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 HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 TRACT No. 34— NOVEMBER, 1876. 
 
 THK IVI^KORY P» ^ P» E R S 
 
 VOLUME ONE. 
 
 By C. C. BALDWIN. 
 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 TRACT No. 34— NOVEMBER, 1876. 
 
 to 
 
 ^' T H K M A. R a R Y F A^ R K R S . 
 
 VOLUME ONE. 
 
 By C. C. BALDWIN. 
 
 Decouvertes et Etablissements des Fran- 
 cais dans I'Ouest et dans le Sud de rAmer- 
 ique, Septentrionale, 1014-1754. 
 
 Memoires et Dojuments Originaux recue- 
 illss el publics par Pierre Mariiry, Premiere 
 partie, 1614-1684. Paris, 1875. 
 
 Tiie .great West was, until a comparativeiy 
 late period* under the dominion of France. 
 Frenchmen made tlie first discoveries. Many 
 years ago tuey made settlements, traded, and 
 occupied the country until, with the capture 
 of Quebec in 1760, ail the Western posts 
 were surrendered to Great Britain. It is 
 then to France that we must look for its 
 earlv histcy. It is only within a i^vv years 
 that extensive researches have I een made in 
 that cnmiry. T'lie Stite of New York 
 expended a very large sum to pub- 
 lish in eleven immense quarto vol- 
 umes documents of especial interest in 
 that State. For the history of New En- 
 gland, New Jersey, and Louisiana other in- 
 vestigations have'been made. A quiet gen- 
 tleman of Paris, M. Pierre Margry, long 
 connected witu the Department of the Ma- 
 rine, has devoted many years to gathering 
 what V70uld illustrate the foreign history of 
 France, especially in America. He has al- 
 ready rendered this country great service in 
 the investigations already referred to. His 
 manuj^cripts, vet unpublished, were care- 
 fully collected from all parts of France and 
 are unique. The knowledge of these 
 treasures could not, but make their publics 
 tion much desired. W^ere it not for the 
 "Boston Are" this would have been 
 done by private hands, but that con 
 flaaratiou d'estroymg sueli hopes. Congress 
 came to Ihi rescue and appropriated a sum, 
 not too large, in the purchase of copies to 
 encourage the publication of such portions 
 as relate to our own country. 
 
 This plan of publication originated with 
 the Historical Society at Cleveland and was 
 warmly seconded by Mr. Parkmau and by 
 other societies and historical scholars 
 throughout the country. 
 
 The first of the nine volumes is indeed 
 full of interest. The materials for the early 
 French history in this countrv are in sorje 
 respeiJts very full and in others very scanty. 
 The Jesuits were powerful in the New 
 World and their Relations were regularly 
 transmitted to the tnother country." But 
 the Jesuits were not all the colony nor 
 were all the discoveries made under 
 their auspices, though they apparently 
 desired that it should be so. La Salle was 
 the first discoverer of the Ohio, tiie first to 
 trace the Mississippi to the sea. The French 
 rested their claim to the ijreat West mainly 
 upon these facts, and to-day his portrait 
 adorns the Capitol at Washington as one of 
 the four great discoverers of America. But 
 he is hardlv mentioned in these Relations. 
 M. Margry has done more than any other to 
 recover the history of La Salic. The hacd- 
 sonie vo ume before us is ornamented with 
 his portrait as he appeared in his younger 
 days, with long curls and the dress of a man 
 of the world. There is, however, a determin- 
 ation in the tace and a restless, dreamy look 
 to tl e eves as if the portrait was not an un- 
 likely one for the man who, in spite of the 
 opposition of all, could penetrate alone vast 
 countries, could give his foitune to discov- 
 ery, and persist with such force of will 
 that he should be slain by his own men m a 
 pathi'ess wilderness, thousan s of miles from 
 even the settlements of his own countrymen 
 in tne Western world. 
 
 The earlier papers in the volume relate to 
 the RecoUets — the "first missionaries of the 
 West and South, in North America." They 
 
THE RF^C()l>LETS- INDIAN TRADE. 
 
 were professedlj' poor and plain. They hast- 
 ened to the new hind and establislied a con- 
 vent at QuL'bec and posts at other places. The 
 Jesuits came over alter, partly on their invi- 
 tation, and in the end very decidedly turned 
 thcni out of Canada. The second, and iartrer 
 pap^r, is a meuioir deiiiiins; relief for them 
 from the obstacles placed in their way by 
 the. Jesuits, and the Government of Canada 
 couirollcd l)y that order. There seems to 
 have been danger that in a few years there 
 would not be a Kecoiiet in Canada. This 
 strife between the rehsrious .sects deserves a 
 paper of its own. The Jesuits, ar first, cer- 
 taiiily very devout and self-sacrificinji men, 
 and sometimes martyrs, were too devoted to 
 the success of their order, and the Colo- 
 nial GovernmeMt was bamj-ered by 
 them. The Government at home 
 opposed them secretly and not openly, 
 llecolels were meant to be enconrajfed to 
 offset them The Count de Front eoac in 
 bis letters wrote earnestly a<rainsc them in 
 cipher, praising tbem in other parts of the 
 same letter which might fall under their 
 eyes. In a later paper from him in this 
 volume are presented his views Avith much 
 earnestness and in plain French. He 
 sketches their povver and possessions, their 
 hostility to the Recollets, and accuses them 
 of a want of ficleiity to the King. "This 
 gener "l animosity against all the most faith- 
 ful servants of tlie King shows well enough 
 their de.signs." "They would not allow the 
 Recollets," says be, "to hear confession or 
 administer sacrament." He had charged 
 them in a previous letter with 
 caring U'ore for beavers than for 
 souls. "They had opposed," says Fron- 
 tenac, "the sale of lirandy to the Indians, 
 without which the fur trade could not be 
 successful and now even opposed the sale of 
 wine, to place a new yoke on the people." 
 It -was common knowledge that they took 
 directly or indirectly the manaKcmenl of 
 everytbinir, and used for that purpose a pow- 
 erful espionage. The.v did not teach the 
 InJians French lest they snould become 
 friends of the civi' power. A vocabulary 
 for Indian use defined equal " the Black 
 Robe (Jesuit priest) is equal to Onontio (In- 
 dian name for the Governor of Canada)." 
 They told other savages that they were the 
 masters of Onontio. And in truth they do 
 not seem in saying that to have very'vio- 
 lently stretched the truth 
 
 Two pajters present a liv-elv pic'ure of the 
 commercial strife with the Dutch for the 
 trade of tlie Indians. The Iroquois had killed 
 the heaver south of the lakes and were get- 
 ting thtm from the North and Northwest 
 and selling ihem at Albany and at better 
 prices than the French had paid. The whole 
 volume shows the projects for extension of 
 
 Western and Southern trade by the unknown 
 river Ohio and the unknown river Missis- 
 sippi, even to the "Mer Vermeio," Gulf of 
 California, and in other directions. Such 
 were the motives held forih to the King for 
 such expeditions as were made by La Salle, 
 thougli Lu Salle himself seems to have been 
 actuated by an innate love of adventure and 
 discovery such as very few men have ever 
 had. 
 
 Pase 170, Lake Erie is mentioned in 1671 
 as called by the savasres "Tedaronkion." 
 
 Temperance men will find in the volume 
 an interesting discussio'i concerning the 
 sale of brandy to the Indians, and the views 
 of various persons are presented much in 
 the manner of witnesses in a Congressional 
 commission, with the usual diversity of opin- 
 ion. 
 
 There appear the "Details of the voyage 
 of Louis Jolliei," who visited in 1073 the 
 Mississippi, having departed from Quebec by 
 order of Frontenac to discover the South 
 Sea. His map is mentioned, which we hope 
 M. Margrv will i)ublish. 
 
 The interest of the volume centers in La 
 Salle. Although in aver}' early day he dis- 
 covered the Ohio, but little has been known, 
 or in fact is now, of the particulars. I pur- 
 posely omit discussion of this journey. In 
 this volume a|,>pears much history of La 
 balle, his plans, expenses, drafts 
 upon his family and friends, how 
 lie built upon Lake Ontario 
 and planned to build upon Lake Erie and 
 further west; how he built on the Niagara 
 river, on the river St. Joseph in the south- 
 west part of Michigan, and away within the 
 wilds of Illinois, among the tribe of that 
 name, the fourth fort, Crevccoeur. An in- 
 terestinsr memoir is that of a friend or the 
 Abbe de GaUinee relating, from the infor- 
 mation of La Salle himself, the particulars of 
 his journey with the Abbe, including 
 accounts of the Indian trilies and their 
 manners. In 1009 Gallinee, Dollier,and La 
 Salle left Montreal to seek the Ohio known 
 by report. They turned toward its source, 
 but the Iroquois dissuaded the two priests 
 from the journe,y,much to the dissatisfaction 
 of La Salie, and the party turned to the north 
 ofLakeErie. The report of Abbe (Gallinee 
 of this journey is also in this volume. From 
 it we extract but a single word, Paouitiko- 
 ungraentaouak, the Algonkin name for the 
 Chippeways. The feelings of La Salle were 
 with the Recollets They were first; the 
 Jesuits came after (says the memoir), and 
 the Recollets gave them half their house. 
 The Jesuits shortly got the other half and 
 the Recollets had hard work to gel it back. 
 The Jesuits were established in Quebec, 
 "where they are absolute masters" 
 L'Evesque(lhe Governor) was their creature 
 
THE JESUITS-a.A SALLE. 
 
 and would do nothing without them. La 
 Salle complaine that the Jesuits sought to 
 control trade. One Indian said that "when 
 the Black Robes were among us we wor- 
 shipped God, but when there were no more 
 beavers we see them no more." The Jesuits 
 disliked La Salle very much. Frontecac in 
 this volume (page 323) says "their design, as 
 it appeared in the end, was to set a trap 
 whicliever path I took, or to derange every- 
 thing, to place the country m disorder 
 from which they would not hesitate to 
 profit, and to ruin M. de la Salle." ''He 
 has become the object of their envy and 
 aversion." This enmity wa^ no doubt much 
 prompted by their pious zeal. They had 
 made discoveries. Their map of Lake Su- 
 perior of 1671 was almost wonderful They 
 were searching for the Mississi|)pi ,and their 
 schemes of power, wealth, and dominion, 
 for their order in the great valley of North 
 America, may have been as grand and mag- 
 nificent as those of La Salle for his King. 
 
 The paper lets us into such lively views of 
 the times as are not given in ordinary his- 
 tory, and we see how, after all, love of gain, 
 love of power, and joalf^usy of others in- 
 fluenced history in such solitu'^'es as would 
 seem to be free from such disturbing ele- 
 ments if any fretdum could be found. 
 
 The most valuable paper of the volume is 
 called a "Relation of the Discoveries and 
 Travels of Sir de la Salle, Lord and Gov- 
 ernor of Fort Frontenac, beyond the greur, 
 lakes of New France, made by order of M. 
 Colbert, 1679-80-81." It is a narrative cov- 
 ering 150 pages of the events of those years, 
 and probably the official report made after 
 the return of La Salle to Montreal. In 1677 
 La Salle was in France. He was already 
 famous and of influence. His scheme was 
 vast. He wanted to penetrate to the great 
 valley of our continent and lay there the 
 foundation of powerful colonies "in a 
 country temperate in climate, rich and fer- 
 tile, and capable of a grand cmmerce." 
 Such hold of the continent would betaken 
 that, at the next war with Spain, France 
 could oust her in North America. 
 In the commencement of 1679 he built the 
 Griffin, the first vessel navigatng Lake 
 Ene, meeting some opposition from* the 
 Iroquois, but less because ihat nation 
 was at war beyoud Lake Erie. The 
 early part of the story is well known from 
 other sources, but 'he narrative of La Saile's 
 travels after he left Fort Crevecoeur and 
 parted with the expediiion to the North has 
 never been told so completely as here. We 
 wish we could present the whole paper to 
 our English readers, but we cannot follow 
 in detail the straight, business-like story of 
 adventure, travel, description of countries 
 and Indian nations, contests, diplomacy, 
 
 discouragements and perseverance. The 
 Iroquois traveled from their homes in Ne"' 
 York all through the West, and it was dan- 
 gerous to take sides or not to. They were 
 then fighting the Illinois and the Miahiis. 
 First living south of Lake Ontario, the best 
 armed and most warlike tribe in America, 
 they defeated and exterminated (says 
 our memoir) all their neighbors. 
 They bore their arms to the 
 Guli of St. Lawrence, to the North Sea, in 
 Florida, and even beyond the river Missis- 
 sippi. They have (says the writer) in thir- 
 ty years destroyed over 600,000 liyes, and 
 made desert most of the country round the 
 great lakes. 
 
 La Salle had expected the Griffin with sup- 
 plies for his journey down the river. He 
 never saw the vessel again. She was lost, 
 he believed by treachery, and he must 
 return for succor. Early in 1680 he 
 reached St. Joseph. He found two men 
 whom he hd sent around the lake, but 
 they did not find the Griffin. Arrived at 
 length at Niairara, he found he had also 
 lost a snip with supplies from France. He 
 reached Montreal, May 6th, 1680 His cred- 
 itors had siezed his property and 
 his resources seemed entirely wasted. 
 On his return to Frontenac he 
 learned by letter from Tonty that his men 
 left at Crevecoeur had deserted after de- 
 str jying|thefort, carrying away whatproper- 
 tv they could and destroying the balance. 
 They destroyed Fort St. Joseph and also 
 seized La Salle's property at isiiagara. He 
 was not disheartened. He started to succor 
 Tonly and save if he could the vessel build- 
 ing on the Illinois with which he meant to 
 descend to the sea. November 4ih, 1680, he 
 reached the mouth of the St. Joseph. The 
 Irociuois nad fought the Illinois, and as he 
 approached Crevecoeur there were only 
 scenes of death and devastation. When he 
 reached that post he found it silent; the 
 planks of his vessel were there and on one 
 of them was written, "Nous sommes tous 
 savages ce 19 A — , 1680" — we are all sav- 
 ages. Was it orophetic that he had named 
 the fort Crevecoeur (Broken Heart). The 
 romantic interest of the relation is here at 
 its height, but La Salle does not stop to dwell 
 upon the picture. His first thought was, 
 did the A mean Aout or Avril, August or 
 April. He wished to find the faithful 
 Tonty. Tonty's fate appears pa''t~ 
 ly in this relation and partly 
 his ' subsequent memoir in ti. 
 volume. Not the Jesuits alone regarded 1 
 Salle with jealousy. The Iroquois wef 
 without r'iason fearful that the TV 
 tribes would be armed against them vf- 
 arms and other assistance, -and that f 
 trade in the West would draw from 
 
6 
 
 lA SALLE— HENNEPIN. 
 
 own profits willi tiie Dutch and Eniilish. 
 While Tonty Wiis absent the deperlion had 
 taiien place. Afior he reiurned be was cap- 
 tuied l)y the Iroquois. 
 
 In May, Kisi. atler unsuccesoful search 
 and hatd l.ibors, i)iiildin2 up Indian succors 
 and sircngtli. La Salk' lelt the fort on the St. 
 Joseph for Michiliiuackinnc,\viicre he found 
 Tonty and Father MenU)ie. They returned 
 10 Frontenac, and this [.aper is the relation 
 to that time. 
 
 Of his new, wonderful rejurrcction of 
 recourses and eventual success we do not 
 speak, allhouiih a new and brief relation of 
 it from information of his brother is also in 
 this volume. 
 
 The resolute will and wonderful power of 
 La SaKe appear nowhere so stront^ly as in 
 the narrative we have quoted. Tliere seems 
 almost a direct triumph of will over every 
 opposition, of mind over matter. This is 
 the fullest, most explicit; and valuable ■ac- 
 count of this series of expeditions. By 
 whom was it commitred to wriiinLrV Evi- 
 dently by some one fully informed and from 
 notes made day by day, wiili dales as 
 in a diary. This, as well as the expedition 
 of 1682, wdiereln he descended the Missis- 
 sippi, Ware made under the commission of 
 1678, ^'herein the Kins wa^ ur.iciously 
 pleased to pfM'mit Ln Saile to discover these 
 new lands (provided he did it at his own ex- 
 ]iense. Tlieoliicial leport of the last expedi- 
 tion was made by Father Zenolie Membre. 
 a Recollet. See La Salle's memoir to 
 Seiiinclay, in Falconer's Mi.ssissipoi and 
 Oreiron, which leaves it almost doubt fid 
 whether La Salle did not mean to say thai 
 Membre wiote the oflicial report of all his 
 expeditions under the leave of 16TN. Mem- 
 bre was with La Salle in the first oue, and 
 it seems p/oltable that he drew this report. 
 It ends with the embarkation of La Saile 
 on Lake Ontario for Mona-eal, the la.st 
 of AuiTust, 1681, and then adds the hope that 
 the end of the year 1682 will tiud the dis- 
 covery of the mouth of '.he Mississippi 
 made. 
 
 Some parts of the repori relating to those 
 parts of the journey where Ilenn'cpin wa.s 
 present bear a sirikiniT resemblance to his 
 first book, published in 1684. I translate, 
 for instance, from paize 440. The two re- 
 ports are word for word the same, except 
 ^. where dUerences are marked, this report as 
 
 '-.^Aand Hennepin as 2. 
 coQimfThe Steur de La Salle could not buHd a 
 trade -que at Fort de Froutenuc becau.se of a 
 the he. a>re of two leagues at the great fall of 
 ting thenra. withtmt which one could sail in a 
 aud seliin-essej to Fort Frontenac to tiie bottom 
 prices thavj (lllinMs. 1) (Dauphin, 2) tjy the lakes 
 volume si are with reason called fresh water 
 The great river of St. Lawrence takes 
 
 its origin from several great lakes, among 
 which are five of an extraordmary size, and 
 wliich are badly laid down in the printed 
 maps. These lakes are (1. Lake Superior, 
 the Lakeof the Illinois, tiie Lake of the Hu- 
 rons, the Lake Erie, the Lake Frontenac); 
 (2, the first Lake de Conde, or (Tracy, 
 second. Lake Dauphin or of the Illinois, 
 the third, Lake of Orleans or of the Hu- 
 rons, fourth, Lake de Conty or Erie, and 
 fifth, Ltike Ontario named de Frontenac.) 
 They are all of fresh water and verv good 
 to drink, abounding in fish and surround- 
 ed l)y fertile lands. With the exceptiou 
 of the first, navigation is easy in sum- 
 mer even for large vessels, hut diflicult in 
 winter Itecause of the strong winds which 
 blow there." I might continue the parallel 
 at some length. The account of Hennepin's 
 journey among the Sioux bears a similar ver- 
 bal similarity. On page 478 of this volume 
 appears the l)effinning of that part trans- 
 lated by Mr. Shea in his r>isnovery 
 of the Mississiotii, and continuinii 
 for four or five page.; Hennepin, 
 however, calls the Mis.sissippi "(Jolbert " 
 By very far the larger part of ihe repori; 
 bears no resemblance to Hernepin. Hen- 
 nepm was not above cop.int; the report had 
 he wished to do so for his lioik. Mucli of 
 liis second book was cop^d from the sup- 
 pressed Le Clercq Siii! I cannot but think 
 that those Darts of the paper which have 
 much resemblance to Hennepin bear his 
 mark. His egotism and desire for promi- 
 nence are apparent. 
 
 "The Fallier Louis Hennepin offered him- 
 self to make this journey" (to the Sioux,) 
 ■'to commence acquainiance with nations 
 among whom he had thought he would 
 go soon to establish him.selt in preach- 
 ing the faith. " 
 
 Pa2;e 440. The carpenters are said to have 
 been sent to Niagara under the charge of 
 La Motte and Father Louis Hennepin. In 
 other accounts it is said La Motte had 
 change. 
 
 Page 444. The carpenters would have 
 been frightened awav by the Senecas if La 
 Salle and Father Louis had not taken pains to 
 reassure them. There are examples of the 
 vanity characteristic of Hennepin's book 
 3|uickly noticed by anyone w'.io has read 
 Mr. Siiea's excellent bibiiographical sketch of 
 that work. The differences are sugges'ive. 
 In Hennepin the account is occasionally en- 
 larged by introduction of other matter as 
 it by atte- thought. The forms of the names 
 of the lakes bear the stamp of the wilder- 
 ness Su|)erior, of the Illinois, of the Hurons. 
 Erie, in Hennepin called in compliment 
 to Frenchmen, de Conde or Tracy, 
 Dauphin, d'Orlcans, de Conty. 
 
 Hennepin's own name is in this paper 
 
HENNEPIN— TONTY; 
 
 Henpin, while La Saile in his letters calls 
 him Hempin. Henpin was not unlikely the 
 original, euphonised by speech into Hempin 
 and by himself to the more musical Hen- 
 nepin. 
 
 At the time this relation was made Henne- 
 pin had returned from his captivity, and he 
 probably furnished his repoit in writinir, 
 used by his brother RecoUet in a friendly 
 spirit. He very liKely met La Salle himself, 
 who writes, in Au<;ust,lo a friend in France, 
 that Hennepin was about to s:o to France; 
 that he would not hesitate to exaggerate; 
 "it is his character," and he speaks "nearer 
 what he wishes than what he does." t 
 doubt not the report cf Hennepin was quite 
 cut short in Ibis paper; in fact,itso apoej'rs. 
 
 Followin2: this relation is the recital from 
 Nicholas de la Salle of the discovery of th'j 
 mouth of our areat river, in 1683, and the 
 return to Quebec. Nest is a "eneral rela- 
 tion of the enterprises of La Salle from 1678 
 to 1683 made by Tonty, who^e nickname, 
 "Main de fer," — hand of iron — rcudnds 
 one of the knights of old whi e his heart was 
 as stout and trusty as bis hand — a real 
 hand of iron, by the way, found by more 
 than one Indian to give a verj^ heavy blow. 
 Tonty was successively commander at Ni- 
 agara, Crevecoeur and Fort St. Louis, and 
 desc ended the Mississippi with LaSalle. The 
 contents of these 600 pagas cannot be made 
 known in a review. Their value consists 
 mainly in the more complete variety and 
 perfect knowledge which they givu of these 
 great enterprises of which we had some pre- 
 vious knowledge. Their apparent value in- 
 creases by comparison with less authentic 
 and particular accounts. LaSalle is by all 
 means the most prominent figure in interior 
 discovery. We have indicated how vast his 
 plans. His life was romantic, his death 
 
 tragic. In later times claims to large terri- 
 tories were made under hisdi'^covenes. The 
 Fiench claimed u; der that right even the 
 0"iio and the forts at Pittsburg and Erie, 
 wrested from them by the English. Still 
 later the population, French by extraction, 
 leaned to the United States in the Revolu- 
 tionary war and made easy such occupation 
 and control as gave the United States tl e 
 Northwest Territory. In siil! later limes, 
 when our Northwestern boundary was dis- 
 Duted, La Salle's doings were discussed as if 
 on them turned the fate of vast territory. 
 
 We say then that we feel under great ob- 
 ligation to M. Margry who, with patriotic 
 care, has collected and preserved 
 much valaable matter; and we werj 
 before this publication much indebted 
 for the liberal use of his treasures he has 
 permitted to Americans. While it has given 
 the public a foretaste of his riches, it has 
 stimulated that patriotic zeal which makes 
 the student of history desire access to the 
 original authorities, so that he can see for 
 himself the original and life-like records of 
 the times. The English reader cannot better 
 estimate the value of this volume than to 
 see how often ia the Discovery of the Great 
 West these unpublished treasures have been 
 to Mr. Parkman his best and frequently his 
 only guide. The early maps which accom- 
 pany these and other relations have not been 
 yet pul)lished We hope M. Marsry may 
 be able to furnish them. Some of the early 
 manuscript maps are vastly in advance of 
 those published. On seeint, them, one has 
 a profound respect for the discoverers, 
 somewhat, it must be confessed, at the 
 expense of the early geographers. 
 
 Some of the best and clearest evidences of 
 what was done and known, artse/from the 
 maps. ' 
 
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