UC-NRLF 
 
 $B 727 MIE 
 
w <^a^i<^^ot^^^^^.==^z^^YJc4^^ 
 
 MT'^' 
 
 ^./?^.=^Z/Jmyt'Zf 
 
 Ijr. /5-/^i_/ 
 
GIFT or 
 
 Aancrori 
 
HISTORY 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST 
 
 JOHN NICOLET 
 
 IlSr 1634r 
 
 SKETCH OF HIS LIFE 
 
 C. W. BUTTERFIELD 
 \\ 
 
 Author of "Crawford's Campaign against Sandusky," "History of Wisconsi 
 In Historical Atlas of the State, "The Washington-Crawford Letters," 
 "History of the University of Wisconsin," etc. 
 
 CINCINNATI 
 ROBERT CLARKE & CO. 
 
 1881 
 
F479 
 
 32 
 
 / c J/J ' 
 
 » c c c 
 
 C c c c «, 
 
 * c » « ' / « 
 
 t c e c c 
 
 / 'cj 
 
 Copyrighted, 18S1, 
 By C. W. BUTTERFIELD. 
 
 «FTOF 
 BancroTt 
 LIBRARY 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Ill the following pages, I have attempted to record, in a 
 faithful manner, the indomitable perseverance and heroic 
 bravery displayed by John Nicolet in an exploration which 
 resulted in his being the first of civilized men to set foot upon 
 any portion of the Northwest ; that is, upon any part of the 
 territory now constituting the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illi- 
 nois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It is shown how he brought 
 to the knowledge of the world the existence of a ''fresh-water 
 sea " — Lake Michigan — beyond and to the westward of Lake 
 Huron; how he visited a number of Indian nations before 
 unheard of; how he penetrated many leagues beyond the ut- 
 most verge of previous discoveries, with an almost reckless 
 fortitude, to bind distant tribes to French interests ; and how 
 he sought to find an ocean, which, it was believed, was not a 
 great distance westward of the St. Lawrence, and which 
 would prove a near route to China and Japan. 
 
 The principal sources from which I have drawn, in my in- 
 vestigations concerning the life and explorations of Nicolet, 
 are the Jesuit Relations. So nearly contemporaneous are these 
 publications with his discoveries — especially those which con- 
 tain a record of them — and so trustworthy are they in their 
 recital of facts connected therewith, that their value, in this 
 connection, can hardly be over-estimated. Each one of the 
 
 (iii) 
 
 861310 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 series having a particular bearing upon the subject of this 
 narrative has been studied with a care commensurate with its 
 importance. Other accounts of the same period, as well as 
 of a somewhat later date, together with the researches of 
 modern writers, concerning the daring Frenchman, whose name 
 stands first on the list of the explorers of the Northwest, 
 have, likewise, been carefully examined, the object being, if 
 not to exhaust all known sources of information illustrative 
 of these discoveries, at least to profit by them. Aid has been 
 received, in addition, from several living authors, especially 
 from Benjamin Suite, Esq., of Ottawa, Canada, to whom, 
 and to all others who have extended a helping hand, I return 
 my sincere thanks. 
 
 a ^y, b. 
 
 Madison, Wisconsin, 1881. 
 
CO]>TTEISrTS, 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Prehistoric Man in the Northwest — The Red Race — First 
 
 Discoveries in New France, 7 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Events Leading to Western Exploration, 11 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 John Nicolet, the Explorer 26 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Nicolet Discovers the Northwest, 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Subsequent Career and Death of Nicolet, 75 
 
 Appendix, 93 
 
 Index, 107 
 
 (V) 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PRE-HISTORIC MAN IN THE NORTHWEST — THE RED RACE — 
 FIRST DISCOVERIES IN NEW FRANCE. 
 
 Of the existence, in what are now the States of 
 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, at 
 a remote period, of a race superior in intelligence to the 
 red men who inhabited this region when first seen by 
 a European, there are indubitable evidences. Who 
 were these ancient occupiers of the territory just 
 mentioned — of its prairies and woodlands, hills and 
 valleys? There are no traditions of their power, of 
 their labor, or of their wisdom — no record of their 
 having lived, except in rapidly-decaying relics. They 
 left no descendants to recount their daring deeds. 
 All that remain of them — the so-called Mound-Build- 
 ers — are mouldering skeletons. All that are to be 
 seen of their handicraft are perishing earth-works and 
 rude implements. These sum up the " types and 
 shadows" of the pre-historic age. 
 
 There is nothing to connect "the dark backward 
 and abysm " of mound-building times with those of 
 the red race of the Northwest ; and all that is known 
 of the latter dating earlier than their first discovery, 
 is exceedingly dim and shadowy. Upon the extended 
 area bounded by Lake Superior on the north. Lake 
 Michigan on the east, wide-spreading prairies on the 
 south, and the Mississippi river on the west, there met 
 
 (vii) 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and mlDgled two distinct Indian families — -Algonquins 
 and Dakotas. Concerning the various tribes of these 
 families, nothing of importance could be gleaned by 
 the earliest explorers ; at least, very little has been 
 preserved. Tradition, it is true, pointed to the Algon- 
 quins as having, at some remote period, migrated from 
 the east; and this has been confirmed by a study of 
 their language. It indicated, also, that the Dakotas, 
 at a time far beyond the memory of the most aged, 
 came from the west or southwest — fighting their way 
 as they came; that one of their tribes^ once dwelt 
 upon the shores of a sea; but when and for what 
 purpose they left their home none could relate. 
 
 The residue of the ;N"orthwest was the dwelling- 
 place of Algonquins alone. In reality, therefore, 
 " the territory northwest of the river Oliio " has no 
 veritable history ante-dating the period of its first dis- 
 covery by civilized man. Portions of the country had 
 been heard of, it is true, but only through vague re- 
 ports of savages. There were no accounts at all, be- 
 sides these, of the extensive region of the upper lakes 
 or of the valley of the Upper Mississippi ; while noth- 
 ing whatever was known of the Ohio or of parts ad- 
 jacent. 
 
 The first of the discoveries in the ITew World after 
 that of Columbus, in 1492, having an immediate 
 bearing upon this narrative, was that of John Cabot, 
 in 1497. On the third of July, of that year, he saw 
 what is now believed to have been the coast of La- 
 brador. After sailing a short distance south, he prol)- 
 ably discovered the island of !N'evvfoundland. In 1498, 
 
 * Ancestors of the present Winnebagoes. 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 his son, Sebastian, explored the continent from Labra- 
 dor to Virginia, and possibly as far south as Florida. 
 Gaspar Cortereal, in 1500, reached the shore seen by 
 John Cabot, and explored it several hundred miles. 
 He was followed, in 1524, by John Yerrazzano, who 
 discovered the l^orth. American coast in, probably, the 
 latitude of what is now Wilmington, lN"orth Carolina. 
 He continued his exploration to the northward as far 
 as Newfoundland. To the region visited by liim, he 
 gave the name of 'New France. The attention of the 
 reader is now directed to some of the most important 
 events, in the country thus named, which followed, for 
 a period of a hundred and ten years, the voyage of 
 Yerrazzano. 
 
H I S T O R Y 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EVENTS LEADING TO WESTERN EXPLORATION. 
 
 The discovery of the river St. Lawrence, and of the 
 great lakes which pour their superabundant waters 
 through it into the gulf, was not the least in import- 
 ance of the events which signalized the opening of the 
 history of the New World. The credit of having first 
 spread a sail upon the majestic stream of Canada, and 
 of obtaining such information as afterward led to a 
 knowledge of the Avhole of its valley, belongs to James 
 Cartier, a native of St. Malo — a port in the north of 
 France. Cartier was a skillful mariner. On the 
 twentieth of April, 1534, he sailed from his native 
 place, under orders of the French admiral, for the 
 coast of [N'ewfoundland, intent on exploring unknown 
 seas, and countries washed by them. He took with 
 him two ships of fifty tons each, and in twenty days 
 saw the large island lying between the ocean and the 
 river he was soon to discover. Favorable winds had 
 wafted him and his hundred and twenty-two sailors 
 
 (11) 
 
12 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTHAVEST. 
 
 and adventurers to inhospitable shores, but at an 
 ^uspicious seasoii of the year. 
 
 Having sailed nearly around Newfoundland, Cartier 
 tliti^rt^cl to the south, iuid, crossing the gulf, entered a 
 bay, which he nam6d Des Chaleurs, because of the 
 midsummer heats. A little farther north he landed 
 and took possession of the country in the name of the 
 French king. His vessels were now at anchor in the 
 smaller inlet of Gaspe. Sailing still further north. Car- 
 tier, in August, discovered the river St. Lawrence. He 
 moved up its channel until land w^as sighted on either 
 side; then, being unprepared to remain through the 
 winter, he sailed back again to the gulf, crossed the 
 ocean, and moored his vessels in safety in St. Malo. 
 He made the return voyage in less than thirty days. 
 This was, at that period, an astonishing achievement. 
 The success of the expedition tilled the whole of 
 France with w^onder. In less than five months, the 
 Atlantic had been crossed; a large river discovered; 
 a new country added to the dominions of France ; and 
 the ocean recrossed. All this had been accomplished 
 before it was generally known that an expedition had 
 been undertaken. 
 
 The remarkable pleasantness of this summer's voy- 
 age, the narratives of Cartier and his companions, and 
 the importance attached to their discoveries, aroused 
 the enthusiasm of the French ; and, as might be ex- 
 pected, a new expedition was planned. Three well- 
 furnished ships were provided by the king. Even 
 some of the nobility volunteered for the voyage. All 
 were eager to cross the Atlantic. On the nineteenth 
 of May, 1535, the squadron sailed. But Cartier had 
 not, this time, a pleasant summer cruise. Storms 
 
EVENTS LEADING TO WESTERN EXPLORATION. 13 
 
 raged. The sliips separated. For seven weeks they 
 buffeted the troubled ocean. Their rendezvous was 
 the Straits of Belle Isle, which they finally reached ; 
 but the omens were bad. The adventurers had con- 
 fidently looked for pleasant gales and a quick voyage, 
 and these expectations had all been blasted. Now, 
 however, they arrived within sight of Newfoundland, 
 and their spirits rose. Carried to the west of that 
 island, on the day of Saint Lawrence, they gave the 
 name of that martyr to a portion of the gulf which 
 opened before them. The name was afterward given 
 to the whole of that body of water and to the river Car- 
 tier had previously discovered. Sailing to the north 
 of Anticosti, they ascended the St. Lawrence, reach- 
 ing, in September, a fine harbor in an island since 
 called Orleans. 
 
 Leaving his two largest ships in the waters of the 
 river now known as the St. Charles, Cartier, with the 
 smallest and two open boats, ascended the St. Law- 
 rence until a considerable Indian village w^as reached, 
 situated on an island called Ilochelaga. Standing 
 upon the summit of a hill, on this island, and looking 
 away up the river, the commander had fond imagin- 
 ings of future glory awaiting his countrymen in colo- 
 nizing this region. " He called the hill Mont-Real, 
 and time, that has transferred the name of the island, 
 is realizing his visions;" for on that islaiid now stands 
 the city of Montreal. While at Hochelaga, Cartier 
 gathered some indistinct accounts of the surround- 
 ing country, and of the river Ottawa coming down 
 from the hills of the Northwest. Rejoining his ships, 
 he spent the winter in a palisaded fort on the bank of 
 the St. Charles, with his vessels moored before it. 
 
14 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 The cold was intense. Many of his men died of 
 scurvy. Early in the spring, possession was again 
 taken of the country in the name of the French 
 king; and, on the sixteenth of July, 1536, the Bre- 
 ton mariner dropped anchor in St. Malo — he having 
 returned in two ships ; the other was abandoned, and 
 three hundred and twelve years after was discovered 
 imbedded in mud. France was disappointed. Hopes 
 had been raised too high. Expectations had not been 
 realized. Further explorations, therefore, were, for 
 the time, postponed. 
 
 Notwithstanding the failure of Cartier's second 
 voyage, the great valley of the St. Lawrence was not 
 to remain very long unknown to the world, in any of 
 its parts. It w^as thought unworthy a gallant nation 
 to abandon the enterprise; and one more trial at ex- 
 ploration and colonization was determined upon. 
 Again the bold mariner of St. Malo started for the St. 
 Lawrence. This was on the twenty-third of May, 
 1541. He took with him five ships ; but he went, 
 unfortunately, as subordinate, in some respects, to 
 John Francis de la Roque, Lord of Roberval, a noble- 
 man of Picardy, whom the king of France had ap- 
 pointed viceroy of the country now again to be vis- 
 ited. The object of the enterprise was declared to be 
 discovery, settlement, and the conversion of the In- 
 dians. Cartier was the first to sail. Again he en- 
 tered the St. Lawrence. 
 
 After erecting a fort near the site of the present 
 city of Quebec, Cartier ascended the river in two boats 
 to explore the rapids above the island of Hochelaga. 
 He then returned and passed the winter at his fort ; 
 and, in the spring, not having heard from the viceroy, 
 
EVENTS LEADING TO WESTEr.N EXPLORATION. 15 
 
 he set sail for France. In June, 1542, in the harbor 
 of St. John, he met the Lord of Roberval, outward 
 bound, with three ships and two hundred men. The 
 viceroy ordered Cartier to return to the St. Lawrence ; 
 but the mariner of St. Malo escaped in the night, and 
 continued his voyage homeward. Hoberval, although 
 abandoned by his subordinate, once more set sail. 
 After wintering in the St. Lawrence, he, too, aban- 
 doned the country — giving back his immense vice- 
 royalty to the rightful owners. 
 
 In 1578, there were three hundred and fifty fish- 
 ing vessels at Newfoundland belonging to the French, 
 Spanish, Portuguese, and English; besides these were a 
 number — twenty or more — of Biscayan whalers. The 
 Marquis de la Roche, a Catholic nobleman of Brit- 
 tany, encouraged by Henry TV., undertook the colo- 
 nization of ISTew France, in 1598. But the ill-starred 
 attempt resulted only in his leaving forty convicts to 
 their fate on Sable island, off the coast of Nova 
 Scotia. Of their number, twelve only were found 
 alive five years subsequent to La Roche's voyage. In 
 1599, another expedition was resolved on. This was 
 undertaken by Pontgrave, a merchant of St. Malo, and 
 Chauvin, a captain of the marine. In consideration 
 of a monopoly of the fur-trade, granted them by the 
 king of France, these men undertook to establish a 
 colony of five hundred persons in New France. At 
 Tadoussac, at the mouth of the Saguenay, they built 
 a cluster of wooden huts and store-houses, where six- 
 teen men were left to gather furs; these either died 
 or were scattered among the Indians before the return 
 of the spring of 1601. Chauvin made a second voy- 
 age to Tadoussac, but failed to establish a permanent 
 
16 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 settlement. During a third voyage he died, and his 
 enterprise perished with him. 
 
 In 1603, a company of merchants of France was 
 formed, and Samuel Champlain, with a small band 
 of adventurers, dispatched, in two small vessels, to 
 make a preliminary survey of the St. Lawrence. He 
 reached the valley in safety, sailed past the lofty 
 promontory on which Quebec now stands, and pro- 
 ceeded onward to the island of Ilochclaga, where his 
 vessels where anchored. In a skiff, with a few In- 
 dians, Champlain vainly endeavored to pass the rapids 
 of the great river. The baffled explorer returned to 
 his ships. From the savages, he gleaned some in- 
 formation of ulterior regions. The natives drew for 
 him rude plans of the river above, and its lakes and 
 cataracts. His curiosity was inflamed, and he resolved 
 one day to visit the country so full of natural won- 
 ders. Now, however, he was constrained to return 
 to France. He had accomplished the objects of his 
 mission — the making of a brief exploration of the 
 valley of the chief river of Canada. 
 
 It was the opinion of Champlain that on the banks 
 of the St. Lawrence was the true site of a settlement ; 
 that here a fortified post should be erected; that 
 thence, by following up the waters of the interior re- 
 gion to their sources, a Avestern route might be traced 
 to China, the distance being estimated by him at not 
 more than two or three hundred leagues; and that 
 the fur-trade of the whole country might be secured 
 to France by the erection of a fort at some point 
 commanding the river. These views, five years sub- 
 sequent to his visit to the St. Lawrence, induced the 
 fitting out of a second expedition, for trade, explora- 
 
EVENTS LEADING TO WESTERN EXPLORATION. 17 
 
 tion, and colonization. On the thirteenth of April, 
 1608, Chaniplain again sailed — this time with men, 
 arms, and stores for a colony. The fnr-tradc was in- 
 trusted to another. The month of the Saguenay was 
 reached in June ; and, soon after, a settlement was 
 commenced on the brink of the St. Lawrence — the 
 site of the -present market-place of the lower town 
 of Quebec. A rigorous winter and great suffering 
 followed. Supplies arrived in the spring, and Cham- 
 plain determined to enter upon his long-meditated 
 explorations ; — the only obstacles in the way were the 
 savage nations he would every- where meet. He 
 would be compelled to resort to diplomacy — to unite 
 a friendly tribe to his interests, and, thus strength- 
 ened, to conquer, by force of arms, the hostile one. 
 
 The tribes of the Huron s, who dwelt on the lake 
 which now bears their name, and their allies, the Al- 
 gonquins, upon the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence, 
 Champlain learned, were at war with the Iroquois, or 
 Five I^ations, whose homes were within the present 
 State of i^ew York. In June, 1609, he advanced, 
 with sixty Ilurons and Algonquins and two white 
 men, up what is now known as the Richelieu river to 
 the discovery of the first of the great lakes — the one 
 which now bears his name. Upon its placid waters, 
 this courageous band was stopped by a war-party of 
 Iroquois. On shore, the contending forces met, when 
 a few discharges of an arquebuse sent the advancing 
 enemy in wild dismay back into the forest. The vic- 
 tory was complete. Promptly Champlain returned 
 to the St. Lawrence, and his allies to their homes, 
 not, however, until the latter had invited the former 
 2 
 
18 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 to visit tlicir towns and aid tliem again in their wars. 
 Champlain then revisited France, but the year 1610 
 found him once more in the St. Lawrence, with two 
 objects in view : one, to j)i'Oceed northward, to ex- 
 plore Hudson's bay ; the other, to go westward, and 
 examine the great lakes and the mines of copper on 
 their shores, of the existence of which he had just 
 been informed by the savages ; for he was determined 
 he would never cease his explorations until he had 
 penetrated to the western sea, or that of the north, 
 so as to open the way to China. Eut, after fighting 
 a battle with the Iroquois at the mouth of the river 
 Richelieu, he gave up, for the time, all thought of 
 further exploration, and returned to France. 
 
 On the thirteenth of May, 1611, Champlain again 
 arrived in the St. Lawrence. To secure the advan- 
 tages of the fur-trade to his superiors was now his 
 principal object; and, to that end, he chose the site 
 of the present city of Montreal for a post, which he 
 called Place Royale. Soon afterward, he returned to 
 France ; but, early in the spring of 1613, the tireless 
 voyager again crossed the Atlantic, and sailed up the 
 St. Lawrence ; this time bound for the Ottawa to dis- 
 cover the North sea. After making his way up that 
 river to the home of the Algonquins of Isle des 
 Allumettes, he returned in disgust to the St. Lawrence, 
 and again embarked for France. 
 
 At the site of the present city of Montreal, there 
 had assembled, in the summer of 1615, Ilurons from 
 their distant villages upon the shores of their great 
 lake, and Algonquins from their homes on the Ot- 
 tawa — come down to a yearly trade with the French 
 upon the St. Lawrence. Champlain, who had re- 
 
EVENTS LEADING TO WESTERN EXPLORATION. 19 
 
 turned in May from France, was asked by the assem- 
 bled savages to join their bands against*the Iroquois. He 
 consented ; but, while absent at Quebec, making need- 
 ful preparations, the savages became impatient, and 
 departed for their homes. With them went Father 
 Joseph ]e Caron, a Recollet, accompanied by twelve 
 armed Frenchmen. It was the intention of this mis- 
 sionary to learn the language of the Ilurons, and la- 
 bor for their spiritual welfare. His departure from 
 the St. Lawrence was on the first day of July. Wme 
 days afterward, Champlain, with two Frenchmen and 
 ten Indians followed him. Both parties traveled up 
 the Ottawa to the Algonquin villages ; passed the two 
 lakes of the AUumettes ; threaded their way to a 
 well-trodden portage, crossing which brought them 
 to Lake Mpissing ; thence, they floated westward 
 down the current of French river, to what is now 
 known as Georgian bay ; afterward, for more than a 
 hundred miles, they journeyed southward along the 
 eastern shores of that bay to its head ; and there was 
 the home of the Hurons. 
 
 Champlain, with a naked host of allies, was soon 
 on the march against the Iroquois from the Huron 
 villages, moving down the river Trent, as since 
 named, to its mouth, when his eyes were gladdened 
 with the view of another of the fresh water seas — 
 Lake Ontario. Boldly they crossed its broad ex- 
 panse, meeting the enemy at a considerable distance 
 inland from its southern shores. Defensive works of 
 the Iroquois defied the assaults of the beseigers. The 
 Huron warriors returned in disgust to their homes, 
 taking Champlain with them. He was compelled to 
 spend the winter as the guest of these savages, re- 
 
20 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. , 
 
 turning to the St. Lawrence by way of tlie Ottawa, 
 and reaching QViebec on the eleventh of July, 1616. 
 He had seen enough of the region traversed by him to 
 know that there was an immense country lying to the 
 westward ready to be given to his king the moment 
 he should be able to explore and make it known. 
 Father le Caron, who had preceded Champlain on 
 his outward trip to the Huron villages, also preceded 
 him on his return ; but he remained long enough 
 with those Indians to obtain a considerable knowl- 
 edge of their language and of their manners and cus- 
 toms. 
 
 Quebec, at this period, could hardly be called a 
 settlement. It contained a population of fur-traders 
 and friars of fifty or sixty persons. It had a fort, and 
 Champlain was the nominal commander. In the in- 
 terest of the infant colony he went every year to 
 France. His was the duty to regulate the monopoly 
 of the company of merchants in their trade with the 
 Indians. In the summer of 1622, the Iroquois beset 
 the settlement, but made no actual attack. A change 
 was now at hand in the affairs of ISTew France. Two 
 Huguenots, William and Emery de Caen, had taken 
 the place of the old company of St. Malo and Rouen, 
 but were afterward compelled to share their monopoly 
 with them. Fresh troubles were thus introduced 
 into the infant colony, not only in religious affairs, 
 but in secular matters. The Recollets had previously 
 established five missions, extending from Acadia to 
 the borders of Lake Huron. IN'ow, three Jesuits — 
 among their number John de Brebeuf — arrived in the 
 colony, and began their spiritual labors. This was in 
 1625. When the year 1627 was reached, the settle- 
 
EVENTS LEADING TO WESTERN EXPLORATION. 21 
 
 ment at Quebec had a population of about one hun- 
 dred persons — men, women, and children. The chief 
 trading stations upon the St. Lawrence were Quebec, 
 Three Elvers, the Eapids of St. Louis, and Tadoussac. 
 Turning our eyes to the western wilds, we see that 
 the Hurons, after the return of Le Caron, were not 
 again visited by missionaries until 1622. 
 
 In the year 1G27, the destinies of France were held 
 by Cardinal Richelieu as in the hollow of his hand. 
 He had constituted himself grand master and super- 
 intendent of navigation and commerce. By him the 
 privileges of the Caens were annulled, and a com- 
 pany formed, consisting of a hundred associates, 
 called the Company of ]^ew France. At its head 
 was Richelieu himself. Louis the Thirteenth made 
 over to tliis company forever the fort and settlement 
 at Quebec, and all the territory of ISTew France, in- 
 cluding Florida. To them was given power to ap- 
 point judges, build fortresses, cast cannon, confer 
 titles, and concede lands. They were to govern in 
 peace and in war. Their monopoly of the fur-trade 
 was made perpetual ; while that of all other com- 
 merce within the limits of their government was 
 limited to fifteen years, except that the whale- 
 fishery and the cod-fishery were to remain open to 
 all. They could take whatever steps they might 
 think expedient or proper for the protection of the 
 colony and the fostering of trade. It will thus be 
 seen that the Hundred Associates had conferred upon 
 them almost sovereign power. For fifteen years 
 their commerce was not to be troubled with duties or 
 •imposts. Partners, whether nobles, ofiicers, or ec- 
 clesiastics, might engage in commercial pursuits 
 
22 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 witliout derogating from the privileges of their or- 
 der. To all these benefits the king added a donation 
 of two ships of war. Of this powerful association, 
 Champlain was one of the members. 
 
 In return for these privileges conferred, behold 
 how little these hundred partners were compelled to 
 perform. They engaged to convoy to Xcav France, 
 during 1628, two or three hundred men of all trades, 
 and before the year 1643 to increase the number to 
 four thousand persons of both sexes ; to supply all 
 their settlers with lodging, food, clothing, and farm 
 implements, for three years ; then they would allow 
 them sufficient land to support themselves, cleared to 
 a certain extent ; and would also furnish them the 
 grain necessary for sowing it ; stipulating, abo, that 
 the emigrants should be native Frenchmen and Ro- 
 man Catholics, and none others ; and, finally, agree- 
 ing to settle three priests in each settlement, whom 
 they were bound to provide with every article neces- 
 sary for their personal comfort, and to defray the ex- 
 penses of their ministerial labors for fifteen years. 
 After the expiration of that time, cleared lands were 
 to be granted by the company to the clergy for main- 
 taining the Roman Catholic Church in "New France. 
 It was thus that the Hundred Associates became pro- 
 prietors of the whole country claimed by France, 
 from Florida to the Arctic Circle; from Newfound- 
 land to the sources of the St. Lawrence and its trib- 
 utaries. Meanwhile, the fur-trade had brought a 
 considerable knowledge of the Ottawa, and of the 
 country of the Ilurons, to the French upon the St. 
 Lawrence, through the yearly visits of the savages 
 
EVENTS LEADING TO WESTERN EXPLORATION. 23 
 
 from those distant parts and the journeyings of the 
 fur-trader in quest of peltry. 
 
 In April, 1628, the first vessels of the Hundred As- 
 sociates sailed from France with coloilists and supplies 
 hound for the St. Lawrence. Four of these vessels 
 were armed. Every thing seemed propitious for a 
 speedy arrival at Quehec, where the inhabitants were 
 sorely pressed for food ; but a storm, which had for 
 some time been brewing in Europe, broke in fury 
 upon 'New France. The imprudent zeal of the Cath- 
 olics in England, and the persecution of the Hugue- 
 nots in France, aroused the English, who determined 
 to conquer the French possessions in I^orth America, 
 if possible ; and, to that end, they sent out David 
 Kirk, with an armed squadron, to attack the settle- 
 ments in Canada. The fleet reached the harbor of 
 Tadoussac before the arrival of the vessels of the 
 Company of New France. Kirk sent a demand for 
 the surrender of Quebec, but Champlain determined 
 to defend the place ; at least, he resolved to make a 
 show of defense ; and the English commander thought 
 best not to attack such a formidable looking position. 
 All the supplies sent by the Hundred Associates to the 
 St. Lawrence were captured or sunk ; and the next 
 year, after most of its inhabitants had dispersed in 
 the forests for food, Quebec surrendered. England 
 thus gained her first supremacy upon the great river 
 of Canada. 
 
 The terms of the capitulation were that the French 
 were to be conveyed to their own country ; and each 
 soldier was allowed to take with him furs to the 
 value of twenty crowns. As some had lately returned 
 from the Hurons with peltry of no small value, their 
 
24 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 loss was considerable. The French prisoners, includ- 
 ing Champlain, were conveyed across the ocean by 
 Kirk, but their arrival in England was after a treaty 
 of peace had been signed between the two powers. 
 The result was, the restoration of 'New France to the 
 French crown ; and, on the 5th of July, 1632, £mery 
 de Caen cast anchor at Quebec to reclaim the coun- 
 try. He had received a commission to hold, for one 
 year, a monopoly of the fur-trade, as an indemnity 
 for his losses in the w^ar ; after which time he was to 
 give place to the Hundred Associates. The missions 
 in Canada which by the success of the British arms 
 had been interrupted, were now to be continued by 
 Jusuits alone. De Caen brought with him two of 
 that order — Paul le Jeune and Anne de la IToue. 
 
 On the twenty- third of May, 1633, Champlain, com- 
 missioned anew by Richelieu, resumed command at 
 Quebec, in behalf of the Hundred Partners, arriving 
 out with considerable supplies and several new set- 
 tlers. With him returned the Jesuit father, John de 
 Brebeuf. The Recollets had been virtually ejected 
 from Canada. The whole missionary field was now 
 ready for cultivation by the followers of Loyola. New 
 France was restored to Champlain and his company, 
 and to Catholicism. 
 
 Champlain's first care was to place the affairs of the 
 colony in a more prosperous condition, and establish 
 a better understanding with the Indians. In both re- 
 spects, he was tolerably successful. His knowledge of 
 the western country had been derived from his own 
 observations during the tours of 1613 and 1615, but 
 especially from accounts given him by the Indians. 
 At the beginning of 1634, the whole French popula- 
 
EVENTS LEADING TO WESTERN EXPLORATION. 25 
 
 tion, from Gaspe to Three Rivers, was hardly one hun- 
 dred and fifty souls, mostly engaged in the trading 
 business, on behalf of the Hundred Partners, whose 
 operations were carried on principally at the point 
 last named and at Tadoussac — sometimes as far up 
 the St. Lawrence as the site of the present city of 
 Montreal, but not often. Of the small colony upon 
 the great river of Canada, Champlain was the heart 
 and soul. The interior of the continent was yet to 
 be explored. He was resolved to know more of ul- 
 terior regions — to create more friends among the sav- 
 ages therein. The time had arrived for such enter- 
 prises, and a trusty condy.ctor was at hand. 
 3 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 JOHN NICOLET, THE EXPLORER. 
 
 As early as the year 1615, Champlain had selected 
 a number of young men and put them in care of some 
 of his Indian friends, to have them trained to the life 
 of the woods — to the language, manners, customs, 
 and habits of the savages. 'His object was to open, 
 through them, as advisers and interpreters, friendly 
 relations, when the proper time should come, with 
 the Indian nations not yet brought in close alliance 
 with the French. In 1618, an opportunity presented 
 itself for him to add another young Frenchman to 
 the list of those who had been sent to be trained in all 
 the mysteries of savage life ; for, in that year, John 
 Nicolet ^ arrived from France, and was dispatched to 
 the woods.^ The new-comer was born in Cherbourg, 
 
 * The proper spelling is " Nicolet," not " Nicollet," nor "Nicol- 
 lett." The correct pronunciation is " Nick-o-lay.' The people 
 of the province of Quebec all pronounce the name *' ^icoUetie;' 
 though improperly, the same as. the word would be pronounced 
 by English-speaking people if it were spelled " Nick-o-let." But 
 it is now invariably written by them " Nicolet." 
 
 2 Vimont, Relation, 1643 (Quebec edition, 1858), p. 3. The Jesu- 
 its, intent upon pushing their fields of labor far into the heart of 
 the continent, let slip no opportunity after their arrival upon the 
 St, Lawrence to inform themselves concerning ulterior regions; 
 and the information thus obtained was noted down by them. 
 (26) 
 
THE EXPLORER. 27 
 
 in l^ormandy. His father, Thomas ^icolet, was a 
 mail-carrier from that city to Paris. His mother's 
 name was Marguerite de la Mer.^ 
 
 Nicolet was a young man of good character, en- 
 dowed with a profound religious feeling, and an ex- 
 
 They minutely described, during a period of forty years, begin- 
 ning with the year 1632, the various tribes 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. De- 
 tails concerning the geography of the country were also written 
 out. The intelligence thus collected was sent every summer by 
 the superiors to the provincials at Paris, where it was yearly 
 published, in the French language. Taken together, these pub- 
 lications constitute what are known as the Jesuit Relations. They 
 have been collected and republished in the same language, at 
 Quebec, by the Canadian government, in three large volumes. 
 As these are more accessible to the general reader in this form 
 than in the original (Cramoisy) editions, they are cited in this 
 narrative. 
 
 There is no complete translation of the Relations into the En- 
 glish language. Numerous extracts from the originals bearing 
 particularly upon the West — especially upon what is now Wiscon- 
 sin — were made some years since by Cyrus Woodman, of Mineral 
 Point, translations of which are to be found in Smith's history 
 of that State, Vol. III., pp. 10-112. But none of these are from 
 the Relation of 1643 — the most important one in its reference to 
 Nicolet and his visit to the Northwest. 
 
 ^ "Jean Nicollet ne a Cherbourg, etait tils de Thomas Nicollet, 
 messager ordinaire de Cherbourg a Paris, et de Marie La Mer." 
 — Ferland's Cours d! Histoire du Canada (1861), Vol. I., p. 324, 
 note. But, in his " Notes sur les Registres de Notre-Dame de 
 Quebec" (Quebec, 1863, p. 30), he corrects the mother's name, 
 giving it as in the text above. That this was her real name is 
 ascertained from the Quebec parochial register, and from Guitet's 
 records (notary) of that city. 
 
28 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 cellent memory. He awakened in the breast of 
 Champlain high hopes of usefuhiess, and was by him 
 sent to the Algonquins of Isle des Allumettes, in the Ot- 
 tawa river. These Indians were the same Algonquins 
 that were visited by Champlain in 1613. They are 
 frequently spoken of, in early annals of Canada, as 
 Algonquins of the Isle. But all Algonquins, wher- 
 ever found, were afterward designated as Ottawas by 
 the French. To " the :N"ation of the Isle," then, was 
 sent the young I^Torman, that he might learn their 
 language, which was in general use upon the Ottawa 
 river and upon the north bank of the St. Lawrence. 
 "With them he remained two years, following them in 
 their wanderings, partaking of their dangers, their 
 fatigues, and their privations, with a courage and 
 fortitude equal to the boldest and the bravest of the 
 tribe. During all this time, he saw not the face of a 
 single white man. On several different occasions he 
 passed a number of days without a morsel of food, 
 and he was sometimes fain to satisfy the cravings of 
 hunger by eating bark.^ 
 
 ^ " II [Nicolet] arriua en la Nouuelle France, Tan mil six cents 
 dixhuict. Son humeur et sa memoire excellente firent esperer 
 quelque chose debondeluy; ou I'enuoya hiuerner auec les Al- 
 gonquins de risle afin d'appiendre leur langue. II y demeura 
 deux ans seul de Fran9ois, accompagnant tousiours les Barbares 
 dans leurs courses et voyages, auec des fatigues qui ne sont im- 
 aginables qu'a ceux qui les ont veiies ; il passa plusieurs fois los 
 sept et huict iours sans rien manger, il fut sept semaines entieres 
 sans autre nourriture qu'vn peu d'escorce de bois." — Vimont de- 
 lation, 1643, p. 3. (The antiquated orthography and accentuation 
 of the Hdations are strictly followed in the foregoing extract ; 
 
JOHN NICOLET, THE EXPLORER. 29 
 
 Nicolet, while residing witli the Algonquins of Isle 
 des Allumettee, with whose language he had now be- 
 come familiar, accompanied four hundred of those 
 savages upon a mission of peace to the Iroquois. The 
 voyage proved a successful one, Xicolet returning in 
 safety. Afterward, he took up his residence among 
 the I^ipissings, with whom he remained eight or nine 
 years. He was recognized as one of the nation. He 
 entered into the very frequent councils of those sav- 
 ages. He had his own cabin and establishment, do- 
 ing his own fishing and trading. He had become, 
 indeed, a naturalized ^ipissing.^ The mental activity 
 
 so, also, in all those hereafter made from them in this nar- 
 rative. ) 
 
 "On his [Nicolet's] first arrival [in New France], by orders of 
 those who presided over the French colony of Quebec, he spent 
 two whole years among the Algonquins of the island, for the 
 purpose of learning their language, without any Frenchman as 
 companion, and in the midst of those hardships, which may 
 be readily conceived, if we will reflect what it must be to pass 
 severe winters in the woods, under a covering of cedar or birch 
 bark ; to have one's means of subsistence dependent upon hunt- 
 ing; to be perpetually hearing rude outcries; to be deprived 
 of the pleasant society of one's own people; and to be con- 
 stantly exposed, not only to derision and insulting words, but 
 even to daily peril of life. There was a time, indeed, when he 
 went without food for a whole week; and (what is really won- 
 derful) he even spent seven weeks without having any thing to 
 eat but a little bark." — Du Creux, IHstoria Canadensis, Paris, 
 1664, p. 359. " Probably," says Margry, " he must, from time to 
 time, have added some of the lichen which the Canadians call 
 rock tripe." — Journal General de I' Instruction Publique. Paris, 
 1862. 
 
 ^ " II \NicoIet'] accompagna quatre cents Algonquins, qui alloient 
 en ce temps la faire la paix auec les Hiroquois, et en vint a bout 
 
30 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 displayed by him while sojourning among these savages 
 may be judged of from the circumstance of his having 
 taken notes descriptive of the habits, manners, customs, 
 and numbers of the Nipissing Indians, written in the 
 form of memoirs, which were afterward presented by 
 him to one of the missionaries, who, doubtless, made 
 good use of them in after-time in giving an account 
 of the nation.^ 
 
 Nicolet finally left the savages, and returned to 
 civilization, being recalled by the government and 
 employed as commissary and Indian interpreter.^ It is 
 probable, however, that he had signified his desire to 
 leave the ^ipissings, as he could not live without the 
 sacraments,^ which were denied him so long as he re- 
 mained with them, there being no mission established 
 in their country.* 
 
 heureusement. Pleust a Dieu quelle n'eust iamais este rompue, 
 nous ne souffririons pas a present les calamitez qui nous font 
 gemir ot donneront vn estrange empeschement a la conuersion 
 de ces peuples. Apes cette paix faite, il alia demeurer liuict ou 
 neuf ans auec la nation des Nipissiriniens, Algonquins; la il pas- 
 soit pour vn de cette nation, entrant dans les conseils forts 
 frequents a ces peuples, ayant sa cabana et son mesnage a 
 part, faisant sa perche et sa traitte." — Vimont, Relation, 1G43, 
 P-3. 
 
 * " lay quelques niemoires de sa main, qui pourront paroistre 
 vn iour, touchant les Nipisiriniens, auec lesquels il a souuent 
 hyuerne." — Le Jeune, Relation, 1036, p. 58. 
 
 2 " 11 \_Nicolet'\ fut enfin rappalle et estably Commis et Inter- 
 prete."— Vimont, Relation, 1643, p. 3. 
 
 ' " II \_NicQlet'\ . . . ne s'en est retire, que pour mettre son 
 salut en asseurance dans I'vsage des Sacremens, faute desquels il 
 y a grande risque pour Tame, parmy les Sauuages." — Le Jeune, 
 Relation, 1636, pp. 57, 58. 
 
 *It would be quite impossible to reconcile the Relation of 1643 
 
31 
 
 Quebec having been reoccupied by the French, 
 l^icolet took up his residence there. He was in high 
 favor with Champlain, who could not but admire his 
 remarkable adaptation to savage Hfe — the result of 
 his courage and peculiar temperament; at least, this 
 admiration may be presumed, from the circumstance 
 of his having, as the sequel shows, soon after sent 
 him upon an important mission. 
 
 Whether ITicolet visited Quebec during his long 
 residence among the N^ipissing Indians is not known. 
 Possibly he returned to the St. Lawrence in 1628, to 
 receive orders from Champlain on account of the 
 new state of things inaugurated by the creation of 
 the system of 1627 — the Hundred Associates ; but, 
 in that event, he must have soon returned, for it is 
 known that he remained with the j^ipissings during 
 the occupation of Quebec by the English — from July, 
 1629, to July, 1632. The month during which, in the 
 early days of ^ew France, the trade of the Ottawa 
 was performed on the St. Lawrence, was July ; and, 
 in 1632, this trade was largely carried on where the 
 city of Three Rivers now stands, but which was not 
 then founded.^ The flotilla of bark canoes used to 
 
 (p. 3) with that of 1G36 (pp. 57, 58), respecting Nicolet's retiring 
 from his Indian life, unless he, for tlie motive stated, asked for 
 his recall and was recalled accordingly. 
 
 ^ Champlain's map of 1632 shows no habitation on the St. Law- 
 rence above Quebec. In 1633, Three Rivers was virtually 
 founded ; but the fort erected there by Champlain was not be- 
 gun until 1634. — Suite's Chronique Trifluvienne, p. 5. 
 
 "As for the towns in Canada, there are but three of any con- 
 siderable figure. These are Quebec, Montreal, and Ti'ois Rivieres 
 [Three Rivers]. . . . Trois Rivieres is a town so named from 
 
32 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 spend usually from eight to ten days in that place — 
 seldom reaching Quebec. In the month and the 
 year just mentioned, De Caen arrived in Canada; 
 and he was, therefore, in the position to send word, 
 by the assembled Indians, to the French who were 
 living among the savages upon the Ottawa and the 
 Georgian bay of Lake Huron, requesting their return 
 to the St. Lawrence. 
 
 Champlain, in June, 1633, caused a small fort to be 
 erected about forty miles above Quebec, for the 
 rendezvous of the trading flotilla descending the St. 
 Lawrence — to draw the market nearer Quebec. It 
 was thus the St. Croix fort was established where the 
 trade with the Indians would be much less likely to 
 
 its situation at the confluence of three rivers, one whereof is 
 that of St. Lawrence, and lies almost in the midway between 
 Quebec and Montreal, It is said to be a well built town, and con- 
 siderable mart, where the Indians exchange their skins and furs 
 for European goods." — An Account of the French Settlements in 
 North America, Boston^ 1746, pp. 12, 14. 
 
 " Three Rivers, or Trois Kivieres, is a town of Canada East, at 
 the confluence of the rivers St. Maurice and St. Lawrence, ninety- 
 miles from Quebec, with which it is connected by electric tele- 
 graph, and on the line of the proposed railway thence to Mon- 
 treal. It is one of the oldest towns in Canada, and was long 
 stationary as regarded enterprise or improvement; but recently 
 it has become one of the most prosperous places in the province 
 — a change produced principally by the commencement of an 
 extensive trade in lumber on the river St. Maurice and its tribu- 
 taries, which had heretofore been neglected, and also by in- 
 creased energy in the manufacture of iron-ware, for which the 
 St. Maurice forges, about three miles distant from the town, 
 have always been celebrated in Canada. Three Rivers is the res- 
 idence of a Roman Catholic bishop, whose diocese bears the 
 same name; and contains a Roman Catholic cathedral, a church 
 
JOHN NICOLET, THE EXPLOREE. 33 
 
 be interrupted by incursions of the Iroquois than at 
 Three Rivers. At this time, one hundred and fifty 
 Huron canoes arrived at the newly-chosen position, 
 for traffic with the French. Possibly so great a num- 
 ber was the result of the change in the government 
 of the colony — the return of the French to Quebec the 
 preceding year. With this large fleet of canoes 
 ^icolet probably returned to civilization ; for it is 
 certain that he was upon the St. Lawrence as early as 
 June, 1634, ready to embark in an undertaking which, 
 of necessity, would have caused so much consultation 
 and preparation as to preclude the idea of his arrival, 
 just then, from the Ottawa. An Indian interpreter 
 — one well acquainted with the Algonquins of the 
 Ottawa, and to a certain extent with the Ilurons of 
 Georgian bay — who could Champlain more safely de- 
 pend upon than Nicolet to develop his schemes of 
 exploration in the unknown western country, the 
 door of which he had himself opened in previous 
 years ? Who Avas there better qualified than his 
 young 'proUge, familiar as he was with the Algonquin 
 and Huron-Iroquois tongues, to hold " talks " with 
 savage tribes still further west, and smoke with them 
 the pipe of peace — to the end that a nearer route to 
 
 of England, a Scotch kirk, and a AYesleyan chapel, an Ursuline 
 convent, with a school attached, where over two hundred young 
 females are educated ; two public and several private schools, 
 a mechanics' institute, a Canadian institute, and a Young Men's 
 Improvement, and several other societies. It sends a member 
 to the provincial parliament. Population in 1852, was 4,966; in 
 1861, 6,038. The district of Three Rivers embraces both sides 
 of the St. Lawrence, and is subdivided into four counties." — 
 Lippincoit's Gazetteer, Philadelphia, 1874. 
 
34 . DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 China and Japan might be discovered ; or, at least, 
 that the fur-trade might be made more profitable to 
 the Hundred Associates? Surely, no one. Hence it 
 was that Nicolet was recalled by the governor of 
 Canada. 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 Kotwitlistanding Champlain liad previously as- 
 cended the Ottawa and stood upon the shores of the 
 Georgian hay of Lake Huron, and although he had 
 received from western Indians numerous reports of 
 distant regions, his knoAvledge of the great lakes 
 was, in 1634, exceedingly limited. He had heard of 
 Magara, but was of the opinion that it was only a 
 rapid, such as the St. Louis, in the river St. Lawrence. 
 He was wholly uninformed concerning Lake Erie, 
 Lake St. Clair, and Lake Michigan ; while, of Lake 
 Huron, he knew little, and of Lake Superior still 
 less. He was assured that there was a connection be- 
 tween the last-named lake and the St. Lawrence ; 
 but his supposition was, that a river flowed from 
 Lake Huron directly into Lake Ontario. Such, cer- 
 tainly was the extent of his information in 1632, as 
 proven by his map of that date ;^ and that, for the 
 
 ^ This map was the first attempt at delineating the great 
 lakes. The original was, beyond a reasonable doubt, the 
 work of Champlain himself. So much of New France as 
 had been visited by the delineator is given with some 
 degree of accuracy. On the whole, the map has a grotesque 
 appearance, yet it possesses much value. It shows where many 
 savage nations were located at its date. By it, several important 
 historical problems concerning the Northwest are solved. It 
 
 (35) 
 
36 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 next two years, he could have received much addi- 
 tional information concerning the great lakes is not 
 prohahle. 
 
 He had early been told that near the borders of 
 one of these " fresh-water seas," were copper mines; 
 for, ill June, 1610, while moving up the St. Lawrence 
 to join a war-party of Algonquins, Ilurons, and 
 Montagnais, he met, after ascending the river about 
 twenty-five miles above Quebec, a canoe containing 
 two Indians — an Algonquin and a Montagnais — who 
 had been dispatched to urge him to hasten forward 
 with all possible speed. He entertained them on his 
 bark, and conferred with them about many mat- 
 ters concerning their wars. Thereupon, the Algon- 
 quin savage drew from a sack a piece of copper, a 
 foot long, which he gave Champlain. It was very 
 handsome and quite pure. He said there were large 
 quantities of the metal where he obtained the piece, 
 and that it was found on the bank of a river near a 
 great lake. He also declared that the Indians gath- 
 ered it in lumps, and, having melted it, spread it in 
 sheets, smoothing it with stones.^ 
 
 Champlain had, also, early information that there 
 
 was first published, along with Champlain's " Voyages de la Nov- 
 velle France," in Paris. Facsimiles have been published ; one 
 accompanies volume third of E. B. O'Callaghans " Documentary 
 History of the State of New York," Albany, 1850; another is 
 found in a reprint of Champlain's works by Laverdiere (Vol. 
 VI.), Quebec, 1870; another is by Tross, Paris. 
 
 ^Champlain's Voyages, Paris, 1613. pp. 246, 217. Upon his map 
 of 1632, Champlain marks an island " where there is a copper 
 mine." Instead of being placed in Lake Superior, as it doubt- 
 less should have been, it linds a location in Green bay. 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 37 
 
 dwelt in those far-off countries a nation which once 
 lived upon the borders of a distant sea. These peo- 
 ple were called, for that reason, " Men of the Sea," 
 by the Algonquins. Their homes were less than four 
 hundred leagues away. It was likewise reported 
 that another people, without hair or beards, whose 
 costumes and manners somewhat resembled the Tar- 
 tars, came from the west to trade with this '' sea- 
 tribe." These more remote traders, as was claimed, 
 made their journeys upon a great water in large 
 canoes. The missionaries among the Hurons, as well 
 as Champlain and the best informed of the French 
 settlers upon the St. Lawrence, thought this " great 
 water " must be a western sea leading to Asia.^ Some 
 of the Indians who traded with the French were in 
 the habit of going occasionally to barter with those 
 '^ People of the Sea," distant from their homes five 
 or six weeks' journey. A lively imagination on part 
 of the French easily converted these hairless traders 
 coming from the west into Chinese or Japanese ; al- 
 though, in fact, they were none other than the pro- 
 genitors of the savages now known as the Sioux,^ 
 
 ^ This " great water " was, as will hereafter be shown, the Mis- 
 sissippi and its tributary, the Wisconsin. 
 
 ^Synonyms: Cioux, Scions, Sioust, Naduessue, Nadouesiouack, 
 Nadouesiouek, Nadoussi, Nadouessioux, etc. 
 
 " The Sioux, or Dakotah [Dakota], . . . were [when first 
 visited by civilized men] a numerous people, separated into three 
 great divisions, which were again subdivided into bands. . . , 
 [One of these divisions — the most easterly — was the Issanti.] The 
 other great divisions, the Yanktons and the Tintonwans, or Te- 
 tons, lived west of the Mississippi, extending beyond the Missouri, 
 and ranging as far as the Rocky Mountains. The Issanti cultivated 
 
38 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 while the " sea-trihe " was the nation called, subse- 
 quently, Winneb'agoes.^ Upon these reports, the 
 
 the soil; but the extreme western bands lived upon the buffalo 
 alone. . . . 
 
 " The name Sioux is an abbreviation of Kadoucssioux, an Ojibwa 
 [Chippewa] word, meaning enemies. The Ojibvvas used it to des- 
 ignate this people, and occasionally, also, the Iroquois — being at 
 deadly war with both." — Parkman's " La Salle and the Discovery 
 of the Great West" (revised ed.), p. 242, note. 
 
 ^ From the Algonquin word " ouinipeg," signifying " bad 
 smelling water," as salt-water was by them designated. When, 
 therefore, the Algonquins spoke of this tribe as the " Ouinipi- 
 gou," they simply meant " Men of the Salt-water;" that is, " Men 
 of the Sea." But the French gave a different signification to 
 the word, calling the nation "Men of the Stinking-water;" or, 
 rather, "the Nation of Stinkards" — "la Nation des Puans." 
 And they are so designated by Champlain in his " Voyages," in 
 1G32, and on his map of that year. By Friar Gabriel Sagard 
 (" Histoire du Canada,'' Paris, 1636 p. 201), they are also noted 
 as " des Puants." Sagards information of the Winnebagoes, al- 
 though printed after Nicolet's visit to that tribe, was obtained 
 previous to that event. The home of this nation was around 
 the head of Green bay, in what is now the State of Wisconsin. 
 Says Vimont {Relation, 1G40, p. 35), as to the signification of the 
 word " ouinipeg :" 
 
 "Quelques Fran9ois les appellant la Nation des Puans, a cause 
 que le mot Algonquin ouinipeg signifie eau puante; or ils nom- 
 ment ainsi I'eau de la mer salee, si bien que ces peuples se nom- 
 ment Ouinipigou, pource qu'ils viennent des bords d'vne mer 
 dont nous n'auons point de cognoissance, et par consequent il ne 
 faut pas les appeller la nation des Puans, mais la nation de la 
 mer." The same is reiterated in the Relations of 1048 and 1G54. 
 Consult, in this connection, Smith's " History of Wisconsin,'' 
 Vol. III., pp. ]1, 15, 17. To John Gilmary Shea belongs the 
 credit of first identifying the " Ouinipigou," or " Gens de Mer," 
 of Vimont (Relation, 1 040), with the Winnebagoes. See his " Dis- 
 covery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley, .1853, pp. 
 20, 21. 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 39 
 
 missionaries had already built fond expectations of 
 one day reaching China by the ocean which washed 
 alike the shores of Asia and Anrierica. And, as al- 
 ready noticed, Champlain, too, was not less sanguine 
 in his hopes of accomplishing a similar journey. 
 
 Mcolet, while living with the Nipissings, must 
 have heard many stories of the strange people so 
 much resembling the Chinese, and doubtless his curi- 
 osity was not less excited than was Champlain's. But 
 the great question was, who should penetrate the 
 wilderness to the " People of the Sea" — to " La Na- 
 tion des Puants," as they were called by Champlain ? 
 Naturally enough, the e3^es of the governor of Can- 
 ada were fixed upon E'icolet as the man to make the 
 trial. The latter had returned Uo Quebec, it will 
 be remembered, and was acting as commissary and 
 interpreter for the Hundred Associates. That he 
 was paid by them and received his orders from them 
 through Champlain, their representative, is reason- 
 ably certain. So he was chosen to make a journey 
 to the Winnebagoes, for the purpose, principally, of 
 solving the problem of a near route to China.^ 
 
 If he should fail in discovering a new highway to 
 the east in reaching these " People of the Sea," it 
 would, in any event, be an important step toward the 
 exploration of the then unknown west; and why 
 should not the explorer, in visiting the various na- 
 tions living upon the eastern and northern shores of 
 
 ^ It is nowhere stated in the Ilelations that such was the ob- 
 ject of Champlain in dispatching Nicolet to these people; never- 
 theless, that it was the chief purpose had in view by him, is 
 fairly deducible from what is known of his purposes at that date. 
 He had, also, other designs to be accomplished. 
 
40 DISCOVERY OF THE KORTHWEST. 
 
 Lake Huron, and beyond this inland sea, create 
 friends among the savage tribes, in hopes that a reg- 
 ular trade in peltries might be established with them. 
 To this end, he must meet them in a friendly way ; 
 have talks with them; and firmly unite them, if 
 possible, to French interests. Champlain knew, from 
 personal observation made while traveling upon the 
 Ottawa and the shores of the Georgian bay of Lake 
 Huron — from the reports of savages who came from 
 their homes still further westward, and from what 
 fur-traders, missionaries, and the young men sent by 
 him among the savages to learn their languages (of 
 whom Mcolet himself w^as a notable example) had 
 heard that there were comparatively easy facilities of 
 communication by water between the upper country 
 and the St. Lawrence. He knew, also, that the 
 proper time had come to send a trusty ambassador to 
 these far-off nations ; so, by the end of June, 1634, 
 l^icolet, at Quebec, was ready to begin his eventful 
 journey, at the command of ChamjDlain. 
 
 " Opposite Quebec lies the tongue of land called 
 Point Levi. One who, in the summer of the year 
 1634, stood on its margin and looked northward, across 
 the St. Lawrence, would have seen, at the distance of 
 a mile or more, a range of lofty cliffs, rising on the 
 left into the bold heights of Cape Diamond, and on 
 the right sinking abruptly to the bed of the tributary 
 river St. Charles. Beneath these cliffs, at the brink 
 of the St. Lawrence, he would have descried a clus- 
 ter of warehouses, sheds, and wooden tenements. 
 Immediately above, along the verge of the precipice, 
 he could have traced the outlines of a fortified work, 
 with a flag-staff' and a few small cannon to command 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 41 
 
 the river ; while, at the only point where nature had 
 made the heights accessible, a zigzag path connected 
 the warehouses and the fort. 
 
 '' l^ow, embarked in the canoe of some Montagnais 
 Indian, let him cross the St. Lawrence, land at the 
 pier, and, passing the cluster of buildings, climb the 
 pathway up the cliff. Pausing for a rest and breath, 
 he might see, ascending and descending, the tenants 
 of this out-post of the wilderness : a soldier of the 
 fort, or an officer in slouched hat and plume; a factor 
 of the fur company, owner and sovereign lord of all 
 Canada ; a party of Indians ; a trader from the upper 
 country, one of the precursors of that hardy race 
 of coureitrs de bois, destined to form a conspicuous 
 and striking feature of the Canadian population : 
 next, perhaps, would appear a figure widely different. 
 The close, black cassock, the rosary hanging from 
 the waist, and the wide, black hat, looped up at the 
 sides, proclaimed the Jesuit."^ 
 
 There were in Canada, at this date, six of these 
 Jesuits — Le Jeune, Masse, De i^oue, Daniel, Davost, 
 and Brebeuf ; to the last three had been assigned the 
 Huron mission. On the first day of July, 1634, Dan- 
 iel and Brebeuf left Quebec for Three Rivers, where 
 they were to meet some Hurons. Davost followed three 
 days after. About the same time another expedition 
 started up the St. Lawrence, destined for the same 
 place, to erect a fort. The Jesuits were bound for 
 the scene of their future labors in the Huron country. 
 They were to be accompanied, at least as far as Isle 
 
 ^ Parkman's " Jesuits in North America," pp. 1, 2. 
 4 
 
42 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 des Allumettes, by Mcolet on his way to the "VYinne- 
 bagoes.^ 
 
 At Three Rivers, Nicolet assisted in a manner in 
 the permanent foundation of the place, by helping to 
 plant some of the pickets of the fort just commenced. 
 The Hurons, assembled there for the purposes of 
 trade, were ready to return to their homes, and with 
 them the missionaries, as well as Mcolet, expected to 
 journey up the Ottawa. The savages were few in 
 number, and much difficulty was experienced in get- 
 ting permits from them to carry so many white men, 
 as other Frenchmen were also of the company. It 
 was past the middle of July before all were on their 
 way. 
 
 That Mcolet did not visit the Winnebagoes pre- 
 vious to 1634, is reasonably certain. Champlain 
 would not, in 1632, have located upon his map Green 
 bay north of Lake Superior, as was done by him in 
 that year, had Nicolet been there before that date. 
 
 *This is assumed, although in no account that has been discov- 
 ered is it expressly asserted that he visited the tribe just men- 
 tioned during this year. In no record, contemporaneous or later, 
 is the dateofhisjourney thither given, except approximately. The 
 fact of Nicolet's having made the journey to the Winnebagoes 
 is first noticed by Vimont, in the Relation of 1640, p. 35. lie 
 says: " le visiteray tout maintenant le coste du Sud, ie diray on 
 passant que le sieur Nicolet, interprete en langue Algonquine 
 et Huronne pour Messieurs de la nouuelle France, m'a donne les 
 noras de ces nations qu'il a visitees luy mesme pour la pluspart 
 dans leur pays, tons ces peuples entendent I'Algonquin, excepte 
 les Hurons, qui out vne langue a part, comme aussi les Ouini- 
 pigou \_Winnehagoes] ou gens de mer." The year of Nicolet's 
 visit, it will be noticed, is thus left undetermined. The extract 
 only shows that it must have been made " in or before " 1639. 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 43 
 
 As he was sent by Champlain, the latter must have 
 had knowledge of his going ; so that had he started 
 in 1632, or the previous year, the governor would, 
 doubtless, have awaited his return before noting 
 down, from Indian reports only, the location of rivers 
 and lakes and the homes of savage nations in those 
 distant regions. 
 
 It has already been shown, that ^N^icolet probably 
 returned to Quebec in 1633, relinquishing his home 
 among the Mpissing Indians that year. And that 
 he did not immediately set out at the command of 
 Champlain to return up the Ottawa and journey 
 thence to the Winnebagoes, is certain ; as the sav- 
 ages from the west, then trading at the site of what 
 is now Three Rivers, were in no humor to allow him 
 to retrace his steps, even had he desired it.^ 
 
 It may, therefore, be safely asserted that, before the 
 year 1634, " those so remote countries," lying to the 
 northward and northwestward, beyond the Georgian 
 bay of Lake Huron, had never been seen by civilized 
 man. But, did Mcolet visit those ulterior regions in 
 1634, returning thence in 1635 ? That these were 
 the years of his explorations and discoveries, there 
 can be no longer any doubt.^ After the ninth day 
 of December, of the last-mentioned year, his contin- 
 ued presence upon the St. Lawrence is a matter of 
 record, up to the day of his death, except from the 
 nineteenth of March, 1638, to the ninth of January, 
 
 ^ As to the temper of the Hurons at that date, see Parkman's 
 "Jesuits in North America," p. 51. 
 
 ^ The credit of first advancing this idea is due to Benjamin 
 Suite. See his article entitled " Jean Nicolet," in " Melanges D' 
 llistoire et de Litterature," Ottawa, 187G, pp. 426, 436. 
 
44 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 1639. These ten months could not have seen him 
 journeying fro-m Quebec to the center of what is now 
 "Wisconsin, and return ; for, deducting those which 
 could not have been traveled in because of ice in 
 the rivers and lakes, and the remaining ones were 
 too few for his voyage, considering the number of 
 tribes he is known to have visited. Then, too, the 
 Iroquois had penetrated -the country of the Algon- 
 quins, rendering it totally unsafe for such explorations, 
 even by a Frenchman. Besides, it may be stated 
 that Champlain was no longer among the living, and 
 that with him died the spirit of discovery which 
 alone could have prompted the journey. 
 
 Furthermore, the marriage of Mcolet, which had 
 previously taken place, militates against the idea of 
 his having attempted any more daring excursions 
 among savage nations. As, therefore, he certainly 
 traveled up the Ottawa, as far as Isle des Allumettes, 
 in 1634,^ and as there is no evidence of his having been 
 upon the St. Lawrence until near the close of the next 
 year, the conclusion, from these facts alone, is irresisti- 
 ble that, during this period, he accomplished, as here- 
 after detailed, the exploration of the western countries ; 
 visited the Winnebagoes, as well as several neighboring 
 nations, and returned to the St. Lawrence ; all of which, 
 it is believed, could not have been performed in one 
 summer.^ But what, heretofore, has been a very strong 
 
 1 Brebeuf, Relation des Ilurons, ]035, p. 30. He says: "lean 
 Jsicolet, en son voyage qu'il fit auec nous iusques a I'lsle," etc. ; 
 meaning the Isle des Allumettes, in the Ottawa river. 
 
 2 Incidents recorded in the Relations, and in the parish church 
 register of Three Kivers, show Nicolet to have been upon the St. 
 Lawrence from December 9, 1G35, to his death, in 1642, except 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 45 
 
 probability, is now seen clearly to be a fact; as it is 
 certainly known that an agreement for peace was 
 made some time before June, 1635, between certain 
 Indian tribes (Winnebagoes and Nez Perces), which, 
 as the account indicates, was brougli tabout by Kico- 
 let in his journey to the Far West/ 
 
 during the ten months above mentioned. It is an unfortunate fact 
 that, for those ten months, the record of the church just named 
 is missing. For this information I am indebted to Mr. Benjamin 
 Suite. Could the missing record be found, it wouhl be seen to 
 "contain, without doubt, some references to Nicolet's presence at 
 Three I]ivers. As the Relation of 1640 mentions Nicolet's visit 
 to the Winnebagoes, it could not have been made subsequent to 
 1639. It has al'ready been shown how improbable it is that his 
 journey was made previous to 1634. It only remains, there- 
 fore, to give his whereabouts previous to 1640, and subsequent to 
 1635. His presence in Three Rivers, according to Mr. Suite (see 
 Appendix, I., to this narrative), is noted in the parish register in 
 December, 1635; in May, 1636; in November and December, 
 1637; in March, 1638; in January, March, July, October, and 
 December, 1639. . As to mention of him in the Relations during 
 those years, see the next chapter of this work. 
 
 It was the identification by Mr. Shea, of the Winnebagoes as 
 the " Ouinipigou," or "Gens de Mer," of the Relations, that en- 
 abled him to call the attention of the public to the extent of the 
 discoveries of Nicolet. The claims of the latter, as the discov- 
 erer of the Northwest, were thus, for the first time, brought for- 
 ward on the page of American history. 
 
 ^ " Le huictiesme de luin, le Capitaine des Naiz percez, ou de la 
 Nation du Castor, qui est a trois iournees de nous, vint nous de- 
 mander quelqu'vn de nos Fran9ois, pour aller auec eux passer 
 I'Este dans vn fort qu'ils ont fait, pour la crainte qu'ils ont des 
 ASealsiSaenrrhonon, c'est a dire, des gens puants, qui ont rompu le 
 traicte de paix, et ont tue deux de leurs dont ils ont fait festin." 
 — Le Jeune, Relation, 1636, p. 92. 
 
 " On the 18th of June [1635], the chief of the Nez Perces, or 
 Beaver Nation, which is three days' journey from us [the Jesuit 
 
46 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 The sufferings endured by all the Frenchmen, ex- 
 cept Nicolet, in .traveling up the Ottawa, were very 
 severe. The latter had been so many years among 
 the Indians, was so inured to the toils of the wilder- 
 ness, that he met every hardship with the courage, 
 the fortitude, and the strength of the most robust 
 savage.^ E'ot so with the rest of the party. ^'Bare- 
 foot, lest their shoes should injure the frail vessel, 
 each crouched in his canoe, toiling with unprac- 
 ticed hands to propel it. Before him, week after 
 week, he saw the same lank, unkempt hair, the same 
 tawny shoulders, and long naked arms ceaselessly 
 plying the paddle." ^ A scanty diet of Indian-corn 
 gave them little strength to assist in carrying canoes 
 and baggage across the numerous portages. They 
 were generally ill-treated by the savages, and only 
 reached the Huron villages after great peril. Mcolet 
 remained for a time at Isle des Allumettes, where he 
 parted with Brebeuf. 
 
 To again meet " the Algonquins of the Isle " must 
 have been a pleasure to E'icolet; but he could not 
 
 missionaries, located at the head of Georgian bay of Lake Hu- 
 ron], came to demand of us some one of our Frenchmen to go 
 with them to pass the summer in a fort which they have made, 
 by reason of the fear which they have of the Aweatlsnaeyirrho- 
 von ; * that is to say, of the Nation of the Puants [Wi nnebagoes], 
 who have broken the treaty of peace, and have killed two of 
 their men, of whom they have made a feast." 
 
 *Tean Nicolet, en son voyage qu' il fit auec nous iupques a 1' Isle 
 souffrit aussi tous Ics trauaux d' vn des plus robustes Sauuages.' 
 — Brebeuf, Belation, 1035, p. 30. 
 
 ^Parkman's "Jesuits in North America," p. 53. 
 
 * The figure 8 which occurs in this Avord iu the Belntion of ir).T>, is supposed 
 to be equivdlent, in English, to " w," "we," or "oo." 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 47 
 
 tarry long with them. To the Huron villages, on the 
 borders of Georgian bay, he was to go before enter- 
 ing upon his journey to unexplored countries. To 
 them he must hasten, as to them he was first accred- 
 ited by Champlain. He had a long distance to travel 
 from the homes of that nation before reaching the 
 Winnebagoes. There was need, therefore, for expe- 
 dition. He must yet make his way up the Ottawa to 
 the Mattawan, a tributary, and by means of the latter 
 reach Lake Mpissing. Thence, he would float down 
 French river to Georgian bay.^ And, even after this 
 body of water was reached, it would require a con- 
 siderable canoe navigation, coasting along to the 
 southward, before he could set foot upon Huron ter- 
 ritory. So Nicolet departed from the Algonquins of 
 the Isle, and arrived safely at the Huron towns.^ Was 
 he a stranger to this nation ? Had he, during his 
 long sojourn among the I^ipissings, visited their vil- 
 lages ? Certain it is he could speak their language. 
 He must have had, while residing with the Algon- 
 quins, very frequent intercourse with Huron parties, 
 who often visited Lake Nipissing and the Ottawa 
 
 ^ The Mattawan has its source on the very verge of Lake Nipis- 
 sing, so that it was easy to make a " portage " there to reach the 
 lake. The Indians, and afterward the French, passed by the Mat- 
 tawan, Mattouane, or Mattawin ("the residence of the beaver"), 
 went over the small space of land called the " portage," that ex- 
 ists between the two waters, floated on Lake Nipissing, and fol- 
 lowed the French river, which flows directly out of that lake to 
 the Georgian bay. 
 
 A " portage " is a place, as is well known, where parties had 
 to " port " their baggage in order to reach the next navigable 
 water. 
 
 ^Vimont, Relation, 1643, p. 3. 
 
48 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 river for purposes of trade.^ But why was Xicolet 
 accredited by Champlain to the Hurons at all ? Was 
 not the St. Lawrence visited yearly by their traders ? 
 It could not have been, therefore, to establish a com- 
 merce with them. Neither could it have been to ex- 
 plore their country ; for the voyageur, the fur-trader, 
 the missionary, even Champlain himself, as we have 
 seen, had already been at their towns. Was the re- 
 fusal, a year previous, of their trading-parties at 
 Quebec to take the Jesuits to their homes the cause 
 of i^icolet's being sent to smoke the pipe of peace 
 with their chiefs ? This could not have been the 
 reason, else the missionaries would not have preceded 
 him from the Isle des Allumettes. He certainly had 
 to travel many miles out of his way in going from the 
 Ottawa to the Winnebagoes by way of the Huron vil- 
 lages. His object was, evidently, to inform the Hu- 
 rons that the governor of Canada, was anxious to have 
 amicable relations established between them and the 
 Winnebagoes, and to obtain a few of the nation to 
 a'icompany him upon his mission of peace.^ 
 
 * " Sieur Nicolet, interpreter en langue Algonquine et Huron- 
 ne," etc. — Vimont, Relation, 1C40, p. 35. 
 
 The Hurons and Nipissings were, at that date, great friends, 
 having constant intercourse, according to all accounts of those 
 days. 
 
 2 " The People of the Sea " — that is, the Winnebagoes — were fre- 
 quently at war with the Hurons, Nez Perces, and other nations on 
 the Georgian bay, which fact was well known to the governor of 
 Tanada. Now, the good offices of Nicolet were to be interposed 
 to bring about a reconciliation between these nations. He, it 
 is believed, was also to carry out Champlain's policy of making 
 the Indian tribes the allies of the French. Vimont {Relation, 
 1643, p. 3) says, he was chosen to make a journey to the Winne- 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 49 
 
 It was now that I^icolet, after all ceremonies and 
 " talks " with, the Ilurons were ended, began prepa- 
 rations for his voyage to the Winnebagoes. He was 
 to strike boldly into undiscovered regions. He was 
 to encounter savage nations never before visited. It 
 was, in reality, the beginning of a voyage full of dan- 
 gers — one that would require great tact, great cour- 
 age, and constant facing of difficulties. No one, 
 however, understood better the savage character than 
 he ; no Frenchman was more fertile of resources. 
 From the St. Lawrence, he had brought presents to 
 conciliate the Indian tribes which he would meet. 
 Seven Ilurons were to accompany him.^ Before him lay 
 great lakes ; around him, when on land, would frown 
 dark forests. A birch-bark canoe was to bear the first 
 white man along the northern shore of Lake Huron, 
 and upon Saint Mary's strait^ to the falls — " Sault 
 Sainte Marie ;" many.miles on Lake Michigan ; thenco, 
 up Green bay to the homes of the Winnebagoes :^ and 
 
 bagoes and treat for peace with them and with the Hurons ; show- 
 ing, it is suggested, that it was not only to bring about a peace 
 leiween the two tribes, hut to attach them both to French interests. 
 The words of Vimont are these: 
 
 " Pendant qu'il exer^oit cette charge, il \_Nicolet'] fut delegue 
 pour faire vn voyage en la nation appellee des Gens de Mer, et 
 traitter la paix auec eux et les Hurons, desquelsil sont esloignes, 
 tirant, vers I'Oiiest, d'enuiron trois cents lieues." 
 
 ^ " I'l l^Nicolet'] s'embarque au pays des Hurons auec sept Sauu- 
 ages." — Vimont, Relation, 1643, p. 3. 
 
 2 Saint Mary's strait separates the Dominion of Canada from 
 the upper peninsula of Michigan, and connects Lake Superior 
 with Lake Huron. 
 
 ^ The route taken by Nicolet, from the mouth of French river, 
 5 
 
50 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 that canoe was to lead tlie van of a mighty fleet 
 indeed, as the commerce of the upper lakes can 
 testify. "With him, he had a nnmher of presents. 
 
 What nations were encountered hy him on the way 
 to " the People of the Sea," from the Huron vil- 
 lages ? Three — all of Algonquin lineage — occupied 
 the shores of the Georgian hay, hefore the mouth of 
 French river had been reached. Concerning them, 
 little is known, except their names.^ Passing the 
 river which flows from Lake Nipissing, I^icolet 
 " upon the same shores of this fresh-water sea," that 
 is, upon the shores of Lake Huron, came next to " the 
 l!^ation of Beavers," ^ whose hunting-grounds were 
 northward of the Manitoulin islands.* This nation 
 
 in journeying toward the Winnebagoes, is sufficiently indicated 
 by (1) noting that, in mentioning the various tribes visited by 
 him, Nicolet probably gave their names, except the Ottavvas, in 
 the order in which he met them ; and (2) by calculating his time 
 as more limited on his return than on his outward trip, because 
 of his desire to descend the Ottawa with the annual flotilla of 
 Huron canoes,- which would reach the St. Lawrence in July, 163.). 
 
 ^ The Ouasouarim, the Outchougai, and the Atchiligoiian. — 
 Vimont, Relation, 1G40, p. 34. 
 
 2 Called Amikoiiai {Rel, 1640, p. 34), from Amik or AmiTcou — a 
 beaver. 
 
 ^ The Manitoulin islands stretch from east to west along tlie 
 north shores of Lake Huron, and consist chiefly of the Groat 
 Manitoulin or Sacred Isle, Little Manitoulin or Cockburn, and 
 Drummond. Great Manitoulin is eighty miles long by twenty 
 broad. Little Manitoulin has a diameter of about seven miles. 
 Drummond is twenty-four miles long, with a breadth vary- 
 ing from two to twelve miles. It is separated from the American 
 shore, on the west, by a strait called the True Detour, which is 
 scarcely one mile wide, and forms the principal i)ussage for ves- 
 sels proceeding to Lake Superior. 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 51 
 
 was afterward esteemed among the most noble 
 of those of Canada. They were supposed to he de- 
 scended from the Great Beaver, which was, next to 
 the Great Hare, their principal divinity. They inhab- 
 ited originally the Beaver islands, in Lake Michigan ; 
 afterward the Manitoulin islands; then they removed 
 to the main-land, where they were found by E^icolet. 
 Farther on, but still upon the margin of the great 
 lake, was found another tribe.^ This people, and the 
 Amikoiiai, were of the Algonquin family, and their 
 language was not difficult to be understood by ]N"ico- 
 let. Entering, finally, St. Mary's strait, his canoes 
 were urged onward for a number of miles, until the 
 falls — Sault de Sainte Marie ^ — were reached : and 
 there stood ^icolet, the first white man to set foot 
 upon any portion of what was, more than a century 
 and a half after, called " the territory northwest of 
 the river Ohio,"'" now the States of Ohio, Indiana, II- 
 
 ^ The Oumisagai. — Vimont, Hclatlon, 1G40, p. 34. 
 
 2 These falls are tlistinctly marked on Champlain's map of 
 1632; and on that of Du Creux of 1G60. 
 
 ^ In giving Xicolet this credit, it is necessary to state, that the 
 governor of Canada, in 1688, claimed that honor for Champlain 
 (N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. IX , p. 378). He says: 
 
 "In the years 1611 and 1612, he [Champlain] ascended the 
 Grand river [Ottawa] as far as Lake Huron, called the Fresh sea 
 [La Mer Douce] ; he v^^ent thence to the Petun [Tobacco] Na- 
 tion, next to the Neutral Nation and to the Macoutins [Mascou- 
 tins], who were then residing near the place called the Sakiman 
 [that part of the present State of Michigan lying between the 
 head of Lake Erie and Saginaw bay, on Lake Huron]; from that 
 he went to the Algonquin and Huron tribes, at war against the 
 Iroquois [Five Nations]. He passed by places lie has, himself, 
 described in his book [Los Voyages De La Novvelle France, etc, 
 1632], which are no other than Detroit [i. e., " the straight," now 
 
62 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 linois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and so much of 
 Minnesota as lies east of the Mississippi river. 
 
 called Detroit river] and Lake Erie." — Mem. of M. de Denonville, 
 May 8, 1G88. 
 
 The reader is referred to Champlain's Map of 1G32, and to " his 
 book" of the same date, for a complete refutation of the as- 
 sertion as to his visiting, at any time before that year, the 
 Mascoutins. In 1632, Champlain, as shown by his map of that 
 year, had no knowledge whatever of Lake Erie or Lake St. 
 Clair, nor had he i)reviously been sd far west as Detroit river. 
 It is, of course, well known, that he did not go west of the 
 St. Lawrence during that year or subsequent to that date. Locat- 
 ing the Mascoutins " near the place called the Sakiman," is as 
 erroneous as that Champlain ever visited those savages. The 
 reported distance between him when at the most westerly point 
 of his journeyings and the Mascoutins is shown by himself; 
 "After having visited these people [the Tobacco Nation, in De- 
 cember, 1615] we left the place and came to a nation of Indians 
 which we have named the Standing Hair [Ottawas], who were 
 very much rejoiced to see us again [he had met them previously 
 on the Ottawa river], with whom also we formed a friendship, 
 and who, in like manner, promised to come and find us and see 
 us at the said habitation. At this place it seems to me appro- 
 priate to give a description of their country, manners, and modes 
 of action. In the first place, they make war upon another nation 
 of Indians, called the Assistagueronon, which means nation of 
 fire [Mascoutins], ten days distant from them," — Voyages, 1632, 
 L, p. 262 [272]. 
 
 Upon his map of 1632, Champlain speaks of the " discoveries " 
 made by him " in the year 1614 and 1615, until in the year 1618 " 
 — " of this great lake [Huron], and of all the lands from theSauIt 
 St. Louis [the rapids in the St. Lawrence];" — but he nowhere 
 intimates that he had made discoveries icest of that lake. It is, 
 therefore, certain that the first white man who ever saw or ex- 
 plored any portion of the territory forming the present State of 
 Michigan was John Nicolet — not Champlain. Compare Park- 
 man's " Pioneers of France in the New World," Chap. XIV., and 
 map illustrative of the text. 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 63 
 
 Among " the People of the Falls," ^ at their principal 
 village, on the south side of the strait, at the foot of 
 the rapids,^ in what is now the State of Michigan,^ I^ico- 
 let and his seven Hurons rested from the fatigues of 
 their weary voyage.^ They were still with Algonquins. 
 
 ^ Their name, as stated by Nicolet and preserved in the Relation 
 of 1G40, was Baouichtigouin ; given in the Relation of 1642, as 
 Paiioitigoiieieuhak — "inhabitants of the falls;" in the Relation 
 of 1048, as Paouitagoung — " nation of the Sault;" on Du Creux' 
 map of 1660, " PasitigSecii;" and they were sometimes known as 
 Paouitingouach-irini — " the men of the shallow cataract." They 
 were estimated, in 1671, at one hundred and fifty souls. They 
 then united with other kindred nations. 
 
 By the French, these tribes, collectively, were called Sauteurs; 
 but they were known to the Iroquois as Estiaghicks, or Stiagig- 
 roone — the termination, room, meaning men, being applied to In- 
 dians of the Algonquin family. They were designated by the 
 iSioux as Raratwaus or " people of the fills." They were the an- 
 cestors of the modern Otchipwes, or Ojibwas (Chippewas). 
 
 ^ That this was the.location in 1641 is certain. Shea's Catholic 
 Missions, p. 184. In 1669, it was, probably, still at the foot of the 
 rapids, on the southern side. Id., p. 361. Besides, when the 
 missionaries first visited the Sault, they were informed that the 
 place had been occupied for a long period. The falls are cor- 
 rectly marked upon Champlain's map of 1632. 
 
 ^ The earliest delineation, to any extent, of the present State 
 of Michigan, is that to be found on Du Creux' Map of 1630, 
 where the two peninsulas are very Avell represented in outline. 
 
 ^ The names of the tribes thus far visited by Nicolet, and their 
 relative positions, are shown in the following from Vimont {Re- 
 lation, 1640, p. 34), except that the " cheueux releuez " were not 
 called upon by him until his return : 
 
 " I'ay ditqu'd I'entree du premier de ces Lacs se rencontrentles 
 Hurons ; les quittans pour voguer plus haut dans le lac, on truue 
 au Nord les Ouasouarim, plus haut sont les Outchougai, plus haut 
 encore a I'embouchure du fleuue qui vient du Lac Nipisin sont 
 les Atchiligoiian. Au dela sur les mesmes riues de ceste mer 
 
54 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 From Lake Huron they had entered upon one of the 
 channels of the magnificent water-way leading out 
 from Lake Suj)erior, and threaded their way, now 
 through narrow rapids, now across (as it were) little 
 lakes, now around beautiful islands, to within fifteen 
 miles of the largest expanse of fresh water on the 
 globe — stretching away in its grandeur to the west- 
 ward, a distance of full four hundred miles.^ Nico- 
 let saw beyond him the falls; around him clusters of 
 wigwams, which two centuries and a half have 
 changed into public buildings and private resi- 
 dences, into churches and warehouses, into offices and 
 stores — in short, into a pleasantly-situated American 
 village,^ frequently visited by steamboats carrying 
 valuable freight and crowded with parties of pleas- 
 ure. The portage around the falls, where, in early 
 times, the Indian carried his birch-bark canoe, has 
 given place to an excellent canal. Such are the 
 changes which '' the course of empire " continually 
 
 douce sont les Amikoiiai, ou la nation du Castor, au Sud desquels 
 est vne Isle dans ceste mer douce longue d'enuiron trente 
 lieues habitee des Outaouan, ce sont peuples venus de la nation 
 des cheueux releuez. Apres les Amikouai sur les mesmes riues 
 du grand lac sont les Oumisagai, qu'on passe pour venir a Baou- 
 ichtigouin, c'est a dire, a la nation des gens du Sault, pource 
 qu'en effect il y a vn Sault qui seiette en cetendroit dans la mer 
 douce." 
 
 ^ Lake Superior is distinctly marked on Champlain's map of 
 1G32, where it appears as " Grand Lac." Was it seen by Nicolet? 
 This is a question which will probably never be answered to the 
 satisfaction of the historian. 
 
 ^ Sault Sainte Marie (pronounced soo-saint-mdry), county-seat of 
 Chippewa county, Michigan, fifteen miles below the outlet of 
 Lake Superior. 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 55 
 
 brings to view in " the vast, illimitable, changing 
 west." 
 
 ^Nicolet tarried among '' the People of the Falls/' 
 probably, but a brief period. His voyage, after leav- 
 ing them, must have been to him one of great inter- 
 est. He returned down the strait, passing, it is 
 thought, through the western "detour" to Macki- 
 naw.^ 'Not very many miles brought him to '' the 
 second fresh- water sea," Lake Michigan.'^ He fs 
 fairly entitled to the honor of its discovery ; for no 
 white man had ever before looked out upon its broad 
 expanse. Mcolet was soon gliding along upon the 
 clear waters of this out-of-the-Avay link in the great 
 chain of lakes. The bold Frenchman fearlessly 
 threaded his way along its northern shore, frequently 
 stopping upon what is now known as " the upper 
 peninsula" of Michigan, until the bay of J^oquet^ 
 
 ^ The Straits of Mackinaw connect Lake Michigan with Lake 
 Huron. Of the word " Mackinaw," there are many synonyms 
 to be found upon the pages of American history: Mackinac, 
 MichiUmakinaw, Michillimakinac, Michilimakina, Michiliaki- 
 mawk, Michilinaaquina, Miscilemackina, Miselimackinack, Mis- 
 ilemakinak, Missilimakina, Missilimakinac, Missilimakinak, Mis- 
 silimaquina, Missiliniaquinak, etc, 
 
 ^Machihiganing was the Indian name; called by the French, 
 at an early day, Mitchiganon, — sometimes the Lake of the Illi- 
 nois, Lake St. Joseph, or Lake Dauphin. I know of no earlier 
 representation of this hike than that on Du Creux' map of 
 1660. It is there named the " Magnus Lacus Algonquinorum, 
 seu Lacus Foetetium [Foetentium]." This is equivalent to Great 
 Algonquin Lake, or Lake of the Puants; that is, Winnebago 
 Lake. On a map by Joliet, recently published by Gabriel Gravier, 
 it is called " Lac des Illinois ou Missihiganin." 
 
 ^ Bay du Noquet, or iS^oque, That the " small lake" visited by 
 Nicolet w^as, in fact, this bay, is rendered probable by the phrase- 
 
56 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 was reached, which is, in reality, a northern arm of 
 Green hay.^ Here, upon its northern border, he vis- 
 ited another Algonquin tribe ;^ also one living to the 
 northward of this " small lake."^ These tribes never 
 navigated those waters any great distance, but lived 
 upon the fruits of the earth.'' Making his way up 
 Green bay, he finally reached the Menomonee river, 
 its principal northern affluent.^ 
 
 ology employed by Vimont in the Relation of 1640, p. 35. He 
 says: " Passing this small lake [from the Sault Sainte Marie], 
 we enter into the second fresh-water sea [Lake Michigan and 
 Green bay]." It is true Vimont speaks of " the small lake" as 
 lying " beyond the falls;" but his meaning is, " nearer the Win- 
 nebagoes." If taken literally, his words would indicate a lake 
 further up the strait, above the Sault Sainte Marie, meaning 
 Lake Superior, which, of course, would not answer the descrip- 
 tion of a small lake. It must be remembered that the mission- 
 ary was writing at his home upon the St. Lawrence, and was 
 giving his description from his standpoint, 
 
 ^ Synonyms : La Baye des Eaux Puantes, La Baye, Enitajghe 
 (Iroquois), Bale des Puants, La Grande Bale, Bay des Puants. 
 
 2 Called the Roquai, by Vimont, in the Relation of 1G40, p. 34 — 
 probably the Noquets —afterwards classed with the Chippewas. 
 
 'Called the Mantoue in the Relation just cited. They were 
 probably the Nantoue of the Relation of 1671, or Mantoueouee 
 of the map attached thereto. They are mentioned, at that date, 
 as living near the Foxes. In the Relation of 1673, they are desig- 
 nated as the Makoueoue, still residing near the Foxes. 
 
 *"Au dela de ce Sault on trouue le petit lac, sur les bords du- 
 quel du coste du Nord sont les Roquai. Au Nord de cenx-cy 
 sont Mantoue, ces peuples ne naui<rent guiere, viuans des fruicts 
 de la terre." — Vimont, Relation, 1640, pp. 34, 35. 
 
 *The Menomonee river forms a part of the northeastern 
 boundary of Wisconsin, running in a southeasterly direction 
 between this state and Michigan, and emptying into Green bay 
 on the northwest side. The earliest location, on a map, of a 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 57 
 
 In the valley of the Menomonee, Nicolet met 
 a populous tribe of Indians — the Menomonees.^ To 
 his surprise, no doubt, he found they were of a lighter 
 complexion than any other savages he had ever seen. 
 Their language was difficult to understand, yet it 
 showed the nation to be of the Algonquin stock. Their 
 food was largely of wild rice, which grew in great 
 abundance in their country. They were adepts in 
 fishing, and hunted, with skill, the game which 
 abounded in the forests. They had their homes and 
 hunting grounds upon the stream which still bears 
 their name.^ 
 
 Nicolet soon resumed his journey toward the Win- 
 nebagoes, who had already been made aware of his 
 near approach ; for he had sent forward one of his 
 
 Menomonee village, is that given by Charlevoix on his " Carte 
 des Lacs du Canada," accompanying liis " Higtoire et Description 
 Generale de la Nouvelle France," Vol. I., Paris, 1744. The vil- 
 lage ('des Malonines") is placed at the mouth of the river, on 
 what is now the Michigan side of the stream. 
 
 ^ Synonyms: Maroumine, Oumalouminek, Oumaominiecs, Mal- 
 hominies, — meaning, in Algonquin, wild rice (Zizania aquatica of 
 Linnseus). The French called this grain wild oats — folles avoine ; 
 hence they gave the name of Les Folles Avoine to the Me- 
 nomonees. 
 
 " Passant ce plus petit lac, on entre dans la seconde mer douce, 
 sur les riues de laquelle sont les Maroumine." — Vimont, Rela- 
 tion, 1640, p. 35. 
 
 2 1 have drawn, for this description of the Menomonees, upon 
 the earliest accounts preserved of them ; but these are of dates 
 some years subsequent to Nicolet's visit. (Compare Marquette's 
 account in his published narrative, by Shea.) Vimont seems not 
 to have derived any knowledge of them, from Nicolet, beside the 
 simple fact of his having visited them; at least, he says nothing 
 further in the Relation of 1 640. 
 
58 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 Hurons to carry the news of his coming and of his 
 mission of peace. The messenger and his message 
 were well received. The Winnebagoes dispatched 
 several of their young men to meet the " wonderful 
 man." They go to him— they escort him — they carry 
 his baggage.^ He was clothed in a large garment of 
 Chinese damask, sprinkled with flowers and birds of 
 different colors.^ But, why thus attired ? Possibly, 
 
 1 " Two days' journey from this tribe [the Winnebagoes], he 
 sent one of his savages," etc. — Vimont, Relation, 1643, p. 3. This 
 was just the distance from the Menomonees. Du Creux, al- 
 though following the Helalion of 1G43, makes Nicolet an ambas- 
 sador of the Hurons, for he says (Hist. Canada, p. 360): " When 
 he [Nicolet] was two days distant [from the Winnebagoes], he 
 sent forward one of his own company to make known to the na- 
 tion to which they were going, that a European ambassador was 
 approaching with gifts, who, in behalf of tlie Hurons, desired to 
 secure their friendship." But the following is the account of Vi- 
 mont (Relation, 1643, p. 3), from the time of Nicolet's departure 
 from the Huron villages to his being met by the young men of 
 the Winnebagoes: 
 
 " lis [^Nicokt and his seven Hurons'] passerent par quantite de 
 petites nations, en allant eten reuenant; lors qu'ils y arriuoient, 
 lis fichoient deux bastons en terre, auquel ils pendoient des pre- 
 sens, afin d'oster a ces peuples la pensee de les prendre pour en- 
 nemis et de les massacrer. A deux iournees de cette nation, 11 
 enuoya vn de cos Sauuages porter la nouuelle de la paix, laquelle 
 fut bien receue, nommement quand on entendit que c'estoit vn 
 European qui portoit la parole. On depescha plusieurs ieunes 
 gens pour aller au deuant du Manitouiriniou, c'est a dire de 
 riiomme merueilleux ; on y vient on le conduit, on porte tout 
 son bagage." 
 
 '^Compare Parkman's " Discovery of the Great West," p. xx. 
 " 11 [^Nicolet'] estoit reuestu d'vno grande robe de damas de la 
 Chine, toute parsemee de fleurs et d'oyseaux de diuerses coul- 
 eurs." — Vimont, Relation, 1G43, p. 3. 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 59 
 
 he liad reached the far east ; he was, really, in what 
 is now the State of Wisconsin.^ Possibly, a party of 
 mandarins would soon greet him and welcome him to 
 Cathay. And this robe — this dress of ceremony — 
 was brought all the way from Quebec, doubtless, with 
 
 ^ Wisconsin takes its name from its principal river, which 
 drains an extensive portion of its surface. It rises in Lake Vieux 
 Desert (which is partly in Michigan and partly in Wisconsin), 
 flows generally a south course to Portage, in what is now Colum- 
 bia county, where ib turns to the southwest, and, after a further 
 course of one hundred and eighteen miles, with a rapid current, 
 reaches the Mississippi river, four miles below Prairie du Chien. 
 Its entire length is about four hundred and fifty miles, descend- 
 ing, in that distance, a little more than one thousand feet. 
 Along the lower portion of the stream are the high lands or 
 river hills. Some of these hills present high and precipitous 
 faces towards the water. Others terminate in knobs. The name 
 is supposed to have been taken from this feature; the word 
 being derived from mis-si, great, and os-sin, a, stone or rock. 
 
 Compare Shea's Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi, pp. 6 
 (note) and 268; Foster's Mississippi Valley, p. 2 (note); School- 
 craft's Thirty Years with ike Indian Tribes, p. 220 and note. 
 
 Two definitions of the word are current — as widely differing 
 from each other as from the one just given. (See Wis. Hist. Soc. 
 Coll., Vol. I., p. Ill, and Webster's Die, Unabridged, p. 1632.) 
 The first — " the gathering of the waters "— rhas no corresponding 
 words in Algonquin at all resembling the name ; the same may 
 be said of the second — " wild rushing channel." (See Otchipwe 
 Die. of Rev. F. Baraga.) 
 
 Since first used by the French, the word " Wisconsin" has un- 
 dergone considerable change. On the map by Joliet, recently 
 brought to light by Gravier, it is given as " Miskonsing." In 
 Marquette's journal, published by Thevenot, in Paris, 1681, it is 
 noted as the " Meskousing." It appeared there for the first time 
 in print, Hennepin, in 1683, wrote "Onisconsin " and " Miscon- 
 sin;" Charlevoix, 1743, "Ouisconsing;" Carver, 1766, " Ouiscon- 
 sin" (English — " Wiscorisin"):since which last mentioned date, 
 the orthography has been uniform. 
 
60 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 a view to such contingency. As soon as he came in 
 sight, all the women and children fled, seeing a man 
 carrying thunder in his two hands ; for thus it was 
 they called his pistols, which he discharged on his 
 right and on his left.^ He was a manito ! Mcolet's 
 journey was, for the present, at an end. He and his 
 Huron's " rested from their lahors," among the Win- 
 nehagoes,^ who were located around the head of 
 Green bay,^ contiguous to the point where it re- 
 
 ^ " Si tost qu'on I'apperceut toutes les femmes et les enfans 
 s'enfmrent, voyant vn homme porter le tonnerre en ses deux 
 mains (c est ainsi qu'ils nommoient deux pistolets qu'il tenoit)." 
 — Vimont, lielation, 1643, p. 3.* 
 
 Du Creux (Hist. Canada, p. 360) has this rendering of Vimont's 
 language: " He [Xicolet] carried in each hand a small pistol. 
 When he had discharged these (for he must have done this, 
 though the French author does not mention the fact), the more 
 timid persons, boys and women, betook themselves to flight, to 
 escape as quickly as possible from a man who (they said) car- 
 ried the thunder in both his hands." And thus Parkman (" Dis- 
 covery of the Great West," p. xx.) : " [Nicolet] advanced to meet 
 the expectant crowd with a pistol in each hand. The squaws 
 and children fled, screaming that it was a manito, or spirit, 
 armed with thunder and lightning." 
 
 2 Synonyms: Ouinipigou, Ouinbegouc, Ouinipegouc, Ouenibe- 
 goutz — Gens de Mer, Gens de Eaux de Mer— Des Puans, Des 
 Puants, La Nation des Puans, La Nation des Puants, Des Gens 
 Puants. 
 
 By the Hurons, this nation was known as A8eatsi8aenrrhonon 
 {Relation, 1636, p. 92); by the Sioux, as Ontonkah; but they 
 called themselves Otchagras, Ilochungara, Ochungarand, or 
 Horoji. 
 
 ^Champlain's map of 1632 gives them that location. La Jeune 
 {Relation, 1639, p. 55) approximates their locality thus: 
 
 . . . *' Nous auons aussi pense d'appliquer quelques-vns a la 
 connoissance de nouuelles langues. Nous iettions les yeux sur 
 trois autres des Peuples plus voisins: sur celle des Algonquains, 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 61 
 
 ceives the waters of Fox river.^ ]N"icolet found 
 the "Winnebagoes a numerous and sedentary peo- 
 
 espars cfe tous costez, et au Midy, et au Sfeptentrion de nostre 
 grand Lac ; sur celle de la Nation neutre, qui est vne maistresse 
 porte pour les pais meridionaux, et sur celle de la Nation des 
 Puants, qui est vn passage des plus considerables pour les pais 
 Occidentaux, vn peu plus Septentrionaux." 
 
 " We [the missionaries] have also thought of applying our- 
 selves, some of us, to the task of acquiring a knowledge of new 
 languages. We turn our eyes on three other nations nearer: on 
 that of the Algonquins, scattered on every side, both to the south 
 and north of our great lake [Huron]; on that of the Neuter 
 nation, which affords a principal entrance to the countries on 
 south; and on that of the nation of the Puants [Winnebagoes], 
 which is one of the more important thoroughfares to the west- 
 ern countries, a little more northern." 
 
 ^ Fox river heads in the northeastern part of Columbia county, 
 Wisconsin, and in the adjoining portions of Green Lake county. 
 Flowing, at first, southwest and then due west, it approaches the 
 Wisconsin at Portage, county-seat of Columbia county. When 
 within less than two miles of that river, separated from it by 
 only a low, sandy plain— the famous " portage" of early days — 
 it turns abruptly northward, and with a sluggish current, con- 
 tinues on this course, for twelve miles, to the head of Lake Buf- 
 falo, in the southern part of which is now Marquette county, 
 Wisconsin. It now begins a wide curve, which brings its direc- 
 tion finally around due east. Lake Buffalo is merely an expan- 
 sion of the river, thirteen and one-half miles long and half a 
 mile wide. From the foot of this lake, the river runs in an ir- 
 regular, easterly course, with a somewhat rapid current, to the 
 head of Puckaway lake, which is eight and one-fourth miles in 
 length, and from one to tw^o miles wide. At the foot of this 
 lake there are wide marshes through which the river leaves on 
 the north side, and, after making a long, narrow bend to the 
 west, begins a northeast stretch, which it continues for a consid- 
 erable distance, passing, after receiving the waters of Wolf river, 
 around in a curve to the southeast through Big Butte Des Morts 
 
62 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 ple,^ speaking a language radically different from 
 any of the Algonquin nations, as well as from 
 the IIurons.2 They were of the Dakota stock.^ The 
 news of the Frenchman's coming spread through 
 the country. Four or five thousand people assemhled 
 of different trihes.* Each of the chiefs gave a ban- 
 lake, and reaching Lake Winnebago, into which it flows at the 
 city of Oshkosh. 
 
 The river leaves AVinnebago lake in two channels, at the cities 
 of Menasha and Xeenah, flowing in a westerly course to the Lit- 
 tle Butte Des Morts lake, and through the latter in a north 
 course, when it soon takes a northeasterly direction, which 
 it holds until it empties into the head of Green bay. 
 The stream gets its name from the Fox tribe of Indians 
 formerly residing in its valley. Upon Champlain's map of 1C32, 
 it is noted as 'Tiivioi^ de.s Puans ;" that is, " River of the Pu- 
 ans " — Winnebago river. The name Neenah (water), sometimes 
 applied to it, is a misnomer. 
 
 * " Plus auant encore sur les mesmes riues habitent les Ouini- 
 pigou [Winnebagoes], peujiles sedentaires qui sont en grand 
 nombre." — Vimont, Relation^ 1G40, p. 35. 
 
 2 " Tous ces peuples entendent 1' Algonquin, excepte les ITurons, 
 qui ont vne langue a part, comme aussi les Ouinipigou [Winne- 
 bagoes] ou gens de mer." — Ibid. 
 
 ^ The Winnebagoes and some bands of Sioux were the only 
 Dakotas that crossed the Mississippi in their migratory move- 
 ment eastward. 
 
 * Says Vimont (J?e?a^wn, 1G43, pp. 3, 4): "La nouuelle de sa 
 venue s'espandit incontinent aux lieu circonuoisins : il se fit vne 
 assemblee, de quartre ou cincj m\\\e hommes." 
 
 But this number is lessened somewhat by the Helailon of 1056 
 (p. 39): 
 
 " Vn Francois m'a dit autrefois, qu'il auoit veu trois mille 
 hommes dans vne assemblee qui se fit pour traiter de paix, au 
 Pais des gens de Mer." 
 
 "A Frenchman [Nicolet] told me some time ago, that he had 
 seen three thousand men together in one assemblage, for the 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 63 
 
 qnct. One of tlie sachems regaled his guests with at 
 least one hundred and twenty beavers.^ The large 
 assemblage was prolific of speeches and ceremonies. 
 Kicolct did not fail to " speak of peace " upon that 
 interesting occasion.^ He urged upon the nation the 
 advantages of an alliance, rather than war, with 
 the nations to the eastward of Lake Huron. They 
 agreed to keep the peace with the llurons, ITez Per- 
 ces, and, possibly, other tribes; but, soon after E'ico- 
 Ict's return, they sent out war parties against the Beaver 
 nation. Doubtless the advantages of trade with the col- 
 ony upon the St. Lawrence were depicted in glowing 
 color's by the Frenchman. But the courageous Xor- 
 man was not satisfied with a visit to the Winnebagoes 
 only. lie must see the neighboring tribes. So he 
 ascended the Fox river of Green bay to Winnebago 
 lake — passing through which, he again entered that 
 stream, paddling his canoe up its current, until he 
 reached the homes of the Mascoutins,'' the first tribe 
 
 purpose of making a treaty of peace in the country of the Peo- 
 ple of the Sea [Winnebagoes]." 
 
 ^ " Chacun des principaux fit son festin, en I'vn desquels on 
 seruit au moins six-vingts Castors," — Vimont, Relation, ]643, p. 4. 
 
 ^ Shea (" Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley," 
 p. 20) has evidently caught the true idea of Nicolet's mission to 
 the Winnebagoes. He says: " With these [Winnebagoes] Nico- 
 let entered into friendly relations." 
 
 ' Synonyms ; Mascoutens, Maskoutens, Maskouteins. Musque- 
 tens, Machkoutens, Maskoutench, etc. They were called by the 
 French, " Les Gens de Feu " — the Nation of Fire ; by the Hurons, 
 "Assistagueronons" or "Atsistaehronons," from assista, fire and 
 ronons, people ; that is, Fire-People or Fire-Nation. By Cham- 
 plain, they were noted, in 1G32, as " Les Gens de Feu a Bistaguer- 
 
64 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 to be met with after leaving the "VVinnebagoes ; for 
 the Sacs^ and Foxes ^ were not residents of what is 
 now Wisconsin at that period, — their migration, 
 thither, from the east, having been at a Bnbsequent 
 date. iJ'Ticolet had navigated the Fox river, a six- 
 days' jonrney, since leaving the Winnebagoes.' 
 
 onons " on his map. This is a misprint for "Assistngueronons," as 
 his "Voyages" of that year shows. I., p. 2''2 ['-272], 
 
 "The Fire Nation bears this name erroneously, calling them- 
 selves Maskoutench, which signifies 'a land bare of trees,' such 
 as that which these people inhabit; but because by the change 
 of a few letters, the same word signifies, 'fire,' from thence it 
 has come that they are called the ' Fire Nation.' " — Relation, 1671, 
 p. 45. 
 
 ^ Synonyms : Sauks, Saukis, Ousakis, Sakys, etc. 
 
 * Synonyms : Outagamis, Les Henards, Musquakies. 
 
 * The distance by days up the Fox river of Green bay from the 
 Winnebagoes to the Mascoutins, is given in accordance with the 
 earliest accounts of canoe navigation upon that stream. The 
 first white persons to pass up the river after Nicolet Avere Allouez 
 and his attendants, in April, 1670. That missionary {Relation^ 
 1670, pp. 96, 97, 99), says: 
 
 "The 16th of April [1670], I embarked to go and commence 
 the mission of the Outagamis [Fox Indians], a people well known 
 in all these parts. We were lying at the head of the bay [Green 
 bay], at the entrance of the River of the Puants [Fox river], 
 which we have named ' St. Francis;' in passing, we saw clouds of 
 swans, bustards, and ducks; the savages take them in nets at 
 the head of the bay, where they catch as many as fifty in a 
 night; this game, in the autumn, seek the wild rice that the 
 wind has shaken off in the month of September. 
 
 "The 17th [of April of the same year], we went up the River 
 St, Francis [the Fox] — two and sometimes three arpens wide. 
 After having advanced four leagues, we found the village of the 
 savages named Saky [Sacs, Saukis, or Sauks], who began a work 
 that merits well here to have its place. From one side of the 
 river to the other, they made a barricade, planting great stakes, 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 65 
 
 The Mascoutins, as we have seen, were heard of 
 by Champhiin as early as 1615, as being engaged in a 
 war with the Neuter nation and the Ottawas. But, 
 
 two fathoms from the water, in such a manner that there is, as 
 it were, a bridge above for the fishers, who, by the aid of a little 
 bow-net, easily take sturgeons and all other kinds of fish which 
 this pier stops, although the water does not cease to flow between 
 the stakes. They call this device Mitihikan [" Mitchiganen" 
 or "Machihiganing," now "Michigan"]; they make use of it in 
 the spring and a part of the summer. 
 
 " The 18th [of the same month], we made the portage which 
 they call Kekaling [afterwards variously spelled, and pronounced 
 "Cock-o-lin ;" meaning, it is said, the place of the fish. In the 
 fall of 1851, a village was laid out there, which is known as Kau- 
 kauna]; our sailors drew the canoe through the rapids; I 
 walked on the bank of the river, where I found apple-trees and 
 vine stocks [grape vines] in abundance. 
 
 " The 19th [April], our sailors ascended the rapids, by using 
 poles, for two leagues. I went by land as far as the other port- 
 age, which they call Oukocitiming; that is to say, the highway. 
 We observed this same day the eclipse of the sun, predicted by 
 the astrologers, which lasted from mid-day until two o'clock. 
 The third, or near it, of the body of the sun appeared eclipsed; 
 the other two-thirds formed a crescent. We arrived, in the eve- 
 ning, at the entrance of the Lake of the Puants [Winnebago 
 lake], which we have called Lake St. Francis ; it is about twelve 
 leagues long and four wide ; it is situated from north-northeast 
 to south-southwest ; it abounds in fish, but uninhabited, on ac- 
 count of the Nardoiiecis [Sioux], who are here dreaded. 
 
 " The 20th [of April, 1670], which was on Sunday, I said mass, 
 after having navigated five or six leagues in the lake; after 
 which, we arrived in a river [the Fox, at what is now Oshkosh], 
 that comes from a lake of wild rice [Big Butte Des Morts lake], 
 which we came into ; at the foot [head] of which we found the 
 river [the Wolf] which leads to the Outagamis [Fox Indians] on 
 one side, and that [the Fox] which leads to the Machkoutenck 
 
 6 
 
66 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 up to the time of ITicolet's visit, and for a number of 
 years subsequent (as lie gave no clue himself to their 
 locality), they were only known as living two hun- 
 dred leagues or more beyond the last mentioned 
 tribe — that is, that distance beyond the south end of 
 the Georgian bay of Lake Huron. ^ Their villages 
 were in the valley of the Fox river, probably in what 
 
 [Mascoutins] on the other. We entered into the former [the 
 Wolf]. ... 
 
 "The 29th [of April of the same year, having returned from 
 the Fox Indians living up the Wolf river], we entered into the 
 [Fox] river, which leads to the Machkoutench [Mascoutins], 
 called Assista Ectaeronnons, Fire Nation ["Gens de Feu"], by 
 the Hurons. This [Fox] river is very beautiful, without rapids 
 or portages [above the mouth of the Wolf] ;. it flows to [from] 
 the southwest. 
 
 ■" The 30th [of April, 1670], having disembarked opposite the 
 village [of the Mascoutins], and left our canoe at the water's 
 edge, after a walk of a league, over beautiful prairies, we per- 
 ceived the fort [of the Mascoutins]." 
 
 ^Champlain's " Les Voyages de la Novvelle France," I., p. 
 262 [272], previously cited. Upon Champlain's Map of 1632, 
 they are located beyond and to the south of Lake Huron, he 
 having no knowledge of Lake Michigan. In his " Voyages," 
 his words are: "lis [the Cheveux Releves — Ottawas] sont la 
 guerre, a vne autre nation de Sauuages, qui s'appellent Assist- 
 agueronon, qui veut dire gens de feu, esloignez d'eux de dix 
 iournees." Sagard, in 1636 ("Histoire du Canada," p. 201), is 
 equally indefinite as to locality, though placing them westward 
 of the south end of the Georgian bay of Lake Huron, "nine or 
 ten days' journey by canoe, which makes about two hundred 
 leagues, or more." He says : " Tous essemble [the different bands 
 of the Ottowas] sont la guerre a une autre nation nommee Assista- 
 gueronon, qui veut dire gens feu : car en langue Huronne Assista 
 signifie de feu and Eronon signifie Nation. lis sont esloignez 
 d'eux a ce qu'on tient, de neuf ou dix iournees de Canots, qui 
 Bont enuiron deux cens lieues et plus de chemin." 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 67 
 
 is now Green Lake county, Wisconsin.^ They had, 
 doubtless, for their neighbors, the Miamis^ and Kick- 
 apoos.^ They were a vigorous and warlike nation, of 
 Algonquin stock, as were also the two tribes last 
 mentioned. Nicolet, while among the Mascoutins, 
 heard of the 'Wi3consin river, which was distant only 
 three days' journey up the tortuous channel of the 
 Fox.. But the accounts given him of that tributary 
 of the Mississippi were evidently very confused. A 
 reference to the parent stream (confounded with the 
 Wisconsin) as " the great water," ^ by the savages, 
 caused him to believe that he was, in reality, but 
 three days' journey from the sea ; aixl so he reported 
 after his return to the St. Lawrence.^ Strange to say, 
 Nicolet resolved not to visit this ocean, although, as 
 he believed, so near its shores. 
 
 He traveled no further upon the Fox river,^ but 
 
 ^ Allouez {Relation, 1670, p. 99, before cited) is the first to give 
 their position with any degree of certainty. Unless, under 
 the name of " Rasaoua koueton," the Mascoutins were not men- 
 tioned by Nicolet, in the list given to Vimont (Beladon, 1640, 
 p. 35). The "R" should, probably, have been "M," thus: "Ma- 
 saoua koueton." 
 
 ^ Synonyms : Miamees, Miramis, Myamicks, Omianicks, Om- 
 miamies, Oumis, Oumiamies, Oumiamiwek, Oumamis, Twight- 
 wees. As to their place of abode, see Shea's Hennepin, p. 258. 
 
 ' Synonyms : Kikabou, Kikapou, Quicapou, Kickapoux, Kick- 
 apous, Kikapoux, Quicapouz, etc. 
 
 * The name of this river is from the Algonquin missl, great, and 
 sepe, water, or river. The popular notion that it means " the fa- 
 ther of waters," is erroneous. 
 
 ^ " Le Sieur Nicolet qui a le plusauant penetre dedans ces pays 
 si esloignes m'a asseure que s'il eust vogue trois iours plus auant 
 sur vn grand fleuue qui sort de ce lac, qu'il auroit trouue la mer." 
 —Vimont, Relation, 1640, p. 36. 
 
 ^ That such was the fact, and that he did not reach the Wis- 
 
68 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 turned his course to the southward. And the Jesuits 
 consoled themselves, when they heard of his short- 
 
 consin river, is deduced from the language of the Relations; also, 
 from a consideration of the length of the Fox and Wisconsin 
 rivers below the " portage," where they very nearly approach 
 each other; and from a study of the time usually employed, at 
 an early day, in their navigation. It has, however, been exten- 
 sively published that Nicolet did reach the Wisconsin, and float 
 down its channel to within three days of the Mississippi. Now, 
 Nicolet, in speaking of a large river upon which he had sailed, 
 evidently intended to convey the idea of its being connected 
 with " ce lac " (this lake) ; that is, with Green bay and Lake 
 Michigan — the two being merged into one by Vimont. Hence, 
 he must have spoken of the Fox river. But Vimont (jRe/a^eon, 
 1640, p. 36) understood him as saying, " that, had he sailed three 
 days more on a great river which Jtows from that lake, he would 
 have found the sea." 
 
 The Belaiion, it will be noticed, says, "had he sailed three days 
 more," etc. This implies a sailing already of some days. But 
 such could not have been the case had he been upon the Wis- 
 consin ; as that river is only one hundred and eighteen miles in 
 length, below the portage, and the time of its canoe navigation 
 between three and four days only ; whereas, upon the Fox, it 
 was nine days; six, from its mouth to the Mascoutins, as pre- 
 viously shown, and three from the Mascoutins to the Wisconsin. 
 
 The first white men who passed up the Fox river above the 
 Mascoutins, were Louis Joliet and Father James Marquette, 
 with five French attendants, in June, 1673. "We knew," says 
 Marquette, " that there was, three leagues from Maskoutens 
 [Mascoutins], a river [Wisconsin] emptying into the Mississippi ; 
 we knew, too, that the point of the compass we were to hold to 
 reach it, was the west-southwest; but the way is so cut up by 
 marshes, and little lakes, that it is easy to go astray, especially 
 as the river leading to it is so covered by wild oats, that you can 
 hardly discover the channel." 
 
 That Marquette, instead of " three leagues " intended to say 
 "thirty leagues" or" three days," it is evident to any one ac- 
 quainted with the Fox river from the " portage " down; besides, 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 69 
 
 coming, with the hope that one day the western sea 
 would be reached by one of their order.^ " In pass- 
 ing, I will say," wrote one of their missionaries, in 1640,. 
 '' that we have strong indications that one can de- 
 scend through the second lake of the Ilurons . . . 
 into this sea." ^ 
 
 the mistake is afterward corrected in his narrative as well as on 
 his map accompanying it, where the home of the Mascoutins 
 is marked as indicated by Allouez in the Relation of 1670. See, 
 also, the map of Joliet, before alluded to, as recently published 
 by Gravier, where the same location is given. Joliet and Mar- 
 quette were seven days in their journey from the Mascoutins to 
 the Mississippi; this gave them three days upon the Fox and 
 four upon the Wisconsin (including the delay at the portage). 
 Canoes have descended frc m the portage in two days. 
 
 The, lie laiion of 1670 (pp. 99, 100) says: "These people [the 
 Mascoutins] are established in a very fine place, where we see 
 beautiful plains and hn'el country, as far as the eye reaches. Their 
 river leads into a great river called Messisipi; [to which] their 
 is a navigation of only six days." 
 
 But the question is evidently settled by the Belaiion of 1654 
 (p. 30), which says : 
 
 " It is only nine days' journey from this great lake [Green bay 
 and Lake Michigan — ' Lac de gens de mer'J to the sea;" where 
 " the sea," referred to, is, beyond doubt, identical with " la mer " 
 of Nicolet. 
 
 ^ " Or i'ay de fortes coniectures que c'est la mer [mentioned by 
 Nicolet] qui respond au Nord de la Nouuelle Mexique, et que de 
 cette mer, on auroit entree vers le lapon et vers la Chine, neant 
 moins comme on ne S9ait pas o\x tire ce grand lac, ou cette mer 
 douce, ce seroit vne entreprise genereuse d'aller descouurir ces 
 con trees. Nos Peres qui sont aux Hurons, inuites par quelques 
 Algonquins, sont sur le point de donner iusques a ces gens de 
 I'autre mer, dont i'ay parle cy-dessus; pent estre que ce voyage 
 se reseruera pour I'vn de nous qui auons quelque petite cognois- 
 sance de la langue Algonquine." — Vimont, Relations, 1640, p. 36. 
 2 "The twenty-fourth day of June [1640], there arrived an En- 
 
70 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 But why should N^icolet leave the Fox river and 
 journey away from the Mascoutins to the south- 
 ward? The answer is, that, at no great distance, 
 lived the Illinois.^ Their country extended east- 
 ward to Lake Michigan, and westward to the Mis- 
 sissippi, if not beyond it. This nation was of too 
 much importance, and their homes too easy of access, 
 for Mcolet not to have visited them.^ Upon the heau- 
 
 glishman, with a servant, brought in boats by twenty Abnaquiois 
 savages. lie set out from the lake or river Quinibequi in Acadia, 
 where the English have a settlement, in order to search for a 
 passage through these countries to the North sea. . . . M. 
 de Montmagny had him brought to Tadoussac, in order that he 
 might return to England by way of France. 
 
 " He told us wonderful things of New Mexico. 'I learned,* 
 said he, ' that one can sail to that country by means of the seas 
 which lie to the north of it. Two years ago, I explored all the 
 southern coast from Virginia to Quinebiqui to try whether I 
 could not find some large river or some large lake which should 
 bring me to tribes having knowledge of this sea, which is north- 
 ward from Mexico. Not having found any such in these coun- 
 tries, 1 entered into the Saguene region, to penetrate, if I could, 
 with the savages of the locality, as far as to the northern sea.' 
 
 "In passing, I will say that we have strong indications that 
 one can descend through the second lake of the Hurons [Lake 
 Michigan and Green bay] and through the country of the na- 
 tions we have named [as having been visited by Nicolet] into 
 this sea which he [the Englishman] was trying to find." — Vimont, 
 Relation, 1G40, p. 35. 
 
 ^ Synonyms : Ilinois, Ilinoues, Tllini, llliniweck, Tilliniwek, Ili- 
 mouek, Liniouck, Abimigek, Eriniouaj, etc. 
 
 2 Vimont {lielalion, 1640, p. 35) gives information derived from 
 Nicolet, of the existence of the Illinois (Eriniouaj) as neighbors 
 of the Winnebagoes. And the Relation, 1G56 (p. 39), says: "The 
 liiniouek [Illinois], their neighbors [that is, the neighbors of the 
 Winnebagoes], number about sixty villages." Champlain locates 
 a tribe, on his map of 1632, south of the Mascoutins, as a " na- 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 71 
 
 tiful prairies of what is now the state hearing their 
 name, was this trihe located, vrith some hands, prob- 
 ahly nearly as far northward as the southern counties 
 of the present State of Wisconsin. It is not known 
 in how man}^ villages of these savages he smoked the 
 pipe of peace. From their homes he returned to the 
 Winnehagoes. 
 
 Before Mcolet left the country, on his return to the 
 St. Lawrence, he obtained knowledge of the Sioux — 
 those traders from the west who, it will be remem- 
 bered, were represented as coming in canoes upon a 
 sea to the Winnehagoes ; the same '' sea," doubtless, 
 he came so near to, but did not behold — the Wiscon- 
 sin and Mississippi rivers ! Although without beards, 
 and having only a tuft of hair upon their crowns, 
 these Sioux were no longer mandarins — no longer 
 from China or Japan! Bands of this tribe had 
 pushed their way across the Mississippi, far above the 
 mouth of the Wisconsin, but made no further pro- 
 gress eastward. They, like the Winnehagoes, as pre- 
 viously stated, were of the Dakota family. Whether 
 any of them were seen by IS'icolet is not known ; ^ 
 but he, doubtless, learned something of their real 
 character. There was yet one tribe near the Win- 
 nehagoes to be visited — the Pottawattamies.^ They 
 were located upon the islands at the mouth of Green 
 
 tion where there is a quantity of buffaloes." This nation was 
 probably the Illinois, 
 
 ^As Nicolet proceeded no further to the westward than six 
 days' sail up the Fox river of Green bay, of course, the "Nadvesiv" 
 (Sioux) and " Assinipour" (Assiniboins) were not visited by him. 
 
 ^Synonyms: Pottavvottamies, Poutouatamis, Pouteouatamis, 
 Pouutouatami, Poux, Poueatamis, Pouteouatamiouec, cte. 
 
72 DISCOVERY OF THE XORTHWEST. 
 
 bay, and upon the main land to the southward, along 
 the western shores of Lake Michigan.^ On these 
 Algonquins — for they were of that lineage — Nicolet, 
 upon his return trip, made a friendly call.^ Their 
 homes were not on the line of his outward voyage, 
 hut to the south of it. Mcolet gave no information 
 of them which has been preserved, except that they 
 were neighbors of the Winnebagoes.* 
 
 So Mcolet, in the spring of 1635,* having previ- 
 ously made many friends in the far northwest for 
 his countrymen upon the St. Lawrence, and for 
 France, of nations of Indians, only a few of which 
 had before been heard of, and none ever before vis- 
 ited by a white man ; having been the first to dis- 
 cover Lake Michigan and "the territory northwest 
 
 *Such, at least, was their location a few years after the visit of 
 Nicolet. The islands occupied were those farthest south. 
 
 ^Vimont, lielation, 1640, p. 35. In the Relation of 1643, it is 
 expressly stated that Nicolet visited some of the tribes on his 
 return voyage. 
 
 ^Saj^s Margry {Journal General de ITnstrudion Publupie, 1862): 
 " Les peuples que le pere dit avoir etc pour hi plupart visites par 
 Nicolet sont les Malhominis ou Gens de la FoUe Avoine [Meyio- 
 monees], les Ouinipigous ou Puans [ Winnebagoes), puis les Poute- 
 ouatami [^Pottawattamies], les Eriniouaj (ou Illinois)," etc. 
 
 * It is highly probable that Nicolet commenced his return trip 
 so soon, in the spring of 1635, as the warm w^eather had freed 
 Green bay of its coat of ice. Leaving the Winnebagoes, as soon 
 as navigation opened in the spring, he would have only about 
 ten weeks to reach the St. Lawrence by the middle of July — 
 the time, probably, of his return, as previously mentioned; 
 whereas, having left Quebec July 2, for the west, he had about 
 five months before navigation closed on the lakes, to arrive out. 
 Sault Sainte Marie must, of necessity, therefore, have been vis- 
 ited in going to the Winnebagoes. 
 
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST. 73 
 
 of the river Ohio ; " having boldly struck into the 
 v^ilderness for hundreds of leagues beyond the Huron 
 villages — then the Ultima Thule of givilized discover- 
 ies ; returned, with his seven dusky companions, by way 
 of Mackinaw and along the south shores of the G-reat 
 Manitoulin island to the home thereon of a band of 
 Ottawas.^ He proceeded thence to the Hurons ; re- 
 
 i"To the south of the Nation of the Beaver is an island, in 
 that fresh-water sea [Lake Huron], about thirty leagues in 
 length, inhabited by the Outaouan [Ottawas]. These are a peo- 
 ple come from the nation of the Standing Hair [Cheveux Rel- 
 eves]." — Vimont, Relation, 1640, p. 34. In William R. Smith's 
 translation of so much of this JRelation as names the various 
 tribes visited by Nicolet (Hist. Wis., Vol. III., p. 10), v^-'hat re- 
 lates to the Cheveux Releves is omitted — probably by accident. 
 On a large island, corresponding as to locality with the Great 
 Manitoulin, is placed, on Du Creux' Map of 1660, the " natio 
 surrectorum capillorum " — identical with the Cheveux Releves, 
 just mentioned. 
 
 The Ottawas were first visited by Champlain. This was in the 
 year 1615. They lived southwest of the Hurons. It was he who 
 gave them the name Cheveux Releves — Standing Hair. Sagard 
 saw some of them subsequently, and calls them Andatahonats. 
 See his " Histoire du Canada," p. 199. 
 
 Although, in the citation from the Relation of 1640, just given, 
 the band of the Ottawas upon the Great Manitoulin are said to 
 have "come from the nation of the Standing Hair." it does not 
 fix the residence of those from whom they came as in the valley 
 of the Ottawa river. On the contrary, Cham.plain, in his " Voy- 
 ages" and Map, places them in an opposite direction, not far 
 fi'om the south end of the Nottawassaga bay of Lake Huron Says 
 J.G. Shea (Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll., III., 135) : " There is no trace in the 
 early French writers of any opinion then entertained that they 
 [the Ottawas] had ever been [resided] in the valley of the Ot- 
 tawa river. After the fall of the Hurons [who were cut olf by 
 the Iroquois a number of years subsequent to Nicolet's visit], 
 
 7 
 
74 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 tracing, afterward, his steps to the mouth of French 
 river, up that stream to Lake Nipissing, and down 
 the Mattawan and Ottawa to the St. Lawrence ; jour- 
 neying, upon his return, it is thought, with the sav- 
 ages upon their annual trading- voyage to the French 
 settlements.^ And I^icolet's exploration was ended.^ 
 
 when trade was re-opened with the west, all tribes there were 
 called Ottawas, and the river, as leading to the Ottawa country, 
 got the name." 
 
 ^ As the traffic with the Hurons took: place at Three Rivers, 
 between the 15th and 23d of July, 1635, it is highly probable 
 that Nicolet reached there some time during that month, on his 
 way to Quebec. 
 
 '^ Vimont {Relation, 1643, p. 4) thus briefly disposes of Nico- 
 let's return trip from the Winnebagoes : '* La paix fut conclue; 
 il retourna aux Hurons, et de la a quelque temps aux Trois 
 Riuieres." 
 
CHAPTER lY. 
 
 nicolet's subsequent career and death. 
 
 It is not difficult to imagine the interest which 
 must have been awakened in the breast of Cham- 
 plain upon the return of Mcolet to Quebec. With 
 what delight he must have heard his recital of the 
 particulars of the voyage ! How he must have been 
 enraptured at the descriptions of lakes of unknown 
 extent ; of great rivers never before heard of — never 
 before seen by a Frenchman ! How his imagination 
 must have kindled when told of the numerous Indian 
 nations which had been visited ! But, ah 3ve all, how 
 fondly he hoped one day to bring all these distant 
 countries under the dominion of his own beloved 
 France ! But the heart thus beating quick with 
 pleasurable emotions at the prospects of future glory 
 and renown, soon ceased its throbs. On Christmas 
 day, 1635, Champlain died. In a chamber of the 
 fort in Quebec, " breathless and cold, lay the hardy 
 frame which war, the wilderness, and the sea had 
 buffeted so long in vain." 
 
 The successor of Champlain was Marc Antoine de 
 Bras-de-fer de Chasteaufort. He was succeeded by 
 Charles Huault de Montmagny, who reached E'ew 
 France in 1686. With him came a considerable rein- 
 forcement ; '' and, among the rest, several men of birth 
 and substance, with their families and dependents." 
 
 (75) 
 
76 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 But Montmagny found the aiFuirs of his colony in a 
 woful condition. The " Company of One Hundred" 
 had passed its affairs into the hands of those who were 
 wholly engrossed in the profits of trade. Instead of 
 sending out colonists, the Hundred Associates "granted 
 lands, with the condition that the grantees should fur- 
 nish a certain number of settlers to clear and till them, 
 and these were to be credited to the company." The 
 Iroquois, who, from their intercourse with the Dutch 
 and English traders, had been supplied with fire- 
 arms, and were fast becoming proficient in their use, 
 attacked the Algonquins and Hurons — allies of the 
 French, interrupting their canoes, laden with furs, as 
 they descended the St. Lawrence, killing their own- 
 ers, or hurrying them as captives into the forests, to 
 suffer the horrors of torture. 
 
 At a point to which was given the name of Sillery, 
 four miles above Quebec, a new Algonquin mission 
 was started ; still, in the immediate neighborhood of 
 the town, the dark forests almost unbroken frowned 
 as gloomily as when, thirtj^ years before, Champlain 
 founded the future city. Probably, in all New France, 
 the population, in 1640, did not much exceed two 
 hundred, including women and children. On the 
 eighteenth of May, 1642, Montreal began its exist- 
 ence. The tents of the founders were " inclosed 
 with a strong palisade, and their altar covered by a 
 provisional chapel, built, in the Huron mode, of 
 bark." But the Iroquois had long before become the 
 enemies of the French, sometimes seriously threaten- 
 ing Quebec. So, upon the Island of Montreal, every 
 precaution was taken to avoid surprise. Solid struc- 
 tures of wood soon defied the attacks of the savages ; 
 
nicolet's subsequent career and death. 77 
 
 and 5 to give greater security to the colonists, Mont- 
 magny caused a fort to be erected at the mouth of 
 the Richelieu, in the following August. But the end 
 of the year 1642 brought no relief to the Algonquins 
 or Hurons, and little to the French, from the ferocious 
 Iroquois. 
 
 It was not long after Xicolet's return to Quebec, 
 from his visit to " the People of the Sea," and neigh- 
 boring nations, before he was assigned to Three liiv- 
 ers by Champlain, where he was to continue his 
 office of commissary and interpreter; for, on the 
 ninth of December, 1635, he " came to give advice to 
 the missionaries who were dwelling at the mission 
 that a young Algonquin was sick; and that it would 
 be proper to visit him." ^ And, again, on the seventh 
 of the following month, he is found visiting, with 
 one of the missionaries, a sick Indian, near the fort, 
 at Three Rivers.'^ His official labors were performed 
 to the great satisfaction of both French and Indians, 
 
 ^ " Le neufiesme de Decembre, iustement le lendemain de la 
 feste de la Conception, le sieur lean Nicolet, Truchement pour 
 les Algonquins aux Trois Riuieres, vint donner aduis aux Peres, 
 qui de meuroient en la Residence de la Conception sise au mesme 
 lieu, qu'vn ieune Algonquin se trounoit mal, et qu'il seroit a 
 prospos de le visiter." — Le Jeune, Relation, 1636, p. 8. 
 
 2 " Le septiesme de lanuier de cette annee mil six cens trente 
 six, le fils d'vn grand Sorcier ou longleur fut faict Chrestien, son 
 pere s'y accordant apres de grandes resistances qu'il en fit: car, 
 comme nos Peres euentoient ses mines, et la decreditoient, il ne 
 pouuoit les supporter en sa Cabane. Cepandant comme son fils 
 tiroit a la mort, ils prierent le sieur Nicolet de faire son possible 
 pour sauuer cette ame : ils s'en vont done le Pere Quentin et luy 
 en cette maison d'ecorce, pressent fortement ce Sauuage de con- 
 sentir au baptesme de son petit fils." — Le Jeune, Relation, 1636, 
 p. 10. 
 
78 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 by whom he was equally and sincerely lovecl. lie 
 was constantly assisting the missionaries, so far as his 
 time would permit, in the conversion of the savages, 
 whom he knew how to manage and direct as he 
 desired, and with a skill that could hardly find its 
 equal. His kindness won their esteem and respect. 
 His charity seemed, indeed, to know no bounds.* As 
 interpreter for one of the missionaries, he accompa- 
 nied him from Three Rivers on a journey some 
 leagues distant, on the twelfth of April, 1636, to visit 
 
 ^"Le trente-vniesme [of December, 1635], vne fille agee d'en- 
 uiron seize ans fut baptisee, et nommee Anne par vn de nos Fran- 
 cois. Le Pere Buteux I'instruisant luy dit, que si estant Chres- 
 tienne elle venoit a mourir, son ame iroit au Ciel dans les ioyes 
 eternelles. A ce mot de mourir, elle eut vne si grande frayeur, 
 qu'elle ne voulut plus iamais prester I'oreille au Pere; on luy 
 enuoya le Sieur Nicolet truchement, qui exerce volontiers sem- 
 blables actions de charite ; elle I'escoute paisiblement; mais 
 comme ses occupations le diuertissent ailleurs, il ne la pouuoit 
 visiter si souuent: c'est pourquoy lo Pere Quentin s'efforca d'ap- 
 prendre les premiers rudimens du Christianisme en Sauuage, afin 
 de la pouur instruire. Cela luy reiissit si bien, que cette pauure 
 fille ayant pris goasta cette doctrine salutaire, desira le Baptesme 
 que la Pere luy accorda. La grace a plusieurs effects: on re- 
 marqua que cette fille, fort dedaigneuse et altierede son naturel, 
 deuint fort douce et traittable, estant Chrestienne. — Ibid. 
 
 " II [Nicolet] . . . continua sa charge de Commis et Inter- 
 prete [at Three Rivers] auec vne satisfaction grande des Francois 
 et des Sauuages, desquels il estoit esgalement et vniquement 
 ayme. II conspiroit puissamment, autant que sa charge le per- 
 mettoit, auec nos Peres, pour la conuersion de ces peuples, lesquels 
 il s^auoit manier et tourner ou il vouloit d'vne dexterite qui a 
 peine trouucra son pareil." — Vimont, Relation^ 1643, p. 4. 
 
 Compare, also, Relation, 1G37, p. 24. 
 
nicolet's subsequent career and death. 79 
 
 some savages who were sick ; thus constantly admin- 
 istering to their sufferings.^ 
 
 I^^otwithstanding the colonists of E'ew France were 
 living in a state of temporal and spiritual vassalage, 
 yet the daring Mcolet, and others of the interpreters 
 of Champlain, although devout Catholics and friendly 
 to the establishment of missions among the Indian na- 
 tions, were not Jesuits, nor in the service of these fa- 
 thers ; neither was their's the mission work, in any 
 sense, which was so zealously prosecuted by these 
 disciples of Loyola. They were a small class of men, 
 whose home — some of them — was the forest, and their 
 companions savages. They followed the Indians in 
 their roamings, lived with them, grew familiar with 
 their language, allied themselves, in some cases, with 
 their women, and often became oracles in the camp 
 and leaders on the war-path. Doubtless, when they 
 returned from their rovings, they often had pressing 
 need of penance and absolution. Several of them 
 were men of great intelligence and an invincible 
 courage. From hatred of restraint, and love of wild 
 and adventurous independence, they encountered 
 privations and dangers scarcely less than those to 
 which the Jesuit exposed himself from motives widely 
 
 ^ " Le deuxieme iouer d'Auril, le Pere Quentin fit vn voyage a 
 quelques lieues des Trois Riuieres [Three Rivers], pour quelques 
 malades, dont on nous auoit donne aduis. Le fruict qu'il en rap- 
 porta fut d'auoir expose plusieurs fois sa vie pour Dieu, parmy 
 les dangers des glaces et du manuals temps. II se contenta de 
 leur donner quelque instruction, sans en baptiser aucun, ne les 
 voyant ny en peril de mort, ny suffisamment instruits, Le sieur 
 lean Nicolet luy seruit de trucliement, auec sa charite et fidelite 
 ordinaire, dont nos Peres tirent de grands seruices en semblables 
 occasions." — Le Jeune, Relation, 1636, pp. 57, 58. 
 
80 DISCOVERY OP THE NOHTIIWEST. 
 
 diiFerent • — he, from religious zeal, charity, and the 
 hope of paradise ; they, simply hecause they liked it. 
 Some of the best families of Canada claim descent 
 from this vigorous and hardy stock.^ 
 
 " The Jesuits from the first had cherished the plan 
 of a seminary for Huron hoys at Quebec. The gov- 
 ernor and the company favored the design ; since not 
 only would it be an eificient means of spreading the 
 faith and attaching the tribe to the French interest, but 
 the children would be pledges for the good behavior of 
 the parents, and hostages for the safety of missionaries 
 and traders in the Indian towns. In the summer of 
 1636, Father Daniel, descending from the Huron 
 country, worn, emaciated, his cassock patched and 
 tattered, and his shirt in rags, brought with him a 
 boy, to whom two others were soon added ; and 
 through the influence of the interpreter, ^icolet, 
 the number was afterward increased by several more. 
 One of them ran away, two ate themselves to death, 
 a fourth was carried home by his father, while three 
 of those remaining stole a canoe, loaded it with all 
 they could lay their hands upon, and escaped in tri- 
 umph with their plunder." ^ 
 
 I^icolet frequently visited Quebec. Upon one of 
 
 ^ Adapted from Parkman's " Jesuits in North America," pp. 
 165, 1C6. 
 
 ^ Parkman's " Jesuits in North America," pp. 167, 168, citing 
 the Relations of 1G37 and 1G38. Father Le Jeune {delation, 
 1030, p. 75) says ; " Comme i'ecry cecy lo vingt-huictieme d'Aoust, 
 voila que le Pere Buteux me mande lo depart du Pere loques, 
 I'arriuee d'vne autre troupe de Hurons, de qui le sieur Nicolet 
 a cncDre obtenu trois ieunes gar9ons, sur le rapport quo leur ont 
 fait lours compagnons du bon traittcmont quo Monsieur le Gen- 
 eral et tous los autres Francois leur auoient fait." 
 
nicolet's subsequent career and death. 81 
 
 these occasions he had a narrow escape. He found 
 the St. Lawrence incumbered with ice. Behind him 
 there came so great a quantity of it that he was com- 
 pelled to get out of his canoe and jump upon one of 
 the floating pieces. He saved himself with much 
 diiRculty and labor. This happened in April, 1637.^ 
 On the twenty-seventh of the same month ]N"icolet 
 was present at Quebec, on the occasion of a deputa- 
 tion of Indians from Three Rivers waiting upon the 
 governor, asking a favor at his hands promised by 
 Champlain. He was consulted as to what the prom- 
 ise of the former governor was.^ 
 
 In June, he was sent, it seems, up from the fort at 
 Three Rivers to ascertain whether the Iroquois were 
 approaching. He went as far as the river Des Prairies 
 — the name for the Ottawa on the north side of the 
 island of Montreal.^ In August, the enemy threat- 
 ened Three Rivers in force. The French and Indians 
 in the fort could not be decoyed into danger. How- 
 ever, a boat was sent up the St. Lawrence, conducted 
 by ^icolet. The bark approached the place where 
 the Iroquois were, but could not get within gun-shot; 
 yet a random discharge did some execution. The 
 enemy were judged to be about five hundred strong. 
 Although the fort at Three Rivers was thus seriously 
 threatened, no attack was made.^ 
 
 On the seventh of October, 1637, Mcolet was mar- 
 ried at Quebec to Marguerite Couillard, a god-child of 
 
 ^ Le Jeune, lielaiion, 1G37, p. 78. 
 
 2 lb., p. 81. 
 
 3 lb., p. 84. 
 * lb., p. 89. 
 
82 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 Champlain.^ The fruit of tins marriage was but one 
 child — a daughter. I^icolet continued his residence 
 at Three Rivers, largely employed in his official du- 
 ties of commissary and interpreter, remaining there 
 until the time of his death.^ In 1641, he, with one 
 of the Jesuit fathers, was very busy in dealing with 
 a large force of Iroquois that was threatening the 
 place.^ 
 
 About the first of October, 1642, ISTicolet was called 
 down to Quebec from Three Rivers, to take the 
 place of his brother-in-law, M. Olivier le Tardiff, 
 who was General Commissary of the Hundred Part- 
 ners, and who sailed on the seventh of that montli for 
 France. The change was a very agreeable one to ^N'ico- 
 let, but he did not long enjoy it ; for, in less than a month 
 after his arrival, in endeavoring to make a trip to his 
 
 ^ See Ferland's " Cours D' Histoiredu Canada," Vol. I., p. 326; 
 also, his " Notes sur les Resigistres de Notre-Dame de Quebec," 
 p. 30, notes; and Gravier's " Decourvertes et Etablissements de 
 Cavalier de la Salle," p. 47. 
 
 Nicolet's wife was a daughter of GuillaumeCouillard and Guil- 
 lemette Ilebert. Kicolet's marriage contract was dated at Que- 
 bec, October 22, 1G37, several days subsequent to his nuptials. 
 This was not an uncom'mon thing in New France in early days, 
 but has not been allowed in Canada for about a century past. The 
 contract w\as drawn up by Guitet, a notary of Quebec. There 
 were present Fran9ois Derre de Gand, Commissaire-General ; Oli- 
 vier le Tardif; Noel Juchereau ; Pierre De la Porte; Guillaume 
 Iluboust; Guillaume Ilebert; Marie RoUet aieule do la future 
 epouse; Claude Racine; Etienne Racine. 
 
 ^Tho presence of Nicolet at Three Rivers during all these 
 years (except from March 19, 1638, to January 9, 1639) is shown 
 by reference to the Relations, and to the church register of thai 
 place. See Appendix, I., as to the latter. 
 
 * Vimont, Relation, 1641, p. 41. 
 
nicolet's subsequent career and death. 83 
 
 place of residence to release an Indian prisoner in the 
 possession of a band of Algonquins, who were slowly 
 torturing him, his zeal and humanity cost him his 
 life.^ On the 27th of October,'^ he embarked at Que- 
 bec, near seven o'clock in the evening, in the launch 
 of M. de Savigny, which was headed for Three Riv- 
 ers. He had not yet reached Sillery, when a north- 
 east squall raised a terrible tempest on the St. Law- 
 rence and filled the boat. Those who were in it did 
 not immediately go down ; they clung some time to 
 the launch. Kicolet had time to say to M. de Sa- 
 vigny, " Save yourself, sir ; you can swim ; I can not. 
 I am going to God. I recommend to you my wife 
 and daughter." ^ 
 
 ^ Monsieur Oliuier, Commis General de Messieurs de la Com- 
 pagnie, estant venu I'an passe en France, le dit sieur Nicollet de- 
 scendit a Quebec en sa place, auec vne ioye, et consolation sen- 
 sible qu'il eut de se voir dans la paix et la deuotion de Quebec. 
 Mais il n'enioiiit pas long-temps: car vn mois ou deux apres son 
 arriuee, faisant vn voyage aux Trois Riuieres pour la deliurance 
 d'vn prisonnier Sauuage, son zele luy cousta la vie, qu'il perdit 
 dans le naufrage." — Vimont, Relation, 1643, p. 4. 
 
 "^ I'adiousteray icy vn mot de la vie et de la mort de Monsieur 
 Nicollet, Interpreto et Commis de Messieurs de la Compagnie 
 de la Nouuelle France ; il mourut dix iours apres le Pere [Charles 
 Raymbault, decede le 22 Octobre, 1642], il auoit demeure vingt- 
 cinq ans en ces quartiers." — Vimont, i?c/a;'?o??, 1643, p. 3. The 
 incorrectness of this date as to the death of Nicolet will here- 
 after be shown. 
 
 ^ " II \_Nicole.t] sembarqua a Quebec sur les sept heures du soir, 
 dans la chalouppe de Monsieur de Sauigny, qui tiroit vers les 
 Trois Riuieres, ils n'estoient pas encor arriuez a Sillery, qu'vn 
 coup de vent de Nord Est, qui auoit excite vne horrible tem- 
 peste sur la grande rluiere, remplit la chalouppe d'eau et la 
 coula a fond, apres luy auoir fait faire deux ou trois tours dans 
 
84 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 The wild waves tore the men, one after another, 
 from the boat, which had capsized and floated against 
 a rock, and four, inchiding ^N'icolet, sank to rise no 
 more.^ M. de Savigny alone cast himself into the 
 
 I'eau. Ceux qui estoient dedans n'allerent pas incontinent a 
 fond, ils s'attacherent quelque temps a la challouppe. Monsieur 
 Nicollet eut loisir de dire a Monsieur de Sauigny : Monsieur,^ 
 sauuez-vous, vous sgauez nager; ie ne le S9ay pas. Pour nioy ie 
 m'en vay a Dieu; ie vous recommande ma femme et ma fiUe." — 
 Vimont, H elation, 1G43, p. 4. 
 
 Nicolet's daughter afterwards married Jean-Baptiste le Gard- 
 eur de Repentigny, entering into a family which was one of the 
 most considerable in French America. Her son, Augustin le 
 Gardeur de Courtemanche, — " officier dans les troupes, se distin- 
 gua, par de longs et utiles services dans I'ouest, futun digne con- 
 temporain de Nicolas Perot, de meme qu'un honorable rejeton 
 de sou grandpere Nicolet." — Suite's " Melanges D' Ilistoire et de 
 Litterature," p. 446. 
 
 ^It is reasonably certain that the day of Nicolet's death was 
 October 27, 1G42, Compare Margry, in Journal General de t In- 
 struction Publique, 1862. A recent writer says: 
 
 ** Le 29 septembre 1642, aux Trois-Rivieres, le Pere Jean de 
 Brebeuf baptista deux petites lilies de race algonquine dont les 
 parrains et marraines furent ' Jean Nicolet avec Perrette (nom 
 indien), et Nicolas Marsolet (I'interprete), avec Marguerite Couil- 
 lard, femme de M. Nicolet.' 
 
 " Le 7 octobre suivant eut lieu, a Quebec, le depart des navires 
 pour la France. (Iielation, 1643, p. 46.) Cette Relation ecrite 
 vers la fin de I'ete de 1643, raconte ce qui s'est passe apres le 
 depart des navires de 1642. 
 
 " Le sieur Olivier le Tardif partit pour la France cet automne, 
 1642, et fut remplace a Quebec, dans sa charge de commis-gon- 
 eral de la compagnie des Cent-Associes, par son beau-frere Nico- 
 let, qui descendit des Trois-Rivieres expresseraent pour cola (Iie- 
 lation, 1643, p. 4), par consequent entre lo 29 septembre et lo 7 
 octobre. 
 
 " Le 19 octobre, un sauvago d'uno nation aPieo aux Iroquois 
 
nicolet's subsequent career and death. 85 
 
 water, and swam among the waves, which were Hke 
 small mountains. The launch was not very far from 
 the shore, hut it was pitch dark, and the bitter cold 
 had covered the river banks with ice. Savigny, feel- 
 ing his resolution and his strength failing him, made 
 
 fut amene captif aux Trois-Rivieres par les Algonquins de ce 
 lieu, qui le condamiierent a perir sur le bucher. {Relation, 1G43, 
 p. 46.) Les Peres Jesuites et M. des Rochers, le commandant du 
 fort, ayant epuise tous les arguments qu'ils croyaient pouvoir em- 
 ployer pour induire ces barbares a ne pas faire mourir leur pris- 
 onnier, envoyerent un messager a Quebec avertir Nicolet de ce 
 qui se passait et reclamer son assistance. {Relation, 1643, p. 4.) 
 
 " Ces pourparlers et ces demarches paraissent avoir occupe 
 plusieurs jours. 
 
 " A cette nouvelle, Nicolet, n'ecoutant que son coeur, s'em- 
 barqua a Quebec, dans la chaloupe de M. Chavigny, vers les sept 
 heures du soir. L'embarcation n'etait pas arrives a Sillery, qu'un 
 coup de vent du nord-est qui avait souleve une grosse tempete, la 
 remplit d'eau et la coula a fond. M. de Chavigny seul se sauva. 
 La nuit etait tres-noire et il faisait un froid apre qui avait couvert 
 de ' bordages' les rives du fleuve. {Relation, 1C43, p. 4.) 
 
 " Dans ses Notes sur les registres de Noire-Dame de Quebec, M. 
 I'abbe Ferland nous donne le texte de I'acte qui suit: ' Le 29 
 octobre, on fit les funerailles de monsieur Nicollet et de trois 
 hommes de M. de Chavigny, noyes dans une chaloupe qui allait 
 de Quebec a Siliery ; les corps ne furent point trouves.' 
 
 " M. de Chavigny demeurait a Sillery. II est probable que 
 Nicolet comptait repartir de la le lendemain, soit a la voile (en 
 chaloupe) ou en canot d'ecorce, selon I'etat du fleuve, pour at- 
 teindre les Trois-Rivieres. 
 
 " Le captif des Algonquins ayant ete delivre par I'entremise de 
 M. des Rochers, arriva a Quebec douze jours apres le naufragede 
 Nicolet {Relation, 1643, p. 4), le 9 novembre {Relation, 1643, p. 44), 
 ce qui fixerait au 27 ou 28 octobre la date demandee. 
 
 " Comme ce malheur cut lieu a la nuit close, pendant une tem- 
 pete, il est raisonable de supposer que la recherche des cadavres 
 ne put se faire que le lendemain, surtout lorsque nous songeons 
 que Sillery n'est pas Quebec, quoiqu'assez rapproche. Le service 
 
86 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 a VOW to God, and a little after, reaching down with 
 his feet, he felt the bottom, and stepping out of the 
 water, he reached Sillery half dead. For quite a 
 while he was unable to speak ; then, at last, he re- 
 counted the fatal accident which, besides the death 
 of Nicolet — disastrous to the whole country — had cost 
 him three of his best men and a large part of his 
 property. He and his wife suffered this great loss, 
 in a barbarous country, with great patience and res- 
 ignation to the will of God, and without losing any 
 of their courage.^ 
 
 funebre dut etre celebre le troisieme jour, et non pas le lende- 
 main de Tevenement en question. 
 
 " J'adopie done la date du lundi 27 octobre comme celle de la 
 mort de Nicolet. 
 
 " II est vrai que la Helation citee plus haut nous dit (p. 3) que 
 le Pere Charles Rayinbault deceda le 22 octobre, et que la mort 
 de Nicolet eut lieu dix jours apres; mais facte du 29 octobre au 
 registre de Quebec renverse ce calcul de dix jours qui nous me- 
 nerait au ler ou 2 novembre. 
 
 " La meme Relation (p. 4) dit aussi que Nicolet perit un mois 
 ou deux apres son arrivee a Quebec, tandis que nous voyons par 
 ce q.ue j'expose ci-dessus qu'il n'a guere ete plus de trois semaines 
 absent des Trois-Rivieres avant de partir pour sa fatale expe- 
 dition. 
 
 " La date du 27 octobre parait irrefutable." — M. Suite, in 
 IJ Opinion Puhliqiie, Montreal, July 24, 1879. 
 
 ^ Les vagues les arracherent tous les vns apres les autres de la 
 chalouppe, qui flottoit renuersee contre vne roche. Monsieur 
 de Sauigny seul se ietta a I'eau et nagea parmy des flots et des 
 vagues qui resembloient a de petites montagnes. La Chalouppe 
 n'estoit pas bien loin du riuage; mais il estoit nuict toute 
 noire, et faisoit vn froid aspre, qui auoit desia glace les bords 
 de la riuiere. Le dit sieur de Sauigny, sentant le cceur et les 
 forces qui luy manquoient, fit vn voeu d Dieu, et peu apres 
 frappant du pied il sent la terre, et se tirant hors do I'eau, 
 
nicolet's subsequent career and death. 87 
 
 The savages of Sillery, at the report of Mcolet's 
 shipwreck, ran to the place, and not seeing him any 
 where, displayed indescribahle sorrow. It was not 
 the first time he had exposed himself to danger of 
 death for the good of the Indians. He had done so 
 frequently. Thus perished John IsTicolet, in the w^a- 
 ters of the great river of Canada — the red man and 
 the Frenchman alike mourning his untimely fate.^ 
 
 Twelve days after the shipwreck, the prisoner to 
 the Algonquins, for whose deliverance I^icolet started 
 on his journey, arrived at Sillery — the commander at 
 Three Elvers, following the order of the governor, 
 having ransomed him. He w^as conducted to the hos- 
 pital of the place to be healed of the injuries he had 
 received from his captors. . They had stripped the 
 flesh from his arms, in some places to the hone. The 
 nuns at the hospital cared for him with much sym- 
 pathy, and cured him so quickly that in a month's 
 
 s'en vint en nostre maison a Sillery a demy mort. II de- 
 meura assez long-temps sans pouuoir parler; puis enfin 11 nous 
 raconta le funeste accident, qui outre la mort de Monsieur 
 Nicollet, dommageable a tout le pays, luy auoit perdue trois de 
 ses meilleurs liommes et vne grande partie de son meuble et de 
 ses prouisions. Luy et Mademoiselle sa femme ont porte cette 
 perte signallee dans vn pays barbare, auec vne grande patience 
 et resignation a la volonte de Dieu, et sans rien diminuer de 
 leur courage. — Vimont, Belation, 1C43, p. 4. 
 
 ^ " Les Sauuages de Sillery, au bruit du naufFrage de Monsieur 
 Nicollet, courent sur le lieu, et ne le voyant plus paroistre, en 
 tesmoignent des regrets indicibles. Ce n'estoit pas la premiere 
 fois que cet homme s'estoit expose ou danger de la mort pour le 
 bien et le salut des Sauuages : il I'a faict fort souuent, et nous a 
 laisse des exemples qui sont au dessus de I'estat d'vn homme 
 marie, et tiennent de le vie Apostolique et laissent vne enuie au 
 plus feruent Religieux de I'imiter."— Vimont, Relation, 1643, p. 4. 
 
88 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 time lie was able to return to liis country. All the 
 neophytes showed him as much compassion and charity 
 as the Algonquins had displayed of cruelty. They gave 
 him two good, Christianized savages to escort him as 
 far as the country of a neighboring tribe of his own, 
 to the end that he might reach his home in safety.^ 
 
 After the return of the French to Quebec, the 
 Jesuits, as previously mentioned, were commissioned 
 with the administration of spiritual affairs in 'New 
 France. Some of these turned their attention to the 
 Europeans; the rest were employed in missions among 
 the savages. In the autumn of 1635, the residences 
 and missions of Canada contained fifteen Fathers 
 and five Brothers of the Society of Jesus. At Que- 
 bec, there were also formed two seculars — ecclesiastics. 
 One of these was a brother of ^icolet.^ lie had come 
 
 ^ '• Douze lours apres leur naufrage, le piisonnier pour la deliu- 
 ranceduquel il [Nicolet] s'estoit einbarque, arriuaicy. Monsieur 
 des Roches commandant aux Trois Riuieres, suiuant I'ordre de 
 Monsieur leGouuerneur, Tauoitrachete. II mitpiedaterrca Sil- 
 lery, et de la fut conduit a T Hospital pour estre pause des playes 
 et blessures que les Algonquins luy auoient faites apres sa cap- 
 ture: lis luy auoient emporte la chair des bras, en quelques en- 
 droits iusques aux os. Les Religieuses hospitalieres le receurent 
 auec beaucoup de charite, et le firent panser fort soigneusement, 
 en sorte qu'en trois semaines ou vn mois, il fut en estat de re- 
 tourner en son pays. Tous nos Neophytes luy tesmoignerent 
 autant de compassion et de charite que les Algonquins de la 
 haut luy auoient montre de cruaute: lis luy donnerent deux 
 bons Sauuages Christiens, pour le conduire iusques aux pays des 
 Abnaquiois, qui sont voisins de sa nation." — Vimont, Belation, 
 1C43, pp. 4, 5. 
 
 ' His name was G illes Nicolet. He was born in Cherbourg, and 
 came to Canada in ]0;>5. lie is one of the first " pretres secu- 
 liers" — that is, not belonging to congregations or institutes, such 
 
nicolet's subsequent career and death. 89 
 
 from Cherbourg to join him upon the St. Lawrence; 
 and, during his residence in the colony, which was 
 continued to 1647, he was employed in visiting French 
 settlements at a" distance from Quebec.^ Another 
 brother — Pierre — who was a navigator, also resided 
 in Canada, but left the country some time after Mco- 
 let's death.2 The widow of l!^icolet was married at 
 Quebec, in 1646, to j^icholas Macard. 
 
 E^icolet's discoveries, although not immediately fol- 
 lowed up because of the hostility of the Iroquois and 
 the lack of the spirit of adventure in Champlain's suc- 
 cessor, caused, finally, great results. He had unlocked 
 the door to the Far West, where, afterward, were 
 seen the fur-trader, the voyageur, the Jesuit mission- 
 ary, and the government agent. 'New France was 
 extended to the Mississippi and beyond; yet I^Ticolet 
 did not live to witness the progress of French trade 
 and conquest in the countries he had discovered. 
 
 The name of the family of Nicolet appears to 
 have been extinguished in Canada, with the departure 
 of M. Gilles Mcolet, priest, already mentioned ; but 
 the respect which the worthy interpreter had deserved 
 induced the people of Three Rivers to perpetuate his 
 memory. The example had been given before his 
 death. "We read in the delation of 1637 that the river 
 St. John, near Montreal (now the river Jesus), took its 
 
 as the Jesuits and the Recollets — whose name appears on the 
 Quebec parochial register. 
 
 ^ Those of the coast of Beaupre, between Beauporf and Cape 
 Tourmente. Ferland's "Cours D'Histoire du Canada," Vol. I., 
 
 pp. 276, 277. 
 
 2 Suite's " Melanges D' Ilistoire et de Litterature," p. 446. '^ 
 8 
 
90 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 name from John Mcolet. To-day Canada has the river, 
 the lake, the falls, the village, the city, the college, and 
 the county of Nieolet. ^ From the United States — 
 especially from the Northwest — equal honor is due. 
 
 " History can not refrain from saluting Nicolet as a 
 disinterested traveler, who, by his explorations in the 
 interior of America, has given clear proofs of his 
 energetic character, and whose merits have not been 
 disputed, although subsequently they w^ere temporarily 
 forgotten." The first fruits of his daring were gath- 
 ered by the Jesuit fathers even before his death ; for, 
 in the autumn of 1641, those of them who were 
 among the Ilurons received a deputation of Indians 
 occupying '^ the country around a rapid, in the midst 
 of the channel by which Lake Superior empties into 
 Lake Huron," inviting them to visit their tribe. 
 
 ^Benjamin Suite, in t Opinion Pnbliquc, 1873. The writer adds: 
 *' La riviere Nicolet est formee de deux rivieres qui gardentcha- 
 cune ce nom; Tune au nord est sort d'un lac appele Nicolet, dans 
 le comte de Wolfe, township de Ham ; I'autre, celle du sud ouest, 
 qui passe dans le comte de Richmond, a donne le nom de Nico- 
 let a un village situe sur ses bords, dans le townshii^ de Shipton. 
 Ce village que les Anglais nomment 'Nicolet Falls' est un cen- 
 tre d'industrie prospere. La villa de Nicolet, ainsi que le col- 
 lege de ce nom, sont situes pres de la decharge des eaux reunies 
 de ces deux rivieres au lac Saint-Pierre. 
 
 " Peu d'annees apres la mort de Jean Nicolet, les triflu- 
 viens donnaient deja son nom a la riviere en question, malgre 
 les soins que prenaient les fonctionnaires civils de ne designer 
 cet endroit que par les mots ' la riviere de Laubia ou la riviere 
 Cresse.' M. de Laubia ne concede la seigneurie qu'en 1672, et 
 M. Cresse ne I'obtint que plus tard, mais avant ces deux seign- 
 eurs, la riviere portrait le nom de Nicolet, et I'usage en prevalut 
 en depit des tentatives faites pour lui imj^oser d'autres denomi- 
 nations." 
 
nicolet's subsequent career and death. 91 
 
 These " missionaries were not displeased with the 
 opportunity thus presented of knowing the countries 
 lying beyond Lake Huron, which no one of them had 
 yet traversed ;" so Isaac Jogues and Charles Raym- 
 bault were detached to accompany the Chippewa dep- 
 uties, and view the field simply, not to establish a 
 mission. They passed along the shore of Lake Hu- 
 ron, northward, and pushed as far up St. Mary's strait 
 as the '^ Sault," which they reached after seventeen 
 days' sail from their place of starting. There they — 
 the first white men to visit the Northwest after Mco- 
 let — harangued two thousand of that nation, and other 
 Algonquins. Upon their return to the St. Lawrence, 
 Jogues was captured by the Iroquois, and Raymbault 
 died on the twenty-second of October, 1642 — a few 
 days before the death of iTicolet. 
 
APPEIN^DIX. 
 
 I.- — EXTRACTS (LITERAL) FROM -THE PARISH CHURCH REGIS- 
 TER, OF THREE RIVERS, CANADA, CONCERNING NICOLET, 
 
 " Le 27 clu mois de clecembre 1635, fut baptisee par 
 le Pere Jacques Buteux ^ line petite lille iigee d'envi- 
 ron deux ans, lille du capitaine des Montagnetz Capi- 
 tainal.^ Elle fut nommee Marie par M. de Mauper- 
 tuis et M. Mcollet ses parrains. Elle s'appelait en 
 sauvage 8minag8m8c8c8." ^ 
 
 II. 
 
 *' Le 30 du mois de Mai 1636, une jeune Sauvagesse 
 Algonquine instruite par le Pere Jacques Buteux, fut 
 baptisee par le Pere Claude Quentin et nommee 
 Fran9oise par M. Nicollet son parrain." [1637, 7th 
 
 1 Father Buteux resided in Three Eivers from the year of the 
 establishment of that place, 1G34, to 1G51 when, on his second 
 trip to the upper St. Maurice he was killed by the Iroquois. 
 
 ^Capitanal, chief of the Montagnais Indians, is the man who 
 did the most amongst his people to impress upon the mind of 
 Champlain the necessity of erecting a fort at3-Rivers. He died 
 in 1635. See Relation, 1633, p. 26; 1635, p. 21. 
 
 'The figure " 8" -in such words is, as before mentioned, sup- 
 posed to be equivalent to " w," " we," or " oo," in English. Ante, 
 p. 46, note. 
 
 (93) 
 
94 APPENDIX. 
 
 October. At Quebec. Marriage of Mcolet with 
 Marguerite Couillard.] 
 
 III. 
 
 " Le 18 novembre 1637 fut baptisee (par le Pere 
 Claude Pijart) une femme Algonquine. Elle fut nom- 
 mee Marie par iTi collet son parrain. Elle est de- 
 cedee." 
 
 IV. 
 
 ^' Le 18 decembre 1637 fut baptise par le Pere 
 Jacques Buteux un petit Alonquin age d'environ 
 deux ans, et fut nomme Jean par M. Nicollet. II est 
 decMe." 
 
 V. 
 
 " 1638. Le 19 de mars, jour de Saint-Joseph, fut 
 baptise par le Pere Jacques Buteux, dans notre clia- 
 pelle avec les ceremonies de I'Eglise, Anisk8ask8si, 
 et fut nomme Paul par M. I^icollet, son parrain ; sa 
 marraine fut mademoiselle Marie Le ]^euf.^ B est 
 decede." [The Parish Register for 1638 stops at the 
 date of 24th May, the remainder being lost.] 
 
 VI. 
 
 " Le 9 Janvier 1639, le Pere Jacques Delaplace 
 baptisa solennellement, en notre chapelle, une petite 
 fille agee de 2 ans appelee ]N'itig8m8sta8an, iille de 
 Papitchitikpabe8, capitaine de la Petite-iTation. Elle 
 
 ^ Le Neuf. Name of a large family, belonging to the nobility. 
 Jean Godefroy having married Marie Le Neuf, they all came 
 together (36 people) to Canada, when the branch of Le Gar- 
 dcur settled at Quebec and that of Le Neuf proper at 3-Rivers. 
 Throughout the history of Canada, we met with members of 
 that group. 
 
APPENDIX. 95 
 
 fut nommee Louise par M. Mcolet. Sa marraine fut 
 une Sauvagesse baptisee, femme de feu Thebachit." 
 
 VII. 
 
 ^' Le 4 mars 1639, le Eeverend Pere Jacques Buteux 
 baptisa solennellement en notre chappelle les deux eu- 
 fants de 8ab8sch8stig8an, Algonquin de I'lsle, et 
 Sk8esens, sa femme. Le fils age d'environ quatre ans 
 fut nomme Thomas par M. Nicolet, et Alizon/ et la 
 fille kgee d'environ six ans, fut nommee Marguerite 
 par M. de Malapart ^ et Madame Mcolet." 
 
 VIII. 
 
 " 1639. Le huitieme Mars, le E. P. Buteux baptiza 
 solennellement Nipiste8ignan age d'environ vingt ans, 
 fils de Pran§ois ^enascouat,^ habitant de Sillery. 
 rran9ois Marguerie et Madame Nicolet le nommerent 
 Vincent." 
 
 IX. 
 
 " Le 20 mars 1639 le R. P. Buteux baptiza solen- 
 nellement en notre chapelle Louis Godefroy, fils de 
 M. Jean Godefroy^ et de Damoisselle Marie Le 'NenL 
 
 1 Alizon is the family name of the wife of Gourdin, the brewer, 
 who resided at the Fort of Three-Rivers as early as 1G34. 
 
 2 Malapart was at that time acting as governor of the post. 
 
 * Nenascoumat, an Indian chief, is much connected with the 
 history of the first settlement of his people at 3-Rivers and Sil- 
 lery, from 1634 to about 1650. 
 
 * Jean Godefroy, the principal man who caused French people 
 to come direct from France to settle at Three-Rivers, as early as 
 1636. He had been in Canada for many years before. His 
 brother Thomas is well known in the history of those years for his 
 services both to the missionaries and to the colonists: he was 
 
96 APPENDIX. 
 
 Son parrain fnt Thomas Godefroy, et sa marraine 
 Madame Marguerite Nicolet." 
 
 X. 
 
 "Anno Domini 1639 die 16 Julii, Ego Claudius 
 Pijart vices agens parochi ecclesise B. Y. Conceptee ad 
 Tria Flumina baptizavit cum ceremoniis, Ognatem, 4 
 circiter menses, natem patre 8kar8st8, de la Petite- 
 Nation, et matre SsasamitSnSkSeS. Partrinus fuit D. 
 Jaunes Mcolets Interp." 
 
 XI. 
 
 " 1639. Anno Domini 1639, di 20 julii Ego Clau- 
 dius Pijart vices agens parochi ecclesise Beatge Yirginis 
 Conceptse ad Tria Flumina baptizavit cum ceremo- 
 niis Marinum, filium patria insularibus; patrinus 
 idem qui supra Joannes Mcolet. Infant natus 2 
 menses. II est decede." 
 
 XII. 
 
 " Anno Domini 1639, die 30. Julii, Ego Jacobus 
 Buteux vices agens parochi ecclesise B. Y. C. at Tria 
 Flumina, baptizavit Algonquinensen natum 40 cir- 
 citer annos nomine Abdom Chibanagouch, patria in- 
 sularem, quem nominavit Dominus Joannes I^icolet 
 nunc Joseph SmasatickSe." [1639. 9th October. ISTic- 
 olet was present at the wedding of Jean Joliet and 
 Marie d'Abancour, at Quebec. Louis Joliet, son of 
 the above, was the discoverer of the Upper Missis- 
 sippi.] 
 
 burned by the Iroquois. Louis, son of Jean, became King's At- 
 torney. Jean was raised to the rank of nobleman by Louis XIV. 
 His descendants are still in the district of 3-Rivers, 
 
APPENDIX. 97 
 
 XIII. 
 
 " 1639. Die 7 Decembris. Ego Jacobus Buteux 
 baptizavit infentem annum circiter natum, nomine 
 Ombrosuim KatankSquich, filium defuncti 8taga- 
 mechkS, patria 88echkarini, quedu educat ]N"8ncheak8s 
 mulier patria insulare, patrinus fuit Joannes Mcolet." 
 
 XIV. 
 
 *^ 1640. Die 6 Januarii, ego Jacobus Buteux, bap- 
 tizavit cum ceremoniis Mariam IkSesens patria insu- 
 larem natam circiter 28 annos, cujus patrinus fuit 
 Joannes Mcolet et Joanna La Meslee,^ exur pistoris. 
 Elle est avec Stcbakin." 
 
 XV. 
 
 **Anno 1640, 4 Decemb. statim post portam mor- 
 tuus sepultus in ccemeterio item filius Domini Joannis 
 Nicolet interpretis." [In the margin is written : " Ig- 
 nace l!^icolet."] 
 
 XVI. 
 
 "Anno 1640. Die 14 Januarii, ego Carolus Raym- 
 baut^ baptizavi cum cseremoniis Franciscummissameg 
 natum circiter 4 annos iilium ChingSa defuncti, patria 
 
 ^Christophe Crevier, sieur de la Melee, settled in 3-Rivers 
 in 1639. Like that of Godefroy, the family became very 
 numerous and prosperous. The descendants of Crevier still ex- 
 ist in the district of 3-Riv. Fran9ois Crevier, born 13th May 
 1640 was killed by the Iroquois in Three Rivers when 13 
 years old only. 
 
 2 Father Raymbault is the same that accompanied Father Jo- 
 gues in the spring of the year 1642 to what is now Sault Ste. 
 Marie, Michigan. He died, it will be remembered, in the fall 
 of 1642. Ante, p. 91. 
 9 
 
98 APPENDIX. 
 
 KliinSchebink educatur apucl 8abirini8ich 
 
 Patrinus fuit D. Franciscus de Champflour^ modera- 
 tor; matrina Margarita Couillard uxor D. i^icoletin- 
 terpretis." 
 
 XVII. 
 
 " 14o. die Maii 1640. Ego Carolus Raymbault bap- 
 tisavi cum ceeremoniis Franciscum pridie natum fil- 
 ium Christophori Crevier pistoris, Et Joanna Ennart 
 conjugum Rothomagensium. Patrinus fuit Dominus 
 Franciscum de Champflour moderator et Dna Mar- 
 garita Couillard conjux interpretis (est in Galliae)." 
 [On the 2d day of September, 1640 ;N"icolet was pres- 
 ent at Quebec at the wedding of Nicolas Bonhomme.] 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 *'Anno Domini 1640 die 25 Decembris, ipso Jesu 
 Domini N'ostri Kativitatis die ego Joannes Dequen, 
 Societatis Jesu sacerdos vices agens Rectoris Ecclesise 
 conceptionis beatse Virginis ad Tria Flumina dicta, 
 baptizavi solemniter in eodem ecclesia Paulum 8abir- 
 im8ich annum Trigesimum cerciterquintumdoctrinse 
 Christianse rudimentis sufRcienter instructum. Patri- 
 nus fuit Joannes Mcolet, interpret, huic nomen Pauli 
 impasuit; matrina fuit Maria Le Neuf." 
 
 XIX. 
 
 *'Anno Domini 1641 dia lo Aprilis. Ego Josephus 
 Poncet, Societatis Jesu, baptizavi puellam recens na- 
 tam patre Abdon 8maskik8eia, matre Michtig8k8e, 
 
 ^ Champflour left for France in the autumn of 1645. For sev- 
 eral years, he had been governor of 3-Rivers. 
 
APPENDIX. 99 
 
 nomen Cecilia impositum est. Patrinus fuit . . , 
 Lavallee ; ^ Matrina Margarita Couillard uxor Joan- 
 nis Nicolet interpretis." 
 
 XX. 
 
 "lo Aprilis Anno 1642 Ego Josephus Poncet So- 
 cietatis Jesu, in ecclesise immaculatae conceptionis B. 
 V. Mariee, baptisavi puellum recens natam. Patre 
 Joannes Nicolet. Matre Margarita Couillard ejus 
 uxor. I^omen Margarita impositum. Patrinus fuit 
 Dnus Jacobus Ertel;^ matrina Dna Joanna Le Mar- 
 chand,^ viduse Dni Leneuf." 
 
 XXI. 
 
 " Tertio Julii Anni 1642, ego Joannes de Brebeuf, 
 Societatis Jesu, tunc vices agens paroclii in ecclesise 
 Immaculatse Conceptionis ad Tria Flumina baptisavi 
 infantem recens natam. Patre Duo Jacobo Hartel. 
 Matre Marie Marguerie ^ ejus uxore. Nomine Fran- 
 cisco impositum. Patrinus fuit: Franciscus Mar- 
 guerye, infantio avanculus ; matrina Margarita Couil- 
 lart domini Joannis jN'icolet uxor." 
 
 * -laude Jutra lit Lavallee was one of the first settlers of 3- 
 Rivers, where his descendants still exist. 
 
 Jacques Hertel, married to Marie Marguerie. He held 
 land at 3-Rivers before the foundation of the Fort. Died 
 1652. His son Francois was one of the greatest sons of Canada. 
 Louis XIV. made him a nobleman. His descendants are still 
 in Canada. Like Godefroy, Crevier, and Le Neuf, the Hertels 
 have held their position for 250 years. 
 
 ^Jeanne Le Marchand, widow, was the mother of Le Keuf. 
 
 ^FranQois Marguerie succeeded Nicolet as Interpreter at 3- 
 Rivers. He has left his name to a river flowing into the St. 
 Lawrence, in the county of Nicolet opposite the town of 3-Rivers. 
 
100 APPENDIX. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 "Anno Domini 1642, 29 Septembris, Ego Joan- 
 nes de Brebeuf, Societatis Jesu sacerclos, baplisavi 
 solemniter in ecclesise Immaculata Conceptionis ad 
 Tria Fluraina, duos puellas recens nata, unum ex patre 
 Augustino ChipakSetch et matre 8t8ribik8e ; Alizon 
 dicta est a patrinis Joanne Mcolet et Perretta Alte- 
 ram vero ex patre KSerasing et SinclikSck matre 
 Lucia dicta est a Patrinus J^icolao Marsolet ^ et Mar- 
 garita Couillard, uxor Domini Nicolet." 
 
 II. — FIRST CONNECTED SKETCH PUBLISHED OF THE LIFE 
 AND EXPLORATION OF NICOLET.^ 
 
 [Du Creux states that, in the last months of 1642, 
 "New France mourned for two men of no common 
 character, who were snatched away from her ; that 
 one of them, who died first, of disease, was a mem- 
 ber of the Society of Jesuits ; and that the other, 
 although a layman, was distinguished by singularly 
 
 * Nicolas Marsolet, connected, as an interpreter, with 3-Rivers, 
 but mostly with Tadoussac and Quebec. 
 
 2 Translated from Du Creux" Hist, of Canada (printed in Latin, 
 in Paris, 1664), p. 358. That his account should not sooner have 
 awakened the curiosity of students of American history is due 
 to the fact previously mentioned, that not until the investigations 
 of John Gilmary Shea, in 1853, were the "Ouinipigou" identified 
 as the " Winnebagoes," and their having been visited by Nico- 
 let established. It was this locating of the objective point 
 of Nicolet's exploration on American soil that finally stimulated 
 American writers to further research; though, to the present 
 time, Canadian historians have taken the lead in investigations 
 concerning the indomitable Frenchman. 
 
APPENDIX. ; . 101 
 
 meritorious acts towards the India;ii tri1b,es^of Canada., 
 He sketches briefly the career and chjarac^tp^ pf ' IT/^-^ 
 ther Haymbault, the Jesuit, first referred to, who died 
 at Quebec in the latter part of October. The second 
 person alluded to was Mcolet. Of him he gives the^ 
 following account :] 
 
 " He had spent twenty-five years in !N'ew France, and 
 had always been a useful person. On his first arrival, 
 by orders of those who presided over the French 
 colony of Quebec, he spent two whole years among 
 the Algonquins of the Island, for the purpose of 
 learning their language, without any Frenchman as 
 a companion, and in the midst of those hardships, 
 which may be readily conceived, if we will reflect 
 what it must be to ]Dass severe winters in the woods, 
 under a covering of cedar or birch bark; to have 
 one's means of subsistence dependent upon hunting ; 
 to be perpetually hearing rude outcries ; to be de- 
 prived of the pleasant society of one's own people ; 
 and to be constantly exposed, not only to derision 
 and insulting words, but even to daily peril of life. 
 There was a time, indeed, when he went without 
 food for a whole week ; aiid (what is really wonder- 
 ful) he even spent seven weeks without having any 
 thing to eat but a little bark. After this preliminary 
 training ^ was completed, being sent with four hun- 
 dred Algonquins to the Iroquois to treat of peace, he 
 performed his mission successfully. Soon after, he 
 went to the Mpissiriens, and spent seven years with 
 them, as an adopted member of their tribe. He had 
 
 ^ Tirocinium is the first campaign of the young soldier ; and so, 
 generally, the first period of trial in any life of danger and hard- 
 ship. — Translator. 
 
102 APPENDIX. 
 
 his own small estate, wigwam, and household stuff, 
 V^ 3^^1 omenta \fo I* hunting and fishing, and, no douht, 
 his own beaver skins, with the same right of trade as 
 the rest ; in a word, he was taken into their counsels ; 
 until, being recalled, by the rulers of the French 
 colony, he was at the same time made a commissary 
 and charged to perform the office of an interpreter. 
 
 " During this period, at the command of the same 
 rulers, he had to make an excursion to certain mari- 
 time tribes, for the purpose of securing peace between 
 them and the Hurons. The region where those peo- 
 ples dwell is nearly three hundred leagues distant, 
 toward the west, from the same Hurons ; and after 
 he had associated himself with seven ambassadors of 
 these [i. e,, of the Hurons], having saluted on their 
 route various small nations which they fell in with, 
 and having propitiated them with gifts — lest, if they 
 should omit this, they might be regarded as enemies, 
 and assailed by all whom they met — when he was two 
 days distant, he sent forward one of his own com- 
 pany to make known to the nation to which they 
 were going, that a European ambassador was ap- 
 proaching with gifts, who, in behalf of the Hurons, 
 desired to secure their friendship. The embassy was 
 received with applause ; young men were immediately 
 sent to meet them, who were to carry the baggage 
 and equipment of the Manitouriniou (or wonderful 
 man), and escort him with honor. Mcolet Avas clad 
 in a Chinese robe of silk, skillfully ornamented with 
 birds and flowers of many colors ; he carried in each 
 hand a small pistol.^ When he had discharged these, 
 
 * It may be interesting to the reader to know how pistols are 
 
APPENDIX. 103 
 
 tlie more timid persons, boys and women betook 
 themselves to flight, to escape as quickly as possible 
 from a man who (they said) carried the thunder 
 in both his hands. But, the rumor of his coming 
 having spread far and wide, the chiefs, with their fol- 
 lowers, assembled directly to the number of four or 
 five thousand persons ; and, the matter having been 
 discussed and considered in a general council, a 
 treaty was made in due form. Afterwards each of 
 the chiefs gave a banquet after their fashion ; and at 
 one of these, strange to say, a hundred and twenty 
 beavers were eaten. 
 
 " His object being accomplished, Mcolet returned to 
 the Hurons, and, presently, to Three Rivers, and re- 
 sumed both of his former functions, viz., as com- 
 missary- and interpreter, being singularly beloved by 
 both the French and the natives ; specially intent 
 upon this, that, uniting his industry, and the very 
 great influence which he possessed over the savages, 
 with the eflbrts of the fathers of the Society [Jesuits], 
 he might bring as many as he could to the Church ; un- 
 til, upon the recall to France of Olivier, who was the 
 chief commissary of Quebec, Mcolet, on account of 
 his merits, was appointed in his place. But he was 
 not long allowed to enjoy the Christian comfort he 
 had so greatly desired, viz., that at Quebec he might 
 frequently attend upon the sacraments as his pious 
 soul desired, and that he might enjoy the society of 
 those with whom he could converse upon divine 
 things. 
 
 described in the author's Latin: "Sclopos minores, exiis qui 
 tacta vel leviter rotula exploduntier." — Translator. 
 
104 APPENDIX. 
 
 " On the last day of October, having embarked npon 
 a pinnace at the seventh hour of the afternoon (as we 
 French reckon the hours), i. e., just as the shades of 
 evening were falling, hastening, as I have said, to 
 Three Rivers upon so pious an errand, scarcely had 
 he arrived in sight of Sillery, when, the north wind 
 blowing more fiercely, and increasing the violence 
 of the storm which had commenced before Nicolet 
 started,^ the pinnace was whirled around two or 
 three times, filled with water from all directions, and 
 finally w^as swallowed up by the waves. Some of 
 those on board escaped, among them Savigny, 
 the owner of the j)innace; and Nicolet, in that 
 time of extreme peril, addressing him calmly said: 
 " Savigny, since you know how to swim, by all 
 means consult your own safety; I, who have no 
 such skill, am going to God ; I recommend my wife 
 and daughter to your kindness." In the midst of 
 this conversation, a wave separated them; l^icolet 
 was drowned; Savigny, who, from horror and the 
 darkness of the night, did not know where he was, 
 was torn by the violence of the waves from the boat, 
 to which he had clung for some time ; then he strug- 
 gled for a while, in swimming, with the hostile force 
 of the changing waves ; until, at last, his strength 
 failing, and his courage almost forsaking him, he 
 made a vow to God (but what it was is not related) ; 
 then, striking the bottom of the stream with his foot, 
 
 ^"Borea flaute pertinacius, foedamque tempestatem, quam ex- 
 ciere gam ceperat, glomerante." Literally, perhaps, " the north 
 wind blowing more persistently, and gathering into a mass the 
 dark storm which it had already begun to collect." — Translator. 
 
APPENDIX. 105 
 
 lie reached the bank ^ at that spot, and, forcing his 
 way with difficulty through the edge of the stream, 
 already frozen, he crept, half dead, to the humble 
 abode of the fathers. Restoratives were immediately 
 applied, such as were at hand, especially fire, which 
 was most needed ; but, as the cold weather and the 
 water had almost destroyed the natural warmth, he 
 could only manifest his thoughts for some time by 
 motions and not by speech, and so kept the minds of 
 the anxious fathers in doubt of his meaning ; until, 
 recovering his speech, he explained what had hap- 
 pened with a strong expression of ITicolet's Chris- 
 tian courage. 
 
 "■ The prisoner for whose sake ITicolet had exposed 
 himself to this deadly peril, twelve days afterwards 
 reached Sillery, and soon after Quebec — having been 
 rescued from the cruelty of the Algonquins by Ru- 
 pseus, who was in command at Three liivers, in pur- 
 suance of letters from Montmagny, on payment, no 
 doubt, of a ransom. He was already disfigured with 
 wounds, great numbers of which these most savage 
 men had inflicted upon him with careful ingenuity, 
 one after another, according to their custom ; but in 
 proportion to the barbarity which he had experienced 
 at Three Rivers was the kindness which he afterwards 
 met with at Quebec, where he was treated by the 
 monks of the hospital in such a manner that he was 
 healed within about twenty days, and was able to re- 
 turn to his own people. . . . 
 
 ^' This, moreover, was not the first occasion on which 
 
 ^ The word " littus " here is properly used, not of the dry land, 
 but of the sloping land under the water, near the edge of the 
 river. — Translator. 
 
106 APPENDIX. 
 
 ^N'icolet had encountered peril of his life for the 
 safety of savages. He had frequently done the very 
 same thing before, says the French writer; and to 
 those with whom he associated he left proofs of his 
 virtues by such deeds as could hardly be expected of 
 a man entangled in the bonds of marriage ; they were 
 indeed eminent, and rose to the height of apostolic 
 perfection ; and, therefore, was the loss of so great a 
 man the more grievous. Certain it is that the sav- 
 ages themselves, as soon as they heard what had be- 
 fallen him, surrounded the bank of the great river in 
 crowds, to see whether they could render any aid. 
 When all hope of that was gone, they did what alone 
 remained in their power, by incredible manifestations 
 of grief and lamentation at the sad fate of the man 
 who had deserved so well of them." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Alizon, M., 95, 100. 
 
 Algonquin?., viii, 17, 36, 42, 60, 62, 69, 76, 77, 87. 
 
 Algonquins of the Isles des Alhimettes, 18, 28, 29, 46. 
 
 Allouez, Father Claudius, 64, 67, 69. 
 
 Amikoiiai, "Nation of the Beaver," 50, 51, 54. 
 
 An account of the French settlements in North America (1746), cited, 
 32. 
 
 A8eatsi8aenrrhonon (Aweatsiwaerrhonon), Huron name for the 
 Winnebagoes, 45, 46, 60. 
 
 Assiniboins, not visited by Nicolet, 71. 
 
 Atchiligoiian, an Algonquin nation, 50. 
 
 Bay des Puants (Baio des Puants). See Green Bay. 
 
 Beaver Nation, 45, 48, 50, 51, 54, 63. 
 
 Bonhomme, Nicholas, 98. 
 
 Brebeuf, John de, 20, 24, 41, 46, 100. 
 
 Buteux, Father James, 78, 80, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97. 
 
 Cabot, John, viii, ix. 
 
 Cabot, Sebastian, ix. 
 
 Caens, the, 21. 
 
 Capitanal, a Montagnais chief, 93. 
 
 Cartier, James, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. 
 
 Champlain's Map of 1632, referred to, 31, 35, 36, 38, 51, 52, 53, 54, 
 62, 64, 66, 70. 
 
 Champlain, Samuel, makes, in 1603, a survey of the St. Lawrence, 
 16; in 1608, founds Quebec, 17; attacks the Iroquois, in 1609, ib.; 
 returns, in 1610, to France, 18; in 1611 again reaches tlie St. 
 Lawrence, ib.; soon sails back to France, ib.; in 1613, once more 
 reaches the St. 'Lawrence, ib.; explores the Ottawa to the Isle 
 des Allumettes, t6. ; embarks for France, ib. ; in 1615, again 
 sails for New France, 19 ; visits the Hurons, ib.; attacks, with 
 those Indians, the Iroquois, ?6,; returns to Quebec, 20; a new 
 government for New France, 21 ; Champlain one of the Hun- 
 dred Associates, 22; he defends Quebec against the English, 23; 
 
 (107) 
 
108 INDEX. 
 
 next year he surrenders the town, ib.; taken a prisoner to Eng- 
 land, 24 ; in 1033, resumes command iii New France, ib.; resolves 
 to explore the west, ib.; in lHo4, sends Nicolet to the Winne- 
 bagoes, 39; death of Champlain, 75. 
 
 Champlain's Voyar/es of 1613, cited, 36; Voyages of 1632, cited, 30, 
 38, 51, 52, 04, 00, 73. 
 
 Charlevoix' CaHe des Lacs du Canada, referred to, 57; also, his 
 Nuuvelle France, ib. 
 
 Chauvin, a captain of the French marine, 15. 
 
 Chevenx Keleves (Standing Hair — Ottawas), 52, 53, 54, 73. 
 
 Chippewas, 38, 53, 54, 55, 90, 91. 
 
 Cioux. See Sioux. 
 
 Columbus, Chi-istopher, viii. 
 
 Company of New France, 21. 
 
 Copper and copper mine early known to the Indians, 36. 
 
 Cortereal, Caspar, ix. 
 
 Couillard, Guillaume, 82. 
 
 Couillard, Marguerite, 81, 84, 94, 98, 99, 100. 
 
 Coureurs de bois, 41. 
 
 Cresse, M., 90. 
 
 Crevier, Fran9ois, 97. 
 
 Daniel, Antoine. a Jesuit priest, 41, 80. 
 
 Dakotas (Dacotahs. — See Sioux), viii, 62, 71. 
 
 Davost, a Jesuit, 41. 
 
 De Caen, Emery, 20, 24, 32. 
 
 De Caen, William, 20. 
 
 De Champfleur, Fran9ois, 98. 
 
 De Chasteaufort, Bras-de-fer, 75. 
 
 De Courtemanche, Augustin le, 84. 
 
 De Gand, Fran9ois Derre, 82. 
 
 Delaplace, .lacques, 94. 
 
 De Laubin, M., 90. 
 
 De la Roche, the Marquis, 15. 
 
 De hi Roque, John Francis, see Lord of Roberval. 
 
 De Malapart, M., 95. 
 
 De Maupertius, M , 93. 
 
 De Repentigny, Jean-Baptiste I'Gardeur, 84. 
 
 Des Roches, M., 85, 88. 
 
 Des Gens Puants (Des Gens Puans — Des Puants — Des Puans). Seo 
 Wiunebagoes. 
 
INDEX. 109 
 
 Du Creux' Hist of Canada {Historia Canadensis), cited, 29, 60, 100, e?! 
 
 seq. 
 Du Creiix' Map of 1660, referred to, 51, 53, 55, 73,- 
 Eiiitajghe, Iroquois name for Green Ba}', 56. ,.. 
 Kstiaghicks, Iroquois name of the Chippewas, 53. 
 Fire Nations (Les Gens de Feu). See Mascoutins. 
 Foster's Mississippi Valley, cited, 59. 
 Fox River of Green Bay, 61, 64, 66, 67, 68, 70. 
 Fox Indians (Outagamis — Les Renards — Musquakies), 64, 65, 66. 
 Fur-trade, the, 22. 
 Ferland's C>urs d Histoiredii Cinnda^ cited, 27, 82, 89; also, his Notes 
 
 sur les Registres de Notre-Daive de (Quebec, 27, 82, 85. 
 Gens de Mer (Gens de Eaux de Mer). See Winnebagoes. 
 Godefroy, Jean, 94, 95. 
 Godefroy, Louis, 95. 
 Godetroy, Thomas, 96, 
 Gravier's Dlcouvn-tes ct Etahlissement de Cavalier de la >S'a We, cited, 
 
 82; his Map by Jol'et, referred to, 55, 59. 
 Green Bay, 56, 60, 62, 69, 70. 
 Guitet, a notar}^ records of, 27, 82. 
 Hebert, Guilleme, 82. 
 Hebert, Guillamet, 82. 
 llertel, Jacques, 99. 
 Hertel, Fran9ois, 99. 
 
 Horoji ( Hochungara — Winnebagoes), 60. 
 Huboust, Guillaume, 82. 
 Hundred Associates (Hundred Partners), 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 31, 39,42, 
 
 76, 82. 
 Hurons, 17, 19, 21, 23, 36, 42, 43, 47, 48, 49, 51, 62, 63, 69, 76, 77, 102, 
 
 103 
 Illinois (Indians), 70. 
 Iroquois, 17, 18, 20, 29, 38, 44, 51, 76. 
 Jesuits, the, 68, 80, 85. 
 Jesuit Relations, the, 27. 
 Jesuit Relations, c\iQ&: 1633—93; 1635—44,40, 93; 1636—30,45,60, 
 
 77,78,79, 80; 1037—78, 80, 81; 1638—80; 1639—60; 1640—38, 
 
 45,48, 50, 51, 53, 56, 57, 62, 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73; 1641—82; 
 
 1642—53; 1643—26, 27, 28, 30, 47, 48, 49, 58, 60, 62, 72, 74, 78, 83, 
 
 84,85,86,87,88; 1648-38,53; 1654—38,69; 1056—62,70; 1670 
 
 —64, 67, 69 ; 1671—53, 56, 64. 
 Joliet, Jean, 96. 
 
110 INDEX. 
 
 Joliet, Louis, 68, 69, 96. 
 
 Joques, Father Isaac, 91, 97. 
 
 Juchereau, Noel, 82. 
 
 Kaukauna, town of, 65. 
 
 Kirk, David, 23. 
 
 Kickapoos (Kikabou, Kikapou, Quicapou, Kickapoux, Kickapous, 
 Kikapoux, Quicpouz), 67, 
 
 La I?a3'e (La Baye des Eaux Puantes — La Grande Baie — La Baye des 
 Puans — Lay Baye des Puants). See Green Bay. 
 
 Lake JNlichigan (Lake of the Illinois — Lake 8t. Joseph — Lake Dau- 
 phin — Lac des Illinois — Lac Missihiganin — Magnus Lacus Al- 
 gonquinorum), 55, 56, 66, 69, 70, 72. 
 
 Lake Superior, 54. 
 
 Lake Winnebago (Lake of the Puants — Lake St. Francis), 62, 65. 
 
 La Marchand, Jeanne, 99. 
 
 La Melee, Christopher Crevier, Sieur de, 97. 
 
 La Mer, Marguerite, 27. 
 
 La Mer, Maria, 27. 
 
 La Nation des Puans (La Nation des Puants). See Winnebagoes. 
 
 La Noue, Annie de, 24, 41. 
 
 La Porte, Pierre de, 82. 
 
 La Vallee, Claude, 99. 
 
 Lavidiere's Reprint of Champlnin's Works, referred to, 36. * 
 
 Le Caron, Father Joseph, 19, 20. 
 
 Les Folles Avoine. See Menomonees. 
 
 Le Jeune, Paul, 24, 41, 80. ' 
 
 Le Neuf, family of, 94. 
 
 Le Neuf, Maria. 91, 95. 98. 
 
 Le Tardif, Olivier, 82, 83, 84, 103. 
 
 Lord of Roberval, 14, 15. 
 
 Lippincott's Gazetteer, cited, 33. 
 
 Mackinaw, Straits of, 55. 
 
 Macard, Nicolas, 84, 100. 
 
 Manitoulin Islands, 50,51. 
 
 Ikfantoue (Mantoueouee— Makoueoue), tribe of, 56. 
 
 Marguerie, Fran9ois, 95, 99. 
 
 Margucrie, Maria, 99. 
 
 Margry, Pierre, in Journal General de V Insirtiction Publique, 29, 72,84. 
 
 IMarquetto, Father James, 68, 69. 
 
 Marsolet, Nicolas, 84, 100. 
 
 Mascoutins CMacoutins — Mascoutens — Maskcutcns — Maskoutcins — 
 
INDEX. Ill 
 
 Musquetens — Machkoutens — Maskoutench— Machkoutenck—Les 
 Gens de Feu — The Fire Nation — Assistagueronons — Assistaeiiro- 
 nons), 51, 52, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70. 
 
 Masse, the Jesuit, 41. 
 
 Menomonees (Maromine — Malhominies — Les Folles Avoine), 57, 58. 
 
 Miamis, 67. 
 
 Michigan, signification of the word, 65. 
 
 Mississippi, meaning of the word, 67. 
 
 Montmagnais, 36, 41. 
 
 Montmagny, M. de, 70, 75, 76, 77, 105. 
 
 Nantoue. See Mantoue. 
 
 Nation des Puans (Nation des Puants — Nation of Stinkards). See 
 Winnebagoes. 
 
 Nation du Castor (Nation of Beavers). See Beaver Nation. 
 
 Nation of the Sault. See Chippewas. 
 
 Nenascoumat, an Indian chief, 95. 
 
 Neutral Nation, 51, 61, 65. 
 
 Nez Perces (Naiz percez). See Beaver Nation. 
 
 Nicolet, Gilles, 88, 89. 
 
 Nicolet, John, arrives in New [France, 26; sent by Champlain, in 
 1618, to the Algonquins of Isle des Allumettes, 28; goes on a 
 mission of peace to the Iroquois, 29 ; takes up his residence with 
 the Nipissings, ib.; recalled by the government to Quebec, 30; 
 employed as interpreter, ib.; Champlain resolves to send him on 
 a western exploration, 33; Nicolet had heard of the Winneba- 
 goes, 39; prepares, in June, 1634, to visit tliis and other nations, 
 40; starts upon his journey, 42; why it must have been in 1634 
 that Nicolet made his westward exploration, t6., e^ sej-./ travels 
 Uj) the Ottawa to the Isle des Allumettes, 46; goes hence to the 
 Huron villages, 47; object of his mission there, 48; starts for the 
 Winnebagoes, 49; reaches Sault Sainte Marie, 51; did he see 
 Lake Superior? 54; discovers Lake Michigan, 55; arrives at the 
 Menomonee river, 56; ascends Green Bay to theht)mes of the Win- 
 nebagoes, 60; has a great feast with the Indians, 62; goes up Fox 
 river to theMascoutins, 63; visits the Illinois tribe, 71 ; returns to 
 the Winnebagoes, ib.; Nicolet's homeward trip in 1635 — he calls 
 upon the Pottawattaniies, 72; stops at the Great Manatoulin to see 
 a band of Ottawas, 73 ; reaches the St. Lawrence in safety, 74 ; set- 
 tles at Three Kivers as interpreter, 77 ; his kindness to the Indians, 
 78; has a narrow escape from drowning, 81 ; helps defend Three 
 Rivers from an Iroquois attack, ih.; his marriage, t6. ; goes to 
 
112 INDEX. 
 
 Quebec, 82 ; becomes General Commissary of the Hundred Part- 
 ners, ib.; embarks for Three Kivers, 83; his death, 84; Frenchmen 
 and Indians alike mourn his fate, 87 ; his memory perpetuated, 89; 
 his energetic character, 90; mention of him in the parish register 
 of Three Kivers, ^^,ets€q.; first connected sketch published of 
 his life and exploration, 100, et seq. 
 
 Nicolet, Madame, 95. 96. 
 
 Nicolet, Pierre, 89. 
 
 Nicolet, Thomas, 27. 
 
 ISipissings (Nipisiriniens), 29, 80, 31, 43, 47. 
 
 Noquets, 56. 
 
 O'Callaghan's Doc. Hist of New York, referred to, 36; his N. Y. Col, 
 Doc, cited, 51. 
 
 Ojibwas, See Chippewas. 
 
 Ottawas, 50, 52, 54, 65, 66, 73. 
 
 "Ounipeg," signification of, 38. 
 
 Ounipigou. See Winnegagoes. 
 
 Oumalouminek (Oumaominiecs). See Menomonees. 
 
 Otchagras (Ochungarand). See Winnebagoes. 
 
 Otchipwes. See Chippewas. 
 
 Ouasouarim, 50. 
 
 Oumisagai, 51^ 54. 
 
 Outchougai, 50, 
 
 Outaouan. See Ottawas. 
 
 Parkman's Jesuits in North America, cited. 41, 43, 46, 80; also, his La 
 Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, 38, 58 ; and his Pio- 
 neers of France tn the New World, 52. 
 
 " People of the Falls." See Chippewas. 
 
 "People of the Sea." See Winnebagoes. 
 
 Perot, Nicolas, 84. 
 
 Petun Nation, 51, 52. 
 
 Pijart, Claudius, 96. 
 
 Poncet, Josephus, 98, 99. 
 
 Poiitgrave, merchant, 15. 
 
 Pottawattamies, 71. 
 
 Quentin, Father Claude, 77, 78, 79, 93. 
 
 Racine, Claude, 82. 
 
 Racine, Etienne, 82. 
 
 Raratwaus, See Chippewas. 
 
 Rayrabault, Father Charles, 83, 86, 91, 97, 101. 
 
 Richelieu, Cardinal, 21 
 
INDEX. 113 
 
 Eiver des Puans (River of the Puants— River St. Francis). See Fox 
 river. 
 
 Rollet, Marie, 82. 
 
 Roquai. See Noquets. 
 
 Sacs (Sauks -Sallki^^ — Sakys), 64. 
 
 Sagard's Historie du Canada., cited, 38. 
 
 Sauteurs (Stiagigrooiie). See Chippewas. 
 
 Sault de Sainte Marie, 51. 
 
 Sault Sainte Marie, town of, 54, 72, 97. 
 
 Savigny (Chavigiiy), 83, 84, 85, 86, 104. 
 
 Schoolcraft's Thirty Years untli the Indian Tribes^ cited, 59. 
 
 "Sea-Tribe." See Winnebagoes. 
 
 Shea's Catholic Missio7ifi, cited, 53; also, his Discovery and Explora- 
 tio7i of the ^Mississippi Valley, 38, 45, 59, G3, 100 ; and his Heii- 
 7iepin, 67. 
 
 Shea, John Gilmary, in W^s. Hist. Soc. Coll., 73. 
 
 Sillery, mission of, founded, 76. 
 
 Sioux (Dacotas), 37, 62, 71. 
 
 St. Croix Fort, established, 32, 
 
 Smith's History of Wisconsin, cited, 27, 38, 73. 
 
 Standing Hair, the. See Ottawas. 
 
 Suite, Benjamin, in L' Opinion Publique, 68, 90. 
 
 Suite's Chronique Trifluvienne, cited, 31 ; also, his Melanges de Histo- 
 rie et de Litterature., 43, 84, 89. 
 
 "The Men of the Shallow Cataract." See Chippewas. 
 
 Three Rivers, town of, 31, 32, 33, 42, 45, 74, 77, 78, 79, 82, 83, 86, 103. 
 
 Three Rivers, parish churqh register of, 44, 45, 93, et seq. 
 
 Tobacco Nation. See Petun Nation. 
 
 Verrazzano, John, ix, 
 
 Winnebagoes, viii, 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 57, 58, 60, 
 61, 62, 63, 64, 71, 72, 74, 77. 
 
 Wisconsin, derivation of the word, 59 
 
 Wisconsin river, 59, 61, 68. 
 
 Woolf river, 35, 66. 
 
 Woodman, Cyrus, 27. 
 
OCT. 1881. 
 
 HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF 
 
 HOBERT CLARKE & CO. 
 
 CINCINNATI, O. 
 
 Alzog (John, D. D.) A Manual of Universal Church History. 
 Translated by Rev. T. J. Pabisch and Rev. T. S. Byrne. 3 
 vols. 8vo. 15 00 
 
 Anderson (E. L.) Six Weeks in Norvray. 18mo' 1 00 
 
 Andre (Major) The Cow Chace; an Heroick Poem. 8vo. 
 Paper. 75 
 
 Antrim (J.) The History of Champaign and Logan Counties, 
 Ohio, from their First Settlement. 12mo. 1 50 
 
 Ballard (Julia P.) Insect Lives; ov, Born in Prison. Illus- 
 trated. Sq. 12mo. 1 00 
 
 Bell (Thomas J.) History of the Cincinnati Water Works. 
 Plates. 8vo. 75 
 
 Benner (S.) Prophecies of Future Ups and Downs in Prices: 
 what years to make Money in Pig Iron, Hogs, Corn, and 
 Provisions. 2d ed. 24mo. 1 00 
 
 ■m 
 
 Bible in the Public Schools. Records, Arguments, etc., in 
 
 the Case of Minor vs. Board of Education of Cincinnati. 
 
 8vo. 2 00 
 
 Arguments in Favor of the Use of the Bible. Separate. 
 Paper. 50 
 
 Arguments Against the Use of the Bible. Separate. Paper. 50 
 Biddle (Horace P.) Elements of Knowledge. 12mo. 1 00 
 
 BiDDLE (Horace P.) Prose Miscellanies. 12mo. 1 00 
 
 BiNKERD (A. D.) The Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. Paper. 
 
 8vo. 50 
 
 Bouquet (H.) The Expedition of, against the Ohio Indians in 
 
 1764, etc. With Preface by Francis Parkman, Jr. 8vo. 
 
 $3 00. Large Paper. 6 00 
 
 BoYLAND (G. H., M. D.) Six Months Under the Red Cross with 
 
 the French Army in the Franco-Prussian War. 12mo. 1 50 
 
2 historical and Miscellaneous Publications of 
 
 Bruxxf.r (A. A.) Elementary and Pronouncing French Read^n 
 18mo. GO 
 
 Bruxneu (A. A.) The Gender of French Verbs Simplified. 
 18mo. 25 
 
 Burt (Rev. N. C, D. D.) The Far East; or, Letters from Egypt, 
 Palestine, etc. 12mo. 1 75 
 
 BuTTERFiELD (C. W.) The Washington-Crawford Letters; being 
 the Correspondence between George Washington and William 
 Crawford, concerning Western Lands. 8vo. 1 00 
 
 BuTTERFiKLD (C. W.) The Discovery of the Northvrest in 1634, 
 by John Nicolet, with a Sketch of his Life. 12mo. 1 00 
 
 Cl.\rk (Col. George Rogers) Sketches of his Campaign in the 
 Illinois in 1778-9. With an Introduction by Hon. Henry 
 Pirtle, and an Appendix. Svo, $2 00. Large paper. 4 00 
 
 Coffin (Levi) The Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, the Reputed 
 President of the Undergroun<l Railroad. A Brief History of 
 the Labors of a Lifetime in behalf of the Slave. With Stories 
 of Fugitive Slaves, etc., etc. 12mo. 2 00 
 
 CoNSTTTUTiox OF THE UxiTF.D States, Etc. The Declaration of 
 Independence, July 4, 1770; the Articles of Confederation, 
 July 9, 1778; the Constitution of the United States, Sep- 
 tember 17, 1787; the Fifteen Amendments to the Constitution, 
 and Index; Washinglion's Farewell Address, September 7, 
 1796. 8vo. Paper. 25 
 
 Craig (N. B.) The Olden Time. A Monthly Publication, devoted 
 to the Preservation of Documents of Early History, etc. 
 Originally Published at Pittsburg, in 1846-47. 2 vols. 
 Svo. 10 00 
 
 Drake (D.) Pioneer Life in Kentucky. Edited, with ISfotes 
 and a Biographical Sketch, by his Son, Hon. Chas. D. Drake. 
 Svo. $3 00. Large paper. 6 00 
 
 DuBreuil (A.) Vineyard Culture Improved and Cheapened. 
 Edited by Dr. J. A. Warder. 12mo. 2 00 
 
 Ellard (Virginia G.) Grandma's Christmas Day. lUus. Sq. 
 12mo. 1 00 
 
 Family Expexre Book. A Printed Account Book, with appro- 
 priate Columns and Headings, for keeping a Complete Record 
 of Family Expenses. 12mo. 50 
 
 FiNLEY (I. J.) and Putnam (R.) Pioneer Record and Remin- 
 iscences of the Early Settlers and Settlement of Ross County, 
 Ohio. Svo. . 2 50 
 
 Fletcher (Wm. B., M. D.) Cholera: its Characteristics, History, 
 Treatment, etc. Svo. Paper. 1 00 
 
 Force (M. F.) Essays : Pre-Historic Man — Darwinism and Deity 
 — The Mound Builders. Svo. Paper. 75 
 
Hohert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 3 
 
 Force (M. F.) Some Early Notices of the Indians of Ohio. To 
 What Race did the Mound Builders belong. 8vo. Paper. 50 
 
 Freeman (Ellen.) Manual of the French Verb, to accompany 
 every French Course. 16mo. Paper. 25 
 
 Gallagher (Wm. D.) Miami "Woods, A Golden Wedding, and 
 other Poems. 12mo. 2 00 
 
 GiAiJQUE (F.) The Election Laws of the United States: with 
 Notes of Decisions, etc. 8vo. Paper, 75c.; cloth, 1 00 
 
 Grtmke (F.) Considerations on the Nature and Tendency of 
 Free Institutions. 8vo. 2 50 
 
 Griswold (W.) Kansas: her Resources and Developments; or, 
 the Kansas Pilot. Svo. Paper. 50 
 
 Groesbeck (W. S.) Gold and Silver. Address delivered before 
 the American Bankers' Association, in New York, September 
 13, 1878. Svo. Paper. 25 
 
 Hall (James.) Legends of the West. Sketches illustrative of 
 the Habits, Occupations, Privations, Adventures, and Sports 
 of the Pioneers of the West. 12mo. 2 00 
 
 Hall (James.) Romance of W^estern History; or, Sketches of 
 History, Life, and Manners in the West. 12mo. 2 00 
 
 Hakover (M. D.) A Practical Treatise on the Law of Horses, 
 embracing the Law of Bargain, Sale, and Warranty of Horses 
 and other Live Stock ; the Rule as to Unsoundness and Vice, 
 and the Responsibility of the Proprietors of Livery, Auction, 
 and Sale Stables, Inn-Keepers, Veterinary Surgeons, and Far- 
 riers, Carriers, etc. 8vo. 4 00 
 
 Hart (J. M.) A Syllabus of Anglo-Saxon Literature. 8vo. 
 Paper. 50 
 
 Hassaurek (F.) The Secret of the Andes. A Romance. 
 12mo. 1 50 
 
 The Same, in German, 8vo. Paper, 50c. ; cloth. 1 00 
 
 Hassaurek (F.) Four Years Among Spanish Americans. Third 
 Edition. 12mo. 1 50 
 
 Hatch (Col. W. S.) A Chapter in the History of the War of 
 1812, in the Northwest, embracing the Surrender of the 
 Nortliwestern Army and Fort, at Detroit, August 16, 1813, etc. 
 18mo. 1 25 
 
 Hayes (Rutherford B.) The Life, Public Services, and Select 
 Speeches of. Edited by J, Q, Howard. 12mo. Paper, 75c. ; 
 cloth, 1 25 
 
 Hazex (Gen. W, B.) Our Barren Lands. The Interior of the 
 United States, West of the One-Hundredth Meridian, and 
 East of the Sierra Nevada. Svo. Paper. 00 
 
4 Historicol and Miscellaneous Puhlications of 
 
 Henshall (Dr. James A.) Book of the Hack Bass: comprising 
 its complete Scientific and Life History, together Avith a Prac- 
 tical Treatise on Agling and Fly Fishing, and a full description 
 of Tools, Tackle, and Implements. Illustrated. 12mo. 3 00 
 
 HoRTON (S. Dana.) Silver and Gold, and their Relation to the 
 
 Problem of liesumption. 8vo. I 50 
 
 HoRTON (S. Dana.) The Monetary Situation. 8vo. Paper. 50 
 
 Housekeeping in- the Blue Grass. A New and Practical Cook 
 Book. By Ladies of the Presbyterian Church, Paris, Ky. 
 12mo. 12th thousand. 1 50 
 
 Howe (H.) Historical Collections of Ohio. Containing a Col- 
 lection of the most Interesting Facts, Traditions, Biographical 
 Sketches, Anecdotes, etc., relating to its Local and General 
 History. 8vo. 6 00 
 
 Hunt (W. E.) Historical Collections of Coshocton County, Ohio. 
 Svo. 3 00 
 
 Huston (R. G.) Journey in Honduras, and Jottings by the Way. 
 Inter-Oceanic Railway. Svo. Paper. 50 
 
 Jackson (John D., M. D.) The Black Arts in Medicine, with 
 an Anniversary Address. Edited by Dr. L. S. McMurtry. 
 12mo. 1 00 
 
 Jasper (T.) The Birds of North America. Colored Plates, drawn 
 from Nature, with Descriptive and Scientific Letterpress. In 
 40 parts, $1 00 each ; or, 2 vols, Royal 4to. Half morocco, 
 $50 00; Full morocco, 60 00 
 
 Jordan (D. M.) Rosemary Leaves. A Collection of Poems. 
 
 ISmo. I 50 
 
 Keller (M. J.) Elementary Perspective, explained and applied 
 
 to Familiar Objects. Illustrated. I2mo. 1 00 
 
 King (John.) A Commentary on the Law and True Construc- 
 tion of the Federal Constitution. Svo. 2 50 
 
 King (M.) Pocket-Book of Cincinnati. 24mo. 15 
 
 Klippart (J. H.) The Principles and Practice of Land Drainage. 
 
 Illustrated. 12mo. 1 75 
 
 Law (J.) Colonial History of Yincennes, Indiana, under the 
 
 French, British, and American Governments. 12ino. 1 00 
 
 Lloyd (J. U.) The Chemistry of Medicines. Illus. 12mo. Cloth, 
 $2 75; sheep, 3 25 
 
 LoNGWQiiTH (N.) Electra. Translated from the Greek of Sopho- 
 cles. 12mo. 1 50 
 
 McBride (J.) Pioneer Biography : Sketches of the Live.s of some 
 of the Early Settlers of Butler County, Ohio, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 $6 50. Large paper. Imp. Svo. ' 1 3 00 
 
Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 5 
 
 McLaughlix (M. Louise.) China Painting. A Practical Manual 
 for the Use of Amateurs in the Decoration of Hard Porcelain. 
 iSq. 12mo. Boards. 75 
 
 McLaughlin (M, Louise.) Pottery Decoration : being a Practical 
 Manual of Underglaze Painting, including Complete Detail of 
 the author's Mode of Painting Enameled Faience. Sq. 12mo. 
 Bds. 1 00 
 
 MacLean (J. P.) The Mound Builders, and an Investigation into 
 the Archaeology of Butler County, Ohio. lUus. 12mo. 150 
 
 MacLean ( J. P. ) A Manual of the Antiquity of Man. Illustrated. 
 12mo. 1 00 
 
 MacLean (J. P.) Mastodon, Mammoth, and Man. Illustrated. 
 12mo. 60 
 
 Mansfield (E. D.) Personal Memories, Social, Political, and 
 Literary. 1803-43. 12mo. 2 00 
 
 Manypenny (G. W.) Our Indian Wards: A History and Dis- 
 cussion of the Indian Question. 8vo. 3 00 
 
 Matthews (Stanley.) A Summary of the Law* of Partnership. 
 For the Use of Business Men. 12mo. 1 25 
 
 May (Col. J.) Journal and Letters of, relative to Two Journeys 
 to the Ohio Country, 1788 and 1779. 8vo. 2 00 
 
 Mettenheimer (H. J.) Safety Book-keeping; being a Complete 
 Exposition of Book-keepers' Frauds. 12mo. 1 00 
 
 Minor (T. C, M. D.) Child-Bed Fever. Erysipelas and Puer- 
 peral Fever, with a Short Account of both Diseases. 8vo. 2 00 
 
 Minor (T. C, M. D.) Scarlatina Statistics of the United States. 
 
 8vo. Paper. 50 
 
 Montana Historical Society. Contributions. Vol. I. 8vo. 3 00 
 
 Morgan (Appleton.) The Shakspearean Myth; or, William 
 Shakspeare and Circumstantial Evidence. 12mo. 2 00 
 
 Name and Address Book. A Blank Book, with printed Head- 
 ings and Alphabetical Marginal Index, for Recording the 
 Names and Addresses of Professional, Commercial, and Family 
 Correspondents. 8vo. 1 00 
 
 Nash (Simeon.) Crime and the Family. 12mo. 1 25 
 
 Nerinckx (Rev. Charles.) Life of, v/ith Early Catholic Mis- 
 sions in Kentucky; the Society of Jesus; the Sisterhood of 
 Loretto, etc. By Rev. C. P. Maes. 8vo. 2 50 
 
 Nichols (G. W.) The Cincinnati Organ ; with a Brief Descrip- 
 tion of the Cincinnati Music Hall. 12mo. Paper. 25 
 
 Ohio Valley Histokical Miscellanies. I. Memorandums of a 
 Tour Made by Josiah Epsy, in the States of Ohio and Ken- 
 tucky, and Indiana Territory, in 1805. II. Two Western Cam- 
 paigns in the War of 1812-13: 1. Expedition of Capt. H. Brush, 
 
6 Historical and Miscellaneous Publications of 
 
 with Supplies for General HuH. 2. Expedition of Gov. Meigs, 
 for the relief of Fort Meigs. B}^ Samuel Williams. III. The 
 Leathervvood God : an account of the Appearance and Preten- 
 sions of J. C. Dylks in Eastern Ohio, in 1828. By R. H. Taney- 
 hill. 1 vol. 8vo. $2 50. Large paper, 5 00 
 
 OxcE A Yeak; or, The Doctor's Puzzle. By E. B. S. 16mo. 1 00 
 
 Phistekkr (Captain Frederick.) The National Guardsman: on 
 
 Guard and Kindred Duties. 24mo. Leather. 75 
 
 Physician's Pocket Case Record Prescription Book. 35 
 
 Physician's General Ledger. Half Russia. 4 00 
 
 Piatt (John J.) Penciled Fly-Leaves. A Book of Essays in 
 Town and Country. 8q. 16mo. " 1 00 
 
 Poole (W. F.) Anti-Slavery Opinions before 1800. An Essay. 
 8vo. Paper, 75c. ; cloth, 1 25 
 
 Practical receipts of experienced house-keepers. By the ladies 
 of the Seventh Presbyterian Church, Cin. 12mo. 1 25 
 
 Prenttcs (Geo. D.) Poems of, collected and edited, with Bio- 
 
 grapLical Sketch, by John J. Piatt, 12mo. 2 00 
 
 Quick (R. H.) Essays on Educational Reformers. 12mo. 1 50 
 
 Ranck (G. W.) History of Lexington, Kentucky. Its Early 
 Annals and Recent Progress, etc. 8vo. 4 00 
 
 Reemelin (C.) The^ Wine-Maker's Manual. A Plain, Practical 
 Guide to all the Operations for the Manufacture of Still and 
 Sparkling Wines. 12mo. 1 25 
 
 Reemelin (C.) A Treatise on Politics as a Science. 8vo. 1 50 
 
 Reemelin (C.) A Critical Review of American Politics. 8vo. 
 In Press. 
 
 RiVES (E., M. D.) A Chart of the Physiological Arrangement of 
 Cranial Nerves. Printed in large type, on a sheet 28x15 
 inches. Folded, in cloth case. 50 
 
 Robert (Karl). Charcoal Drawing with out a Master. A Com- 
 plete Treatise in Landscape Drawing in Charcoal, with Les- 
 sons and Studies after Allonge. Translated by E. H. Apple- 
 ton. Illustrated. 8vo 1 00 
 
 Roy (George). Generalship; or, How I Managed my Husband. 
 A tale. JSmo. Paper, 50c.; cloth, 1 00 
 
 Roy (George). The Art of Pleasing. A Lecture. 12mo. 
 Paper. 25 
 
 Roy (George). The Old, Old Story. A Lecture. 12mo. Paper. 25 
 
 Russell (A. P ). Thomas Corwin. A Sketch. 16mo. 1 00 
 
 Russell (Wm.) Scientific Horseshoeing for the Different Dis- 
 eases of the Feet. Illustrated. 8vo. 1 00 
 
ilohert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. ^ 
 
 Sayler (J. A.) American Form Book. A Collection of Legal 
 and Business Forms, embracing Deeds, Mortgages, Leases, 
 Bonds, Wills, Contracts, Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, 
 Checks, Bills of Sale, Receipts, and other Legal Instruments, 
 prepared in accordance with the Laws of the several States; 
 with Instructions for drawing and executing the same. For 
 Professional and Business Men. 8vo. 2 00 
 
 Sheets (Mary R.) My Three Angels: Faith, Hope, and Love. 
 With full-page illustrations by E. D. Gralton. 4to. Cloth. 
 Gilt. 5 00 
 
 Skinner (J. R.) The Source of Measures. A Key to the Hebrew- 
 Egyptian Mystery in the Source of Measures, etc. 8vo. 5 00 
 
 Smith (Col. James). A Reprint of an Account of the Remark- 
 able Occurrences in his Life and Travels, during his Captivity 
 with the Indians in the years 1755, '56, '57, '58, and '59, etc. 
 8vo. $2 50. Large paper, 5 00 
 
 Stanton (II.) Jacob Brown and other Poems. 12mo. 1 50 
 
 St.Clair Papers. A Collection of the Correspondence and other 
 papers of General Arthur St.Clair, Governor of the Northwest 
 Territory. Edited, with a Sketch of his Life and Public Ser- 
 vices, by William Henry Smith. In Press. 
 
 Strauch (A.) Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati: its History 
 and improvements, with Observations on Ancient and mod- 
 ern Places of Sepulture. The text beautifully printed with 
 ornamental, colored borders, and photographic illustrations. 
 4to. Cloth. Gilt. 15 00 
 
 An 8vo edition, without border and illustrations. 2 00 
 
 Stcjder (J. H.) Columbus, Ohio: its History, Resources, and Pro- 
 gress, from its Settlement to the Present Time. 12mo. 2 00 
 
 Taxeyhill (R. H.) The Leatherwood God: an account of the 
 Appearance and Pretensions of Joseph C. Dylks in Eastern 
 Ohio, in 1826. 12mo. Paper. 30 
 
 Ten Brook (A.) American State Universities. Their Origin and 
 Progress. A History of the Congressional University Land 
 Grants. A particular account of the Rise and Development of 
 the University of Michigan, and Hints toward the future 
 of the American University System. 8vo. 2 00 
 
 Tilden (Louise W.) Karl and Gretchen's Christmas. Illustrated. 
 Square 12mo. 75 
 
 Tilden (Louise W.) Poem, Hymn, and Mission Band Exercises. 
 Written and arranged for the use of Foreign Missionary Soci- 
 eties and Mission Bands. Square 12mo. Paper. 25 
 
 Trent (Capt. Wm.) Journal of, from Logstown to Pickawillany, 
 in 1752. Edited by A. T. Goodman. Syo. 2 50 
 
8 Historical and Miscellaneous Puhtications. 
 
 Tripler (C. S., M.D.) and Blackmax (G. C, M.D.) Handbook for 
 the Military Surgeon. 12mo. 1 00 
 
 Tyler Davidson Fountain. History and Description of the 
 Tyler Davidson Fountain, Donated to the City of Cincinnati, 
 by Henry Probasco. 18mo. Paper. 25 
 
 Vago (A. L.) Instructions in the art of Modeling in Clay. 
 With an Appendix on Modeling in Foliage, etc., for Pottery and 
 Architectural Decorations, by Benn Pitman, of Cincinnati 
 School of Design. Illustrated. Square 12mo. I 00 
 
 YanIIorne (T. B.) The History of the Army of the Cumberland; 
 its Organization, Campaigns, and Battles. lAhrary Edition. 
 2 vols. With Atlas of 22 maps, compiled by Edward Ruger. 
 Svo.Cloth, $8 00; Sheep, $10 00; Half Morocco, $12 00. 
 Popular Edition. Containing the same Text as the Liibrary 
 Edition, but only one map. 2 vols. 8vo. Cloth. 5 00 
 
 Venable (W. H.) June on the Miami, and other Poems. Second 
 edition. I8mo. 1 50 
 
 VooRHEES (D. W.) Speeches of, embracing his most prominent 
 Forensic, Political, Occasional, and Literary Addresses. Com- 
 piled by his son, 0. S. Voorhees, with a Biographical Sketch 
 and Portrait. Svo. 5 00 
 
 Walker (C. M.) History of Athens County, Ohio, and inci- 
 dentally of the Ohio Land Company, and the First Settlement 
 of the State at Marietta, etc. Svo. $6 00. Large Paper. 2 
 vols. $12 00. Popular Edition. 4 00 
 
 Walton (G. E.) Hygiene and Education of Infants; or. How 
 to take care of Babies. 24mo. Paper. 25 
 
 Ward (Durbin). American Coinage and Currency. An Essay 
 read before the Social Science Congress, at Cincinnati, Mav 
 22, 1878. 8vo. Paper. 10 
 
 Webb (F.) and Johnston (M. C.) An Improved Tally-Book, for 
 the use of Lumber Dealers. 18mo. 50 
 
 Whittaker (J. T., M. D.) Physiology; Preliminary Lectures. 
 Illustrated. 12mo. 1 75 
 
 Williams (A. D., M. D.) Diseases of the Ear, including Neces- 
 sary Anatomy of the Organ. 8vo. 3 50 
 
 Young (A.) History of Wayne County, Indiana, from its First 
 Settlement to the Present Time. Svo. 2 00 
 
^,^^ BE ASSESSED '1°« "'i^. THE PENAUTY 
 Tms BOOK ON THE D*;!^^?^ oN THE FOURTH 
 ;7ul -CREASE TO |0«NTS^O^^^^^^^ ^^, 
 
 DAY AND TO $1" 
 
 OVERDUE. ^= 
 
 c r- 
 
 a 
 
 1936 
 
 RECEIVED 
 
 1 7 2000 
 
 LD 2l-100m-8,'34 
 
861310 
 
 38 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY