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CNY Hilt Hist Hit sa Ht i ui a i a Hb hat ah a aj 4 iit: Herault eit 2 Had Mt iat rit if ¥ iil it I pe 7 Ay a at ae "et Se i ae ft coe Pyke re re Hi, at i i baa ite halts sia Sires i i | ee > +o ioe i Hi a fil ‘aay ‘ i tit ite A ee HH i ihe ne af ri Ma ( he ee aan: Wp 4) | it Pr! eee ; pi cn. — Ho eee cas te as we eat sgh ie Ht an “ay Pie tix HO OL RE i sc nee i a He a . sth i ay i fia Hh atti a . a va cae i i fi : 1 be Hh iedeth 1 aa ie lens rf ee - ae "} e i ie | ry Ht oy al if aie efit Nitec Satta Ge Ha en “A i tut aif i i iH ti a rf f Ee AL HN th i: ay Ha He ud : oe Ty we ii ah a Ait sis tf ae i i ath i i iy Het i on Lal abana : daar >| iaritet a Hi iit at ete Hit i ae oe riba 2 Hata ne wit a iF a a saa ‘ ; 7 ii yi rasa is a aa : Ht ae iit oH ss tt uth ne aly ‘i i Hatt init ipitiy ut 7 AH uit r Lo rite Ti Hii bitte iy of ity it ane sate th Tet i ah as Hire a a : He Ht / pleiehesetestiess mepesererstsi eripheetesssstst ERS tor Lo areiti iyt tai rte BH itt a Lea aati ee iH tt te guts i} : iM Hat ee ade a it a Mt Pit Hs it oat He 4 oT i 1 adi rH ines i ‘ i i rit at it ae a nt nan He Ht ist i iy uh a a Ha tit a Hi . - a i : iit a i ie a ie it ii Hi it oo tt a : a i J Mh ii . a a Me a Hea Aviat ‘ uth ie it a He i i A aN — aa t! ' ee HNL “errata -age ” sai whe itt ree x eget Hite a a 2 ee ii bi a A sts res 1a ot togerg foater ie ae id rit SCR eM sre ations 6 mere 7 ie rey rige wart Mee itt oe ena ig INNA ine a ti Welly hi se i : f i 1h ft é CT i i! ha : mat i ¢ am iy, tH ahh SF (i pies hele fs 2 ue Oc Ht Hs ve i | tsp | fit ay Git me ine tt HP Hei ih Ean i pe ia Sit ie Ati hai wh ait scsintsan eperetn “sn oo ; tue te senate he ‘ _— tit ‘eit eet ih arse ae aitleseserel itt Hr Tat ih it ‘! iat tet HALA i {i a i lis cat Ria hy "s bat at a it ar iit ie is YO i viet ane ee “eet seth sai it sit en Bie it sc Hit ii ‘th Ptah ify isnt eet rtetal sie seetiniel sa if i} wi OMPANY | oo ith if oe sitet Ssteheresee i a uit Rate i sae 7 : (e. ic _ | c ao ; wy a he i I 4 yateeeten bbeatials resenenaneden pectaniesreeoncnae tt UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY fey t Tate hie ee oes Class Book ixfolume ; HTT Dis F 11-20M M32 UD, y, = ' Ht v ae ae Digitized by the Internet Archive In 2022 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign https://archive.org/details/discoveryofoldno0Obald_0 (Mahe JBUb ClO NA aoe aed Oe Sie ©) lel) SNORE EW Sie AND ITS SETTLEMENT BY THE FRENCH BM JAMES BALDWIN Author of ‘Baldwin's Readers,” ‘‘ The Story of Siegfried” “The Book Lover,” etc. NEW YORK .-:- CINCINNATI -:: CHICAGO AMERIGAN BOOK COMPANY C OFYRIGHT, 1901, BY AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HAtt, Lonpon. DISC OLD NORTHWEST. With 12 |, Sev ey IGM PLerce , = PREGA GS Ee WuiLE every American is familiar with the events con- nected with the discovery and colonization of the eastern shores of our country, the history of the Old Northwest — that magnificent section of our country lying west of the Alleghanies and bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Great Lakes —is comparatively unknown. It has a history as varied, as interesting, and as important as that of any other portion of the North American conti- nent, and yet few persons realize the extent to which the events attending its early exploration, its conquest, and its settlement have determined the destiny of our country as a whole. So far as is known to the writer, no attempt has hitherto been made to relate the story of these events in a con- nected order, free from extraneous details and adapted to the comprehension and tastes of younger readers. Park- man, in his monumental series of historical narratives, has told this story in connection with many others having but slight relation to the Old Northwest; Justin Winsor, in his very scholarly volumes relating to the French régime in America, has done the same. But the works of these writers are too voluminous for general readers, and being designed for mature thinkers they fail to be attractive to the majority of young people just beginning to acquire a taste for historical reading. The author of this volume, 192421 4 Preface while indebted to Winsor and Parkman and many other writers for the facts which he relates, has followed his own method of telling the story, keeping always in mind as the central thought the discovery and development of the Old Northwest and its final conquest for freedom and civilization. He has not attempted a complete history, but rather a connected series of sketches, selecting from the very large number of events and incidents that might have been related those which seemed to him most necessary to the interest and the continuous unfolding of the narrative. It is confidently believed that young readers of these sketches will rise from their perusal with some new con- ceptions of the history of our country, and especially of that portion of it which seems destined to be —if it is not already — the “commanding field whence men and insti- tutions will communicate their will to the nation.” CONGR NEES HOW THE GREAT LAKES WERE DISCOVERED THE First APPROACH I. Jacques Cartier . : ‘ : : . ‘ fats II. Hochelaga . : : : : ; : : mete y III. Mont Royal : ; : : ; : : =, eae THE CLOSED GATEWAY I. Samuel de Champlain : ‘ : : ; ee? II. Iroquois and Hurons . ; ; : : 5 a E20 III. The Beginning of a Long Struggle. ‘ : tae IV. Etienne Brulé . “ i : : : : caress V7 The Fur Traders : : : : ; : 5:5 IE36 VI. Place Royale. é ‘ : ; : - ee’: AN IMAGINARY DISCOVERER I. Ambitious Dreams . : 3 ; ‘ ; - ae Ad II. The Talk of Paris : : : ; : : ee te III. The Ascent of the Ottawa . ‘ : : ; AS IV. The Tabagie at Chief Tessouat’s : : : aes THE FIRST OF THE GREAT LAKES I. A Brother of the Récollets . : : : : Feit: II. The Wilderness Way : : ; ; : epee | III. The Mer Douce of the Hurons . 5 : ‘ of eLOr THE SECOND OF THE GREAT LAKES I. The Treaty with the Hurons, . : ; . a A ites -touacha -, : : : : : ; ; ea OF III. The Discovery of Lake Ontario . IV. The Raid upon the Iroquois THE THIRD OF THE GREAT LAKES I. The Young Man from Normandy II. The Scouts of the Wilderness III. The Governor’s Commission IV. The Discovery of Lake Michigan V. The Men of the Fetid Sea . VI. The “Father of Waters” THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES I. The Residence of Sainte Marie . II. The Sault Sainte Marie ; III. The Captivity of Father Jogues . IV. The Dispersal of the Hurons THE FOURTH OF THE GREAT LAKES I. Two Daring Fur Traders II. The Manitou of the Copper Mines THE FIFTH OF THE GREAT LAKES I. The Hidden Water II. Louis Joliet i ; III. The First Voyagers on Lake Erie IV. A Remarkable Meeting HOW THE GREAT RIVERSYWERE EXE LOREE THE BEAUTIFUL RIVER L.A salle II. La Chine III. La Belle Riviére . PAGE 131 133 137 ON THE UPPER LAKES I. II. AIT: IV. V. VI. VAGE Ménard Allouez Marquette . ot. Esprit Dollier and Galinée St. Ignace . Saint-Lusson THE HIppEN RIVER Le It. FROM CATARAQUI TO CREVECG:UR ie lee VAR VII. The Explorer and the Missionary The Fox and the Wisconsin The Voyage The Return The Mission of the Illinois Cataraqui Fort Frontenac . Niagara The Griffon The St. Joseph . The Kankakee Crévecceur . THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI Ii ae Accault and Hennepin The Sioux . The Captives The Grand Hunt Duluth Tonty and Membré PAGE PAGE TO THE GREAT RIVER’S MOUTH I. At Fort Miamis . : - . : 2 ‘ ; véae II. From Fort Frontenac to Natchez : : » 224 III. Louisiana . 5 : : : ; : : Spee hy LA SALLE’s LAST ENTERPRISE I. Fort St."Louis‘on the Illinois : : : M230 II. The Lost Colony ; ; : : : : ee: Iii hesbnd ora Great Lites. : ; ; Pee HOW THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS WERE MADE FRENCH LIFE IN THE NORTHWEST I. The Settlements , : ‘ : : . 237 II. The Settlers : : : - ; : : no eee III. The Christian Indians : : : : : 2a IV. A Day ina French Village : : : : roel THE POSTS ON THE LAKES I. ?Mackinac =. : : : : : 4 : At. by II. Detroit : ; j é ? ‘ : » “248 THE FIREBRANDS OF THE WEST I. The Fight at Detroit . ‘ : : : Bee: II. The Little Hill of the Dead . : : : . 258 III. The Quenching of the Firebrands : : ; 5200 AFTER WORD . : : : : : : : : + 22 INDEX : . : : ; : : ° : : @ a7 pE iE el) Pos ON eye OF leah, (ORE Ie iin Asem p se ¥ ‘JSOMYMON PIO OY} pue sayey] }¥91D dy} 0} soyoeoiddy jsily oy} o}erysNIIT 0} dep ANS SERS ‘ W " \) Gi, q \ : ‘ Ve \\ OWw44Ng i aoe sk vuvdo0in fl J uospnH o > Fe sf a a, ] Ploy : 999 9 § | le is fi a f Vey - & 4 \ if S Fy (Bo ; yy ae uMou9 . Me <, 9 {9 eA J Bathing 407 Ynvauij0 DOW =i GREAT EAKBS WERE WIS GOVE REE) AE SU SSO ASSS A Pe I RARA OV eNO | I. JACQUES CARTIER le you look at the map of Canada you will see that the city of Montreal is at the meeting place of two great rivers. From the southwest comes the mighty flood of the St. Lawrence, smooth and placid above, then rushing down rocky and dangerous rapids, and here expanding into a small but beautiful bay before proceeding on its majestic way to the distant . sea. From the west comes the Ottawa, a . smaller stream, which, before losing itself ab aaah in the St. Lawrence, divides into several channels, thus enclosing on three sides the Island of Montreal. To this place, somewhat more than three hundred and ee fifty years ago, there came a party of French- men with their leader, Jacques Cartier. They were the first white men that had ever sailed up the broad current of the St. Lawrence. Cartier had been sent out by the king of France to discover new lands II 12 The First Approach and, if possible, find a water way through which ships might sail westward from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, as people then called the Pacific. He had discovered and named the Gulf of St. Law- rence, and afterwards, leaving his largest vessels in a safe harbor, had gone on with a single ship to explore the broad, mysterious river whose sources were hidden in the western wilderness. No one at that time imagined that the continent of North Amer- ica was very broad even at its broadest part; and Cartier fondly hoped that this stream “> was the water way which he sought. Some time before reaching the place where the Ottawa joins the St. Law- = oe rence, the ship ran into shallow water — Pn Peis pone te and was grounded. But Cartier was in with a single ship’? no mind to give up his venture. He ordered the boats to be launched, and in these the com- pany pushed onward up the river — now threading their way through a maze of wooded islands, now hesitating whether to follow the right hand channel or the left, and at last emerging into a broad expanse of smooth water with timbered shores stretching far on either side. The whole country seemed like a fairyland. The time was autumn, and the sun shone dimly through the smoky Jacques Cartier a haze that filled the air. The early frost had already touched the leaves and changed their green to garnet and crimson and gold. The nuts were falling, and the. vines which trailed over bush and tree and hung in festoons down to the water’s edge were loaded with clusters of purplish grapes. Squirrels frisked among the branches, and wild deer cropped the herbage in the open glades ; blackbirds and thrushes scolded in the thickets, and water- fowl of various kinds swam in the creeks and sheltered inlets. And now among the trees on their right the Frenchmen saw scores of Indians running. With signs of friendship the savages beckoned to the white strangers to approach the shore, and with songs and dancing they welcomed them to their woodland home. That night Jacques Cartier and his men en- camped on the beach of the island now known as the Island of Montreal. Along the river banks and among the trees bonfires were blazing, and in the light of these the Indians danced and rejoiced. They thought that the Frenchmen were superior beings from another world, and they hailed their coming as the begin- ning of new and happier times—times foretold by their wise men, when there should be no more toil nor sickness nor pain. ‘«Wild deer cropped the herbage” 14 The First Approach H. HOCHELAGA Early on the following morning Cartier and his com- panions set out to visit the Indian town of Hochelaga, which stood near the center of the island. The fame of this town was known among the Indians far and near, and Cartier had heard of its grandeur while still hun- dreds of miles down the river. Guided by the glad natives, and following a path through the thick woods, the French- men soon came to a broad clearing in which were fields of => “ These palisades were of logs”’ ripened corn; and beyond these were other fields where the ground was covered with green and yellow pumpkins, emblems of peace and plenty. Having passed around to. the farther side of the clearing, they found themselves in front of the tall palisades that encircled the homes of the Indians. These palisades were of logs set on end and ranged in three parallel rows three or four feet apart. Those of the middle row stood up- right; but those of the outer and inner rows were leaned towards each other until their tops met and sometimes overlapped. Along the inside of this strange wall were strong platforms, or scaffokls, on which were piles of stones and other missiles ready to be hurled down upon the heads of any foes that might approach too near or try to scale the palisades. Flochelaga 15 Passing through a narrow gateway, the Frenchmen entered the village. Here were about fifty houses, built in the strange, rude fashion common among the natives of that region. Each house was more than a hundred feet in length, and at least forty feet in width. It was built of poles, and covered and weatherboarded with sheets of i Py SNS == : to Sa ‘vem a 7 eine ae et, Mi: sig alt a i bin ng ott Vids le A iM ey Phi Mf i } —~ oe hi mi malt Gi A me ‘i vik nek ee Rig Gee =a ae eee ae hagas epi le on = a Ss ee vot PRU ‘‘Fach house was more than a hundred feet in length"’ bark. The roof was quite low and had many openings, under each of which was a place for a fire. Each fire- place was the center of a home, and therefore the number of families in a house was always the same as the number of holes in the roof. Jacques Cartier and his men were led to the center of this strange village, where there was a kind of public square. And now the women and children came running from the houses, with wondering looks and cries of pleas- ure,.to welcome the white strangers. They seemed not at all afraid, but filled with delight, as at the coming of well- known and long expected friends. They gazed curiously at the Frenchmen’s weapons and their brilliant armor. They touched the beard, the hair, the cheeks of Cartier, as if to make sure that it was not all a dream. Then they brought mats which they spread upon the ground, 16 The First Approach and the strangers were asked to sit down in the presence of the chief of the nation. This chief was very old and so helpless that he had to be carried on a litter of deerskins by four of his most trusted men. With signs and gestures he welcomed the strangers to Hochelaga; and then he made a short speech ‘‘ They seemed not at ali afraid’’ which seemed very eloquent and very earnest, but which the Frenchmen could not understand. In closing he pointed to his helpless, shrunken limbs, as if imploring aid, and spoke in piteous tones as though praying to be healed by the white man’s touch. What could Cartier do but humor the fancy of the poor old savage? He laid his hands upon him; he touched his legs, his feet; he stroked his long, thin hair. Then he TTochelaga 17 spoke of a Healer greater than himself who had gone about curing the sick and giving sight to the blind and raising the dead. The old chief understood not a word, but his face beamed with hope, and his lips moved as if expressing thanks. Then he gave to Cartier a little coro- net of red-dyed porcupine quills which he had worn upon his head as a sign of power. It was the gift of a reverent and grateful heart. Soon from all the houses others came to be cured. The sick, the lame, the blind were led and carried to the spot where the wonderful white man sat. It was a pitiable throng — but all were happy because they believed that a god had come to heal them of their infirmities. The heart of the French captain was deeply moved, and he could not tell them of their mistake. As each one was brought before him he touched the diseased part and made the sign of the cross. Then he uttered a prayer for their benighted souls, and dismissed them with his blessing. The poor savages said not a word, but, with awe in their hearts, looked their grateful thanks to the strange being who was showing them so great kindness. When all the feeble and sick had been disposed of, Car- tier caused presents to be distributed freely. To the men he gave knives and hatchets ; to the women he gave beads and pewter rings; and among the children he flung small pictures and images, and bright bits of colored glass. Then, to the great astonishment of the natives, the French buglers blew their horns, and strains of music such as had never before been heard in that wild land rose above the palisades and floated out over the fields, OLD NORTHWEST — 2 18 | The First Approach and were echoed back from the woods and hills. The white strangers rose from their seats, and, following the lead of their captain, marched in military order through the village and out of the inclosure by the same gate through which they had entered. It had been the greatest day ever known in Hochelaga, and the people were loath to see their visitors depart. The women followed them to the gate and pressed upon them gifts of fish and corn and other food more than they could carry. The men also followed, nor did they turn back so soon. They wanted to serve the strangers, and do them further honor by showing them the greatness and beauty of the land in which they lived. II. MONT ROYAL On the side of the village opposite the cornfields there was a lofty hill, the wooded slopes of which were gay with all the colors which autumn foliage bears. It seemed so much higher than the surrounding country that Jacques Cartier wondered whether he might not from the top of it catch sight of the great western ocean—the South Sea which the Spaniard, Balboa, twenty years before, had beheld from the peaks of Darien. He asked the Indians about it, but they could not understand. Nevertheless, they showed him the easiest path up the steep and rocky slope, and would even have carried him over the roughest places. As Cartier climbed up, step by step, he was charmed by the wild beauty of the hill itself no less than by the ever widening landscape that opened to his view. Mont Royal 19 “This,” said he, ‘is truly a royal mountain, a kingly landmark in the midst of the new and vast domain that I have added to the Crown of France. Its name shall be Mont Royal.” And Mont Royal (Mont Reéal) it is still called; and the noble city, which now stands where then were Indian ee ag Wh: 9. Sere afl fl SS in ‘“The noble city . . . where then were Indian cornfields’’ cornfields and the forest red with autumn leaves, is known by the same name — Montreal. When, at last, after much climbing, Cartier reached the top of the mountain, a wonderful vision met his gaze. Looking eagerly toward the west he saw no sign of the vast sea which was the chief object of his thoughts; but, far as eye could reach, he beheld a succession of forest plains and wooded hills stretching away and away until they seemed to meet and mingle with the hazy sky. 20 The first Approach Directly in front of him, but miles away, he saw the St. Lawrence emerging, as it were, from the mysterious West, and then, as it approached, broadening into the beautiful expanse since known as Lake St. Louis, from which, sud- denly narrowing, it dashed in an impetuous flood down the rapids, called in later years Lachine. ‘Then, very near upon his left, Cartier saw the same river spreading out into a quiet bay, its waters gleaming like a mirror in the autumn sunlight, while his own boats lay moored to the nearest shore. Turning a little to the right, he caught glimpses of the Ottawa, now expanding into beautiful lakes, now dashing over rocky rapids and losing itself in winding channels among overhanging trees, and at last pouring its flood of waters into the St. Lawrence. Of the strange secrets hidden in the wilderness before him, Jacques Cartier could never have dreamed. He could not have guessed that the far solitudes towards which his eyes were directed would in time become the home of millions of happy people. No fancy of his could have whispered that just beyond his line of vision were fresh-water lakes larger than half the kingdom of France, and that upon their shores would spring up cities greater than any he had ever seen. That he was still more than two thousand miles from the object of his quest, the great western ocean, he could by no means have imagined. But west, north, east, south,—farther than eye could pierce,—the same riddle presented itself of woods and hills and silent wastes, and the hazy sky dome bending over all. He was indeed in the midst of an unknown land. From the Gulf of Mexico to the Mont Royal 21 northern seas there was not one spot where a white man had his dwelling; indeed, the men who were to make the earliest settlements in that region were not yet born. When Jacques Cartier at last descended from the royal mount, and, with his men, returned to the boats, he had given up the thought of finding there an easy passage through the continent. To venture farther up the St. Lawrence was clearly impossible; for what vessel could stem its turbulent rapids? To ascend the Ottawa might be easier, but this would most likely lead the voyager only deeper and deeper into the wilderness. So, bidding good-bye to the simple-hearted natives who watched them from the shore, the Frenchmen turned their boats down- stream, and, aided by the current, soon reached the ships that were waiting for them in the safe harbor far below. They had not discovered a passage to the South Sea; but they had penetrated the continent farther than any other Europeans had yet ventured, and in the name of the king of France they had taken possession of an unknown coun- try which might yet become the source of measureless wealth and power. The region known to.us as the Old Northwest, with its countless lakes and streams and its trackless woods and prairies, was still untrodden by the feet of civilized man; but Jacques Cartier, without knowing it, had visited the gateway by which it was to be approached from the east, and from the top of Mont Royal he had seen on the distant horizon the faint lines that marked a portion of its boundary. THES CLOSED GATT a I. SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN T was a long time before the island at the meeting of the rivers was again visited by white men. In the meanwhile many changes took place both in the Old World and in the New. ‘In France the king and _ his courtiers had so much to do to keep crown and country from falling into the hands of their enemies that they had no time to think of lands and peoples beyond the sea; and so the discoveries of Jacques Cartier were almost forgotten. In the wilderness by the St. Lawrence tragedy upon tragedy had been enacted. The feeble old chief at Hochelaga had died and been forgotten; and younger chiefs had grown up and become aged in the shadow of Mont Royal. Then dreadful days had dawned. The woods and river banks rang, time and again, with the whoops of savage foes, and the waters were reddened with the blood of the slain. The cornfields were over- run and trodden down by fighting warriors; the strong palisades were overturned and the village was taken by 22 Samuel de Champlain 23 storm; the long houses were pillaged and burned; the island echoed with the groans of the dying, the shrieks of captive women and children, and the shouts and jeers of the pitiless victors. Then, for many years, there was silence and solitude. Dense thickets of underbrush grew up where the village View on the St. Lawrence had stood, and thorns and briers flourished where the corn had rustled’ and grown ripe in the autumn sun. Wolves hunted among the trees, and bears sunned them- selves on the river’s bank; and no savage huntsman ever disturbed them or made them afraid. No sounds were heard save those of wildest nature, the chattering of squirrels, the cries of waterfowls, the twittering of birds, 24 . The Closed Gateway and now and then the fierce growl of some beast of prey or the scream of its helpless victim. Sixty-eight years passed, and then on a certain day in early summer another ship of France sailed up the St. ee Lawrence, and another party of French explorers appeared at the meeting place of the two rivers, at the closed gateway to the great Northwest. The leader of this party was Samuel de Champlain, a gentleman of Saintonge in the west of France. He had been a captain in the royal navy, and had done some brave deeds in the service of his master, King Henry the Fourth. More lately he had commanded a Spanish vessel on the high seas, and had made a voyage of adventure to the West Indies and the coast of Mexico. And now, still young and ambitious, he had come to carry into these new lands on the St. Lawrence the banner Champlain of the French king and the cross of the Catholic faith. It was his wish to do more. He fondly hoped that, by exploring the great water courses of New France, as the country was called, he might accomplish that which Cartier had failed to do, and discover the long- sought northern passage to the western ocean. Champlain and his companions landed on the Island of Montreal, but they received no such welcome as that with which Jacques Cartier had been greeted. From river to river there was no sign of human life. Nothing remained to show that the place had ever been visited by man. Climbing to the top of Mont Royal, the Frenchmen Samuel de Champlain 25 scanned the country far and near, but only the great forest and the rivers and the distant hills could they discover. The next day they explored the shore to the point where the river, coming down from the west, makes an elbow turn to the north. There they found themselves at the foot of the turbulent rapids which had deterred Cartier from proceeding farther. Surely no vessel, not even the stanchest boat, could ever make its way against the wild torrent which leaped and foamed down this long. and rough incline. The wished-for and long-dreamed-of water route to the South Sea was plainly not through this dan- gerous and impassable channel. At the foot of the great rapids Champlain met a small party of Indians who had come there to catch fish. They were gruff, silent fellows, half afraid of the white strangers and yet inclined to be friendly. Some of them had been among the French traders near the mouth of the St. Law- rence, and were able to understand a few simple words when spoken to. From them Champlain tried to learn something about the country through which the two great rivers flowed, and whether the sources of these streams were near the western ocean. These Indians, however, could not tell him much. They knew but very little, and since they could speak French no better than he could speak their tongue, his curiosity was only whetted by the few vague facts that he could learn from them. One day the chief of the band visited Champlain on board of his vessel. The Frenchman, by signs and such words as they knew in common, urged him to tell all that 26 The Closed Gateway he knew about the great river. How far was it to the head of these rapids? Was the current above them smooth or swift?) Was the stream wide or narrow? From what place did all this flood of waters come ? The Indian told him that there were many rapids in the St. Lawrence, and that, after passing them all, one would come to a lake in which there were many islands. At the end of this lake there was a high waterfall around which a canoe might be carried to a smaller lake beyond. This lake was sixty leagues in length, and the water was fresh and sweet. It opened at its farther extremity into a short but very broad river through which one might pass into a much greater lake. “But,” said he, “none of my people have ever visited that lake, and no man living has seen its farther shore.” Then he took a piece of charcoal and drew a rude map on the deck. He showed how the stream, above the rapids, was very wide, forming what is now called Lake St. Louis, and how it there receives the main part of the Ottawa. Then, by a few rough strokes, he showed other rapids and other wide expanses, and again still more rapids. “Great fall! Very great fall!’’ he said, making a heavy black line. And finally, with a flourish of the charcoal, he exclaimed, “Great water! Very great water!” and strode away as having no more to Say. Champlain believed that the distant lake of which the savage had spoken was connected with the western ocean, and he half resolved to push forward. He thought that if he could only make his way to the head of the first rapids, he might succeed equally well with those above Samuel de Champlain a and at last reach the source of the mysterious river, and discover the “great water’ beyond. A light skiff was made ready for the dangerous ascent, and strong Indians with poles and paddles undertook to guide it against the rushing flood. But before they had climbed twenty yards the frail vessel was dashed against the rocks and overturned, and Champlain was glad to escape with his life to the shore. He now saw clearly that with the means at his command it was impos- Sipic to, ascend the St. Lawrence ~~ farther. He felt that by report- ing the matter promptly to his 74 friends and the king, he might be permitted to lead thither another expedition better pre- pared to overcome the diffi- culties that were in the way. re than take note of the place ¢ 44’, GEE fe / Destesuited: for Ge | a Ayal i ea \, WO a “ft ‘‘ Father Dablon went forward’’ Following these was one of the strangest throngs ever seen in our own or any other country. There were fur traders and trappers, Canadian voyageurs, and soldiers of France; and flanking the hill on both sides were the warriors and chiefs of fourteen savage nations, gay in their holiday trappings, hideous with paint and feathers, loathsome in person and in manners —all mingling together in strange and unaccustomed friendship. — Saint-Lusson 159 A huge wooden cross had already been carried to the top of the hill, and around it the motley procession moved. Then, while all stood still and made some show of rever- ence, Father Dablon went forward and blessed it; and when the emblem had been reared and firmly planted, the Frenchmen, with uncovered heads, sang an ancient hymn :— “The banners of heaven’s King advance ; The mystery of the cross shines forth.” By the side of the cross a cedar post was raised, and upon it was nailed a metal plate inscribed with the royal arms of France. This done, the Sieur Saint-Lusson stepped forward, and, raising a sod of earth with one hand and flourishing his sword with the other, made proc- lamation in the name of Louis XIV., the king of France. He declared that he took possession ‘‘ of this place, Sainte Marie du Sault, as also of Lakes Huron and Superior, the Island of Manitoulin, and all countries, rivers, lakes, and streams contiguous and adjacent thereunto: both those which have been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in all their length and _ breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas of the North and West, and on the other by the South Sea.” At the close of this speech the Frenchmen shouted “Vive le roi!” and the Indians, not to be outdone, yelled and hooted like thousands of demons. Then Father Allouez made a speech to the dusky warriors, telling them of the grandeur and might of his master Louis XIV., who was “more terrible than thunder, and moved in the midst of his warriors covered with the blood of his ene- 160 On the Upper Lakes mies. . . . But what shall I say of his riches?” he con- tinued. ‘You think yourselves rich when you have ten or twelve sacks of corn, a few hatchets, beads, kettles, and other things of that sort. He has cities of his own, more than there are of men in all this country for five hundred leagues around. In each city there are storehouses where there are hatchets enough to cut down all your forests, kettles enough to cook all your moose, and beads enough to fill all your lodges. His house is longer than from here to the top of the sault [that is, more than half a league] ; it is higher than your tallest trees; and it holds more families than the largest of your towns.” It was a wonderful speech, adapted to the understand- ing of the savages and appealing to their wildest fancies. When it was ended there was another tremendous chorus of yells; and then white men and red men returned to the village to enjoy the feast that had been prepared and to witness the sham battles with which the great day was closed. Thus, by an imposing ceremonial in the heart of the wilderness, France took formal possession of the Great Lakes, the unknown rivers, and all the rich lands of the Northwest. Ho sb LD Bane LV ER. I.. THE EXPLORER AND THE MISSIONARY OUIS JOLIET had other business at the Sault Sainte Marie besides attending the grand ceremonial to which Saint-Lusson had invited him. The discovery of the hidden river of the West was the one object of his thoughts, and all his energies were now being directed to its accomplishment. Of the Indians who had come to the sault from the West and the South, he asked many questions about this mysterious stream; but they could tell him nothing of value, and their vague, disconnected stories only whetted his desire to see and know for himself. He returned to Quebec much discour- aged, but not yet ready to give up hope. Count Frontenac In the following spring a new gov- ernor took charge of affairs in Canada. His name was Louis de Buade, but he is known in history by his title, Count Frontenac. Next to Champlain he stands dena highest among the makers of New France. He was already growing old, was headstrong and extravagant, but just the kind of man to deal wisely with the Indians and extend the French influence in the Northwest. He OLD NORTHWEST — II 161 162 The Hidden River heartily hated the Jesuits, and it was not long before he had a bitter quarrel with the Sulpicians. It was plain to everybody that a new order of things was about to begin in Canada. Count Frontenac had already heard of Louis Joliet. The intendant, Talon, had spoken to him of that young man’s rare ability as an explorer and had told him of his discoveries on the lakes. He was asked to speak for himself, and, before the summer was ended, he was commissioned to make an expedition into the far West, and, if possible, discover the mysterious river of which so many rumors were afloat. Joliet did not waste any time in making preparations. Early in December he arrived at Mackinac, where Father Marquette was busy attending to the needs of the little band of Hurons that had gathered around his mission of St. Ignace. The explorer had 1672 heard of the gentle priest as a man who had made a careful study of all that was known about the country west of the lakes, and he believed that from him he would be able to learn many valuable facts. Marquette was delighted to receive his visitor, for he was already deeply interested in the project Joliet had undertaken. We can easily imagine the two men sitting in the missionary’s little cabin and talking about the subject that was dearest to the thoughts of both. ‘When I was at La Pointe four years ago,” we may suppose Marquette to say, “I heard a great deal about the undiscovered river of the West. The Indians who live near it call it the Missipi; and they say that for more The Explorer and the Misstonary 163 than three hundred leagues from its mouth it is wider than the St. Lawrence at Quebec. For a long distance it flows through a treeless prairie land; but as it nears the sea its banks are again bordered by forests. Along the river, from the country of the Sioux to its mouth, there are many tribes of savages who speak different languages and have different customs, and are always waging war upon one another. These are some of the things that were told me by a band of red men who call themselves Illinois. I would that I could go to them in their own home in the Missipi country, as indeed I promised them; for they are truly a gentle-hearted people, eager to learn, and not so utterly depraved as some of the more northern tribes.” This and much more did the missionary impart to the explorer; and it was almost unnecessary for Joliet to say that he had brought from the governor, and from the Superior of the Jesuits at Quebec, definite instructions to Marquette to be his companion in a tour of discovery beyond the Great Lakes. The good priest needed no other commission. It was agreed that, early in the fol- lowing spring, as soon as the lakes should be free from ice, they would set forth together and not return until the mystery of the hidden river was solved. The winter was spent at Mackinac, putting everything in readiness for the voyage. From Indians who had been at Green Bay, Marquette made careful inquiries about the country and the best westerly routes; and from such information as was given he drew a rough map — mostly mere guesswork—of their intended course. 164 The Hidden River Il. (THE FOX SAND THE WISCONSIN On the 17th of May the explorers set out in two birch- bark canoes, with five men as assistants and guides. “I fon placed our expedition,” wrote Marquette, ‘‘ under the protection of the Holy Virgin Immaculate, promising that if she granted us the favor of discovering the great river, I would give it the name of Conception.” They followed the same route along the northern shore of Lake Michigan that Jean Nicolet had traversed thirty- VAL ie baat 07 ee ia ies ‘“They beheld an Indian town”’ nine years before. They entered Green Bay, and stopped a day in the village of the Menominees, or Wild Rice Indians. These friendly people were astonished when they heard that the white men were on their way to the great river. “The river,” said they, ‘abounds in monsters which devour both men and canoes; and the nations that dwell along its banks never spare the strangers that venture among them.” The Fox and the Wisconsin 165 “T will gladly lay down my life for the salvation of souls,” answered Marquette; and, uttering a _ simple prayer which he desired them to repeat, he left them wondering. The next stop was made at the head of the bay, and near the De Pere rapids they found Father Allouez at his mission of St. Francis Xavier. There they tarried a day or two, and then, still following in the track of Jean Nicolet, they pushed onward up the river of the Foxes. They skirted the shores of Lake Winnebago, and fol- lowed the winding stream beyond, now paddling through thickets of wild rice, and now gliding between wooded shores where they caught glimpses of rolling meadows in the distance. At length they came into the country of the Mascoutins, the Miamis, the Kickapoos, and the Foxes. They beheld an Indian town, built on a hill in the midst of a prairie; and as they drew near, Marquette was rejoiced to see a cross planted in the center of a cluster of wigwams. The intrepid fathers, Allouez and Dablon, had visited this spot three years before; they had set up this emblem of the Christian faith ; they had explained its mystic power, and taught the natives to hold it in reverence. The simple-hearted savages had decorated it with their most precious possessions, bows and arrows and savage ornaments, to appease the Great Manitou of the white man and give him thanks for the game and the plenteous harvests that he had sent them. The explorers landed, and, going up to the village, called a council of the chiefs. They came, eager to see their visitors and learn their wishes. Among them were 166 The Hiddew River stately warriors of the Miami nation with locks of hair falling over their ears, Mascoutins of smaller stature and ruder mien, and Kickapoos with ungainly forms and unpleasing features. Joliet explained to these savages the object of their journey, saying that he himself had been sent out by the French king to discover new coun- tries, and that Marquette had come as the messenger of the Great Manitou to enlighten the hearts of the red men. Then, after telling them that two guides were needed to show the way, he gave to each man a present, and sat down. The chiefs, who had listened with great interest, not only consented to give them the guides, but presented them with a mat to be used as a bed during the voyage. On the toth of June the explorers again embarked in their canoes. Guided by two Miamis, they followed Saye the narrowing stream through swamps and wet meadow lands until at length they reached the place of portage and must needs carry their canoes and goods across the land. Their path led them through a level prairie, dotted with ponds where wild rice was growing, and, after a winding course of two miles, ended on the banks of a westward-flowing stream. Here, with- out more delay than was necessary, the travelers again launched their canoes. ‘The guides returned,” says Marquette, “leaving us alone, in this unknown land, in the hands of Providence.” The stream upon which they embarked was _ broad, with many sandy shallows. It would carry them to the great hidden river; but whither then would they be borne? Did the waters of the “ Missipi” flow westwardly The Fox and the Wisconsin 167 to the Gulf of California, or mayhap directly into the South Sea? Or did they pursue a more eastward course and finally empty into the Mexican Gulf or into the Sea of Virginia? These were questions which the explorers hoped to solve, but which they now asked themselves with many doubting surmises. Following the winding current of the Wisconsin, they floated onward, now passing between grassy banks shadowed with thick foliage, and now emerging into a region of rich bottom lands bordered by tree-covered bluffs. Tall oaks and wal- nuts and trees of unknown species grew along the shore; and the banks were lined with thickets of underbrush and trailing vines. In the forest they saw little game; but, now and then, in the prairie-like openings, they caught glimpses of deer and other animals grazing among the rank herbage. This river, upon which they floated for about forty leagues, was called by Mar- ' “They caught glimpses quette the Mesconsing, for eit so he understood the Indians to pronounce it; and the French traders who afterward came into that region gave it the similar name, Ouisconsin — or, as it is spelled in English, Wisconsin, 168 The Hidden River lil. THE VOYAGE It was the 17th of June when, as Marquette relates, the explorers ‘‘entered happily the Great River with a joy roe that I cannot express.” Joliet, in gratitude to Count Frontenac for sending him upon this expedition, named the river La Buade; but Marquette, remembering the vow he had made, called it the Concep- tion. Neither of these names, however, was able to supplant the Indian designation, Mississippi, “‘the Father of Waters.” No one can understand the feelings of the explorers as their canoes shot out upon the deep current of the myste- rious stream which had so long been the goal of all their hopes. Throughout the day they kept in midstream and paddled leisurely along with the current. Toward even- ing they landed in some secluded nook to cook and eat their supper; then, as darkness began to fall, lest they should be surprised by some lurking foe, they pushed out from the shore and anchored, lying in their canoes until morning. Thus, for more than a week, they continued their voy- age, their way lying between the banks that border the present states of Illinois and Iowa. On either hand they saw broad prairies interspersed with groves and watered by many streams. Now they caught sight of flocks of deer browsing on the uplands; now they heard the call of wild turkeys among-the trees by the shore; and now they beheld large droves of buffaloes — “ Illinois oxen clothed in wool’’— moving slowly over the grass-covered The Voyage 169 plains. From time to time they saw monstrous fish in the water, and one of these struck so violently against the canoe that the voyagers were in danger of being thrown into the water. And once they saw a monstrous panther, “ with IVR He Sate | i yah i i iN i | i ig | WN | ih i ANN i ‘**T}linois oxen clothed in wool’ ”’ the head of a tiger, and a pointed snout like a wild-cat’s,” swimming in the stream. At length, on the western bank, they discovered the footprints of men and a well-trodden path leading up to a beautiful prairie. They landed, and Joliet and Mar- quette fearlessly followed this path, anxious to know what sort of people lived in that region. It led them a distance of six miles, over hills and through meadows and woods, until they came within sight of a village on the bank 170 The Hidden River of a river. With hesitating steps and prayers for God’s protection they went forward until they were near enough to hear the voices of the Indians in their wigwams. Then, halting, they uttered a loud shout. The Indians heard them. Four old men came out to meet them, carrying the calumet, or peace pipe, deco- rated with many kinds of feathers. They walked very slowly and with great deliberation; and when at last they drew quite near they stopped and gazed at the strangers, not saying a word. Marquette, who understood many Indian languages, asked them who they were. ‘We are Illinois,” they said, meaning thereby, ‘We are men;” and they offered the peace pipe. Indians and Frenchmen then walked together to the village. The chief of the tribe stood naked in the doorway of his cabin to welcome the strangers. “Oh, strangers,” he said, ‘how beautiful is the sun when you come to visit us! Our whole village welcomes you, and you shall enter all our wigwams in peace.” Having said this he led them inside, where were all the warriors and great men of the village, eager to greet them. “Well done, brothers,” they said; “it is kind of you to visit us!”’ And then all smoked the calumet together. Soon there came other savages to invite the strangers to visit the great chief of all the Illinois, whose village was ona hill not far away. They went, and were followed by a crowd of men and boys who danced by the roadside and tumbled among the grass in their excessive joy at behold- ing the faces of white men. Upon arriving at the second The Voyage 171 village they were received by the great chief with hearty expressions of joy. “I thank thee, Blackgown,” said he to Marquette, “for taking so much pains to come and visit us. Never has our river been so calm, nor so free from rocks, which your canoes have removed as they passed; never has our tobacco had so fine a flavor, nor our corn ap- peared so beautiful as we behold it to-day.” And then he gave pres- ents to the white men: a little slave and a calumet adorned The calumet with colored feathers. After this a great feast was served, consisting of hom- iny, fish, a broiled dog, and fat buffalo meat. The two Frenchmen tasted sparingly of the first two, and refused to touch the third; but the fourth was more appetizing, and of it they ate heartily, much to the satisfaction of their hosts. At the close of the feast they were led through the village, so that all the natives might see them without being troublesome; and every one was anxious to give them some sort of present, a belt, or a garter, or some simple ornament made of feathers or of the hair of the buffalo dyed red, yellow, and gray. When night came on they were led back to the chief’s wigwam, and buffalo robes were spread upon the ground for them to rest upon. The next day, escorted by nearly six hundred of the natives, the Frenchmen returned to their canoes and again embarked upon the Mississippi. Paddling along with the current, they passed on their left the mouth of 172 The Hidden River the river afterward known as the Illinois, and looked up with wonder at castle-like rocks along the shore, on which the Indians had painted the figures of horrible monsters. A few days later they heard the roar of the Missouri, called by the Indians the Pekitanoui, or muddy river; and soon saw- its swift current rushing like a conqueror into the quieter Mississippi, and seeming to hurry it along in its journey toward the sea. Whence came this mighty river if not from a region bordering upon the western ocean? “TI have hardly any doubt,” said Marquette, ‘that through this river lies the way to the Vermilion or Cali- fornia Sea, and I do not despair of one day making the discovery.” | Continuing their course, the explorers passed the site of the present city of St. Louis; but in the dense forest which then covered the spot there was nothing to fore- shadow the bustling marts and the noisy streets of the future metropolis of the West. A few days later they glided past the mouth of the Ohio, or La Belle Riviere, which Marquette called the Ouabouskigon. Its low and swampy shores were covered with dense canebrakes, and Marquette saw here nothing to indicate the greatness of the stream or to hint of the beauty of its upper reaches. He was told that it came from a country inhabited by the Chaouanons [Shawnees ], a populous but peace-loving nation much harassed by roving bands of Iroquois. And now, with the hot July sun above them, the explor- ers floated onward, past densely wooded shores and broad marshes, until they approached on the left a long range of lofty bluffs overlooking the riverside. Here they saw The Voyage 173 on the shore some Indians armed with guns; and Joliet rightly guessed that they had gotten these in barter with the English in Virginia. Marquette offered the feathered calumet, and the savages invited them to go on shore. They visited the cabins of the red men, who made them a feast of buffalo meat and bear’s oil and ripe plums, in token of their good-will and friendship. These savages were the Chickasaws, whose coun- try extended many miles along the eastern shore of the river. They told Marquette that it was not more than ten days’ journey to the sea; and that there were white men living some distance to the ‘‘They saw Indians armed with guns”’ eastward, who © sold them guns and knives and beads and glass bottles. Much encouraged by what these people told them, the French- men again embarked and paddled onward with renewed ardor. They soon arrived at the mouth of a large river which Joliet called the Bazire, after a friend in Montreal, but which we now know as the Arkansas. On the opposite bank of the Mississippi stood a village of the tribe called Akamsea. Here the voyagers landed, and were led with great ceremony into the presence of the chief. Rush 174 The Hidden River mats were spread upon the ground in front of his wigwam, and upon these Marquette and Joliet were invited to sit. The warriors sat around them in a semicircle, then came the elders of the tribe, and behind all stood a wondering crowd of women and children. The men were naked, but had strings of beads in their ears and noses; the women wore the skins of wild animals about their persons, and tied their hair in knotted clumps behind each ear. The chief made a long speech of welcome to the strangers; food was brought in on earthen platters, and all were regaled on hominy, mush, and roasted dog. All day the feast continued; and at night the chief attended his visitors to their canoes and danced the calumet dance to assure them of his good will. It chanced most happily that among the villagers there was a young man who had been among the Indians of the North, and could speak the language of the Illinois. He told Marquette that it would be dangerous to go farther; for the tribes along the river had firearms and were of a cruel and warlike nature, and would most surely try to do them harm. The explorers considered what they should do. They were now certain that the river flowed, not to the Pacific Ocean, nor yet into the Atlantic by the Vir- ginian coast, but into the Gulf of Mexico. They had, therefore, solved the great problem of the river’s course. By going farther there was much to be risked and little to be gained; and if they should perish at the hands of the savages or be taken prisoners by the Spanish, all the fruits of their discovery would be lost. They therefore The Return rs resolved to return without unnecessary delay. They had reached a point which by Marquette’s observations was in latitude 33° 40’ north of the equator. IV. THE RETURN On the 17th of July, just one month after entering the river at the mouth of the Wisconsin, the explorers began their long and weary voyage homeward. Day tie after day they toiled, paddling against the adverse current; night after night they encamped on the oozy banks, amid the unhealthful vapors of the bayous and marshes. At last they reached the mouth of the Illinois River, and were told by the Indians dwelling there that by ascending that stream they would find a safe and easy passage to the Great Lakes. They therefore turned their canoes into it and were delighted with the change. The current was not strong, and for sixty-five leagues there were neither rapids nor waterfalls. The fertility of the country, with its woods and prairies, was a source of constant wonder. . They stopped for three days in a village of the Illinois, where Marquette busied himself in consoling the sick and expounding the mysteries of religion. ‘ Had this voyage caused but the salvation of a single soul,” he said, “I should deem all my fatigue well repaid.” In this village, which was called Kaskaskia, there were more than seventy lodges, with several fires and families in each; and the people were so impressed by the kindness of the missionary that they besought him to come back and live with them. 176 The Hidden River This he promised to do; and when he renewed his jour- ney one of the chiefs with his young men went a long distance with him as guide and protector. The party now pushed onward up the ever narrowing stream, and at its forks turned to the left into what is now known as the Des Plaines River. With the level prairies stretching like a green sea on either hand, they continued toward the northeast. They passed near the broad knoll where in later times was to stand a city named in honor of Joliet. They carried their canoes across the short por- tage —less than half a league—to the river Chicago, and, launching them upon that narrow and sluggish stream, paddled tirelessly onward through oozy solitudes never before seen by the eyes of civilized man. Soon, to their joy, they beheld the great lake of the Illinois | Michigan ], its waters sparkling and dancing in the light of the noon- day sun. They were at the spot where now are the busy wharves and towering warehouses of the second city of the American continent; but there was nothing to be seen in the desolate prairie land about them to indicate that here, in course of time, the hum of busy traffic would be heard, and millions of human beings would find their homes. Once on the waters of the lake, it was easy to find the way to Green Bay — “‘the Bay of the Fetid,” as Marquette calls it and there the two explorers separated. Joliet went on by way of Mackinac to the Sault Sainte Marie; but Marquette, too feeble to proceed farther, remained through the winter with Father Allouez at his mission near the head of the bay. The Mission of the Ilinots Ly Voomenor MISsSloN COR “bite ILLINOIS Early in the following year, Joliet, with some Huron canoemen, set out for Quebec. On the way he stopped for a few days at a new French post called Fort Frontenac, near the eastern end of Lake Ontario. Then, canoeing down the St. Lawrence, he was almost at the end of his long journey when a most serious accident occurred. At the foot of Lachine rapids his canoe was over- turned, two of his men were drowned, and all his charts and papers were lost. It was midsummer when he finally arrived at Quebec and related to Count Frontenac the history of his explorations. In the meanwhile Marquette, in the lonely mission at Green Bay, had written the journal of his voyage down the Mississippi, and had sent it to the superior of his Order; but his feeble health forbade his undertaking any active labor. The summer dragged on, and October with its charm- ing skies and bracing air gave new life to the invalid. He remembered the promise given to the Illinois, that he would return to them, and he resolved to set out for their country. On the 25th of the month he started, having with him two hunters, Pierre and Jacques, and several Indians. They embarked on Lake Michigan in ten canoes, and made their way slowly along the western shore, hindered much by storms, and made wretched by chilling winds and driv- ing rains. When, at last, they turned into the mouth of the Chicago River, Marquette was too feeble to go farther. His Indian escort left him; but Jacques and Pierre staid by him and built on the shore a rude hut of sticks and OLD NORTHWEST — I2 178 The Hidden River grass—the first human habitation on the site of the present city of Chicago. Here Marquette spent a long winter in meditation and prayer. There was no lack of food, for the prairie and marshes were full of wild game; and the two hunters did all they could to make everything comfortable. Some Indians in the neighborhood came to see the sick man and asked him for powder. ‘“ Powder I have not,” answered he. ‘I have come to spread peace through the land, and I do not wish to see you at war with the Miamis.”’ At the approach of spring Marquette’s strength began to revive; and, as soon as the ice was melted in the river, the party started again on their journey. They followed the windings of the narrow Chicago, crossed the portage where now flows the great Drainage Canal, and, launching their canoes on the then overflowing Des Plaines, soon arrived at the village of the Illinois. The savages wel- comed the missionary “fas an angel from heaven,”’ for, among all the tribes of the West, these seem to have been the gentlest and most open-hearted. Marquette went from lodge to lodge explaining to old and young the mysteries of the Christian faith. On the open prairie, not far from where the village of Utica now stands, two thousand savages, not counting women and children, met together to hear him preach, and many of them professed to be converted. But the missionary’s strength was unequal to his zeal. He knew that his life was fast drawing to a close, and he wished, if possible, to die among his own people. The Indians were unwilling to part with him; but he promised that he or some other The Mission of the Lllinots 179 of the fathers would return to them, and they bade hima tearful farewell. Thinking to find a shorter route to Mackinac, Marquette and the faithful Jacques and Pierre crossed the head of Lake Michigan to some point: near the St. Joseph River, and then fol- lowed its eastern shore toward the north. After some days they came to the mouth of a small river, and seeing a grassy knoll near one of the banks, Marquette told his com- panions that there was the place of his last repose. They carried him ashore, kindled a fire, and built over him a rude shelter of green branches and strips of bark. When they had made him as comfortable as they could, they left him at his devotions and went a little way into the woods. When they returned shortly afterward, they found him Statue of Marquette at Washington dead. After shedding many tears over his body, they buried it under the trees, and then in great sadness continued their voy- age to Mackinac. A year afterward some Ottawas from the mission of St. Ignace visited the spot where Marquette had died. They remembered the many kind deeds which the missionary had wrought among their own people, and how he had given his life for the sake of the red men, With greatest 180 The Hidden River care they opened his grave, they took up his bones, and laid them in a case of birch bark which they had prepared. Then, at the head of a long procession of canoes, they car- ried the remains to Mackinac. There, beneath the little chapel of the mission of St. Ignace, they buried all that was left to them of the gentle, the accomplished, the self- sacrificing Marquette. Two hundred years later, beneath the spot where the chapel is supposed to have stood, a search was made, and a few fragments of a skeleton were found. Whether these were really the remains of the sainted missionary, no one can ever know; but they were gathered together with care, and with much reverence were reburied. FROM CATARAQUI TO CREVECGEUR I. CATARAQUI OU remember how Louis Joliet in 1669 discovered the water way between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, and made known a new ‘route to the distant West by way of the upper St. Lawrence and the lower lakes. Count Frontenac, the new governor of Canada, was quick to see the advantages of this route and the wonder- ful possibilities which it offered for trade and explora- tion. As a first step toward opening it and providing for its security, he decided to build a fort at some con- venient spot on the shore of Lake Ontario. Such a fort, well manned, would help to overawe the Iroquois, who, although then at peace with the French, patrolled the country south of the lakes and made perilous the portage around Niagara. It would serve also as a frontier trading post to which the red men of the Northwest would bring their furs, instead of carrying them to the English who had lately established themselves in New York. At the very time that Joliet and Marquette were mak- ing their memorable voyage down the Mississippi, Fron- tenac, with a flotilla of two flatboats and a hundred and twenty canoes, was slowly ascending the St. Law- ides rence. Early in July the flotilla sailed through the labyrinth of the Thousand Islands; and on the 12th 181 182 From Cataraqui to Créveceur of the month the governor and his followers and assistants landed with great pomp and ceremony at the place which had been selected for the fort. It was near the outlet of the lake, on the site of the present city of Kingston. The spot was known to the Indians as Cataraqui. Many workmen were soon busy, felling trees, hewing logs, and digging intrenchments, and within a surprisingly short time the fort was ready for occupancy. Encamped by the edge of the forest were numbers of Indians, chiefs and warriors of the five nations of the Iroquois, who had gathered there to see what ‘ Onontio,”’ as they called the governor of Canada, was about to do. With these Count Frontenac called a council. After the pipes had been smoked in silence and the stern-faced chiefs had pondered long on the business that had brought them together, the governor arose and spoke to them. “Children,” he said, “I am glad to see you here, where I have lighted a fire for you to smoke by, and for me to talk to you.” And then while reminding them of his power to punish them for any misconduct, he told of the great good will which he felt toward them, and said that he would build at Cataraqui a storehouse where they could barter their furs for every kind of goods they needed. He warned them to beware of acting rashly, and advised them to listen only to the counsels of “men of character like the Sieur de la Salle.” This speech had a great weight with the dusky braves who listened to it, and through them it had an effect upon the whole Iroquois nation. They saw that the new governor was a man of determined character and large Cataraqui 183 resources, and that it would be dangerous to offend him. While they feared his enmity, they respected his courage ; and they felt themselves to be indeed only children in the presence of a stern and judicious father. The result was that for several years the Iroquois ceased to molest the French, and the savage prowess of their young warriors found vent in long and bloody raids upon the scattered Indian tribes who occupied the forest region between the river Ohio and the Great Lakes. As soon as the palisades and intrenchments were finished, the governor returned to Montreal, leaving at Cataraqui as many as were necessary to hold the. place. In the following July, as we have already learned, Louis Joliet, on his way home from the discovery of the Missis- sippi, stopped a few days at the new fort. There, if we may credit reports, he met the governor’s most trusted friend, Robert Cavelier de la Salle, and to him he gave a glowing account of what he had seen in the distant West— of the lakes, the rivers, the forests, the prairies, and the boundless resources of the region which he, with Father Marquette, had been the first to traverse. We know that it had been one of La Salle’s dreams to discover a water way across the continent to the Pacific. Joliet’s narrative showed him that some of his theories were false, and that the Mississippi must find its outlet, not into the South Sea, as he had imagined, but into the Gulf of Mexico. In such case, what might not be gained by bringing all that part of the continent under French control, and establishing a monopoly of trade in the valley of the newly discovered river? 1674 184 From Cataraqui to Créveceur II. FORT FRONTENAC La Salle was above all a man of action, and before the end of autumn he was on shipboard, bound for France, to ror lay his plans before the king. In his pocket he carried a letter from Count Frontenac, saying that the bearer was a man of intelligence and ability, and “more capable than any one else to accomplish any kind of enterprise.” The letter-must have had the desired effect, for ‘the king listened to the young man with marked interest and granted all that he asked. He made him owner and gov- ernor of the seignory of Cataraqui, which included both the new fort and the adjacent lands with a water front of twelve miles; he granted him the exclusive right to much of the fur trade in the West — enough to insure him great wealth; and he raised him to the rank of a nobleman of France. Noman could have asked for more; and when La Salle returned, the next summer, to Canada, his heart was full of hopes for the future. In his wilderness home at Cataraqui he was now lord of all he surveyed. Around the fort — which he named Fort 1675 Frontenac —he built stone walls to take the place of the wooden palisades. Inside, he erected a blacksmith’s shop, a mill, and roomy barracks for the soldiers. He placed nine small cannon on the walls, and put the place in good shape to resist any attack. He founded near at hand a village of French families who cleared a hundred acres of land and planted it in grain. He brought a number of cattle from Montreal, to be Fort Frontenac 185 pastured upon the meadow lands of Cataraqui. He began the building of some small vessels to be used in carrying on trade with the natives on the farther shore of the lake. In these and in many other ways he proved himself worthy of the high commendation he had carried to the king. But, with all his apparent prosperity, he had many ene- mies and their number was increasing every day. He wds a silent man, slow to confide in others, and never asking their advice. Men said that he was haughty and over- bearing, and this may have been true. The merchants of Montreal hated him, because he had taken from them a part of their trade in furs; the Jesuits regarded him with suspicion, because he was the governor’s friend and the governor was their enemy; the Sulpicians were bitter against him, because he did not exert himself to forward their interests; men who had once been his friends were now arrayed against him, because they were jealous of his prosperity. Nevertheless, he changed none of his plans, but held firmly to the purpose which he had long had in mind. Fort Frontenac and the lordly estate of Cataraqui were but steps to far greater things. In the meanwhile, La Salle was gathering from Indians and woods rangers and fur traders all the information that could be obtained about the country south of the Great Lakes. He wished particularly to find the easiest and shortest route from Canada to the Mississippi. If you will look at any good map of that region you will see that there are many places where tributaries of the great rivers approach very close to tributaries of the lakes. 186 From Cataraqut to Créveceur From Joliet, La Salle had heard of the portage between the Fox River and the Wisconsin, and also of that of Chi- cago. From other sources, he had learned that the In- dians of the Southwest often brought their canoes to Lake Erie by way of the Wabash and the Maumee. He had been told also that near the southwest corner of Lake Michigan there is a river called the St. Joseph which at one place bends southward and almost touches a small tributary of the Mississippi. It was a part of La Salle’s plan to open, by way of one of these four portages, a safe route to the Mississippi Valley, and thus extend his trade and the power of France through all that unexplored region. Having matured his plans, he again sailed for France. ae He carried with him a memorial to be presented to the king’s prime minister, in which, while out- lining his projects, he gave a glowing description of the country northwest of the Ohio. “Tt is nearly all so beautiful and fertile,’ he said; ‘‘so free from forests, and so full of meadows, brooks, and rivers; so abounding in fish, game, and venison, —that one can find there, in plenty and with little trouble, all that is needful for the support of flourishing colonies. The soil will produce everything that is raised in France. Flocks and herds can be left out at pasture all winter; and there are even native wild cattle which, instead of hair, have a fine wool that may answer for making cloth and hats.” He explained still further that a large and profitable trade in skins and buffalo wool might at once be estab- Niagara 187 lished in that region. And he suggested that, if a way could be opened to the mouth of the Mississippi, the greater part of this traffic might be carried on directly by ships from France instead of passing through Canada. King Louis XIV. and his ministers were so impressed by these things that they granted to La Salle most of the privileges he desired. They confirmed his title to Fort Frontenac, and gave him the exclusive right to build forts in the country south of the Lakes, and to trade in the furs and other products of the Mississippi valley. IiI. NIAGARA Late in the following summer, La Salle returned to Canada. He brought with him a number of shipwrights and mechanics, and also sails, cordage, and an- 1678 chors for a vessel which he proposed to build and launch on Lake Erie. With him came Henri Tonty, an Italian officer, who had become deeply interested in his plans and whom he had enlisted in his service. This man, as we shall see, proved to be his most faithful friend and helper in all his undertakings. At Fort Frontenac was another man who was to take a prominent part in the proposed exploration of the West. This man was Louis Hennepin, a Recollet friar who had come over from France three years before. He was of a restless, roving disposition, and by nature better fitted to be a coureur de bois than a priest. Since coming to Canada he had spent the most of his time at Fort Fron- tenac, where he busied himself building a chapel, preach- 188 From Cataraquit to Créyveceur ing to the Indian bands who had settled there, and enjoying the companionship of the soldiers. He also made long excursions into the Iroquois country, learned the Mohawk and the Algonquin languages, became expert in woodcraft, and inured himself to all the hardships of the forest. Upon La Salle’s return from France, this erratic priest entered most heartily into his plans and offered to give him all the aid in his power. In November everything was in readiness for the de- parture of La Salle’s expedition. Sixteen men, under 1678 command of La Motte de Lussiere, and accom- panied by Father Hennepin, embarked in a small vessel which was expected to proceed directly to the mouth of the Niagara River. La Salle and Tonty, with the remainder of the company, sailed in another vessel for the same point; but, instead of going straight across the lake, they coasted along the south shore in order to visit some villages of the Iroquois and make sure of the friend- ship of those jealous lords of the forest. In due time all arrived in safety, although not without peril and serious mishap, at the mouth of the Niagara. A palisaded house was built a little below the point where the present town of Lewiston stands, and in it a part of the supplies for the expedition were stored. Some of the materials for shipbuilding, brought from France, had been lost in the rough weather which had made the last days of the voyage so perilous; but the anchors and cables and most of the tools had been saved, and these were now landed. A party of scouts with Father Hennepin were sent in Niagara 189 advance up the right bank of the river to find the easiest road around the falls, learn what obstacles must be over- come, and report whether it would be at all possible to carry tools and supplies up the toilsome way to the higher levels of the stream. It is impossible for us to imagine the feelings of these men as they approached the great cataract and the tremendous flood of waters burst upon their view. For sixty years these falls had been known to the French through hearsay from wandering Indians. It is not unlikely that more than one ranger of the woods, some Brulé or Nicolet, possibly La Salle himself, had vis- ited the spot and gazed with rapt wonder upon the rushing, mighty waters. But they left no record behind them, and hence, so far as we know, the priest Hennepin and his companions were the real discoverers of Niagara. For, indeed, who shall be honored as the discoverer of any hitherto unknown thing if not the man who, from per- sonal observation, first tells the world of its existence and appearance? From the top of the cliff where tourists now stand to observe the Horseshoe Fall, Father Hennepin viewed the cataract with the enthusiasm which marked all his conduct. He drew a picture of the scene as it appeared to him—the first picture of the falls ever published, per- haps the first ever drawn. He afterwards described them as ‘‘a vast cadence of water, of which the Universe does not afford its parallel.’ “The waters, falling from a height of five hundred feet,’ he says, “do foam and boil after the most hideous manner imaginable, making outra- geous noise more terrible than that of thunder; for when 190 From Cataraqut to Créveceur the wind blows out of the south, their dismal roaring may be heard more than fifteen leagues distant.” In the meanwhile much dissatisfaction was breeding at the little fort at the mouth of the river. Many of the men, disheartened because of the difficulties to be over- come, were ready to give up the enterprise before it had been fairly begun; and some, being in the pay of La Salle’s enemies at Montreal, were on the point of open mutiny. The captain, La Motte de Lussiere, was himself suspected of doing what he could to increase this ill feeling, and he was permitted to return to Fort Fronte- nac. In the end the strong will of the commander pre- vailed, and arrangements for building a ship above the falls were soon completed. La Salle and Tonty went forward to find a suitable place for the work. They selected a little cove about six miles above the falls, where the stream now called Cayuga Creek flows into the Niagara. To this spot, late in January, the men began to carry the tools, the cordage, and the anchors. It was no easy matter to lift their heavy burdens up the steep cliffs, to the plateau above, and to carry them nearly twenty miles over the rough, unbroken country; but, wading through snow and slush, all struggled bravely forward and in time reached the appointed place. Father Hennepin, rugged and strong, carried an altar strapped upon his back, and cheered the lagging ones by his enthusiasm. As soon as the materials for the ship were on the ground, La Salle put Tonty in charge of the work and hastened back to the mouth of the Niagara, where he began the construction of a blockhouse to serve as a base Niagara IQI of supplies for the expedition. But when the spring thaws had begun and the ice had disappeared, he left this post in charge of a few trusted men, and returned, on foot, along the north shore of Lake Ontario, to Fort Fronte- nac and his estate of Cataraqui. It was high time that he was there; for his enemies were slandering him, his creditors were seizing upon his goods, and everything was in a state of confusion. On the Niagara, however, Tonty was pushing forward the work on the ship. irees=werer cut dawn fa forge was built; the me- chanics from France were busy hewing, planing, and fitting the framework of the vessel. There were no idlers at Cayuga Creek, save some straggling Iro- quois, who loitered around the camp and threatened The ee all kinds of mischief to the workers. They were angry at this invasion of their country, and declared that they would burn the ship as soon as she was finished. Early in May the vessel was ready to be launched. She was a bark of sixty tons, and well built in every part. Her sides were pierced with five portholes, from each of which a small cannon peeped forth. Upon her prow the workmen had carved the figure of a griffin supporting the arms of Count Frontenac; and for this reason she 192 From Cataraqui to Créveceur was called the Griffon. As she slid into the water, Father Hennepin pronounced a blessing upon her, the workmen and crew sang the 7¢ Deum, the cannon were fired, and the visiting Indians howled in chorus. She was then towed out into the stream and anchored where the treacherous _ Iroquois could do her no harm. Vict HE GAL. Nearly three months passed before La Salle returned from Fort Frontenac. Tonty and a few trusted boatmen embarked in canoes, intending to paddle along the northern shore of Lake Erie to some point near the mouth of the Detroit, where it was expected that the Griffon would overtake them. The rest of the men waited impatiently for the arrival of their leader. Early in August he came, bringing with him two more priests, Zenobe Membré and Gabriel Ribourde, Récollet brothers who desired to carry the faith to the savages of the far West. On the 7th of the month all was in readiness, and the Griffon, first of ships to sail on the Great Lakes, was loosed from her anchorage. She was towed with ropes to a point near the outlet of Lake Erie; then the sails were spread, and the voyage was begun. Three days later the stanch little vessel entered the Detroit, and there Tonty and his men were taken on board. The winds were favorable, and in a short time the voyagers were gladdened at beholding and entering the sea-like expanse of Lake Huron. Keeping within sight of the Michigan shore, they held steadily on their way The Griffon 193 northward. But now a storm arose; the wind blew a hurricane; the waves seemed mountain high; the timbers of the little bark creaked and groaned; and the crew feared every moment that she would go to pieces. At length, however, they outrode the storm ; and, passing the cliffs of Mackinac Island, they beheld the point of St. Ignace and the _ vil- lage of Mackinac close at hand. The Gvzffon rounded to in front of the mission; the five cannon were fired off by way of salute, and soon a hundred canoes filled with wondering savages were swarm- ing around the vessel. La Salle, clad in a gor- = geous robe of scarlet ‘La Salle was the first to land” and gold, was the first . to land. Then, with his men, the friars and soldiers and sailors and traders, he entered the bark chapel and heard the priests of the mission say mass. | After resting a few days at Mackinac, the company again embarked, and the Grzffon sailed onward, skirting the northern shore of Lake Michigan, and at length arriv- ing without mishap at the head of Green Bay, still called OLD NORTHWEST — 13 194 From Cataraqut to Créveceur by the French the Bay of the Fetid. They cast anchor near the mouth of Fox River, and for a short time were the guests of the priests who had succeeded Father Allouez in the mission of St. Francis Xavier. La Salle was pleased to find at this place several traders whom he had sent on before him to buy furs and have them in readiness for the coming of the ship. By the commission which he held from the king he was expressly forbidden to trade with the Indians of this region, for this right belonged to the licensed merchants of Montreal and a fur-trading asso- ciation known as the Company of Canada. But when he saw the pelts and rich furs which his traders had gathered there, he was willing enough to take them; and he decided to load them upon the Griffon and send her back to Niagara, whence her cargo could be carried to Fort Fron- tenac and afterward shipped to France. This first shipload of furs, so quickly although illegally obtained, would prove to the king that La Salle had not overrated the wealth of the great Northwest. But what of the traders of Montreal whose rights he had invaded ? They were already his enemies, and now they would be ten times more bitter against him. It was about the middle of September when the Gvzffon, loaded with a great store of furs, started on her home- ae ward voyage. She had on board a pilot and six other men, and the furs and skins that she carried were worth a handsome fortune. She was scarcely well out upon Lake Michigan when a strong gale sprang up, lashed the waters into fury, and then suddenly died away. Whether the Gvzffox foundered in that gale, The St. Joseph 195 or whether she rode safely through it, nobody knows. Some said that while she was making her slow way along the coast, unfriendly savages waylaid her in their canoes, murdered her crew, and sunk her in the lake. Others said that the crew themselves ran her ashore in order to steal her precious cargo —and this last tale was believed by La Salle to be the true one. All that we know to a certainty is that the vessel never returned to Niagara, and was never again heard of. Veet Doo OSE RE On the day after the sailing of the Grzffon, La Salle, with fourteen men and four canoes, started to cruise south- ward along the west shore of Lake Michigan. . Tonty, with another party, was sent across the lake to explore the east shore. He was to meet La Salle at the mouth of the St. Joseph River. And now many perils beset the voyagers. There were storms al- most every day, and La Salle’s party was often obliged to find refuge in some shel- fereda cove, or: -mict: Their progress was very slow. Food was hard to find, and they were more than once on the point of starvation. On some days they had nothing to eat but a handful of 196 From Cataraqut to Créveceur corn; and once they were glad to feast on the carcass of a deer which the buzzards had begun to devour. They passed several Indian villages, and in some of them were entertained with kindness and supplied with food. Near the southern end of the lake they met a band of warriors who threatened to attack them; but a parley was called, and after La Salle had explained that his errand was a peaceful one, the savages laid down their arms and offered to help the strangers on their way. On the first day of November La Salle and his party arrived at the mouth of the St. Joseph But Tonty had not come; and so, while waiting for him, the men busied themselves chopping down trees and building a O79 fort, which they surrounded with palisades. Three weeks were spent at this task before Tonty and his men made their appearance; and it was not until the 3d of December that the party was ready to leave Fort Miamis—as the place was named—and renew the journey. Ten men remained at the fort to wait for the Griffon, which had been ordered to sail there on her return from Niagara. La Salle and the remaining thirty-three em- barked in eight canoes upon the St. Joseph. The river was already beginning to show signs of ice upon its sur- face, and the meadows and woods had put on the dreary, brown vesture of winter. The party paddled briskly up the stream, helped along by the sharp northwest wind which blew steadily their way, and, while chilling them to the bone, lessened their labor and increased their speed. Lhe Kankakee 197 VI. THE KANKAKEE At length, near the place where now stands the city of South Bend, their guides found the portage of which La Salle had been informed. Carrying their canoes, with their arms and tools and a blacksmith’s forge and mer- chandise for trading with the Indians, they painfully made their way over half-frozen marshes to the Kankakee River, five miles south. Then, embarking on this sluggish tribu- tary of the Illinois, they followed its westward course through dismal swamps and thickets of underbrush where often the stream was scarcely wide enough to permit two canoes to float abreast. | Presently the scene changed, and they emerged into the open prairie, now brown and sere and desolate. The whole country seemed like a barren desert. No game was to be found, and the men began to suffer from hun- ger. One day, to their great joy, they came upon a buf- falo stuck fast in the oozy ground near the river. He was so large that after they had killed him it took twelve men to haul him out of the mud; but they loaded a canoe with the carcass, and for many days thereafter they feasted on steaks and chops to their hearts’ content. By and by they emerged from the Kankakee into the Illinois, a pleasant river flowing through a broad valley bordered on one side by low grass-covered hills. Soon the stream widened, and the canoes glided among small islands, and between shores lined with groves of slender trees and dense underwoods. Presently, on their left, they passed the ribbed precipice, afterward known as the 198 From Cataraqui to Créveceur Great Rock, and still later as Starved Rock, the tree-clad summit of which jutted over the water’s edge. Only a short distance below this place, the voyagers saw an Indian village close by the shore. It was a vil- lage of Ottawas, and contained four hundred wigwams ; but the people had gone away on their winter hunt, and every wigwam was empty. Searching through the vil- lage some of the men found a store of corn which the Indians had hidden in pits, and of this they took about fifty bushels, promising themselves to pay the owners in case they should ever meet them. VII. CREVECGUR It was near the lower end of that expansion of the river, now known as Peoria Lake, that the first Indians were met. At sight of the long line of canoes approach- ing their village the savages were much alarmed. The warriors snatched their weapons and ran yelling to the water’s edge; the squaws screamed with terror; and the children hid themselves in the huts. For a few moments there was general confusion, and the savages made as though they would attack the canoes. But La Salle, unarmed, boldly landed; and the chiefs, see- ing that he meant no harm, went to meet him, bearing the calumet, or pipe of peace. Soon the alarm was at anend. Presents of tobacco and hatchets were given to the Indians, and Father Hennepin busied himself making friends with the children. Food was placed before the strangers, and the savages rendered Créveceur 199 them honor by rubbing their feet with bear’s grease. A council was called, and after the peace pipe had been smoked, La Salle explained to the assembled warriors that he had come into their country to open a way for traders who would bring them many things that they desired. And he promised that, if they would allow him to build a fort in their country, he would protect them from the Iroquois, who were beginning to send their dreaded war parties into that distant region. The sav- ages listened with attention and then agreed to do all that he wished. They told him that they were Illinois and loved peace, that although they were content with the few necessaries which they already possessed, still, if the traders should come among them they would be welcome. But, notwithstanding his seeming good fortune, La Salle began to feel that much trouble was ahead. He fancied that the Indians were not sincere in their prom- ises, and he believed that his enemies had sent agents among them to poison their minds against him. Two of his best mechanics deserted him, and some others who could be easier spared were missing. The chief of the village advised him not to venture upon the Missis- sippi. Its shores, he said, were infested by dreadful monsters, while the river itself was full of dangerous whirlpools which would surely swallow up his canoes. La Salle thanked him for his kind advice, but gave him to understand that no dangers, however great, would pre- vent him from carrying out his plans. The mechanics and canoemen, however, who listened to the old chief’s 200 From Cataraqut to Créveceur warnings, were very much disturbed, and some of them flatly refused to go farther. Seeing that he could not prevail upon these mutinous fellows and that it would be folly to go forward without them, La Salle decided to build a fort near by, and to remain there until the coming of spring, when the voyage would be attended with fewer risks and discomforts. ‘La Salle named the fort Crévecceur ”’ On the east side of the river, some distance from the Indian village, there was a high knoll with marshy ravines on both sides, and this he chose as a suitable spot. A deep ditch was dug around the farther side of the knoll, so as to connect the two ravines. Earthworks were then thrown up, the sides of which sloped directly down to the inner edge of the ditch and the marshes. Inside of the earthworks, palisades twenty-five feet high Créveceur 201 were planted so as to inclose a large rectangular space. At two of the corners of this space log huts were built for the men to lodge in; at a third corner was a small house for Father Hennepin and the two other priests that were with him; and at the fourth was a shop where the forge was set up and the tools kept. In the center stood the tents of La Salle and Tonty. La Salle named the fort Crévecceur — heartbreak. Whether he did this because of his many disappoint- ments and his failure at this time to reach the Mississippi no one can tell. More likely, however, he called it so in memory of an ancient French fortress of the same name in which his family had an interest. It was now yeaa midwinter, and while waiting for the coming of milder weather, La Salle laid the keel of a vessel in which he meant to sail down the Mississippi. It was forty- two feet long with a beam breadth of twelve feet, and the deck was surrounded with high bulwarks as a protection against hostile Indians. The winter passed, but to La Salle at his lonely fort on the Illinois no news came from the lakes or from the more distant St. Lawrence. What had been the fate of the men left behind at Fort Miamis? Had the Griffon made a successful voyage to Niagara, and had she returned to Lake Michigan with supplies and reén- forcements as had been directed? To solve these ques- tions and to bring to Fort Crevecceur more men and the necessary equipments for his new vessel, La Salle decided to return to the lakes. The fort was already completed, and the little ship was well begun. Tonty would remain 202 From Cataraqut to Créveceur in command of the post, while others of his most trusted companions would explore the Illinois River to its mouth and prepare the way for the expedition down the Missis- sippi. For this latter undertaking three men were chosen: Michel Accault, a brave and faithful woods ranger, skilled in all the lore of savage life, Father Hennepin, and a hunter known as Le Picard du Gay. Father Hennepin had no great desire to leave his com- fortable quarters at Fort Crévecceur and brave the uncer- tain dangers of the wilderness. But La Salle urged him to go, and his brother priests encouraged him by telling him that if he died on the way he would find his sure reward in heaven. ‘True, my son,” said the aged Father Ribourde, ‘you will have many monsters to overcome, and precipices to pass, in this enterprise which requires the strength of the most robust; you do not know a word of the language of the tribes whom you are going to try to win for God —but take courage, you will gain as many victories as you have combats.” Thus encouraged, the reluctant friar at last consented to go. “Anybody but me,” he afterwards wrote, ‘would have been very much frightened at the dangers of such a jour- ney; and, in fact, if I had not placed all my trust in God, I should not have been the dupe of the Sieur de la Salle, who exposed my life so rashly.” On the last day of February the three explorers, Accault, Hennepin, and Du Gay, began their adventurous voyage. Their canoe contained a quantity of tobacco, cloth, knives, and trinkets, to be given to the Indians whom they should meet; and with Du Gay 1680 Créveceur 203 at the stern paddle it glided rapidly down the now swollen stream. On the very next day, La Salle himself, with four Frenchmen and an Indian, also departed from Fort Crévecoceur; but his canoe was turned upstream and his destination was the lower lakes and Fort Frontenac. Toiling slowly against the current, it was not until sev- eral days later that he passed under the shadow of that remarkable cliff, the Great Rock. As he looked up at its steep sides of yellow sandstone, he observed how easily it might be fortified and defended against any enemy. During the rest of his journey the thought of this natural stronghold often came into his mind; and when he reached Fort Miamis he sent back a messen- ger with a letter to Tonty, bidding him, in case of. need, to abandon Crévecceur and take refuge on the rock. PS OOP AON cd aA DASE TY Bie ory ed Saf I. ACCAULT AND HENNEPIN HILE La Salle is returning to Fort Frontenac, let us follow Michel Accault and Father Hennepin on their adventurous tour into unknown wilds. We have es only Hennepin’s journal to tell us of their wan- derings; and it is so full of falsehoods that we cannot always sift out the truth. He makes it appear that he, and not Accault, was the leader of the party ; and he claims for himself the honor of all the discoveries that were made. And yet he should not be judged too harshly; for he gave to the world the first account of the upper Mississippi, of which he was in truth the discoverer. The explorers floated down the Illinois without meeting with any adventure, and on one of the first days in March their canoe shot out into the broad current of the Missis- sippi. What now should they do? Should they return to Fort Crevecceur and report no new lands discovered, no savages converted? Or should they push boldly onward and seek adventures in regions more remote? Why not turn their canoe downstream and follow the river’s course to the great Gulf —thus forestalling the enterprise which La Salle was planning to accomplish? Father Hennepin afterwards claimed that this was what they actually did, 204 The Stoux 205 but this part of his story is so improbable and so full of contradictions that nobody believes a word of it. La Salle had directed Accault to explore the upper course of the river and, if possible, follow it to its hid- den source; and it was therefore to this enterprise that the party really addressed themselves. They turned their canoe to the right, and began a toilsome voyage up the Mississippi. The air was raw and damp, and the river was full of ice; but spring had already opened, and the woods and prairies were never mere ceen) beginning to put on their livery of green. Keeping quite near to the leeward shore, they avoided both the ice and the swifter current. They killed more game than they needed — deer, wild turkeys, and now and then a bison or a bear. Along the woodland streams many beavers were seen. Fish, too, were abundant and easily taken. Every morning and night the friar said prayers, not omitting the angelus at noon; and each day he besought St. Anthony of Padua to protect them from harm. Tee Hie StOWUX Full of enthusiasm and buoyed with high hopes, the explorers held bravely on their way; and, as no serious mishap befell them, they began to feel careless of danger. 200 The Upper’ Mississippt They passed the mouth of the Wisconsin, and on the 11th of April landed near the place where the city of Lacrosse now stands. Here, while cooking a turkey for dinner, they were surprised by a war party of Sioux who came sweeping down the river in thirty-three bark canoes. The naked savages, of whom there were more than a hundred, leaped on shore, and with hideous yells surrounded the astonished voyagers. It was their intention rather to frighten than to injure, but they soon learned that the three explorers were not so easily terrified. Hennepin held out the calumet, and one of the savages snatched it away. He offered them -some tobacco, “better for ) smoking than theirs,” and they received it with pleasure. They then gave him to understand that they were on their way to fight the Miamis; and when the friar, by the aid of signs, explained that the Miamis had fled to the eastward and were beyond their reach, the chiefs laid their hands on his head and set up a dismal wailing. The savages would not smoke the peace pipe with the Frenchmen, but held them as captives. In a short time the whole flotilla started up the Mississippi, strug- eling hard against the current and making but slow progress. Several Indians took their places in the French- men’s canoe and helped with the paddling. At night they camped on the banks. When the weather was fair they slept on the bare ground; but when it rained they built little huts of bark and green branches. Every morning at daybreak an old man shouted aloud the signal for depar- ture; and then the warriors leaped into their canoes and plied their paddles against the current, sometimes without The Sioux 207 having tasted of breakfast. At one time a bear was killed, and the whole party stopped to dance the medicine dance and have a great feast. Sometimes thcy landed for a buffalo hunt on the neighboring prairies. There was ‘‘The whole party stopped to dance the medicine dance’”’ plenty of meat, and both the Indians and their captives fared sumptuously. On the nineteenth day after the capture of the French- men, the party came to the expansion of the river a short distance below the spot where now stands the city of St. Paul. There the Indians hid their canoes in a thicket of 208 The Upper Mississippt alder bushes near the shore. They then divided the goods of the Frenchmen among themselves and broke Hennepin’s canoe in pieces. All then started across the country on foot, steering their way directly towards the homes of the Sioux. The Indians, being tall and active, walked with great speed, and it was with much difficulty that the friar and his com- panions could keep up with them. Their course was nearly due north. Ice still lingered on the ponds and marshes, and Henne- pin almost perished with cold while wading and swim- ming the many streams that crossed their path. Accault and Du Gay, being small men, fared better than the tall friar, for the Indians carried them on their backs across the deepest water ways. Sometimes when Hennepin, from sheer weariness, lagged in the march, his captors set fire to the grass behind him, and then, seizing him by the hands, ran forward to escape the flames, dragging him after them. On the fifth day of this painful journey the party reached a village of bark huts near a lake, probably the same water now known as Mille Lacs. Here the captive explorers found some sort of release from their troubles. The shrewd Indians had already had some profitable dealings with the French traders on Lake Superior, and they had no intention of harming their prisoners. Savage and warlike though they were, these terrors of the distant West seldom practised the dreadful cruelties that were so common with the Iroquois. For the present it was their policy to cultivate the friendship of the white strangers who had so lately become their neighbors. The Captives 209 Rie Drie CAI IssS An agreement was soon made concerning the captives. Hennepin was assigned to an old chief who had formerly treated him very harshly, but who now adopted one him as his son. Accault and Du Gay were given to other chiefs, and the three explorers were obliged to part. The friar was forced to follow his adoptive father several miles through woods and marshes to another small lake, which Hennepin called Lake Buade, and which he said was about seventy leagues west of Lake Superior. There some canoes were waiting, and the party was ferried to an island where the chief had his home. At the door of the wigwam an old Indian, withered with age, welcomed the captive priest and offered him/a peace pipe. He then led him to the fire, and, having placed him on a bearskin that was spread before it, he rubbed his legs and feet with the fat of a wild-cat. His new father soon afterward introduced him to six or seven of his wives, and told him that he was to regard them as his mothers. He then gave him a platter of broiled fish, and covered him with a robe made of ten beaver skins, embroidered with porcupine quills. Seeing that Hennepin was too weak to rise from the ground without help, his father made a sweating bath for him. Four Indians led him naked to a small hut covered with buffalo skins, and, when they had entered, every crack or opening in the walls was tightly closed. Red- hot stones were lying on the ground, and upon these water was poured until the place was filled with steam. OLD NORTHWEST — 14 210 The Upper Mississippi The Indians then began to sing “in a thundering voice,” and all laid hands on the poor friar and rubbed him unmercifully, ‘‘ while they wept bitterly.” He was obliged to submit to this heroic treatment three times a week, until he felt as strong as ever. About the middle of summer the Indians started southward on a great buffalo hunt. There were more than two hundred warriors in the party, besides all their women ‘‘ Waited in vain for some one to invite him to go along” and children. Father Hennepin saw them embark on the Rum River —or St. Francis, as he called it—and waited in vain for some one to invite him to go along. To his great disappointment, however, there seemed to be no room for him in any of the crowded canoes, and he became alarmed lest he should be left behind alone in the deserted village. He stood on the bank and hailed The Captives OTT the passing vessels as they glided swiftly down the stream, but none of the Indians listened to him. Soon Accault and Du Gay came past in a small canoe which they had borrowed, and he called to them. But Accault, who hated him because of his boastful and overbearing manner, answered, ‘‘We have already paddled too long for you!” and they left him. At last two Indians consented to take him on condition that he would bail the water out of their canoe; and, as it was quite full of little holes, he had quite enough to do. Four days after their departure the band reached the Mississippi at the place where now stands the town of Anoka, Minnesota. There the Indians made a grand en- campment on the west side of the river, and there they staid several days until they had eaten up all their provi- sions and were threatened with famine. The three French- men had no food except unripe berries which disagreed with them and made them sick; and Hennepin says they might all have died had it not been for some magical pills which he happened to have with him. One day the friar and Du Gay made up a story, which they told to their captors, of some French traders who, they said, were expected to visit the Wisconsin at about that time. They asked permission to go in search of them, and used every argument to persuade the Sioux that this would be to their mutual advantage. The chiefs, after much parleying, agreed to let them go; but Accault, who was a favorite with the savages, and enjoyed nothing so much as the wild freedom of the woods and prairies, preferred to stay and take part in the great hunt. 212 The Upper Mississippi IV. THE GRAND HUNT It was near the end of July when Hennepin and Du Gay embarked in a wretched, leaking canoe and began their lonely voyage. They had only a gun with fifteen charges of powder, an earthen pot, a knife, and a beaver robe which the Indians had given them; but they set out with brave hearts, expecting to make a journey of two hundred leagues before seeing 1680 the faces of friends. They had floated down with the current about twenty- five miles when their progress was interrupted by great waterfalls. They drew their canoe to the shore and stood admiring the wild grandeur of the scene, little dreaming that this charming but solitary place would become the site of a busy city more populous than any they had ever seen. Father Hennepin called these falls the Falls of St. Anthony, in honor of his patron saint, Anthony of Padua. In the book which he published some years later he described them as being forty or fifty feet in height and of surpassing beauty. Around them on both sides now lies the city of Minneapolis with its hum- ming mills, its busy traffic, and its thousands of pleasant homes. The two men did not stop long. They shouldered their canoe and carried it around the cataract to launch it upon the smooth water below. Five Indians were sit- ting among the branches of an oak tree overlooking the principal fall, and praying in woeful tones to the great manitou of the waters, while on another tree hung a rich The Grand Hunt 213 robe of beaver skins which the savages had hung there to appease the spirit of the falls. The voyagers again launched their canoe, and, gliding in the shadow of limestone bluffs, looked up at the sloping heights whereon St. Paul, the capital city of Minnesota, was in time to be built, with its palatial homes and terraced lawns and magnificent views. First of white men to pene- trate to this remote spot, Father Hennepin, with all his lively imagination, was unable to foresee the wonderful changes that were to transform this region from a solitary wilderness to a fruitful garden and a busy mart of human industry. Onward down the great river they sped, having more care for their personal safety than for the grand scenery which opened on either hand. Game was so scarce that they were hard set for food and at times were on the point of starvation. Finally, however, after having fasted for forty-eight hours, Du Gay succeeded in killing a buffalo cow. Hennepin hastily cooked some morsels of the fat meat, and both ate so eagerly that they were sick for two days. “Never have we more admired God’s providence than during this voyage,’ says the friar; “for, although we did not always find deer, and could not kill them when we did, yet the eagles which are very common in those vast countries sometimes dropped from their claws large carp which they were carrying to their nests.” Soon after passing through Lake Pepin, Hennepin was astonished to meet the old Sioux, his savage father, whom he supposed to be a hundred miles behind. The chief 214 The Upper Mississippi appeared to be in excellent good humor, and gave the voyagers some wild rice and a slice of buffalo meat to eat. Hethen hastened onward in advance of them, hop- ing to meet at the mouth of the Wisconsin the Frenchmen of whom Hennepin had told him, and to “carry off what he could from them.” Of course he did not find them, and three days later he returned to Hennepin and Du Gay. He told them that there were three hundred Sioux Indians hunting buffaloes farther up the river, and advised them to give up their voyage and go back with him. This they decided to do, and all set out in search of the hunters’ camp. The next day they met the Indians and were welcomed with as much kindness as savages are wont to show to their friends. Their old comrade, Accault, was with the hunters, and all enmity between him and Hennepin was soon forgotten. There was a grand hunt on the open prairie, and a great many buffaloes were slain; and in a few days the whole party, having laid up a plenteous supply of meat, turned their faces homeward, slowly re- tracing their way up the right bank of the Mississippi. About this time two squaws, coming from the Lake Superior region, reported that they had met “five spirits” — five white men— who were on their way to the Sioux country from the North. Hennepin, full of anxiety to know who these strangers were, hastened forward toward the place where they were said to be; but before reach- ing the Falls of St. Anthony he met them coming down the river. They were Daniel Duluth, and four other well- armed Frenchmen. Duluth S05 Vir DULUTH Who was this Daniel Duluth? He was a cousin of Tonty, the friend of La Salle, and one of the most adven- turous coureurs de bois of his time. In the autumn of 1679 he first visited the country of the Sioux west of Lake Supe- rior, landing not far from where the city named in his honor now stands. The fur traders of Montreal claimed that either Frontenac or La Salle had sent him there to buy furs, contrary to the law or agreement which had given to the Company of Canada the monopoly of trade in that 1680 1o8!0n- In the fol- lowing summer he again returned to the head of the lake, having in his com- A Sioux wigwam pany an Indian interpreter and four Frenchmen. He was intent upon finding a water way into the heart of the Sioux country, and with two light canoes started up the Bois Brulé, a little river which enters the lake from the south. This voyage was not an easy one; for the current was often obstructed by brushwood and fallen trees, and in its upper course the stream was almost lost in weedy marshes. After making many portages, however, the party launched their canoes 216 The Upper Misstssippt upon another little river, the waters of which flow south- ward. It was the stream now known as the St. Croix, and upon it the explorers floated without mishap down to the Mississippi. Duluth was filled with enthusiasm. He supposed himself to be much farther west than was really the case, and he believed that the river which he had now entered must, within a short distance, flow into the Gulf of California. While resting a few days at the mouth of the St. Croix, he learned from some straggling Sioux that the warriors of their tribe were near at hand, returning home from the summer's hunt, and that they had three white men with them. Duluth was anxious to know who these men were, and so made all haste to meet the hunters as they were coming up the river. When he saw Hennepin and his two companions he was overjoyed, for he had feared that the white strangers might prove to be Spaniards or Eng- lishmen exploring a region which the French claimed as their own. Soon after this unexpected meeting the eight white men parted from the Sioux, who had now become quite friendly, and set out together on their return to Canada. They floated slowly down the Mississippi, stopping often to hunt on the prairies which bordered its banks. Game was plentiful, and they tarried several days at the mouth of the Wisconsin, drying the flesh of the buffaloes which they had killed. Autumn was well advanced when they crossed the portage where Joliet and Marquette had passed in the opposite direction, seven years before, and embarked on the Fox River, which Hennepin described as “a stream Duluth 217 which winds wonderfully.” They visited the village where the Miamis had formerly: dwelt, but found there only some Mascoutins and Kickapoos and a band of wild Outagamis, or Fox Indians. Near the mouth of the river they met some Frenchmen who were there trading with the Indians in defiance of orders from the governor. Father Hennepin was no doubt kindly entertained at the mission of St. Francis Xavier, for he says that “all our Frenchmen went to confession and com- munion, to thank God for having preserved us amid so many wanderings and ”» perils; and yet; «since the station was in charge of the Jesuits and not of his own Order of Récol- lets, he carefully omits all mention of it. After a stay of on ly two ‘‘ Barefeet is a spirit ”’ days at Green Bay, the | party pushed onward to Mackinac, where they were obliged to stay all winter. In the spring, before the ice had melted from the lakes, Hennepin parted from Duluth and started, with several Frenchmen and Indians, for the settlements on the St. Lawrence. When he arrived at Fort Frontenac, a few weeks later, his friends welcomed him as one risen from the dead; for they had heard that the Sioux had hanged him with the cord which he wore 1681 218 The Upper Mississippi about his waist. The Indians at the fort also crowded around him, putting their hands to’ their mouths in token of wonder, and saying, “ Barefeet is a spirit to have traveled so far.” VI. TONTY AND MEMBRE Let us return now to Fort Crevecceur on the Illinois. Tonty, who had been left in charge of that station, found wae it no easy matter to control the rude men who composed the garrison. All were heartily sick of the enterprise in which they had engaged, and some were openly mutinous. Early in April two messengers arrived whom La Salle had sent back from Fort Miamis on the St. Joseph. They brought a letter to Tonty, advising him to abandon Fort Crevecceur and remove to the Great Rock. They also told doleful tales of their leader’s inability to “carry out his plans, and enlarged upon his haughtiness and his cruelty. The discontent increased ; and one day when Tonty was absent the men destroyed the palisades, stole all they could carry away, and deserted the place. Only three persons besides the priests, Membré and Ribourde, remained faithful to their leader. Tonty might now have returned to the lakes; but, after talking the matter over, his little company decided to go to the Illinois village near the Great Rock, and stay there until La Salle should come back from Canada. The Indians seemed glad to have their company, and the six white men passed the summer pleasantly in their wigwams. The two priests spent their time in trying to teach the Tonty and Membré 219 savages some of the principles of religion and morality ; but, as Father Membré relates, they found them “idle, fearful, irritable, and thievish,” and so brutal and corrupt that it was almost impossible to make them better. As for Tonty, he too was busy. He taught the sav- ages how to use firearms, and persuaded them to build a little fort with intrenchments for the protection of their village. But he found them to be most arrant cowards, and very averse to fighting. One day, early in the fall, a Shawnee Indian came down the river bringing fearful news. He said that he had seen a large band of Iroquois, four or five hundred strong, marching across the prairie toward the Illinois towns, and destroying everything that fell in their way. In the village there was now the greatest confusion. The women and children were hastily sent away to an island several miles below, and the men made ready to defend their homes as best they could. The very next day the enemy was upon them — sav- age Iroquois and fierce Miamis in great numbers. The cowardly Illinois, even with the help of the Frenchmen, could not have stood long before such foes as these. Under pretense of giving themselves up, they induced the Iroquois to delay the attack; and then they fled down the river to join their women and children. The Iroquois would have killed the six white men, had they not been reminded that their nation was then at peace with the French, and that Onontio, the great white father, would fearfully avenge any injury that might be. done to his children. As it was, the chiefs advised Tonty to 220 The Upper Mississippi escape from the place without delay, for they would not be able long to control their hot-spirited young braves. In a leaking canoe, the six men embarked upon the river and paddled upstream with all the speed they could make. Through the night and till noon the next day they toiled onward, fearing every moment to be overtaken or waylaid by their savage enemies. At last the canoe became so full of leaks that they were obliged to stop and mend it. While the men were at this work, the aged Father Ribourde walked out into the woods, repeating his: breviary as he went. He never returned. His friends sought for him on both sides of the river, and, despite the danger they were in, waited about the spot for twenty-four hours before renewing their journey. They afterward learned that three Wandering Kickapoos had waylaid him not far from the landing, and, having killed him, had hidden his body in the earth. A few weeks later these same Kickapoos appeared in the Indian villages near Green Bay, having the scalp of the mur- dered priest, which they boasted was that of an Iroquois chief. There were now but four men with Tonty, and, still fearing pursuit by the Iroquois, they pushed forward in their frail canoe, not daring to tarry longer. They had no food except such as they could find, and were obliged to live on acorns and wild onions and such small animals as happened to come in their way. Very soon their canoe failed them altogether, and they were forced to make the rest of their journey by land. They were barefooted, and the ground was covered with snow and ice; but Father Tonty and Membré 221 Membré made shoes for himself and his companions from an old cloak that Father Ribourde had left with them. For nearly a month they wandered through the woods and prairies, and, having no compass, sometimes found themselves in the evening back at the place they had started from in the morning. At last, more dead than alive, they reached a village of friendly Pottawattomies, where they were kindly nursed back to health and strength. The chief of this village had been to Montreal, and was well acquainted with the French people; and he boasted that there were but three great captains in the world, himself, Count Frontenac, and the Sieur de la Salle. As soon as Tonty and his companions were strong enough to go onward again they set out, with some Indian guides, for Green Bay. The journey was made without mishap, and at the mission of St. Francis Xavier they found amost friendly welcome. The Jesuit missionaries entreated Tonty and the Reécollet brother to be their guests through the winter. ‘‘ We cannot sufficiently 1681 acknowledge the charity which these good fathers displayed toward us,” wrote Membré. All were grateful for the rest and security that were offered, and the generous invitation was accepted. As early in the spring, however, as the weather would permit, Father Membré set out for Mackinac, hoping to find news there from Canada. But Tonty remained a little longer at Green Bay. TO, THE | GREAD RIVER SeMOULH I. AT FORT MIAMIS T the very time that Tonty and his four companions were wandering bewildered through the woods and prairies west of Lake Michigan, La Salle with canoes and supplies was hastening along the eastern shore of that lake toward the mouth of the St. Joseph. He tarried but a brief time at Fort Miamis, and then hurried onward. ree Following the same route as that of the previous year, he crossed the portage at South Bend, floated down the marsh-bordered Kankakee, and late in Novem- ber arrived in the country of the Illinois. He had with him six white men and an Indian, having left five men at Fort Miamis. As they paddled swiftly down the river they were startled and amazed at sight of the desolation which the marauding Iroquois had left behind them. ‘The Ottawa village was in ashes. The Great Rock, farther down, was bare and tenantless. The village of the Illinois had been utterly destroyed. At Fort Crevecceur everything was in ruins; the palisades were broken down; the unfinished keel of the ship was in pieces, the savages having carried away every nail and bolt and bit of iron they could find. Sick at heart, La Salle with his companions again em- barked and paddled onward down the river. They passed 222 At Fort Miamts 228 the spot where the Iroquois had overtaken the fleeing IIli- nois and had massacred their women and children with all the fiendish cruelty in which these savages excelled. Still urging their canoes onward, they finally arrived at the Mississippi. It was La Salle’s first sight of the great river —the river which for years had been the subject of his thoughts and the goal of his ambition. His men offered to go with him, if he chose, to discover the mouth of the mighty stream. But his good judgment told him that, with so small a force, this would be folly. He wrote a letter for Tonty, and, having tied it on a tree aoa overhanging the bank, he gave orders to return to the lakes. The beginning of the new year found him with eleven men again safely housed in the log fort near the mouth of the river St. Joseph. The fort was in the country of the Miamis, and several Indians belonging to various tribes of the middle North- west were encamped in the neighborhood. During his intercourse with these savages, La Salle formed a plan to unite the Miamis, the Shawnees, the Illinois, and their related tribes in a great league against the Iroquois. For, although the French were now nominally at peace with those terrors of the forest, he plainly saw that, unless their power was utterly crushed, they would offer a con- stant menace to the fur trade south of the lakes, and be a great obstacle to the success of his own ambitious projects. During the winter La Salle held councils with many of the tribes, and persuaded them to join the league; and toward the end of May he went down to Mackinac to 224 To the Great Rivers Mouth gain the support of some of the more northern bands. What was his joy, on landing at that post, to meet his old comrade Tonty, whom he had almost given up as lost! The two friends related their adventures and talked over their plans, and the old project of exploring the Missis- sippi and establishing a line of trading posts to its mouth was revived. The Indian league was for a time forgotten, and, in June, La Salle and Tonty voyaged back to Fort Frontenac. Il; FROM” FORT "FRONTENAC “TO NATCHEZ La Salle found that his enemies had increased in num- ber, and that his creditors were more unreasonable and more clamorous than ever. The former, among whom were both Jesuits and Sulpicians, he defied in a manner which only increased the bitterness of their hate; the lat- ter he tried to conciliate by giving them a lien upon his estate of Cataraqui and upon all the profits which he hoped to gain from his western enterprise. But even this failed to satisfy them or win their friendship. In August, with Tonty and a company of fifty-four persons, he again started for the Mississippi country. It 1681 2S Near the beginning of winter when all arrived at Fort Miamis. Here it was decided to leave some of the party while the rest went forward in two com- panies. Tonty, with most of the men, crossed the head of the lake to the mouth of the Chicago, and from that point: the canoes were dragged on sledges over the frozen streams to the Illinois. La Salle, following the old From Fort Frontenac to Natchez 225 route down the. Kankakee, overtook the first party near the mouth of the Des Plaines. Not until after they had passed the site of Fort Créve- coeur was the river open enough to allow their canoes to float on the water. But below this point the adven- turers found the middle of the stream free from ice; and so, launching their canoes, they paddled onward with the current. It was early in February when they bee. arrived at the Mississippi. This mighty stream, at that time known as the River Colbert, was full of floating ice, and it was several days before La Salle deemed it safe to continue their voyage. At length, boldly embarking on its chilly waters, the explorers glided swiftly downward with the flood, now swollen by spring rains and the melting of northern snows. They passed the mouth of the unexplored Missouri — then called the Osage—and three days later reached the Ohio. La Salle beheld here a vast outpouring of water between low marshy banks and thickets of cane and underwoods, and did not realize that it was the same Belle Riviere whose upper courses he had explored more than thirteen years before. The Indians near its mouth called it the Ouabache (Wabash), and by that name its lower portion was generally known for half a century afterward. A few days later the party encamped near the third Chickasaw Bluff in what is now the state of Tennessee. Here a hunter named Prudhomme strolled away from his fellows and was lost in the woods. On the top of the bluff La Salle built a stockade; and when, after OLD NORTHWEST — 15 226 To the Great River’s Mouth nine days, the hunter was found half dead from starva- tion, they named the place in his honor, Fort Prudhomme. Here Prudhomme was left with a few men to guard the stockade, and the others went on. About the middle of March they reached a village of the Arkansas Indians. While staying with these hospi- table people, La Salle planted a cross by the riverside, placed upon it the arms of France, and with great cere- mony took possession of all the country in the name of King Louis XIV. Father Membré, who was with him, sang the Lxaudit te Dominus, a volley of musketry was discharged, and the whole company shouted three times “Vive le roi!’’ The Indians, not understanding what was meant, looked on with delight, and joined in the general acclamation. After three days spent at this place the party con- tinued their voyage. About three hundred miles below the Arkansas they stopped to visit the great town of Taensas, which was built on a lake at some distance from the river. Tonty, in describing it afterward, said that he had never seen anything like it. The dwellings were large and square, built of sun-baked mud mixed with straw, and arched over with a dome-shaped roof made of reeds. The people were worshipers of the sun. Lower down the river the Frenchmen came to a vil- lage of the Natchez Indians, where they tarried a little while. La Salle slept in the village, and was struck with the great difference between these people and any other savages he had ever seen. They also were sun- worshipers. Before leaving this place La Salle planted Loutstana 227 in the midst of the village a wooden cross upon which were affixed the arms of France. The natives looked on with pleased wonder, believing that this was done in token of friendship to them. III. LOUISIANA On the last day of March the voyagers passed the mouth of the Red River, below which they found the natives not so friendly. A week later they reached a point where two large islands separate the river, causing it to flow in three channels. In order not to miss the right way, La Salle now divided his company. He himself 1682 took the right hand channel; his lieutenant led a party down the passage on the left; and Tonty with Father Membré and some others followed the middle cur- rent. The three parties reached the waters of the Gulf nearly at the same time, and on the 9th of April came together at the mouth of the middle outlet. A short distance above this place the whole company landed. Here a wooden column was raised, hymns were sung, a blessing was pronounced by Father Membré, and La Salle proclaimed in a loud voice, “In the name of Louis the Great, king of France and of Navarre, four- teenth of that name, I... do take possession of this country of Louisiana, the seas, harbors, ports, bays, straits, and all the nations, peoples, provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams, and rivers, within the extent of said Louisiana, from the mouth of the great river St. Louis, otherwise called the Ouabache [ Ohio ], 228 To the Great River's. Mouth as also along the river Colbert, or Mississippi, and the rivers which discharge themselves thereinto, from its source beyond the country of the Sioux as far as its mouth at the sea, or Gulf of Mexico, and also to the mouth of the River of Palms, upon the assurance we have had from the natives of these countries, that we are the first Europeans who have descended or ascended the river ‘** In the name of Louis the Great’ ”’ Colbert; hereby protesting against all who may hereafter undertake to invade any or all of the aforesaid countries, peoples, or lands, to the prejudice of the rights of his Majesty, acquired by consent of the natives dwelling herein. - When he had ended, the men shouted Vive le rot, and fired off their guns. . Then a cross was raised by the side Loutsiana 229 of the column, and in the ground at its foot was buried a leaden plate bearing the arms of France and the inscrip- tion Ladovicus Magnus regnat —“ Louis the Great reigns.” By his discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi, La Salle proved that ships from Europe might sail direct to the vast interior of the continent. He now hoped that by colonizing the valley of the Mississippi he might not only add a new empire to the crown of France, but acquire much wealth and great renown for himself. The return up the river was fraught with trouble. Food was hard to find; the Indians were unfriendly ; and when the voyagers were still a hundred leagues below the Illinois, La Salle was seized with a dangerous illness which continued for forty days. It was not until the end of Sep- tember that he reached Fort Miamis, whither Tonty had preceded him by several weeks. He would have hastened on to Quebec and thence to France to tell his story to the king; but when he arrived by slow journeys at Macki- nac, he found the season so far advanced that he did not think it wise to go farther. LAS SAL Hola SNe eR Lois Tz FORT, ST; SLOUIS (ON THEY ILUMNORS HILE waiting for the return of health and the pass- ing of the long winter, La Salle was by no means idle. He now decided, with the help of his ever faithful friend Tonty, to establish a fort and colony on the Illinois that should serve as a rallying point for the friendly 1682 : : 4s ; Indians and a defense against the raiding Iroquois. He had long had such a project in mind, and the time seemed favorable for putting it into execution. The fort would be the first of a chain of trading posts which he hoped to build from the Illinois country to the mouth of the Mississippi; by these all the trade of that region which he had named Louisiana would be controlled; and the furs and other products collected or procured from the natives could be shipped direct to France by way of the Gulf of Mexico. The two ‘friends resolved to begin their work without delay. Tonty, therefore, with a strong company of men and plentiful supplies, returned at once to the Great Rock on the Illinois River—the most suitable place for the building of a strong fortification and the establishment of a trading post. “This rock or hill rises abruptly to the height of more than one hundred feet above the level of the plain around it. Its summit, which is about an acre 230 fort St. Louts on the Illinois 231 in extent, is somewhat level and can be reached only from one side, where a narrow pathway winds up from the wooded ravine below. On the side next to the river it overhangs the water, and the remaining sides are steep as castle walls. It is in itself a natural fortification. As soon as Tonty and his men arrived at the spot, they began their work. They cleared the trees and shrubs from the summit of the rock, and leveled off a space for the inclosure ; and when La Salle joined them, a few weeks later, all hands were engaged in building palisades and making intrenchments. Inside of the inclosure, The Great Rock storehouses and dwell- ings were put up, and at the corners blockhouses were built. This stronghold, La Salle named Fort St. Louis. In the meanwhile, Indians belonging to various tribes had come and put up their huts on the plain within sight of the fort. They came for the protection which they knew the Frenchmen could give them in case of another raid by the Iroquois. They came also for trading purposes, for a trading post always had great attrac- tions for the Indian. Here were soon gathered six thou- sand Illinois who had lately been scattered to the four winds by the destroying Iroquois. Hither also came Shawnees from the Wabash country, Miamis from Lake 232 La Salle’s Last Enterprise Michigan, and Abenakis whose kinsmen lived in distant Maine. Within a few months it was estimated that four thousand warriors and more than twenty thousand _per- sons were settled in the near neighborhood of Fort St. Louis. Ike HEV LOSTeCOEGRY Early in the following summer La Salle, leaving Tonty in command of the fort, started again to Canada. He had heard that a new governor had been appointed 10G3ae in place of Count Frontenac; and so he was not surprised to learn, before reaching Quebec, that all the privileges granted to him in the Northwest and on the Mississippi had been withdrawn. His enemies had tri- umphed, and now he must either give up all hope of success, or again lay his case before the king. He decided to do the latter, and so in the following November sailed for France: King Louis XIV. listened with pleasure to the story of the discovery of Louisiana; and when La Salle proposed to found colonies in that vast region and to open direct com- munication between France and the Mississippi through the Gulf of Mexico, he gave the project his hearty approval. Before midsummer, four ships were ready to sail with La Salle to the Louisiana country. Two hundred and eighty persons, including thirty gentlemen anda 1684 : fe hundred soldiers, ‘‘mere wretched beggars solicit- ing alms,’ embarked on these vessels, ready to aid in the great enterprise and especially anxious to reap profit for themselves. There were six priests in the company — three Sulpicians and three Récollets—and among them The Lost Colony 233 were Father Membré and La Salle’s brother, the Abbé Cavelier. There were also on board of La Salle’s ship two of his nephews, one of them only fourteen years of age. The vessels sailed from Rochelle on the 24th of July. From the very first there were delays and disasters. One of the ships was captured by the Spanish; and it was not until the following January that the other three 1685 reached the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. They could not find the mouth of the Mississippi, but sailed past it and finally landed on the Texan shore at a place now called Matagorda Bay. A fort was built. La Salle took possession of all the adjoining country, and the arms of France were carved upon the fores® trees. se One. of the ships returned to France, and the other two, while exploring the coast in a vain quest for the hidden river, were wrecked. | LZ , A eae . The colonists were A277 BOs ‘“They could not find the mouth of the Mississippi ”’ in great distress and blamed La Salle for all their misfortunes. Many were sick and all were suffering for the necessities of life. La Salle, in desperation, started with canoes to look for the Mississippi, but after four months returned, having lost a dozen of his men. Late in the following April, he started northward with 234 La Salle’s Last Enterprise twenty men, hoping to reach the Illinois Country by an overland journey through the wilderness. But this 1686 adventure also failed, and it was not long until, | having used up all their powder, the company re- turned to the fort. They had suffered great hardships, and of those who had started out half had perished by the way. Of the company that had sailed with La Salle from France, there were now only forty-five persons alive. These no longer hoped for aid from any quarter, either by land or by sea. All they could do was to persevere in the search for the Mississippi, and, having found it, to ascend it to the Illinois, where they would doubtless find friends. TU Pro EE END Or SAS GR tae iseice Early in January La Salle started again. In his com- pany were his brother and one of his nephews, a faithful soldier Joutel, a Reécollet priest, an adventurer named Duhaut, two Indians, and several others,—in all, fifteen men anda boy. Their course was toward the northeast, across vast plains where they encountered many bands of wandering Indians. Rains were frequent, the streams were swollen, and progress over the broken country was slow. Most of the men were discontented and mutinous, and even La Salle’s nearest friends failed to give him the support which he needed. His nephewand an Indian who had always been faithful to him were murdered. It was the middle of March when the party reached the stream in eastern Texas now known as the Trinity River. There the mutineers formed a plot to kill La Salle and lead The End of a Great Life 235 the expedition themselves. One morning Duhaut and an- other Frenchman, lurking in the tall prairie grass, waylaid the great explorer and shot him dead. They stripped the body and left it to be devoured by wild beasts. Very soon the conspirators were quarreling among them- selves. The two men who had murdered La Salle were slain. The others, seven in all, seized upon whatever they could, and then started westward to join the Indians and lead a savage life in the wilderness. Those who were left placed themselves under the leadership of Joutel. They found three Indian guides who led them northeastward, through the Red River country, and finally to the Arkansas near its mouth. There, to their great surprise, they saw on an island a large cross, and near it a log hut. A moment later two Frenchmen issued from the hut and ran to welcome them. Tonty, in his fort of St. Louis on the Illinois, had heard of La Salle’s voyage and failure, and a year ago had set out with twenty-five white men and-eleven Indians to find him. He had reached the mouth of the Mississippi, and had searched for thirty leagues on either side, but with- out seeing any signs of the lost colony. In despair he had turned back, but at the mouth of the Arkansas he had decided to leave six men, in the hope that they might there hear some news through the Indians who often passed that way from the Gulf. It was two of these men that now welcomed the wanderers to their hut on the island. Summer had gone and the autumn frosts had begun to fall when Joutel and his party reached Fort St. Louis. Tonty was not there at the time, having gone on a visit to Canada, 236 La Salle’s Last Enterprise but they were received by his lieutenant, and there they remained several days. Strange to say, they did not tell of La Salle’s death, but declared that he was well and was even then on his way to join them. They met Tonty at Fort Miamis, and deceived him with the same story. In- deed, it was not till they had reached France that the Abbé Cavelier told the truth about his brother’s tragic fate. The king was busy with his own affairs, and took no steps to find the colony at Matagorda Bay and relieve the few sufferers whom La Salle had left behind. It is thought that they soon afterward perished at the hands of marauding Indians. But the faithful Tonty, when at last the story of La Salle’s death was known to him, started without delay in search of the lost colonists. It was early in December when, with eight men, he left the Illinois country and began to descend the Missis- 1689 sippi. In the following March he reached the Red River region, where six of his men deserted him and he lost all his powder. Under these circum- stances it was plainly impossible for him to go farther, and so with aching heart he returned to Fort St. Louis. About twelve months later he was pleased to receive from the king a royal grant of the region adjoining the fort; and there he lived for several years, trading with the indians and sending canoe loads of furs every spring to Canada. In 1702, however, he was induced to join a new colony that was making a settlement near the mouth of the Mississippi. Fort St. Louis on the Illinois was abandoned, and Tonty’s connection with the Old North- west was ended. | —_— —— HOW THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS WERE : MADE Biter wie iol N THE NORTHWEST i Poke st it LEMENTS T the close of the seventeenth century France was in possession, not only of Canada and the Great Lakes, but also of the entire valley of the Mississippi and the un- explored country be- yond. By looking at the map you can see how large a portion of ~ the continent this was. (phe French’ people claimed that this vast region was theirs by right of discovery. heyy had pibeen “the first to navigate the Great Lakes, the first to explore the numer- ‘At the close of the seventeenth century "' ous rivers, the first to penetrate the mighty forests or make their way across the boundless prairies. Saint- 237 238 French Life in the Northwest Lusson, at the Sault Sainte Marie, had made formal proc- lamation that all the lands adjoining the Great Lakes were under the dominion of France; and the Sieur de la Salle, at the mouth of the Mississippi, had taken possession of that river and its tributaries in the name of King Louis the Great. It would seem that no other European nation could show a better title to this fair country. The discoveries of La Salle and his companions had aroused great interest both in Canada and in France. Wonderful stories were told of the beauty and fertility of the country between the lakes and the great river. It was described as a region of rare promise, where the climate was mild and bracing, where the woods and prairies were full of game and delicious wild fruits, and where men might live and enjoy the fullest freedom. Compared with the cold and sterile regions of Canada this land was indeed an earthly paradise. These stories caused many people of the more adven- turous sort to leave the older settlements on the St. Law- rence and make their way westward. Those who went to the Illinois country followed La Salle’s route up the lakes and through the straits of Mackinac, and then southward to Fort Miamis at the mouth of St. Joseph River. From this point some passed on to the Illinois by way of the Kankakee, others crossed the lake to the Chicago River and then followed Marquette’s old route down the Des Plaines. Soon trading posts and missionary stations grew up in many places, and to these came other immigrants attracted by the glowing accounts that were given of that delightful country. In the last year of the century a Jesuit mission The Settlements 239 was founded near the Mississippi, midway between the mouth of the Missouri and that of the Ohio. To this place came the two priests, Jacques Gravier and Gabriel Marest, with a number of Indian converts from Marquette’s old mission of Kaskaskia on the Illinois. They had fled thither to escape the maraud- ing Iroquois; and on the banks of a small river, two miles from the Mississippi, they built a church with a cluster of huts around it, and began life anew. They called the place Kaskaskia, from their old home; and to the little river behind the village they gave the same name. Soon other Indians came, and French trad- ers and woods rangers made their homes there; and thus the mission became the first permanent settlement in the Mississippi Valley. It was for a time the center of traffic up and down the great river, and the point from which many of the furs of the Northwest were shipped to the ili Dea harleyoix, al rench: traveler, visited the place in 1721, he found there a Jesuit college and about a hundred families of French people, besides a_ great number of dependent Indians. There were settlements also at Cahokia, Prairie de Rocher, and other points on or near the Mississippi; but none of them was of so much importance as Kaskaskia. In the time of its greatest prosperity several hundred slaves were held there by their well-to-do owners; and Philippe Francis Renault brought two hundred miners there to search for precious metals and work in the lead mines on the opposite side of the Mississippi. The Illinois Country, as it was called, was a part of the 240 French Life in the Northwest Louisiana which La Salle had added to the domains of the French king. It included at first the region between the Ohio and the Great Lakes, and extended indefinitely along both sides of the great river. Ata later period the name was restricted to the district nearest the Mississippi, while the region farther east was called the Wabash Country, and was for the most part under the jurisdiction of Canada. But for half a century longer, in all the region east of the Wabash, and about the head waters of the Ohio, there was no attempt at settlement. The fear of the Iroquois prevented priest and trader alike from trespassing upon these great hunting grounds of the red man. ee LOE oR Bs It is interesting to learn how the French people in the Illinois Country lived in friendship with the savage tribes around them. Thesettlements were usually small villages on the edge of a prairie or in the heart of the woods. They were always near the bank of a river; for the water courses were the only roads, and the light canoes of the voyageurs were the only means of travel. There the French settlers lived like one large family, having for their rulers the village priest and the older men of the community. The houses were built along a single narrow street, and so close together that the villagers could carry on their neighborly gossip, each from his own doorstep. These houses were made of a rude framework of corner posts, ia eh 2A |: The Settlers 241 studs, and cross ties, and were plastered, outside and in, with ‘cat and. clay’’—a kind of mortar, made of mud and mixed with straw and moss. Around each house was a picket fence; and the form of the dooryards and gardens was regulated by the village lawgivers. Adjoining the village was a large inclosure, or ‘‘ common field,’ for the free use of all the villagers. The size of this field depended upon the number of families in the settlement; it sometimes contained several hundred acres. It was divided into plots or allotments, one for each house- hold; and the size of the plot was proportioned to the number of persons in the family. Each household attended to the cultivation of its own ground, and gathered its own harvest. And if any one should neglect to care for his plot, and let it become overgrown with weeds and thistles, he forfeited his right to any part of the common field and his ground was given to another. Surrounding the common field was a large tract of cleared land that was used as a common pasture ground. In some cases there were thousands of acres in this tract, and yet no person was allowed to use any part of it except for the pasturage of his stock. When anew family came into the settlement, or a newly married couple began housekeeping, a small part of the pasture ground was taken into the common field, in order to give the new household its proper allotment. The priest occupied the place of father to all the vil- lagers, whether white or red. They confided all their troubles to him. He was their oracle in matters of learn- ing as well as of religion. They obeyed his word as law, OLD NORTHWEST — 16 242 french Life in the Northwest The great business of all was fur trading and the care of their little plots of ground. The women kept their homes in order, tended their gardens, and helped with the plowing and the harvesting. The men were the protectors of the community. Some were soldiers, some were trad- ers, but most were engaged in hunting and in gathering beaver skins and buffalo hides to be sold to the traders and finally sent to Europe. The traders kept a small stock of French goods, laces, ribbons, and other articles, useful and ornamental, and these they exchanged for the products of the forest. The young men, as a rule, sought business and pleasure in the great woods. Some of them became voyageurs, or boat- men, in the service of the traders. In their light canoes they explored every rivulet and stream, and visited the distant tribes among the sources of the Mississippi and Missouri. Others took to the forest as woods rangers, or coureurs de bois, and became almost as wild as the Indians themselves. They wandered wherever their fancy led them, hunting game, trapping beavers, and trading with their dusky friends. Those who roamed in the lake regions built, here and there, small forts of logs and surrounded them with palisades. In one of these forts a company of two or three coureurs would remain for a few weeks and then leave it to be occupied by any one who might next come that way. A post of this kind was built at Detroit long before any permanent settlement was made there; and, scattered long distances apart, on the lake shore and in the heart of the wilderness, were many others. | The Settlers 243 The northern coureurs, when returning from the woods, resorted to Mackinac as their headquarters; or, loaded with beaver skins, they made their way to Montreal, where they conducted themselves ina manner that would have shamed a Mohawk or a Sioux. But the rangers of the Illinois Country were in the habit of returning once each year to their village homes. There they were welcomed with joy, balls and festivals were given in their honor, and old and young gathered around them to hear the story of their adventures. Thus, in the heart of the wilderness, these French settlers passed their lives in the enjoyment of unbounded freedom. They delighted in amusements, and there were almost as many holidays as working days. Being a thou- sand miles from any center of civilization, they knew but little of what was taking place in the world. In their hearts they were devoted to their mother country; they believed that ‘France ruled the world, and, therefore, all must be right.” Further than this they troubled them- selves but little. They were contented and indolent, and never allowed themselves to be annoyed by the carking cares of business. They had no wish to subdue the wilderness, to hew down the forest, and make farms, and build roads, and bring civilization to their doors. To do this would be to change the modes of living that were so dear to them. It would destroy the fur trade, and then what would become of the traders, the voyageurs, and the coureurs de bois? These French settlers were not the kind of people to found colonies and build empires. 244 Trench Life in the Northwest Ill. THE CHRISTIAN INDIANS The Indians who had been converted by the mission- aries lived in friendly intercourse with the French vil- lagers. The Jesuit fathers had taught them many of the ways of civilized life. At Kaskaskia they learned to cultivate the ground with wooden plows. They had rude mills for grinding their grain, and these were sometimes run by horse power, sometimes by windmills. They, as well as the French, owned cattle and sheep; and they traded in horses which had been brought from the dis- tant plains of Texas. Father Marest, one of the founders of Kaskaskia, has left an interesting picture of life and manners among these half-civilized people. ‘The chase and war,” he says, “are the sole occupations of the men, while the rest of the labor falls upon the women and girls. They are the per- sons who prepare the ground for sowing, do the cooking, pound the corn, build the wigwams, and carry them on their shoulders in their journeys. “These wigwams are constructed of mats made of plaited reeds, which they have the skill to sew together in such a way that the rain cannot penetrate them when they are new. ‘Besides these things, they occupy themselves in manu- facturing articles from buffaloes’ hair, and in making bands, belts, and sacks; for the buffaloes here are very different from our cattle in Europe. Besides having a large hump on the back by the shoulders, they are also entirely covered with a fine wool, which our Indians manu- A Day in a French Village 245 facture instead of that which they would procure from sheep. “These Indians are very different from what they formerly were. Christianity has softened their savage customs, and their manners are now marked by a sweet- ness and purity which have induced some of the French to take their daughters in marriage.” bVee A AY Nea RENCH. VILLAGE It is to Father Marest that we are also indebted for a description of the daily routine of life among the converts and French settlers at Kaskaskia. At early dawn his pupils came to him in the church, | where they had prayers and all joined in / singing hymns. Then the Christians in the village met together to hear him say mass, — the women standing on one side of the room, the men on the other. The French women were dressed in pret- § tily colored jackets and short gowns of 4 homemade woolen stuffs, or of French goods of finer texture. In summer most of them were barefooted, but in winter and on holidays they wore Indian mocca- RCN sins gayly decorated with porcupine quills, shells, and colored beads. Instead of hats they wore bright-colored handkerchiefs interlaced with gay ribbons, and sometimes wreathed with flowers. The men wore long vests drawn over their shirts, leg- A villager 246 French Life in the Northwest gins of buckskin or of coarse woolen cloth, and wooden clog shoes or moccasins of heavy leather. In winter they wrapped themselves in long overcoats with capes and hoods that could be drawn over their heads and thus serve for hats. In summer their heads were covered with blue handkerchiefs worn turbanlike as a protection from mos- quitoes as well as from the rays of the sun. After the morning devotions were over each person betook himself to whatever business or amusement was most necessary or congenial; and the priest went out to visit the sick, giving them medicine and consoling them in whatever way he could. In the afternoon those who chose to do so came again to the church to be taught the catechism. During the rest of the day the priest walked about the village, talking with old and young, and enter- ing into sympathy with all their hopes and plans. In the evening the people would meet together again to chant the hymns of the church. This daily round of duty and devotion was often varied by the coming of holidays and festivals, and sometimes by occurrences of a sadder na- ture — death, or misfortune, or the threatened invasion of savage foes. | i eee or ING OTT by TA ICES [De evACKINAG EAR after year passed by, and there were few changes in the Old Northwest. The Indian tribes still occupied the woods and roamed freely over the prai- ries. The few French settlements were like scattered encampments in a land of strangers. A few new posts were now and then established—but not many. A shorter route to Canada was opened by way of the Wabash and the Maumee; and stockades were built at Ouiatenon on the Wabash, and at the portdge where now stands the city of Fort Wayne. Unlicensed traders and coureurs de bois carried on a profitable business, not being restrained by fear of the law. Within a single year fifteen thousand skins and furs were gathered from the Wabash country and shipped down the Mississippi to the French ports on the Gulf. Along the lakes the French had established several fortified posts. The oldest was that of Mackinac at Point St. Ignace, where Marquette had set up his mission among the vagabond Hurons many years before. Here was Fort Buade, surrounded by palisades and defended by a garri- son of two hundred well-drilled soldiers, “the most ath- letic to be found in the New World.” The French village contained sixty houses, built along a single straight street, 247 248 The Posts on the Lakes and not far away were the long houses of the Hurons, precisely like those seen by Cartier at Hochelaga. Mackinac was the chief resort of all the fur traders and voyageurs in the region of the lakes; and at certain seasons thousands of Indians assembled there from the West and South. They came not only to trade with the French, but to catch fish; ‘for,’ says Father Marest, “during the greater part of the year one sees nothing but fish.” There were other posts on the lakes, at Green Bay, at the River St. Joseph, and at the Sault Sainte Marie; and there was a stockade at or near Chicago. At each of these posts there were a commander or goy- ernor, a Jesuit missionary, a few soldiers, and several traders. There was a fort with a chapel, and at a little distance were the wigwams of the friendly Indians. Next to Mackinac, the post at Green Bay was for a long time the most flourishing. It was a favorite market for furs, buffalo hides, and corn, which the Indians sold to the traders who came hither both from Canada and from the Illinois Country. Hee DETROIT The most famous of all the commandants who from time to time had charge of the post at Mackinac was a French captain named La Motte Cadillac. He it was who first saw the importance of a fort or settlement on the détroit, or strait, between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. This strait, he said, was the key to the upper lakes and the fur-producing regions around them. It Detroit 249 was through this strait that the Iroquois sent their canoe parties to the rich hunting grounds of the North. It was through this strait also that the English east of the Alleghanies had but lately been trying secretly to open a trade with the Indians of the upper lakes. If a strong fort were built on its shore, both the English and the Iroquois would be held in check. La Motte’s plans were received with favor by the French colonial minister, and he was commissioned to carry them into effect. On one of the last days in July in the first year of the new century, he took possession of the site where now stands the city of Detroit. He had with him fifty soldiers and fifty traders and artisans, besides two priests — one a Récollet friar to minister to the troops, the other a Jesuit father to preach to the Indians. The fort, which he built close by the water’s edge, was merely a strong stockade of wooden pickets with a small blockhouse at each corner. Within the inclosure several houses made of logs and thatched with grass were soon in readiness for the officers and soldiers. La Motte called his fortress Fort Pontchartrain, in honor of the colonial minister; but in history it is generally known as Fort Detroit. In a short time many Indians began to build villages above and below the fort, looking to La Motte for protec- tion against the Iroquois. The Hurons, of whom there were but few, came from Mackinac; several bands of Miamis came from the eastern shore of Lake Michigan; and the Ottawas at Mackinac secretly sent La Motte a I'70I 250 The Posts on the Lakes necklace to let him know that they also would come when they had gathered their harvest. All these had suffered much, in times past, from the cruelties of the Iroquois, who had driven them from their homes and slaughtered their bravest warriors; and they still lived in constant dread of these unpitying and powerful foes. Cadillac advised them to “weep their dead, and leave them to sleep coldly until the day of vengeance should come ;”’ and he promised that he would help them sweep the land of their enemies. i bab RA NDS! OrRn TER WEST Peet eee ni Gi ten LD Dr EROLL N the ancient country of the Winnebagoes, in eastern Wisconsin, many alien tribes and bands of Indians had made theirhomes. Among these were the Sacs, the Kick- apoos, the Miamis, and the Mascoutins. Within recent years the Miamis had emigrated to the country south and east of Lake Michigan, and their places had been taken by a fierce and restless nation called Outagamis, or Foxes. They were distantly related to the Iro- quois, and resembled them in many of their ways. They were the firebrands of the Northwest, always ready to fol- low the warpath, and eager to carry death and destruction among their foes. They looked upon the Jesuit mission- aries with distrust, and felt but little friendliness toward the French. But they were on the best of terms with One of the ‘*firebrands’”’ their Iroquois kinsmen; and messages of peace and good will were often sent back and forth between the two nations. In the autumn of 1710, some Iroquois scouts made 251 252 The Firebrands of the West their way through the wilderness and appeared in the country of the Foxes. They brought news of much in- terest from the East. A war, they said, had actually begun between the English and the French; but just what it was about they could not tell. The Iroquois would take sides with the English, as they had done heretofore; and they hoped that their kins- men, the Foxes, would do the same and help to drive the hated French out of the country. Much more was said by these messengers. They gave to the Fox chiefs long strings of wampum from Dutch and English traders in New York, and told them how anxious the English were to buy furs from the Indians of the Northwest, and how they would give them more firewater and better goods than the French had ever given. Just what else was said, we do not know; but it was believed that a secret treaty was made between the Foxes and the Iroquois, for the Fox warriors were always Strings of caver for the warpath. tae. oein?the spring of the following year a fleet of canoes put out from Green Bay, crossed the foot of Lake Michigan, skulked along the southern shore of the strait of Mackinac, and then turned southward toward Detroit. These canoes bore the flower of the Fox nation —the wisest chiefs, the bravest warriors, and more than seven hundred women and children. There were also several Menominees and Sacs in the company, friends and neigh- bors of the Foxes, all eager for any adventure that called for bravery and held out the promise of plunder. The Fight at Detroit 23 One day, late in April, this great array of savages sud- denly appeared before the fort at Detroit. It is not cer- tain that they had any evil intentions against the a French at that point. On the contrary, it is reasonable to suppose that they were not yet ready to begin hostilities; for it was not the custom of Indians to take their women and children with them upon the war- path. But they pitched their camp within fifty paces of the fort and began to build around it a rude bulwark of trees and brush and palisades. In the fort at that time there were no French soldiers; but the place was held by thirty voyageurs and coureurs de bois under a certain M. Du Buisson, who had succeeded Cadillac as com- mandant of the post. It was but a small force to contend with so many savages; for all the Hurons, Ottawas, and other friendly Indians who dwelt near by were away on their great annual hunt, and their wigwams by the riverside were empty. Za = = When Du Buisson asked the ~ === Foxes why they had come and “ They killed the chickens " what were their wishes, they at first answered that La Motte Cadillac, the founder of the post, had invited them, as he had invited the Hurons and the Ottawas, to come and make their homes in the shadow of the fort. But Du Buisson felt sure that they meant 254 The Firebrands of the West mischief, and inquired why they were building a barricade around their camp. The Foxes then became insolent and declared that, since the country was really their own, they had a right to do as they pleased. Matters grew worse every day. The Foxes killed the chickens and pigeons belonging to the French, swaggered into the fort itself, and made bloody threats against its inmates. Du Buisson at last became thoroughly alarmed, and sent out messengers to summon his Indian allies. In the meanwhile seven or eight French traders under the Sieur de Vincennes happened to come in from the West; but so few men could give but little aid in so great a crisis. Within a week, however, Hurons, Ottawas, Pot- tawattomies, and even some Chippewas came hurrying to the relief of the fort. ‘‘ Father,” they cried, ‘‘ behold,. thy children compass thee round. We will, if need be, gladly die for our father— only take care of our wives and our children, and spread a little grass over our bodies to protect them.” The Foxes were taken by surprise. They hastily with- drew into their camp and made ready to defend themselves behind their rude intrenchments. They were at once surrounded by their foes, who outnumbered them four to one. Du Buisson urged his allies to spare the lives of the Foxes, and be content with driving them back to their own country. But the Hurons would not listen to him. They had always hated the Foxes with the bitterest hatred, and now they thirsted for their blood. . They declared that they would have vengeance for the injuries they had suffered The Fight at Detrott 255 from the Fox nation, and threatened to attack the fort itself if Du Buisson would not help them. The beleaguered Foxes defended themselves bravely in their palisaded camp. Their enemies watched them from every side, and fired upon them day and night, but dared not make an assault. There was no water in the camp, and the Foxes with their women were soon without food. Yet they held out bravely for nineteen days. At last, almost dying with hunger and thirst, they called out to Du Buisson and offered to surrender if he would draw’ off his Indian allies and allow the starving Foxes to seek food for their women and children. The answer was given by the savage Hurons: ‘“ We see plainly that you mean only to deceive our father. If we should leave him as you wish, you would fall upon him and kill him. The English have sent you here to cut our father’s throat and give this country to them. But we shall see who is mas- ”) ter.” And they began to fire at them again. In despair and great rage, the Foxes resolved now to defend themselves to the last. They shot blazing arrows over the palisades of the fort upon the grass-thatched roofs of the buildings within. Some of the houses were soon in flames; and it was only by covering the rest of the roofs with hides that any part of the fort was saved from this rain of fire. The French themselves were now in hard straits, for most of their stores had been destroyed, and their ammu- nition was running low. The Hurons and Ottawas were also discouraged, and declared that they would give up the fight and return to their hunting, for the Foxes could never 256 The Firebrands of the West be taken. The coureurs and voyageurs begged Du Buis- son to abandon the fort and retreat to Mackinac. But the commandant called a council of his allies and made a speech which so aroused the pride of the Indian braves that they declared they would show him what they could do, and would dislodge the Foxes before the rising of another sun. Night came on, very dark, with wind and a drenching rain. The Hurons and Ottawas gathered around their camp fires, singing their war songs, and dancing the war dance, and boasting of their deeds of blood. Then, at a given signal, all seized their weapons and, rushing out into the darkness, made a sudden onset from all sides upon the camp of the Foxes. They crashed through the brush piles, scaled the palisades, and with fearful yells leaped down among the wretched wigwams where they supposed their foes were sleeping. But the Foxes were not there. They had stolen away under cover of the darkness, and were now hastening through the woods toward the north. At the earliest peep of day the- Hurons and Ottawas were on their trail. The Frenchmen joined the pursuit, and before night the fugitives were overtaken and forced to stand at bay. Upon a little peninsula that juts out into Lake St. Clair the Foxes again intrenched themselves behind a hastily built barricade of brush and trees, and made another brave fight for life. The French and their allies charged madly upon them, and were met with fierce resistance. On both sides of the barricade the ground was soon heaped with the dead and The Fight at Detroit 257 the dying, and the allies were driven back with great loss. The French soldiers saw that some other plan must be adopted to drive the Foxes from their new stronghold. They hastily brought two small swivels from Detroit, and put up a battery that would command the whole front of the camp. Then French and Indians began the siege in savage earnest. ‘ On the fourth day the Foxes, utterly worn out with hunger, announced to the besiegers that they would sur- render and trust them- selves to their mercy. The Hurons and Ottawas and the French coureurs rushed at once into the encamp- ment and began a pitiless slaughter. They killed all the warriors who bore arms; the rest, including the women and children, they divided among them- selves as slaves. On the following day all returned to Detroit, dragging their captives with them. For some time afterward the chief amusement of the victors ‘The chief amusement of the victors”’ was to torture, or otherwise put to death, four or five captive Foxes daily. Before the beginning of the autumn hunt all were slain. In this unfortunate expedition the Foxes lost more than two thousand of their tribe. OLD NORTHWEST — 17 258 The Firebrands of the West Hi..2 THEA LUCULE -A Ua ORs rae sere But the firebrands were not yet wholly extinguished. There were still several scattered bands in the region west of Lake Michigan, and all these vowed to avenge the death of their kinsmen. They collected in the neigh- borhood of their old home in the valley of the Fox River, and began a ruthless warfare against all the tribes that were friendly to the French. Their warriors lay in wait at the portages and skulked along the rivers that were used as highways of travel to the west and south. They cut off for a time all communication between Canada and the Illinois Country, and filled the land with terror almost equal to that caused by the Iroquois. To meet this new danger the governor of Canada made a fresh treaty with the friendly tribes of the lakes, and ee all united to destroy the common enemy. Eight hundred French and Indians were soon marching to the Fox River country under command of Captain de Louvigny. The Foxes, when they heard of their com- ing, collected all their warriors at a place since called the Petit Butte des Morts (Little Hill of the Dead), not far from the present town of Neenah, where they shut them- selves up in a camp surrounded by three rows of strong palisades. In this camp five hundred fighting men and nearly three thousand women and children awaited the approach of their foes. It was not until late in the following summer that Louvigny arrived with his rabble of soldiers, coureurs de bois, and Indian allies. When he saw how strongly the The Little Hill of the Dead 259 Foxes had intrenched themselves, he feared to make a direct attack upon them, and began to open trenches . around the camp. By this means he was able net on the fourth day to approach within twenty- five yards of the outer palisade. The Foxes bravely defended themselves, the women fighting as furiously as the men. But just as Louvigny was getting ready to undermine the palisades they sent word that if the French would make a treaty of peace with them they would surrender. A council was held and the whole matter was soon settled. The Foxes agreed to cede their country to the French; to pay, in furs, the expenses of the war; to give up all their prisoners; and to deliver to the allied Hurons, Ottawas, and Pottawattomies one slave for every captive that had perished while in their hands. These slaves were to be obtained by making war upon the Pawnees and other distant nations. Louvigny soon afterward returned to Canada, taking with him six young chiefs as hostages for the faithful performance of the treaty. The Foxes gave no more trouble for some time, but they neglected to send either the furs or the slaves which they had promised. The French still distrusted them, and for a long time it was thought unsafe for any one to go from the lakes to the Illinois Country without the protection of a strong guard. Communication between Canada and the Mississippi was carried on with much difficulty, and the trade in furs was obstructed, to the great loss of all who were connected with it. 260 The Firebrands of the West III. THE QUENCHING OF THE FIREBRANDS For several years the restless Foxes contrived to keep a nominal peace with the French and with their Indian aunts neighbors. At length, however, an_ incident occurred that involved them in another war and brought upon them even greater misfortunes than before. It chanced that one of their chiefs, while out on a maraud- ing expedition, was captured by the Illinois and burned at the stake. This aroused the fury of the Foxes; they gathered their warriors together, made an attack upon the Illinois, and drove them to seek refuge on the rock where Fort St. Louis, built by La Salle and Tonty, had once stood. There was no help for the Illinois, and the Foxes might have kept them hemmed in until they starved ; but the latter feared the vengeance of the French, and after a few days skulked away, allowing their enemies to escape. When the news of this incident reached France, every- body blamed the Foxes and said that there could be no safety in the Illinois Country until these firebrands were utterly extinguished ; and it was announced that the king would handsomely reward any officer who would destroy them. But the French traders of the Northwest knew that this would not be an easy thing to do. ‘To try to exterminate them and fail would be disastrous,” they said. It was not until two years had passed that any direct movement was made against them. Finally, in the early summer, a great flotilla of canoes, carrying five hundred French soldiers and a thousand Indians, under the Sieur The Quenching of the Firebrands 261 de Lignery, set out for the Green Bay region. They paddled up the Fox River, but found all the country deserted. They could do nothing but burn the ros villages and destroy the cornfields. Atone place they found three squaws and an old man cowering with fear among the deserted wigwams. The women were taken as slaves by the allies, and the old man was roasted to death. Having passed Lake Winnebago, they came to the last stronghold of the Foxes, on the banks of a small tributary to the Wisconsin. But they found no one there; and so, after burning their houses and destroying their fields of corn, they turned about and paddled back to Mackinac, whence Lignery and his soldiers soon returned to Mon- treal. At different times after this, other expeditions were sent out against the Foxes. Every man’s hand seemed against them, and both French and Indians were bent upon their destruction. Even the Iroquois joined their former enemies in a war party that was organized to make an end | of the poor Foxes. Thus hunted and betrayed, these un- fortunate people sought refuge in vain among the hills and woods of their native country. In 1736 they could muster only sixty or seventy warriors, besides two hun- dred or three hundred women and children. They were no longer strong enough to call themselves a nation; and so, leaving their old homes, they joined themselves with their friends and neighbors, the Sacs, whose hunting grounds lay along the banks of the Mississippi below the mouth of the Wisconsin, AFTER WORD WO hundred years had passed since Jacques Cartier had sailed up the St. Lawrence and from the summit of Mont Royal had gazed inquiringly toward the west, try- ing in vain to probe the secrets that lay hidden just beyond the horizon. One hundred years had elapsed since Jean Nicolet, coasting the lakes in his Indian canoe, had made the first white man’s visit to the shores of Wisconsin and Michigan. It was more than fifty years since La Salle had given the vast province of Louisiana to France. And yet how little had the French done toward develop- ing the resources of their possessions! A few feeble settlements here and there in the ancient forest, a few trading posts for traffic with the Indians, a few clumsy boats and bark canoes creeping along the waterways, — these were all that they could show as the results of a century of occupation. There is no knowing how long things might have gone on in the same slow, easy fashion had not events happened to change the whole current of American history. It was not the wish of the French king to build up a new empire in America, —far from it. The colonies were maintained not for the benefit of the people, but to increase the king’s 262 After Word 263 revenues and enrich the king’s officers and favorites. In everything that was done, the interests of France were carefully considered, and the interests of Canada or of Louisiana, of the Illinois country or of the lake region, were as carefully ignored. Latterly very few families emigrated from France to America. The newcomers were for the most part single men, many of them soldiers, who were given their dis- charge and a year’s pay on condition that they would become settlers at places named by the king. These settlers always remained Frenchmen. They looked up to the king as their great father and guardian who would provide whatever was necessary for their welfare. And the king favored them with an oversight that was indeed fatherly, although it was always so directed as to turn everything to his own advantage. He not only selected the places for them to go, but he made laws to keep them there. Their farms must be of such shape and size as he should dictate. They must never go very far from the settlement in which their lot was cast. They must not trade in furs without a permit from the govern- ment. If their young men strayed into woods and became hunters and trappers, they were declared outlaws. Thus the rank and file of the settlers were in much the same condition as the peasants in old France—they had no rights, but were so cheerful and so easily satisfied that they had no thought of claiming any. Those in the higher ranks of life — king’s officers, soldiers, traders — were no less French than they. Their chief ambition was to reproduce in the new world the manners and modes of 264. After Word thought of old France, ic serve the king, and to enjoy whatever of good might come in their way. Is it any wonder that the wilderness remained a wilder- ness ? But in both New France and the English colonies east of the Alleghanies, forces were at work which after many years would bring about great changes, put the country into the hands of new masters, and prepare the way for the upbuilding of mighty commonwealths and the develop- ment of boundless wealth in the regions so long covered with wild forests and unbroken prairies. In the very first years of the eighteenth century the English were begin- ning to look with covetous eyes toward the country of the lakes and the valley of the Mississippi. Dutch-English traders at Albany and Oswego were persuading the Iro- quois to deed them their hunting grounds south of Lake Erie. Pennsylvania traders had visited the Ohio and were tampering with the Miami Indians whose homes were between that river and the head waters of the Maumee. The governor of Virginia was urging the English Lords of Trade to fortify the mountain passes of the Alle- ghanies and make settlements on the lakes. The. pro- prietor of Carolina was planning to establish a colony on the banks of the Mississippi. English merchants were impatiently anxious to secure a part or all of the trade in furs with the western Indians—a trade which the French had heretofore monopolized at their pleasure. Sooner or later it would be decided whether France or Eng- land had the best right to the central portion of the con- tinent, and especially to that part which we now know as After Word 265 the Old Northwest. A struggle of half a century’s dura- tion had already begun; but the question of the final occu- pation and destiny of the country was not to be settled until after a second struggle, shorter, but equally impor- tant in its results, had been brought to a close. The story of these two struggles and of the winning of the Old Northwest for civilization and freedom must be reserved for another volume. INDEX ABENAKI INDIANS, 231. Accault accompanies Hennepin to the upper Mississippi, 202, 204-218. Akamsea, 173. Algonquins, 31, 49, 60, 88, 93, Io5. See Ottawa Indians. Alleghany Mountains, 264. Allegheny River, 146. Allouez, Claude, at Sault Ste. Marie, 147, 159; at St. Esprit, 146; at Green Bay, 150, 165, 176. Allumettes, Island of, 49, 60, 80. Andastes, 72, 73, 80. Andiarocte, 103. See Lake George. Anoka, Minnesota, 210. Arkansas Indians, 173, 226. Arkansas River, 173, 235. Ashland, Wisconsin, 114. BALBOA, 45. Baie des Puans, 89, I1I, 127. See Green Bay. Bay de Noquet, 88. Bay of the Fetids. See Green Bay. Bazire, 173. See Arkansas River. Beautiful River, The, 136. See Ohio River. Brébeuf, Father, 85, 96, 106. Brulé, Etienne, with Champlain, 35, 66; among Hurons, 37, 55, 70, 81; at Montreal Island, 40; discovers Lake Ontario, 73; on the Susquehanna, 80; probably meets Nicolet, 81; visits the Northwest, 82; his death, 83. Buade, Lake. See Lake Buade. Buade, Louis de, 161. See Frontenac. Buade River, 168 See Mississippi River, Buffaloes, described by Marquette, 168; by La Salle, 186; hunted by Sioux, 212, CADILLAC, LA MOTTE, 248, 253. Cahokia, 238. California, Gulf of, 136, 167. Calumet, the, 171. Canada, I1, 76, 92, 121, 131. See New France. . Carhagouha, 70, 74. Carolina, proprietor of, 264. Cartier, Jacques, II, 24, 35, 68, 88, 132. Cataraqui, 181. Cavelier, Abbé, 131, 132, 232, 235. Cavelier, Robert. See Za Sadle. Cayuga Creek, Igo. Cayugas, 29. See /roguois. Champlain, Samuel de, early life, 24; founds Quebec, 28; goes against Iro- quois, 32, 35, 65-74; at Quebec, 31, 32, 34, 38, 43, 56, 65, 74; at Montreal, 39, 132; in Paris, 47, 56; governor, 84; ascends Ottawa, 48,65; at Three Rivers, 84, 94; death, 95. Charlevoix, in the Northwest, 239. Chaudiére, cataract, 66. Chautauqua Lake, 140. Chequamegon Bay, 141. Chicago, 176; first habitation, 178. Chicago River, portage, 176, 186, 224. Chickasaw Bluff, 225. Chickasaws, 173. China, dreams of finding a route to, 25, 35, 45, 50, 67, 76, 82, 90, IOI, IIo, 118, 135. Chippewas, 82, 86, I00, III, 147, 149, 254c | 267 268 Colbert, prime minister, 126. Colbert River, 225. See A/ississippi. Conception River, 164. See A/ssissippi. Copper, in Superior region, 35, 82, 85, I2I-123, 125, 129. Council, at Chief Tessouat’s, 51; with Hurons, 74; with Winnebagoes, 91; with Mascoutins and Miamis, 165; with Illinois, 171; with Arkansas Indians, 174. Coulonge, Lake, 49. Courcelle, Governor, 136. Coureurs de bois, 150, 242. Crévecceur, 198. See Fort Créveceur. Crown Point, 33. Cuyahoga River, 140. DABLON, CLAUDE, 149, 158, 165. Dakotas, 92. See Stoux. Daniel, Father, 85. Des Piaines River, 176, 178, 225. Detroit, first post at, 242; founded by Cadillac, 248; threatened by Fox Indi- ans, 253-260. Detroit River, discovered, 128; 154, 192. Dollier, Father, 129, 137, 153. Drainage Canal, 178. Du Buisson, 253. Du Gay, 202. Duhaut, 234. Duluth, Daniel, on Lake Superior, 215; with Hennepin, 214, 216. Dutch-English traders, 252, 264. ENGLISH, in New York, 252, 264; in Virginia, 173; claims, 264. Erie, Lake. See Lake Erie. Esprit, St., mission of. See SZ, Lsfprit. FALLS, of Ohio, 139; of Niagara, 138. “ Father of Waters,” 92. See Mississippi. Fetid Water, men of the, 88, 151. See Winnebagoes. Fire Nation, 93. Five Nations, the. See /roguozs. Fort Buade, 247. See Mackinac. Fort Crévecceur, 198, 218, 222. Fort Frontenac, 177, 182, 184, 217. Fort Miamis, 196, 201, 222, See Mascoutins. L[ndex Fort Pontchartrain, 249. See Detrozt, Fort Prudhomme, 226. Fort St. Louis on the Illinois, 229, 235, 236, 260. Fort Wayne, Indiana, 247. Fort William Henry, 104. Fox Indians, 165, 217, 251-260. Fox River, 89, 93, 128, 150, 165, 194, 216, 260. Franciscans, 56. See Récodlets. French River, 61, 66, 86. French village, day in, 245. Frontenac, Count, 161, 177, 181, 231. Frontenac, Fort. See ort Frontenac. Fur trade, 28, 35, 39, 55, 57, 77, 109, III, TI2, 5120, 12%; 134; 181; 183/5104;- 243; 247, 264. GALINEE, FATHER, 129, 137, 153. George, Lake. See Lake George. Georgian Bay, 67, 86, 94, 98, 197. Grand River, Canada, 129, 154. Gravier, Jacques, 239. Great Manitoulin, 86. Green Bay, 88, 94, 110, 117, 127, 164, 193, 217, 221, 248, 252. Grenolle, with Brulé, 82. Griffon, built, I91; voyage, 192; lost, 194, 201. Grosseilliers, Medard Chouart, Sieur de, IOg-I2I, 125, 141. Guérin, Jean, 142, 145. HAMILTON, Canada, 129. ° Hennepin, Father, at Fort Frontenac, 187; at Niagara, 188; in Illinois, 198, 202; on Mississippi, 204; a captive, 209; returns to Canada, 217. Henry IV. of France, 24. Hill, Little, of the Dead, 258. Hochelaga, 14, 68, 132, 248. Hodenosaunee. See /roguois. Hudson River, 34, 89, 105, 140. Hudson’s Bay Company, formation, 121. Huron, Lake. See Lake Huron. Hurons, homes, 30, 64, 68; as fur traders, 40, 57; war with Iroquois, 65-72, 106; kill Etienne Brulé, 83; treatment. of missionaries, 97; dispersion, 106, 116, Index 140; in Wisconsin, 116, 143, 152; at St. Ignace, 156; at Detroit, 249. ILLINOIS, discovery, 94. Illinois country, 239, 260. Illinois Indians, 151, 163, 198,218, 231, 260. Illinois River, 172, 197, 201, 218, 222. Indians, great change in modes of life, ' 146; at Sault Ste. Marie, 158; Chris- tians, 244. See names of different nations or tribes, Irondequoit Bay, 137. Iroquet, Ottawa chief, 38, 4o. Iroquois, country, 29; campaigns against, 31, 32, 35, 65-74; antipathy to French, 32, 38, Io2, 112, 181; their treatment of other nations, 32, 92, 106, II5, 129, 156, 219, 222, 250; cruelty, 102, 105, 107, 137, 219, 223; disperse the Hurons, 106, 141; make peace with the French, 182; vengeance upon them promised, 250. JESUITS, missionaries, 96; Allouez, 146; Brébeuf, 85, 96; Dablon, 149; Daniel, 85,96; Jogues, 99, 102, 105; Lalemant, 106; Marquette, 150, 163; Ménard, 141; Raymbault, 99; at Sault Ste. Marie, 127; at residence of Ste. Marie, 96; relations with the Sulpicians, 130, 137. See also names of individuals. Jogues, Isaac, at Sault Ste. Marie, 99, 149; at Lake Superior, 114; captivity, 102-104; death, 105. Joliet, Louis, sent to Lake Superior, 126, 147; at Green Bay, 127; at Sault Ste. Marie, 158, 161; first to traverse Lake Erie, 128; meets La Salle, 129, 138, 154, 177, 183; recommended to Fronte- nac, 162; joins Marquette, 162; on the Wisconsin, 167; discovers the Mis- sissippi, 168; returns to Canada, 175, Ly Joutel, with La Salle, 234; at Fort St. Louis, 235. KANKAKEE RIVER, 107, 222, 225. Kaskaskia on the I ]linois, 175. Kaskaskia on the Kaskaskia, 239, 244. 269 Keweenaw, IT4, 142. Kickapoos, 165, 217, 220 251. LA BELLE RIVIERE, 135. See Ohzo River. La Buade, 168. See AVississippi. La Chine, 133; La Salle’s house at, 134, 136. Lachine Rapids, 25, 27, 40, 134, 177; view of, 42. Lacrosse, Wisconsin, 206. Lake Buade, 209. Lake Champlain, discovered, 33: 102, Lake Coulonge, 49, 60, 66. Lake Erie, early reports of, 124; trav- ersed by Joliet, 128; by La Salle, 140, 192; by Dollier and Galinée, 154; first ship on, 192. ‘Lake George, discovery of, 102. Lake Huron, discovery of, 56-63; trav- ersed by Brulé, 82; by Nicolet, 86; by Joliet, 128; by Dollier and Galinée, 154; by LaSalle, 192. See Mer Douce. Lake Michigan, discovery of, 76-88; traversed by Nicolet, 94; by Grosseil- liers and Radisson, 111; by Joliet, 127, 176; by Marquette, 179; by La Salle, 193, 195- Lake Nipissing, 66, 74. Lake of the Holy Sacrament, 103. See Lake George. Lake of the Two Mountains, 42. Lake Ontario, discovery of, 64-73; trav- ersed by La Salle, 137; by Count Frontenac, 181; by La Salle and Tonty, 188. Lake Peoria, 198. Lake Pepin, 213. Lake St. Clair, discovery of, 128, 256. Lake St. Louis, 20, 40, 42, 135. Lake St. Peter, 102. Lake Simcoe, 72, 106. Lake Superior, discovery of, 1o1, 114; first exploration, II16-12I; copper re- gions, 35, 82, 85, I2I-123; missions on, 142, 148. Lake Tracy, 147. See Lake Superior. Lake Winnebago, 93, 165, 261. Lalemant, Father, 106, 270 La Motte Cadillac. See Cadillac. La Motte de Lussiére, 188, Igo. La Pointe, 114, 119, 142, 147, I5I. St. Esprit, Mission of. La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, his youth, I3I; comes to Canada, 132; at La Chine, 133; starts on an expedition, 137; meets Joliet, 129, 138, 154; proba- bly discovers the Ohio, 139; his sec- ond enterprise, 185; at Cataraqui, 182; with Frontenac, 183; commands Fort Frontenac, 184; in France, 186; honors and privileges granted to him, 184; gains aid of Tonty, 187; at Fort Frontenac, 188; builds the Grzfon, 191; his enemies, 135, 185, 190, 199, 224, 235; voyage on Lake Erie, 193; on Lake Michigan, 195; down the Illi- nois, 197; at Crévecoeur, 198-202; re- turns to Canada, 203; meets Tonty, 224; reaches the Mississippi, 225; takes possession of Louisiana, 227; re- turns to Illinois, 229; at Fort St. Louis, 230; in France, 232; voyage to found colony on the Mississippi, 232; on the Texan coast, 233; his last expedition, 234; death, 235; fate of his colony, 236. Le Caron, Joseph, 57, 66, 70, 74, 76, 86, 128, Lewiston, 188. Lignery, 260. Louis XIV., 159, 187, 225, 227, 232. Louisiana, 227-229. Louisville, Kentucky, 139. Louvigny, 258. See MACKINAC (Michillimackinac), 127, 156, 162, 179, 193, 247. Mackinac Island, 87, 193. Manhattan, Ios. Manitoulin Islands, 86, 156. Maps: part of Canada, showing the first approaches to the Old Northwest, Io; island of Montreal, 22; country of the Iroquois, 29; country of the Hurons, 64; Nicolet’s route to Green Bay, 86; old Jesuit map of Lake Superior, 109; Joliet’s route through the lakes, 124; Index Lake Erie and the Ohio, 140; Gali- née’s map of the lakes, 155; the Illinois River and its approaches, 195; North America at the close of the seventeenth century, 237. Marest, Gabriel, 239, 244, 245. Mascoutins, 93, III, 165, 217, 251. - Matagorda Bay, 232, 236. Mattawa River, 61, 66. Maumee River, 186. Membré, Zenobe, 192, 218, 226, Ménard, Réne, 141, 144. Menominees, 89, 164. Mer Douce of the Hurons, 61, 66, 82, 87, 141, 156. See Lake Huron. Mesconsing, 167. See Wisconsin River. Mexico, Gulf of, 174, 227, 230. Miamis, 165, 166, 206, 217, 219, 223, 231, 251. Michigan, 86. Michigan Lake. Mille Lacs, 208. Minneapolis, Minnesota, 212. Minnesota, Hennepin in, 209-216. Mississippi River, heard of by Nicolet, 92; visited by fleeing Hurons, 116; supposed to have been seen by Gros- seilliers and Radisson, 117; intima- tions of, 124, 148, 151, 161, 162; discov- ered by Joliet and Marquette, 168-175 ; explored by Accault and Hennepin, 204-218; La Salle descends to its mouth, 222-229; he fails to reach it from the Gulf, 233; Tonty explores country on both sides, 235; colony near its mouth, 236; explored by voy- ageurs, 242; ITrench settlements on, 239; early commerce, 239, 247. Missouri River, discovered by Joliet, 172; seen by La Salle, 225. Mohawks, 104, 106. See /roguois. Montreal, 11,:19, 132, 140, I55. Montreal, Island of, 11, 22, 24, 30, 38, 40, 43, 45, 48, 55, 57, 64, 77, 84. Mont Royal, 18, 22, 24, 38, 40, 46, 65. Muskingum River, 140. See Lake Michigan. NATCHEZ INDIANS, 226, Neenah, Wisconsin, 258. Index New France, its products and industries, 30, 47,112, 131; its extent, 273. See Canada and Louisiana, New York, Indians of, 29; English in, 181, 264. Niagara Falls, heard by La Salle, 138; discovered by Hennepin, 189. Niagara River, 188. Nicolet, Jean, 76-95, 128, 165. Nipissing Lake. See Lake Nipissing. Nipissings, 53, 61, 66, 80, 83, 85. Northwest Passage. See South Sea. OHIO RIVER, intimations of, 135, 138; discovered by La Salle, 139; seen by Marquette, 172; its mouth passed by La Salle, 225; English traders on, 264. Ojibways, 147. See Chippewas. Old Northwest, first approach to, 11; gateway to, 21, 24, 43; unknown, 67; first white man’s dwelling in, 115; first church in, 148; France takes formal possession of, 158; described by La Salle, 186; visited by Charlevoix, 239; wonderful stories of, 238; few changes in, during French rule, 247,262; French life in, 237. Oneidas, 29. See /roguots. Onondagas, 29, 73. See /roguois, “ Onontio,” Indian name for the governor of Canada, 182, 219. Ontario Lake. See Lake Ontario. Osage River, 225. See Missouri River. Otchipwes, 82. See Chippewas. Otoitiacha, 67. Ottawa Indians, 31, 35, 49, 45, 56, 77, 93, 94; original home of, 31, 49, 77; in Wisconsin, 116, 141, 142, 148, 152; at St. Ignace, 179; in Illinois, 198, 222; at Detroit, 249. Ottawa River, at Montreal, 11, 20, 40, 42; ascent of, 48, 59, 66; La Salle on, 135; route to the lakes, 129, 155. Ouabache, 225. See Wabash River. Ouendats, 30. See Hurons. Ouiatenon, 247. Ouinnepegs, 85, 87, 89. See Winnebagoes. Outagamies, 251. See ox /ndians, 271 PACIFIC OCEAN, efforts to find a pas- sage to, 21, 35, 46,67, 90, 93, 183. See China, Paris, the talk of, 46, 48. Pawnees, 259. Pekitanoui, 172. See Missouri River. Pennsylvania first entered by Brulé, 80; traders invade the Northwest, 264. Peoria Lake, 198. Pepin Lake. See Lake Pepin. Perée.720,130).147. Perrot, Nicholas, 157. Petuns, 115. See Zobacco Indians. Pilgrims, landing of, 89. Pointe aux Barques, 128. Pottawattomies, 94, 100, III, I50, 254. Poualaks, 119. See Szoux, Prairie de Rocher, 239. Puans, Baie des. See Green Bay. Ji ‘ QUEBEC, Champlain at, 28, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39, 43, 56, 65, 74; visited by Nico- let, 77; by Jogues, 101; Radisson and Grosseilliers, 111-113; Joliet, 117; La- Salle, 231; Hurons, 107; Chippewas, poo es RADISSON, Pierre d’Esprit, Sieur de, 109-121, 125, 141. Rapids in the St. Lawrence, 25, 40, III. See Lachine Rapids. Raymbault, Charles, 99, 149. Récollets, first missionaries to Canada, 56; with La Salle, 192, 232; entertained at Green Bay, 217, 221; with Cadillac, 249. Red River, 227, 235. Renault, Philippe Francis, 239. Ribourde, Gabriel, 192, 202, 218, 220, Richelieu River, 36, Io2. Rochester, New York, 137. Rock, the Great (‘Starved Rock”’), on the Illinois, 198, 203, 218, 222, 230, 260. See Fort St. Louts. Rum River, 210. SAC INDIANS, 145, 251, 261. Saginaw Bay, 128, 6 272 St. Anthony, falls of, 212, 214. St. Anthony of Padua, 205, 212. St. Clair Lake. See Lake St. Clair. St. Clair River, 128, 154. St. Croix River, 118, 216. St. Esprit, mission of, 147, 149, I5I, 152. St. Esprit, Pierre d’. See Radisson. St. Francis River, 210. See Rum River. St. Francis Xavier, mission of, 150, £65 194, 217, 221. See Green Bay St. Ignace, mission of, 156, 162, 7 9, 160, 193. See Mackinac. St. Joseph River, 179, 195, 222, 248 St. Lawrence River, 11, 24, 39, 50, 56, 102, 181; view ot, 23. St. Louis Lake. See lake Sz. Louzs. St. Louis, Missouri, 172. Saint-Lusson, Sieur, 157, 237. 7 Ste. Marie, residence of, 96-99, 108. Ste. Marie’s River, 154. Ste. Marie, Sault. See Sau/t Ste. Marie. St. Paul, Minnesota, 207, 213. Sault Sainte Marie, 86, 99, 110; view of, at present time, 100; mission at, 127, 142, 149, 153, 156; Saint-Lusson at, 157; trading post, 248. \ Savignon, 38, 41. Senecas, 29, 106, 135, 137. See /roguois. Shawnees, 138, 172, 223, 231. Simcoe Lake. See Lake Simcoe, Sioux Indians, 116, 117, 145, I5I, 162; visited by Grosseilliers and Radisson, 117; by Allouez, 149; capture Henne- ‘pin, 205-217. ‘ South Bend, Indiana, 197, 222. South Sea, dreams of finding a passage uit t@} 21, 25, 35, 45, 46, 56, 67, 82, 85, 1x0, *. ' ulpicians, 129, 131, 132, 137, 139, I55,. _ 162, 232. See Dollier and Galinée. Superior Lake. See Lake Superior. Susqu.; 2nna River, 80, Pog a Index TABAGIE at Chief Tessouat’s, 51. See Council, Talon, Jean Baptiste, 125, 136, 157, 162. Tartars of Asia, ror, 118. Tennessee, 225. Tessouat, Chief, 50, 60, 66, 80. ‘Texas, La Salle’s colony, 233; horses brought to Illinois, 244. Thousana Islands, 181. Thrée* Rivers; 84,°\94, 302, -11c,, 155; 149. Tobacco Indians, 115. See Hurons, Tonty, Henri, with La Salle, 187; at Niagara, I91; at Crévecoeur, 201; adventures, 218; at Green Bay, 221; on the Mississippi, 225; tries to succor La Salle, 235; at Fort St. Louis, 226; in Louisiana, 236. Tracy Lake. See Lake Superior Tracy, Marquis de, 147. Trent River, 72. Two Mountains, Lake of, 42. UTICA, Illinois, 178. VERMILION SEA, 136, 172. See Cali- fornia, Gulf of. Vignau, Nicholas, deceptive story, 44- 55+ Vincennes, Sieur de, 254. Virginia, 89, 173, 264. Voyageurs, 158, 242. WABASH COUNTRY, 240. Wabash River, 186, 225, 247. Wild Rice Indians, 164. See Menxominees. Winnebagoes, 85, 87, 89, 90, III, 251. Winnebago Lake. See Lake Winnebago. Wisconsin, 89, 141, 167, 251. Wisconsin River, 93, 110, 216. Wyandots, 30. 116, 143, See Hurons. 7 i 7 i cathy” ran ; re ers! 7 ‘ ¥\ ‘ (We OF é TG LAs . ’ sp rgesaseeeses 8: Sabaesieeees ui Rik) ashy Ah! if y i eagrire toe | UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 3 0112 003407407 |