X
 
 LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 STEWART S. HOWE 
 
 JOURNALISM CLASS OF 1928 
 
 STEWART S. HOWE FOUNDATION 
 
 B 
 S2553sn 
 1920 
 
 I.H.S. 

 
 Captain John Baptiste Saucier 
 
 At Fort Chartres in the Illinois 
 
 1751—1763 
 
 By 
 
 JOHN F. SNYDER, M. D. 
 Ex-President of the Illinois State Historical Society 
 
 Reprinted from the 
 
 Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society 
 
 for the year 1919.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 The Sauciers in France. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 The Boyhood and Education of Jean Baptiste Saucier. 
 
 Chapter III. 
 Fort Chartres in the Illinois. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 Social Life at the Fort. 
 
 Chapter V. 
 Rescue of the Commandant's Daughter. 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 Early Navigation of the Mississippi. 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 A Second Visit to New Orleans. 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 A Brush With Southern Indians. 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 Death of the Commandant's Daughter. 
 
 Chapter X. 
 Defeat of Washington at Fort Necessity. 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 In New Orleans Again. 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 The Mysterious Woman in Black. 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 A Miraculous Escape From Death. 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 Marriage of Captain Saucier. 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 Surrender of Fort Chartres to the English.
 
 2i: 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Every intelligent man should learn all he can of his ancestry, and 
 transmit that knowledge to his descendents, in order that the traits and 
 tendencies of the stock, if elevating, may be emulated ; if degrading, may 
 be corrected and improved. 
 
 This view prompted the writing of the biographical sketch, here pre- 
 sented, of Captain John Baptiste Saucier of the French Army, who 
 assisted in designing the plans of the second Fort Chartres, in the Illi- 
 nois, and superintended its construction. 
 
 Since the first edition of this little work was published, in 1901, 
 diligent investigation of the Saucier family history has resulted in the 
 discover}- of new facts, and elimination of several errors in the original 
 text. This revised edition is therefore believed to be substantially cor- 
 rect, and an inconsiderable, but reliable, contribution to the early his- 
 tor}^ of Illinois. 
 
 Documentary evidences verifying many of the statements herein 
 related, were lost nearly a century a^o in the destruction by fire of his 
 son's residence. 
 
 The known facts, and family legends, concerning Captain Saucier, 
 have been collected, in this narrative form, by one of his descendents, 
 V* to perpetuate the name and history of a brave soldier and honorable, 
 
 ij^ upright citizen. 
 
 V Virginia, III. J. F. S.
 
 218 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 • The Sauciers in France. 
 
 At the beginning of the Eighteenth Centiir}- Monsieur Jean Beau- 
 mont Saucier — or Saussier^ as the family name was then spelled* — was 
 a prominent and prosperous merchant in the quaint old city of Orleans, 
 in France. He was descended from a line of merchant ancestors, who 
 had transacted business at the same place, the eldest son succeeding his 
 father, from time immemorial. He had been carefully trained in the 
 mercantile art by his father, Beaumont Saucier, who had, on retiring 
 from business, a few years before, transferred to him the real estate, 
 goods, credits and good will of the old establishment. 
 
 Jean Beaumont Saucier was then, in 1700 about twenty-five years 
 of age; was happily married, and in the enjoyment of life's chief bless- 
 ings, in the venerable family home situated midway between the house 
 of Joan D'Arc and the ancient city wall. His only brother, Felix Xavier 
 Saucier, a few years his senior, had chosen the military profession, and 
 was then an officier in the Royal Guards at Versailles. 
 
 In the passing of time, with its swiftly shifting scenes and ceaseless 
 changes, two sons were born to Monsieur and Madame Jean Beaumont 
 Saucier; the first receiving the name of Louis Beaumont Saucier, and 
 the other that of Paul. The thrifty young merchant was then blessed 
 with possession of all the choicest gifts of life — health, success in busi- 
 ness, friends in abundance, and angelic wife and two promising children. 
 The world seemed to him radiant with joy, and the future full of buoyant 
 hope. But suddenly a deep shadow fell upon his bright and happy home ; 
 caused by one of those subtle strokes of Fate, or inexorable Law, so diffi- 
 cult to reconcile with generally accepted doctrines of Omniscient mercy 
 and goodness. By an accidental fall, down a tortuous stairway in the 
 rambling old mansion, the young wife and mother received injuries that 
 caused her death in a few hours. 
 
 M. Saucier was almost distracted by the shock, and for a long time 
 was broken down by the intensity of his grief. But time compassionately 
 assuages the pangs of sufi'ering it inflicts, and mitigates the acutest sor- 
 row. The terrible blow fully tested the young merchant's power of men- 
 tal endurance; but he survived it, finding solace in the care and educa- 
 tion of his children, and preparing them for the great battle of 1) :'e before 
 them. 
 
 The elder of the two, Louis Beaumont, destined to succeed his 
 father, and perpetuate the Saucier mercantile house, received, at Paris, 
 as thorough business training as was at that time practicable to obtain. 
 Paul, who was gifted with his mother's gentle disposition, in course of 
 time, was educated for the Church; and, after taking holy orders, was 
 
 * See Note A in the Appendix. The French descendents of this family retain 
 the original spelling of the name — Saussier — pronounced So-se-a.
 
 219 
 
 installed as coadjutor, or assistant priest, in the old Cathedral of his 
 native city. 
 
 The time at length approached when M. Saucier, according to 
 ancient family custom, would retire from the active management of his 
 business, and relinquish it to his son, Louis. The thought of leaving the 
 old homestead where he was born, hallowed by so many tender and en- 
 dearing memories, cast a shadow of melancholy upon his mind, and 
 induced a feeling of indescribable lonesomeness. He had purchased a 
 little estate a few miles from Orleans, and fitted it up to suit his tastes, 
 contemplating passing there the remainder of hig days. This change of 
 residence removed him but a few miles from the city; yet, it separated 
 him for the greater part of time from his sons, and isolated him in the 
 silence and solitude of the country, with servants as his only associates. 
 This condition, contrasted with his former active life on the busy, noisy 
 street, with genial, pleasant surroundings, seemed to him intolerable, and 
 suggested — as is often the case with old widowers — the desirability of 
 securing a sympathetic companion to share his elegant .retirement. 
 
 While revolving the propriety of this momentous step in his mind 
 an amusing incident occurred that dispelled any doubts or misgivings 
 he may have entertained on the subject; and, like a stroke of magic, 
 relieved him of all ennui and despondency. For years horseback riding 
 had been his favorite exercise for the promotion of health, and relaxation 
 from long hours of mental and physical business drudgery.* 
 
 Mounted on his trusty horse, one fine evening in early summer, he 
 cantered out beyond the limits of the old town, as was his custom, and 
 turned his course into the great forest, preserved there for ages in its 
 primitive wildness, to enjoy a view of nature in one of its grand and 
 majestic forms. As he rode on he became so absorbed in the freshness 
 and fragrance of the budding and blooming shrubs, and the wide-spread- 
 ing leafy branches of the stately old trees, the chatteririg of squirrels 
 and songs of birds, and, perhaps, in deep reveries of more tender kind, 
 that he lost all note of time, direction and distance, and wandered on, 
 along by-ways and obscure paths, until the light of day was fast dis- 
 appearing. Great banks of black clouds now floated up from the south 
 and overspread the sky; and, soon, intense darkness ushered in the 
 approaching night. 
 
 He had often before ridden through the forest, and was familiar 
 with the windings of its roads; but now, unable to see any object to 
 guide his course, he realized the fact that he was lost. It was not, how- 
 ever, his first experience of that sort. He had before lost his way in the 
 forest at night, when, trusting to the sagacity of his horse, the faithful 
 animal had safely and speedily carried him out of the dungeon-like gloom 
 back to his home. He now dropped the reins, and, holding fast to the 
 pommel of his saddle, bowed his head and urged his horse forward. 
 Cautiously and steadily his four-footed servant pursued his course, across 
 ravines, up one hill and down to another, turning now to the right, then 
 to the left, and again straight on through the dense blackness that sur- 
 rounded them. In his dreamy meandering before sunset, M. Saucier 
 nuist have penetrated far into the depths of the old woods; for an hour 
 or more had passed since his horse had commenced its unguided effort 
 to retrace his course. So long indeed, that his confidence in the animal's
 
 220 
 
 instinct began to waver, and the horrid thought occurred to him that all 
 this groping in the dark had been aimless, and that every step, perhaps, 
 carried them farther into the interior of the vast wilderness. He began 
 mentally to debate the advisability of stopping there, where he was, to 
 await the return of day, when the rumbling of distant thunder, and 
 flashes of blinding lightning, portending an advancing storm, strength- 
 ened his resolution to proceed yet a little farther. Just then the clatter 
 of the horses' iioofs, and his accelerated gait, proved that he had reached 
 a broad, well-beaten road. In a few minutes a glimmering light in the 
 distance revived the despairing traveler's drooping spirits. 
 
 The light, when approached, was found to emanate from the window 
 of a farm house. M. Saucier, though his horse manifested no disposition 
 to slacken his brisk pace, concluded to stop and dispel his utter bewilder- 
 ment by inquiring of the inmates of the house his exact whereabouts. 
 Dismounting, he made out a gate that obstructed his course to the light. 
 Securing his horse to the fence, he entered the premises and walked up 
 a graveled way to the veranda, which now the interior light, and fitful 
 lightning, disclosed from the impenetrable darkness. He had advanced 
 to within a few steps of the house, when, to his utter amazement, a 
 female figure came bounding from the door to meet him. She threw 
 her arms around his neck, and kissing him fervently, exclaimed : "Oh, 
 Papa ! I am so glad you have come. You were so late getting home, 
 I was fearful you had met with some accident." 
 
 Recovering from his surprise, and comprehending the young lady's 
 mistake, he replied, "You are mistaken, Madame ; I am not your father ; 
 but be not alarmed. I am Monsieur Saucier, a merchant on Rue Dupont, 
 in Orleans; and having lost my way I stopped here on seeing the light 
 in your window, to inquire where I am, and by what road I may the most 
 speedily get back to my home," The young lady was obviously much 
 confused; but regaining her composure, invited her accidental guest into 
 the house, where he at once discovered her identit}'', and recovered his 
 lost bearings. 
 
 ]\Iuch to his relief he saw before him Mam'selle Adelaide Trotier, 
 daughter of his old friend and patron, Jaques Trotier; and was in a 
 house he had frequently before visited, situated on Trotier's farm, not 
 quite a league from the old city wall. The girl explained that her father 
 had gone to town early in the afternoon, and that she was anxiously 
 expecting his return when she heard M. Saucier open the gate and come 
 up the walk ; and that she was feeling quite uneasy about his protracted 
 absence ; as he was very seldom detained in town to so late an hour. She 
 had scarcely finished her last sentence when a step was heard on the 
 veranda, and the door was opened by M. Trotier, who was no little 
 astonished upon the unexpected meeting with his friend there. Expla- 
 nations followed, and though the belated merchant was hospitably pressed 
 to remain until morning, he declined, and, mounting his impatient horse, 
 arrived at his own home as the threatened rain began to fall. 
 
 The adventures of that evening— most probably that impetuous kiss 
 he received in the dark — wrought a notable change in M. Saucier's train 
 of thought; and, also, in his plans for the future. His depression of 
 spirits vanished and was replaced by marked cheerfulness. His eques- 
 trian excursions became more frequent and less extended, usually ter-
 
 221 
 
 minating at the Trotier farm. In short, it was soon noticed by his inti- 
 mate associates that he had once more capitulated to Cupid, and, when, 
 a few months later, his nuptials with the motherless j\lam'selle Adelaide 
 Trotier were announced in the Church, it elicited a variety of gossiping 
 comments, but no surprise. The young lady was twenty-four years of 
 age, handsome, tall and muscular; with some education and much amia- 
 bility and sweetness of disposition. M. Saucier was then fifty-two years 
 old — a little passed the middle period of life, — but in the prime of 
 vigorous manhood. 
 
 The union of a man, some years passed the meridian of his probable 
 existence, to a lady several years less than half his age, is usually — and 
 justly — regarded as a violation of the natural order of things, and a 
 consummate act of folly on the part of both. Yet, marriage under any 
 auspices — the most flattering, or least promising — is always, in its ha])pi 
 ness-producing results, a mere matter of lottery — an untried experiment. 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 The Boyhood and Education of Jean Baptiste Saucier. 
 
 Four leagues below Orleans, on the right, or northern bank of the 
 river, is situated the pretty little village Lachapelle; and half a leagnie 
 beyond it, nestled in the vine-clad hills overlooking the picturesque valley 
 of the Loir for miles, was the tasty, yellow-roofed cottage of M. Saucier, 
 where himself and bride were domiciled a few weeks after their marriage. 
 Their ticket in the matrimonial lottery, fortunately, drew the highest 
 prize; for, notwithstanding the disparity of their ages, their natures were 
 compatible, and their days were redolent with unmarred happiness. 
 
 The doctrine of special Providence perhaps cannot be sustained; 
 but surely none will deny the special mercy vouchsafed poor humanity 
 by its total impotency to penetrate the future. With this knowledge 
 given to mortals, suicide would depopulate the earth; without hope life 
 would be a dreary blank. Among the many useful articles ^I. Saucier 
 had taken with him to the country froin his town residence, was his 
 factotum, Pierre Lepage, a young man of unexceptionable habits, in- 
 dustrious, honorable, and strictly relial)le. Moreover, he was a broad- 
 gauged optimist, with splendid ilow of spii'its and humor. . Pierre was 
 installed as general manager of the little estate, and saw to trimming 
 the vines, pruning the trees, cultivating the garden and miniature fields, 
 and took care of the pigs, the poultiy, the cows, and horses. All the day 
 he was busy from dawn till bed-time; and was usually singing or whist- 
 ling when not talking or laughing; and if not working or eating, was 
 often fiddling or dancing. 
 
 Tl)e sentiment of love is not contagious as measles or whooping 
 cough, but may be communicated by example or association. Pierre was 
 exposed to this infection, and was a very susceptible subject to its in- 
 fluence. The connubial bliss he daily witnessed in the cottage profoundly 
 impressed him, and strengthened his conviction that it is not best for 
 man to dwell alone. He pondered the matter over for some time, and 
 the more he thought about it the more assiduous he became in his devo- 
 tions, or rather, in his attendance at church. Heretofore the priest had, 
 •n several occasions, reprimaudcd him for his* neglect of this duty, and
 
 222 
 
 Pierre always excused himself on the plea of want of time. Now, how- 
 ever, he was, every Sabbath, the first one at the church door, and was a 
 frequent caller at the priest's residence during week days, especially in 
 the evenings. Plis neighbors, and the villagers, were for a time consider- 
 ably surprised at this sudden manifestation of zealous piety, and began 
 to surmise that Pierre's sins must be weighing heavily upon his con- 
 science. This view seemed confirmed when he was seen to enter the 
 confessional, supposedly to invoke the holy man's aid in lifting the 
 burden from his sin-stricken soul. But they were mistaken. About all 
 that Pierre had to confess to Father Jarvais was the fact that he was 
 in love with his sister, Mam'selle Marie Jarvais ; and that what he needed 
 to ensure his happiness, and incidentally that of the young lady also, 
 was not absolution so much as the good Father's consent to their union. 
 This he obtained, and in due time they were married. 
 
 A year and a half had passed since M. Saucier had inducted his 
 blooming young bride in their new home; and the fleeting days and 
 months had brought to her increasing joy and happiness, and rose-tinted 
 anticipations of a future blessing that would add new charms to that 
 home, and gladden the hearts of its inmates. But, oh, how merciful it 
 Avas for their sanguine hopes that no power could reveal to them the 
 hidden calamity the future had in store for them. 
 
 On July 35th, 1726, the event occurred to which they had looked 
 forward with glowing expectations, not unmixed, very naturally, with 
 feelings of grave anxiety. On that day a son was born to them ; 
 and, for a short time it seemed that heaven had smiled upon them in 
 the realization of their fondest wishes. The young mother had received 
 the congratulations of her delighted husband and sympathetic friends 
 and relatives around her; and had impressed on her infant's lips an 
 impassioned kiss, when she was suddenly seized with horrible, agonizing 
 convulsions, that continued at short intervals, baffhng the skill of able 
 physicians, and unceasing efforts of heroic nurses, until death mercifully 
 relieved her of her suffering. 
 
 Marie Lepage, whose honeymoon had scarcely passed, remained 
 resolutely by the stricken young woman's bedside, rendering every service 
 in her power, until the awful scene was closed ; and then took charge of 
 the motherless child, constituting herself its foster mother and most 
 affectionate and devoted nurse. 
 
 It is needless here to dwell upon the effect of this great bereavement 
 upon Monsieur Saucier. Its crushing shock can much more readily be 
 imagined than described. This pitiless stroke wellnigli bereft his life 
 of every charm and hope. But from the almost intolerable misfortune 
 there yet remained to him one incentive to live, and to continued exertion. 
 The young life consigned to his love and care by the holy affection and 
 confidence of the one who gave her life for it, demanded, and must re- 
 ceive, his unsparing attention for the balance of his declining years. 
 
 One bright Sunday morning the babe was taken down to the village 
 church and baptized by Father Jarvais, receiving the name of Jean 
 Baptiste Saucier, after a favored relative of his father, one Jean Baptiste 
 Saucier, who had recently gone to America in the King's service.* 
 * See Appendix, Note B.
 
 223 
 
 Pierre and ]\larie Lepage enjoyed the sj^ecial privilege and lienor 
 of appointment as his god-father and god-mother. No more willing or 
 faithful sponsors for the motherless child could have been selected. Un- 
 der the angel-like watchfulness of Madame Lepage he thrived and grew 
 apace, developing robust proportions, and rather more than average 
 activity and intelligence. 
 
 Three years then passed over the house of mourning, when the gloom 
 of its great sorrow was measurably dispelled and enlivened by a gleam 
 of joy, this time unattended, or followed, by casualty or disaster. To 
 Pierre and Marie was born a daughter, which, event the proud father 
 lost no time in heralding throughout the neighborhood and village. All 
 went well, and the sunlight of love and joy again illuminated the cottage. 
 The time for another baptism was soon at hand. By this time Pierre's 
 exuberance of happiness had settled down sufficiently to permit him to' 
 think coherently, and he asked Marie if she had yet thought of a name 
 for their girl. 
 
 '•'Yes, Pierre, I have", she said, "as a testimonial of our respect and 
 affection for the sainted dead, and a token of gratitude to M. Saucier 
 for the kindness and benefits we have received at his hands, I think we 
 should name our child Adelaide ; don't you ?" 
 
 "Indeed I do, Marie", said Pierre, "and for the additional reason 
 that Adelaide was my good old grandmother's name also." 
 
 And, so, the child received that name; but for convenience it was 
 abridged to Adel. The two children infused new life and light in the 
 cottage; and it regained much of its former cheerful home-like appear- 
 ance. They were reared together as brother and sister, sharing alike the 
 love and tender care of the young mother, and of Pierre and the old 
 gentleman. In time they grew strong enough to follow Pierre about 
 when at work in the garden, or among the vines, and to ride with him 
 in the cart to and from the fields. And when Marie dressed them out 
 in gay attire, M. Saucier experienced great pleasure and pride in taking 
 them with him in his gig on his frequent visits to the village, where 
 they were petted and admired by friends and relatives. In course of time 
 they daily walked to the village together, when the weather was fair, 
 the boy carrying their dinner basket, and attended the village school, 
 and learned the catechism. It was a long walk, but as other children 
 joined them along the road, they enjoyed the exercise and were bene- 
 fitted by it. In bad weather, or muddy roads, Pierre bundled them in 
 his cart and took them to the school house, and returned for them when 
 school was dismissed in the evening. 
 
 Jean Baptiste rapidly grew to be a manly lad; stout, athletic, and 
 courageous. He learned quickly, was fond of active sports, and, though 
 neither ill-tempered or quarrelsome, was not slow to resent an insult, 
 or redress a wrong. In consequence, he often had occasion to test his 
 muscular power, and was not long in being accorded the pugilistic cham- 
 pionship of the school. 
 
 Adel was of quiet and retiring disposition, but brave and spirited 
 enough to admire her foster-brother's knightly traits. They were brought 
 up, as their parents and ancestors had been, in the Catholic faitli, and 
 ^together received elementarv relifjious instruction at Father -Tarvais'
 
 224 
 
 jDarochial school; and together they knelt at the altar in their fir?t Coni- 
 mnnion. 
 
 But the happy childhood days were fleeting, and the inevitable time 
 at length arrived decreeing their separation, and diverging their young 
 lives into different channels. The boy would ere long have to assume 
 his part in the serious drama of life, and needed to be well prepared 
 for it. He had exhausted the old village teacher's resources and learn- 
 ing, and must seek higher instruction at the Academy in Orleans. He 
 left his home for the first time, and though his destination was but a 
 few miles away, the leave taking left no dry eyes in the cottage. He 
 visited his home at the close of each week; yet, his absence left a dreary 
 void that dampened the hilarity of the family circle. 
 
 He was graduated at the Academy at the head of his class, and then 
 accompanied his father to Paris, to visit his uncle, Col. Felix Xavier 
 Saucier, and to see the many attractive sights visible in the splendid 
 metropolis. It is a family tradition that Colonel Saucier bound the 
 Jjoy's hands together behind his back with a handkerchief, when he took 
 him through the great palace at A-^ersailles, in order to restrain his in- 
 tense desire to touch or handle the swords and other glittering arms he 
 saw there at every turn. 
 
 Jean Baptiste was so captivated by the fine martial bearing of 
 Colonel Saucier, and the perfect discipline and gorgeous appearance of 
 his regiment of Eoyal Guards, that he determined then and there to 
 emulate his uncle's course in the profession of arms; and to consecrate 
 his life to the cause of his king and his country. His natural aptitude 
 for that calling, and erect, soldierly, figure, won the Colonel's admiration 
 and encouragement. After much persuasion he gained his fathe3""s eon- 
 sent; then through the influence and efforts of his uncle, was admitted 
 into the Eoyal Military School as a cadet. 
 
 This disruption of home ties — destined to be prolonged indefinitely 
 ■ — cast upon the inmates of the cottage overlooking the Loir a deeper 
 cloud of sadness. M. Saucier wandered about the fields and vineyards 
 aimlessly as though lost, and Adel wept in secret. Pierre was not so 
 jolly as of old, and had frequent moments of serious reflection. And 
 poor Marie, diligent as ever with her routine domestic affairs, often 
 blamed the onions, or mustard, or the dust or smoke, for bringing tears 
 to her eyes that she wiped away with her apron. 
 
 Jean Baptiste was too thoroughly engrossed in his studies and duties 
 to be homesick. His excellent scholarship, assiduous application and 
 intellectual alertness enabled him to readily master the curriculum and 
 training of L'Ecole Militaire ; from which he emerged at the early age 
 of twenty-two with a commission of Lieutenant of Engineers in the 
 Eoyal Army. 
 
 He returned to his cottage home on a brief leave of absence, arrayed 
 in the tinseled trappings of his newly attained rank, a superb type of 
 physical manhood and gallant soldier. All gazed on him with pride, 
 and feelings akin to adoration. Pierre no longer called him pet names, 
 but doffed his hat in respectful obeisance ; and Marie, in happy amaze- 
 ment, addressed him as Monsieur Jean Baptiste. Adel could scarcely 
 realize that the handsome young military officer, in showy uniform, 
 now before her, was the impetuous boy companion of her childhood ;
 
 225 
 
 and she awoke to the consciousness that her sisterly affection for him 
 had somehow changed to a different and loftier sentiment. I'his dis- 
 covery caused her to be strangely demure and reserved in his presence. 
 Too soon the limit of his furlough expired ; and he received orders from 
 the War Department at Paris, to report for duty at once to Major 
 Makarty at Brienne. Then came the trying ordeal of taking final leave 
 of his dear old home where he had passed all the early and happiest 
 years of his life, and of the loved ones he was destined never to see 
 again. 
 
 Feeling his fortitude about to desert him, he tore himself awa}', 
 after receiving the tremulous blessing of his gray-haired father, the 
 tearful farewell of big-hearted Pierre, and fervent embrace of his beloved 
 foster-mother, Marie, and lastly, the parting kiss of Adel, now a charm- 
 ing maiden with lustrous black eyes, rosy cheeks and queenly figure, 
 who, with mighty effort, repressed her tears until the young soldier had 
 disappeared down the winding road leading to the village. 
 
 It is altogether probable that the order of the Ministre de Marine 
 to the young officer, to join Major Makarty^s command for service in 
 America, was in compliance to his own request. The romance and 
 glamour of the new world, centering in highly colored representations 
 of wild, free life on the great Mississippi, were still attracting there 
 many from the better classes of the French people. Moved by the spirit 
 of adventure usually exuberant at his age, and by aspirations for attain- 
 ing distinction in the service of his country, Lieutenant Saucier did not 
 hesitate to sever the sacred bonds of kindred, home, and friendships, in 
 responding to that call to duty. Two considerations, however, tended 
 to ameliorate the pangs of that sacrifice and his prospective exile; one 
 was the vague hope that his absence would not be of long continuance, 
 and the other that he would meet relatives of his father there who had 
 preceded him to the new empire, one of whom, in particular, a civil 
 engineer, who had long been employed in the construction and preser- 
 vation of old Fort Chartres.* 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 Fort Chartres ix the Illixois. 
 
 In the autumn of 1T18, Pierre Duque Boisbriant, recently appointed 
 Commandant of the Illinois, by the Company of the Indies, arrived at 
 Kaskaskia with a detachment of troops for the purpose of constructing 
 a fort in that region to protect the Company's interests there, and the 
 French colonists in that portion of Xew France. Boisbriant, a Canadian 
 by Ijjrth, and cousin of Bienville, then Governor of Louisiana, arrived at 
 Mobile on the 9tli of February, 1T18. Proceeding to Biloxi he there 
 made his preparations, and then commenced his long voyage up the great 
 river, which he accomplished )jy fall without incident of note. Gov. 
 Bienville and a colony of French accompanied him from Mobile to a 
 l^oint on the east bank of the ]klississippi, thirty leagues above its mouth, 
 where they founded a post they namecl Iberville, subsequently re-named 
 Xew Orleans. 
 
 * See Appendix, Note B. 
 —15 H S
 
 226 
 
 The site selected by Boisbriant for his fort in the Illinois, was near 
 the east bank of the Mississippi, on the flat alluvial bottom land, sixteen 
 miles above Kaskaskia; having a long slough, or lake, the remains of 
 an ancient channel of the river, on the east midway between it and the 
 bluffs four miles away. This slough, he supposed, would add materially 
 to the strategic strength of the position. The fort he erected there was 
 a wooden stockade reinforced on the interior with earth taken from the 
 excavations of the exterior moats. It was completed in 1720, and named 
 Fort de Chartres, as a compliment to the Regent, whose son was Le Due 
 de Chartres. 
 
 This fort was for many years the chef-lieu, or seat of civil as well 
 as military government of the Illinois district embracing the territory 
 from the mouth of the Ohio to Canada between the Mississippi and 
 Wabash rivers. In 1731, the Company of the West failed and surrend- 
 ered their charter to the king. The Illinois was by this act receded to 
 the crown of France. 
 
 For the protection of Kaskaskia from threatened incursions of the 
 fierce Chickasaws, below the mouth of the Ohio, a stockade fort, was 
 in the year 1733, erected on the bluff just east of the town, and a portion 
 of the troops at Fort Chartres were sent there to garrison it. This 
 Kaskaskia fort has been known, erroneously, since the conquest of the 
 Illinois by George Eogers Clark, as "Fort Gage.'' Its nam.e, and the. 
 name of its Irailder, are lost. It was a French fort, and when the dis- 
 heartening news of the cession of the country by the craven King of 
 France to the English, in 1763, reached the town of Kaskaskia, the in- 
 dignant citizens set fire to the fort and destroyed it, determined that the 
 hated ensigu of England should not float over it. The "Fort Gage" 
 entered by Col. George Eogers Clark, on the night of the 4th of July, 
 1778, was the stockaded Jesuit buildings in the town, occupied by the 
 British under the command of M. Eocheblave.* 
 
 It is much to be regretted that so few of the records and official 
 documents of old Fort Chartres have been preserved to reveal to us the 
 story of its occupants in their daily life; of the stirring events, and 
 strange, thrilling scenes transpiring there; of the busy throngs that came 
 and went ; of the military expeditions marching from its gates to repel 
 invasions, or attack distant enemies ; of the Indians lounging about its 
 gates, or camped near by : of tlie joys and sorrows, deaths and griefs, 
 hopes and disappointments of its inmates in their remote exile from 
 civilization. 
 
 About the close of the first half of the Eighteenth century France 
 and England were again at war because of a disagreement between 
 Frederick the Groat and -Marie Theresa; and this produced serious dis- 
 turbances in the settlements in the Illinois. Some Englishmen lurking 
 
 * Fort Chartres passed into possession of the English in 1765. Seven years 
 later, in 1772, occurred an extraordinary rise of tlie Mississippi that inundated aU 
 the low lands along: its borders. The water rose in Fort Chartres to the depth of 
 seven feet. The northwest bastion, and .greater part of the western wall fell into 
 the river. The Fort was abandoned by the English, who took possession of the 
 larse buildings of the .Tesuits in Kaskaskia, surroundinsi' the-m with a stockad"^. 
 which they named Fort Gaso, and there established tlieir seat of government, 
 military and civil, for the Illinois. At the period of Capt. Bossu's second visit 
 to P'ort Chartres, in 1755. the fort on the hill, east of Kaskaskia. was garrisoned 
 by French troops commanded by Captain ]\rontcharvaux. It was destroyed in lififi. 
 
 See "The Armament of Fort Cliartres."' a paper in the 1906 Transactions of the 
 Illinois State Ilistoi'ical Society, page 225.
 
 227 
 
 on the Mississippi were arrested as spies and confined in the dungeon at 
 Fort Chartres. Then rumors came of a contemplated English and In- 
 dian attack on the Fort in retaliation. Chevalier de Bartel, the Com- 
 mandant of the Post was sorely perplexed. The Fort was sadly out of 
 repair, and supplies of all sorts very nearly exhausted. Many of the 
 soldiers of the garrison, tiring of idle confinement had deserted to try 
 free life in the woods and prairies. "Many of the old-time Indian allies 
 v/ere won over by the British, and had agreed to destroy the French post 
 during- the moon of the fall of the leaf ; but in this were thwarted by the 
 skill and address of De Bartel."* 
 
 The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, gave the dissolute King of 
 Fi-ance, Louis XV, brief "respite from contention with England and 
 jjrofitless continental wars, only to sink deeper in vice and debauchery, 
 and to become more completely under control of the beautiful, soulless 
 Madame de Pompadour. He had impoverished France by his profligacy, 
 and support, with his armies and treasury, of his father-in-law's claims 
 to the throne of .Poland, and in the Avars of the Austrian succession. 
 Meanwhile his American colonies were utterly neglected, and some of 
 his western military posts, including Fort Chartres, on the verge of 
 abandonment. This latter calamity, however, -was averted "when", again 
 quoting from Mr. Mason's paper, "the Marquis de Galissoniere, Governor 
 General of Canada, presented a memorial on the subject to the home 
 government. He (therein) said, 'The little colony of Illinois ought not 
 to be left to perish. The King must sacrifice for its support. The prin- 
 cipal advantage of the country is its extreme productiveness; and its 
 connection with Canada and Louisiana must be maintained'." Again in 
 January, 1750, he urged upon the King the importance of preserving 
 and streng-thening the post at the Illinois; describing the country as 
 open and ready for the plough, and traversed by an innumerable multi- 
 tude of buffalos. 'And these animals', he says, are covered with a species 
 of wool, sufficiently fine to be employed in various manufactories'. And 
 he further suggests, and doubtless correctly, that the buffalo, 'if caught, 
 and attached to the plough would move it at a speed superior to that of 
 the domestic ox'." 
 
 The King was at last aroused to a proper understanding of the de- 
 plorable condition of affairs in his far western possessions, and decided 
 upon a vigorous policy to defend and retain them. He ordered Fort 
 Chartres to be rebuilt with stone, and garrisoned with a body of regular 
 troops. For the reconstruction of the Fort he appropriated a million of 
 croM'ns; and ordered large quantities of munitions, and other supplies, 
 to be sent up the Mississippi at once. 
 
 In the summer of ITol, Chevalier Makarty,f a Major of the Engi- 
 neer Cor])s. a rugged soldier of remote Irish (lescent, arrived at the 
 
 * Old Fort Chartres. A paper read by Hon. E. G. Mason before the Chicago 
 Historical Society, June 16th, 1880. Fergus Co., Chicago. 
 
 t This is the correct speUing of his name, as written bv himself on the parish 
 records of the Church of St. Anne of New Chartres. Of Major Makarty, who was 
 Commandant at Fort Chartres during the very interesting period of its construction, 
 unfortunately but little is known. Of his personal history and characteristics we 
 know absolutely nothing. But meagre mention is made of him in any of our local 
 histories ; and the records of his official acts are lost, or stored in the state archives 
 at Paris. In 1753, M. DuQuesne, Governor General, wrote to the Minister of 
 Marines, at Paris, charging Commandant Makarty with illicit sales of liquor to 
 the Indians and French settlers, and advising that he be relieved therefor of his 
 command. But no attention was paid to this charge, and he was not relieved until 
 1761, and then by his own request ; as, at this time, he was incapacitated for active 
 sen'ice by reason of disability from rheumatic gout.
 
 228 
 
 Fort, from France, with a considerable military force and a large num- 
 ber of artisans and laborers, and boats ladened with tools, ammunition, 
 arms, provisions and clothing. The Major assumed command of the 
 post, and lost no time in beginning the great work he had been sent 
 there to do. In this era of scientific military engineering it is difficult 
 to imagine any reason for locating a defensive work upon such a 
 wretched site as that selected for Fort Chartres. It was situated on 
 sandy, alluvial soil but little elevated above the river's level, and continu- 
 ally subject to the river's encroachments; with a slough between it and 
 the river bank, and a large slough between it and the bluffs; and in the 
 midst of pestilential malarious, mosquito-infested, swamps. And why 
 an Engineer of Chevalier Makarty's presumed attainments erected a 
 splendid fortress, at immense expense on the same ground is beyond 
 comprehension, excepting on the supposition that he acted in obedience 
 to positive instructions. His arrival at the post, with well equipped and 
 well disciplined soldiers and their sprightly officers, accompanied by a 
 small army of skilled mechanics and laborers, and a 'fleet of keel-boats 
 of stores, produced a great sensation not only at the decayed and nearly 
 deserted post, but all through the settlements in the Illinois. Fort 
 Chartres awoke from its lethargy and was transformed to a scene of 
 busy animation. The hum of a new activity resounded in the forest 
 and distant hills. The liabitanis of the bottom were elated; and the 
 Indians gazed upon the new arrivals in mute surprise. 
 
 Captain M. Bossu, who came up the Mississippi with a company 
 of marines, the following spring, 1753, writing from Fort Chartres, says, 
 '•'LeSieur Saussier, an engineer, has made a plan for constructing a new 
 Fort here according to the instruction of the Court. It will bear the 
 name of the old one, which is called Fort de Chartres." The stockades 
 of the old fort were decayed beyond repair, though the buildings they 
 enclosed were yet tenable and in fair condition. The site chosen for 
 the new structure was not half a league above the old Fort, and but a 
 short distance from the river.* 
 
 At that point a mission for the Kaskaskia Indians had many years 
 before been established — which was perhaps one reason for locating the 
 new Fort there — and it served as the nucleus of quite a town at the gate 
 of the Fort, subsequently known as Xouveau (Xew) Chartres. 
 
 Chevalier Makarty began operations by sending a large force of 
 workmen to the bluffs at the nearest escarpment of limestone, about four 
 miles east, where they built temporary quarters of logs covered with 
 clapboards, there to blast the rock and cut the detached masses to re- 
 quired dimensions. "The place in the bluff may be seen to this day 
 Avhere the stone wa.s quarried to erect the fort."f Another force of 
 laborers, with carts drawn by oxen, conveyed the dressed stone, around 
 
 * I acknowledge with pleasure my indebtedness to Hon. H. W. Beckwith, Presi- 
 dent of the Illinois State Historical Society, for important references corroborating 
 this fact, and correcting the common impression that the new fort, built of stone, 
 was a reconstruction of the old stockade. Captain Bossu, who again visited the 
 fort in 1755, says — in his Travels en Louisiane — "I came once more to the old Fort 
 Chartres, where I lay in a hut, till I could get lodging in the new fort, which is 
 almost finished." 
 
 t Reynold's Pioneer History of Illinois. "The finer stone, with which the gate- 
 ways and buildings were faced, was brought from beyond the Mississippi." E. G. 
 Mason.
 
 229 
 
 the end of the slough, in the dry season, to the builders by the river; 
 and in the wet season to the slough, or lagoon, across which they were 
 ferried in fiat boats, and then taken on to the required place. Beside 
 these were lime burners, mortar mixers, wood choppers and whip-saw- 
 yers, carpenters, blacksmiths, boatmen, teamsters, hunters, cooks and 
 servants, comprising, with the soldiers, a population of several hundreds. 
 The new fort was projected on a more modern plan than the old one, 
 and was much larger; a quadrangle, comprising an area of four acres. 
 The exterior walls of massive masonry, thirty inches in thickness at the 
 base, and loop-holed for musket and artillery firing, rose sixteen feet in 
 height, with square bastions at each corner, and midway in the west wall 
 was a small gate for convenience of access to the river landing. The 
 northeastern bastion having the flagstaff was higher than the others. In 
 the southeastern bastion was situated the magazine of stone, laid in 
 cement now as hard as flint. It is yet in sound preservation ; its vertical 
 end walls twenty-five feet in height, closing the arch between. Its floor, 
 seven feet below the surface, and its interior, well plastered with cement, 
 measuring twenty-five feet by eighteen; and twenty-two feet from floor 
 to apex of the arch. There were also long lines of barracks, officer's 
 quarters, and store rooms. 
 
 The i^eriod occupied in building the new fort was one of unprece- 
 dented prosperity for that portion of New France. Kaskaskia, the me- 
 tropolis of the Illinois, the center of its widespread commerce, and of 
 its wealth and industries, profited largely by its proximity to the mili- 
 tary post. Its citizens of French lineage, were not distinguished for 
 energy or enterprise, but were thrifty and self-reliant. With this con- 
 tinuous round of mirth and festivities they were not unmindful of their 
 own interests. Cahokia, twenty-eight miles above the fort, on the 
 Mississippi, rivaled Kaskaskia as a trading point, was almost its equal in 
 population, and its people were as noted for their social gaieties and 
 generous hospitality. Prairie du Eocher, settled in 1722, and nestled 
 at the foot of a high perpendicular cliff of the bluffs, four miles south- 
 east of the fort, gained much importance during the construction of the 
 new fortification. St. Philip, founded by Eenault, five miles above the 
 old fort, on his extensive land grant, had passed the zenith of its growth. 
 and was already known among the settlers as "Le Petite Village". New 
 Chartres in the parish of St. Ann, near the main gate of the new fort, 
 gained the proportions of a considerable town having absorbed the 
 greater part of the population of the town below, near the old fort,* 
 with a large part of that of St. Philip, and comprised the temporary 
 homes of the mechanics and laborers employed on the new structure; 
 also of some of the officers and soldiers having families. 
 
 These settlements constituted an isolated community surrounded 
 by Indians, having only periodical communication with the outside 
 world by way of New Orleans, or the northern lakes and Quebec. They 
 were all situated on the alluvial "bottom" of the Mississippi, a region 
 of unsurpassed fertility, teeming with wild fruits and nuts, and overrun 
 
 • "The site of this viUag-e was swept off by the Mississippi ; so that not much 
 of any vestige of it remains at this day. This village had its common held, com- 
 mons for wood and pasture, its church and grave-yard, like the other settlements 
 of Illinois." Reynolds' Pioneer History of Illinois.
 
 230 
 
 by herds of buffalo, deer, turkeys, prairie cliickeus, aud other varieties of 
 game ; its numerous lakes and sloughs visited by myriads of water fowls, 
 and alive with the finest of fish. Nature lavishly supplied, in a great 
 measure, the simple wants of the people, and left both old and young 
 to regard the pursuit of pleasure the chief object of existence. 
 
 PLAN OF FORT CHARTRES. 
 
 
 ^ / DED CDD 
 
 Each 96 feet in length and 
 6 feet in 
 
 B. Main gate ; facing tlie east. 
 
 C. Tlie river gate. 
 D. D. Officers' quarters, liospital and store rooms. 
 
 36 feet in breadth. 
 G. G. Soldiers' barraclts. Two stories high, 135 feet in length and 
 
 breadth. 
 H. H. Storerooms and gua.rdhouse. Eacli building 90 feet long and 2i wide. 
 
 E. One of the several wells. 
 
 F. "The inagazine. 
 
 I. The wine and kitchen cellar. 
 K. The bake oven. 
 L. Li. A ravine marking the limit of erosion by the river in 1772, and the por- 
 tion of, the walls then washed away. 
 The large council hall back of the officers' quarters, is not shown in the cut. 
 The bastions were more nearly square than the artist has represented them- 
 in the above diagram. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Social Life at the Foht. 
 
 The household of the Commaudaiit, C*hevalier de Makarty, con- 
 sisted, with himself, of his son and daughter, his wife having died some 
 years before of that entailed curse upon humanity, pulmonary consump- 
 tion. The son, Maurice, acted in the capacity of his father's secretary 
 and personal assistant. The daughter, Eulalie, a tall, slender, hand- 
 some girl of twenty summers, with very fair complexion, blue eyes and
 
 231 
 
 auburn hair, though French by parentage and education, i^ossessed some 
 marked traits of her father's Celtic ancestry, with the physical consti- 
 tutional frailties of her deceased mother. As some of the officers in the 
 Chevalier's command were accompanied by their wives and families, she 
 had come with her father and brother, by advice of her physician, in 
 quest of health and vigor that a change of climate might offer. 
 
 She was by no means an invalid; and the rough, wild life at the 
 [)ost, for a time, greatly improved her strength and animation. In the 
 quarters she enlivened the garrison with her music and laughter, when 
 not engaged in alleviating the sufferings of the sick by her kind and 
 patient attentions. A great deal of her time was passed in the open air 
 when the weather permitted, as she was much interested in the progress 
 of the work, and in everything she saw in the strange new country. She 
 had for a companion — who followed her everywhere like her shadow — 
 h mulatto servant, named Lisette, a native of Martinique, a few years 
 her senior in age; strong, agile as a cat, and absolutely fearless. This 
 maid was devoted to her young mistress almost to. infatuation. In 
 pleasant weather with bright skies, the two could be daily seen together, 
 mounted on their ponies, galloping over the prairie ; or on the high bluff 
 Aiewing the grand panorama before them; or in a canoe, paddled by the 
 intrepid Lisette, on the broad Mississippi; or fishing on the marais; or 
 gathering wild flowers, nuts, or grapes near the Fort. Occasionally 
 some of the ladies from the officers' quarters joined them, and quite 
 often a gallant officer, then off' duty, offered his services as an escort 
 10 guard them from harm, and to enjoy the young lady's smiles. Eulalie 
 and her dusky maid needed no countersign to pass the camp sentinels; 
 but were prudently restrained from going beyond the cordon of out- 
 riding pickets without an escort of armed horsemen. 
 
 The multitude of people at the Fort engaged in the gigantic work, 
 and the number of officers and soldiers quartered there, rendered it an 
 attractive place for all surrounding settlements; not only for sale of 
 produce, and other traffic, but also for social enjojinent and pastimes. 
 The Fort was frequently visited by parties of ladies and gentlemen from 
 Ivaskaskia, or Cahokia, or both, to spend the day in rov\ing, fishing, 
 or picnicing, followed, after candle lighting by dancing. 
 
 Strict discipline was at all times enforced by the Comnuujdant of 
 the garrison. The troops were regularly drilled; sentinels and picket 
 guards, or videttes, Avere constantly on duty, and the distant stone and 
 wood workers and teamsters were guarded by squads of well armed 
 soldiers. These precautions, apart from maintaining discipline and 
 order, w'ere necessary because of the defenseless condition of both forts, 
 the old and the new, during the erection of the latter, in view of the 
 many rumors of Indian hostilities, and possible attacks at anv time by 
 ihe despised English.* 
 
 • In 1752 six Indians of the Outagami, or Fox tribe, then residing west of 
 Lake Michigan, came down the country on a hunting expedition, and were cap- 
 tured by the Cahokia Indians, who burned five of them at the stake. The sixth 
 one escaped to return to his people and report the fate of his companions. A 
 council was called, and revenge determined upon. One hundred and eighty bark 
 canoes filled with Foxes and their allies, the Kickapoos and Sioux, descended the 
 river, passing the fort at Cahokia, then commanded by Chevalier de Volsci, at 
 night without being seen. The Cahokias and Michigamis were encamped, as Bossu
 
 232 
 
 Lieutenant Jeau Baptiste Saucier reported for duty to Major Ma- 
 karty at Brienne; and there, before sailing with his command from 
 France, received from the Minister of Marine specific instructions re- 
 garding the character of fort tlie king desired to be erected. During 
 the long, tedious voyage across the Atlantic, and the laborious ascent of 
 the Mississippi, the young lieutenaiit was much in the company of the 
 Major's daughter, Mam'selie Eulalie. And after their arrival at the 
 old Fort, his relations with the Commandant continued confidential and 
 intimate, his assignment as Chief Designer requiring his presence at 
 headquarters much of his time. While there at work the young lady 
 Avas frequently at his side, assisting in his drawings and calculations; 
 and, when off duty, he was often her companion in morning excursions, 
 and in the evening cotillions and waltzes. This continued association 
 of the handsome young officer and the brilliant girl, in their distant 
 exile, naturally engendered in both sentiments of mutual regard higher 
 and more fervent than mere respect. And indeed, with her, this senti- 
 ment gradually deepened to an absorbing passion. He would probably 
 have fully reciprocated this feeling, but for the everpresent image before 
 him of his childhood's playmate, schoolmate, and more than sister, the 
 stately Adel, far away on the sun-kissed hills of the Loire. He admired 
 Eulalie, but loved Adel. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Rescue op Commandant's Daughter. 
 
 All through the winter and succeeding summer the adjacent forest 
 resounded with strokes of the woodman's axe and mason's hammer ; and 
 heavy blasting of rocky cliffs above Prairie du Rocher was reechoed like 
 distant peals of artillery. The Indians watched the progress of the work 
 in silent amazement, and the Creole settlers were loud in praises of their 
 good and munificent King. The second winter passed pleasantly at the 
 Fort with no cessation of labor in preparing building materials; or in- 
 terruption of the usual exchange of polite courtesies between the officers 
 and the elite of Kaskaskia and Cahokia. Unrelaxed military vigilance 
 was maintained ; and the peace and quietude of the post was undisturbed, 
 save by frequent false alarms of Indian uprisings, or English invasions. 
 
 The second Easter came and passed, and the snow and ice dis- 
 appeared. The hickory buds were bursting in the woods tinged with 
 green ; and the prairie "lark, just up from the south, enlivened the scene 
 with his cheery notes. One beautiful morning in the early spring. Lieu- 
 tenant Saucier had passed out of the river gate, on a tour of inspection 
 of that portion of the structure, when he was suddenly startled by the 
 discharg-e of a musket and loud shrieks of the sentinel stationed on the 
 
 says, but a league from Fort Chartres. The day on which the avengers arrived 
 happened to be one of the numerous fast days of the Catholic church, when several 
 of the Indians from the village had gone to Fort Chartres to witness) the cere- 
 monies of the Church there. They were aU who survived the vengeance of the 
 Foxes who slew every man, woman and child remaining in the village, excepting 
 a fifteen year old girl who ran to Capt. Bossu for protection and was not mo- 
 lested Capt. Bos.su says he witnessed this massacre "from an eminence near by ; 
 but it is difficult to understand what "eminence" he found there, without it was 
 one of the ancient prehistoric Indian mounds. The Foxes reascended the Missis- 
 sippi river, firing their guns in triumph as they passed the Cahokia stockade.
 
 233 
 
 river bank scarcely a rifle shot distant from where he stood. Eushing 
 to the spot he saw the soldier wildly gesticulating and loudly calling for 
 help. Glancing over the river bank, the Lieutenant saw the cause of his 
 agitation — a sight that almost paralyzed him; but only for a moment. 
 Eulalie and her maid, lured by the brilliance of the perfect day to re- 
 sume their canoe excursions suspended during the long winter, had 
 rowed some distance up the great stream, and returning, when but a 
 short distance from the landing, a puff of wind blew the young lady's 
 hat off into the water. In her effort to recover it she capsized the canoe, 
 and the two girls were struggling for life in the turbid current of the 
 river. Lisette was clinging to the upturned dugout with one hand, and 
 with the other had grasped her young mistress and was endeavoring to 
 support her head above the treacherous waves. The sentinel on duty 
 there, a few yards away, witnessed the accident, but as he had never 
 learned to swim, was powerless to afford help; yet, had the presence 
 of mind to fire his gun to attract assistance. 
 
 As the Lieutenant reached the water^s edge Lisette lost her hold of 
 Eulalie who sank beneath the surface. Quick as thought, he threw aside 
 his coat and hat and plunged into the stream. He was an expert 
 swinmier, and though encumbered with his clothing, and the water was 
 very cold, he caught the girl as she was disappearing, and, by exertion 
 that only such an emergency could inspire, succeeded in bringing her 
 to the shore. 
 
 When Lisette saw her mistress sink she quit the canoe to attempt 
 her rescue ; but the Lieutenant, who had by this time grasped the drown- 
 ing girl, called to the servant to save herself, which she readily did by 
 swimming to the bank. The report of the sentinel's gun and his frantic 
 cries were immediately answered at the Fort by the long roll of the drum, 
 and the company then on duty, led by its officers, came dashing to the 
 place of supposed attack. A hand litter was quickly improvised upon 
 which Eulalie, exhausted, pale and unconscious, but still breathing, was 
 placed, warmly enveloped in several of the coats that nearly every mem- 
 ber of the company divested himself of and offered for the purpose. She 
 was hurriedly taken to her apartments, where the post surgeons, aided 
 by all the ladies of the garrison, in time, resuscitated her. From the 
 river bank Lisette, fatigued and, of course, dripping wet, walked briskly 
 behind the litter borne by the soldiers, and could not be induced to lose 
 sight of her mistress until assured that all immediate danger was passed. 
 
 Eulalie was saved from death by drowning; but the shock she re- 
 ceived, together with the cold immersion, resulted in a severe attack of 
 pneumonia that brought her to the verge of collapse. She was confined 
 to her room for some weeks, for several days in the balance between life 
 and death, the beam finally turning in her favor. The wild roses and 
 sunflowers were in bloom when she had gained sufficient strength to sit 
 in the dearborn, or caleche, cushioned around, for exercise in the prairie 
 in the early mornings and evenings. A cough she had contracted during 
 the Christmas festivities became aggravated and persistent. The melan- 
 choly fact that she was now an invalid, with serious pulmonary trouble, 
 was apparent, with but little doubt of its ultimate result.
 
 234 
 
 CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 Eakly Navigation of the Mississirn. 
 
 Commimication with France, b}' the residents of the Illinois, was 
 at that era slow and uncertain. The l^est sailing vessels required from 
 two to four months to cross the Atlantic; and often tlial length of time 
 was consumed in propelling keel boats, or lighter craft, from Xew Orleans 
 to Kaskaskia, or the Fort. About half the same period of time was 
 necessary for the transmission of despatches and letters from Quebec, by 
 friendly Indians, or hardy Canadian couriers, to the Illinois settlements. 
 Traveling by either route was irksome and laborious, and attended by 
 many dangers, particularly when passing through hostile tribes of In- 
 dians. 
 
 Lieutenant Saucier called frequently on Eulalie, and l)y affecting 
 much cheerfulness himself, sought to stimulate her hopes, and inspire 
 her with courage. And her spirits alwaj'S revived when in his presence, 
 or within sound of his voice. 
 
 Several w'eeks had jDassed since Eulalie's thrilling experience in the 
 river when, one day, a courier, accompanied by several Indians, arrived 
 at the Fort from Quebec, bringing official despatches from the Governor 
 General, and also from the home government, and European mail for the 
 Fort and surrounding settlements. When the Lieutenant called that 
 evening, as usual, at the Commandant's quarters to enquire how the 
 young lady had passed the day, and to assure her that she looked better, 
 he received, among other letters from France, one with familiar super- 
 scription closed with a black seal, which he pretended not to notice as he 
 hurriedly put it, with the others, in his pocket. He soon excused himself 
 on the plea of duty, and, reaching the privacy of his room, tore the 
 black-sealed missive open with trembling hands, and quivering lips. 
 It was from Adel, and its contents caused a conflict of emotions; of 
 ])rofound grief and jo}', of sadness and pleasure, that plunged him in 
 deep thought, oblivious to his surroundings for a long time. She in- 
 formed him of the death of his father ; how he calmly passed away with 
 his two sons and military brother by his side; how his priest son had 
 administered to him extreme unction; and how in his last conscious 
 moments he had spoken of, and invoked the blessings of heaven upon his 
 youngest and beloved son, now in the King's service far away in New 
 France. She described the funeral ceremonies, and told of the great 
 concourse of friends of the deceased that followed his body to the grave. 
 She then said that by this sad event her father, Pierre, would be thrown 
 out of employment, as the estate would pass into other hands, and that 
 he had concluded to emigrate to America and try his fortunes there. 
 She added that they had engaged passage in a vessel named L'Etoile du 
 Nord, for New Orleans, and would sail from the port of Brest about the 
 tenth of February. In a postscript she told him he need not answer 
 her letter, as their preparations for leaving the dear old cottage were 
 then nearly completed. 
 
 Young Saucier was deeply affected by the death of his father, 
 though he had passed the three score and ten allotted to humanity and 
 succumbed to the inexorable law of nature. His grief was mitigated by
 
 235 
 
 the reflection that he would again meet Adel and her dear, dear parents, 
 much sooner than his most sanguine hopes had permitted him to expect. 
 
 After entering the military service the Lieutenant was always re- 
 ticent about his family history and relatives, and confided to no one the 
 profound and sincere love he entertained for Adel. For reasons of his 
 own he mentioned to no one the information Adel's letter had conveyed, 
 excepting to tell of his father's death to Chevalier Makarty. 
 
 He was now mood}', silent and reflective, in such marked contrast 
 with his usual social, jovial disposition, as to attract the notice of his 
 associates, who charitably attributed the change to his tender solicitude 
 for the invalid girl in the Fort, now slowly fading away. How to dispose 
 of Pierre and Marie when they arrived gave him no uneasiness, as he 
 was well able tinaucially to situate them comfortably in any of the 
 neighboring settlements. But there was another matter he could not so 
 easily dispose of, that he now had to consider. He was fully aware of 
 Eulalie's fervent regard for him ; now intensified by gratitude for having 
 saved her life at the risk of his o^vn; and his sense of honor upbraided 
 him for permitting her to be longer deceived respecting the true senti- 
 ments he entertained for her. He concluded he would frankly tell her 
 that another had a prior claim to his affections. But then, Adel had 
 never spoken or written to him of love, save that of a sister; and, for 
 aught he knew, she might then be the jilighted fiancee of another. Hav- 
 ing nerved himself to the point of making a full disclosure of his per- 
 plexing thoughts and sentiments to Eulalie, he called upon her for that 
 purpose. His resolution, however, failed him when, seated by her bed- 
 side, he took her feverish hand in his and looked into her shrunken, 
 haggard face. He saw that her frail condition could not bear such a 
 revelation; and he esteemed her too highly to subject her to the anguish 
 of mind it would cause, and thereby endanger her slender hold upon 
 life; and, so, postponed his intended confession to a more propitious 
 time. 
 
 The days sped by and he continued dreamily to discharge his 
 routine duties in silence. 
 
 The time had arrived for the annual descent of the fleet of keel boats 
 to jSTew Orleans for supplies for the post. The voyage that year was one 
 of unusual importance, as engineer's reports and other weighty des- 
 patches were awaiting transmission to France, and a consideral^le amount 
 of specie, large supplies, and a company of recruits for the Fort, must 
 be brought up from Xew Orleans. The annual voyages to and from Xew 
 Orleans were generally in charge of a subaltern of the Commissary, or 
 Quartermaster's department; and they were by no means mere pleasure 
 jaunts. The lading and unloading of the boats, their navigation, con- 
 trolling the crews of boatsmen, and guarding against the many danfirers 
 by the way, involved grave responsibilities, and entailed many hardships, 
 with much exposure and hard labor; requiring vigilance, prudence and 
 great firmness. The boats commonly employed in this service, called 
 pirogues by the French river men, were large, unwieldy, clumsy affairs, 
 constructed of hewed timbers and whip-sawed plank fastened together 
 with wooden pegs. Floating with the current and the use of oars, ren- 
 dered descent of the stream comparatively easy : but stemming the river's 
 current in its ascent for over a thousand miles was accomplished only
 
 236 
 
 by persistent hard work. To surmount the force of the swift current for 
 long stretches of the way, or to pass strong eddies, the boats were "cor- 
 deled" ; that is, a long line was taken ashore and carried far above, where 
 it was made fast to a tree on the river's bank. The boat was then drawn, 
 by hand, or capstan, to that point; and this was repeated again and 
 again until calmer water was reached, when the oars were once more 
 plied. When practicable, the boats were drawTi by the united strength 
 of the crew walking along the shore, as horses draw canal boats. At 
 night, when going up stream, the boats laid by in willow thickets border- 
 ing sand bars, or islands, for safety from surprises or night attacks by 
 hostile Indians. 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 A Secoxd Visit to Xew OtlLeaxs. 
 
 The Commandant was about to detail a non-commissioned officer 
 for that summer's voyage, when he was much surprised by receiving an 
 application from Lieut. Saucier for this duty. While Major Makarty 
 would not have ordered a commissioned officer for this onerous service, 
 he was pleased when Lieut. Saucier volunteered for it ; for he knew that 
 it could not be entrusted to anyone more reliable, or more capable to 
 conduct it successfully, and gladly assented to his request. 
 
 Having perfected his preparations, the Lieutenant took leave of 
 Eulalie, promising to return as soon as jjossible, and expressing the hope 
 that he would find her much better when he came. His boats were fur- 
 nished by the merchants of Kaskaskia and Cahokia, free of charge except- 
 ing the transportation down the river of their export produce. Some 
 of them were loaded with lead in bars from Eenault's mines at New 
 Potosi, in the Spanish territory across the river; others carried cargoes 
 of furs obtained in trade from the Indians; others with beeswax, dried 
 venison, buffalo meat, and other products of the country. Even at that 
 early day much wdieat was raised by the habitants, and flour, ground by 
 the water mills, was one of the principal exports of the country. 
 
 The Lieutenant's progress, with his fleet, down the river was rapid 
 and without extraordinary incident. The tedium of the voyage was 
 lightened by his anticipations of joy in meeting, at his destination, the 
 loved ones who had left France some months before, and were probably 
 then at New Orleans awaiting his arrival. In imagination he pictured 
 the surprise of Pierre and Marie upon meeting him, and wondered how 
 Adel looked, and what she would say. 
 
 Arriving at New Orleans, after securing his boats, he eagerly en- 
 quired along the river front for the expected vessel, L'Etoile du Nord, 
 and was grievously disappointed when told that nothing had yet been 
 heard of it. After paying his respects to Colonel Kerleree, the then 
 Governor of Louisiana, he secured pleasant lodgings, and proceeded in- 
 dustriously to discharge the duties of his mission. The Governor court- 
 eously took charge of his despatches, to transmit them, with his own, to 
 the JNIinister of Marine by special messenger. Overhauling and refitting 
 his boats; keeping his crews of boatsmen under control; receiving, re- 
 ceipting for, assorting and stowing away his cargoes of munitions, and 
 supplies of various kinds, occupied his time for many days. Though he
 
 237 
 
 was the recipient of man}- invitations from the Governor, officers, and 
 citizens, to dinners, balls, and other social entertainments, he declined 
 all that he well could on different pretexts, feeling that in his state of 
 mental anxiety they would afford him no pleasure, and he could not 
 acquit himself as a guest with credit. 
 
 He arose every morning with the sun, and took long walks along the 
 river levee, or about the straggling town; and often during the day he 
 scanned the great river southward hoping to catch sight of an incoming 
 ship. Occasionally he was elated by seeing in the distance a sail slowly 
 moving toward the landing. With feverish impatience he awaited its 
 arrival, to be again overcome with disappointment when it proved to not 
 be the vessel he was expecting, nor bringing any news of it. One evening, 
 after an unusually busy day, he again, as was now his custom, sought the 
 river side, with a lingering hope of perhaps gaining some tidings of 
 those he longed to see. As he approached the river he was astonished 
 on seeing a large ship moored near the wharf, from which its passengers 
 and their luggage were being put ashore. The setting sun had touched 
 the line of verdure that fringed the western river bank, and its departing 
 rays converted the broad surface of the stream into a sheet of burnished 
 gold. The resplendent beauty of the scene, however, was lost to the 
 Lieutenant as he hurried to the water's edge to see the name of the vessel. 
 He saw it painted in large letters above the rudder, and almost sank 
 from revujsion of overwrought hope again blasted. The name he read 
 was not "L'Etoile du Nord", but "La Cygne", and, as he soon learned, 
 from Bordeaux, France, having touched on the way in at Fort Eoyale, 
 in Martinique. Eallying his drooping spirits he clambered aboard to 
 make inquiries for the object of his weary watching. Accosting the 
 Skipper of the vessel, he asked if he could give him any information 
 of "L'Etoile du Xord" that sailed from Brest four months ago. The 
 burly old seaman, apprised by the questioner's uniform, that he was a 
 military officer in the King's service, touched his cap, and answ^ered 
 courteously, regretting that he knew nothing of the ship; but said his 
 Commis (Purser) over there perhaps did; and added, so far as he knew, 
 that craft had not been heard from since it left the French port. The 
 Purser, a brisk young man, busy with pencil and entry book, overheard 
 the question and the Skipper's answer, and without looking up from his 
 book and papers, said, "Is it of tlio French ship, L'Etoile du Xord, 
 Monsieur is enquiring?" 
 
 "Oui, oui", gasped the Lieutenant, "can you tell me wlicre she 
 now is?" 
 
 "Yes"; answered the young man, between rapid strokes of his pencil, 
 "she is in the bay of St. Pierre, in Martinique, undergoing repairs, hav- 
 ing had a disastrous transit of the ocean. One of her passengers who 
 came aboard this ship at Fort Eoyale, and has not yet gone ashore, can 
 probably give you any additional information you may desire". 
 
 With great effort to appear calm the Lieutenant asked the busy 
 Commis if he would lie so kiiul as to point out to him the person men- 
 tioned. 
 
 "Certainly, Monsieur ; there is the man, in white clothing and broad 
 brimmed hat, sitting on the chest by the main mast". 
 
 LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF laiNOIS 
 ^T URBANA- CHAMPAIGN
 
 238 
 
 The individual in white clothing, a middle aged man of gaunt frame, 
 with grizzled hair and thin sallow face, evidently emaciated bj- prolonged 
 sickness, was instantly confronted by the agitated young officer, who 
 asked : 
 
 "^'ere you a passenger from France on L'Etoile du Nord?" 
 
 "Yes, Monsieur, I was", the man dryly answered. 
 
 "Tell me, please, were Pierre Lepage and his family on that vessel?" 
 was the next anxious inquiry. 
 
 "They were", said the man with ominous emphasis on the "were". 
 
 "Can you inform me where they now are?" faintly asked the ques- 
 tioner. 
 
 "Yes. Monsieur, I can", replied the weary looking individual, 
 "they are all three dead and at the bottom of the sea". 
 
 "Mon Dieu-" gasped young Saucier, "that surely cannot be pos- 
 sible''. 
 
 "Yes : it is indeed possible, and too true. Did you know them. 
 Monsieur ?" 
 
 To, this question the Lieutenant responded that he did. 
 
 "Pardon me. Monsieur", added the stranger, eyeing him closely, 
 "may I ask who you are?" 
 
 "I am Jean Baptiste Saucier, from Lachapelle, near Orleans, in 
 France, now in the King's military service''. 
 
 "Ah, yes, yes", remarked the man musingly, "and so you was not 
 slain by the Lidians as was reported? I see how v'ou knew Pierre Le- 
 page and wife. They kept house for your father, whom I knew well; 
 and I remember you when a school boy at the village near by your 
 father's place. My name is Isadore Brusier. I lived in Tours, and my 
 business occasionally called me to Orleans, and there I became acquaint- 
 ed Avith your father and his son Louis" 
 
 "Pardon me. Monsieur Bruiser", interrupted Jean Baptiste, "but 
 please tell me of the fate of the Lepages". 
 
 "'Ah- Mon cher enfant", feelingly replied M. Brusier, becoming 
 ([uite communicative, now that he kneAv to whom he was talking, "I 
 have a very sad story to tell you. You have, I presume, heard of the 
 death of your father? Yes; Aveli, after his burial, his estate was sold 
 for partition and passed into possession of strangers; so Lepage con- 
 cluded to leave France and seek a new home in America. About that 
 time — fortunately after your father death — the report came that 5'ou 
 had been killed in battle Avith the savages. This report, believed by all 
 to be true, very nearly caused Lepage to give up the voyage and remain 
 in France, — and would to God that he had done so ! But his prepara- 
 tions AA-ere completed, and he Avent to Brest with his Avife and daughter, 
 and took passage on the ill-fated ship on Avhich my brother and myself 
 embarked. 
 
 "The voyage, though tedious, was not unpleasant until Ave had 
 traversed about tAvo-thirds of the way. Avheu Ave were struck by a terrific 
 storm, coming from the northeast, that continued Avitli unabated fury, 
 for six days. Two of the seamen Avere Avashed, or blown aAvay, as was 
 also the main mast ; and the ship sprung a leak that threatened to sink 
 us to the l)ottom. We could do nothing Init keep the vessel in line Avith
 
 239 
 
 the course of the gale, and that carried us far out of our way in tlio 
 direction of Brazil. It is well that L'Etoile du Xord was staunch and 
 well built, else none of us would have ever reached dry land — and not 
 many of us did, as it turned out. 
 
 •'But we all worked the pumps, night and day, and kept afloat. 
 "When the storm at length abated, and the raging sea subsided, the leak 
 m the hull was securely closed, and by crowding on all the sails the two 
 remaining masts could carry, we regained our course and made fair 
 licad way," being driven by the African tradewinds. All this was bad 
 enough ; but as nothing compared to what fate yet had in store for us. 
 
 •'What with calms, and storm and very slow sailing we had been 
 on the sea for three months or more. Our supplies of water and pro- 
 visions were running low; but we were all well, and buoyed up by the 
 expectation of soon sighting some one of the West India Islands. The 
 weather was intensely hot and the little water remaining in our casks 
 was scarcely fit to drink. Suddenly, one day, one of the passengers was 
 taken violently sick, and soon died. Then another was prostrated with 
 the same symptoms and lived but a short time. Then we realized the 
 appalling fact that the plague* had broken out among us and we were 
 doomed to destruction by this horrid pestilence. Lepage was among 
 the first victims, and lived but twenty-four hours. He was always jovial 
 and good humored, and by his fine flow of spirits, had materially miti- 
 gated the dreariness of the voyage, and greatly aided in sustaining the 
 flagging hopes and courage of all on board throughout all our troubles. 
 "We gently lowered his body into the sea; but had no time to indulge 
 our grief, as he was quickly followed by others. 
 
 •^"Tlie terrible disease attacked the strong as well as the weak, the 
 old and the young alike, with pitiless severity. The only mercy it ex- 
 tended was to render its victims speedily unconscious. The ship's cap- 
 tain, surgeon, half the crew, and more than, half of the passengers fell 
 before the awful scourge and were consigned to the deep. Madame 
 Lepage. Avho had been untiring in ministering to the sick and dying, was 
 spared for some time ; but, at length she was stricken down and soon 
 breathed her last, following Pierre to an unmarked grave. We were 
 now approaching the West India Islands, and very eager to reach land 
 — any land — so that those of us who survived might abandon the in- 
 fected vessel and flee to the shore for our lives. Only a day and a night 
 after we had given to the Avaves the body of Marie Lepage, her daughter. 
 Adel. already exhausted by grief and attention to the sick, was seized 
 by tlie dreadful epidemic, and quickly succumbed to its deadly viru- 
 lence. T was bathing her head with sea water, in her death struggles, 
 when all at once I felt very sick. The ship seemed to be rapidly whirl- 
 ing around; everything became dark, and I fell to the deck unconscious. 
 
 "When I awoke, as though from a long, troubled sleep, I was in a 
 large shed-like house thatched with palm leaves, on the highlands in the 
 northern part of the island of Martinique, where my brother, who was 
 of the number not attacked by the plague, had me immediately brought 
 from the ship — we having entered the Bay of St. Pierre, in that island a 
 few hours after I had fallen. There he and others took care of me until 
 
 Probably a virulent form of Asiatic cholera.
 
 240 
 
 I recovered. My brother having secured employment at Fort Royale 
 will remain there until winter and then join me here where we will en- 
 gage in business. As soon as the anchor was dropped in the Bay of St. 
 Pierre my brother had me carried to the highest part of the island — as 
 far as he could go from the death smitten ship — without stopping, and 
 I have seen none of our surviving fellow-passengers since. I learned, 
 however, before leaving Fort Eoyale, that L'Etoile du Kord was at once 
 deserted by all the survivors aboard, and is still in the Bay of St. Pierre 
 being thoroughly repaired." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 A Brush with Southekx Ixdiaxs. 
 
 Lieutenant Saucier sat as though stupefied while listening to Mon- 
 sieur Brusier's startling narrative, and only by a mighty effort could he 
 control his emotions when the narrator depicted the closing scene of 
 Adel's young life. How he left the La Cygne and got back to his quar- 
 ters in the town he never could remember. In the solitude of his room 
 he contended with his great grief through the sleepless, restless, night. 
 He was literally prostrated with the weight of sorrow that taxed all his 
 fortitude to bear. His glowing day dreams were cruelly dissipated, and 
 even hope had vanished and left him dismally alone in the world with 
 nothing further to live for. The next morning was ushered in with 
 rain; and dense black clouds covered the sky like a pall, as though the 
 very elements were testifying their sympathy with the young soldier's 
 ^Aoeful wretchedness. Pleading indisposition, he remained in his room 
 and excused himself to all who called on him. In the evening a messen- 
 ger from the Governor informed him that the company of recruits foi" 
 the force at Fort Chartres, he "^vas expecting, had arrived, and begged 
 him to call at the executive office next morning to arrange for their 
 transportation up the river. This had some effect to divert his mind 
 from, and somewhat relieve it of, the dark gloom that had fallen upon 
 him. 
 
 The next morning, he arose early, as usual, resolved, if possible, 
 not to be overcome by his misfortunes; but to assert his manhood, and 
 continue the conflicts of life with all the firmness he possessed. At the 
 appointed hour he called at the Governor's office with little, if any, exter- 
 nal indication of the soul-racking torture he was enduring. Arrange- 
 ments for additional boats and provisions were perfected in a few days; 
 and then, having neither incentive or desire to longer remain in the 
 melancholy place, he hurried the preparations for his departure as 
 rapidly as possible. In less than a week after his interview with the 
 Governor he was ready to start, courting, rather than dreading, the 
 perils and hardships that he knew awaited him. 
 
 x\.s the prevailing winds at that time of the year are from the south, 
 Lieutenant Saucier concluded to try the experiment, when they blew 
 with sufficient force from that direction, of utilizing them in propelling 
 his boats. Accordingly he caused a light, strong and movable mast to 
 be stepped in each of his pirogues, rigged with spars and sails. Several
 
 241 
 
 of his recruits, enlisted about the seaport towns of France, were familiar 
 with the management of sailboats, and these he installed as his navi- 
 gators. 
 
 At length all was in readiness, his bills were all settled, his cargoes 
 snngly stowed in the boats, and his round of farewell calls ended. His 
 men were in superb condition for service, and at the dawn of one of the 
 closing days of July, he left 'New Orleans with his fleet having every 
 sail set and filled by a stiff breeze from the Gulf. Not a sail was furled 
 during the entire day, and they proved valuable adjuncts to the oars. 
 The sun in setting must have passed the new moon, as it appeared in 
 the early, twilight a little yvny above the western horizon, and was pro- 
 nounced by the sages amojig the crews, a "dry" moon, angering a pro- 
 pitious voyage and pleasant weather. The river was at that season at 
 its lowest stage, and its current, in consequence, at its slowest rate: so, 
 the progress of the flotilla, if not rapid, was quite satisfactory. In pro- 
 pelling the boats the men had regular relays at the oars, and when off 
 duty, some slept, others fished, and a few, with musical talent, enlivened 
 tiie toil of their comrades with exhilirating strains of the violin. 
 
 Everything went w^ell until the mouth of the Arkansas was passed. 
 Indians at several places along the river, had come to the boats in their 
 canoes in friendship, to beg, or to barter game they had killed for calico 
 and brass ornaments; but though manifesting no unfriendly disposition 
 then they were known to be treacherous and utterly unreliable. To 
 guard against night attacks of hostile savages ashore — for there was no 
 danger whatever from them in midstream, or in day time — keelboatmen 
 cautiously landed on one side of the river in the evening, or on an island, 
 and there made fires and spread their meals. Then exting-uishing the 
 fires, resumed their course for a short distance, and tied up on the oppo- 
 site shore until morning. 
 
 On the evening of the fourth day after having passed the mouth 
 of the Arkansas river, the sky became heavily overcast with dark clouds, 
 and the rumbling thunder and vivid lighting were sure harbingers of an 
 approaching storm. The boats that had been lined up on the Arkansas 
 side of the river for the evening repast, were hastily cast loose, and, as 
 customary, rowed to the opposite side, in the rain and darkness, and 
 made fast to the overhanging trees there for the night. Not an Indian 
 had been seen during the day on either side of the river; or any indi- 
 cation of their presence observed anywhere. By the time the boats were 
 secured to the river bank, and the tarpaulins drawn over each, the rain 
 (iescended in torrents, and continued for the greater part of the night. 
 
 At early dawn next morning, the rain had ceased, but the sky was 
 still obscured by clouds, and the air was hot and sultry. The men, glad 
 to escape from the sweltering confinement of the boats, leaped ashore 
 with the first rays of light in the east, and began to kindle fires to pre- 
 pare their breakfast. A few of them had the precaution to take their 
 arms with them as they left the boats, probably from force of habit. Of 
 this number was Lieutenant Saucier, who never went ashore without his 
 tiiisty carbine. While all were busily engaged in search of fuel dry 
 enough to feed the flickering fires, they w^ere suddenly assailed by a 
 
 —16 H S
 
 243 
 
 shower of bullets from the surrounding trees and undergrowth, followed 
 by a chorus of unearthly yells and whoops, as a large band of hideously 
 painted savages rushed wildly upon them. The few Frenchmen armed 
 stood their ground, and with steady aim returned the fire of their assail- 
 ants as they advanced, then clubbing their guns went fearlessly into 
 the fight. Those without their arms fled to the boats to secure them, 
 and very soon returned with the balance of their comrades who had not 
 before landed, all well armed, and lost no time in coming to the siipport 
 of those holding the Indians at bay. They charged upon the horde of 
 red demons, who had not had time to reload their guns, with such fury, 
 that the}' fell back, and scattered in full retreat. In this brief but 
 spirited engagement the Frenchmen fought with the courage and pre- 
 cision of well-trained veterans. They followed up the advantage their 
 first charge gave them, and advanced in quick time, firing at the retreat- 
 ing foe as long as one of them could be seen. At the first appearance 
 of the Indians, Lieutenant Saucier fired and killed the one nearest him ; 
 then seizing his carbine by its muzzle he brained the next one, and struck 
 right and left, at the same time cheering his men on, until his reinforce- 
 ments came up, when he led them on until the enemy was dispersed. 
 He was twice wounded, but not seriously, and was not aware of having 
 received any injury until the fight was all over. The Frenchmen lost 
 l)ut one man, one of the new recruits was killed, but several of the others 
 were more or less severely wounded. Seven of the Indians were left dead 
 on the gTound, and several more so badly wounded they could not escape, 
 and they, the infuriated boatmen despatched without mercy. They 
 breakfasted without further molestation, then pushed off, continuing 
 their voyage, taking with them the body of the dead soldier which they 
 buried at evening on the western side of the river. The wounded were 
 made as comfortable as possible, and they proceeded, with more caution, 
 and without further incident or accident, to their destination. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Death of the Commandant's Daughtek. 
 
 The first frosts of early autumn had tinged the dark green maples 
 with scarlet and gold, and" the ripening hickory nuts and pecans were 
 beginning to fall, when the long line of boats were drawn up to the Fort 
 landing. The commander of the successful expedition, Avho had not yet 
 recovered entirely from his wounds, looked haggard and careworn. 
 Leaving the boats, he marched the recruits, not disabled from wounds 
 or sickness, to the barrack.s, and then repaired to the Commandant's 
 quarters. His knock at the door was answered by Lisette who to his 
 hurried inquiries, told him her young mistress was very low, and daily 
 failing in vitality; also, that as" long as she could speak she had asked 
 about him every day, and prayed that she might see him again before 
 she was called away to her mother. Following the devoted servant into 
 the sick chamber he was shocked upon seeing the ravages wrought l^y the 
 unrelenting disease during his absence. The sunken cheeks flushed with 
 hectic fever, the glistening eyes, the cruel, persistent cough and hot, dry 
 hands, plainly told that the fair young girl was doomed and her life
 
 243 
 
 nearing its close. She spoke his name in a husky whisper as she extended 
 her thin bloodless hand, and a gleam of radiant joy lighted her wan 
 features Avhen he pressed it, and implanted a kiss upon her forhead. 
 She was too far exhausted to speak to him; but the mute eloquence of 
 her expression assured him that his presence afforded her real comfort 
 and happiness. Almost heartbroken already by M. Brusier's narrative, 
 the pathetic sadness of Eulalie's condition very nearly overpowered him. 
 All the strength he could command was required to control his feelings 
 while by her side, and not add to her distress by an exhibition of emo- 
 tional weakness. With great effort he appeared cheerful, and tried to 
 speak to her in the pleasant, airy strain of other days — and partially 
 succeeded. But he could not long sustain this imnatural simulation, 
 and, with a promise to call again in a short time, he took leave of her 
 and hurried to his own quarters, and there found relief in unmanly tears 
 that could no longer be repressed. 
 
 The arrival of the boats with stores, mails and recruits, was an. 
 exciting event at the Fort. From the Commandant down to the serv- 
 ants, all were elated and eager to hear an account of the voyage, and 
 learn what was going on in the outer world. The pirogues were unloaded 
 and sent back to Kaskaskia ; the sick and wounded were carried to their 
 separate wards in the hospital ; the munitions were safely placed in the 
 magazine, and other supplies in the store rooms; and the voluminous 
 mail matter promptly distributed. Lieutenant Saucier was weak and 
 still suffering from his wounds, and sorely depressed in mind; but re- 
 fused to be billeted by the post surgeon to the hospital, and applied him- 
 self as diligently as his condition permitted to writing the report of his 
 transactions in Xew Orleans, and of his fight with the Indians, and all 
 other important incidents of his memorable" descent and ascent of the 
 gi"eat river. He visited Eulalie every day as often as his duties per- 
 mitted, and experienced some assuagement of the oppressive affliction 
 he was bearing in silence, by his efforts to soothe and mollify the fleeting 
 hours of her waning life. He recounted his adventures on the river, 
 and told her of amusing incidents and strange sights he had witnessed 
 at New Orleans; and by interesting her in that way sought to detract 
 her attention from the gloom and misery of her mournful fate. 
 
 A week, or more, had passed since the arrival of the boats at the 
 Fort, and the commotion that event caused had gi-adually subsided to 
 the ordinary routine life of the post. One beautiful morning in the 
 mellow haze of lovely Indian summer, the bright sunshine streaming 
 through the invalid's open, window, and the soft, invigorating breeze 
 fanned her wasted form, the Lieutenant sat b)^ her side with her small 
 hand clasped in his ; her brilliant blu.e eyes were fixed upon his sad face, 
 a sweet smile played upon her pallid lips, and then, without sigh or 
 tremor, her spirit took its flight, so gently and quietly that, for several 
 moments, those around her could scarcely realize that the struggle was 
 ended. 
 
 "Eulalie is dead", was whispered throughout the garrison, and all 
 was hushed; all labor suspended; the flag floating from the highest 
 bastion was lowered to half mast and the great fortress became at once 
 a house of mourning. They draped her cold body in robes of spotless 
 white, and laid it in state in the large hall, where she had, in hoaltb.
 
 244 
 
 reigued as queen of the dance and joj^ous festivities, and received the 
 homage of all in her social realm. Then placed in a coffin covered with 
 white velvet, they conveyed her to the church in Kaskaskia, preceded by 
 a guard of honor with arms reversed, the flag craped and drums muffled, 
 followed by all the officers and ladies of the Fort, and a large concourse 
 of civilians from the adjacent settlements. After the sacred offices of 
 the priests she was tenderly consigned to the grave in the village ceme-' 
 tery near the church and buried with military honors. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Defeat of Washington at Fort Necessity. 
 
 The grand object to be the attained in rebuilding Fort Chartres 
 was the permanent security' of French possessions on the Mississippi, 
 and, incidentally, the maintenance of peace. But the great work was 
 not completed when hostilities between England and France again com- 
 menced. Their respective military forces in America, ever at variance, 
 were not long in engaging in earnest conflict. In the month of May, 
 1754, one George Washington, a Virginian, in the service of the English 
 King, commanding a body of militia from his native state, then stationed 
 in Pennsylvania, surprised Coulon de Jumonville with a small detach- 
 ment of French soldiers, near the Youghiogeny, (not far from the pres- 
 ent city of Connellsville, in Fayette county), and defeated him, Jumon- 
 ville falling at the first fire, shot through the head.* 
 
 The report of this affair, and its resultant disaster to the French 
 arms, when received at Fort Chartres produced the wildest consterna- 
 tion, and fired the military ardor of the inactive garrison. ISTeyon de 
 Villiers, the senior Captain of Chevalier Makarty's command, a brother- 
 in-law of Jumonville, asked leave of the Commandant to march to the 
 scene of conflict and assist in avenging the death of his relative and re- 
 gaining the lost prestige of France in that quarter. This leave he readily 
 obtained; and, with alacrity, began his preparations for the expedition. 
 
 To the depressed mind of Lieutenant Saucier the excitement and 
 hazard of this undertaking offered alluring promise of relief. He felt 
 willing to undergo any hardships; or risk any danger that would tend 
 to revive his broken spirits and divert his thoughts from the sad occur- 
 rences of the past few months.' He volunteered his services, and was 
 granted permission by the Commandant to accompany Capt. de Villiers 
 as one of his Lieutenants. A hundred picked men were selected and 
 fully equipped with everything necessary for the long journey. The 
 boats were overhauled and put in order. Embarking, they proceeded 
 down the Mississippi, then up the Ohio to Fort du Quesne, where they 
 joined the force of Coulon de Villiers, an elder brother of the Captain. 
 They there organized their men in four companies under trusted offi- 
 cers, and sallied forth in the quest of the enemy. Washington, apprised, 
 by Indians friendly to the Britisli, of the advancing French, retreated 
 to the Great Meadow, a short distance from the spot where he had as- 
 sassinated Ensign Jumonville, a short time before. There he sought 
 safety in Fort Necessity, a temporary defense of little strength, and 
 
 • "Judge it as we may, this obscure skirmish began the war that set tlie world 
 on fire." Montcalm and Wolf. By Francis Parkman. Vol. 1. p. 150.
 
 245 
 
 awaited the avengers. lie had not long to wait. De Villiers was soou 
 upon him, and investing his entrenchments, poured in upon him a mur- 
 derous fire from all sides. The engagement lasted nine hours. Wash- 
 ington seeing the futility of contending longer with such a superior and 
 determined foe, after a short parlay, surrendered. The French, mag- 
 nanimously permitted him to march out with side arms and camp equip- 
 age. In tills affair Washington lost twelve killed and forty-three wound- 
 ed. He returned to the east side of the AUeghanies, leaving not an 
 Englishman or English flag on their western side. On leaving Fort 
 Necessity, Washington's Indian allies killed all his horses and cattle, 
 plundered his baggage, knocked his medicine chest in pieces, and killed 
 and scalped two of his wounded men. Left with no means of trans- 
 portation his men were obliged to carry their sick and wounded on their 
 backs.* He commenced his retreat on the fourth of July, a day after- 
 ward made glorious to a new born nation. The Fort Chartres contin- 
 gent returned to the Mississippi flushed with victory, and without loss 
 of a man. 
 
 They received a royal welcome from the garrison, and their suc- 
 cessful humiliation of Mr. Washington and his loyal militia was cele- 
 brated in all the settlements around the Fort with prolonged festivities. 
 
 Xot long after the return of this expedition a courier arrived at the 
 Fort from Montreal with important despatches from the home govern- 
 ment and from the Governor General of Canada. Among those papers 
 were commissions of promotion, as rewards, for several of the officers 
 and men who had faithfully discharged their duties in the erection of 
 the new Fort. Of those thus rewarded by the King, Major ]\Iakarty was 
 advanced to the rank of Colonel, and Lieutenant Saucier to that of 
 Captain. 
 
 English emissaries were soon busy among the Indians all through 
 the west attempting to win them over to their cause. And by liberal 
 presents, more liberal promises, and misrepresentations, were successful 
 in seducing several of the tribes from their allegiance to, and friendship 
 for, the French. This change of policy by the savages caused much 
 imcasiness and some trouble at Fort Chartres. A British invasion was 
 among the possibilities expected; but no immediate danger of a general 
 uprising of Illinois Indians was apprehended. Yet, the scattered settle- 
 ments required protection, particularly from threatened inroads of the 
 Chickasaws about the mouth of the Ohio river. Companies were de- 
 tailed for police duty to different points, and .frequent excursions were 
 made in the interior of the country by detachments of soldiers to punish 
 marauding bands of Indians. Chevalier de Yolsci and his men having 
 been ordered to Canada, Major Makarty sent Capt. Saucier to take com- 
 mand of the fort at Cahokia. This stockade was situated near the center 
 of the village just across the road from the church, and was spacious 
 enough to contain the entire population of the town in case resort to it 
 for protection was at any time necessary, f Captain Saucier was quite 
 
 • Montcalm and Wolf. By Francis Parkman. Vol. 1. pp. 147-161. 
 
 t In the course of certain improvements on the old .Jarnot place in Cahokia, 
 made in 1890 by Nicholas McCracken, the proprietor, there was dug up part of a 
 large mulberry post, much decayed, believed to have been one of the gate posts 
 of the fort, planted there 150 years before.
 
 240 
 
 a favorite among the Caliokians; and while commanding there was very 
 successful, not in fighting the discontented Indians, but in pacifying 
 them and regaining their friendship. 
 
 When spring returned peace prevailed throughout the Illinois, and 
 the scattered soldiers were recalled to the Fort. The tribes in upper 
 Louisiana; or, more properly, along the Mississippi river below the Ohio, 
 however, were reported to have joined the English — as all the eastern 
 colonists were called — , and were harassing the whites engaged in navi- 
 gation of the river. One of the first pirogues enroute for New Orleans 
 was captured by them, and its crew were all slain. 
 
 The time had again arrived for dispatching the boats to Xew Or- 
 leans for the garrison's annual supplies. In the then hostile attitude 
 of the southern Indians, it was necessary to select for this service men 
 of tried courage and en^lurance, and a commander of prudence, firmness 
 and experience.' Besides the supplies that might be drawn from the 
 Quartermaster's and Commissary's departments in New Orleans, it 
 would be necessary to purchase considerable quantities of stores there 
 for the troops at the Fort. There were also expected at New Orleans 
 important despatches, and a large sum of money, from France, for the 
 Commandant, and Paymaster at the Fort ; and it was very desirable that 
 all these valuables should be brought up the river in safety. 
 
 After pondering the matter over for sometime. Col. Makarty sent 
 for Captain Saucier, and asked him if he would undertake the manage- 
 ment of the voyage, stating that he would not detail him for that service 
 if he preferred not to go; but that he would regard it a personal favor 
 if he would accept the perilous office. The Captain answered, without 
 hesitation, that he was one of the King's soldiers, ready at any time to 
 go wherever required, and this duty would suit him as well as any. 
 
 The late spring rains had long since ceased. The waters had re- 
 ceded from the low, overflowed lands, to the lowest level of their ac- 
 customed channels. The sandbars had reapjoeared with barren promi- 
 nence above the river's surface, when Capt. Saucier repaired to Kas- 
 kaskia, and put his fleet of boats in readiness, as before. He was fortu- 
 nate in finding the best men of his former crews, whom he engaged ; and 
 taking from the Fort a few of the most reliable enlisted men who were 
 with him on his former voyage, he once more bid adieu to the Illinois, 
 and set his flotilla in the current of the great river. He again took his 
 departure Avhen the young moon was a silvered crescent about to drop 
 into the dark western forest; choosing this phase of that orl) for leaving, 
 not from superstitious notions; but becaiise he would have light at night 
 for some time, enabling him to continue his course with the least possible 
 delays. 
 
 At only two points on the river were hostile demonstrations made 
 by the Indians, and these he repulsed without trouble, being constantly 
 on his guard. By the exercise of cool judgment and careful manage- 
 ment he reached his destination in comparatively a short time, without 
 casualties, or encountering extraordinary hardships.
 
 347 
 
 (TTAPTER XI. 
 J N N K w Oh lea n s Ag a j x . 
 
 Thiity-seveii years had passed since the first settlement was made at 
 Xevr Orleans by Bienville; and it was already a pretentious town*, the 
 metropolis of all the vast territory claimed by the French Crown from 
 the Gulf to the great northern lakes; and the commercial and niilitaiy 
 gateway to all that region. The primitive architecture of the place gave 
 it the appearance of an irregular collection of huts with streaks of mud 
 for streets. Yet, that early, much wealth was concentrated there, which 
 — as in older communities — had the effect of creating social distinctions 
 among its people. Squalor and poverty were conspicuous in some quar- 
 ters of the place, while in others Parisian opulence and splendor, and 
 Parisian styles and fashions were lavishly displayed. An aristocratic 
 class had been fostered there by the late Governor of Louisiana, Pierre 
 de Eegaud, Marquis do Yaudreuil, who, a short time before, was trans- 
 ferred to Quebec as Governor General, of Canada, superceding there M. 
 de Gallisoniere. De Vaudreuil's pomp and state; his sumptuous style 
 of living, punctilious etiquette and courtly manners, which found many 
 servile imitators, caused his official residence, or chateau, on Eue Pon- 
 chartrain, to be named by the populace "Le Petite Versailles"'. The 
 shipping interests of the town were represented by large and connnodi- 
 ous warehouses, and the many gay shops and elegant stores gave evidence 
 of commercial prosperity. The Jesuits were there, of course, since 1727 ; 
 i)ut the only edifices yet erected by the church were the Ursuline Con- 
 vent, Hospital, and Chapel. Xew Orleans was made the capital of Louis- 
 iana in 1721. On going ashore from his boat, near the spot where the 
 Captain had met Monsieur Brusier when last here, the memory of that 
 gentleman's doleful story was revived, with thp wretched dispiriting 
 effect he had experienced when listening to it. A feeling of extreme 
 misery crept over him as he reviewed the cru^l fate of those he loved, 
 his blighted hopes, and lonely life. The vision of two angelic young 
 creatures, now still in death, whose love had ilhmiined his soul and lent 
 a charm to existence, arising before him, with the shades of his revered 
 father and foster parents beyond — all now gone forever — almost over- 
 powered him with a sense of heart-rending despondency. Philosophy, 
 however, came to his rescue. It argued to him that nothing could be 
 gained by repining and brooding over ill-fortune. The dead were beyond 
 his reach, the living had claims upon him, and he was yet young enough 
 to dispel the incubus of grief, and to benefit humanity and his country. 
 Kallying all the strength of his resolute mind, he determined to hide 
 his sorrows in the recesses of his own thoughts, and act to the be'st of 
 his abilities, the part assigned him in the world's affairs. 
 
 To further this resolve, he concluded no longer to mope in seclusion ; 
 but to reenter society, and seek forgetfulness in its pastimes and frivoli- 
 ties. This course, he correctly judged, would be the most effective to 
 banish melancholy. Social gaieties and amusements in IS'ew Orleans 
 were not, in that era, restricted to certain seasons. There was then no 
 
 * By the close of the year 1752, forty-five brick houses had been built in Xew 
 Orleans. Gayarre's History of Louisiana.
 
 248 
 
 liegira of the favored class to northern watering places, or seaside re- 
 sorts, during the heated term; but pleasure there, considered — next to 
 obtaining the necessities of life — the chief duty of existence, its pursuit, 
 jU feasting, dajicing and visiting, was always in order from one Christ- 
 mas to another. 
 
 The Captain's presence in town was soon generally known, and 
 but little time was left him to feel lonely. His military rank, his youth, 
 manly figure and handsome features, with his gentlemanly bearing and 
 manners, made him a desirable acquaintance; and the knowledge that 
 he was an accredited government agent disbursing large sums of money 
 for military supplies, gave him ready admission into the highest circles 
 of society, in which he soon became conspicuous. He was lionized by the 
 wealthy mercenary traders, by the educated and refined, and also b}^ 
 shrewd mothers having marriageable daughters. By accepting pressing- 
 invitations from all quarters, he was quickly inducted to the whirlpool 
 of social entertainments, and was in a short time, one of society's chief 
 attractions. He was a graceful dancer and interesting talker, and ever 
 ready to take part in current amusements ; but detested the coarse revelry 
 and dissipation of the barracks and messroom. 
 
 Among the wholesale dealers and importers whose stocks of goods 
 he inspected preliminary to making his purchases, was a merchant 
 named Antoine Delorme, one of the wealthiest citizens of the town, a 
 leader in its business circles, and an affable, hospitable gentleman. His 
 residence on Eue Ponchartrain, in what was then known as the aristo- 
 cratic quarter, ,was exteriorly plain, but' large, roomy, and furnished 
 interiorly with taste and munificence. Patterned after the gaudy man- 
 sion of the former Governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, it had all the 
 appointments and accessories of luxurious comfort that wealth could 
 provide, including a retinue of negro slaves perfectly trained for personal 
 and domestic service. 
 
 Monsieur Delorme's ■ family comprised only his wife and daughter, 
 at home. Another daughter, who was married, resided in France, and a 
 son, also married, was the principal merchant and shipowner in St. 
 Pierre, on the island of Martinique. Madam Delorme was, in many re- 
 spects, the antithesis of her husband. He had married her when both 
 were young and poor, from a social stratum below that to which his 
 parents belonged. She was a peasant's daughter, coarse, illiterate, and 
 a stranger to the usages of refined society in which he had been nurtured. 
 But she was a pretty girl, strong, healthy, industrious, and a shrewd, 
 economical household manager. She had proven an efficient coadjutor 
 in the accumulation of his large fortune, a true wife and exemplary 
 mother. Advancing age had wrought serious changes in her girlish 
 figure and rustic beauty ; and. her altered station in life had developed 
 the, too common, arrogance and foolish vanity of riches displayed by 
 vulgar people becoming wealthy. She was corpulent, florid and broad- 
 faced, and spoke very ungrammatically ; but dressed in fine, showy clothes 
 made in the height of fashion, that illy became her rotund form, and 
 wore a profusion of flashy, costly jewelry. Coming, as she had, from the 
 mudsills of society, she seemed to have forgotten her early hardships and 
 privations, and now looked down upon the plebeians with uncharitable 
 contempt.
 
 249 
 
 Her daughter, Maiu'selle Eosealie, the youngest of her children, was 
 reared in luxury and indolence, receiving considerable polish — if not 
 much erudition — in a French convent in Paris. Her face was pretty 
 but wanting in expression. With a tendency to obesity, she had in- 
 herited none of her mother's former energy and force, but all of her 
 mother's later weakness for fine raiment and sparkling ornaments. She 
 was blessed with an easy, good-natured disposition and pleasant voice; 
 was a fair musician, a voluble talker and fine entertainer. To secure 
 for this girl a husband of wealth, or rank — both preferably — was now the 
 object for which Madame Delorme lived. ISTo means were spared in 
 making her salons attractive, and eclipsing all others in the sumptuous- 
 uess and brilliancy of her entertainments, not excepting those of the 
 late Governor De Yaudreuil. Her balls and dinners were grand, and 
 her musicales and garden dejeuners superb. 
 
 Captain Saucier was not wealthy; but for business reasons, and 
 l)ecause of his official position in the King's service, he soon became a 
 frequent and welcome guest at the Delorme mansion. He was among 
 the first invited to the Madame's fetes and parties, and was always graci- 
 ously received when he dropped in, informally, to pass an hour in pleas- 
 ant chat with Mile. Eosealie. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Mysterious Wo^iax ix Black. 
 
 A month had passed since the Captain's arrival at Xew Orleans, in 
 which he had been busily employed every business hour each day. He 
 had made all his purchases, but was still detained awaiting the expected 
 despatches from France. Time however did not hang heavily on his 
 hands. He had formed many agreeable acquaintances who extended to 
 him the cordial hospitality of their homes, and vied with each other 
 in their efforts to enchance the pleasures of his visit. He received 
 flattering attentions in these charmed and charming circles, from the 
 ladies particularly, who allowed him but little opportunity for serious 
 retrospective reflection, and impressed upon him the axiom that hfe is 
 for the living and should be enjoyed while it lasts. 
 
 Calling one morning before the sun's rays became oppressive, at 
 the Delorme mansion, his knock at the door was answered, as usual, by 
 a colored servant who ushered him into the small parlor, or drawing 
 room, and then went to apprise her young mistress of his presence. As 
 he entered the room he casually glanced through the open folding doors 
 into the adjoining room and saw there a woman, apparently young, 
 sitting in a large alcove engaged in sewing. Her hands, he saw, were 
 white; but he did not see her face. She arose on his entrance into the 
 parlor, and gathering up her work basket and the material upon which 
 she was plying her needle, left the apartment without so much as glanc- 
 ing in his direction. He saw, as she flitted out of the room like a shadow, 
 that her tall, well-molded form was plainly but neatly dressed in black. 
 As Mile. Eosealie directly made her appearance, the woman in black 
 passed out of his mind, and the pampered daughter of fortune amused 
 and interested him for a time with her vivacious conversation and music. 
 
 The climate at Xew Orleans has not materially changed since the 
 administration of affairs there by the "Grand ^larquis" Yaudreuil, a
 
 250 
 
 century and a half ago. In the late summer the nights and morning.s 
 are pleasantly cool, with uncomfortable heat during the middle part of 
 the day. In the olden days, however, the rush and bustle of business 
 ol' the })resent time were imknown there, and through the heated hours 
 business pursuits and pleasure-seeking were suspended until a fall of 
 temperature in the evening. 
 
 A few days after the Captain's last morning call at the Delorme 
 abode, he was again there one evening with a gay party of young gentle- 
 men and ladies, who had met him on the street, and prevailed upon him 
 to accompany them. tSuch impromptu gatherings of young society people 
 were then of almost daily occurrence, and always highly enjoyed by 
 hostess and guests alike. While the Captain was recounting to a group 
 of girls some of his experiences in Kaskaskia and Cahokia society he 
 chanced to look, from the piazza where he sat, towards the flower garden, 
 and saw the same figure in black he had seen a few mornings before 
 sewing in the alcove, enter the garden from the street, by a side gate, 
 and passing through the shrubbery and flowers, disappear beyond the 
 rear angle of the building. She wore, as before, a plain, neatly-fitting, 
 black dress and her head was covered by a sunbonnet that concealed her 
 face. He looked at the retreating woman as long as she was in view, 
 though she seemed, from her garb, to occupy no higher station than 
 that of an upper menial — a hired seamstress perhaps — and of no conse- 
 quence. It may have been the striking contrast she jiresented to Mile. 
 Eosealie, in the perfect symmetry of her form and her graceful move- 
 ments, that attracted his attention and curiously interested him. On 
 two or three other occasions when at the Delorme mansion he again 
 caught glimpses of that mysterious retiring young woman in the dist- 
 ance ; and though he strove to dismiss her from his mind, as one in whom 
 he was in no manner concerned, she strangely impressed him, and he 
 found it difficult to suppress the desire to learn who she was. 
 
 The long looked for ship from France at length arrived, bringing 
 the expected despatches and mails. The Captain, much relieved, now 
 began earnestly to complete his final preparations for his long and 
 trying return voyage. Early and late he was in the large Delorme ware- 
 Jiouse, where his goods were stored, superintending and directing the 
 assorting and transferring of bales, boxes, and casks to the boats, and 
 seeing to arranging them there securely and compactly. 
 
 Coming into the spacious building on the first morning, to hurry 
 forward this work, he was hailed by old Michael Mallait, the clerk and 
 guardian genius of this department of the Delorme establishment who 
 had been in the Delorme ser^dce since its commencement, with this 
 cheery greeting : 
 
 "Ah! bon jour; bon jour; Monsieur le Capitaine. You are quite 
 well, I am happy to see. And, so, you are going to leave us, eh ?'' 
 
 "Yes, Uncle Michael ; I expect to bid New Orleans a long, and 
 perhaps last, farewell, on next Monday morning, Dieu volante," said the 
 Captain. 
 
 '^Ah ! mon eher fils", continued the old man, "we will all miss 
 you very much when you are gone ; and you don't know the devastation 
 your departure will cause here."
 
 251 
 
 "You are surely jesting, my friend; for M'hat cnlaniih' can my leav- 
 ing occasion?" 
 
 "Broken hearts among the demoiselles, of course/' answered the old 
 man, with a knowing smile; and then added; "I don't know how they 
 will manage to get along without you in their fine balls and parties. And 
 ]\[am"selle liosealie, poor thing! will be inconsolable in your absence". 
 
 "Bah !" retorted the Captain, with some impatience, "she will very 
 soon forget that I was ever here." This allusion to Rosealie reminded 
 him of the plainly-attired young woman he had now and then seen about 
 the Delorme premises, and seeing no impropriety in interrogating him 
 about her, he asked, "ISTow that I think of it, mon oncle ; can you tell me 
 who that strange young woman is, of whom I have sometimes caught 
 sight, up at the mansion?" 
 
 "No, I cannot; only this of her have I learned, that she has but 
 recently arrived here — since you came — , from France, I think, and that 
 she is a distant relative of Delorme's, an orphan, destitute, and trying to 
 support herself with her needle. I have heard her name, but cannot 
 now recall it. Of course she is not admitted into Mam'selle Eosealie's 
 set." 
 
 Their conversation then turned on business affairs and each was 
 soon engrossed in matters that concerned him most, and which gave them 
 ample occupation for the balance of the da5^ This routine work con- 
 tinued until Saturday evening, when the Captain had everything in 
 readiness to start away the next evening, or on Monday morning. His 
 boats were all in first class condition, each with its cargo in place ; his 
 arms and ammunition carefully inspected ; his bills all settled, and his 
 men at their respective posts ready for duty. He would have given the 
 order to shov« off that evening, but for the conscientious scruples of the 
 men, who could not agi'ee to embark on such a perilous journey without 
 first attending mass, and receiving absolution from the priest, on the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 The Captain had a snug little cabin fitted up in his boat, walled 
 around with bales and boxes, and covered with tarpaulin. At either end 
 Avas a small window looking fore and nft, a carpet covered the floor, and 
 a cosey bunk and a couple of chairs imparted to it an air of home-likel 
 comfort. The termination of his stay in Xew Orleans had arrived. He 
 had paid all of his farewell visits, and bid adieu to all his social and 
 business acquaintances including the Governor and military officers, 
 then gladly left his quarters in the town, and took possession of his cabin 
 and boat, prepared for the arduous task before him. 
 
 After retiring for^the night he reviewed the time he had just passed 
 in Xew Orleans ; the mission he had successfully accomplished, inter- 
 spersed and varied, as it had been, with many pleasant episodes, with 
 courtesies, and the respect and kindness accorded him by his many new 
 acquaintances, and many charming ladies. All this was gratifying to 
 his self-esteem. He found that he had gained much of his former cheer- 
 fulness and interest in life, and ambition for an honorable career. He 
 fell asleep congratulating himself that he had overcome the poignancy 
 of grief without impainnent of his loyalty to the memory of the dead, 
 successfully resisting the arts and blandishments of the city beauties.
 
 253 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 A Miraculous Escape From Death. 
 
 The golden light of the Sabbath dawn shone resplendent in the east 
 beyond Lake Borgne, and as the sun arose above the horizon, the cur- 
 tain of fog, settled on the bosom of the great river during the night, was 
 pJowly furled and floated away. 
 
 From force of habit, observed in camp, at the Fort, and on the 
 march, the Captain arose at the reveille hour. His daily practice while 
 sojourning in the town was to be up before the rising of the sun, and 
 take long walks before breakfast, for exercise. Sometimes he strolled 
 along the levee above the river bank ; or out to the lakes ; then again, he 
 walked through the noisy and odorous markets; or by the slumbering 
 residences and perfume-ladened flower gardens in the opulent quarter; 
 or among the lowly huts of the poor classes. 
 
 On this refreshing Sunday morning, seeing that everything about 
 the boats was quiet and in order, he took his course to the old Place d' 
 Armes, and then into the deserted streets, with no aim in view but to 
 look for the last time on some of the objects and localities he had become 
 familiar with. His unrestrained thoughts dwelled upon the possibili- 
 ties and probabilities of his voyage; then wandered to the more serious 
 problem of impending war with the English; mentally discussing its 
 consequences in the Illinois, and its ultimate results, and how it would 
 aft'ect his individual plans and aspirations, and in what way he might 
 best serve his King and country, and at the same time j^romote his own 
 interests. 
 
 He walked on slowly, in deep reverie, heedless of his course; past 
 the silent rows of closed shops and stores, and on through the little park, 
 or commons, then towards the Ursuline Convent and Chapel, seeing no 
 one astir but the devout few on their way to the Chapel to attend la has 
 messe, or matin services. Arousing himself from his meditations to take 
 his bearings and see where he had wandered to, he noted that he was 
 tlien passing the Chapel into which a few shuffling old people and young 
 girls were noiselessly creeping, like straggling bees into a hive. He 
 stopped, and concluded to retrace his steps, and regain the river and his 
 boats by the most direct route. He walked back a short distance, but 
 a sudden impulse caused him to again turn and continue in the direc- 
 tion he had been walking, as by that course he could, with a few detours, 
 reach the boat landing without much loss of time or distance. Going on 
 he passed by some of the better class residences where he had been, in 
 tiie last few weeks, royally entertained; and, for a moment felt a pang 
 of regret in exchanging those generous luxuries for the rough fare of 
 the river and camp. 
 
 A little farther on he came in sight of the well-known gables and 
 ]jiazzas, and spacious grounds, of the Delorme mansion now wrapped 
 in the stillness of profound repose. As he proceeded toward the house, 
 along the apology for a sidcAvalk, the side gate of the flower garden next 
 to the street suddenly opened, and the black-garbed figure of the young 
 woman he had occasionally seen about the mansion, emerged, with rosary 
 and prayer book in hand, and head bowed in devotional attitude, evi-
 
 253 
 
 dently ou her way to matiii worship at the Chapel. She came on toward 
 him with downcast eyes, walking slowly, as though in deep thought, or 
 burdened with some secret sorrow. Though penniless and alone in the 
 Avorld, and consigned by fate to a life of toil and obscurity, as old Michael 
 ]\Iallait represented her, she moved with grace and dignity strangely at 
 variance with her lowly station. 
 
 As they approached each other on the narrow walk, she raised her 
 eyes slightly as he was about to step aside to let her pass by. His gaze 
 was fixed upon her, and as she momentarily looked up he saw her face 
 for the first time. Starting back in bewildered amazement, he exclaimed 
 "Merciful God! Can this be but a mocking dream! Pardon me, 
 Madame, will you please tell me who you are? " She did not faint 
 or scream ; but stood — like a statue — transfixed Avith surprise. The color 
 left her cheeks for a moment, but regaining her presence of mind she 
 answered firmly, "My name is Adel Lepage." 
 
 ''Adel Lepage !'', he repeated, with agitation ; "But Monsieur 
 Brusier told me that my — that is — I mean — the Adel Lepage Avhom I 
 knew in France, died of the plague aboard the ship, L'Etoile du Nord, 
 at sea." 
 
 "I escaped death almost by a miracle"', said she; but, pray sir, who 
 are you?" 
 
 "I am Jean Baptiste Saucier", answered the Captain, as he clasped 
 the astonished girl in his arms. 
 
 "Oh ! Jean Baptiste", she cried half incredulously, "can it be pos- 
 sible that it is really you ? They told us you were killed by the savages, 
 and my poor parents and myself mourned for you Avith ))leeding hearts." 
 
 He turned and walked Avith her in the direction of the Chapel ; but 
 so intent were they with mutual explanations of causes Avhy they Avere 
 not dead, and accounts of events transpiring in their lives since they 
 had seen each other last, they passed the Chapel Avithout seeing it, and 
 proceeding to the Convent lawn sat down on one of the rustic seats there, 
 and continued their animated conversation perfectly oblivious to all 
 surroundings. 
 
 "Did you", she asked, "receive my letter giving you an account of 
 your father's death, and of my father's conclusion to emigrate to Ncav 
 France ?" 
 
 "Yes", he answered sadly, "and that Avas the last letter I received 
 from you. You perhaps forgot to write to me again." 
 
 "Oh ! Jean Baptiste, how can you say that ?", she said reproachfully, 
 and her eyes became suffused with tears. "I will tell you why I did not 
 write to you again" she continued : "You no doubt remember Jo. 
 Michot?" 
 
 "I do, indeed", said the Captain; "and I Avill hardly ever forget — 
 nor do I think he Avill — the thrashing I gave him, when Ave were at 
 school at Lachappelle, one recess, for meanlv kicking over our dinner 
 basket." 
 
 "Well", continued Adel, "he annoyed me very much by his persist- 
 ent attentions, after you left home, and asked me to marry him. I, of 
 course, refused; for I always cordially detested him. It Avas just after
 
 254 
 
 your father's death — a lew clavs alter 1 had written to you of it — and. we 
 were preparing to start to America, that he brought the intelligence 
 from Orleans that you had Ijeen slain in battle with the Indians. From 
 the accounts you had written us of those terrible savages, I believed the 
 sad news he brouglit was true. He then told me I need not go to 
 America to look for you, as you were dead ; and I might as well marry 
 him and remain in France. This not only pained, but infuriated me, 
 and I replied that I was anxious to go to New France, and w^ould go 
 there, or anywhere else, if for no other reason than that I might l)e where 
 1 would never see, or hear of him again.^' 
 
 ''Mille Tonnerre !", interrupted the Captain vehemently. "I wish 
 the lying poltroon was here now, so that I could show him whether I 
 am dead, or not." 
 
 "So then", continued Adel, "Monsieur Isidore Brusier told you all 
 about the awful misfortunes that befel us on the ocean. Oh I it w^as 
 dreadful beyond any human power of description. In an hour or two 
 after I was attacked by the plague I lost all consciousness, and only 
 know what followed by having been told of it by others. All were satis- 
 fied I ^^'as dying when Monsieur Brusier w^as stricken down, and they 
 made preparations to throw^ me into the sea to follow my poor father 
 and mother and the others who had died. And two or three times again 
 it was thought I had breathed my last; but when the unfortunate ship 
 next morning, cast its anchor in the Bay of St. Pierre, in the island of 
 Martinique, I was still alive. All on board, sick and well, were imme- 
 diately sent ashore. 
 
 "Monsieur Brusier's brother, who escaped the scourge, and who had 
 cared for him every moment of his sickness, emploj^ed natives at once to 
 carry the sick man to the northern part of the island, so as to be near 
 relatives of theirs at Fort Eoyale. The other sick persons, who had 
 friends or relatives Math them, were also carried away to the hills as soon 
 as possible; but I, having no one left to care for me, was taken on shore 
 and placed in a vacant native hut under the palms, with no thought 
 that I could survive many hours — or minutes, perhaps. The arrival of 
 our vessel, and its disastrous voyage, were soon known in St. Pierre, 
 and the citizen there lost no time in offering such relief as was in their 
 power. 
 
 "Augustine Delorme, son of M. Antoine Delorme of this place, the 
 wealthiest merchant in St. Pierre, and himself a shipowner, and whose 
 grandmother was a Lepage, on learning from our ship's register my 
 name, and my parent's names, as passengers, from near Orleans, thought 
 we might be relatives of his, and sent an agent to the ship right away to 
 enquire about us. On learning the facts he came himself immediately 
 with a lot of servants, and caused me to be placed in a covered litter, 
 (^r palanquin, and conveyed, by relays of carriers, to his summer house 
 upon the mountain side. There a corps of physicians and nurses, super- 
 intended by Monsieur Augustine's good wife, bravely contended with 
 the horrid disease that was consuming me, for many days, and finally 
 tJ-iumphed."
 
 255 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Marriage of Captain Saucier. 
 
 "I told them my story"', continued Adel, "when sutliciently recovered 
 to be able to talk, and when able to sit up my newly found relatives 
 removed me to their home in St. Pierre, and installed me there as one of 
 their family. I there did all I could for them to repay their great 
 benevolence, by such services as I could render; and, -while there, learned 
 to be quite an expert dressmaker. Though every comfort was at my com- 
 mand, and every want gratified, I could not avoid the feeling that I 
 was ix dependent and object of charity. I begged M. Augustine to per- 
 mit me to come to this town on one of his ships, where I might find better 
 opportunities to earn my support. They all tried to dissuade me from 
 the view I had taken and the purpose I had formed, and implored me to 
 remain with them. It must have been some destiny impelling me, for 
 I could not resist the constant impulse to come here. 
 
 "With reluctance and regrets, they at length consented; but only 
 on my promise to go directly to M. Antoine Delorme's house, and make 
 it my future home, and if I was disappointed in my expectations here 
 to return immediately to them. 
 
 ''I arrived here four weeks ago, and found the Delorme mansion a 
 very pleasant home, and have been treated very kindly. I soon dis- 
 covered, however, that my place there was that of a poor, dependent re- 
 lation, an(f that I Avas expected not to transgress its bounds by intruding 
 myself into Mam'selle Eosealie's circle. 
 
 ■'This situation has its twinge of humiliation; but not of hardship; 
 for society has no allurements for me, and I long only for the quietude of 
 obscure retirement — that Madame Delorme and Mam'selle Eosealie seem 
 quite willing for me to enjoy. I have though, without consulting them, 
 made arrangements to leave the mansion tomorrow morning, and com- 
 mence work in j\Iadame Durand's dressmaking and millinery establish- 
 ment, on Eue St. Charles, where I can earn good wages and be measur- 
 ably independent." 
 
 The Captain listened to this recital with deep interest, and to some 
 of its passages, with illy-suppressed emotions. He then told her of Fort 
 de Chartres and the country in which it was located; of Kaskaskia, 
 Cahokia, and of the people who lived there. He told her of his life at 
 the Fort, and of his former voyage down the river, and the great joy he 
 anticipated in meeting her and her parents in Xew Orleans, and of his 
 plans for their future settlement in the colonies near the Fort. He re- 
 counted his eager watching for the arrival of their ship, and of his heart- 
 rending disappointment and grief when he met Monsieur Brusier, and 
 heard from him the terrible reality, with assurance of her death also. 
 He then informed her of his present mission to New Orleans, its objects 
 accomplished, and his arrangements all perfected for starting that even- 
 ing, or early the next morning, on his return, not omitting a description 
 of the perils and hardships of the voyage. Then taking her hand in 
 both of his, he said, "Adel, will you be my wife, and go with me ?''
 
 2oG 
 
 She raised her eves to his, l)eaming with juvdiis eonfulence, as slie 
 answered unhesitatingly; "Yes, Jean Baptiste, I will; and will go with 
 you anywhere." 
 
 They again met early next morning at the XJrsuline Chapel, and 
 knelt together at the altar. The officiating priest, informed of the 
 Captain's situation, dispensed with the Church's rule in ordinary mar- 
 riages, of publishing the bans from the altar for three consecutive Sun- 
 days, and proceeded to solemnly pronounce the ceremony that made 
 them man and wife. 
 
 The only witnesses present were old Michael Mallait and Monsieur 
 Delorme; Madame Delorme and Manfselle Rosealie, if invited, did not 
 deign to even send their regrets, much less to offer either reception or 
 wedding feast for the young coujjle. An hour later the boats were mov- 
 ing up stream, Mdth Adel as mistress of the Captain's cabin, enroute to 
 a new, strange world to found a new home under novel auspices. 
 
 'Their progress up the tortuous river was laborious, and not alto- 
 gether free from exciting adventures and narrowly averted dangers; 
 but in due time; all arrived safely at the Fort. 
 
 'New Chartres, the town near the entrance to the Fort, so named 
 in contradistinction to Old Chartres, near the gate of the old fort 
 below, had grown to respectable dimensions. Commencing with tempo- 
 rary habitations of artisans and laborers, it had absorbed the population 
 of the old town, and the greater part of that of St. Philip.* Several 
 traders settled in it and some of the officers and soldiers of tiie garrison 
 having families resided in the village in preference to the restricted 
 limits within the walls. A beautiful lawnlike esplanade, or drill ground, 
 of twenty acres, laid between the great gate and the town. We can well 
 imagine the maneuvers here of gi'enadiers, in pleasant weather, viewed 
 with patriotic pride, by the officers and their friends, from the large 
 stone platform surmounting the carved arch of the principal gate. Cap- 
 tain Saucier's cottage was the newest and neatest in the village "officers 
 row,'^ its attractiveness and embellishments due to the taste and industry 
 of his handsome wife. As a token of his special regard for the Captain, 
 Chevalier Makarty transferred Lisette to Adel, for whom she formed an 
 attachment at their first meeting ; and the true, worthy ser\' ant remained 
 in the Captain's household, through its fortunes, the rest of her days. 
 
 For several years after his marriage Capt. Saucier remained steadily 
 on duty at the Fort superintending the work of the builders, until, at 
 last, in 1763, the great structure was almost completed. The broad 
 stone platform over the fine arch of the main gate was placed in posi- 
 tion ; and also the stone stair case and balustrade leading up to it. The 
 
 * "On the first-named grant, Renault established a little village, and a? is the 
 fashion in more modern times, lionored it by his own baptismal name — St. Philip. 
 It was on the rich alluvion and had its common field there, the allotments made 
 by himself and within five miles of Fort Chartres, then just erected on a small 
 scale, and with no view of durability or strength : within its shade grew up 
 'Chartres Village' as it was called, with its 'common field' also, and 'commons' 
 embracing a large scope of the unappropriated domain, and with a chapel served 
 by a Franciscan friar and dedicated to St. Anne. Not a vestage of these two vill- 
 ages now remain, save some asparagus yearly putting forth its slender stems 
 upon the open prairie." — The Early History of Illinois. By Sidney Breese, Chicago, 
 1884, pp. 177-178.
 
 257 
 
 cannon,* bearing on their surface, the monogram and arm? of Louis 
 XIV, were mounted in the bastions, and the buildings and arched maga- 
 zine within the huge walls were all nearly finished. On the low swampy- 
 bank of the Mississippi river, in the far western wilderness, it stood, 
 a marvel of engineering skill and labor, the grandest and strongest 
 fortress in America. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Surrender of Fort Chartres to the English. 
 
 Fort Chartres was the depot of arms and munitions, and the seat 
 of military power for all the vast region from Xew Orleans to Montreal 
 west of the Alleghanies, as France then, claimed the entire Mississippi 
 valley. England's rapidly increasing colonies on the Atlantic seaboard 
 however passed the mountain barrier, and were overrunning the ten'itory 
 claimed by France north of the Ohio river. Their aggressions brought 
 on local conflicts which, in 1755, resulted in war between the two nations. 
 Braddock that year marched on Fort Du Quesne and was defeated. In 
 3 756, the English General, Forbes, with 7,000 men, retrieved Braddock's 
 disaster and compelled the French to evacuate Fort Du Quesne, where 
 all the garrison of Fort Chartres, but one company, had been drawn. 
 It was now plain that the empire of France in America was tottering 
 to its fall. It was too extensive to be successfully defended at all pqints 
 from onslaughts of such a foe. For three years more the unequal contest 
 continued, when it was practically terminated by the English victory on 
 the Plains of Abraham, and fall of Quebec, on the 13th of September, 
 1759. The boldness and sagacity of Pontiac, the friend and ally of the 
 French, however, prevented the victorious English from taking possession 
 of the Illinois until six years later. 
 
 The reverses of the French arms were severely felt at Fort Char- 
 tres, and throughout the settlements on the Mississippi, though they 
 were not in the theatre of the war. The Fort had been rebuilt at im- 
 mense expense of treasure and labor, designed to be a permanent bulwark 
 for the French possessions in the Mississippi Valley. Yet, it was not 
 completely finished when the fall of Canada clearly presaged its doom. 
 
 In 1761, Col. Makarty was, by his own request, ordered back to 
 France, and Capt. Xeyon de Villiers, who, of seven brothers in the mili- 
 tary service of the King in America, was the only survivor, the other 
 six having been killed in defense of Canada, succeeded him in command 
 at the Fort. The retiring veteran, upon taking his departure, bid fare- 
 well, with touching sadness, to the officers and men, to the colonists who 
 
 * The cannon, five in number, were taken from the ruins of Fort Chartres. in 
 1812, by Gov. Ninian Edwards and mounted on his Fort Russell, n mile and a 
 half from the present city of Edwardsville. One of them was bursted when firing 
 in celebration of Gen'l. Jackson's victory at New Orleans, in January, 1815. Of 
 the other four no trace can be found. Of the aspect of Fort Chartres, when he 
 visited it in 1802, Gov. Reynolds says ; "It was an object of anti-ciuarian curiosity. 
 The trees, undergrowth, and brush are mixed and interwoven with the old walls. 
 It presented the most striking contrast between a savage wilderness ; filled with 
 wild beasts and reptiles, and the remains of one of the largest and strongest fortifi- 
 cations on the continent." He visited it again in 1854, and found "Fort Chartres 
 a pile of mouldering ruins, and the walls torn away almost even with the surface." 
 At present nothing of the great structure remains but one angle of the wall a few 
 feet in height, and the magazine." 
 —17 H S
 
 258 
 
 revered him, to the splendid citadel he erected, and to the grave of his 
 idolized daughter. When he parted with Capt. Saucier, who accom- 
 panied him from France, and had for a decade been intimately associ- 
 ated with him in all the affairs of the Fort, and had shown his daughter 
 such tender attentions, his iron firmness failed, and tears coursed down 
 his bronzed cheeks as he flung himself into his boat and left the Illinois 
 for ever. 
 
 When the weak and corrupt King of France, having secretly trans- 
 ferred Florida, New Orleans and all the territory west of the Mississippi, 
 to Spain, purchased peace with England by ceding to her all the balance 
 of his possessions in America, in 17G3, the settlers in the Illinois district 
 were overwhelmed with surprise and mortification. Disgusted and heart- 
 broken. Captain de Yilliers abandoned Fort Chartres and went to Xew 
 Orleans. Captain Saucier, not wishing to return to France, and seeing 
 his military career in America terminated, handed de Villiers his resig- 
 nation from the army and took up his abode in Cahokia. The veteran 
 Commandant, Louis St. Ange de Bellerive, who many years before com- 
 manded the old stockade Fort Chartres, now came from Vincennes, with 
 forty men, and assumed command of the grand new Fort, only to for- 
 mally surrender it, on the 10th of October, 1765, to Captain Sterling, 
 of the 42d Highlanders, much to the chagrin and deep disgust of Pontiac 
 and his braves, and to all the French colonists. To the lasting disgrace 
 and humiliation of France her lillies were hauled down from the bastion 
 statt and replaced by the detested flag of Great Britain. Fort Chartres 
 was the last place on the continent of North America to float the French 
 flag. St. Ange de Bellerive, unwilling to live under English rule, after 
 the surrender embarked with his handful of men, at the Fort landing and 
 proceeded up the river to St. Louis, which he thought was yet in French 
 territory, and assumed command of that post. New Chartres was 
 speedily deserted; several of its inhabitants following St. Ange to St. 
 Louis, and the balance scattering out in the neighboring settlements. 
 
 Captain Saucier and wife, enamored with the country and people, 
 upon his resignation left New Chartres and purchased an elegant home 
 in Cahokia, where they were accorded the highest respect and consider- 
 ation by the entire community. The feeble exhibition of authority by 
 tbp new rulers of the Illinois effected no perceptible change in the old 
 regime, and the peaceful habitants were soon reconciled to the new 
 dynasty. Cahokia continued to flourish and grow in importance. Cap- 
 tain Saucier engaged actively in business pursuits and prospered; and 
 was a patriotic citizen of the United States for many years after George 
 Eogers Clark, on the night of the 4th of July, 1778, tore down the odious 
 banner of St. George at Kaskaskia, and planted in its stead — for all 
 future time — the ensign of political freedom. 
 
 Owing to the loss of the Cahokia parish records — in the confusion 
 of removing the Church property to a place of safety during the dis- 
 astrous overflow of the Mississippi, in 1844 — it is now not known when 
 Capt. Saucier and his wife died. But it is known that they were buried, 
 side by side, in the little gi-aveyard adjoining the old Cahokia Church, 
 and that their dust still reposes there with that of several generations 
 of the early French pioneers of the Illinois.
 
 259 
 
 GENEALOGICAL. 
 
 The marriage of Capt. John B. Saucier and Adelaide Lepage was 
 blessed by the advent of three children, in the following order:* Baptiste 
 Saucier, Matthien Saucier, Francois Saucier. 
 
 Baptiste Saucier and Marie Josephine Belcour were married, in 
 Cahokia, in the year 1778-. Of the three children born to them, Adelaide 
 Saucier and Matthieu Saucier survived; a younger son, John Baptiste 
 Saucier, died when a grown young man. 
 
 The daughter, Adelaide, married, in 1799, a young Frenchman 
 named Jean Francois Perry, from the vicinity of Lyons, in France; and 
 of their four daughters, three survived, named Louise Perry, Adelaide 
 Perry, Harriet Perry. 
 
 Adelaide Perry, married on tlie 18th of October, 1820, at Cahokia, 
 a young man from Fayette County, Pennsylvania, named Adam Wilson 
 Snyder ; and of several children born to them, three sons survived, named 
 William Henry Snyder, Frederick Adam Snyder, John Francis Snyder. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 Note A. 
 
 During the early agitation for revision of the Dreyfus trial, in 
 1897, frequent mention was made in public prints of "General Saussier, 
 Military Governor of Paris". In the press despatches from Paris there 
 appeared this paragraph: "Paris, January 16, 1898. One hundred 
 and twentyrsix patriotic and military Societies held a demonstration 
 today in the Place Vendome in honor of General Gustave Saussier, 
 Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, and Military Governor of 
 Paris, who now retires under the age limit." 
 
 The announcement of his death, in 1905, was cabled to this country 
 as follows : 
 
 Paeis^ Dec. 20. — General Felix Gustave Saussier, former comman- 
 der-in-chief of the French army, died today. He was one of the best 
 known and bravest officers in France. In the battles around Metz a 
 quarter of a century ago he distinguished himself most signally. The 
 famous infantry charge at St. Privat, which practically barred the prog- 
 ress of the Germans on that side, was led by him. Saussier was one of 
 the officers who signed the protest against the surrender of Metz. Gen- 
 eral Saussier also served in Italy, Mexico and the Crimea. He was a 
 deputy for some time and in 1873 distinguished himself in the discus- 
 sions on the reorganization of the army. 
 
 Note B. 
 
 In the confusion incident to removing the church property to a 
 place of safety during the great overflow of the Mississippi in 1844, the 
 parish records of Cahokia were lost. Fortunately, at some time prior 
 
 •Pioneer History of Illinois. By John Reynolds. Second (or Fergus) edition, 
 Chicago, 1887, pp. 286 to 291. 
 
 See also Adam W. Snyder and his Period in Illinois History, lS17-18.'i3. By Dr. 
 J. F. Snyder, Virginia, Illinois, 1906.
 
 260 
 
 to 1844, Mr. Oscar W. Collet, of St. Louis, copied the Cahokia register 
 of marriages, which cop}^ was discovered, nearly half a century later, in 
 the St. Louis University. It is, however, quite defective, having many 
 errors and omissions. The parochial records of Kaskaskia and St. 
 Anne, still preserved, are also very defective, with errors, omissions, 
 and important parts entirely missing. Hence the difficulty, or impossi- 
 bility, of tracing the family history, or personal identity, of many citi- 
 zens of French descent who were prominent in the first settling of Illi- 
 nois. Tho some of them were well educated, they left no written records 
 of themselves or their times. For these reasons there is today much 
 uncertainty regarding the earlier members of the Saucier family in 
 America, several of whom were noted among the pioneers from Canada 
 to Louisiana. 
 
 The following brief references — comprising in great part the present 
 knowledge of them — are copied, by permission, from the ''Saucier 
 Papers" of Judge Walter B. Douglas, of St. Louis : 
 
 Louis Saucier, (son of Charles Saucier and Charlotte Clairet, of 
 St. Eustache, Paris), married, at Quebec, Canada, Margueritte Gailliard 
 dit Duplessis, on the 12th of January, 1671. They had two children, 
 Charles and Jean. 
 
 Charles, baptised Sept. 1st, 1672, married, 1st, Marie Anne Bisson, 
 2d, Marie Madeline St. Dennis,, and, 3d, Marie Francois Lebel, and 
 liad four children. 
 
 Jean, baptised Dec. 4th, 1674, — further history not given.* 
 
 One Jean Saucier was an early inhabitant of Louisiana, as appears 
 in the census of 1706, towit, "Jean Saucier, a wife and two children."! 
 In Hamilton's Colonial Mobile, p. 80, his name is given as J. B. Saucier, 
 his wife was Gabrielle Savary, and his occupation a "Marchand." 
 
 In the same book "Madame Socie" is mentioned, p. 151, as a land 
 OAvner in Mobile in 1760. On page 192 it is stated, "of other officials, 
 we know Fr. Saucier as sub engineer in 1751." 
 
 When New Orleans was settled, in 1722, some of the family removed 
 there, as in the list of first grantees of lots is the name "Sautier" as a 
 grantee of lot 144. 
 
 "Le 24 X bre (24th of October), 1739, Mr, Sauzier, ingenieur, est 
 party avec un detachment d' Arcanzas et quelques Canadiens a dessin de 
 charcher le chemin par on Mr. d'Artaguet avoir este aux Chics." J 
 
 The place from which he departed was Bienville's camp near the 
 present site of Memphis. 
 
 In the Kaskaskia parochial register, "Saucier" signs as a witness 
 to a marriage, on the 20th August, 1742. In same, under date of July, 
 1761, is this entry, "Marie Jeanne Fontaile, widow of Francois Saucier, 
 lieutenant refonne (half pay) and inginieur pour le Eoy at Fort Char- 
 tres, married Alexander du Clos. In March, 1788, she was married, 
 for the third time, to Jean du Martin, a native of Ax, in Gascony. She 
 is described in the last entry as "Marie Jeanne Saucier, widow of the 
 deceased Alexander du Clos." 
 
 • Tanguay's Dictionaire Gbnealogique des Famille Canadienes. 
 t F"'ortier's History of Louisiana, p. 52. 
 
 i Journal de la Guerre du Mississippi en 1739 et fini en 1740 le ler d"nvril. 
 Par un officier de I'Armer de M. de Nouaille. N. Y. Shea. 1859.
 
 261 
 
 Jauvier 1, 1761, Monsieur Saucier fils signs as a marriage witness 
 
 1759, Francois Saucier, cadet, is a godfather. 
 
 From the St. Anne parish register it is learned that '"'le Sieur Jeaii 
 B. Sausie, ingenieur,'' was godfather at Fort Chartres on the 19th of 
 February, 1752. 
 
 In the same register, 12 avriel, 1758, Sausier was witness at the 
 marriage of Marie Anne Belcour. 
 
 1758, 30 Juliet, Saucier again signs as marriage witness. 
 
 1760, 10 Juin, Saucier again signs as marriage witness, and is 
 <iesignated in the entry as "Monsieur Saucier." 
 
 1760, 8 Janvier, a negro slave of Saucier was buried. 
 There was in early days, Billon says, in St. Louis, Marie Barbe 
 Saucier, wife of Julien Le Eoy. They were married at Mobile in 1755. 
 One of their daughters married Jean Baptiste Frudeau, first school 
 master in St. Louis. Joseph Francis Saucier was godfather of some of 
 the Le Roy children in 1767. 
 
 Prof. Clarence W. Alvord, of the Illinois State University, found 
 in the Canadian Archives, copied from Archives Coloniales a Paris, 
 several legal documents emanating from "nouns, Francois Saucier, Ar- 
 penteur, Soussigne, &c;" and states. "Saucier was still Arpenteur in 
 1737, beginning in 1707 (Archives C. F. 224, p. 24 and G. p. 80), most 
 of the documents of the period in the volume were written by Saucier." 
 I am also indebted to Prof. Alvord for the following records copied 
 from those of Kaskaskia and St. Anne, (translated) : 
 
 Feb. 6, 1733. Village of M. Eenault. Francois La Croix and his 
 wife Barbe Meaumenier, sold to their son-in-law, Henry Saussier, a 
 terre of three arpents front extending from the Mississippi to the bluffs, 
 lying between land of M. Girardot and Francois La Croix, for three 
 hrmdred minots of wheat, payable in yearly instalments of 10 minots. 
 Furthermore, Saussier promises to maintain in repair the commune 
 "which crosses his land, and to pay the seignioral rights. Signed by 
 cross for La Croix, and cross for his wife. Eobbilhand witness. Jerome, 
 Notary. 
 
 Sept. 22, 1737, Jean Baptiste Saucier acknowledges to have sold 
 to Joseph Deruisseau and company a family of slaves, consisting of a 
 negro, a negress, a negroit and negrillome, for 2000 livres payable in 
 ■wheat, &c. Made in the house of J. Bte. Bauvais. Signed J. B. Saucier, 
 J. Deruisseau, (and company), J. B. Beaulieu, Joseph Leduc, Barrois. 
 Notary. 
 
 Sept. 17, 1758, at the request of Henry Saucier, and on the order 
 of M. Buchet, judge in the jurisdiction, the Royal hussier (auctioneer), 
 Louis Robinet, offers at auction before the door of the parish church of 
 St. Anne, after mass, land of two and a half arpents front extending 
 from the Mississippi to the bluffs, situated in the commons of the village 
 of St. Philippe du Marais, belonging to the said Saucier. It is offered 
 three times, and is finally sold for 305 livres to J. Belcour. Signed 
 Robinet, Huissier. Belcour signed with a cross. Metius, Duchemin, 
 witnesses. 
 
 April 19, 1763. In the house of M. Deselle at Prairie du Rocher 
 an elaborate marriage contract was entered into by Sieur Antoine Duclos,
 
 262 
 
 Ecuyer, ''natif de la paroise de St. Anne a la Nouvelle Chartres, aux 
 Illinois, diocese de Quebec, fil de Sieur Alexandre Duclos, ancien officer 
 des trouppes de sa majeste tres Christienne," on the one part, and 
 "Demoiselle Marie Jeanne Saucier, fille d Sieur deffunct Francois Sau- 
 cier, ingenieur pour le Eoy," &c., of the second part, with consent of 
 her mother, Sieur Pierre Girardot, her appointed guardian, of Dame 
 Magdeliene Loiselle Girardot, her aunt. Demoiselle Felicite Saucier 
 her sister, and Sieur Baptiste Saucier her brother. Parties and wit- 
 nesses all signed in presence of Viault Lesperance, Notary. 
 
 In Collet's "Index" to the old Cahokia marriage register the fol- 
 lowing are the only Sauciers recorded : 
 
 Baptiste Saucier married Marie Josephine Belcour. Before 1784. 
 
 Francois Saucier married Angelique Roy dit Lapensee. Before 
 1787. 
 
 Matthieu Saucier married Catherine Godin, 1788. 
 
 Matthieu Saucier married Josette ChatiUon, Sept. 8, 1812. 
 
 fils du Baptiste Saucier fille du Francois Chatillon. 
 
 et Marie Josephine Belcour et Margaret Lachaine. 
 
 And all of them enumerated in the census of Cahokia in 1787 are :* 
 Matthieu Saucier ; Matthieu son fils ; Francois Saucier pere ; Charle son 
 fils ; Bte Saucier pere ; Jean Baptiste son fils ; Matthieu son fils. 
 
 The three heads of families here named, brothers, Baptiste, Mat- 
 thieu, and Francois Saucier, were quite prominent in the public affairs 
 of Cahokia and vicinity during the latter part of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, all three serving for some time as Justices of the district court, f 
 Matthieu and Francois Saucier "founded the village of Portage des 
 Sioux in Upper Louisiana,";]: and for many years were successful traders 
 there. 
 
 The writer of this sketch was for many years intimately acquainted 
 with Matthieu Saucier, (my mother's uncle), son of above named Bap- 
 tiste Saucier. He was born at Cahokia in 1782, married Josette Cha- 
 tillon dit Godin in 1812, and died at Prairie du Pont in 1863, at the 
 age of 81. He was a very intelligent, quiet and unassuming gentle- 
 man, with but limited education, and only traditional knowledge of his 
 ancestral genealogy. All that he knew of his grandfather was that he 
 came from the Loir district in France, and had been an army officer at 
 Fort Chartres. He believed him to have been the Francois Saucier 
 mentioned — as quoted in this Note — in the Journal de la Guerre du 
 Mississippi en 1739, etc., as the "ingeneur" who led a detacbm,ent of 
 "Arcauzas" and a few Canadians on the route taken by d' Artaguiette 
 against the Chickasaws in 1736 ; and, in Hamilton's Colonial Mobile, 
 as a "sub engineer in 1751;" and the inference of his death prior to 
 1760 from the registry of marriage of his widow, in July, 1761, to 
 Alexandre du Clos, in which he is alluded to as a retired (reforme) 
 lieutenant and engineer at Fort Chartres. That lieutenant Saucier 
 evidently was in the King's military service on the Mississippi at quite 
 
 * Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library. Vol. II. Cahokia Rec- 
 ords. C. W. Alvord. 19 07, p. 624 et seq. 
 t Cahokia Records. Alvord, 1907. 
 t Reynolds' Pioneer History of Illinois, p. 28G.
 
 263 
 
 an early day, and probably served as an engineer in the building of the 
 first Fort Chartres, and perhaps of the second Fort also. 
 
 In 1737 there was a Jean Baptiste Saucier at Prairie du Kocher, 
 of whom nothing is now known, and who is supposed to have come to 
 America with Renault in 1721. 
 
 It is learned from the St. Anne parish records that "le Sieur Jean 
 B. Saucier, ingenieur^', was at Fort Chartres in February, 1752. 
 
 Eeynolds says, "in 1756, Jean Baptiste Saucier, a French officer 
 at Fort Chartres, and married in that country. After the country was 
 ceded to Great Britain in 1763, he located himself and family in Caho- 
 kia where he died. He had three sons : Jean B., Matthieu, and Francois 
 Saucier, who were popular and conspicuous characters in early times 
 in Illinois."* 
 
 Edward G. Mason states — in his Kaskashia and its Parish Records. 
 Chicago, 1881. p. 18.— ''On May 22d, 1806, (occurred) the marriage 
 of Pierre Menard, widower, and Angelique Saucier, granddaughter of 
 Jean B. Saucier, once a French officer at Fort Chartres, who resigned 
 and settled in the Illinois country.'" 
 
 • Pioneer History of lUinois, 2d Ed., Chicago. 1887, p. 286.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 BS2553SN1920 C001 
 
 CAPTAIN JOHN BAPTISTE SAUCIER. 
 
 30 
 
 025408987