImatioiiH, and capable of eontaiiiinj? (or liousing) a <,'arrison of three 
 hundred men." 
 
tBHOnt 
 
 314 
 
 Events in the Illinois Dependency. 
 
 ii! 
 
 it was occupied by the Illinois commandant, and the archives 
 of the local government were deposited therein. Thence- 
 forth, the fortress was popularly knotvn as " New Chartres." 
 
 "As a means of defense," writes Breese, " except as a 
 citadel to flee to on any sudden attack of the savages, the 
 erection was wholly unnecessary. Official emolument must 
 have prompted it, and some of the many millions of livres 
 it is said to have cost must have gone into the command- 
 ant's pocket, or into those of his favorites, and they enriched 
 by this mode of peculation." 
 
 This extensive fortification was constructed during 
 Kerlerec's administration of the government of Louisiana, 
 and he probably shared in the profits of the erection. Ma- 
 karty was then major-commandant of the Illinois, and the 
 Abbe de Gagnon, of the order of St. Sulpice, was chaplain 
 at the fort. 
 
 M. de Kerlerec held tlie office of provincial executive 
 from F(>bruary 9, 1753, until June 29, 1763, when he was 
 superseded by Mons. d'Abbadic * — not as governor, but as 
 director-general, etc. — and was ordered to return to France. 
 He was accused of various violations of duty and assump- 
 tions of power, and, in particular, was reproached with 
 having spent ten millions of livres in four years, while M. 
 Rochemauro was intendant-commissary, under the pretext 
 of preparing for war. Upon his arrival in Paris, he was 
 incarcerated for some time in the Bastile, and is said to 
 have died of vexation and grief shortly after his discharge 
 from that gloomy state prison. f 
 
 In Captain Pittman's "Present State of the European 
 Settlements on the Mi88is8i[)pi," already cited, is contained 
 an excellent description of Fort Chartres, as seen by him 
 in 1766, while it wat. yet in its prime. lie writes: 
 
 '* Fort Chartres, when it belonged to France, was the 
 seat of government of the Illinois. The head-(puirter8 of 
 the English comiiianding officer is now here ; who, in fact, 
 is the arbitrary governor of the country. Tlie fort is an ir- 
 regular (puidrangle ; the sides of the exterior polygon are 
 
 * Othcrwiw writtoti Ahadie. 
 
 t (Jnyarrc'K llint. of l>a., II., f). 05; ami MartinV Louiftinna, I., p. 343. 
 
Pittman's Description of Fort Chartres. 
 
 315 
 
 hives 
 ence- 
 tres." 
 , as a 
 !S, the 
 :, must 
 livres 
 maiul- 
 liched 
 
 during 
 liBiaua, 
 i. Ma- 
 [iiul the 
 hapUiin 
 
 cecutive 
 he was 
 c, but as 
 France, 
 assump- 
 ed with 
 ■hile M. 
 pretext 
 he wuB 
 said to 
 iHC'harge 
 
 European 
 
 bntained 
 
 by him 
 
 was the 
 
 livters of 
 
 in tact, 
 
 IB an ir- 
 
 /gou are 
 
 four hundred and ninety feet. It is built of stone plastered, 
 and is Oiily designed as a defense against Indians ; the wall 
 being two feet two inches thick, and pierced with loop- 
 holes at regular distances, and with two port-holes for can- 
 non in the faces and two in the flanks of each bastion. 
 The ditch has never been finished. The (main) entrance to 
 the fort is through a very handsome rustic gate ; within 
 the walls is a small banquette, raised three feet, for the men 
 to stand on when they fire through the loop-holes. 
 
 " The buildings within the fort are the commandant's 
 and commissary's houses, the magazine of stores, corps de 
 garde, and two barracks; they occuj)y the square. Within 
 the gorges of the bastions are a powder magazine, a bake- 
 house, a prison, on the lower floor of which are four dun- 
 geons, and in the upper two rooms, and an outhouse be- 
 longing to the commandant. 
 
 " The commandant'p house is thirty-two yards long 
 and ten broad. It contains a kitchen, a dining-room, a 
 bed-chamber, one small room, rive closets for servants, and 
 a cellar. The commissary's house, now occupied by ofHcert?, 
 is built in the same line as this ; its proportions and distri- 
 bution of apartments arc the same. 
 
 " Opposite these are t'le store-house and guard-house. 
 They are each thirty yards U)ng and eight broad. The 
 former consists of two large store-rooms (under which is a 
 hirge vaulted cellar), and a large room, a bed-chand)er, and 
 a closet for the store-keeper ; the latter of a soldier's and 
 otficer's guard-rooms, a ciuipel, a bed-chamber and closet 
 for the chaplain, and an artillery store-room. 
 
 "The lines of barracks have never been finished. 
 They at present consist of two rooms each for officers, and 
 three rooms for soldiers. They are good, spacious rooms 
 of twenty-two feet s(juare, and have betwixt thetn a snudl 
 passage. There are five spacions lofts over each buiUliug, 
 which reach from end to end. Thev are made use of to 
 lodge regimental stores, working and intrenching toolH, etc. 
 
 " It is generally allowed that this is the most commo- 
 dious and best built fort in Noj'th America. 
 
 "The bank of the MissisHijtpi next the fort is con- 
 
 lllli 
 
sssgm 
 
 tmam 
 
 ta,iaaMMa»Mnww»<»-v<,^..» 
 
 316 
 
 Events in the Illinois Dejpendency . 
 
 ii! 
 
 tinually falling in, being worn awf..y by the current, which 
 has been turned from its course by a sand-bank, now in- 
 creased to a considerable island, covered with willows. 
 Many experiments have been tried to stop this growing 
 evil, but to no purpose. When the fort was begun in 1756, 
 it was a good half-mile from the water side. In the year 
 1766 it was but eighty paces. Eight years ago the river 
 was fordable to the island; the channel is now forty feet 
 deep." 
 
 The story of the subsequent dilapidation and ruin of 
 this historic fortress, which was intended to secure the em- 
 pire of the French in the West, may be told in a few sen- 
 tences. In the spring of 1772, a great freshet in the Mis- 
 sissippi, which submerged all the adjacent bottom, made 
 such inroads upon the crumbling river bank, that the west- 
 ern wall and one of the bastions of the fort were under- 
 mined and precipitated into the raging current. The Brit- 
 ish garrison then abandoned it, and took refuge at Fort 
 Gage, on the high bluff of the Kaskaskia, opposite to and 
 overlooking the old town of that name. Thither the seat 
 of government was transferred, and Fort Chartres was 
 never again occupied. It was left to become a ruin, and 
 such of its walls and buildings as escaped destruction by 
 succeeding inundations were torn down and removed by 
 the neighboring villagers for building purposes. 
 
 After the flood of 1772, "the capricious Mississippi 
 devoted itself to the reparation of the damage it had 
 wrought. The channel between the fort and the island 
 in front of it, once forty feet deep, began to fill up, and 
 ultinuitely the main shore and the island were united, 
 leaving the fort a mile or more inland. A thick growth of 
 trecd speedily concealed it from the view of those passing 
 on the river, and the high road from Kaskaskia to Cahokia, 
 which at first ran between the fort and the river, was soon 
 after located at the bluffs, three miles to the eastward. 
 These changes, which left the fort completely isolated and 
 hidden, together with the accounts of the British evacua- 
 tion, gave rise to the report of its total destruction by the 
 river. . . . But this is entirely erroneous ; the ruins 
 
The RvJn of Fort Chartres. 
 
 317 
 
 which 
 ow iii- 
 
 rilloWS. 
 
 rowing 
 11 1756, 
 ae year 
 tie river 
 »rty feet 
 
 ruin of 
 the em- 
 few sen- 
 the Mi8- 
 m, made 
 the west- 
 re under- 
 rhe Brit- 
 j at Fort 
 te to and 
 r the scat 
 trcs was 
 uin, and 
 action hy 
 uoved hy 
 
 ;e 
 
 iflsissippi 
 it iiad 
 be isUind 
 up 
 
 (or part of them) still renuiMi; and had man treated it as 
 kindly as the elements, the old fort would be nearly perfect 
 to-day." * 
 
 I^ow and then a curious tourist or an antiquary made 
 his way thither. In 1804, the fort was visited by Major 
 Amos Stoddard,! of the U. S. Engineers, who described it 
 as in a good state of preservation. In 1820, Dr. Lewis C. 
 Beck, and Nicholas Hansen, of Illinois, made a careful 
 drawing of the plan of the fortress, for insertion in Beck's 
 "Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri." At that time many 
 of the rooms and collars in the buildings, and portions of 
 the outside waHs, showing the opening for the main gate, 
 and loop-holes for the musketry, were still in a state of tol- 
 erable repair. According to their measurements, the whole 
 exterior line of the walls and bastions was 1,447 feet. The 
 area of the fort embraced about four acres; and the walls, 
 built of solid stone, were in some places fifteen feet higli. 
 In 1851, ex-Governor Reynolds visited the remains of the 
 old fortress, concerning which he thus writes : 
 
 '' This fort (situated in the north-west corner of Ran- 
 dolph county) is an object of antiquarian curiosity. The 
 trees, undergrowth, and brush are so mixed and interwoven 
 with the old walls that the place has a much more ancient 
 appearance than the dates will justify. The soil is so fer- 
 tile that it has forced u\) large trees in the very houses 
 which were occupied by the French and British poldiers." J 
 
 The same writer was there again in October, 1854, and 
 found what was left of the fort " a pile of moldering 
 ruins," the walls having been torn away in many j)lace8 
 nearly even with the ground. Moralizing upon the scene 
 of desolation thus presented to his gaze, he ([uaintly wrote: 
 "There is nothing durable in this world, except God and 
 Nature." Later tourists to this interesting spot have seen 
 
 * Paper read boforo the Chicago Hietorical Society, by Hon. E. G. 
 Mason, June 10, 1880. 
 
 t It was Stoddard who took poBsession of Upper Louisiana for the 
 (iovernnient of the United Statts, in March, 1804, under the treaty of 
 purchase from France. 
 
 t Kt'ynolds' /'iom'*")' //wt<or?/, 2d ed., p. 4('). 
 
If 
 
 318 
 
 Events in the Illinois Dependency. 
 
 the outlines of the external walls and ditches, and scattered 
 heaps of broken stone ; also the vaulted powder magazine, 
 a piece of solid masonry, existing almost entire. 
 
 It is much to be regretted that this large and commo- 
 dious fortress — the only great architectural work of the 
 French in the entire basin of the Mississippi — over which, 
 in succession, had long and proudly floated the flags of two 
 powerful nations, should not have been built upon a firmer 
 and more elevated site, where it might have been preserved, 
 as an impressive and historical monument of the past, even 
 unto the present time. 
 
Movements of the French on the Upper Ohio. 319 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1753-1760. 
 
 THE MEMORABLE SEVEN YEARS WAR. 
 
 We now approacli that momentous contest popularly 
 known as the " Old French and Indian War," * or the " Seven 
 Years' War," in which France and Great Britain stubhornly 
 contended for the final possession of this continent. The 
 French, having begun their wonderful career of conquest 
 and colonizatio!! in the early part of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, had gradually extended a chain of military and trading 
 posts from Quebec up the river St. Lawrence to Lake On- 
 tario, and thence westward along the great connecting lakes 
 to the head of Lake Michigan ; thence diagonally through 
 the country of the Illinois to the Mist^issippi, and down 
 that interior water-way to the Gulf of Mexico. The En- 
 glish, in the meantime, had been plai ing along the 
 Atlantic seaboard — a reach of over two thousand miles — 
 the most prosperous and powerful colonies in the New 
 World. And it was the extension of their growing power 
 and settlements across the Apj)alachian range of mountains, 
 which had hitherto constituted their western boundary, that 
 first brought them into controversy and collision with the 
 French Canadian authorities. 
 
 France claimed the entire Valley of the Mississippi, 
 including that of the Ohio as well, which her enterprising 
 fur-traders and missionaries had been the first to explore 
 and formally occupy, but which she had as yet only very 
 sparsely peopled. In furtherance of this claim of exclusive 
 jurisdiction, the alert French went so far as to carve th'eir 
 national fienr-de-lis on the forest trees, and to bury metallic 
 plates, stamped with the arms of France, at various places 
 
 ♦It was really the fourth French aud Indian war. 
 
320 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 in the Ohio Valley. On the other hand, England, in virtue 
 of the primal discovery of the country by the Cabots, 
 maintained the right to extend her possessions on the 
 Atlantic coast indefinitely westward, and in conformity 
 with this view the cliarters of some of her colonies were 
 so worded as to reach across the entire breadth of the con- 
 tinent. The English sought to further strengthen their 
 title by annexing to it the pretense of their Indian allies, 
 the Six Nations,* who claimed, b}' right of conquest, all 
 that part of the northwestern territory lying south of the 
 great lakes and between the Alleghany Mountains and the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 So long as France and Great Britain were at peace, 
 which was never many years at a time, this standing, 
 national controversy gave rise only to a series of border 
 disputes, petty encroachments, and intrigues with the tickle 
 aborigines, neither party being numerous enough to colon- 
 ize the territory which both coveted. But when war ex- 
 isted between the two parent countries, their respective 
 American colonies likewise engaged in murderous conflict, 
 which, because of the savages enlisted in it, was fearfully 
 destructive of life and property. 
 
 By the opening of the year 1753 affairs had reached a 
 crisis, and France, in order to fix a barrier to the westward 
 march of English colonization, and thus protect her wide 
 possessions in the West and South, determined to run a line 
 of detached posts from Niagara and Lake Erie to the head 
 of the Ohio, and down that river. The Indians w^ere the 
 first to take alarm at this movement; and in April, when 
 the news reached the Upper Ohio that a French force was 
 on the way to erect forts in that region, the Mingoes, Dela- 
 wares, and Shawnees met in council at a village called 
 Logston, on the Ohio, and sent an envoy to Fort Niagara 
 to protest against the French occupation, but their protest 
 was unlieeded. In pursuance of a pre-determined plan, 
 
 * The Five Nations were increased to six by tlie addition of the 
 Tnscaroras from North Carolina, in the first quarter of the eighteenth 
 century. 
 
Major Washington's Mission. 
 
 321 
 
 virtue 
 Cabots, 
 on the 
 forndty 
 es were 
 ;he con- 
 en their 
 x\ allies, 
 l^uest, all 
 h of the 
 1 and the 
 
 at peace, 
 standing, 
 3t' border 
 the tickle 
 to colon- 
 n war ex- ' 
 respective 
 j8 conflict, 
 fearfully 
 
 [reached a 
 westward 
 
 her vvide 
 run aline 
 
 the head 
 ^ were the 
 [^n\, when 
 
 force was 
 ^oes, Dela- 
 
 ige called 
 |t Niagara 
 
 i\Y protest 
 
 Ined plan, 
 
 lition of the 
 eighteenth 
 
 the French soldiery, under General Pierre Paul, Sieur de 
 Marin, built Fort Presque Isle on the south-eastern shore of 
 Lake Erie, near tlie present city of Erie, and Fort le Boeuf 
 on the head waters of French Creek, fourteen miles south- 
 east of the former fort, and then opened a wagon road be- 
 tween the two. They also converted into a military station 
 the Indian village of Venango, situate at the junction of 
 French Creek with the Alleghany River ; but when they 
 undertook to erect a fort at the forks or head of the Ohio, 
 they came into collision with representatives of the Ohio 
 Company. This company, which had been formed in Vir- 
 ginia as early as 1750, was authorized by the Virginia Coun- 
 cil to select five hundred thousand acres of land on both 
 sides of the Upper Ohio for the i)urpo8e of settlement, and 
 had caused surveys to be made of the lands and built some 
 houses thereon. The French troops, however, seized sev- 
 eral of the English agents and traders and sent them pris- 
 oners to Canada, and warned others away, — an arbitrary 
 and unfriendly proceeding. The company thereupon made 
 complaint to Rol)ert Dinwiddle, governor of Virginia, who 
 commissioned young George Washington (then adjutant- 
 general, with the rank of major, of the provincial militia in 
 tlie northern division of the colony) to be the bearer of a let- 
 ter to the comnumderof the French forces on the head waters 
 of the Ohio, requiring him to peaceably withdraw from that 
 territory, which was claimed as a part of Virginia, and as 
 belonging to the crown of Great Britain. 
 
 Major Washington started on his difficult mission from 
 Williamsburg (the old capital of Virginia) on tlie Slst ot 
 October, 1753, tlrst stopping at Fredericksburg to engage 
 a French mterpreter, and proceeded via Alexandria to Win- 
 chester, where he procured horses and baggage, and thence 
 journeyed to Wills Creek. Here he employed a guide and 
 four men as servants, and, continuing his journey over the 
 mountains in a north-westerly direction, reached the junction 
 of Turtle Creek and the Monongahela on the 22d of Novem- 
 ber, and the forks of the Ohio on the 23d. The next day 
 .^ he went down the river to Logstown, several miles below the 
 21 
 
322 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 1 1 
 
 forks, and there held a conference witli the Indians friendly 
 to the Enp^lish cause. From thence, attetided hy a small 
 native escort, he traveled up the valley of the Alleghany, and 
 its tributary of Frencli Creek, to Fort le Boeuf,* whither 
 he arrived on the 11th of December. Presenting his (!re- 
 dentials and letter to Jacques le Gardeur de St. Pierre, who 
 had succeeded the Sieur de Marin (then recently deceased) in 
 command of the French troops in tliat quarter, Washington 
 was politely received and entertained by tlie commander 
 and liis statf. Some days later, on taking Ids departure 
 from tlie fort, he was handed a letter by St. Pierre in an- 
 swer to that of the Virginia governor. 
 
 Major Washington and liis party set out on their re- 
 turn home the 16th of December, and after a most disa- 
 greeable and dangerous winter journey, made partly on 
 horseback and partly afoot, he reached Williamsburg on 
 January 16, 1754. Calling without delay upon Governor 
 Dinwi Idie, he delivered to him the letter of reply from the 
 French commander, with which he had been intrusted, and 
 of which the following: is a translati* '» : 
 
 "Sir: As I have the honor oi commanding here in 
 chief, Mr. Washington delivered to me the letter which you 
 wrote to the commander of the French troops. I should 
 have been glad that you had given him orders, or that he 
 had been inclined, to proceed to Canada to see our general ; 
 to whom it better belongs than to me to set forth the evi- 
 dence and the reality of the rights of the king, my master, 
 to the land situate along the river Ohio, and to contest the 
 pretentions of the King of Great Britain thereto. 
 
 " I shall transmit your letter to the Marquis du Quesne. 
 His answer will be a law to me. And if he shall order nie 
 to communicate it to you, sir, you may be assured I will 
 not fail to dispatch it forthwitli to you. As to the sum- 
 mons you send me to retire, I do not think myself obliged 
 to obey it. Whatever may be your instructions, I am hero 
 by virtue of the orders of general ; and I entreat you, sir, 
 
 * Or Fort mr la RU'i^re au Boeuf . r • - v- - - .. _.^ 
 
General St. Pierre's Letter to Governor Dinwlddie. 323 
 
 a suvall 
 my, an«i 
 whither 
 
 hifl ^-re- 
 rro, who 
 eased) in 
 rthington 
 uiuunder 
 leparture 
 ere in an- 
 
 their re- 
 rtost diflii- 
 partly oii 
 ishurg on 
 
 Governor 
 y from the 
 ^uated, and 
 
 iir here i» 
 
 which you 
 
 I should 
 
 or that he 
 
 lir general ; 
 
 [th the evi- 
 my master, 
 Contest the 
 
 |du Quesne. 
 11 order me 
 tired I will 
 the sum- 
 lelf obliged 
 I am hero 
 Lit you, sir, 
 
 not to doubt one moment but that I am determined to con- 
 form myself to tliem with all the exactness and resolution 
 which can ])e expected froni the best officer. T do not know 
 that in tlie progress of this campaign any thing luis passed 
 which can be reputed as an act of hostility, or that is con- 
 trary to the treaties which subsist between the two crowns, 
 the continuation whereof interesteth and is as pleasing to 
 us as to the Knglisli," etc. 
 
 (Signed) " Le Gardeuu de St. Pierre. 
 
 " Dated" December 15, 1758." * 
 
 When this rather defiant letter had been read and con- 
 sidered by the governor and council of Virginia, an order 
 was issued to raise a regiment of mounted militia, for the 
 double purpose of driving the French intruders from their 
 territory, and of com[)Ieting and garrisoning tlie post at 
 the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, 
 the erection of which had been already begun by the 
 agents of the Ohi(> Company. The comnumd of this regi- 
 ment was assigned to Colonel Fry, with Washington as 
 lieutenant-colonel, and they were speedily eciuipped and on 
 their way across the mountains. But the object of this expe- 
 dition was thwarted in the main by the prompter action of the 
 French under Captain Antoine Pecody Contrecoeur, who, 
 in the month of April, in anticipation of the arrival of the 
 Virginia troops, moved down to the liead of the Ohio with 
 a force of about one thousand regulars and Indians, and 
 eighteen pieces of cannon. After dispersing the employes 
 of the company and a small body of militia, whom he found 
 there, Contrecoeur proceeded to finish the fort whicli they 
 had commenced, and named it Duquesne, in compliment to 
 the commander of the French forces in Canada. 
 
 Lietenant-Colonel Washington had meantime pushed 
 forward, with one-half of the Virginia regiment, in advance 
 of the rest, to a place called the Great Meadows, fifty miles 
 north-west of Wills Creek (afterward Fort Cumberland), 
 
 * Vide " Diaries of Washington," edited by Benson J. Lossing, N. Y., 
 1860, p. 247. 
 
■3E- 
 
 ■''"''■■'^SESSSSBP*^ 
 
 324 The Seven Years' War — Death of Jumonville. 
 
 and there erected a rude stockade fort, which received the 
 name of Fort I^ecessity, While he was thus engaged, N. 
 Coulon de Jumonville, a young French officer, was sent 
 from Fort Duquesne, with a detachment of thirty men, to 
 reconnoiter his movements and notify him to surrender the 
 fort. On heing apprised by Lis scouts of the approach of 
 the French party, Washington planned to fall upon them 
 by surprise. Accordingly, on the evening of the 27th of 
 May, with a part of his provincials and a few Indian allies, 
 he suddenly surrounded De Jumonviile's camp, at a se- 
 cluded spot called the Little Meadows, and ordered his 
 men to ojien fire. In the brief action of a quarter of an 
 hour that ensued, the Virginians had one man killed and 
 three wounded ; while, on the side of the French, ten men 
 were either killed or wounded, and the remainder made 
 prisoners. Among the .-ilain was M. de Jumonville,* who 
 commanded the French party. Th3 killing of this brave 
 young officer, who bore on his person a summons to the 
 Virginians to surrender, caused much excitement in Can- 
 ada and France, where it was cUiimed to be a violation of 
 the law of nations, and it contrii)uted to kindle into a flame 
 the embers of war. 
 
 So soon as intelligence of this bloody encounter was 
 brouglit to the Illinois, Neyon de Villiers, a brother of the 
 deceased Jumonville, and captain of a. company then sta- 
 tioned at Fort Chr.rtres, solicited leave of Makarty, tlie 
 major-commandant, to go and avenge the death of his rela- 
 tive Permission being given, De Villiers set out with a 
 considerable force of French and Indians. Passing down 
 the Missi8sip]>i and up tlie Ohio to Fort Duquesne, he was 
 there joined by M. Coulon de Villiers, with other forces, 
 bent upon the same stern errand. The French on the Ohio, 
 being thus re-infoiced, took the offensive. 
 
 Some little time before this Colonel Fry had deceased, 
 and Washington euceeeded to the full command of his regi- 
 
 * M. Juinonvillo de Villiore was born in Pioardy, France, about 1725. 
 He was one of sevi'ii brotherH, all poldiiTH, hIx of whom, it is said, wero 
 killed during thiri war. His death was uiade Hit? theme of a short epio 
 poem by M. Thomas, a Frencli poet. 
 
Washington'' s Surrenders Fort Neccssi/i/. 
 
 325 
 
 ed t\ie 
 red, N. 
 as sent 
 lien, to 
 dcr the 
 )U''h of 
 u tliem 
 27th of 
 in aUies, 
 at a sc- 
 ored his 
 ,ev of an 
 lied and 
 
 ten men 
 ler made 
 lie * who 
 his hrave 
 m to the 
 it in Can- 
 ^liition of 
 
 o a flame 
 
 inter was 
 cr of the 
 then sta- 
 :arty, the 
 f liis rela- 
 iit with a 
 lug down 
 10, he was 
 10 r forces, 
 the Ohio, 
 
 deceased, 
 If his regi- 
 
 I iibout 17'25. 
 
 L Btlill, WlTl^ 
 
 Iv Bhort epic 
 
 nient. Findino" liiuisolf confronted 1)V u .suiierior force of 
 the enemy, he now fell back to Fort Xccessity, at the Great 
 Meadows, wliich he strengthened as well as he could in the 
 brief time allowed him. Here, on the 3d of Jaly, he was 
 attacked by De Villiers, with an army of some six hundred 
 Frenchmen and over one hundred Indians. The Viri^inia 
 troops made a stubborn defense, and withstood the irregu- 
 lar fire of the French and their allies (who slieltered them- 
 selves behind the forest trees), from ten o'clock in the morn- 
 ing until sunset. At length, fearing the faihire of his am- 
 munition, and not desiring to sacrifice tlie lives of his men 
 by storming the fort, l)e Villiers sent in a flag of truce 
 offering moderate terms of capitulation. In view of his 
 critical situation, Colonel Washington, after some parleying 
 over details, accepted the terms ottered. 13y these he was 
 allowed to march ofl'his troops with the honors of war, and 
 to carry away his l)aggage, but was required to leave his 
 cannon, and to surrender all of his prisoners previously 
 taken. In this frontier battle the French are said to have 
 lost only three men killed and a few wounded, while the 
 Virginians, penned up in the stockade fort, lost over thirty 
 men killed and wounded. 
 
 When the news of these stirring events reached Encf- 
 land and France, l)oth nations prepared to settle their ter- 
 ritorial disputes by the arbitrament of the sword, though 
 war was not formally declared by the King of (ireat Urilain 
 until May, 175(3. Among other sources of irritation be- 
 tween the two governments at this time was the alleged 
 encroachment by French colonists upon the <lomain of the 
 l^aiglish in Acadia, or Nova Scotia, which had been ceded 
 to England by the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, but the 
 boundaries of which remained unadjusted. 
 
 To the mere supcrflcial observer the impending con- 
 test seemed a very uneciual one. The po]tulation of tiio 
 Anglo-American colonies aggregated about one million 
 and a quarter, witii wealth and military resources in ]»ro- 
 ])ortion ; whereas, the French, all told, did not count more 
 than one hundred thousand souls. But the latter were 
 diflieult to be reached, for the reason that their forts and 
 
'-■'^'^'fsmsmssaBmm 
 
 326 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 . t ■ 'il 
 
 settlements were situated at remote points in the wilder- 
 ness, and surrounded by numerous Indian allies, who could 
 be o'lickly summoned to their aid ; and from these forest 
 retreats they menaced the entire western English frontier. 
 Moreover, the regular British army of that day was an un- 
 wieldy machine, incumbered with heavy baggage and mu- 
 nitions, commanded by brave yet conceited officers, who 
 were inexperienced in the wild tactics of Indian warfare, 
 and in constant danger of being 8ur})ri8ed and defeated 
 by a lighter equip])ed, more agile and vigilant fee. 
 
 In February, 1755, General Edward Braddock, who 
 had been given the cliief command in the English colonies, 
 arrived at Alexandria, Virginia, with two regiments of 
 regular troops. During the following April he met there 
 the governors of five of the leading provinces, and con- 
 certed with them a general plan of campaign. Three sep- 
 arate expeditions were planned; one against Fort Duquesne, 
 to be commanded by Braddock in person ; the second, 
 against Forts Niagara and Frontenac, to be led by Gov- 
 ernor William Shirley, of Massachusetts ; and the third, 
 against Crown Point, by General (afterward Sir William) 
 Johnson. 
 
 Early in May, General Braddock set out with his army 
 from Alexandria ui)on his luckless expedition. Arrived at 
 Fort Cumberland, on the Upper Potomac, he was there 
 joined by several hundred Virginia militia, under the lead 
 of Colonel Washington, whom he had invited to serve as 
 one of his aides de camp. Beitig thus reinforced, nnd hav- 
 ing now completed the equipment of his army, the gen- 
 eral resumed his march on the 10th of June. But the 
 difficulty and delay attending the opening of a military 
 road across the mountains induced him, partly at the sug- 
 gestion of Washington, to leave his wagon train and heavy 
 cannon behind with a guard of eight hundred men, under 
 Colonel Tlionuis Dunbar, and to press forward with the 
 main body of liis army, over twelve hundred strong, in 
 order to reach the French fort before its garrison could 
 be reinforced, After reaching and fording the Monongaliela 
 
BraddocWs Disastrous Defeat. 
 
 327 
 
 Ider- 
 -ould 
 [brest 
 ntier. 
 11 un- 
 l mu- 
 i, who 
 iirfare, 
 jfeated 
 
 c, who 
 )lomcs, 
 BiitB of 
 st tbere 
 [id con- 
 ree sep- 
 iquesne, 
 
 second, 
 1)y Gov- 
 
 e third, 
 ilViain) 
 
 Ills army 
 Irr'ived at 
 art there 
 the h^ad 
 nerve aB 
 \\\\\} hav- 
 |the gcn- 
 Uut the 
 military 
 tiie BUji:- 
 |i>d iieavy 
 11, under 
 Nvit\i the 
 trong, i'» 
 \o\\ could 
 kongahela 
 
 River, Braddock marched rapidly to the north down tlie 
 valley of that stream. 
 
 Meanwhile, Daniel Lienard de Beaujeu, who had prac- 
 tically, if not formally, supplanted Captain Contrecoeur in 
 the command at Fort Duquesne, heing advised hy his scouts 
 of Brnddock's approach, marched out with a force of two 
 hundred and fifty Frenchmen, and six hundred and fifty 
 Indians, to intercept his advance. Proceeding up the 
 Monongahela seven miles from the fort, the French and 
 Indians concealed themselves in the thick woods on the 
 brow^ of a ridge overlooking the banks of the river, along 
 which Braddock was expected to [)ass, and there uneasily 
 awaited his coming. 
 
 In th^ forenoon of the 9th of July, the British force 
 recrossed the river near the mouth of Turtle Creek,* and 
 without taking any adequate precautions to guard against 
 an ambuscade, boldly climbed the first bank, and advanced 
 along a defile of the second, above and near which the 
 enemy lay in ambush. And now, at a preconcerted signal, 
 the Indians raised their hideous yell, and a deadly volley 
 was poured upon the front column, which checked its ad- 
 vance, and caused it to fall l)ack on the center, and the center 
 on the rear, which was hemmed in by the river. Thus this 
 brave army, which might have advanced and driven the 
 enemy from his covert, speedily became involved in inex- 
 tricable confusion, and, after a murderous confiict of three 
 hours, was utterly routed and })Ut to fiight. Of the four- 
 teen hundred and sixty ofticers and men who v/ent into the 
 battle on that hot .Inly day, only five hundred and eighty- 
 tb.ree .came out uninjured. The carnage was frightful 
 among the officers, who were picked ofi' by the French 
 sharp-shooters. General Braddock himself Ibught with 
 great intre[)idity, but, "after having three or four horses 
 shot under him, received a mortal wound, of which he died 
 a few days later. | 
 
 * Lii'utonant-Coloiu'l (ijiyc, who led \\\v adviuuH' cohimn, liiHt forded 
 the river, and Hent buck word that no enemy waH in Higlit, wiiereupon 
 the rest of the army followed after him. 
 
 tTluH imprudent and unfortunate commander was born in I'erth- 
 
328 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 The French loss, not conntiiiii^ tliat of their Indian al- 
 lies, was less than forty; but it included their skillful com- 
 mander, Captain Beanjeu, who had ])lanned the ambuscade, 
 and who was killed early in the action.* 
 
 Colonel WashiuiJ^ton's clothini): was riddled with bul- 
 lets, and he escaiied, as it were by a miracle, from that field 
 of slaughter. His Virii^inia riflemen, despite JJraddock's 
 injudicious orders to the contrai'v, took j>osit':>ns beliind 
 trees and I'ocks, and luaintained the nnef^na! fight until 
 more than lialf of them were killed and wounded. With 
 those that remained, the dauntless and self-possessed colonel 
 covered the retreat of the routed army. Happily for the 
 fugitives, the Indian auxiliaries of the Frencih were too in- 
 tent ui)on the sjtoils of the battle field to pursue them 
 beyond the river; and never before, in a single engage- 
 ment, had the savages reaped such a harvest of scalps and 
 booty as was gathered here. The panic of the defeat was 
 quickly communicated to the rear-guard, commanded by 
 the pusillanimous Colonel Dunbar, who abandoned his 
 heavy artillery and baggage, and fled over the mountains 
 to Philadelphia, leaving the frontier settlements defenseless. 
 
 Owing partly to the discouragement produced by 
 Braddock's defeat, the other exjieditions that .lad been 
 planned by him and the colonial governors, for that year, 
 also ended in failure. The attempt of Governor Shirley 
 against Forts Froutenac and Niagara wholly miscarried. 
 The governor, with a force composed principally of raw 
 
 shire, Scotland, ahont the your Id!)"), and had risen to the rank ot' major- 
 general after forty years of meritorious service in th<' liritish army. It is 
 alliruu'd, on what seems to be good authority, that Braddoek was fatally 
 shot in the side or back tit tiie battle of the Rlonongahela, by one of the 
 provincials, whose ))rother had been stricken down by the irate general 
 for refusing to obey orders; yet it is ecjually probable tiiat the sh'»t was 
 accidental. (Jeneral Braddoek expired in the camp of Colonel Dunbar, 
 on the l!)th of July, and was buried in the military highway, seven 
 miles (>ast of Uniontown, Ta., where his graven is still shown. 
 
 * For some old French accounts of this celebrated battle, see '' llelaliom 
 Direncs H?f >• la Bata ilk (f ' Malnmjnele, (UtgnS U' \)th a Jouittct, 1 755, par Ir Fran- 
 cai« sons if. tr liranjni, Comniatiihint du Fort dit iiuene, «»/• kn Atujlois nous 
 M. Braddoek, (Uuiral en I'luf dm tronpfn Angloiscs," pp. xv., 1)-51, N. Y., 
 1800 ( — Crainoisy Series of Kelatiijiis relative to the French in America), 
 
The Reduction of Acadia. 
 
 329 
 
 .n al- 
 com- 
 icade, 
 
 i bul- 
 t field 
 ilook's 
 jebind 
 : until 
 
 With 
 colonol 
 for the 
 too iu- 
 e tlieiu 
 engrtge- 
 ilprt and 
 teat was 
 nded V)y 
 )i\ed his 
 ountaius 
 bnseless. 
 need hy 
 
 ad been 
 
 lat year, 
 Shirley 
 
 si-arried. 
 
 : of raw 
 
 oi; niajor- 
 Inny. ^t is 
 lw;iH fiitivUy 
 one of the 
 |xte geiu'val 
 w sh^^t was 
 [ol l)unV)ar, 
 Lay, st'vcn 
 
 [o " AV/at'0»w 
 ifuv h' Fran- 
 
 ])-r,"l,N. Y., 
 Ii America). 
 
 militia, marched to Oswego, on Lake Ontario ; but, in con- 
 sequence of the lateness of the season, and the difficulty of 
 procuring provisions and transports, he abandoned tlie ex- 
 pedition and returned to Albany. 
 
 It is true that the Acadians of Nova Scotia were re- 
 duced to subjection, by a fleet fitted out for that purpose at 
 Boston, with a land force of over two thousand men under 
 the command of Colonel John Winslow\ of Massachusetts. 
 After the treatv of 1748, the French iidiabitants of that 
 peninsula, living on the disputed territory, had not only 
 refused to take the oath of nnqualified allegiance to the 
 King of England, but had contributed material aid to their 
 own countrymen in the existing war. They were now (in 
 August, 1755) inhumanly punished for their contumacy. 
 Their petty forts at the head of the iiay of Fundy were 
 taken and demolished ; their villages were burned, and their 
 farms laid waste. As nuiny as three thousand of the poor 
 Acadians — men, women and children — were forcibly put 
 on shipboard and transjtorted to the other English colonies, 
 where they were distributed around as paupers. Some of 
 these unhappy exiles, as we shall see, eventually found an 
 asylum in Low^er Louisiana, where they established a thrifty 
 and permanent settlement.* 
 
 The army, under General Johnson, which was intended 
 to operate against Crown Point, on Lake ('hamplain, 
 reached the south end of Lake George in the latter })art of 
 
 * Longfellow has firriii)lii''ally pi>rtrayi'(l tlic toucliing sccneH in this 
 deportation of the unfortnnate AcaiHanK, and thrown around it the halo 
 of romance, in the poiiwhed Ktanzas of his " Evangeline," beginning 
 with these lines: 
 
 "In the Acadian land, on tlic sliorcs of the Basin of Minas, 
 Distant, HCchuU-il, still, the little villagt; of (irand I're 
 Lay in the fruitful valley." 
 
 The history of the Acadians is long, varied and interesting. They 
 were, in truth, the sport of fortune from the time of DeMonts (Ui04) 
 until the treaty of Paris, in 1763. Their descendants, however, are still 
 nunie''ouH in northern Xova Scotia. The name of this |)eninsu1a was 
 first changed from Acadia to Nova Scotia in lO'Jl. when Sir Wni. Alex- 
 ander obtained a grant of the country from James L, and undertook to 
 colonize it with Scotchnicn. 
 
"^S^i^i^^e»i^!A^§§ii 
 
 330 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 August, (1755), when informatioti was received that two 
 thousand of the enemy, commanded by Baron Dieskau, 
 who had lecently arrived witn fresh troops from France, 
 were marching against Fort Edward, on the Hudson. Gen- 
 eral Johnson thereupon detached Colonel Williams, with a 
 strong force, to intercept this movement of the French. 
 Colonel Williams unexpectedly fell in with the army of 
 Baron Dieskau, on the 8th of September, when a bloody 
 action took place, in which the English were defeated and 
 put to flight, and Williams himself was slain. But when 
 the French, flushed with their success, advanced to attack 
 the main body of Johnson's army, they were warmly re- 
 ceived, and, after an obstinate conflict, were driven from 
 the fleld with heavy loss, Dieskau himself being mortally 
 wounded and taken prisoner. Satisfied with this hard-won 
 victory, General Johnson gave over the further prosecution 
 of his movement against Crown Point. Soon after these 
 events, the English constructed a regular fort at the head 
 of Lake George, and called it Fort William Henry. 
 
 In July, 1756, Lora Loudon arrived in America, as 
 commander-in-chief of the British forces. An army of 
 about twelve thousand men was raised this year, which was 
 better prepared to take the fleld than any other that had 
 been assembled within the colonies. But the change of 
 commanders delayed military operations, and nothing of 
 any consequence was acconiiilished by the nglish army. 
 The French, however, under the able conduct of the Mar- 
 quis de Montcalm, struck at least one vigorous blow. This 
 was directed against Fort Ontario, at Oswego, on Lake 
 Ontario. In the early part August they attacked this fort, 
 "with a strong armament, and quickly compelled its sur- 
 render, with a garrison of over one thousand men, and a 
 large ([Uivntity of artillery and valuable stores. By the loss 
 of Oswego, and the defeat of Braddock in the preceding 
 year, all the western country was laid open to the ravages 
 of the onemy; and the Indians, sustained and encouraged 
 by the French, now wasted the frontiers of Pennsylvania 
 and Virginia, in ])articular, with a pitiless and desolating 
 war. 
 
Montcalm Takes Fort William Henry. 
 
 331 
 
 two 
 
 skau, 
 •iince, 
 Gen- 
 vitVi a 
 rench. 
 my of 
 bloody 
 ed and 
 t when 
 , attack 
 nily re- 
 >n tVoni 
 nortally 
 ard-won 
 sedition 
 tcr these 
 the head 
 
 lerica, as 
 army of 
 hich was 
 that had 
 ■hange of 
 thing of 
 iflli army. 
 I the Mar- 
 »w. This 
 on T.akvi 
 this fort, 
 Id its sur- 
 len, and a 
 ky the loss 
 Ipreceding 
 lie ravages 
 Itconraged 
 Lusylvania 
 [desolating 
 
 The next year, 1757, was marked by the same inactiv- 
 ity and ineiRciency on the part of the English, and by an- 
 other snccessful expedition on the side of the French. The 
 English colonists, as a rule, displayed great energy in rais- 
 ing men and money for the war ; but their efforts were 
 paralyzed by the want of concert with each other, by the 
 necessity of awaiting orders from England, and by the 
 dilatory and do-nothing policy of the incompetent gen- 
 erals sent over to command them. On the other hand, 
 Montcalm, as general-in-chief of the French, not being 
 obliged to take counsel with any one (unless it was the 
 governor of Canada), speedily collected a force of about 
 eight thousand men, including Canadians and Indians, with 
 which he passed up lakes Cham[>lain and George, and laid 
 siege to Fort William Henry. The garrison here was nearly 
 three thousand strong, commanded by Colonel Monroe, a 
 brave officer, and General Webb was at Fort Edward, only 
 fourteen miles avvav, with four thousand more. But the 
 latter made no effort to succor the beleagured fort, and 
 manifested so much indifference to its fate that he was sus- 
 pected of treachery. After standing a close siege for six 
 days, and seeing that he was to have no relief from General 
 Webb, Colonel Monroe ca[)itulated on terms honorable to 
 himself and the garrison. But the savage auxiliaries of 
 the French, paying no regard to the articles of capitula- 
 tion, nor to the entreaty of Montcalm, fell upon the En- 
 glish after the surrender, robbed them of their baggage 
 and other effects, massacred their sick and wounded, and 
 killed and scalped the Indians in their serviiie. 
 
 The unexpected capture of this valuable ])()st, together 
 with the Indian atrocities attending it, caused great alarm 
 throughout New York and New England, and, when too 
 late, large re-infoi'cements of militia were assembled and 
 sent forward to Albany and Fort Kdwartl. Meantime, 
 however, General Montcalm, after ravaging the settle- 
 ments on the Mohawk River, retired into Canada. 
 
 Tiius far the war had been very disastrous and dis- 
 couraging to the English. After three cons(H;utive cam- 
 paigUH, tlie French not only retained every foot of the 
 
332 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 disputed territory, but had captured Oswego, driven their 
 antagonists from Lake George, and, through their Indian 
 confederates, had carried the brand and tomahawk into 
 the heart of the EngUsh settlements. To remedy this 
 scries of defeats in America, as well as elsewhere, Will- 
 iam Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham, was called to the 
 head of the English ministry. He took the helm in June, 
 1757, and by his vigor and consummate ability, soon gave 
 a new and surprising turn to affairs. 
 
 In the spring of 1758, General Abercrombie, who 
 hud been appointed to the chief command in place of 
 Lord Loudt)n, found himself at the head of about fifty 
 thousand fighting men, one-half of whom were regulars. 
 This was the largest force that had ever been seen in 
 America, and from it was expected great results. On the 
 other hand, all the French Canadians capable of bearing 
 arms did not exceed twenty thousand, and they had been 
 so constantly in the service that agriculture was neglected, 
 and the horrors of partial famine were added to those of 
 war. 
 
 On the 28th of May a powerful arnuiment, which luid 
 been fitted out in England, sailed from Halifax for the 
 reduction of Louisburg — the Dunkirk of New France — 
 which was defended by the Chevalier de Druciourt, with 
 3,100 men. The English tieet, consisting of twenty ships 
 of the line and eighteen frigates, besides numerous trans- 
 ports, was commanded by Admiral Boscawen, and carried 
 a land force of fourteen thousand men, under General 
 Amherst. Arrived before Louisburg the 2d of June, a 
 close investment was begun of the town both by sea and 
 land. After a stul)boru defense, the French garrison sur- 
 rendered on the 27th of -luly, and, together with the 
 sailors and marines (amounting in all to 5,737 men), were 
 transported [irisouers oi' war to Englaiul. The loss of 
 this colossal fortress, with all its cannon, mortars, military 
 stores, and shipping in the harbor, was the nuist eft'ectual 
 blow that France had received sincf^ the beginning of the 
 war. It made the English masters of the entire coast from 
 
Defeat of General Abercrombic at Tkondcroga. 333 
 
 their 
 i\(Vian 
 : into 
 y this 
 
 WiU- 
 [o the 
 . June, 
 n gave 
 
 e, who 
 laoe of 
 ut titty 
 egulars. 
 seen in 
 
 On the 
 
 bearing 
 lad heen 
 eglected, 
 , those of 
 
 [hicii iieul 
 for tlie 
 Pvanec — 
 nrt, witii 
 nty siiip*^ 
 \is trans- 
 d carried 
 General 
 June, a 
 ^' sea and 
 L*iaon fiur- 
 with the 
 en), were 
 Ic loss of 
 1, niilitary 
 etfectual 
 Lg of the 
 loast from 
 
 Halifax to the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and greatly 
 facilitated their conquest of Canada.* 
 
 Early in July of that year, General Abercronibie moved 
 with an armv of fifteen thousand eftective men asrainst Fort 
 Ticonderoga, on Lake Chami)laiu. Montcalm had mean- 
 time thrown himself with a strong force into the fort, and 
 had so obstructed the approach to it by an abatis of felled 
 trees that it was impregnable, except by the processes of a 
 regular siege. The English troops, with more courage than 
 calculation, attacked the enemy's lines in front, and, after 
 a desperate coiiilict of four hours, were routed with heavy 
 loss, and retreated precipitately to their camp at the foot of 
 Lake George. To offset this mortifying defeat, the result 
 of bad gcneralshi[>, Colonel John Hradstreet was shortly 
 detached, with a force of tliree thousand ])rovincials, on an 
 expedition againset Fort Frontenac. He crossed the outlet 
 of Ontario Lake, landed within a mile of the fort, plaiited 
 his batteries, and speedily compelled the surrender of its 
 garrison and munitions. By the ca[>ture and demolition of 
 Fort Frontenac, the English gained practical control of 
 Lake Ontario, and cut off the main line of communication 
 between Montreal and the French posts in the West. 
 
 While these momentous events were transpiring in the 
 north. General Joseph Forbes, who had been appointed to 
 command the expedition to the Ohio, was slowly advancing, 
 with an army of seven thousand men (including wagoners, 
 sutlers, and camp-followers), to the compiest of Fort I)u- 
 quesne. The British general left J*hiladelphia in June, and 
 was joined en route by Colonel Washington, with two regi- 
 ments of Virginia militia. In consequence of the serious 
 obstacles encountered in opening a new road across the 
 Alleghanies, this army was greatly retarded in its march, 
 
 •' The fortifications at Louisburg (which stood on the south-eastern 
 Bide of Cape Breton Island) had been thirty years in building, and had 
 (•CSV the French government over $5,000,000. After this second capture 
 by the British, the fortress was demolished and never again re-l.uilt. 
 The town itself was ruined during the siege, and its present population 
 comprises only a few fishermen. 
 
334 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 and did not reach the head of the Ohio till the 25th of 
 November. 
 
 In the meantime Colonel Grant, commanding a de- 
 tachment from the main army, had pushed ahead to recon- 
 noiter the situation of the fort. But he was suddenly at- 
 tacked and driven back with considerable loss, by M. Aubry, 
 who had recently arrived with a reinforcement of French 
 troops from the Illinois. 
 
 When General Forbes reached Fort Duoue8ne,he found 
 it deserted nnd burned. The French garrison, numbering 
 about five hundred men, had set fire to the wooden building 
 on the preceding night, and fied down the river in boatsi 
 carrying with them their ordnance and stores. Taking 
 quiet possession of tlie burnt fort, Forbes caused it to be 
 forthwith repaired, and changed its name to Fort Pitt, in 
 compliment to the English prime minister. At the same 
 time he sent out a body of men to the battle-ground on the 
 Monongahela, to bury the dead soldiers of Braddock's 
 army, whose bones had been left to bleach there for three 
 years on the hillsides. 
 
 Leaving two regiments of provincials as a garrison at 
 Fort Pitt, General Forbes returned by short marclies to 
 Philadelphia ; but his constitution was so broken by the ex- 
 posure and fatigues of the campaign, that he died shortly 
 after his arriva' thither. And now the Indian nations, 
 throughout the region of the Up})er Ohio, seeing that the 
 French were losing ground, and ever ready to join the 
 stronger side,* made overtures of peace to the Englisli. A 
 treaty of pacification was accordingly entered into with 
 them, which gave security for a few years to the border 
 settlements in Pennsylvania and Virginia. 
 
 In passing down the Ohio from Fort Duquesne, xvl. 
 Aubry, the French commander, made a halt about thirty- 
 six miles above its mouth, and there on the site of a former 
 fortlet, on the northern bank of the river, commenced 
 building a fort, at which he left one hundred men for gar- 
 
 * In this particular, they were not uulike many of the more civilized 
 descendants of Adam. 
 
Fort Massac on the Ohio. 
 
 335 
 
 >tb of 
 
 a de- 
 reeon- 
 \\y at- 
 ^ubry, 
 i'reucli 
 
 ■i found 
 ibering 
 uilding 
 11 boatai 
 Taking 
 it to be 
 Pitt, in 
 he same 
 d on the 
 iiddock's 
 for three 
 
 rrison at 
 iH'hes to 
 ly the ex- 
 ll shortly 
 nations, 
 tbat tiie 
 join the 
 krlish. A 
 Into with 
 ^e border 
 
 liesne, ivi- 
 lit rhirty- 
 a former 
 lunienced 
 for gar- 
 
 rison duty, and returned with the rest to Fort Chartrea. 
 The new post was called Fort Massac, in compliment to M. 
 Massac, or Marsiac, the odieer who first commanded there. 
 This was the last fort erected by tlie French on the Ohio, 
 and it was occupied by a garrison of French troops until 
 the evacuation of the country under the stipulations of the 
 Treaty of Paris, in 1763.* 
 
 ire CIV 
 
 ilized 
 
 * Moiu'tte's " Valley of the IMississippl," vol. i, p. 317. 
 Note. — The early French history of Fort Massac dates back to tlu* 
 beginning of the last century, but it is obscured by time and fiction. 
 Dr. Lewis C. Beck, in his " Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri " (Albany, 
 N. Y., 1823, p. 114), describing the place, says: "A fort was first built 
 here by the P'rench when in possession of this ;;ountry. The Indians, 
 who were then at war with them, laid a curious stratagem to take it, 
 wliich answered their purpose. A number of them appeared in the 
 daytime on the opposite side of the river, each of whom was covered 
 with a bear-skin, and walked on all-fours. Supposing them to be bears, 
 a party of the French crossed the river in ,>ursuit of them. The re- 
 mainder of the troops left their quarters, and resorted to the bank of the 
 river in front of the fort to observe the sport. In the meantime a large 
 body of warriors, who were concealed .iji the woods near by, came 
 silently up behind the fort and entered it without opposition, and very 
 few of the Frenchmen escaped the carnage. They afterward built 
 another fort on the same ground, and called it Massac (or Massacre), in 
 nuMr.ofy of this disastrous event." This romantic story is repeated by 
 .fudge Hall, in his "Sketches of the West," and by other western 
 writers. Ex-Governor Reynolds, in his "Own Times" (2d ed., p. 16), 
 writes more specnfically of tin; fort, as follows: " Fort Massac was first 
 established by the French about the year 1711, and was also a Ujission- 
 ary station. It was only a small fort until the war commenced in 1755, 
 between the English and the French. In 1756 (1758), the fort was en- 
 larged and made a respectable fortress, considering the wilderness it was 
 in. It was at this ])lafc that tlie Christian missionaries (finst) instructed 
 the southern Indians in the gospel precepts, and it was here also that 
 the French soldiers made a resolute stand against the enemy." Fort 
 Massac was subsequently maintained by the United States government 
 as a military j)08t, and a few families resided in the immediate vicinity, 
 until after the close of the war of 1812-14. During this later period of 
 its history it was sometimes called the "old Cherokee Fort," from the 
 river of that name, better known as the Tennessee. In 1855 Reynolds 
 visited the place, which, in his "Own Times," he thus describes: "The 
 outside walls were one hundred and thirty-five feet square, and at each 
 angle strong bastions were erected. The walls were palisaded, with 
 earth between the wood ; a large well was sunk in the fortress ; and the 
 whole appeared to have l)een strong and substantial in its day. Three 
 or four acres of graveled walks were made on the north of the fort, oa 
 
'„!lJlJ!!J.l4#i!H4J. 
 
 336 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 Stimulated bv the brilliant successes that had attended 
 their arms in the campaign of 1758, the Britiwh ministry re- 
 solved to make a supreme effort the next year for the com- 
 plete conquest of Canada. The Anglo-American colonies, 
 zealously seconding the exertions of the home government, 
 brought into the field twenty thousand provincials, and 
 raised a large sum of money for their equipment and sus- 
 tenance. At a general military council, held early in the 
 year 1759, it was decided to invade Canada with three dif- 
 ferent armies, which should enter the country by three 
 separate routes, and commence offensive operations at about 
 the same time. The command of the first and principal 
 expedition, which was destined against Quebec, was in- 
 trusted to General James Wolfe, a young brigadier of great 
 enterprise and promise, who had distinguished himself by 
 his valor and conduct at the reduction of Louisburg. Of 
 the two subsidiary expeditions, one, under General Sir Jef- 
 frey Amherst, was to proceed by way of Lake Champlain 
 to Montreal, and the other was to march against Fort 
 Niagara. 
 
 General Amherst's operations were impeded and re- 
 stricted by a lack of vessels and transports. Yet Ticon- 
 deroga and Crown Point successively fell into his hands 
 without a struggle — the danger to Quebec having caused 
 the withdi;! val of the greater part of their French garri- 
 sons — and a detachment of liis army attacked and burned 
 the Indian village of St. Francis, whence many of those 
 scalping parties were believed to have issued, which had 
 ravaged the frontiers of New England. General Prideaux 
 was unhappily killed by the bursting of a gun at the siege 
 of Niagara; but his successor in command. Sir William 
 Johnson, on the 24th of July, defeated a force of twelve 
 hundred French and Indians, who had advanced to relieve 
 the fort, and he pressed the siege so vigorously that the 
 garrison soon capitulated. Johnson should then have 
 
 whicli the soldiers paraded. These walks were made in exact augiej*, 
 and are beautifully graveled with pebbles from the river. The site is 
 one of the most beautiful on La Belli' Riviere, and commands a view that 
 is charming." 
 
Wolfe's Victory Over Mnnf. i 
 
 . oi-atc With yTrnTZ ";;' ^ "'■ ^-"'-"ee, to eo- 
 --t of faei,iti,3 for „ "^ ^'; ."'■"» Q'-bee, but tl 
 
 in the latter nnrf +• t 
 
 «™^ of eight thousand T^i^M- " P''?'''""' '''"''' ""<» an 
 hardly erjual in number to tlj'^fT "'^ ''"■■^o. though 
 *<"■ '■quipped and provisiol k / "" *^'''"'*-'''. was bet- 
 vantage of one of the "n? ' . "' *<> '"""^ ''ad the ad 
 
 -o^id, Which had bt;';: rj''''"™,' '■'"■•— i %'; 
 
 .ey were oon,„,anded b/r2e*7 "•■""' by art, and 
 wl'o had merited tlie firet hnf consummate abilitv 
 
 -.ht to bombard Qn'ot ^rs Zt '" '""^ »« ^"'^ 
 on the opposite height of theV, t "'""' "* ^'^int Levi 
 the Freneh intrencfmen ow -tl^r"":""' "^ "»-"^ed 
 
 Charles, his ettbrts wore e..;i T ''"^■' along the St 
 
 v^ilance of M,,,,^ Bu "a ft"';"-^' "^^^ «'« 'act and 
 «nts, the British genera ..mM "'•>''"« ^«"ons e^:nedi 
 -oving his forces'f r , '^:' '"' "P«- the bold de!^', '„; 
 erat,ons) up the river ■„ tt, , °''''"'™ (''is base of „n 
 flat-botto„.ed boats, a, ' i ;',f "PP-^' "own at nig, t,t 
 known as the Heights of Ab alnm '^^ "" '"■^'' '^"'«™ 
 ""le above the eitadel of (iZfr'T^^' " ?"'"' ""^""t »»« 
 «as us skillfully executed as t L L*"^ ?*''-' "'"vement 
 t' ough the aclivity was so st ep 1, !" " "^'^ '"""'"'-l. 
 d.ors could, with difficulty, cli'",b i P*" ''"" «'« «oI- 
 
 J«*"g rocks and roots ^ t ' s ll "''"''"^ *" "'« P'- 
 a id chagnn that the English had .j '""•".'"^ "'th surprise 
 -rear where his defele Vte rl hi;"""'! '^ ""^'"•°' ' ■" 
 t''at a battle was unavoidable M ,""''• "'"' «'«ing 
 
 army of five thousand men m t,',e ^ '"' '^"'^- "« hi! 
 '-™. and put the fate Tf C "" d^ "'"'""f P'^'" '-'"'nd the 
 -^agoment. Nor was the i^™;','"'" '"'''"•'' "'' " ^'^'e 
 "O'ne skirmishing in front by ridv^f^r",' ""'""• ^"^^ 
 
 ;k 
 
338 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 delivered it with decisive effect. The Frencli fought with 
 valor and determination iintil the fall of their ^aneral and 
 his second in coniniand, when they retreated, and were pur- 
 sued almost to the gates of the city. 
 
 Tliis famous battle was fought September 13, 1759. 
 The English lost in killed and wounded six hundred men, 
 and the Frencli nearly one tfiousand. Generals Wolfe and 
 Montcalm were both mortally wounded, the former dying 
 on the field of conflict, and tlie latter on the next day within 
 the city walls.* On the 18th of that month the citadel of 
 Quebec was formally surrendered, and received a British 
 garrison of five tfiousand men. The royal ensign of France, 
 wfiich, with a single interval of three years, had waved 
 over this fortress for a century and a half, was now low- 
 ered from its staff, and in its place was unfui'led the victo- 
 rious cross of St. George. 
 
 liut the submission of Canada did not immediately 
 follow after the fall of Quebec. The war was further pro- 
 tracted. The Clievalier de Levis succeeded to tfie com- 
 mand made vacant by the death of Montcalm, and strove 
 to retake the city by a coup de main. Another pitched 
 battle was fought a few miles above (Quebec, on the 28th 
 of April, 1760, in which the French army gained the ad- 
 vantage, and they made the most strenuous yet unavailing 
 efforts to recover their lost citadel and seat of power. It 
 was not until tfie 3th of September, 1760, when the united 
 British forces were concentrated before Montreal, that ar- 
 ticles of ca[>itulation were signt^d by the governor-general, 
 the Marquis de Vaudreuil. By tliese" terms Canada and 
 its dependencies were surrendered to the English crown, 
 witli a reservation to the French inhabitants of their civil 
 and religi(jus privileges. 
 
 l^]([nally un8Ucceri8ful,both in Fjuro[)c and America, and 
 exhiiUHted by lier great and ))rotracted exertions, France 
 now made overtures of peace. These vv'ere favorably con- 
 
 * After receiving his mortal womui, M(vntealm whh carried into the 
 city ; and when infornietl that he could Hurvive only a few hourB, lie 
 replied: " So much tlie better; I shall not then live to see tht surren- 
 der of Quebec," 
 
Submission of Canada to the English Crown. 339 
 
 with 
 i pur- 
 
 1759. 
 
 men, 
 ,fe and 
 ■ dying 
 witbin 
 Dadel of 
 British 
 ji' ranee, 
 
 waved 
 ow iow- 
 le vlcto- 
 
 iiediately 
 ther pro- 
 the eom- 
 tid strove 
 piteiied 
 the 28tb 
 il the ad- 
 niivailing 
 lower. It 
 ■lie unite«i 
 |l, that ar- 
 ,r-general, 
 Hilda and 
 ah crown, 
 their civil 
 
 Iverica, and 
 L, trance 
 Irahly con- 
 
 LmI into the 
 Inv hours, h« 
 le tht &urrcn- 
 
 sidered by England, and every thing seemed in a fair way 
 of adjustment, wlien the negotiations were suddenly broken 
 ofl' by the attempt of the court of Versailles to bring in the 
 aft'airs of Spain and Germany. A secret compact of the 
 Bourbon princes to support each other, in peace and in war, 
 had rendered Spain averse to a treaty which weakened her 
 ally, and this induced France to once more try the fortunes 
 of war. As the interests of these two nations were thus 
 identical, it only remained for the King of Ep/^land to pro- 
 claim hostilities with Spain. The New Phigland cole sm- 
 being interested in the reduction of the West Indi ■, ^.- - 
 account of their commerce witli them, furnished a iiLorMi 
 quota of men and means for continuing the war; and 
 a great fleet was dispatched from old England, bearing a 
 land force of some^ sixteen thousand men. These combined 
 forces acted with such vigor and celerity that, before the 
 end of the next year, Great ]5ritain had gained possession 
 of Havana (the key to the Gulf of Mexico), Grenada, Martin- 
 iqtie, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and the Caribbee Islands. 
 
 The rapid progress of her conquests, which threatened 
 tli<5 remaining possessions of France and Spain, was arrested, 
 however, by the exchange of preliminary articles of jieace 
 at Fontaincbleau, toward the close of the year 1762. On 
 the lOtli of the ensuing February, 1763, a definitive treaty of 
 peace was signed at Paris, and it was soon after ratified by 
 the respective powers. By this memorable treaty, France 
 ceded to Great Britain all the conquests made hy the latter 
 in North America during the v/ar. The western houndary 
 of the British possessions was fixed to run along the mid- 
 dle of the Mississippi River, from its source down to the 
 Iberville, and thein^e along the center of that river or l)ayou, 
 and througli Lakes Maurepas and I'ontchartrain to the 
 Mexican Gulf. All of Louisiana lying west of the Missis- 
 sippi, together with the district of New Orleans on the 
 eayt, had been ceded from France to Spain hy a ])rivate 
 treaty, executed at Fontaincbleau on November 3, 1762, 
 which was permitted to stand.* By the treaty of Paris, 
 
 *iSee Article aeventh of the Faria treaty iu Chap. XIX of this work. 
 
340 
 
 The Seven Years' War. 
 
 England also acquired large territorial possessions in India 
 and elsewhere. 
 
 Such was the final outcome of this prolonged and san- 
 guinary war, whereby the great power of the French mon- 
 archy in America was permanently annihilated. The strug- 
 gle was computed to have cost the Anglo-American colonies 
 tl.'irty thousand lives, and over sixteen millions of dollars, 
 of which only five millions were ever reimbursed to them by 
 the government of Great Britain, Among the more direct 
 advantages accruing to the colonies from the war, was a 
 marked increase in their trade and population; while the 
 indirect benefits, such as unity and concert of action in 
 emergency, and knowledge and experience in military 
 science, prepared the way for the War of Inde})endence. 
 
 Notice ok Montcalm. 
 
 LouiH Joseph, Marquis do Moncalm-(iozon de .St. V^raiii, the most 
 celebrated soldier in French-American history, was born at the chateau 
 of Candiar, near Nismes, in the south of France, on the 2!)th of Febru- 
 ary, 1712, and died in Quebec, Canada, September 14, 1759. His educa- 
 tion was directed by one Dumas, a natural son of his grandfather, and at 
 the age of <^ourteen he entered the French army as an ensign, in the regi- 
 ment of Hainanlt. He served with gallantry and distinction in Italy 
 and (lerniany, and was promoted from one position to another until he 
 attained the rank of general. In the Ki)ring of 1756 he was ai)puinted to 
 succeed the Baron Dieskau in command of the French forces in North 
 America, and arrived at Quebec about the middle of May. liis subse- 
 quent eventful career is v/ritten in the history of that war. It is bi'lieved 
 that if he luui received timely reinforcements from his home govern- 
 ment, he could have maintained the authority of France in Canada. 
 General Montcahn is described as ft man of small stature, with a tine 
 head, a vivacious corntenance, and a rapid, imi>(>tuous si)eech. He had 
 a nice sense of horor and ardent patriotism, combined with the tastes 
 of a scholar, and a love ol rural pursuits. He possessed true military 
 genius, and as a commander stands very high, though not in the highest 
 rank. His last years were embittered, and his popularity impaired, by 
 contentions with the governor of Canada, the Marcp.is de Vaudreuil, 
 who, during the life of his rival, and after his death, lost no oi)j)ortunity 
 of traducing him. ( A ppleton's Cyclop, of Amcr. Hiog., vol. iv., p. :{*14.) 
 Upon the final overthrow of the French power in Canada, the friends of 
 the dead general preferred serious charges to the king against Governor 
 Vaudreuil, wlio was thereupon summoned to appear and answer them 
 
Wolfe and Montealm. 
 
 341 
 
 (lia 
 
 n 
 
 san- 
 mon- 
 itrug- 
 lonies 
 allars, 
 em by 
 direct 
 was a 
 lie the 
 iion in 
 military 
 3iice. 
 
 jie chateau 
 
 of Febru- 
 
 HiHcduca- 
 
 her, an<l ^^ 
 
 in t\ie regi- 
 
 )u in Italy 
 
 lir untU he 
 Hiointefl to 
 
 H in North 
 Ills Buhse- 
 is bcheved 
 
 |n\e govern- 
 in ('anrttla. 
 with a tine 
 \i. lie had 
 ,h the tastes 
 rue military 
 the higliest 
 [unpaired, by 
 ',> Vau<lreuil, 
 opportunity 
 
 |l. iv., P- ■^''■*-'> 
 u' friends ol 
 Inst Governor 
 answer them 
 
 in France. But, after a full investigation of the acts of his administra- 
 tion by a competent tribunal, he was exonerated. Having lost his prop- 
 erty, he died in Paris, October 20, 17(55. 
 
 On the 20th of November, 1827, during Lord Dalhousie's adminis- 
 tration in Canada, when the animosities and race prejudices, engen- 
 dered and perpetuated by centuries of cruel warfare, had been in a 
 measure obliterated, the corner-stone of a monument to the joint mem- 
 ory of Montcalm and Wolfe was laid, with uiilitary and INIasonic cere- 
 monies, in the Palace Garden, formerly attached to the old Castle of 
 St. Louis, in the Upper Town of (Quebec. This appropriate monument — 
 built of gray granite in the form of an obelisk — is sixty-five feet high, 
 and bears upon its pedestal the following Latin inscription : 
 
 Wolfe — Montcalm. 
 
 Mortem Virtm Cominunem, 
 
 Famam JIUtarin, 
 
 Monnmcntnrn Posteritas. 
 
 Dedit A. D. 1827. 
 
 Which, being freely rendered into P^nglish, reads thus: "Military vir- 
 tue gave them a common death ; History a conmion fame ; Posterity a 
 common monument."* 
 
 *,In 1832 Lord Aylraar, governor-general of (.'anada, caused to be erected on tlio 
 Plains of Abraham, at the spot where Wolfe fell, a granite monument ten feet high. 
 But it became -o broken and defaced in a few years by relic hunters, that it was re- 
 placed ill 1819 by a Doric column, inclosed by an iron fence. This beautiful pillar 
 was erected at the expense of the Briti.sli Army in Canada; and on the west side of 
 its pedestal, as on the former monument, iire inscribed the words: "Here died 
 Wolfe Victorious, Sept. 13, 1759." 
 

 342 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1700-1765. 
 
 INDIAN CONSPIRACY AND WAR OF PONTIAC. 
 
 During the prolonged and bitter struggle between 
 France and Great Britain for supremacy on this continent, 
 as hereinbefore succinctly narrated, the French settlements 
 in Upper and Lower Louisiana, being remote from the 
 principal theater of warfare, were but slightly affected by 
 its various fluctuations, though most of the garrisons in this 
 western province were withdrawn, from time to time, to 
 participate in the ensanguined contest. The dread of 
 British conquest no doubt operated to dull the energies and 
 cloud the future of these detached colonists ; yet they lived 
 on in comparative tranquillity and happiness, no scenes of 
 iar)ine and bloodshed occurring in their midst to disturb 
 the even tenor of tneir lives. It was only when the war 
 between the two rival kingdoms had ceased, and after the 
 peace of Paris, that its wide reaching results were brought 
 directly home to them. 
 
 M. Neyon de Villiers* was then major-commandant 
 of the Illinois, and the Sieur d' Annville was king's ad- 
 vocate and judge, doing duty as commissary. Among the 
 few records extant of their official acts, we find the grant 
 of a certain tract of land, for use as a stock farm, to one 
 Joseph Labusciere, who had]made written application there- 
 for "at New Chartre, the 22d September, 1761."t 
 
 * I)e v'illiers had boen taken prisoner by the Englieli at Fort Niagara, 
 in July, 1751), but was afterward t'xcliangcd or released. 
 
 t Appended to Labuseiere's application appears the following official 
 indorsement: 
 
 " In consideration of the above deelarations and others from other 
 quarters, we have granted and do grant to Joseph Labusiere the land 
 (called la bfUc fontaijie) situated between the hills and Outard's marsh, 
 
Major Rogers Occupies Detroit. 
 
 343 
 
 etweeii 
 itinent, 
 lements 
 om the 
 scted by 
 ^g in tliis 
 
 time, to 
 dread of 
 rgies and 
 -hey lived 
 
 sceneB of 
 
 disturb 
 
 1 the war 
 after the 
 ; brought 
 
 iimaudant 
 
 cing'8 ad- 
 
 nAong the 
 
 the grant 
 
 l-ni, to one 
 
 tion there- 
 
 Mjrt "Niagara, 
 
 jwing official 
 
 L from other 
 lerc the ia"*^^ 
 turd's marBii, 
 
 We now proceed to recount the military transactions . 
 that took place in the West after the capitulation ot Mon- 
 treal. On the 12th of September, 1760, Major Robert 
 Rogers, a gallant colonial officer of New Hampshire, re- 
 ceived orders from General Amherst to ascend the lakes 
 with a strong detachment of rangers, and take possession, 
 in the name of his Britannic majesty, of Detroit, Mackinac 
 and other western posts still held by the French. While 
 Rogers' flotilla was on its way up Lake Erie, being delayed 
 by stormy weather, he dispatched a courier in advance to 
 inform Captain Belcstre, the French commandant at De- 
 troit, that Canada had surrendered, and that an English 
 force was on its way to relieve him of his command. 
 Taking umbrage at the informality of the notice, and 
 doubtless wanting a pretext for delay, Belestre incited the 
 Indians around the post to measures of resistance. Ac- 
 cordingly, when Major Rogers reached the head of Lake 
 Erie, he found a force of about four liundred warriors 
 ready to dispute his farther progress. But through the 
 active intervention of Pontiac, or Pondiac, the great Ot- 
 tawa chief (with whom Rogers had recently held an inter- 
 view on the lake shore), he and his men were allowed to 
 advance unmolested to Detroit. They arrived thither in 
 the last week of November, and on the 29th of that month, 
 this military and trading post, the most considerable in the 
 central lake region, passed into the liands of the English. 
 The French garrison, comi)Osed of three officers and tliirty 
 privates, quietly laid down their arms, to the astonishment 
 of the Indians preser.t, and were sent prisoners of war to 
 Montreal. The Canadian residents of the district were left 
 in the undisturbed possession of their houses and lands, but 
 
 prayi'd for by him, according us it is explaincMl and described in the 
 present petition, on condition that the said land sliall he Hui)ject to the 
 puhlie cliar^eB, and that it shall he pnt to profit or hiiilt upon in the 
 course of the year heginninji from this day, under the penalty of being 
 again reunited to the king's domain. 
 
 '•Given at Fort Charte, this fourth day of January, 1702. 
 
 (Signed), " Noyon I)bvillirr8. 
 
 " D'ANNVIIil.K." 
 
344 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 were required to take the oath of allegiance to the British 
 crown. 
 
 As heretofore remarked, the first permanent military 
 settlement of Detroit was made by Antoine la Mothe Cadil- 
 lac, in July, 1701. He had previously been in command of 
 the post at Mackinac, and in his voyages up and down the 
 lakes had observed the strategic value of the place, com- 
 manding the [)assage between Lakes Erie and St. Clair. 
 Returning to France in 1699, he laid the matter before 
 Count Pontchartrain, miniate for the Colonies, who author- 
 ized him to erect a fort on the strait. It was built on the 
 plain adjoining the western brink of the river, and at or 
 near the site of the oUler fortlet of St. Joseph, erected by 
 Du L'hut in 1686. It was named by Cadillac, Fort Pont- 
 chartrain, but it early assumed the name of Detroit, which, 
 in French, means a strait. From that time until the close 
 of the Anglo-American war of 1812-14, the history of this 
 post is one of marked vicissitudes — of sieges, captures, bat- 
 tles, and bloodshed. As the fort slowly grew into a village, 
 with a fixed population, it was inclosed with a quadrangular, 
 wooden stockade, having two gates as the only entrances. 
 At the beginning of the English possession, the French- 
 Canadian population of Detroit, including their settlements 
 along the river, was estimated as high as twenty-five hun- 
 dred persons, but the number soon diminished. The fort, 
 then endjracing the entire town, is described as a stout pali- 
 sade, twenty-five feet in height, furnished with bastions at 
 the four angles, and block-houses over the two gateways. 
 A short distance below the fort, on the same side of the 
 strait, stood a village of the Pottawatomies. To the south- 
 east, on the opposite bank, was that of the Wyandots, and 
 live miles above the latter, on the same bank, lay the vil- 
 lage of the Ottawas. The river, half a mile in width, ran 
 through a landscape of singular beauty, and in its pellucid 
 waters were mirrored the outlines of the stately forest trees 
 that stood on either l)ank. Back from the full-flowing 
 stream rose the whitewashed cottages of the settlers, while 
 in the distance were clustered the Indian wigwams, from 
 which curling (iolumns of smoke rose high into the pure 
 
French Intrigues Among the Indians. 
 
 345 
 
 iWtary 
 Cadil- 
 
 antl of 
 vvu the 
 i, coni- 
 . Clair, 
 before 
 autlior- 
 • on the 
 id at or 
 jctcd by 
 rt Pont- 
 t, which, 
 the close 
 ry of thirt 
 ,ure8, biit- 
 a village, 
 vungular, 
 ntrances. 
 Q If reuch- 
 jttlemeuts 
 
 northern atmosphere. At the Isle a la Peche^ near the out- 
 let of Lake St. Chiir, dwelt Pontiac, " the master spirit of 
 this sylvan paradise, who, like Satan of old, revolved in his 
 powerful mind schemes for marring its beauty and inno- 
 cence." Here, according to Rogers' journal, he lived with 
 his squaws and children, and here, no doubt, he might have 
 been often seen reclining on a rush mat, like any ordinary 
 warrior. 
 
 Directly after the British occupation of Detroit, Major 
 Rogers sent officers to take possession of Forts Miami on 
 the Maumee, and Ouatanon on the Wabash. The major 
 himself started to relieve the French posts on the upper 
 lakes, but was prevented from carrying out his purpose by 
 the early approach of winter. During the ensuing spring 
 of 1761, however, the forts on the Straits of Mackinac and 
 St. Mary, at the head of Green Bay, and on the river St. 
 Joseph, were all garriso led by small detachments of British 
 troops. But the flag of France still waved over the posts 
 in Illinois and Louisiana, which had not been included in 
 the stipulations of the surrender at Montreal. 
 
 The English were now in military possession of the 
 whole of Canada; yet the task of maintaining their author- 
 ity in this vast region was found to be one of no small dif- 
 ficulty, because of the general dissatisfaction with the change 
 of rulers pervading its inhabitants. The French settlers, 
 who formed the ruling element, having their national hatred 
 intensified by years of warfare, were irreconcilable, and many 
 of the more discontented left their Canadian homes and re- 
 moved to Illinois and Louisiana, which still belonged to 
 France. Here they continued to clierish their animosity 
 and foment resistance, still hoping that Canada might bo 
 again restored to France. Illinois thus became a place of 
 refuge and a center of French intris^ues aijrainst the British 
 rule. Canadian traders and refugees went every-where 
 among the north-western tribes, wliose good will they had 
 long before secured by a conciliatory [>olicy, and incited 
 them to take up arms against the English, who, it was de- 
 clared, were seeking to compass their destruction by hedg- 
 ing them round with forts and settlements, and by stirring 
 
^^iiST^JTSTTTTTT^IT^TT: 
 
 346 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 up the Cherokees and Chickasaws to attack them. To give 
 the greater efficacy to their arguments, the French traders 
 liberally distributed among the Indian chiefs guns and am- 
 munition, which the English refused to do, and otherwise 
 treated them as inferiors. It should be observed that fire- 
 arms, blankets, and other articles of European fabric had 
 been so long supplied by the French to the western Indians, 
 that tliey were now become a necessity to the existence of 
 the latter. 
 
 [Inder these altered circumstances, Pontiac, who still 
 hated the British, although he had interfered on their side 
 so far as to permit Major Rogers to take peaceable posses- 
 sion of Detroit, soon began to show his old partiality for the 
 FrencVi. He was now some fifty years of age, and in the 
 full prime of his powers. Pontia<.' was born on the Ottawa 
 River about the year 1712, and was, it is said, the son of an 
 Ojibwa or Chippewa woman. It has V)een claimed that he 
 was of Sac lineage, but he belonged, by adoption at least, 
 to the Ottawa tribe.* As the Ottawas were in alliance with 
 the Ojibwas and Pottawatomies, he became in time the prin- 
 cipal chief of the three tribes. In 1746 he defended tlie 
 chief post of Detroit from an attack of some discontented 
 tribes of the north, and in 1755 he appears to have com- 
 manded a band of Ottawa warriors at General Braddock's 
 defeat. During the war between France and England he 
 I'ought valiantly on the side of the former, and for his 
 courage and devotion was presented with a full French 
 uniform by the Marquis de Montcalm, only a short time be- 
 fore the fall of Quebec. 
 
 After the final defeat of the French and the surrender 
 of Canada, Pontiac at first manifested a disposition to cul- 
 tivate the friendship of the conquerors, but was disappointed 
 
 * Reynolds says, in his " Pioneer History," that Pontiac had French 
 blood in his veins; and his alleged light complexion and strong bias 
 toward the French lend credence to the assertion. The traditional de- 
 Bcriptions of this Indian chief vary in regard to his features and the 
 color of his skin, but all concur in depicting him ay a savage of sym- 
 metrical and noble form, of proud and haughty demeanor, and of com- 
 manding address. 
 
Planning of the Conspiracy. 
 
 347 
 
 D give 
 radere 
 d am- 
 erwise 
 it fire- 
 ic liad 
 iidians, 
 ance of 
 
 ho still 
 leir side 
 
 posses- 
 y for the 
 d in the 
 3 Ottawa 
 iou 01 an 
 1 that he 
 I at least, 
 auce with 
 
 the priu- 
 ;nded the 
 [contented 
 
 ave eom- 
 raddock's 
 
 iigUmd lie 
 ,(1 for his 
 ill "French 
 t time he- 
 surrender 
 
 ion to cul- 
 Isappointed 
 
 L Viae! French 
 h strong bias 
 |ra(iitiona\ de- 
 lures and the 
 Ivage of syni- 
 \, and of coui- 
 
 in the advantages he expected to derive from their favor. 
 In the now changed state of affairs, his sagacious mind dis- 
 cerned the danger which threatened liis race. The equi- 
 libriiini that had liitherto subsisted between the French 
 and English gave the Indians the balance of power, and 
 both parties were compelled to respect their rights to some 
 extent. But, under British domination, their importance 
 as allies was gone, and their doom sealed, unless they could 
 restore the power of the French and use it to cheek the en- 
 croachments of the English. Inspired with this idea, as 
 well as by ambition and patriotism, he sent trusty mes- 
 sengers to the nations of the upper lakes, to those on the 
 Illinois, the Mississippi, and Ohio, and southward to the 
 Gulf of Mexico. In the autumn of 1762 his emissaries, 
 bearing the red-stained hatchet and war-belt as symbols of 
 their mission, passed quickly from tribe to tribe, and every- 
 where the dusky denizens of the forest assembled, eager to 
 hear the fiery message, which had been prepared l)y the 
 leader for the occasion. The attending chiefs and warriors, 
 moved by these stirring appeals, pledged themselves to 
 unite in the league and war against the common enemy of 
 their race.* 
 
 Thus, by his own superior energy, activity, and ad- 
 dress, Pontiac became the acknowledged iiead and front of 
 the most extensive confederation of Algonquin nations ever 
 before known in Indian history. lie not only conceived 
 the great scheme of uniting all these nations in a league or 
 conspirac}' against the English colonists, but of simulta- 
 neously attacking all the accessible forts of the latter, and, 
 after butchering their garrisons, to turn upon the defense- 
 less settlements and continue the death-dealing work until 
 the entire English population should be extermiiuited, or 
 driven into the sea. The conspiracy was planned or ma- 
 tured at a council of the Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Chippe- 
 was, and Hurons, held near Detroit about April 27, 1763, 
 when Pontiac nuide a speech recounting the wrongs and 
 indignities that had been suffered by the Indians, and 
 
 *See Davidson & Stuve's Hist, of 111., pp. 140, 141. 
 
348 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 II' 
 
 prophesied their extermination. The plot was well laid, 
 and it was more successfully executed than might have 
 been expected, considering the limited resources of the na- 
 tives, and the rankling jealousies and enmities that pre- 
 vailed among the ditierent trihes. 
 
 Prior to this, on February 10, 1763, was signed the 
 treaty of Paris, by which all the territorial possessions of 
 France east of the Mississipi were ceded to Great Britain. 
 During the following spring, in pursuance of this act of 
 cession, all tho French posts iji Southern Louisiana, on 
 the east side of the Mississippi, but not including the 
 district of New Orleans, were occupied by English gar- 
 risons. The immediate occupation of Illinois, however, 
 was not deemed practicable, owing to the strong barrier of 
 hostile Indians surrounding the forts there, and the French 
 officers then in command were therefore authorized by Sir 
 Jeffrey Amherst, the British commander-in-chief, to retain 
 their posts until formally relieved. In the exercise of this 
 trust they seem to have been guilty of a breach of faith, 
 both in furnishing the Indians with arms and supplies, and 
 in concealing from ti m the transfer of the country to the 
 English.* But for this misplaced confidence, or want of 
 soldierly foresight on the part of General Amherst, the war 
 that ensued might have been abbreviated, and thus divested 
 of some of its barbarities. 
 
 According to the plan concerted by Pontiac and his 
 council of war, the last of May (1763) was designated as 
 the time for the general uprising, when each tribe was to 
 
 * " It now appears from the best autliorities (says a Report of Sir 
 William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Allairs, to the Board of 
 Trade, Deceaibc^r 26, 1764), and can be proved by the oaths of several re- 
 spectable persons, prisoners among the Indians of Illinois, and from the 
 accounts of the Indians themselves, that not only many ]■ rench traders, 
 but also French officers, went among the Indians, as tlicy said, fully 
 authorized to assure them that the Fren(4i king was determined to sup- 
 port them to the utmost, and not only invited them to visit the Illinois, 
 where they were plentifully supplieil with ammunition and other neces- 
 saries, but also sent Heveral canoe loads at diflerent times up the Illi- 
 nois River to the Miamis, as well as up the Ohio to the Shawanese and 
 Delawares." 
 
Pontiac's Siege of Detroit. 
 
 349 
 
 ll laid, 
 t have 
 the ua- 
 at pre- 
 
 [led tlie 
 sioiis of 
 Britain. 
 8 act of 
 iana, on 
 iing the 
 UbU gar- 
 how ever, 
 barrier of 
 le French 
 ed by Sir 
 , to retain 
 iae of this 
 1 of faith, 
 )plie8, and 
 itry to the 
 r want ot 
 t, the war 
 divested 
 
 Uc and his 
 igiiated as 
 ibe was to 
 
 ieport of Sir 
 T,he Board o£ 
 \oi several re- 
 l\iul from the 
 I'lich traders, 
 j.y said, fiiiiy 
 [uned to sup- 
 the Illinois, 
 I other neces- 
 , up the lUi- 
 Lwanese and 
 
 attack the garrison of the nearest Englisii ibrt, and the se- 
 cret wan 80 closely ke[»t that two-thirds of the i)08t8 at- 
 tacked were cafttured. cither by surprise or stratagem. 
 The taking of Detroit was to be tlie preliminary task of 
 Pontiac himself, and the date of its <'xecutiou was set for 
 the 7th of May. He accordingly attempted, with a band 
 of trained warriors, to seize that post, but was foiled in his 
 design by the vigilance )f Major Henry Gladwin, the Eng- 
 lish commandant, who liad received information of the 
 plot the da}- bifore, from a young Chippewa woman, who 
 had formed an attachment for him and wished to save his 
 life.* 
 
 The assault u[»on Detroit was renewed by Pontiac, 
 with an augmented force, (mi the 12th of May, but, failing 
 in this, he turned it into an irregnlai- siege. The garrison, 
 meantime, obtained food from the neighboring Canadian 
 settlers, who likewise supplied the Indians in turn. In con- 
 sequence of the largely increased number of his followers, 
 Pontiac found it necessary to make regular levies on the 
 French farmers for provisions, and in lieu of other com- 
 pensation, lie gave them his promissory notes, scrawled on 
 pieces of birch bark and signed with the jfigure of an otter, 
 the totem of his family. This imitation of the practices of 
 civilized men might have been suggested to him by some 
 of the farmers themselves, yet it is related to his credit that 
 all of these notes were afterward paid. 
 
 Supplies and reinforcements were sent to the belea- 
 guered fort in small schooners, by way of Lake Erie; but 
 these were mostly cajttured ])y the Indians, who compelled 
 their i>risoners to row them to Detroit in hopy of surpris- 
 ing the garrison. At length, however, the garrison was re- 
 inforced, and thereupon took the offensive. On the Slst 
 of July the English attacked Pontiac at liis camp near the 
 mouth of a little stream known as Bloody Run ; but in this 
 etigagement the assailants were defeated, and retreated to 
 
 * It may be hoped that no iconoclast will arisf, hh in the case of Po- 
 cahontas, to demolish this traditional story of the devoted Chippewa 
 maiden. 
 
350 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 the fort witli a loss of fifty-nine men in killed and wounded. 
 The siege of Detroit was maintained in a desultory manner 
 until about the 10th of October, when the ammunition of 
 the natives fell short, and they became discouraged. 
 
 Although failing in all their eftbrts to capture this 
 coveted post, the Indians were more successful elsewhere. 
 It is true tliat Forts Pitt and Niagara, which they also at- 
 tacked, proved too strong for their destruction ; but be- 
 tween the first and twentieth of Jtme, they took Fort Ve- 
 nango, LeBcBuf, Presque Isle, Sandusky, Miami (on the 
 Maumee), St. Joseph,* Mackinac .md LeBaye,t and either 
 murdered or made prisoners of their respective garrisons, 
 only a few eii'ecting their escape. The destruction of life 
 and property at these widely separated posts was but the 
 prelude to a general Indian war, which carried terror and 
 desolation into many of the fairest and most fertile valleys 
 of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. 
 
 General Amherst had now become aware that the oc- 
 cupation of the Illinois forts by French garrisons was con- 
 ti'ibuting to prolong and intensify the contest, and he would 
 gladly have displaced them at once, but still found it im- 
 pructicable to broak througli the cordon of hostile tribes 
 by which they were environed. Ilis only expedient, there- 
 foi'e, was to write to Neyon de Villi ers at Fort Chartres, 
 instructing him to make known to the Indian chiefs and 
 warriors their altered relations under the treaty of cession. 
 That French officer, being thus compelled to divulge what 
 he had long concealed, reluctantly wrote to Pontiac, saying, 
 ^' that he must not expect any assistance from the French ; 
 that they and the English were now at peace and regarded 
 each other as brothers, and that the Indians should aban- 
 don their hostilities, which could lead to no good result."^ 
 
 *0n Lake Michigan, formerly called Ft. Miami. 
 
 t At the head of Green Bay. 
 
 t At or before that time DeVilliers wrote to D'Abbadie, at New Or- 
 leans, that it was the fault of the English if the Indians manifested 
 such enmity to them. " Tlie English," said he, " as soon as they be- 
 came aware of the advantages secured to»them by the treaty of cession, 
 kept no measures with the Indians, whom they treated with harshness 
 
Expeditions of Colonels Bouquet and Bradstreet. 351 
 
 unded. 
 manner 
 ition of 
 
 ire this 
 56 where. 
 
 also at- 
 
 but be- 
 Fort Ve- 
 
 (on the 
 :id either 
 3-arrisonfl, 
 Iw of life 
 8 but the 
 terror and 
 ile valleys 
 
 iiut the oc- 
 is was con- 
 rl he would 
 and it im- 
 itile tribes 
 ent, there- 
 t Chartres, 
 chiefs and 
 of cession, 
 vulge what 
 iac, saying, 
 le T'rench; 
 (1 regarded 
 ould aban- 
 )d result."! 
 
 L, at New Gr- 
 ins manifested 
 sn as they be- 
 laty of cessiou, 
 Tith harshnesa 
 
 This letter was a grievous disappointment to Pontiac, who 
 relied for ultimate success upon the continued support of 
 the French, and it proved the entering wedge toward the 
 breaking up of his prodigious power and influence. Shortly 
 after its reception, he departed from Detroit, with a num- 
 ber of his followers, and went southward to the country of 
 the Mauinec, intending to return and renew the contest the 
 next spring. 
 
 The winter of 1768-4 passed without any very note- 
 worthy occurrence. In the early summei" of 1764, the En- 
 glish authorities fitted out two considerable expeditions; one 
 to operate against the savages in the central lake region, and 
 the other for the punishment of those in the Valley of the 
 Ohio. The command of the latter column was entrusted to 
 Colonel (afterward General) Henry Bouquet, who marched 
 from Fort Pitt, and, encountering the warlike Delawares 
 and Shawnees on the banks of the Muskingham, soon de- 
 feated and reduced them to submission. This efficient of- 
 licer required these Indians to surrender all of their white 
 prisoners. In compliance with his demand, they reluctantly 
 brought into camp a large number, principally women and' 
 children, some of whom had been captured during the early 
 part of the French war, and had been in captivity so long 
 as to have almost forgotten their native tongue and the 
 homes of their childhood or youth. 
 
 Colonel Bradstreet, who commanded the other expe- 
 dition, proceeding up the southern shore of Lake Erie, 
 wrested Sandusky from the hands of the hostile Indians 
 and reinforced Detroit. He then sent Captain Thomas 
 Morris, with some Canadians and friendly Indians, to in- 
 duce the Illinois and their allies to make peace with the 
 English. The captain and his party ascended the Maumee 
 River to the vicinity of Pontiac's camp, and thence went as 
 far as Fort Miami, which had been captured by the Indians 
 in the preceding year. But, after experiencing great han'- 
 ships, and being subjected to gross indignities by the Miamia 
 
 and the haughtiness of masters, and whose faults they punished by 
 crucifixion, hanging, and every sort of torment."— Gayarre'a Hist, of 
 La., Vol. II., p. 98. 
 
4- 
 
 362 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 and Kickapoos, Morris was glad to escape from their grasp 
 with his life, and returned to Detroit without having ef- 
 fected the olnject of his perilous journey.* 
 
 Previously to this, in the early part of February, 1764, 
 Major Arthur Tjoftus,then doing duty with the 22d regiment 
 at Pensacola, Florida,! was ordered to proceed lo the Illinois 
 and take military possession of the posts there. He accord- 
 ingly sailed from Pensacola with four hundred men for that 
 purpose, hut on his arrival in New Orleans some of them de- 
 serted liim. On the 27th of February he re-embarked his 
 troops, with thirty-seven women and children, in ten heavy 
 boats and two jjirogues, and started up the Mississippi, vVd- 
 vancing slowly, he reached Davion's Bluff, near Tunica 
 Bend, on the 19th of March, when lie was fired upon by a 
 party of Tunica Indians, who had ambushed both sides of the 
 river. Thcv killed six and wounded seven of the EneTish 
 soldiers, and thus stayed the farther progress of the expe- 
 dition. The suspicion was strong among the English that 
 the French, at Pointe Coupee, had aided the Tunicas with 
 their slaves in this murdert)us attack. Keturnina: to New 
 Orleans in a rage. Major I oftus accused Governor D'Abbadie 
 of complicity with the Indians; but it does not appear that 
 tlie governor was in any way responsible foi- the unfortunate 
 occurrence. On the contrary, he had furnished the Pritish 
 ofUcer with an interpreter, and bad sent orders to the com- 
 mandants of the French posts on the river to afford him 
 needed aid and protection, and, in fine, had done all in his 
 power to insure the success of his expedition. The truth 
 is, that ijoftus himself was partly to blrune for his failure, 
 since be took little pains to conciliate either the French or 
 Indians.! 
 
 Soon after tids abortive effort to reach Fort Chartres, 
 
 *In a letter wiitti'ii during thw adventurous trip, dated I^a Prairie 
 deH MascoutiiiH, Sopteniber 2, 17(14, and addresned to Colonel BradHlreet 
 at Detroit, Caiitain Morris sujj:j?e8tiv('ly fluyn: " I am certain, sir. that a 
 few j)reMentH to the ehufs would l»i've a good efleet. Kind treatment 
 will infallibly open a way to the lllinoiH <!ountry." 
 
 t In the treaty of Paris, Florida had been given by Spain to Eng- 
 lane in exehang*' for Havana. 
 
 I See CiuyerrdV History of Louibiana, Vol. II., pp. 102, lOo. 
 
Croghan's Mission of Conciliation. 
 
 353 
 
 grasp 
 .ng ef- 
 
 r, 1764, 
 giment 
 iWiuois 
 accorcl- 
 for tbat 
 hem de- 
 •ked Ills 
 ,11 heavy 
 pi. Ad- 
 
 pon by '^ 
 
 ies of the 
 
 > English 
 
 [he expe- 
 
 gli-h that 
 
 licas witVi 
 
 g to l^ew 
 
 VAbbadie 
 )pcar that 
 fortunate 
 le lirifiBh 
 the c'om- 
 ttord liini 
 all in his 
 rUc trutb 
 ift failure, 
 
 ^French or 
 
 cniartros, 
 
 la La Prairie 
 
 \ BriiilRtreet, 
 \\, sir. Uvat a 
 y\ tri'atinont 
 
 ain to Eng- 
 
 IV.',. 
 
 Captain Pittman started from Mobile to make a second at- 
 tempt, but on his arrival in New Orleans he was deterred 
 from proceeding farther, owing to the excited state of feel- 
 ing among the Indians along the Mississippi. During the 
 ensuing summer. Major Robert Farmer was dispatched 
 from Mobile, with a part of the 34tli regiment of foot, 
 upon the same mission, yet he did not advance far before 
 he was stopped by the hostile savages. It was not, indeed, 
 until the first week in December, 1765, and after the final 
 surrender of Fort Chartres, that he arrived with his force in 
 the Illinois. 
 
 8uch was the continued great influence of Pontiac,and 
 such the strength of the combination he had formed among 
 the aboriginal tribes of the Mississippi Valley, that General 
 Gage (who had succeeded Sir .Tett'rey Amherst as com- 
 mander-in-chief of his Britannic Majesty's forces in North 
 America) now became convinced that it would be impos- 
 sible to eradicate from the minds of the Indians the idea 
 of French assistance, so long as the forts in Illinois re- 
 mained in tlie hands of French officers. He therefore un- 
 dertook to put a })eriod to this tedious and humiliating war, 
 hy removing the principal cause of its continuance. After 
 the faikire of tiie attempts of Majors Loftus and Farmer, it 
 was determined to send troops to the Illinois b\' vay of the 
 Ghio River. To facilitate this design, 0-^'-. el George Cro- 
 ghan, a deputy of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and 
 an experienced trader among the western Indians, together 
 with Lieutenant Alexander Fraser, of the Finglinh army, 
 were sent out in advance, to [)repare the savagi's by ne- 
 gotiation for the advent of the projected military expedi- 
 tion. They started from I'hiliuleljihia in February, 1765, 
 attended by a snndl mounted escort, and carried with them 
 an ample assortment of goods for use as presents in con- 
 ciliating the natives. After a difficult and fatiguing jour- 
 ney over the mountains, obstructed with snow and ice, they 
 reached Fort Pitt (now IMttsburg) in Marcli, but had the 
 ill-luck to loose the larger part of their goods at* the hands 
 of the "freebooting borderers"" of Pennsylvania, Golonel 
 28 
 
354 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 Oogliau tarried at Fort Pitt a tiuiuVjer of weeks, in order to 
 complete his preparations, and to confer witli the sachems 
 of the Uelawares and Shawnees, along whose southern 
 borders the armed expedition would have to pass. 
 
 Meanwhile, to expedite the main business of the mis- 
 sion, Lieutenant Fraser, with raore boldness than discretion, 
 pn)barked in a canoe, with a t.ader named Sinnott, and de- 
 scended the Ohio and ascended th > Mississip})i to Kaskaskia. 
 Arrived thither in the forepart of May, he experienced very 
 rough treatment from the Illinois Indians. He was buft'eted 
 and his life threatened, and finding his position neither 
 agreeable nor safe, he fled in disguise down the Mississippi 
 River to New Orleans. 
 
 Pontiac was then encamped in the vicinity of Fort 
 ('hartres, whither ho had come some time before, with a 
 train of four hundred warriors, to deniand arms and am- 
 munition of the Frc ich for the further prosecution of hi.s 
 war against the English. About the IStli of April, on be- 
 ing received into the fortress and presented to St. Ange, 
 the (H)mma idant, he addresNcd hiu) in the following ele- 
 vated strain : 
 
 '" Father, we have long desired to see you and enjoy 
 the pleasure of taking you by the hand. While we refresh 
 ourselves with the sooihiiig incense of the friendly calumet, 
 we will recall the battles fought by *mv warriors against the 
 enemy, which still seeks our overthrow. But while we 
 sj)eak of their valor and victories, let us nor forget our 
 fallen heroes, and w'th rene\\ed resolves and more constant 
 endeavors, strive to avenge their deaths by the downfall of 
 our enemies. 
 
 " Father, I love the French, and have led hither my 
 braves to maintain your authority and vindicate tlie in- 
 sulted honor of France. IJut you must not longer remain 
 inactive, and suffer your red brothers to contend alone 
 against the foe who seek our (ommon destruction. We 
 demand oi" you arms an<i warriors to assist lis. and when 
 the KngliHh dogi* pre driven into the sea, we will again in 
 p«ace aiid happinesH onjoy with you these fruitful forests 
 
Croghan\^ Party Attacked by Indians. 
 
 866 
 
 •der to 
 ,cht'ius 
 utbern 
 
 le mis- 
 [iretion, 
 and de- 
 ;kaakia. 
 
 jcd very 
 
 buffeted 
 
 neither 
 
 IBBlPBippi 
 
 of Fort 
 e, with a 
 and am- 
 on of hirt 
 ril, on be- 
 st. Ange, 
 .winir e\e- 
 
 aivd enjoy 
 we refresli 
 y i-alumet , 
 ((rainst tVu' 
 while we 
 forget onr 
 |i'o constant 
 ilownfall of 
 
 hither my 
 |,te the in- 
 Lrcr remain 
 
 t,end aloi\o 
 Ltion. W*' 
 1 and when 
 
 lill agaii» in 
 
 \\\U\\ t'orerttrt 
 
 and prairies, the noblo heritage preseatcd by the (ireat 
 Spirit to our ancestors." 
 
 St. Ange was constrained by circumstances to decline 
 giving the expected aid ; but be accompanied bis refusal 
 with soothing couipHments, aud added a few gifts to ap- 
 pease Pontiac's bitter disap])ointment. 
 
 But to return to Colonel Croghan. On the 15th of 
 May, 1705, having coin[)letcd bis conferences with the tribes 
 about Fort Pitt, he started down the Ohio with two bateaux, 
 or long boats, and a snuill party of white men. Early the 
 next day he was joined at Chartier's Island by several depu- 
 ties of the Senecas, Shawnees, aud Delawares, whom he liad 
 persuaded to accompany him. Proceeding oti his way, with 
 occasional short stop[»ages for refreshment, Croghan arrived 
 the first of June at the head of the Falls of tht' Uiio, where he 
 landed and encam[)ed for the night. On the h^Mowing morn- 
 ing his party passed the Falls or rapids : but as the river was 
 ([uite low at tlie time, they had to lighten their boats in order 
 to get safely througli the channel on the Indiauii side. (Con- 
 tinuing their expeditious voyage, they reached the mouth 
 of the Wubash on the «>th, and found ther( ;i rude breast- 
 work, 8up[»OMed to have b 'en erected by the Ijidians. Six 
 miles below tlie Wabash, they put to shore and encamped 
 at a place known as the "Old Shawnee Village," Kome little 
 distance above the present Shawneetown.* From this land- 
 ing place Croghan <lisj>atched two of his Indians across the 
 country to Fort ('hartres, with letters \X) r/ieutenant Fi-a/iCr, 
 who was suj)posed lo be still at that post, and to Captain 
 St. Ange de Bellcrive. 
 
 At day-break, on the 8th of June, while yet in carap, 
 on the site of the old Iiulian village, Croghan's [>arty was 
 suddenly surrounded :ind fired upon l)y a baud of eighty 
 K:cka|)oo and Maneoutin wurriors, who had been watching 
 his movementM for several diiys. They killed five of hie 
 company, two white men aud three Delaware liuiians, and 
 
 *The time occupied in this dtiwnward trip from Fort Pitt waa 
 twenty-one dayH, and the distJinct! traveled. <-iKht iiuiidred miles, by 
 the pinuoHiticH of the river. It will thuH he sei-n that they moved with 
 unusual celerity, averaging ahout forty miles per day. 
 
 i! 
 
356 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 wouuded neveral others, including the leader himself; then 
 made liim and the rest of the whites prisoners, and pro- 
 ceeded to despoil them of every thing they had. The ex- 
 cuse afterward given hy the assailants for this unprovoked 
 and murderous attack was, that they had been told that 
 Croghan was coming into their country with an armed es- 
 cort of Cherokees, their mortal enemies. But a better 
 reason was to be found in their instinctive love of blood 
 and plunder. Having quickly divided the spoils of Colonel 
 Oroghan's camp, the Kickapoos and Mascoutins,* fearing 
 the arrival of another marauding party, whom they sus- 
 pected to be on their trail, left such heavy articles as they 
 could not carry away, and set off in haste, with their [irison- 
 ers, for their villages on the Upper Wabash. Their course 
 lay on and through tlie heavily wooded river bottom, which 
 was so intersected by morasses and beaver ponds, as to 
 render traveling slow and laborious. 
 
 On tlie 15t]i they reached Post Vircennes, where a 
 hah was made of two days for rest and refreshment. 
 Here Croghan had some new apparel nuide for himself and 
 men, and [)urcha8ed a few hors ihe J'iankashaw Indi- 
 
 ans, promising them payment wnen he should reach De- 
 troit. In his printed journal he gives but a poor character 
 to the French at Vincennes, whom he describes as a " lazy 
 people, a parcel of renegades from Canada, and much worse 
 than the Indians." lie further says: " They took a secret 
 pleasure at our misfortune, and the moment we arrived 
 they came to the Indians, exchanging tritles for our valua- 
 ble plunder," But Croghan was hardly in a frame of mind 
 to do those French settlers justice, for they refused liim 
 permission to write to any one but the commandant at Fort 
 Chartres.f 
 
 Arriving at Fort Onatantm on the 28d of June, he 
 was set at liberty, and took up his tem[»orary ciuartern 
 there, where lie foun<l a number of French families living. 
 
 * Called •' MiuiquatiMos" by Croghan. 
 
 tJournal of (Jvor;<t> Ccogban, "who wub houI in MWy to conciliate 
 tho Indian nationn tliat ha<i liithorto acted with the French." Burling- 
 ton (N. J.) reprini, IHUl ; nmali 4to, pp. 38. 
 
Croghan Meets Pontiac. 
 
 357 
 
 ; then 
 1 pro- 
 he ex- 
 )Voked 
 d that 
 lied 68- 
 hetter 
 
 f \)l0()(l 
 
 Oolouel 
 fearing 
 ley 8U8- 
 as they 
 ' priBoii- 
 r course 
 n, which 
 Is, as to 
 
 where a 
 •oshment. 
 iiself and 
 uiw Indi- 
 cac'h De- 
 character 
 
 a a " lazy 
 u'iv worHo 
 k a secret 
 c arrived 
 >uv vahiii- 
 e of mind 
 used him 
 ut at Fort 
 
 June, he 
 ly (luarters 
 llics living. 
 
 ,., conciliate 
 •i." Burlinn- 
 
 This palisaded fort, as he iiifonns us, was located on the 
 north side of tlie Wabash, about two huiuired and ten 
 miles above Post Vincent, by the windings of the river. It 
 derived its name from a tribe of Weas, or Ouiataiions, whose 
 principal village stood on the south bank of the Wabash, 
 a few miles below tlie site of what is now Lafayette, In- 
 diana. The fort was maintained as a trading post with the 
 Indians until June, 1791, when it was destroyed hy an 
 American force, under the command of General Charles 
 Scott, of Kentucky. 
 
 During Croghan's stay liere, a messenger arrived with 
 a letter from Captai!i St. Ange, inviting him to visit Fort 
 Ohartres and arrange matters for the withdrawal of the 
 French garrison from that place. As this re([uest coincided 
 with his own previous intentions, he set out with an Indian 
 escort, on a journey thitlier across the prairies, but had not 
 traveled far before he was met by I'ontiac and a numerous 
 retinue of his dusky warriors, on their return from the Il- 
 linois. This astute chief, perceiving at last that the great 
 confederation he had formed among the Indian nations in 
 the west was falling to })ieces, and that he had nothing 
 more to hope for from the French, was coming to nuike 
 terms with the accredited agent of tlie Englisli ; and for 
 the pur})ose of further conference on tlie subject they now 
 returned together to Fort Ouatanon. Ifaving hastily con- 
 vened the neighboring ehiefs ami braves in council, INjutiac 
 produced tbecalnmet of peace, ami made a plansilile speech 
 to them. Me declared, among other things, that the French 
 had misled him with the story that the English [)urposed 
 to stir up the Cherokecs against his brethren of the Illinois, 
 to con(pier and enslave them. FFe allowed that the Eng- 
 lish Tiiight take possession of Fort Chartres and the other 
 [K)sts in the Illinois, but suggested that as the French 
 settlers bad never bought their lands of the Indians, and 
 lived on them by sutreramje only, their successors would 
 have no legal right of possession. The amicable disposi- 
 tion shown by such of the Illinois warriors as were pres- 
 ent at this council, with other sufficient reasons, induced 
 
358 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 Cro|jlian to forego his intended trip to Fort Chartres, and 
 to turn hifl attention to the tribes on the north-east. 
 
 Having adjusted matters satisfactorily with the mitives 
 at and ahout Fort Ouatanon, he depa ed thence on the 
 25th of July, being accompanied by Poiitinc and a number 
 of his followers. Proce(>ding on horseback up the Valley 
 of the Wabasli to tlie portage between that river and the 
 Maumee, Crogb 'ii stopped to visit a small village of the 
 Twiglitees near Fort Miami. He thence continued liis 
 journey to the main Twightec village, situated on the St. 
 .foseph's River,-'^ which unites with the St. Mary to form 
 the Maumee, or Miami, as it was called by him. Arrived 
 thither, he met a friendly reception from the Twightee 
 chiefs, and, after comi>leting his conference with them, set 
 out on the 6th of August for Detroit, descending the Mau- 
 mee in a canoe to Lake Erie. On the 17th he landed at 
 the battle-scarred post of Detroit, which he incidentally de- 
 scribes in his journal, as a "large stockade, inclosing about 
 eighty h.jiises. Durirg liis stay here, he held fiequent 
 consultations with the chiefs of the Ohippewas, Wyandots, 
 Pottawatomies,and other congregated tribes, from whom the 
 fear of condign punishment, and the privations they had en- 
 tlured in conse(pience of the long suspension of the fur- 
 trade, had driven all tlioughts of furtlicr liostility. They 
 had had enough of war to curb their restless spirit for the 
 time at least, and Avere anxious to make terms with the 
 English authorities. At a general meeting of the sachems 
 and warriors, convened in the Council Hall on the 27th of 
 August, Croghan was ])resent, and in imitation, or rather 
 exaggeration, of that figurative forest eloquence with which 
 he had become so familiar, thus addressed the convocation: 
 
 Ohildiien, — We are very glad to see so many of you 
 present at your ancient council fire, which has been neg- 
 lected for some time past. Since then liigh winds have 
 blown, and raised heavy clouds over your country, f now, 
 by this belt (of wampum), rekindle your ancient fire and 
 
 * The jibovo mnntk>np»l rivt^r St. .lowpli Hhoiild not Ix^ (tonfust'd 
 with ttiKiDiir iiiid lurijtr «trcuui of the Bauu- mime, which flowH west 
 WHrd into Lakt Michigan. 
 
Peace Speeches by Cruff/ifi./i aix/ Pontine. 
 
 359 
 
 res, 
 
 and 
 
 3 natives 
 
 I on the 
 
 , number 
 
 le Valley 
 
 ■ and the 
 
 yQ of the 
 
 "Iiued his 
 
 ,n the St. 
 
 J to form 
 
 Arrived 
 
 Twightee 
 
 1 them, set 
 
 r the Maii- 
 
 ' landed at 
 
 len tally de- 
 
 )8ing about 
 
 \d fioquent 
 Wyandots, 
 
 m whom the 
 
 \iey had en- 
 
 of the fur- 
 
 Ihty. They 
 
 ;p-irit for the 
 ns with the 
 t\u^ HiH'hems 
 , the 'i7th of 
 ,n, or rather 
 tewith Nvhleh 
 convocation: 
 many of you 
 |ias been neg- 
 » winds have 
 
 jntry. I "«^' 
 nent fire and 
 
 Lot \w (!on(uBt'<i 
 lincW fWws west- 
 
 throw dry wood upon it, that the bhize may ascend to 
 heaven, so that all nations may see it and know that you 
 live in peace with your fathers, the English. By this belt 
 I disperse all the black clouds over your heads, that the sun 
 may shine clear upon your women and ciiildren, and those 
 unborn may enjoy the blessings of thiH general peace, now 
 so happily settled between your fatb« , the English, and 
 you, and all your younger brethren toward the sunsettittg. 
 
 "Children, we have made a road from the sunrising to 
 the sunsettin^. \ desire that you will preserve that road, 
 good and pleasant to travel upon, that we may all wharc the 
 blessings of this happy reunion.'" 
 
 The council rcasscndjled the next dav, when I'ontiac, 
 in behalf of his peo]»le, replied to Croghan's address as 
 follows : 
 
 " Father, wo have all smoked out of this pipe of peace. 
 It is your ehildren's pi[)e; and as the war is all over now, 
 and the Great Spirit,* who has made the earth and every 
 thing therein, has brought us all togethei* tliis day for our 
 mutual good, 1 declare to all the nations that 1 have settled 
 my peace with you before 1 came here, and now deliver Tuy 
 »e to be st'ut to Sir William -loliUNon. that h< 
 
 PM 
 
 my 
 
 [ have made jteace and taken the King- of Knii;land for my 
 Path e I', in preseiKH' of all nations now assembhid; aiul when- 
 ever any of these nations go to visit him, they may nmoke 
 out of it with him in peace. 
 
 •' Fathcis. we are obligeil lo you for lighting up our 
 old c(»(in(!il lire for lis, and i|('wlHiig i|h |o return to it. but 
 we (the Ottawas) are now settUMJ on the Maumee River not 
 
 far fi 
 
 I'om henct' : wlienever y^ 
 
 wai 
 
 it us, you will find us 
 
 there. Owv |teo[de love Tuiuor, and if we dwelt near you 
 in our old village, our warriors would be always <lrunk, and 
 ((uari-els would ai'ise between u> and you/'f 
 
 *' Pontiac iirnbahly derived Iur corn-ct imlions of tiir (<r('ut Spirit 
 mainly from asHociation witl\ wliitr nun; and 'here is no doubt but 
 tliat hiw spueehew were reviBed and improved Homewhut by th*- Knjrlish 
 HcribeH. 
 
 t Vide " History of tlie Conspiracy of I'ontinr,"' by I'lanciH Park- 
 niun, lloBton, IH(>8; 4th edition, p[». rvV), ^;. 
 
 
360 
 
 Conspiraci/ and War of Pontiac. 
 
 The conciliatory inisHioii of Colonel Croghun being at 
 last brought to a happy fruition, he started on his return to 
 the KaHt toward the close of September, going first to Fort 
 Niag; .1, and thence to report to the commander-in-chief. 
 Before quitting Detroit, however, he had exacted from 
 Pontiac a promise to repair to Oswego, ^ew York, and 
 enter into a treaty of peace and amity with Sir William 
 Johnson, the Indian Superintendent, on behalf of tliose 
 western tribes with whom he had been leagued in the late 
 war. In fulfillment of his jM-omise, the veteran chief pro- 
 ceeded, with a few attendants, to Oswego in the early sum- 
 mer of the next year (1766), and tliere, in presence of a 
 large gathering of whites and Indians, he thus addressed 
 the I'cpresentative of the British crov n : " Father, we thank 
 the Great Spirit, who has given us this day of bright skies 
 and genial warmth to consider the great afiairs now before 
 us. In his presence, and in behalf of all the nations 
 toward the sunsetti ng, of which I am the master, I now 
 take you by the hand, I call upon him to wntness that I 
 have spoken from my heart, and, in the name of the tribes 
 which I represent, I promise to keep this covenant as long 
 as I live." 
 
 Aftei' the execution of the treaty at Oswego, Pontiac 
 returned to liis home, on the banks of the Maumee River, 
 and for t\ni ensuing three years bnricd liis ambition and 
 disai>pointment in the seclusion of its somber forests, pro- 
 viding, as a comn\on hunter, for the wants of ])is family 
 and dependents. 
 
 In the meantime Captain Thonuis Stirling, following 
 upon the mission of Croghan, embarke»» in boats at Fort 
 Pitt, with one hundred veteran Highlanders, of the 42(J 
 lilnglish regiment, and descended the Ohio to its mouth. 
 Pnshing thence Up the Mississippi, he arrived at Fort ('har- 
 tres in tlie early [»art of Uctuher, 1765, iind on or about 
 the 10th of that month took military possession of tlie 
 fortress. "The flag of France descended from the nan- 
 part, and, with the stern courtesies of war, St. Aiige 
 yielded up his post, the cita<lel of Illinois. In that act was 
 consummiit('<l the double hinniph of Hiltisli powtir in 
 
General Gage's Proclamation. 
 
 361 
 
 ing at 
 :urn to 
 
 Fort 
 i-chief. 
 
 1 from 
 k, ivnd 
 
 f thotie 
 :lie late 
 ief pro- 
 ly auiu- 
 ice of a 
 IdresHod 
 re thank 
 jUt ski OS 
 w before 
 nations 
 r, I now 
 38 tliat I 
 he tribes 
 as long 
 
 I'ontiao 
 ee River, 
 tion and 
 I'stH, pro- 
 is family 
 
 [ollowing 
 at Fort 
 the 42(1 
 |rt month, 
 ort ('har- 
 lor ub(»ut 
 In of the 
 Itlip riim- 
 . Ange 
 at't was 
 nower "m 
 
 in America. England had crushed her hereditary foe ; 
 France, in her fall, had left to irretrievable ruin the savage 
 tribes to whom her policy and self-interest had lent a 
 transient support."* 
 
 On assuming command of the fort and country, Cap- 
 tain Stirling caused to Vje posted and published the follow- 
 ing ^.proclamation, which had been carefully prepared some 
 months in advance, and was intended as a kind of consti- 
 tution of government for the Illinois : 
 
 " By his Excellency. Thomas Gage, Major-General of the King's 
 armies, Colonel of the 22d Regiment, General, commanding in chief of 
 the forces of His Majesty in North America, etc. 
 
 "Whereas, by the peace concluded at Paris, on the lOtli of Febru- 
 ary, 1763, the country of the Illinois has been ceded to His Britannic 
 Majesty, and the taking possession of the said country of the Illinois 
 by troops of His Majesty, though delayed, has been determineil upon, 
 we have found it good to make known to the inhabitants 
 
 •'That His Majesty grants to the inhabitants of the Illinois the lib- 
 erty of the Catholic religion, as it has already been granted to his sub- 
 jects in Canada; he has, consequently, given the most precise and effect- 
 ive orders, to the end that his new Roman (Jatholic subjects of the Illi- 
 nois maj"^ exercise th(! worship of their religion, according to the rites 
 of the Roman Church, in the same manner as \\\ (!anada; 
 
 "That His Majesty, moreover, agrees that the French inhabitants 
 or others, who have b?en subjci'tsof the Most Christian Kitig, may retina 
 in full safety and freedom, wherever they please, even to New Orleans, or 
 
 *Parkman'8 "Conspiracy of I'ontiac," p. 559. 
 
 [Fkench Commandants at Illinois.] 
 
 A^o<<?.— By way of recapitulation, we here present a list of the suc- 
 cessive Trench connnandants at the dt>pendency of the llliiiolH, wiUl 
 the years, as neai as may be, of their respective fc /vice, beginning with 
 Roisbriant : 
 
 Pierre |)uc|UK d(! MiilHlirliillli , . . , . i7IH-1725 
 
 CaptiiiiMle Tlsni't (toniporurllyi .... 1725 1 7aH 
 
 The Hieur de Mette 172(1)7^1) 
 
 UmisSt. Angtide Hollerlve |7:iO-|7!|4 
 
 Pierre d'Artaguette I7;{'i l7;Ui 
 
 Alphonse de la BuissonliirH I7;{(1 1741) 
 
 BenoistdeSt. Clair .... |i III |7|ll 
 
 The Chevalier de Bortel 174:}-1749 
 
 at. Cldlr, (igiiln 17411 1751 
 
 I'lio Chevalier de .Vlacfltty 1751 17H() 
 
 M. Neyon de Villiors 1700-1704 
 
 St. Ange, again 1704-1705 
 
362 
 
 Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 
 
 any other part of Louisiana, although it should ii;i;'pen that the Span- 
 iards take poBbvKBion of it in tho name of His Catholic Majesty; and 
 may sell their estates, provided it be to subjects of Hits Majesty, and 
 transport tlieir effects, as well as persons, without restraint upon their 
 emigration, under any pretense whatever, except in consequence of 
 debts or criminal process; 
 
 " That those who choose to retain their lands, and become subjects 
 of Ills Majesty, shall enjoy the same security for their persons and effects, 
 and liberty of trade, as the old subjects of the king ; 
 
 " That they are coujinanded, by these presents, to take the oath of 
 fidelity an<l obedience to His Majesty, in presence of Sieur Stirling, 
 Captain of the Highland Regiment, the bearer hereof, and furnished 
 with our full powers for this purpose ; 
 
 " That we recommend, forcibly, to tht; inhabitants, to conduct them- 
 selves like good and faithful subjects, avoiding by a wise and prudent 
 demeanor all cause of complaint against them ; 
 
 "That they act in concert with His Majesty's officers, so tiiat his 
 troops may take peaceable possession of all the posts, and order be kept 
 in the country; by this means alone they will spare His Majesty the ne- 
 cessity of recurring to force of arms, and will find themselves siivved from 
 the scourge of a bloody war, and of all the evils which the march of an 
 army into their country would draw after it. 
 
 " We direct that these presents be read, published, and posted up 
 in the usual i)laces. 
 
 '"Done and given at head-quarters, New York. Signed with our 
 hand, sealed with our seal-at-arms, and countersigned by our Secretary, 
 this SOth of December, a. d. 1704* 
 
 " By His Excellency, Thomas Ga(je, [Seal.] 
 
 "G. Marturin, Secretary." 
 
 *Tho attuiitive iLjUier of Amtriean history will remember that it was General 
 <iage who, some (en years later, preeipitated the War of the Revolution, by sending 
 out fi'ojn Hoslou, MHssHcluisetts, the expeilitionary force that led to the battle of 
 l/exington. 
 
Occurrences in Lower Loumana. 
 
 363 
 
 le Span- 
 5ty, and 
 ■Bty, and 
 on their 
 uence of 
 
 > subjects 
 id effects, 
 
 le oath of 
 r Stirling, 
 furnished 
 
 luet th(;m- 
 d prudent 
 
 }0 tiuit his 
 lor be kept 
 >yty the ne- 
 giived from 
 narch of an 
 
 1 posted up 
 
 d with our 
 ir Secretary, 
 
 IE, [Skai..] 
 
 lit was General 
 Ln, >>y sending 
 1, tho battle of 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1764-1769. 
 OCCUHKKNCES FN LOWER LOUISIANA. 
 
 On the 15th day of Jane, 17n4, M. Xeyon de Villiers, 
 having become impatient at tlie delay of the British con- 
 querors in arriving to take possession of Fort Ohartres, and 
 disgusted w ith his position, rt^inquisyied the office of major- 
 commandant at the Illinois, wliich lu- had filled nearly four 
 years, and departed down tiie Mississippi, accompanied by 
 six officers, sixty-three soldiers, and eighty French inhab- 
 itants of Illinois, including women and children. -'• Me 
 reached New Orleans on the 2d of. July, and tlnuv tem- 
 porarily fixed his quarters. Not long after this, \w was re- 
 quited for his lidelity and services to the French crown 
 with the insignia of the Gross of St. Louis, a distinction 
 corresponding to the more modern Legion of Honor. 
 
 Mons. d'Abba(he was then acting governor or director- 
 general of Louisiana, having superseded Govci'iior Korlerec 
 in June, 1768. As heretofore observe*!, V7estern Louisiana, 
 and the island district of New Orleans, had been abandoned 
 to Spain by a {)rivi»te treaty t (Nov. 8, 17<>2). which was 
 
 * Mfiny of these " inhubiluntH," who were induced to move to Li)uisi- 
 ana by assurances from De x'illiers tliat they would receive lumls tiu're 
 in lieu of those they had abandoned, soon afterward found reason to 
 repent of their hiiste in (iuittin}j the Illinois. 
 
 t Without any apparent reference to this separate mid private treaty, 
 the boundaries between the French and I'lritish po.s.sessious in North 
 America were defined by the definitive treaty of peace between the Kings 
 of France, Spain and Kngland. siyjned nt Paris on tlu' 10th of I'ehrtiary 
 1763; which article reads as follows: 
 
 ''Article VII. Tn order to re-establish peace on solid and durable 
 foundations, and to remove forever all motives for dispute respecting the 
 limits of the French and British territories on the American continent, 
 it has been agreed that the Imdts between the states of his most Chris- 
 ;jan majesty and those of his Britannic majesty, in that part of the 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT 3) 
 
 
 
 atn^- 
 
 i.O 
 
 I.I 
 
 1.25 
 
 "^ U^ 12.0 
 
 125 
 2.2 
 
 i.4 
 
 
 6" 
 
 
 ''I 
 
 
 m 
 
 <?: 
 
 
 ^4 
 
 ^# 
 
 '/ 
 
 Hiotographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 73 WEST MAIN STREIT 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) S7a-4J03 
 
 i.:'<?''^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 <j 
 
 "% 
 
 
 
^ 
 
 \%' 
 
 u>< 
 
 
 
 KM' 
 
SBSraKsas 
 
 364 
 
 De ChoiseuVs Note to Count de Fuentes. 
 
 kept a state secret /or eighteen months. On the 2l8t of April, 
 1764, the French prime minister addressed the following 
 note to the Spanish ambassador on the subject of the cession 
 of Louisiana : 
 
 " Versailles, AprU 21, 1764. 
 
 "To the Conde {Count) de Fuentes: — Sir, the king has 
 caused the necessary orders to be issued for the surrender 
 of the country of Louisiana, with New Orleans and the 
 island on which the said city htands, into the hands of the 
 commissioner whom his Catliolic majesty may appoint to 
 receive them. I have sent the papers to the Marquis 
 d' Ossun, who will have the lionor to present them to his 
 OathoHc majesty. Your excellency will see that the king's 
 orders ,'>.re entirely conformaljle with the acts signed in 
 1762, and that his majesty has caused some articles to be 
 inserted equally conducive to tne tran(j[uillity of the coun- 
 try after it is in possession of his Catholic majesty, and to 
 the happiness of its inhabitants. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, with great e^tcem, your ex- 
 cellency'n most lunnble and obedient servant. 
 
 " The Duo de Cholseul." 
 
 At the same time a letter was written by or in the 
 
 world, sliall licroafter be irrevocably fixed by a line drawn along tbe 
 middle of the river MiseisHJppi, from itti source lo ibe river Iberville ; 
 and thence by another line throngb the middle of that river, and of the 
 lakcH Maurepas and I'ontchartraiii, to the wea ; and for this purpoBe, the 
 most ChriHtian kin^f cedeH to IiIh Hritannie nuijcHty, and miaranties to 
 him, the entire poimession of the river and i)ort of Mobile, and of all 
 that he pospesHi-s or .should have posseHHed on the left bank of the river 
 MiHsiwHlppi, with the exception of New Orleans, and of the island whereon 
 that city KtiMu's, winch are to reii ain suliject to France; it being under- 
 stood that the navigation of the MiHsiHHii)pi River is to be etjually free to 
 the subjects of tJreut Britain and of I'Vance, in its whole breadth and 
 extent, from its hource to the sea, and particularly that part between the 
 said island ot New()rl(>ans and the right bank of the river, as well as 
 till' I'litraiiti' and di'parturc by its mouth. It is inoreox^er stipulated, 
 that the vessels belonging to the subjects of either nation are not to be 
 detained, searched, nor obliged to pay any duty whatsoever. 'V\w stip- 
 ulations conlaiiii>d in the fourth article, in favor of the inhabitants of 
 Canada, are to be ol equal ellect with regard to the iuhabitaatH of tbe 
 countries ceded by this article." 
 
Occurrences in Lower Louisiana. 
 
 365 
 
 April, 
 lowing 
 cession 
 
 1764. 
 mg Vias 
 rrender 
 and the 
 B of the 
 point to 
 Marquis 
 mto his 
 le king's 
 ,\gned in 
 les to be 
 ihe coun- 
 y, and to 
 
 ^ your ex- 
 
 )r in tlie 
 
 ■w along the 
 r Iberville; 
 r, and of the 
 p\irposiS the 
 iiaranties to 
 ,., and of all 
 of the river 
 and whereon 
 lu'inn nnder- 
 ,,uaUyfreeto 
 \)roadth and 
 bt>twi'en the 
 jr, m well as 
 ->r Htipulated, 
 iar«> not to he 
 .r. Tlie Htip- 
 lnhabitantH of 
 .itantHof the 
 
 name of Louis XV,, King of France, to M. d'A.bbadie, 
 Director-general of Louisiana, instructing him to acquaint 
 the inhabitants of that [»rovince with the act of cession, and 
 to turn over the government to the officers of Spain, when 
 they shouUl arrive to receive it. We give jdace here to an 
 English copy of this historical state paper : 
 
 ^^Monsiear d'Abbadic : — ILiving, by a special act, passed 
 at Fontainebleau, November 8d, 1762, ceded, voluntarily, 
 to my dear and well-beloved cousin, the King of Spain, his 
 heirs aiid Buccessors in full right, completely and without 
 restriction, the whole country known under the name of 
 Louisiana, a.^ well as New Orleatib and tlie island on which 
 that town is situated ; and the King of Spain having, by 
 another act, passed at the Escurial, on the 13th of Novem- 
 ber, in the sivme year, accepted tlie cession of the said 
 country of Louisiana town and island of New Orleans, ac- 
 cording to the annexed co})i<!8 of these acts ; I write this 
 letter to inform you that my intention is, that on the re- 
 ceipt of this letter and the coities annexed, whether it 
 reaches you through the officers of his S})ani8h Majesty, or 
 directly by the French vessels cluirged with its delivery, 
 you will resign into the hands of the governor (or oiHcer) 
 therefor appointed by the King of Spain, the said country 
 and colony of Louisiana and its dei>endencies, with the town 
 and island of New Orleans, in such state as they nuiy be 
 at the date of such cession, wishing that in future they be- 
 long to his Catholic nuijesty,to be governed and administered 
 by his governors and oiiicers as belonging to him, in full 
 right and without exception. 
 
 " I accordingly order, tluit >s soon as the governor and 
 troops of his Catholic majesty arrive in the said country 
 and colony, you put them in possession, and withdraw all 
 the officers, soldiers and employes in my service in garrison 
 there, to send them to France, and my other American 
 colonies, or such of them as are not dispoHcd to renuiin 
 under the Spanish authorities. 1 moreover desire, tiiat, 
 after the entire evacuation of said port and town of New 
 Orleans, you collect all papers relative to the liiuinces and 
 
 __t— — 
 
366 
 
 Letter of Louis XV. to Governor d^Abbadie. 
 
 administration of the colony of Louisiana, and come to 
 France and account for them. 
 
 " It is, nevertheless, my intention that you hand over 
 to the governor, or oiiicer thereto appointed, all the papers 
 and documents which especially concern the government of 
 the colony, either relative to the colony and its limits, or 
 relative to the Indians and the various posts, after having 
 drawn proper receipts for your discyiarge, and given said 
 governor all the information in your power to enable him 
 to govern said colony to the reciprocal satisfaction of both 
 nations. 
 
 "It is my will that there be made an inventory, signed 
 in duplicate by you and his Catholic Majesty's commissary, 
 of all artillery, eficcts, magazines, hos[)ital8, vessels, etc., 
 belonging to me in said colony, in order that, Uiter putting 
 said commissary in possession of the civil edifices and 
 buildings, an appraisement be made of the value of all the 
 eifects remaining in the colony, the price whereof shall be 
 paid by his Cathoru* Majesty according to such a})praisement. 
 
 " I hope, at the same time, for the advantage and tran- 
 quillity of the inhabitants of the colony of Louisiana, and 
 1 flatter myself, in conse(pience of the friendship and aiiec- 
 tion of his Catholic Majesty, that he will be pleased to in- 
 struct his governor, t)r any other otticers employed by him 
 in said colony and said t(»vvn of New Orleans, that all the 
 ecclesiastics and religious communities shall continue to 
 perform the rights, privileges, and exemptions granted to 
 them; that all the judges of ordinary jurisdiction, together 
 with tlie Superior Council, shall continue to administer 
 justice according to the laws, forms, and usages of the col- 
 ony ; that the titles of the inhabitants to their property 
 shall be confirmed in accordauvie with the (ioncossions made 
 by the governors and ordinary commissaries of said colony; 
 and that said concessions shall be looked upon and lield as 
 confirmed ])y his Catholic Majesty, although they may not 
 as yet have been confirmed by me; ho[>ing, moreover, tliat 
 bis Catholic Majesty will be pleased to give his subjects of 
 Louisiana the marks of protection and good will which 
 they have received under my government, which would 
 
Occurrences in Lower Louisiana. 
 
 367 
 
 nae to 
 
 i over 
 papers 
 aent of 
 nits, or 
 having 
 en said 
 jle bim 
 of both 
 
 7, signed 
 
 missary, 
 
 ,cl8, etc., 
 
 i^ putting 
 
 ices and 
 
 )f all the 
 
 ' Bhall be 
 
 ■aisement. 
 and tran- 
 
 iiana, and 
 vnd aitcc- 
 m\ to iu- 
 1(1 by him 
 iit all the 
 Intinue to 
 ranted to 
 I, together 
 ihninister 
 
 f tbe col- 
 property 
 
 lions made 
 d colony; 
 d held as 
 
 ,' may "ot 
 
 oviM', that 
 
 |\ib.)ect8 of 
 
 \\\ whicb 
 
 eh would 
 
 have been made more effectual, if not counteracted by tbe 
 calamities of war — 
 
 " I order you to have this, my present letter, re^^istered 
 by the Superior Council at New Orleans, in order that the 
 people of the colony, of all ranks and conditions, be in- 
 formed of its contents, and that they may «vail themselves 
 of it, should need be; such being my sole object in writing 
 this letter. I pray God, M. d'Abbudie, to have you in his 
 holy keeping. 
 
 "Given at Versailles, April 21, 1764. 
 
 [Signed] " Louis. 
 
 [Countersigned] " The Due dk Choiseul." 
 
 It was not until October of that year that Governor 
 d'Abbadie reluctantly {)ublished the foregoing letter. Kis 
 health was already declining, and the mental distress at- 
 tending the performance of this official duty hastened his 
 death, w liich occurred in New Orleans on the 4th of the 
 following February, 1765. He was a [)atriotic and popular 
 magistrate, just to all, and firm in his enforcement of the 
 laws. At a meeting of the leading citizens of New Orleans, 
 held shortly after his decease, a feeling tribute was paid to 
 his memory. 
 
 M. d'Abbadie was succeeded in office by Cai)tain Charles 
 Aubry, the senior military officer of the province, on whom 
 was now devolved the humiliating duty of handing over 
 the goverimient of Louisiaiui to the Spaniards. By his 
 valor in the war with England, Aubry had won high praise 
 and tho Cross of St. Louis, and was also respected for his 
 social virtues ; but though a good grenadier, he had few 
 qualities to fit him for properly governing a colony situated 
 as Louisiana then was.* 
 
 * Memoir of LoniHiana, by the Chevalier de CliainplKuy. He waa a 
 contemporary and acqualntanee of Aubry's, and lias drawn hJH por- 
 trait in no (iattering terms. Here it is: " M. Aubry waw a little, dry, 
 lean, ugly man, without nobility, dignity, or carriuxe. il'w faee would 
 seem to announce a liypocritu, but in him this vice sprang from «ixceH- 
 Bive goodness, which granted all rather than disphiase; always tn'mbling 
 for the couBequenccB of the moat indiflereut actions, u natural ellect of 
 
itm'. i a t iu i -'xitL 
 
 ="* tf 
 
 ll^f' 
 
 368 
 
 Arrival of Acadians in Louisiana. 
 
 Between the first of January and the 15th of May, 1765, 
 about six hundred and fifty Acadian exiles arrived in New 
 Orleans from the English colonies, to swell the population 
 of that part of Louisiana still nominally remaining to the 
 French. At this juncture of affairs, their Cv.niing was re- 
 garded as a misfortune, since it imposed a fresh burden 
 upon the unhappy colonists. Nevertheless, the claims of 
 kindred humanity could not be ignored, and the poor ex- 
 iles were sent by the acting governor to form settlements in 
 the districts of Attakapus and Opelousas. In the following 
 February (1766), two huiulred and sixteen more Acadians 
 arrived to join their bretbreti in Louisiana. They were 
 authorized to make settlements on both sides of the Missis- 
 sippi, from below Baton Kouge up to Point Coupee. Hence 
 origimited the epithet of "Acadian Coast," which is still 
 applied to the banks of the river between those two points. 
 As these refugees were destitute of supplies, the same ra- 
 tions were issued to them by the provincial commissary, 
 during the first year of their residence, as were allowed to 
 the troops in the province. They were an indusi.rious and 
 frugal people, strongly attaclied to the French interest and 
 the Catholic religion, and they prospered almost from the 
 start in Louisiana. 
 
 When the treaty-cession of Louisiana to Spain was at 
 last made public, it created surprise and indignation at New 
 Orleans and elsewhere in the province, and a general feeling 
 of despair would have ensued, if the people had not been 
 buoyed uj» with the hope that the transfer would never 
 actually take place. F^arly in the year 1765, a meeting of 
 the principal citizens and planters from the different parishes 
 was convened in the city of New Orleans for the purpose 
 of considering the subject of their distracted condition. 
 
 a mind without r*?BOurce or light, always allowing itself to be guided, 
 and thus often swerving from rectitude ; religious through weakness 
 rather than from principle; incapable of wishing evil, but doing it 
 through a diaritable human weakness; destitute of magnanimity or re- 
 flection ; a good soldier, but a bad leader; ambitious of honors and dig- 
 nity, but possessing noitlier firmness nor capacity tv^ bear the weight."— 
 Vide Hist. Coil's of La. (Fifth of the series), p. 163. 
 
 ■Ui 
 
Last Appearance of Bienville ; His Death. 
 
 369 
 
 iy,1765, 
 in I'few 
 pulation 
 g to the 
 ; was re- 
 i burden 
 [jlaims of 
 poor ex- 
 ements in 
 following 
 Acadians 
 'hey were 
 ;he Missis- 
 ie. Hence 
 ich is still 
 two points, 
 e same ra- 
 ommissary, 
 allowed to 
 _ rious and 
 (iiterest and 
 it from the 
 
 Ipam 
 
 was at 
 
 ion at New 
 oral feeUng 
 (I not been 
 ould never 
 nieeting of 
 nt parishes 
 he purpose 
 condition, 
 
 Ito be guided, 
 tigh weakness 
 but doing it 
 lanimity or re- 
 Inors and dig- 
 Iho weight."— 
 
 and of Hendiiig to the throne of France a united a[)peal for 
 royal interposition in their behalf. At this meeting L,i Fre- 
 niere, attorney-general of Louisiana, made an eloquent 
 speech on the situation of the colony, and presented a res- 
 olution earnestly supplicating the king not to sever the 
 colony from the parent country. The resolution was 
 promptly adopted, and ,Jean Milhet, of New Orleans, was 
 selected to carry the petition to the foot of the throne. 
 
 Upon his arrival in Paris, Milhet went to the residence 
 of the aged Bienville, who, by his request, accompanied 
 him to Versailles. Waiting upon the Duke de Choiseul, 
 the prime minister of Louis XV., they were courteously re- 
 ceived and their statements attentively listened to ; but the 
 resolution of tlie minister was unshaken, and he replied to 
 them, in sul)stance, as follows: 
 
 " (ientlemen, I must put an end to this painful scene. 
 I am deeply grievetl at not being able to give you any 
 hope. I have no hesitation in telling you that I can not 
 address the king on this subject, because I myself advised 
 the cession of Louisiana. Is it not to your knowledge that 
 tlui colony (_.in not continue its {)resent precarious existence, 
 except at an enormous expense, of which France is now 
 utterly iiicapable y Is it not better, then, that Louisiana 
 should be given away to a friend and taitliful ally, than 
 be wrenched from us by an hereditary foe ? Farewell. You 
 have my best wi:shes; I can do no more." 
 
 This interview is depicted by Mr. Gayarre as an aflect- 
 ing one, and the pathetic appeai of Bienville on behalf of 
 Louisiana as not unlike that of a father pleading for the 
 life of his child ; yet, under the then circumstances, it was of 
 no avail. The excitement attending his effort, and grief at 
 the loss of his beloved colony, seem to have loosened the 
 feeble chords that bound him to life, and he died no very 
 long afterward in his eighty-seventh year.* lie had sur- 
 
 * Bitnville den-iiHed Man^h 7. 17()7. and was buried with military 
 lioiiorH in the cemetery (»f Montmartn'. His in^raved portrait, trom an 
 oil painting belonging to tiie Le Moyne family uuuiHion at i^oiigucul, 
 Canada, prewnts him with a martial figure and a noble head, in keeping 
 witii his ri'eord. 
 
 24 
 
4 
 
 870 
 
 Occurrences in Lov)er Louisiana. 
 
 vived all of hi"^ eminent brothers. He had seen Canada, 
 the land of his nativity, pass from the possession of the 
 crown of France to that of Great Britain, and must now 
 witness the transfer of Louisiana, with its future proud 
 metropolis, which he had founded and fostered, to the do- 
 minion of Spain. All that the patriarch had most loved 
 and cherished ou earth was gone before. Uence, it was 
 lot desirable for him to longer live, and he departed to 
 join the shade of liis favorite brother, Iberville, in the spirit 
 world.* 
 
 The primary motive of France, in voluntarily ceding 
 Western Louisiana to Spain, appears to have been to in- 
 demnify the latter for her expenses in the war then just 
 closed. Another incentive was to prevent Louisiana from 
 falling into the hands o^' Great Britain. Moreover, the 
 province had become a burden to the French government, 
 of vvhi(ih it was anxious to be disincumbered. It has been 
 computed that France, in her [)rolonged attempt to colonize 
 Louisianji, expended directly, or indirectly, nearly twenty 
 millions of dollars, without receiving any proportionate re- 
 turn ; and if she had continued to hold the country, it 
 would have been necessary for her to have incurred a large 
 additional outlay. "Hence," says Gayerre, "the anxiety 
 of the French government to part with a territory, which, 
 at a later perii»d, in abler hands, was destined to astonish 
 the world by its rapid and gigantic prosperity." 
 
 The Duke de Ohoiseul having refused to address the 
 king on the ([uestion of revoking the transfer of Louisiana 
 to Spain, and linvinij; denied Milhet access to his nuijesty, 
 the commissioner returned to New Orleans, and reported 
 the failure of his mission. Still liojung that the treaty of 
 cession would never be carried into execution, Jean Milhet 
 was again sent to France, but returned with a like result. 
 His next voyage, as we shall hereafter see, was as a state 
 prisoner to Moro Castle, in Cuba. . 
 
 The French colonists, however, did not altogether 
 lose hope, in which they were sustained by the delay of 
 
 » Gayttrr<j'8 lIiHt of La., Vol. 11, pp. IL'S-S). 
 
Opposition to Ulloa's Gcvernment. 
 
 371 
 
 Canada, 
 1 of the 
 ust now 
 •e proud 
 ) the do- 
 08t loved 
 ie, it was 
 parted to 
 the Hpirit 
 
 \\y ceding 
 
 aen to in- 
 
 ■ then just 
 
 siana from 
 
 ■eover, the 
 
 )vernmcnt, 
 
 Lt has heen 
 
 to colonize 
 
 arly twenty 
 
 rtionate re- 
 country, it 
 red a large 
 he anxiety 
 
 lory, whieh, 
 to astonish 
 
 laddross the 
 )[' Louisiana 
 his majesty, 
 id reported 
 le treaty of 
 lleanMilhet 
 like result. 
 Is as a state 
 
 altogether 
 [lie delay of 
 
 the Spanish government in taking possession of the coun- 
 try. It was not until the middle of the year 1765, that the 
 Court of Madrid appointed Captain Don Antonio de Ulloa — 
 a man of high reputation, and descended from a family dis- 
 tinguished in the maritime annals of his country — to as- 
 sume the government of Louisiana. Some months in ad- 
 vance of his arrival in the province, Ulloa wrote from 
 Havana to the Superior Council at New Orleans the fol- 
 lowing brief letter, announcing his miiision : 
 
 " Gentlemen — Having recently been instructed by his 
 Catholic Majesty to repair to your town and take posses- 
 sion of it in his name, and in conformity with the orders 
 of his Most Christian Majesty, I avail myself of this 0(;ca- 
 sion to make you acipiainted witli my mission, and to give 
 you information that 1 shall soon have the honor to be 
 among you, in order to proceed to the execution of my 
 ci/inmission. I flatter myself beforehand, that it will afford 
 me favorable op[)()rtunities to render you all the services 
 that you and the inhabitants of your town may desire; of 
 which I beg you to give them the assurance from me, and 
 let them know that in acting thus, 1 only discharge my 
 duty and gratify my inclinations. 
 
 "I have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 " Antonio be Ulloa." 
 "Havana, July 10, 1765." 
 
 The Spanish governor arrived at the Balize,* with 
 some Capuchin friars and eighty soldiers, on the 28th of 
 February, 1766, and, proceeding up the Mississippi, landed 
 in New Orleans on the 5th of March. He was received by 
 the French inhabitants with every superficial mark of 
 courtesy and good will; but such was tlieir aversion to 
 Spanish rule, and such the lack of tact and administrative 
 talent of Ulloa himself, that he could not openly exercise 
 his authority. t The French troo[)H continued to serve 
 
 * A 8!nall port or sottUnri»>nt at the outlet of the MiBsissippi, on 
 the west sitU', in Freiu.'h times. It took its name from the (Spanish word 
 balizu, a hoticon. 
 
 tThe iniBtake of the Spanish government, at this time, was in not 
 sending an adequate military force to sustain Ulloa's authority. 
 
372 
 
 Occurrences in Lower Louisiana. 
 
 under their national flag; the council acted in the name of 
 the King of France ; and all orders emanated from Aubry, 
 the dc facto French governor, who practically governed the 
 colony for the King of Spain, The Spanish flag was un- 
 furled at the Balizo, on the banks of the river Iberville, at 
 the post opposite Natchez, and at the Missouri ; but at all 
 the other posts in tbe province, the P'rench colors were 
 kept up as before. 
 
 Governor Ulloa was apparently so desirous of concili- 
 ating those over whose aftairs he had come to preside, that 
 on his arrival he promised to keep at a tixed rate the de- 
 preciated })aper currency of the province, which then 
 amounted to about seven millions of livres. He also as- 
 certained tbe resources and wants of the country, and 
 agreed to discharge the most pressing demands against it. 
 On tbe 6th of September, 1766, the governor published an 
 ordinance of the Spanish government regulating and limit- 
 ing the commerce of Louisiana, but permitting a direct 
 trade with the French West Indies. This, together with 
 subsequent commercial restrictions, produced great discon- 
 lent and excitement at New Orleans, and Ulloa, fearing 
 an attempt on liis life, retired for safety to the Balize. 
 Here (January 20, 1767) he ettected an arrangement with 
 Aubry, by which the latter resigned to him the colony of 
 Louisiana, but agreed to govern it for the time being. This 
 act was signed by the two governors in duplicate, and was 
 to be exchanged by the two courts of I'aris and Madrid.* 
 
 In the meantime a conspiracy was set on foot by 
 Lafreniere, Foucault, Marquis, Noyon, Villere, Milhet, 
 Petit, Caresse, Poupet, Bo'f^^blanc, and others, to drive Ul- 
 loa and his Spaniards from the province. To this end, at a 
 delegate convention of planters, merchants and tradesmen, 
 held in New Orleans on the 28th of October, 1768, a peti- 
 tion was signed by five hundred and thirty-six persons, pray- 
 ing the Superior Council for a restoration of their former 
 rights and privileges, and for the expulsion of the Span- 
 iards from the country. This petition was presented to the 
 
 * CJhampigny's M<Mnoir of Ix)uisiaDa. 
 
Revolution again f>.t the Spanish Authority. 
 
 373 
 
 name of 
 11 Auhry, 
 jrned the 
 ; was iin- 
 erville, at 
 but at all 
 lorB were 
 
 )f conoili- 
 Bside, that 
 te the de- 
 Mcb then 
 [e also as- 
 intry, and 
 against it. 
 iblished an 
 J and limit- 
 ig a direct 
 rether with 
 t-eat discon- 
 lou, fearing 
 le Balize. 
 enient with 
 > colony of 
 eing. This 
 te, and was 
 1 Madrid * 
 n foot by 
 re, Milhet, 
 drive Ul- 
 is end, at a 
 tradesmen, 
 768, a peti- 
 rsons, pray- 
 heir former 
 ■ the Span- 
 nted to the 
 
 [) 
 
 Council on tiie next day (the 29th), and, despite the formal 
 protest of Aubry, the French (iommundant, a decree was 
 passed that nijou and the Spanish troops should leave the 
 colony within three days. Governor dlloa did not stand 
 on the order of his going, but eml)arkcd on the evening of 
 the 31st of October, with his few troops, and sailed for 
 Spain, where ho arrived on the 4th of December following. 
 The news of this ill-starred revolution soon reached 
 Spain, and the king (Charles III.) called a meeting of his 
 ministers to determine upon the fate of Louisiana. At this 
 cabinet council it was decided that possession of that prov- 
 ince should bo taken by force, if necessary. Apprehending 
 considerable resistance from the French inhabitants, the 
 king issued orders for the fitting out of a formidable expe- 
 dition, and gave the command of it to General O'Reilly, 
 whom he also appointed governor and captain-general of 
 the province.* 
 
 * Don Alexaiidro O'Reilly was born in Ireland about the year 1735, 
 and when quite a young man went to Sj)ain, and entered the Spanish 
 military service. Joining a body of his native countrymen called tlie 
 " Hibernia Regimei:*^," he served a campaign in Italy, where he received 
 a wound which lamed him for the rest of his life. In 1755 he obtained 
 permission from the king to enter the Austrian army, and made two 
 campaigns against the Prussians. In 1759 he volunteered in the army 
 of France, in vhich he distinguishe I himself by his soldierly qualities, 
 and was recommended by the Duke de Broglie to tlu> King of Spain, 
 who commissioned him to the rank of lieutenant-colonel; and, as such, 
 he served with distinction in the war with Portugal. He was afterward 
 promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and on the conclusion of the 
 peace of 17(52 was raised to the rank of major-general, in whica capacity 
 he was sent to Havana to rebuild the fortifications of that city, which 
 had been demolished by the British. O'Reilly stood high in the confi- 
 dence of the king, notwithstanding the prejudice existing against him 
 among the Spaniards on account of his foreign birth. He was a man of 
 flexible disposition and conciliatory manners, yet stern and unyielding 
 of purpose. We are not informed of the precise nature of his instruc- 
 tions on being sent to Louisiana; hut the substance of them is embodied 
 in a royal order addressed to Don Pedro Giacia, under date of January 
 28, 1771, in which the king says: "But those inhabitants having re- 
 belled, ... I commissioned Don Alexandro O'Keilly, lieutenant- 
 general of the array, and inspector-general of all my infantry, to pro- 
 ceed thither, take formal possession, chastise the ringleaders (informing 
 me of all), establish the said government, uniting the province to the 
 
 ■}-:\\ 
 
 •''V M 
 
374 
 
 Occurrences in Lower Loumana. 
 
 Governor O'Reilly arrived at the mouth of tlie Missis- 
 sippi on the 24tli of July, 1709, with a fleet of twenty-four 
 ships and transports, bearing an ariuy of twenty-six hundred 
 clioice troops, — a foree so hirge as to render all attempts at 
 resistance hopeless. On the same day he dispatched his aid 
 to Aubry, the acting French governor, to announce his ar- 
 rival, and to notify him that he was duly authorized to 
 receive possession of the Province of Louisiana. 
 
 The coming of the Spanish armament excited a great 
 commotion in New Orleans; and on the 27th the citizens 
 sent delegates to O'litriily to im))lore his clemency. They 
 returne<l to the city the next day with assurances from the 
 governor that he was disposed to be lenient. On the 17th 
 of August he reached Xew Orleans, and on the next day 
 took military possession of the government. 
 
 Governor G'Keilly entered upon the duties of his re- 
 sponsible oflice with every out.vard ma lifestation of respect 
 for all classes of the citizens ; but, while promising pardon 
 to those who quietly submitted, lie hnd resolved in his own 
 mind to punish the principal actors in the late revolution. 
 This determination, however, was concealed until he had 
 procured from Aubry, the retiring French governor, a full 
 report of that event. On the 2l8t and 22d of August, after 
 receiving Aubry's communication, he caused to be quietly 
 arrested and imprisoned twelve chiefs of the revolution 
 tiiat had expelled his predecessor, Ullou. They were, 
 Nicholas Chauvin de la Freniere, ex-procureur-general of 
 the province, and senioi* member of the Superior Council; 
 Jean Baptiste Xoyon, his son-in-law, a young man of great 
 worth and promise; Pierre Caresse, captain of militia; 
 Pierre Marquis, a knight of St. Louis ; Jean and Joseph 
 Milhet, father and son ; Joseph Villiere,* captain in the 
 
 rest of my doiuinions; all of which ho did, adapting its laws, and after 
 proposing to nie that which ho judged jjroper for the commerce of the 
 country, and for the extimstion of the council by wiiich it is governed, 
 and establishing a cahiklo in the place of said council, and taking other 
 measures, all of which were approved by me," etc. — Hist. Coil's of La., 
 Fifth Series (N. Y., 185:5), p. 247. 
 
 * /iller^ resisted arrest, and died in prison three days after, from 
 
Conviction and Sentence of the Revolutionists. 
 
 375 
 
 Missis- 
 ity-tour 
 lundred 
 iiuv)ts at 
 L his aid 
 e liis iir- 
 rized to 
 
 i a great 
 
 citizeius 
 ^ They 
 from the 
 
 the 17th 
 next day 
 
 :)f hia re- 
 
 of respect 
 \g pardon 
 n his own 
 evohition. 
 il he had 
 nor, a full 
 gust, after 
 be quietly 
 •evolution 
 ley were, 
 l<rcneral ot 
 r Council ; 
 n of great 
 f militia; 
 1(1 Joseph 
 lin in the 
 
 IvH, and after 
 linerce of the 
 J is governed, 
 [taking other 
 >)U'8 of La., 
 
 Is after, from 
 
 militia; Jonepli Petit, uiereluuit ; Baltliauijcr <le Masan, 
 captain in the French service; Jerome Doucet, lawyer; 
 Hardi de BoishUmc, assessor to tlie Council; and Pierre 
 Poupet, merchant.* 
 
 These sudden arrests produced extreme uneasiness and 
 trepidation aniouij^ the French inhabitants. To quiet their 
 fears, the Spanish governor, on the 28d of August, issued 
 a })roclamati(m of amnesty,f and a call inviting the people 
 to appear before him on the 26th, and take the oath of al- 
 legiance to his Catholic majesty. 
 
 Something over a month after their arrest, the pris- 
 oners were arraigned before a semi-military tribunal, con- 
 stituted for the purpose, on the charge of treason and re- 
 bellion, the deceased V^illere being represented by an attor- 
 ney in fact. They wee tried and convicted under Spanish 
 law, and their property was confiscated to the state, after 
 
 tlic effectof wounds received in Imb struggle with tli»' SpuniHli gendannes 
 for liberty. 
 
 * M. Foncault, president of the Superior ('ouncil, and commissary of 
 the province, was also plaee;l under guard; but at his request, and in 
 deference to his olRoial position, he was sent to France for trial. He is 
 described as a v.ily man. who aeled with singular duplicity toward tlie 
 rev<,.-,,tionists in Louisiana. 
 
 t [^O'Reilh/x, I'rodnmnlinn of AiiDCsty.] 
 
 " In the name of the King. w{\ Alexander O'Reilly, ccmmander of 
 Benfayan, in the onler of Alcantara, major and insiiector-general of the 
 armies of his Catholic majesty, captain-genera! and governor of the 
 Province of Louisiana, in virtue of tlic orders of his Catholic majesty, 
 and of the powers with which we are invested, declare to all the inhab- 
 itants of the rrovinc;e of Louisiana, that whatever just cause past 
 events may have iiiveii his majesty to make theui feel his imlignation, 
 yet his maje.^ty's intention is to listen only to the inspirations of 
 his royal clemency, because lie is pcTsuaded that the inhabitants 
 of Louisiana would not have committed the oflense of which they are 
 guilty, if they had not been seduced by the intrigues of some ambitious 
 fanatic, and evil-minded men, who had the temerity to make a crim- 
 inal use of the ignorance and excessive credulity of their fellow-citizens. 
 These inen alone will answer for their crimes, and will be judged in ac- 
 cordance with the laws. So generous an act on the part of his majesty 
 migljt be a pledge to him that his new subjei^ts will endeavor every day 
 of their lives to deserve by their fidelity, zeal, and obedience, the par- 
 don and protection which he grants them from this moment." 
 
ir« 
 
 37« 
 
 Occur renre.'i in Loincr Louisiana. 
 
 the payment of their dehts. The sentence of the court was 
 pronounced by the governor himself, October 24, 1769. Five 
 of the number, viz., Lafren'ere, No^'on, Car^sse, Marquis, 
 and (Josepli) Milhet, were condemned to death on the gal- 
 k)W8 ; but as no white hangman could be found in the col- 
 ony, they were shot (October 24lh) in the ya. d of the bar- 
 racks. The memory of Villere was decla»'e<i infamous. It 
 has l)een observed, and |)erhaps truly, that these men died 
 victims to their love of libertv rather than of devotion to 
 France. 
 
 The six renuiining culprits were sentenced to varying 
 ternjs oi' imju'isonment. Petit was sentenced to imprison- 
 ment for life; Masan iind Doucet to ten years; Boisblanc, 
 Milhet (Jean), and Toupet to v,\x years each, with the un- 
 derstanding that none of theui should ever be permitted to 
 live in any of the dominions of his Catliolic majesty. Thoy 
 were shortly after transported to Havana, and incarcerated 
 in Moro Castle ; but they were subsequently i>ardonod by 
 the King of Spain, on the intercession of the French am- 
 bassador at that court. After tlieir release, it is siiid that 
 they went to reside at Cape Francois, in vSt. Domingo.* 
 
 The extreme punishment thus meted out to a few 
 leaders, while a free pardon was extended to the mass of 
 the people, though conformable to Spanish ideas of justice 
 and clemency, aroused a de^]) feeling of indignation among 
 the French inhabitants of Louisiana, and evoked much un- 
 favorable criticism in Old France. 
 
 O'Ueidy now proceeded to abolish the laws of France 
 in the province, and to substitute those of Spain. On the 
 2l8t of November, he issue<l his [iroclamation foi' the aboli- 
 tion of the Superior Council, which had been deeply impli- 
 cated in the insurrection against Spanish authority. In 
 place of the Superior Council, he established the Cnhildo, 
 which was both a liigh <'ourt and a legislative council, and 
 at which the governor presided. In its judicial <.'ai)acity, 
 it only exercised appellate jurisdiction in appeals from the 
 
 "* Fur a t;ircuiii8tiintiiil iicrouul ol tliis rcinarkultU' Htatc trial, i^»'o 
 Gayiirr6'8 lliKt. of l.a., Vol. II, pp. ;>0:t :i4;(. 
 
Foreign Populatior) of the Province. 
 
 377 
 
 tirt waa 
 I. Five 
 
 [arqui^i 
 the fral- 
 the (!ol- 
 :he bar- 
 OUB. It 
 len died 
 otion to 
 
 , varying 
 
 Ttiprison- 
 
 loiablanc, 
 
 h the un- 
 
 luiltcd to 
 
 ;y. Thoy 
 
 ;arcerated 
 
 •doned by 
 
 'er.ch am- 
 aaid that 
 
 lingo * 
 to a tew 
 e mass of 
 of justice 
 
 [on among 
 much un- 
 
 lof France 
 On the 
 tiic aboU- 
 Lly impli- 
 lority. In 
 lie Cobildo, 
 Inncil, and 
 (.'upacity, 
 fr(>ni the 
 
 [w trial, f«"« 
 
 Alcalde courts, which were estabhshed in New Orleans and 
 the various villages. 
 
 He appointed lieutenant-governors for the several dis- 
 tricts of the province ; and a commandant, with the rank 
 of captain, was appointed for each parish or settlement, 
 wiih authority to exercise a mixed civil and military juris- 
 diction. 
 
 He also caused to be published, in French, an abridgment 
 of Spanish law, which be proniulgated for the government 
 of the province until the Spanish language should be bet- 
 ter understood by the colonists. This publication, known 
 as the "Ordinances and Instructions of Don Alexander 
 O'Reilly," was afterward approved by the " Council of the 
 Indies." The Spanish language was henceforth tliiit in 
 which the judicial proceedings were conducted and records 
 kept throughout the province. The black code, or code 
 noir, which had been previously in force in the colon3% was 
 modified and re-enactev' for the government of the slaves. 
 Foreigners were prohibited from passing through the coun- 
 try without passports from the governor, and the inhabit- 
 ants were prevented from trading with the P^nglish colonies. 
 The colonists were at first TK'rmitted to emigrate, and many 
 availed themselves of this privilege; but, finding that the 
 province was losing some of its valuable citizens, O'ixcilly 
 refused to issue any more passports. 
 
 In accordance with an enumeration mp'!o during Gov. 
 O'Reilly's administration, the whole foreign population of 
 Louisiana amounted to thirteen thousand, two hundred 
 and thirty-eight souls, about one-half of whom were Afri- 
 can slaves. They were distributed in the settlements aa 
 toiiov»n: 
 
 New Orleans* [district of]. 
 From the Balize to town [N. O.] 
 
 8,190 
 570 
 
 * According to the lowest cstiiuute, at tluB time, tht- miinber of 
 liou8(!H in New Orloiins proper was 4(38. Most of these were single story 
 fltructures of brick or wood, Iwiviiijj; <j:irdetis iit*a<'lit'(l, uiid ecllarw above 
 g.ound. Tliev w»'n> situaled within the quadrilat<'ral still known au 
 "Old l-'rench Town," 
 
378 
 
 Occurrences in Lower Louisiana. 
 
 Bayou St. John 
 
 and Gentilly, 
 
 307 
 
 Tchoupitoulas [above New Orleans], 
 
 . 4,192 
 
 St. Charles, 
 
 • 
 
 389 
 
 St. John the Ba 
 
 ptiste, 
 
 . 544 
 
 La Fourche, 
 
 • * • 
 
 267 
 
 Iberville, 
 
 • « • 
 
 . 376 
 
 Point Coupee, 
 
 . 
 
 783 
 
 Attakapas, 
 
 • • • 
 
 . 409 
 
 Avoyvelles, 
 
 • • • 
 
 314 
 
 Natchitoches, 
 
 • • • 
 
 . 811 
 
 Kai»i(le8, . 
 
 • • • 
 
 47 
 
 Oua<!hita, 
 
 ■ • • 
 
 . 110 
 
 Ai'kaimaH [Post 
 
 of], 
 
 88 
 
 St. Louis [adjacent to the Illinois], 
 
 . 891 
 
 13,238 * 
 
 This aggregate seems small, considering the fact that 
 the French had been in Louisiana seventy years ; yet it 
 must be remembered that the province was now shorn of 
 all its territory lying north of New Orleans and east of the 
 Mississippi Jliver. including the Mobile, Natchez, and the 
 Illinois. At this transition epoch, a majority of the French 
 inhabitants chose to regard themselves as miserable exiles, 
 and were only consoled by the hope of acquiring sufficient 
 means to enable them to return to Old France to die. 
 About tlie ondy contented white people in the province 
 were the Acadians, and a colony of Ge/mans, whom Law's 
 company had sent here in 1722. 
 
 The Sjtanish government ratified and confirmed all of 
 O'Reilly's official acts in Louisiana, but it took care not to 
 continue him in comnumd there afier his work was done. 
 He was accordingly recalled within a year from the date of 
 
 ^ IliKt. of I.a. ((iayiirrtj), Vol. H, p. 355. 
 
 Thi' I'xjiortH of tilt! proviiKH' (liirinj^ the liiHt year of its suhjection 
 to Franco wcni as followH; Indigo, $100,000; dcuT Hkins, $80,000 ; lum- 
 ber. !|r)0,i)00 ; naval utoreB, $l'w',000 ; rice, peus, and beaue, |4,000 ; tallow, 
 $4,000. 'total cxportB, $1,'50,IH)0. 
 
Fate of Aubri/, the Last Acting French Governor. 879 
 
 307 
 
 r,192 
 
 339 
 544 
 
 267 
 
 376 
 
 783 
 
 409 
 
 314 
 
 811 
 
 47 
 110 
 
 8H 
 891 . 
 
 13,238 * 
 
 ne fact that 
 iarw; yet it 
 w shorn of 
 east of the 
 'A, and the 
 the French 
 a\)le exiles, 
 g sutiicient 
 nee to (lie. 
 [Q province 
 Ihoni Thaw's 
 
 Imed all of 
 Icare not to 
 
 was done. 
 
 the date of 
 
 litB subjection 
 1$80,000; Uun- 
 ]4,000; tallow, 
 
 his appointment. During that brief period, however, he 
 left an impress of his own and the Spanish character upon 
 the laws and institutions of Louisiana, such as neither time, 
 nor subsequent political changes, has wholly obliterated. 
 
 We muHt now return to M. Charles Aubry, Wiiose fate 
 was sad and tragical. Having at length transferred the gov- 
 ernment of Louisiana to Captain-General O'lieilly, Aubry 
 prepared to return to France. Early in January, 1770, he 
 embarked in the ship or brigantine called Pire de Families 
 bound for Bordeaux. On the 18th of February, when this 
 vessel had entered the mouth of the river Garonne, she met 
 a violent storm, and foundered near the Tower of Corduan. 
 All on board perished, save the captain, a sergeant, and two 
 sailors, who succeeded in reaching the land. 
 
 "The king, in order to show how much he appreciated 
 the services of Aubry, granted a pension to the brotiicr and 
 sister of that officer. Aubry, before his departure iVom 
 Louisiana, had been offered a high grade in the Spanish 
 army, as a token of satisfaction at the liberal course which 
 he had pursued toward that nation in the colony, but he 
 refused it on the ground that he intended to devote the 
 remnant of his days to the service of his native country. 
 Some there were, who thought that if those whom they 
 loved so dearly had been unjustly treated, it was mostly in 
 consequence of the imprudent denunciations of that officer, 
 and of his servility to O'Keilly and the Spaniards. Hy 
 them his melancholy end was looked upon as an act of the 
 retributive justice of Heaven." * 
 
 One of the most noteworthy events associated with the 
 close of the French rule in Louisiana was tiie banishment 
 of the Jesuits, which was effected i)V a decree of the Su- 
 perior Council in 1763, followed by aif edict of the King of 
 
 *ni8t. of La. (Gayarr6), Vol. H., p. :{44. 
 
 Note. — The oflicial corroHpomicnct' of .\iibry wuh ilopositcd in the 
 archives at Paris, but his privntc jonr.i!il, with vnhiablc papers bi'long- 
 ing to tho province, wen? lost with liini in tiie shipwreck. Tiiis was to 
 bo regretted, since they contained much matter tending to illustrate tho 
 history of Louisiana during that troubled period. 
 
 ■•■•jt:' 'Si 
 
til 
 
 380 
 
 Occurrences in Lower Louisiana. 
 
 France in 1764.* All the valuable property of that religious 
 order in the province, including plate and vestments, was 
 sequestered, confiscated, and sold, for the aggregate amount 
 of $180,000 — a large sum, says Mr. Gayarre, at that day — 
 which, after deducting the expenses, was covered into the 
 j>ublic treasury. Tlie Capuchins, who had been established 
 in Lower Louisiana since 1722, and had long contended at 
 disadvantage with the Jesuits, were now freed from the 
 presence of their formidable rivals, and had this field of 
 labor to themselves. 
 
 In this connection, some historical notice of the famous 
 Societas Jesu (Society of Jesus) may not be uninteresting or 
 uninstructive to the general reader. It was founded in 
 Paris by Ignatius Loyola, an ex-Spanish soldier and re- 
 ligious enthusiast, in the year 1534. The society was pri- 
 marily established to promote the following objects, viz : 
 " The education of youth, preaching of the Gospel, defend- 
 ing the Roman Catholic faith against heretics and unbeliev- 
 ers, and propagating Christianity among the pagans and 
 other infidels." Its constitution and laws were perfected, 
 it is said, by Laynez and Acquaviva, two generals of the 
 order wlio early succeeded Loyola, and wlio much sur- 
 passed him in iearning and tlie science of government. 
 They framed and introduced that system of profound and 
 artful policy — a singular union of laxity and rigor — which 
 has ever distinguished the Jesuit order. Afte»' receiving 
 the formal sanction of Pope Paul III., in 1540, the society 
 spread rapidly throughout Euroi)e, and flourished with 
 ever-increasing vigor and activity for above two centuries. 
 It overshadowed all other orders in the Church of Home, 
 and at length became so rich, haughty, and powerful as to 
 excite the jealousy and alarm of the crowned heads of 
 Europe. 
 
 But whatever may have been the errors, the follies, or 
 the crimes of the Jesuits (individually or collectively), while 
 playing their part in the devious politics and diplomacy of 
 the Old World, it is generally conceded that their labors in 
 
 * See note !n the next succeeding chapter. ' 
 
Notice of the Jesuits. 
 
 381 
 
 religious 
 !ut8, wa» 
 ! amount 
 at duy — 
 [ into the 
 tablished 
 gentled at 
 from the 
 18 field of 
 
 he famouB 
 ; resting or 
 Dunded in 
 ir and re- 
 y was pri- 
 bjects, viz : 
 )el, dofend- 
 d unheliev- 
 pagans and 
 ^ perfected, 
 nds of the 
 much 8ur- 
 ■overnmcnt. 
 ofound and 
 jror — which 
 receiving 
 the society 
 •inhed with 
 ) centuries. 
 U of Rome, 
 erful as to 
 d iieadn of 
 
 lie follies, or 
 lively), while 
 iplomacy of 
 l>ir labors in 
 
 the New were prompted by a spirit of genuine philanthropy. 
 Robertson, the eminent historian, in alluding to their opera- 
 tions in America, and particularly among the aborigines of 
 Paraguay, remarks : 
 
 "It is in the New World that the Jesuits have ex- 
 hibited the most wonderful display of their abilities, and 
 have contribut(^d most effectually to the benefits of the 
 human species. The (European) conquerors of that quarter 
 of the globe acted at first as if they had nothing in view 
 but to plunder, to enslave, and to exterminate its inhabit- 
 ants. The Jesuits alone made humanity tlie object of their 
 settling there. They set themselves to instruct and to civil- 
 ize the savaa^es. . . . But even in this meritorious ef- 
 fort for the good of mankind, the genius and spirit of the 
 order have mitigled and are discernible." '-^ 
 
 With reference to the zeal of the Jesuits as champions 
 of the Church of Rome, and to their qualifications as teach- 
 ers and missionaries, Breese finely writes : 
 
 " They became most useful auxiliaries to the pastoral 
 clergy in those times of the Cyhurch's greatest need. Tiiey 
 labored with untiring zeal and industry in defending the 
 faith, then so violently assailed by Luther and his associates, 
 and in propagating it in the countries of the heathen. 
 
 "As spiritual teachers th.ey had no ecpnds; for they 
 possessed all the learning of the age, and being in high 
 favor with the [)ope, they easily became the conscience 
 kaepers of kings and tiobles. Their arrogance and pre- 
 sumption, therefore, became excessive, and the dark and 
 complicated intrigues of European politics found in them 
 able, wily, iJcrsevcring actors. In every royal court they 
 possessed some power. Schools and colleges were founded 
 and controlled by them, and schen)es of future aggrandize- 
 ment planned. . . . 
 
 " In the plentitude of their power, no men on earth 
 possessed higher (pialilications for heathen conversion than 
 they ; for to their learning was added zeal, fortitude and 
 enthusiasui, acute observation and great address, and a re- 
 
 * Robertson's (^hurk'8 V., Book VI. 
 
382 
 
 Occurrences in Lower Louisiana. 
 
 markable faculty for ingratiating themselves with the 
 simple natives of every clime and winning their confidence. 
 They were meek and humble when necessary, and their re- 
 ligious fervor inspired them with a contempt of danger, 
 and nerved them to meet and to overcome the most ap- 
 palling obstacles. Alike to them were the chilling wintry 
 blasts, the summer's heat, the pestilence or the scalping 
 knife, the angry billows of the oceun and the raging storm ; 
 they dreaded none."* 
 
 But having fallen under the ban of the government of 
 Portugal, the Jesuits were forcibly expelled from that 
 kingdom in the year 1759. In like manner they were ban- 
 ished from the realm of France in 1764, and from Spain, 
 Naples and Parma, in 1767. In J^ecember, 1768, the Bour- 
 bon courts of France, Spain, Naples and Parma united in a 
 formal demand upon the Pope for the entire abolishment 
 of the order; and on July 2J, 1773, Pope Clonient XIV. 
 issued the famous brief, Dominus ac Rcde.mptor noster, by 
 which the Company or Society of Jesus was declared sup- 
 pressed in all the countries of Christendom. The activity 
 of individual members of the order, however, was not 
 thereby abated, nor was its vitality permanently impaired. 
 They continued their teachings in private, and strove 
 against the liberal tendency of the times, 
 
 Attempts to revive the order under other names were 
 made in 1794, when the ex- Jesuits DeBroglie and De 
 Tournly founded the "Society of the Sacred Heart," and 
 in 1798, when Paccarani established the " Society of the 
 Faith of Jesus." This last, despite the defection of its 
 founder, maintained its organization, and its members 
 tV)rmed the nucleus of the restored society in France. The 
 prospects of general restoration at length dawned with the 
 the Pontificate of Pius VII. in 1800. Having been solic- 
 ited thereto by Ferdinand IV., he authorized the introduc- 
 tion of the order into the kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 
 1804, and on the 7th of August, 1814, he issued the bull 
 of restoration, Solicitudo Omnium Lcckmarum.f 
 
 *" Early History of III.," pp. (V,), 70. 
 
 tAmerioan Encyclopedia (1874), Vol. IX., p. 632. • 
 
The Jesuit Relations. 
 
 383 
 
 th the 
 6,(1 cnce. 
 heir re- 
 danger, 
 \o8t ap- 
 r wintry 
 scalping 
 y storm ; 
 
 [inient of 
 oni that 
 vevc ban- 
 m Spain, 
 :he Bour- 
 nited in a 
 olishment 
 cut XIV. 
 
 noster, by 
 
 lared sup- 
 
 le activity 
 
 was not 
 
 impaired. 
 
 nd strove 
 
 lames were 
 and De 
 :eart," and 
 |ety of the 
 tion of its 
 memberB 
 .nee. The 
 Id with the 
 [been solic- 
 introduc- 
 Sicilies in 
 Id the bull 
 
 Since their revival the Jesuits, while every-where meet- 
 ing with prejudice and opposition, and experiencing all the 
 vicissitudes of good and ill fortune, have managed to re- 
 gain their former footing in most of the countries of 
 Christendom ; and, to-day, though much less dreaded than 
 formerly, they are more numerous, if not more powerful 
 and inlluential, than ever before. 
 
 On account of the long, dark cloaks or robes worn by 
 the Jesuit missiotuiries, they were universally known 
 among the North American Indians as the '• Black Gowns," 
 and their officiating priests as the "White Capes." The 
 Recollet or Franciscan Fathers, in allusion to the gray 
 color of their outward apparel, were called the " Gray 
 Gowns." 
 
 "Tlio Josuits (writes Mr. lUittcrlk^ld, in his work alnjuly cited), 
 intent upon pushinjj tluir fields of labor far into the heart of the conti- 
 nent, let slip no opportunity, after their arrival upon the Saint Law- 
 rence, to inform themselves conct riiinjj; ulterior rejiions, and the infor- 
 mation thus obtained was noted down by them. They minutely 
 described, during a period of forty years, beginning with the year 1632, 
 the varioufi tribes that they came in contact with ; and their hopes and 
 fears as to Christianizing them were freely expressed. Accounts of 
 their journeys were elaborated upon, and their missionary work put 
 upon record. Prominent persons, as well as important events, shared 
 their attention. Details concerning the geography of the country were 
 also written out. The intelligence thus collected was sent every sum- 
 mer by the superiors to the Provincials at Paris, where it was yearly 
 published in the French language. Taken together, these publ legations 
 constitute what are known as the 'Jesuit Relations.'" 
 
 They were collected, edited and republished in French, under the 
 auspices of the Canadian government, by M. Augustin Coto, at Quebec;, 
 1858, in three large volumes. Vol. I (lontains twelve relations of the 
 dates Ifill, 1026 and l()32-l(i-H ; Vol. II, fourteen relations, dated 1(142- 
 1655; Vol. Ill, seventeen relations, dated H)r)6-1()72. The relations of 
 each year are paged separately, and form forty-three distinct memoirs. 
 Besides the above, there are some separate publications of a later date 
 than 1672. 
 
 
884 
 
 Illinois Under British Domination. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1764-1778. 
 
 ILLINOIi* UNDER THE BRITISH DOMINATION. 
 
 We now return once more to the Illinois. In the 
 month of June, 1764, on the resignation and withdrawal of 
 M. Neyon de Villiers from Fort Chartres, the command 
 of this stronghold was devolved upon Louis St. Ange de 
 Bellerive, who had arrived from Post Vinceunes to receive 
 it. He was a veteran Canadian officer, possessed of rare 
 tact and ripe experience, and in his early manhood had 
 formed one of Charlevoix' escort in his travels tlirough 
 tlie West. As ad interim commandant of the fortress, St. 
 Ange's position was hoth insecure and diificult to fill. It 
 required no ordinary skill and address to save the isolated 
 French settlements from heing emhroiled in renewed war- 
 fare with the English forces on the one hand, and from 
 massacre by the hordes of restless savages that surrounded 
 them on the other. He had been advised by his own gov- 
 ernment of the treaty of cession to ICngland, and ordered 
 to surrender his post on the arrival of her representatives 
 to claim it. In the meantime he was repeatedly importuned 
 by deputations from the martial tribes to tlie north and 
 eastward, under the domination of Pontiac, for material 
 aid in keeping up their futile struggle against the English, 
 and, moreover, was constantly annoyed by the demands of 
 the Illinois Indians for arms and ammunition. But the 
 commandant managed to put oft* the importunities of the 
 natives from time to time, with fair speeches and occasional 
 presents, while he anxiously waited the coming of an ade- 
 quate British force to rol we him from his critical situation. 
 Before yielding up his olt ce and authority, however, he in- 
 stituted some prudent and salutary regulations respecting 
 
«• Ange take. Command a, St. Louu, Mo. 30, 
 
 tne titles of thp P« u 
 
 wise aided hi™ 1 1^ ,-«;;;;- '"- land, and othe. 
 Kvacuating Fort pTf ' f "^ ,*"^ P««-er. 
 
 -der orders frl„ ^ provlZ; "?':'"' "•*^' ^'^ ^"g-^- 
 «on<luc,ed hia little garrison of I "."" ^''"' °^'^''"'' 
 ^en. «P a„,l across fte mI «■, l!^";i*. ''""^ "ffloers and 
 V' lage of St. Louis. tL i os ?'" ^'T *" '^^ ^'"bvyo 
 XV'. of France, was fbu d d LFir"' '" """""^'oLoL 
 Laclede* Liguest, and yo!l a ''^' ""'*'''>' K«>-re 
 
 ^™ of "Maxent/Lac led' rComnr^'' ''''""^^"' "^ 'he 
 Orleans, .vho had obtained th^lTlV''^'"''' "' ^<'^ 
 irom Governor Kerlerec to til !l T " 'P^""' 'i««'se 
 Missouri River. * ""'^ ^ith the Indians on the 
 
 -^y^^::7:>::"Ll:!Zr''^ - Sp^n her tern. 
 -- as yet established there ,'''' 7 '"P""'^'" -«>ority 
 mom of the principal inhlbi a n"' f T?' "''«' *« ""e 
 S • Ange assumed the funct.o, ^f vf' ^°"'^' '^"P"''" 
 H.S acts were approved by lu ^ LT I """"'-"da-t. 
 general and he continued to xer'c so t!'';''! ™"""''"<iant- 
 »"t.l May 20, 1770, when he was r ."""-'^ "^ '''^ ""iee 
 governor Don Pedro Pier a th?fi fl"""^ ^^ I^ieutenant- 
 of the district. After tSt A„:f ^P""?'' «»"""-.dant 
 
 !!!^.™ent Of Louisi!,:a,tifh tC s^r r^'rcj! 
 
 chand,«,„g. On August H r^, l ', ? ''"^^'^^^^ extensively in L 
 Hrrived on the Sri »f m ' ^ P''««'^«'ed to Fort Chll'r f ^''"'"^ 
 
 ^See" History of St. Louis City and Col^'^ f^y ^^' »>•« men to work !-' 
 
 25 . * 
 
386 
 
 Illinois Under British Domination. 
 
 tain as he had before held under the French, but on litilt 
 pay.* It has been affirmed that he returned to Fort Cliar- 
 tres, after the asserted death of Captain Stirling, and that, 
 on the solicitation of the English, he again exercised com- 
 mand there for a short time; but this story is wanting in 
 proof and i)robability. 
 
 It was in April, 1769, -"vhile still commanding at St. 
 Louis, that St. Ange received an unexpected visit from 
 Pontiac, who had been living for three years in sullen re- 
 tirement on the river Maumee, but was now come on some 
 unexplained yet suspicious mission to the Illinois. The 
 Indian chieftain appeared at the head-quarters of the 
 French commandant arrayed in the uniform which had 
 been given to him by General Montcalm in 1759, and 
 which, it is said, he never wore except on occasions of cere- 
 mony. After being hospitably entertained at St. Louis for 
 several days, Pontiac, contrary to the advice of St. Ange 
 and others of the French inhabitants, who warned him of 
 the danger he was incurring, re-crossed the Mississippi, 
 with a few of his personal adherents, to attend a social 
 gathering, or pow-wow, of the Indians at Cahokia. Upon 
 arriving thither, he found them engaged in a drinking- 
 bout, and, with his fondness for liquor, soon became drunk 
 himself. The noisy meeting broke up late at night, when 
 he started with some friends down the long village street, 
 and on the way was heard singing medicine songs, in the 
 mystic virtues of which he seems to have reposed implicit 
 confidence. 
 
 The visit of this redoubtable chief to the Illinois was 
 regarded with great distrust by the few English residents 
 of the country, who justly dreaded his power for evil over 
 the minds of his fellow red men. At this time, it appears, 
 there was in Cahokia an English trader named Williamson, 
 who determined to avail himself of the opportunity pre- 
 
 * St. Ange de Bellerive died at the house of Madame Chouteau, in St. 
 Louis, on the evening of December 26, 1774 (having executed his last 
 will on the same day), and was buried tliere in the parish cemetery. 
 He had attained the ripe old age of about seventy-four years. See Bil- 
 lon's "Annals of St. Louis," p. 128. 
 
Ponfiae's Last Visit and Death in the Illinois. 
 
 387 
 
 t Cb ar- 
 id tViat, 
 ed com- 
 itint? i'» 
 
 V at St. 
 
 sit from 
 
 u\len re- 
 ow some 
 
 ois. The 
 
 ,g of the 
 
 rhicli ba«l 
 
 1759, and 
 
 118 of cere- 
 
 ,. Louift for 
 
 f St. Ange 
 
 ned \^ya\ of 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 [^d a social 
 :ia. Upon 
 . drinking- 
 janie drunk 
 piglit, when 
 .lage street, 
 |ong8, in the 
 ied inipl^eit 
 
 I Illinois was 
 Ish residentfl 
 for evil over 
 L it appears, 
 IWiUianison, 
 U'tunity pre- 
 
 'houteau.m^t. 
 lecuted hiB last 
 ^riBli cemetery, 
 .ears. . See Bil- 
 
 sented to effect \\\a deHtniction. For this sinister purpose, 
 he bribed a vagrant Indian of the Kaskaskia tribe, for a 
 barrel of liquor and tlie promise of furtlier reward, to take 
 Pontiac's life. The hired assassin accordingly followed the 
 inebriated chief into the forest, and, gliding silently up be- 
 hind him, stabbed him to the heart. Thus ingloriously 
 ended the notable career of the veteran Pontiac, whose ex- 
 traordinary ability as a leader and organizer of the red men, 
 his strategy and auda(!ity in war, rendered him the terror 
 of the English, and the typical hero of his race. When 
 informed of this tragical occurrence, which created wild 
 excitement in Cahokia, Captain St. Ange, mindful of his 
 former friendship for the fallen chief, caused his ])ody to be 
 shrouded and brought to St. Louis, where it was interred 
 with the honors of war, near the intersection of Walnut 
 and Fourth streets. No mound nor tablet marks his for- 
 gotten grave, but his deeds are written, and his name is 
 enduringly preserved in that of a thriving town in Illinois. 
 Pontiac left several children, among whom were two sons 
 of note in their tribe.'^ 
 
 The uufortuiuite killing of Pontiac — unfortunate if he 
 was not seeking to stir up another race war with the En- 
 glish — aroused intense animosity against the Illinois Indians 
 on the part of his numerous friends and followers among 
 the more northern tribes. It was the occasion of a re- 
 newal of hostilities between the Sacs and Foxes and the Il- 
 linois, in which the latter sustained heavy losses and were 
 finally driven south of the Illinois river. During this ex- 
 terminating war, and about the year 1770, tradition says 
 that a defeated band of Illinois warriors took refuge on the 
 Rock of St. Louis, where, after a protracted siege, they 
 were starved into submission and captured, thus giving rise 
 to the legend of the " Starved Rock." 
 
 Just before and during the first years of the English 
 
 *An Ottawa tradition states that Pontiac took a Kaskaskia wife, 
 with whom he had a quarrel, and that she persuaded her two brothers 
 to kill him. But see Parknuin's " History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac" 
 (4th ed., 18G8, pp. 571, 572, notes), where the various accounts of the 
 great Indian's death are mentioned and discussed. 
 
388 
 
 Illinois Under Brit?^h Domination. 
 
 domination, there was a large exodus of the French inliab- 
 itants from Illinois. Such, in fact, was their dislike of 
 British rule that fully one-third of the population, embrac- 
 ing the wealthier and more influential families, removed, 
 with their slaves and other personal eft'ects, beyond the 
 Mississippi, or down that river to Natchez and New Or- 
 leans. Some of them settled at Ste. Genevieve, while 
 others, after the example set by St. Ange, took up their 
 abode in the village of St. Louis, which had now become 
 a depot for the fur company of Louisiana. From the im- 
 petus thus received, as well as from its pleasant and ad- 
 vantageous situation for general trade, St. Louis soon 
 outstripped the older French settlements on the eastern 
 side of the Mississippi. Under successive mild adminis- 
 trations (French and Spanish), the village quietly grew and 
 flourished, meeting with but few drawbacks, saving the at- 
 tack by northern Indians, in May, 1780, the destructive in- 
 undation in 1785,* and the epidemic of 1801. It was not 
 until after the Indian incursion that St. Louis was stock- 
 aded, and a regular fortification constructed at the upper 
 end of the village. In 1770 there were one hundred 
 wooden and fifteen stone buildings in the place. But no 
 church edifice existed there prior to the year 1776, except 
 a small log chapel which stood upon what was known as 
 the Church Block. In 1794 the garrison and government 
 house, situate on the second rise or bank of the village, was 
 completed and occupied. In March, 1804, when the govern- 
 ment of the country west of the Mississippi was transferred 
 to the United States, the number of houses in St. Louis had 
 increased to one hundred and thirty of wood, and fifty-one 
 of stone, making a total of one hundred and eighty-one, of 
 which one hundred and sixty were dwelling houses. These 
 were one and two story structures, built upon the first bank 
 of the river with little or no pretensions to architectural 
 embellishment. The population of the place was then rated 
 
 ♦The unusual inundation of 1785 was caused by the annual floods 
 in the Mississippi and Missouri rivers occurring together. This was 
 known as L'annde de» grands daux, or "the year of tlie great waters" 
 
Early Upbuilding of St. Louis. 
 
 389 
 
 L \nbab- 
 aWke of 
 einbrac- 
 emoved, 
 ^ond the 
 Hew Or- 
 
 up their 
 
 w become 
 
 a^ the im- 
 
 t and ad- 1 
 
 .ouis soon 
 
 \ve eastern 
 
 d adniinis- 
 
 y grew and 
 
 v\ng the at- 
 
 ^tructive in- 
 Itwas not 
 
 5 was stock- 
 
 ,t the upper 
 
 ,ne hundred 
 ice. But no 
 1776, except 
 as known as 
 government 
 
 |e village, was 
 iiithegovern- 
 ii8 transferred 
 St. Louis had 
 and fifty-one 
 [eighty-one, of 
 ouses. These 
 the first bank 
 architectural 
 as then rated 
 
 the aunual floodB 
 etber. This was 
 Lot -waters." 
 
 at nine hundred uiid twenty-tivo souls.* French influeace 
 was long dominant in St. Louis, and tended to retard her 
 early development ; but, in modern years, her growth and 
 expansion into a great commercial and industrial city have 
 been something phenomenal. 
 
 At the close of the year 1765, the whole number of in- 
 habitants of foreign birth or lineage, in Illinois, excludnig 
 the negro slaves, and including those living at Post Vincent 
 on the Wabash, did not much exceed two thousand persons ; 
 and, during the entire [)cnod of British possession, the in- 
 flux of alien population hardly more than kept pace with 
 the outflow. Scarcely any Englishmen, other than the 
 officers and troops composing the small garrisons, a few en- 
 terpiising traders and some favored land speculators, were 
 then to be seen in the Illinois, and no Americans came 
 hither, for the purpose of settlement, until after the con- 
 quest of the country by Colonel Clark. All the settlements 
 still remained essentially French, with whom ther^) was no 
 taste for innovation or change. But the blunt and sturdy 
 Anglo-American had at last gained a firm foot-hold on the 
 banks of the great Father of Rivers, and a new type of 
 civilization, instinct with energy, enterprise and progress, 
 was about to be introduced into the broad and fertile Valley 
 of the Mississippi.! 
 
 In Captain Pittman'c valuable work, from which we 
 have repeatedly quoted, is found a comprehensive account 
 of the Illinois country and its inhabitants, with sketches in 
 detail of the several French posts and villages situated 
 therein, as personally viewed by him in 1766-7. Pittman 
 was an officer of the British Royal Engineers, and was first 
 sent out with a regiment to Pensacola, Florida, in 1763. 
 From Pensacola be went to Mobile, and thence to New 
 Orleans ; after which he passed up the Mississippi, stopping 
 at Natchez, and appears to have reached the Illinois early 
 in the year 1766. Returning to Florida, he thence sailed 
 for England in 1768. His book, we are told, was originally 
 
 * Billon's Annals of Early St. Louis. 
 
 t Davidson's and Stuve's History, Ist ed., p. 163. 
 
390 
 
 Illinois Under British Domination. 
 
 K t 
 
 Si 
 
 %' 
 
 written at the request and for the use of the Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies. It contain?, in a compact form, 
 much useful and reliable information (nowhere else to be 
 found) concerning the Mississippi Valley and its people at 
 that transition period.* 
 
 Pittman describes the country of the Illinois as then 
 " bounded by the Mississippi on the west, by the river Illi- 
 nois on the nortii, by tiie rivers Ouabache and Mianiis on 
 the east, and by the Ohio on the south." Treating of the 
 villages seriatim, and beginning with Kaskaskia, he writes: 
 
 " The village of Notre Dame de Cascasquias is by far the 
 most considerable settlement in the countrv of the Illinois, 
 as well from its number of inhabitants us from its advan- 
 tageous situation. It stands on the side of a small river, 
 which is about eighty yards wide, and empties itself with 
 a gentle current into the Mississippi, near two leagues below 
 the village. This river is a bocure port for the large bateaux 
 which lie so close to its banks as to load and unload with- 
 out the least trouble, and at all seasons of the year there is 
 water enough for tdem to come up. . . . Another 
 great advantage that Cascasquias receives from its river is 
 the facility with which mills for corn and plank may be 
 erected on it. Mons. Paget was the tii'st who introduced 
 water-mills in this count!'y, and he constructed a very line 
 one on the river Cascasquias, which was both for grinding 
 corn and sawing boards; it lies about one mile from the 
 village. The mill proved fatal to him, being killed as he 
 was working in it with two negroes, by a party of Chero- 
 kees, in 1764. 
 
 "The principal buildings here are the Church,! and 
 Jesuit's House, which (latter) has a small chapel adjoining 
 it; these, as well as some other houses in the village, arc 
 built of stone, and, consideiing this part of the world, 
 
 * Vkk "The Present State of the European SetH'iments on the Mis- 
 Bissippi; with a Gcof^raphical Dosrription of tliat Kiver, illuHtrated hy 
 Plans r.!i(l DraujjhtB." Uy Captain Pliilip Pittman. London, 1770. 
 Quarto, pp. 107. 
 
 tTliobell helon^fing to this quaint old church was caHt at La Ro- 
 choUe, France, in 1741. 
 
Fittman's Accoa.U of the French Settlements. 391 
 
 cretary of 
 •act U)':n\y 
 else to be 
 
 ,18 as then 
 3 river Uli- 
 Miamis on 
 ting of the 
 , he writes: 
 is by far the 
 the Illinois, 
 1 its advan- 
 
 sniall river, 
 s itself with 
 jagues below 
 arge bateaux 
 unload with- 
 
 year there is 
 Another 
 ,m its river is 
 ilank may be 
 
 o ii\troduc'ed 
 
 d a very line 
 tor grinding 
 
 |nile from the 
 killed as he 
 
 |rty of Chero- 
 
 'Shnrch,! and 
 [pel adjoining 
 he village, are 
 |)f the woritl, 
 
 [(.nts on tho Mis- 
 
 >r, illustratod by 
 
 London, 17"»^- 
 
 caHt at La 1^*'" 
 
 raake a very good appearance. The Jesuit's plantation 
 consisted of two hundred and fort}' arpents (an arpent be- 
 ing 85-100 of an acre) of cultivated land, a very good stock 
 of cattle, and a brewery ; whicli was sold by the French 
 commandant, after the country was ceded to the English, 
 for the Crown, iri consequence of the suppression of the 
 order.* Mons. (Jean Bajstiste) Beauvais was the pur- 
 chaser, who is the richest of the English subjects in this 
 country. He keeps eighty slaves ; he furnished eighty-six 
 thousand weight of tiour to the king's magazine, which 
 was only part of the harvest ho reaped u\ one year. Sixty- 
 live families reside in this village, besides merchants, other 
 casual people, and slaves. 
 
 "The fort, which wu.-s burnt down in October, 176(3, 
 stood on the summit of a high rock o{)posite the village, 
 and on the o[)posite side of the river. It was an oblong 
 quadrangle, of which the extreme polygon measured two 
 liundred and ninety by two hundred and fifty-one feet. It 
 was built of very thick square tind>ers, and dovetailed at 
 tlie angles. An ofHcer and twenty soldiers are quartered 
 in the villaire. The othcei' y-overns the iidiabitants under 
 the direction of the commandant at Fort Charti'cs. Here 
 are also two companies of (French) militia. 
 
 •■' La J*raii'ie des Roches f is about seventeen (fifteen) 
 miles from (/ascasquias. It is a small village, consisting of 
 twelve dwelling houses, nil of which are iidiabited by as 
 many families. Here is a little cluqtel, formerly a chapel of 
 ease to the chui'cli at Fort Chartres. The iidiabitants are 
 very industrioun, and raise a great deal of corn and every 
 kind (»f stock. Tlie village is two miles from Fort (^har- 
 
 * The only Jesuit prii!Hl iillowcU to reniain in the niinois wuh Sebas- 
 tian Louis Meurin, and he wa.s required to sij^n a paper obIigiitin<i; him- 
 Helf not to acknowledKO any otlier superior than that of the Capuchins 
 at New OrleauK. (Siiea's "Catliolie Church in Old Colonial Days.") 
 Father Meurin died al I'rairie thi Itoiher iu 177S. lie was a learned 
 man and faitliful inisKionary, who left in tnanuHcript a large dictionary 
 of the Indian and French languages. 
 
 t Prairie du Ilocher is the only one of these old French villages that 
 has continued to llourish until the present day, in 1800, according to 
 the United States census, it contained a population of 108 bouIb. 
 
"ftSim^ 
 
 392 
 
 Illinois Under British Domination. 
 
 tres. It takeH its name from itH situation, being built under 
 a rock that runs parallel with tlie river Mississippi, at a 
 league distance, for forty miles up. Here is a company of 
 militia, the captain of which regulates the police of the 
 village." 
 
 After giving a particular description of Fort Chartres,f 
 Pittman's account continues : " In the year 1764, there were 
 about forty i'amilies in the village near the fort, and a par- 
 ish church served l)y a Franciscan friar, dedicated to St. 
 Anne. In the following year, when the English took pos- 
 session of the country, they abandoned their houses and 
 settled at the village on the west de of the Mississippi, 
 choosing to continue under the J'rench government. 
 
 "Saint Pliillippe is a small village about five miles 
 from Fort Ohartres, on the road to Kaoquias. There are 
 about sixteen houses and a small church standing; all the 
 inhabitants, except the captain of the militia, deserted it 
 in 1765, and went to the French side (Missouri). The cap- 
 tain of the militia has about twenty slaves, a good stock of 
 cattle, and a water-mill for corn and planks. This village 
 stands on a very fine meadow, about one mile from the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 " The village of Saint Famille de Kaoquias (Cahokia) 
 is generally reckoned fifteen leagues from Fort Chartres, 
 and six leagues below the mouth of the Missouri. It stands 
 near the side of the Mississippi, and is marked from the 
 river by an island (Duncan's) two leagues long. The vil- 
 lage is opposite the center of this island; it is long and 
 straggling, being three-fourths of a mile from one end to the 
 other. It contains forty-five dwelling houses, and a church 
 near the center. The situation is not well chosen, as in 
 the floods it is generally overflowed two ov three feet deep. 
 This was the first settlement on the Mississippi. The land 
 was purchased of the savages by a few Canadians, some of 
 whom married women of the Kaocjuias nation, and others 
 brought wives from Canada, and then resided tb.ere, leaving 
 tlieir children to succeed them. The inhabitants of this 
 
 *See ante. Chapter XVI., p. :il4. 
 
Pittman's Account of the French Settlements. 393 
 
 t under 
 pi, at a 
 ipauy of 
 
 3 of tllG 
 
 liartreH,t 
 tere were 
 d a par- 
 ed to St. 
 took po8- 
 )U8e8 and 
 Assissippi, 
 
 int. 
 
 iive tnileft 
 There are 
 ;g ; all the 
 ieaerted it 
 The oap- 
 od stock of 
 'his village 
 from the 
 
 L (Cahokia) 
 ft Chartres, 
 It BtandB 
 Id from the 
 The vil- 
 U long and 
 lo end to the 
 lid a church 
 losen, art in 
 |e feet deep. 
 The land 
 |urt, ftotne of 
 and others 
 fere, leaving 
 Lutfl of this 
 
 place depend 
 
 and their Indian trade than 
 
 more on li anting 
 on agriculture, as they scarcely raise corn enough for their 
 own consumption : they have great plenty of poultry, and 
 good stocks of liorned cattle. 
 
 " The mission of St. Sulpicc had a very fine plantation 
 here, and an excellent house built on it. They sold this 
 estate, and a very good mill for corn and planks, to a 
 Frenchman (M. Gerardine), who chose co remain under the 
 English government. They also disposed of thirty negroes 
 and a good stoclc of cattle to different people in the coun- 
 try, and returned to France in 1764. What is called the 
 fort, is a small house standing in the C3uter of the village. 
 It differs nothing from the other houses, except in being one 
 of the ;joorest. It was formerly inclosed with high pali- 
 sades, but these were torn down and burnt. Indeed, a fort 
 at this place could be of little use." * 
 
 Concerning the soil, products, commerce, and aborigi- 
 nes of the country, Pittman says : 
 
 " The soil of this country, in general, is very rich and 
 luxuriant ; it produces all kinds of European grains, hops, 
 hemp, flax, cotton, and tobacco, and European fruits come 
 to great perfection. The inhabitants make wine of the 
 wild grapes, wlilch is very inebriating, and is, in color and 
 taste, very like the red wine of Provence. 
 
 " In the late wars. New Orleans and the lower parts of 
 Louisiana were supplied with flour, beef wines, hams, and 
 other provisions from this country. At present, its com- 
 merce is mostly confined to the peltry and furs, which are 
 got in traffic from the Indians ; for which are received in 
 return such European commodities as are necessary to carry 
 on that commenje and the support of the inhabitants. 
 
 * " The old fort hiiH long since disappeared ; no vcstij^o of it can now 
 be Been. The church still stands, and is prooably the oldest houso of 
 worship west of the Alleghany Mountains. Th(> village, insteiii of 
 being ' near the side of the Mississippi,' is nearly a mile to the east of 
 it. This change was mainly wrouglit by the general floo(' of 1844."- 
 History of St. Clair Co., III., 1881, p 827. "The old cov;rt-hou8e was 
 built (by the Americans) in 1795, or thereabouts, at which time Cahokia 
 became the county seat. In 181 4 the county seat was removed to Belle- 
 ville."— Ibid., p. :i2i). 
 
394 
 
 Illinois Under British Domination. 
 
 " The principal Indian nations in this country are the 
 Cascasquias, Kahoquias, Mitcliigamias, and Peoyas ; these 
 four tribes are generally called the Illinois Indians. Except 
 in hunting seasons, they reside near the English settlements 
 in this country. They are a poor, debauched and dastardly 
 people. They count about three hundred and iifty warriors. 
 The Panquiclias(Pianka8haw8),Ma&coutin8, Miarnies, Kick- 
 apous, juid Pyatonons, though not very numerous, are brave 
 and wiM-like people." 
 
 With regard to tlie Camlet of Prairie du Pont, of 
 which I'ittman makes no mention, Reynolds gives us this 
 information : 
 
 "The village of Prairie du Pont was settled by emi- 
 grants from the other French villages, in the year 1760, 
 and was a prosperous settlement. It is stated that this vil- 
 lage, in the year 1765, contained fourteen famil'cs. They 
 had their common field and commons, which were (!on- 
 firmed to them by the government of the United States. 
 This village is situated about one mile south of Cahokia, 
 and extended south from the creek of the same name for 
 some distance. It is a kind of suburb to Cahokia."* 
 
 In order to further illustrate the history of the French 
 Hottlements in Illinois, it is now requisite to give a succinct 
 narration of the English rule over them. Captain Thomas 
 Stirling began the military government of the country on 
 October 10, 1765, with fair and libersil concessions, calcu- 
 lated to secure the good-will and loyalty of the French- 
 (Janadians, and to .stay their further exodus; but his ad- 
 ministration was not of long duration.! On the 4th of the 
 ensuing December, he was succeeded by Major Robert 
 Farmer, who had arrived from Mobile with a detachment 
 of the 34th British infantry. In the following year, after 
 
 'Reynold'H Pioneer History, second edition, p. 07. 
 
 tit nppearB that Captain Stirling did not die while in command at 
 Fort Cliartrofl, as related by the earlier historians of Illinois. On the 
 (•ontrary, he afterward fonght his way up to a brigadier-generalship in 
 the War of the Revolution, and limilly died in England, in 1808, a bar' 
 onet nn(i a general of high rank. — Moses' History of Illinois (Chicago, 
 1889), Vol. I., p. 137; New York Colonial Docs., VII., 786, note. 
 
Successive English Commandants in Illinois. 395 
 
 xre the 
 • these 
 Except 
 [ements 
 istardly 
 warriors. 
 ,a, Kick- 
 ,re hrave 
 
 Pont, of 
 ;s US this 
 
 I by enii- 
 rear 1760, 
 it this vil- 
 es. They 
 were con- 
 ted States. 
 f Cahokia, 
 e name for 
 
 Ja."* 
 
 [the "French 
 a succinct 
 \u Thomas 
 co\intry on 
 lions, calcu- 
 ae l^rench- 
 jut his ad- 
 ^ 4th of the 
 ijor llobert 
 [detacbment 
 year, after 
 
 III conuniind at 
 ]noiB. On the 
 
 lin 180H, abar- 
 InoiH (Chicago, 
 I, note. 
 
 exercising an arbitrary authority over these isoUited and 
 feeble settlements, Major Farmer was displaced by Colonel 
 Edward Cole, who had commanded a regiment under 
 Wolfe, at Quebec. Colonel Cole remained in command at 
 Fort Chartres about eighteen months ; but the position 
 was not congenial to him. The climate was unfavorable to 
 his health, and the privations of life at a frontier post in- 
 creased his discontent. He was accordingly relieved at his 
 own request, early in the year 1768.* Ilia successor was 
 Colonel Johii Reed, who proved a bad exchange for the 
 poor colonists. He soon became so notorious for his mili- 
 tary oppressions of the j)eo})le that he was removed, and 
 gave place to LlGutenant-Colonel John Wilkins, of the 
 18th, or royal regiment of Ireland, who had formerly com- 
 manded at Fort Niagara. 
 
 Colonel Wilkins arrived from Philadelphia and as- 
 sumed the command September 5, 1768. He brought out 
 with him seven companies of his regimeiit for garrison 
 duty ; but many of these soldiers succumbed to the mala- 
 rious diseases of the country. Having been authorized by 
 General Gage to institute a court of justice in Illinois for 
 the civil administration of the laws, Wilkins issued his 
 proclamation to that effect on the 21st of November. He 
 next appointed seven nuigistrates or judges, who were to 
 form a court, and to hold monthly sessions for the trial and 
 adjudication of all controversies arising among the people 
 in relation to debts or property. The tirst term of this 
 honorable court was convened at Fort Chartres, December 
 6, 1768. It was the first court of common law jurisdiction 
 established in the Mississipjti Valley; and, although called 
 by courtesy a common law court, it was, in fact, a very 
 nondescript ti'ibunal. 
 
 " It was a court of first and last resort ; no appeal lay 
 from it. It was the highest as well as the lowest, the oidy 
 court in the country. It proved any thing but pojmlar, and 
 it is just possible that the worthy judges themselves, taken 
 from among the people, nuiy not have been the most en- 
 
 ♦Mobob' IliBtory of 111., Vol. I., p. 188. 
 
396 
 
 Illinois Under British Domination. 
 
 lightened exponents of the law. The people were under 
 the laws of England, but the trial by jury — that great bul- 
 wark of the subject's right, coeval with the common law 
 and reiterated in the British constitution — the French mind 
 was unable to appreciate, i)articularly in civil trials. They 
 thought it very inconsistent that the English should refer 
 nice questions relating to the rights of property to a tribu- 
 nal composed of tailors, shoemakers, or other artisans and 
 trades-people, for determination, rather than to judges 
 learned in the law. While thus, under the English admin- 
 istration, civil jurisprudence was sought to be brought 
 nearer to the people, it failed, because, owing to the teach- 
 ings, and perhaps genius of the French mind, it could not 
 be made of the people, 
 
 " For nearly ninety years had these settlements been 
 ruled by the dicta and decisions of theocratic and military 
 tribunals, absolute in both civil and criminal cases; but as 
 may well be imagined, in a post so remote, where there was 
 neither wealth, culture, nor fashion, all incentives to oppress 
 ■♦:he colony remained dormant, and the extraordinary powers 
 of the priests and commandants were (general'^') exercised 
 in a patriarchal spirit, wliich gained the love and implicit 
 confidence of the people. Believing that their rulers were 
 ever right, they gave themselves no trouble or pains to re- 
 view their acts. Indeed, many years later, when Illinois 
 had passed under the jurisdiction of the United States, the 
 perplexed inhabitants, unable to comi>i'chend the to them 
 complicated machinery of republicanism, begged to be de- 
 livered from the intolerable burden of self-government, 
 and again subjected to the will of a military command- 
 ant."* 
 
 Subsequent to the treaty of T^aris, on October 7, 1763, 
 Goorge III., King of Great Britain, issued his proclama- 
 tion for the government of the country wrested from France 
 in America, and dividing it into four provinces. In this 
 proclamation he |)rohibited his subjects from ''making any 
 purchases or settlements whatever, or taking possession ot 
 
 •Davidson & Stuve's Hist. 111., Ist ed., p. 165. 
 
^'''"^^^lin, of Ike English eovemmenl. 
 
 "■"y of the wild lands beyond th. 
 21- "-hieh fall into the i^Lie or'""? "' ""^ "'' "- 
 north-west." The object of . ,,"!''!" *™'" ">« 'vest or 
 
 «- vast and ""cultiva ed rtioro;t w" "''" *" ^^-ve 
 ground for the use of the iT, " ^^ '^*" "*' " ''""tinff- 
 
 of the great lakes, to n kl V '^''"' "'"'' ''>■ *e navigat o^„ 
 "■ade Within Engl'is 'eo, t, "''t:""™'?- «"• »"d pel ^ 
 government tl.enlas to eo fi ,« th 'f "1-7 '"' "'<* ^"'"e 
 At ant,o slope, within easy reael of ^, " ^'^ 7'"'"'^' '» «"« 
 which would be more comW / '^^"«^'''''> 'I'ippih,, 
 
 whereas the granting of Zll r " 'T'" '"'" -n,merJ:.' 
 ;nterior would tend^o .'"f;,';';: "','"■''' '" "^ -'"<>«e 
 
 ;trictive policy o;:,:,r:r,'ent"" fr-^ '""■'•"- ■- - 
 
 forced. Indeed, one tf t be ''^ ""' ^^ «Wctlj en- ' 
 
 Colonel VViIki,, . adn.i, ist . ti ^'' '""'''''"' fe-tnres of 
 ;^.--f ''0 parceled ,:::'C;!' I,',.;- ''^ "l-oralit, with 
 *h'ch he ruled to his fav,^ ,e ' t r,f *'"' ''""""■> over 
 and elsewhere, without otle et,. ' T"' '''"'''"elpWa, 
 thorn to re-convey to him a ccrf^ "•:""" "'"" '''^""''g 
 Bj the aforesaid prodan.at on" th,"'^°^*'^' "' the same^ 
 purchasing of lands from the In d • ^"^' "'" '""^"'K or 
 can colonies was strictly fobi<^^nH ""^ "' ">^ A.^eri- 
 «;on being first had and'^olX' 1^' .T" '°'>t-Pecial permis- 
 Colonel Wilkins, and some If bi T ""'^ P'-"'>iWtio„, 
 
 treated the lands of the French 1 ^ '■'"""'' "> o^ee 
 feted, and granted them awa> Tr^,'^ 
 never received the sanction ofThe K '"'' "-""'"etione 
 or judicial act did their proit V be ^'^' ""'' ^^ "" "'^"1 
 British crown.* ' ' *^ '"'eome escheated to the 
 
 lieutenant Colonel Wilkin^' „ 
 country eventually became m „ ^7'"'"?"' "' «'« Ulinoi, 
 :;:: P'-«f^'-^«' 4.in»t hll • I it"'"'' r-«e charges 
 o the public funds. ,f« asl^^d fo t 1 ""^PPropriation , 
 
 ^™«^he was able to^t^t^urS:: 
 
 
 " '"^''"""'' **-•««'«'.'"., 1st ed., p. ,«,. 
 
398 
 
 Illinois Under British Domination. 
 
 But he was deposed from office in September, 1771, and 
 sailed for Europe in July of the following year.* 
 
 Captain Hugh Lord, of the 18th regiment, became 
 Wilkins' successor at Fort Chartres, and continued in com- 
 mund until the year 1775. It was during his incumbency, 
 in the spring of 1772, that the great freshet occurred in the 
 Mississippi, which undermined and partly destroyed th 
 fortress, so that it was abandoned. The seat of the local 
 government was then removed to Kaskaskia, and the gar- 
 rison took up their quarters at the old fort on the rocky 
 hill or bluff, over against the town. This fort, as herein 
 before stated, had been destroyed by fire in 1766, but it was 
 now repaired or reconstructed, and was named Fort Gage, 
 in token of respect to the British comnuinder-in-chief in 
 America. At this time the liritish garrison here was quite 
 small, comprising, it is said, only twenty men and one com- 
 missioned officer, though there were two companies of mili- 
 tia in Kaskaskia village. 
 
 On the 2d of June, 1774, Parliament passed an act 
 enlarging and extending the province of Quebec to the 
 Mississippi River, so as to include the territory of the 
 Northwest ; restoring to the people of Canada their ancient 
 laws in civil cases; guaranteeing the free exerciee of their 
 religion, and rehabilitating the Ronuin Catholic clergy 
 with the privileges stipulated in the articles of capitulation 
 at Montreal in 1760. This act was popularly known as the 
 " Quebec Bill." It was intended not only to conciliate the 
 French inhabitants of Canada, and to firmly attach them 
 to the English crown, but to counteract the growing oppo- 
 sition to the home government in the American colonies 
 on the Atlantic seaboard. The measure was a master 
 strok"! of policy on the part of the British ministry, since 
 it allayed disafitection, and tended to prevent the revolt of 
 the Canadian provinces in the War of the Revolution. 
 
 Who was the immediate successor of Captain Lord 
 in command of the Illinois, is not positively determined. 
 It appears from a letter written by Governor Haldiraand 
 
 ♦Moses' Hist, of 111., Vol. I., p. 141. 
 
''■"«-!>^A-«:*4tSi .. 
 
 , 1771, and 
 
 nt, became 
 led in com- 
 icumbency, 
 irred in the 
 itroyed th^ 
 >f the local 
 id the gar- 
 1 the rocky 
 t, as herein 
 , but it was 
 Fort Gage, 
 -in-chief in 
 •e was quite 
 id one corn- 
 lies of mili- 
 
 ased an act 
 bee to the 
 :ory of the 
 heir ancient 
 ;iee of their 
 lolic clergy 
 capitulation 
 lown us the 
 nciliate the 
 ittach them 
 ►wing oppo- 
 !an colonies 
 8 a master 
 tiistry, since 
 he revolt of 
 i>lution. 
 ptain Lord 
 determined. 
 Haldiraand 
 
 Kennedy', Ri,,, y^^^^ 
 
 ^eutena„t-oo„.„,a„,::f :^ Ztu ^'"^'"^ "" ^o"""- - 
 May, 1781; but wo are ro tinfe'"/''"'" "ay, 1775, to 
 offi-r v.a« stationed, or Xt ttT K "' '° ^'"''' '''='' 
 thau to draw his pav * '"''""'' ^^ Performed other 
 
 Pape" 'VLr;vtT;he'r„ t " t™"- '^'^'^'^ 
 that Philippe Francoi, de Ba«t r'^^'r''^"^ "' Ottawa), 
 command of the British at th!t!' ''*' ^^^''^Wavo was i 
 as Oetober, 1776, and hat h / """ Kaskaskia as early 
 waa approved by his I ^l rSir of " ^'T" -'™anda„^ 
 blave was a native of n»„ 'i ' "^ Carleton.* Roche 
 
 the French service, uS:'h'e T" ';' ''^''" ="' "^-^t 
 O'-eat Britain he changed his an!'" "' "" -^"""'O- to 
 P^moted. He resided" for m .,?!?"""'' "'"* '''''• «'" ^as 
 was married there in Apri VS. ^""V" ^^'"'kaskia, and 
 records. f '^"' "•'3, as ,s shown by the parish 
 
 the journal of a river Voyatl " ^ ', '" '™^' '« ™"'ai»ed 
 "edy, with several ™«„««l:,""' "; «'- Patrick Ken- 
 '■■om Easkaskia village to tte t 'J "'" ■""""""■ "*' 3 773 
 ?» search of copper X F om « """'"•^ '" *''' I""--.' 
 ng journal, we condense the s«w5 r"™™ "'"' ''"erest- 
 
 -- -N»""- and o/tVe"tr::i,rrdt --, 
 
 of the Missouri. S, t, l' ^'''<'.^-^°- 'he juu!tit 
 on the.r right, the heavil/ 1 f.beref X'"'';''' "'^^ ""^^'^d, 
 ar as to the site of the presen A U "^'""""a" I^ottom aa 
 he chain of rugged rocks' .d 1^1.;' "r f'""'" *'"«1 
 the ftasa Bluffs and extends to and f' "''?'' '"S"'" ^elow 
 
 l^^ljM-'ois. On quitting tteM-r ""^ """*'""'"«'' 
 
 — — __ ng the M,ee,88.ppi and eater- 
 
 Mose's HiHfo«, „* r,. ,. . 
 
 V"il| 
 
 M08e'« History of III., Vol. I., p. 142. 
 
400 
 
 Illinois Under British Domination. 
 
 ing the Illinois, they found the latter river bo low and its 
 borders so full of weeds and bushes that their progress was 
 much impeded, and they were obliged to row their boat in 
 the deeper water of the channel. The banks are depicted 
 by Kennedy as low on both sides; the course of the stream 
 as N., N. Vj.', and the bottom land as being well timbered 
 with pecan, maple, ash, button-wood, etc.* " There are 
 fine meadows," he tells us, "at a little distance from the 
 river, the banks of which do not crumble away as do those 
 of the Mississippi." 
 
 On the first day of August, after passing the mouth 
 of the Macoupin, or White Potatoe Creek, the voyagers 
 stopped to refresh themselves at an old wintering ground 
 of the Peorias. In this lower part of the river, they en- 
 countered several small islands, and saw many bufl['alo and 
 deer feeding. On the following day they passed an island 
 called Pierre d Fleche, which had its name from a large hill 
 on the west side of the stream, where the Indians procured 
 the stone from which they chipped their arrow-heads and 
 gun fliui-s. On the 4th our voyagers passed the mouth of 
 the Sangamo, or Sangamon River,f putting in from the 
 east, and on the 7th they reached the southern extremity 
 of Peoria Lake; concerning which, and the remains of the 
 fort then standing there, Kennedy's Journal says: 
 
 " The morning being foggy, and the river overgrowr>. 
 with weeds along its sides, we could make but little (head) 
 way. About twelve o'clock we got to the old Peoria fort 
 and village, on the western shore of the river, and at the 
 
 * " The kinds of timber most abundant (in Illinois) are oaks of 
 various species, black and white walnut, ash of several kinds, elm, sugar- 
 maple, honey-locust, hackberry, linden, hickory, cotton-wood, pecan, 
 mulberry, buckeye, sycamore, wild-cherry, box-elder, sassafras, and per- 
 simmon. Tn the southern and eastern parts of the state are yellow pop- 
 lar and beech ; near the Ohio are cypress, and in several counties are 
 clumps of yellow pine and cedar. The undergrowth is redbud, papaw, 
 sumach, plum, crab-apple, grape-vines, dogwood, spice-bush, green- 
 brier, hazel, etc. The alluvial soil of the rivers produces cotton-wood 
 and sycamore timber of amazing size." — Peck's Oazetteer of Illinois. ' 
 
 t To what extent, if any, the Sangamon was ever explored by the 
 French does not appear of record. 
 
low and its 
 )rogre88 was 
 heir boat in 
 are depicted 
 f the stream 
 i\\ timbered 
 " There are 
 C3e from the 
 
 as do those 
 
 the mouth 
 be voyagers 
 ring ground 
 'er, they en- 
 buffalo and 
 id an island 
 a large hill 
 ,n8 procured 
 v^-heads and 
 he mouth of 
 n from the 
 •n extremity 
 riains of the 
 ys: 
 
 ' overgrown. 
 
 little (head) 
 
 Peoria fort 
 
 , and at the 
 
 s) are oaks of 
 ids, elm, sugar- 
 -wood, pecan, 
 afras, and per- 
 re yellow pop- 
 il counties are 
 edbud, papaw, 
 B-bush, green- 
 es cotton-wood 
 / Illinois. 
 ;plored by the 
 
 Notice of Peoria Village. 
 
 stockadeof th,-c r> • ^^^P"b]e current \\r v 
 «ta„di„;* Tr/""™.f"rt d-troyed by fie hi 1°"."'' ""• 
 'S- i he summ t on wh- .»,\i ? ' ""^ ^^^ ^iouses 
 
 If;, to the point where the rive '"^'^''"^' "'"J "P the 
 
 to be navigable. A mil ! ^ ''"<' ""^en bed a« „{ 
 f « -apids ia the im "if ,: ,7 ^' t'- voyage':',,:: 'ed 
 
 !!!:" ""•'^-'■ve ...iles farther. fLTn. """'"'"''"' ">^ '""d 
 _ Waving crossed a northern 
 
 Tn tlie above citati 
 
 was a familiar loopUf ; "^P^^' ^l^e southern extra J-. ^'''^'" the 
 
 authentic account "^'^^ '" *heir wake Th '''^'^'''' ^^« ^'^^li as 
 
 ity until I77rX .T^ '""'^'""°"« European J^,^^^ '"' '^'^^^^'-^''•, no 
 
 north-western shte 0;'.,"'^ ^^ ^^ ^^"^^ ^'^^'r"'. '" ^^^'^ ^^-■- 
 HypoliteMail et Who • ' '''^'- ^* *««k its natl T ^'^"" «" '^e 
 
 quently chan«,P^ f Tu ^^'^ small Frem-h o / '^ '"^ bravery 
 
 count of tef 't ^' "''' ^"d^^" Village at tho f ^'"^^"^ ^«« subse-' 
 ^•""y efff cted1,7^^: !t^l^^:-^ othe? J^^^^^ ^^/^e lalce, on al 
 of Peoria. (See E^h' '':' ^"^ ^^e new villat^,,^' " ^''""^f^r was 
 was destroyed bvfr. I ^^'^^^^y ^^ Peoria 1 n ■'^"'^^ *^^ ^^me 
 
 W What is now A In '^^T '''"'' ^^-^ly t::' tt"ed ^ "^^f ^'" 
 of the villim. „ I • X. '^^"^ » wooden for^ ». "^"^tea to and be- 
 
 '818; and f„:'":^ "- «""d F„„ cCtnt ZT" "' "" »i^ 
 26 'American pioneers. ^^^^ waa per- 
 
402 . 
 
 Illinois Under British Domination. 
 
 tributary of the Illinois called the Fox River, they struck 
 and followed a trail up the Illinois to an island, where 
 some Frencli traders were found en camped. The latter, 
 however, could give Kennedy no information in regard to 
 the copper mine he was seeking. He now hired one of the 
 traders to take himself and party in a canoe back to the 
 place where they had left their boat. From thence, on the 
 way down the Illinois, they met with a Frenchman named 
 Jeanette, w)io assisted them in a further search for tlie 
 mine; but Kennedy finally returned to Kaskaskia without 
 having discovered any copper. The meeting with French- 
 Canadians on this expedition showed that thoy still hunted 
 and trafficked with the Indians in this part of the country.* 
 
 In 1778, when Colonel George Rogers Clark, and his 
 Virginia militia, numbering less than two liundred men, 
 achieved the bloodless conquest of Illinois, not a single 
 British soldier was found doing duty in the country, they 
 having all been withdrawn to other and more important 
 points. M. de Rocheblave was still in command for the En- 
 glish at Fort Gage; but, owing to his contumacious behavior, 
 he was sent a prisoner of war to Virginia, where he was pa- 
 roled and afterward broke his parole. In Kaskaskia and 
 Cahokia the French militia were well organized, and they 
 were utilized by Clark f in maintaining his conquest. 
 
 France had exercised sovereignty over the countr}'^ of 
 the Illinois for ninety-two years, commencing with the dis- 
 covery by Joliet and Marquette, in 1673, and ending with 
 the surrender of Fort Chartres, in 1765. The actual En- 
 glish possession lasted but thirteen years, or fifteen from 
 the treaty of Paris in 1763 till 1778. In October of the 
 latter year, the Virginia Legislature erected the conquered 
 territory into the County of Illinois, and Colonel John 
 Todd,| of Kentucky, was appointed lieutenant-commandant 
 
 * See " Description of Western North America," by Captain Gilbert 
 Imlay: 3d ed., London, 1797, pp. 507-512. 
 
 t George Rogers Clark, the greatest character in the early American 
 history of Illinois, was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, November 
 19, 1752, and died, unmarried, near Louisville, Ky., in February, 1818. 
 
 X Todd was subsequently killed at the battle of Blue Licks, Ky., in 
 1782. 
 
n. 
 
 3r, they struck 
 island, where 
 I. The latter, 
 n in res^ard to 
 red one of the 
 e back to the 
 thence, on the 
 chniau named 
 earch for the 
 ;a8kia without 
 with Frencii- 
 ly still hunted 
 the country.* 
 Jiark, and his 
 lundred men, 
 not a single 
 country, they 
 3re important 
 nd for the En- 
 ious behavior, 
 sre he was pa- 
 Laskaskia and 
 zed, and they 
 •nquest, 
 he country of 
 • with the dis- 
 . ending with 
 16 actual En- 
 r fifteen from 
 'ctober of the 
 he conquered 
 !;!olonel John 
 ■commandant 
 
 Captain Gilbert 
 
 early American 
 jinia, November 
 ebruary, 1818. 
 le Licks, Ky., in 
 
 states. ^""■"■O" to the Govern^rt'^^X'ir"^'' 
 
 me United 
 
 kask 
 hiind 
 
 ^'''•^uly, 1778, when CoJ i 
 
 ! ""> high, rto Ja'Z„" f """"io-ale poputoTo " 'tT'"-'*"' '"o 
 
 
 '?*'- 'he J[«i,,i i " o » n,™ skeleton „f her fo^ ° """h date she 
 ""age byadeep ,.h. , '^'"''aAia River, "f °™wee)f. I„ A„ri| 
 "'■'".'ha. /o™:'^h,S '""'" "- '"""rh^Tr,""'""' """ve .ha 
 
 has become a insert ZPT'''- "''ereoTth" *r"" »"«•". and 
 
 *:tereZ,?r-'-^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 '»™er great„e« " ° ™.'"' h"' yet have 1ft T*'"' Town', a"d 
 "^-hshestoo,^.^";;- »-.th old Karta^a Vr: "'"" °' 'heir 
 
 l,„o« . , '*^ >''*-. i™™i„,,„e:,",r"'/S"'«"''„.oed . 
 
 "-l-ia :fthrt:'?"^ -""'hn, the ha„ . "" "' "" 
 
 "enrj. s. Baker, betor "ttT''-" ''^'«'« "-on aTa^T' *" "■■"«« 
 
 '''«™-«ateBar..„rt,::<'r:,tfs^^^^ 
 
 
404 G-encral Deseription of thr FVench Colonifits. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FRENCH COLONISTS. 
 
 In this concluding chapter it is proposed to depict, 
 with as much fidelity as possible, considering the distance 
 of time and place, and the scantiness of authentic data, the 
 village abodes, household and farming implements, occupa- 
 tions, dress, manners, customs, amusements, the social and 
 religious life, peculiar to the early French communities iti 
 Illinois and Louisiana. 
 
 Unlike the English and American pioneers, who pre- 
 ferred sparse settlements and a free range on account of 
 their desire to become land owners, the French settlers in- 
 variably established themselves in irregular yet compact 
 villages, with such nari'ow streets between the houses tliai 
 they could easily carry on their light and animated conver- 
 sations across them. These villages were commonly located 
 on the banks of some river, adjacent to a fort or other se- 
 cure place, and convenient to both timber and prairie ; the 
 one furnishing them with firewood and building material, 
 and the other svith ground for tillage. 
 
 Their primitive habitations were doubtless little better 
 than the Indian wigwams — a mere protection from the 
 weather — but in j)roeoss of time they erected more sub- 
 stantial houses. In general, their dwellings were one story 
 liigh, built in a simple and inexpensive way, after the style 
 brought from Canada, or France. The framework con- 
 sisted of roughly }iewn posts, firmly set in the earth, a few 
 inches (sometimes a few feet) apart, and bound togetlier by 
 horizon*^al cross-timbers, — the spaces between being filled 
 in with mortar, made of common (jlay and Spanish moss * 
 or cut straw. The walls were whitewashed, both within 
 
 * This mosB wan found growing in great abundanoe on the foreHt 
 frees of the count: y. 
 
"i^ta.iit-jijVi-i":^" 
 
 liMs. 
 
 'ri'eir House, and FurnUare. 
 
 ONISTS. 
 
 d to depict, 
 the distance 
 tic data, the 
 Bnts, occupa- 
 e social and 
 imunitieH in 
 
 rs, who pre- 
 1 account of 
 li settlers in- 
 y'et compact 
 I houses thai 
 ated ccnver- 
 lonly located 
 or other se- 
 prairie ; the 
 ng material, 
 
 little better 
 
 Du from the 
 
 more sub- 
 
 sre one story 
 
 "ter the style 
 
 ework con- 
 
 earth, a few 
 
 togetlier by 
 
 being tilled 
 
 misb moss* 
 
 both within 
 
 I rrn the totmi 
 
 »nd without whi\J ^^^ 
 
 "^f^nted wif 1 I *^t;ic laicl with n7itw,k 
 
 batte,, work, and „«,„ „''';,"'• h" ''"<"'« were of nl,i, 
 '^'7low«^^e,,«,,„,, ; °% out of ,valnut. T e 
 
 •;•"■"'■ .»'.vle, H,o„.,, JZ'tZ. "" "'""" '" ''- «""*• Pe- 
 '"■■^■'"■.v we,.e «, be f,„„„ ' ' "'l"f"w«Hhe,|. Few artiel™ „f 
 
 »"por»ti,ion. '" ■' l'«-P'« .neli„„,J to ,„■„»,. ,;;"j 
 
 '" fi.e V.t'n,''irv'lll'''''''" " •'""' " '■"""»"» Hel,le " „„, , • ■ 
 l'»^- 1 " ea^l. vill.if,, „,,;"^^ .77'''''-<' t.-eate,l i„ this 
 
 f co.muo„ «„M, ti„r„,t; , ' ^^;' " '-■'.".. ,,o,.ti „; 
 
 "■' '" ""-' '""' -"■ '- m V Th' T'" r"""^ '•'■"1-"-- ■ 
 
406 General Description of the French Colonists. 
 
 the person in possession became idle or negligent so as to 
 injure the common interest, he forfeited his claim. As ac- 
 cessions were made to families from time to time, by mar- 
 riage or otherwise, portions of land were taken from the 
 commons and added to the common field for their benefit. 
 The time of plowing, sowing, and harvesting was subject 
 to the enactments of the village council and comniandaut. 
 Even the form and construction of the inclosures to tlieir 
 dwellings and other buildings were made a matter of 
 special regulation by the local c;ommandant, and were ar- 
 ranged with a view to defense in case of any sudden up- 
 rising of the Indians. 
 
 In the gardens of the villagers, the common culinary 
 plants, witii some medicinal herbs and small fruits, were 
 cultivated by the side of the modest violet, the fragrant 
 rose, and the stately sunflower. Here, too, the apple, 
 peach, and pear trees blo8S)me<- and matured their de- 
 licious fruits; and the prolifii^ 3'Va,pe-vine, trained along the 
 inclosures or against the eaves of the cottages, yielded its 
 rich vintage in its season. In addition to the varied pro- 
 ducts of their gardens, the!" ta])les were otherwise well sup- 
 plied from the spoils of the ciiase. 
 
 There was always a considerable diversity of pursuits 
 among the French inhabitants of Louisiana proper, but in the 
 dependency of the Illinois, the colonists applied themselves 
 mainly to agriculture. The principal crops raised were 
 wheat, oats, rye, hops (for the breweries), and tobacco. 
 The last named article was highly esteenv^d Vjy the nuiles for 
 smoking, and by the elderly fenuilet; * -" when it was 
 cured and pulverized into snuff. Indian ii vas not much 
 grown, excjept for hominy, and to fatten , • ine. For use 
 as bread, the French entertained for it a settled aversion. 
 Their horses, of which they did not have a great number, 
 had iieen introduced chiefly from the vS})anish settlements 
 in Mexico, and were small, yet strong and hardy, perform- 
 ing well for their size. Horned cattle were easily and ex- 
 tensively raised. They were first brought into Illinois 
 from Canada, and, though not large, were neat and well 
 formed. 
 
Farming and other Implements. 
 
 407 
 
 30 as to 
 As ac- 
 by mar- 
 [Voni the 
 r benetit. 
 ,8 subject 
 luaudaut. 
 i to their 
 natter of 
 [ were ar- 
 iddeii up- 
 
 II culinary 
 ruits, were 
 e fragrant 
 the apple, 
 L their de- 
 d aU)ng the 
 yielded its 
 varied ]>ro- 
 Ise well sup- 
 
 |of pursuits 
 fr,butinthe 
 themselves 
 hiised were 
 lid tobacco, 
 he males for 
 ihcn it was 
 l\8 not much 
 For use 
 id iiversion. 
 nit nund)er, 
 Hcttlements 
 |y, pcrform- 
 *ily and ex- 
 [\io lUitioifl 
 lilt and well 
 
 The farming implements of the colonists were of the 
 crudest and most primitive pattern. They used wooden 
 plows* for breaking and tilling the ground, hand-tiails for 
 threshing their grain, and rude wooden carts, without a 
 particle of iron, in place of wagons. These implements 
 were mostly the liandiwork of the farmer himself, aided by 
 his slaves (if he had any), or by those of his more fortunate 
 neighbor. Oxen were employed in plowing or breaking 
 the earth, and horses for riding and drawing the carts. 
 The oxen were yoked by the horns instead of the neck, 
 and were guided by strips or ropes of untanned hide. The 
 horses were driven tandem, that is, one before the other, 
 and were directed and controlled by the whip and voice, 
 without the convenience of reins. The harness used was 
 made of raw hide, since they had no tanned leather for any 
 purpose. 
 
 Although cows were plentiful and milk abundant, the 
 common churn was a thing unknown to these simple colon- 
 ists, thei|* butter being nuide by shaking the cream in a 
 bottle, or breaking it in a bowl with a spoon. Nor were 
 the spinning-wheel and loom (so conunon with the Ameri* 
 can pioneers) to be seen in their houses. The traders sup- 
 plied all goods or stuff's for the use of both sexes, not from 
 stocks exposed on shelves in stores, as at present, but from 
 chests and trunks, or tied up in bales. 
 
 The costume of the early French settlers was some- 
 what motley in its composition, but they had an inherited 
 predilection for the blue in color. For clothing, the men 
 wore bhirtf and waistcoats of cotton, with coarse blue cloth 
 or deer-skin trousers, and moccasins, after the Indian 
 fashion. Over these was worn, in winter, the indispensable 
 capote, or long woolen coat, with a blue hood attachment, 
 which, in wet or cold weather, was drawn over the head, 
 and at other times fell back on the shoulders as a cape, like 
 
 * "The old plow used by tht* French would be a euriosity at this 
 day. It had no ooultor, but l^d a larirt^ wooden mold-board. The 
 handleH were short, and ptood almost perpendicular. The beam was 
 nearly straight, and rested on an axle supported by two small whoels, 
 which made the plow uusteaily." — AVy/cj/c/s' Pioneer History. 
 
mm 
 
 I 
 
 408 General Description of the French Colonists, 
 
 thsit of the habitants of ^jower Canada. Among the voy- 
 af/eurs and traders, the head was more often covered with a 
 blue cotton handkerchief, folded in the shape of a turban. 
 In like manner, but neatly trimmed with ribbons, was 
 formed the fancy head-dress worn by the young w^omon at 
 balls and other festive occasions. The dress of the matron, 
 though plain and with the antique short waist, was neat and 
 varied in its minor details to suit the diversities of womanly 
 taste. Both sexes wore moccasins of Indian manufacture, 
 which, for jtublic occasions, werie variously decorated with 
 small shells, beads and ribbons, giving them quite a showy 
 appearance. 
 
 Notwithstanding their tawny complexions, and an ap- 
 pearance of languor among the people, the efiects in part 
 of climate, there was nothing of that sickly, cadaverous 
 look, and listless air and bearing so observable in the Cre- 
 oles of the West Indies and Central America. The counte- 
 nances of the young maidens in particular were lively and 
 engaging, with their black eyes, raven tresses, graceful 
 forms, and quick, elastic steps, like that of the mountain 
 3f whom Scott has 
 
 TTiaidt 
 
 »g 
 
 "A foot more light, a step more true, 
 Ne'er from the heath-fiower dashed the dew." 
 
 They were all essentially French in character, with 
 something of the Spanish gravity, but the tout ensemble 
 indicated cheerfulness and an agreeable composure.* A 
 quick-witter' people, they had a penchant for nick-names, 
 both as applied to persons and i)lace8. For example, they 
 iirst named Ste. Genevieve, Mo., Misere^ <is expressive of 
 the misery or poverty of the place. Carondelet received the 
 derisive tuime of Vide Foche, or Empty Pocket,t and St. 
 Louis was long known as Pain Court, or Short-bread. 
 
 ♦ Breose's Early Ill's, p. 103. ' 
 
 t (krondelet, Mo., was founded by Clement Delor de Tregette, as 
 early*aH 17(17, and was afterward iinnied in cotriplinient to the Karon 
 de (carondelet, who was Spanish governor of fjouisiana from 1792till 175)7. 
 ThiH P'reueli village is siluat(>d about six miles south of the county court 
 house, in St. Louis, and now forms a part of the latter eity. 
 
Boating on the Mississippi. 
 
 409 
 
 ; the rov- 
 ed witli a 
 a turban. 
 3ons, was 
 women at 
 le matron, 
 s neat and 
 : womanly 
 luufacturc, 
 rated with 
 te a showy 
 
 and an ap- 
 cts in part 
 cadaverous 
 s in the cre- 
 Thecounte- 
 e lively and 
 ;e8, graceful 
 e mountain 
 
 iracter, with 
 
 \out ensemble 
 
 ^losure.* A 
 
 nick-names, 
 
 :ample, they 
 Ixpressive of 
 , received the 
 
 [et,t 51 "d St. 
 )hort-bread. 
 
 i(li> Trcgotte, as 
 
 to the Baron 
 
 tul7«2tilU797. 
 
 |u> county court 
 
 Ity. 
 
 Kaskaskia was familiarly called An Kns, which became 
 corrupted into Okaw. 
 
 Among- these colonists, the mechanical occupations 
 were confined to a few carpenters, tailors, stone-masons, 
 boat-builders, and blacksmiths ; which last could repair a 
 firelock or a rifie. The artisans journeyed from village to 
 village in quest of employment, and were ready to turn their 
 hands to any kind of work. Now and then might be found 
 among them a millwright, who could nutke or repair the run- 
 ning-gear of a water-mill, or build a horse mill The only 
 wind-mill in the (.'OUTitry, of which we find any mention, 
 stood on the road between Kaskaskia and Prairie du Kocher. 
 Coopers were sciarce, though they should have been in de- 
 mand, for large quantities of fiour were manufiu'tured and 
 shipped to the southern markets ; but no other bagging ap- 
 pears to have been used in the packing and shipment of 
 flour than that Jittbrded by dried elk and deer-^kins. 
 
 Aside from the business of Imnting and snuUl trattick- 
 ing with the Indians, which attracted the more indolent, 
 the most captivating and adventui'ous em[>loynient for the 
 young or middle-aged Frenchman was boating on the Mis- 
 8is8i])pi River. Success in this arduous calling <leiuanded 
 the cOiiibined exercise of many qualities, such as bodily 
 activity, (;oura&'e, capability of undergoing great fatigue, 
 a quick eye, a steady hand, and withal good judgment. 
 The voyage from Fort Chartres oi* Kaskaskia to New Or- 
 leans was the principal and niost important one. It usually 
 consumed about three months' tiin.-, and was more .lifiicult 
 and hazardous than a tri[) across the Atlantic, even at that 
 day. The river, then as now, was tortuous and I'apid, its 
 deep chaniu^l being obstructed by snags and sawyers, and 
 continually shifting its course. Nor were these the only 
 difficulties to be encountered in navigating the stream. 
 From Kaskaskia to the vicinity of New Orleans, there 
 were no white settlements ol' any couHecpience, exc^ept at 
 the Arkansas, Natchez, and, later on. Baton Rouge; and 
 the route was more or less beset by marauding bands of 
 Chickasaws and other Indians, whom French i)ower had 
 not been able to subdue. 
 
Mie 
 
 410 General Description of the French Colonists. 
 
 The voyage waa made in large bateaux,^ each manned 
 by from sixteen to twenty hands, and going in convoys for 
 mutual safety. The boats were laden with the surplus pro- 
 ductions of the Illinois country, which were exchanged for 
 such necessaries and luxuries as their own labor or soil did 
 not produce, or else converted into the gold and silver coin- 
 age of France. Accoun.ts were all kept in livres; and, be- 
 sides coin, good pelts, at a fixed rate per pound, were a 
 recognized measure of values, and passed freely in com- 
 mercial transactions throughout the province. 
 
 The upward or return voyage was very tedious and 
 laborious, generally taking from three to four months. Every 
 means was resorted to by the boatmen — by keeping in the 
 eddies near the shore, by sometimes crossing the river, and by 
 the frequent use of the tow rope — to make headway against 
 the dead weight of the current. Under such circumstances 
 an Indian ambuscade might be fatal to the crew of one 
 boat, but as several went together the danger was proportion- 
 ately lessened. Attacks from the savages, however, were 
 less to be dreaded than the malignant fevers, which swept 
 away numbers of the men annually. 
 
 The flotilla was usually commanded by an officer of 
 the king's troops, when a suitable one could be had, or, if 
 not, one was selected from among the more experienced 
 of the boatmen themselves. To reach this distinction, or 
 ev^en that of captain of a single boat, was deemed an object 
 worthy of ambition ; yet but few attained this coveted prize 
 of their perilous calling. Strict militar}^ diRcii)line was 
 enforced, and a regular guard was mounted at each stop- 
 ping place at night. On returning from their protracted 
 river voyages, the boatmen, like sailors the world over, were 
 very prodigal of their earnings. " They were as liberal as 
 princes, and valued money as nothing more than a means 
 ])y which pleasure could be purchased and t;i>petites in- 
 dulged. Saving was no part of their economy." | In con- 
 
 * The bateau was a long and rather light huilt hoat, of about twenty 
 tons burden. 
 
 t Breese's Earlj' IlIinoiH, p. 'JOS. ^ 
 
Social Condition an Environments. 
 
 411 
 
 I manned 
 nvoys tor 
 rplus pro- 
 anged for 
 or soil did 
 ilver coin- 
 ; and, be- 
 d, were a 
 ly in coni- 
 
 edious and 
 .ths. Every 
 ping in tlie 
 iver,andby 
 way against 
 •cunistances 
 3rew of one 
 proportion- 
 wever, were 
 yliich swept 
 
 m officer of 
 lo bad, or, if 
 L'xporicnced 
 ^tinction, or 
 Ld an ()\)ject 
 l)veted prize 
 loipline was 
 eacdi stop- 
 protracted 
 |l over, were 
 liB liberal as 
 m a means 
 jupetites in- 
 |- In con- 
 
 1 about twenty 
 
 vival intercourse, they were much addicted to relating long 
 stories about their voyages, adventures, and hair-breadth 
 escapes among the savages. 
 
 For ordinary locomotion on water, the canoe was in- 
 dispensable to the early French settler. Those in common 
 use were mostly hollowed out of the trunks of trees, that 
 of the cypress being preferred on account of its lightness 
 and elasticity. The birch bark canoes came from the 
 region of the high northern lakes, and were principally used 
 by the Canadian coyagcurs and fur-traders. They were con- 
 structed of a slight frame-work of cedar, incased with the 
 flexible bark of the "Canoe Birch," and were remarkable 
 fci' their lightness and buoyancy. Of difterent sizes, they 
 were finished alike at both ends, and were built to carry 
 from four to twelve persons. Charlevoix informs us that 
 the Ottawa Indians were the most expert builders of these 
 canoes, but that the French were more skillful in handling 
 them. 
 
 Owing to their extraordinary tact for ingratiating 
 themselves with the aboriginal tribes, by whom tliey were 
 surrounded, the Illinois French escaped almost entirely 
 those broils and border strifes which weakened and some- 
 times destroyed other and less favored European colonies. 
 Whether navigating the interminable rivers of the country, 
 or threading the solitudes of the wild forests and prairies 
 in quest of game ; whether at home in their villages, or as 
 participants in the religious exorcises of the same Catholic 
 church, the red men became their every-day associates acd 
 assistants, and were treated with the kindness and considera- 
 tion of brothers. The social condition of the early colonists 
 was thus formed, to some extent, by the influence of their 
 Indian neighbors with whom they nuiintained such friendly 
 relations. But while the barbarism of the savages was, in 
 some degree, softened by this intercourse, the uiorals of the 
 French were not improved. Many of the original settlers, 
 and particularly the tra\>pers and traders, contracted mar- 
 riages or temporary alliances with the Indian women, 
 from which sprang the mixed progeny known as "half- 
 
412 General Description of the French Colonists. 
 
 breeds."* They made expert hunters and trappers, and 
 indefatigable boatmen, but in their general characteristics 
 partook more of the savage than the civilized man. The 
 natural home of the "half-breed'' is on the outskirts, the 
 boundaries of American civilization, where he still flour- 
 ishes as in days of yore. 
 
 The example of the Canadian and Illinois French in 
 amalgiunating with the Indians, although adopted more per- 
 haps as a matter of policy and convenience, was not one to 
 be commended ; for time and experience have abundantly 
 shown that all such intermixture of races degrade the su- 
 perior witliout materially improving the inferior race. In 
 the case of the French, thev did not sink to the level of 
 barbarism, yet they were left in a condition below that of 
 true civilization. There are, it is true, some English and 
 American half and quarter-breeds; but, as a rule, the 
 Anglo-Americans have ever disdained to mingle their 
 blood with a distinctively inferior race, and to this circum- 
 stance they owe, in no slight degree, their pre-eminence 
 among the enlightened races of mankind. 
 
 In the early years of the French settlements in Louisi- 
 ana, there was very little money of any kind in circulation, 
 business being transacted by barter and exchanf'e. After 
 the collapse of Law's "credit system" (1720), the money 
 in use consisted of gold and silver coins of the French and 
 Spanish mints. The value of every thing was reckoned 
 in livres ; the livre being equivalent to the modern franc, 
 five of which equal ninety-five cents. Then there was the 
 louis d'or, a French gold coin, valued at $4.84, and the 
 Spanish doubloon, a gold coin worth about |15.93. During 
 Gov. Kerlerec's administration, a paper money called bans 
 was extensively issued at New Orleans, but it never had 
 much circulation in the dependency of the Illinois. It 
 was emitted in sums of from ten sous or cents to one hun- 
 dred livres, was signed by the governor and intendant of 
 the province, and was so called from the first word on the 
 
 * In the French villages of Missouri, the half-breeds received the 
 uic-naino of "Gumbos." 
 
ts. 
 
 Their Amusements and Festal Days. 
 
 413 
 
 ppers, and 
 ,racteri8tic8 
 man. The 
 Ltskirts, the 
 still flour- 
 
 ; French in 
 sd more per- 
 8 not one to 
 
 abundantly 
 •ade the bu- 
 lor race. In 
 
 the level of 
 elow that of 
 English and 
 a rule, the 
 mingle their 
 ) this cireum- 
 pre-eminence 
 
 nts in Louisi- 
 n circulation, 
 •vnr-e. After 
 i), the money 
 French and 
 as reckoned 
 [lodern franc, 
 ;here was the 
 .84^ and the 
 93. During 
 >y called bons 
 lit never had 
 Illinois. It 
 to one hun- 
 intendant of 
 ord on the 
 
 Ids received the 
 
 face of the paper — Bon pour la somme payable en lettre de 
 change sur le tresor. 
 
 Separated from their mother-land by the Atlantic 
 Ocean, and by a thousand miles of interior navigation 
 from Montreal on the one hand, and from New Orleans on 
 the other, the French colonists of Illinois were obliged to 
 rely upon themselves not only for the necessaries of life, 
 but also for their amusements. Socially inclined, light- 
 hearted and gay, their principal diversion was dancing, in 
 which all classes freely joined, to the enlivening music of 
 the violin. When parties were assembled for this purpose, 
 it was customary to choose some of the older and more dis- 
 creet persons to direct the entertainment, preserve order, and 
 see that all present had an opportunity to participate in the 
 pleasurable pastime. Whenever those in authority on such 
 occasions decided that the entertainment had been pro- 
 tracted long enough, it was brought to a close, and thus 
 excesses were avoided. 
 
 Then, again, the monotony of their existence was 
 broken by the nmny fetes or festal days connected with the 
 Catholic church. All the people shared alike in the harm- 
 less merriment of shrove-ti*''^ and in the fun and frolic of 
 the carnival, and at its close i. 'paired to the sacred precincts 
 of the sanctuary to receive the sprinkling of ashes, typica' 
 of their conclusion. All, too, observed the same self-denying 
 ordinances during the Lenten season, wliich terminated 
 with the festival of Easter. Society, of course, had its di- 
 visions even here ; but those artificial distinctions between 
 the rich and the poor, which obtain in older and more pol- 
 ished communities, were not recognized or maintained 
 among these secluded colonists. 
 
 In ^aeir domestic relations, they were in general ex- 
 emplary and kind, aftectionate to their children and lenient 
 toward their slaves. In fact, the family circle was usually 
 a very cheerful and happy one. The male servants worked 
 in the fields with their masters, faring as well as they did, 
 and had small plots of ground assigned them, and the use 
 of their master's team to cultivate the same; thus mutual 
 esteem and confidence were inspired. The females assisted 
 
414 General Di'^cription of the French Colonists. 
 
 their niistresHes in the kitchen and nursery, and then, 
 in neat attire, accompanied them to matins and ves- 
 pers. When sick or disabled, they were nursed with 
 tenderness and care ; and, in fine, were the recipients of so 
 much liurnane treatment as to be wholly unmindful of the 
 fetters with which custom and state policy had bound 
 them. 
 
 The language spoken by the commonalty was not pure 
 French, but a patois^ or corrupted i)rovincial dialect. No 
 common schools existed in the country, nor any system of 
 public instruction. The Jesuits imparted some little of that 
 learning, with which they were so richly endowed, to such 
 young Creoles as they found " thirsting for the waters of 
 the Pierian spring;" yet no plan of general education was 
 ever adopted, or even seriously considered, by those in au- 
 thority. Hence the charge of illiteracy is laid against this 
 people; but, as the poet Gray has said — .. 
 
 " Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." 
 
 The Roman Catholic creed, however, was instilled into 
 the minds of all from their earliest childhood, and the ta- 
 pering spires of its little churches or chapels arose in every 
 hamlet. In them was performed the marriage ceremony, 
 the priest consecrating the nuptial tie and recording the 
 act, which was attested by witnesses. There the sacrament 
 of baptism was administered to infants and adults; there, 
 too, were held the last sad obsequies for the dead, and 
 masses were said for the souls of those " not dying in the 
 odor of sanctity." * 
 
 "• Separated thus from all the world, these people ac- 
 quired many peculiarities. In language, dress, and man- 
 ners, they lost much of their original polish ; but they re- 
 
 * Breese's Early 111., p. 209. i ^^ .;.::. 
 
 Note. — " The inhabitants," writes Reynolds, " were devout and strong 
 believers in the Roman Catholic Church. They were willing to fight 
 and die for the maintenance of the doctrines of their church. They 
 considered the Church of Rome infallible, emanating directly from God, 
 and therefore all the dogmas were received and acted on without a why 
 or wherefore." — Pivucer HiMory of Illinois, p. 55. 
 
Origin of the Different Classes q/" Colonists. 415 
 
 ind then, 
 and ves- 
 rsed with 
 ents of so 
 iful of the 
 lad hound 
 
 L8 not pure 
 alect. No 
 system of 
 ittle of that 
 ed, to such 
 -^ waters of 
 ication was 
 hose in au- 
 igainst this 
 
 e." 
 
 nstilled into 
 and the ta- 
 ose in every 
 ceremony, 
 cording the 
 e sacrament 
 ults; there, 
 dead, and 
 ying in the 
 
 people ac- 
 
 and man- 
 
 )ut they re- 
 
 )ut and strong 
 ,'illing to fight 
 church. They 
 jtly from God, 
 /ithout a why 
 
 tained, and (tlieir descendants) still retain, many of the 
 leadiiii^ characteristics of their nation. Tliev took care to 
 keep up their ancient holidays and festivals; and with 
 few luxuries, and fewer wants, they were prohahly as cheer- 
 ful and as happy a people as any in existence.*' * 
 
 The foregoing descriptiv* account applies not only to 
 the early French colonists in Illinois and all Northern Lou- 
 isiana, hut also, with only slight alteration, to their village 
 settlements in Southern Louisiana. At New Orleans, the po- 
 litical and commercial seat of government, there was always 
 a certain number of people of family and education. There 
 were the rude semblance of a court, a kind of theater, and 
 amusements of a liigher grade than could be found else- 
 where within the limits of the large province. The deni- 
 zens of New Orleans were wont to look upon their rural 
 countrymen in much the same manner as they themselves 
 were regarded bv the refined circles of Paris. Amonor tiie 
 mixed jtopuiation of that colonial metropolis, however, 
 drunkenness, brawls, and dueling were unhappily too prev- 
 alent, both before and after the Spanish occupation of the 
 country.f 
 
 Some few of the Louisiana colonists were of noble 
 origin ; msmy were military officers, while others were 
 born gentlemen, and the ecclesiastics were all educated 
 people. AVith but few exceptions, the original immigrants 
 to Illinois had come by way of Canada from the north of 
 France, and mostly belonged to the bourgeois and paysan 
 classes. But many of those who afterward settled in 
 Lower Louisiana were from the south-western provinces 
 of France, bordering on the Pyrenees and the Atlantic. 
 A number of these were well educated business men from 
 the larger cities and towns, and some of them made their. 
 way up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia and St. Louis, where 
 they founded influential families, still cxisting.l It was, 
 perhaps, a fortunate trait, and certainly an amiable one, in 
 
 * Sketches of the West, by Judge James Hall, vol. 1, p. 150. 
 
 t Gayarr^'e Louisiana, vol. 1. 
 
 X Billon's Annals of Early St. Louis. 
 
416 (Tenerol Description of the French Colonists. 
 
 the French character, that such men could so readily re- 
 sign the comforts and pleasures of civilized life in their 
 natal land, and make themselves contented among savages 
 in the remote and uncultivated regions of the Mississippi, 
 where they seldom heard from their homes over the sea 
 more than once in twelve months. 
 
 [ AUTHORITIES.] 
 
 For the facts embodied in the foregoing chapter, we are indebted to 
 various sources, but chiefly to the labors of Judge Sidney Breese and ex- 
 Gov. John Reynolds, both of whom had early an excellent opportuni- 
 ties for observing the French character and manners. Breese resided in 
 Kaskaskia from 1S18 to 1835, and then at Carlyle, Illinois, until his death 
 in 1878; while Reynolds lived in Cahokia from 1814 to about 1830, and 
 afterward in Belleville, 111., until the close (if his life in 180"). It may be 
 added here that Breese's "Early History of Illinois '' was first given to 
 the public in the shape of an extended historical address, in December, 
 1842, but it was not published in book form until aft(ir his decease, and, 
 then, without his previous revision or correction. ReyuoMs' " Pioneer 
 History," an < rtaining and instructive work, lirst appeared in 1852. 
 
 Among 1 1 writers on French- American history, the two most 
 
 distinguished are Francis Parkman and the laU; Dr. John (iilmary Shea.* 
 Their various and valuable publications cover the entire period of the 
 French rule on this continent, and are characterized by profoundness 
 of erudition and elegance of style. To these may now be added Dr. 
 Wm. Kingsford, of Ottawa, Canada, whose elaborate and able " History 
 of Canada from the Earliest Times to 1841," has taken rank among the 
 standard publications of the day. But those who would become 
 thoroughly informed ooncernini: this early and intricate branch of 
 American history, should study the writings of Charlevoix, Hennepin 
 Le Clercq, Bossu, La Hontan, and the Jesuit missionaries. 
 
 ♦ This emiiKMit Catliolic .scholar, after a 1i>iik and laborious literary i-areer, died at 
 his home in Elizabelli, New .Jersey, the 22d of February, 18!V2, aged si.xty-uitie. 
 

 ts. 
 
 readily re- 
 fe in their 
 ng savages 
 Mississippi, 
 /er the sea 
 
 re indebted to 
 Breese and ex- 
 ent opportuni- 
 eese resided in 
 until his death 
 \)out 1830, and 
 W,,"). It may be 
 s lirst given to 
 1, in December, 
 is decease, and, 
 lolds' " Pioneer 
 leared in 1852. 
 f, the two most 
 (^ilmaryShea.* 
 period of the 
 y profoundness 
 be added Dr. 
 |l able " History 
 [ink among the 
 would become 
 ;ate branch of 
 oix, Hennepin 
 Is. 
 
 [iry career, died at 
 sixty-nine. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A. . 
 
 Abenakis Indians, a band of near Fort Miami on Lake Michigan, page 
 loO; they form a pan of La.^alle's colony on the Illinois River, 148. 
 
 Abcrcrombie, General, and commander-in-chief of the British army 
 (1758), 332; repulsed by Montcalm at Ticonderoga, 333. 
 
 Acadia, settled by the French under DeMonts, 10, 11; origin of the 
 name, 10, note ; when changed to Nova Scotia, 329, note. 
 
 Acadiaus, deportation of to English colonies, 329 and note; settlement 
 formed by in Lower Louisiana, 368. 
 
 Accault or Ako, Michael, companion of Father Hennepin on the Mia- 
 si.ssippi, 105; his wife the daughter of a Kaskaskia chief, 204. 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 313, 329. 
 
 Akansoa, or Akansa. (See Arkansas.) 
 
 Algonqi'.i'is, on the St. Lfwrence, 13 and note; mention, 34, 48. 
 
 Alibamoiir, location of, 2(;c, note. 
 
 Allouvz, Claude, founds the Jesuit Mission on Green Bay, 51 ; intrigues 
 with the Miamis against La Salle, 92; re-establishes Marquette's mis- 
 sion at the great town of the Illinois, 196; his description of the 
 town, 197; death at Ft. Miami, on Lake Michigan, 198. 
 
 Amusements of the early Illinois colonists, 413. 
 
 Anticosti Island, discovered by Cartier, 5 ; granted to Joliet, 68. 
 
 Aquipaguetin, a Sioux chief, the adopted father of Hennepin, 107. 
 
 Arkansas River, discovered by De Soto. 29. 
 
 Arkansas Post, 181, note; established by Henri de Tonty, 182; mention, 
 190, 242. " : . .: . 
 
 Arkansas, villages of the, 58, 138, 183. 
 
 Aubry, Charles, Chevalier de, defeats an English force near Fort Du- 
 quesue, 334 ; becomes acting French governor of Louisiana, 367 ; 
 Champigny's portrait of, 367-8, note; he delivers possession of the 
 province to O'Reilly, 374; perishes by drowning in the river Ga- 
 ronne, 379 and note. 
 
 Authorities cited in this work, 416, note. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bahamos, or Ebahamos, an errant tribe of southern Texas, 162, 167. 
 Bancroft, George, references to his History of the United States, 29, 
 
 note, 205, 219, note, 285, 290. 
 Balize, a hamlet at the mouth of the Mississippi, 371, note. 
 Beaujeu, Captain or Count de, pilots La Salle's Sea expedition into Gulf 
 
 27 (417) 
 
.i'.»M.W^!.i.-..l»;,„.-,,„. ,», 
 
 418 
 
 Index. 
 
 of Mexico, 156; his bickerings with I.a Salle, 156-7; takes leave of 
 the latter on coast of Texas, 150. 
 
 Beaujeu, Daniel Lienard de, i>lans defeat of Braddock on the Monon- 
 gaheia, 827 ; is killed in the battle, 328. 
 
 Belle Fontaine, lieutenant under Tonty at Fort St. Louis, of the 111., 184. 
 
 Bellerive, Louis St. Ange de, commandant at Post de Vincennes, 302; 
 he surrenders Fort Chartres to Capt. Stirling, 360; twice ap- 
 pointed commandant at Fort Chartres, 361, note ; goes to St. Louis, 
 Mo., and takes command there, 385; is admitted into a Spanish 
 regiment, 385 ; dies in St. Louis at a ripo age, 386, note. 
 
 Bienville, Jean Baptiste, Sieur de, accompanies his brother Iberville 
 to Louisiana, 213; succeeds Sauvolle in command at Fort Biloxi, 
 and on the Mobile, 223; is appointed lieutenant-commandant under 
 Crozat, 239; erects Fort iiosalie at Natchez, 241 ; commissioned 
 governor of the Province of Louisiana, under the Company of the 
 West, 260; founds the city of New Orleans (in 1718\ 263; takes 
 Pensacola from the Spaniards, 26(>-7 ; his first campaign against the 
 Chickasaws 2iK); second campaign, 295 ; retires from office under a 
 cloud, 296; sails for France regretted by the colonists, 297; his in- 
 terview with the Duke de Choiseul, to protest against the transfer of 
 Louisiana to Spain, 369; death and character, 369 and iwk. 
 
 Billons (F. L.) Annnls of early St. Louis, 389, 415. 
 
 Boating on the Lower Mississippi, 409. 
 
 Bceuf, Fort Le, gr Fl. sur la rhnere au B(mf, situation of, 321 ; Washing- 
 ton's wintev journey thither, 322 ; mention, 350. 
 
 Boisbriant, Pierre Duqu^ de, arrives in Louisiana as king's lieutenant, 
 260; is sent to command at the dependency of the Illinois, 270; 
 builds old Fort Chartres, 271 ; land grants executed by, 272-3; be- 
 comes governor ad interim of Louisiana, 276. 
 
 Bossu, M., Captain in the French marines, and Chevalier of St. Louis, 
 his account of the Spanish-Mexican expedition into the country of 
 the Misfouri Indians, 269; a id notice of the rebuilding of Fort 
 ('hartres, 313, note. 
 
 Bouquet, Col. Henry, conquers the Delawr.res and Shawnees on the 
 river Muskingham, 351 ; releases many wliite prisoners, 351. 
 
 Braddock, Fdward, Uritish general, lands at Alexandria, Va., and 
 marches against Fort Duquesne, 326 ; his disastrous defeat at Battle 
 of the Monongahela, 327; skstoh of his military career, 328, note. 
 
 Br6benf, Jean de, one of the first Jesuit missionaries in Canada, 16, 18. 
 
 Breeae, Sidney references to and citations from his Early History of 
 Illinois, 89, mle ; 96, note; 112, nok ; 147, 204, 273-4, 287, 305, ?10, 314, 
 381, 408,410, 414,416, note. 
 
 Brenil, M. de, erects first sugar mill at New Orleans, 297. 
 
 British tnilitary govera ^rs of Illinois, 394, 395. 
 
 Buffalo Rock (60 feet high), on the Illinois River, about three miles above 
 Starved Rock, 90. 
 
 0. 
 
 Cabots, John and Sebastian, early voyages of discovery to North Amer- 
 ica, 2 and 3. 
 
Index. 
 
 419 
 
 26 leave of 
 le Monon- 
 
 le Til., 1«4. 
 •nnes, 302 ; 
 
 twice ap- 
 , St. Louis, 
 
 a Spanish 
 
 er Iberville 
 [i'ort Biloxi, 
 idant under 
 ninuHsioneil 
 pany of the 
 , 26'.'.; takes 
 1 against the 
 tlice under a 
 297 -, his in- 
 le transfer of 
 
 l\ ; Washing- 
 
 8 lieutenant, 
 Illinois, 270; 
 ,y, 272-3; be- 
 ef St. Louis, 
 Ihe country of 
 Idini,' t)f I'^ort 
 
 Miees on the 
 
 361. 
 [ia, Va., and 
 tfeat at Battle 
 r, 328, noU. 
 lanada, lii, 18. 
 \y History of 
 1305, ?10, 314, 
 
 le miles above 
 
 iNorth Amer- 
 
 Cadiliac, Antoine de la Mothe, governor of Louisiana under Crozat, 238 ; 
 skitch of, 239, note ; founds the post of Detroit, 344. 
 
 Cadodaquis, an Indian tribe on Red River, 180, 188. 
 
 Cahokia, first settlemeiit of, 207; Charlevoix' account of the mission 
 at, 209 ; Pittnian's description of the village, 392, 393 and note. 
 
 Canada, discovery of, .3 ; derivation of the name, 7, note. 
 
 Canoep, birch bark, how constructed, 411. 
 
 Carondelet, village of, when and by whom founded, 408, note. 
 
 Cartier, Jacques, French navigator, discovers and explores the St. Law- 
 rence, 5 ; with Roberval he attempts a settlement on that river, 7 ; 
 is rewarded for his services to the king with a patent A nobility, 8. 
 
 Cavelier, the Abb<i Jean, a Sulpitian priest and brother of La Salle, 72; 
 he accompanies La Salle in his last expedition, 155 ; deception prac- 
 ticed by him on Tonty, 18G. 
 
 Cenis Indians, on Trinity River, Texas, visited by La Salle, 164; also by 
 Joutel et al., 176. 
 
 Champlain, Sanniel de, i)arontage and early career, 9; is sent by the 
 governor of Dieppe on an exploring expedition to the St. Lawrence, 
 10; assists DeMonts in colonizing Acadia, 11; with Pontgrave he 
 founds Ciuebee, 12, l.'»; surrenders that post to the English, and is 
 carried a prisoner to England, 17; his return to Canada, and death 
 at Quebec, 18: analysis of his character, 19. 
 
 Champlain Lake, when discovered, 14. 
 
 Charlevoix, Pierrr^ Francois Xavier de, a distinguished Jesuit scholar 
 and liistorian ; references to and quotations from his works, 12, 
 note; 16, note; 62, 65, note; 208-240, 263; biographical notice of, 211, 
 not( . 
 
 Chateaugu^, Antoine le Moynede, brother of Iberville and Ilienville,225. 
 
 Checagou, chief of the Kaskaskias, 290. 
 
 Chickasaw liluils, mention, 28, 137, 292. 
 
 Chickasaw nation, 289; Frencli wars with, 290, 295, 298. 
 
 Chicagoii or Chicago, site fif wintered on by Marquette, 63 ; visited by 
 lia Salle on his way to the gulf, 1.35-6. 
 
 ChoiBeul, Duke de, prime minister of Louis XV., letter to the Count de 
 Fufuites, 364; he refuses pi'tition i»f the inhabitants of La., 369. 
 
 Clark, Va)\. (ieorge iiogers, his expedition to, and cunqiiest of the Il- 
 linois country, 402 and vnU\ 403 note. 
 
 (V>lbort, Jean Baptiste, a great minister under Louis XFV., favors La 
 Salle's enterprises, 80, SI ; decease of, 163, tuite. 
 
 Columbus, Christopher, mention, 2. 
 
 Comet of 1680, 120, note. 
 
 Commons, right of granted to the inhabi1,ants of Ka.skaskia, 304, 305. 
 
 Common Fields, descri[)tion of, 273. 
 
 Copper mines, search for, 40, 46, 399. 
 
 Cortereal, (iaspar de (Portiiguese navigator), voyages to Labrador, 3. 
 
 Cotton, when culture of introdiux'd in Louisiana, 298. 
 
 Court of " Royal Jurisdiction" in the Illinois, 309, 310. 
 
 Court, first common law, in Illinois, 395. 
 
wmmmmmmm I'T 
 
 420 
 
 Index. 
 
 Coureurs des hois, or runners of the woods, attempts of the Canadian 
 government to suppress, 118, 195. 
 
 Courcelles, Daniel de Kdmy, Sieur de, second Canadian governor under 
 the royal provincial government, 20 ; recall of, 45. 
 
 Cr^ve-coeur (See Fort Cr^ve-coeur). 
 
 Craig, Captain Thomas, destroys French and Indian village of Peoria, 
 401, nok. 
 
 Croghan, Colonel George, conciliatory mission to the Western Indians, 
 353 ; his journey over the mountains to Fort Pitt, 353 ; he descends 
 the Ohio, 355 ; is captured by a band of Kickapoos below mouth of 
 the Wabash, 355 ; taken as a prisoner to Vincennes, 350 ; released 
 at Fort Ouatanon, 356; he meets and confers with Pontiac, 357; 
 peace speech by to the Indians at Detroit, 358 ; success of his mis- 
 sion, 360. 
 
 Crozat, Antoine, Marquis de Chatel, is gra.nted a monopoly of the com- 
 merce and government of Louisiana, 234 ; his letters patent, 234-237 ; 
 mercantile and mining operations of, 238, 239 ; surrenders his charter 
 to the crown, 240. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dablon, Claude, eminent Jesuit missionary, 42 ; notice of his life and 
 writings, 43, 44, note. 
 
 D'Abbadie, M., succeeds Kerlerec as acting governor of Louisiana, 314, 
 303 ; death of in New Orleans, 367. 
 
 D'Artaguettc, Diron, coinmissalre ordonnnteur in Louisiana, 233, 288. 
 
 D'Artaguette, Pierre, serves in the Natchoz war, 288; is made command- 
 ant at tiie Illinois, 288; leads an expedition against the Chickasaws, 
 292 ; wounded and taken prisoner, 293 ; perishes au the stake, 294. 
 
 Davidson and Stuv^'s History of Illinois, references to, etc., J 32-3, 286, 
 298, 347, 389, 396, 397. 
 
 D'Autry, the Sieur, explores passes of the Mississippi with La Salle, 144. 
 
 Delaware Indians, mention, 320, 351. 
 
 Do Leon, Don Alonzo, expedition of from Mexico to Fort St. Louis, of 
 Texas, 190. 
 
 De Luna, Don Tristan, leads a Spanish army jf Invasion into West 
 Florida, 33, 279. 
 
 De Motits, Pierre du (iuast, Sieur, an officer of Henry IV. 's household, 
 1(1; under letter patent he plants the iirsl French colony in Acadia, 
 11; loses his inflnence at court on death of that monarch, 15. 
 
 Detroit, founded by La Mothe Cadillac (in 1701), 341; its situation and 
 early military history, 344; Indian siege of under Pontiac, 349. 
 
 De Villiers, Capt. Neyon, overcomes Washington at Fort Necessity 325; 
 is made commandant of the Illinois at Fort Chartres, 312, 342 and 
 Hole; he resigns and goes to New Orleans, 363; n>ceiveB tlie decora- 
 tion of the (^rosB of St. Louis, 303. 
 
 De Vin(!enneH (or Vincenne) .Jean r..ii)ti8te IJissot, sketch of, 299; estab- 
 lishes the post of Vincennos, 299, 301; joins D'Artaguette in his 
 expedition against the Chickasaws, 292; and shares that officer's 
 lamentable fate, 293. 
 
Index. 
 
 421 
 
 ;he Canadian 
 ivernor under 
 
 age of Peoria, 
 
 atern Indians, 
 ( ; he descends 
 elow mouth of 
 ^ SoG; released 
 I Pontiac, o^7; 
 jesB of bis rais- 
 
 jly of the corn- 
 patent, 234-237; 
 ders his charter 
 
 , of his life and 
 £ Louisiana, 314, 
 
 la, 233, 288. 
 [made command- 
 
 the Chickasaws, 
 
 the stake, 294. 
 
 , etc., 132-3, 286, 
 
 ith La Salle, 144. 
 fort St. Louis, of 
 liision into West 
 
 llV.'s household, 
 jlony in Acadia, 
 
 Inarch, 15. 
 
 lis situation and 
 lontiac, 340. 
 It Necessity 325; 
 Ires, 312, 342 and 
 lives the decora- 
 
 |h of, 29i) ; ostab- 
 KuKuette in his 
 Jth that officer's 
 
 Des Ursius, Marc Antoine de la Loire, commissary and judge for the 
 
 India Company in Illinois, 272, 273; killed at Natchez, 382. 
 Dieskau, Lu<lwig August, Baron, a German-French general in the '■'jven 
 
 Years' War, 330; mortally wounded in battle near Crown Point, 330. 
 Dinwiddle, Robert, colonial governor of Virginia, sends Washington on 
 
 mission to the French, 321 ; orders the raising of a regiment to drive 
 
 the French from Virginia territory, 323. 
 Domestic Al'iancesof the French colonists with the Indians, 8, 204, 303, 412, 
 Donnacona, an ludian potentate at Quebec, 5; is carried by Cartier to 
 
 France, 7. < 
 
 Douay, Father Anastasius, RecoUet missionary, 155 ; his account of La 
 
 Salle's murder, IGH*; ascends the Mississippi and Illinois with Abb^ 
 
 Cavelier, et al., 183-4 ; returns to France, 187; he accompanies D'lber- 
 
 ville in his colonizlTig expedition to the Mississippi, 215 and note. 
 Du (Tay, Picard, companion of Hennepin in his Sioux o-aptivity, 105, 107. 
 Duhaut, M., principal assassin of La Salle, 170; is himself slain in an 
 
 altercation with Hiens, 177. 
 Du L'Hut, Daniel Greysolon, penetrates the Sioux country from Lake 
 
 Superior, and effects the release of Hennepin, et al., 108; sketch of 
 
 his adventurous career, 108, nnle. 
 Dumont's Historical Memoir of Limisiana, 2H7, 27U, 280, 282, note, 292. 
 Durret's, R. T., Kentucky Centennial Address, 38. 
 
 E. 
 
 Edict of Nantes, when enacted and revoked, 248 nolt. 
 
 Englisli, early efforts to discover the Mississippi, 38; surrender of the 
 
 Illinois country to, 300; duration of their rule, 402. 
 
 " English Turn," on Lower MissisRip]>i, origin of the phrase, 220. 
 
 Epinay, M. de L', succeeds Cadillac as governor of Louisiana, 245. 
 
 ^. 
 F. 
 
 Farmer, Major Robert, relieves Captain Stirling, in command at Fort 
 Chartres, 394. 
 
 Florida, when discovered, 24; Soto's remarkable adventures in, 24-32; 
 Narvaez's expedition to, 25. 
 
 Forbes, (leneral Joseph, leads the second English expedition against 
 Fort Duquesne, 333 ; death of, 3:54. 
 
 Fort Hiloxi, or Maurepas, built by Ihervilh', 219 ; unfavorable site of, 
 and removal of the colony from, 224; New IJiloxi, 207, w)U'. 
 
 Fort Chartres, lirst building of, 271 ; wlien rebuilt, 313; Broese's remarks 
 on, 314; PittMian's description of, 315 ; substMiueJit history, 310-318. 
 
 Fort Crrfve-coenr, building of, 93; wliy so named, 94; dt'seribed by Hen- 
 nepin, h)1. 
 
 Fort Duquesne, begun by agents of the Ohio (/onipany, 323 ; completed 
 and named by (-aptain Contrecoeur, 323 ; taken by the English un- 
 der (ieneral Forbes, and name changcul to Fort Pitt, 334. 
 
 Fort Frontenac, when built, 79 ; granted in seigniory to La Salle, 80 ; 
 
 * III this account, the dute of Lu Salle's murder should read the 19lh instead of 
 the 9th of March, 1687. " 
 
 iS 
 
 I.: 
 
 ill 
 
 'i! 
 
 
I ■ I- 
 
 422 
 
 Index. 
 
 captured and demolished by the English provincials under Colonel 
 
 '• Bradstreet, 333. 
 
 Fort Gage, near Kaskaskia, removal of British troops to from Fort Char- 
 tres, 316; Pittman's notice of, 391 ; is taken by Colonel Clark, 402. 
 
 Fort Massac, or Marsiac, on the Lower Ohio, 335; brief hist, of; 335, note. 
 
 Fort Miami, at mouth of the St. Joseph, built by La Salle, 89. 
 
 Fort Prudhomme, on the Mississippi, 137, 145. 
 
 Fort Rosalie, at Natchez, when built, 242 ; rebuilt, 284 ; Pittman's de- 
 scription of 289, note. 
 
 Fort St. Claude, on Yazoo River, French garrison at massacred by the 
 Natchez Indians, 283. 
 
 Fort Si. Louis of Illinois, when built, 147 ; decline of, 195. 
 
 Fort St. Louis of Texas, 1(>1 ; destruction of, 191. 
 
 Fort Louis de la Mobile, when first built, 224 ; site of changed, 227. 
 
 Fort Ouatanon, on the Wabash, mention, 299, 303, note. 
 
 Fort Toinbecb^, on the Tombigbee River, built by Bienville, 291. 
 
 Fox River, oi Wisconsin, discovered by Ni'^olet, 3(i; mention, 51, 195. 
 
 Foxes, or Rinards. (See Sacs and Foxes.) 
 
 Fowls, domestic, among the southern Indians, 38, 216. 
 
 France, New. (See New France.) 
 
 Francis I. of France, mention, 4, 7. 
 
 Franciscan friars, 96, note. 
 
 Fraser, Lieutenant Alexander, associated with Croghan, 353; he descends 
 the Ohio to Illinois, 354 ; is buflfeted by the Indians at Kaskaskia, 
 and flees down the Mississippi to New Orleans, 354. 
 
 French-Canadian population at the beginning of long war, 325. 
 
 French Commandants at the Illinois, tabV of, 361. 
 
 French Colonists in Illinois and Louisiana, general description of, 404. 
 
 Frontenac, Louis de Buade, Count de, celebrated governor of Canada, 
 45 ; he sends Joliet to explore the Mississippi, 46 ; dispatch of re- 
 lating to his discovery, 69 ; erects Fort Frontenac at the outlet of 
 Lake Ontario, 79 ; recommends La Salle to Colbert, 80 ; indorses 
 Tonty's petition, 232 ; expires in Quebec, 46. 
 
 Gage, General Thomas, liritish commander, proclamation by to the in- 
 habitants of Illinois, 361, 362, note. 
 
 Gayarr6, Charles, references to and citations from his History of Louisi- 
 ana (3 vols.), 213, noU, 219, 293, note, 295-6, notes, 312, note, 35J-2, notet, 
 • 369, 379, 415. 
 
 Gravier Jacques, one of the missionary founders of Kaskaskia, 198, 199. 
 
 Green Bay, discovered by Nicolet, 36 ; mission station at, 51, 61. 
 
 Griffin, construction of at Niagara, 86 and nole ; lost on the upper lakes, 88. 
 
 Growth of the French settlements in Illinois, 208, 271, 
 
 Gulf of California, mention, 59, 78. 
 
 Gulf of Mexico, long a closed sea to the French, 38, 154. 
 
 Gulf of St. Ijawrence, explored and named by Jacques Cartier, 5. 
 
 Gumbos, a nickname for the half-breetls in Missouri, 412, note. 
 
Index. 
 
 423 
 
 ider Colonel 
 
 a Fort Char- 
 Clark, 402. 
 . oi, 335, wi^' 
 i9. 
 
 >ittman's ile- 
 lacred by the 
 
 aged, 227. 
 
 le, 291. 
 tion, 51, 195. 
 
 );V, he descends 
 , at Kaskaskia, 
 
 ir, 325. 
 
 iptioii of, 404. 
 nor of Canada, 
 dispatch of re- 
 [t the outlet of 
 It, 80; indorses 
 
 by to the in- 
 
 Itory of Louisi- 
 lo«e, 351-2, not<;«, 
 
 liiskia, 198, 199. 
 151,01. 
 Iipper lakefl, 88. 
 
 Iiirtier, 5. 
 
 H. - 
 
 Halifax, town of, British fleet sails from for the reduction of Louisburg, 
 332. 
 
 Havana, Soto's expedition sails from to Florida, 24 ; taken by the En- 
 glish, 1)39 ; restored to Spain, 352, note; French state prisoners sent 
 to from Louisiana, 376. 
 
 Helena, Arkansas, mention, 59, note,. 
 
 Hennepin, Father Louis, his nativity, 96 ; early monastic life and travels, 
 97 ; comes as a IlecoUet missionary to Canada, 98 ; liis active life at 
 Quebec, 98; joins La Salle's expedition to the West, 99; visits Niag- 
 ara Falls, 99, note ; makes a journey to the principal village of the 
 Senecas, 100; embarks on the Griflin, 100; his account of Fort 
 Cr^ve-coeur, 101 ; his daring canoe vovage up the MiH8i8sii)pi, 105; 
 is captured by a party of the Sioux Indians, 106 ; adventures among 
 the Sioux, 107; is released from captivity, 108; return journey to 
 Canada and France, 109; his expulsion from France, 110; with- 
 draws into Holland, and enters the service of William IH., 110; 
 decease, 110; review of his writings. 111, 112; his conflicting esti- 
 mate of La Salle, 171. 
 
 Henry IV. of France, issues letters patent to De Monts, 10. 
 
 Hiens, one of the conspirators against Morangetand La Salle, 107; mur- 
 ders Duhaut, 177. 
 
 Huguenots, 9 ; driven by persecution from France, 248. 
 
 Huron, Lake, discovered by Champlain, 16. 
 
 Huron Indians, mention, 16, 35, 39, 48, 109, note. 
 
 Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur de, early naval career of, 212 ; his colo- 
 nizing expedition to the Mississippi, 213, 214; plants a colony in 
 Lower Louisiana, 218; revisits his colony, 220, 224; decease and 
 character, 226. 
 
 Illinois Indians, loose confederations of, 53; meaning of the word Illini 
 or Illinois, 53; they are invaded by the Iroquois, 121, 122; they aid 
 the Frenc^h in the Chickasaw war, 292 ; are defeated by the Sacs 
 and Foxes, 387 ; Pittman's notice of, 394. 
 
 Illinois country, explored by Joliet and Marquette, 53, 60; military oc- 
 cupation of by I>a Salle, 94; a dependency of Canada, 194; a part of 
 Louisiana, 233 ; under M. Crozat, 234, et seq.; under Boisbriant and 
 the C'onipany of the West, 270; under the lloyal government, 288; 
 under the English sway, 384; conquest of by Col. Clark, 402. 
 
 Illinois Kiver, mention, 43,60,77,90, 105; Kennedy's voyage on, 399; 
 
 Inilay, Capt. Gilbert, work on North America, 399. 
 
 India Company, Hoyal, successor to the Company of tlie West, 272; 
 surrender of the company's charter, 286. 
 
 Indian allies, value of to the French in war, 326. 
 
 Indian colony of La Salle on the Illinois, 148. 
 
 Tntendant, office of, 40, note. 
 
 Iroquois (or Five Nations), 13 ; army of invade the Illinois country, 122 ; 
 
424 
 
 Index. 
 
 burninp; of the great town of the Illinois, 124 ; massacre of women 
 and children, 127. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jesuits, their first appearance in Canada, 16; missions of in IllinoiK, (ili, 
 190, 1!)!>; are banished from Louisiana, 379. 
 
 Jesuit Order, history of, I'SO, S81 ; suppressed by Pope Clement XIV., 
 382; revived by IMuH VII., .'{82. 
 
 Jesuit Relations, ;?>S;>. 
 
 Johnson, Clen. Sir William, mention, 32(5, 330; report of, 348, note. 
 
 Joliet, T.ouis, comniisHioned to explore the Misnissippi River, 46; his 
 birth and edncaticMi at (iueboc, 4() ; is first sent by Talon to look for 
 copper mines at Lake Superior, 4(); with Father Marquette, he 
 rei'ches the Mississippi, 52 ; descends tnat river to the vicinity of the 
 Arkansas, 51) and )m(c ; returning, he ascends the Illinois, 60; stops 
 at the Indian villages en route, 61 ; he loses his manuscrii)tK in the 
 rapids at La Chine, 67; reports his discoveries to Gov. Frontenac, 
 67; his marriage, 68; makes a trip to Hudson's Bay, 68; is given 
 the Island of Anticosti, 68; surveys the coast of Labrador, 68; is 
 granted the seigniory of " Joliitte," 6S ; death and character, 68, 69. 
 
 Joliet, city of in 111., named for the explorer, 69. 
 
 Joutel, Henri, soldier, accompanies La Salle's expedition to Texas, 154 ; 
 his account of La Salle's assassination, 169; his Journal Ilutorique 
 of the expedition, 187. 
 
 Juchereau, Sieur de, a Canadian olhcer, 299, 300, note. 
 
 Juiitonville, Sieur Coulon de, killed In action at Little Meadows, 324, 
 and note. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kankakee (Te-a-ki-ki) River, a constituent branch of the Illinois, men- 
 tion, 90, 135, 197, note. 
 
 Kappa, or Quappa, a noted village < the Arkansas on Lower Missis- 
 sippi, 58 note, 138, 183. • 
 
 Kaskaskia, Indian village on the Illinois River, first visited by Joliet and 
 ^larquette, 60; Mission of the I. (1 V. founded there by Father 
 Marquette, 63; re-established by Father Allouez, 198; removal of 
 the mission and tribe to the site of the present Kaskaskia, 199; 
 early history of the mission and settlement on the Missi88i})pi, 204; 
 Charlvoix' visit to, 209; Pittman's descrijition of, 390; subsequent 
 decline of the village, 403, note. 
 
 Kaskaskias, a leading tribe of the Illinois, mention, GO, 63, 196, 202, 209, 
 290, 394. 
 
 Kennedy, Patrick, his journey up the Illinois River in search of copper 
 mines, 399. 
 
 Kerlerec, M. de, governor of the Province of Louisiana (1753-1763), 312; 
 ordered to return to PVance, and incarcerated in the Bastile, 314 ; 
 paper money issued under his administration, 412. 
 ^Kingsford, William, references to his History of Canada, 20, 67, note, 
 416, note. 
 
'.^I^HJ jVl»l,'A'.«v«iiiJl 'i-Hiifif, 
 
 Index. 
 
 425 
 
 • of women 
 
 Illinois, (>!^, 
 ment XIV., 
 
 S, note. 
 ivor, 4(); bis 
 n to look for 
 iirqiu'tte, he 
 ii'inity of the 
 jis, 60 ; stops 
 scripts in the 
 J. I'rontenac, 
 , m ; is fiiven 
 )nulor, (58; is 
 racter, (38, 0«.). 
 
 ,o Texas, 154; 
 -nal JH»torique 
 
 vlcadows, 324, 
 
 llinois, nien- 
 
 .ower Missis- 
 
 i)y Joliet and 
 o by Fatlier 
 ; r("nioval of 
 skaskia, lUO ; 
 isissippi, 204; 
 ; subsetiuent 
 
 101), 202, 209, 
 
 k;h of copper 
 
 [8-1763), 312; 
 1 Bastile, 314 ; 
 
 20, 67, noU;, 
 
 Kiskakons, a christianized branch of the Ottawa Indians, disinter and 
 remove Marquette's remains, 05. 
 
 L. 
 
 l.rfibrador, visited l)y the Cortereals to, 3 ; coast of surveyed by Joliet, H8. 
 
 Lu liarre, Le Febvre de, governor of Canada (1683-1085), 149; he de- 
 deposes La Salle from the command of Forts Frontenac and St. 
 Louis, l.'>2. 
 
 La F?nissonicri', Alplionee de, suceeeds D'Arta^uette as commandant at 
 the Illinois, and takes part in tlie second ('hickasaw wir, 2i»5. 
 
 Lacl6(le, Pierre Ligucst, })rincipal founder of St. Louis, Missouri, 385 ; 
 sketch of, ;5S5, note. 
 
 La Forrest, a lieutenant of La Salle, 118, 120, 15:i, 154, 105. 
 
 Iva Ilarpe, J^crnurd dc, adviiturcH of in the southwest, 2()(), 2()! ; is sent 
 by Bienville to form an establisliment on the Bay of St. Bernard, 202. 
 
 La Ilontan,' Arinand Louisde Delondane, Baron de, a noted French odi- 
 cer and traveler, 50, riote ; his curious account of MichiliiiiackiMac, 100, 
 note; his notice of the priest Cavelier and his traveling party, 180, 
 not£. 
 
 La Motte, de Lusiere, an associate of La Salle in his first great exploring 
 enterprise, 83, 85, 80. 
 
 IjB v^alle, llobert (kvelier Sieur de, his Norman birth and parentage, 71 ; 
 receives his education from the .Jesuits, 71, 72; emigrates to Canada, 
 72; founds Tiachine, above Montreal, 72; discovers the Ohio, 76; se- 
 (;ures the patronage of (Jov. Frontenac, 78 ; is granted the seigniory 
 of Fort Frontenac, 80; builds the Griffin on the Niagara, 86; voy- 
 ages with her through the upj)er lakes, 87 ; he enters the country of 
 the Illinois, 80; difficulties with the natives and his nu'ii, 02; builds 
 Fort Crc've-coeur at foot of I'eoria Lake, 0.'!, 04; sends ll<;nnepin to 
 exi)lore the Upper Mississippi, 05 ; his return journey to Fort Fron- 
 tenac, 115; second expedition to the West, 118; its failure, 120; he 
 negotiati's with the Western tribes, 131 ; descends the Mississippi to 
 the Chilf, l.']0-141 ; takes possession of the country for the King of 
 France, 142; erects Fort St. Louis on the Illinois, 147; forms an In- 
 dian colony around it, 148; corresponds with (lov. La Barre, 140, 
 150; is dismissed from his command ))y that functtionary, 152; he goes 
 to Old F'rance, 153; is given audience by the King, 154; sails with 
 a colony for the mouth of the Mississippi, 150; kinds at .^Lltagorda 
 Bay, 158; builds a fort there, 100; wamlerings in t lie wilderness of 
 Texas, 102, 1()3; sets out for the Illinois and Canada, but returns, 104; 
 he again sets forth and is assassinated on the way, 105; analysis of 
 his character, 171 et seq.; concealment of his death, 183, 185; de- 
 struction of his colony, 101. 
 
 La Salle Co., Illinois, named in memory of the great explorer, 100. 
 
 La Tour, early French engineer in Louisiana, 263. 
 
 Lake Michigan, or Lac des Illinois, discovered by Nicolet, 35-6. 
 
 Lake Superior, mention, 39, 40, 48. 
 
 
 •Incorrectly printed La Houtan, in note on page 99. 
 
426 
 
 Index. 
 
 Law, John, Scotch financier and adventurer, birth and education of, 249; 
 his th30ry of banking, 249; is patronized by the Duke of Orleans, 
 250; he establishes a bank in Paris, 250; his Mississippi scheme, 
 251 ; public infatuation thertat, 252; progress of his credit system, 
 253; its collapse, 257 ; he flees from France, 258 ; dies in poverty at 
 Venice, 259. 
 
 Lead mines in Missouri, worked by the French, 239; in Illinois, 275 and 
 note. 
 
 League, French, length of, 52, 7iot£. 
 
 Le Clercq, Father Cr^tien, 104, note; his History of the Establishment Of 
 the Faith in New France, 112, note ; his account of La Salle's last ex- 
 pedition by sea, 161, ncte. 
 
 Le Clercq, Father Maximus, RecoUet missionary in Texas, 155, 192. 
 
 Lesdigueres, Duchesse de, mention, 211. 
 
 Le Su' ur, Pierre, a French voyageur, mention, 201, .'300, note. 
 
 L6vis, Chevalier de, successor to Montcalm, 338. 
 
 Letters patent to La Salle, 81 ; to M. Crozat, 234. 
 
 Liotot, surgeon, and one of La Salle's assassins, 170; his violent death, 
 177, 178 and note. 
 
 LoftuH, Major Arthur, his unsuccessful attempt to ascend the Mississippi 
 to Fort Cliartres, 352. 
 
 Lord, Captain Hugh, English commandant at the Illinois, successor to 
 Wilkins, 398. 
 
 Louisiana, liower, permanent settlement of by the French, 212; cession 
 of the country to Spain, 304, 365. 
 
 Louis XIV. of France, falls heir to the thror.e at the age of five 
 years, 246; erects Canada into a royal province, 19 ; issues patent of 
 nobility to La Salle, 80; demise of, 246; review of his reign and 
 character, 247, 248. 
 
 Louis XV., cedes Western Louisiana by private treaty to Spain, 339, 
 363; his letter concerning tlK^ cession to Gov. d'Abbadie, 365, 366. 
 
 Louisburg, fortress of, taken by the English, 312 ; second siege and cap- 
 ture of, 332, 3:53, note. 
 
 Loyola, Ignatius, originator of the Order of Jesuits, 380. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macarty, Chevalier de, nuijor-commuudant at the Illinois during the 
 rebuilding of Fort Cliartres, 313; mention, 324, 361. 
 
 Major-commandants, functions of the, 308. ' , 
 
 Manitou, Indian name for the Deity, 51 and nol/'. 
 
 Maps, Marquette's, 50, 62 ; Joliet's, 67 and note ; Franquelin's and Henne- 
 pin's, 9S ; Delisle's, 99, note. 
 
 Marest, Gabriel, missionary priest at Kaskaskia, 199 ; he transfers the 
 mission of the Immaculate Conception from the Illinois River to ihe 
 site of the jjresent Kaskaslvia, 199-20:5; extracts from his cor- 
 respondence, 205, 20a. 
 
 Margry, IMerre, I'>ench author, references to his works, 68, 76, note, 
 10-1-5, votes, 151, note, 191, vide, 197, vote. 
 
' . < 
 
 Index. 
 
 427 
 
 ion of, 249; 
 of Orleans, 
 )pi scheme, 
 dit system, 
 I poverty at 
 
 lois, 275 and 
 
 >lishment Of 
 lUe's last ex- 
 
 ,55, 192. 
 
 iolent death, 
 
 le Mississippi 
 
 I, successor to 
 
 ,212; cession 
 
 age of five 
 iues patent of 
 liis nngn and 
 
 |o Spain, 339, 
 ]ie, 365, 3G6. 
 iege and cap- 
 
 daring the 
 
 1 and Henne- 
 
 transfers the 
 I River to ihe 
 |)ni his cor- 
 
 l()8, 76, noif, 
 
 Marquette, P^re Jacques, born at Laon, France, 47 ; he enters the So- 
 ciety of Jesus, and is ordained to the priesthood, 47 ; sails as a mis- 
 sionary to Canada, and studies the Indian languages under Father 
 Dreuilletes, 47 ; witli Father Dablon, he founds the mission of St. 
 Mary of the P'alls, 48 ; iis thence sent to St. Esprit near western ex- 
 tremity of Lake Superior, 48; returning, he founds the mission of 
 St. Ignace at Old Mackinac. 49; with M. Joliet, he discovers and ex- 
 plores the Mississipi>i River, oO-HO; table of the distances traveled, 
 61 , notr ; his journal of their great canoe voyage, 61 , 62 ; he establishes 
 the miBsion of the Immaculate Conception on the Illinois River, 
 63; sets out from thence on his return to St. Iguace, 64; dies and 
 is buried on the eastern shore of Lake Michiga?- 65; removal of his 
 remains to St. Ignace, 65 ; his religiou.s and general character, 66. 
 
 Mascontins, allied tribe of the Miamis, 51, 92. 
 
 Massac, or Marsiac. (See Foit Massac.) 
 
 Mason, E. G., his account of the Kaskaskia JMission, 200-203 ; also of the 
 ruins of Fort Chartres, 31t). 
 
 Maillet, M. Hypolite, founds French village on Peoria Lake, 401, note. 
 
 Membre, Zenobius, Recollet friar and follower of La Salle, 85, 87 ; his 
 description of the Illinois Indians, 103; exciting experience with 
 the Iroquois, 124, 125 ; he perishes at Ft. Louis of Texas, 192; notice 
 of his life, 192. 
 
 Menard, Father Renu, first French missionary in the region of Lake 
 Superior, 39 and notf. 
 
 Mermet, Jean, a missionary priest on the Lower Ohio, 300 and note; and 
 an associate of Father Marest at Kaskaskia, 205. 
 
 Meurin, Sebastian Louis, last Jesuit missionary in the Illinois, 391, note. 
 
 Mexico, French atte- ipts at trade relations with, 240, 242. 
 
 Miamis Indians, a kindred tribe of the Illinois, 51, 132, 133, 299. 
 
 Michilimackinac, or Mackinac, 49 and note ; mission of St. Ignace at, 49; 
 visited by La Salle intheGritlin, 87; described by Laliontan, 109, note. 
 
 Mills, water, at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, 271. 
 
 Missionaries in Illinois and Louisiana, Jesuits, 63, 194 ; Recollets, 103, 
 121 ; Sulpitians, 393. 
 
 Mississippi Company, Laws, 251, 252; its advantagv^s to the Province of 
 Louisiana, 250, 286. 
 
 Mississippi River, Spanish discovery of the, 24; different names of, 28, 
 note; Frei.ch discovery and exploration of, 45. 
 
 Missouri River, discovered by Joliet and Marquette, 56; said to have 
 been first explored by La Ilontan, 56, note. 
 
 Missouri Indians, allies of the French, destroy expedition of the Spau- 
 iarils from New Mexico, 268. 
 
 Mobile River, visited by De Soto, 26; French fort on, 224. 
 
 Mohegan Indians, band settle at Ft. Miami, 130; party of, follow LaSalle 
 to the outlet of the Mississippi, 135. 
 
 Monso, a Mascoutin chief, intrigues with the Illinois against Im Salle, 92. 
 
 Montcalm, Louis Joseph, Marquis de, captures Fort Ontario and Fort 
 William Henry, 330, 331 ; defeats Abercrombie at Ticonderoga, 333; 
 
 'li! 
 
 !i I 
 
 ill 
 
liii 
 
 428 
 
 Index. 
 
 is vanquished by "Wolf at Quebec, 337, 338 ; sketch of his brilliant ca- 
 reer, 340, note. 
 
 Montmafjny, Charles Huault de, succesds Champlain in the government 
 of the Canadian colony, 18. 
 
 Montreal, when settled, 22 ; religious origin and early annals of, 22, 23. 
 
 Moranget, i^ieur de, nephew of La Salle, 155 ; murder of, 107. 
 
 Moses, John, History of Illinois, references to, (;2, 207, 394, note, 395, 398, 
 399. 
 
 Mound Riiildcrs, ancient, 33, 2S."), note. 
 
 Morris, Captain Thomas, adventures with the Indians, 351, 2b- and note. 
 
 Muscoso, Luis de, lieutenant and successor to De Soto, 31 ; conducts the 
 rf'maius of Soto's expedition to Panuco, Mexico, 32. 
 
 N. 
 Nadouepsiouxs. (See Sioux.) 
 
 Narvaez, Paniphilio de, a Spanish adventurer in Florida, 25. 
 
 Natchez Indians, visited by La Salle, 140; their strange history, 277-279 ; 
 
 they massacre the French at Fort Rosalie, 282; war with, 284 ; ex- 
 • termination of the nation, 285. 
 Natchitoches, post of, when established, 245; mention, 260, 378. 
 Natchitoches Indians, mention, 188, 242, 2()0, 285; New Chartres, when 
 
 built, 313, 314. 
 New Orleans, origin of, 246 ; founded by Bienville, 263; named for the 
 
 Duke of Orleans, 263 ; visited by Charlevoix (1721), 263, 264 ; is made 
 
 by Gov. Bienville the capital of Louisiana, 164. 
 New France, a name originally bestowed by the navigator, Verruzano, 
 
 upon the north-eastern coast of North America, 13; History of. 
 
 (See Charlevoix.) 
 Niagara Falls, Hennepin's visit to and description of, 99 and note. 
 Nicanope, a chief of the Peorias, 92. 
 Nicolet, Jean, early life of, among the Ottawas and Nipissings, 34; his 
 
 voyage of discovery in the North-west, 35, 36; he marries an adopted 
 
 daughter of Champlain, 37 ; is drowned in the St. Lawrence, 38. 
 Nipissing Lake, discovered by Champlain, 16. 
 Nonville (or Denonville), Jacques Rene de Brisay, Marquis de, governor 
 
 of Canada (1085-1089), 229, 231 and note. 
 Northmen, in North America, 1 and 2. 
 
 Nouvellc France, a name applied to all the French-Canadian coun- 
 try, 13, 19. 
 Nova Scotia. (See Acadia.) » < • 
 
 Ohio River, discovery of by La Salle, 76, 77. 
 
 Onondagas, a tribe of Iroquois, 70, 79, 123. 
 
 Onanghisse, a Pottawatomie sachem, noted saying of, 129. 
 
 Ortiz, Juan, interpreter for De Soto, 25, 29. 
 
 O'Reilly, Don Alexandro, Spanish military governor of Louisiana, 373 ; 
 sketch of, note ; his proclamation of amnesty, 375 ; he punishes the 
 revolutionary leaders and reorganizes the government of Louisiana, 
 376,377. :._.-.-;: : 
 
his brilliant ca- 
 he government 
 
 rials of, 22, 23. 
 167. 
 t, note, 395, 3J»8, 
 
 I, 252 and note. 
 ; conducts the 
 
 Index, 
 
 429 
 
 itory, 277-279 ; 
 with, 284 ; ex- 
 
 ), 378. 
 hartres, when 
 
 amed for the 
 , 264 ; is made 
 
 ir, Verrazano, 
 i; History of. 
 
 d note. 
 
 sings, 34 ; his 
 KS an adopted 
 rence, 38. 
 
 de, governor 
 
 adian coun- 
 
 lisiana, 373 ; 
 )uni8hes the 
 f Louisiana, 
 
 '^ylrench explorers to the Foxes. 131. 
 Paris, Treatv of ^4(» . , ' 
 
 7o, note, 77, ]-J0 note !'>7 ,-, ^''^^ ''*"'! Quotations f- -,, i • 
 
 p:r,nl,ri;1^■■■™- -" '"• '"• '"■ '"• - -■ --r' 
 
 PeDsacola, Flor <l„ '.„ . ' """-"yed 
 
 'otake,,, a„d°;,.r„ir;S'",' "'^ "" ■'>«'"'a^"». 214- i, ,-, , , 
 Knt-lish i... ,1, '"'""''"' I'y tlic. Frcn.'li 2117. . .' ' 'a''*'". 
 
 I'-Haiat.'la't ™'^-^[f;;.?;-r«-"* • ''■""'^'' '° ""^ 
 
 Peorvf,L,„. '■"■"'^*->«- or ..„,„,,,„, 
 
 notice oui„ .i,r,";. t""";:" ""'I "X'«.t of. -,,, ,„,. „, , . 
 Peoria Villas,, K, ;'*;-*• '"."""lj"« visit .„ W ' '^'""•'"•oix' 
 
 promote,! to tl,e rank of uZ,: ,"""*■' "'"' -''atfhra war 07- ?' 
 P;a„k,«l,aw,, village „f „„ , '' .-''"""J-^''"""!. -'S8. ""' '■ ' ■ " 
 
 phS:^::;:'^:;;;:':;;:;:-, 
 
 from I,i8 account of ''"..'""^'"•■'•'■■'""■iJa (176.31 3,9. . , 
 390-3!)j. '" "'" ^'■'-'"oh settlements on tl L a'^'- .'"'■"^'» 
 
 Pontchartrain, Count ,1,. 1,>„„,„ „ . . ""'"^'P"'' 
 
 'o the aimlication ef h. """'»'<■>■ of colonics 2»0. l,.- 
 Louisiani V °" ""«"™°' '»"'"'™ fro.n Ca;^i^ ^^^^ - 
 
 Pontiac, celebrated Ottawa cl.i.t ■ . 
 
 ai::ir.re ?''p"'^^"^^ --""rs.:\t™' ^^'-^ «^^ 
 
 Detroit -^4.. *, '"' '^-^^ ''' '■'f?.; uns„ccessfnl ", ^"^'^^y «»d war 
 -uetroit, 34f); capture of other Wo<.tJ '"^^''^^^ '"ind siege of 
 
 — ... coione, c:;sar:;t^t,^,::;:^t^3 
 
 «f^ 
 
 n 
 
430 
 
 Index. 
 
 i 
 
 speeches at Detroit and Oswego, 359, 360 ; retires to the shades of 
 
 the Maumee, HGO ; his lust visit to the Illinois, 386 ; is murdered Ikjf 
 
 a Kaskap'aa Indian at Cahokia, Illinois, and huried by Captain St. 
 
 Ange in St. Louis, Missouri, 387 and note. 
 Population (foreign) oi Illinois at the time of the British occupation, 389. 
 Population of the province of Louisiana at the beginning of the Spanish 
 
 rule, 377, 378. 
 Pottawatomie Indians, first visited by Nicolet, 37; mention, 88, 128. 
 Prairie du Chien, village of, on the Upper Mississippi, 52, note. 
 Prairie du Pont, a suburb of Cahokia, 394. 
 Prairie du Kocher, a village in vicinity of Fort Chartres, 276 ; Pittman's 
 
 account of, 391, nolr. 
 Prudhomme, Pierre, with La Salle on the Mississippi, 137; fort named 
 
 for, 137. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quebec, city of, site first visited b)' Cartier, 5 ; founded by Cham plain, 
 13; surrendered to the English under Captain Kirk, 17; restored to 
 the French, 18; faihire of Sir William Pliipps' attack upon, 20; 
 stone fortifications at, 21 ; the city is taken by the English under 
 Wolfe, 337, 338 ; unsuccessful efforts of the French to retake the 
 citadel, 338. 
 
 "Quebec Bill," its efTects upon the French colonists. 
 
 Quints, bay of on Ontario Lake, seat of a Sulpitian mission, 73 and note. 
 
 Quinipissas Indians (the Bayagoulas of Iberville and Bienville), La 
 Salle's experience with, 141, 144; Tonty leaves a letter with one of 
 their chiefs, 182, 216. 
 
 R. 
 
 Randolph County, Illinois, ruins of Fort Chartres in, 317. 
 
 Rasles, Sebastian, a noted Jesuit missionary in Illinois and Maine, 198. 
 
 Red River, of Louisiana, discovered by the Spaniards, 31. 
 
 Renault, Philip, Francois de, director-general of the mining operations 
 of the Mississippi Company, 274; he founds the village bearing his 
 name, 275. 
 
 Reynolds, John, Pioneer History of Illinois, references to and quota- 
 tions from, 317, 335, note, 346, note, 394, 407, note, 414, note. 
 
 Ribaut, Jean, attempts to plant a Huguenot colony in East Florida, 9. 
 
 Ribourde, Gabriel de la, a Recollet friar with La Salle in Illinois, 84, 101, 
 104; is slain by a scouting party of Kickapoos, 126. 
 
 Richelieu, Cardinal, organizes the company of " One Hundred Asso- 
 ciates," 17; charter of, when abandoned, 19. 
 
 Rio del Norte, or Rio Grande, reached and crossed by St. Denis, 243. 
 
 Rocheblave, Philippe Francois de Rastel de, commands for the British 
 at Fort Gage, 399; is sent a prisoner to Virginia by Col. Clark, 472. 
 
 Rogers, Major Robert, takes military possession of Detroit, 343 ; and of 
 other western posts, 345. 
 
 Roman Catholic Church, devotion of the French colonists to, 414 and note. 
 
 Rosalie. (See Fort Rosalie.) 
 
 Ryswick, Treaty of,|212. 
 
Index. 
 
 431 
 
 ! BhadeB of 
 udered by 
 Captain St. 
 
 pation,389. 
 the Spanish 
 
 88, 128. , 
 
 ite. 
 
 >; Pittman's 
 fort named 
 
 r Chaiuplain, 
 ' ; restored to 
 ck upon, 20; 
 liiglish under 
 to retake the 
 
 n, 73 and note. 
 
 pienville), La 
 
 r with one of 
 
 Maine, 198. 
 
 Ing operations 
 ^e bearing his 
 
 \o and quota- 
 
 Florida, 9. 
 Ilinois, 84, 101, 
 
 lindred Asso- 
 
 )eni8, 243. 
 [r the British 
 
 i\. Clark, 472. 
 I, 343 ; and of 
 
 414 and not^. 
 
 Sacs, or Sauks, and Foxes, mention, 36, 131, 2(J9. 
 
 Sangamon River, mention, 400 and note. . * - 
 
 Santa F^, New Mexico, when Kcttled, 267, note. 
 
 Sault de Ste. Marie, iiiiHsion established at by the Jenuits, 48. 
 
 Sauvolle— M. de Sauvolle de la Villantry— a brother or associate of D'lber- 
 ville. and first colonial governor in I^ouisiana, 213, 219; his early- 
 death at Fort Biloxi, 2l'3. 
 
 Senat, a Jesuit Father and volunteer in D'Artaguette's southern expe- 
 dition, L'Oi.' ; lu' is martyred at the stake by the Chiekasaws, 294. 
 
 Shawiiees, rcKtlcss character of, 56, note. 
 
 Shea, John (iilmary, references to and quotations from his Avorks, 12, 
 note, 39, note, 64, (to, 76, noit; 104, note, 113, note, 163, note, 197, note, 228; 
 decease of, 416, note. 
 
 Ship Island, first landing-place of Iberville's colony, 214. 
 
 Sioux Indians, 4S, 1(I6 and note. 
 
 Slaves, Negro, introduced inu ' ouisiana by Crozat, 238; number of at 
 the close of the French rww., 337. 
 
 Soto, Hernando dii, Spanish discoverer of the Mississippi, 24; his re- 
 markable expedition through Florida, 24-32. 
 
 Starved Kock, legend of, 387. 
 
 Stirling, Captain Thomas, takes Brirish possession of Fort Chartres, 360; 
 what became of him, 394, note. 
 
 Stoddard, Major Amos, 317 and note. 
 
 St. Anthony's Falls, discovered and named by Hennepin, 107; descrip- 
 tion of, 107, 108, note.. 
 
 St. Cosme, Jean Francois Buisson de. a missionary priest at the Natchez, 
 200 ; sketch of, 201 , note. 
 
 St. Croix, or St. Charles, a tributary of the St. Lawrence at Quebec, 
 5, 7, 12. 
 
 St. Francis Xavier, name of the .lesuit mission on Green Ray, 51, 61. 
 
 St, Denis, or Denys, Louis Juchereau de, his adventurous overland jour- 
 ney to Mexico, 242-244 ; appointed commandant at the post of Natch- 
 itoches, 244 ; skiitch of, 245, note. 
 
 Ste. Genevieve, ^lissouri, when settled, 306. 
 
 St. Louis Missouri, when and by whom founded, 385 and not^. ; early his- 
 tory of the village, 388. 
 
 St. Lusson, Simon Francois Daumont de, sent by Talon on a mission to 
 the upper lake region, 40 ; he holds an important conference with 
 the North-western tribes, 41, 42. 
 
 St, Peter's ( Minnesota) River, French fort erected on by I>e Sueur, 221 , note. 
 
 St, Philippe, a small village ii' the neighborhood of Fort Chartres, 275, 
 
 St, Pierre, Le Gardeur de, commanding officer at Fort mr la riviere au 
 Boeuf, 322 ; his letter of reply to Governor Dinwiddle, 322, 323. 
 
 Sugar-cane, when introduced into Louisiana, 297. 
 
 I 
 
432 
 
 Index. . 
 
 T. 
 
 Talon, Jean Baptiste, first intendant of Canada under the government 
 of the crown, 20; slight sketch of, 40, nnte ; he recommends the ap- 
 pointment of Joliet to explore the Mississippi, 46. 
 
 Taensas In<lian8, a kindred tribe of the Natchez, La Salle's arrival among, 
 189; their habitations, life, and worship, 139, 140. 
 
 Taniaroas, one of the five tribes of the Illinois, mention, 105, 127; Jesuit 
 nii.ssion established among. 207. 
 
 Tampa Bay, Florida, landing-place of De Soto, 25. 
 
 Tojas Indians, name of Texas derived from, 104, note. 
 
 Texas, country of claimed by Spain, 190; unsuccessful attempts of the 
 French to plant colonies in, 194, 202. 
 
 Timber, kinds of most abundant in Illinois, 400, note. 
 
 Tomhigbee River, ascended by Bienville in his expedition against the 
 Chickasaws, 291 ; also by Governor de Vaudreuil, 298. 
 
 Tonty, Henri de, lieutenant of La Salle, 83; his early military career, 84 ; 
 accompanies La Salle to New France (1077), 85; superintends the 
 construction of the Crrilliu, 80 ; .sails with his chief to Mackinac, 87; 
 goes thenco to S;iult de Ste. Marie, 8S; arrives in the Illinois, 88; \a 
 left in command at Fort Cr^vc-coeur, il5; his perilous encountar 
 with the Iroquois, 123; escapes with his party to the Pottawatomies, 
 128, 129; he descends the Mississippi with La S;Ule, \\)b, et scq.; as- 
 sists in construciing Fort St. Louis on the Illinois iviver, 147; is 
 given charge of the fort by La Salle, but superseded in conniiand 
 by De Baugis, 152; afterward reinstated, 182; his river voyage to the 
 Gulf in search of La Salle, 182; establisheKu post on the Arkan,m.s, 
 182; heroic attempt to succor the remains of La Salle's Texan col- 
 ony, 188; is continued in connuand at the Illinois, 194, 195; finally 
 joins D'IberviUe on the Lower Mississippi, 221 ; is sent thence on u 
 
 , mission to the Chickasaws, 22S ; dii>s at Fort Louis, on the Mobile, 
 228; summary of his character, 229; printed memoirs of, 230; his 
 petition to (/Ount Pontchartrain, 231. 
 
 Tonty, Alphonse de, brother of Henri, 229. 
 
 Trois Kivieres, town on the St. Lawren('(>, founded by Chami;Iaiii, 18, 
 mention, 37, 47, 
 
 Tunica Bend, scene of Major Loftus' attack by Tunica Indians, ;152. 
 
 Tuscarora Indians, a sixtii iribe of the Iroquois nation, 320, note, 
 
 U. 
 
 Ulloa, Don Antonio de, first Spanish governor sent to Louisiana, 371 ; 
 letter of to the Superior Council, 371 ; his expulsion from the prov- 
 ince, 373. 
 
 Ucita, an Indian town on Tampa Bay, Florida, 25. 
 
 Utica, Illinois, mention, 140, 190. 
 
 Utrect, Treaty of, 21. 
 
 - - V. - - ■ ■ 
 
 Vaca, Cabeca, or Cabeza de, an early Spanish wanderer in Florida, 29 and 
 
 note. 
 Vaudreuil, I'ierre Franci)is de Kigau<l, Mrinpiis le, gover-ior of Louisi- 
 
i .i> Bte i < jyiM i ji Qgi i limi l - 
 
 Index. 
 
 433 
 
 )vernment 
 ids the ap- 
 
 val among, 
 
 127 ; Jesuit 
 
 iipts of the 
 
 agaiust tlie 
 
 •y career, 84 ; 
 rintcmls the 
 ku'kinac, 87; 
 lUnois, 8S ; is 
 us iMH'.ountsr 
 .)ttawatomiefl, 
 ::,o, etsfq.; aa- 
 iUver, U7 ; is 
 in connuaml 
 voyage to the 
 the Arkansas, 
 l'.'b Texan col- 
 4, nt,-)-, finally 
 t thence on a 
 ,n the Mobile, 
 ,v of, 230 ; his 
 
 ;;hauii;laiii, 18, 
 
 liiins, 352. 
 lo, note. 
 
 Louisiana, 371 ; 
 liom the prov- 
 
 ll'lorida, 2i) and 
 iMor of Louiai- 
 
 ana (1742-1753), 200; prosperity of the province under his admin- 
 istration, 297 ; he is promoted to the governorship of Canada, 312; 
 jealouay and contentions with (xeneral Montcalm, .''', note ; charges 
 preferred ag linst him by friends of the latter, on which he is tried 
 and acquitted, 340, 341, note ; death of in Paris, Ibid. 
 
 Vega, (iarcilaRSO de la, a Spanish historian of De Soto's Expedition, 30, 33, 
 notr. 
 
 Venango, Indian village and military post on the Alleghany River, 
 321,350. 
 
 Verrazano, Juun, a celebrated Florentine navigator; early voyage of dis- 
 covery to North America, 4. 
 
 Vexilla, or rcriUa reyiii jirodctoit, iirst (tie of grand Latin hynm, 144, 198. 
 
 Vicanque, ancient Indian town on the upp v ^ ters of the Arkan- 
 sas, 29. 
 
 Vincennes, Jean Raptiste BisHot de. (See 1\ 'iiT>".'i,nes.) 
 
 Vincennes, Indiana, beginning of, 299; early hisiory, 301, 302; visited 
 by Croghau, 303, note. 
 
 Virginia, Illinois made a county of, 402. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wabash River, when French posts first established on, 299. 
 
 Washington, (ieorgo, mission to the h('a<hvat('rs of the Ohio, 321 ; sur- 
 renders Fort Necessity, 325; gallant conduct at Braddock's de- 
 feat, 328. 
 
 Wars of the French with the Spaniards, 205-2(18; with the Natchez, 
 277-285; with the Chickasaws, 290-29S; with the English, 20, 312, 
 319-339; Pontiac's war, 34()-3(;0. 
 
 West, Company of the, when organized, 252; operations of in Louisi- 
 ana and Illinois, 259, 571 ; charter of surrendered to the crown, 28(i; 
 benefits of its sway, 2S7. 
 
 Willian) III. of England, sends two vessels to explore the outlet of the 
 :\[ississippi, 113,220. 
 
 Winnebago Indians, a branch oi' the Sioux or Dakota nation; Nicolet's 
 visit to and account of, 31); mention, 41. 
 
 Wilkins, liieutenant-C'olonel John, succeeds Colonel Reed as English 
 conunandant at the Illinois, 395; account of his administration, 
 395-39S. 
 
 Will of La .Salle, 134, note. 
 
 Wolfe, General James, distinguishes himself at the reduction of Louis- 
 burg, 33(1; his 8i(>ge of Quebec, 337; dies on the field of battle, 338. 
 
 Wolfe and Montcalm Monument, 341, note. 
 
 Wolfe's column, Ibid. • 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yazoo River, I>e Soto winters at village on, 27 ; Frencli Fort on, 283. 
 Yalobusha Hiver, in Xorthern Missi;-ifiii)pi, r-iidczvous of DWrlaipietto 
 in his unfortunate expuilition against the Chickasaws, 292. 
 
 , • ■" ■ FINIS.