Glass F 5 5 1 Book P4v ^ ANNALS OF THE ¥EST: EMBRACING A CONCISE ACCOUNT OF '" 7r V ft.* ■ r — PEINCIPAL EVENTS, " WHICH HAVE OCCURRED IN THE WESTERN STATES AND TERRITORIES, FROM THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TO THE YEAR EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY. COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES. FOR THE PROJECTOR. FIRST EDITION, BY JAMES H; PERKINS. SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED BY J. M.» PECK. ST. LOUIS: PUBLISHED BY JAMES R. ALBACH. CHAMBERS & KNAPP, PRINTERS. 1850. Entered occordiDg to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by James R. Albach, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Missouri. PREFACE • In presenting a second Edition of this work, the pro- jector and proprietor believes the occasion appropriate for an explanation of such circumstances as induced the undertaking. From his earliest recollection, the study of the histo- ry and geography of our country, has afforded pleasures to be derived, in an equal degree, from few other sour- ces. The memories of childhood recall the delightful emotions ever experienced from listening to recitals of thrilling events, and descriptions of distant scenes. The gratification of similar emotions, or rather a pas- sion for an acquaintance with historical and topographi- cal facts relative to the " Great West/^ but particularly such as might elucidate its beginnings, rise, and pro- gress towards its future destiny, has been a principal employment of the publisher for nearly thirty years, during which time he has traversed most of that exten- sive region, and visited nearly every memorable spot, for the means of forming an enlightened judgment, and correct ideas of men and events in times past. Nothing, however, of the materials or knowledge thus acquired, was collected with a view to publication, being solely IV PREFACE. the natural and incidental results of researches, entered upon and pursued for his private gratification. A change of circumstances, however, seemed to jus- tify an alteration of purposes; consequently, in 1844, promulgation was commenced by written and oral lec- tures ; as one thought originates another, in 1845 the idea of publishing in book form, first occurred. The proprietor, then residing in Ohio, submitted his plan to several gentlemen of eminent standing, who at once gave it their cordial approbation. A prospectus was immediately circulated, and patrons by hundreds, obtained throughout that community. Demonstrations of future popularity, sufficient to en- sure a successful issue, having thus been made, an en- gagement was entered into in the spring of 1846, with the late Rev. James H. Perkins, of Cincinnati, by which he took charge of the compilation, and prepared the work f0r the press ; and no one acquainted with that deservedly esteemed and lamented gentleman, need be informed, that the trust could not have been committed to belter or more able hands. A volume of 600 pages appeared before the close of that year : but an obligation to publish at the promised time, made it necessary, somewhat, to depart from the projector's plan, and to present the book in a form not deemed the most eligible. In view of this circumstance, together with a desire to extend and amplify the sketches of Illinois, Missouri, PREFACE. V and other communities more recently developed, the present Edition was resolved upon: which is a revision of the first, enlarged by the Rev. John M. Peck, of Illinois, a gentleman well calculated for this duty, from his long residence in the West and familiarity with the history of those portions less elaborately treated of in the former Edition. Notwithstanding, this edition is still not ar- ranged in strict accordance with the plan originally pro- jected, yet it is believed that for general accuracy and especial fulness of detail, it may be commended to its readers in its present form as worthy of attention. — Although it is not presumed to be wholly free from er- rors and imperfections, it will be found to contain a faithful narrative of memorable events, deserving the perusal of western people, especially the young, and the descendants of our Pioneers, to whom the volume is most respectfully dedicated. JAMES R. ALBACH. St. Louis, May, 1850. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. E512. Ponce de Leon discovers Florida. J516. Diego Miruelo visits Florida. 1526. Famphilo de Narvaez goes to Florida. 5538. De Soto asks leave to conquer Florida. 1539. Maj', De Soto reaches Tampa and Appalachee bays. 3541. De Soto reaches Mississippi, and crosses it to Washita. De Soto reaches Mavilla, on the Alabama. £542. De Soto descends Washita to Mississippi. May 21, De Soto dies. His followers try to reach Mexico by land and fail. De Soto's followers reach Mexico by water. De Biedma presents his account of De Soto's expeditiou to King of Spain. Le Caron explores Upper Canada. Charles First grants Carolina to Sir Robert Heath, p. 69. First mission founded near Lake Huron. French at Falls of St. Mary, Lake Superior. First missionary station on Lake Superior. Colonel Wood's alledged travels previous to this year. Allouez founds first permanent station on Lake Superior. Mission at St. Mary's Falls founded. Porrot explores Lake Michigan ; La Salle in Canada. French take formal possession of the north-west. Marquette founds St. Ignatius on Strait of Mackinac. Marquette and his companions leave Mackinac to seek the Mississippi. Marquette and his companions cross from Fox river to Wiscon- sin. Marquette and his companions reach Mississippi. Marquette and his companions meet Illinois Indians. Marquette and his companions reach Arkansas. Marquette and his companions leave on return to Canada. September, Marquette and his companions reach Green Bay. 1675. May 18, Marqaette dies. La Salle goes to France to see the King. 1676. Returns and rebuilds Fort Frontenac. 1677. La Salle visits France a second time. , . 1543. July, 1544. 1616. 1630. 1634. 1641. 1660. 1G64. 1665. 1668. 1670. 1671. £673. May 13, June 10, June 17, June 21, July, July 17, Mil CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1678. July 14, La Salle and Tonti sail for Canada; Sept. 15, arrive at Quebec. Nov. 18, La Salle and Touti cross Lake Ontario. 1679. January, La Salle loses his stores. Auguit 7, The Griffin sails up Lake Erie; 27th, at Mackinac. 1679. Sept. 18, The Griffin sent back to Niagara. Nov. 1, La Salle at St. Joseph's river, Lake Michigan. Dec. 3, La Salle crosses to Kankakee. 1G80. Jan. 4, La Salle in Peoria Lake; Fort Crevecocur built. Feb. 2S, Hennepin sent to explore the Upper Mississippi. March, La Salle returns to Canada. ApriliScMay, Hennepin on the Upper Mississippi. September, Tonti after commencing Fort St. Louis (Rock fort,) forced to leave the Illinois. Oct.&Nov. La Salle returns to the Illinois. November, Hennepin returns to Canada and Europe. 1681. June, La Salle and Tonti meet at Mackinac. August, La Salle a third time goes to the Illinois. Nov. 3, La Salle at St. Joseph's again. 1682. Jan. 5 or 6, La Salle goes from Chicago westward. February 6, La Salle on banks of the Mississippi. Feb. 13. La Salle descends Mississippi. March 6, La Salle discovers mouths of INIississippi and takes possession. September, La Salle returns to St. Joseph's of Michigan. 1683. Dec. 13, La Salle reaches France. 1684. July 24, La Salle sails from France for mouth of Mississippi. Sept. 20, La Salle reaches St. Domingo. Nov. 25, La Salle sails from St. Domingo for mouth of Mississippi. Dec 28, La Salle discovers the main land. The Iroquois place themselves under England. 1635. January, La Salle in the Gulf of Mexico. February 4, La Salle sends pariy onshore to go eastward for mouth of Mis- sissippi. Feb. 13, La Sal'.e reaches Matagorda Bay. March 15, La Salle left in Te.xas, by Beaujeu. July, Attempts to build a Fort, and is unfortunate, and his men sick and die. December, La Salle goes to look for INHssissippi. 1636. March, La Salle returns to Matagorda Bay. April, La Salle goes again to seek the Mississippi, and find a route to Canada. April, Tonti goes down Mississippi to meet La Salle. August, La Salle returns unsuccessful. 1687. Jan. 12, La Salle leaves for Mississippi the third time. March 15, La Salle sends men to look for stores. March 17, La Salle follows and is killed by those men. May, His murderers quarrel ; seven go on toward Mississippi. July 24, The seven reach the Arkansas. Sept. 14, The siven reach Fort St. Louis on Illinois river. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. DC 1G88. La Hontan's travels to the "Long river." — [Doub'.ful.] 1693. Bofore tliis time Gravier, the founder of Kaskaskia, was among . the Illinois. Kaskaskia founded, dato unknown. Cahokia founded, date unknown. Peoria a trading post. 1698. Oct. 17, D'Iberville leaves France for Mississippi. Dr. Coxe sends two vessels to the Mississippi. 1699. Jan. 31, D'lberville in Bay of Mobile. March 2, D'lberville enters Mississippi. D'lberville returns to France. September, Bienville sounds Missisippi and meets English. 1700. January, D'lberville returns from France. D'lberville goes up the Mississippi. D'lberville sends Le Sueur for copper to Upper Mississippi. M. St. Dennis explored Red river. 1701. De la Motte Cadillac founds Detroit. D'lberville founds colony on Mibile river. Iroquois again place themselves under England. 1703. Settlement on Washita. St. Dennis in Te.\as and the Presidie. 1705. Missouri river explored to Kauzas. 1707. First grant of land at Detroit. 1708. D'Artaguette in Louisiana. 1710. Governor Spotswood of Virginia explores the Alleghanies. 1712. Louisiana granted to Crozat. 1714. Fort Rosalie commenced. 171G. St. Dennis in possession of Texas. , 1717. Crozat resigns Louisiana. September, Louisiana trade granted to Company of West. 1718. Colonists sent to Louisiana, and New Orli?aus laid out. Fort Chartres commenced. 1719. Company of the West made Company of the Indies. La Harpe builds a Fort in Texas. Renault leaves France for Illinois. Fort Chartres finished. 1720. January, Law made minister of finance. April, Stock of Company of the Indies worth 2059 per cent. May, Company of Indies bankrupt. Renault arrives in Illinois, and sends out mining parties. Mine La Motte discovered. Spanish invasion of the Missouries from Santa Fe, defeated and destroyed. La Harpe explores Washita and Arkansas rivers. 1722. Charlevoix visits Illinois. 1726. Iroquois a third lime place themselves under England. 1729. Nov. 28, French among the Natchez murdered. 1730. Jan. &Feb., The Natchez conquered and destroyed. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1731. 1732. 1735. 1736. May, May 20, May 27, 1739. 1740. March, 1742. 1744. 1743. 1749. 1750. 17J1. ii 1752. June, 1753. May, June, August, Septembtr, October, Nov. 15, Nov. 22, Dec. 4, Dec. II, !754. Jan. G, April, April, April 17, May, June, July, I. October, Previous to this, Gov. Keith wishes West secured to England. Company of Indies resign Louisiana to King. Vincennes settled according to some, (see pp. G6-G3. ) Daniel Boone born. Expedition of Frencli against Chickasaws. D'Artaguette conquered. Bienville fails in assault on Chickasaws and retreats. French collect to attack Chickasaws. Peace between French and Cliickasaws. John Howard goes down Ohio. Treaty of Englisliand Iroquois at Lancaster. Vaudreuil fears English influence in West. Renault returns to France. Chickasaws attack French post on Arkansas. J] Conrad Weiser sent to Ohio. Ohio Company formed. Grant of land to Loyal Company. " Celeron sent to bury medals along Ohio. English Fort built on Great Miami. English traders seized on Maumee. P'orty vessels at New Orleans. Dr. Walker explores Kentucky. Christopher Gist explores Oliio and Great Miami. French build Forts on Frencli creek. French attack English post on Great JNIiami. Treaty of Logstown. Famiii s settle west of Alleghanies. Penns^ Ivania Assembly informed of French movements. Commissioner sent to warn French. Trent sent with arms for friendly Indians. Colonies authorized to resist French by force. Treaty of Winchester. Treaty with Iroquois ordered by England. Treaty of Carlisle. Ohio Company open line of ''Braddock's road.'^ Washington leaves Will's creek for Ohio. Washington reaches Monongahela. Washington reaches Venango. Wasliington reaches French Commander. Washington returns to Will's creek. Troops called out by Virginia. French Fort at Venango finished. Virginia troops moving westward. Fort at Iho Forks of Ohio taken by French. Washington crosses Alleghanies and attacks and kills Jumon- ville and his party. New York sends £5000 to Virginia. Washington at Fort Necessity, which capitulates the third. Washington retires to Mount Vernon. French hold the whole West. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XI 1755. January, Feb. 20, April, April 20, May 20, July 8, 1756. January, April, May, September, 1757 1758. France proposes a compromise. ■ Brad do k liinds in Virginia. France and England send flests to America. Braddock mari lies westward. Expedition against Nova Scotia leaves Boston. Braddock reaches Monouj.a!iela, defeated the 9th, and died the 13th. Lewis commands an exj edition against the Ohio Indians, and fails. Indians fill the Valley of Virginia. War declared between France and England. Armstrong attacks Indians at Kittaning. First treaty of Easton. Massacre of Fort William Henry. Pitt returns to office. Louisburg and Fort Frontenac taken. Post leaves for the Oiiio river to conciliate the Indians. August 24, Post confers with Indians at Fort Pitt. Sept. 21, Grant defeated. Washington opening a road over the mountains. Washington at Loyalhanna. Washington at Fort Du Quesne, which the French left on the 24th. Second treaty of E^iston. Pest's second mission to Ohio Indians. June 29, July 15, October, Nov. 5, Nov. 25, 1759. 1760. Sept. 8, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara, and Quebec yield to Eng- lish. The French yield Canada. Cherokee War. General Monkton treats with the Indians at Fort Pitt for land. Settlers go over the mountains. Rogers goes to Detroit ; reaches it the lOth November ; returns across Ohio to Fort Pitt in December. Alexander Henry visits north-west. Christian Post goes to settle on the Muskingum. Bouquet warns settlers off of Indian lands. Post and Heckewelder go to Muskingum. PreliminariBs to peace of Paris settled, Loaisiana transferred to Spain. Treaty of Paris concluded. C ^ Detroit attacked by Pontiac. Mackinac taken by Indians. Presqu'ile (Erie) taken by Indians. June to Aug. Fort Pitt besieged and relieved by Bouquet. October, Proclamation to protect Indian lands. Nov. 3, M. Laclede arrives inSte. Genevieve; and Fort Chartres. 1764. Feb. 15, St. Louis founded. June to Aug. Bradstreet makes peace with northern Indians. November, Bouquet makes peace with Ohio Indians. April 21, French officers ordered to give up Louisiana to Spain. Sept. 13, 1761. 1762. Nov. 3, 1763. Feb. 10, May 9, June 4, June, XII CHROXOLOGICAL TABLE, 1765. April, Sir Wm. Johnson makes treaty at German Flats. May &,Juue, George Croglian goes westward. Captain Stirling for England takes possession of Illinois. Proclamation of Governor Gage. 17C6. Settlers cross mountains. Walpole Company proposed. Colonel James Smith visits Kentucky. 1767. Western Indians grow impatient. Franklin labors for Walpole Company. Finley visits Kentucky. Zeisberger founds mission on the Alleghany. 17G8. Oct. 24, Treaty of Fort Stanwix by which the title of the Iroquois to all south of the Ohio is purchased. Captain Pitman in Illinois. 1769. March, Mississippi Company proposed. May 1, Boone and others start for Kentucky. June 7, Boone and others reach Red river. Dec. 22, Booiie taken by Indians. 1770. October, Treaty of Lochaber. Ohio Company merged in Walpole Company- Washington visits the West. The Long Hunters explore the West. The Zanes found Wheeling. Moravians invited to Big Beaver. Spain obtains possession of St. Louis and Upper Louisiana. 1771. .March, The Booues return to North Carolina. 1772. Indians killed by whites on Lower Kenawha. May 3, Moravians invited by Delawarcs, found Shoenbrun on the Mus- kingum. April, General Gage's proclarnilion against settlers on Wabash. Fort Charlres evacuated. 1 1 73. Sept. 25, Boone and others start to settle Kentucky. Oct. 10, Boone and others are attacked by Indians and turn back. Bullitt, McAfee, Stc, descend the Ohio. Bullitt, McAfee, &.c., survey at Falls, and on Kentucky river. General Thompson surveys in the valley of the Licking. General Lyman goes to Natchez. 1 ' '•^- James Ilarrod in Kentucky. January, Dunmore sends Connolly to take possession of Pittsburgh as being within Virginia. Jan. 25, Connolly calls out the militia ; he is arrested by St. Clair; his followers are riotous, and fire on the Indians. March 28, Connolly, released on parole, comes to Pittsburgh with an arm- ed force. lie rebuilds the Fort and calls it Fort Dunmore. April 16, Cherokees attack a boat on the Ohio. April 21, Connolly writes to the settlers to beware of the Indians. Cresap, having Connolly's letter, attacks Indians. Greathouse murders several Indians. Preparations for war. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. xni 1774. Logan revenges his family. June, Boone sent for surveyors in Kentucky. June 10, Friendly Shawanese attacked by Connolly. Traders murdered. July, McDonald attacks Wappatomica. Sept. 6&J12, Troops under Lewis march down Kenhawa. Oct. 6, Troops under Lewis reach Point Pleasant. Oct. 10, Battle of Point Pleasant. November, Dunmore makes peace. 1775. March 17, Treaty of VVataga ; purehase by Transylvania Company. April 1, Boone goes to Kentucky and founds Boonesboro'. April 20, Henderson reaches Boonesboro'. May 23, Henderson calls representatives together. May 27, Legislature adjourns. April, Massachusetts Council try to prevent hostility by Iroquois. May, Guy Johnson influences Iroquois against Americans. June 28, Oneidas and Tuscaroras adhere to America. June, Boones family and several others reach Kentucky. July, Congress forms three Indian Departments. August, Meeting of Commissioners and Indians at Albany. October, Meeting of Commissioners and Indians at Pittsburgh. Connolly arrested in Maryland. 1776. April 29, An attack on Detroit proposed in Congress. April 19, Washington advises the employment of the Indians. May, Indians incline to British. June 3, Congress authorizes the employment of Indians. July 7, to 21, Indians attack Kontuckians ; settlers leave- George Rogers Clark in Kentucky. June 6, Kentuckians petition Virginia for admission as citizens, and choose Clark and Jones members of Virginia Assembly. August 23, Clark procures powder from Council of Virginia. Dec. 7, Virginia admits Kentucky among her counties. Clark and Jones return by Pittsburgh with powder. Dec. 25, Jones killed while going for powder to Limestone. Clark reaches Harrodsburg. 1777. Summer, Cornstalk murdered at Point Pleasant. Congress of Indians and British at Oswego. Spring, Kentucky infested with savages. April, K^ntucky chooses Burgesses. May, Logan's station attacked. April 20 to June 22, — Clark's spies in Illinois. August, Logan crosses the mountains for powder. Colonel Bowman and 100 men come from Virginia. Sep.26&27,Fort Henry (Wheeling) attacked. September, First Court at Harrodsburg. Oct. 1, Clark leaves for Virginia. October, Brady and party attpck St. Joseph. Nov. 20, The attack on Detroit urged in Congress. Dec. 10, Clark opens his plan for conquering Illinois to Governor of Virginia. XIV CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1778. January 2, Orders issued to (^lark to attack Illinois. February 7, Boone taken prisoner at iLe Licking. March 10, Boone carried lo Detroit. June 24, Clark passes Falls of Ohio. Juae 16, Bjone escapes and relieves Boonesboro' May, Mcintosh commands at Fo;tPitt. Fort Mclniosh built. June 25, New Jersey objects to land claims of Virginia. July 4, Clark takes Kaskaskia. Cahokia joins the Americans. Aug. 1, St. Vincents joins the American cause. Aug. i, Boone goes to attack Faint creek town. Aug. 8, Boonesboro' besieged. Fort Laurens built. September, Clark holds council with the Indians. Sept. 17, Treaty with Dela wares at Pittsburgh. Maize and party attack St. Joseph. October, Virginia grants Henderson atid Company 200,000 acres on Green river. December, Governor Ilaniilton takes Viucennes. 1779. January 29, Clark hoars of capture of Vincennes. January, Delaware objects to land claims of Virginia. Feb. 7, Clark's campaign against Viucennes. Feb. 24, Hamilton surrenders the Fort and is sent to Virginia. April 1, Americans suspect and attack Iroquois. Lexington, Kentucky, settled. May, Virginia passes land laws. May 21, Maryland objects to land claims of Virginia. July, General Sullivan devastates Iroquois country. July, Bowman's expedition against Indian towns on Miamies. August, Fort Laurens abandoned. September, Indians treat with Broadhead at Fort Pitt. October, Rogers and Benliam attacked by Indians. Oct. 13, Land Commis.-iouersopen their sessions in Kentucky. Oct. 30, Congress asks Virgin! i to reconsider land laws. Colonel John Todd iu I.linois. 1780. Hard winter — great sufTering. Feb. 19, New York authorizes a cession of western lands. S,iri(ig, Fort Jefferson built on Mississippi. Spring, Great emigraiiou to Kentucky. May, Vi-ginia grants lauds in Kentucky for education. May, St. Louis attacked by British and Indians. Louisville established by law. June, Byrd invades Kentucky. July, Clark attacks Shawanese. Sept. 6, Resolution of Conjrress relative to western lands. " Coniiec'iicut p;isses first act of c e^iiou of western reserve. October, Fori Pitt threatened by srtvagfs. November, Kentucky divided into three counties. December, Clark prepares to attack Detroit. 1781. Jan. 2, Virginia makes her first act of cession. CHRONOLOGECAL TABLE. XV 1781. Feb. 15, Mr. Jay instructed that he may yield the navigation of the Mis- sissippi. March I, New York cedes her western lands. Brodhead attacks Delawares on Muskingum. April 16, Mary Heckewelder born ; first white child in Ohio. Americans begin to settle in Illinois. Chickasaws attack Ftrt Jefferson. September, Colonel Floyd rescued by Wells. September, Moravians carried to Sandusky by British and Indians. October, Moravian Missionaries taken to Detroit. Willidmscn leads a party against the Moravians, but finds the town deserted. Kentucky organized. 1782. March, Moravians murdered by Americans. March, Moravian missionaries taken to Detroit. March 22, Estil's defeat, June, Crawford's expedition, taken prisoner and burnt. Aug. 14, Attack on Bryant's station. Aug. 19, Battle of the Blue Licks. September, Clark invades the Miami valleys the second time. November, Land Offices opened. Nov. 30, Provisional articles of peace with Great Britain. 1783. Jan. 20, Hostilities of United States and Great Britain cease. March, Kentucky formed into one district. April 18, Congress calls on States to cede lands. April l9, Peace proclaimed to the army. English propose to carry away negroes. May, Washington protests against course of English. June, Rufus Putnam applies for lands in west. July 12, Baron Steuben sent to receive western posts. August, Cassaty sent to Detrint. Virginia withdraws Clark's commission. Sept. 3, Definitive treaty of peace. Sept. 7, Washington writes to Duane about western lands. Sept. 13, Congress proposes terms of cession to Virginia. Sept. 22, Congress forbids all purchases of Indian lands. Oct. 15, Congress instructs Indian Commissioners. Virginia grants Clark and his soldiers lands. Nov. 25, Briiish leave New York taking negroes. Daniel Brodhead opens a store in Louisville. Dec. 20, Virginia authorizes cession on terms proposed. 1784. Jan. 4, Treaty of peace ratified by United States. February, James Wilkinson goes to Lexington, Kentucky. March 1, Virginia gives deed of cession. March 4, Indian Commissioners reinstructed. Pittsburgh re-surveyed. April 9, Treaty of peace ratified by England. June 22, Virginia refuses to comply with treaty. Juh'i England refuses to deliver up western posts. Oct. 22, Treaty with Iroquois al Fort Stanwix. XVI CHRO.NOLOGICAL TABLE. Logan calls meeting at Danville. Dec. 27, First Kentucky Convention meets. Kentucky receives many emigrants. 1785. Jan. 21, Treaty with Delawares, &;e., at Fort Mcintosh. April, An attempt to settle at mouth of Scioto.^- May 20, Ordinance for survey of western lands passed. May 23, Second Kentucky Convention meets. July, Don Gardoqui comes from Spain. Augusts, Third Kentucky Convention meets. Colony emigrates from Virginia to Illinois . August, Indians threaten liostility. Great confederacy of north-western Indians formed by Brant. Fort Harmar built. 1766. January, January, Jan 10, Jan. 31, March I, May, 16, May, May 26, June 30, July 29, August, Sept. 14, October, 8, November, November, Dec. 22, . January, March 8, May, June, July, -July 27, July 13, July, August .18, August 29, Sept. 17, Oct. 27, Oct. 2, Oct Oct. 5, Not. 23, 1787 Brant visits England to learn purposes of ministers. Virginia agrees to independence of Kentucky. Putnam and Tuppercall meeting to form Ohio Company. ,r Treaty with Shawanese at Fort Finney, (mouth of Great Miami.) Ohio Company of associates formed. Governor of Virginia writes to Congress respecting Indian in- vasions. The negotiations as to Mississippi before Congress. Resolution of Congrass produces cession by Connecticut. Congress authorizes the invasion of north-westeru territory. Pittsburgh Gazette first published. Mr. Jay authorized to yield navigation of Mi;sissippi for a term of years. Connecticut makes second act of cession. Clark seizes Spanish property at Vincenues. V^irginia protests against yieldiu"- navigation of Mississippi. Great dii;sati?faction in the vrest. Governor of Virginia informed as to Clark's movements. Great Indian Council in north-west ; they address Congress. Fourth Kentucky Convention meets. Ohio Company chooses Directors. Meeting in Kentucky relative to navigation of 3Iississippi. Wilkinson goes to New Orleans. Dr. Cutler negotiates with Congress for lands for Ohio Com- pany. Congress make order in favor of Ohio Company. Oriiiriance passed for government of north-western territory. Harry Innis refuses to prosecute invaders of Indian lands. Kentucky Gazette established. Symmea applies for land. Entries of Virginia Military Reserve, north of Ohio, begin. Fifth Kentucky Convention meets. Ohio Company completes contract for lands. Symmes' application referred to Board of Treasury. Troops ordered west. St. Clair appointed Governor of Horth-western territory. Preparations made by Ohio Company to send settlers west. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XVII 1787. Nov. 2G, Symmes issMes proposals for settlers. December, John Brown, first western representative goes to Congress. 1783. Summer, Indipns expected to make treaty at Marietta. Great emigration ; 4,500 persons pass Fort IJarmar. Jiinuary, Denman purcliases Cincinnati. Feb. 29, The admission of Kentuciiy debated in Congress. April 7, Ohio Company settlers Imd at Musiiingum. July 2, Marietta named. July 3, The admission of Kentucky refused by Congress. July 9, St. Clair reaches north-western territory. July2S, Sixth Kentucky Convention meets. July 25, First law of north-western territory published. Symmes starts for the west. August, Losantiville (Cincinnati) laid out. Sept. 2, First court held at Marietta. Sept. 22, Symmes reaches his purchase. Great Indian Council in north-west to forbid treaties with sepa- rate nations. Nov. 4, Seventh Kentucky Convention meets. Nov. 18, Columbia settled by Stites. Novembe", Dr. Connolly in Kentucky as a British agent. Dec. 24, The founders of Cincinnati leave Maysville. Dec. 28, Cincinnati reached according to McMillan. Dec. 29, Virginia passes third act to make Kentucky independent. George Morgan removes to New Madrid. 1789. Jan. 9, Treaties of Fort Harmar concluded. Wilkinson goes to New Orleans again. Spring, Daniel Story, first teacher and preacher, in Ohio Company's purchase. June, Symmes' settlements threatened by Indians. June, Major Doughty arrives at Symmes' purchase and begins Fort Washington. July, Western scouts withdrawn by Virginia. July 29, Eighth Kentucky Convention meets. September, Governor Miro of New Orleans writes Sebastian. Sept. 29, Congress empowers President to call out western militia. Oct. 6, President authorizes Governor St. Clair to call out Mililia. Dec. 29, General Harmar reaches Cincinnati with 300 troops. 1790. Jan, 1 or 2, Governor St. Clair at Cincinnati, which name is then given il. Spri'jg, St. Clairgoes west to Kaskaskia. April, Gamelin s;'nt to Wabash Indians. May, Indian hostilities take place. July 15, St. Clair calls out western militia. July 26, Ninth Kentucky Convention meets. Sept. 15, Troops gather at Fort Washington. Sept. 30, Harmar leaves Fort Washington. Oct. 15, Colonel Hardin with the advance reaches Miami villages. Oct. 17, Main army reaches Minmi villages. Oct. 18, Trotter goes after Indians. Oct. 19, Hardin's first defeat. Oct. 22, Hardin's second defeat. IVIII CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1790. December, Kentuckiana petition Congress to fight Indians in their own way. December, Admission of Kentucky to U. States brought before Congress. December, Massie and others contract to settle Manchester. 1791. Jan. 2, Big Bot lorn settlement destroyed by Indians. Feb. 1, Congress agree lo admit Kentucky. IMarch 3, Excise laid on spirits. March 9, Scott of Kentucky authorized to march against Indians. March 12, Procter starts on his western mission. April 27, Procter reaches Buffalo creek. May 5, Procter is refused a vessel to cross Lake Erie. May 15, St. Clair at fort Washington preparing his expedition. May 21, Procter abandons his mission. May 23, Scott marches up VV abash. .^i^" July 27, Meeting at Brownsville agaiust excise. August I, Wilkinson marches against Eel river Indians. Sept. 6, Collector of Alleghany and Washington counties (Pennsylva- nia] attacked. Sept. 7, Meeting at Pittsburgh against excise. ' Sept. 17, St. Clair commences his march. Oct. 12, Fort Jefferson commenced. October, Wilson maltreated in we&t of Pennsylvania. Nov. 4, St. Clair's defeat. Nov. 8, The remainder of the army at Fort Washington. December, Convention elected to form Constitution for Kentucky. 1792. Jan. 7, Peace offered by the United States to the Indians through the Senecas. Jan. 9, Pond and Stodman sent west. February, Brant mvlted to Philadelphia. Feb. 1, Wilkinson sends to field of St. Clair's defeat. Gallipohs settled. March, Iroquois chiefs visit Philadelphia. April 3, Instructions issued to Trueman. April 3, Kentucky Constitution prepared. May 8, Excise laws amended. May 8, Captain Ilendrick sent west. May 22, Instructions issued to Rufus Putnam. May 22, Trueman leaves Fort Washington — Hardin also. June, General Wayne moves westward. June 20, Brant visits Philadelphia. Fire lands given to sufferers, by Connecticut. July 7, Indians seize 0. M. Sjiencer, &c. Aug. 21, Great anti-excise meeting at Pittsburgh. Sept. 15, Washington issues proclamation on excise law. Sept. 27, R. Putnam makes a treaty at Vinccnnes. Nov. 6, Adair attacked near Fort St. Clair. Nov. C, Opposition to excise law diminishes. December, United States troops at Legiunville, on the Ohio. 1793. March 1, Lincoln, Randolph and Pickering, appointed to treat with In- dians. April, United States Legion goes down to Cincinnati. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XIX Q 1793. April 8, Genet reaches United States. May 17, Commissioners reach Niagara. May 18, Genet is presented to Washington. May 30, First Democratic society in Philadelphia. June, Commissioners correspond with Covernor Simcoe. July 15, Commissioners meet Brant and hold a council. July 21, Commissioners at Elliott's house, mouth of Detroit river. July 31, Commissioners meet Indian delegates. Aug. 16, Final action of the Commissioners and Indians. Oct. 7, Wayne leaves Cincinnati with his legion. Oct. 13, Wayne encamps at Greenville. Oct. 24, Wayne is joined by Kentucklans under Scott. Oct. 17, Lowry and Boyd attacked. November, French emissaries sent west. Dec. 25, Field of St. Clair's defeat taken possession of by Wayne's troops. Dec. 25, Dissatisfaction in the west. 1794. January, Whisky riots recommence. February, Lord Dorchester's speech to Indians. February, The Mingo Creek Association formed. Spring, Wayne prepares for his campaign. April, General Simcoe builds a Fort on the Maumee. April, Democratic society formed at Pittsburgh. May, Spaniards offer help to Indians. May, French emissaries forced to leave west. Summer, Contest respecting Presqu'isle. June 30, Indians attacked Fort Recovery. June, Suits commenced against whisky rioters. July 16, First gathering about Neville's house; burnt 17th. July 23, Meeting at Mingo Creek. July 26, Mull robbed by Bradford. July 26, Scott, with 1600 men, joins Wayne. Aug. 1, Great gathering at Braddock's field. Aug. 7, Washington issues proclamation against whisky rioters. Aug. 8, Wayne near Maumee. Aug. 13, Wayne sends his last peace message to Indians. Aug. 18, Wayne builds Fort Deposit. Aug. 20, Wayne meets and conquers Indians. Aug. 21, Commissioners of government meet committee of rioters. September, British try to prevent Indians making peace. Sept. 11, Vote taken upon obedience to the law in Pennsylvania. Sept. 25, Washington calls out militia. Sept. &Oct. Fort Wayne built. Dec. 28, Indians ask for peace of Colonel Hamtramck. 1795. Jan. 24, Indians sign preliminaries of a treaty. Spring, Prisoners are interchanged. May, Connecticut prepares to sell her reserve. June 16, Council of Greenville opens. July, The Baron de Carondelet writes Sebastian. July, Jay's treaty formed. Aug. 3, Treaty of Greenville signed. Aug. 10, Council of Greenville closed. XX CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1795. August, Gram by Congress to Gallipolis settlers, Sept. 5 or 9, C<>nncciicut sells Western Reserve lo Land Company. Oct. 27, Pincknty concludes treaty wiihSpain. Nov. 4, Dayton laid out. *796. Chillicothe founded. M. Adet, French Minister, sends emissaries to disaffect the west to the Union. Sebastian visits the south-west. Sept. Cleveland laid out and naniod. July, British give up posts in north-west. August, Difficulties with Spain begin. August, General Wayne died. August, First paper mill in the west. 1 '3'- Power visits Kentucky, and writes to Sebastian. Oct. Daniel Boone moves west of Miss-issippi. Oct. Occupying claimant law of Kentucky passed. 1798. W. H. Harrison appointed Secretary of North-west territory. • Alien and sedition laws passed. Nullifying resolutions in Kentucky. Death abolished in Kentucky, except for murder. Dec. Representatives for north-west territory first chosen. 1799. Feb. 4, Representatives of north-west territory meet lo nominate can- didates for Council. Feb. Kentucky Constitution amended. Sept. 24, Assembly of north-west territory or;:anizes at Cincinnati. Oct. 6, W. H. Harrison ajipoiuteJ Delegate in Congress for north- west territory. 1800. May 7, Indiana territory formed. May 30, Connecticut yields jurisdiction of her reserve lo the U. States, and United Stales gives her putents for the soil. Oct. I, Treatyof St. Ildefonso. Nov. 3, Assembly of north-west territory meets at Chillicothe. Nov. 3, First missionary in Con leciicat Reserve. '^01- W. H. Harrison appointed Goveruor of Indiana territory. St. Clair re-appointed Governor of nortll-we^t territory. Cincinnati, in place of Chillicotlie, a;iuin made seat of govern- y^ ment for north-west territory. Dec. Thomas Worlhington goes lo Washington to procure the erec- tion of Ohio into a State. 1802 January, University at Alliens, Ohio, established. January, First Bunk in Kentucky. April 30, Congress agree that Ohio may become a Slate. Oct. 16, The Spanish Intenduut forbids the use of New Orleans by the Americans. Nov. 1, Convention meets to form a Constitution for Ohio. Nov. 29, Constitution formed. 1803. April, New Orleans opened lo Americans again. April, Livingston and Monroe in France — purchase Louisiana. April, Lands locitiedd for Miami University. April, Miami Exporting Company chartered. Oct. 21, The Senate ratify the purchase of Louisiana. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXI 1803. Dec. 20, Louisiana given up to the Americans. 1804. March 26, Territory of Orleans, & District of Upper Louisiana organized. May 14, Lewis and Clark start on their expedition. 1805. Jan. 11, Michigan territory formed. .Tune 11, Detroit burned to the ground. June, Burr visits the west. June, General Assembly meet in Indiana territory. June, Tecumthe and the Prophet begin to influence the Indians. June, Steps taken to make National road. 1806. July 29, Burr's letter to Wilkinson. Aug. Spaniards cross the Sabine. Aug. 21, Burr goes west; is at Pittsburgh. Sept. Lewis and Clark return from Oregon. Nov. Davies tries to arrest Burr. Dec. 6, Sebastian found guilty by Kentucky House of Representatives. Dec. 10, Burr's men go down the Ohio- Dec 14, Burr's boats and stores arrested. 26, Burr meets his men at the mouth of the Cumberland. 1807. Jan. 17, Burr yields to civil authority of Mississippi. Jan. Burr escapes, is seized, and tried at Richmond in May. May, Petition for slavery in Indiana. 1808. Bank of Marietta chartered. Bank of Chillicoihe chartered. June, Tecumthe and the Prophet remove to Tippecanoe. 1809. Illinois territory formed. Feb. 17, Miami University chartered. 1810. Boone's Lick settled. July, C. Cole and others killed by Indians in Missouri. August, Meeting of Tecumthe and Harrison at Vincennes. 181 1 . Company of rangers raised in Illinois. July, Tecumihe goes to the south. August, Harrison JJroposes to visit Indians. , Oct. Harrison marches toward Tippecanoe. First steamer (New Orleans) leaves Pittsburgh for Natchez and New Orleans. Nov. 7, Battle of Tippecanoe. Dec. 16, Great earthquakes begin. 1812. June 1, General Hull marches from Dayton. June 28, British at Maiden hear of the declaration of war. July 1, Hull sends men and goods by water to Detroit. July 2, Hull hears of the declaration of war. July 12, Americans at Sandwich. July 17, Mackinac taken by the British. Aug. 7, Hull retires to Detroit. Aug. 13, Brock reaches Maiden. Aug. 14, Brock at Sandwich. Aug. 16, Brock before Detroit. Aug. 16, Hull surrenders. Aug. 15, Masfacre of troops near Chicago. Sept. 8, Fort Harrison attacked. Sept. 17, W. H. Harrison appointed Commander in north-west. XXII CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1812. Oct. General Hopkins attacks the Indians on the Wabash. Oct. Governor Edwards attacks tlie Indians on the Illinois. Dec. Colonel Campbell attacks llie Indians on the Mississinneway. 1813. Jan. 10, Winchester reaches the rapids of M«umee. Jan. IT, Sends troops to Frenchtown. Jan. 18, British at Frenchtown defeated. Jan. 22, Americans defeated at Frenchtown, with great loss. Jan. 23, Massacre of the wounded. Jan. 24, Harrison retreats to Portage river. Feb. 1, Harrison advances to Maumee, and builds Fort Meigs. April 28, Fort Meigs besieged. May 5, General Green Clay reaches Fort Meigs; Dudley's party lost. May 9, British return to Maiden. July 18, British fleet prepare to attack Erie. July 31, Fort Steplienson besieged, and bravely defended. Aug, 4, Perry's vessels leave Erie. Sept. 10, V^ictory by Perry, on Lake Erie. Sept. 27, American army at Maiden. Sept. 29, American army at Sandwich. Get. 5. Battle of the Thames, and Tecumtho killed. 1814. Feb. Holmes's expedition into Canada. Feb. J. C. Symmes died. July, Expedition under Croghan against Mackinac. July, Fort Shelby, at Prairie du Chien, taken by the British. July 22, Treaty with Indians at Greenville. Oct. Si, Nov. McArthur's expedition into Canada. Dec. 24, Treaty of Ghent. 1815. Various treaties with Indians. Feb. Ohio taxes the Banks. 1816. March, Pittsburgh incorporated. March, Columbus made capitol of Ohio. Dec. Bank of Shawneetown chartered. Dec. General Banking Law of Ohio, passed. Dec. 11, Indiana admitted to the Union. 1817. First steamboat at St. Louis. September, North-west of Ohio bought of Indians. Jan. &. Oct., U. States Bank opens branches in Cincinnati and Chillicothe. 1818. Aug. 2G, Illinois becomes a State. 1819. First steamboats on the Missouri. Military Post cstablishfd at Council BlufTs. Expodition to the Yellow Stone.' The first steamer on Lake Erie. September, Conte^^t of Ohio and the United States Bank. 1820. December, Nullification resolutions of Ohio. Sept. Missouri forms a Constitution. May, Cass visits Lake Superior, &.c. 1821. Aug. 12, Missouri received into itie Union by proclamation of President. 1822. Jan. 31, Ohio moves in relation to canals. Jan. 31, Ohio moves in relation to schools. 1823. Feb. 11, Illinois moves in relation to canals. 1824. Slavery contest in Illinois. , 1825. Feb. 4 iS:, 5, Ohio passes canal and school laws. 1326. The first steamer on Lake Michigan. 1827. Nov. 1. First seminary built and opened iu Illinois. 1830. Treaty by Keokuk at Prairie du Chien. 1831. Black Hawk b(\stile, and driven west of Mississippi. 1832. First steamer at Chicago. February, Great flood in Ohio. May, Black Hawk war commenced. May 14, Stillman's defeat near Rock river. May 21, Indian creek settlement destroyed. July, Cholera among Scott's troops and along Lakes. July 21, Black Hawk defeated on Wisconsin. Aug. 2, Black Hawk defeated on Mississippi. Aug. 27, Blark Hawk delivered to iLiited States. Sept., Treaty with Indians. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XXUI 1832. Oct. Cholera at Cincinnati and along ilie Ohio. 1833. First farming settlements in Iowa. July 20, Governor Edwards died at Belleville, Illinois. Cholera at St. Louis and throughout tlie Mississippi Valley. Mormon difficulties in Jackson county, Missouri. Indian treaty at Chicago. 1834. Gazetteer of Illinois published at Jacksonville. Termination of various bank charters in Ohio. 1835. Michigan forms a Constitution and makes application to join the Union. Congress proposes conditions. 1836. State Bank of Illinois chartered. Michigan rejects the condiiioifs. Adopted in a second Convention. Territory of Wisconsin (including Iowa) organized. Illinois and Michigan canal commenced. 1837. Michigan received into the Union. Internal Improvement System adopted in Illinois. Riots at Alton, III., and Lovejoy killed. State House of Missouri, at Jefferson City, burned. 1838. July 4, Territory of Iowa organized. Mormon war in Missouri. Sept. I, Death of Governor William Clark. 1839. ' Bank Commissioners appointed in Ohio. Mormons retreat to Illinois, locate at Commerce, and call it Nauvoo. Iowa City located and made the seat of government. 1840. Great political excitement in the presidential canvas. 1841. April 4, Death of W. H. Harrison, President of the United States, at Washington City. Canal, Internal Improvement System, and Banks in Illinois stopped. Great depression in financial affairs throughout the west. 1842. Cincinnati Astronomical society founded. June 20, Death of General Henry Atkinson at Jefferson Barracks, Mis- souri. Aug. 15, Death of Hon. Mary P. Leduc, first Secretary of Upper Louis- iana, and an old citizen of St. Louis. May 14, Death of Hon. A. W. Snyder, Belleville, 111. Aug. 28, Death of Hon. J, B. C. Lucas, at St. Louis, aged 80. 1843. Illinois Banks accept of an act by the Legislature and close their business. Corner stone of Cincinnati Observatory laid in November. Mormon troubles in Illinois. 1844. Great flood on the Mississippi — American Bottom submerged. Steamboats went from St Louis to the Illinois bluffs. Mormon war in Illinois ; Joseph Smith, the leader, and others killed. State Constitution formed in Iowa; boundaries not approved by Congress. 1345. Banking law of Oljio creating a State Bank and branches, and independent Banks passed. Illinois negotiates with bond-holders to finish canal. 1846. Work on the Illinois canal resumed. Convention in Wisconsin form a State Constitution; rejected by the people. 1847. Convention in Illinois form a new Constitution. 1848. Constitution of Illinois adopted by the people, and went into operation. Wisconsin forms a new Constitution; approved by the people, and accepted by Congress. 1849. Cholera on the western rivers, and in many cities and towns. Deaths from all diseases in St. Louis, 8,603; cholera, 4,800. May 17, Great fire: 23 steamboats, 400 buildings, and $2,750,000 worth of property burnt. Oct. 17, Great Convention iu St. Louis on Rail-road to the Pacific, ERRATA. In a book liko the "Annals," it is hardly possible, between authors, compositors and proof readers, to avoid some typographical errors. The most frequent that occurs in thig work, are misplacing the brackets, intended to distinguish the composition of the Editor from that of Mr. Perkins. Page 29, Nicholas Parrot, should be Perrot. 37, A part of the last paragraph should have been in brackets. 47, The asterisk after " Hidden River," should be out. 66, Read, "all was «ri7Z iciM except those little spots." 70, Third paragraph, read 1752 for 7732. 71, A bracket after second paragraph. 133, The brackets in the middle of the page should be out. 134, Brackets out at close of first paragraph. 142, Third paragraph read " a few days after that in the boat," instead, "after that at Captina." 1C7, Put a bracket at close of the page. 171, A bracket should be out at the commencement of paragraph second. 187, A bracket should be at close of the chapter. 201, A bracket should be at close of first paragraph. 209, A bracket at close of the page. 509, Chickasaw Bluffs in line 15 from the top, should be Iron Banks situated a few miles below the junction of Ohio and Mississippi rivers. 261, A bracket should follow asterisk, after last paragraph. 311, A bracket after third paragraph. 349, A bracket after third paragrai>h. 399, A bracket after first paragraph. 447, A bracket after first paragraph. 504, A bracket should he out at first paragraph. 527, The date should be 1S03, instead of 1793. 634, A bracket at close of th6 page. 509, A bracket at the close of last paragraph but one. 570, Bracket should be left out at the end of second paragraph, after "Illinois." 574, 575, The captions over these pages are wrong. " Organization of Illinois Terri- tory," is found on pp. 676, 577. 577, A bracket is wanting at the close of fourth paragraph. " Fort Wayne, August 7, 1818, in some copies should be 1810. 595, The bracket should be left out at the commencement of the paragraph. 602, "Fort Wayne" should read "Sandwich," at the 13th lino from bottom. 616, In third paragraph after Cahokia, read Creek, 619, The bracket should be put at the close of the last of last paragraph. 636, The caption is wrong. It belongs to page 633. 643, The bracket at the end of first paragraph, should be left out. 709, 711, and 713. The captions over these pages should be " Sketches of Indian His- tory." 744, "Cape au Gris," should be Cape au Ores. It was so called from the gray rock there. 795, Second paragraph read "Sauteaurs." 796, In third paragraph, read retailed for "retained this story of Black Hawk." ANNALS OF THE WEST. CHAPTER I. SPANISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES, A. D. 1512 TO 1750, Discovery of Florida — De Soto's Expedition and Discovery of the Mississippi — Marquette and Joliet's Expedition — Enterprise of La Salle — Visit to Illinois — Fort Crcvecoeur — Hennepin's voyage up the Mississippi — La Salle's Expedition down the Mississippi to the Gulf— "Proces Verbal" — Returns to Illinois and starts to France — La Salle returns to the Gulf of Mexico — Discovers and takes possession of Texas — His Assassination — Tonti's Achievements — La Hontan — Kaskaskia Founded — D'lbberv'ille'a Voyage — Grant to Crozat — Mississippi Company — ^New Orleans Founded — The Natchez Extermination — War with the Chickasaws — Mississippi Valley in 1760. In the year 1512, on Easter Sunday, the Spanish name for which is Pascua Florida,* Juan Ponce de Leon, an old com- rade of Columbus, discovered the coast of the American con- tinent, near St. Augustine; and, in honor of the day, as well as because of the blossoms which covered the trees along the shore, named the new-found country Florida. Juan had been led to undertake the discovery of strange lands, partly by the hope, common to all his countrymen at that time, of finding endless stores of gold, and partly by the wish to reach a fountain that was said to exist, deep within the forests of North America,, which possessed the power of renovating the life of those who drank of, or bathed in, its waters. In return for his discovery he was made Governor of the region he had visited, but various circumstances prevented his return thither until 1521, and then he went only to meet with death at the hands of the Indians. In the mean time, in 1516, a roving Spanish sea captain,. Diego Miruelo, had visited the coast first reached by Ponce de Leon, and in his barters with the natives had received con- siderable quantities of gold, with which he returned home, and. spread abroad new stories of the wealth hidden in the Interior. *Pascua, the old English "Pasch" or Passover ; "Pascua Florida" is the "Holy-day of Flowers." 2 26 Discover!/ of Florida. 1622. Ten years, however, passed before Pamphilo de Narvaez undertook to prosecute the examination of the lands north of the Gulf of Mexico; the shores of which, during the intervening years, had been visited and roughly surveyed. Narvaez was excited to action by the late astonishing success of the conqueror of Montezuma, but he found the gold for which he sought, fly constantly before him ; each tribe of Indians referred him to those living still farther in the interior, and from tribe to tribe he and his companions wandered, weary and disappointed, during six months; then, having reached the shore again, naked and famished, they tried to regain the Spanish colonies ; but of three hundred only four or five at length reached Mexico. And still these disappointed wanderers persisted in their original fancy that Florida* was as wealthy as Mexico or Peru; and after all their wanderings and sufferings so told the world. f Among those to whom this report came, was Ferdinand de Soto, who had been with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and who longed for an opportunity to make himself as rich and noted as the other great Captains of the day. He asked leave of the King of Spain to conquer Florida at his own cost. It was given in 1638; with a brilliant and noble band of followers, he left Europe; and in May 1539, after a stay in Cuba, anchored his vessels near the coast of the Peninsula of Florida, in the bay of Spiritu Santo, or Tan) pa bay .J *By Florida the Spaniards in early times meant at least all of North America south of the Great Lakes, ■f For facts in relation to Florida see Bancroft's Ilist. U. S., Vol. I. J The originul authorities in relation to De Soto, are an anonymous Portugnese ■writer, a gentleman of Elvas, who claims to have been an eye-witness of what he relates; and Louis Hernandez de Biedma, who was also with the expedition, and presented bis account to the Spanish King in 1544. "Wc have also a letter from De Soto, to the authorities of the city of Santiago, in Cuba, dated July 9, 1539. These authorities in the main agree, though the Portuguese account is much the fullest, and the Governor's letter of course relates but few events. The Portuguese narrative was published in 1557 ; Ilakluyt gave it in English in 1609, and it was again published in London in 16SG; a French tran^^lation appeared in Paris in 1685. Its credibility is questioned. See Sparks in Butler's Kentucky, 2d Ed. 49S; also, Bancroft's U. S.I; 66. note. The account by Biedma and De Soto's letter are; in a work published in Paris, called "Voyages, Relations ct Memoires originaux povr levir a I'hutoire de decouverte de I'Amcriqiie." One volume of this collection relates to Florida, and appeared in 1811. We have epitomised the account as giTcn by Bancroft in his first volume. Note by the Ed. — There is a narrative by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, in Spanish, written a few years after the return of De Soto's companions and while they were living. From this and the other work mentioned above, Theodore Irving, Esq., while in Madrid, a few years since compiled his "Conquest of Florida," in two volumes 12 mo. Much of it ap- pears like romance, but the whole expedition of De Soto was romance in reality, though a bistorioal fact. 1542, Be Solo's Expedition. 27 De Soto entered upon his march into the interior with a deter- mination to succeed. He liad brought with him all things that it was supposed could be needful, and that none might be tempted to turn back, he sent away his vessels. From June till November, of 1539, the Spaniards toiled along until they reached the neighborhood of Appalachee bay, finding no gold, no foun- tain of youth. During the next season, 1540, they followed the course suggested by the Florida Indians, who wished them out of their country, and going to the north-east, crossed the rivers and climbed the mountains of Georgia. De Soto was a stern, severe man, and none dare to murmur. Still finding no cities of boundless wealth, they turned westward, towards the waters of the Mobile, and following those waters, in October (1540,) came to the town of Mavilla on the Alabama, above the junction of the Tombecbee. This town the Europeans wished to occupy, but the natives resisted them, and in a battle which ensued, the Indians were defeated. Finding himself, notwithstanding his victory, exposed to con- stant attacks from the red men at this point, De Soto resumed his march towards the Mississippi, and passed the winter, probably, near the Yazoo. In April 1541, once more the resolute Spaniard set forward, and upon the first of May reached the banks of the Oreat River of the West, not far from the 35th parallel of lati- tude.* A month was spent in preparing barges to convey the horses, many of which still lived, across the rapid stream. Hav^ ing successfully passed it, the explorers pursued their way north- ward, into the neighborhood of New Madrid ; then turning west- ward again, marched more than two hundred miles from the Mississippi to the highlands of White river. And still no gold, no gems, no cities; only bare prairies, and tangled forests, and deep morasses. To the south again they toiled on, and passed their third winter of wandering upon the Washita. In the fol- lowing spring (1642,) De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, descended the Washita to its junction with the Mississippi, wish- ing to learn the distance and direction of the sea. He heard, when he reached the mighty stream of the West, that its lower portion flowed through endless and uninhabitable swamps. — Determined to learn the truth, he sent forward horsemen; in eight days they advanced only thirty miles. The news sank *De Soto probably was at the lower Chickasaw Bluffs. The Spaniards called the Missis- sippi, Rio Grande, Great River, which is the literal meaniDg of the aboriginal name.-ED. 28 Death of De Soto. 1643. deep into the stout heart of the disappointed waiTJor. His men and horses were wasting around him : the Indians near by challenged him, and he dared not meet them. . His health yielded to the contests of his mind and the influence of the climate ; he appointed a successor, and upon the 21st of May died. His body was sunk in the stream of the Mississippi. Deprived of their energetic, though ruthless, leader, the Span- iards determined to try to reach Mexico by land. They turned West again therefore, and penetrated to the Red river, wander- ing up and down in the forests, the sport of inimical Indians. The Red river they could not cross, and jaded and heartless, a^ain thev went eastward, and reached in December 1542, the o • great Father of Waters once more. Despairing of success in the attempt to rescue themselves by land, they proceeded to pre- pare such vessels as they could to take them to sea. From January to July 1543, the weak, sickly band of gold-seekers, labored at the doleful task; and in July reached, in the vessels thus wrought, the Gulf of Mexico, and by September, entered the river Panuco. One-half of the six hundred* who had dis- embarked with De Soto, so gay in steel and silk, left their bones among the mountains and in the morasses of the South, from Georgia to Arkansas. Such was the first expedition by Europeans, into the great Western Valley of North America. They founded no settle- ments, left no traces, produced no effect unless to excite the hostility of the red against the white men, and to dishearten such as might otherwise have tried to follow up the career of dis- covery to better purpose. As it was, for more than a century after the expedition oi De Soto, the West remained utterly unknown to the whites. In 1616, four years before the Pilgrims "moored their bark on the wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had penetrated through the Iroquois and Wyandotsf to the streams which run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuits had founded the first mission among the rivers and marshes of the region east of that great inland sea ; but it was 1641, just one hundred years after De Soto reached the * De Bicdma says there landed 620 men. ITho Wyanduts are the same as the Hurons. Ilcckewelder's Karr. 336, note . sec their traditionarj- history by J. Badger, a Missionary among them.— Cist's Cincinnati Miscel- lany I. 153. 1671. Marquette and Joliet. 29 Mississippi, that the first Canadian envoys met the savage nations of the North-west, at the Sault cle Ste. Marie,* below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit, however, led to no permanent result, and it was not till 1659 that even any of the adventurous fur traders spent a winter on the frozen and inhospitable shores of the vast lake of the North, nor till 1660 that the unflinching devotion of the Missionaries caused the first station to rise upon its rocky and pine-clad borders. But Mesnard, who founded that station, perished in the woods in a few months afterward, and five more years slipped by before Father Claude Allouez, in 1665, built the earliest of the lasting habitations of white men among the kindly and hospitable Indians of the Northwest. Following in his steps, in 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette founded the mission at St. Mary's Falls; in 1670, Nicholas Parrot, as agent for Talon, the intendant of Canada, explored lake Michigan as far as Chicago ; in 1671 formal pos- session was taken of the North west by French officers in the presence of Indians assembled from every part of the surround- ing region, and in the same year Marquette gathered a little flock of listeners, at Point St. Ignatius, on the main land north of the tsland of Mackinac. During the three years which this most excellent man had now spent in that country, the idea of exploring the lands yet farther towards the setting sun, had been growing more and more definite in his mind. He had heard, as all had, of the great river of the West, and fancied upon its fertile banks, — not mighty cities, mines of gold, or fountains of youth — but whole tribes of God's children to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come. Filled with the wish to go and preach to them^ he obeyed with joy the orders of Talon, the wise intendant of Canada, to lead a party into the unknown distance ; and having received, as companions on behalf of the government, a Monsieur Joliet, of Quebec, together with five boatmen, in the spring of 1673, he prepared to go forth in search of the much talked of stream.f Upon the 13th of May, 1673, this little band of seven left Michilimackinac in two bark canoes, with a small store of Indian corn and jerked meat, bound they knew not whither. The first nation they visited, one with which our reverend Father had been long acquainted, being told oi their venturous *' JaJJjs of St. Mary- fFor tbe above dates, kc,, see Bancroft's V. S., Vol. HI 30 Reach the Mississippi, 1673.. plan, begged them to desist. There were Indians, they said, on tiiat great river, who would cut off their heads without the least cause ; warriors who would seize them ; monsters who would swallow them, canoes and all; even a demon, who shut the way, and buried in the waters that boil about him, all who dared draw nigh; and, if these dangers were passed, there were- heats there that would infallibly kill them.* "I thanked them for their good advice," says Marquette, "but I told them that I could not follow it; since the salvation of souls was at stake, for which 1 should be overjoyed to give my life." Passing through Green Bay, from the mud of which, says our voyager, rise "mischievous vapoi's, that cause the most grand and perpetual thunders that I have ever heard," they entered Fox river, and toiling over stones which cut their feet, as they dragged their canoes through its strong rapids, reached a village where lived in union the Miamis, Mascoutensf and "Kikabeux" (Kickapoos.) Here AUouez had preached, and behold! in the midst of the town, a cross, {une belle craix,) on which hung skins, and belts, ai\d bows, and arrows, which "these good people had offered to the great Manitou, to thank him because he had taken pity on them during the winter, and had given them an abundant chase." Beyond this point no Fi-enchman had gone; here was the bound of discovery ; and much did the savages wonder at the hardihood of these seven men, who, alone, in two bark canoes, were thus fearlessly passing into unknown dangers. On the 10th of June, they left this wondering and well-wish- ing crowd, and, with two guides to lead them through the lakes and marshes of that region, started for the river, which, as they heard, rose but about three leagues distant, and fell into the Mississippi. Without ill-luck these guides conducted them to the portage, and helped them carry their canoes across it; then, returning, left them "alone amid that unknown country, in the hand of God." * The allusion here is to the legend of the Piasau — or tbc monster bird that devoured men, of which some rude Indian paintings were seen thirty years since on the cliffs above the city of Alton, and Indians as they passed in their canoes made offerings by dropping tobacco and other articles, valuable in their estimation in the riv. r. John Russell, Esq., of Illinois, wove this "Indian Tradition" into a beautiful story that went the rounds of peri- odical literature, in 1840. — Ed. fin Charlevoix's time these occupied the country from the Dlinoia to the Fox river, and from lake Mlohigou to the Missi&jippi.— See hia Map. 1673. Visit to the Illinois. 31 With prayers to the mother of Jesus they strengthened their souls, and committed themselves, in all hope, to the current of the westward flowing river, the "Ouisconsin"* (Wisconsin ;) a sand-barred stream, hard to navigate, but full of islands covered with vines, and bordered by meadows, and groves, and pleasant slopes. Down this they floated until, upon the 17th of June, they entered the Mississippi, "with a joy," says Marquette, "that I cannot express." Quietly floating down the great river, they remarked the deer, the buffaloes, the swans — "wingless, for they lose their feathers in that country," — the great fish, one of which had nearly knocked their canoe into atoms, and other creatures of air, earth and water, but no men. At last, however, upon the 21st of June, they discovered, upon the western bank of the river, the foot prints of some fellow mortals, and a little path leading into a pleasant meadow. Leaving the canoes in charge of their followers, Joliet and Father Marquette boldly advanced upon this path toward, as they supposed, an Indian village. Nor were they mistaken; for they soon came to a little town, to which, recommending themselves to God's care, they went so nigh as to hear the savages talking. Having made their pres- ence known by a loud cry, they were graciously received by an embassy of four old men, who presented them the pipe of peace, and told them, that this was a village of the "Illinois." The voyagers were then conducted into the town, where all received them as friends, and treated them to a great smoking. After much complimenting and present-making, a grand feast was given to the Europeans, consisting of four courses. The first was of hominy, the second of fish, the third of a dog,t which the Frenchmen declined, and the whole concluded with roast buffalo. After the feast they were marched through the town with great ceremony and much speech-making ; and, having spent the night, pleasantly and quietly, amid the Indians, they returned to their canoes with an escort of six hundred people. * Called "Misconsin" in the printed Journal. — Ed. I A dog feast is still a feast of honor among the savages. See Fremont's Report of Expe- ditions of 1842, '43, and '44, printed at Washington, 18^5; p. 42. Fremont says the meat is somewhat like mutton. See, also. Dr. Jarvis's discourse before theN. Y. Historical Society in 1819, note B.j Lewis and Clark's Journal, II. 165; Godman's Natural History, I. 254. 32 Arrive at the Arkansas. 1673. The Illinois, Marquette, like all the eaily travelers, describes as remarkably handsome, well-mannered, and kindly, even some- what efieminate. Leaving the Illinois, the adventurers passed the rocks* upon which were painted those monsters of whose existence they had heard on Lake Michigan, and soon found themselves at the mouth of the Pekitanoni, or Missouri of our day ; the character of which is well described; muddy, rushing, and noisy. — They next passed a dangerous rock in the riverf and then came to the Ouabouskigou, or Ohio, a stream which makes but a small figure in Father Marquette's map, being but a trifling water- course compared to the Illinois. From the Ohio, our voyagers passed with safety, except from the musquitoes, into the neigh- borhood of the "Akamscas," or Arkansas. Here they were at- tacked by a crowd of warriors, and had nearly lost their lives; but Marquette resolutely presented the peace-pipe, and some of the old men of the attacking party were softened, and saved them from harm. "God touched their hearts," says the pious narrator. The next day the Frenchmen went on to "Akamsca," where they were received most kindly, and feasted on corn and dog till they could eat no more. These Indians cooked in and eat from earthen ware, and were amiable and unceremonious, each man helping himself from the dish and passing it to his neighbor. Fi'om this point Joliet and our writer determined to return to the North, as dangers increased towards the sea, and no doubt could exist as to the point where the Mississippi emptied, to ascertain which point was the great object of their expedition. Accordingly, on the 17th of July, our voyagers left Akamsca; retraced their path with much labor, to the Illinois, through which they soon reached the Lake; and, "nowhere," says Marquette, "did we see such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wild-cats, bustards, swans, ducks, j>avro(juets, and even beavers," as on the Illinois river. In September the party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay, and reported their discovery ; one of the most important of that age, but of which we have now no record left except the brief narrative of Marquette ; Joliet, (as we learn from an abstract of his account, given in Hennepin's second volume* *PiaEft Rock, at the present city of Alton, Illinois. tTte Grand Tower. 1675. Death of Marqiutte. S3 London, 1698,) having lost all his papers while returning to Que- bec, by the upsetting of his canoe. Marquette's unpretending account, we have in a collection of voyages by Thevenot, printed in Paris in 1681.* Its general correctness is unques- tionable ; and, as no European had claimed to have made any such discovery at the time this volume was published, but the persons therein named, we may consider the account as genuine. Afterwards Marquette returned to the Illinois, by their request, and ministered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing with his boatmen up Lake INIich- igan, he proposed to land at the mouth of a stream running from the peninsula, and perform mass. Leaving his men with the canoe, he went a little way apart to pray, they waiting for him. As much time passed, and he did not return, they called to mind that he had said something of his death being at hand, and anxiously went to seek him. They found him dead ; where he had been praying, he had died. The canoe-men dug a grave near the mouth of the stream, and buried him in the sand. Here his body was liable to be exposed by a rise of water; and would have been so, had not the river retired, and left the missionary's grave in peace. Charlevoix, who visited the spot some fifty years afterward, found that the wa- ters had forced a passage at the most difficult point, had cut through a bluff, rather than cross the lowland where that grave w^as. The river is called Marquette. f While the simple-hearted and true Marquette was pursuing his labors of love in the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were preparing to follow in his footsteps, and perfect the discoveries so well begun by him and the Sieur Joliet. These were Robert de la Salle and Louis Hen- nepin. * This work is now very rare, but Marquette's Journal has been republished by Mr. Sparks, at least in substance, in Butler's Kentucky, 2tl Ed. 492, • and in the American Biography, 1st scries, vol. X. A copy of the map by Marquette, is also given by Mr. Ban- croft, vol. III. We have followed the original in Thevenot, a copy of which is in Harvard Library. fCharlevoix's Letters, vol. II. p. 96. New France, vol. VI. p. 20. Marquette spells the name of the great western river, "Mississippy;" Hennepin made it "Meschasipij" others have written "Meschasabe," &c. &c. There is great confusion in all the Indian oral names; we have " Kikabeau.^," "Kikapous," "Quicapous;" "Ottaouets," "Outnovas;" "Miamis," "Oumamis;" and so of nearly all the nations. Our "Sioux" Charlevoix tells us, is the last syllable of "Nadouessioux," which is written, by Hennepin, "Nadoussion" and "Nadouessious," in his "Louisiana," and " Nadouessans," and in his " Nouvclle Xfecou verte," The Shawanese are always called the "Chouanouns." 34 Robert dc la Salle. 1675 La Salle was a native of Normandy, and was brought up, as we learn from Charlevoix, among the Jesuits;^ but, having lost, by some unknown cause, his patrimony, and being of a stirring and energetic disposition, he left his home to seek for- tune among the cold and dark regions of Canada. This was about the year 1670. Here he mused long upon the pet pro- ject of those ages, a short-cut to China and the East ; and, gaining his daily bread, we know not how, was busily plan- ning an expedition up the great lakes, and so across the con- tinent to the Pacific, when Marquette returned from the Mis- sissippi. At once the hot mind of La Salle received from his and his companion's narrations, the idea, that, by following the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the streams which joined it from the westward, his aim might be certainly and easily gained. Instantly he went towards his object. He applied to Frontenac, then governor-general of Canada, laid before him an outline of his views, dim but gigantic, and, as a first step, proposed to rebuild of stone, and with improved fortifications. Fort Frontenac upon Lake Ontario, a post to which he knew the governor felt all the affection due to a namesake. Frontenac entered warmly into his views. He saw, that, in La Salle's suggestion, which was to connect Can- ada with the Gulf of Mexico by a chain efforts upon the vast navigable lakes and rivers which bind that country so won- derfully together, lay the germ of a plan, which might give unmeasured power to France, and unequalled glory to him- self, under whose administration, he fondly hoped, all would be realized. He advised La Salle, therefore, to go to the King of France, to make known his project, and ask for the royal patronage and protection ; and, to forward his suit, gave him letters to the great Colbert, minister of finance and marine. With a breast full of hope and bright dreams, in 1675, the penniless adventurer sought his monarch ; his plan was ap- proved by the minister, to whom he presented Frontenac's letter; La Salle was made a Chevalier; was invested wilh the seignory of Fort Catarocouy or Frontenac, upon condition he would rebuild it ; and received from all the first noblemen and princes, assurances of their good- will and aid. Returning to Canada, he labored diligently at his fort till the close of 1677, when he again sailed for France with news of his pro- •Charlevoix's New France, Paris edition of 1744, vol. II. p. 263. 1678. Father Louis Hennepm. 35 gress. Colbert and his son, Seignelay, now minister of marine, once more received him with favor, and, at their instance, the King granted new letters patent with new privileges. His mission having sped so well, on the 14th of July, 1G78, La Salle, Math his lieutenant, Tonti, an Italian, and thirty men> sailed again from Rochelle for Quebec, where they arrived on the 15th of September ; and, after a few days' stay, proceeded to Fort Frontenac* Here was quietly working, though in no quiet spirit, the rival and co-laborer of La Salle, Louis Hennepin, a Francis- can friar, of the Recollet variety ; a man full of ambition to be a great discoverer; daring, hardy, energetic, vain, and self- exaggerating, almost to madness; and, it is feared, more anx- ious to advance his own holy and unholy ends than the truth. He had in Europe lurked behind doors, he tells us, that he might hear sailors spin their yarns touching foreign lands ; and he profited, it would seem, by their instructions. He came to Canada when La Salle returned from his first visit to the court, and had, to a certain extent, prepared himself, by journeying among the Iroquois, for bolder travels in the wilder- ness. Having been appointed by his religious superiors to ac- company the expedition which was about to start for the extreme West, under La Salle, Hennepin was in readiness for him at Fort Frontenac, where he arrived, probably, some time in October, 1678. f *Charlevoix's New France, 1744, vol. II. p. 264, 266. Sparks' life of La Salle. Ameri- can Biography, new series, I. 10 to 15. fHennepia's New Discovery, Utrecht edition of 1697, p. 70. — Charlevoix's New France vol. II. p. 266. We give the name* of the lakes and rivers as they appear in the early travels. Lake Ontario was also Lake Frontenac. Lake Erie, was Erike, Erige, or Erie, from a nation of Eries destroyed hy the Iro- quois; they lived where the State of Ohio now is (Charlevoix's New France, vol. II. p. 62;) it was also the Lake of Conti. Lake Huron, was Karegnondi in early times ( Ma2> of 1656 ; ) and also, Lake of Orleans. Lake Michigan, was Lake of Piians (Map of 1656;) also, of the Illinois, or lUinese, or Ulinouacks; also Lake Mischigonong, and Lake of the Dauphin. Lake Superior was lake Supcrieur, meaning the upper, not the larger lake — also, lake of Conde. Green Bay, was Bale de Puans. Illinois River, in Hennepin's Louisiana, and Joutel's Journal, is River Seignelay; and the Mississippi river, in those works, is River Colbert; and was by La Salle, called River Colbert. Ohio River was Ouabouskigou, Oubachi, Oubaehe, Oyo, Ouye, Belle Riviere ; and by La Salle, River St. Louis. Missouri River, was Pekitanoni, Riviere des Osages et Massourites ; and by Coxe is called Yellow River. 36 First Schooner on the Lakes. 1679. The Chevalier's first step was to send forward men to pre- pare the minds of the Indians along the lakes for his coming, and to soften their heart by well-chosen gifts and words ; and also, to pick up peltries, beaver skins, and other valuables ; and, upon the 18th of November, 1678, he himself embarked in a little vessel of ten tons, to cross Lake Ontario. This, says one of his chroniclers, was the first ship that sailed upon that fresh water sea. The wind was strong and contrar}^, and four weeks nearly were passed in beating up the little distance be- tween Kingston and Niagara. Having forced their brigantine as far towards the Falls as was possible, our travellers landed ; built .some magazines with difficulty, for at times the ground was frozen so hard that they could drive their stakes or posts into it, only by first pouring upon it boiling water; and then made acquaintance with the Iroquois of the. village of Niagara, upon Lake Erie. Not far from this village, La Salle founded a second fort, upon which he set his men to work ; but, finding the Iroquois jealous, he gave it up for a time, and merely erected temporary fortifications for his magazines; and then, leaving orders for a new ship to be built, he returned to Fort Frontenac, to forward stores, cables, and anchors for his forth- coming vessel. Through the hard and cold winter days, the frozen river lying before them" "like a plain paved with fine polished marble," some of his men hewed and hammered upon the timbers of the Griffin, as the great bark was to be named, while others gathered furs and skins, or sued for the good will of the bloody savages amid whom they were quartered ; and all went merrily until the 20th (if January, 1679. On that day the Chevalier arrived from below; not with all his goods, however, for his misfortunes had commenced. The vessel in which his valuables had been embarked was ^^Tecked through the bad management of the pilots; and, though the more important part of her freight was saved, much of her provision went to the bottom. During the winter, however, a very nice lot of furs was scraped together, with which, early in the spring of 1679, the commander returned to Fort Frontenac to get another outfit, while Tonti was sent forward to scour the lake coasts, mu-ster together the men who had been sent before, collect skins, and see all that was to be seen. In thus coming andgoing, buying and trading, the summer of this year slipped 1679. La Salle in Illinois. 37 away, and it was the 7th of August before the GriJJin was ready to sail. Then, with Tc-Demns, and the discharge of arquebuses, she began her voyage up Lake Erie. Over Lake Erie, through the strait beyond, across St. Clair, and into Huron the voyagers passed most happily. In Huron they were troubled by storms, dreadful as those upon the ocean, and were at last forced to take refuge in the road of Michilimackinac. This was upon the 27th of August. At this place, which is described as one "of prodigious fertility,'* La Salle remained until the middle of September, founded a fort there, and sent men therefrom in various directions to spy out (he state of the land. He then went on to Green Bay, the " Bale des Puans,"-}- of the French ; and, finding there a large quantity of skins and furs collected for him, he determined to load the Griffin therewith, and send her back to Niagara. This was done with all promptness ; and, upon the 18th of September, she was dispatched under the charge of a pilot, supposed to be competent and trustworthy, while the Norman himself, with fourteen men, proceeded up Lake Michigan, paddling along its shores in the most leisurely manner; Tonti, meanwhile, having been sent to find stragglers, with whom he was to join the main body at the head of the lake. From the 19th of September till the 1st of November, the time was consumed by La Salle in his voyage up the sea in question. On the day last named, he arrived at the mouth of the river of the Miamis, or St, Josephs, as it is now called.t Here he built a fort and remained for nearly a month, when hearing nothing from his Griffin, he determined to push on before it was too late. On the 3rd of December, having mustered all his forces, thirty laborers and three monks, after having left ten men to garrison the fort. La Salle started again upon "his great voy- age and glorious undertaking." Ascending the St. Josephs river in the south- western part of Michigan to a point where, by a short portage, they passed to the ^'■Thc-au-ki-ki,^^ (now corrupted into Kankakee,) a main branch of the Illinois river. Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to *Tn reality a very sterile spot. j"So called from the filthiness of the savages, who lived principally on fish. — Ed. JSee on this point, North American Review, January 1839, No. CII. p. 74. 88 Fort Crevcccpur Built. 1680. observe that country, about the last of December, reached a village of the Illinois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but, at that moment, no inhabitants. The Sieur La Salle, being in great want of bread-stuffs, took advantage of this absence of the Indians to help himself to a sufficiency of maize, of which large quantities were found hidden in holes under the huts or wigwams. This village was, as near as we can jud^e, not far from the spot marked on our maps as Rock Fort, inXa Salle county, Illinois. The corn being got aboard, the voyagers betook themselves to the stream again, and toward evening on the 4th of January, 1680, fell into a lake which must have been the lake of Peoria. Here the natives were met with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent some time with them, La Salle deter- mined in that neighborhood to build another fort, for he found that already some of the adjoining tribes were trying to disturb the good feeling which existed; and, moreover, some of his own men were disposed to complain. A spot upon rising ground, near the river, was accordingly chosen about the middle of January, and the fort of Crcvccosu?- (Broken Heart,) com- menced ; a name expressive of the very natural anxiety and sorrow, which the pretty certain loss of his Griffin, and his consequent impoverishment (for there were no insurance offices then,) the danger of hostility on the part of the Indians, and of mutiny on the part of his men, might well cause him. Nor were his fears by any means groundless. In the first place, his discontented followers, and afterwards emissaries from the Mascoutens, tried to persuade the Illinois that he was a friend of the Iroquois, their most deadly enemies; and that he was among them for the purpose of enslaving them. But La Salle was an honest and fearless man, and, as soon as cold- ness and jealousy appeared on the part of his hosts, he went to them boldly and asked the cause, and by his frank state- ments preserved their good feeling and good will. His disap- pointed enemies, then, or at some other time, for it is not very clear when,* tried poison; and, but for "a dose of good treacle," La Salle might have ended his days in his fort Crevecoeur. Meanwhile the winter wore away, and the prairies were •Charlevoix snys it was at the close of 1679; Hennepin, tliat they did not reach the Il- linois, till Jnnu.iry 4tli, ItiSO. We have no means of deciding, but follow Hennepin, who is particular ns to dutc!!, and was present. 1680. Loss of the Griffin. 39 getting to look green again ; but our discoverer heard no good news, received no reinforcement ; his property w^as gone, his men were fast deserting him, and he had little left but his own strong heart. The second year of his hopes, and toils, and failures, was half gone, and he further from his object than ever; but still he had that strong heart, and it was more than men and money. He saw that he must go back to Canada, raise new means, and enlist new men ; but he did not dream, therefore, of relinquishing his projects. On the contrary, he determined that, while he was on his return, a small party should go to the Mississippi and explore that stream towards its source ; and that Tonti, with the few men that remained, should strengthen and extend his relations among the Indians. For the leader of the Mississippi exploring party, he chose Father Louis Hennepin ; and, having furnished him with all the necessary articles, started him upon his voyage on the last day of February, 1680.* Having thus provided against the entire stagnation of dis- covery during his forced absence. La Salle at once betook himself to his journey eastward : a journey scarce conceivable now, for it was to be made by land from fort CrevecoBur round to fort Frontenac, a distance of at least twelve hundred miles, at the most trying season of the year, when the rivers of the lakes would be full of floating ice, and offer to the traveler neither the security of winter, nor the comfort of summer. But the Chevalier was not to be daunted by any obstacles ; his affairs were in so precarious a state that he felt he must make a desperate effort, or all his plans would be for ever broken up ; so through snow, ice and water, he won his way along the southern borders of lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario, and at last reached his destination. He found, as he expected, every thing in confusion : his Griffin was lost ; his agents had cheated *The commander was D'Acau, corruptly made Dacan by many modern Trriters. Our authority is Dr. Sparks. In a manuscript correspondence on the subject, with the editor, Dr. S. says : "In my French MSS., I find the word written D'Acau, and I suppose it was commonly called Acau. Hence Hennepin writes it from the sound Ako; and from the blind manner in which the name was written in Tonti's original MS., D'Acau, was mistaken for Duean; and here we have the origin of the conflict between Hennepin and Tonti, in regard to this , name, which has puzzled the subsequent writers." Hennepin was notorious for misstatements, andjclaims to authority he never possessed. He was with the expedition and the historian of it. — Ed. 40 Hennepin iiitli the Indians. 1680. him; liis creditors had seized his goods. Had his spirit been one atom less elastic and energetic, he would have abandoned the whole undertaking ; but La Salle knew neither fear nor despair, and by midsummer we behold him once more on his way to rejoin his little band of explorers on the Illinois. This pioneer body, meanwhile, had suffered greatly from the jeal- ousy of the neighboring Indians, and the attacks of bands of Iroc^uois, who wandered all the way from their homes in New York, to annoy the less warlike savages of the prairies. Their sufferings, at length, in September, 1680, induced Tonti to abandon his position, and seek the lakes again, a point which, with much difficulty, he effected. When, therefore, La Salle, who had hoard nothing of all these troubles, reached the posts upon the Illinois in December 1680, or January 1681, he found them utterly deserted ; his hopes again crushed, and all his dreams again disappointed. There was but one thing to be done, however, to turn back to Canada, enlist more men, and secure more means : this he did, and in June, 1081, had the pleasure to meet his comrade, Lieutenant Tonti, at Mackinac, to whom he spoke, as we learn from an eye-witness, with the same hope and courage which he had exhibited at the outset of his enterprise. And here, for a time, we must leave La Salle and Tonti, and notice the adventures of Hennepin, who, it will be remem- bered, left fort CrevecQDur on the last of February, 1680. In seven days he reached the Missis.sippi, and, paddling up its icy stream «is he best could, by the 11th of April had got no higher than the Wisconsin. Here he was taken prisoner by a band of northern Indians, who treated him and his comrades with considerable kindness, and took them up the river until about the first of May, when they reached the Falls of St. Anthony, which were then so named by Hennepin in honor of his patron saint. Here they took to the land, and traveling nearly two hundred miles towards the northwest, brought him to their villages. These Indians were the Sioux. Here Hennepin and his companions remained about three months, treated kindly and trusted by their captors ; at the end of that time, he met with a band of Frenchmen, headed 'by one Sicur de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade and game, had penetrated thus far by the route of Lake Superior ; and, with these fellow countrymen the Franciscan returned to the bor- 1682. La Salle on the Mississippi. 4i ders of civilized life, in November, 1680, just after La Salle had gone back to the wilderness as we have related. Hen- nepin soon after went to France, where, in 1684, he published a work narrating his adventures.* To return again to the Chevalier himself, he met Tonti, as w^e have said, at Mackinac, in June, 1681 ; thence he went down the lakes to fort Frontenac, to make the needful prepa- rations for prosecuting his western discoveries ; these being made, we find him, in August, 1681, on his way up the lakes again, and on the 3d of November at the St. Josephs, as full of confidence as ever. The middle of December had come, however, before all were ready to go forward, and then, with twenty- three Frenchmen, eighteen eastern Indians, ten Indian women to wait upon their lazy mates, and three children, he started, not as before by the way of the Kankakee, but by the Chicago river, traveling on foot and with the baggage on sledges. It was upon the 5th or 6th of January, 1682, that the band of explorers left the borders of lake Michigan ; they crossed the portage, passed down to fort Crevecoeur, which they found in good condition, and still going forward, on the 6th of February, were upon the banks of the Mississippi. On the thirteenth they commenced their downward passage, but nothing of interest occurred, until, on the 26th of the month, at the Chickasaw Bluffs, a Frenchman, named Prudhomme, w^ho had gone out with others to hunt, was lost, a circum- stance which led to the erection of a fort upon the spot, named from the missing man, who was found, however, eight or nine days afterwards. Pursuing their course, they at length, upon the 6th of April, 1682, discovered the three passages by which the Mississippi discharges its waters into the Gulf; and here we shall let La Salle himself tell his story, as it is given in the *This volume, called "A description of Louisiana," he, thirteen years afterwards, en- larged and altered, and published with the title, "New Discovery of a Vast Country situated in America, between New Mexico and the Frozen Ocean." In this new publication, he claimed to have violated La Salle's instructions, and in the first place to have gone down the Mississippi to its mouth, before ascending it. His claim was very naturally doubted; and examination has proved it to be a complete fable, the materials having been taken from an account published by Le Clercq in 1691, of La Salle's successful voyage down the great river of the West, a voyage of which we have presently to speak. This account of La Clercq's was drawn from the letters of Father Zenobo Membre, a priest who was with La Salle, and is the most valuable published work in relation to the final expedition from Canada, made by that much-tried and dauntless commander. The whole subject of Hen- nepin's credibility, is presented by Mr. Sparks, in his life of La Salle, with great firmness and xrecision, and to that we refer all curious readers. 3 42 Mouth of the River. 1682. "Proces-verbal" which Mr. Sparks has translated from the original in the French archives. It thus proceeds : "We landed on the bank of the most western channel, about three leagues from its mouth. On the 7th, M. de La Salle went to reconnoitre the shores of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonti likewise examined the great middle chan- nel. They found these two outlets beautiful, large and deep. On the Sth, we reascended the river, a little above its con- fluence with the sea, to find a dry place, beyond the reach of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole w-as here about twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to the said column w^e affixed the arms of France, with this inscription : LOUIS LE GRAND, RIO DE FRANCE ET DE NAVARRE, REGEN; LE NEUVIEME AVRIL, 1682. The whole party, under arms, chaunted the Tc Dcum, the Exaudiat, the Domine salvum fac Regcm ; and then, after a salute of firearms and cries of Vive le Roi, the column was erected by M. de la Salle, who, standing near it, said, with a loud voice in French : — " 'In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and vic- torious Prince, Louis the Great, by the Grace of God, King of France and of Navarre, Fourteenth of that name, this ninth day of April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two, I, in virtue of the commission of his IMajcsty, which I hold in my hand, and which may be seen by all whom it may concern, have taken, and do now take, in the name of his Majesty and of his successors to the crown, possession of this country of Louisiana, the seas^, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits ; and all the nations, people, provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams and rivers, comprised in the extent of the said Louisiana, from the mouth of the great river St. Louis, on the eastern side, otherwise called Ohio, Alighin, Sipore or Chukagona, and this with the consent of the Chaou- nons, Chickasaws, and other people dwelling therein, with whom we have made alliance ; as also along the river Colbert or Mississippi, and rivers which discharge themselves therein, from its source beyond the country of the Kious or Nadoues- sious, and this with their consent, and with the consent of the Montantees, Illinois, Mesigameas, Natches, Koroas, which are 1682. Takes Possession of the Country. 43 the most considerable nations dwelling therein, with whom, also, we have made alliance either by ourselves, or by others in our behalf;* as far as its mouth at the sea, or Gulf of Mexico, about the twenty-seventh degree of the elevation of the North Pole, and also to the mouth of the river of Palms ; upon the assurance, which we have received from all these nations, that we are the first Europeans who have descended or ascended the sa,id river Colbert ; hereby protesting against all those, who may in future undertake to invade any or all of these countries, people or lands, above described, to the preju- dice of the right of his Majesty, acquired by the consent of the nations herein named. Of which, and of all that can be needed, I hereby take to witness those who hear me, and de- mand an act of the Notary, as required by law.' "To which the whole assembly responded with shouts of Vive le Roi, and with salutes of firearms. Moreover, the said Sieur de la Salle caused to be buried at the foot of the tree, to which the cross was attached, a leaden plate, on -one side of w^hich were engraved the arms of France, and the follow- ing Latin inscription. LVDOVICVS MAGNVS REGENT. NONO APBILIS CID IOC LXXXII. ROBERTVS CAVELLIER, CVM DOMINO DE TONTY, LEGATO, R. P. ZENOBI MEMBRE, EECOLLECTO, ET VIGINTI GALLIS PRIMVS HOC FLVMEN, INDE AB ILINEOEVM PAGO, ENAVIGAVIT, EJVSQYE OSTIVM FECIT PERVlVVM, NONO APRILIS ANNI CIO IOC LXXXII. After which the Sieur de la Salle said, that his Majesty, as eldest son of the Church, would annex no country to his crown, without making it his chief care to establish the Christian reli- gion therein, and that its symbol must now be planted ; which was accordingly done at once by erecting a cross, before which the Vexilla and the Doynine salvwn fac Regcm were sung. — Whereupon the ceremony was concluded with cries of Vive le Roi. "Of all and every of the above, the said Sieur de la Salle having required of us an instrument, we have delivered to him ''■Tliere is an obscurity in this enumeration of places and Indian nations, ■which may be ascribed to an ignorance of the geography of the country ; but it seems to be the design of the Sieur de la Salle to take possession of the whole territory watered by the Mississippi from its mouth to its source, and by the streams flowing into it c^n both sides. — Sparks. 44 Returns to Illinois. 1682. the same, signed by us, and by the undersigned witnesses, this ninth day of April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two. 'LA METAIRE, Notary. De la Salle, Pierre You, P, TiEsonE,' Recollect Missionary. Giles Meucrat, Henry de Toxty, Jean Michel, Surgeon, Francois de Boisrondet, Jean Mas, Jean Bourdon, Jean Dclignon, Sieur d'Autray, Nicholas de la Salle." Jaques Cauchois. Thus was the foundation fairly laid for the claim of France to the Mississippi Valley, according to the usages of European powers. But La Salle and his companions could not stay to examine the land they had entered, nor the coast they had reached. Provisions with them were exceedingly scarce, and they were forced at once to start upon their return for the north. This they did without serious trouble, although some- what annoyed by the savages, until they reached Fort Prud- homme, where La Salle was taken violently sick. Finding himself unable to announce his success in person, the Cheva- lier sent forward Tonti to the lakes to communicate with the Count de Fronlenac : he himself was able to reach the fort at the mouth of the St. Josephs, toward the last of September. From that post he sent with his dispatches, Father Zenobe, to represent him in France, while he pursued the more lucra- tive business of attending to his fur trade, in the north-west, and "completing his long projected fort of St. Louis, upon the high and commanding blulV of the Illinois, now known as Rock Fort ; a bluff two hundred and fifty feet high, and acces- sible only on one side.* Having seen this completed, and the necessary steps taken to preserve a good understanding with the Indians, and also to keep up a good trade with them, in the autumn of 1683, the Chevalier sailed for his native land, which he reached, December I3th. At one time he had thought probably of attempting to estab- * After exchanging views and facta with Dr. SjMirks, he writes, Nov. 26, 1846. "It ap- pears to me that "Buffalo Rock," from your description, is most likely to have been the site of La Salle's Fort St. Louis." Buffalo Rock is a singular promontory on the north side of the Illinois river in La Salle county, six miles below Ottowa. It rises nearly 50 or 60 feet nearly perpendicular on three sides, and contains on its surface about 600 acres, of timber and prairie. — Gaz. of Illincis hj Ed. 1684. La Salle sails to France. 45 lish a colony on the Mississippi, by means of supplies and per- sons sent from Canada ; bat farther reflection led him to believe his true course to be to go direct from France to the mouth of the Mississippi, with abundant means of settling and securing the country ; and to obtain the necessary ships, stores, and emi- grants, was the main purpose of his visit to Europe. But he found his fair fame in danger, in the court of his king. His success, his wide plans, and his overbearing character were all calculated to make him enemies ; and among the foremost was La Barre, who had succeeded Frontenac as Governor of Canada. But La Salle had a most able advocate in France, so soon as he was there in person ; and the whole nation being stirred by the story of the new discoveries, of which Hennepin had widely promulgated his first account some months before La Salle's return, our hero found ears open to drink in his words, and imaginations warmed to make the most of them. The minister, Seignelay, desired to see the adventurer, and he soon won his way to whatever heart that man had ; for it could not have required much talk with La Salle to have been satisfied of his sincerity, enthusiasm, energy, and bravery. The tales of the new governor fell dead, therefore the king listened to the prayer of his subject, that a fleet might be sent to take possession of the mouth of the Mississippi, and so that the great country of which he told them be secured to France. — The king listened : and soon the town of Rochelle was busy with the stir of artisans, ship-riggers, adventurers, soldiers, sailors, and all that varied crowd which in those days looked into the dim West for a land where wealth was to be had for the seeking. On the 24th of July, 1684, twenty-four vessels sailed from Rdchelle to America, four of which were for the discovery and settlement of the famed Louisiana. These four carried two hundred and eighty persons, including the crews ; there were soldiers, artificers, and volunteers, and also "some young wo- men." There is no doubt that this brave fleet started full of light hearts, and vast, vague hopes ; but, alas ! it had scarce started when discord began ; for La Salle and the commander of the fleet, M. de Beaujeu, were well fitted to quarrel one with the other, but never to work together. In truth La Salle seems to have been no wise amiable, for he was overbearing. 46 Returns to the Gulf of Mexico. 1684. harsh, and probably selfish to the full extent to be looked for in a man of worldly ambition. However, in one of the causes of quarrel which arose during the passage, he acted, if not M'ith polic}', certainly with boldness and humanity. It was when they came to the Tropic of Cancer, where, in those times, it was customary to dip all green hands, as is still sometimes done under the Equator. On this occasion the sailors of La Salle's little squadron promised themselves rare sport and much plunder, grog, and other good things, the for- feit paid by those who do not wish a seasoning ; but all these expectations were stopped, and hope turned into hate, by the express and emphatic statement on the part of La Salle, that no man under his command should be ducked, whereupon the commander of the fleet was forced to forbid the ceremony. With such beginnings of bickering and dissatisfaction, the Atlantic was slowly crossed, and, upon the 20th of September, the island of St. Domingo was reached. Here certain ar- rangements were to be made with the colonial authorities; but, as they were away, it became necessary to stop there for a time. And a sad time it Avas. The fever seized the new- comers ; the .ships were crowded with sick ; La Salle himself was brought to the verge of the grave ; and when he recov- ered, the fir.st news that greeted him, was that of his four vessels, the one wherein he had embarked his stores and implements, had been taken by the Spaniards. The sick man had to bestir himself thereupon to procure new supplies; and while he was doing so, his enemies were also bestirring them- selves to seduce his men from him, so that with death and desertion, he was likely to have a small crew at the last. But energy did much ; and, on the 25th of November, the first of the remaining vessels, she that was "to carry the light," sailed for the coast of America. In her went La Salle and the historian of the voyage, Joutel.* For a whole month were the disconsolate sailors sailing, and sounding, and stopping to take in water and .shoot alliga- tors, and drifting in utter uncertainty, until, on the 28th of De- cember, the main land was fairly discovered. But "there being," as Joutel says, "no man among them who had any knowledge of that Bay," and there being also an impression •''Joutel accompanied La Salle, and subsequently wrote his "Journal Hw/wigae," which was published in Paris, 1713. In the main it appears to be a truthful narrative. — Ed. 16S5. Lands in Texas, 47 that they must steer very much to the westward to avoid the currents, it was no wonder they missed the Mississippi, and wandered far beyond it, not knowing where they went ; and so wore away the whole month of January, 1685. At last, La Salle, out of patience, determined to land some of his men and go along the shore toward the point where he believed the mouth of the Mississippi to be, and Joutel was appointed one of the commanders of this exploring party. They started on the 4th of February, and traveled eastward, (for it was clear that they had passed the river) during three days, when they came to a great stream which they could not cross, having no boats. Here they made fire signals, and, on the 13th, two of the vessels came in sight ; the mouth of the river, or entrance of the bay, for such it proved to be, was forthwith sounded, and the barks sent in to be under shelter. But, sad to say, La Salle's old fortune was at work here again ; for the vessel which bore his provisions and most valuable stores, wa.s run upon a shoal by the grossest neglect, or, as Joutel thinks, with malice prepense; and, soon after, the wind coming in strong from the sea, she fell to pieces in the night, and the bay was; full of casks and packages, which could not be saved, or were worthless when drawn from the salt water. From this un- timely fate our poor adventurer rescued but a small half of his second stock of indispensaMes, Aiid hevQ, for a moment, let us pause to look at the Cheva- lier's condition in the middle of March, 1685. Beaujeu, with his ship, is gone, leaving his comrades in the marshy wilder- ness, with not much of joy to look forward to. They had guns and powder, and shot; eight cannon, too, "but not one bullet," that is, cannon-ball, the naval gentlemen having refused to give them any. And here are our lonely settlers, building a fort upon the shores of the Bay of St. Louis, as they called it, known to us as the Bay of St. Bernard, or Mata- gorda Bay, in Texas. They build from the wreck of their ship, we cannot think with light hearts ; every plank and tim- ber tells of past ill luck, and, as they looked forward, there is vision of irritated savages, (for there had been warring al- ready,) of long search for the Hidden River* of toils and dar^- gers in its ascent when reached. No wonder, that "duriji«p^ that time several men deserted," So strong was the fever for * So the Spaniards called the Mississippi, 48 Difficulties in Texas. 1685. desertion, that, of some who stole away and were retaken, it was found necessary to execute one. And now La Salle prepares to issue from his nearly comple- ted fort, to look around and see where he is. He has still a good force, some hundred and fifty people ; and, by prompt and determined action, much may be done between this last of March and next autumn. In the first place, the river falling into the Bay of St. Louis is examined, and a new fort com- menced in that neighborhood, where seed is planted also ; for the men begin to tire of meat and fish, with spare allow- ance of bread and no vegetables. But the old luck is at work still. The seed will not sprout; men desert; the fort goes forward miserably slow; and at last, three months and more gone to no purpose, Joutel and his men, who are still hewing timber at the firrit fort, are sent for, and told to bring their tim- ber with them in a float. The float or raft was begun "with immense labor," says the wearied historian, but all to no pur- pose, for the weather was so adverse, that it had to be all talien apart again and buried in the sand. Empty-handed, therefore, Joutel sought his superior, the effects being left at a post by the way. And he came to a scene of desolation ; men sick, and no houses to put them in ; all the looked-for crop blasted ; and not a ray of comfort from any quarter. "Well," said La Salle, "wo must now muster all hands, and build ourselves 'a large lodgment.' " But there was no tim- ber within a league; and not a cart nor a bullock to be had, for the buflaloes, though abundant, were ill broken to such labor. If done, this dragging must be done by men ; so, over the long grass and weeds of the prairie-plain, they dragged some sticks, with vast suffering. Afterwards the carriage of a gun was tried; but it would not do; "the ablest men were quite spent." Indeed, heaving and hauling over that damp plain, and under that July sun, might have tried the constitution of the best of Africans; and of the poor Frenchmen thirty died, worn out. The carpenter was lost; and, worse still. La Salle, wearied, worried, disappointed, lost his temper and insulted his men. So closed July ; the Chevalier turned carpenter, marking out the tenons and mortises of what timber he could get, and grow- ing daily more morose. In March he thought much might be done before autumn, and now autumn stands but one month removed from him, and not even a house built yet. 1686. Disastrous Exjicdition. 49 And August soon passed too, not without results, however ; for the timber that had been buried below was got up, and a second house built, "all covered with planks and bullock's hides over them." And now once more was La Salle ready to seek the Missis- sippi. First, he thought he would try with the last of the four barks with which he left France ; the bark La Belle, "a little frigate carrying six guns," which the King had given our Che- valier to be his navy. But, after having put all his clothes and valuables on board of her, he determined to try with twenty men to reach his object by land. This was in Decem- ber, 16S5. From this expedition he did not return until March, 1686, when he came to his fort again, ragged, hatless, and worn down, Avith six or seven followers at his heels, his travels having been all in vain. It was not very encouraging; but, says Joutel, " we thought only of making ourselves as mer- ry as we could." The next day came the rest of the party, who had been sent to find the little frigate, which should have been in the bay. They came mournfully, for the little frigate could not be found, and she had all La Salle's best effects on board. The bark was gone ; but our hero's heart was still beating in his bosom, a little cracked and shaken, but strong and iron- bound still. So, borrowing some changes of linen from Jouiel, toward the latter end of April, he again set forth, he and twenty men, each with his pack, "to look for his river," as our WTiter aptly terms it. Some days after his departure, the bark La Belle came to light again ; for she was not lost, but only ashore. Deserted by her forlorn and diminished crew, how- ever, she seems to have been suffered to break up and go to pieces in her own way, for we hear no more of the little frigate. And now, for a time, things went on pretty smoothly. There was even a marriage at the fort ; and "Monsieur le Marquis la Sabloniere" wished to act as groom in a second, but Joutel absolutely refused. By and by, however, the men, seeing that La Salle did not return, "began to mutter." There were even proposals afloat to make away with Joutel, and start upon a new enterprise ; the leader in which half-formed plan was one Sieur Duhaut, an unsafe man, and inimical to La Salle, who had, probably, maltreated him somewhat. Joutel, however, 50 Attempt an Overland Journey. 1687. learned the state of matters, and put a stop to all such pro- ceedings. Knowing idleness to be a root of countless evils he made his men Avork and dance as long as there was vigor enough in them to keep their limbs in motion ; and in such manner the summer passed away, until in August La Salle returned. He had been as far as the sources of the Sabine, probably, but had suffered greatly; of the twenty men he had taken with him, onl}'' eight came back, some having fallen sick, some having died, and others deserted to the Indians. He had not found "his river," though he had been so far in that direction ; but he came back full of spirits, "which," says our writer, "revived the lowest ebb of hope." He was all ready, too, to start again at once, to seek the Mississippi, and go on- ward to Canada, and thence to France, to get new recruits and supplies ; but, "it was determined to let the great heats pass before that enterprise was taken in hand.". And the heats passed, but with them our hero's health, so that the proposed journey was delayed from time to time until the 12th of January, 16S7. On that day started the last company of La Salle's adven- turers. Among them went Joutcl, and also the discontented Duhaut ; and all took their "leaves with so much tenderness and sorrow as if they had all presaged that they should never see each other more." They went northwest along the bank of the river on which their fort stood, until they came to where the streams running toward the coast were favorable, and then turned eastward. From the 12th of January until the 15th of March did the}' thus journey across that southern country, crossing "curious meadows," through which ran "several little brooks, of very clear and good water," which, witii the tall trees, all of a size, and planted as if by a line, "allbrded a most delightful land<;kip." They met many Indians too, with whom La Salle established relations of peace and friendship. Game was abundant, "plenty of fowl and par- ticularly of turkeys," was there, which was "an ease to their sufferings ;" and so they still toiled on in shoes of green bul- lock's hide, which, dried by the sun, pinched cruelly, until, following the trac!cs of the bullalocs, who choose by instinct the best ways, they had come to a pleasanter country than they had yet passed through, and were well on toward the long-iBought Father of Waters. 1687. Assassination of La Salic. 51 On the 15th of March, La Salle, recognizing the spot where they were as one through which he had passed in his former journey, and near which he had hidden some beans and Indian wheat, ordered the Sieurs Duhaut, Hiens, Liotot the Surgeon, and some others, to go and seek them. This they did, but found that the goods were all spoiled, so they turned toward the camp again. While coming campward they chanced upon two bullocks, which was killed by one of La Salle's hunters, who was with them. So they sent the commander word that they had killed some meat, and that, if he would have the flesh dried, he might send horses to carry it to the place where he lay; and, meanwhile, they cut up the bullocks, and took out the marrow-bones, and laid them aside for their own choice eating, as was usual to do. When La Salle heard of the meat that had been taken, he sent his nephew and chief confident, M. Moranget, with one De Male and his own footman, giving them orders to send all that was fit to the camp at once. M. Moranget, when he came to where Duhaut and the rest were, and found that they had laid by for themselves the marrow-bones, became angry, took from them their choice pieces, threatened them, and spoke harsh words. This treatment touched these men, already not well pleased, to the quick; and, when it was night, they took counsel to- gether how they might best have their revenge. The end of such counseling, where anger is foremost, and the wilderness is all about one, needs scarce to be told ; "we will have their blood, all that are of that party shall die," said these mal- contents. So, when M. Moranget and the rest had supped and fallen asleep, Liotot the surgeon took an axe, and with few strokes killed them all ; all that were of La Salle's party, even his poor Indian hunter, because he was faithful ; and, lest De Male might not be with them (for him they did not kill,) they forced him to stab M. Moranget, who had not died by the first blow of Liotot's axe, and then threw them out for the carrion- birds to feast on. This murder was done upon the i7th of March. And at once the murderers would have killed La Salle, but he and his men were on the other side of a river, and the Mater for two days was so high that they could not cross. La Salle, meantime, was growing anxious also ; his nephew so long absent, what meant it? and he went about asking if 62 Posts in Illinois. 1687. Duhaut had not been a malcontent; but none said, Yes. Doubtless there was something in La Salle's heart, which told him his Ibllowers had cause to be his foes. It was now the 20th of the month, and he could not forbear setting out to seek his lost relative. Leaving Joutel in command, therefore, he started with a Franciscan monk and one Indian. Coming near the hut which the murderers had put up, though still on the opposite side of the river, he saw carrion-birds hovering near, and to call attention if any were there, fired a shot. There were keen and watching ears and eyes there ; the gun told them to be quick, for their prey was in the net; so, at once, Duhaut and another crossed the river, and, while the first hid himself among the tall weeds, the latter showed him- self to La Salle at a good dstance off". Going instantly to meet him, the fated man passed near to the spot where Du- haut was hid. The traitor lay still till he came opposite; then, raising his piece, shot his commander through the head; after lingering an hour, he died. Thus fell La Salle, on the threshold of success. No man had more strongly all the elements that would have borne him safe through, if we except that element which insures affection. " He had a capacity and talent," says Joutel, one of his staunche-st friends, ''to make his enterprise successful; his constancy and courage, and extraordinary knowledge in arts and sciences, which rendered him fit for anything, together M'ith an indefatigable body, which made him surmount all difficulties, would have procured a glorious issue to his under- taking, had not all those excellent qualities been counterbal- anced by too haughty a behavior, which sometimes made him insupportable, and by a rigidness toward those that were under his command, which at last drew on him an implacable hatred, and was the occasion of his death." La Salle died, as far as can be judged, upon a branch of the Brazos.* And now, the leader being killed, his followers toiled on mournfully, and in fear, each of the others — Duhaut assuming the command until May. Then there arose a difterence among them as to their future course ; and, by and by, things coming to extremities, some of La Salle's murderers turned upon the others, and Duhaut and Liotot were killed by their 'Sparks, 158. 1688. Adventures of Tonti. 53 comrades. This done, the now dominant party determined to remain among the Indians, with whom they then were, and where they found some who had been with La Salle in his former expedition, and had deserted. These were living among the savages, painted, and shaved, and naked, with great store of squaws and scalps. But Joutel was not of this way of think- ing ; he and some others still wished to find the Great River and get to Canada. At last, all consenting, he did, with six others, leave the main body, and take up his march for the Illinois, where he hoped to find Tonti, who should have been all this while at Fort St. Louis. This was in May, 16S7. With great labor this little band forced their heavy-laden horses over the fat soil, in which they often stuck fast; and, daring countless dangers, at length, upon the 24th of July, reached the Arkansas, where they found a post containing a few Frenchmen who had been placed there by Tonti. Here they stayed a little while, and then went forward again, and on the 14th of September, reached Fort St. Louis, upon the Illinois. At this post, Joutel remained until the following March — that of 16S8 — when he set off for Quebec, which city he reached on the last of July, just four years having passed since he sailed from Rochelle. Thus ended La Salle's third and last voyage, producing no permanent settlement; for the Spaniards came, dismantled the fort upon the Bay of St. Louis, and carried away its gar- rison, and the Frenchmen who had been left elsewhere in the southwest intermingled with the Indians, until all trace of them was lost. And so closed his endeavors in defeat. Yet he had not worked and suffered in vain. He had thrown open to France and the world an immense and most valuable country ; had established several permanent forts, and laid the foundation of more than one settlement there. Peoria, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, to this day, are monuments of La Salle's labors ; for though he founded neither of them, (unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon the sight of Fort Crevecoeur,) it was by those whom he led into the West, that these places were peopled and civilized. He was, if not the discoverer, the first settler of the Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and honored.* *Tlie authorities in relation to La Salle are Hennepin; a narrative published in the name of Tonti in 1697, but disclaimed by him; (Charlevoix iii. S65.—Lettres Edifiantes, 54 Mission of Father Gravier. 1689. Tonti, left by La Salle when he sailed for France, after reaching the Gulf Mexico in 16S2, remained as commander of that Rock Fort of St. Louis, which he had begun in 16S0. Here he sta3-cd, swaying absolutely the Indian tribes, and acting as viceroy over the unknown and uncounted French- men who were beginning to wander through that beautiful countr}', making discoveries of which we have no records left. In 16S6, looking to meet La Salle, he went down to the mouth of the Mississippi ; but discovering no signs of his old comrade, he turned northward again. [There is evidence that in this voyage he proceeded up the Arkansas, and left a corps of men at the place long known as the "Post," who became the nu- cleus of that ancient settlement.] After reaching his post on the Illinois, he found work to do ; for the Iroquois, long threat- ening, were now in the battle-field, backed b}' the English, and Tonti, with his western wild allies, was forced to march and fight. Engaged in this business, he appears to us at inter- vals in the pages of Charlevoix; in the fall of 1687 we have him with Joutel, at Fort St. Louis; in April, 1G89, he suddenly appears to us at Crevecoear, revealed by the Baron La Hon- tan ; and again, early in 1700, D'Iberville is visited by him at the mouth of the Mississippi. After that we see him no more, and the Biographie Vnivcrsclle tells us, that, though he re- mained m;iny years in Louisiana, he finally was not there ; but of his death, or departure thence, no one knows. Next in sequence, we have a glimpse of the above-named Baron La Hontan, discoverer of the Long River, and, as that discovery seems to prove, drawer of a somewhat long bow. By his volumes, published a la Haye, in 170G, we learn, that he too, warred against the Iroquois in 1687 and 1688; and, having gone so far westward as the Lake of the Illinois, tliought he would contribute his mite to the discove- ries of those times. So, with a sutHcient escort, he crossed by Marquette's old route. Fox River and the Wisconsin, to the Mississippi ; and, turning up that stream, sailed thereon till he came to the mouth of a river, called Long River, coming from the West. [It is marked on the map of Mr. Nicollet, as a small stream entering the JMississippi a short distance belov/ letter of Marcst, xi. 30S, original edition. Introi.luction to Sparks' Life of La Salle:) the work of Lo Clercii, already lucntioued; Joutel'a Journal; and Sjiarka' Life: the last U especially valuable. 1693. Kaskaskia and Cahokia Founded. 65 St. Peters. He represents this river as of immense size, up which he sailed more than eighty days, and did not reach half the distance of its navigable waters, and that in the depth of winter ! Very little dependence can be placed on the story of La Hontan,] After La Hontan's alleged discoveries, we have few events worth recording in the annals of the north-west previous to 1750. "La Salle's death," says Charlevoix, in one place, "dis- persed the French who had gathered upon the Illinois ;" but in another, he speaks of Tonti and twenty Canadians, as estab- lished among the Illinois three years after the Chevaliers fate was known there.* This, however, is clear that before 1693, the reverend Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois, and became the founder of Kaskaskia, though in what year we know not ; but for some time it was merely a mis- . sionary station, and the inhabitants of the village consisted entirely of natives, it being one of three such villages, the other two being Cahokia and Peoria. This we learn from a let- ter written by Father Gabriel Marest, dated "Aux Cascaskias, autrement dit de I'Immaculee Conception de la Sainte Vierge, le 9 Novembre 1712." In this letter the writer, after telling us that Gravier must be regarded as the founder of the Illinois Missions, he having been the first to reduce the principles of the language of those Indians to grammatical order, and so to make preaching to them of avail, — goes on near the close of his epistle to say, "These advantages (rivers, &c.) favor the design which some French have of establishing themselves in our village. * * * If the French, who may come among us, will edify our neophytes by their piety and good conduct, nothing would please us better than their coming; but if immoral, and perhaps irreligious, as there is reason to fear, they would do more harm than we can do good."f Soon after the founding of Kaskaskia, though in this case also we are ignorant of the year, the missionar}' Pinet gath- ered a flock at Cahokia ;J Mobile Peoria arose near the remains *.Vfiy France, vol. iii. pp. 395, 383. t Bancroft, iii. 195. Lettres EJifiantes, (Paris 1781,) 328, 339, 375. Ilall and others speak of the Kafikaskia records as containing deeds dated 1712; those may have been to the French referred to by Marest, or perhaps to converted Indians. j Bancroft, iii. 19G. 56 Adventrires of D' Iberville. 1699. of Fort CrevecoBur.lJ An unsuccessful attempt was also made to found a colony on the Ohio,'^ it failed in consequence of sickness. In the north De la Motte Cadillac, in June, 1701, laid the foundation of Fort Pontchartrain on the Strait, (le Detroit)^! while in the southwest efforts were making to realize the dreams of La Salle. The leader in the last named enter- prise was Lemoine D'Iberville, a Canadian officer, who, from 1694 to 1697, distinguished himself not a little by battles and conquests among the icebergs of the "Baye d'Udson" or Hud- son's Bay.* He having, in the year last named, returned to France, proposed to the minister to try, what had been given up since La Salle's sad fate, the discovery and settlement of Louisiana by sea. The Count of Pontchartrain, who was then at the head of marine affairs, was led to take an interest in the proposition; and, upon the l7th of October, 1698, D'lberville took his leave of France, handsomely equipped for the expedition, and with two good ships to forward him in his attempt. t Of this D'lberville we have no very cLear notion, except that he was a man of judgment, self-possession, and prompt action. Such was the man who, upon the 31st of January, 1699, let go his anchor in the Bay of Mobile. Having looked about him at this spot, he went thence to seek the great river called by the savages, says Charlevoix, "Malbouchia," and by the Spaniards, "la Palissade." from the great number of trees about its mouth. Searching carefully, upon the 2d of March, li There was an Old Peoria on the north-west shore of the lake of that n*me, a mile and a half above the outlet. From 177S to 1700 the inhabitants left this for New Peoria, (Fort Clark,) at the outlet, American State Papers, xviii. 470. 2 Judge Law, in his address of February, 1839, before the Vinoennes Historical Society, contends that tkis post was on the Wabash, and at Vincennes, (p. 14, 15, and note B.) Charlevoix, (ii. 260, edition 1744,) says it was "a V entree it la Riviere Ouabache, qui le dccharge dans le ^ficis>ipi, §-c." — "At the entrance (or mouth) of the Rirer Oubache which discharges itself into the Mississippi." The name Ouabache was applied to the Ohio below the mouth of what we now call the Wabash. Soc all the more ancient maps, ic. [ Fort Maasac, on the Ohio, was a missionary station in 1712, and Ohio was then called Ouabache. — E.I.] ^Charlevoix, ii. 234. — Le Detroit was the whole Strait from Erie to Huron. (Charlevoix, ii. 2G'J, note : sec also his Journal.) The fir.