^^\\\XVV\\\V\\\\\\\\\\\\\\^^\ \AV^ VVyvyyxxvvvAVV\x\\^\\\\VV ^S^yo^^s^sssv^^ LI B RAHY OF THE UN IVLRSITY Of ILLINOIS 973.18 Sch3f cop. 2 ILLINOIS HIS'IOKY burtvLY yBRARt ty> FROM QUEBEC TO NEW ORLEANS % TJie Story of the French in America ILLUSTRATED Fort de Chartres By J. H. SCHLARMAN, PH. D. BUECHLER PUBLISHING COMPANY BELLEVILLE, ILLINOIS m Copyright 1930 By Joseph H. Schlarman Published December, 1929 Printed in the United States of America The Buechler Publishing Company, Belleville, Illinois ?7 3. j ? CONTENTS PAGE A Land Without Ruins 3 Dedication 5 Foreword 7 Introductory 13 CHAPTER I Search for Passage to the Orient ....... 15 II Pioneer Days in New France 25 III The Governor and the Intendant 34 IV Governor Frontenac 39 V Preparing for a Great Expedition 51 VI JOLLIET AND FATHER MARQUETTE 55 VII The Prince of French Explorers 81 VIII La Salle's Dream Realized — D iberville .... 110 IX Europe Against Louis XIV 121 X Kaskaskia on the Upper Illinois 126 XI Tamarois-Cahokia Mission 130 XII Migrations of the Kaskaskias 147 XIII Hard Beginnings of Louisiana 160 XIV The Duke of Orleans Regent of France . . . 168 XV John Law — A Nation Speculating 171 XVI Fort De Chartres 190 XVII Among the Missouris 199 XVIII Mining Attempts in the Illinois Country — Phillipe Renault 204 XIX War Against the Foxes 211 XX The British Dislike Contact of Louisiana with New France 217 XXI M. Perrier Supersedes M. De Bienville as Governor of Louisiana 232 XXII The Natchez Massacre 244 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XXIII Francois-Marie Bissot De Vincennes 263 XXIV The Chickasaw Wars 272 XXV Stray Leaves from Old Records 279 XXVI The New Fort De Chartres 292 XXVII Social Life in the Fort De Chartres Country . 299 XXVIII France and England Prepare for the Final Struggle 307 XXIX Deportation of the Acadians 312 XXX On the Plains of Abraham 328 XXXI After the Fall of Quebec — Banishment of the Jesuits 348 XXXII The Cahokia Mission Property - . 364 XXXIII British Attempts to Reach Fort De Chartres Blocked by Pontiac 373 XXXIV The French Release Fort De Chartres — The New Orleans Rebellion 397 XXXV From Sterling to Clark — Father Meurin and Father Gibault 423 XXXVI The Quebec Act — The Colonies Rise Against Eng- land 452 XXXVII The Coming of George Rogers Clark .... 479 XXXVIII Clark Captures Kaskaskia and Cahokia . . . 491 XXXIX The Winning of Vincennes — Gibault and Dr. Lap- font 506 XL "Regulating Things in the Illinois' 1 514 XLI The Most Daring Episode of the Revolutionary War — General Hamilton Surrenders to Colonel Clark 528 ILLUSTRATIONS Death of Nicolas Viel and His Disciple Ahuntsic Frontispiece facing page Section of Martin Behaim's Globe — 1492 1 Indian Family in the Forest 1 Samuel de Champlain, Founder of Quebec 16 Jacques Cartier, Discoverer of the St. Lawrence River 16 Champlain on Lake Huron — 1615 17 Louis XIV, King of France 32 Chomedey de Maisonneuve, Founder of Montreal 33 Major Lambert Closse — Iroquois Warrior 33 Francois de Montmorency de Laval 48 Governor Frontenac — Jean Talon, Intendant 48 Governor Frontenac 49 "I will give you my answer by the mouths of my cannon." Louis Jolliet — Jacques Marquette 64 Father Marquette on the Mississippi 64 Isaac Jogues 65 The Spirit of Commerce — The Spirit of Christianity 80 Iroquois Method of Torture 81 The Prince of French Explorers — Fort Crevecoeur 96 Starved Rock — Tonti 97 La Salle at the Mouth of the Mississippi 112 The Rock of the Cross 113 The Seminaire de Quebec 144 Plat of the Holy Family Mission, Cahokia 145 DIberville — Bienville 160 John Law 161 Facsimile Title Page of John Law Pamphlet 176 Principal Forts and Trading Posts of Louisiana 177 Hardship of Pioneer River Traffic 192 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Diron D'Artaguiette Map of the Illinois Country 193 Diron D' Artaguiette Map of the Natchez Country 240 Natchez Method of Torture 240 Seigniorial Mill, Beaumont, P. Q., Canada 241 Chaussegros de Lery Map — The Fort of the Foxes 256 Clotures 257 Bellin Map of the Illinois Country 272 Le Pere Godbout, A Typical Habitant 273 Fort de Chartres 288 The Ruins of Fort de Chartres with Powder Magazine 289 Fort Massac 304 Acadia and Evangeline 305 Deportation of the Acadians 320 Old City Walls of Quebec 321 View of Quebec and Harbor 336 Fort Kask aski a 337 Death of General Wolfe 352 Montcalm, Defeated and Mortally Wounded, Brought to Quebec 353 The Ambush 400 Fort Gage 401 Collot Map of The Kaskaskia Country 416 View of Kaskaskia Island— 1929 417 George Rogers Clark 480 Father Gibault 481 Clark's Route 496 The Liberty Bell of the West 497 Hamilton's Surrender 548 Detail of Clark's Route • 549 *For valuable assistance in supervising technical details connected with the illustrations I am deeply indebted to Mr. Conrad F. Stuhlman, St. Louis, Mo. INDIAN FAMILY IN THE FOREST Place du Palais Legislatif, Quebec By Philippe Hebert THE STORY OF THE FRENCH IN AMERICA Ol Land without Ruins is a Land fC\ without Memories * A Land without Memories is a Land without History * Give me the Land where Ruins are spread * And the Living tread light on the Hearts of the Dead * Give me the Land that has Legends and Lays * That tell of the Memories of long vanished Days. ABRAHAM RYAN To the Galaxy of brave Men, daring Soldiers, and heroic Mis- sionaries, who made light of their Lives, bore Fatigue and Privations unheard of, and even faced Death at the Sta\e, and in the Interest of History and the "Legends and Lays that tell of the Memories of long vanished Days," — Memories that still linger around the Ruins of the old French Strongholds and along the old Highways, the Rivers and Lakes, from Quebec to J\[ew Orleans, THIS VOLUME IS REVERENTLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR FOREWORD <*? From Quebec to New Orleans, — that is a long way; at any rate, the water route, as followed by the early explorers and missionaries, was long, at least 2500 miles. This route was biased, first from the north, along the St. Lawrence and across the Great Lakes, down to Kaskaskia, and then, after finding the mouth of the Mississippi from the sea, northward, to Fort de Chartres, thus overlapping the Cana- dian end of it by eighteen miles. Little is left of the once formidable chain of posts and forts that stood guard over this highway from Quebec to New Orleans. In Canada there is Fort Chambly on the Riche- lieu, still well preserved. On Lake Ontario there is Fort Niagara, also well preserved. In the American Bottom, near the old town of Prairie du Rocher, some sixty miles below St. Louis, but antedating it by nearly half a century, on the east bank of the Mississippi, lie the venerable ruins of Fort de Chartres, almost forgotten. Yet this Fort de Char- tres, as a fort, was twelve years old when George Washing- ton was born, and that was long ago. Fort de Chartres, with its Powder Magazine intact and its Bastion Towers and Walls in ruins, is a lone survivor of another age. The men who built this stronghold of French power, who lived there, who went out to fight the Chicasaws, the Foxes, and the English, were gathered to their fathers ages ago, but their spirits still seem to hover about the ruins of Fort de Chartres. It requires but little imagination to conjure up the figures of Boisbriand and Makarty, Saucier, St. Ange and others, and to hear the French commands to the soldiers, to re-people the fort with the cultured men and charming ladies, who there danced the minuette and cotillon. But that is getting into dreams. "From Quebec To ?{ew Orleans" is not intended to be an exhaustive history of the French colonies in America, 7 8 FOREWORD or even in the Illinois country. I would call it a story, some- what gossipy, though documented, or a cursory summary of the high points, of the interesting and at times unique occurrences, with just enough explanation to establish in the mind of the reader a logical and causal connection be- tween events. This determines the nature of the book. Two factors seem to have been of greatest importance in the the earliest stages of America's history : the vast extent and nature of the land, and the character of the people who inhabited this land when the white men came to its shores. "The outstanding characteristic of the American soil," writes Volney, "is the savage aspect of the almost universal forest. . . During the long voyage which I made in 1796, from the mouth of the Delaware through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky to the Wabash River, from thence north across the Northwest Territory . . . and on to Albany. ... I hardly came across three consecutive miles of timber-free land." 1 This almost "universal forest' ' was one of the greatest obstacles to exploration and colonisation. It took nearly two hundred and fifty years to beat down this barrier. In these forests lurked the savages. At first they were awed by the white men, whom they thought to be spirits. The crack of the arquebuse or the roar of the cannon made them hie to the depths of the forests. But when rival whites supplied the Indians with firearms and wooed their allegiance, they aligned themselves with the one or the other nation, chiefly as their economic needs determined. As friends they were fickle and undependable, as foes they were bitter and savagely cruel. "It has always been impossible," writes Thwaites, 2 "to make any hard-and-fast classification; yet the Indians pre- sented a considerable variety of types, ranging from the Southern Indians, some of whose tribes were in a relatively high stage of material advancement and mental calibre, down to the savage root-eaters of the Rocky Mountain region. "The migrations of some of the Indian tribes were fre- X C. F. Volney, Tableau du Climat et du Sol des EtatS'Unis d'Am&rique. 1803, 1., p. 7- 2 R. G. Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, Introduction. FOREWORD 9 quent, and they occupied overlapping territories, so that it is impossible to fix the tribal boundaries with any degree of exactness. "Again, the tribes were so merged by intermarriage, by affiliation, by consolidation . . . that it is difficult even to separate the savages into families. It is only on philological [pertaining to their languages] grounds that these divisions can be made at all. In a general way we may say that between the Atlantic and the Rockies, Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, there were four Indian languages in vogue, with a great variety of local dialect: "I. The Algonkins were the most numerous, holding the greater portion of the country from the unoccupied fc de batable land 1 of Kentucky northward to the Mississippi Among their tribes were the Micmacs of Acadia, the Pe nobscots of Maine, the Montagnais of the St. Lawrence the ill-defined tribes of the country round about Lake St John, and the Ottawas, Chippewas, Mascoutens, Sacs Foxes, Pottawatomies, and Illinois of the Upper Lakes. . . A careful estimate is, that the Algonkins at no time numbered over 90,000 souls and possibly not over 50,000. "II. In the heart of this Algonkin land was planted the ethnic [racial] group called the Iroquois, with its several dis- tinct branches, often at war with each other. The craftiest, most daring, and most intelligent of North American In- dians. . . The five principal tribes of this family — Mo- hawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, all stationed in palisaded villages south and east of lakes Erie and Ontario, — formed a loose confederacy styled by them- selves and the French fc The Long House 1 , and by the English 'The Five Nations 1 . . . The population of the entire group was not over 17,000. . . Related to, but generally at war with them, were the Hurons of Canada. . . "III. The Southern Indians occupied the country be- tween the Tennessee River and the Gulf, the Appalachian Ranges and the Mississippi. Of a milder disposition than their Northern cousins, the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choc- taws, Creeks, and Seminoles were rather in a barbarous than a savage state . . . [they] numbered not above 50,000. "IV. The Dakotah, or Sioux, family occupied for the most part the country beyond the Mississippi. They were jo FOREWORD and are a fierce, high-strung people, genuine nomads, and war appears to have been their chief occupation.' 1 The beginnings of these nations are lost in the obscurity of the distant past. They left no written record of their origin or their deeds. The documentary history of North America begins with the coming of the white man. The United States, and the same is true of Canada, is a nation imported from Europe. 1 To understand the early history of America one must know its background in Europe. Cheyney writes: "From the time of the settlement forward, the only population of America that has counted in history has been of European origin. The institutions that character- iz;e the New World are fundamentally those of Europe. People and institutions have been modified by the material conditions of America; and the process of emigration gave a new direction to the development of American history from the very beginning; but the origin of the people, of their institutions, and of their history was none the less a European one. The beginnings of American history are therefore to be found in European conditions at the time of the foundation of the colonies. " 2 The history of the interior of the country is known to us chiefly from the written records of the explorers and the reports of the missionaries. Unquestionably the most abund- ant and detailed reports thus far published were written by the Jesuit missionaries. These annual reports, made between the years 1632 and 1673, are known as the Jesuit Relations. 3 Reuben Gold Thwaites writes of these reports: "Many of the Relations were written in Indian camps, amid a chaos of distraction. Insects innumerable tormented the journal- ists, they were immersed in scenes of squalor and degradation, overcome by fatigue and lack of proper sustenance, often suffering from wounds and disease, maltreated in a hundred ways by hosts who, at times, might be properly called jailers; x In Latin America the native stock was preserved and civilized to a remarkable degree. 2 E. P. Cheyney, European Background of American History. Preface, XXVII. 3 Reuben Gold Thwaites, Secretary of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, between 1896 and 1901, edited The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, reaching from 1610 to 1789. This monumental work, published by The Burrows Brothers Company of Cleveland, Ohio, comprises seventythree volumes and gives the best original French text with a page-for'page English translation. FOREWORD ii and not seldom had savage superstition risen to such a height, that to be seen making a memorandum was certain to arouse the ferocious enmity of the band. It is not surprising that the composition of these journals of the Jesuits is sometimes crude; the wonder is, that they could be written at all." 1 Thwaites continues: ""Coming early to the shores of Nova Scotia [1611], nearly a decade before the landing of the Plymouth Pilgrims, and eventually spreading through- out the broad expanse of New France, ever close upon the track of the adventurous coureur de bois, they met the American savage before contact with civilisation had seriously affected him. With heroic fortitude, often with marvellous enterprise, they pierced our wilderness while still there were but Indian trails to connect far-distant villages of semi- naked aborigines . . . Cultivated men, for the most part, — trained to see as well as to think, and carefully to make record of their experiences, — they left the most luxurious country in Europe to seek shelter in the foul and unwelcome huts of one of the most wretched races of man. . . No coureur de bois was more expert in forest lore . . . and the records made by these soldiers of the Cross, — explicit and detailed, while familiar in tone, — are of the highest scientific value, often of considerable literary interest." 2 It may be permissible to add to this appreciation by Thwaites a few words that were written in 1845 by Bishop Ingraham Kip 3 : "It was only by suffering and trial that these early laborers won their triumphs. Many of them too were men who had stood high in camps and courts, and could contrast their desolate state in the solitary wigwam with the refinement and affluence which had waited on their early years. But now these were gone. Home — the love of kindred — the golden ties of relationship — all were to be forgotten by these stern and high- wrought men, and they were often to go forth into the wilderness, without an adviser, save their God. . . . Hunger and cold and disease were to be encountered, until nothing but the burning seal within could keep alive the wasted 1 Thwaites, Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, General Preface. Hbid. 3 Right Rev. William Ingraham Kip, D. D., (Protestant) Bishop of California, Honorary Member of N. Y. Historical Society, The Early Jesuit Missions in ?{orih America, Preface. 12 FOREWORD and sinking frame. But worse than all were the spiritual evils which forced them to weep and pray in darkness. They had to endure the contradictions of those they came to save. We of to-day are more than two hundred, in some cases, nearly three hundred years removed from the people who lived and acted their part in those early days of our country's history, as well as from the facts and scenes which they relate. Still, we should like to know what sort of men they were who lived at that time; we should like to close our eyes and sit and dream, and in our dreams re-people with the men and women of that distant day those places that were then the stage of life in this country. We should like to know their ideas, know how they lived and how they spoke and what they said. In other words, we should like to get in touch with the souls of those men. All that can best be achieved by letting them speak to us in their own words, often written in "old, odd and variable spellings", or in the words of those who were eye-witnesses of the events of those days, or who lived at that time and left the written word as a record. "From Quebec To 7"{ew Orleans'" carries out this idea. INTRODUCTORY "On the 23rd of May [1492] Columbus, accompanied by Fray Juan Peres, whose character and station gave him great importance in the neighborhood, proceeded to the church of St. George in Palos, where the alcalde, the regidors, and many of the inhabitants of the place had been notified to attend. Here, in presence of them all, in the porch of the church, a royal order was read by a notary public, command- ing the authorities of Palos to have two caravels ready for sea within ten days after this notice, and to place them and their crews at the disposal of Columbus. The latter was likewise empowered to procure and fit out a third vessel. The crews of all three were to receive the ordinary wages of seamen employed in armed vessels, and to be paid four months in advance. They were to sail in such direction as Columbus, under the royal authority, should command, and were to obey him in all things. ... A certificate of their good conduct, signed by Columbus, was to be the discharge of their obligations to the crown. . . . "It was on Friday, the 3rd of August, 1492, early in the morning, that Columbus set sail from the bar of Saltes, a small island formed by the arms of the Odiel, in front of the town of Huelva, steering in a southwesterly direction for the Canary Islands, whence it was his intention to strike due west. As a guide by which to sail, he had prepared a map or chart, improved upon that sent him by Paulo Tos- canelli. 1 Neither of those now exist, but the globe or plan- isphere finished by Martin Behem 2 in this year of the admiral's first voyage is still extant, and furnishes an idea of what the chart of Columbus must have been. It exhibits the coasts 1 Paolo Toscanelli, mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer, was born at Florence, Italy, in 1397 and died there in 1482. Toscanelli was one of the most distinguished scientists of the fifteenth century and associated with the greatest scholars of his time. It is a general belief that Columbus conferred with Toscanelli about the western voyage. 2 Martin Behaim, noted German cartographer and navigator, was born at Nuremberg in 1459. Later he became a disciple of the celebrated mathematician and astronomer Regio' montanus. Behaim constructed the oldest globe existing today. He died in Lisbon, July 29, 1507- 13 14 ihtroductort of Europe and Africa from the south of Ireland to the end of Guinea, and opposite to them, on the other side of the Atlan- tic, the extremity of Asia, or, as it was termed, India. Be- tween them is placed the island of Cipango, or Japan, which, according to Marco Polo, 1 lay fifteen hundred miles distant from the Asiatic coast. In his computations Columbus ad- vanced this island about a thousand leagues too much to the east, supposing it to be about the situation of Florida; and at this island he hoped first to arrive. " — Washington Irving The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, I., pp. 93 and 101. 1 Marco Polo was born at Venice, Italy, in 1251, and died there in 1324. His father and uncle were merchants, who had established houses of business in Constantinople and at Sudak on the Black Sea. They made long voyages into the Orient and to the residence of the Great Khan of Tartary. In 1271 they undertook a voyage which lasted twenty-four years. The youthful Marco Polo accompanied his father and uncle on this journey, which led them through almost the whole of Western Asia. This voyage is intelligently described in the Boo\ of Marco Polo. SPAIN, FRANCE, AND ENGLAND ESTABLISH PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS ON THE NORTH AMERICA^. COHTIHEW Any treatise dealing with the early history of the North American continent must necessarily take the discovery by Christopher Columbus and October 12, 1492, as the starting points. No matter who may have touched upon the shores of the New World in bygone centuries, the fact is that the recorded history of America begins with the discovery by Columbus. What preceded this great feat is chiefly legend- ary. The startling news of a new world far off in the Atlantic ocean, brought back to Europe by Columbus, set up a hubbub among the mariners and the governments of maritime countries. Columbus believed he had reached India, which he had set out to find. Europe, too, thought he had discovered the new route to India. Four years later John Cabot undertook an expedition and expected to reach "The island of Cipango [Japan] and the lands from which Orien- tal caravans brought their goods to Alexandria." 1 But why did Europe look westward to reach the Orient? Until the middle of the fifteenth century commerce between Europe and the Orient was carried on over trade routes which went eastward from the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. The interposition or the armed encroachment of the powerful Turks disturbed the commerce along these com- plex old lines of trade, and the fall of Constantinople into the hands of the Turks in 1453 practically closed the Orient to the merchants of Europe. "The process by which Turk- ish conquest was attained,' ' writes Cheyney, "and the whole spirit and policy of that power, were adverse to trade be- tween the East and West. . . . Therefore, the men, the nation, the government that could find a new way to the East might claim a trade of indefinite extent and extreme profit. 1 ' 2 The most potent single motive, then, the predominant incentive to exploration, was the desire to find new routes 1 E. P. Cheyney, European Bac\ground of American History, p. 5. 2 lbid., pp. 37-39. 15 16 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS from Europe to the far East. Columbus believed with many of his class that the earth is round and that, therefore, by sailing westward he could reach the Orient. Here is his opinion and his argument: "I have always read that the world, comprising the land and water, is spherical, as is testified by the investigations of Ptolemy and others, who have proved it by the eclipses of the moon and other obser- vations made from east to west, as well as by the elevation of the pole from north to south." 1 It was probably the enormous and unknown extent of the earth and the "supposed difficulty of sailing up the slope of the sphere," 2 that had kept mariners from venturing out into the open seas. The recently discovered art of printing helped to broadcast the astounding news of the unexpected discovery of the great Genoese. Spanish, English, Por- tuguese, French, and Dutch ships soon sailed to every part of the globe, and yet, nearly a hundred years elapsed after the discovery by Columbus before any permanent settle- ment was made on the North American continent, north of Mexico. 3 The colonisation began at three distinct centres and by three different nations: The Spanish in Florida (1565), the English at Jamestown (1607), and the French at Quebec (1608): St. Augustine, Jamestown, and Quebec were the three foci of colonisation in the New World. In 1565 Pedro Menendes founded St. Augustine, which then became the capital of Spanish Florida. Spanish colonists had already taken firm root in Mexico and the Antilles (West Indies) prior to their establishment at St. Augustine, and during the following two and a half centuries developed their colonies along the Gulf of Mexico, and thus imparted the Spanish imprint still noticeable in the Southwest. 4 Spain laid claim to all of America by title of discovery. Spain was then at the height of her power and glory. After a struggle of nearly eight centuries Granada was taken from the Mussulmans and the latter thrown across the Strait to Africa (1492). That same year Columbus, under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, discovered a new world. Spain very Quoted by Cheyney, op. cit., p. 52. 4 See Charles F. Lummis, The Spanish Pioneers, 2 Ibid The Land of Poco Tiempo, and A Tramp 3 In Mexico colonization began in 1524. across the Continent. SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN— FOUNDER OF QUEBEC JACQUES CARTIER— DISCOVERER OF THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER m$f, .i ■■:. ' SEARCH FOR PASSAGE TO THE ORIENT n effectively followed up her discoveries and captured most of South America, Central America, Mexico, the West Indies, and entered quickly upon a broad policy of colonial expansion. The English and French explorers of those days sought a short cut to Asia and India, rather vague terms at that time, through the Northwest. 1 This shorter route was of less interest to Spain, because from the west coast of Mexico, the port of Acapulco, she carried on a regular trade with the Philippine Islands. But France and England felt the need of a shorter route to the kingdom of the Great Khan. Nearly a generation of navigators passed away before it was realised that the land discovered was not Asia; naviga- tors were even chagrined that this great barrier running north and south, both extremities thus far unexplored, should block their way to the spice lands of the East. Europe could live without the Orient, but the luxuries, adornments, per- fumes, and spices it craved were supplied by the East, even as the oriental rug of our own day. Navigators and explorers sought the northwest passage, which, they felt sure, led somewhere, by some river or waterway, through this barrier, now known as the American continent. In the meantime Vasco da Gama (Portuguese) reached India via Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) in 1498. Attempts were also made to reach China by the northeast passage around the northern coast of Europe. 2 All these attempts ended in failure in the icy seas of the North. On the American Continent, every river that was entered was explored with the hope that it would prove to be the north- west passage. Cartier thought the St. Lawrence would ultimately point the waterway to India; Henry Hudson was in search of the northwest passage when he discovered the river that bears his name; Magellan skirted the whole coast of South America in quest of the passage and finally found his way through the straits at the southern-most tip of South America, that have been named after this intrepid explorer. There was a belief that this passage might be found some- where near the fortieth parallel, and a map by Lock, 1582, shows the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at this point, north Bancroft, History of the Northwest Coast, I. p. 5, calls it the "Northern Mystery." 2 Cheyney, op. cit., p. 9. i8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS of what was then known as Florida, separated by a narrow isthmus. It was thought that boats could sail up a river flowing into the Atlantic, portage a short distance across the intervening land, and then sail on to the other side down a river flowing into the Pacific. This conviction was so strong that demountable boats were actually sent to Vir- ginia to be used for transport on the rivers flowing into the Atlantic and into the Pacific. 1 This search for the north- west passage, or, at least, for a passage across the North American Continent, was continued for nearly two hun- dred years. It is surprising to note the number of Italians who, in the service of other governments, made such voyages of discovery. One need only to think of Christopher Columbus (Colombo), John Cabot (Caboto), Verrasano, and Amerigo di Vespucci, after whom, at the suggestion of the German cosmographer Behaim, the new continent was named. Chey- ney, in his article on the Italian contributions to explora- tion, gives a very interesting explanation of this condition: "In those arts which lay at the base of exploration, as in so many other fields, Italy was far in advance of all other western countries. Through the Middle Ages she preserved much of the heritage of ancient skill and learning; by her Renaissance studies she recovered much that had been tem- porarily lost; and in geographical science she early made progress of her own .... As a nation Italy played but a slight part in the discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; but through her scattered sons she used her fine intelligence to initiate and guide much of the work that was completed by the ruder but more efficient and vigorous nations of the Atlantic seaboard. Educated men from Venice, Genoa, Pisa, and Florence emigrated to other lands, carrying with them science, skill, and ingenuity unknown except in the advanced and enterprising Italian city republics and principalities. Italian mathematicians made the calcula- tions on which all navigation was based; Italian cartogra- phers drew maps and charts; Italian ship-builders designed and built the best vessels of the time; Italian captains com- manded them, and very often Italian sailors made up their crews; while at least in the earlier period Italian bankers *D. Pasquet, Histoire Politique et Sociak du Peuple Americain, p. 36. SEARCH FOR PASSAGE TO THE ORIENT 19 advanced the funds with which the expeditions were equipped and sent out." 1 Five years after the great discovery by Columbus, in 1497, John Cabot, 2 sailing under the banner of Henry VII of England, touched the American shores and planted the flag of England an4 the banner of St. Mark somewhere about the estuary of the St. Lawrence River. But, strange to say, while Spaniards and Portuguese and Hollanders and French vied with one another for the East and West Indies, England did not follow up this discovery of Cabot for nearly a century. During that century momentous changes took place in England. The Protestant religion was substituted for the Catholic religion; from an agricultural state England turned in- to a country of cattle raising, industry, and maritime com- merce. People left the farms to seek employment in the cities and thus increased the army of the unemployed. The suppres- sion of monasteries and religious charitable foundations, that had heretofore cared for the needy, tremendously in- creased pauperism. The government sought to stem the depopulation of the rural districts by legislation; laws were passed regulating the division of farmlands; laws forbidding the turning of arable fields into pasture lands; laws even to determine the maximum number of sheep. But the laws failed to check the depopulation of the rural districts. Laws were then passed against tramps and vagabonds; they were ex- posed to the pillory, they were given so many strokes with the lash, their ears were pierced, the letter V was branded upon their breast with a red-hot iron. A law of 1563 imposed compulsory labor at a fixed wage, and in 1601, laws were passed granting public aid, and the notorious work- house laws were put into effect. 3 England at that time had a population of approximately 5,000,000, but economists considered the country overpopu- lated. For want of a bloody war that would reduce the popula- ^heyney, op. cit., pp. 41 ff. A Portuguese chronicler, Asurara, pays this tribute to the nations of his time: 'The greatness of the Germans, the courtesy of the French, the valor of the English, and the wisdom of the Italians." 2 John Cabot (Caboto) was a native of Florence and a naturalised Venetian. 3 Pasquet, op. cit., pp. 32'35. See also Bliss, The Hew Encyclopedia of Social Reform, pp. 915 ff. 20 FROM QUEBEC TO >(£W ORLEANS tion, why not re-establish the equilibrium by means of overseas colonies? That was the suggestion of Sir Humphrey Peck- ham. English industry was rapidly developing and would profit by markets established in such colonies. The natives converted by the missionaries would discontinue going about naked — a new market for the English cloth industry. Willoughby and Chancellor made a futile attempt to reach China by a route through the Northeast. The Moscow Company was organised in 1555, the Eastland Company for trade with the Baltic in 1579, etc. The defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588), eliminated Spanish prestige and opened the way for English colonisation. In 1576 Sir Humphrey Gilbert composed a memoir to prove the existence of the northwest passage. Plato and Aristotle, both of whom had lived and died centuries before Christ, were quoted in support of his contention. Various attempts were made to gain a firm foothold on American soil: Sir Walter Raleigh on the Roanoke, Sir Humphrey Gilbert in Newfoundland, but all in vain. Col- onisation Stock Companies now entered the field. "A complete contrast," writes Cheyney, "exists between international trade in 1400 and 1600. The type of commerce characteristic of the earlier period was carried on by indi- vidual merchants; that belonging to the later period was carried on by joint stock companies. Under the former, merchants depended on municipal support and encourage- ment; under the latter they acted under charters received from national governments. The individual merchants of the earlier period had only trading privileges; the organised companies of the later time had political powers also. In the fifteenth century the merchants from any one city or group of cities occupied a building, a quarter, or fondaco, 1 in each of the foreign cities with which they traded; in the seventeenth century they more usually possessed independ- ent colonies or fortified establishments of their own on the coasts of foreign countries. In the earlier period trading operations were restricted to Europe; in the later they ex- tended over the whole world." 2 x The Fugger Houses can still be seen in some cities of Central Europe. 2 Cheyney, op. cit., p. 124. COLONIZATION COMPANIES 21 The governments of Spain and Portugal retained in their own hands complete control both of the colonies and their commerce. Germany, still suffering from the effects of the Thirty Years' War (16184648), was excluded from the pos- sibility of establishing American colonies. The commercial companies of England, France, Holland, Sweden, and Den- mark "were by no means self-controlled and independent companies; they were dependent on their governments for many rights and privileges, and for constant support, protection, and subsidy. On the other hand, the govern- ments expected them not only to develop a profitable trade, but to furnish certain advantages to the nation, such as the creation of colonies, the increase of shipping, the provi- sion of materials for use in the navy, the humiliation of political rivals, the preservation of a favorable balance of trade, and ultimately the payment of imposts and loan of funds '* Some fifty or sixty such companies, nearly contempora- neous, and operating on the same broad lines of organisation, are recorded as having been chartered by the five aforemen- tioned governments, a few in the second half of the sixteenth century, the greater proportion within the seventeenth century. 2 In 1606 James I, King of England, gave his official sanction to the establishment of two colonisation and commercial com- panies : The London Company and the Plymouth Company, the former to operate between the 34th and 38th degree of latitude North, and the latter between the 41st and 45th. The London Company sent three ship-loads of colonists into the Chesapeake Bay and up the James River in the spring of 1607. They located their colony on the banks of the James ^heyney, op. cit., pp. 135436. 2 The subjoined partial list represents some of the more familiar names: 1597-1599 (Dutch) East India Companies (early). 15984599 (French) Canadian Companies (early). 1602 (Dutch) East India Company. 1602 (French) Company of New France. 1606 (English) London and Plymouth Companies. 1626 (French) Company of Senegal (first). 1628 (French) Company of One Hundred Associates of New France. Hanseatic League of Germany. E. P. Cheyney, op. cit., Chap. VII. 22 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS River and called it Jamestown in honor of King James. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement on American soil, as St. Augustine (1565) was the first Spanish colony on the North American Continent. The first French ships that came to the eastern shores of America were not in quest of the much sought northwest passage, but rather in search of codfish. From the early years of the sixteenth century Normans from Dieppe, France, Bretons from Saint-Malo, and even Basques from the south- ern shores of France came annually to the shoals of New- foundland for cod-fishing. Incidentally, they, no doubt, also trafficked with the natives of the islands and of the con- tinent. But these fishermen-sailors were neither explorers nor colonists. In 1524 John da Verra2;ano undertook the first voyage of discovery in the name of Francis I, King of France. He examined the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Maine, but returned to France without having found the narrow or passage that would lead to Asia. Ten years later, 1534, Jacques Cartier set sail from Saint- Malo and entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He was confi- dent that "la route des Moluques," 1 the passage to the Spice Islands, issued from the other end of this Gulf, or at least from somewhere near there, and hurried back to France with this piece of news and with his mind set on another and more elaborate expedition. He returned the following year, 1535, and on the 10th day of August, the Feast of St. Lawrence, sailed up the mighty stream, which he named St. Lawrence, to the Indian village Stadacona (Quebec), where he left his larger boats and sailed on as far as the other Indian village Hochelaga, situated at the foot of a small mountain, which he named Mont Real, or Mont Royal (Montreal). The little group returned to Stadacona, where they passed a terrible winter. In the spring of the following year the survivors erected a large cross, affixed to it the arms of the King of France, and thus renewed the solemn taking of possession, first made upon Carrier's landing, and then returned to France, May 3rd, 1536. Carrier's "Report of a Winter's Experience" Moluccas, or Spice Islands, Malay Archipelago, COLOHIZATIOH COMPANIES 23 (1535-1536) 1 in the inhospitable climate, near the great cliff of Quebec, gave pause to Frenchmen in their western colonising schemes. Furthermore, the King was now engaged at home in serious difficulties with Spain, and had neither inclination, time, nor money to continue the exploration of North America. Six years later, 1541, when peace had been restored be- tween France and Spain, Francis I, King of France, appointed Jean Francois de la Roche sieur de Roberval his Viceroy of "that part of Asia 11 , with Jacques Cartier as his captain general and master pilot. 2 Roberval failed to appear in time, and Cartier set sail for Quebec, which he reached in August, 1541. He built a post which, however, he abandoned in spring, and again returned to France. Roberval arrived later with supplies and colonists liberated from French prisons, but remained only one year at Quebec. This second at- tempt at establishing a permanent colony was not success- ful; the failure of Roberval to do his part proved the undo- ing of the entire plan. Admiral Coligny's attempt to establish a colony for the French Huguenots in 1562 also proved a failure. The commercial partnership formed in the year 1600 between the Sieur du Pont (Pont-grave), Pierre Chauvin, and Sieur de Monts, also ended in failure. Another attempt was made in 1605 by Sieur de Monts, Champlain, and Pont- grave. They set out in three ships and established a settlement at Port Royal, near what is now Annapolis, Nova Soctia. It was even then realised that Quebec could be more easily de- fended, but the eastern peninsula, called Acadia, was stra- tegically of tremendous importance. Acadia was firmly held, and through the course of centuries suffered the fate of a buffer colony. 1 Cartier"s men suffered from scurvy, a disease characterized by livid spots, spongy gums and bleeding from the mucous membranes; it is due especially to lack of fresh vegetable food. 2 "We are not accustomed to regard Jacques Cartier as the first Canadian author. But that is what he was; and, within his self'appointed limits, a very good first author too. His ad' mirably clear and vivid descriptions bring him fairly near to the very few authors who have written books of travel that are also works of literature; while his hydrographic notes (dif- ference of period and of opportunities duly considered) are fully equal to those made by the greatest naval experts of the present day." — William Wood, F. R. S. C, Unique Quebec, p. 19. 24 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Champlain convinced de Monts that Quebec was a better site and had all the natural requirements for a stronghold of French power. On the 3rd of July, 1608, Samuel de Champlain, who had been appointed Governor of New France, landed with 28 men at the foot of the rock of Que- bec. 1 Champlain at once undertook the construction of the "Habitation," a sort of three-storied fort, surrounded by a moat and flanked with out- works. "Whoever may have been the nominal head of the enter- prise in New France during the first 35 years of the seven- teenth century," writes Pasquet, "Champlain was the soul and the protecting spirit of the colony. He had started out with the ardent desire to find at last that much sought route which led to the South Sea and to China. He died, of course, without having realised his hope. But by 1615, when the English of Jamestown had explored no more than the immediate surroundings of their village, Champlain had penetrated by way of the Ottawa River and Lake Nip- issing, to the borders of the Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, thus pointing the way for the future founders of Louisiana. ,,2 Huly 25, 1605, is generally given as the date of the founding of the first permanent French settlement in Acadia. The name Quebec is an adaptation of the Algonquin word Kebec, meaning narrowing of the waters. The French word Detroit means the same thing, hence the name of the city at the narrowing of the waters of Lake Erie, Detroit, Michigan. 2 Pasquet, op. cit., p. 30. FRANCE STRIKES ROOT W AMERICA — CHAMPLAITi— CHARITABLE AT^D EDUCATION- AL INSTITUTIONS— STRUGGLES WITH THE IROQUOIS— MOKSEIGKEUR DE LAVAL Various motives contributed to the establishment and maintenance of New France. The king very naturally was moved by a passion for territorial expansion; the Church was eager to convert the heathen savages of the New World; the fur trade, although abounding in great risks, was at times so profitable as to stimulate the cupidity of merchants ; the hope of finding deposits of precious metals was predomi- nant in the minds of speculators; the army and the navy were ambitious for gallant exploits; and the French people in general were during that eventful period imbued with a generous yearning for adventure in strange lands. Conquest, exploration, missionary seal, and the fur trade were, there- fore, for a hundred and fifty years, the controlling and often warring interests of New France. 1 Champlain visioned the future greatness of the colony; in fact, it became part of his very life and being, and he in- spired his followers with the same enthusiasm. He was an indefatigable worker, a keen observer, an experienced geog- rapher, a conscientious writer, and a brave sailor. Colonel William Wood says of him: "We all remember him as the founder of Quebec, New France and Canada. But this should not obscure his other merits. We are apt to forget, some even never know, that he was a captain of the Royal Navy of the north of France and a highly skilled hydrog- rapher. 2 We are also apt to give him less than his intellect- ual due as the author of books which happily combine the exact knowledge of the professional seaman and trained explorer with the exalting prevision of a pioneering colon- iser and founder of a state. May I also remind you that he was the first to recommend the cutting of the Panama Canal? " 3 J R. G. Thwaites, France in America, p. 17. 2 See Pierre'Georges Roy, Les Petites Choses de notre Histoire, p. 44. 3 William Wood, Unique Quebec, 20. That was in 1599 when Champlain visited Panama. Spanish maps antedating Champlain indicate several routes along which a canal might be built. 25 26 FROM QUEBEC TO Js[EW ORLEANS This is the man whose determined aim it was to colon- ise, to build a state, to evangelise and civilize the savage, and to protect the colony against any aggression from white or Indian. Champlain's colony was situated on the St. Lawrence, in close proximity to the fiercest of Indians, the most war- like of all tribes — the Iroquois. The Indians were frequently involved in tribal warfare. The Algonquins and Hurons were aligned against the Iroquois. Champlain took the part of the former because they were nearest to him. He needed their friendship to promote his work of discovery and exploration. That fact, together with the economic advan- tages of trading with the English, made the fierce Iroquois the inveterate enemies of the French. The spiritual care of the French and the conversion of the savages was not neglected; for that purpose Francis- can Fathers, commonly known as Recollects, were brought to the colony, and the first Mass on the Isle de Montreal was said by the Franciscan Father Le Caron, in the presence of Huron Indians, on the 24th day of June, 1615. 1 Trading companies were organised, dealing chiefly in furs with the Indians; but a colony cannot grow on trading companies. A colony needs colonists who will settle down, clear the forests and till the soil. Louis Hebert (1617) was the first settler who tilled the soil and gained his livelihood from the fruit of the earth. Quebec has honored him with a monument erected to the Premier Colon— the first farmer. Champlain sought to create an agricultural colony, but unhappily the desire of his financial backers to draw rich profits from fur trading with the natives checked the agri- cultural development. That was one of the weaknesses of New France, a weakness which runs all through the first century of French colon- isation in Canada and later affected the Louisiana colony. A Recollects (Ricollets), a branch of the Franciscan Order, who took their name from ' l recollection'houses, ,, that is, monasteries to which members of the order might retire to live a life of penance and spiritual recollection. The Recollects favored a stricter interprc tation of the rules of the Order of St. Francis. The Recollects were really Franciscans, and the names will be used promiscuously. Pierre'Georges Roy, following Benjamin Suite, holds that very probably the first Mass in Canada was said by a chaplain of Jacques Cartier (1534 or 1535), perhaps on the lie' Aux Coudres near Baie Saint'Paul. See Les Petites Choses de notre Histoire, pp. 3-5. PIOTiEER DATS IH HEW FRANCE 27 Memorial by the Intendant Raudot reads as follows: "The beaver trade, upon which the prosperity of the country is based, is necessarily a precarious resource. . . . Agriculture should have been the principal object in view, and it has been only an accessory. . . . Beavers have always been looked upon as a mine of gold, of which everyone wanted to take his share. The settlers spent their time hunting in the woods, preferring a life of adventure, which brought them large profits with little toil, to the cultivation of the land, which requires assiduous labor. . . . The remedy for this state of things is to induce the people to take to the production of wheat, cattle, timber, fish, oil, and to ship-building, by finding a market for these products. 111 In the summer of 1641 a group of colonists and soldiers embarked from La Rochelle, France, with the purpose of establishing a colony at the foot of Mount Royal (Montreal). Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve was the brave command- ant. In this enterprising group there was a young lady of rare courage and virtue. The heroic names of Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance will ever remain linked together in the history of Montreal. Maisonneuve was the intrepid fron- tier hero; Jeanne Mance, the noble heroine of charity. The colonists remained at Quebec the first winter, and Jeanne Mance devoted herself to the care of the sick settlers. The following year, at Montreal, she turned her own home into a hospital, where she nursed the sick, colonists and savages alike. Two years later she built a hospital at a cost of 6000 francs with the money that had been given her as a personal gift by Madame de Bullion, a charitable widow of Paris. 2 The Hotel Dieu at the foot of Mount Royal is a lineal descendant of Jeanne Mance's first hospital of 1642. Montmagny, Champlain's successor as Governor of Can- ada, tried to dissuade Maisonneuve from taking his group of colonists as far as Montreal. All of the island was vir- gin forest, and behind the trees lurked the Iroquois. Maison- neuve's courage and mettle may be judged from his reply to the Governor: "I will go up to Montreal even if every *A Memorial on affairs in Canada at the present time, and the settlement of Cape Breton, July 16, 1708, in Canadian Archives, Edouard Richard, 1899, p. 227. 2 Madame de Bullion contributed at least 100,000 livres to the founding and defence of Ville 'Marie — Montreal . 28 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW FRANCE tree on the island turn into an Iroquois I 11 But it took twenty years of bloody warfare with the Iroquois to make Montreal a safe place for colonists. Montreal is situated near the junction of several rivers. It was then the rendezvous of numerous Indian tribes; a post there would block the approach of the Iroquois com- ing from the south and from the regions of Lake Champlain and Lake George. Besides the greater facility of trading with the Indian, there was another reason for locating at Montreal — the conversion of the Indian. To convert him you must go to him. But the precarious position of this new colony, several hundred miles inland from Quebec, gave it a decidedly military character. In 1641 the Iroquois had declared open war against the French in the valley of the St. Lawrence: Maisonneuve, Charles Le Moyne, Major Closse and men of their type were the leaders of the colonists and performed marvelous deeds of bravery. "The Iroquois", writes a contemporary, "ap- proach like foxes, fight like lions, and fly away like birds. " It was their boast that they devoured one nation each year. On the fourth of July, 1648, they began a series of mas- sacres in the country of the Hurons near the Georgian Bay, and 400 Hurons were cruelly butchered. The missionaries among them were brutally murdered or burnt at the stake. In the midst of the massacre the Jesuit, Father Daniel, rushed from cabin to cabin to baptize the Indian neophytes. He fell pierced with arrows. The following year Fathers Brebeuf and Lalemant were roasted at a slow fire, the for- mer dying after three, the latter after seventeen hours of torture. Dollard des Ormeaux gathered about him a group of young men as daring and brave as himself; they bound them- selves by solemn oath to break the power of the Iroquois or to die in the attempt, and went right into the country of the enemy. As some of their number were killed, others stepped into their places. On the banks of the Ottawa, a little distance above Montreal, a small fort was hurriedly con- structed. Scarcely completed, the fort was besieged. The Iro- quois, hundreds in number, were repelled, and the little fort held out for several days. But finally lack of water, star- PIOHEER DATS IH HEW FRANCE 29 vation, an unfortunate accident 1 , and the strength of 700-800 Iroquois took the fort. Dollard and his men kept their pledge, and each died the death of a hero. A report was brought to the colony at Montreal that four Frenchmen were surrounded by a pack of Iroquois. The men in the palisade post at Montreal crowded around Maisonneuve. 2 He called to them: "Are you going to let them die? 11 The answer was: "Never!! 11 Major Closse, with a band of twenty men, hurried to the rescue. They were discovered by the Indians and bullets whined around them. Four Frenchmen were killed, and the rest covered behind trees. "Steady, take aim, 11 was the command of Closse. Sixteen savages dropped. Then they drew their pistols. Another steady aim a la Closse, sixteen more were riddled with bullets, — and the remaining savages fled in panic. A scout, while making his rounds, was suddenly grabbed by a powerful savage and dragged off to the band of Indians nearby. Closse heard the cry of the scout and rushed to the rescue with his men. An Indian chief, whom the French nicknamed La Barriquc — the Barrel, on account of his sise, harangued his men to attack the little colony. "Put a hole in the Barrel, 11 shouted Closse. A volley, and the punc- tured "Barrel 11 rolled over. At the little hospital, Jeanne Mance, that wonderful exemplar of strong womanhood, saved his life. But one day, while on one of those hair-raising errands of relief, both of Closse's pistols missed fire, and he fell a victim to unselfish and heroic bravery. In the meantime Quebec, the head of the French colonies, had made important progress. The Duchesse d 1 Aiguillon, niece of Cardinal Richelieu, undertook the founding of a hospital, Hotel-Dieu. Mme. de la Peltrie, a young widow of Alencon, supported the educational work of the Ursulines, who established two schools, 3 one for the daughters of the 1 Dollard had made a bomb out of a powder keg. The fuse was lighted and the bomb thrown out to blow up the Iroquois, but unhappily the keg hit a large branch of a tree, re' bounded and exploded in the fort. 2 T. J. Campbell, Pioneer Laymen of America. I., pp. 215 ff. 3 The Franciscan Pacifique Duplessis had opened the first school for Indian children at Three Rivers in 1616. — See P. G. Roy, op. tit., p. 26. 3 o FROM QUEBEC TO JiEW ORLEANS French and another for Indian girls. Mother Marie de Tlncarnation became the first Superior. June 16, 1659, the first Catholic Bishop of Quebec arrived in the person of Frangois de Montmorency de Laval, with the title of Bishop of Petraea. Quebec numbered hardly 500 inhabitants, and the whole of Canada perhaps 2200 souls. Laval organised a complete system of education: primary, technical, and classical. His seminary and preparatory semi- nary trained young men for the priesthood. In 1678 he founded an industrial school at Saint Joachim, near Ste. Anne, to provide the colony with skilled farmers and ar- tisans. His seminary developed in the course of centuries into the now famous Laval University. He was a man of undoubted patriotism, and threw the full weight of his powerful personality into the balance whenever there was question of proper administration, progress of the colony and its defence against the marauding savage. It is, of course, unfair to judge institutions and customs of the past from the standpoint of the present. Thomas Chapais makes a very reasonable remark when he writes: "In studying the history of New France the relations of church and state cannot be ignored. Under the Old Regime the union of these two powers was a part of the public law. But union does not always mean harmony, and there were sometimes very serious conflicts between the ecclesiastical and civil authorities. The most notable was the long and fierce con- troversy over the vexed question of the liquor trade. " 1 Most traders and coureurs de bois trafficked liquor to the Indians. Laval and the Jesuits denounced the liquor traffic, and this brought them into conflict with these men and,' with the Intendant Talon and the powerful Governor Frontenac, while the Viceroy de Tracy supported the position of the Bishop. The Indian had an intense passion for firewater, and the unscrupulous trader or coureur de bois carried it to him that he might be able to strike a better bar- gain with the drunken Indian. There were two kinds of coureurs de bois, 2 good and bad. The respectable kind consisted of those "traders 1 Thomas Chapais in Canada and Its Provinces, I., pp. 9 ff. 2w The Habitant is the colonist, in sharp distinction from the coureur de bois, who is the trader, trapper, and hunter of the wilds." Wood, op. cit., p. 32. PIOHEER DATS W HEW FRANCE 31 who did an honest business with the Indians; the other was made up of a wild set of scapegraces, recruited from every class of the colonial population. They started out mostly as the travelling agents of the merchants established in Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal, but, later on, began to sell furs on their own account. Many of them adopted the ways of the savages, and were never seen in the settle- ments except when they came to dispose of their goods or drum up companions for their wild life. They were more immoral than the red men themselves, whom they plied with liquor in exchange for furs, sometimes not even stop- ping at robbery and murder. 111 A memoir of the year 1705 gives the following gruesome description: "The village or the cabin in which the savages drink brandy is an image of hell: fire [i. e., burning brands of coals flung by the drunkards] flies in all directions; blows with hatchets and knives make the blood flow on all sides; and all the place resounds with frightful yells and cries. They bite off each other's noses, and tear away their ears; wherever their teeth are fixed, they carry away the morsel [of flesh]. The father and the mother throw their babes upon the hot coals or into the boiling kettles. They commit a thousand abominations. . . . They roll about on the cinders and coals, and in blood. 112 Thus the missionary's work of years was ruined by the unscrupulous coureurs de bois. "In the name of the public good, of humanity, and above all of religion, 11 continues Chapais, "the Bishop and the Jesuits denounced the fatal traffic. And they were absolutely right. But the civil rulers of the colony spoke another lan- guage. They argued that the brandy traffic was necessary to keep the Indians in our alliance, to induce them to trade with the French, and to prevent them from bearing their furs to the Dutch and English of New York. To that line of argument Laval had a strong answer. First, a question of principle was involved in the matter. To attain a material advantage it was not right to transgress Christian and nat- ural morality. Secondly, the political and commercial ad- vantages at stake were not so. great as represented. It was possible to trade with the Indians without brandy. The New 1 Campbell, Pioneer Laymen of America, II., pp. 109'110. 2 Quoted by C. W. Alvord, Centennial History of Illinois, I., p. 71- 32 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS England authorities had themselves prohibited the sale of intoxicating liquors. Furthermore, a set back in the fur trade would not, after all, have been so disastrous. A less number of colonists would have been diverted from agri- cultural and industrial pursuits. The settlement of the country would have been more rapid, and the growth of population more notable." 1 It was finally decided by the government to forbid the taking of liquor to the Indians, but to allow it to be sold in the settlement. The economic effect of this regulation was that bootleg — or outlaw — fur traders sprang up like mush- rooms and some of the fur trade was diverted to Albany, where the English supplied the savages with rum. The liquor traffic with the Indians remained a perplexing problem for more than two centuries. Light and shadow give beauty to a picture, and the heroic deeds of the pioneers make a refreshing contrast to the orgies of unscrupulous forest traders and liquor-soaked savages. The early settlers living in the midst of the forest were a hardy race. Inured to the dangers of the wilds, they were prepared to fight the cruel Iroquois lurking behind the trees. The women, too, and even the children, knew how to handle the ax and firearms, and some could load a four pounder. The heroic deeds of the courageous little French Ca- nadian, Mile. Marie Madeleine de Vercheres, give an idea of the dangers that surrounded those early settlers and of the heroic courage and the drama that formed a part of their lives. The following account is taken partly from a letter of Mile, de Vercheres to the Countess de Maurepas, 2 written shortly after the event, and partly from an account prepared by her at the request of Governor Beauharnois. 3 "It happened on one occasion, when I was about four- teen years old, that I found myself some 400 paces outside the fort of Vercheres, eight leagues 4 from Montreal, — which 1 Thomas Chapais in Canada and Its Provinces, I., p. 9. 2 It is to be noted that the government of Louis XIV being very paternal, everyone who had a reason, or thought he had a reason,expected fatherly support in the shape of a pension. Mile, de Vercheres asks for a pension of 50 ecus or an ensigncy for her brother. 3 Canadian Archives, 1899, Edouard Richard, pp. 642 and 87- 4 A league as a measure of distance equals approximately three miles. LOUIS XIV, KING OF FRANCE From painting by Philippe Rigaud, Louvre, Paris I s o c j o o d H^ e$ o w n »5 Q a* << 2 PIOHEER DATS IH HEW FRANCE 3 3 fort belongs to my father, and was then garrisoned by one single sentry only — when the Iroquois, who lay in ambush in the surrounding bushes, made a sudden attack upon our settlers, of whom they carried off some twenty. " "I heard several shots without knowing at whom they were fired. I soon saw that the Iroquois were firing at our settlers, who lived above a league and a half from the fort. One of our servants called out to me: Tly, mademoiselle, fly, the Iro- quois are upon us V I turned instantly and saw some forty- five Iroquois running towards me, and already within pistol shot. Determined to die rather than fall into their hands, I sought safety in flight. I ran towards the fort, commend- ing myself to the Blessed Virgin, and saying to her from the bottom of my heart : 'Holy Virgin, mother of my God, you know I have ever honored and loved you as my dear mother; abandon me not in this hour of danger! I would rather a thousand times perish than fall into the hands of a race that know you not.' I was pursued by an Iroquois up to the very gates, but as I had preserved in that awful crisis the little measure of assurance of which a young girl is cap- able, and may be armed with, I left in his hands my neck wrap and closed the door upon myself, shouting out: fc To arms!' Then, paying no heed to the lamentations of the women, whose husbands had been carried off, I mounted the bastion where the sentry was posted. Shall I venture to add, madam, that I then transformed myself by donning the soldier's helmet, and went through a variety of move- ments intended to create the impression that we had quite a number of men in the fort, though in reality we had but one soldier. I then loaded a four-pounder with ball and dis- charged it at the Indians. The prompt discharge of the can- non had the good effect of giving the alarm to the neigh- bouring forts and make them guard against assaults by the Iroquois " COMPLICATED SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION IN NEW FRANCE England and Holland colonised through companies, such as the London Company, the East India Company, etc. France, too, had her colonisation companies, the chief of which was the Company of the Hundred Associates — La Compagnie des Cent-Associes. It was the company that had been organised by Cardinal Richelieu 1 to promote coloni- sation in New France. While never very successful, it had, by 1663, lost its energy and vigor. It was part of the Company's policy to defend the right to bring fire-water to the Indian to facilitate trade. The missionaries, the colonists, and all who were directly interested in the success of the missions and the security and safe-living in the colony, opposed the liquor traffic. It gradually became apparent that colonisation by compa- nies, while effective with the English and Dutch, did not suit the French character and customs, nor did it fit into a policy of centralisation of power as practised in France under Louis XIV. Inasmuch as the King everywhere pressed his own authority and substituted himself in the place of private initiative, why not let the King take hold of the whole organ- isation, the defense of the colony, the government, the colony itself? Thus New France in 1663 became a crown colony. French crown colonies, or King's colonies, that is, colonies subject in their whole administration directly to the King or his Prime Minister, had a very peculiar sort of administra- tion, a method that was the cause of endless trouble from the time of its introduction down to the Conquest in 1759. This form of administration obtained in Canada, and later also in Louisiana. It is, therefore, necessary to give a somewhat detailed explanation to facilitate the understanding of this phase of the history. There were in this system two principal functionaries: The Governor and the Intendant. To the Governor was 1 Armand'Jean du Plessis, Cardinal, Duke de Richelieu, was Prime Minister of France during part of the reign of Louis XIII. He died December 4, 1642. An original of the con' tract under which the Company of the Hundred Associates operated is preserved in the Archives of the Seminaire de Quebec. It bears the signature of the great Prime Minister. 34 THE WTEHDAHT AHD THE GOVERNOR 35 assigned authority in conducting war and commanding the army, or, more in detail, the Governor watched over the defense of the country, regulated the policy, signed treaties with the Indian tribes and represented the King in affairs of general interest. The Intendant 1 had charge of the police, justice, and finance, in other words, the financial, judiciary and administrative departments. He could, and generally did, meddle in anything and everything without trans- gressing the limits of his powers. The Intendant corresponded directly with the Secretary of State or Prime Minister. He proposed to the Minister the public works to be executed and had charge of them. He was Secretary of agriculture, industry, commerce, in short, every detail of the adminis- tration was in his hands or under his supervision. 2 Com- pared with the rights and powers of the Intendant, the office of Governor seems rather an ornamental dignity. The functions of both officials were intentionally made to overlap. That caused the one to report to the King on the doings and conduct of the other, and the King was thus always well informed as to what was going on. This system functioned fairly satisfactorily in France, where the contending officials were near the King, and disputes that arose could be quickly appealed to the crown for decision, but transplanted to New France, three thousand miles away from Versailles, and with means of communication as imperfect, slow and un- certain as they were, it was a failure, and impeded the progress of the colonies of Canada and Louisiana. "The fountain and source of honours being at Versailles, 1 ' writes Richard, "it was but natural to think that there also was the fountain of knowledge and wisdom, even in relation to matters which, by reason of distance, must be outside the competence of the court. The Governor was, therefore, with the Intendant, but the executive arm and chief adviser of the Court. I say chief adviser, for by a strange anomaly, not only were all civil and military officials allowed to communicate with the Minister in relation to the duties of their office, but they were asked to submit their views on the various branches of the administration of the colony. This was simply to hold out a premium to the informer and intendant from the Latin word intendere, that is, to look, to inspect. 2 }{ouveau Larousse, V., p. 306. 36 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS sow the seed of distrust. The harvest must of necessity be a crop of jealousy and discord. "* And so it was. There was no legislature giving expression on essential points to the views of the various classes of the community. In the absence of such legislature or council, Bishop Laval, on one of his visits to France, asked for some sort of tribunal for the colony. The upshot was that the King established a Conseil Souverain; but Louis did not like the word sovereign, since there could be only one sovereign, the Grand Mori' arque, and so the name was changed to Superieur — Superior Council The Superior Council ' 'exercised executive, legislative, and judicial powers, the only appeal from their decisions being to the home government." 2 This institution plays a very important role in the colonies of Canada and Louisiana up to the time of CTReilley's regime in New Orleans. Besides these two chief functionaries there were others, and that complicated the system still more: the Procurator of the King (King's Attorney), equivalent to our State's Attor- ney, acted in the name of the King; the Commandant, in charge of the troops; the Ordonateur and the Inspector of accounts, etc. The officers of the Superior Council were: the Governor, representative of the King, the Bishop, or in case of his ab- sence, the Vicar-General, seven Councillors, and the In- tendant of police, justice and finance, and the Attorney-Gen- eral (ProcurewOeneral du Roi), etc. There were some strange things about this Superior Council : 3 Its sessions were held once a week around a table in the house of the In tendant; the Governor sat at the upper end; at his right the Bishop, at his left the Intendant; the Intend- ant presided, not the Governor. The administration of justice should be quick and gra- tuitous. The sentences passed had force of law. There were no lawyers, the plaintiffs pleaded their own cases. During the trial the procurators and the interested 1 Edouard Richard, op. cit., p. 14- 2 Thwaites, France in America, p. 129- 'See Campbell, Pioneer Laymen of 7<[orth America, II., pp. 97-99. THE IHTEHDAHT AK[D THE GOVERNOR 37 parties spoke from behind the chairs of the judges. The interested parties were not permitted to be present when the case was decided. The first Councillors were appointed conjointly by the Governor and the Bishop, and held office at the King's pleasure. The first man appointed by the King to set this loosely- jointed, overlapping, complicated system into operation in New France was Governor M. de Mesy, whose mulish administration was a total failure. He began by attempting to domineer everybody in the colony. The famous Maison- neuve had been duly appointed Governor of Montreal and had ruled that colony for twenty-two years. De Mesy very officiously appointed Maisonneuve Governor of Mon- treal as though he had never held this office, to let that valiant hero of Ville-Marie feel that his appointment came from de Mesy. Maisonneuve felt the sting and went back to France, never to return. Canada lost a good man, a hero. M. de Mesy antagonized the Council by high-handedly discharging Bourdon, Villeray, and d'Aureuil, Councillors, because they did not agree with him. The Bishop refused to ratify this arbitrary procedure, whereupon de Mesy threatened to incarcerate the Bishop. M. de Mesy had just been dismissed from office when he died, 1665. Colbert, the powerful Minister of Louis XIV, organised the Company of the West Indies in 1664 and granted to it very broad political and commercial rights. The Com- pany of the West Indies superseded the Company of the Hundred Associates and took over its rights and privileges. But, with the exception of the functions of judges and of one or two officials of justice, it left the entire administration of the colony to the King. The colony had passed through twenty years of Indian wars, massacres and perfidy of every sort, and the Court of Versailles decided that only armed force could control and keep the Iroquois in check and safeguard the colonists. The Marquis de Tracy was appointed Lieutenant of the King, 1 1 The Staff of each Province was composed of a local Governor, a Lieutenant of the King and a Major. The local Governors were under the Governor'General and had to see to the execution of his ordinances. The Lieutenants of the King were rather lieutenants of the local Governors. They attended to military matters, troops and fortifications, and took the place of the Governor in his absence. The Majors were in charge of order among the troops 38 FROM QUEBEC TO K[EW ORLEANS M. de Courcelle, Governor, and Jean Talon, Intendant. De Tracy and the famous Carignan Regiment, 1 comprising 403 picked soldiers, arrived in the fall of the same year. Canada was in great distress, and Louis XIV and Colbert were determined to save the new colony. In Courcelle, Tracy, and Talon, Colbert sent over to New France a mighty triumvirate which would be able to transform the rude settle- ments of the St. Lawrence, first organised into a body politic by Richelieu, into a powerful colony that would be able to cope with the Indian and the nettlesome English colony strung along the Atlantic seaboard. Talon 2 was a man of ability and will power. In France he had been Intendant in the army of the great Turenne, Louis XIV's most capable General. In 1666 Talon had the first Canadian census 3 taken in order to submit a complete survey of New France to the King. Census of New France, 1666. Quebec 555 Beaupre 678 Beauport 172 Isle cTOrleans 471 St'Jean, St-Francois et St-Michel 156 Sillery 217 Nostre Dame'des'Anges, et Riviere de St.-Charles 118 Coste de Lauzon 6 Montreal 584 Trois-Rivieres 461 Total 3,418 Number of men between 16 and 50, capable of bearing arms, 1,344 and looked after details of the military administration. P-G. Roy, Les Officiers D^Etat- Major, pp. 6'7- J Edouard Richard, op. cit., p. 31. 2 Jean Talon was born at Chalons-sur-Marne in 1625, and died at Versailles, November 23, 1691. He was twice Intendant of New France, 16654668, and 16704672. Shortly before his return to France Talon created a number of seigniories for officers of the Carignan regiment and thereby aided the development of an aristocracy in Canada. "His excessive seal," writes Lionel Lindsay, "for the financial prosperity of the State caused him to resent unreasonably the wise restrictions imposed by Bishop Laval on the liquor traffic with the Indians." Lionel Lindsay in Catholic Encyclopedia, XIV., p. 439. 3 F. X. Garneau, Histoire du Canada, Tome Second, Appendice. TALOH-WARS AGAIHST mDIAHS-FROWEHAC —WESTERN EXPLORATIONS— WESTWARD EXPAJiSIOH By the middle of the seventeenth century, the English and Dutch settlements in Virginia, the Middle Colonies, and Massachusetts had developed an aggregate population of approximately twenty-five thousand. Between 1627 and 1637 upward of twenty thousand settlers emigrated thither from Europe. 1 Talon's motto was: colonise and again colonise. Group the settlers around the cities and villages, and thus these settlers would form a body of voluntary militia, create cen- ters of population, and fortify the colony frontier. Accord- ing to Wood 2 , Charlesbourg, close to Quebec, still has fields divided by fences which stretch out from a common center like spokes from a hub. The hub was the local fort, into which the habitants could easily flee when all the neighboring fields met at a common point. The parish church of Charlesbourg now occupies the site of the old fort. This hub-and-spoke settlement was established in the seigniory of the Jesuits 3 , but the method was discontinued, because experience showed that the settlement could be surrounded by savages, whereby every outlet to obtain relief would be cut off. According to the same author "among the older inhabitants in the remoter districts, any nearby village is still referred to as le fort, in reminiscence of Iro- quois and scalping parties; while here, unique in all America, you still may see the fences running into one strategic point. 1 ' Talon sent explorers northwest and south. It was during his administration that Jolliet was appointed to make his famous voyage of exploration down the Mississippi. At Talon's bidding, " writes Lindsay, "New France set her seal on three-fourths of North America." Agriculture soon progressed, cod-and seal-fishing were developed, ship-build- ing thrived, and trade with the Antilles was inaugurated. ^hwaites, France in America, p. 34. 2 Wood, op. eft., p. 52. 3 This statement was made to me by Msgr. Amedee Gosselin, Rector of the Laval Uni' versity, Quebec. 39 4 o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS During his seven years of office Talon renewed the face of New France. Had his plans carried in full, New France would have had a million inhabitants instead of sixty thous- and in 1759, when the Grande Lutte, the Final Struggle between England and France for the possession of America, came to a dramatic close on the Plains of Abraham. The Richelieu River flows from Lake Champlain into the St. Lawrence a little distance below Montreal. Tracy at once set to work to thrust the arm of French power along the water-ways of New France, and constructed five forts on the banks of this river : Sorel, de Chambly, Sainte-Therese, Saint-Jean, and Sainte-Anne. The Iroquois awoke one morning to find the French in possession of their main route to the St. Lawrence. Courcelle, the new Governor, started off in midwinter, 1666, at the head of 500 to 600 soldiers, towards Fort Chambly. "The French, " writes Wood, "missing the Mohawk trail, suddenly, to their intense surprise, found themselves face to face with the English at Schenectady. They were looking for Mohawks. The only whites of whom they knew any- thing along the Hudson Valley were the Dutch. Yet here were the English, who, having supplanted the Dutch at New York eighteen months before, had now worked their way north, straight toward the flank of New France. The two home governments were then at peace; so French and English parted with all the usual compliments; but not without most ominous forebodings on both sides." 1 Courcelle "s expedition, as far as the Iroquois were con- cerned, was a total failure, having even failed to see any. M. de Tracy, profiting by the mishaps of Courcelle, started operations in September, 1666. His army was the most formidable that had ever been seen in America. It counted several hundred of the crack Carignan Regiment, 600 militia and 100 Indians. He led this army to Fort Sainte- Anne on the west shore of Lake Champlain, and from thence marched into the country of the Iroquois in three separate col- umns. After a march of a hundred miles, Indian file, and hard- ships that would have tested the mettle of the best of men, he reached the Iroquois country. The Indians had fled. Andaraqui, 1 Wood, op. cit., p. 41. GOVERNOR FROWEHAC 41 the fortified Indian village, and other Indian villages, pro- visions and all, were given to the flames. The Iroquois, terrified and humiliated, signed a treaty of peace which lasted eighteen years. The colony was now rid of its worst enemies and settled down to peaceful colonisation under the direction of the great Coloniser, the Intendant Jean Talon. 1 A great Governor succeeded a great Intendant. Count Frontenac 2 was a man of powerful physique and imposing presence, of proud bearing and determined will, with a pas- sion for power and a power for work. He was decidedly progressive and was intimately connected with the intellect- ual life of the French capital. He "could turn a set of appo- site French verses as well as all except the very best courtly poets." 3 "M. de Frontenac," writes Richard, "either because he considered his position to be that of viceroy, or because he desired to raise it to that dignity, sought to press the colony into the mould of France. Convinced evidently that he was carrying out the views of the government, he convoked the states-general and received them with quasi regal pomp and solemnity. Proud of his success in this matter he in- formed the Minister of his action, manifesting at the same time the satisfaction felt by a jealous servant who thinks he has foreseen and accomplished in advance the secret wishes of his master. ... He was severely reprimanded by the Minister. The secret intention of the king, he was told, is to allow the irksome institution to fall into disuse. . . .It would never do then to create in Canada an institution which the king was trying to kill in France." 4 x Desrosiers, Histoire du Canada, p. 111. 2 Louis de Buade, Count Frontenac, was born at Paris in 1622. His father was captain of a royal castle and his mother the daughter of the King's Secretary of State. Thus it happened that Louis XIII honored the parents by becoming the boy's godfather. Frontenac served under Turenne in Holland, France, Italy, Germany, and in Candia before his appoint' ment as Governor of New France. He served twice as Governor of that country, from 1672 to 1682, and again from 1689 to 1698. "He found Canada weakened and attacked on all sides; he left it in peace, enlarged, and respected. He has been justly called 'saver of the country.' " Lionel Lindsay, in Cath. Encyclopedia, IV., p. 310. 3 Wood, op. cit., pp. 1748. 4 Edouard Richard, op. cit., p. 14. 42 FROM QUEBEC TO KEW ORLEANS Out of the imperious character of Frontenac grew many difficulties. A notable and long contested quarrel was that with Perrot, Governor of Montreal, whom he confined to Chateau St. Louis. Another very grave controversy arose between Frontenac and the Intendant Duchesneau and the majority of the Superior Council. The matter in controversy was a very delicate point of etiquette. The royal ordinance gave to Frontenac the title of Governor and Lieutenant' General, but it so happened that in a letter to Frontenac the King styled him "Chef et President du Corned." Fron- tenac promptly demanded that the Council give him this title in its meetings. The Council refused to do so. The controversy simmered to a children's farce. The Council would meet, the clerk would begin to read the minutes, and then the trouble would begin. The clerk would not use the title Frontenac thought he should have, and the meeting would break up. Finally Frontenac ordered the clerk sent to jail. The position of the clerk was supported by the Intendant Duchesneau and the majority of the Council. Meetings remained suspended for months, and finally, after a year of wrangling over this puerile matter, which had no bearing at all on the welfare of the colony, the King settled the difficulty, practically approving the standpoint of Duches- neau. 1 Another question given ridiculously serious attention was this : just when and in what order Frontenac and the rest of the political dignitaries were to receive incense, holy water, pain benit, who should have a chair in the sanctuary, etc. Frontenac demanded special recognition at divine services. The matter had to be referred to the King, as indeed all matters, even the smallest details, in that overcentralised government of Louis XIV. The King's reply read: "You are exacting more than is accorded to Governors or Lieutenant-Governors in France, and you would do well to stop your quarrel with the Bishop." 2 Frontenac and Duchesneau, the Intendant, generally worked at cross purposes. In the summer of 1769 Duchesneau wrote to the Minister that the clearing was making but little progress, Hbid., pp. 13-14. 2 Campbell, op. cit., II., p. 102. GOVERNOR FROKITEHAC 43 that the farmers preferred hunting to raising crops, and that he was powerless to stem the evil as long as Frontenac counte- nanced it. This accusation provoked the ire of the Governor, who replied a year later by denying the charges and adding that he had had 'Very little respect for him [Duchesneau] in the past, but that in the future he would have none at all!" The Intendant's son, Chevalier Duchesneau, foolishly became involved in trouble with Frontenac. Bishop Laval sought to mediate, and elicited from the Governor the promise that he would listen to the young man and accept his apologies. The young Chevalier accordingly called at the Governor's house to do as he had been told. At sight of the young culprit, Frontenac forgot his promise of leni- ency to the Bishop; he flew at the young man, "struck him and beat him unmercifully." 1 Even the Minister must have despaired at times of hold- ing the impetuous Governor in check. June 4, 1695, he wrote to Frontenac, advising him that he was too severe in expressing his opinions and that he might have avoided some of his many troubles; finally he censured him for his outbursts of anger and violence. 2 However, even great men have their weak points, and Frontenac was no exception. Yet, in spite of all these foolish foibles, Frontenac is justly numbered among the few great Governors of Canada; at any rate, he was the most spectacular of them all. October 16, 1690, the English Admiral Phipps 3 appeared before Quebec with a fleet of thirty-four vessels carrying approximately 3,000 men. In accordance with the manner of warfare in those days, a small boat carrying a flag of truce and a trumpeter was sent ashore to demand surrender. Fron- tenac on his part sent out a simliar boat to meet the Admiral's messenger. The trumpeter was blindfolded and led through ^douard Richard, op. cit., pp. 1344. 2 Edouard Richard, Canadian Archives, 1899, pp. 4142. ^rontenac's forces had captured Corlar (Schenectady), Salmon Falls (N. Hampshire), and Casco (Maine). To avenge these attacks Boston sent a fleet under Phipps to capture Quebec. 44 FROM QUEBEC TO ?iEW ORLEANS the streets of the city up to the fort, where the bandage was removed from his eyes in the presence of the Governor and the military, civil, and ecclesiastical authorities. In the name of his superior officer the messenger read the summons to surrender: "I, William Phipps, Knight, by these presents, and in the name of their excellent Majesties : William and Mary, 1 King and Queen of England, France and Scotland and Ireland, Defenders of the Faith .... demand that you surrender into my hands, your forts and castles, etc. . . . But if you undertake to defend yourselves, know that I am in a position to compel you, resolved with the help of God, in whom I put my trust, to avenge by arms the wrongs you have done us, and subject you to the crown of England. Your positive answer in one hour by your trum- peter with the return of mine." Frontenac swelled up with anger and made this charac- teristic reply: "I will not keep you waiting that long for my answer. Here it is. I know no King William; but I know that the Prince of Orange is a usurper who has violated the most sacred rights of blood and of religion by dethroning the King, his father-in-law. I know no other lawful sovereign of England than James II. Sir W. Phipps should not be surprised at the hostilities committed by the French and their allies, for he must have expected that the King, my master, having received the King of England under his pro- tection, would order me to carry on the war upon nations in revolt against their lawful prince. Can he have supposed that, were his conditions more tolerable, and I in a mood to accept them, so many brave men would consent and advise me to trust to the word of a man who has violated the capit- ulation which he had made with the Governor of Acadia; who has broken the allegiance he owes to his prince; who has forgotten all the favors lavished on him, to follow the party of a foreigner, who, pretending to have in view only to be the Deliverer of England and the Defender of the Faith, has destroyed the laws and privileges of the Kingdom and overthrown the Anglican Church? All this the Divine Justice, which Phipps invokes, will one day punish severely." 1 James II, the last Stuart King of England, was supplanted by his daughter Mary and her husband, William of Orange (Holland), 1688. Campbell, op. cit. t II., p. 125. GOVERNOR FROHTEHAC 45 The messenger requested the answer in writing. Frontenac, burning with rage, gave the reply which has become famous in history: "I will give you my answer by the mouths of my cannon l" 1 And so he did. Phipps was beaten, lost all his ships but four, and 900 men. The expeditions of Courcelle and Tracy had shown that the Iroquois were out of reach of the French. So Frontenac adopted a policy of reconciliation, which he considered more economical and more to the interest of the colony. He en- deavored to adjust their difficulties and to play the role of mediator. This method appealed to his pompous disposition. Edouard Richard properly remarks: "That which was his failing in dealing with his subordinates became in some sort a special qualification in negotiating with the governors of the neighboring colonies and especially with the Indians. His noble bearing and great dignity compelled respect from the proud Iroquois. They could not but feel on seeing him that they were in the presence of the true representative of a great and mighty monarch. " 2 A character like Frontenac had, of course, more than an average number of opponents, both in Quebec and at the Court of Versailles, and he was in consequence recalled in 1682. Unfortunately, De la Barre and Denonville, who suc- ceeded him as Governors of New France, lacked both ability and energy to cope successfully with the complex problems of the colony. The savages dug up the tomahawk, and in 1689 a terrible massacre occurred in the colony. The Iroquois, backed by the English, felt they could safely undertake another wild attack against the French. August 5, 1689, while a violent storm was raging, 1400 Iroquois, who had slipped unnoticed over to the Isle de Montreal to a point called Lachine, suddenly filled the air with their wild war whoops. The doors were chopped down, 150-200 inhabi- tants were killed, and some were reserved for torture. The country about was ravaged with fire and the tomahawk up to the very gates of Montreal. The Iroquois and the English had conquered. Campbell, op. tit., pp. 124-126. 2 Edouard Richard, op. cit., p. 13. 46 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAHS Frontenac, who lived in France, was now 68 years old; he had regained the grace of the Court, and was considered the only man strong enough to save Canada, and was there- fore sent back to Quebec as Governor of New France in 1689, which office he held until 1698. At this point we must retrace our steps and reach back to Frontenac's first administration. Colbert visioned the possi- bility of acquiring a great empire on the American Conti- nent, but was troubled at the thought of the small number of colonists who would be unduly strung out over a vast territory by a policy of rapid expansion. Frontenac's restive character craved to expand the field of commerce and to dot the colony with posts and forts to safeguard the possession for France. Talon, too, was an expansionist, and sent Louis Jolliet to explore the region of Lake Superior in 1669, and La Salle to the regions south of the Lakes the following year. No doubt, Colbert was elated over the marvelous discoveries made about this time. Still, he felt uneasy at the thinning out of the population over so immense a territory and urged Frontenac to see to the development of agriculture. "In regard to new discoveries, " wrote Colbert to Frontenac, "you ought not to turn your attention thereunto without urgent necessity and very great advantage, and you ought to hold as a maxim that it is much better to occupy less terri- tory and to people it thoroughly, than to spread oneself out more, and to have feeble colonies which can be destroyed by any sort of accident." 1 M. de Saint-Lusson was sent to Sault Ste. Marie to carry the message of the King of France to the Indians of the North- west, that is, he was to take formal possession of the Ottawa country in the name of the King. Nicolas Perrot, 2 an hon- est coureur de bois, was sent ahead to invite the Indians to assemble at the Sault in the spring of 1671. Accord- ingly, on the fourth day of June, 1671, throngs of Indians from north and west, representing fourteen nations all told, assembled in all their savage finery and splendor around a cross planted on a slight eminence on what is now the Amer- ^{ew Tor\ Colonial Documents, IX., p. 126— April 15, 1676. 2 Nicolas Perrot, who was in every respect a very good man, is not to be confounded with Francois Marie Perrot, son-in-law of Talon, and Governor of Montreal, who bequeathed to posterity an evil reputation. GOVERNOR FROHTEHAC 4 7 ican side of Sault Ste-Marie. St. Lusson's official report sent to Talon runs as follows: "We, Simon Frangois Daumont, Seigneur de Saint-Lusson, commissioned as Sub-delegate of M. lTntendant of New France on July 3rd, last, to betake ourselves with all due expedition to the country of the Ottawas, Nes-Perces, Illinois, and other nations hitherto discovered or to be discovered hereafter, in North America, along the shores of Lake Superior or La Mer Douce, to find and discover mines of any kind, particularly of copper, and to take possession in the name of the King of all the country inhabited, through which we may pass, planting at the first settlement the Cross in order to produce there the fruits of Christianity, and the arms of France in order to ensure there the authority of his Majesty, and the French dominion, do, therefore, in virtue of our said commission, having first landed at the village of Sainte-Marie du Sault where the Reverend Jesuit Fathers have a mission, and where the nations of (here follow the names of a few tribes) abide, we assembled the majority of them and also whatever others could be persuaded to come. There were fourteen tribes present (the names are then given); all of them dwelling in the north or near the sea, and they were charged to make known to their neighbors who are mostly to be found on the shores of the sea, what was done on this occasion. To them, in the pres- ence of the Reverend Fathers of the Society of Jesus and of all the French, hereinafter named, we have caused our commission to be read and proclaimed in the native tongue by Nicolas Perrot, Interpreter for His Majesty, in this country, so that they cannot be ignorant of its tenor; and we have erected a cross to advance the interests of Chris- tianity in these parts. Near it we planted a post of cedar on which we affixed the arms of France. All this was done while repeating three times the general acclamation: 'In the name of the Most High and Most Mighty and Most Redoubtable Monarch, Louis Fourteenth of the name, Most Christian King of France and Navarre, we take pos- session,' etc. This acclamation was made each time that the said Perrot lifted a sod of earth on the north, east, south, and west, while shouting Vive le Roy, and making the whole of the assembly, the French as well as the Indians, repeat the same. All other powers, monarchical as well as repub- 4 8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS lican, were warned not to trespass on the teritories so claimed, under peril of incurring the wrath and power of His Majesty's armies, and the savages are assured of the royal protection "* The chief object of the mission, ordered by Talon and exe- cuted by Saint-Lusson, was to establish the secular power, "to take possession, in the King's name, of all the territories in- habited and uninhabited ... to ensure there the authority of His Majesty, and the French dominion. " Among those who witnessed the solemn prise de pos- session (taking possession) at Sault Ste. Marie, there stood by the side of Saint-Lusson a young man of twenty-six, a trader and explorer, whose name and fame were destined to live long after Saint-Lusson and his solemn ceremony had sunk into oblivion. This man was Louis Jolliet. The year after the spectacular performance at the Sault, Talon suggested to Governor Frontenac that Jolliet be sent beyond the Great Lakes to explore the grande riviere, which, the Indians alleged, flowed into the southern sea (Pacific). This was in 1672. Jolliet was selected, writes Frontenac to Colbert, because he was "experienced in these kinds of discoveries and had already been very near the river.' 1 Louis Joliet (or Jolliet) 2 was the son of Jean Joliet and Marie d'Abancourt, who lived in what is still known as the Basse Ville, or Lower Town, of Old Quebec. Barthol- omew Vimont, the Jesuit Father, who baptised the future explorer on the 21st of September, 1645, evidently forgot to enter the date of birth, and leaves our curiosity somewhat unsatisfied by merely stating that he baptised the "Infaw tern recens natum — the Infant recently born." Jolliet was baptised in the church of the Immaculate Conception, which at that time was the ground floor of the house (perhaps warehouse) of the Company of the Hundred Associates, which stood on the grounds of the present Anglican Cathe- dral across from the Clarendon Hotel. The church in Lower Ernest Gagnon, Louis Jolliet, pp. 2022. See also Campbell, Pioneer Laymen of ]<[orth America, II., pp. 44'45. 2 The baptismal record has Joliet, but the spelling Jolliet is the more common. Louis Jolliet himself always, or nearly always, wrote double "1." This account of Jolliet's early life is chiefly drawn from Ernest Gagnon, Louis Jolliet, Decouvreur du hiississijpi. o ^ 2 I Q CO BRITISH MESSENGER BEFORE FRONTENAC. By H. Sandham "I will give you my answer by the mouths of my cannon!" Photograph by courtesy of Edgar Gariejpy GOVERNOR FROHTEKAC 49 Town had been destroyed by fire in 1640. Jean Jolliet, the father, was a wagonmaker employed by the Company of the Hundred Associates. Louis Jolliet completed the classical studies at the Jesuit College of Quebec. In 1663 Bishop Laval opened his Seminaire de Quebec, and Louis Jolliet was one of the first three students of Laval's new seminary. At this time he thought of becoming a priest, and even received minor orders. He finished the classics and philosophy at the Jesuit College. Jolliet had talent and taste for music, and the records mention him as one of the officiers de musique while at that institu- tion. This love for music remained with him, and after his return from the discovery of the Mississippi, the records mention Jolliet as organist of the Cathedral of Quebec. But, like so many men of his day, he was drawn by the magic call of the wilderness. In 1667 he quitted the seminary and went to Europe, where he studied engineering, hydrog- raphy, and branches that would be useful to him in exploring the wilds. After his return to New France he became a coureur de bois, a rover of the unexplored forests and trader with the Indians, among whom he learnt the languages of several western tribes. In 1669, Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette met at Sault Sainte-Marie. It is probable that they had become acquainted at Quebec in the fall of 1666. The missionary and the explorer, both young, courageous, fiery, brave and intel- ligent, from the day of their meeting at the Falls of Sainte- Marie became interested in finding the "grande riviere — Mitchi Sipi," 1 vaguely known to them from the fascinating stories of the savages. James Marquette was born at Laon, France, on the 10th day of January, 1637. At the age of 17 he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Nancy. He came to America at the age of 29, September 30, 1666, when de Tracy and Courcelle were on their march to subdue the Mohawks. After spending some time at Quebec and along the St. Lawrence to study the Algonquin language, he was sent to the mission at the far- 1 Mitchi — great, and Sibi or Sipi — water. Knowledge of the great river in the west had been obtained chiefly from the reports of the Jesuit Claude Allouez, who came to Chequame' gon Bay (La Pointe — Superior, Wis.) in 1669. 5o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS thest extremity of Lake Superior — La Pointe. There he came in contact with Illinois Indians, who told him wonderful stories of the Great River. It was then believed that this river emptied into the Atlantic. Marquette wondered if it might not lead to the Pacific. At any rate, he wrote his Superior: "We shall go there next year. 1 '' His hopes did not materialise, and he remained two years at La Pointe, and then paddled back to Sault SaintcMarie, because a war had broken out among the Indians at his mission. He then moved on to the Straits of Mackinac, where he removed the mission from the island (Mackinac) to the mainland. It was at this mission, Saint-Ignace, that Jolliet found Mar- quette, December 8, 1672. SEARCH FOR A PASSAGE TO THE SOUTH SEA We must now turn back to the 7th day of April, 1672, when Louis XIV and his Minister Colbert issued instruc- tions for the guidance of Frontenac, the newly-appointed Governor of New France. The task assigned to Frontenac was as difficult as it was delicate. He was to transform a mission country into a crown colony, with proper balances between the civil and the ecclesiastical powers. Leaving aside the details of the instructions referring to the Iroquois, agriculture, etc. as irrelevant to the pur- pose of this volume, the following paragraph makes inter- esting reading, and serves as a key for a better understanding of this highly important period of history. "The Jesuit Fathers, who are established at Quebec, 1 ' so read the instructions, "being the first 1 who carried the light of the Faith and the Gospel to New France, and who by their virtue and piety have contributed to the estab- lishment and growth of this colony, His Majesty desires that the said sr. de Frontenac be very considerate with regard to them; but, in case that they would wish to carry the ecclesiastical authority farther than it should reach, it is necessary that he make known to them with courtesy (avec douceur) the line of conduct they are expected to fol- low, and, in case they do not yield, he will diplomatically oppose their designs without appearance of rupture or partiality, and he will advise His Majesty of all so that he may be in position to apply the proper remedy. "The colony of Montreal, situated above that of Quebec, receiving much help and consolation from the Ecclesiastics of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice, who are established there, it will be necessary that the sieur de Frontenac give them protection as far as in him lies, as also to the Recollect Fathers, who have established themselves in the said city of Quebec, x The first Catholic missionaries to visit New France were the secular priests who accompa' nied Cartier. Dorn Antoine and Dom Guillaume Le Breton accompanied him on his second voyage (15354536). L'abbe Nicolas Aubry came to Acadia in 1604. In 1610 Jesse Fleche, a secular priest, baptized some hundred savages. The Jesuit Fathers came to Acadia in 1611. The Franciscans (Recollects) came in 1615 and were the first missionaries along the banks of the St. Lawrence. See H. A. Scott, Au Berceau de T^ptrc Histoire. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 5 2 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS these two ecclesiastical bodies should be favored to counter- balance the authority which the Jesuit Fathers might as- sume to themselves to the detriment of that of His Ma- jesty." 1 The subsequent attitude of Frontenac towards the vari- ous religious orders becomes clear from these instructions. When Frontenac reached Quebec in September of the same year, he brought various despatches relating to the colony and a letter of great importance for the Intendant Talon. Wrote Colbert to Talon: "After the increase of the colony nothing is more important for that country and for the service of His Majesty than the discovery of the passage to the South Sea [Pacific Ocean]." 2 Talon, who was a highly efficient Intendant and a keen observer, studied the forest rovers and explorers with a view to selecting the proper man for the "discovery of the passage to the South Sea." His eye fell on Jolliet, whom he had reason to remember. According to the Journal des Jesuites, a philosophical disputation had been held in the Jesuit College at Quebec on the 2nd of July, 1666, the dig- nitaries of the colony being present and taking part in the discussion. "The Intendant [Talon] among others argued very well. M. Jolliet and Pierre Francheville answered the objections with excellent logic." 3 This philosophical disputation had taken place only eight years before Colbert's letter arrived, and Talon probably remembered the incident. Jolliet had in the meantime left the seminary to become a trader and explorer, but Talon, no doubt, had followed the fortunes of the young man, and so his choice for a pathfinder to the South Sea fell upon Louis Jolliet. It is at least probable that Father Dablon, who, as Superior of the Jesuit missions in New France, also had reason to observe closely the men who roamed the forests, suggested or recommended Jolliet 's name to Talon. Father Dablon thought very highly of Jolliet, as is evident from the fact that two years later, August 1, 1764, he wrote of him: "For this project they could not have chosen iRapport de VArchiviste de la Province de Quebec pour iq27'IQ28, pp. $-6. Collections De Manuscrits, contenant Lettres, Memoires, etc. a La 7<{ouvelle France, I., p. 222. 3 Quoted in Ernest Gagnon, Louis Jolliet, p. 12. PREPARING FOR A GREAT EXPEDITION 53 a person who had better qualifications than Sieur Jolliet, who has much frequented those countries. . . . " At any rate, Talon discussed this matter with Frontenac, who then, in his capacity as Governor, officially appointed Louis Jolliet and so reported to Colbert: "M. Talon has also judged it expedient for the service to send Sieur Jolliet for the discovery of the South Sea. ... He is a man very skilled in these kinds of discoveries and who has already been quite near this great river, of which he promises to dis- cover the mouth." 1 Jolliet immediately set to work procuring a good canoe and experienced rowers, and laying in a supply of flour and dried meat and articles of French make to be given as pres- ents to the savage chiefs; nor did he forget his astronomical instruments and the things needed to make charts and to write his account of the voyage. 2 His aim was to reach Michillimackinac before the cold weather and winter set in. In those days every expedition, every voyage of dis- covery or exploration, had its chaplain to minister to the men in the party, as well as to carry the light of the Gospel to the pagan savages. Jolliet and Father Marquette were friends and had discussed the Mississippi problem before. No doubt, Jolliet had called on Father Dablon, the Superior of the Jesuit missions at Quebec, and had obtained from him the appointment of Marquette as chaplain for his expedi- tion to the South Sea. On the 8th of December, 1672, Jolliet arrived at Mission Saint-Ignace, and immediately informed his good friend that he had been selected to accompany the expedition to the South Sea. The two spent the winter and early spring of 1673 gathering whatever information they could, pre- paring maps, and doing whatever they thought necessary for the great voyage of exploration which awaited them. Since that distant date, December 8, 1672, the names of Jolliet and Marquette have been linked with that of the Father of Waters. The existence of the great river, now known as the Mis- sissippi, was more than a mere surmise at the time of the Jolliet-Marquette expedition. While it is true that Spain ^agnon, op. tit., p. 33, n. 3. Hbid., p. 34. 54 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS kept its discoveries as secret as possible, still, information concerning the discoveries of Pineda (1519), Narvaes, Cabesa de Vaca, and De Soto, who was buried in the Mississippi, had spread over Europe. This, together with the stories of Indians about a great river, fixed the purpose of the Jolliet- Marquette expedition to the finding "of a passage to the South Sea," that is, to determine whether this river, which the Spanish designated as the Rio del Espiritu Santo, was the same as the one spoken of by the Indians as the Mitchi Sipi, and whether it would supply that "passage to the South Sea." 1 *For a critical study of this question see Francis Borgia Steck, O. F. M., Ph. D., The Jolliet' Marquette Expedition of 1673 . See also Bourne, Spain in America in the American Nation Series, VIII, and Gilbert J. Garraghan in Thought, June, 1929, pp. 32-71. THE EXPEDITION OF 1673 JOLLIET AHD MARQUETTE FD^D THE MISSISSIPPI "One hundred and thirty years had passed away," writes Gayarre, 1 "since the apparition of De Soto on the soil of Louisi- ana, without any further attempt of the white race to pene- trate into that fair region, when on the 7th of July, 1673, a small band of Europeans and Canadians reached the Missis- sippi, which they had come to seek from the distant city of Quebec. The band had two leaders, Father Marquette . . . and Jolliet . . . the prototypes of two great sources of power, religion and commerce, which, in the course of time, were destined to exercise such influence on the civilisation of the western territory, traversed by the mighty river which they had discovered. 2 They could not be ordinary men, those adven- turers, who in those days undertook to expose themselves to the fatigues and perils of a journey through unknown soli- tudes, from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi!" The fascinating story of the discovery or exploration of the Mississippi by Jolliet and Father Marquette is best told in their own words, taken from the narrative commonly ascribed to Father Marquette, 3 prefaced by the Jesuit Supe- HDharles Gayarre, Colonial History and Romance, p. 27- 2 Regarding the controversy, whether the Expedition should be called a Discovery or an Exploration see Steck, The Jolliet'Marquette Expedition of 1673, pp. 192-225. Steck holds that "the Spaniards must be credited with having discovered the Mississippi and that Jolliet and his companions have the honor of being the first to explore our country's mighty water- way." Quite the opposite view is held by others, among them Henry S. Spalding, S. J., who writes in the Illinois Historical Review, July-October, 1923, p. 41: "A discoverer is not the one who simply visits a strange land, who touches an unknown coast, who crosses a stream which no human eye has seen before. He is one whose work results in something permanent, who adds something to the knowledge of the people calling him a discoverer, whether this knowledge be historical, geographical or ethnological. " 3 The narrative of the expedition of 1673, or Recit, as Thwaites calls it, though commonly ascribed to Father Marquette, is perhaps a recast or compilation made by Father Dablon from a copy of Jolliet's official report, Marquette's notes, and other sources available at that time. Perhaps the two explorers elaborated only one complete relation or official report. At any rate, a letter of Father Dablon, Superior of the Jesuit Missions in New France, dated Quebec, August 1, 1764, seems to suggest this idea. Jolliet called on Father Dablon after his return from the Mississippi voyage and made an oral report . Dablon in turn reports his conversation with Jolliet as follows: "We cannot this year give all the information that 55 56 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS rior, Father Dablon, as printed in The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, 1 edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites. It is to be noted that Jolliet's papers were lost in the Lachine Rapids on his return voyage to Montreal. "In the year 1673," 2 writes Father Dablon, "Monsieur, The Count De Frontenac, Our Governor, and Monsieur Talon, then Our Intendant, Recognising the Importance of this discovery, — either that they might seek a passage from there to the Sea of China, by the river that discharges into the Vermillion, or California Sea; or, because they desired to verify what has for some time been said concerning the 2 Kingdoms of Theguaio and Quiuira, which Border on Canada, and in which numerous gold mines are reported to exist, — these Gentlemen, I say, appointed at the same time for This undertaking Sieur Jolyet, whom they considered very fit for so great an enterprise; and they were well pleased that Father Marquette should be of the party. 3 "They were not mistaken in the choice they made of Sieur Jolyet, For he is a young man, born in this country, who possesses all the qualifications that could be desired for might be expected regarding so important a discovery, since sieur Jolliet, who was bringing to us the account of it . . . lost his papers in the wreck which befell him. . . . However, you will find herein what we have been able to put together after hearing him converse, while waiting for the relation, of which father Marquette is keeping a copy. . . . Their journal stated that . . . While waiting for the journal of that voyage. . . . The above is a brief abstract of matters which are fully related in the journal that was lost. If we can secure a copy of it. . ." Jesuit Relations, LVIII., pp. 93409. The constant use of the singular seems to indicate that Jolliet and Marquette worked out a common report. Marquette, as the more educated of the two, may have contributed more of the literary form, but still, Jolliet was the official head of the expedition. See Steck, op. cit. lc The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, LIX., pp. 87-163. From the midst of the forest the Jesuit missionaries sent their reports — known as their Re- lations — to the Superior of the Jesuit Missions at Quebec. This Superior would then com' pile and, at times, revise these reports and send them on to the Superior at Paris where they might again be revised before final publication. Considering that the Jesuit missionaries were highly educated men, it is clear that these Relations are replete with precious information that will interest the historian, the geogra' pher, the philologist, and, in fact, anyone who will take the trouble to read them. The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites and published by the Bur' rows Brothers Company of Cleveland, Ohio, comprise seventythree volumes. Grateful acknowledgement is herewith made for the generous permission of the Burrows Brothers Company for extensive quotations. 2 The appointment was made in the fall of 1672. 3 Father Dablon appointed Father Marquette to accompany Jolliet. JOLLIET A7iD FATHER MARQUETTE 57 such an undertaking. He has experience and knows the Lan- guage spoken in the Country of the Outaouacs, where he has passed several years. He possesses Tact and prudence, which are the chief qualities necessary for the success of a voyage as dangerous as it is difficult. Finally, he has the Courage to dread nothing where everything is to be Feared. Consequently, he has fulfilled all the expectations enter- tained of him; and if, having passed through a thousand dangers, he had not unfortunately been wrecked in the very harbor, his Canoe having been upset below sault st. Louys, near Montreal, — where he lost both his men and his papers, and whence he escaped only by a sort of Miracle, — nothing would have been left to be desired in the success of his Voyage. 11 JOLLIET AND FATHER MARQUETTE BEGIN THEIR JOURNEY "The feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin — whom I have always Invoked since I have been in this country of the outaouacs, to obtain from God the grace of being able to visit the Nations who dwell along the Mississipi River — was precisely the Day on which Mon- sieur Jolyet arrived with orders from Monsieur the Count de frontenac, Our Governor, and Monsieur Talon, Our Intendant, to accomplish this discovery with me. I was all the more delighted at this good news, since I saw that my plans were about to be accomplished; and since I found myself in the blessed necessity of exposing my life for the salvation of all these peoples, and especially of the Illinois, who had very urgently entreated me, when I was at the Point of st. Esprit, to carry the word of God to Their country. "We were not long in preparing all our Equipment, al- though we were about to Begin a voyage, the duration of which we could not foresee. Indian Corn, with some smoked meat, constituted all our provisions; with these we embarked — Monsieur Jollyet and myself, with 5 men 1 — in 2 Bark Canoes, fully resolved to do and suffer everything for so glorious an Undertaking. 1 According to Gagnon, op. cit., p. 42, the rowers were Pierre Porteret, Jacques Largilliers and Pierre Moreau, Sieur de la Taupine. The names of the other two men are unknown. 58 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "Accordingly, on the 17th day of May, 1673, we started from the Mission of St. Ignace at Michilimakinac, where I then was. The Joy that we felt at being selected for This Expedition animated our Courage, and rendered the labor of paddling from morning to night agreeable to us. And because We were going to seek Unknown countries, we took every precaution in our power, so that, if our Under- taking were hazardous, it should not be foolhardy. To that end, we obtained all the Information that we could from the savages who had frequented those regions; and we even traced out from their reports a Map of the whole of that New country; on it we indicated the rivers which we were to navigate, the names of the peoples and of the places through which we were to pass, the Course of the great River, and the direction we were to follow when we reached it. "Above all, I placed our voyage under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, promising her that, if she granted us the favor of discovering the great River, I would give it the Name of the Conception, and that I would also make the first Mission that I should establish among those new people bear the same name. 1 This I have act- ually done, among the Illinois." WILD OATS INDIANS The first nation reached were the "folle avoine or Wild Oats Indians.' ' These Indians took their name from a swamp grass which resembled wild oats. The Jesuits had preached the Gospel to them already; in consequence, "there are several good christians among them." "I told these peoples of the folle avoine of my design to go and discover Those Remote nations, in order to Teach them the Mysteries of Our Holy Religion. They were *In April, 1675, Marquette dedicated his first mission among the Illinois (near Utica, Illi' nois) to the Immaculate Conception; the mission retained this title when re 'established under Father Marest on the Kaskaskia River between 1700 and 1704, and to this day the church on Kaskaskia Island, in the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, venerates the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as its patron. It is interesting to note that the first church erect' ed in Quebec by the Franciscan Father Dolbeau (June 15, 1615) was dedicated to the Immacu' late Conception of the Blessed Virgin. See P.'G. Roy, Les Petites Choses de ?{otre Histoire, pp. 23-25. JOLLIET AK[D FATHER MARQUETTE 59 Greatly surprised to hear it, and did their best to dissuade me. They represented to me that I would meet Nations who never show mercy to Strangers, but Break Their heads without cause; and that war was kindled Between Various peoples who dwelt upon our Route, which Exposed us to the further manifest danger of being killed by the hands of Warriors who are ever in the Field. They also said that the great River was very dangerous, when one does not know the difficult places; that it was full of horrible mon- sters, which devoured men and Canoes Together; that there was even a demon, who was heard from a great distance, who barred the way, and swallowed up all who ventured to approach him; Finally that the Heat was so excessive in these countries that it would Inevitably Cause Our death.' ' After the ice had broken they had left Pointe S. Ignace, May 17, 1673, had paddled through the Straits of Mackinac, across Lake Michigan and over to Green Bay, which the Indians in their language called "salt bay." The French called it "Bay des Puans — Bay of the Stinkards," "although with them [the Indians] this is almost the same." It seems to have gotten its name from the fact that offensive vapors rose out of the mire. The explorers ascended the Fox River, and arrived among the Maskoutens. THE MASKOUTENS "Here we are at Maskoutens. This Word may, in al' gonquin, mean 'the fire Nation, 1 — which, indeed, is the name given to this tribe. Here is the limit of the discoveries which the French have made. For they have not yet gone any farther. "This Village Consists of three Nations who have gath- ered there — Miamis, Maskoutens, 1 and Kikabous. The former are the most civil, the most liberal, and the most shapely. They wear two long locks over their ears, which give them a pleasing appearance. They are regarded as warriors, and rarely undertake expeditions without being successful. They are very docile, and listen quietly to what is said to them; and they appeared so eager to Hear 1 Mascoutah, St. Clair County, Illinois, is named after this tribe. 60 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Father Alloues when he Instructed them that they gave Him but little rest, even during the night. The Maskoutens and Kikabous are ruder, and seem peasants in Comparison with the others. . . . "No sooner had we arrived than we, Monsieur Jollyet and I, assembled the elders together; and he told them that he was sent by Monsieur Our Governor to discover New countries, while I was sent by God to Illumine them with the light of the holy Gospel. He told them that, moreover, the sovereign Master of our lives wished to be known by all the Nations; and that in obeying his will I feared not the death to which I exposed myself in voyages so perilous. He informed them that we needed two guides to show us the way; and We gave them a present, by it asking them to grant us the guides. To this they very Civilly consented; and they also spoke to us by means of a present, consisting of a Mat to serve us as a bed during the whole of our voyage. "On the following day, the tenth of June, two Miamis who were given us as guides embarked with us, in the sight of a great crowd, who could not sufficiently express their astonishment at the sight of seven Frenchmen, alone in two Canoes, daring to undertake so extraordinary and so hazardous an Expedition. "We knew that, at three leagues from Maskoutens, was a River, which discharged into Missisipi. We knew also that the direction we were to follow in order to reach it was west-southwesterly. But the road is broken by so many swamps and small lakes that it is easy to lose one's way, especially as the River leading thither is so full of wild oats that it is difficult to find the Channel. For this reason we greatly needed our guides who safely Conducted us to a portage 1 of 2,700 paces, and helped us to transport our Canoes to enter That river; after which they returned home, leaving us alone in this Unknown country, in the hands of providence. • "Thus we left the Waters flowing to Quebeq, 4 or 500 Leagues from here, to float on Those that would thence- forward Take us through strange lands. Before embarking thereon, we Began all together a new devotion to the blessed 1 Fox' Wisconsin portage or carry ing'place. JOLLIET AKD FATHER MARQUETTE 61 Virgin Immaculate, which we practiced daily, addressing to her special prayers to place under her protection both our persons and the success of our voyage; and after mutually encouraging one another, we entered our Canoes/ ' The Jolliet'Marquette party then embarked upon the "Meskousing," which, according to Thwaites, is one of the numerous variants of Wisconsin. These men were out to explore, and it is truly remarkable how very keenly they observed and how carefully they noted down every detail ; nothing seems to have escaped their notice : the fauna and flora, the topography of the country, the possible effect of the moon on the waters of Lake Michigan, the minerals, in short, everything was observed and noted down. THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER The narrative continues: "At 42 and a half degrees of latitude, We safely entered Missisipi 1 on the 17th of June, with a Joy that I cannot Express. "Here we are, then, on this so renowned River, all of whose peculiar features I have endeavored to note carefully. The Missisipi River takes its rise in various lakes in the country of the Northern Nations. It is narrow at the place where Miskous empties; its Current, which flows south- ward, is slow and gentle . . . We saw only deer and cattle, bustards, and Swans without wings, because they drop their plumage in this country.' ' The narrative then tells of a monstrous fish which nearly wrecked the boat, of a tiger- cat and of a herd of 400 buffaloes. "We continued to advance, but, As we knew not whither we were going, — for we had proceeded over one Hundred leagues without discovering anything except animals and birds, — we kept well on our guard. On this account, we 11,l Mescha Cebe, — Metcha Sibou, — Mitchi Sibi, — Mississippi: — Great River," Gagnon, op. cit., p. 45, note 1. Jolliet gave to this river the name Buade, the family name of Frontenac, evidently a compli' ment to the great Governor. However, in his report to the Minister, Jolliet calls it Colbert, perhaps at the suggestion of the wary Frontenac, who deemed it wise to have the compliment passed on to the Prime Minister. Later it became known as Fleuve Saint Louis, to compliment Louis XIV. Marquette had promised to "give it the name of the Conception \ but in his Journal calls it Mississipi. The Indian name survived. 62 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS make only a small fire on land, toward evening, to cook our meals; and, after supper, we remove Ourselves as far from it as possible, and pass the night in our Canoes, which we anchor in the river at some distance from the shore. This does not prevent us from always posting one of the party as a sentinel, for fear of surprise. Proceeding still in a south- erly and south-southwesterly direction, we find ourselves at the parallel of 41 degrees, and as low as 40 degrees and some minutes, — partly southeast and partly southwest, — after having advanced over 60 leagues since We Entered the River, without discovering anything. "Finally on the 25th of June, we perceived on the water's edge some tracks of men, and a narrow and somewhat beaten path leading to a fine prairie. We stopped to Examine it; and, thinking that it was a road which Led to some village of savages, We resolved to go and reconnoiter it. We there- fore left our two Canoes under the guard of our people, strictly charging Them not to allow themselves to be sur- prised, after which Monsieur Jollyet and I undertook this investigation — a rather hazardous one for two men who exposed themselves, alone, to the mercy of a barbarous and Unknown people. We silently followed The narrow path, and, after walking About 2 leagues, We discovered a vil- lage on the bank of a river, and two others on a Hill distant about half a league from the first." 1 "Then we Heartily commended ourselves to God," says the narrative, and they revealed themselves by shouting. Two Indians advanced with tobacco-pipes raised towards the sun, and offered them to smoke. The travelers were invited to enter their villages. "At the door of the Cabin in which we were to be re- ceived was an old man, who awaited us in a rather surprising attitude, which constitutes a part of the Ceremonial that they observe when they receive Strangers. This man stood erect, and stark naked, with bis hands extended and lifted toward the sun, As if he wished to protect himself from its rays, which nevertheless shown on his face through his fingers. When we came near him, he paid us This Compli- ment: 'How beautiful the sun is, O Frenchman, when thou Ht is commonly supposed that this village lay on the Des Moines River. L. G. Weld holds that it was situated on the Iowa River. Des Moines is a corruption of Moingouena. Gagnon, op. cit., 54. JOLLIET AKD FATHER MARQUETTE 63 comest to visit us! All our village awaits thee, and thou shalt enter all our Cabins in peace.' Having said this, he made us enter his own, in which were a crowd of people: they devoured us with their eyes, but, nevertheless, ob- served profound silence. We could, however, hear these words, which were addressed to us from time to time in a low voice: fc How good it is, My brothers, that you should visit us.' The calumet was offered again, and the Elders smoked to do them honor. The Great Captain of all the Illinois ex- tended an invitation to come to his village 1 for a Council. These people had never seen any Frenchmen and could not cease looking at them; they lay on the grass along the road, they ran ahead and then back for another look. All this was done in silence. The reception by the Great Captain was similar to the first welcome. "Seeing all assembled and silent, I spoke to them by four presents that I gave them. By the first, I told them that we were journeying peacefully to visit the nations dwelling on the River as far as the Sea. By the second, I announced to them that God, who had Created them, had pity on Them, inasmuch as, after they had so long been ignorant of him, he wished to make himself Known to all the peoples; that I was sent by him for that purpose; and that it was for them to acknowledge and obey him. By the third, I said that the Great Captain of the French informed them that he it was who restored peace everywhere; and that he had sub- dued The Iroquois. Finally, by the fourth, we begged them to give us all The Information that they had about the Sea, and the Nations through Whom we must pass to reach it. "When I had finished my speech, the Captain arose, and, resting His hand upon the head of a little Slave whom he wished to give us, he spoke thus: fc I thank thee, Black Gown, and thee, O frenchman,' — addressing himself to Monsieur Jollyet, — fc for having taken so much trouble to come to visit us. Never has the earth been so beautiful, or the sun so Bright, as today; Never has our river been so Calm, or so clear of rocks, which your canoes have Removed in passing ; ir rhis was the village of Peoiiarea (Peoria). Jolliet notes that this village had 300 cabins and 180 canoes 50 ft. long. Gagnon, op. cit, 54- 64 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS never has our tobacco tasted so good, or our corn appeared so fine, as We now see Them. n "Having said this, he placed the little Slave 2 near us, and gave us a second present, consisting of an altogether mysterious Calumet, upon which they place more value than upon a Slave. By this gift, he expressed to us The esteem that he had for Monsieur Our Governor, from the account which we had given of him; and, by a third, he begged us on behalf of all his Nation not to go farther, on account of the great dangers to which we Exposed ourselves. "I replied that I Feared not death, and that I regarded no happiness as greater than that of losing my life for the glory of Him who has made all. This is what these poor people cannot Understand. "The Council was followed by a great feast, Consisting of four dishes, which had to be partaken of in accordance with all their fashions. The first course was a great wooden platter full of sagamite, — that is to say, meal of indian corn boiled in water, and seasoned with fat. The Master of *It is interesting to note how beautifully these words were woven into the Song of Hid' waiha: "From the distant land of Wabun, All our doors stand open for you; From the farthest realm of morning You shall enter all our wigwams, Came the Black'Robe chief, the Prophet, For the heart's right hand we give you. He the Priest of Prayer, the Paleface, „,., , . ., jt- • Never bloomed the earth so gayly With his guides and his companions. « Never shone the sun so brightly, And the noble Hiawatha, As to-day they shine and blossom With his hands aloft extended, When you come so far to see us! Held aloft in sign of welcome, Never was our lake so tranquil.. Waited, full of exultation, Nor so free from rocks and sand-bars; Till the birch canoe with paddles For your birch canoe in passing Grated on the shining pebbles, Has removed both rock and sand'bar. Stranded on the sandy margin, Till the Black-Robe chief, the Paleface, B , Never Wore had our tobacco ,,r. , t t i . i Such a sweet and pleasant flavor, With the cross upon his bosom, 1111 Landed on the sandy margin. Never the broad leaves of our cornfields Were so beautiful to look on, "Then the joyous Hiawatha As they seem to us this morning, Cried aloud and spake in this wise: When you come so far to see us!" "Beautiful is the sun, O strangers, _^ „,., r 1 Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, XII, 50' When you come so far to see us! & J All our town in peace awaits you, 2 The boy was nine years old. Letter of Jolliet, quoted by Gagnon, op. cit., p. 55, note 2. fflTiW illMiil i Hi LOUIS JOLLIET JACQUES MARQUETTE FATHER MARQUETTE ADMIRING THE BEAUTIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI ?M,> '• ISAAC JOGUES Born at Orleans, France, Jan. 10, 1607; Jesuit missionary among Hurons, Canada, 163642; prisoner, tortured and enslaved by Iroquois, Auriesville, N. Y., 164243; peace- maker with Iroquois, May, 1646; missionary to Iroquois, Oct. 1646; martyred by them, Oct. 18, 1646. From Pioneer Priests of Worth America, by T. J. Campbell, S. J. JOLLIET AHD FATHER MARQUETTE 65 Ceremonies filled a Spoon with sagamite three or 4 times, and put it to my mouth As if I were a little Child. He did The same to Monsieur Jollyet. As a second course, he caused a second platter to be brought, on which were three fish. He took some pieces of them, removed the bones therefrom, and, after blowing upon them to cool them, he put them in our mouths As one would give food to a bird. For the third course, they brought a large dog, that had just been killed; but, when they learned that we did not eat this meat, they removed it from before us. Finally, the 4th course was a piece of wild ox, The fattest morsels of which were placed in our mouths/ 1 After that delicious country-club banquet, the visitors were regaled with belts, garters and other Indian trinkets. They passed the night in the cabin of the Captain, and the following day 600 natives and their Captain accompanied them to their canoes. "For my own part, I promised, on bidding them Adieu, that I would come the following year, and reside with Them to instruct them." THE ILLINOIS INDIANS "When one speaks the word 'Hinois 1 it is as if one said in their language, 'the men,' — As if the other Savages were looked upon by them merely as animals. It must also be admitted that they have an air of humanity which we have not observed in the other nations that we have seen upon our route. The shortness Of my stay among Them did not allow me to secure all the Information that I would have desired; among all Their customs, the following is what I have observed. "They are divided into many villages, some of which are quite distant from that of which we speak, which is called peouarea. This causes some difference in their lan- guage, which, on the whole, resembles allegonquin, so that we easily understood each other. They are of a gentle and tractable disposition; we Experienced this in the reception which they gave us. They have several wives, of whom they are extremely jealous; they watch them very closely, and Cut off Their noses or ears when they misbehave. I saw several women who bore the marks of their misconduct. 1 ' 66 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS War was announced by shouting at the doors of the cabins night and morning before departure; the captains wore red scarfs. The Illinois sowed corn, beans, and melons. Their utensils were of wood, but their ladles were made of the heads of cattle. "They are liberal in cases of illness, and Think that the effect of the medicines administered to them is in propor- tion to the presents given to the physician. Their garments consist only of skins; the women are always clad very mod- estly and very becomingly, while the men do not take the trouble to Cover themselves. . . . "There remains no more, except to speak of the Calu- met. 1 There is nothing more mysterious or more respected among them. Less honor is paid to the Crowns and scepters of Kings than the Savages bestow upon this. It seems to be the God of peace and of war, the Arbiter of life and of death. It has but to be carried upon one's person, and dis- played, to enable one to walk safely through the midst of Enemies — who, in the hottest of the Fight, lay down Their arms when it is shown. For That reason, the Ilinois gave me one, to serve as a safeguard among all the Nations through whom I had to pass during my voyage. There is a Calumet for peace, and one for war, which are distinguished solely by the Color of the feathers with which they are adorned; Red is a sign of war. They also use it to put an end to Their disputes, to strengthen Their alliances, and to speak to Strangers. 1 ' Then follows a lengthy and detailed description of the Calumet dance. DEPARTURE FROM THE ILLINOIS OF PEOUAREA "We take leave of our Ilinois 2 at the end of June, about three o'clock in the afternoon. We embark in the sight of x The Indians procured the redstone of which the calumet was made from what is now known as "Pipestone Quarry" in southwestern Minnesota. 2 Alvord explains the presence of Illinois Indians on the west bank of the Mississippi as follows: "The Illinois tribes attempted to stem the westward'spreading tide of Iroquois conquest [16554667] . . . The strain of meeting the repeated blows, first of the Sioux and then of the relentless Iroquois, was too great; weakened, the once proud and dominant Illinois were obliged to abandon their ancient seat [on the Illinois River] and to seek safety on the west side of the Mississippi. " Alvord, Centennial History of Illinois, I., p. 37- Shortly after the visit of Jolliet and Marquette they seem to have returned to the Illinois, where Marquette met the Peoiiarea on his return voyage. JOLLIET AHD FATHER MARQUETTE 67 all the people, who admire our little Canoes, for they have never seen any like them." Then follows a description of plants and fruits found along the route. The narrative con- tinues: "While Skirting some rocks, which by Their height and Length inspired awe, We saw upon one of them two painted monsters which at first made Us afraid, and upon Which the boldest savages dare not Long rest their eyes. They are as large As a calf; they have Horns on their heads Like those of a deer, a horrible look, red eyes, a beard Like a tiger's, a face somewhat like a man's, a body Covered with scales, and so Long A tail that it winds all around the Body, passing above the head and going back between the legs, ending in a Fish's tail. Green, red and black are the three colors composing the Picture. Moreover, these 2 monsters are so well painted that we cannot believe that any savage is their author; for good painters in france would find it difficult to paint so well, and, besides, they are so high up on the rock that it is difficult to reach that place Conveniently to paint them. . . } "While conversing about these monsters, sailing quietly in clear and calm Water, we heard the noise of a rapid, into which we were about to run. I have seen nothing more dreadful. An accumulation of large and entire trees, branches, and floating islands, was issuing from The mouth of The river pekistanoui, with such impetuosity that we could not without great danger risk passing through it. So great was the agitation that the water was very muddy, and could not become clear. "Pekitanoui 2 is a river of Considerable size, coming from the Northwest, from a great Distance; and it discharges into the Missisipi. There are many villages of savages along this river, and I hope by its means to discover the vermillion or California sea. "Judging from the Direction of the course of the Mis- sisipi, if it Continue the same way, we think that it discharges ^iasa near Alton, Illinois. Piasa with the Illinois Indians denoted a bird that devoured men. Gagnon asks: "Did these paintings, which could be seen only at great distance, really possess the artistic value ascribed to them? Like many things in this world, — to speak only of things, — they doubtless gained by not being viewed at too close a range." 2 Pekitanoui, that is, muddy water — the Missouri River. Those who have seen the Missouri on a rampage will readily admit that this river has not mended its ways and still washes away entire farms. 68 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS into the mexican gulf. It would be a great advantage to find the river Leading to the southern sea, toward Califor- nia; and, As I have said, this is what I hope to do by means of the Pekitanoui, according to the reports made to me by the savages. From them I have learned that, by ascending this river for 5 or 6 Days, one reaches a fine prairie, 20 or 30 Leagues Long. This must be crossed in a Northwesterly direction, and it terminates at another small river, — on which one may embark, for it is not very difficult to trans- port Canoes through so fine a country as that prairie. This 2nd River Flows toward The southwest for 10 and 15 Leagues, after which it enters a Lake, small and deep [the source of another deep river — Substituted by Dablon], which flows towards the West, where it falls into The sea. 1 I have hardly any doubt that it is The vermilion sea, and I do not despair of discovering It some day, If God grant me the grace and The health to do so, in order that I may preach The Gospel to all The Peoples of this new world who have so Long Groveled in the darkness of infidelity." THE OHIO RIVER MOSQUITOES THE PROTECTION OF THE CALUMET "Let us resume our Route, after Escaping As best We could from the dangerous rapid Caused by The obstruction which I have mentioned. " The narrative describes the narrows and the "Rock of the Cross 11 near the present Grand Tower, Illinois, or Wit- tenberg on the Missouri side. The savages thought the noise produced by the rushing of the waters at this point was caused by a howling demon. Then they passed the "Wabou- kigou" or, "Ouaboukigou" or "Ouabouskigou," as the Ohio was then called. This name was corrupted by the French into "Ouabache," and is now known as Wabash. In the Vermillion or California Sea, that is, Gulf of California. Southern Sea denoted the Pacific Ocean. "This supposition has been confirmed by later explorations, which show that the head waters of the Platte, tributary to the Missouri, closely approach those of the Colorado, which falls into the Gulf of California.'' ' Jes. Rel., vol. 59, n. 34. In the map'letter of Jolliet to Frontenac we read: "By one of these great rivers that come from the west and empties into the river Buade [Mississippi], one will find passage to enter into the Vermillion Sea." Quoted in Steck, op. cit., p. 172. JOLLIET A7\[D FATHER MARQUETTE 6g early days "Ouabache 11 might designate the present Ohio or Wabash, or both. "Hitherto, we had not suffered any inconvenience from mosquitoes; but we were entering into their home, as it were. This is what the savages of this quarter do to protect themselves against them. They erect a scaffolding, the floor of which consists only of poles, so that it is open to the air in order that the smoke of the fire made underneath may pass through, and drive away those little creatures, which cannot endure it; the savages lie down upon the poles, over which the bark is spread to keep off rain. These scaf- foldings also serve them as a protection against The exces- sive and Unbearable heat of this country; for they lie in the shade, on the floor below, and thus protect themselves against the sun's rays, enjoying the cool breeze that circulates freely through the scaffolding. "With the same object, we were compelled to erect a sort of cabin on The water, with our sails as a protection against the mosquitoes and the rays of the sun. While drifting down with The current, in this condition, we per- ceived on land some savages armed with guns, who awaited us. I at once offered them my plumed calumet, while our frenchmen prepared for defense but delayed firing, that The savages might be the first to discharge their guns. I spoke to them in huron, but they answered me by a word which seemed to me a declaration of war against us. How- ever, they were as frightened as we were ; and what we took for a signal for a battle was an Invitation that they gave us to draw near, that they might give us food. We there- fore landed, and entered their Cabins, where they offered us meat from wild cattle and bear's grease, with white plums, which are very good. 11 They found that these Indians contacted with Europeans, who gave them guns, and powder, and rosaries — the Span- iards from Florida. "We had gone down to near the 33rd degree of latitude, having proceeded nearly all the time in a southerly direction, when we perceived a village on The water's edge called Mitchigamea. 1 We had recourse to our Patroness and guide, 1 Jolliet names it Anetihigamea, near the present Helena, Arkansas. 70 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS The Blessed virgin immaculate; and we greatly needed her assistance, For we heard from afar The savages who were inciting one another to the Fray by their Con- tinual yells. They were armed with bows, arrows, hatchets, clubs and shields. They prepared to attack us, on both land and water; part of them embarked in great wooden canoes — some to ascend, others to descend the river, in order to Intercept us and surround us on all sides. Those who were on land came and went, as if to commence The attack. In fact, some Young men threw themselves into The water, to come and seise my Canoe; but the current compelled them to return to land. One of them then hurled his club which passed over without striking us. In vain I showed The calumet, and made them signs that we were not coming to war against them. The alarm continued, and they were already preparing to pierce us with arrows from all sides, when God suddenly touched the hearts of the old men, who were standing at the water's edge. This no doubt happened through their sight of our Calumet, which they had not clearly distinguished from afar; but as I did not cease displaying it, they were influenced by it, and checked the ardor of their Young men. Two of these elders even, — after casting into our canoe, as if at our feet, Their bows and quivers, to reassure us — entered the canoe, and made us approach the shore, whereon we landed, not without fear on our part. At first, we had to speak by signs, be- cause none of them understood the six languages which I spoke. At last we found an old man who could speak a little Hinois." These Indians do not seem to have been very communi- cative. The narrative states: "We obtained no other answer than that we would learn all that we desired at another large village called Akamsea, which was only 8 or 10 leagues lower down. They offered us sagamite and fish, and we passed The night among them, with some anx- iety." REASONS FOR NOT GOING FARTHER The next morning the party continued their voyage down the river to the village Akamsea, near which de Soto had JOLLIET AKD FATHER MARQUETTE 71 died one hundred and thirty years before. The poor Indians here were hemmed in by enemies all around them; they did not even dare to hunt wild cattle, for fear of their enemies; they knew but little about the country south, but told Marquette and Jolliet they could reach the sea in five days. The narrative continues: "In the evening, the elders held a secret council, in regard to the design entertained by some to break our heads and rob us; but the Chief put a stop to all these plots. After sending for us, he danced the calumet before us, in the manner I have already described, as a token of our entire safety ; and, to relieve us of all fear, he made me a present of it. "Monsieur Jolliet and I held another Council, to delib- erate upon what we should do — whether we should push on, or remain content with the discovery which we had made. After attentively considering that we were not far from the gulf of Mexico, the basin of which is at the lati- tude of 31 degrees 60 minutes, while we were at 33 degrees 40 minutes, we judged that we could not be more than 2 or 3 days journey from it; and that, beyond a doubt, the Missisipi river discharges into the florida or Mexican gulf and not to The east in Virginia, whose sea-coast is at 34 degrees latitude, — which we passed, without, however, having as yet reached the sea, — or to the west in California, because in that case our route would have been to The west, or the west-south-west, whereas we had always con- tinued It toward the south. We further considered that we exposed ourselves to the risk of losing the results of this voyage, of which we could give no information if we proceeded to fling ourselves into the hands of the Spaniards who, without doubt, would at least have detained us as captives. Moreover, we saw very plainly that we were not in a condition to resist Savages allied to The Europeans, who were numerous, and expert in firing guns, and who continually infested the lower part of the river. Finally, we had obtained all the information that could be desired in regard to this discovery. All these reasons induced us to decide upon Returning; this we announced to the 72 FROM QUEBEC TO JiEW ORLEANS savages, and, after a day's rest, 1 made our preparations for it." THE END OF THE VOYAGE "After a month's Navigation, while descending Mis- sisipi from the 42nd to the 34th degree, and beyond, and after preaching the Gospel as well as I could to the Nations, that I met, we start on the 17th of July from the village of the akensea, to retrace our steps. We therefore reascend the Missisipi which gives us much trouble in breasting its Currents. It is true that we leave it, at about the 38th degree, to enter another river, 2 which greatly shortens our road, and takes us with but little effort to the lake of the Ilinois. 3 "We have seen nothing like this river that we enter, as regards its fertility of soil, its prairies and woods; its cattle, elk, deer, wildcats, bustards, swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beaver. There are many small lakes and rivers. That on which we sailed is wide, deep,and still,for 65 leagues.... We found on it a village of Ilinois called Kaskasia, con- sisting of 74 Cabins. They received us very well, and obliged me to promise that I would return to instruct them. One of the chiefs of this nation, with his young men, escorted us to the Lake of the Ilinois, whence, at last, at The end of September, we reached the bay des puants, 4 from which we had started at the beginning of June. "Had this voyage resulted in the salvation of even one soul, I would consider all my troubles well rewarded, and I have reason to presume that such is the case. For, when I was returning, we passed through the Ilinois of Peouarea, and during three days I preached the faith in all their Cabins; ^'Marquette used this last day at Akamsea, which was a Sunday, to instruct the In' dians in the truths of Christianity, while Jolliet busied himself loading the canoes with pre visions for the return voyage and seeking further information regarding mineral deposits. The next morning, bidding farewell to the natives gathered along the shore, the seven French' men and the Indian boy entered their canoes and began the wearisome journey up the Mis' sissippi." Steck, op cit., p. 163. 2 The Illinois River. Jolliet named the river Saint-Louis. Gagnon says he gave it his own name. Gagnon, op. cit., p 74. 3 Lake Michigan. 4 St. Francis Xavier Mission, Green Bay, Wis. JOLLIET AND FATHER MARQUETTE 73 after which, while we were embarking, a dying child was brought to me at The water's edge, and I baptised it shortly before it died, through an admirable act of providence for the salvation of that Innocent soul." 1 JOLLIET S MISHAP IN THE LACHINE RAPIDS FATHER MARQUETTE S VISIT TO THE ILLINOIS AND HIS DEATH ON THE BANKS OF LAKE MICHIGAN Jolliet's mission to find the ''passage to the South Sea 2 " was finished, but he still had a great deal of detail work to do before returning to Quebec. Why Jolliet and Mar- quette did not return to Michillimackinac, or Saint -Ignace, whence they had started their great voyage, is not known. It may have been the weakened condition of Father Mar- quette's health 3 that influenced Jolliet to take him to the nearest mission — St. Francis Xavier at Green Bay. At any rate, that is where they went and where they spent the winter working out the details of Jolliet's report to the Governor. Each had taken notes, each had drawn maps, each had made his own observations. It is evident from the harmony and friendship which existed between Jolliet and Marquette, that the two compared their notes, and, in a measure, together worked out the official report of the voy- age. Steck thinks that "having assured himself of the mis- sionary's safe arrival at St. Francis Xavier Mission, Jolliet very probably went back to the Illinois country for the purpose of exploring more thoroughly the regions at the southern extremity of Lake Michigan. ... It may have been also on this return visit, having more leisure than Mar- quette's condition had previously allowed, that Jolliet dis- covered the various mines along Lake Michigan, as also the hill which he marks on his map as Mount Jolliet." 4 Some time in the month of May, 1674, when the lakes and rivers were clear of ice, Jolliet loaded his canoe and carefully stowed away his "strong box," which enclosed Marquette's First Voyage, Jesuit Relations, LXXXVII., p. 163. ^olliet's mission was to find out whether the great river offered a passage to the Orient by emptying into the Gulf of California. 3 Father Marquette suffered from dysentery which later turned into bloody flux. 4 Steck, op. cit., p. 167. 74 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS the precious official report and maps, all of which the tri- umphant explorer hoped to place in the hands of Frontenac. As a precautionary measure, a copy 1 of the relation had been made and retained by Father Marquette. There must have been a note of sadness in the parting. Jolliet, no doubt, felt a justifiable pride at the happy termi- nation of the honorable task assigned to him and looked forward to the approving smiles of the courtly Frontenac, and longed to embrace his fiancee, Mile. Claire-Frangoise Bissot 2 ; but here was poor Father Marquette, weak and broken in health from this journey of more than two thou- sand miles. Would they ever meet again? When the paddles of Jolliet's rowers dipped into the water, Father Marquette must have stood on the shore, his feeble hands stretched out in benediction over his parting friend. What route Jolliet followed is not known, but he prob- ably paddled along the north shore of Lake Ontario and stopped at the newly erected Fort Frontenac (Kataroqoui or Cataroqui — the present Kingston) to visit his friend La Salle, who commanded there. On this occasion Jolliet may have shown the map of the Mississippi Valley to the future discoverer of the mouth of the Great River. 3 La Salle, too, had traveled much and explored many a lake and stream and river; perhaps even, though this is not at all probable, his frail canoe had glided down the limpid waters of the Belle Riviere (Ohio) as far as the Falls, where Louisville now stands. The spell of the western wilder- ness was to him a magic charm, the fond object of his dreams. He must have realised the tremendous value of the Jolliet- Marquette expedition. France now possessed a contin- uous water route, with only a few breaks and portages, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. A chain of river-bank forts and stockades would protect this immense territory against the savages, and perhaps even hold back the English to the Atlantic seaboard, east of the Alleghenies. He still hoped to find the passage, that, he thought, must lead to the South Sea. x See p. 56, ante, note. 2 Jolliet and ClaircFrancoise Bissot were married the following year. 3 Gagnon, op. cit., p. 82. It is probable that Cabe^a de Vaca, one of the survivors of the Narvaez expedition, had reached the mouth of the Mississippi in 1529. JOLLIET AKP FATHER MARQUETTE 75 Jolliet's canoe meandered through the beautiful Thous- and Islands of the upper St. Lawrence, and then moved swiftly as it was caught by the rushing current, and the oarsmen steered skilfully as the frail bark tumbled down the roaring Rapids. All went well till they came within sight of the first houses of Ville-Marie (Montreal). Even today the river boats will not pass down the Lachine Rapids in cloudy or stormy weather. Jolliet's daring tempted the waters. Perhaps he was eager to reach Montreal before nightfall. "The good fortune,' ' he wrote to Frontenac, "which had always accompanied me . . . failed me a quarter of an hour before arriving at the place from where I had set out. I had escaped the dangers from the savages, I had passed 42 rapids, I was ready to disembark with all the joy that one could have over the success of so long and difficult an enterprise, when my canoe capsized . . . whereby I lost 2 men and my strong box, in the sight and at the en- trance of the first French houses which I had quitted nearly two years ago. Nothing is left me but my life 1 and the will to employ it for whatever may please you." 2 Reporting on the same mishap to Bishop Laval, who was then in Paris, Jolliet wrote: "I am much grieved over a little slave, ten years old, who had been presented to me, He was endowed with a good disposition, quickwitted, diligent and obedient. He expressed himself in French, began to read and write. After being 4 hours in the water, having lost sight and consciousness, I was rescued by some fishermen who never go to this place, and who would not have been there if the Blessed Virgin had not obtained for me this grace from God, Who stayed the course of nature in order to have me rescued from death." 3 Steck conjectures "it may have been the afternoon of Saturday, July 21," when Jolliet was unexpectedly plunged into the roaring current of the Lachine Rapids. 4 Marquette was still at Green Bay, for he writes in his unfinished Journal, addressed to Father Dablon: "Having *Gagnon observes that Jolliet was not only an explorer and a geographer, but also a merchant. No doubt, his canoe also carried a cargo of peltries. Gagnon, op. cit., 82, n. 1. 2 Quoted in Gagnon, op. cit., p. 86-87- Hbid., p. 84. 4 Steck, op. cit., p. 169. 76 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS been compelled to remain at st. Frangois throughout the summer on account of an ailment of which I was cured in the month of September, I waited there the return of our people from down below 1 , in order to learn what I was to do with regard to my wintering. They brought me orders to proceed to the mission La Conception among the Illi- nois. After complying with Your Reverence's request for copies of my Journal concerning the missisipi River, I departed with Pierre Porteret and Jacque (blank in Ms), on the 25th of October, 1674, about noon." 2 Under date of December 14th, Father Marquette wrote: "Having encamped near the portage, 2 leagues up the river, 3 we resolved to winter there, as it was impossible to go far- ther, since we were much hindered and my ailment did not permit me to give myself much fatigue." He remarks that he was "unable to celebrate holy mass on the day of the Conception [Dec. 8], owing to the bad weather and cold." On the 15th, however, he records: "We said the Mass of the Conception. After the 14th, my disease turned into a bloody flux." Of the wintering Marquette writes: ,fc . . .we have not lacked provisions and have still remaining a large sack of corn, with some meat and fat. We also lived very pleasantly, for my illness did not prevent me from saying holy mass every day. We were unable to keep Lent, ex- cept Fridays and Saturdays." Father Dablon gives interesting details of Father Mar- quette's winter sojourn on the Chicago River: "His malady increasing more and more. ... he told his two Companions very plainly that he would certainly die of that malady, and during that voyage. Duly to prepare his soul, despite the severe disposition of his Body, he began this so severe winter sojourn by the retreat of st. ignatius. ... A short time after christmas, that he might obtain the favor of not dying without having taken possession of his Dear mission, he invited his Companions to make a novena in honor of the immaculate conception of the blessed virgin ... his health improving, he prepared himself to go to the village Quebec. 2 This account and quotations are taken from Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, LIX. 3 Chicago River. JOLLIET AKD FATHER MARQUETTE 77 of the Ilinois as soon as navigation should open, — which he did with much Joy, setting out for that place on the 29th of march. He spent eleven Days on the Way, during which time he had occasion to suffer much, both from his own illness, from which he had not entirely recovered, and from the very severe and unfavorable weather. . . . "On at last arriving at the village, he was received as an angel from Heaven. After he had at various times assem- bled the Chiefs of the nation, with all the old men . . . and after having given Instructions in the Cabins, which were always filled with a great crowd of people, he resolved to address all in public, in a general assembly which he called together in the open Air. ... It was a beautiful prairie, close to a village, which was selected for the great Council; this was adorned, after the fashion of the country, by Cov- ering it with mats and bearskins. Then the father, having directed them to stretch out upon Lines several pieces of chinese taffeta, attached to these four large Pictures of the Blessed Virgin, which were visible on all sides. "The audience was Composed of 500 chiefs and elders, seated in a circle around the father, and of all the Young men, who remained standing. They numbered 1,500 men, without counting the women and children, who are al- ways numerous. ... He explained to them the principal mysteries of our Religion, and the purpose that had brought him to their country. Above all, he preached to them Jesus Christ , on the very eve 1 (of that great day) on which he had died upon the Cross for them, as well as for the rest of mankind; then he said holy mass. "On the third Day after, which was easter sunday, things being prepared in the same manner as on Thursday, he celebrated the holy mysteries for the 2nd time; And by these two, the only sacrifices ever offered there to God, he took possession of that land in the name of Jesus Christ, and gave to that mission the name of the Immaculate Con- ception of the blessed virgin. "He was listened to by all these peoples with universal Joy; and they prayed him with most earnest Entreaty to come back to them as soon as possible, since his sickness x Thursday of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday), 1765, near the present Utica, Illinois. 7 8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS obliged him to return. The father . . . pledged them his word that he, or some other fathers would return to Carry on that mission so happily Inaugurated." 1 Father Marquette was very ill, and decided to return at once to Michillimackinac. But a journey of nearly three hundred miles was too long and arduous for the weakened condition of the heroic priest-explorer. He felt death ap- proaching, and "the evening before his death, which was a friday, he told them, very Joyously, that it would take place on the morrow." While they were making their way upon the Lake he gave them the minutest instructions as to his burial: about the spot to be chosen for his grave, how his feet and hands should be arranged, that they should sound the little hand-bell of his chapel while they laid him to rest. He "perceived a river, on the shore of which stood an eminence that he deemed well suited for the place of his last repose. 1 '' They brought him to land, erected a little cabin of bark, and there the great priest, missionary, and explorer, lay on the ground, "alone in the midst of These forests. " He told his companions to take repose, and that he would call them, which he did two or three hours later when his agony began. In his hands he held a crucifix, upon which he fixed his gazje, but "Something presented itself to him, he Suddenly raised his eyes above his Crucifix, holding them Riveted on that object, which he appeared to regard with pleasure. And so, with a counte- nance beaming and all aglow, he expired without any Struggle, and so gently that it might have been regarded as a pleasant sleep." This was May 18th or 19th, 1675. His two faith- ful companions laid him to rest on the banks of a river that once bore his name. 2 Gayarre was right when he wrote: "They could not be ordinary men, those adventurers, who in those days un- dertook to expose themselves to fatigues and perils of a journey through unknown solitudes, from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi." 3 Jesuit Relations, LIX., pp. 191499. 2 His Ottawa disciples later found the cross that marked his grave, exhumed the body and brought his bones to the mission at St. Ignace, where they were reverently reinterred. Two hundred years later, in 1877, Marquette's grave was accidentally rediscovered by Patrick Murray. 3 Gayarre, op. cit., p. 27- ROBERT CAVELIER SIEUR DE LA SALLE — HIS COMPANIONS AND JOURNEYS — HIS TRAGIC DEATH Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, whom Thwaites calls the "prince of French explorers, 1 ' was born of a wealthy family at Rouen, France, November 21, 1643. Robert entered the Jesuit novitiate at Paris in 1658, taught at Blois and Tours from 1664 to 1666, and at the end of that year was transferred to La Fleche for his course in theology. He had a wildly imaginative and daring mind. His brother, Jean Cavelier, was a Sulpician in New France, and letters from him may have stirred up the restless disposition that was La Salle's. The outlook for adventure appealed to him, and so, at his own request, he obtained dismissal from the Society, March 28, 1667, and sailed for New France. Here he felt he was in an atmosphere that was congenial to his temperament. The Sulpicians, who were seigniors of Mon- treal, granted him an estate, known as Lachine. But La Salle was not a colon, a man who clears the land and tills the soil. His was the temperament of a rover and explorer, a dreamer of great dreams, and so he went out into the wilder- ness that lay around him and sought the company of the savages, who in turn frequently visited him. He remained at Lachine about three years, associated a great deal with savages, learnt their languages and dialects, and listened to their vague tales of great rivers that flowed through the heart of the unexplored hinterland — might they not point the way to the long-sought route to China? His first voyage in quest of this much coveted passage he undertook in 1669: two Sulpicians, 1 Galinee and Dollier de Casson were of the party. Near a Seneca village, the present Charlotte, near Rochester, New York, they held councils with the Indians, but La Salle's knowledge of Iro- quois proved inadequate, and little or nothing was achieved. "The priests," writes Parkman, 2 "had a Dutch interpreter, who spoke Iroquois fluently, but knew so little French, and *In choosing Sulpicians and Franciscan Fathers as chaplains for his voyages, La Salle followed the spirit of the instructions issued by Louis XIV and Colbert to Frontenac upon his appointment as Governor of New France. See pp. 51'52, ante. 2 Francis Parkman, La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, Centenary Edition, p. 21 . 79 80 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS was withal so obstinate, that he proved useless. 1 '' The irony of it all was that they were obliged to call in the Jesuit Father Fremin's man to interpret for them. An Indian told them there was a village farther westward, where they could easily obtain guides, and he had there met a French- man. And westward were paddled the seven canoes that carried the party. Galinee says they "discovered a river one-eighth of a league wide and extremely rapid, which is the outlet or communication from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario,' 1 and that some leagues up this river there is "one of the finest catar- acts or waterfalls in the world; for all the Indians to whom I have spoken about it said the river fell from a rock higher than the tallest pine trees; and that is about two hundred feet. 111 The party encamped near the western end of the lake. While on a hunting expedition, La Salle climbed over a rock, and unexpectedly encountered three rattlesnakes, as "thick as one's arm, six or seven feet long, entirely black. 112 The shock so unnerved and affected La Salle that he was in a high fever 3 when he returned to camp. The Frenchman of whom the Indian had told them, was Jolliet, who was on his way to Sault Sainte-Marie with four canoe loads of goods intended for trading with the Ottawa Indians. The Sulpicians were interested in evangelising the savages and wished to remain there. La Salle, on the other hand, was chiefly intent upon exploration and finding the passage to the South Sea and China, so he left the mis- sionaries and paddled away with Jolliet. The Sulpicians spent the winter on the shores of Lake Erie, and the follow- ing spring took formal possession in the name of Louis XIV. In 1672 Frontenac made a personal visit to the Lake On- tario region to confer with the Iroquois chieftains. A pali- saded fort, Cataroqui, 4 on the site of the present Kingston, Quoted by Shortt 6? Doughty, Canada and Its Provinces, I, pp. 89-96. 2 Ibid. 3 This tendency to develop high fever in consequence of great excitement is characteristic of La Salle. 4 In 1670, the Franciscan Father Gabriel de la Ribourde was sent to Canada as Commis' saryProvincial to reestablish the Recollects or Franciscans in New France. Upon the expi' ration of his term of office in 1673, Ribourde was assigned to Cataroqui as the first missionary of this post, where he remained two years. It was at Cataroqui that La Salle and Father de la Ribourde became close friends. See P. Odoric-M. Jouve, Le Pere Gabriel de la Ribourde, p. 35. ir 1 a£ II .5 ^ S Q E *^ D E 80 si < CQ £-2 SO - if X ■'■:"■'"■-■. ■ . ■ METHOD OF IROQUOIS TORTURE GABRIEL LALEMANT JEAN DE BREBEUF Jesuit Missionary From painting by Georges Delfosse, Montreal. Jesuit Missionary By courtesy of the artist THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS Si was erected. This was not a warlike measure, but merely an arrangement to facilitate the purchase of furs which otherwise might have gone to the English at Albany. 1 La Salle was made commandant of this post, also called Fort Frontenac. Although it was against the law, most of the colonial officers did a little private trading. This sometimes occasioned mutual incrimination; for instance, Frontenac accused Perrot, Governor of Montreal, who in turn accused Frontenac of illegal trafficking. La Salle and Frontenac had many traits in common, and in the course of time became close friends and business associates. "The French doctrine,' ' writes Jarvis Keiley, "that the discovery of a river gave an inchoate right to the land drained by its tributaries suggested to La Salle and Governor Frontenac a plan to effect a military occupation of the whole Mississippi Valley ... by means of military posts which should control the communication and sway the policy of the Indian tribes, as well as present an impas- sable barrier to the English colonies. " 2 This was a bold plan, and it would require vast sums of money. To make this situation clear to the Minister and to dispel the cloud of governmental distrust that hung over his own establishment at Cataroqui, Frontenac de- cided to send La Salle, the eloquent enthusiast, to the Court of France. Frontenac had chosen well. The discovery and explora- tion of the Mississippi by Jolliet and Marquette had made La Salle's heart burn with eager desire for still greater ex- ploits. For well nigh seven years he had prepared himself for his master stroke, and his ambitious heart prompted the execution. Great discoverers are not a finished product, nor do they happen to drop out of the skies; they are rather the result of years of study and preparation. The Governor's letter introducing La Salle to Colbert read as follows: "I cannot but recommend to you, Monseig- neur, the Sieur de la Salle, who is about to go to France, and who is a man of intelligence and ability, the most com- petent of anyone I know here to accomplish every enter- 1 Montreal and Albany were the two principal centers of fur trade. 2 Jarvis Keiley, in Catholic Encycbpedia, IX„ p. 9. 82 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAHS prise and discovery which may be intrusted to him, as he has the most perfect knowledge of the state of the country, as you will see, if you are disposed to give him a few mo- ments 1 audience. 1 ' 1 Such flattering recommendation from Frontenac was an open-sesame at the Court of Versailles and brought La Salle the friendship and protection of men like Prince de Conti, to whom he communicated his own contagious enthusiasm. He was made a nobleman, and the King conferred upon him the seigniory of Cataroqui (Fort Frontenac). Of course, there were numerous obligations attached to this distinction. Louis XIV was not in the habit of distributing favors with- out a quid pro quo. "There is nothing, 11 so reads the document, "We have more at heart than the discovery of that country, where there is a prospect of finding a way to penetrate as far as Mexico. . . . We have permitted, and by these Presents, signed by Our hand, do permit you to labor in the Dis- covery of the Western part of New France, 2 and for the exe- cution of this undertaking, to construct forts in the places you may think necessary. . . and that you do not carry on any trade with the Savages called Outaouacs and others who carry their beavers and peltries to Montreal; that you perform the whole at your expense and that of your associates, to whom we have granted, as a privilege, the trade in Cibola 3 skins. 114 As usual, La Salle borrowed money. It is claimed that his immediate relatives invested the sum of 500,000 livres in his various schemes. If La Salle was a poor colon, he was a poorer accountant. Enthusiastic optimist that he was, keeping accounts and liquidating his obligations did not worry him, provided they did not interfere with the execution of his gigantic scheme. He once wrote to a friend: "I have neither the habit nor the inclination to keep books, nor have I anybody with me who knows how. 115 By September, 1675, La Salle was back in Quebec. He had crossed the ocean in the company of a number of men who ^Ivord, Centennial History of Illinois, I., p. 79- 2 "An ingenious phrase, establishing claim before discovery ." Severance. 3 Buffalo. 4 Quoted by Frank H. Severance, An Old Frontier of France, I., p. 37- 5 Quoted by Parkman, La Salle, p. 331. THE PRIHCE OF FREHCH EXPLORERS d 3 were, or became, outstanding figures in the early history of the French colonies in America: Bishop Laval, de la For- est, who became La Salle's faithful lieutenant, and the Recol- lect Fathers Chrestien Leclerq, Luc Buisset, Zenobe Membre, and the best known of them all, Louis Hennepin. We must interrupt the story of that never resting La Salle and retrace our steps to learn more about that inter- esting character and companion of La Salle's expedition to the Illinois country — Louis Hennepin. 1 The exact date of his birth is not known. However, it is probable that he was born April 7, 1640, at Ath or Roye, in the province of Hainaut, now in Belgium. He passed his novitiate at the Franciscan convent at Bethune, France. Hennepin was of a somewhat romantic tempera- ment, had a great love for travel, and was extremely fond of reading the stories of the travels and missionary voyages of the Franciscan Fathers. Shortly after his ordination he traveled through Italy and Germany. Later his Superiors sent him to Calais for the season of the herring-salting, to do some work in the interest of his Order. At Calais, among the herring-fishers, Hennepin found ample opportunity to satisfy his craving for sea-stories. He himself relates that he would frequent the fc Victualling- houses 1 ' just to hear the seamen's accounts of their adven- tures. The strong tobacco smoke issuing from the sturdy seamen's pipes would upset his stomach, but Hennepin listened on and would have passed days and nights without food, just to hear the stories of life at sea. From 1672 to 1674 he was in Holland, doing chaplain's duty during the war that Louis XIV waged against the Netherlands. Hennepin says that he administered the sacraments to more than 3000 wounded men. In 1675 he was appointed to the missions of New France, and in due time reached Quebec, as already noted. At Quebec Bishop Laval appointed Hennepin to preach the Advent and Lenten sermons. But here, too, his love for travel and thrills was manifest, and he worked off his sur- x For the presentation of Hennepin's case I have drawn chiefly on Abbe H. A. Scott, M. S. R. G., who in his scholarly and critical treatise entitled Une nouvelle Apologie du P. Louis Hennepin (1927), refutes P. Jerome Goyens' Le P. Louis Hennepin, O. F. M., Mission' aire au Canada au XVII siecle. 8 4 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS plus energy by making trips twenty and thirty leagues from the city. In summer he would paddle his canoe, and in winter cover great distances on snow-shoes, while a large dog pulled the sledge laden with his luggage. In 1676 Hennepin was sent to Fort Frontenac (Cataroqui — the present Kingston, Ontario), where he remained a little more than two years. There he became interested in La Salle's plan of going down to the mouth of the Mississippi. October 31, 1678, Hennepin returned to Quebec to make the necessary preparations to accompany La Salle. From then on till he returned to France in 1681, Hennepin and La Salle remained closely associated. La Salle planned a fur trade on a large scale, and immediately set to work fitting out his expedition. But he was a man of restless disposition, and in November, 1677, was again on his way to France. There he met Henri de Tonti, the son of a Neapolitan banker, but now a soldier of fortune in the service of France. In some battle he had lost a hand, for which he had substituted one of iron. Later on the savages were greatly impressed by the fact that a man could have such heavy hand, and he became known among them as the man with the Iron Hand. The stories of frontier life appealed to Tonti, who decided to follow La Salle and share with him the adventures of a roving forest life. Tonti became La Salle's most faithful, devoted, and loyal follower, supplying the tact and kindliness which the domineering La Salle lacked, bearing faithfully with all the eccentricities and contradictory moods of the great explorer. La Salle, Tonti, and Captain La Motte Lussiere with thirty men sailed from Rochelle July 14, 1678. Supplied with anchors, cordage, sails and other materials required for shipbuilding, La Salle organised a party to set out for Niagara and to construct a fifty-ton sailing vessel, which should ply on the Great Lakes and gather in the furs previously purchased from the natives by his advance agents. In Jan' uary of the following year La Salle and his men arrived at the Falls of Conty 1 (Niagara). The party included Tonti, and three Recollect Fathers as missionaries: Louis Hennepin, Zenobe Membre, and Gabriel de la Ribourde. After much x La Salle so named Niagara Falls. THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 85 arguing with the Seneca Indians, who disliked the idea of a fort, La Salle had his way and built Fort Niagara, at the outlet of Niagara River. The fort was a mere stockade. The Griffon, 1 a fifty-ton sailing vessel, was constructed at the mouth of Cayuga Creek above the Falls, and on August 7, 1679, La Salle sailed for Green Bay via Mackinac. With him were thirty two men and the Recollect Fathers, Ribourde, Membre, and Hennepin. The Griffon also carried a "goodly supply of arms, merchandise, and seven pieces of castiron cannon.' n The patent, granting La Salle permission to build forts at his own expense in the Mississippi Valley, contained the restriction that he should not trade with tribes already regularly trafficking with Montreal, and thus eliminated the Ottawa. However, La Salle did what many others did; he purchased 12,000 livres worth of peltries from the Ottawa and loaded the Griffon, expecting at last to realise a profit that would retrieve his strained fortunes and satisfy his anxious creditors. La Salle was under very heavy expense, and somehow his business ventures or speculations always went wrong, and then his creditors would press him for money and take his property. When hard pressed by his creditors he would go to the woods and remain there until his creditors had gone. Mas- siac de Saint'Colombe wrote to Nicolas Thoynard: "I questioned a passenger of Belle Isle about your Monsieur de La Salle. He replied that he was in the woods, that is to say, he had disappeared, and it is thought he will remain away until the departure of his creditors. . . . The common belief is that he has an understanding with Frontenac, who, under a variety of pretexts, sends him to the woods, though it is expressly forbidden. ,,3 Disregarding the advice of the Indians, La Salle sent the Griffon, now loaded with precious furs, on her way back to Niagara while a heavy storm was lashing the waters of Lake Michigan. The pilot Luc and the five men on board, Griffon — a fabulous monster, half lion and half eagle Frontenac's coat of arms showed two Griffons. 2 Hennepin, Description de la Louisiane, p. 49. During the night of August 25th, the Griffon was caught in a violent storm on Lake Huron. According to Hennepin, La Salle despaired of human aid and recommended his enterprise to God. Everybody on board ship made a "good act of contrition." 3 Quoted by Campbell, Pioneer Laymen of America, II., p. 166. 86 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS together with the ship and all the merchandise, valued at 40,000 livres, were lost, La Salle did not hear of this dis- heartening disaster until months later. The day after the sailing of the Griffon, September 19, 1679, La Salle started for the Illinois country with four canoes and fourteen men. He did not follow the route taken by Jolliet and Marquette, but paddled along the shore of Lake Michigan to the mouth of the River St. Joseph, where he built a fort, which he named Miami. 1 Six of his men deserted, and Tonti had to go in search of them. After several days he returned with three. La Salle peremptorily ordered Tonti to set out again and find the other three. La Salle's harsh temper had probably caused the desertions. Campbell tells what followed, in a manner that helps to understand the determined but difficult character of the great explorer. "He then went up the St. Joseph to what is now South Bend and portaged to the Kankakee, the southern tributary of the Illinois, over a marshy plain five miles in length. He beached his canoes on New Year's Day, 1680, and with his men knelt around an altar in the woods while Mass was celebrated. Continuing down the Illinois, he reached the site of the present Peoria, where he found a number of Indians awaiting him. He was not sure whether it meant hostility or friendship, but his knowledge of Indian methods averted the danger, and both parties sat down and smoked the pipe of peace, the savages extending the usual courtesy of putting morsels of meat in the mouths of vis- itors, blowing on the viands when they were too hot to swallow, and finally anointing the feet of the white men with bear's grease. At the dinner La Salle explained that he was going to build a ship to sail down the Mississippi, but it is not sure that he told them of his ultimate purpose, though possibly he had not yet formulated it. It was nothing less than to reach the Gulf, and in that crasy craft con- 1 In November, 1679, La Salle built Fort Miami, also referred to as Fort St. Joseph, for the twcfold purpose of protecting his party against the savages and of providing a storehouse for the peltries that would arrive on the Griffon. While the rest of the party proceeded towards the site of the present Peoria, four men remained at Fort Miami to take care of the Griffon's cargo, though La Salle had secret forebodings the ship might be lost. THE PRIKCE OF FREHCH EXPLORERS 87 structed in the woods of Illinois, to go to the West Indies and from there to Quebec. "That night the Indians began to grow surly, and later it was discovered that one of them had stolen away to stir up the Illinois against the French. It was evidently by gen- eral consent, for the changed countenances of the savages made the white men keep sentries posted until morning dawned. Indeed, the terror was such that six men deserted, among them two of the carpenters, who had been relied upon to build the ship. Nevertheless, not only undismayed, but apparently unmoved, La Salle proceeded to establish his fort. 1 He chose an eminence, on both sides of which were deep ravines. He called it Crevecoeur (Brokenheart), not because he was broken-hearted, for La Salle cannot be thought of as building monuments to his lacerated feelings. It was only a bit of flattery for Louis XIV — to commemorate a victory won by the great King nine years before at a place called Crevecoeur in the Netherlands. 112 But La Salle had to return to Fort Frontenac, his base of operations, for material and supplies needed to equip the ship he was building. There was another reason why he could not go down to the mouth of the Mississippi just then. His creditors were growing uneasy, and he evidently felt that a personal interview might be good diplomacy. To lose no time or opportunity of gathering information about the Mississippi, even during his absence at Frontenac, La Salle sent Father Hennepin, Michel Accault, and Antoine Picard du Guay on an expedition to that river to explore its upper reaches. Tonti was to remain at Fort Crevecoeur, while La Salle would work his way through to Fort Fron- tenac to settle his business there. On the 29th day of February, 1680, Hennepin and his men began to paddle down the Seignelay (Illinois) River. March 7, 1680, they were within two leagues of the 1 Arthur Lagron, who carefully examined the various probable sites of La Salle's fort, holds that Fort Crevecoeur stood on a slight elevation, now the right of way of the L. E. 6? W. R. R., near Wesley City, then about 540 feet from the east bank of the Illinois River. Two other sites have been marked, one a mile below and the other about three miles above the one indi' cated by Lagron, both on top of the bluff. Courtesy of Tiaomi Lagron, Peoria, III. 2 Campbell, Pioneer Laymen of J<[orth America, II., pp. 169-170. 88 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS mouth of the Illinois. There they were detained five days because of ice floes coming down the Mississippi. According to Hennepin's untrustworthy S[ouvelle De- convene, published in 1697, the mouth of the Illinois River is only "hundred and twenty or thirty leagues from the Gulf of Mexico." 1 March 12, 1680, Hennepin and his men entered the Mis- sissippi, turned their canoes northward, and finally discovered the Falls, which they named "St. Anthony of Padua." A month later, on the 11th or 12th of April, 1680, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, they unexpectedly encountered thirty-three canoes, carrying one hundred and twenty sav- ages (Issati or Nadouessious), who captured Hennepin and his men and forced them to accompany their war party. In his Description de la Louisiane, which he published only three years after the incident, Hennepin writes: "We had some design to go down to the mouth of the river Col- bert [Mississippi], which more probably flows into the Gulf of Mexico than into the Pacific (la mer Vermeille); but these nations who captured us did not give us time to navigate up and down the river. 112 From the day of their capture by the Issati (April 12, 1680), until the 25th of July of the same year, Hennepin and his men were compelled to accompany their savage captors on the upper Mississippi and across the country thereabouts. It so happened that on the 26th day of July, 1680, Greysolon Du Luth 3 came along with five French sol- diers and obtained the release of Hennepin and his party. Du Luth was a cousin of Tonti. Alvord calls him "the greatest of all coureurs de bois." Apart from the hardships naturally connected with roaming about with a nomadic Indian tribe, Hennepin and his men had been treated kindly enough, and had ample opportunity to make valuable observations. Hennepin now worked his way back to Quebec via Michil- limackinac, and, in 1681 or 1682, returned to France, never to come back to Canada. Hennepin arrived in France at ^ott, op. cit., p. 134, and Hennepin, Tiouvelle Decouverte, Chapter XXXVI, p. 245. 2 Louis Hennepin, Description de la Louisiane nouvellement decouverte au Sud de la J^puvelle France, p. 218. 3 Du Luth or du Lhuth. Duluth, Minnesota, is named after him. THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 89 the psychological moment. Europe was ready for a startling story of some great discovery or exploration on the Amer- ican Continent. The report of the Jolliet-Marquette ex- pedition of 1763 had not yet been published. Hennepin satisfied this expectation of the people in 1683, when he published his Description de la Louisiane nouvellement decouverte au Sud de la 7s[ouvelle France — Description of Louisiana Newly Discovered south of New France, which was translated into several languages. 1 If we turn back to the last days of February, 1680, we find La Salle at Crevecoeur under hard nervous tension. The savages were openly opposed to him, and he was obliged to force his way through hostile and trackless country to Fort Frontenac, a thousand miles away. But La Salle belonged to that class of men "who made light of their lives, faced fatigue and privations unheard of, and even death at the stake, attracted as they were by the the bait of glory or gain, or the fascination of the unknown, or urged on by the desire of serving their country, and were certainly no common adventurers. . . . An atmosphere of heroism coloured with the marvellous, surrounds these men, and crowns their brows with a luminous halo which wields a mighty fascination over us." 2 Having sent Hennepin's party on the expedition to the Mississippi and placed Tonti in charge of Crevecoeur, La Salle set out 3 with four Frenchmen and an Indian hunter on a thousand mile journey to Fort Frontenac. "It was a wonderful thing to do," writes Severance. "He was in his 37th year — at the zenith of physical vigor. If we knew nothing of him save this achievement, we could picture him as of exceptional determination and physical endurance." 4 Campbell's summary account of La Salle's heart-thrilling ad- ventures on this journey to Frontenac in the early spring of 1680 has that "atmosphere of heroism coloured with the marvellous," and it is herewith reproduced. ^ott, op cit., p. 139 writes: "Had P. Hennepin written only the Description de la Louisiane, he would have left a name without blemish and would have remained one of the great explorers of the XVII century." 2 Edouard Richard, Canadian Archives, 1899, pp. 19-20. 3 March 2, 1680. 4 Severance, op. cit., p. 61. go FROM QUEBEC TO NEW ORLEANS La Salle "determined to go down to Fort Frontenac, not by the usual route of Mackinac, but across what is now the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and the northern part of Pennsylvania. His only guide was his compass, and hostile tribes occupied the land; the streams were frozen, and he had to drag his canoes over the ice or cut his way through with the ax; rain and hail and snow and bitter cold pursued him for weeks; his provisions gave out, his men fell sick; Indians pursued and attacked him, but he kept doggedly on, and at last on Easter Monday, 1680, reached Niagara, where he again heard of the loss of the Griffon. 1 He did not linger there, but sped on, and finally arrived at Frontenac after sixty-five days of privations and dangers, such as he had never before faced. . . He went to Montreal, where he was cordially received, and returned to Frontenac with an ample supply of provisions. "There startling intelligence awaited him. His men at Crevecoeur had revolted, robbed the fort, destroying what they could not carry off; eight of them had fled to the Eng- lish at Albany, the refuge of deserters; and twelve others were on their way to Frontenac with the intention of mur- dering him. There was no time to lose. Another man would have quailed, but not La Salle. Taking a few soldiers with him, he met the conspirators. 11 Some surrendered, others were captured, and two were killed in the fight. "But this was only an incident. He must 'reach Crevecoeur at all hazards. Taking twenty-five men and a supply of provisions, he hurried to Mackinac and from there down to Fort Miami, which, to his dismay, he found deserted and dismantled. Leaving five of his men there to put it in shape, he has- tened up the St. Joseph and across to the Kankakee and was soon coursing down the Big Vermillion; 2 but there was no sign of Tonti, no message on the trail to tell where he had gone. He met herds of buffalo but saw no human be- ing; the great Indian town near what is now Starved Rock was deserted; he went through the empty lodges only to find the corrupting corpses of men, women and children, strewn around, or still fixed to the stakes where they had been burned; even the graves in the burial ground had *A wreck recently found near the western end of Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, may perhaps prove to be the lost Griffon. 2 Down the Illinois River. THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 91 been desecrated. He groped here and there among the slain to see if perchance any white men might be among them, but they were all Indians. He bivouacked in that dreadful place for the night, but kept careful watch, for fresh moccasin tracks had been discovered. ... At last he arrived at Creve- coeur. The defences had been demolished, though the dam- aged hull of the ship was still on the stocks where he had left it. More signs of massacre were met with until he de- scended the river as far as the Mississippi. There he nailed a message on a tree for Tonti, if perchance he might be in the 'woods,' and then with a disconsolate heart he turned back on his tracks ... he finally arrived at Fort Miami in a pitiless snow storm. He had ploughed through drifts waist deep for forty miles.' 11 Pathetic in the extreme ! La Salle, no doubt, had damaging shortcomings: he may have been a "failure as a leader of men," he may never have learnt the "strategic force of con- ciliation," 2 he may have disdained to win over the good will of his opponents, he may even have been so foolish as to at- tribute all his bad luck to imaginary intrigues of the Jesuits 3 : grant all that, he was still, as Alvord says, "magnificent in his failures," and one is willing to agree withGayarre: "if it be true that man is never greater than when engaged in a generous and unyielding struggle against dangers and adversity, then must it be admitted that during those . . . trials La Salle was pre-eminently great. P 4 But Tonti was no longer in the Illinois country and did not find the message La Salle had affixed to a tree. Tonti, too, had played his hero-role well. Following the instructions received from La Salle, he had gone to inspect Starved Rock with a view to building a permanent fort there. When he returned to Crevecoeur he found, to his great consterna- tion, that this fort had been wrecked and the stores plundered by his own men. With the Franciscan Fathers Membre and Ribourde and three other men, all that were left to 1 Campbell, Pioneer Laymen, II., pp. 170472. 2 Alvord, Centennial History of Illinois, I, p. 80. 3 Parkman's version of plots against La Salle, endless intrigues, and female inquisitors is not borne out by documentary evidence and must be considered hallucinations of the su' persensitive La Salle woven into a pretty story by a too credulous writer. 4 Gayarre, op. cit., p. 32. 92 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS him, he went to the Illinois village between Starved Rock 1 and the Aramoni (Big Vermillion) on the right bank of the Illinois River. His purpose was to convince these In' dians of the friendly intentions of La Salle in establishing himself in the Illinois country. While there, five hundred Iroquois and one hundred Miamis came to attack the Illinois. The Iroquois wanted furs for trade with the English at Albany. Not having enough in their own country, they went west to get them. They were determined to force the western Indians to trade through them or drive out the Illinois and exploit the territory themselves. In fact, they drove them downward and across the river, for a time at least. The Illinois savages suspected Tonti and his men of being in league with the Iroquois. To prove his friendship for the Illinois, and that he was not falsely betraying them, Tonti volunteered to lead them in battle against the Iroquois. The encounter took place on the open prairie, back of the bluff, between Starved Rock and the Big Vermillion. "The Illinois," writes Parkman "began, after their fashion, to charge; that is, they leaped, yelled, and shot off bullets and arrows, advancing as they did so; while the Iroquois [is- suing from the woods along the Vermillion] replied with gymnastics no less agile and howlings no less terrific, mingled with the rapid clatter of their guns." 2 It was Tonti's last chance to save the Illinois. He laid aside his gun and, holding aloft a belt of wampum, he walked across the bullet swept area towards the Iroquois. A young warrior stabbed at his heart, but inflicted only a deep and painful gash. A parley ensued: Tonti told them that the Illinois were under the protection of the King of France; an Iroquois stood behind him and lifted his hair for the scalping; a Seneca chief wanted him burned; Tonti made them believe there were twelve hundred Illinois and sixty Frenchmen, and that bluff carried the day. Tonti brought back a belt of peace. 1 Starved Roc\ was known to the early French explorers as Le Rocher or Le Rocher Saint- Louis. There is a tradition that on this rock a party of Illinois Indians entrenched themselves against attacking Pottawatamies. Cut off from food and water, the defending savages met death by starvation. Tarkman, op. cit., p. 226. THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 93 The Illinois went back to their village, but the Iroquois followed close on their heels, and so the Illinois set fire to their village and paddled down the river, where their women and children had been placed in safety. Several days later, the Iroquois, who in the meantime had occupied the former Illinois village, sent for Tonti, and, during an elaborate ceremony, at which six packs of beaver skins were presented, he and his companions were told to go home. Tonti demanded to know when they would leave the Illinois country. Some replied they would not depart until they had eaten Illinois flesh. Considering the preca- rious position he was in, it took almost unbelievable courage to kick away the pack of beaver skins. But he did it to show them he spurned presents from men who planned to eat his friends. The following day, 1 accompanied by the Franciscan Fathers Membre and Ribourde and three Frenchmen, Tonti set out northward for Green Bay. Some five leagues above Starved Rock they came to shore to dry the baggage and to repair their leaky canoe. "Father Ribourde," writes Parkman 2 , "breviary in hand, strolled across the sunny meadows for an hour of meditation among the neighboring groves. Evening approached, and he did not return. . . . They fired their guns to guide him, should he still be alive. ... In truth, a band of Kickapoos, enemies of the Iroquois, about whose camp they had been prowling in quest of scalps, had met and wantonly murdered the inoffensive old man. . . . Thus, in his sixty-fifth year, the only heir of a wealthy Burgundian house perished under the war-clubs of the savages for whose salvation he had renounced station, ease, and affluence." 3 While Tontfs party labored northward, followed by the savage curses of the Iroquois, these latter, now cabined in the former village of the Illinois, gave free rein to every vulgar, inhuman, fiendish, diabolical instinct of their depraved ^ptember 13, 1680. 2 Parkman, op. cit., 234. 3 Father Ribourde was the Superior of the Franciscan missionaries who accompanied La Salle on his expedition to find the mouth of the Mississippi. He was sixty years of age and often ill in consequence of the hardships necessarily connected with the constant travel of an exploratory expedition. Odoric-M. Jouve, op. cit., p. o. 94 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS savage natures : they violated the burial place of the Illinois, they burnt some of the dead bodies, others they threw to the dogs and, it is related, they even ate of the flesh of the human bodies recently exposed on scaffolds, after the man- ner of burial among the Illinois. Then they recrossed the Illinois River and followed the Illinois Indians in their mi- gration southward, always on the opposite shore, until they arrived somewhere near the mouth of the Illinois, when they threw off the hypocritical mask of peace and inhumanly assailed the disunited Illinois tribes, of whom the Tamaroas were the heaviest sufferers. Those were the scenes of horror, traces of which La Salle had witnessed on his search for Tonti. From Green Bay Tonti worked over to Mackinac, where one day messengers arrived from Fort Miami seeking informa- tion about Tonti. Word was sent back immediately that he was there, and La Salle hurried thither to meet his faith- ful and long-sought friend. They proceeded to Fort Frontenac and Montreal, where, in spite of debts and mortgages that heavily encumbered his property, La Salle, with the aid of Frontenac, raised enough money to make another attempt to reach the mouth of the Mississippi. There can be no doubt that La Salle had the faculty of communicating to others his own "contagious enthusiasm." His is a case "where history is so much like romance that, in many respects, it is likely to be classed as such by pos- terity." 1 AT THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI AT LAST Buoyed up with new courage, — perhaps he was even able to forget his money worries, — La Salle set out for Fort Miami with twenty-three Frenchmen and a new supply of provi- sions. That was in the fall of 1681 . "Man shapes his own des- tinies when the fortitude of the soul corresponds with the vigorous organisation of the mind," 2 and La Salle was deter- mined to make another attempt to reach the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Mississippi. For two years he had encountered obstacle upon obstacle, difficulties that seemed insurmount- ^ayarre, op. cit., p. 35. 2 Gayarre, op. cit., p. 31. THE PRIKCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 95 able, annihilating, but La Salle remained clear-headed, im- perturbable, his courage stood indomitable, indestructible as an adamantine rock. The master idea that ruled his whole being remained firmly fixed in his mind — to descend the Mississippi to its mouth. And he did it. La Salle spent part of the winter of 1681 at Miami, made friends with some Abnaki and Mohegan Indians who had drifted that way, and organised his party for another attempt to descend the Mississippi. The Indians consented to go with him, provided they were allowed to take their squaws and children. That was not the sort of encumbrance La Salle cared to take with him on an important and difficult voyage of discovery, but he was hard pressed, and consented. December 21, 1681, then, he set out with his party, which included Tonti and Membre, the Franciscan Father, as chaplain, forty-nine followers all told, counting Frenchmen and Indians, men, women and children. They proceeded, some by way of the Chicago, Des Plaines, and down the Illinois, others via the St. Joseph, Kankakee, and down the Illinois, and by the beginning of February, 1682, the canoes of La Salle's motley party entered the Mississippi at the mouth of the Illinois. On February 24, 1682, they reached the Third Chickasaw Bluffs, just below the Ohio. Pierre Prudhomme, one of the Frenchmen in the expedition, became detached from the party while out hunting, and could not be found for ten days, when at last they discovered him floating down the river on a log. Prudhomme was rescued, and since he was too exhausted to continue the voyage, La Salle built a stock- ade, which he named Fort Prudhomme, and left Pierre and several of his men in charge. March 9, 1682, at the Arkansas, La Salle took formal possession of the land by singing the Te Deum and affixing the arms of the King of France to a post or tree, as was customary on such occasions. The further descent of the Great River offers nothing very spectacular, except that the party was attacked by Indians, found the village Tangihabo, which had been rav- aged by savages some days before, in a horrible state, with the dead strewn about. La Salle reached the Gulf of Mexico, April 7, 1682. Two days later, April 9, he took formal possession of the Valley of the Mississippi in this manner: 96 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "At about 27° latitude a column and a cross were erected, on which were painted the arms of France and the inscrip- tion: 'Louis le Grand Roy de France et de Havarre regne, le 9 Avril 1682." 1 Everyone was under arms and sang the Te Deum, the Exaudiat and the Domine Salvum fac regem. Then, after salvos of musketry and shouts of Vive le Roi, M. de La Salle erected the column, and standing near it, said in a loud voice in French : fc On behalf of the most High, Most Potent, Invincible and Victorious Prince, Louis le Grand, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, I, on the 9th day of April, 1682, in virtue of a commission of His Majesty which I hold in my hand have taken pos- session of the seas, ports, bays, etc., and of all the nations, peoples, cities, towns, etc., [then follow the limits of the new territory] — all this being done with the consent of the Cha- ousens, and Chickasas and others here living, as well as those along the Mississippi with whom we have made an alliance. " 2 Protest is also made against encroachments by other nations. La Salle called the country Louisiana, in honor of Louis XIV. 3 ltl Louis the Great, King of France and Navarre, reigns, April 9, 1682." 2 Quoted by Campbell, Pioneer Laymen, II, p. 178. 3 In 1697 Hennepin published a second book entitled ?{ouvelle Decouverte d'un tres grand Pays Situe dans VAmerique — New Discovery of a very great Country situated in America — and in 1698 a third book entitled 7<[ouveau Voyage d"un Pais plus grand que VEurope Avec les reflections des entreprises de Sieur de La Salle, etc. A New Voyage of a Country larger than Europe with reflections on the enterprises of Sieur de la Salle. Both books are dedicated to His Majesty William III (formerly William of Orange), King of England. It is to be noted that Hennepin had not been in America since 1682. In his first book, published in 1683, he wrote that he had "some design of going down to the mouth of the Missisipi." In his other two books, 1697 and 1698, he states that he was actually at the mouth of the Mississippi, thus falsely claiming for himself the honor that was La Salle's. Hennepin in his later years seems to have had difficulties with the Superiors of his own com' munity and passes out of the picture. Date and place of his death are unknown. Scott says Hennepin belonged to "the imperishable breed of those not understood. Holding themselves capable to dominate all, to rule and to reform, they themselves are ungovern- able and irrefor maple." — Scott, op. cit., p. 146. Moreover, it was physically impossible for Hennepin to have been at the mouth of the Mississippi. He reached the mouth of the Illinois river March 12, 1680, and was captured by the Issati April 11th or 12th of the same year. Thirty or thirtyone days to travel in canoe from the mouth of the Illinois to the mouth of the Mississippi and be far enough north to be captured by the savages at the place indicated by Hennepin himself — impossible! Even later, 67 days from Fort de Chartres, nearly one hundred miles below the mouth of the Illinois, to New Orleans and back, was considered good time. I, i^t* 8 W -J O <- St do H .S Di 3 O 2 e o T3 CQ CO THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 97 No one at the time realised the extent of La Salle's dis- covery. He had given an empire over to France, an empire so immense that the northwest boundary was unknown, — extending into the unplatted regions of the great Northwest. After the solemn prise de possession La Salle did not tarry long at the Gulf. The land was swampy and fever- breeding, the Indians were not to be trusted, and eatables were so scarce that they were even obliged to shoot crocodiles for food. The great explorer was stricken with a dangerous fever, and his companions feared his death. They therefore paddled back as fast as they could. La Salle rested at Fort Prudhomme and later at Miami, while the ever faithful Tonti hurried on to Mackinac to report the news of the great discovery. La Salle followed to Mackinac, but more trouble awaited him. While he had been engaged in opening the way through vast unknown territories and staking his life in the interest of discovery, things had transpired at Quebec which meant to La Salle anything but the welcome that should have been accorded a hero. Frontenac, 1 La Salle's friend and partner in the fur trade, had been recalled by the home government, and M. de La Barre had been sent to take his place as Governor of New France. Unfortunately de la Barre was one of those petty characters who cannot appreciate anybody's merits but their own and nothing but what is done by their authority. He completely failed to grasp the magnitude of La Salle's discovery. In- stead of preparing for him a hero's welcome, he annoyed, persecuted, and discredited him as thoroughly as he knew how. Under the conditions, La Salle preferred not to go to Montreal or Quebec, but returned to the Illinois country, where he rebuilt Fort St. Louis on Starved Rock, and carried on a fairly profitable fur trade for nearly a year. He naturally chafed under the displeasure of de la Barre, and finally decided to go personally to Montreal to satisfy his creditors and opponents, and, if possible, to placate the Governor. On his way to Montreal, somewhere on the east shore of Lake Michigan, he met Chevalier de Baugis, who, under orders from de la Barre, was on his way to Fort St. Louis to relieve him of his command. ^rontenac's first term of office, 1672'1682. 9 8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAH$ La Salle evidently was disgusted with the opposition to his Fort St. Louis post and felt he could not obtain justice from de la Barre, and so he sailed for France without even seeing the Governor. This was in the late fall of 1683. La Salle was well received at Versailles. Louis XIV and Seignelay were much peeved at the ruling of Spain that none but Spanish ships should be allowed in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Just at the crucial moment, La Salle, the explorer of the lower Mississippi and the founder of Louisiana, that immense territory whose limits no man then knew, arrived. La Salle was the enthusiast and glow- ing optimist, the man with the ideas that fitted well to the mental attitude of the King and his Prime Minister. The plan La Salle laid before them is almost puerile in its exag- gerated optimism. It proposed "to build a fort sixty leagues above the mouth [of the Mississippi], where a colony can easily be established, as the King's right is undisputed, the grant of the territory having been made by the consent of the greatest part of the people, who reside there. [It will be remembered that La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi on the 7, of April, turned back on the 8, took possession on the 9, and then speedily returned north — in truth, scarcely time to meet and obtain the "consent of the greatest part of the people who reside there 11 ]. The land is fertile and its remoteness from the mouth will deter enemies from attacking it; if fleets come up the river they can be destroyed by fire boats. Then he proceeded to demonstrate that the Indians hated the Spaniards, and had been "won over by the gentleness of the Sieur de la Salle.' ' He could form an army of 15,000 Indians, and they, supported by the French, could easily overcome "the 400 Spaniards of Mexico, 11 and "a large part of the Spanish mines could easily be captured. 111 In his wild and idealistic optimism La Salle was a worthy forerunner of John Law. But then, Louisiana, and all of America for that matter, was still a land of mystery in those days. La Salle was now famous, and with his own indestruc- tible optimism won the good will of Louis XIV. The King ordered de la Barre to restore to La Salle, Fort Frontenac, Fort Miami, and Fort St. Louis, which he had taken from Quoted in Campbell, op. cit., II., p. 186. THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 99 him. The great explorer was further authorised to found colonies in Louisiana and to govern all that vast territory between Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico. The very bigness of the plans appealed to the King, who loved extravagant ideas. La Salle intended to unite Louisiana to Canada, and thus assure to France all the intermediate country. "It is necessary to establish colonies in these great countries . . . lest the English, who are our close neigh- bors in New York, Virginia, and Carolina, anticipate the French." 1 LA SALLE'S TRAGIC DEATH "That Jupiter among the kings of the earth," writes Gayarre, "had a smile to bestow upon the humble sub- ject who came to deposit at the foot of the throne the title- deeds of such broad domains. But that smile of royalty was destined to be the last smile of fortune." 2 La Salle was commissioned to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi, and set sail with four ships and 280 men 3 . Scarcely had the expedition left Rochelle, July 24, 1684, when the old evil of overlapping authority, which had caused so much friction between Governor and Intend- ant in Canada, broke out between La Salle and Beaujeu. Beaujeu was captain of the fleet, while La Salle had the choice of the route and "the direction of the enterprise." The Abbe Cavelier, a Sulpician and brother of La Salle, and the Franciscan Fathers, Zenobe Membre, who had accom- panied the explorer on his voyage down the Mississippi in 1682, Anastase Douay, and Maxime le Clerc accompanied the expedition as chaplains, or missionaries, and chroniclers. Beaujeu refused to take orders from La Salle, who was not a military man, whereas he himself had seen many years of service in the royal navy. After a two months'' voyage the ships landed at Santo Domingo. Many of the men were ill, among them La Salle. Naturally of a nervous, choleric, quick, sensitive, artistic temperament, and now laboring under severe mental strain, La Salle became seriously ill, Quoted by Campbell, op. cit., pp. 184-187. 2 Gayarre, op. ctt., p. 33. s The number is variously given. Joutel, who was of the party, says. "The ships were like Noah's Ark with all varieties of animals." wo FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS even to the point of death. One of the ships that carried supplies and provisions for the new colony had been taken by the Spaniards, who thus became aware of the purpose of this expedition. When the much-troubled man, by an indiscretion of some one in his entourage, heard of this mis- hap, he suffered a severe relapse and became violently de- lirious. 1 In November, 1684, La Salle had sufficiently recovered to continue the search for the mouth of the Mississippi. Unfortunately he had failed to make exact observations when at the mouth of this river. He had taken the lati' tude, but not the longitude. Hence he did not know how far west he must go to reach the river. This was but part of his dilemma. All the circumstances that attended the tragic end of the great explorer may never be fully known, as there are many contradictory versions. The currents in the Gulf and imperfect astronomical instruments contributed to increase La Salle's confusion. He thought he was still east of the Mississippi, when he had already passed the western branch of the delta of the great river. The shores are very low, no outstanding landmarks to guide him, and, in consequence, he passed the mouth of the Mississippi without even suspecting he was anywhere near it. Westward they sailed several days, when La Salle began to surmise they might be wrong. He wanted to retrace his route and turn eastward, but again the unfortunate misunderstanding between himself and Beaujeu proved dis- astrous. Beaujeu refused to take orders from a non-mili- tary. They sailed westward until the 19th of January, 1685, when they had reached Matagorda Bay, about 400 miles west of the Mississippi. In view of the complete lack of cooperation between La Salle and Beaujeu, what could the former do but attempt to land his people? He gave orders that one of the vessels should enter the harbor. It struck a sandbar, and the greater part of the cargo, ammunition, and nearly everything needed to establish a colony was lost. La Salle asked Beaujeu to substitute from his cargo things that would be needed for the colony. The latter refused, and on March 12, 1685, set sail for Mobile Bay, which he never reached, leaving La Salle and his colony to their own x See page 80, ante, n. 3. THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 101 fate on the unknown shores of Texas. He arrived in France July 1, 1685, where he was severely reprimanded by Seignelay. 1 He had deserved worse. For the protection of his colonists La Salle constructed a fort, and later a second one, 6 miles farther inland, which he named Fort St. Louis, again in honor of Louis XIV. The colonists began to till the soil, but the crop was meager be- cause of a severe drought. To the terrible disappointment of everyone, including La Salle, was added discontent and dissatisfaction with the regime, stirred up and fanned by Duhaut, the chief trouble maker of this unfortunate colony. Disease spread among the colonists and carried off many of the most useful members. The attitude of the savages be- came rather menacing. Of course, La Salle was desperate, but tried to appear hopeful, and kept his fears and misgivings to himself. He was the first to begin and the last to quit work. The vast resources of his powerful character seemed to increase under the terrible strain. But, unfortunately his imperious temperament became more severe and unbear- able as the outlook became more desperate. His language was violent, and no one did enough work to satisfy him. The colonists became yet more discouraged and despondent, and some thirty of them died. All through his career his violent temper was La Salle's greatest enemy. Persuasion and good- will methods were unknown to him; authority alone counted. Ferocious beasts frequented the neighborhood, there were savages all around, rattlesnakes in abundance, and a species of crocodiles in the waters, — those were the living neigh- bors of the poor stranded colony. La Salle was determined to find the Mississippi, and set out in the La Belle. This exploratory expedition lasted several months. Somewhere he had left the ship to explore the coast, and when he returned the ship had been wrecked. This expedition had cost him a number of men; some had been killed by the savages, and others perished in the La 1 This account is drawn from F. X. Garneau, Histoire du Canada, tome Second, pp. 541. See also Relation of M. Cavelier in Shea, Early Voyages Up and Down the Mississippi, pp. 1542. Beaujeu offered as an excuse that he thought the bay might be the mouth of the river "and that he had no orders to go any further. ... He told him [La Salle] that having reached the mouth of the Mississippy he believed that he had sufficiently fulfilled his duty." Shea, op. cit., p. 19. 102 FROM QUEBEC TO TiEW ORLEANS Belle. He had started from France with four ships: one had been captured by the Spaniards, a second was wrecked at Matagorda Bay, Beaujeu sailed home in a third, and now the last hope of ever returning to France perished in the wreck of the La Belle. La Salle was so affected by this loss that he broke down physically and mentally. In a few months, however, he had recovered sufficiently to make another attempt. April 22, 1686, he set out for the country of the Cenis Indians, hoping to reach Canada by land. There he was stricken with a fever, and lay for two months in the woods. Other misfortunes attended this expedition. Of the twenty men with whom he had started, he brought back only eight; out of the 180 who had come ashore with him, only 40 survived. Each day searching eyes scanned the broad expanse of the Gulf, looking for aid, which they hoped the King would send. But the King must have thought them lost, and no aid arrived. La Salle resolved to make a second attempt to reach Canada, and ultimately, France. "As all minds were full of the desire,' ' writes Abbe Cave' Her, "of again beholding France, his eloquence was required only to persuade some of our people to remain in the fort. He portrayed to them the hardships and dangers to be en^ countered; the impossibility of subsisting if they all went together on so long a march, with no resource but hunting. He succeeded so well that a part determined to keep the fort and my brother took only 28 of the most vigorous . . . * n January 12, 1687, La Salle and his men set out for Fort St. Louis on the Illinois River, as the first objective. "We bade one another fare well,' ' writes Joutel, who accompanied him, "with such tender sadness that it seemed all of us had a secret presentiment that we should never meet again/ ' Father Zenobius said to Joutel, "he had never been so sensibly touched at parting with anybody." 2 "There remained in that habitation," writes the same Joutel, "the Fathers Maximus and Zenobius, Recollects; M. Chedeville, the priest; the Marquis de la Sablonniere, the Sieur Barbier, commander, his wife, a surgeon and others, delation of M. Cavelier in Shea, Early Voyages Up and Down The Mississippi, p. 33. According to Joutel he took only 17 men. 'JouteTa Historical Journal, in Cox, Journeys of La Salle, II, p. 99. THE PRIKCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 103 to the number of twenty, among whom were seven women or maids. . . ." La Salle's band meantime struck out into the forests and across prairies, creeks and rivers, towards the country of the Cenis, where he had concealed food supplies on his previous expedition (to find the Mississippi or to reach Cana- da). The party looked ragged; their progress was slow and toilsome; the morale of the men was low, despair was written on every countenance, and the spirit of dissension and con- spiracy was rife. "M. Duot of Rouen, who owned one- half of a vessel," had for some time incited the men of the unfortunate colony against the arbitrary regime of the nerve- racked La Salle. The meshes of adverse fortune were tight- ening around the great explorer. The Relation of Couture 1 gives the following account of the awful tragedy that was enacted on the banks of, or at least near, the Trinity River: "On approaching the village of the Senits, about 120 leagues from his camp . . . , he [La Salle] came to a halt, in order to make a provision of game, sending out a hunting party consisting of M. Morangy, his relative, with an Arkansas from the village, and one French- man. The return of the hunters was delayed, and De La Salle became anxious about them. Thereupon six of the Frenchmen volunteered to go in search of the party. But their object was to make away with them. The six French- men were: M. Duot of Rouen, who owned one-half of a vessel; M. DTnctot, who held one-third of another vessel; Meusnier, son of a King's Secretary: Gemmes, an English soldier; 2 the pilot Texier, and the lackey of M. DTnctot. J The version of Couture is given for the reason mentioned below by Edouard Richard and because it is not as commonly quoted as the narratives of Joutel and Father Anastasius Douay. "While it may be true, on the one hand, that Couture was not himself an eye' witness of the facts, he had on the other hand this advantage over the actors in the drama, or the friends of De la Salle, that he had no interest whatever in travestying or concealing the truth, and that he was in a position to inform himself on the spot itself, from the source referred to and probably from others. It is to be presumed that this narrative was written by M. DeTonty or M. De la Forest, who were then in command at Fort St. Louis des Illinois.'" Canadian Archives, Edouard Richard, 1899, p. 21. 2 Joutel and Douay call him Hiens. "Hiens was a buccaneer, and by birth a German." Joutel , op. cit., p. 156. In his account of La Salle's first attempt to reach Canada, Father Anastasius Douay writes: "... We reached a river, which we called Hiens, after a Ger' man from Wittemburg, who got so fast in the mud that he could scarcely get out." — Cox, op. cit., I, p. 224. W4 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Having found the party, Duot and DTnctot proposed to the others the murder of Morangy, Kasanga, the son of the village chief, and the Frenchman. The Englishman, who had an affection for Ka8an8a x because he was a good hunter, and the pilot, did not consent, but allowed them to carry out their design. "Meantime De La Salle became anxious about the safety of his cousin, and resolved to go out in search of him. M. Cavelier [his brother] advised him to take some men with him, but De La Salle replied that he did not need them, and set forth accompanied only by Pere Anastase. After they had marched some distance, De La Salle fired off his double- barrelled pistol, the signal agreed upon in case he found him- self in distress. The six Frenchmen had already resolved to compass the death of De La Salle, and were returning for that sole purpose, the first above named wanting to avenge the death of his nephew, whom De La Salle had brought to a miserable end, the others from personal dissatisfaction, and each and all of them in order to get possession of the store, which they considered themselves entitled to share as booty among them after all the losses they had undergone, especially the two first named. "On hearing the pistol shots they knew that La Salle was approaching, and all, by common consent, resolved to dispose of him forthwith. But Duot and Ynctot, more eager than the rest, pushed on in advance, and, catching sight of De La Salle, went into ambush. D' Ynctot then instructed his servant to stand facing the spot where they were concealed and to give a rough answer to La Salle, when the latter would doubtless advance upon him to strike him. And so it was. De La Salle asked for news of Morangy, and the man, without uncovering his head, gruffly replied: 'He has gone adrift 1 . De La Salle then uttered threats, and advanced, when the man replied with greater insolence still, and drew back to- wards the party in ambush. De La Salle ran up to strike him and was shot through the head by two assassins, and expired instantly, without uttering a word or giving a sign. And thus the company and presence of a priest, who was beside him, was of no avail to him. The others, who had l So given in the record. The figure 8 stands for ou — Kaouanoua. THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 105 remained behind, ran up on hearing the shots. They then stripped him and left his body like that of a beast unburied . . ,"* to "feed the vulture, whose shriek, as he flapped his wings above him, was his only Requiem !" 2 Consternation, disorder, anarchy, chaos followed. "Every man ought to command in his turn," was the demand of Duhaut. Joutel confesses "that the temptation we were under of making them away in revenge for those they had murdered would have easily prevailed and been put in execu- tion, had not M. Cavelier, the priest, always positively opposed it, alleging that we ought to leave vengeance to God." 3 "They elected as chief," writes Anastasius Douay, "the murderer of Sieur de la Salle [Duhaut], and at last, after many deliberations, resolved to push on to that famous nation of the Coenis. Accordingly, after marching together for several days, crossing rivers and rivers, everywhere treated by these wretches as servants, having nothing but what they left, we reached the tribe without accident." 4 "Two sailors," continues Couture," who had taken refuge among the Senits Indians a year or two before in order to avoid ill-treatment from the hands of De La Salle, and the Englishman Gemmes, who was one of the accomplices — angered at not getting a share of the booty — told M. Cavelier that they would avenge the death of his brother by killing the two murderers Duot and DTnctot." May 8, 1687, Hiens and the two half-savage Frenchmen returned to camp from the Cenis, to whom they had gone to barter. Joutel tells what follows: "He [Hiens] went immediately to Duhaut and, after some discourse, told him he was not for going towards the Mississippi, because it would be of dangerous consequence for them, and therefore demanded his share of the effects he had seised upon. Duhaut refusing to comply, and affirming that all the axes were his own, Hiens, who it is likely had laid the design before to kill him, immediately drew his pistol and fired it upon Duhaut, who staggered about four paces from the place and fell down Canadian Archives, Edouard Richard, 1899, p. 22. 2 Kip, Early Jesuit Missions, VIII. 3 Joutel, Cox, op. cit., II, p. 130. 4 Anastasius Douay, Cox, op. cit., I, p. 246, io6 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS dead. At the same time Ruter, who had been with Hiens, fired his piece upon Liotot, the surgeon, and shot him through with three balls. "These murders, committed before us, put me into terrible consternation, for, believing the same was designed for me, I laid hold of my firelock to defend myself; but Hiens cried out to me to fear nothing, to lay down my arms, and assured me he had no design against me, but that he had avenged his master's death. He also satisfied M. Cavelier and Father Anastasius, who were as much frightened as myself, declaring he meant them no harm, and, though he had been in the con- spiracy, yet, had he been present at the time when M. de la Salle was killed, he would not have consented, but rather have obstructed it. "Liotot lived some hours after, and had the good fortune to make his confession, after which the same Ruter put him out of his pain with a pistol shot. We dug a hole in the earth and buried him in it with Duhaut, doing them more honor than they had done to M. de La Salle and his nephew Moranget, whom they left to be devoured by wild beasts/ 11 What unspeakable labor, hardships, sufferings, and horrors the birth of the nation entailed ! TONTFS SEARCH FOR LA SALLE In the month of September, 1683, La Salle had left Canada in disgust, to seek the King's protection against the chicaneries of de la Barre, Governor of New France. Tonti, whom La Salle had left in charge of Fort St. Louis on the Illinois, sur- rendered this post to Chevalier de Bogis, upon orders from de la Barre, but by spring 1685 had been reinstated by order of the King "to command at Fort St. Louis, as Captain of Foot and Governor." In the fall of the same year Tonti went to Michillimackinac to obtain news of La Salle. A letter from the new Governor, Denonville, "informed me, 11 writes Tonti, "that M. deLa Salle was engaged in seeking the mouth of the Mississippi in the Gulf of Mexico. Upon hearing this, I resolved to go in search of him with a number of Canadians. " 2 The ever loyal Tonti reached the Gulf in Holy Week, April ^outel, Cox, op. cit., II., pp. 156-157. Monty's Memoir, Cox, op. cit. t I., p. 33. THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 107 10, 1686, four years after La Salle's prise de possession. "We encamped in the place where M. de La Salle had erected the arms of the King. As they had been thrown down by the floods, I took them five leagues further up, and placed them in a higher situation.' ' After searching in vain thirty leagues west and twenty-five leagues east for some trace of his chief, Tonti left a letter for La Salle with the chief of the Quinipis- sas tribe, with instructions to pass it to La Salle, if perchance he received word of his whereabouts : "April 20, 1686. "Sir, having found the column on which you had placed the arms of France thrown down, I caused a new one to be erected, about seven leagues from the sea. All the nations have sung the calumet. These people fear us extremely, since your attack upon their village. I close by saying that it gives me great uneasiness to be obliged to return under the misfortune of not having found you. Two canoes have examined the coast thirty leagues towards Mexico, and twenty-five towards Florida." 1 When Tonti reached the Arkansas, he left some French- men there "to serve as an intermediate station to the Sieur de La Salle." 2 Couture was placed in command. Tonti and the rest of his men hurried on to Fort St. Louis on the Illinois, and thence to Montreal, to confer with Denonville about a war against the Iroquois. In the meantime, seven of La Salle's companions, among them his brother, the Reverend Cavelier, and P. Anastase, with the consent of Hiens, broke away and continued their route through an unknown country, and after two months reached Couture's stockade 3 on the Arkansas, July, 1687. Finally, on the 14th of September, 1687, Cavelier's bedrag- gled party entered Fort St. Louis on the Illinois. "We were conducted to the chapel," writes Anastasius Douay, "where the Te Deum was chanted in thanksgiving, amid the noise and volleys of the French and Indians, who were immediately put under arms. The Sieur de Tonty, the x Memoir by the Sieur de la Tonty, Cox, op. cit., I, pp. 31-35. 2 Douay, Cox, op. cit., I, p. 253. 3 Later called Poste aux Arkansas. io8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS governor of the fort, had gone to the Iroquois to conciliate the minds of those Indians. 1 ' 1 Tonti returned soon thereafter to Fort St. Louis on the Illinois. "There I found," he writes, "M. Cavelier, a priest; his nephew, and the Father Anastasius, a Recollect, and two men. They concealed from me the assassination of M. de la Salle, and upon their assuring me that he was on the Gulf of Mexico, in good health, I received them as if they had been M. de la Salle himself and lent them more than seven hundred francs. M. Cavelier departed in the spring, 1688, to give an account of his voyage at court." 2 They did not advise Tonti of the death of La Salle, be- cause they feared the vengeance of those implicated in the murder, and then, too, Cavelier planned to make good the claims of his brother. The deception of Tonti, "this brave gentle- man [who] was always inseparably attached to the interest of the Sieur de la Salle" 3 , remains the unpardonable sin of Cavelier and Douay. The miserable little colony at Matagorda Bay had a sad end: savages attacked the colonists, massacred some and made others prisoners, a few of whom came into the hands of the Spaniards of Mexico. Only one found his way back to France. 4 La Salle's ill-starred expedition to found a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi was a total failure from the stand- point of colonisation, but it did arouse the suspicion of the Spaniards, who made every effort from then on to extend their domain into Texas. 5 Hennepin, who, for some unaccountable reason, had transferred his allegiance from Louis XIV to William III of England, to whom he also dedicated his 7<[ouvelle Decouverte and his K[ouveau Voyage in 1697 and 1698 respectively, un- equivocally invited his newly acquired royal master to take possession of the Mississippi Valley. A society was formed in London, with Coxe, the proprietor of Carolina, as the chief figure, for the purpose of founding a colony at or near ^ouay, Cox,, op. cit., I., p. 261. 2 Tonty, ibid., p. 41. 3 Douay, ibid., p. 262. 4 Garneau op. cit., II., pp. 3-10. 5 Heinrich, La Louisiane Frangaise, XX VII. THE PRIHCE OF FRENCH EXPLORERS 109 the mouth of the Mississippi. Only prompt action on the part of France could save for her the fruits of La Salle's exploration. Pierre Le Moyne cTIberville was the man chosen to take up the work that had ended so pitiably with the pathetic death of the "prince of French explorers,' 1 Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. D'IBERVILLE FI^DS THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI— THE BEGIHHIKGS OF LOUISIAHA For more than twelve years after 1686, when Tonti had "encamped in the place where M. de la Salle had erected the arms of the King," the lower Mississippi rolled its turbid waters through the marshy, mosquito-breeding region of the Delta, unseen by white men, and untouched by the oars of Frenchmen. Shortly after the departure of Cavelier and his party from Tontfs Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois, Couture, the man in charge of the post on the Arkansas, arrived at Fort St. Louis and informed Tonti "of the death of M. de la Salle, with all the circumstances which they had heard from the lips of M. Cavelier.' 11 In the hope of bringing relief to the stranded remnant of La Salle's colony at Matagorda Bay, Tonti journeyed down to the mouth of the Red River, and then up this stream, but owing to the refusal of the savages to furnish guides, and a shortage of ammunition, due to an accident, he retraced his steps. Tonti writes in his Memoir: "I never suffered so much in my life as in this journey to the Mississippi. . . . We crossed fifty leagues of flooded country ... in all this tract we found only one little island of dry land. ... It would be difficult to give an idea of the trouble we had to get out of this miserable country, where it rained night and day. We were obliged to sleep on the trunks of two great trees, placed together, and to make our fire on the trees, to eat our dogs, and to carry our baggage across large tracts covered with reeds." 2 The approximation of New France in the north and Louisiana in the south, or rather, the union of the two col- onies, as visioned by La Salle, was nearing its consummation. July 16, 1698, Frangois de Montigny, M. Antoine Davion, and Jean Frangois Buisson de St. Cosme, a band of secular missionary priests, set out from the Seminary of Quebec on a long and toilsome journey by canoe and on foot, along rivers and lakes and across portages, to the distant field among the l I. J. Cox, The Journeys of La Salle and His Companions, L, p. 41. Tontys Memoir. Hbid., p. 56. Gunpowder was used to make fire. IIO LA SALLE'S DREAM REALIZED in Tamarois on the east bank of the Mississippi. The mission of the Immaculate Conception on the upper Illinois was then the southernmost outpost of Christianity and civilisation in the Mississippi Valley. Montigny's mission was to push farther ahead among the pagan tribes, southward, on both sides of the Mississippi. 1 In the previous year, September 5, 1697, "a French ship of 42 guns," writes Gayarre, 2 L 'happened to be coasting the hostile shore of Newfoundland. At that time England and France were at war, and the bays and harbors of the British possessions were swarming with the floating battlements of the mistress of the sea. Nevertheless, from the careless man- ner in which that ship, which bore the white flag of France, hugged the coast, one would have thought that no danger was to be apprehended from such close proximity to cap- tivity or death. "Suddenly, three vessels hove in sight; it was not long before their broad canvass wings seemed to spread wider, and their velocity to increase. To the most unpracticed eye it would have been evident that they were in pursuit of an object which they longed to reach. Yet, they of the white flag appeared to be unconscious of the intention of their fellow- travelers on the boundless desert of the ocean. Although the French ship, with her long masts, towering like steeples, could have borne much more canvass; although the breeze blew fresh, and the circumstances might have invited to rapidity of motion, yet not one additional inch of sail did she show, but she continued to move with a speed, neither relaxed nor increased. "High on the quarter-deck stood the captain, with the spy-glass in his hands, and surrounded by his officers. After a minute survey of the unknown vessels, as they appeared, with outlines faint and hardly visible from the distance, he had dropped his glass, and said to the bystanders : 'Gentle- men, they are vessels of war, and British.' Then he instinct- ively cast a rapid glance upward at the rigging; the look which he flung at the deck was long and steady. That look and those compressed lips produced instantaneous action, 1 Quebec Seminary Archives. sGayarrS, op. cit., pp. 3641. in FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS such action as when man prepares to meet man in deadly encounter. It was plain that between that chief and his crew there was that sympathetic congeniality which im- parts thought and feeling without the use of language. "In the meantime, the vessels which had been descried at the farthest point of the horizon, had been rapidly gaining upon the intervening distance, and were dilating in size as they approached. It could be seen that they had sep- arated from each other, and they appeared to be sweeping round the Pelican [for such was the name of the French ship], as if to cut her off from retreat. Already could be plainly discovered St. George's cross, flaunting in the wind. "They of the white flag never thought of flight. They shorten sail as if to invite approach. . . . The four vessels are within gun-shot, and the fearful struggle is to begin. One is a British ship of the line [Hampshire], showing a row of 56 guns, and her companions [Hudson Bay and Dev ring] are frigates armed with 32 and 36 guns each. To court such an unequal contest, must not that French com- mander be the very impersonation of madness? "There he stands on the quarter-deck, a man apparently of thirty years of age, attired as if for a courtly ball, in the gor- geous dress of the time of Louis the Fourteenth. The profuse curls of his perfumed hair seem to be bursting from the large, slouched gray hat, which he wears on one side inclined, and decorated with a red plume horizontally stuck to the broad brim, according to the fashion of the day. . . . That boy, so young, so delicate, but who, in an under-officer's dress, stands with such manly courage by one of the guns, — he is your brother! 1 "What awful silence on board of those ships! Were it not for the roar of the waves, as they are cleft by the gigantic bulk under which they groan, the chirping of a cricket might be distinctly heard. How near they are to each other! .... Now, the crash is coming ! The tempest of fire, havoc, and destruction is to be let loose! Ha! there it goes — one simultaneous blase! The eruption of Mount Vesuvius — a strange whining sound — the hissing of ten thousand serpents, bursting from hell and drunk with its venom — 1 Bienville. ►J 2 < s H o E H D O w H H < S 8 u § X ft. *- § ft. w O s M J w ■£ LA SALLE'S DREAM REALIZED 113 the fall of timber, as if a host of sturdy axes had been at work in the forest. . . . "With the occasional clearing of the smoke, the French ship may be seen, as if animated with a charmed life, gliding swiftly by her foes, and pouring in her broadsides with unabated rapidity. Her commander, as if gifted with su- pernatural powers and with the privilege of ubiquity, seems to be present at the same time in every part of the ship, animating and directing all with untiring ardor.' 1 The result of the gallant sea-fight was that d'Iberville, for he was the commander of the Pelican, sank one British ship, captured a second, and put the third to flight. 1 Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, was the son of Charles Le Moyne, Sieur de Longueuil, born at Montreal, July 16, 1661. He was the third of eleven sons, nine of whom distinguished themselves in the service of Canada or France. Iberville had learnt the art of war in the hard school of Canadian frontier life, that demanded quick wit and pro- digious physical resistance to the hardships of Indian warfare. He had taken part in many expeditions against the English. In 1694 he had wrested Fort Nelson 2 from them; two years later he had captured all the English settlements on the coast of Newfoundland; and in 1697 he fought the naval battle so vividly described by Gayarre, in which Bienville, his younger brother, was wounded. In November of the same year, d'Iberville sailed for France. His appearance at Court was opportune. Spain had always looked upon America as the exclusive patrimony of the Spaniards and thoroughly disliked La Salle's attempt to found a colony at the mouth of the Mis- sissippi. Spain's move to checkmate La Salle's colony was to establish the post of Pensacola on the west coast of Flo- rida. 3 Louis XIV selected the hero of the Pelican, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, to take up the venture so tragically interrupted by the gruesome death of La Salle. October 24, 1698, d'Iberville, with his brothers Sauvole and Bien- ville and their men set sail from Brest, France, in four ships, 1 Alcee Fortier, in Catholic Encyclopedia, VII., p. 614 2 Fort Nelson (Bourbon), in Hudson Bay. 3 F. X. Garneau, Histoire du Canada, Tome Second p. 12 ii 4 FROM QUEBEC TO KEW ORLEANS to find the mouth of the Mississippi, to establish a colony, and to work their way northward into the Mississippi basin, and to assure its possession for France. D' Iberville reached the neighborhood of the Mississippi Delta on February 27, 1699. Leaving his ships in the harbor of Ship Island, not far from the present Ocean Springs, Miss., he set out with Bienville and 48 men in two row- boats and two canoes. On the third day of reconnoitering, March 2, 1699, they noticed the changed color of the water and a strong current flowing into the ocean. Iberville had found what La Salle had missed, — the mouth of the Mis- sissippi. With an escort of four men he ascended the River up to the habitat of the Oumas Indians, opposite the mouth of the Red River. At Bayagoulis (Quinipissas Village) the chief showed him a soiled and greasy packet — it was the message which Tonti had entrusted to him thirteen years before. 1 The letter was addressed to La Salle, but that wanderer's body had been eaten by vultures, and La. Salle would not return to know the pathetic loyalty of Tonti. The emotions that stirred d' Iberville at such a find, we, who live more than two centuries later, cannot begin to imagine. Creeping along the northern coast of the Gulf, while looking for the mouth of the Mississippi, d'Iberville had stumbled on to the Spanish post in Pensacola Bay, and had then sailed farther west, and had thus discovered Mobile Bay, some distance east of Ship Island. He had found the mouth of the Mississippi, and he had the letter of Tonti to corroborate his contention; he also knew that the Spanish were at Pensacola. D'Iberville, therefore, decided to return at once to France to report his discoveries and findings. However, he first erected a fort at a place called Biloxi, 2 now Ocean Springs, and named it Fort Maurepas, in honor of the Prime Minister of France. Thus Fort Maurepas became the first permanent French settlement in Louisiana. D'Iberville left Sauvole and his younger brother Bienville in charge, with 76 men and sup- plies for six months, and then sailed for France, May 3, 1699. ^arneau, op. cit., p. 13. 2 Montigny calls it Bilocchi. LA SALLE'S DREAM REALIZED n 5 In his report to the Court he stressed the necessity of build' ing up a strong colony in Louisiana, for "if France would not take possession of that beautiful part of America, the English colony would grow to such an extent that in less than one hundred years England would seise the whole of America and drive out all other nations." 1 In 1627 Charles I of England had made a grant of a cer- tain territory known as "Carolana" to Sir Robert Heath. Daniel Coxe later bought this grant and organised a company for the purpose of establishing a colony near the mouth of the Mississippi in accordance with Hennepin's suggestion. 2 While d' Iberville was in France to make report of his findings in the lower Mississippi Valley, his brother, Bien- ville, a mere boy of eighteen, went back to further recon- noiter the Mississippi. September 16, 1699, while returning from this expedition, he saw in midstream a ship flying the English flag. It was one of Coxe's ships, sent out to take possession of that part of the Valley. Brave and fearless as he was, the lad boarded the ship and was kindly received. The captain, Bank, or Bess, as he is also called, told him he was looking for the Mississippi. "This is not the Mississippi, 1 ' said Bienville, "it is a river of Canada, and there is a large French colony further up." 3 The English actually turned back, and the French later named that place Detour des Anglais, or English Turn. But the incident was replete with forebodings. The French and English, who had already contacted on several occasions in Canada, now met for the first time in the valley of the lower Mississippi. English traders from the Caro- linas soon penetrated the Alleghenies and came as far west as the Mississippi in search of slaves, and to arm theChickasaws. Montigny, who visited the various Indian tribes of the south in 1699 with a view to establishing peace among them, in order thereby to facilitate the labors of the missionaries, writes from "des taensas:" "Two englishmen from the Carolina, 1 Heinrich, La Louisiane sous la Compagnie des Indes, p. XXXI. 2 William of Orange, a Dutch prince, had married Mary, the daughter of James II of England. In 1688 William and Mary supplanted James II, who fled to France and died there in 1701. Hennepin had suggested to King William the idea of taking possession of the Mississippi Valley. See p. 96, n. 3. 3 Campbell, Pioneer Laymen, II., p. 206. n6 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS who live among the chickachas, goad these on to make war in all directions and to take as many slaves as they can, whom they then purchase from them [the Chickasaws] and sell to the english, who in turn send them to the Antilles (barbade) and elsewhere." 1 The voyages of d 1 Iberville and young Bienville are truly astounding. To preclude the peril of English invasion d'Iber- ville decided to construct two forts, one on the Mississippi, to effect a closer contact with all the tribes of the Valley, and the other on the Mobile (Tombigbee or Tombecbeck), to arm the Choctaws against the Chickasaws and force them to drive out the English traders from their villages. The Spaniards resented the idea of a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi; they had not forgotten La Salle's wild dreams of dispossessing them from Mexico. Louis XIV hoped to convince the Court of Madrid that Spain had nothing to fear from a French colony in the lower Mississippi basin; that, in fact, such a colony would be decidedly advantageous to Spanish interests, as it would facilitate a Spanish-French combination that could effect- ively block the westward march of the English. D 1 Iberville was commissioned to prepare the memorandum 2 for the Court of Spain on this delicate matter. He set forth that, taking into account the number of inhabitants in the English colonies along the Atlantic seaboard and the population these colonies would have within 30 to 40 years, it was evident that the English would then be in position to roll up an army of 30,000 — 40,000 men, and, with the help of the Indians, drive out the Spanish and French from the lower Mississippi. That would naturally also jeopardise the Spanish possessions in Mexico. But Castilian pride and self-confidence would not permit the Court of Madrid to share the French viewpoint; Spain refused to look upon the English as adversaries in the New World and protested the French settlement as "an unjust usurpation." So France decided to build up her colony along the lower Mississippi without the blessing of Spain. l Lettre de M. Montigny, August 25, 1699, Quebec Seminary Archives. 2 This account is drawn chiefly from Pierre Heinrich, La Louisiane sous la Compagnie des Indes, XXXV. £ LA SALLE'S DREAM REALIZED 117 The return of Iberville in December, 1699, relieved the sense of loneliness and brought joy to the hearts of the strug- gling colonists. He brought the news that the King had graciously deigned to appoint his brother Sauvole Governor of Louisiana, Bienville Lieutenant-Governor, and Boisbriand, his cousin, Commandant of the fort. Of course, young Bienville took great delight in recounting to his older brother how he had foiled the attempt of the British to establish themselves on the Mississippi. "Without loss of time," writes Gayarre, "he [dTberville] departed with Bienville, on the 17th of January, 1700, and running up the river [Mississippi], he constructed a small fort, on the first solid ground which he met, and which is said to have been at a distance of fifty four miles from its mouth. When so engaged, the two brothers one day saw a canoe rapidly sweeping down the river, and approaching the spot where they stood. It was occupied by eight men, six of whom were rowers, the seventh was the steersman, and the eighth, from his appearance, was evidently of a superior order to that of his companions, and the commander of the party. Well may it be imagined what greetings the stranger received, when, leaping on shore, he made himself known as Chevalier de Tonti, who had again heard of the establishment of a colony in Louisiana, and who, for the second time, had come to see if there was any truth in the report. With what emotions did Iberville and Bienville fold in their arms the faithful companion and friend of La Salle, of whom they had heard so many wonderful tales. . . . With what admiration they looked at his person, and with what increasing interest they listened to his long recitals of what he had done and had seen on that broad continent, the threshold of which they had hardly passed I" 1 Indeed, one can readily share the emotions animating Gayarre when he exclaims : "Is there not something extremely romantic in the characters of the men of that epoch?" Bienville, on orders from Iberville, abandoned Biloxi and proceeded to Massacre Island 2 (Dauphine Island). The French were still feeling their way, and so they next moved Gayarre, op. cit., pp. 75 and 46. 2 The French named this island Massacre Island, because they found a large quantity of human bones on its shores. u8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS from Massacre Island and constructed "Fort Louis de la Louisiane 11 at the second bluff on the Mobile River. That was in March, 1702. D'Iberville himself traced the streets of the new settlement, distributed lands, and personally installed the first four families of the future population. Such was the founding of Mobile, and d'Iberville felt that it would soon be the center of a great colony. Everything seemed to justify his expectations: vast quantities of hides and pelts could easily be procured from the natives; there was the possibility of ship-building, and then there were the mines of lead and copper and perhaps more precious metals that would supply all the needs of France. Mobile solidly established, d'Iberville planned to erect posts all along the Mississippi — at the mouth of the Arkansas, Ohio, Missouri, etc. He would transplant certain friendly Indian tribes to more strategic positions, for instance, the Illinois Indians to the Valley of the Ohio, where Jucher- eau de Saint Denis 1 was even then planting the Fleur-de-Lis at d 1 Iberville's behest. All these measures would help check the English from pushing forward to the Mississippi, Charles Juchereau de Saint-Denys was born at Quebec, December 6, 1655. In 1694 he was appointed first royal judge of Montreal. Saint-Denys conceived the idea of estab' lishing tanneries in the Mississippi Valley. Letters patent granting permission to estab' lish tanneries were signed by Louis XIV, June 4, 1701. The document contains some interesting points: permission is granted to proceed down the Mississippi with twenty four men and eight canoes; he may take along whatever tools he may see fit, all the mer- chandise he may need, except brandy, which he may take for the use of the Frenchmen, but not for trade with the savages; he may barter in any kind of peltries, except beaver skins, which barter is strictly forbidden under any pretext whatsoever; he may also work lead and copper mines, which he may discover; he must have a chaplain to say Mass and administer the sacraments to the men. He may choose his chaplain, subject to the approval of the Bishop of Quebec or, in his absence, of the Vicar General. Juchereau de Saint-Denys actually established two tanneries, one at Michillimackinac and the other near the mouth of the Ohio, probably a short distance above the present Cairo, Illinois. The Jesuit Father Mermet was appointed missionary of this post. The medicine men of the neighboring tribes were extremely hostile to Father Mermet. Juch- ereau de Saint-Denys died in the fall of 1703, and the establishment was immediately abandoned. As a further point of interest it may be noted that three years later his widow married Louis Lienard de Beaujeu of Montreal. Of this marriage there were two distinguished sons: the Abbe Louis de Beaujeu, later confessor of Louis XVI, and Daniel-Hyacinthe-Marie de Beaujeu, who defeated Gen. Braddock on the Monongahela River. See P.-G. Roy, La Fa' mille JuchereawDuchesnay, pp. 102., ff. See also J. Wallace, Illinois and Louisiana under French Rule, pp. 299, ff. LA SALLE'S DREAM REALIZED ug and, in case of war, cTIberville would have a force strong enough to destroy some of the English colonies. None of these plans were carried out, chiefly because the illness of d'Iberville, who was stricken with yellow fever, and the inopportune outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession prevented their execution. But his projects were so ad- vanced and so daring that even Canada became jealous of the prospects of Louisiana, and Callieres, Governor of that country, petitioned the Minister to keep d'Iberville under the Quebec government and not make him independent. Restless and adventurous men like La Salle, d' Iberville, Bienville and other early pioneers of Louisiana, were wonder- ful assets for discovery and exploration, but less fitted to establish a permanent colony. Deiler 1 very correctly re- marks: "In the beginning of the colony the French com- mitted the grave error of not giving enough attention to agriculture. Two years after the founding of Mobile, in 1704, the civilian part of the population of Louisiana con- sisted of twenty-three families, with ten children, who lived along the shore in huts with palmetto or straw roofs, fishing and hunting. It is true that they also had little gardens around their huts, but for provisions they relied on the vessels from France.' ' To d 1 Iberville's credit it must be said that, theoretically at least, he realised that what the colony needed above all else was a goodly number of colonists, men who were willing to work and till the soil. Louis XIV thought of sending him all the superfluous coureurs de bois. But most of them were contraband, or bootleg, traders, men without fixed domicile, nomads who roamed about, speculators who felt they could make an easier living by other means than by handling the plow and harrow, or grubbing stumps to clear a field. They were, many of them, addicted to drink and gambling, drifting along in absolute independence, recog- nising neither superiors, nor judges, nor police, and scandal- ising even the savages by their wild excesses. Even a strong man like d'Iberville could not transform this class into farm- ers, and the colony needed farmers. Wood draws a clear picture of the vast plans entertained by Louis XIV, who disdained small ideas; "French strategy l J. Hanno Deiler, German Coast of Louisiana, p. 8. 120 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS in America, still based upon Quebec, then aimed at the con- trol of the three great gulfs, the three great rivers, and the five Great Lakes. Grandiose as this appears to us now, we must remember that France was then the first power in Europe and had a population far exceeding the population of Great Britain. Moreover, she did command the local areas of the three great gulfs toward the end of the seven- teenth century, when d' Iberville commanded Hudson Bay, raided Newfoundland, and had no challenger in either the Gulf of St. Lawrence or of Mexico. The St. Lawrence, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers were also under French con- trol, if under any, a little later on; while the five Great Lakes were practically free from all whites but the French.' 11 *Wbod, Unique Quebec, p. 42. WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION The European background of American history again rises into view. The troubles of Europe were in those days, far more than today, reflected in America, and the issues of the New World were sometimes fought out in Europe. Disagreements between the mother countries enkindled like feelings between their colonies in the New World. In Europe the stake at this time was the throne of Spain. In the southeast of North America it was quite a different one, yet none the less precious — the friendship of the Chickasaws and Choctaws. If the French had the friendship of these pow- erful tribes, they had nothing to fear from their English neigh- bors; whereas, if the South Carolinians had them as allies, they could drive the handful of French into the Gulf of Mexico. It all happened in this way. 1 Charles II, King of Spain, in ill health for some time, was expected to die, and without issue. The all-important question in Europe was: Who will be the next King of Spain? Louis XIV of France and Leopold I of Austria each had his candidate. Each had mar- ried a Spanish princess, and each claimed the right for his descendants to succeed to the crown of Spain, in case the King died without issue. The French King chose his grand- son, Philip of Anjou, the son of the Dauphin, 2 to become King of Spain, and Leopold of Austria claimed the Spanish crown for his second son, the Archduke Charles. Of course, there were other candidates proposed in the chancellories of Europe. Louis XIV won out in the first round. By Last Will and Testament of October 1, 1700, Charles II of Spain designated Philip of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV, to be his successor. Charles II died soon after. Louis XIV had hoped the relations between France and Spain would be as cordial as though the Pyrenees 3 no longer existed between the two countries. He admonished the new King, Philip, his grandson, to "be a good Spaniard, that is your first duty . . . behold these two nations so closely ^his presentation is drawn chiefly from Dr. J. B. Weiss, Weltgeschichte, Der Spanische Erbfolge^ieg, X., pp. 654-800. This war is commonly known as Queen Anne's War. 2 Dauphin, that is, the eldest son of the King of France and heir to the throne. 3 Pyrenees — range of mountains separating France and Spain. 121 122 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS united that they really are only one. . . . You will see my grandson at the head of the Spaniards to defend the French, and me at the head of the French to defend the Spaniards. . . . My son, the Pyrenees no longer exist." Louis addressed the new King thus: "Trh'haut et tres' puissant prince, notre tres'cher et tres'dime bon frere et petit jrls," (Most Illustrious and most Powerful Prince, our very dear and beloved good Brother and Grandson), and Philip, on his part would write: "Au roi, mon frere et mon grand' pere." (To the King, my Brother and my Grandfather). There was great joy at the Court of Versailles. The Dauphin, father of the new King, told his friends he could now say: "My father the King, my son the King", and he himself expected to become King upon the death of his father the King, but neither he, nor even his son, became King of France. Louis XV was the great-grandson of Louis XIV. Unhappily for France, the other nations of Europe did not share this rejoicing of the Bourbon family, but formed a coalition that nearly ruined France. Leopold of Austria was deeply offended, and all Europe sensed the danger that might result from the close union of the crowns of France and Spain, — the balance of power was disturbed. The last years of Louis XIV were saddened by the dis- asters of the war known as the War of the Spanish Suc- cession. The conflict spread to the New World. England and France met in battle in New France. Quebec was attacked by a "combined invasion," writes Wood, "which, if properly led, Quebec could never have withstood. But the mulish Admiral, Sir Hovenden Walker, 'kept it at North 1 till Egg Island, at the N. W. corner of the Gulf, was strewn with wrecked transports carrying a good number of the veteran soldiers who were completely miscommanded by that ass of a General, Jack Hill. The mule and the ass then brayed together and went home." 1 D'Iberville had just returned to France from his third voyage when the War of the Spanish Succession broke out. What was to be the fate of the handful of French on the borders of the Gulf of Mexico? The census of September Wood, Unique Quebec, p. 42. EUROPE AGAINST LOUIS XIV 123 14, 1704, showed 195 inhabitants at Mobile: 8 major officers, 3 priests, 72 soldiers, 14 marine officers and sailors, 10 ship- boys, 40 Canadians, 16 laborers, 3 filibusters, 23 women or girls, and only two families with a total of six persons. 1 What could the mother country do to aid the poor colony while the fortunes of war were against France? Until 1707, an average of one ship a year came to the colony, and then none arrived until 171 1. The result was that the normal condition of the colony was famine and misery. Bienville had recourse to Vera Cms to obtain the necessaries of life for his garrison. The colony lacked everything — farm hands, oxen to pull the plow, and even farm implements. Unfor- tunately these colonists continued to look for ships that did not arrive, instead of turning to agriculture and making a living. Add to that the uncertainty of the future, and it becomes evident that nobody cared to settle down to real work. As is usual when things do not go well, dissension broke out in their own ranks. The colonists were almost naked, and the soldiers wore skins instead of uniforms; the food consisted of maise and acorns and whatever they could obtain by hunting. To fill the measure of misery to over- flowing, a Spanish privateer came along in 1711 and destroyed the settlement on Massacre Island, and the same year Mobile suffered the ravages of a disastrous flood. But the colonists held bravely on, rebuilt their settlement on Massacre Island, which they named Dauphine Island, and laid the foundation for a new Mobile a few miles away. From their father, Charles Le Moyne, who had been the most successful peacemaker with the Indians in Canada, both d'Iberville and Bienville had inherited the happy faculty of treating with the Indians. It is truly marvelous how they succeeded, when we bear in mind the small number of Frenchmen at Mobile and their miserable condition and abject poverty. Bienville relates that Chickasaw and Choc- taw chiefs had asked him if his country, France, had more people than the colony at Mobile. And if France had more people and was a powerful country, why did they not come to avenge the death of Father St. Cosme, the Quebec Sem- l Udmich, op. cit., XLIV., note 1. i2 4 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS inary missionary at Natchez, who had been murdered by the savages I 1 Bienville's Indian policy won the day, and his savage friends were so loyal to him that they rather accepted a small present from him than one of much greater value from the English. He settled their quarrels, protected the weak against the stronger, and sent back the slaves the coureurs de bois had purchased contrary to his orders. On the other hand, it was the custom of the English colonists to take slaves even from among Indian tribes who were friendly to them. Emissaries of the Governor of Carolina appeared among the Choctaws, and the stage was set for an attack on the wretched French colony in the fall of 1709, but the attitude of the tribes friendly to the French prevented the realisation of the plan. In 1712, Spotswood, Governor of Virginia, had called the attention of the Board of Trade (London) to the attempts of the French to establish a line of communication between Canada and the lower Mississippi, and suggested to march through the gaps of the Alleghenies to block the contacting between the two French colonies, which, he said, menaced the safety of the English colonies. The distant forebodings of the final struggle between these rival nations are clearly perceptible. The English Indian traders had already assem- bled the savages, and the day of departure had been set, when peace was signed between France and England, 2 and the little colony on the Gulf was safe again. The details of the War of the Spanish Succession, which proved so disastrous to France, are beyond the scope of this volume. Concerning the American possessions, the stip- ulations of the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended this war, are the following: 1) France cedes to England Newfound- land, except Cape Breton, and retains an interest in the fisheries; France further surrenders Acadia, Hudson Bay and adjoining territories; 2) France is not to carry on trade with the Spanish colonies, except as permitted under Charles II, former King of Spain. 3 ^einrich, op. at., LII, note 5. See also page 145, n. 1. post. 2 The Treaty of Utrecht (Holland) was signed April 11, 1713. Weiss, Weltgeschichte, X., pp. 783, ff. EUROPE AGAIHST LOUIS XIV 125 Article 15 of the Treaty of Utrecht was couched in such form that later England held to one interpretation, while France insisted on another. It reads thus: "The inhabi- tants of Canada and other French subjects shall not molest in future the Five Nations 1 of Indians subject to Great Britain nor the other nations of America friendly to this crown." Towards the end of this article it was agreed that a committee would later determine precisely which Indians should be considered subject and friendly to Great Britain. The French maintained that the Iroquois, too, were the subject of further discussion, whereas the English held the opposite view. 2 r The five principal tribes of this family — Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, all stationed in palisaded villages south and east of lakes Erie and Ontario-— formed a loose confederacy styled by themselves and the French The Long House,' and by the English The Five Nations,' which firmly held the waterways connecting the Hud- son and Ohio rivers and the Great Lakes." Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, I., Introduction, p. 11. 2 Heinrich, op. cit., LV., note 5. KASKASKIA OH THE UPPER ILLINOIS On Easter Sunday, April 14, 1675, Father Marquette had set out from the Village of the Kaskaskias on what proved to be his last journey — the journey through the portals of death. Before his departure he had "pledged them his word" that he or some other Father would soon return to them. "As a mark of honor," writes Father Dablon, "they chose to escort him for more than 30 leagues on the Road, vying with each other in taking Charge of his slender baggage." 1 Father Marquette's promise was kept. April 27, 1677, Father Claude Alloue? arrived from Green Bay to continue the work of the sainted Marquette among the Illinois Indians. The savages generally followed the waterways, and the traders followed the savages. French traders grouped about the mission of the Immaculate Conception among the Kas- kaskias on the upper Illinois, and thus the first definite set- tlement of whites developed in the Illinois country. Toward the end of the 17th century, the Illinois Indians occupied an immense territory: all that country enclosed by the Mississippi on the west, the Fox and the Wisconsin to the northwest, Lake Michigan on the north, St. Joseph River and Ohio River to the east, southeast and south. Sporadic Iroquois invasions had driven the Illinois across the Mississippi since about 1667, but little by little, and group by group, they had come back to their habitat along the Illinois River. The Kaskaskias were the first to return, to the number of about 3000. Claude Alloues, Father Mar- quette's successor, found about 11,000 Illinois Indians. He states: "I found the population of this village [Kaskaskia] greatly increased this last year; heretofore there was only one nation, the Kaskaskia, but now there are eight. . . . They live in 351 cabins which are easy to count, because they are ranged along the river front." 2 Claude Dablon, in Jesuit Relations, LIX., pp. 186-191. 2 The eight tribes of the Illinois, as enumerated by Rochemonteix, were the following: 1) Kikapous; 2) Kaskaskias; 3) Miamis; 4) Cahokias (Caoquias); 5) Peorias; 6) Tarnarois (Tamaroas); 7) Moiiingoiienas; 8 Mitchigamias and the Weas and Piankaskaws. Camille de Rochemonteix, Lesjesuites et la T^puvelle France au XVIIe Siecle, III., p. 529, n. 2. 126 THE FIRST KASKASKIA 127 The good Father complains that the seven new tribes did not manifest the same ready disposition to receive Christianity as the Kaskaskias. He could not remain long with them, and on May 3, 1677, erected a twenty-foot cross in their village, and returned to Green Bay. Later, in 1678, he again visited the mission, and remained there two years. While he worked among the Miamis, another war 1 broke out between the Iroquois and the Illinois Indians. The Illinois labored under the impression that the French had instigated the war, and swore they would kill the first Frenchman who would dare enter their village. When Father Alloues heard of this, he immediately set out for Kaskaskia, and addressed the assembled Indians as follows: "I know your wicked designs, but my seal for your salvation and my desire to make Jesus Christ known to you, cause me to dis- regard my own life/"* The Indians hated cowardice, and this proof of courage and manifestation of sincere interest in their welfare touched their savage hearts, and they replied: "Now we know that thou dost love us and art our father. " 2 The Father improved the repentant disposition of his savage friends and erected a chapel in their midst, and there instructed them daily and endeavored to correct their vices. But the war between the two tribes hampered his work to such an extent that he left Kaskaskia 8 . He died some years later, August 28, 1689, at Saint Francois Xavier mission. Father Alloues had spent twenty-four years in the apostolic field of the mid-west (Wisconsin and Illinois), 1665-1689 . It is said that during his career in the missions he preached the Gospel to 100,000 savages of twenty different nations, and baptised 10,000. 4 The tangible results among the Illinois had, however, been very meagre, but he had sown the seed of Christianity and civilisation, and others reaped the harvest. Father Jacques Gravier is considered the real founder of the mission among the Illinois. "It was he who first made ^his would seem to have been the same war in which Tonti took such an heroic part. See pp. 93-94, ante. 2 Rochemonteix, op. at., III., p. 534. 3 "In 1689 he was on the point of being burned by the savages of Chicagou on Lake Michi' gan." La Potherie in Rochemonteix, op. at., III., p. 536, note 3. 4 Campbell, op. cit., II., p. 164. 128 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAHS clear the principles of their language, and who reduced them to the rules of grammar; we have only perfected that which he successfully began." 1 In 1689, when Gravier came to them, the Kaskaskias and Peorias and Mouingoiienas were located near the present Starved Rock on the Illinois River, a few leagues below Fort Saint Louis, erected by La Salle in 1680, and below their habitat in the days of Marquette. They were not as numerous as then; the Iroquois war had decimated and scattered the tribes. The Tamarois and Cahokias had located farther south along the Mississippi River, below the mouth of the Illinois, at and above the present Cahokia. The Kaskaskias were the most numerous of all the Illinois tribes, and also the most favorably inclined to accept the teachings of Christianity. Father Gravier moved freely among the remnants of the Illinois Indians and urged them to locate with the Kaskaskias on the Illinois River. The Peorias and Mouingoiienas followed his suggestion. 2 Father Rasle, who arrived among them in 1693, gives their number at 300 cabins, all of four or five fires (one fire is always for two families). 3 Kaskaskia was then the most important of the eleven villages of the Illinois tribe. In a letter to his nephew, the same Father gives the follow- ing account of the spiritual status of the mission: "Many of the children have been baptised, and they come every day to instruction and catechism class. The women and girls form a large group. They are full of fervor and often receive the sacraments. Many others are well disposed to receive baptism. But the medicine men (charlatans) are very antagonistic; they fear they will lose their influence, and the young men, too, are unfriendly, because the new religion curbs their excessive vices. ,M Father Julien Binneteau and Father Gabriel Marest took up the missionary work at Kaskaskia when Rasle was trans- Gabriel Marest in Jesuit Relations, LXVI., p. 247- 2 A few years later they must have migrated toward the southern end of Peoria Lake. At any rate, that is where the Jesuits had their mission in November, 1698. Rochemon' teix, op. cit., III., p. 537- 3 At an average of four persons to a family, we have (300x5x2x4) twelve thousand savages among the three tribes. See Lawrence Kenny, S. J., St. Louis Catholic Historical Review April, 1919, p. 153. 4 Rochemonteix, op. cit., III., p. 538. THE FIRST KASKASKIA 129 ferred to the Abenakis missions, and Father Gravier became Superior of the Ottawa Missions with headquarters at Michil- limackinac. They found the Indians so well disposed to Christianity that, within the short space of two or three years, they built a second and a third chapel. 1 l Rochemontcix, op. ctt., III., p. 540. MISSIOH OF THE SEMINAIRE DE QUEBEC— TAMAROIS—CAHOKIA It was a fixed policy of the French government throughout the colonial period to provide spiritual guidance for the French, and to attempt to christianize the savages in the New World. Hanotaux tersely characterizes the history of the French in America in these words : "The history of Canada can be expressed in three words : exploration, struggle (la lutte), preaching the Gospel (evangelisation). Diplomacy scarcely did anything but make mistakes. "* In accordance with this policy, missionaries accompanied the first explorers, and from the time of Champlain we find definitely established missions. First came the Recollect (Franciscan) Fathers, then the Jesuits, then the Sulpicians. The Seminary Fathers took up their missionary activity in 1685. 2 Bishop Laval, 3 first Catholic Bishop of Quebec, estab- lished a Seminary in his episcopal city in 1663. 4 The primary purpose of this Seminary was that it should be a home (foyer) for the secular priests in the missions of his vast diocese. In this Seminary they would be equipped to go out to the missions; here they would stay, if for any reason they came to Quebec; here, too, they would find a home in sickness and old age. The mission priests could thus give their whole lives to the cause of the missions, without any thought of self, because in case of illness or old age a friendly home awaited them. 5 The second purpose was to train young 1 Hanotaux, La France Vivante en Amerique du J^prd. 2 In Acadia. See p. 51, n. 1, ante. 3 Bishop Laval ruled the Church of New France from 1659 to 1684, when he resigned on account of ill health, but he lived until May 6, 1708. 4 Gagnon, Louis Jolliet, p. 10. 5 During the summer of 1927, while working in the archives of Quebec, I spent several weeks in the old Seminaire de Quebec, in full view of the mighty St. Lawrence. It was quite a thrill to live within the enclosure of the very walls that stood witnesses to the dc parture of the first three missionaries — advance agents of civilization — to the Tamarois aux Illinois, in the Illinois country. Crossing the threshold I was greeted the "bienvenu,"'' and instantly made to feel at home. The deep religious convictions, the home-like atmos' phere, and the delicate hospitality bequeathed to it by its sainted founder, Monseigneur de Laval, are as old as the Seminaire, and that is not far from 300 years, but they all live anew in each succeeding generation. Evidently, the blessing of Laval rests upon this in- stitution. 130 TAMAROIS— CAHOKIA 13 1 men, give spiritual and moral training to those who wished to devote their lives to the missions. The course of studies in the classics, philosophy, and theology was at that time provided for these young men in the Jesuit school of Quebec. 1 The third purpose of Bishop Laval's Seminary was to give the usual training in philosophy and theology to those pre paring to enter the priesthood. In the beginning, of course, the Seminary had no priests of its own to send out to the missions. It was therefore affiliated with the Seminary of Foreign Missions (Missions Etr anger es) of Paris. The Paris Seminary for a long time appointed the Superior of the Quebec Seminary. In the year 1690, Monseigneur St'Vallier, second Bishop of Quebec, commissioned the Jesuits to preach the Gospel to the Ottawa, Miami, Sioux, and Illinois Indians. Eight years later, May 1, 1698, the same Bishop granted permission to the Quebec Seminary to establish missions on both sides of the Mississippi (en dega et au dela du Missis' sipi). It was argued that the purpose of the Seminary of Foreign Missions in Paris was to aid in civilizing savages and to bring the blessings of Christianity to those still shrouded in the darkness of infidelity, and that the Semi- naire de Quebec, being a dependency of the Paris Seminary, should be interested in the same kind of work. 2 Twelve days later, M. de Montigny, Vicar-General, was appointed Superior of the future mission. July 14 of the same year, the mission field was more specifically designated — aux Tamarois. 3 Two days later, the first brave little band of Quebec Seminary Missionaries set out from that city on their long journey in canoe and on foot for the distant field of the Tamarois, on the east bank of the Mississippi — M. Francois de Montigny, Superior, M. Antoine Davion, and Jean Frangois Buisson de St. Cosme. The reasons for assigning the Tamarois mission to the Seminary Fathers were many. 4 First of all, the territory 1 This practice continued until the fall of the French Regime. See Msgr. Amedee Gosselin, VInstruction au Canada sous le Regime Franqais (1635-1710). 2 Mand. des Ev., I., p. 377- Frontenac, then Governor of Canada, approved the estab' lishment of the mission by the Seminary Priests. 3 Mand. des Ev., I., pp. 274-370. 4 See Colbert's Instructions to Frontenac, p. 51, ante. U2 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS of the Tamarois and Kaokias, lying on the east bank of the Mississippi, which river was one of the main routes of com- munication between Quebec and the tribes farther south, gave to the mission a sort of key position — Clef de passage necessaire. 1 Secondly, the nearest mission north was that of the Jesuit Fathers, some 80 to 90 leagues away, as they then figured the distance (Mission of the Immaculate Con- ception on the Illinois). Then, too, Monseigneur Laval and Bishop St-Vallier 2 had conferred with Tonti, who certainly knew the geography and the tribes of the Mississippi Valley, as to the most reasonable location of a new mission in the land of the savages, and they had agreed that the proper place would be among the Tamarois. Lastly, all this territory was then under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec, and it was clearly within his province, as Ordinary, to assign the religious orders as well as the members of the secular clergy to the various mission fields. The Jesuits, too, had their jursidiction from the Bishop of Quebec. The initial expense of this expedition to the Tamarois, undertaken in the interest of Christian civilisation, amounted to 10,800 livres. Of this amount Montigny and Davion contributed of their own means the sum of 4,300 livres. It cost money to make the long journey from Quebec to the Tamarois. The missionaries needed canoes, Indian guides, engages, or hired men, provisions for at least a year, or perhaps longer, etc. They went to live among the savages among whom there was hardly a single prerequisite of civilized standards of living. Everything must be taken along. This was true, of course, of all missionaries. A list of things need- ed in a mission is contained in a letter, probably written by Father Gravier. 1 This account is drawn from various documents in the Archives of the Seminaire de Quebec. 2 "The contrast between Laval's paternal rule and St'Vallier's often untimely zeal and anxiety to reform caused apprehension. Though his overbearing zeal and excessive desire to perform all the good that he had in view elicited measures that were displeasing and even offensive, these were fully outbalanced by his generosity towards the poor, and his genuine disinterestedness. " Lindsay in Catholic Encyclopedia, XIII., p. 388. For an exceedingly interesting account of St'Vallier's unquiet administration, see Auguste Gosselin, Ueglise du Canada, vol. Mgr. De Saint-Vallier. TAMAROIS—CAHOKIA 1 3 3 He enumerates some 150 articles, not counting the chapel and its accessories. It may be of interest to select a few items : "Six pairs of half' worsted hose. (Material for making) awn- ings as a protection against gnats that infest the Missisipi: One livre or 2 of cotton candle- wicking. A thousand nails, large, medium-si2;ed, and small. 150 livres of powder; 50 livres of assorted shot, large and small; 50 livres of Bullets; (500 gun-flints) . Ten livres of large glass Beads — white, green, and transparent. One gross of large Clasp-Knives, with horn handles, Six gross of small belts, Six gross of finger-Rings, 3 gross of awls. One thousand needles. Six Bars of Soap; thirty livres of good tobacco,' ' etc. 1 A peep into the old records is extremely interesting. A document preserved in the Archives of the Seminaire de Quebec mentions that in 1704 two missionaries were sent to the missions in Louisiana. They came from France and stopped at San Domingo, where they made the following purchases for their mission: une vache et un negre — a cow and a Negro. Tonti accompanied the Seminary Fathers as far as the Arkansas. That the Fathers fully appreciated the generous services of this remarkable man, who seemed to be always on hand when needed, is evident from St. Cosme's letter to St-Vallier: "I cannot, Monseigneur, express our obliga- tions to him; he guided us as far as the Akanscas and gave us much pleasure on the way. fie facilitated our course through several nations, winning us the friendship of some and inti- midating those who from jealousy or a desire of plunder had wished to oppose our voyage; he has not only done the duty of a brave man, but also discharged the functions of a jealous missionary. He quieted the minds of our employees in the little vagaries that they might have; he supported us by his example in the exercises of devotion which the voyage per- mitted us to perform, very often approaching the sacraments . . . He is the man that best knows the country ... he is loved and feared everywhere . . . Your grace, Monseigneur, will, I doubt not, take pleasure in acknowledging the obliga- tions we owe him." 2 Jesuit Relations, LXVI., pp. 27-31. 2 John Gilmary Shea, Early Voyages up and down the Mississippi, pp. 47 and 73. 134 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Michillimackinac, or Mackinac, was then the rendezvous and distributing center for traders 1 and missionaries. The journey from Quebec to this point up the St. Lawrence and over the Great Lakes was always toilsome, and frequently extremely hazardous. Father Brebeuf has left an interesting account of the hardships of such a journey : "Of two ordinary difficulties, the chief is that of the rapids and portages . . . All the rivers of this Country are full of them, and notably the St. Lawrence, after that of the Prairies (Ottawa) is passed. From there onward it has no longer a smooth bed, but is broken up in several places, rolling and leaping in a frightful way, like an impetuous torrent; and even, in some places, it falls from a height of several brasses. 2 . . . Now, when these rapids or torrents are reached, it is necessary to land, and carry on the shoulder, through woods, or over high and trouble- some rocks, all the baggage and the canoes themselves. This is not done without much work; for there are portages of one, two and three leagues, and for each several trips must be made, no matter how few packages one has. In some places, where the current is not less stronger than in these rapids, although easier at first, the Savages get into the water, and haul and guide by hand their canoes with extreme difficul- ty and danger; for they sometimes get in up to the neck, and are compelled to let go their hold, saving themselves as best they can from the rapidity of the water, which snatches from them and bears off their canoe. I kept count of the num- ber of portages, and found that we carried our canoes thirty five times, and dragged them at least fifty. I sometimes took a hand in helping my Savages, but the bottom of the river is full of stones, so sharp that I could not walk long, being barefooted. "The second ordinary difficulty is in regard to provisions. Frequently one has to fast, if he misses the caches 3 that were made when descending; and even, if they are found, one does not fail to have a good appetite after indulging in them, lkl One thousand French traders and trappers, not counting the Indians, gathered at times at Michilimacinac. ,, Kenny, op. cit., p. 153. The account of the voyage of the Seminary Fathers is taken from St. Cosme's Letter, Shea, op. cit., pp. 145479. 2 From the French word bras — arm, the space to which a man can extend his arms — fathom or 6 feet. 3 Cache — a hiding'place where food supplies were concealed for future use, TAMAROIS—CAHOKIA 135 for the ordinary food is only a little Indian corn coarsely broken between two stones, and sometimes taken whole in pure water; it is no great treat. Occasionally one has fish, but it is only a chance, unless one is passing some Tribe where they can be bought. Add to these difficulties that one must sleep on the bare earth, or on a hard rock, for lack of a space ten or twelve square on which to place a wretched hut; that one must endure continually the stench of tired-out Savages; and must walk in water, in mud, in the obscurity and entangle- ment of the forest, where the stings of an infinite number of mosquitoes and gnats are a serious annoyance. ,n The Seminary Fathers spent seven days with the Jesuit Fa th' ers at Michillimackinac. Here the Sieur de Vincennes, who was on his way to the Miamis, joined the Seminary mission ex- pedition. Jean-Bap tiste Bissot de Vincennes had been a student at the Seminaire de Quebec from 1676 to 1680. 2 According to St. Cosme, the little flotilla comprised eight canoes — "four for the River of the Miamis, with Sieur de Vincennes, and our three canoes, and Mr. Tonty." 3 The party left Michillimackinac September 14, 1698. The Iroquois infested the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, and so the travelers worked along the north shore of the lake and then down to Green Bay. The Fox Indians made the Wis- consin route (taken by Jolliet and Marquette) unsafe and "this", writes St. Cosme, "obliged us to take the Chikagu road ... we arrived on the 7th [October] at Melwarik [Milwaukee] ... on the 10th of October, having left Meli- warik early in the morning, we arrived at Kipikawi 4 . There we parted with Mr. De Vincenne's party, who continued their course towards the Miami." 5 x Edna Kenton, The Jesuit Relations, pp. 101402. 2 The Seminary Archives contain this marginal note: "Not being fitted for the clerical state, he left the seminary, November 18, ^SO." Msgr. Amedee Gosselin in Le Sieur de Vincennes by Pierre-Georges Roy, p. 33. Two years later the Sovereign Council ordered Louis Jolliet, the guardian of Vin* cennes, to pay to the Seminary tuition and board for two and one-half years. Jean-Bap- tiste Bissot de Vincennes was the father of Francois-Marie Bissot de Vincennes, the founder of Vincennes, Indiana. 3 Shea, op. ct't., p. 46. iKipifywi or Kippi\avvi, according to Shea, the present Racine, Wisconsin. 5 Shea, op. cit., p. 50. i 3 6 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS The letter of St. Cosme continues : "We cabined on the 20th five leagues from Chicaqw. We should have reached it early on the 21st, but the wind, which suddenly sprung up from the lake, obliged us to land a half a league from Apkaw 1 . We had considerable difficulty in getting ashore and sav- ing our canoes. We had to throw everything into the water . . . the breakers get so large in a short time that the canoes are in risk of going to pieces and losing all on board; several travellers have already been wrecked there." Two years before the arrival of the Seminary Fathers, Francois Pinet, a Jesuit, had founded the Guardian Angel Mission for the two villages of the Miamis, then located on what is now known as the Chicago River. 2 "The Indian village" [the one nearest the lake where the Guardian Angel Mission was located], writes St. Cosme, "is of over 150 cabins, and one league on the river there is another village almost as large. They are both Miamis." The Jesuit Fathers Pinet and Binneteau were then at this mission, and received the Seminary Fathers most cordially. Since "the waters [probably the Chicago River] were extremely low we made a cache on the shore and took only what was absolutely neccessary for our voyage, reserving till spring to send for the rest, and we left in charge of it Brother Alexander, 3 who consented to remain there with Father Pinet's man, and we started from Chicaqw on the 29th [October]". Speaking of the Guardian Angel Mission at Chicago, St. Cosme writes: "We found there Rev. Father Pinet and Rev. Buinateau, who had recently come in from the Illinois and were slightly sick." Writing of what happened nine days later, St. Cosme relates that a fifteen or seventeen year old boy had become detached from the party, and that he ^hea thinks Ap\aw or Ap\aw is a transcriber's blunder for cette place, that place, which would make the sentence read thus: obliged us to land half a league from that place — Chicago. 2 Frank R. Grover in Father Pierre Franqois Pinet, S. J., and His Mission of the Guardian Angel of Chicago (Newberry Library), places the Guardian Angel Mission on the lowlands known as Skokie, which, he holds, was then an inland sea. 3 Frere Alexandre was a frere hospitalier, or a member of the Brotherhood established by M. Charon at Montreal for service in the missions. TAMAROIS—CAHOKIA 137 went in search of him. 1 "On my way back", he writes, "I met Fathers Pinet and Buinateau who were going with two Frenchmen and one Indian to the Illinois." It may be that, hearing from the Seminary Fathers that they were going to the Illinois, the Jesuits Fathers decided to go there also. On their way down to the Tamarois, the Seminary Fathers stopped at the Jesuit mission of the Kaskaskias. 2 "On the 15th day of November" [1698], writes St. Cosme, "we arrived at the old fort [Saint Louis] ; it is a rock 3 about 100 feet high on the bank of the river, where M. de La Salle had constructed a fort, which is now abandoned, the savages having moved about 25 leagues farther south, down to Fort Peoria [Peouar- oud]} There we found Father Binneteau and Father Pinet, who, having no baggage to carry when they left Chicagou, had arrived six or seven days ahead of us. There we also saw Father Marest, Jesuit. All the Reverend Fathers gave us a most hearty welcome. They were grieved to see us leave so soon on account of the frost. This mission of the Illinois seems to me to be the best the Jesuits have here, for, not counting the baptised children, there are numbers of grown people who have abandoned their superstitions and live after the manner of good Christians, often receive the sacraments and are married by the Church. We did not see all the good Christians, for they were scattered down the river in pursuit of their hunt. We only saw some Indian women married to Frenchmen, and they edified us by their modesty and by the interest they showed in going several times a day to the chapel to pray. On the day of the Pre- sentation of the Blessed Virgin [November 21, 1698], we sang a solemn High Mass with Deacon and sub-Deacon. We left the Illinois on the 22nd of November. We had lk This boy made his way to Chicagou, where Brother Alexander was, thirteen days after. He was utterly exhausted and was out of his head." Letter of La Source in Shea, op. rit., p. 85. 2 That mission was then situated near the southern end of Peoria Lake. 3 Starved Rock. 4 Probably on or near the site of the city of Peoria. 138 FROM QUEBEC TO K[EW ORLEANS to break the ice for a distance of two or three arpents to get out 1 of Lake Peoria (or Timiteoui)". 2 St. Cosme continues: "Rev. Fathers Buinateau and Pinet also joined us for part of the way, wishing to go and spend the whole winter with their Indians. The first day of our departure we found the cabin of Rouensas, the most consider- able of the Illinois chiefs. He is a very good Christian and received us politely, not like a barbarian, but like a well bred Frenchman; he took us to his cabin and forced us to spend the night there." Here the party heard the distressing news that the Chickasaws and Shawnees had lately attacked the Cahokias, killing ten and carrying off 100 slaves. The Father made an alliance with Rouensas in order to facilitate future passage through the Illinois nations. November 23, in the morning, Rouensas and his family received Holy Communion at M. de Montigny's Mass. This circumstance, along with the chief's conduct, proves that the Jesuit missionaries had been extraordinarily suc- cessful in the case of "the most considerable of the Illinois chiefs," making of him a devout Christian and a "well bred Frenchman." That same day the missionaries reached a village, the chief of which was called the Bear. "All these peoples up here are much inclined and easily conceive jealousy when one goes to other nations." The Bear told them "it was not advisable ... to go to the Micissipi," but Tonti bluffed him by telling him "that to give us any trouble would be to attack the Governor 3 in person." November 24, they arrived at another village. The chief, Tivet, had once been mighty and famous in his nation, but he had fallen into disgrace. Tonti lectured him for his jugglery, the cause of all his misfortune. The Indian prom- ised to reform, and was "afterwards at prayers and promised to be instructed." Father Pinet remained in this village, "for there was a good number of Praying Indians". 4 1 Which seems to indicate they were near the southern end of the lake. Dr. M. M. Leighton, chief of the Division of the State Geological Survey, Urbana, 111., advises me that the southern end of the lake was then where it is now. 2 Rochemonteix, op. cit., III., p. 539. 3 Frontenac — the great Onontio at Quebec. Christians. TAMAROIS— CAHOKIA 139 November 26 brought them to another village. The chief and the young men were away hunting. Some old men came along wailing, because the Chickasaws had killed some of their warriors. They accused Tonti of having given arms to their enemies. Tonti hurled back the insult, saying he had not been in the Illinois country for three years, and that they were constantly saying unreasonable things. Tontfs retort impressed St. Cosme, for he writes: "It must be avowed that the Indians have a very great esteem for him 1 '' November 27, "we were detained a part of the day by reason of a great quantity of ice that was flowing in the river.' ' November 28, they landed at a village of twenty cabins. It seems to have been a case where the chief's wife had more power than the chief, and St. Cosme very properly calls her the l 'chief tainess." Tonti told her about the unreasonable accusations made against him in the neighboring village. The fc 'chief tainess" quite characteristically did not agree with her foolish neighbors, but assured him "that all the nation felt great joy to see him and us too." November 29, the party made only eight leagues. "From the 29th of November to the 3rd of December we were detained at the same place by the ice, by which the river was entirely blocked up During our delay, Rev. Father Buineteau, whom we had left at the village of the chiefs wife, came to see us, and after spending a day with us returned to the village for the Feast of St. Francis Xavier." December 3, "we made about a league." December 4, "having taken wooden canoes at five Indian cabins, we broke about three or four arpens of ice that blocked up the river, and was about four inches thick and bore men on it." December 5, they reached the "Micissipi," at the mouth of the Illinois. December 6, "we embarked on the Micissipi," passed the "great river of the Missouris . . . and three or four leagues further we found on the left a rock having some figures painted on it [Piasa], for which, it is said, the Indians have some veneration. They are now almost effaced." That day (December 6th) they went to the Cahokias, then cabined near the site of the present Alton. They i 4 o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "were still mourning over the blow inflicted on them by the Chikakas and Chouanons; they all began to weep on our arrival." December 7, "about noon we reached the Tamarois [on the site of the present Cahokia]. . . . As they had given trouble to some of Mr. de Tonty 's men a year before, they were afraid, and all the women and children fled from the village; but we did not go to it, as we wished to prepare for the feast of the Conception, we cabined on the other side of the river on the right. 1 "Mr. de Tonty went to the village and, having reassured them a little, he brought us the chief who begged us to go and see him in his village. We promised to do so and next day, Feast of the Conception, after saying our Masses we went with Mr. de Tonty and seven of our men well armed. They came to receive us and took us to the chief's cabin. All the women and children were there, and we were no sooner there than the young folks and women broke in a part to be able to see us. They had never seen any Black Gown except for a few days the Rev. Father Gravier, who had paid them a visit". The Chief and his people prepared a meal for the French- men, and they in turn, made them a present and contracted an alliance so that they would receive the French, who often passed that way, and give them food. M. Frangois de Montigny, in his capacity as Superior, 2 took possession of the Tamarois mission. The patron of the Seminaire de Quebec was then and is to-day the Holy Family. It was quite natural, then, that the Seminary Fathers dedi- *At that time a large island "a league long, and a little more, by nearly a half league in its widest part," lay directly west of the habitat of the Tamarois. This island cut the chan' nel of the Mississippi in two. The main channel flowed west of the island, and the smaller channel separated the island from the east bank, where the village of the Tamarois was located. Now, the Montigny 'Ton ti party was headed for the village of the Tamarois. It is, therefore, probable that they rowed down the east channel, but, not wishing to go to the village that day, they "cabined on the other side of the river (of the east channel), on the right," that is, on the island directly across from the village of the Tamarois. Up to the middle of the last century boats passed up and down the east channel. However, it gradually silted and today the island is part of the mainland. The depression of the former east chan' nel bed is known as the Cahokia Chute. 2 Note of Msgr. Amedee Gosselin. TAMAROIS— CAHOKIA 141 cated their first mission to the patron of their home — the Holy Family. M. de la Source wrote a few months later: "There are as many people at the Tamarois as at Kebeq. . . It is the largest village we have seen. There are about 300 cabins." 1 December 8, 1698, when Montigny, Tonti and party vis- ited the chief in his village on the site of the present Cahokia, the bulk of the Tamarois "were cabined on an island lower down than their village 1 '. The village was situated on the edge of a prairie and somewhat distant from the island on which they were cabined. St. Cosme thinks they may have gone down to that island "to get wood more easily. . . per- haps too for fear of their enemies. " The island on which the Tamarois had their huts may be Arsenal Island, if it then existed, or some other island, which may have disappeared. At any rate, an original map in the archives of the Seminary of Quebec, dated 1737, fails to show Arsenal Island, but it does show a very distinct arm of the Mississippi (Cahokia Chute) forming a large island in the river directly west of the site of the mission. This island the Seminary Fathers named lie de la Ste-Famille — Island of the Holy Family. There is no reason to suppose that the site of the mission was ever shifted. The present old mission church of the Holy Family, Cahokia, built in 1775, certainly stands on the site of the mission of 1737- And the church of 1737, with the same certainty, stood on the site of the Tamarois village and first mission church of 1699. One of the weaknesses of New France was the restless craving for premature expansion and fascinating exploits of discovery. The wild forests, the unplatted prairies, new rivers of which it was not known whence they came nor into what sea they discharged their waters, lured the explorers on, and so they pushed onward from tribe to tribe across limitless prairies and through dense forests with no other guide but their compass, following the courses of the streams, always deeper and deeper into the unknown wilds of the American better of de la Source, Shea, op. cit., p. 85. This M. de la Source was not a deacon, but one of the twelve engages or hired men who joined the missionaries at Lachine, near Montreal. He was a young man, for he fixed his own wages at 150 livres for one year. This money was paid to him in advance. Older men generally received 500 livres for one year. This information was furnished by Msgr. Amedee Gosselin. i 4 2 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Continent. Colbert, on the other hand, had advised Fron- tenac: "You ought to hold it as a maxim that it is much better to occupy less territory and to people it thoroughly, than to spread oneself out more, and to have feeble colonies". 1 The happy-go-lucky forest trader went on farther and far- ther and cared little whether a well-peopled colony followed him or not. The call of the wild was too strong. Nicolet penetrated to Lake Superior, Verendrye to the foothills of the Rockies, Tonti up and down the swampy shores of the Mississippi, covering immense distances in almost every dir- ection. The missionary, too, felt the lure of the forest as well as did the trader or explorer and pressed forward and onward, though actuated by a widely different motive, and gave no thought to confining himself to less territory and waiting till the people were thoroughly evangelised. 2 Bishop St-Vallier had granted permission to the Seminary of Quebec to establish missions on both sides of the Mis- sissippi. M. de Montigny, Superior of the little band of missionaries, wished to make a thorough survey of the large field before limiting their activities, and so the whole party "left Tamarois on the 8th of December, in the afternoon", and paddled down the Mississippi. December 12, "arrived early at Cap S. Antoine, where we remained that day and all the next to get pitch, which we needed. . . . Cap S. Antoine 3 is a rock on the left as you go down. Some arpents below there is another rock on the right which advances into the river, and forms an island, or rather a rock about 200 feet high. . . . fourteen Miamis were once lost there, which has rendered the spot fearful among the Indians, so that they are accustomed to make sacrifices to this rock when they pass. . . .On it we planted 1 Alvord, Centennial History of Illinois, I., p. 74. 2 The Seminary authorities felt that St. Cosme and Davion, while zealous workers, "loved too much to roam about and make new discoveries," instead of thoroughly instructing one tribe before going on to another. Taschereau, op. cit. 3 Cap S. Antoine is the present Grand Tower, Illinois. "This is a rock, round in shape, high and steep, so called because a company of traders have sojourned there during the feast of St. Anthony." — Journal of Diron D'Artaguiette, (1723), in Mereness, Travels in the American Colonies, p. 67- TAMAROIS— CAHOKIA 143 a beautiful cross, singing the Vexilla Regis, and our people fired three volleys of musketry.' 11 December 16, the party started from the "Wabache, 11 that is, the Ohio River. 2 December 24, "we cabined early so that our people might prepare for the great feast of Christmas. We made a little chapel; we sang high mass at midnight where our people and all the French attended their duties. Christmas day was spent in saying our masses, all which our people heard and in the afternoon we chanted Vespers. We were greatly astonished to see the earth tremble at one o'clock in the afternoon, and although this earthquake did not last long, it was violent enough for all to perceive it easily." 3 They found the "Acansea nation, once so numerous, en- tirely destroyed by war and sickness. It is not a month since they got over the small pox which carried off the great- est part of them. There was nothing to be seen in the village but graves. 1 ' 4 December 30, "It was a deep regret to part with Mr. de Tonty. ... He would have much desired to bear us company to the other nations where we were going, but business called him back to the Illinois. He is the man that best knows the country. 11 M. de Montigny, as Superior, assigned the mission among the Tonicas to M. Antoine Davion. 5 January 2, 1699, Montigny writes: "For the present I reside among the Taensas, but am to go shortly to the Nat' ches. 11 ll 'Cap St. Cosme [now known as the Rock of the Cross], is a high and steep rock, form- ing a point which juts into the Mississipy, so named by M. de St. Cosme, priest of the senv inary of Canada, when he was descending from the Illinois to Mobile."" Ibid. The Rock of the Cross is plainly visible to passengers on the Frisco line which passes this point. Marquette speaks of it as a "Place that is dreaded by the Savages, because they believe that a manitou is there, — that is to say a demon, — that devours travelers/" 2 The Illinois called the Ohio the River of the Arkansas, from its having been the resi' dence of that people. Shea, op. cit., p. 75, n. 48. 3 That was more than a century before the great earthquake of New Madrid. 4 De la Source writes: "It is a great pity. They are the best made, frankest and best disposed men that we have seen." Shea, op. cit., p. 79. 5 M. Davion later appears at Mobile. Broken in health, he returned to France in 1725 where he died April 8, 1726. 144 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "On the 27th [of January, 1699]", writes de la Source, "we left there [the Natchez] to the Tonkas; Mr. de Montigny and Mr. de St. Cosme resolved to go up together to bring down the things left at Chicagou, where Brother Alexander had remained to guard them. . . . Mr. de Montigny intended to see all these nations and go to the sea. Having learnt that three Frenchmen had been lately killed and we all being sick, he probably did not deem it proper. ... It was supposed at the Outraois [?] that Mr. Diberville had come by sea to the mouth of the Micissipi, but we have heard no tidings of him. . . ." Coming back to the Tamarois, M. de St. Cosme remained there, being assigned to that mission by his Superior, Mon- tigny. Taschereau writes: "M. de Montigny, after having been dangerously ill . . . [among the Taensas], returned to the Tamarois, where he established himself as Superior of all the mission, which comprised an immense territory. He immediately asked for reenforcements, and the following year the Seminary sent M. M. Bergier, Bouteville and S. Cos- me the younger. The latter was not a priest and went there to study the language of the country and to fit himself to come back later as a missionary fully acquainted with the customs of the savages and hardened to the fatigues [of missionary life]." 1 According to de la Source, Montigny and his men arrived at "Chicagou" on Maundy Thursday, and started back to the Tamarois on Easter Monday. De la Source found the Illinois country "perfectly charming:" "The finest country that we have seen is all from Chicagou to the Tama- rois. It is nothing but prairies and clumps of wood as far as you can see. I will mention also, that many Canadians marry among the Illinois." 2 While in the upper Illinois country, Montigny heard the news of the arrival of D' Iberville at the mouth of the Missis- sippi. He writes: "The fourth of May [1699] I left the Illinois [probably Peoria on the Illinois], the Rev. Father binneteau having joined us fifteen or twenty leagues further down and we traveled together as far as the tamarois. . . . May 14th we arrived among the tamarois where we found taschereau, op. cit., 2 Letters of de la Source, Shea, op. cit., p. 85. o 3 a t pq -X) §1 TAMAROIS— CAHOKIA i 45 monsieur de saint cosme 1 busy finishing his church; when it was finished we erected a cross with the greatest possible solemnity, all the savages were present; they manifested a great desire to be instructed and to become christians and brought their little children and asked that we should baptise them and give them a name. 112 Taschereau states that the second contingent "was ac- companied by three freres donnes, who should be their coadjutors, and two blacksmiths, supplied with the most necessary instruments and who should help the carpenters, brought by M. Montigny, to build chapels and houses. One of the blacksmiths, as also one of de Montigny's men, were associated with the Freres Charon of Montreal 3 . 11 Freres Donnes were men who in a way gave themselves to the Seminaire de Quebec, that is, they were in the employ of the Seminary without salary or wages. They worked for the Seminary as farmhands, or carpenters, or artisans in general, and for that they were considered part of the Sem- inary family. They were not bound by vows of any kind. The Seminary provided for them in a patriarchal way, and they were taken care of in old age as well as in the days when they could work. These Freres donnes might be married, in which case their families would receive the same consideration. The women workers were called Soeurs donnees. In case they wished to sever their connection with the institution, they were reimbursed for their services. 4 **n New France was an incipient colony at the time of Bishop Laval. It needed colonists to till the soil, carpenters, black- smiths, and men of all trades. To prepare intelligent farmers, he established an agricultural school at St. Joachim, about 25 miles northeast of Quebec; to supply the colony with skilled artisans of every kind, he brought instructors from France and established a trades-school. Young men who entered the Seminary to prepare for the priesthood and missionary life, and later showed lack of talent or changed 1 M. de St. Cosme was later stationed at Natchez and was killed by the Sitimakas or Chitimacka. 2 Quebec Seminary Archives, Lettre de M. de Montigny. 'Taschereau, op. cit. *The above explanation of "Freres donnes" was given me by Msgr. Amedee Gosselin, Rector of the Laval University. i 4 6 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS their minds, would enter the trades-school and be prepared to cope with the problems of life. Some of these became Freres donnes in the sense explained above. 1 M. Charon of Montreal instituted a community of Freres Hospitaliers, or Hospital Brothers, which, however, was short-lived, and never reached its full development. It was the intention of the founder that these brothers should go out with the missionaries, be their coadjutors in every way, as catechists to the Indians, as nurses, in short, as assistants in the most general manner that corresponded to the needs of a new colony and among savages. Brother Alexander, who accompanied M. Montigny and was left in charge of the baggage on the Chicago River, was a Frere Charon, or Hospitalier. The religious orders, of course, had the brothers of their own communities. In contradistinction to Freres donnes, who gave their services gratis, there were also the engages, or hired men, who received wages. 1 Gosselin, L" Instruction au Canada, p. 348. DIFFICULTIES ARISING FROM THE ESTABLISH- MENT OF THE MISSIOH AMOKG THE TAMA- ROIS— FURTHER MIGRATIONS OF THE KASKASKIAS Father Jacques Gravier, Jesuit missionary, is one of those outstanding, active, wiry men of the early days in the Illi- nois country, who helped mould the religious and civil life there in the second half of the 17th century. In 1685, at the age of 34, he came to Canada, and was sent to Michil- limackinac the following year. He spent ten years of trying missionary life among the Illinois in the mission of the Im- maculate Conception, begun by Father Marquette. To him the savages were his children; he studied their language and reduced it to grammatical form; he gathered the scat- tered Kaskaskias and Peorias near Fort St. Louis (Starved Rock) after the depredation of the Iroquois, and by dint of incredible labor and sacrifice tamed his savages into a fairly civilised community and moulded these forest children into a presentable flock. A saintly Indian woman, 1 daughter of a chief, was of great help to him in his difficult task. St- Cosme relates in 1698: "There are numbers of grown people who have abandoned their superstitions and live after the manner of good christians. . . . We saw Indian women married to Frenchmen, and they edified us by their modesty. . . . " 2 In 1696 Father Gravier became Superior at Michillimack- inac and Vicar-General of the Bishop for the Illinois country. Gravier's sincere interest and well merited influence among the Illinois, then, is well established. When the Seminary Fathers 3 Montigny, St -Cosme, and Davion reached Michillimackinac in September, 1698, 1 Aramepinchicue, daughter of the Kaskaskia chief Rouensa, had married Michael Ac- cault, a half'breed and one of the companions of Hennepin in 1680. See p. 87, ante. Aramepinchicue had married only at the express demand of her father. Because of her devout and virtuous life, she was held in highest esteem by pagans and Christians alike. See Shea, Catholic Church in Colonial Days, p. 537- 2 See p. 137, ante. 3 The Quebec Seminary Fathers were commonly known as Les Messieurs du Seminaire — the Gentlemen of the Seminary. H7 i 4 8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORELAKS on their way to the Tamarois, they were hospitably received by Father Gravier, but he probably had his honest misgiv- ings about the wisdom of dividing religious authority over the loosely connected Illinois tribes. It will be remembered that when the question of sending missionaries from the Seminary to the Mississippi Valley had arisen in the pre- vious year, Bishops Laval and St-Vallier had consulted Tonti concerning the tribes among whom they might best take up their labors without unduly interfering with the reli- gious interests of the Jesuit Fathers. Tonti, who knew the Illinois tribes better than any other man of his day, sug- gested the Tamarois. It would seem that after Montigny established the Tama- rois mission, Father Gravier and the Jesuit Fathers became more actively interested in the tribes lower down the Mis- sippi Valley, and thus we find Father Binneteau visiting them and Father Pinet performing the duties of a missionary among the Tamarois in 1700, while Father Bergier, a new arrival from the Seminary of Quebec, and in charge of the Holy Family Mission, but as yet rather unfamiliar with the language of the savages, ministered chiefly to the French who had settled there. There were at that time two chapels in or near Cahokia: Sainte-Famille — Holy Family, which was Father Bergier's mission, and Father Pinet's chapel, the site of which is not known. 1 This assignment, by Bishop Saint- Vallier, of the Tamarois mission to the Fathers of the Seminary of Quebec, was the occasion of a misunderstanding, chiefly on the part of Father Gravier. In 1690 Monseigneur St-Vallier had commissioned the Jesuit Fathers to preach the Gospel to various tribes, among them the Illinois. 2 Now, so argued Father Gravier, the Tamarois belong to the Illinois, and therefore the Tamarois should be under the jurisdiction of the Jesuit missionaries. Father Gravier feared that overlapping au- thority would divide and perhaps disperse his beloved x Father Bergier succeeded St. Cosme, who in turn took the place of Montigny with the Natchez. To judge from the early maps, it would seem that Father Pinet's chapel lay north of the Holy Family Mission. In 1702 Father Bergier said the funeral Mass for Father Pinet, who had died at the Jesuit mission on the des Peres. See Gilbert J. Garraghan, ?{ew Light on Old Caho\ia, in Illinois Catholic Historical Review, vol. XI., October, 1928. 2 Auguste Gosselin, UEglise du Canada, Mgr. de Saint' Vallier, p. 167. MIGRATIONS OF THE KASKASKIAS 149 flock, and that it would cause confusion and hamper the work among them. It was a legitimate question of juris- diction and was referred to the King for final decision. Taschereau writes: "The matter was submitted to the Bishops of Meaux and of Chartres, commissaries of the King. June 7, 1701, they gave their decision which was wholly in favor of the claims of the Seminary with regard to the Tamarois. 11 M. de Montigny would have preferred to surrender the Tamarois mission, writes Taschereau, "but it was the Bishop of Quebec [Saint' Vallier] who insisted, because he considered this decision an authentic confirma' tion of his authority." 1 A few self-evident obligations were placed upon the Seminary'priest missionaries, such as offering friendly hos' pitality to Jesuit missionaries who might pass their way. The division and dispersion of Father Gravier's beloved flock came nevertheless, but it came from quite another source than the one he had in mind. The year 1700 is one of greatest importance in the history of the Kaskaskia In' dians, the Kaskaskia mission and the history of Illinois. News of D 1 Iberville's establishment at the mouth of the Mississippi had reached the French and Indians on the upper Illinois. A serious misunderstanding had arisen between the Kaskaskia Indians and the neighboring tribes. The Kaskaskias, being rather peacefully inclined, were anxious to get away from their offending neighbors. Why not step into their canoes and go down the river to their "great chief?" Father Marest was at that time the only missionary among the Kaskaskias. His companion, Father Binneteau, had died December 24, 1699. This good Father had accompanied the tribe assigned to him on their wanderings across the vast plains of their hunting grounds. That was no easy task for a white man; it meant bearing the suffocating heat among the high weeds and parching thirst in dry prairies; he was scorched by the intense heat of the day and chilled 1 Taschereau, MS. Mission du Seminaire de Quebec chez les Tamarois, Quebec Seminary Archives. Quite another view is given in Rochemonteix, op. cit., III., p. 550 ff. See also Gilbert Garraghan, S. J., who in the Illinois Catholic Historical Review, I. c, gives a fairly detailed account of this controversy with a slight Jesuit feeling. i 5 o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS by the dews at night. The consequence was that the Father caught the fever and died a few months later. Father Binne- teau had made this report about Father Marest: "The father is too zealous; he works very hard all day long and at night he studies to perfect himself in the language ... his food consists of a little boiled grain and a small mess of beans and then he eats water melon to quench his thirst.' 11 What was Father Marest to do when his savage children prepared to move southward bag and baggage? The Kas- kaskias had the largest number of Christians and were the best disposed to Christianity. So Father Marest decided to go with them to their nW abode, leaving the Peorias and the Moiiingouenas without a missionary. These latter tribes, on their part, planned an offensive farewell for the Kaskaskias. At this critical moment the ubiquitous Gravier appeared on the scene. "I arrived too late," he writes to his Superior, "at the Illinois ... of whom Father Marest has charge, to prevent the transmigration of the village of the Kaskas- kias, which was too precipitately made on vague news of the establishment on the Mississippi. ... At all events I came soon enough to unite minds a little, and to prevent the insult which the Peoiiaroua and the Moiiingouena were bent on offering to the Kaskaskias and French as they em- barked." 2 Gravier feared that the departure of the friendly Kas- kaskias would jeopardise communication with the upper country, so necessary for the welfare of the colony and the mission. "God grant that the road from Chicagoua to the Strait (au Detroit) be not closed, and the whole Illi- nois mission suffer greatly." 3 Father Gravier was honestly interested in the welfare of his Kaskaskias and begged them not to undertake hastily the long and hazardous journey to the mouth of the Missis- sippi, but rather to wait, declaring he would go down "to assure himself of the truth of all that was said about it." ^ochemonteix, Les Jesuites et la 7<[ouvelle France au XVII. , Siecle, Tome III., p. 540. 2 Journal of Father Gravier, Shea, op. cit., p. 116, ff. Father Gravier left "Chicagoua," September 8, 1700. He must have arrived among the Kaskaskias a few days later, 3. Ibid, MIGRATIONS OF THE KASKASKIAS 151 But the transmigration had already begun, and the two Fathers went with the Indians. Father Gravier writes: "After having marched four days with the Kaskaskias, I went ahead with Father Marest, whom I left sick at the Tamarouha." 1 The influence of Father Gravier produced a halt in the southward migration of the Kaskaskias, first a temporary one, and, a few years later, one that was final. In the Seminary Archives of Quebec there is an original map of the Seigniory of the Mission of the Holy Family at Cahokia. On the Missouri side, on the north bank of the River des Peres, it shows the notation: Ancien Vil- lage des Kas\a\ias — Former Village of the Kaskaskias. The map was drawn in April, 1735, by Fathers J. P. Mercier and J. Courier, Seminary priests at that time stationed at the Mission of the Holy Family of Cahokia. Father Gravier states that he "marched four days with the Kaskaskias." It would seem, therefore, that while, no doubt, some of the Kaskaskias and French paddled their canoes, the bulk of the people went by land along the Illi- nois River and down the Mississippi, and thus came to the Mission of the Holy Family. There were already three tribes of savages, (the Tamarois, the Cahokias and the Mitchigamias) on the east bank of the Mississippi, and that may have been the reason why the Kaskaskias did not remain there, but selected a spot across the river, where the River des Peres flows into the Mississippi. 2 Details of this removal are recorded in Father Bergier's report of 1701 to Bishop St-Vallier of Quebec: "1. The Kats 3 to the extent of about thirty cabins, have established their new village two leagues below this Evidently with Father Pinet. 2 Gilbert Joseph Garraghan, S. J., gives a summary of the documentary evidence show* ing conclusively that the Kaskaskias were at one time located on the north bank of the River des Peres, near its confluence with the Mississippi, in Missouri Historical Society Collections, V. 3, June, 1928. The Jesuit Fathers had charge of this mission, hence the name Riviere des Peres — River of the Fathers. 3 Pronounced Kaws, that is, the Kaskaskias. The letter "s" is frequently silent in the French language. Thus Kaskaskias was pronounced Kaskakias. Kaskakias was corrupted into Kas, Au Tamarois means at Tamarois, au% Tamarois, among the Tamarois. Similarly, aux i 5 2 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS on the other side of the Mississippi. They have built a fort there, and nearly all the French have hastened thither. "2. The chief of the Tamarois, followed by some cabins, joined the Kats, attracted by Rouensa who promises them much, 1 and makes them believe him saying that he is called by the great chief of the French, Mr. d 1 Iberville, as Father Marest has told him. "3. The remainder of the Tamaroa, numbering about twenty cabins, are shortly going to join their chief, already settled at the Kats. So there will remain here only the Cahokia, numbering 60 or 70 cabins. They are cutting stakes to built a fort. 2 " Father Gravier had gone ahead of the Kaskaskias on their southward march. October 9, 1700, he left Tamarois for the south, and he relates that the Tamarois Indians had at that time ' 'taken up their winter quarters in a beautiful bay two leagues below the Tamarois village and that the Metchigamia are to come up sixty leagues from the south to winter and form only one village with them." It is highly probable that the Kaskaskias reached the winter quarters of the Tamarois and Metchigamias on that "beautiful bay," two leagues south of the village of the Tamarois, some time in October, 1700. The Cahokias had taken up their winter quarters four leagues above 3 the village of the Tamarois. To add 1200 Kaskaskias to the two thousand and more Tamarois and Metchigamia already in those winter quar- ters may not have seemed practicable to the chiefs, in view of the fact that their people lived from the chase. Almost directly across from the winter quarters on the bay referred to, Kas (Kaskaskias) means among the Kaskaskia Indians. Thus Father Meurin heads a letter dated March 23, 1767, as follows: "From the priesthouse (presbitere) of the Immaculate Conception aux Kas Colonie anglaise". The river on whose banks the Kaskaskia Indians located took its name from the tribe and is therefore known as Kaskaskia or Okaw (aux Kas) River. x This migration of the Tamarois to the village of the Kaskaskias on the des Peres River probably occasioned the change of name of the French village on the east side from Tamarois to Caho\ia. 2 See Lawrence Kenny, S. J., Missouri's Earliest Settlement and Its T^ame, in St. Louis Catholic Historical Review, I., April, 1919, pp. 15M56. 3 Near the present Venice or Madison, Illinois, MIGRATIONS OF THE KASKASKIAS 153 a small river entered the Mississippi. Rouensa, the chief of the Kaskaskias, led his people across the Mississippi and located them on the north bank of that little river at its junction with the Father of Waters. It would seem that, while Father Gravier strongly opposed the southward migration of the Kaskaskias from the Illinois River, Father Marest encouraged Rouensa. The decision of the King's commissaries with regard to the mission among the Tamarois was duly forwarded to Father Marest by Lamberville, the Paris Procurator of the Jesuit Missions of Canada. July 5, 1702, Marest wrote to Lamberville: "Father Pinet . . . has left the station at the Tamarouis ... in accord- ance with your directions to me. But he has only half quitted it, for he has left a man in our house there who takes care of it; and thus we occasionally go thither from this place to show we are obedient to the King pending the receipt of his or' ders. . . . That Father now has charge of the Cascaskias." 1 How long the Kaskaskias remained there and why they ultimately left is not known. An entry in the old Baptismal Record of Kaskaskia reads: "1703, April 25. Ad ripam Metchagamia dictam venimus — April 25, 1703, we arrived on the banks of the river called the Metchagamia." 2 Father Marest has left an interesting description of south- ern Illinois as he saw it: "The country itself", he writes, "with its great rivers, dense forests, extensive prairies and wood-covered hills is delightful. There is abundance of game: oxen, hinds, stags and other wild beasts. We find here multitudes of swans, cranes, bustards and ducks. The wild oats, which grow freely on the plains, fatten the fowl to such a degree that they very often die, their fat suffocating them. Jesuit Relations, LVI., p. 37- 2 According to Shea, the Illinois nation was composed of the Peorias, Tamarois, Caho' kias, Kaskaskias, Moingonas, and an adopted tribe, the Metchigameas, who lived lower down the Mississippi in Marquette's time. Later they lived on the banks of what is now known as the Kaskaskia River. In 1703 it was known as the Metchagamia River. From the new tribe that settled on its banks this river soon became known as the River of the Kaskaskias. It must be noted that the spelling of Indian names was not fixed at that time; in fact, orthography in general was not standardised, 154 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Turkeys are likewise found here in abundance, and they are as good as in France." 1 Father Marest spent twenty years of his life in the missions among the Indians. He died at Kaskaskia, September 15, 1714, after a life of adventure and hardship. The life of a missionary, even though it did not end in tor- ture and martyrdom, was truly a hard life, a life of endless sacrifices. The total lack of congenial association, the con- dition of being condemmed to associate almost exclusively with savages, the isolation, the loneliness, give some idea of his hardships. This missionary has also left a description of the Kaskaskia Indians before his labor of evangelisation and civilization was completed. One can readily understand that with all his supernatural love for the savage, his very soul must at times have rebelled against the task. "They are", writes Marest, "indo- lent, traitorous, fickle, inconstant, deceitful and naturally thievish and brutal; without honor; taciturn; capable of doing everything when you are liberal with them, but at the same time thankless and ungrateful. . . Gluttony and love of pleasure are, above all, the vices most dominant among them. They are habituated to the most indecent acts before they are old enough to know the shame connected with them. If you add to this their wandering life in the forests in pursuit of wild beasts, you will easily admit that reason must be greatly brutalized in these people and that they are very much adverse to the yoke of the Gospel." 2 The hard work fell to the lot of the women. Father Mar- est adds: "The women thus occupied and humbled by work are thereby more disposed to accept the truths of the Gospel." The missionary was often in danger of having his head split open because of his opposition to the superstitious, indecent, and idolatrous practices instilled into the natives by the medicine men. The latter were finally expelled from the settlement, whereupon the conduct of the savages became more religious and edifying. Jesuit Relations, 66, p. 225. 2 Gabriel Marest to P. Germain, Rochemonteix, op. cit., III., p. 530. See also Abb6 Napoleon Morisette, J<[os premiers Missionaires, pp. 1041. MIGRATIONS OF THE KASKASKIAS 155 A certain Penicaut, an enlisted soldier on board his Maj- esty's ship Marin, wrote an interesting account of Kas- kaskia in his book entitled The first twenty-two years of the Establishment of the French in Louisiana. This Penicaut, together with a sergeant and eleven soldiers, had been sent in 1711 by Bienville and d'Artaguiette to the mission of Father Marest (Kaskaskia) to punish some Canadians, who, under pretext of trading, openly committed most atrocious crimes. This incident is a case in point of another cross, and perhaps the heaviest, of the poor missionary. The French trader followed the Indian. The value of the Indian, from the stand- point of trading, increased in the same proportion that the Indian laid aside his nomadic habits and became sedentary. The Indian became sedentary through the efforts of the missionary. The legitimate French trader settled in the mission. Besides the legitimate trader there was the bootleg trader of the forests. The unchristian lives of most of the forest traders were a scandal to the Indian and ruined the fruit of the missionary's labors. It was probably traders of this kind that Penicaut was sent to punish. He spent four months at the Mission of the Immaculate Conception or Kaskaskia and gives his impressions in Chapter XIII of his Annals. "The Kaskaskias Illinois [Indians]' 1 , he writes, "are very industrious and quite skillful in tilling the soil; they work with a plow, something I have not noticed anywhere else. . . . The Jesuit Fathers have taught them how. . . . Near their village there are three mills to grind the grain, to wit: one wind mill, which belongs to the Jesuits, which is chiefly patronised by the habitants [French settlers]; and two tread mills, which are the property of the Illinois [Kaskaskias] Indians. . . . The Illinois [Kaskaskias] Indians greatly delight in good eating and they often feast one another; their best dish is the meat of the dog or small wolf, which they raise in their village. Most of the Illinois [Kaskaskias] are Catholics. There is a good-si^ed church with baptismal font in their village. This church has a very neat interior; there are three chapels, the large choir chapel and two on the sides. There is also a belfry and a bell; they attend High Mass and Vespers quite regularly. . . The men and women are modestly clothed when they come to church; they cover the body with a large 156 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS skin, or they are dressed in a robe made of several skins sewed together ". But outside the church "the men cover only the loins. . .the women also cover the bosom with a skin — deer- skin". 1 "The Illinois [Kaskaskias]," writes Father Marest, "are much less barbarous than other Savages; Christianity and intercourse with the French have by degrees civilised them. This is to be noticed in our Village, of which nearly all the inhabitants are Christians; it is also this which has brought many Frenchmen to settle here, and very recently we married three of them to Illinois women. These Savages do not lack in- telligence; they are naturally inquisitive, and turn a joke in a fairly ingenious manner. Hunting and war form the whole occupation of the men; the rest of the work belongs to the women and the girls, — it is they who prepare the ground which must be sowed, who do the cooking, who pound the corn, who set up the cabins, and who carry them on their shoulders in the journeys. These cabins are composed of mats made of flat rushes, which they have the skill of sewing to- gether in such a way that the rain cannot penetrate them when they are new. In addition to this, they are busied in working up the hair of the oxen [Buffalo] and in making it into leggings, girdles, and bags; for the oxen here are very different from those of Europe; besides having a great hump upon the back, near the shoulders, they are also wholly covered with a very fine wool, which takes the place of that which our Savages would obtain from sheep, if there were any in the Country." 2 The civilising and christianising of the Indian was not an easy task. Indians were in many respects just grown up children, and, like children, had to be kept busy to be kept out of mischief. Agriculturally speaking, the Indian had no value as long as he was a nomad and wandered about without fixed abode and definite occupation. For his religious life, too, it was necessary to change the Indian from a nomad to a sedentary. One of the chief means was to keep delation de Penicaut in P. Margry, Memoires et Documents, V., pp. 448'493. 2 Jesuit Relations, 66, p. 231. MIGRATIONS OF THE KASKASKIAS 157 him occupied. The transformation wrought in the savages by the labors of the missionary was truly marvelous. At one time, probably in a moment of discouragement, Father Marest seems to have felt somewhat like Mark Twain did, many years later, when he wrote those cynical lines, saying, it was only once in a while that he met a person who reconciled him to mankind in general. At that time Father Marest had written: "The conversions that are made can be attributed neither to the reasoning of the missionary, nor to his eloquence, nor to other talents that may be of service to him in other countries; one can give glory only to Him who has power to raise up children of Abraham out of stones.' 11 "To return to our Illinois [Kaskaskias]," writes Father Marest, Nov. 9, 1712, "they are very different. . . from what they were formerly. Christianity, as I have already said, has softened their fierce habits, and they are now dis- tinguished for certain gentle and polite manners that have led the Frenchmen to take their daughters in marriage. More- over, we find in them docility and ardor in the practice of Christian virtues. This is the order that we observe each day in this Mission. Very early in the morning the Cate- chumens 2 are called to the Church, where they offer up prayers; they listen to an instruction and sing a few Hymns. When they have withdrawn, Mass is said, at which all the Chris- tians are present, — the men being placed on one side and the women on the other. We also say our prayers, which are followed by an instruction, after which each one goes to his work; then we are busy with visiting the sick, giving them the necessary remedies, instructing them, and consoling those who have any cause for sorrow. "In the afternoon we have Catechism, when every one is present — Christians and Catechumens, adults and children, young people and old people; and when each one, without distinction of rank or of age, answers the questions that the Missionary asks him. As these people have no books and as they are naturally indolent, they would very soon have for- gotten the principles of Religion, if they had not been reminded of them by almost continual instructions. Visiting the cabins fills up the remainder of our day. 1 Rochemonteix, op. cu., III., p. 533. 2 Catechumen, that is, a person receiving religious instructions, but not yet baptized. i 5 8 FROM QUEBEC TO K[EW ORLEANS "In the evening, all the people meet again at the Church, that they may hear instructions, offer prayers, and sing a few Hymns. On Sundays and on Feast-days, to the ordinary exercises is added an instruction which is given after Vespers. The fervor with which these good Neophytes repair to the Church at ail these hours is admirable; they stop their work, and run in haste from a great distance, in order to be present at the appointed time. They generally end the day with private meetings, which they hold in their own houses, — the men apart from the women; and there they recite the Rosary in two choirs, and far on into the night they sing Hymns. These Hymns are actual instructions, which they retain more easily because the words are set to airs which they know, and which are pleasing to them. "They often approach the Sacraments, and the custom among them is to confess and communicate every fortnight. We have been obliged to appoint the days on which they are allowed to confess, otherwise they would leave us no leisure to attend to our other duties. On Saturday and Sunday of each week, we hear them; and on those days we are over- whelmed with a crowd of Penitents. The care that we take of the sick wins for us their entire confidence. It is especially in these moments that we gather the fruit of our labors; their docility is then perfect and we have not unfrequently the satisfaction of seeing them die in great peace, and in a lively hope of being very soon united to God in Heaven." 1 "The Jesuit Fathers have translated psalms and hymns from Latin into their language. At Mass and Vespers they alternate in singing with the French in this manner: The Illinois [Kaskaskias] sing one verse of a psalm or hymn in their own language and then the French sing the next verse in Latin according to the melody used in Europe. As to marriages. . . the banns are announced on three con- secutive Sundays or Feast Days and the marriage is solem- nised at Mass as is done in France." 2 Even the first Kaskaskia on the Illinois River had become quite a center of French life, but the Kaskaskia, planted on the triangular tongue of land between the Mississippi and ijesuit Relations, 66, p. 241. 2 Penicaut, quoted by Rochemonteix, op. cit., III., p. 544. MIGRATIONS OF THE KASKASKIAS 159 Kaskaskia Rivers 1 , very quickly developed into the most flourishing colony between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico. The Fathers taught the men how to till the soil and devel- oped them into farmers as far, of course, as this was possible, considering the nomadic impulse of the savage. The women learned to sew and spin, and how to make cloth from the wool of the buffalo, etc. The French traders naturally followed the Indian. If the Indian lived in a village, the trader went to see him there; if he roamed in the forest, the trader followed him. If the Indian lived in a mission like Kas- kaskia, that was rapidly developing into an orderly and civilised community, the trader settled down in the same mission. Other French came along, cleared the land, and began to work their little farms. Until the coming of Boisbriand and the erection of the first Fort de Chartres, that is, from 1700 to 1720, the religious and moral influence of Father Marest and his companions, all picked men of high intellectual and moral type, was the only government for French and Indian alike. In this sense, and in this sense only, was the mission of Kaskaskia a little Paraguay. 2 *l Jnfortunately this interesting old Kaskaskia village is no more. In the course of time the channel of the Mississippi moved eastward towards the bed of the Kaskaskia. In April, 1881, when the strip of land between the two rivers measured barely 400 feet and the spring flood had reached its crest, high northwest winds drove the water across this narrow tongue of land into the Kaskaskia, whose waters were about eight feet lower than the waters of the Mississippi. During the night of the 18th of April, 1881, the ground crumbled and a millrace'like stream connected the two rivers. Two days later this little stream had become a resistless river. The east bank of the Kaskaskia is a solid stratum of rock, and so all the carving out of the new Mississippi bed was done in the loose ground on the village side. The old Kaskaskia bed is now the Mississippi, the former Kaskaskia triangle has become an island, and part of Illinois is west of the Mississippi. See J. H. Burnham, The Destruction of Kas\as\ia y in Transactions of the State Historical Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society, 1914, pp. 95412. 2 The Reductions of Paraguay and other reductions were villages in which the natives were gathered and taught by missionaries to live in organized communities, under Christian laws, to the exclusion of all whites. See 352, n. 3, post. LOUISIANA A STRUGGLING COLOHT—CROZATS EXPERIMENT French Canadian explorers, traders, and missionaries had laboriously threaded their way up the St. Lawrence, along the Great Lakes and down the waterways of the Mississippi Valley. Wherever the missionary stabilitated the savages, there the merchant established his trade. Definite settle- ments of whites developed along the waterways, for the Indian set up his tepee chiefly along the only highways of his day — the lakes and rivers, large and small. The trader and the missionary — sometimes it was the missionary and the trader, — followed the Indian. Agriculture was under- taken in a limited way. It found its most successful and, even flourishing, development in the new Kaskaskia colony on the banks of the Kaskaskia River, where the Jesuit Fathers put forth their best efforts to make farmers and stockmen of the savages. From the south, from D' Iberville's colony, Louisiana, fearless explorers reached out westward and northward and were soon in contact with the French Canadian and Indian colony on the Kaskaskia, thus completing that im- portant line of communication between the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Kaskaskia was a paradise as compared with the poverty of Louisiana, where famine and fever were the normal con- dition. It was difficult for the colonists, most of whom had been lured over by glittering misrepresentations, to adjust themselves to the hard conditions of an incipient colony. Bienville reports: "The males in the colony begin, through habit, to be reconciled to corn as an article of nourishment; but the women, who are mostly Parisians, have for this kind of food a dogged aversion, which has not yet been sub- dued." 1 In fact, the women threatened to leave the colony without much thought as to how this might be done. This threatening declaration is known as the "Petticoat Rebel- lion". ^ayarre. op. cit. p. 93. 160 pm§ pj W JOHN LAW Founder of the Mississippi Company HARD BEGIKK&HGS OF LOUISIANA 161 • In 1708 the colony numbered 279 persons, and the prin- cipal wealth consisted in 50 cows, 40 calves, 4 bulls, 8 oxen, 1400 hogs, and 2000 hens. 1 Deiler writes: "The truth is that the first colonists did not want to work. . . they expected to find gold, silver, and pearls as the Spaniards had done in Mexico. . . Since the expected mineral treasures of the gulf coast, however, have not been discovered even to-day, — since the Spaniards, who claimed the whole northern gulf for themselves, were unwill- ing to trade with the French, — since the trade with the In- dians and with the Canadian hunters was too insignificant, — since France, whose treasury had been emptied by Louis XIV, could not do much for the colony — and, to make the worst come to the worst, since yellow fever was introduced from San Domingo in 1701 and again in 1704, the little colony of Louisiana was for many years in a precarious condition and at times on the verge of ruin". 2 Pontchar train, the Prime Minister, thought of turning the colony over to an individual or a company. Men who had not forgotten the experience of the past remarked to Pont- chartrain that colonisation companies had been failures, at least in New France, that, in fact, that colony had begun to grow and prosper the day the companies retired from the field. The home government even considered exchanging Louisiana for the Spanish part of San Domingo. At any rate, Pontchartrain felt that the least onerous solution would be to turn the colony over to some individual or company for development, at least for a number of years. Antoine Crosat was the government's choice. Crosat was financially interested in a number of colonial and maritime undertakings, such as the Company of Guinea, the Spanish company for importation of slaves, known as the Compagnie de TAssiente, or the Assiento Company,etc. La Mothe-Cadillac, 3 a native of Languedoc, Commandant of Michillimakinac in 1694, and founder of the post at Detroit in 1704, who had now been appointed Governor of Louisi- ^ayarre, op. cit., p. 108. 2 Hanno Deiler, The German Coast of Louisiana, pp.10'11. 3 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac came from France to Port Royal in 1683; June 25, 1687, married Therese Guyon, at Quebec, by whom he had thirteen children; 16944697 Com- mandant at Michillimackinac; established a post at Detroit in the summer of I704,which soon developed into a prosperous village; in 1712 appointed Governor of Louisiana, where i6z FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS ana, so vividly pictured to Crosat the immense wealth of Louisiana, the gold and silver mines, the fine pearls to be found there (though he had never been in Louisiana), the splendid opportunities for trade with the Spanish colonies, that the latter decided to risk 700,000 livres in the venture 1 September 14, 1712, letters patent (royal charter) were issued granting Crosat a fifteen year monopoly of trade with exemption from all import and export duties. About the only obligation on his part was this: to send to Louisiana each year two ships and twenty-five young men or girls at his choice. He had the privilege of sending one ship a year to Africa for Negroes. La Mothe-Cadillac, the Governor, and Duclos, accountant for the government, received truly ideal instructions from Pontchar train and sailed for Louisiana. Cadillac was to "govern without passion, with justice and mildness, impar- tially. . . like a good father 1 '. Duclos was to conduct himself with "wisdom, prudence, and integrity' 1 . Cadillac and Duclos arrived in July, 1713, and found the colony in a miserable condition. At Dauphine Island there were only 16 inhabitants; at Mobile a medley of houses with 19 families. The two companies of soldiers numbered only 67 men, ten of whom were ill; they lived on whatever game they could capture or kill in the woods. The settlers were in no mood for work; in fact, they thought only of selling out and leaving the colony. A difficult problem to solve at best, but impossible of solution when dissension between Cadillac and Duclos disrupted the administration. The gold and silver mines Cadillac had pictured to Cro- Sat were not found, and Croat's hopes of profit were van- ishing. He attempted to establish trade with Vera Crus, but Spain held to its treaty 2 with England, dated July 13, 1713, he arrived in 1713 and remained five years .At Michillimackinac and Detroit he had quarrels with the Jesuits, chiefly because of their opposition to the brandy trade with the Indians. Vaudreuil and Raudot, Governor and Intendant, respectively, of Canada, accused him of "looking out for himself first," of "looking to his own advantage in every thing," of being "more interested in making money for himself than in the good of the establishment," and finally of "being equally hated by the troops, by the inhabitants, and by the savages." — Heinrich, op. cit., LX. See also Thwaites, op. cxt., LXV. note 36. 1 This presentation is largely drawn from Pierre Heinrich, La Louisiane sous la Compag' nit des Indes. 2 Text of article 8 of this treaty quoted in Heinrich, op. cit., LXIII. note 7- HARD BEG1HHIHGS OF LOUISIANA 163 according to which the Spanish colonies in America were to give no privileges of navigation or traffic to the French under any pretext whatsoever. La Jonchere, the ship sent to Vera Cruz;, was ordered to leave that port. Then Crosat hoped to carry on trade with the inhabitants along the rivers west of the Mississippi. Juchereau de Saint'Denys^a relative x As typical of the higher type of French trader and explorer of those early days, the fol' lowing details are interesting. Louis Juchereau de Saint -Denys was born at Quebec, September 17, 1676. In 16994700 he accompanied Dlberville to Louisiana. The freedom of a great and unexplored country seemed to appeal to him; he went up and down the lower Mississippi, explored the ter* ritory on both shores, and by his honest dealings made friends with the savages, whose Ian' guages he learnt without much difficulty. Cadillac gave him 10,000 livres' worth of mer' chandise and sent him off to the western tribes. Saint'Denys established a post with the Natchitoches, forty leagues up the Red River.* That was in the summer of 1714. Accom' panied by twelve Frenchmen and some savages he proceeded farther west to the Cenis Indians and then on to the Spanish post San Juan Bautisto. Captain Don Remon Sanche de Navarro was in command there and immediately informed the Viceroy of Mexico of the arrival of this adventurous Frenchman. In the meantime Saint'Denys had fallen in love with Dona Emmanuele, the daughter of Don Remon Sanche. At the request of the Viceroy he was sent to Mexico and jailed. After three months the Viceroy offered to set him free if he consented to enter the service of the King of Spain. Saint'Denys replied he had taken the oath of fealty to the King of France and would not quit his service except with his life. The Viceroy further offered him a company of cavalry, saying, if he accepted, Don Remon would gladly give his daughter to a Spanish cavalry officer. Saint'Denys was set free and accompa' nied nine missionaries to several Indian tribes. That was in October, 1715. Having delivered the missionaries to their respective tribes, Saint'Denys returned to San Juan Bautisto, where he was the honored guest of Don Remon. While there he had occasion to settle singlchandedly a serious quarrel between the savages and the Spaniards, which made him a coveted husband and a desirable son'in'law. Accordingly, the marriage between Louis Juchereau de Saint'Denys and Dona Emanuele Sanche de Navarro was duly solemnized in the church of the Franciscan Fathers of the post San Juan Bautisto. He gave his wife a beautiful diamond which he had brought from France. The wedding'feast lasted three days, and the Spanish soldiers of the post gave repeated expressions of joy by frequent volleys of musketry. By August 25, 1716, Saint'Denys was back in Mobile to give an account of his journeys to La Mothe'Cadillac after an absence of three years. Shortly after his return he formed a partnership with two other Frenchmen, purchased 43,000 livres' worth of merchandise and started off on another tour of barter. Difficulties that arose again led him to Mexico. In 1722 he was appointed Governor of the fort of Natchitoches. It was then that he brought his wife and children to this post. Despite the love of adventure which characterized his younger days, he heartily disliked life in Louisiana. April 3, 1741, he wrote to a niece in Canada: "I do not advise any of my relatives to come here, for I can assure you it is a wretched country; happy he who can leave it, happier he who is out of it, and infinitely happier he who never came here; and despite my age, I wish with all my heart I were away from here." He died at Natchitoches, June 11, 1744, and was buried in the parish church of St. Francis. LePage du Pratz says of him that he had deserved to be Governor of the colony of Louisiana. Drawn from Pierre'Georges Roy, La FamiUe Juchereau Duchesnay, pp. 150462. i6 4 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS of the one who established a tannery in the Valley of the Ohio) 1 was fitted out with 10,000 livres 12 worth of mer- chandise and sent up the Mississippi, and then along the Red River. From there he worked his way over to the Rio Grande, then known as Rio del Norte, to the Spanish pre- sidio, San Juan Bautisto, where he was taken prisoner and sent to Mexico. Put on their guard by this attempt of the French to invade their domains, the Spanish forbade them all access to their territory. The hopes of finding rich mines and other wealth in Louisi- ana were blasted, and Crosat was forced to devise other means of retrieving his fortune. He now planned to raise tobacco and indigo and to carry on a more extensive fur trade with the Indians, but for that he had need of the Mississippi from the Wabash (Ohio) to the Gulf. What he needed first of all was soldiers and colonists. Crosat proposed to the govern- ment to operate a lottery and thus raise the funds required to send 400 to 500 emigrants to Louisiana each year. The government was vitally interested in the colonisation of Louisiana, because a strong colony there would form a bar- rier against the English, who were trying to wedge in from the east, the Carolinas, and therefore granted him four com- panies of soldiers of 50 men each. The government, how- ever, did not agree to the lottery, and so Crosat was compelled to carry the cost of expansion on his own account. In 1713 Crosat decided to establish two new posts — one at Natchez, and the other on the Wabash (Ohio). In 1710 Vaudreuil had assured Pontchartrain there were rich copper mines in the Valley of the Wabash. Then there was the prospect of utilising those fertile lands, the anticipation of a rich peltry trade with the natives, and, above all, the means of keeping intact the line of communication between Louis- iana and Canada. Cadillac did not consider the establishing of these distant colonies feasible, and gave the project no support. In the meantime, the English of South Carolina were driving a wedge into what the French considered their ter- ritory. English traders had advanced as far as the habitats 1 Scc p. 118, n. 1, ante. 2 The livre was equivalent to 19c, though at that time all money had a far higher purchasing value than it has today. HARD BEGIHHIKGS OF LOUISIANA 165 of the Natchez and the Illinois tribes; they had set up one tribe against the other to procure slaves; they had established trading posts with the Chickasaws, and had even penetrated to the Choctaws, who were considered the faithful allies of the French. When Cadillac requested the English to with- draw from this territory, because it was French, they laughed with contempt at the 40 or 50 half-starved French soldiers who might have attempted to give military backing to the summons. Just when an attempt was to be made to go to the Illinois country to investigate the richness of certain reputed silver mines, matters became very serious in the lower colony. An English officer was detected among the Natchez;, endeavoring to incite those tribes against the French colony. Three other officers at the head of armies of Indians arrived in the Choctaw territory, prepared to destroy all the Indian villages that in- sisted on remaining loyal to the French. Reports came in from the Illinois country that the English had distributed presents to those savages that they might "break the heads of the French at Mobile 1 '. 1 From the Great Lakes to the Gulf the British endeavored to undermine the influence of the French and menaced their positions. At this critical moment two things happened, both of them fortunate for the French. The first was that Cadillac, whose haughty bearing had estranged the natives, was absent, and that Bienville, with his usual happy gift of dealing with the Indians, had regained their confidence and loyalty. The other was the rebellion, April 15th, 1715, of the natives against the harsh treatment by the Carolinians. 2 Their tradesmen among the various tribes were massacred with Indian brutality. In August, 1715, two companies of reenforcements arrived in Louisiana with orders to erect five posts. In addition to Dauphine Island and Mobile, already existing, three more were to be established — on the Alabama, among the Natchez, and on the Ohio, thus blocking the principal approaches of the *As early as 1699, Montigny reported that the English supplied the Chickasaws with firearms and that an Englishman had suggested to them to kill Antoine Davion, the Seminary priest missionary. Montigny Letter, August 25, 1699, Quebec Seminary Archives. 2 Mac Crady, History of South Carolina under the Proprietary Government, pp. 786787- 166 FROM QUEBEC TO X[EW ORLEANS English. Cadillac had no faith in these distant settlements, but did not inhibit his lieutenants, Bienville, Richebourg, and Mandeville, from establishing the posts. August 3, 1716, the little fort at Natchez;, which Bienville named Fort Rosalie, in honor of Madame Pontchartrain, was completed. It is truly amazing what this clever man accomplished where nearly everyone else would have failed. Besides building Fort Rosalie, Bienville had also sent a small detachment of soldiers to Natchitoches, across the Mississippi, to block the Spaniards. But the colony progressed very slowly, if at all. The material condition was bad, and the morale was worse. As Gayarre tersely expresses it: "The minds of men are not apt to grow conciliating under the double infliction of disappointment and famine." 1 Cadillac and Duclos seldom agreed on anything, except on crossing the plans of Cro2;at, who finally tired of their bickerings and asked that both be recalled. His request was granted March, 1716. The Conseil de Marine, which had succeeded Pontchar- train, considered it necessary "not only to maintain Loui- siana, but to back it as much and as promptly as possible. " It was not the mines and the products of Louisiana that prompted the Conseil de Marine. The Count de Poulouse and the Marechal d'Estrees, the heads of the Conseil, clearly saw that this struggling colony was really an advance guard, an outpost against the English. Since the loss of New- foundland and Acadia (by the Treaty of Utrecht), they con- sidered Louisiana the only barrier to prevent the English from driving the French from the American Continent, and from pressing forward to New Mexico. Vaudreuil, Gov- ernor of Canada, received orders about this time to maintain stubbornly (avec fermete) the possession of the countries that had always belonged to France, until such time as the exact boundaries would have been agreed upon. 2 The conflicting interests and aims of French and English are very clear even at this period. The French are determined to maintain what they consider their territory, keep the Eng- lish east of the Alleghenies and hold the line of communica- 1 Gayarre, op. cit., p. 109. 2 See p. 125, ante. HARD BEGIHHIHGS OF LOUISIANA 167 tion between Louisiana and Canada open. 1 The English, wedged in between the Atlantic and the Alleghenies, are equally determined to break through this barrier and move westward to the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. *"It is absolutely necessary to have free communication between Canada and Louisiana", or some sentence like it, is the eveivrecurring refrain of hundreds of documents down to the Conquest. DEATH OF LOUIS XIV— THE DUKE OF ORLEANS REGEH? OF FRANCE In the Cour du Mai in Paris, there is an imposing monu- ment, erected to Malesherbes, the attorney, who was guil- lotined for having committed the crime of defending Louis XVI before the tribunal of the Revolution. Only a few paces from this monument there is what is called the Premiere Chambre. One day, away back in 1661, Louis XIV, then twenty-three years old, "booted and spurred, strode unexpectedly in while Parlement 1 was discussing some of his edicts, ordered that in future his decrees should become law without discussion; and, declar- ing, fc I am the State— VEtat cest moi,' went out." 2 Two extremes of abuse of power! Louis XIV 3 had been tutored by Masarin, who was the master of France during the King's minority, and it was said that Masarin was "as powerful as God the Father when the world began." 4 During the whole of Louis 1 long career, which ended in 1715, his policy was that of personal government. The nobles had been powerful factors when they lived on their estates. Louis brought them to Versailles, and they became mere ornaments of the Court. The parlements were trained to submission. The King held the whole power of govern- ment in his hands, and was represented in the provinces by Intendants. However, Louis gathered at his Court the ablest men of the realm, whom he consulted. For a long time Louis XIV was the arbiter of Europe, and Voltaire calls the seventeenth century the "Age of Louis XIV." "He did much to develop French colonial power; but before the end of the reign, that power was to enter upon its period of decadence. . . . No doubt the King was forced into some of his wars . . . but his lust of fame, the 1 In France, before the revolution, parliaments (parlements) were not legislative . bodies, but certain high courts of justice. 2 Clara E. Laughlin, in So You're Going To Paris, p. 140. 3 Louis XIV was born September 16, 1638, and died at Versailles, September 1, 1715. 4 Georges Goyau, in Catholic Encyclopedia, X., p. 93. 168 DEATH OF LOUIS XIV 169 flattery of his courtiers, and his desire to humiliate Europe led him to prefer the glories of warfare to the wiser and more durable triumphs which a great maritime development would have secured for France/ 11 The last years of Louis XIV were years of bitter regret. "He was old and sad/ 1 says Guisot, "and the state of his kingdom preyed on his mind. 11 He realised the bankrupt condition of his country, and he felt keenly the hatred of his people who once had idolized him. His son and grand' son had preceded him in death. On August 26, 1715, he bade farewell to his Ministers, and then sent for the Dauphin, his great-grandson, heir to the throne, who was only five years of age. The child came to the bedside of the King, who said to him: "My child, soon you will be the ruler of a great kingdom. Render to God that which you owe to Him; recognise the obligations you have towards Him; cause Him to be honored by your subjects. Try to preserve peace with your neighbors; I have been too fond of war; do not imitate me in that, any more than in the too great expenditures I have incurred. . . . Try to relieve your people, which I have unfortunately not been able to do. 11 Louis made public apology for his sins and for the wrong he had done his subjects. "Gentlemen, 11 he said to those who surrounded his deathbed, "I ask your pardon for the bad example I have set you. 11 Repeating aloud the prayers of the attending priest, Louis died, September 1, 1715. "In spite of his faults and numerous culpable errors, Louis XIV had lived and died like a King. 112 Louis XIV had provided in his will that a council, headed by the Duke of Maine, should rule for the boy'king until he attained his majority. Philip, Duke of Orleans, forthwith set aside the will of the late King and captured the regency. The European background of American history is in full view again. Croat's tenure was coming to a close. The days of Richelieu, Colbert, and Louis XIV, who, after all, had a sincere interest in the welfare and progress of the colonies, Georges Goyau, in Catholic Encyclopedia, LX., p. 372. 2 M. Guisot, History of France, V., pp. 125-129. iyo FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS were past. The young King, Louis XV, was only six years of age, and his uncle, the Duke of Orleans, was Regent. As everyone knows, the regency inaugurated the reign of debauchery and profligacy that disgraced France until the death of Louis XV. The Regent's administration needed money, and obtained it by a system of exorbitant property taxation. A levy of tax bordering on confiscation was as- sessed against Cro2;at — the mere pittance of 6,600,000 livres. 1 The Louisiana venture had cost him 1,250,000 livres, and Crosat was ready to quit. He remitted the colony to the crown, wiser by many an experience. The Regent was gifted by nature, but, according to the testimony of his own mother, made no use of his talents. Wine and women were the ruin of Philippe of Orleans, who might otherwise have been a great man. Around the Duke of Orleans gathered a group of free- thinkers and freeiivers, profligates, the cream of the roues, and all that class which refuses to be bound by the laws, not only of Christianity, but even of decency. The last two wars of Louis XIV had cost great sums of money; the State treasury jogged along on an annual deficit of 78 millions, while the anticipation warrants for a period of two years in advance had already been expended. The first problem that faced the Regent was how to improve the finances of the country. Saint Simon advised making a clean slate by declaring the bankruptcy of the kingdom, and thus wiping out all debt. The means adopted by the Regent failed to remedy the financial chaos, in fact, rather helped make it worse. Gold and silver were given fictitious values. The louis d'or, actually worth 14 francs, was stamped forty. One is reminded of the methods of the unjust steward in the Gospel: "How much dost thou owe my Lord? But he said: an hundred barrels of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty." 3 At this critical moment John Law, a smooth-tongued Scotchman, appeared on the scene. Law offered a scheme that would quickly wipe out the national debt and, more than that, make France the richest country in the world. 1 Weiss, Weltgeschichte, XI., p. 69. 2 Luke, 16, 6. JOHH LAW— THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE John Law, the son of a Scotch goldsmith and banker, was born at Edinburgh in April, 1671. While he had a certain predilection for mathematics, commerce, and finance, and had studied these branches at Edinburgh, still it was rather his flashy, dapper dress and affected manners than profound scholarship that attracted the attention of the public. At the age of twenty the provincial swain went to London to see life — and he saw it and lived it. His father had died when John Law was a boy of fourteen or fifteen. An over- indulgent mother shielded and condoned the excesses of a talented but reckless son. "Law," writes Gayarre, "was a votary of pleasure as well as of study, and whenever he emerged from his closet, it was to attend the gambling-table, the racing ground, and to indulge in convivial and amorous exploits. . . . His love for deep play and his gallantries soon rid him of his patrimonial lands of Lauriston and Randleston. Their broad acres were converted into guineas which melted away in the hands of prodigality, and thus, in early life, through his own folly, John Law stands before us a bank- rupt." 1 An illicit love affair resulted in a duel with a certain Beau Wilson. Law killed his antagonist, was condemned to death, but by intrigue, or the influence of some lady at Court, obtained pardon, and was permitted to escape to Holland. At the age of twenty-three Law was a notorious libertine, a bankrupt, a murderer, and an exiled outlaw. His life in Holland and in every other country he visited after that was the same as it had been in Scotland and Eng- land. However, he made use of the opportunity in Holland to study the practical working of banking and the financial business of the Bank of Amsterdam. He also frequented all the important gambling halls of the capitals of Europe, and was sometimes prohibited from further participation, be- cause of his shrewd playing. 2 Gayarre, op. cit., p. 200. 2 A realistic life of John Law is La Vie tres curieuse de Jean Law by Georges Oudard, 1927. 171 172 FROM QUEBEC TO J^EW ORLEANS On his visit to Paris in 1708 he had met the dissolute Duke of Orleans and had frequented the company of his debauched associates. Louis XIV had refused to have any deal- ings with Law and had even expelled him from the country as an undesirable character. But Louis had died, and the Duke of Orleans was Regent of France. Law returned to Paris to offer his "system" of finance to Philippe of Orleans. "It was at that time," writes Gayarre, "when the wisest heads in France were not able to see their way through the embarrassments of the treasury, that John Law came forward with his panacea." According to Law's theory, the wealth of a country consists in the money that is in the country. "But," remarks Thiers, "money is not food from which man can live, it is not goods with which he can clothe himself, money is not the tools with which he works, money is only a measure of value. . . . If you increase the amount of money in a country without increasing the goods that you can buy with it, then, indeed, the prices will rise without actually increasing the wealth of that country, because of the disproportion between the amount of money and the purchaseable goods." 1 Law was an ardent advocate of paper money and held very correctly that the reserve of a bank gives value to the paper money 2 it issues. But his pet idea was to increase the amount of money. Increase the means of exchange and you stimulate trade. Specie (gold and silver) cannot be increased, but paper money can be increased. A bank that has one hundred million in specie can issue two hun- dred millions in paper money. The state must become banker and make the profits that otherwise would go to individuals. May 3, 171 6, in face of the opposition of the financiers of the realm, the Regent sanctioned the organisation of a bank based on Law's plan — the Banque Generate de France — General Bank of France. A capital stock of six million livres was provided in the form of 1200 shares at 5000 livres each. 3 The Regent was made the Protector of *A. Thiers, Histoire de Law, p. 20, ff. Representative money, that is, money that represents value. Law's paper money soon developed into irredeemable or fiat money, that is money not based upon specie. See Wil* Ham D. P. Bliss, Encyclopedia of Social Reform (1910), p. 864. 3 Heinrich, op. tit., LXXX. A HATIOK SPECULATING 173 this bank. April 12, 1717, he issued an edict stating that the paper money issued by this bank would be accepted in payment of taxes due the government. Deposits increased tremendously, and everybody wanted some of that paper money, which, owing to the arbitrary mint decrees of the government, had greater fixity of value than coin. The Conseil de Marine recognised, on the one hand, the absolute necessity of maintaining Louisiana for reasons already set forth, but also believed that the undertaking was too great for any individual, and therefore suggested on January 13, 1717, that the enterprise be given over to a strong and energetic company. Crosat had relinquished the colony of Louisiana to the crown. The crown on its part turned the colony over to the Company of the West 1 — Compagnie d'Occident, which Law had re-established. It became known as the Compagnie du Mississippi. But Law's bank and the Company of the West were closely affiliated, — both were Law's cre- ations. He feared the jealousy of England and Spain. But the suspicion of these countries was to be averted by the very name of the Company — Compagnie cTOcrident, which in no way intimated any government connection. Law conceived the idea of investing the deposits of his bank in the development of Louisiana. The largest possible number of share-holders was to be interested; it was to be an affair of the whole nation, and no one should be excluded from this splendid opportunity of becoming wealthy. The Com- pany of the West had obtained the exclusive monopoly of the trade of Louisiana for twenty-five years. "All the fields put into cultivation ... all the mines opened/ 1 etc. were to remain forever the property of this company. 2 Neither import nor export duty was to be assessed. To promote the rapid colonisation of Louisiana, the Company was ob- J The Company of the West Indies was one of several corporations promoted or organized by Colbert for the purpose of exploiting the resources of the French colonial possessions. The Company of the West Indies had the monopoly in the fur trade. Talon realized at once that subjecting the colony to a monopoly killed the colony. The privileges of the Company were revoked by Louis XIV, December, 1674. Law induced the Regent to re-establish the Company for Louisiana. See Thwaites, op. cit., XLIX., p. 278. 2 Heinrich, op. cit., p.. 3. 174 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS ligated to import each year 6000 whites and 3000 Negroes. 1 Since the Senegal Company could furnish only 1500 each year, the Company of the West was granted the privi- lege of importing the balance on its own account. To favor the Company of the West still more in its vast scheme of colonisation, the Illinois country, heretofore under the ad- ministration of Canada, was assigned to the jurisdiction of Louisiana, September 27, 1717- Bienville, who had succeeded La Mothe Cadillac as Governor, had the privilege of selecting two officers of his own choice. He chose his cousin, Boisbriand, who was made Commandant of Mobile and Dauphine Island and First Lieutenant to the King, and his own youngest bro- ther, Chataugue, commandant of troops and marine and second lieutenant to the King. The French at that time occupied Biloxi, Dauphine Island, Mobile, Natchez, and Natchitoches on the Red River. 2 The fact that the leaders and colonists held so tenaciously to the seashore and would not go out into the fertile fields that offered fruit a hundredfold, indicates that they looked upon the colony rather as a commercial and strategic venture than an agricultural enterprise. Bienville finally realised that the riches of the colony were to be sought in agriculture and not in visionary mines. In 1717, with a few poor carpenters and some 28 banished salt smugglers, Bienville laid the foundations of a city 30 leagues from the sea, T^ouvelle Orleans* — New Orleans, so named in honor of the Regent, the Duke of Orleans. ll 'Negroes from Africa were brought to Louisiana by Law's Company, because European laborers proved unable to endure the semitropical climate; this was the origin of African slavery in that region." Thwaites, op. at., LXVII., p. 343 Peter Kalm, the noted Swedish traveler and scientist, gives the origin of slavery in America as follows: "In the Year 1620, some Negroes were brought to North America in a Dutch ship, and in Virginia they bought twenty of them. These are said to have been the first who came hither. When the Indians . . . saw these black people for the first time, they thought they were a true breed of devils, and therefore they called them Manitoo for a great while: this word in their language signifies not only God, but likewise the Devil." Peter Kalm, Travels Into Horth America, 1748-1749, p. 309, Newberry Library, Chicago. 2 Garneau, op. cit., II., p. 79. 3 Charlevoix writes: "Those who gave it that name believed that Orleans is of the fern- inine gender; but what does it matter? The custom is established, and it is above the rules of grammar." Quoted by Alcee Fortier, History of Louisiana, I., p. 73 • A HATIOH SPECULATING 175 The city was laid out by Chevalier Le Blond de La Tour, chief engineer of the colony, and included a parish church, which Bienville dedicated to St. Louis, patron of France. The old St. Louis Cathedral of New Orleans still occupies the site of this first parish church. From the beginning of the history of Louisiana, Catholic missionaries accompanied the explorers and pioneers. The letters patent, which transferred the colony of Louisiana to the joint stock company, then known as the Company of the West, stipulated as one of the obligations of the Com- pany the building of churches wherever settlements would be established, and the maintaining of duly authorised priests for the preaching of the Gospel, administration of the sac- raments and maintenance of divine worship, all under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec. The stage was now set for big business. There was to be 100 million livres capital stock in Law's new company, divided into 200,000 shares of 500 livres each. The purchaser had to pay 25% in cash, and 75% could be paid with govern- ment papers, that were worth only 20-30% of the face value. Advertising now set in to do the work. Circulars announc- ing the fertility of the soil, the alleged immense treasures of gold, silver, copper and lead, richer by far than the mines of Mexico and Peru, were printed and sent to the pros- pective emigrant or buyer. In the Arkansas River, so said the circulars, there was a big rock of emerald, or at any rate, as precious as emerald. From the time of Ponce de Leon, 1512, the old world was filled with rumors of precious metal in these regions. No explorer had ever found them, neither Velasques, nor Narvaes, nor de Soto, although the latter's men had searched for them for a period of 30 years. But a vague rumor stubbornly persisted that this colony was rich in precious metals, one had only to find them. 1 To quote Gayarre again: "These descriptions were believed in France, and from the towering palace to the humblest shed in the kingdom, nothing else was talked of but Louisiana and its wonders. The national debt was ^einrich, op. cit., p. 5. i 7 6 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS to be paid instantaneously with the Louisiana gold, France was to purchase or to conquer the rest of the world, and every Frenchman was to be a wealthy lord. . . . The people seemed to have but one pursuit, but one object in life: me- chanics dropped their tools, tradesmen closed their shops; there was but one profession, one employment, one occu- pation, for persons of all ranks — that of speculating in stock!" 1 The Company of the West, or the Mississippi Company, was to be the central body, around which all business, com- merce and commercial undertakings were to be grouped, and the citizens of the nation were to be the stock-holders and share in the profits. Louisiana, still sleeping calmly in the shadows of the primeval forests, was divided into duchies and marquisates. By edict of May, 1719, a consolidation of all other com- panies with the Mississippi Company was decreed. That brought about a merger of the companies of Madagascar, Bourbon, Isle de France, Persia, Mongolia, Siam and Japan with the Company of the West or the Mississippi Company. The name was then changed to Compagnie des Indes — Com- pany of the Indies. To this Gayarre remarks: "Through this curious process of complex annexation and assimilation, John Law had succeeded in erecting the most stupendous financial fabric that has ever been presented to the world. In one company, and through it, in one man, was vested nothing less than the whole privileges, effects and possessions of the foreign trade companies of France, the great farms of the kingdom, the mint, the general receipt of the king's revenues, and the management and property of a royal bank, with an immense capital! Thus, one man, an obscure foreign adventurer, through his creature, the Company, had condensed into one lump, which his hands encircled, all the trade, taxes, and revenues of one of the most powerful kingdoms of Europe, and through the Royal Bank, he might, according to his will, increase to any amount the circulating medium of that country !" 2 Twenty-five million livres' worth of new shares were issued. These had to be paid in specie. The demand was Gayarre, op. tit., pp. 217-220. 2 Gayarre, ibid., p. 214. 3(t<$fuf)r(irf)e JMftotifcfK uni> ©eogt'apfHfcfje £>e£ art i>em gtoflett gfufife MISSISSIPI in dlovb'Ummca gefcgenen §enff djen ianbrt LOUISIANA; We»tetwwfgerid;f«e 8rati*?<5f»fdje groffe 3nbi«nif*c ffompagnic Soionien ju fcf»c?en angefcwgen ; SBor&et) jugleid) ctmaeDUfleponennbcr i>te ttjcifcljmaur fejjettfce DeflTeinsget>ad?fet' (Eompagnie, ttn& t>ee &aru6cr ew ftanbtnm Uctim * §mM% wcffhet wttitn, Znbeve Zuflage. fDlit neuen25c»?tagm unt> $fnmercfctngm vermetjret. &fip$t0 &ei>3.$ric&.©U&ttfc&.en$ f«l.<2>e!)ti/ i 7 * <*. FACSIMILE TITLE PAGE OF A JOHN LAW PAMPHLET From ]. Hanno Deiler, German Coast of Louisiana '** ArhaniQt Pc:f + 1685 John L«v ConeessioV XA&^ \o° G -u I THE PRINCIPAL FORTS AND TRADING POSTS OF LOUISIANA From J. Hanno Deiler, German Coast of Louisiana A NATION SPECULATING 177 so great that they jumped to 150. July 20, 1719, the right to coin money was granted to the Company of the Indies for a term of nine years. Law's opponents started a run on the bank, but the bank paid every livre called for. The confidence and enthusiasm knew no bounds. To give even the people of small means an opportunity to obtain wealth, 10 million shares of 10 livres each were issued. A 12$ dividend was declared on the 50Olivre shares. Law was supreme. In Rue Quincampoix, main office of the Company, poor men became wealthy just by stooping down and letting buyers use their backs as writing desks. The Compagnie des Indes flourished to such extent that it could offer the King a loan of 1200 million livres. Stocks went up from 500 par to 2000. The government had money to construct bridges, canals, make public improvements, and it even built the famous church of Saint Roche 1 in Paris. Everybody came to Paris to buy Mississippi stocks. It is estimated that 300,000 foreigners were in Paris at one time. The newly-rich were dubbed Mississippians. But how find men and women to colonise that El Dorado on the Isle Du Mississippi 2 — Mississippi Island, as it was called in the Mercure de Paris. The question of Negroes was easily solved. December 15, 1718, the Com- pagnie des Indes was authorised to absorb the Senegal Slave Trade company, which it did. But the French preferred ^'St'Roch is the finest church in the baroque style in Paris. ... In front of it once lay a large square, where the Royalists who attacked the Convention on Oct. 5th, 1795, posted their best battallions. Bonaparte, however, by a vigorous attack (Carlyle's 'whiff of grapeshot 1 ) stifled the counterrevolution in its birth. The marks of the bullets on the facade of the church have been filled up with mortar.'" [Note: Some of the mortar has fallen out, and the bullet holes are again visible.] "St.-Roch played a sinister role during the Revolution. As the tumbrels containing the vic- tims to be executed at the Place de la Concorde nearly always came from the prisons by way of the Rue St-Honore, the steps and portico of St-Roch were among the chief points at which the mob gathered to cast insults and filth on the unfortunate captives. A woman of the people stood in the portico of this church as the tumbrel with Queen Marie Antoinette slowly passed (Oct. 16th, 1793), and spitting into her hand cast the saliva on the queen — an inci' dent that caused Marie- Antoinette to lose for a moment her heroic demeanour of contempt. This vile mob!' she exclaimed, turning her back on her insulter/' — Karl Baedeker, Paris and Its Environments, pp. 82-83. 2 H»inrich, op. cit., p. 10. 178 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS enjoying their 12$ stock dividends at home to going to far off Louisiana, about which, after all, they knew very little. A small group of colonists was sent there in the fall of 1717. Three hundred land owners and enlisted soldiers sailed from La Rochelle in May, 1718. In November of the same year a hundred more followed. But what was that small number for so large a colony? Bernard de la Harpe, later an explorer of the colony, and Le Page du Prats, one of the first historians of Louisiana, arrived in May, 1718. Voluntary emigration was evidently not a success, and other means had to be resorted to. Most iniquitous and re- prehensible methods were employed. Emigration enforce- ment officers picked up honest men who came to Paris on legitimate business, and sent them to Louisiana. The poor, mendicants, and vagabonds of the provinces of the north and east were rounded up, prison sentences were commuted to deportation to the colony, and so forth. But vagabonds and jail birds make poor colonists, and public women make poor farmers' wives. However, the Company needed col- onists, and was willing to close an eye to their quality and the manner of procuring them. October 26, 1717, Hubert reported to the Conseil de Marine that a hurricane 1 had silted the harbor of Dau- phine Island (Port Dauphin). That, together with the real- isation that the future of the colony lay in the tilling of the soil rather than in trading, influenced the establish- ment of settlements farther from the seashore, along the banks of rivers, and in fertile fields. The Directors of the Com- pany at this time really worked for the best interests of the colony. Orders were given that a brig should go up the Mississippi, if possible, as far as the Illinois country. New Orleans was to be the Company's principal warehouse, in fact, the chief centre of the colony. It was for that reason that the convoy of May, 1718, was directed to New Orleans. Le Page du Prats, early historian of Louisiana, was of this number, but did not remain very long at New Orleans. He said it was too swampy (trop aquatique). Bienville, who knew every section of the vast territory, petitioned the establishment of several military posts, one of them among the Yasous, x The first hurricane recorded in Louisiana. A KATIOH SPECULATING 179 on the present Yasoo River, which, because of the produc- tiveness of its soil, would in the course of time become the granary of the colony. Every settlement in those early days was, of necessity, at the same time a military post of some sort. The colonists needed protection against the Indians, on the one hand; on the other, the immense continent of America, as yet only partly explored, and only in part and sparsely settled, held out great hopes of being converted into powerful colonies, or a great empire. Three nations contended for the supremacy: Spain, England, and France. East of the Mississippi the struggle was chiefly between England and France. Each nation jeal- ously guarded the territory which it considered its own, besides trying to wedge into territory it thought it should have, or desired to have. At first the colonies of the English and French were far apart. Hundreds of miles and more of dense, virgin forest lay between the colonies of the English along the Atlantic seaboard, and those of the French in the Missis- sippi and Ohio Valleys. The forests were so dense that the soldiers could break through only ax in hand. There was no shortage of land to be colonised. A continent less than half discovered lay open to them. It might all have been settled after the manner of Abraham and Lot. "Abraham, therefore, said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren. Behold the whole land is before thee; depart from me, I pray thee; if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right : if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left/' 1 But that was not done. The sources of friction between the French and English colonists cannot be adequately explained from national antipathies between the two races, nor even from religious aversion between Puritan English and Catholic French. While it is true that in the north, where the French and English were next door neighbors, the re- ligious feeling sometimes became quite acute, still, for in- stance in the West Indies, where a common commercial Genesis, XIII, 8-9. •s 180 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS interest bound them together, they got along very well, and together did a thriving contraband business in time of peace and even of war. It would seem that the chief source of friction is not to be found in old and long standing an- tipathies, nor in the desire to own millions of square miles of forests and land that neither knew what to do with, but rather in the commercial rivalry for the fur trade with the Indians 1 . Of old "there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abraham and of Lot," not between Abraham and Lot themselves. Nor was the beginning of the strife here a quarrel between the home governments. As Pasquet re- marks: "It does not seem that the Ministers [of the home governments] bothered themselves to any great extent about the colonies. It would be doing them too much honor to credit them with a continuity of design, of which most of them were incapable. ,,2 In the beginning, the conflict was rather between the English traders and the French coureurs de bois and trd' fiquants. It is they who carried this strife westward as the beaver disappeared from the east; it is they who drew the Indian tribes into this strife. Montreal (French) and Albany (British) were the outstanding rivals in the commer- cial fight for the Indian trade. The home governments usually followed reluctantly, and it was only towards the end of the great struggle that some men began to realise that it was not only a fight for beaver skins, but a battle for the possession of an empire. It was one of the first cares of the Company of the West, scarcely organised, to promote the raising of tobacco and rice. The settlers were urged to take up these industries. The Company sent an agent to San Domingo (Cap Frangais) to find planters willing to come to Louisiana, and, failing that, to procure a few barrels of seed, and to study tobacco and rice growing in that country, so that he might instruct the Louisiana colonists. The silk worm industry had al- ready been undertaken by the Ordinateur Hubert, and was warmly recommended to the settlers. To encourage the colonists, the Company itself decided to establish a large Pasquet, op. cit., p. 183. Hbid. A HATIOH SPECULATIHG 181 tobacco plantation. Tobacco was to be the chief product of the colony. It was chiefly for this reason that the Company of the West absorbed the Senegal Slavery Company, January 10, 1719, in order to provide its own Negro slaves^for work in the plantations. Crosat had looked for mines and precious metal, and had failed. Profiting by this failure, the Company of the West Indies encouraged agriculture and the development of all the sources of wealth to their fullest capacity. To this end, large tracts of land were given to such wealthy people in France as would obligate themselves to send colonists from Europe to settle thereon and till the soil. Of course, the Company also sold tracts of land. John Law himself, the president of the Company, was probably the largest concessioner, owning two concessions, 1 the larger one on the west bank of the Mississippi, just above the mouth of the Arkansas River, and the other "seven leagues below New Orleans on the Mississippi River, below English Turn, and adjoining one of the concessions of the Minister of War, Le Blanc, whose principal possessions were on the Yasoo River." 2 The Company had pledged itself to send six thousand white emigrants to the colony each year. Law realised that to make the venture a financial success, he needed not only capital, but, above all, people, colonists, who were willing to work. "A great agitation was now begun,' ' writes Deiler, "partly to induce rich people to take shares in the general enterprise and buy land for their own account, and partly to entice poor people to become engages (hired field-hands for the company or for different concessioners). After a while, land was also given to the poor engages to enable them also to get rich." »3 *"A 'Concession' is a certain tract of land granted by the Company to a private individ' ual, or to several persons, who have together formed a partnership, for the purpose of clearing that land and making it valuable. These were the 'Counties' and 'Marquisates' of the Mississippi. The concessioners were the Gentlemen of the country. "A 'Habitation' is a smaller portion of land granted by the Company; the owner is called 'habitant." If he succeeds in having three or four Negroes, then he is out of his difficulties. "A 'Settlement' is a district where several habitations make a sort of a village." Father Du Poisson in Jesuit Relations, LXVII., pp. 28l'283. 2 Deiler, op. cit., p. 10. 3 Deiler, op. cit., p. 11. i8 2 FROM QUEBEC TO JiEW ORLEANS Circulars, advertising the wonderful colony on the Missis- sippi, were scattered over France, and sent into Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. The Swiss authorities warned the public against agents who wished to entice people into going to the "Island of the Mississippi, lately discovered — lie du Mississippi nouvellement decouverte" 1 The Company made the most seductive offers; it paid all expenses from their homes to the settlement in Louisi- ana; promised every working man at least thirty arpents 2 of land; to members of the nobility a large tract of land; to all, horses and oxen for the cultivation of the fields, and thirty pounds of flour per head till the next harvest; every crafts- man or mechanic would receive over and above that a cow, pigs, sheep, chickens, 3 not counting household furniture and kitchen utensils. Unhappily for the emigrants, these were only empty promises. The Company of the West and other concessioners tried to enlist engages — hired help. The Jesuit traveler, Charle- voix, who visited the colony in 1721, made the following report : "The people who are sent there are miserable wretches driven from France for real or supposed crimes, or bad con- duct, or persons who have enlisted in the troops or enrolled as emigrants, in order to avoid the pursuit of their creditors. Both classes regard the country as a place of exile. Every- thing disheartens them: nothing interests them in the pro- gress of a colony of which they are members in spite of themselves." The sending of jailbirds and women of doubtful reputation had been of no benefit to the colony. They had been failures at home and became complete wrecks under the hardships of a new colony. The mortality was very great, and quite a large number of all sorts of immigrants returned to France when they could find means to do so. England had attempted the same kind of colonisation before, and France had tried it out in Canada in the early days. In both cases the venture had disastrous results. It is a mistake, however, to think *D. Pasquet, op. cit., p. 180. 2 The arpent as a linear measure is equivalent to 180 French feet or 191.85 English feet; as a surface measure, 191.85 x 191.85 feet, a trifle less than an acre. 3 It must be remembered that nearly all our domestic animals, such as horses, cows, sheep, hogs and chickens are not native to America and had to be brought from Europe. A HATIOK SPECULATING 183 that it was the jailbirds and public women who really car' ried the burden of the new colony and became its first hon- ored citizens. Apart from the fact that many of the con- victs were merely political offenders, the records show that most of them soon disappeared, either by desertion or by death. The greater part of those who remained were good and honest people. Law "resolved to engage for his own concessions Ger- mans from the country on both sides of the river Rhine, and from Switzerland." Deiler unearthed an original copy of a pamphlet, 1 printed in German, and sent out by John Law to advertise Louisiana. The pamphlet states that "through the adventurer 'Chris- tophum Columbum , many of those Europeans had been led to leave 'Europam 1 for 'Americam,' especially for those then still undiscovered countries." The vague description of Louisiana is extremely inter- esting: "The boundaries of Louisiana are towards the east Florida and Carolina, towards the north Virginia and Canada. The northern limits are entirely unknown. In 1700, a Ca- nadian, M. le Sueur, ascended the St. Louis River ( c den Fluss St. Ludewig') 2 for a distance of 700 miles. But there is still another district known of over 100 miles, for which reason it is almost to be supposed that this country extends to the Tolum Arcticum. ' " 3 The soil is described as "extremely pleasant;" 4 capable of producing four crops a year. "It is impossible to picture the abundance of this country." There was also plenty of game, according to the pamphlet, which everyone might kill: "leopards, bears, buffaloes, deer, whole swarms of Indian hens, snipe, turtle-doves, partridges, wood-pigeons, quail, beavers, martens, wild cats, parrots, buz- zards, ducks, prairie chicken and other fowls which I cannot now describe." These descriptions are taken from letters of deiler, op. cit., pp.. 1142. This pamphlet is now in the Fisk Library. A copy was sup' plied by Mr. F. P. Kenkel of the Central Bureau of the C. V., of St. Louis, Mo. Numerous courtesies of Mr. Aug. F. Brockland of the same institution are herewith gratefully acknow' ledged. 2 Mississippi River. 3 "Dannenhero fast zu vermuthen, dass sich dieses Land bis an den Polum arcticum er- strecken moechte." 4 "Ungemein angenehm." i8 4 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS real or supposed colonists. Deer is the most useful game, and the French carry on a big negotium 1 (business) in doeskins, which they purchase from the savages. Ten or twelve leaden bullets are given in exchange for such a skin. The following must have convinced the most sceptical: "The land is filled with gold, silver, copper, and lead mines. If one wishes to hunt for mines, one need only to go into the country of the Natchitoches. There we shall surely draw pieces of silver out of the earth. Having discovered these mines we will hunt for herbs and plants for the apothe- caries. The savages will make them known to us. . . . 2 " The returns on the investment are figured as follows: "If one gets 300 acres of land for 100 Reichstalers, then three acres cost one Taler; but, if the benefit to be derived and other 'prerogatives' of such lands are considered, then an acre of this land, even if not cultivated, is worth about 100 Talers. From this basis it follows that 300 acres, which, as stated already, cost 100 Talers when purchased, are really worth 30,000 Talers. For this reason one can easily under- stand why these shares may yet rise very high." 3 It has already been stated that stocks actually rose from 500 par to 2000. Weiss states that 12,000 Germans 4 emigrated to Louisiana at this time. The reason the Germans were so ready to be enticed by the glowing promises of the promoters is to be found in the economic conditions prevailing in their country at that time. That section of Germany had suffered heavily from the ravages of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Then came the wars of Louis XIV, during which large por- tions of Alsace and Lorraine, including the city of Strass- burg, were absorbed by the French. Deiler states: "These people on the Rhine had lost courage, and as in 1709-10, at the time of the great famine, 15,000 inhabitants of the Palatinate had listened to the English agents, and had gone down the Rhine to England, to seek passage for the English r 'Und treiben die Frantzosen ein starkes Negotium mit denen Rehfellen, so sie von den Barbaren einhandeln." — Ibid. 2 Deiler, ibid. 3 Deiler, ibid. 4 "Er zweifelte an der Faehigkeit der Fransosen zum Colonisieren and kaufte 12,000 Colonisten in der Pfalz, welche der Kern der Bevoelkerung Louisiana? wurden.'" — Weiss, Wdtgeschichte, XL, p. 81. A NATION SPECULATING 185 colonies in America, so they were again only too eager to listen to the Louisiana promoter, promising them peace, political and religious freedom, and wealth in the new world. So they went forth not only from the Palatinate, but also from Alsace, Lorraine, Baden, Wuerttemberg, the Elec- torates of Mayence and Treves (Mainz; and Trier), and even from Switzerland, some of whose sons were already serving in the Swiss regiments of Halwyl and Karer, sent by France to Louisiana.' 11 Modern advertising is prosaic, insipid and colorless, and lacks the romantic, as compared with the advertising literature sent out by English and French colonisation com- panies of the 17th and 18th centuries. The lack of authen- tic information about America and conditions there was so general and so profound, that it was easy to stuff the gul- libility of a people, sighing for deliverance from oppressive economic conditions. The writers of advertisements were entirely free to say what they pleased, without any danger of having their statements challenged, at least for some time, until they had achieved their purpose. In 1650, the author of a pamphlet entitled Virgo Try umphans, purporting to give a true description of Vir- ginia, writes that 22 miles above certain Falls (probably the Richmond Falls) there is a "rock of Crystal"; three days' march farther up there is a "rock, perhaps even a hill, of silver." He also states that they have found "along the banks of a river that flows from a mountain, a red sand containing a metal, that must be considered copper, until more complete information has been obtained, " but it might well be a more precious metal. Still more romantic are the pamphlets distributed among the Germans and Swiss, who seem to have been credited with more than an ordinary allotment of naivete. Such a pamph- let was distributed by the envoy of George I among the Mennonites of the Rhine Valley. Emigration agents, dec- orated with heavy gold watch chains, to create the impres- sion of the prosperity of the New World, visited these simple people and gave their oral commentaries. Attempts were made to refute the bombastic emigration literature, ^eiler, op. cit., pp. 1445, 186 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS but the emigrants went forth by the thousands. In the colonies they were known as the Palatins — Palatinates. 1 Referring to the rather aimless exodus of French and Germans enroute to the Mississippi, Gayarre gives this gruesome description: "Guarded by a merciless soldiery, they, on their way to seaports, filled up the public roads of France like droves of cattle, and as they were hardly furnished with means of subsistence or with clothing by their heartless conductors, who speculated on the food and other supplies with which they were bound to provide them, they died in large numbers, and their unburied corpses, rotting above ground, struck with terror the inhabitants of the districts through which the woebegone caravan had passed. At night they were locked up in barns, when any could be found, and if not, they were forced, the better to to prevent escape, to lie down in heaps at the bottom of ditches and holes, and sentinels were put round to watch over them. 112 The almost indescribable hardships of ocean travel in those days were about the same everywhere, no matter from what port people sailed. The ships sailed when it pleased God and the captain. Thus the emigrants, having sold all their belongings, sometimes were obliged to wait months and months before a ship sailed. The aim was to pack the largest possible number of people into the least possible space. The ships ranged in size from 50 to 700 tons; they carried from 400 to 800 passengers, or even a thousand. Moreover, the emigrants brought their utensils, and boxes of food supplies and barrels of drinking water had to be taken along. The average duration of the voyage across the Atlantic ranged between six and nine weeks, though at times voyages lasted four to six months. In 1732, one ship required 24 weeks to cross, and in consequence one hundred passengers out of a total of 154 died at sea. Another extreme case occurred in 1752, when the boat took six months to cross, and only 20 out of a total of 140 reached the coast of America. The crowding together of so many people under the poorest hygienic conditions, with mouldy food and brackish and in- fected water, of necessity brought contagious diseases, such J Pasquet, op. cit., I., p. 131. 2 Gayarre, op. cit., p. 234. A HATIOH SPECULATING 187 as small pox and a species of typhoid then known as the Pal' atine Fever (fievre palatine). The average loss among emi- grants of those days is now figured at 33%. 1 To quote Deiler again, and, what he writes about conditions on the ships bearing emigrants to Louisiana also holds true of those sailing to the other American colonies: "Sickness and starvation, however, were not the only dangers of the emi- grant of those days. At that time the buccaneers, who had been driven from Yucatan by the Spaniards in 1717, were yet in the Gulf of Mexico, and pursued European vessels, because these in addition to emigrants, usually carried large quantities of provisions, arms, ammunition and money; and many a vessel that plied between France and Louisiana was never heard of again. In 1721, a French ship, La Garonne, with c 300 very sick Germans' on board was captured by buccaneers near the Bay of Samana in San Domingo 1 \ It will be remembered that one of La Salle's ships was captured by pirates. Chevalier Guy Soniat Duffosat, a French naval officer, who settled in Louisiana about 1751, says that 6000 Germans left Europe for Louisiana. "To this", writes Deiler, "may be added that, according to my own searching inquiries, and after the examination of all the well known authorities, as well as copies of many official documents until recently unavailable, I have come to the conclusion that of those 6000 Germans who left Europe 1 Such pest ships have in the past sailed from other ports and delivered their fever-stricken cargoes to other shores. On the island called Grosse-Ile, situated in the St. Lawrence, thirty miles north-east of Quebec, there is a monument that tells the sad story thus: "IN THIS SECLUDED SPOT LIE THE MORTAL REMAINS OF 5,424 PERSONS WHO, FLYING FROM PESTILENCE AND FAMINE IN IRELAND, IN THE YEAR 1847, FOUND IN AMERICA BUT A GRAVE." There is another at Montreal, dedicated to another group, 6,000 Irish Immigrants, who died of "ship fever," 1847-1848. The monument bears this inscription by Madame Leprohon: "Long since forgotten here they rest, Sons of a distant land; The epoch of their short career, Mere footprints on life's sand; But this stone will tell through many a year They died on our shores and they slumber here." Pierre-Georges Roy in Monuments Commemoratifs, II., p. 102 and I., p. 188. See also Pasquet, op. cit., I., pp. 131-133. 188 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS for Louisiana, only about oncthird, 2000, actually reached the shores of the colony. By this I do not mean to say that 2000 settled in Louisiana, but only that 2000 reached the shores and were disembarked in Biloxi and upon Dauphine Island, in the harbor of Mobile." 1 According to Penicaut, seven ships arrived from France in the spring of 1720, bringing 4000 persons, 'Trench as well as Germans and Jews." The ship, Le Dromadaire, carried the equipment for Law's concessions, and John Law's business manager, a Jew named Elias (Stultheus). The Germans intended for the Law concessions were known as "Law People." To give an idea of the lack of preparation and the poor management at the ports of Biloxi and Dauphine Is- land, it may be noted that Le Dromadaire, which carried Law's equipment, a cargo valued at a million livres, lay in Biloxi 15 months before it could sail up the river, which it finally did at the order of the Governor, but over the pro- tests of some of the Directors of the Company. Deiler gives a graphic description of the reception accorded the immigrants : "A rapid increase of the population, especially a doubling of it in one day, would at all times, even in a well regulated community, be a source of embarrassment; and it would need the most careful preparations and the purchasing and storing of a great quantity of provisions in order to solve the problem of subsistence in a satisfactory manner. . . .Those poor immigrants were put on land where there was always more or less a famine, sometimes even starvation, and where the provisions which the concessioners had brought with them to feed their own engages were taken from the ships by force to feed the soldiers, and the immigrants were told to subsist on what they might be able to catch on the beach, standing for the most part of the day in the salt water up to the waist — crabs, oysters, and the like — and on the corn which the Biloxi, the Pascagoula, the Chacta, and the Mobile Indians might let them have." 2 News of the pest ships, of horrors at sea, of famine on land, and poverty and misery everywhere, gradually filtered through to France. People began to realise that all was not as it had 1 This presentation is chiefly drawn from Deiler, German Coast of Louisiana, Pasquet, Histoire Politique et Sociale du Peuple Americain, and Weiss, Weltgeschichte, XI., pp. 68'83. 2 Deiler, ibid. A HATIOK SPECULATING 189 been represented. Shrewd speculators watched the affairs of the colony, and began to withdraw large deposits from Law's bank, and, in consequence, the market was flooded with paper money. Foreign depositors followed the example of French bankers, and withdrew huge sums in gold and silver. The run on the bank was on. The Regent issued an order that all drafts or letters of credit must be paid in paper money. But to no avail. Far- seeing men purshased land and anything else, just to be buying something with money that was rapidly depreciating. Another edict prohibited any individual or corporation from possessing more than 300 livres in gold or silver. That drove the gold and silver out of the country or to hiding- places. The public had lost confidence, and confidence cannot be restored by edicts. The Regent made one more desperate effort to save the situation by combining the Bank and the Company of the Indies, while heretofore they had only functioned under the same head, — John Law. But the crash could not be stayed, and the death-blow came by the edict of October 17, 1720, which declared that the Bank's paper money would no longer be accepted in payment of taxes due the government. Law's book-keeping had been faultless, but his "system" proved a complete failure and a great disaster for France, her people and her colonies, especially Louisiana. Law resigned his position as Comptroller General and Minister of Finance, and was soon forced to flee from France. He claimed only what he had brought with him to Paris, but failed to recover even that much. A few years after the crash, 1729, John Law died in comparative poverty at Venice, Italy. Thus burst the Mississippi Bubble. 1 *A "good loser" of Paris wrote the following couplet: "Lundi j'achetai des Actions; "Monday bonds I bought; Mardi je gagnei des Millions; Tuesday gains unthought; Mercredi j'arrangeai mon Menage; Wednesday my home to date; Jeudi je pris un Equipage; Thursday I rode in state; Vendredi je m'en fus au Bal; Friday I danced with glee; Et Samedi a THopital." Saturday — , woe unto me 1 ." Weiss, op. cit. t XL, p. 83, n. 1. SEARCH FOR MITiES—DU TIS^fi-LA MOTHE CA- DILLAC IH THE ILLINOIS COUHTRT—DUGUB DE BOISBRIAKID ERECTS FORT DE CHARTRES The imaginary gold and silver deposits worked on the minds of explorers, and keyed up the expectations of the Directors of the Company and of the Ministers of France, the former hoping to realise immense wealth, the latter to re- plenish the depleted coffers of the government. Millions of acres of land meant nothing to them; they wanted mines, and mines of gold or silver at that. February 16, 1701, Father Gravier, who had just completed his voyage from the country of the Illinois to the mouth of the Mississippi, wrote to his Superior: "We discovered [October 10, 1700] the river Miaramigoiia [Meramec], where the very rich lead mine is, twelve or thirteen leagues from its mouth. This mine yields three-fourths [metal]. 111 Father Gravier speaks of "the very rich lead mine 11 as already in operation. It would seem probable that this mine, and perhaps others in the same field, were at that time actually worked by Indians and whites. 2 Father Gravier, however, seems to have had his misgivings about the pres- ence of gold or silver in the Mississippi Valley, for he adds towards the end of the same letter : "I do not know what the court will decide about the Mississipi if no silver mines are found, for it does not seek lands to cultivate. 11 Now, the French in France and the French in Louisiana were always gullible and extremely credulous when it came to stories of gold or silver mines, and La Mothe Cadillac, the Governor-General under Crosat, was no exception. l Shea, op. cit., p. 119. 2 See Earliest History of Mine La Motte, by John E. Rothensteiner. See also Journal d'un Voyage fait a La Louisiane en 1720 par un Capitaine de Vaisseaux du Rot, a series of letters, in one of which this officer tells a lady in Paris of a rumor concerning a certain silver mine in the Illinois country. This mine, so the rumor goes, yields 12 lbs. of very pure silver to every 100 lbs. of ore, which is 3 lbs. more than the Spanish mines in New Mexico. He adds the very sensible remark: "Their ideas are too big . . . they neglect the essential . . . the tilling of the soil." 190 FORT DE CHARTRES 191 Towards the end of 1714, Du Tisne, one of those gallant gentlemen, typical of the French nobility of the age of Louis XIV, came down from the Illinois country to see the Governor-General on Dauphine Island. He brought two pieces of silver ore, which, he said, he had found in the neighborhood of Kaskaskia. This Du Tisne had quite an interesting career, and later became closely identified with the Illinois country. 1 Le Page du Prats presents Du Tisne by introducing his wife. Writes Du Prats: 2 "Madame du Tissenet, who be- longed to the fashionable society of Quebec, came to the Illinois with her husband. She loved the things that flat- tered her curiosity and it was precisely this that made her marry M. Du Tissenet. 1 ' Du Tisne was the son of a well- to-do family of Paris. He was anxious to serve in the col- onies, but his parents would not consent to his going away. However, he offered his services to an officer as a volunteer, and was accepted. During his stay at Quebec, a merchant who had noticed the quick wit and polite manners of the young man, fitted him out with a canoe, rowers, and mer- chandise, and sent him off to the savages. He learnt the Indian languages as he went along. But every tribe his party visited had already been canvassed by some coureur de bois and, therefore, no chance for Du Tisne to do any trad- ing. They finally heard of a distant tribe that had surely not been visited. The savages received them well and gave them a cabin. The next day his party laid out all their goods, and then went to the cabin of the chief and led him and the other savages to their display room. It must be noted that when a child, Du Tisne had lost nearly all his hair in a severe illness. Tired of seeing just a few tufts of hair on his head, he shaved it all off and wore a wig. Now, his party had taken the precaution to speak only by signs, causing the savages to believe they did not know their lan- guage. This they did so that the savages might speak openly x Du Tisne (Du Tissenet) twice held temporary command at Fort de Chartres : immediately after Boisbriand and again after the death of Liette in 1729. He explored the valley of the Missouri, was thoroughly familiar with Indian life, and his services were duly appreciated by his superiors. He died in 1730 from a gunshot wound inflicted by a Fox Indian. 2 Le Page du Pratz, Voyages aux Indes Occidentales, II., pp. 296-305. i 9 2 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS among themselves, thinking they would not be understood. And so it happened. The chief lamented the fact that they had not known the Frenchmen were coming, and that, there- fore, they had no beaver skins, and that the season was too far advanced to procure any. Another Indian spoke up and said: "There is only one way to get all this pretty merchandise: scalp them, kill them, throw them into the river, and then we shall have it all." At that, all the men of the party grabbed their guns, and Du Tisne shouted: "You want my scalp?' , And he threw his wig at the In- dian's feet. "Pick it up, if you dare!" The effect was like that of a bolt of lightning striking at the feet of the savage. The chief stammered: "We thought you were men the same as we are, but we see now, you are spirits, because you speak the same tongue that we do, and you can remove your scalp whenever you wish!" He said he would speak to his people and have them bring their fur robes. Du Tisne and his men began to pack their goods, and said they would leave on the morrow. The next day the savages brought all the beaver robes they had in the village. Du Tisne was then only seventeen years old. This daring deed won for him military distinction and a wife from the fashionable society of Quebec. Le Page du Prat? says that Du Tisne was his friend when Commandant at Natchez, and that he had personally confirmed this little story. Du Tisne may, for the sport of it, have played on the credulity of the pompous Cadillac when he showed him those two pieces of silver ore, which, it is said, actually came from Mexico. At any rate, La Mo the Cadillac jour- neyed up the river to the Illinois country, and reached Kas- kaskia in the spring of 1715. It was, without doubt, a great honor for Kaskaskia to welcome so distinguished a guest as the Governor-General of Louisiana, and the Kaskaskians, red and white, showed their appreciation by entertainments befitting the occasion. Cadillac's party crossed the Mississippi, and then pro- ceeded up the Saline River to a place where diggings had already been made. Under his direction workmen dug a trench seven to nine feet deep, when they reached solid THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY FROM CAHOKIA CREEK TO THE MOUTH OF THE KASKASKIA RIVER From Diron D 1 Artaguiette Map (1732) — Karpins\i Collection, dewberry Library, Chicago FORT DE CHARTRES 193 rock. This rock showed veins of mineral, but they were not able to penetrate deeper, for want of proper tools. 1 According to La Harpe, Cadillac and his son returned to Mobile in October, 1715. Perhaps to save his prestige, the Governor-General repeated the Du Tisne story, and it was duly announced "that a silver mine had been discovered in the country whence he came." 2 La Mothe Cadillac was recalled March 9,1717, and was superseded by the former Governor, Bienville. The Illinois country, on both sides of the Mississippi, was assuming greater importance, and so impressed the new Governor. A few lead mines were actually in operation; according to Du Tisne and La Mothe Cadillac, there was some silver; agriculture was flourishing; the fur trade was good, and the Jesuit mission of the Immaculate Conception on the Kas- kaskia was an unmistakable success and was rapidly growing by the advent of Frenchmen from Canada. But there was no fort to give protection to this, the most prosperous colony between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, while the Fox Indian menace was ever present. Bienville sub- mitted the matter of proper protection to the home govern- ment. In the spring of 1718, the frigate La Duchesse De 7<[oailles cast anchor at Ship Island. The most distinguished pas- senger on this boat was M. Pierre Du Gue de Boisbriand, Lieutenant of the King in Louisiana, and Commandant of the Illinois country. In the month of October, 1718, M. Du Gue de Boisbriand 3 set out from Mobile with a strong detachment of regulars for the Illinois country, with instructions to erect a per- manent military post for the protection of the French in that immense territory. He quartered his men at Kaskas- kia, and then, after a few months, began the construction of a fort, eighteen miles north, on the east bank of the Mis- sissippi. This fort was completed in the spring of 1720, and was named Fort de Chartres, in honor of the Due de Chartres, the son of the Regent of France. ^othensteiner, op. cit., p. 202. 2 Charlevoix, History of Afciy France, Chapter III., p. 434. 3 Pierre-Georges Roy, La Famille Du Gue de Boisbriand. 194 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Between September 1, 1722, and September 11, 1723, Diron cTArtaguiette, Inspector-General for the Company, made a tour of inspection of the settlements in the Mis- sissippi Valley. His report on the conditions in the Fort de Chartres country gives such precise and full information, that it is reproduced nearly in toto. 1 "April 17 [1723]. At midday we arrived at the entrance of the Petite Riviere des Cascakias, which is on the right as you ascend. It is two leagues up this river on the left . . . in a vast prairie, that is situated the French village called the Cascakias, which is composed entirely of farmers who live there very comfortably. French wheat grows very well there and of a fine quality, of which they gather a fairly large quantity, which they sell for the subsistence of the troops. All the other vegetables necessary to life grow very well there. Their houses are built of frame timbers on the ground. The chimneys are of stone. . . . Several inhabitants also have horse tread mills of their own with which they grind their French wheat. There is also a church there, which is certainly the finest in the colony. This church is ministered to by a Jesuit. . . . "There is in this village a windmill made of wood, be- longing to the Reverend Jesuit Fathers. It was formerly placed on the bank of the Petite Riviere, but as it got little wind in this place, 2 they considered it wise to place it in the middle of the prairie, upon their own land, where it is certainly better off. The Jesuit priests have a little farm in this place, which they manage themselves. . . . "It is six leagues by land and twelve by water from this village to Fort de Chartres. A league higher up, on the same side, on the road which leads to Fort de Chartres, and upon the same river, is found the settlement of Sr. Melicq, lieu- tenant of the company of Artaguiette, which he manages himself. "From this place, continuing along the road to Fort de Chartres, at the upper end of the same prairie as that upon which Sr. Melicq is, a half league higher up on the bank of the l Journal of Diron D' Artaguiette, in Travels in the American Colonies, by Newton D. Mereness, pp. l?^. 2 Because of the high bluff on the east bank of the Kaskaskia River. FORT DE CHARTRES 195 same river, is the Indian village of the Uinois, who number 200 warriors. . . . "April. 18 — 5 leagues. We set out from the mouth of the Petite Riviere and came to pass the night at the salt spring, which is on the left side of the Mississipy. (This is a fountain of salt water which has its ebb and flow like the ocean.) The habitants use it to make salt, which they make by boiling the water in caldrons till a certain amount has been boiled away, and when this is done, the water crystal' li2;es of itself and forms a fairly good salt. . . . "April. 19. We . . . arrived at 5 o'clock in the afternoon at Fort de Chartres, which is on the bank of the Mississipy, on the right as you ascend. . . . Fort de Chartres is a fort of piles the si2;e of one's leg, square in shape, having two bas' tions, which command all the curtains. There are two com- panies of infantry in garrison commanded by M. de Bois- briant, Knight of the military order of St. Louis, first royal lieutenant of the province. There is a church outside of the fort and some dwellings a half a league lower down, on the same side, as well as half a league above as far as little village of the Ilinnois, where there are two Jesuit fathers, missionaries, who have a dwelling and a church. This little village which is called Mechiquamias numbers perhaps about 200 warriors. "From there one goes through a large and vast prairie a league and a half to the northwest, where M. Renaut, director of the mines, is established with two score Frenchmen, all laborers. This place is a quarter of a league distant from the Mississipy. There is a fort, with stakes the sise of a leg. The shape is that of two horse shoes, one turning in and the other turning out, with two square bastions. There are in this fort a church, four houses, frame, and one of stone. . . . About a half league to the east of this fort are two large marshes. . . . "The Ilinnoise Nation was formerly numerous, but the continual wars, and principally the one against the In> quois. . . have so enfeebled them that they number at present not more than 700 warriors. They are scattered about in three villages — the Cascakias, the Mekchiquamias and the Cahokias. The last village is 18 leagues by land and 15 by water from Fort de Chartres. Here [Cahokia] are four sol' diers in garrison, commanded by Sr. de St. Anges. . . . 196 FROM QUEBEC TO ?{EW ORLEANS "One hundred and ten leagues from Fort de Chartres, up the Riviere des Ilinnois, there used to be two villages of the same nation, the Peorias and the Roches, 1 but they were forced to abandon these villages and to withdraw to the above- mentioned villages , because of the Outagamis nation or the Renards [Fox Indians], who last year came clear to their vil- lages to attack them. . *" Boisbriand was a native of Montreal (b. February 21, 1675), and had seen distinguished service in the days of the great Frontenac, and especially under d 1 Iberville in the latter's expedition against Newfoundland. Since 1699 he had filled various important offices in Louisiana. Bossu, 2 who was an officer at Fort de Chartres under Makarty, has left interesting accounts of the Boisbriand's regime. "M. de Boisbriand," he writes, "who was an officer of distinguished merit, lacked those advantages of nature which prepossess people in their favor: he was born with one shoulder higher than the other, which made him look somewhat dwarfed. . . . Despite these defects, M. de Bien- ville, then Commandant in Louisiana, recommended him to the king for the position of Commandant in the Illinois country. . . . Soon after his arrival he received the delegates of the various tribes dependent on the Illinois nation. Those delegates were all fine looking men; 3 they had even been specially selected to represent the Nation with the French Commandant. His small stature at first shocked these Americans, but later they were impressed by the dis- course which M. de Boisbriand addressed to them.' 1 Papachengouya, the chief, presented the sacred calumet of peace. Thereupon Boisbriand addressed them as follows : "Illustrious and valiant nation of the Illinois, allies and friends of the French . . . the great Chief of the French Indians about Starved Rock. 2 Voyage de Bossu, III., pp. 2l8'229. See also Villiers du Terrage, Les Dernieres Annies de La Louisiane Franqaise, p. 11, where he states that Boisbriand had two hundred men and that the ice in the Mississippi forced him to spend the winter with the Arkansas. 3 Father Marest writes: "The men are generally of tall stature, very lithe, and good runners, being accustomed from their tenderest youth to hunt wild beasts in the forest." Jesuit Relations, 66, p. 229. "The Illinois are in general the handsomest and the best built savages that I have seen. Proud and arrogant at home, they are the most cowardly of men when they are out of sight of their own village." Diron D'Artaguiette, in Mereness, op. cit., p. 71- FORT DE CHARTRES 197 lives, as you know, beyond the lake of salty water, in an ancient world, where the white men, his subjects, are as numerous as the leaves of the trees in your forests. That grand Monarch, having been informed by the speaking bark [par Vecorce parlante, that is to say, writing on paper] that his faithful allies and children, the Illinois Red Men, and also their confederates, the brave Kaskakias, Mitchi- gamias, Penhenguichias, Kaokias, Tamaroes, etc., had given on every occasion signal proofs of their inviolable attachment to the crown and for the good of his Colony, has graciously honored me to come to live on your lands, to keep them always white (that is, where peace reigns), and to give you unmistakable proofs of his paternal goodness, for he knows that it is with right that the red men call themselves his children. That mark of affection on the part of the great Emperor of the French, of which I feel very proud, author- ised me to tell you that if I am small of stature, my heart is big enough to lodge therein, as in a spacious cabin, all our children, the Illinois red men. ...[!!] I have been commanded to bring to you from his warehouses merchandise, which he sends to you to cover your wives and daughters; for the heart of this great Chief of the white men is pained to hear that his children, the red men, are deserving of pity (that is to say, that their bodies are naked); furthermore, to make it possible for them to live from the meat of the chase, and to make them feared, and to defend them against your mortal enemies, the Foxes, I bring them white arms, guns, powder and bullets. And, like a true father, he has added some milk (the savages of Louisiana call brandy, 'fire water' or fc milk of the French') to cheer and give strength to the venerable elders of the Nation, that they may wisely guide the young Warriors and expressly counsel them not to lose their minds, that is, never scoff at the Master of life or at the Supreme Being, who will protect you against the nation of the cunning Foxes, your inveterate enemies. And if they should have the temerity to defy you while I reside on your lands ... I shall march at the head of my brave warriors, French and Illinois, with large guns, that will strike with thunder those audacious braggarts, and we shall make cannon wads of their scalps." 198 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS They listened to this discourse in profound silence, and then followed the applause of the whole assembly. The eldest orator of the Nation responded thus: "Thy words have penetrated our hearts as swiftly as an arrow that flieth from the bow. Our warriors and our young men, who frequently judge by appearances only, had till now, like inexperienced men, scorned thee; but they realise now, and rightly so, that thou standest higher in light and valor than the stars over our heads, and that thy penetration and understanding is deeper than the whirlpools of the Me- chassepi; they think, even as I do, that it is the power of thy spirit that hath hindered the development of thy body. . . . We earnestly beg thee to inform by means of the speaking bark [in writing or letter] our father, the grand Chief of the white men, that our language has no words that ade- quately express our sentiments of gratitude for his fatherly interest that he has shown our nation by sending to us, to live in our land, a Captain as brave as thou art, to keep it white, . . . and that we will send notables of our tribe to the other side of the great lake of salty water to assure our father, who lives in the large cabin in the big Village of the French, that we, the Illinois red men, wish to live and die his most faithful allies and children." SPANISH A?iD FRENCH RIVALRIES IH THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY—FORT ORLEANS Louis XIV had hoped that placing his grandson, the Duke of Anjou (Philip V), on the throne of Spain, would bring about an entente cordiale between these two coun- tries, as though the Pyrenees no longer separated them. However, Philip V soon learned to share the misgivings of the Spaniards with regard to the French settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi, and concurred in a plot to destroy it, if possible. January 10, 1719, France declared war against Spain, and on April 20th of the same year, Serigny, Bienville's brother, arrived at Dauphine Island with orders to attack Pensacola at once. The French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi was the aim of a Spanish attack, for Spain had ever disliked the presence of the French in the Mississippi Valley. On the island of San Domingo, part of which belonged to France and part to Spain, the Spanish Governor offered a mutual declara- tion of neutrality to the French Governor. 1 Bienville captured Pensacola; the Spanish took it back from the French, who captured it a second time. At the prelim- inaries of peace between France and Spain, Dubois, the Prime Minister, insisted on retaining Pensacola, not because of this little colony's intrinsic worth, but "to keep the English, who are in Carolina, from coming any closer to Louisiana. 11 How- ever, King Philip won out, and Pensacola was remitted to Spain. 2 Bossu relates a rather fantastic story of a Spanish expedi- tion intended to harass or destroy the French in the Illinois country. This expedition seems to have been a phase of the war of 1719-1723 between France and Spain. "Spain, 11 writes Bossu. "looked with jealous eye on our [French] settlements along the banks of the Mississipi. The English, on their part, spared neither ruses nor intrigues to ruin that infant colony, as they still continue to do to-day, ^einrich, op. cit., p. 53. 2 Heinrich, Ibid., p. 73. 199 200 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS on the banks of the Oyo [Ohio], which, they hold, belongs to them; they have also laid claim to the Mississipi. "In 1720 the Spaniards conceived the plan to establish themselves among the Missouris, a post not far from the Illinois, in order to restrict our westward progress more and more. That Nation [the Missouris] is very far from new Mexico, which is the last Spanish Province on the North. "They thought that, to place their colony in safety, the proper thing would be to completely annihilate the Missouris; but seeing that this project could not be executed with their forces, they decided to form an alliance with the Osages, a People living next to the Missouris, and their mortal enemies [of the Missouris] hoping by that means to surprise and com- pletely destroy their neighbors [the Missouris]. With that idea in mind they formed at Santa-Fe a caravan of men and women and soldiers, with a Friar as chaplain, and a Captain Engineer as Chief and Leader, 1 with horses and cattle re- quired for establishing a permanent colony. "The caravan lost its way and, instead of reaching the Osages, it arrived among the Missouris. The Leader of the troop, through his interpreter, spoke to a Chief of the Mis- souris, thinking he was an Osage, and told him they had come to form an alliance with them [the Osages] for the purpose of annihilating the Missouris, their enemies. "The grand Chief of the Nation of the Missouris, con- cealing what he thought of such plan, made the Spaniards believe he was delighted with the scheme and promised to help them execute it. For that reason he invited them to rest a few days from their strenuous journey and that he would assemble the warriors and hold a council with the Elders; but the resolution of the council of war was that they would be the pleasantest hosts to their visitors, and make semblance of the sincerest kind of friendship. "They deliberated together [Missouris and Spaniards] and agreed to start off within three days. The Spanish Captain immediately ordered that 1500 guns and as many pistols should be distributed among them and also swords and hatchets; but from the night of that agreement to the break of the next day, 1 According to the Spanish version, Don Pedro de Villasus was the leader of this expe' dition. AMONG THE MISSOURIS 201 the Missouris were in the camp of the Spaniards and massacred them all, with the exception of the Friar, because of the odd- ness of his costume, which indicated he was not a warrior. They gave him the nickname of Magpie, and they amused themselves by making him do stunts on Spanish horses on their assembly days. "Although the Friar was made much of and amply supplied with food, he was not without fears that some day all this play would end by sacrificing him to their Manitou. That is why one day, profiting by the confidence they placed in him, he slipped away. These things were made known by the Mis- ouris themselves when they brought the chapel ornaments. They had dressed themselves with these vestments. The Chief wore over his skin the most beautiful chasuble with the paten dangling from his neck. ... He marched gravely at the head, crowned with a plumed headgear and a pair of horns. Those who followed him wore chasubles, then came those with stoles, followed by those who had a maniple around their necks. Then came three or four savages having albs over their bodies and others surplices. . . . They did not know the respect due to those sacred Vestments.' ' No doubt, Bossu allowed his imagination to run away with him when he enumerated the exact order in which they marched in that spectacular procession. At any rate, he continues to say that they went to the house of M. de Bois- briand, offered the grand calumet of peace, and then told him what had happened. They also told him that these things were of no use to them, and they would prefer to have mer- chandise instead. He procured the sacred vestments from them in exchange for merchandise, and sent them on to Bien- ville, who was at that time Commandant-General of the Pro- vince of Louisiana. 1 ^ossu, op. cit., I., pp. 172478. There are various versions of this ill'fated expedition. Bossu's is unquestionably the most extravagant and romantic. However, they all agree that the expedition was undertaken to check the westward movement of the French and that only very few Spaniards escaped the murderous attack of the savages. See the Charlevoix, Bienville and Spanish versions in Louis Houck, History of Missouri, I., pp. 253'254. "In fact, some sixty Spaniards, abandoned or betrayed by their savage escorts, had been massacred, the 11th of August, 1720, by the Otos and the Panimahas." Baron Marc de Vil' liers, La Decouverte du Missouri et UHistoire du Fort Orleans, p. 72 (Missouri Historical Society). 202 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS To check the Spanish encroachments on what the French considered the domain of the King of France, the Company decided to establish a post on the Missouri River, in the country of the Missouris and Osages. There was another reason for establishing a post on the Missouri. The authori- ties in Louisiana had made several attempts to reach New Mexico by way of the Arkansas and Red Rivers, and had failed. There was another possibility of reaching New Mexico — by way of the Missouri and across the country occupied by the Padoukas. Du Tisne made the attempt in 1714, but the savages would not permit him to carry merchandise to their enemies. The following year Boisbriand planned to ascend the Missouri, but desisted for want of ammunition and merchandise. The Company then commissioned Etienne Veniard de Bourgmond to erect a fort on the Missouri River. Bourg- mond was the son of a physician in Normandy. In 1706, as a simple ensign, he had been appointed to succeed Tonti as Commandant at Fort Detroit, but deserted after six months. In his younger days he was of the hard coureur de bois type, and seems to have preferred the free life of the savages to the restrictions of decency, honor and civilisation. In 1714 he first visited the Missouris, and seems to have spent at least a part of his undisciplined youth among the savages of this nation. His reports to the Directors of the Company carried great weight, and in consequence he was appointed to establish the Missouri post. A peculiar situation prevailed at that time among the western Indians. All the other tribes seem to have been united against the Padoukas. "If we make peace with the Padoukas", writes Bienville, "we offend our allies, their enemies, and if, on the other hand, we permit the Missouris, the Osages, the Otos and the Panimahas to continue to carry away slaves and horses from the Padoukas, then we should have to renounce all hope of reaching New Mexico by crossing the vast countries overrun by the Commanches, the name by which the Padoukas later became known". 1 In February, 1723, Bourgmond started from New Orleans. His staff officers were : Lieutenants Jean de Pradel de Lamase, Simars de Belisle, and Louis Saint- Ange de Bellerive. 2 Be- Quoted in Villiers du Terrage, op. cit. 2 Later Commandant at Fort de Chartres. AMONG THE MISSOURIS 203 sides these, he had a force of forty or fifty men. Bourgmond's party stopped at Fort de Chartres. Jean Baptiste Mercier, Quebec Seminary priest stationed at Cahokia, joined the ex- pedition as chaplain and missionary. About the middle of November, 1723, the site for the post, which he called Fort Orleans, was selected. According to Marc de Villiers and the Dumont and Broutin maps, this fort was located on the left bank of the Missouri, some miles above the mouth of the Grande River, Carroll County, Missouri. Bourgmond continued to the country of the Padoukas, where he established peace, and then returned to Fort Orleans. His administration was not at all peaceful. Some of his subordinates manifested the same lack of dis- cipline that had characterised his own younger days. Father Mercier remained there as chaplain till the latter part of Dec- ember, 1724. Fort Orleans was abandoned in 1728. 1 l This presentation of the history of Fort Orleans is drawn from Baron Marc de Villiers, La Decouverte du Missouri et UHistoire du Fort Orleans. See also Gilbert Joseph Garra* ghan, in Missouri Historical Society Collections, June, 1928, EARLY MIKINP ATTEMPTS IN THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY— PHILIPPE RENAULT— SLOW PROGRESS OF LOUISIANA The war of 1719-1723, between France and Spain, embar- rassed Louisiana to no small degree, but did not seriously interfere with the development of mining in the Illinois country. Sieur Marc Antoine de la Loire des Ursins, who came to Fort de Chartres with Boisbriand and held a position akin to that of Intendant, has left a very interesting report 1 of his inspection of some of the mines in the Illinois country. "On June 6, 1719, we started from the establishment of Kaskaskia. We crossed the Mississippy and spent the night one-fourth of a league below Saline River. ... To go to these mines we had to cross the little river of the Saline twenty times. When the Mississipy is low, the water reaches up to the horse's belly; at high water one could, to reach the mines, go up the river by boat for five leagues. . . . On the 10th we made the workmen dig into the shaft which Mr. De la Mothe had made. It was only four feet deep; the rock was still untouched. . . . There is a small layer of lead four feet below the surface of the ground which is yellow, intermingled with grains of lead, six inches thick; deeper down is another layer, three to four inches thick. . . . Under this rock is another which is mixed with lead, seven inches thick; it has black and green streaks; lower down we have found a layer of lead, which, in the strongest part of the vein, is five inches thick. It runs from southeast to northwest and is mixed with yellow earth. Below this is a very heavy rock, which it has been impossible to pierce, because everywhere we met with veins and streams of water which we can stop only when we have the machin- ery required. Hardly had we gone down nine feet and a half, when the difficulty to penetrate forced us to dig another shaft to the southwest from the first one; there is a little creek which flows between the two shafts. . . . You find similar mines everywhere, so to say, on the surface of ^othensteiner, op. cit., pp. 205, ff. 204 PHILIPPE RENAULT 205 the earth. The savages have made an infinite number of holes from which they drew lead in this neighborhood where there is such an abundance of similar mines. . . . "On the 15th about noon we started and we arrived at this village [Kaskaskia] on the 17th at noon. We had with us Mr. Delisle, officer, Mr. Lochon, Messrs. Bourdon and Texier with five of their slaves, six soldiers, one sergeant, two salt-makers, five savages, three of them Tamaroas, two of whom had conducted the son of Mr. De la Mothe, and four horses. You can imagine that the soldiers do not work at the mines, wherefore the sooner we shall get negroes the better it will be. The Frenchmen are unfit for this kind of work, and if they want to work, their wages will, in proportion, be much higher than the profit from the mines will permit. 1 '' Rothensteiner also quotes a document by M. la Renau- diere, who engaged in mining on the Meramec River. Charle- voix says of him that "neither he nor any of his company un- derstood the construction of furnaces/ ' A few quotations from the report of Renaudiere will be interesting: "In some places the mineral is only one foot below the surface . . . pieces of lead weighing from 20 to 30 02; may be found. . . . I worked it [the rock] and found a little silver. In locations where the veins are well-formed, the mineral is found to be good, and produces as much as 40 to 45 per cent. . . . Two leagues from theiead-mines on the Illinois road, there is a great mountain, where there are silver mines. Their wealth cannot be estimated, as they have not been opened [!]... If a settlement could be formed here upon which 30 negroes could be placed under the management of capable persons, a good living could easily be made in many ways, and approximately three hundred millions of lead per year." A few years later, May, 27, 1723, Diron D'Artaguiette, 1 Inspector of troops, writes from Fort de Chartres: "Day of the Feast of Our Lord 2 [Corpus Christi]. The procession of the Blessed Sacrament was made, the troops under arms lining the streets. The same day about one o'clock in the afternoon M. Renaut, director of mines, arrived here from the Maramek Mines, where he went a month and a half ago ^ereness, op. cit. p. 77- 2 Fztc Dieu, Feast of the Lord. 206 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS to join the thirty or so Frenchmen who were working at getting out the ore. Sr. Renault keeps at these mines, not without great expense, all Frenchmen, who have been there for more than six months. There are perhaps about six thousand pounds weight of lead melted down. These mines are situated to the northwest from Fort de Chartres, or ten leagues above. ... He has brought along some of the ore for the purpose of making some assays of it in our presence, to send by us to His Royal Highness, my Lord the Duke of Orleans". Phillippe Francois Renault was the son of Phillippe Re- nault, who was interested in the iron industry at Consobre, near Maubeuge, France. Phillippe Francois was an ener- getic business man and a man of means. 1 He had invested heavily in Law's Company, and was one of its Directors. After various attempts at testing out the Illinois mines opened till then, the Company decided to push mining operations in the whole of Louisiana. For the specific devel- opment of the mines in the Illinois country a special asso- ciation was formed, under the patronage of the Company of the Indies, and was known as the Company of St. Phil" ippe. 2 Houck writes: "Renault sailed from France with two hundred miners and laborers and everything needful to carry on mining operations — even bricks for his furnaces were made in Paris with his name on them. 3 . . . On his voyage, the ship touched San Domingo, then a French colony and a way-station for all vessels, sailing to Louisiana. There he purchased five hundred negroes 4 to work the mines he expected to find. 11 Heinrich states that about this time 600 slaves were brought to Louisiana. Only a small number may have been taken to the Illinois country. The census of 1732 gives the distribution of slaves as follows: Kaskaskia, 102; Ste-Anne de Fort de Chartres, 37; St. Philippe, 22; Cahokia, 4. To According to Heinrich, op. cit., p. 51, Renault was a Parisian banker. He returned to France in 1742. 2 Houck, op. at., I., p. 282. 3 Cozzens, a surveyor, found one of these bricks on Fourche a Renault, in Washington County, Missouri. 4 The colonists could pay for slaves with tobacco and rice. PHILIPPE REHAULT 207 this Alvord 1 remarks: "The census report disproves the oft-repeated tradition of the importation of five hundred Negro slaves by Renault." 2 Renault also prospected in the upper Illinois country and reported he had found coal; but, as to ores, his pros- pecting had brought only meager results, although, "in examining a coal mine we found a mine of silver and of copper of which the said Sieur Renault had made proof. 11 They prospected along every stream in what are now the ad- joining counties, and evidently thought they had found a trace of silver in one of them, and named it Riviere d 1 Argent — Silver Creek, St. Clair County, Illinois. The Directors of the Company, their minds set on devel- oping the mines with all vigor, instituted a special council of ten, as a board of directors, and gave every concession that could be of benefit to the undertaking. Smelting was to take place every three or four weeks, the habitants and soldiers were to be permitted to work in the mines. However, Renault was without sufficient funds, and could not push the development of the mines as he would have liked. 3 The Company granted Renault several cessions of land: two across the River, near the mines on the Missouri side, one on the Illinois River, and another north of Fort de Char- tres, one league river frontage and two leagues inland. The present village of Renault is situated on the southeast edge of the Renault tract. The long since extinct village of St. Philippe and parish of St. Philippe de la Visitation were also located on this tract, on the low ground some six miles northwest of Fort de Chartres. In the meantime the development of the colony in the rest of Louisiana moved along rather slowly and under the Alvord, Centennial History of Illinois, I., p. 202, n. 34. 2 See page 174, n. 1, ante. 3 We, who live more than two hundred years later, are inclined to shrug a shoulder and smile as we think of Renault and his corps of prospectors busily digging up the alluvial soil of the American Bottom and examining every crevice and cave of the Bluff on both sides of the Mississippi in search of precious metal; but those men, and they were intelligent men, lived at a time when very positive and persistent rumors of rich deposits of silver and gold some' where in this part of the American continent had circulated in Europe for nearly a century and a half. Will those who come after us perhaps have the same piteous smile for the present generation, because it punctures the crust of the earth for oil where, as they will then know, there is none? 208 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS greatest difficulties. Law's failure and the crash on the stock market had given Louisiana a bad name. The Com' pany established strict censorship, and letters telling of the actual conditions were intercepted, and orders given to allow no one to return to France. However, the news leaked out, and Louisiana was in such evil repute that nothing was considered more disgraceful for an honest man than to go to the Mississippi. In truth, the Directors soon had enough trouble without having to take care of new arrivals. Paper money depreciated about 80%, and in consequence, prices soared higher and higher, making paupers even of those who had any of it left. In the fall of 1721 several non-cpmmissioned officers arrived at Alabama from Mobile, and at their instigation, the whole Alabama garrison de- serted and struck out for Carolina (English colony), bag, baggage, and arms. A little later, when New Orleans superseded Biloxi as headquarters of the Company, a Swiss detachment, 1 stationed at Biloxi, received orders to transfer to New Orleans, but the men refused to "serve any longer in that miserable country' ' and compelled their captain to lead them to Charleston (English colony). Charlevoix says that in 1722, Louisiana was in great danger of emptying out as quickly as it had filled up, and in truth, it had never filled up very much. November 24, 1721, Diron d'Artaguiette took the census of New Orleans and classified the population as follows: 145 men (16 officers and employes, 44 workmen or sailors in the service of the Company, 42 convicts — exported jail- birds — and 43 not classified), 65 women, 38 children, 29 servants, 172 Negroes, 21 savage slaves. Two years prior, the Mercure, Law's notorious advertising medium, had given New Orleans 800 beautiful houses and five parishes. "These," writes Charlevoix, "still only amount to a hundred hovels and two or three houses that would not set off a French village." 2 The harvest of 1722 promised to be abundant. The colonists had set to work tilling the fields instead of trading with the Indians. However, even the elements seemed to ^einrich, op. cit., p. 87- 2 Ibid., p. 93. PHILIPPE RENAULT 209 conspire against them. September 12, 1722, a terrible hur- ricane 1 swept the lower Valley of the Mississippi, tumbled down most of the little huts, and the torrential rains that followed ruined the crops. The stagnant waters that re- mained after the flood, brought on an epidemic of disease and malignant fever that carried off scores of the population. Diron d'Artaguiette writes: "There is scarcely a house in which there are not some sick persons, and at least eight or nine persons die each day." New Orleans was then a pile of ruins, and really did not gain any importance until a levee 2 was built as a protection against the floods of the Mississippi. Diron d'Artaguiette began his tour of inspection Sep' tember 1, 1722. Already on the 10th of the same month, Dumanoir, director of a concession operated for merchants of Saint Malo, near the site of the present Natchez;, Mis- sissippi, presented a list of twelve grievances and a memo- randum of fifteen "things which are necessary for the es- tablishment of this colony" to the Inspector-General. Number 13 enunciates the following sound economic principle: "That the company ought to think first of en- riching the inhabitants before it can even think of drawing any profit for itself. The inhabitants once enriched, the company will find itself reimbursed for its advances, and it would make a large production upon which it would have a large profit, for if one counts upon stifling the inhabitant at the first moment he begins to breathe — I mean to say, if one forces the inhabitant to give to this company his first crops for nothing — this will not be the means of making him discharge his debt, but on the contrary it will only thrust him deeper into the abyss, by which method the company will lose its advances and throw the country into the same condition in which it was formerly." The Directors at this time bent every effort to supply the colonists with all they needed. Between April, 1721, llt Sept. 12. New Orleans. Towards ten o'clock in the evening there sprang up the most terrible hurricane which has been seen in these quarters. At New Orleans thirty'four houses were destroyed, as well as the sheds, including the church, the parsonage and the hospital. In the hospital were some people sick with wounds. . . . "Journal of Diron d Af taguiette. The hurricane lasted till noon of the following day. 2 The levee was built by Perrier in 1727- 210 FROM QUEBEC TO KEW ORLEANS and July, 1722, they shipped in 1,570,000 livres' worth of foodstuffs and merchandise. 1 But the employes of the ware- houses looked to their own gain and carried on illegal traffic with the Spaniards in goods that had been sent for the use of the colonists. More than that, they let go to ruin what they could not dispose of in their illegal traffic. It is even claimed that Bienville was perfectly willing to allow these disorders to go on, to force the crown to take over the colony. Nor was Bienville alone in this view. Drouet de Valdeterre, former Commandant at Biloxi, maintained in a memoir of 1722 the absolute necessity that Louisiana be "held, ruled, and governed in the name of the King." 2 Fortunately for the Illinois country, agriculture remained the chief source of revenue about Kaskaskia and Fort de Chartres. True, the flood of 1722, which had done so much damage at New Orleans, had also caused fever and sickness about Fort de Chartres. But, all in all, this colony pros- pered. The sale of flour, and the peltries, obtained at rea- sonable prices from the Indians, gave this colony comforts of life which one cannot find elsewhere at that early period. The colony lived happily and enjoyed life in an easy, care- free way. On Sundays after Mass there were visits, games, amusements, folk-songs and folk-dances, in which the people indulged with genuine French delight. 3 But this pastoral peace was often disturbed by sudden attacks of the Fox Indians. ^einrich, op. cit., p. 93. Hbid., p. 88., n. 6. 3 See pp. 299-306, post. WAR AGAUiST THE FOX IHDIAHS Jolliet and Marquette had taken the Fox- Wisconsin route down to the Mississippi. While it is true that in the course of time other routes were used even more than the Fox- Wisconsin, nevertheless, this route remained an important one in itself and as leading to the savage tribes of the great Northwest. "Quebec and New Orleans' 1 , writes Thwaites, "were separated by a vast wilderness, only laboriously to be traversed by canoes and bateaux; the little waterside stockades were for the most part days distant from each other, and looked more formidable on the map than in real- ity; much dependence was placed on Indian support, but in need, the savages often proved but fair weather allies." 1 The Montigny party that came down to the Tamarois in 1698, found the Fox- Wisconsin route closed by the Foxes, and had to go by way of Chicago. French Commandants sometimes attempted to transplant, and at times actually transplanted, Indian tribes, to strengthen certain sectors of their line, or to keep the savages under surveillance near one of their important posts, and make sure of the loyalty and trade of that tribe. This suggestion was also made to the Fox Indians, who at first refused to go, though "finally a large body of them yielded to continued solicitations [1710], and after a long march overland from Wisconsin, planted themselves in a rather defiant mood before the gates of the little Michigan fortress [Detroit] 1 '. 2 It proved a bad bargain for Cadillac, and he was anxious to send them back to the forests of Wisconsin, but the Foxes would not go. Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, finally commanded them to go back to their own country, but even then the invited guests were in no hurry to go. Other tribes had settled around Detroit, and the turbulent Foxes did not get along with them. Early in 1712 an attack was made on the Foxes by the combined Indian tribes, backed up by the French, and most of the Foxes were slaughtered. But there were enough of their tribe left in Wisconsin to avenge the butchery of their brethren. With consummate skill and x Thwaites, Wisconsin, p. 87- Hbid. Cadillac was then Commandant at Detroit. The Foxes plotted with the Five Nations and the English to drive the French from Detroit. 211 2i2 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS craftiness they organised a confederacy that soon inaugurated a reign of terror in the upper Mississippi Valley, down to Cahokia and Fort de Chartres. That was the beginning of the Fox War. 'The wilder- ness from that date, 11 writes Alvord, "resounded with the war whoop. Indian tribe warred on Indian tribe. The secret preparation, the long line of stealthy warriors gliding through the forest or paddling guardedly along the streams, the surprise, the murder of men, women and children, the torture and burning at the stake, were common events in the region that the Jesuit missionaries had once hoped to make the home of a peaceful agricultural people, "The Illinois country was particularly affected, for there had long existed a feud between the Illinois and the Foxes; and the latter's next of kin and allies, the Kickapoo and the Mascoutens, were near neighbors, dwelling in the valleys of the Rock and Fox rivers. The valley of the Illinois River became the scene of a frightful contest between the red men, one party being assisted by their white protectors. In 1714, the Foxes were successful in killing or taking prisoner seventy-seven of the Illinois Indians." 1 The line of communication to Canada was weak, because the French had abandoned a number of forts in the west; they now tried to compensate for this military weakness by arranging a confederacy among the Indians friendly to them. A rendezvous was arranged for Chicago in 1715, but the Wea Indians contracted measles and could not come. A little later the savage forces were, however, united, and the Mascoutens, allies of the Foxes, were defeated on the Fox River. In 1716 Louis la Porte, sieur de Louvigny, under authority of the Governor of Canada, and command- ing an army of several hundred Frenchmen that picked up other whites as it went along, moved westward to attack and, if possible, exterminate the Foxes. "Loads of mer- chandise and forty casks of brandy were carried as muni- tions. The Foxes stood their ground in their village on the Fox River [Wisconsin], and Louvigny laid siege in true European fashion with trenches and mining operations. When the Foxes were reduced to desperation, the commander Alvord, op. cit., L, pp. 146-148. DEFEAT OF THE FOXES 213 granted them easy terms and marched away, greatly to the disgust of his allies, who were expecting the annihilation of the foe; instead, the foxes had promised beaver skins." 1 The constant worry of the Commandants in the Illinois country for a number of years, in fact, till 1730, was how to put an end to the depredations of the Fox Indians. Kiala was the crafty forest diplomat, who had built up the strong confederacy of dissatisfied Indian tribes. Charlevoix says that in 1721, when he passed through the Mississippi Valley, the Foxes "infested with their robberies and filled with murders . . . almost all the routes communicating with the remote colonial posts, as well as those leading from Canada to Louisiana." In 1722 they inflicted a cutting defeat on the Illinois Indians at Peoria and near Starved Rock. Under date of June 1, 1723, the Journal of Diron cTAr- taguiette 2 records this entry made at Fort de Chartres: "At noon we perceived in the middle of the river a French canoe, with a man in it who seemed to us not to be rowing. We sent out a pirogue which brought back this canoe in which was a man called Ponpon, a soldier detailed to the Caho- skias. He had received two gun shots, one in the head and the other in the arm, and several other arrow shots and had his scalp torn off to the skull. In the stern of the canoe there was a bundle of skins, upon which there were two pairs of Indian mittens, and the vest of M. St. Ange, the son, 3 in the pocket of which we found some letters from MM. St. Ange, father, and M. Mercier, the priest, which informed us that the Renard [Fox] Indians were coming with 300 men by land and as many by water to attack the village of the Cahoskias. They besought M. Boisbriand to send to their aid both men and provisions." A few years later, Du Tisne, then Commandant at Fort de Chartres, Acting Governor Boisbriand, the Jesuits, and the Seminary priests, all joined in a powerful protest against any treaty contracted with the Foxes, which did not include the Illinois. In 1725 the Jesuit Father Beaubois of Kas- kaskia went to France and took with him several Indian ^lvord, op. cit. p. 148. 2 Mereness, op. cit., p. 78. 3 Louis Saint'Ange de Bellerive had received only slight wounds and escaped to Fort de Chartres on an improvised raft, 2i 4 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS chiefs: the famous Chicagou of the Michigamea, and one each from the Otos, Osages, and Missouris, and one Indian maiden known as the Princesse des Missouris. 1 At the Court of Versailles they pictured the sorry plight of the Illinois country and pleaded the urgent need of protection from the Great White Father. 2 The Iroquois offered asylum to the Foxes in case they were attacked. De Liette proposed to destroy the Foxes, but de Lignery, Commandant of the expedition sent from New France, thought it would be dangerous to both col- onies to attempt to do so, unless assured of complete success. June 7, 1726, he made peace with the Foxes and Winne- bagoes; prisoners were exchanged between the Illinois and Foxes, and promise of good behavior was made. However, the peace was a deception, and the Foxes continued their depredations as before. In 1727, Fort Beauharnois 3 was built on the west bank of the Mississippi (Lake Pepin, Min- nesota). 1 The Princesse des hiissouris, was solemnly baptized in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. Later she married Dubois, a sergeant in Bourgmond's expedition. After the death of Dubois the princess married a second time and lived at Kaskaskia. Marc de Villiers, op. cit., p. 119. 2 Bossu relates that he talked to an old savage who had been of the party that went to Paris, and that he asked him what pretty things he had seen there. The Indian replied that he liked best the "Street of the Butchers' shops, because they had so much meat there. . . . He had also been to the opera and all those people were jugglers and crooks; that on Pont Neuf he had seen tiny men and women who spoke and sang [they had taken him to a Punch and Judy show]. He told the other Indians that he had seen as many people in Paris as they had leaves on the trees of their forests. " Bossu says in explanation that the savages had no expression to indicate numbers higher than hundred. After that they would say: "as many as leaves on the trees in your forests," and du Poisson adds: "or mosquitoes in your woods.'" The savage further told Bossu he had seen "in the Tuilleries and on other promenades in Paris men who were half women, that they had their hair done up like women [they wore wigs]; that he had a strong suspicion they used rouge and that they smelled like a crocodile" Bossu adds that a crocodile has an odor akin to musk and can often be smelled before it is seen. Bossu, Voyage aux Indes Occidentales, I., pp. 161468. 3 In 1720, the Jesuit Father Charlevoix came to Canada, commissioned by the French Government, to find a route to the Western Sea. He returned by way of New Orleans and thus visited practically all the missions and posts in the Illinois country and Louisiana. In 1744, Father Charlevoix published his Histoire de la 7<[ouvelle France — History of New France. He was a very keen observer, and his work is of great value. Groston, sieur de St'Ange, accompanied Father Charlevoix on this journey. Alvord says of St'Ange that he was "a typical trooper, illiterate, upright, pious, and attached to his duties. . . . Two of his sons, Pierre and Louis, have also played their part on these prairies. On May 30, 1722, St'Ange. was commissioned ensign on half pay. He and his son Louis accompanied Bourgmont to DEFEAT OF THE FOXES 215 The French now determined to make an end of the Foxes. The battle was fought somewhere "between the Illinois and Wabash Rivers, on the bank of a small river [or creek], 50 leagues east southeast from the Rock [Starved Rock]." 1 The Foxes, finding themselves surrounded and the passes blocked, had built a fort. St. Ange, Commandant of Fort de Chartres, was the first white man there, with one hun- dred French and four hundred Indians; Nicolas Coulon, sieur de Villiers from St. Joseph, commanding the Miamis, and Sieur de Noyelle, at the head of the Canadians, ar- rived next. Whites and Indians from all around made up an army of about 1400 men. The fort of the Foxes was besieged for twenty-three days, when both sides ran out of food. "They were reduced", writes M. de Villiers, "to the extremity of eating leather, and we were little better off". 2 During a thunderstorm the night of September 8, 1730, the Foxes escaped, but were overtaken the next day, and were so completely annihilated£"that not more than 50 the Missouri and assisted him in his explorations, and the father commanded Fort Orleans for a time. In 1729 he bought a house near Fort de Chartres, and after Dutisne's death he became, as senior officer, the commandant of the Illinois, a position which he held until 1733." Alvord, op. cit., I., p. 158. According to Thwaites, the perspicacious Charlevoix made two suggestions to the gov' ernment at Versailles: "First, an expedition up the Missouri, thence follow some westering waterway to the ocean — the scheme which Lewis and Clark realized eighty-five years later; the second, to establish a line of fur-trade and missionary posts among the Sioux, and thus gradually to creep into and across the interior." The second suggestion was adopted, and Fort Beauharnois was built with Rene Boucher de la Periere in command. Thwaites, Wisconsin, p. 95. 1 Where was this famous battle of extermination of the Fox Indians fought? According to Chaussegros de Lery's map, drawn in 1730, the Fort of the Fox Indians was located be- tween the Illinois and Wabash Rivers, fifty leagues east southeast from the Rock (Starved Rock). Furthermore, the fort was situated on the north bank of a creek or small river flow- ing east and "near that of the Macopin — proche celle de Macopin.'"' Now, on the Delisle map of 1718, the present Kankakee River is marked Macopin. The only creek or small river flowing east in that part of Illinois is the Vermillion River, between Danville and Sidney, in Champaign County. The Saline Fork might come into question, but probably not. I there- fore venture the statement that the Fort of the Foxes was situated somewhere between Dan vile and Sidney, probably a mile or two south of Batestown. The Wilson map of Vermillion County (1850) shows Indian tepees on the same spot. See also Tanner map of 1823. Courtesies of Miss Georgia L. Osborne of the Illinois State Historical Library, of Miss Deette Rolfe and Dr. M. M. Leighton of the Illinois State Geological Survey (Urbana) are herewith acknowledged. 2 The story of the destruction of the Foxes is one of the most affecting and tragical of the Indian wars of America. See Canadian Archives, 1899, p. 138. 216 FROM QUEBEC TO NEW ORLEANS or 60 men escaped without guns and without any of the implements for procuring their subsistence." Beauharnois and Hocquart, Governor and Intendant of New France, reported the matter to the Minister in the following words: "My Lord. The Sieur Coulon de Villiers, son of Sr. de Villiers commanding at the river St. Joseph, has just this moment arrived, dispatched by his father to bring us the interesting news of the almost total defeat of the Foxes; two hundred of their warriors have been killed on the spot, or burned after having been taken as slaves and six hundred women and children were absolutely destroyed." 1 beauharnois and Hocquart to the Minister, Nov. 2, 1730, Correspondence officielle, XII., p. 2786. Canadian Archives, Ottawa. THE BRITISH DISLIKE COW ACT OF LOUISIANA WITH HEW FRAXCB— ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLOnX— FIRST COURT I7v[ THE ILLINOIS While the French, with axe in hand and musket slung across their backs, were biasing a trail through the virgin forests of the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, or paddling their frail canoes and stout pirogues up and down the waters that connect the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the Gulf of Mex- ico, to open up and strengthen that line of communication so essential to the very existence of the newly-established colony, Louisiana, the British advance scouts, from the tops of the Alleghenies, watched the slow bat well-planned progress of their rivals. February 25, 1717, the Lords of Trade sent the following note of alarm to Robert Hunter, then Governor of Virginia : "We send you here inclosed the copy of a memorial lately laid before us, concerning the progress the French have made in finding out 6? securing a passage from St. Law- rence or Canada River to their new settlement called Loui- siana and down the River Mississippi in the Bay of Mexico : whereupon we must desire you to inform yourself as par- ticularly as you can of the fact therein mentioned and to ac- quaint us thereof as soon as possible and give us your sen- timents what methods may most properly be taken for pre- venting the inconveniences to which his Majesty's Planta- tions on the Continent of America and the Trade of this Kingdom may be subject by such a communication between the French settlements' 1 . 1 Four years later, September 8, 1721, the same Lords of Trade made representation to the King that "The French nation having always been desirous to extend their dominions in America, have lost no opportunity of encroaching upon their Neighbours there. And although your Majesty 6? your Royal Ancestors have an uncontestable right as well by discovery as possession, to the several British Colonies in X E. B. CTCallaghan, V., p. 502. Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of K[ew Tor\, commonly cited as J<[ew Tor\ Colonial Documents, or simply, O'Callaghan, who edited them in fifteen volumes. 2IJ 218 FROM QUEBEC TO K[EW ORLEANS America; yet the french Kings have at sundry times made grants thereof to their subjects. Such were the letters patents of Louis the 13th in favour of the french West India Com- pany, bearing date the 29 th of April 1627; 6? those of Louis the 14 th to Monsr Croisat 1 some time since surrendered to the united India Company of france, upon which they build their title to the Mississippi. Many other instances of the like nature might be given were they necessary to the present purpose, but these two, which comprehended almost all your Majesty's dominions in America, may be sufficient to shew the unlimited inclination the french have to encroach upon your Majesty's territories in those parts." The document then sets forth that the French "have built small forts at the heads of the Lakes 6? Rivers, along that vast tract of land, from the entry of the river of St. Lawrence to the embouchure of the Mississippi, into the bay of Mexico. " The Lords then risk the delicate suggestion that His Majes- ty's Ministers must have been asleep: "And indeed had this matter been sooner considered, the french dominions had never been extended from North to South through the whole Continent of America. For your Majesty's subjects, who had much greater convenience of discovering & making treaties with the Indian nations, on the Lakes, which lie so contiguous to the back of the British Settlements, might effectually have prevented this communication which may prove highly inconvenient to the trade 6*? Welfare of your Majesty's Colonies." The Lords of Trade feared that the fact that the British colonies were strung out along the Atlantic seaboard, east of the Alleghenies, which constituted the de facto boundary, might lead some Prime Minister of England to accept the Alleghenies as the legal boundary line between the French and British colonies. They therefore appended the following protest, backed up with practical suggestions, to their re- presentation : "Although these Mountains may serve at present for a very good frontier, we should not propose them for the boundary of your Majestys Empire in America. On the contrary, it were to be wished, that the British Settlements might be extended beyond them, & some small forts erected 1 Antoine Crosat. See p. 161, ante. ORDER FOLLOWS CHAOS 219 on the great Lakes, in proper places, by permission of the Indian proprietors." 1 In the meantime, France sobered up from the wild orgy of speculating in Mississippi bonds and tried to regain her balance, so rudely disturbed by the tremendous crash of Law's System. April 15, 1721, the crown appointed four commissioners to take over the management of the affairs of the Company. To facilitate the administration of the colony and to give the inhabitants protection and justice within reach, the whole Province of Louisiana was divided into nine military and civil districts, 2 each with a commandant and a judge. The districts were: New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, Alibamous, Matches, Yasou, Natchitoches, Arkansas, and Illinois. Every part of Louisiana, whether inhabited or not, was included in some one of those nine districts and provided with civil and military government. These nine districts were again grouped under four general com- manderies, of which the Illinois and the Arkansas constituted one commandery, assigned to the first Lieutenant of the King, M. de Boisbriand, Commandant of Fort de Chartres. In 1717, at the insistent request of Law, but over the protests of the Governor of New France (Canada), the Illi- nois country had been made a part of the Province of Loui- siana. The northern boundary line of the Illinois or, the boundary line between the Province of Louisiana, which comprised the Illinois country, and New France (Canada), was a line beginning at the mouth of the Illi- nois River, running eastward and crossing the Wabash about the site of the present Terre-Haute, Indiana. 3 The Illinois, then, comprised a portion of territory on the east side of the Mississippi within the limits above mentioned, and all on the west, northward of the Arkansas district, how far, no one exactly knew. Fort de Chartres was the chief place or capital of this vast, almost limitless territory. The Directors really made an earnest endeavor to remedy the mistakes of the Law Company and to save what could possibly be salvaged from the unfortunate enterprise, but public opinion was against them. The stockholders were ^'Callaghan, op. cit., V., pp. 619, 621, 624. 2 Heinrich, op. at., p. 82, n. 4; See also Gayarre; op. cit., p. 279. 3 James Piatt Dunn, The Mission of the Ouabache, p. 280. 220 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS quite naturally wrought up. Unhappily for the undertaking, the gold and silver mines, which never existed in reality, were still in their heads. They could not yet understand that the wealth of the Mississippi Valley lay not in gold mines and veins of silver, but in the fertile soil that was ready to yield rich harvests in abundance. A satire published against Fagon, one of the Directors, expressed the hope that when he had given his soul to the devil, Satan might throw his carcass into a stagnant pool in the "deserts of the Mississipi." 1 Drouot de Valdeterre, who had command- ed at Biloxi and Dauphine Island, complained in a memoir of 1722, that the royal authority was not sufficiently rec- ognised in the colony, and therefore advocated that Louisiana be "held, ruled and governed 1 ' in the name of the King. Bienville, the Governor, felt very much the same about it. He had seen with his own eyes the disastrous consequences of the "System," and had had so many quarrels with the representatives of the Company that he was willing to stake his fortune on a change. The Compagnie des Indes and the receivers or commis- sioners of that Company, appointed after the collapse of the Law system, had each in turn contributed a certain share to the development of Louisiana. The misfortunes and sufferings of the people were simply a part of the hard beginnings of a colony, the labor of the birth of a nation, and they were duplicated in many other later attempts, like the Marietta colony in Ohio, and others. The Directors felt that there had been one great defect in the administration of the colony, that was responsible for much suffering among the colonists and great loss to the Company, — lack of proper supervision, too much loose book-keeping, and no auditing of accounts. By decree of the Council, December 8, 1722, two special commissioners were appointed, with full powers to make a complete audit of merchandise, foodstuffs, and funds sent to Louisiana since 1717, hear the complaints of the colo- nists, and take notice of everything that happened in the colony. Each post and warehouse was to be checked up. This measure was to stop definitively the plundering and grafting that had caused so much harm to the colony. Most of the *"La jette au fond cTun lac croupi, Aux deserts du Mississipi," Heinrich, op. cit., p. 2. ORDER FOLLOWS CHAOS 221 Directors of the Council were replaced. Bienville was made president, 1 de La Tour vice-president, and six new counsel- lors were appointed. All of them were to live at New Orleans. The counsellors were to meet at least three times a week. To insure quick action and make it possible to locate responsibility, a sort of commission form of govern- ment was introduced. Each counsellor had his department, for which he alone was held responsible, and no other coun- sellor had any right to interfere in that department. Bien- ville's department coveted presents to be distributed to the Indians and all matters concerning Indian tribes. March 24, 1723, the Compagnie des Indes was reinstated, by royal decree, to the possession of its rights, and given the monopoly of tobacco; but from that date on the Com- pany was merely a private commercial undertaking without direct connection with the government. Still, the govern- ment was vitally interested in the future of Louisiana, and therefore placed Dodun, a former commissioner, at the head of the administrative board, known as Conseil des Indes, and, a little later, the Directors were instructed to render a bi-weekly report to Minister Dodun. A sort of mania for economy prompted the Directors to an unwise step. Although incessantly complaining of the intrigues of the English, they decided to reduce the defense of the colony from sixteen to twelve companies, and even to abandon several posts, for instance, those among the Yasous and Arkansas. This same policy of economy led the Directors of the Company to a very peculiar line of thought. They had noticed the good work the Jesuits and other mis- sionaries were doing among the Indians in New France and in the Illinois country in the way of breaking their nomadic habits and making them sedentary, teaching them agriculture, stock-raising, weaving, etc. In short, they noticed that the missionary did more real good among the savages than the soldier, and therefore decided to send more Jesuits and fewer soldiers. 2 x Heinrich, op. cit., p. 98. 2 Heinrich, op. cit., pp. 169-170. Claude L. Vogel in The Capuchins in French Louisiana, p. 89, formulates the Company's political motive as follows: "The Jesuits are, therefore, necessary to neutralize the British machinations and keep the Indians loyal to the French." 222 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS True, Charlevoix had told them of the need of sending more missionaries to evangelise and civilise the savages, and he had reminded them that it was one of the charter obli- gations 1 of the Company to promote the spread of Christianity among them, but he had not intended to convey the idea that missionaries should be used to repel the encroaching English. The Post of the Yasous had been established to prevent the English from approaching the Mississippi. The Directors said: "Let the Jesuits evangelise and civilise the Indians, and then these savages will repel the English.' ' The Post of the Arkansas was a revictualing station for the convoys bound for Kaskaskia and Fort de Chartres. Here they laid in new supplies, but for that, said the Directors, we need no soldiers. Make a mission of the Arkansas Post, and that will answer the same purpose. The strong protest of Bienville saved the Post of the Yasous, but, in 1725 the total defense of the colony was reduced to eight companies of 50 men each. At Fort de Chartres there were only thirty fusileers. During Crosat's tenure, practically nothing had been done officially for the evangelisation of the savages in Louisiana. Charlevoix having called the Company's attention to the neglect of a charter obligation, the Directors decided upon sending a large number of missionaries. This marks the coming of the Capuchins and Jesuits. In the year 1700 Saint- Vallier, second Bishop of Quebec, went to France in the interest of his vast diocese. He col- lected money and gathered up an immense quantity of goods needed for his struggling missions. After a sojourn of four years he attempted to return to Quebec, but on high sea the boat on which he sailed, and which carried all the things he had collected for the missions, was captured by the British, and boat and church goods and Bishop were taken to England, where he was detained in honorable cap- lll If it were assumed that, under monopoly conditions, the profits of those enjoying the trading privileges would be very great, it was natural to assume also that the monopolists could afford to support missionaries and establish French colonies. Needless to say, there were many who sought such trading monopolies and lightly promised to fulfil the conditions attached thereto, with little intention of doing so. Moreover, the fields of their operations were far removed from the immediate cognizance of the courts which made the grants." Adam Shortt, Canadian Currency, I., XXXV. ORDER FOLLOWS CHAOS 223 tivity for five years, 17044709. During his absence the diocese was governed by two Vicars-General. Bishop Laval, who had resigned in 1684, still lived; he was, of course, their adviser, and performed the necessary episcopal functions when requested by the Vicars-General. In January, 1705, the captive Saint- Vallier had petitioned the King 1 for a coadjutor. But the King was not exactly looking for a coadjutor, but rather for a successor, because of the many difficulties of Saint- Vallier' s regime. Finally, June 22, 1713, the King appointed Louis-Frangois de Mornay, Guar- dian of the Capuchin monastery at Meudon, Coadjutor of Quebec. But, strange to say, Bishop de Mornay could not make up his mind to go to Quebec. Some think it was an invincible dread of the ocean voyage that held him back. "That is possible," writes Auguste Gosselin, 2 "but we believe that, knowing the difficult character of Mgr. Saint- Vallier, who loved to govern by himself, and knowing the many difficulties he had had in the past with the Seminary, and with the religious, he thought it best to keep out of these disputes and let the Prelate administer his diocese as he liked.'" In truth, Saint- Vallier himself at this time did not care to have a coadjutor at Quebec, but wanted him in Louisiana, that vast territory, including the Illinois country, all of which was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of Que- bec. The Court, too, urged Bishop de Mornay to go to Louisiana, but he preferred to send religious of his order, the Capuchin Fathers. The Seminary priests remained in charge of the Mission of the Holy Family at Cahokia, but the rest of the territory was divided between the Jesuits and the Capuchins. The Jesuits had charge of all the missions among the savages above the Natchez, while the Capuchins took care of the French posts, including New Orleans. 3 Bishop Saint- Vallier appointed Father de Beaubois, S. J., Vicar-General; Bishop de Mornay, in 1721, appointed the Capuchin Father Gabriel to the same office, each to act within his own sphere. 4 1 Louis XIV, a protagonist of personal government and parliamentary Gallicanism, claimed the right to select the candidates for bishoprics; the Pope had but to approve and grant the faculties. 2 Auguste Gosselin, Mgr. de Mornay, pp. 143. 3 Vogel, op. at., p. 32. 4 Gosselin, op. cit., p. 19. 224 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS It was due chiefly to the aggressive and ever active Father Beaubois that the Ursulines had come to New Orleans for school and hospital work. 1 Upon the forceful demand of the Superior, Mere Tranchepain, Father Beaubois became spiritual director of these religious, the protests of the Capuchins to the contrary notwithstanding. Furthermore, Father Beaubois needed a central house in New Orleans to receive the Jesuit missionaries upon their arrival and to care for them after they were out on the mis- sions. The Company accorded this establishment on con- dition "that there should not be any ecclesiastical functions without the consent of the Capuchins." The Capuchins feared that the somewhat turbulent Beaubois 2 would use these concessions as an entrance wedge into their exclusive rights. Their fears came true. Unpleasant friction resulted, but what is that as com- pared with the keen competition in the business world, or the bitter rivalries and unscrupulous intrigues in political life? Alvord, 3 in another connection, calls attention to the fact that such rivalries will be misunderstood unless it is borne in mind that the people of that period thought in terms of monopoly : monopoly of fur trade, monopoly of tobacco trade, and hence, monopoly of evangelising savage tribes, and even monopoly of martyrdom. x May 6, 1728, Father Beaubois reports on the school of the Ursulines as follows: "There are now here sixteen girl-boarders, seven Negresses, likewise boarders, and twenty five day pupils. . . . They keep gratis orphans who had been entirely forsaken or were in very bad hands." In 1725 the Capuchins opened a school for boys, who were taught by a brother of the Capuchin Order. Father Raphael, Superior of the Capuchins at New Orleans, had agreed with Sieurs de Lery and de la Freniere (see p. 416, n. 4, post), to purchase a house to serve as a school, each party to pay one-third of the cost, which was three thousand livres. De Lery and Freniere failed to keep their agreement and thus the full burden was thrown upon the Capuchins. Vogel, op. cit., pp. 70, ff. 2 Nicholas de Beaubois was born at Orleans, France, October 15, 1689. He came to the mission in the Illinois country in 1718. Rochemonteix characterizes him as follows: "Health, talent, sense of duty and sacrifice, none of these were wanting to him. But perfect men are rare. Of a lively and exuberant nature, he did not always succeed in checking his all' absorbing activity nor in holding himself within the bounds of reserve and moderation. 'He is too outspoken/ said the Governor -General, 'and cannot control himself;' he talked too much, he was too fussy, and he undertook too much." Rochemonteix, Les Jesuites et la XLouvelle France au XVIIle Siecle, I., p. 281. 3 Alvord, op. cit., I, p. 115; Pasquet, op. cit., p. 167- ORDER FOLLOWS CHAOS 225 Now, to return to the run of affairs in Upper Louisiana, the Directors of the Company considered Fort de Chartres and Kaskaskia (poste des Illinois) of the greatest importance (de la dernier e importance). May 12, 1722, they ordered the establishment of a Provincial Council, or Provincial Court, for the administration of justice, in civil and criminal matters, in the first instance, and likewise for the management of the affairs of the Company. This Council had jurisdiction over the Illinois and Arkansas commanderies, but its de- cisions were subject to appeal in the higher Court at New Orleans. The officers of the Council were: Boisbriand, president or judge; La Loire des Ursins, chief clerk; Chassin, chief warden (garde-magasin) ; and a record-keeper or sec- retary. La Loire des Ursins and Chassin were the first and second counsellors, respectively. 1 "Probably the first criminal case ever heard in the Illi- nois," writes Alvord, "came before this court. It concerned Perillaut, the secretary, who had killed with his sword on April 25, 1723, Morin, a drummer of the garrison, for having spoken impertinently to him. 112 Perillaut seems to have been a friend of the savages, for, during the trial three Indian chiefs with thirty men came to Fort de Chartres to ask for his pardon. The record is so characteristic of the Indian mind, and points out the infinite patience, prudence, and tact required on the part of the Commandants, that it is herewith repro- duced verbatim, as preserved in the Canadian Archives in Ottawa. "Louisianne, June 17, 1723. "The Chiefs of the villages of the Kaskakias, to wit: Kiracouria, Michel, and Mamentoriensa, having heard that 1 Heinrich, op. cit., p. 95, n. 2. 2 Alvord, op. cit., p. 145, n. 25. The Journal of Diron D' Artaguiette contains the following entries: "Apr. 25 [1723]. About 2 o'clock in the afternoon a man called Perilaud, clerk of the Ilinnois stores, ran a man named Morin, drummer of the company of Artaguiette, through the body with his sword, for having spoken impertinently to him. This Morin died a quarter of an hour after he received the blow, and Perilaud has been arrested. "Apr. 26. M. d' Artaguiette presented a request to M. Boisbriant in which he asked that he be permitted to testify against the said Perilaud. "Apr. 29. In the morning, M. De Lisle, performing the functions of major of the above' mentioned post, in the capacity of King's procureur, conducted the examination of the accused." Mereness, op. cit., pp. 75-76. 226 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS M. Perillaut, who had killed a man and who is in chains, is to be executed, came this day, the 29th of April, 1723, at the head of thirty men of their nation to Fort de Char- tres to ask his release. "They presented three calumets, endeavoring in their manner to appease by some ceremony 1 M. de Boisbriant, Diron, de La Loere, Dartaguette [Dartaguiette] and de L'isle, assembled to hear the said savages. Kiraoueria addressed M. de Boisbriant in the following words: " C I have heard that the warehouse-keeper had shed the blood of a Frenchman and that thou, according to thy laws and customs, must shed his blood. I and these men from the village of the Kaskassias [Kaskaskias] have come to beg thee and M. Diron, de La Loere, Dartaguiette, and de Lisle to give ear to our petition. " 'Consider, my fathers, 2 that the Chicachats kill you and us on the one hand, and on the other, the Foxes stain our soil with your blood and with ours. Would you, my father, M. de Boisbriant. and you my fathers, MM. Diron, De La Loere, Dartaguiette, and de L'isle, spill the blood of a Frenchman to blot out the blood of another and would you add to the loss of one man the loss of another? " 'We are not too numerous as it is to fight our common enemy. The ware-house keeper was insane for the moment. He bespattered thee (my father) M. de Boisbriant, with blood; I now come to beg thee not to redden thyself with his blood. If it be necessary to cover the body of him who was killed, then, my fathers, M. de Boisbriant, de La Loere, Dartaguiette and de L'isle, then let us strike the Fox and Chicachas and with those strangers let us cover our dead. 3 x "One after another these chiefs passed their hands and calumets several times over the head of M. de Boisbriant and over the heads of the other officers, a ceremony which they call prayer and supplication, and by means of which they feel they can ask anything, with the confidence that they will scarcely ever be refused." 2 "Our savages address as Father all those whom they respect. 1 ' 3 "Our savages cannot understand justice in the sense that it punishes crime. They consider justice done to a murderer as a vengeance in favor of the one who was murdered. To them it appears folly to take the life of a murderer. With them, when someone has killed another, by accident or otherwise, the chiefs of the village and the parents of the murderer appease and calm the parents of the victim with presents of slaves or calumets or merchandise, and they call this Covering the Body of the one who was killed, that is, to satisfy the victim, to make the living forget their loss or to hide it from them in such a way that, by receiving these kinds of presents, they may feel satisfied and think no more of revenge." ORDER FOLLOWS CHAOS 227 Let us conceal thy blood 1 that was shed in this earth, but for love of us, do not spill any more. " 'I am of the Prayer, 2 that is how I know that the Great Spirit, the Spirit Creator, God, forbids us, my father, to kill our children. The one whom thou didst put in chains has killed [someone], he committed all of a sudden a crime and a great fault. But could you not, my fathers, not pay so much attention to his folly; could you not forget it? There are madmen everywhere, and no nation can glory in being free from them. But does not God, who is the Master of all, raise his eyes above our follies when we ask him to be no longer angry? He forgives; pardon as He does, my fathers, and for the love of Him. " T)o not embarrass me, my fathers, I beg you. Let it not be said, Kiraoueria and his chiefs came to express their grief to their fathers, but their fathers were not moved. Behold, it is the first time that I appeal to thee, my father de Boisbriant, and I appeal for thy own blood and it is in the name of all my nation that I ask thee to spare the life of one of thy own children, of one who acted the madman only once. We are here to blot out his fault and to hide it from thee for ever.' "While M. de Boisbriant and the officers deliberated what sort of answer should be given in reply to the discourse, the chief named Michel, as though impatient and appre- hensive of an unsatisfactory reply, rose, took one of the three calumets, passed it several times over the head and shoulders of those officers and presented it to them to smoke. Now, neither M. de Boisbriant nor any of the other officers thought it wise, because of the consequences such action might have, to send these savages away altogether dissat- isfied and, therefore, each smoked in turn the calumet of peace presented by the said Michel, who immediately spoke thus: " 'I thank you, my fathers, that you do me the honor to place my calumet in your mouth and to smoke my tobacco. I no longer doubt you will grant us the favor we have come to ask. I am sure you will listen to us with attention. ^lood of a Frenchman. 2 I am a Christian. 228 FROM QUEBEC TO *[EW ORLEANS " 'Thou art angry, my father de Boisbriant, and your hearts, my fathers, Diron, La Loere, Dartaguiette, and de L'isle, are filled with sadness. I came with my comrades of war to appease and to cheer you. Would to God we could succeed. I flatter myself and I hope that today you will obey me, for when you speak to me, I always obey. When our father, M. de Bienville sent word to me to redden his mat [sa natte], thine and mine, with the blood of the Chicachas who killed the Frenchman, he spoke to me only by mouth [gave no presents] 1 and still, thou knowest, M. de Boisbriant, I obeyed him and thee at once; because I wish to believe him in all things [obey without personal interest] and I seek only to please him and you, my fathers. I never fear to die when there is question of avenging the Frenchman. " 'But what do I hear! I understand, my father, that to avenge one Frenchman thou wilt redden thy mat with the blood of another. Ah ! I cannot bear it ... to spill my blood is only to spill the blood of a savage, but that a Frenchman, one whom we regret, should perish, that is sad, my fathers. That would mean to cause joy to our enemies who would know of it, that would mean to avenge him at our own cost. They will say, look at them, they destroy themselves . . . would that they killed one another every day, that would make them weaker and us stronger. Do not give them that satisfaction. . . . Release this Frenchman and do not take his life, rather take my life, for I am only a savage. 1 "M. de Boisbriant asked the opinion of all the assembled officers about this affair, which seemed a delicate matter. On the one hand, it was dangerous to send these savages away without making some concession, on the other, there was reason to fear that, if they consented, the savages would take advantage of it on another occasion. "Having carefully discussed the affair with his council, M. de Boisbriant had the following answer given: " 'What you ask, my children, is of the greatest consequence, (to express it in savage language) it is a matter of value [a grave matter]. Yes, it is a serious matter to grant you the life of a man who has committed such a great madness. He has killed, and understand, today, my children, that the x The friendship of savages had continually to be bought with presents. ORDER FOLLOWS CHAOS 229 Grand Chief of the French, the King, your Father and ours, desires that every murderer be punished with death. With us such crime cannot go unpunished. Neither I nor any of my officers who are here can grant life to this warehouse- keeper. Only the King, your Father and ours, can grant him pardon, and all of us place our hope in his goodness and that he will consider the request that you make. I will forward your demand to him and M. Diron, whom you see here, will carry your wishes to the king. He promises you that he will support them and I hope that M. de Bien- ville and the chiefs below [New Orleans], whom I will inform of your great affection for the Frenchman, will join us in petitioning the favor you ask. I should be sorry if you had come to weep in vain. We are touched by the services which you have rendered and wished to render to the French. Hope, then, that you will not be embarrassed, but, for fear that other Frenchmen might commit similar crimes [follies], we feel that the warehouse-keeper must still remain in chains. It is good that he bewail his folly. Note, my children, how we esteem and appease you, and only out of love for you. We care little about the discourses of our enemies. We shall always be strong enough and sufficiently numerous, as soon as we shall have the ammu- nition, to defeat them. But if ever a Frenchman should commit a crime similar to the one that you have just blotted out, I shall not hesitate to put him to death; no nation could stop me from it. . . . Mark well, this is the first and last time that you can hope to save the life of such madman, of a man who has killed [committed murder].' "After a few moments Kiraoueria rose and spoke thus: 'M. de Boisbriant, my father, we thank thee for what thy goodness has promised us. All our fathers who are here cause us great pleasure. It is well that we have moved their hearts. We expect that the one who is in chains shall not die, but we should like to see him. What harm could there be? We have no other design than to look at him. Tell the soldiers who guard him not to forbid us to see him.' "M. de Boisbriant gave permission to the chiefs to see M. Perillaud. They returned forthwith, and Kiraoueria, having seated himself, spoke with a sad mien; 2 3 o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS " 'My father de Boisbriant, would there be any harm if the White Collar, 1 who is our interpreter, informed the prisoner of what you have promised us? I think it would give him courage; he would have new hope of life and he would not be so dejected. He makes me feel pity for him. It seems to me he has sufficiently repented his folly; release him/ "Immediately Michel spoke again and said: " 'I see clearly, my fathers, de Boisbriant, Diron, De La Loere, Dartaguiette and de L/isle, that your hearts are burn- ing with anger. We have endeavored to quench this fire, to appease your anger. You have assured us that the prisoner shall not die, but, my father de Boisbriant, thou dost not wish to release him; it is thy desire that firebrands 2 be applied to burn his feet. I have just seen him; he is worthy of com- passion. You may forbid me ever to come again to ask a similar favor, but this time, hear me. " C M. de Bienville and we at one time wept over a White Collar 3 killed by the Coroas. Our father sent word to my father, Rouensa, to the Kaskaskia, my village, to avenge him. I went to war against that mad nation; I struck them and in striking them I saw the blood of several of my warriors spilt. My heart was aflame with anger. Later M. de Bien- ville spoke to me only by mouth [no presents], 'be quiet 1 , and his word appeased me and extinguished the fire of my angry heart. He sent word again to strike the Chicachas; I obeyed him; I struck that nation and my comrades did even as I did, and thou knowest that daily we weep over the loss of those, who, while avenging the death of a French- man, reddened the soil of that mad nation with their blood. . . . I burn with anger, but tell me, my father, to quiet myself, and I obey at once, and not a burning ember remains in my heart. Listen, then, to my petition: release this Frenchman; ^'The Indians called the secular priest [Seminary priest of Cahokia], 'White Collar;' the Jesuit was known as 'Black Robe.' " 2 "He refers to the iron bar and rings that held the feet of Perillaud." 3 M. Foucaut, a Quebec Seminary Father, and two Frenchmen had come down from Canada to see M. Davion. M. Foucaut became ill, and so the party engaged the services of four Coroas Indians to row their canoe to the Yazoos. The Father immediately gave them the merchandise agreed upon. That same night, while M. Foucaut and his companions were asleep, the savages broke their heads and threw their bodies into the river. Rochemonteix, Op. cit., I., p. 259, n. 2. ORDER FOLLOWS CHAOS 231 cast far away those iron bars that burn his feet; he suffers; he makes us all pity him." "M. de Boisbriant making no reply, the said Michel con' tinued: fc If thou canst not release him, my father, at least do not apply the iron bars but to one foot at a time; for our sakes [for love of us] grant him this alleviation/ "M. de Boisbriant with the advice of his council made reply that he did not wish to release him at present, not even free one foot. 'The fault,' he added, my children, which this Frenchman has committed, is great. It is important that my soldiers know that I do not want anyone to act the madman. However, for love of you, I shall have his irons changed. He shall have lighter ones, and it is a great deal that we have agreed to act in a manner that he shall live. 1 ; 'Rest assured, that no other nation but you would have obtained what has been granted to you. You see by that how much I esteem and love you. I listen to your words because you listen to mine. I am not at all angry; I am touched by what you have said and agree that your people, who have died to avenge the Frenchman, cover the body of the one who has now been killed. 1 " "Signed Boisbriant Diron Desursins Legardeur De Lisle Ste Therese Langloisere.' 1 '' 2 J "May 31, [l723]. The man called Perilaud, who killed the drummer, has been set at liberty." Journal of Diron UArtagwette. 2 Archives Publiques du Canada. Serie F3 vol., 24, Pt. II., p. 454. The many favors of Mr. Francis J. Audet, Chief of the Information in the Public Archives, Ottawa, Canada, are herewith acknowledged. RECALL OF BIEHVILLE — PERRIER APPOINTED GOVERNOR— THE URSULIHES AT HEW ORLEANS— FILLES A LA CASSETTE— DiCOJWEHIEHCES OF A VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI The French colonial government included an Intendant, and such official was given to the colony of Louisiana in the person of M. Jacques de la Chaise, 1 July 11, 1725. The Intendant had authority to adjust with finality all matters of police, agriculture, commerce and finance. But the history of Canada repeated itself in Louisiana. Bitter rivalry broke out. Bienville and the Provincial Council grouped together against La Chaise. The Superior of the Capuchins, in a letter dated March 12,|l726, to Abbe Raguet, the Company's Director of religious affairs in the colony, calls Louisiana, perhaps with a twitch in his own conscience, "the land of confu- sion." 2 Dissension among those who governed, and quarrels among the colonists at this time paralysed the development of Louis- iana. Surveys had been hurriedly and carelessly made; tracts of land overlapped or had been sold to several persons or, at least, had been so senselessly laid out, that one owner had to pass over the land of another to reach his own, which, in effect, is as productive of peace as if several families, living in the same house, all use the same entrance, or must pass through one another's rooms, a la sovikique, to get to their own. The result was continual misunderstandings and incessant lawsuits. 3 The colonists spent much time scribbling their grievances instead of getting down to real farm work. But, all in all, they were hardy pioneers, and their hardships were many. La Chaise was a civilian and would brook no interference, nor even suggestion, from military men in the administra- tion of the colony, and placed the full responsibility for X M. de la Chaise was a nephew of the famous Pere La Chaise, confessor to Louis XIV, after whom a famous cemetery in Paris is named. According to Gayarre, Jacques de la Chaise was not gifted with superior intelligence, but was a "solid block of honesty.'" 2 Heinrich, op. cit., p. 88. n. 6. s Ibid., p. 184. 232 PERRIER GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA 233 existing disorders squarely on Bienville. The Indians were not the worst enemies Bienville had to cope with. "He had active and ever-plotting adversaries in the colony," writes Gaya^," and no vessel returned to France without carrying back heavy accusations against the Governor of Louisiana. Hubert, the King's Commissary, was one of the foremost, and kept repeating to the French government that Louisiana was the finest country in the world . . . but that if the country^ did not prosper more, it was owing to the maladministration of Bienville, and to his favoritism for his numerous relations and allies." 1 Of course, Bienville was aware of the sentiments of his new colleague, the Intendant La Chaise, and gave him no support whatever — in fact, put obstacles in his way wher- ever and whenever he could. A little courtesy, to which Bien- ville, who may not have been a book-keeper, should have been entitled after nearly thirty years of strenuous and de- voted service in Louisiana, and an ordinary measure of diplomacy would have secured the Governor's support. Standing alone against all the others, La Chaise soon found himself blocked on all sides. The very fact that the Intendant advocated anything was reason sufficient for the others to oppose it. Du Poisson refers to these bickerings in his letter of October 3, 1727, in which he says: "There were two factions among the people who were at the head of affairs; one was called la grande bande, and the other, la petite bander 2 Bienville received orders to come to France to give an ac- count of his stewardship, and despite his 34 years of service to his King, was deprived of his position in the month of July, 1726. However, in recognition of his services, the King gave him a pension of 3,000 livres. His brother, Cha- taugue, was deposed as second lieutenant to the King, and was succeeded by Diron d'Artaguiette. Bienville had received orders to report to the Directors of the Company in 1723, but could not sail until 1725, be- ^ayarre, op. cit., p. 367- 2 The big gang and the little gang. The Jesuit Father Beaubois cast his lot with the Bienville party, whereas Father Raphael, the Capuchin, was on the side of de la Chaise. As between Father Beaubois and the Capu* chin Superior, Father Raphael, the latter seems to have been the more logical and dignified. 234 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS cause the ship on which he was to sail had been wrecked. Upon Bienville's receipt of orders to report in France, Boisbriand, Commandant at Fort de Chartres, had been sum- moned to New Orleans as Governor ad interim. Boisbriand took sides with his former chief, and in consequence had the same misunderstandings with La Chaise as Bienville had had before him. In August, 1726, he, too, was ordered to France to give an account of his conduct, and was deposed from office October 27, 1727. A cutting humiliation was inflicted upon the veteran officer by having the decree, which de- prived him of the title and functions of First Lieutenant to the King, read before the assembled garrison at Fort de Char- tres. 1 Later on, however, the King realised that this brave officer had been misjudged and accorded him a pension of 800 livres. M. Du Gue de Boisbriand died in France, June 7, 1736. 2 Perrier succeeded Bienville as Governor, and Du Tisne temporarily succeeded Boisbriand at Fort de Chartres. De Liette 3 was to be the regular Governor, but during a few months of 1725, before de Liette's arrival, Pradel, 4 the senior officer, commanded. Things did not go well under his ad- ministration. A little revolution broke out under the leader- ship of a certain La Plume, and Pradel was arrested and sent to New Orleans, where he was acquitted. Perrier was a young naval officer who had served with distinction in the War of the Spanish Succession. He had also been in the service of the Company for some years, and had shown his loyalty to their interests. His instruc- tions were to reach an understanding with La Chaise, the Iritendant, and thus eliminate the rivalries and bickerings that had been so harmful to the colony. The Directors took every precaution to eradicate the secret plottings of the fac- tionists. The rebellious counsellors were to be despoiled of their possessions; the Noyan Brothers (Noyan Freres), nephews of Bienville, were to be banished; two others were ^einrich, op. cit., p. 192, n. 3. 2 Pierre-Georges Roy, La Famille Du Gue de Boisbriand. 3 He was a relative of Tonti, whose maternal family name was Desliettes or Delietto, Thwaites, op. cit., 66, 340. 4 See p. 202, ante. PERRIER GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA 235 to be sent back to France with the next ship if it were deemed necessary, and the climax of all these rigorous measures had been the recall of Boisbriand. Perrier took charge of his new post in March, 1727, but acted more prudently than his superiors had suggested, and disregarded the instructions as to punishments to be meted out to certain persons in the colony. He was broad- minded enough to write to the Company "that it mattered little whether such or such a person is attached to his own person or not, as long as that person is attached to his work and makes himself useful." 1 He was generous enough to place the cause of the colony above self. One of his first undertakings was the construction of a huge levee, extending eighteen miles above and below New Orleans, to protect that territory against the high waters of the Mississippi (1727). The following year a canal was built from New Orleans by way of Lake Pontchartrain to the Gulf, which also served as a spillway of the Mississippi. Moreover, the channel of the Mississippi was dredged and deepened to allow ocean liners to disembark at New Or- leans. Requests had frequently been made to the Company to establish a hospital in Louisiana and to ask Sisters to take charge of it. The Directors requested the Ursulines 2 of Rouen, France, to take over this work of charity, and in July, 1727, the first Ursulines arrived at New Orleans, amid the joy and acclamations of the inhabitants. They forthwith opened a house for the education of white girls, and another for Negro and Indian girls, and, over and above that, took charge of the military hospital. New Orleans chronicled another happy event in 1727 — the arrival of a large number of marriageable young ladies. These girls were known as the filles a la cassette, because, before embarking for Louisiana, each of them had received a small hope box, containing her trousseau, from the King. ^einrich, op. at., p. 198. 2 The Ursulines took up temporary quarters in Bienville's old home. This was the first convent of Sisters within the present limits of the United States. "The Ursuline convent and hospital to which the Sisters moved in 1734 are still standing on Chartres Street . . . and are the oldest buildings in the Mississippi Valley." Claude L. Vogel, op. cit. t p. 80. 236 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Mascrier tells graphically what happened upon their arrival: "As soon as they had been disembarked, they were placed in a house guarded by a sentinel at the door. During daytime the hopefuls were permitted to see them and select the one they liked best, but after dark no one was permitted to enter. They did not have to wait long at all to be pro- vided and married; it is but truth to say that this cargo did not furnish enough to satisfy all the suitors who presented themselves, for the last one nearly caused serious trouble. Two young men were on the point of fighting a duel to de- cide who was to have her, although this Helene was any- thing but beautiful, and looked more like a soldier on guard duty than like a young lady. The commandant settled the quarrel by making them pull straws." 1 The Illinois country did not fare so well under Perrier. The shackles of monopoly had ever been one of the most harming handicaps of the colony. The government had granted the tobacco monopoly to the Company in order to liquidate an obligation towards the latter, amounting to 3,000,000 livres. Perrier had orders to favor the tobacco planters of the lower Mississippi in the distribution of slaves, who worked the tobacco plantations, and to give none to Illinois and Mobile. In fact, it was the plan of the Company "to have no posts farther North of New Orleans than Natches," the reason being given that if the forces of the colony were closer together, their maintenance would be less costly and the occupied territory would develop much more quickly. Their interest was not as broad as that of the French Em- pire in America. The Company instructed Perrier to con- sider the feasibility of abandoning Fort de Chartres as soon as the war with the Fox Indians would be over, and, in the meantime, to substitute the Jesuits in the place of the soldiers stationed on the Missouri 2 — at Fort Orleans. The men in charge of the management of the Company were so set on cutting expenses, that they would even risk to expose the frontier of the colony to danger of attack from the enemies, the English, and they had so little under- quoted in Villiers du Terrage, op. at., p. 18. 2 Heinrich, op. at., p. 192, n. 4; Arch. Col. B. XLIII, pp. 677-678. Instructions to Perrier, Sept. 30, 1726. See p. 221, ante. PERRIER GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA 237 standing of the value and importance of the Illinois colonies (Fort de Chartres country), that they instructed Perrier to send no merchandise to the Illinois, except such as would be needed for the garrison of Fort de Chartres and for distri- bution among the savages. To satisfy the Red Men with trinkets seemed more important to them than the devel- opment of their best colony. In consequence of the short- sightedness of the Directors, the colonists were compelled to travel all the way to New Orleans to make even the most necessary purchases. A letter of the Directors to Perrier 1 and La Chaise, dated October 27, 1727, contains the following interesting information: "That since a destructive high water of the Mississipi had caused great damage in the Illinois country and had destroyed Fort de Chartres, the Company is of the opinion that the new fort should be built a la Prairie; 2 that the Company is thoroughly disgusted with the heavy expense of that post, which seems necessary neither to the Company nor to the colony, and that it has, therefore, re- duced this post to the same footing as the posts supported by the king among the savages in Canada and, therefore, ordains as follows: "That the Sieur Des Liettes repair to the village of the Kaskakias [Kaskaskia], there to take up his abode in future, that he fortify that place as he sees fit, but at his own ex- pense, and that his pay will be increased accordingly. That he command in that place both French and savages and that he shall be assisted in that command by Sieur S. Ange, father and son, that he shall pay all the expenses of the Illi- nois country, which cannot be augmented under any pre- text whatsoever and are regulated and fixed as follows: "To Sieur Des Liettes, commandant, and charged with the construction and up-keep of the fort, the sum of 2000 livres. "To Sieur S. Ange father, a half-pay officer, 480 livres; to S. Ange, son, half-pay ensign, 300 livres. iArch. Col., C 13, XI, pp. 89-90. 2 It would seem that Liette himself had suggested rebuilding at la Prairie, "near Kaskaskia, and the inhabitants of that village offered to furnish all the stone necessary and to trans' port the munitions and other supplies to the new site on condition that each of them be permitted to purchase two slaves by the payment of flour." Alvord, op. at., p. 159. 238 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "Maintenance of six soldiers 702 livres. [Three officers and six soldiers assigned to keep open that important line of communication between Louisiana and Quebec ! !] "Allowance for presents to the Indians, the Illinois, the Missouri, the Akamas [Arkansas] and, in general, to cover any expense occasioned by the savages, 1500 livres, Total 4982 livres. "These sums shall be sent to Des Liettes each year, not in cash, but in merchandise at New Orleans market price, 1 together with the clothes for the soldiers, the transporta- tion being paid by the Company, and he is to let the officers and soldiers have merchandise in lieu of their pay, at New Orleans market price. "Besides these expenses the Company will support two missionaries at Kaskakias — aux Kas\a\ias. "To the missionary father, for the purpose of saying Mass, 75 measures [pots] 2 of wine, at 1.15 per measure, total 126. "At Fort de Chartres, the Rev. Father de Kereben, Jesuit, 600 livres all told." The Directors of the Company were prejudiced against the Illinois country; they could not see that Kaskaskia was really the granary of Louisiana. However, Perrier and La Chaise used their own better judgment and left more troops in the Fort de Chartres country, and Fort de Chartres was rebuilt on the old site. 3 As early as December 2, 1722, Boisbriand had complained that the colony in the Illinois country was at times in want of even the most necessary things, that merchandise shipped from France was diverted to the colonies on the lower Mis- sissippi, and that this discrimination left the Fort de Char- tres colony in dire distress. 1 Tedious and expensive transportation up the river caused a 50% increase in the price of merchandise by the time it reached Fort de Chartres. 2 The pot is a measure containing two pints, — the French pint, however, being equiv alent to .934 of a litre, or 1.64 plus English pints. Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, XXXII., note 4. 3 But they made known their intention of evacuating it at the conclusion of the war against the Fox Indians. PERRIER GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA 239 As a rule, it would take a boat four to five months to as- cend the Mississippi from New Orleans to Fort de Chartres and return. In places where the current was swift the boats had to be towed from tree to tree on a sort of windlass. Then, too, the Indian peril was ever present and the boats had to be convoyed by soldiers. That made transportation very costly. The transport of even a small boat (semi- galley) from New Orleans to Fort de Chartres would cost 7,000 to 8,000 livres. Father Du Poisson, missionary at the Arkansas at that time, has left a graphic description of the difficulties of a journey on the Mississippi in those far-off days. He writes very good-humoredly. For instance, of one place, a short- cut of only two leagues, but one that offered a thousand difficulties, he says: "This passage is well named 'the pas- sage of the Cross;' a Traveler who knows what it is, and does not shun it, deserves the Insane Asylum should he escape from it." "We embarked," he writes, "May 25, 1727. "Our baggage and that of our engages made a mass which was more than a foot higher than the sides of our two piro- gues; 1 we were perched upon a pile of chests and pack- ages, and were powerless to change our position. They prophesied that we would not go far with that equipment. In ascending the Mississipi, they go slowly because the current is very strong. Hardly had we lost sight of new Orleans when a projecting branch of a tree, that was not perceived by the man who was steering, caught a chest, turned it over and caused a young man who was near it to fall headlong, and then roughly struck Father Souel, happily the branch was broken in this first strain, other- wise both the chest and the young man would have been in the water. "We left the Chapitoulas on the 29th. The next day we made six leagues, — it is seldom that more can be made in ascending this river; and we lodged, or rather we set up Pirogue is a dugout canoe, that is, a canoe carved from a log. This interesting account is herewith reproduced to give an idea of the inconveniences, privations, and hardships of a journey from New Orleans to Fort de Chartres. 2 4 o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS cabins, at les Allemands. 1 This is a district that has been assigned to the feeble remnant of that German company which perished from destitution either at L/Orient, 2 or on arriving in Louisiana. Their dwellings showed great poverty. It is here, properly speaking, that we learned what it is to travel on the Mississipi. "We set out at the time of highest water; the river had risen more than forty feet 3 higher than usual; nearly all the country is lowland, and consequently it was inundated. Thus we were exposed to the danger of finding no cabari' age, — that is to say, no land where we could cook and sleep. When we do find it, this is the way we spend the night: If the ground be still muddy, which happens when the water begins to recede, we begin by making a bed of boughs so that the mattress may not sink into the mud; then we spread upon it a skin, — or a mattress and sheets, if we have them. We bend three or four canes in semicircles, the two ends of which we fix in the ground, and separate them from one another according to the length of the mattress; across these we fasten three others; then we spread over this frail structure our baire, — that is to say, a large canvass, the ends of which we carefully fold beneath the mattress. In these tombs, stifling with heat, we are compelled to sleep. 4 l Les Allemands, that is, the settlement of the Germans. According to Deiler, German Coast of Louisiana, there were two German villages at this place in 1721. Karl Friedrich D'Arensbourg, a German who had been an officer in the Swedish army, was in charge of a large group of German engages, sent over by the Company after Law's flight from Paris. In January or February, 1722, the Germans on Law's concession on the Arkansas, having heard of Law's bankruptcy and receiving no assistance from the Company, abandoned their establishment and came down the river to demand return passage from the Directors of the Company. But, they, too, were helpless because of the muddled condition of the Company's affairs, so Bienville intervened and made them an offer of lands "above and below the river front village of their countrymen on the German Coast," where D'Arensbourg functioned as judge and commandant. 2 L'Orient, a fortified seaport of France on the Bay of Biscay. 3 A rise of forty feet in 1727, when there were no levees and the virgin forest with thick un* dergrowth was still intact, takes on additional interest in view of proposed river improvements. 4 The Ursulines made the trip from Balise to New Orleans, a distance of twenty leagues up the river, in six days. The mode of travel was the same as that described by Father Du Poisson. Madeleine Hachard writes: "We retired two by two under our bars where we slept fully dressed. ... we slept twice in the midst of mud and of water which fell from the skies in abundance, and penetrated to us as well as our mattresses, which almost floated in the water." Relation du Voyage des Dames Ursulines de Rouen a la Jfyuvelle'Orleans, quoted by Dunn, The Mission of the Ouabache, p. 266. J5 X e - Bi < = w .^ E -ST H .g °£ Si o ^ °l w ^ E £ H S 3 > a I w o > .** o tq ex 3 l-i u 2^ c o 13 3 O, PERRIER GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA 241 The first thing that we do on landing is to make our baires with all possible haste; otherwise, the mosquitoes would not permit us to use them. If we could sleep in the open air, we would enjoy the coolness of the night, and would be very happy. We are much more to be pitied when we find no camping-ground; then we fasten the pirogue to a tree, and if we find an embarras of trees we prepare our meal on it; if we do not find one, we go to bed without supper, — or rather, we have no supper, and we do not go to bed; we remain still in the same position that we kept during the day, exposed the whole night to the fury of the mos- quitoes. By the way, what we call an embarras is a mass of floating trees which the river has uprooted, and which the current drags onward continually. If these be stopped by a tree that is rooted in the ground, or by a tongue of land, the trees become heaped upon one another, and form enor- mous piles; some are found that would furnish your good city of Tours with wood for three winters. These spots are difficult and dangerous to pass. It is necessary to sail very close to the embarras; the current is rapid there and should the pirogue be driven against these floating trees it would immediately disappear and would be swallowed up in the water under the embarras. "This was also the season of the greatest heat, which was increasing every day. During the whole voyage we had only one entire day that was cloudy; there was always a burning sun above our heads, and we were not able to arrange over our pirogues a little screen which might give us a slight shade. Besides, the height of the trees and the denseness of the woods — which extend along the entire route, on both sides of the river — did not permit us to enjoy the least breath of air, although the river is half a mile wide; we felt the air only in the middle of the river 1 when we were obliged to cross it so as to take the shortest way. We were constantly drawing the water of the Mississipi ^eiler gives this description of the virgin forest in the lower Mississippi valley : "Giant oaks with wide-spreading arms and gray mossy beards stood there as if from eternity, and defied the axe of man. Between them arose towering pines with thick undergrowth, bushes and shrubs and an impenetrable twist of running, spinning, and climbing vines, under whose protection lurked a hell of hostile animals and savage men. Leopards, bears, panthers, wild cats, snakes, and alligators, and ... a scorching sun. . . ." — Deiler, op. cit., p. 56. 242 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS with reeds, in order to quench our thirst; although the water is very muddy, it did us no harm. Another refresh- ment that we had was the grapes which hang from the trees almost everywhere, and which we snatched in passing, or went to gather when we landed. "Our provisions consisted of biscuit, salt, and very rancid bacon, rice, corn, and peas; the biscuit failed us a little above the Natchez country. At ten or twelve leagues from New Orleans, we no longer had any bacon; we lived on peas, then on rice, which failed us only on our arrival here; the seasoning consisted of salt, bear's oil, and a keen appetite. The most ordinary food of this country — almost the only one for many people, and especially for travelers — is gru. Corn is pounded, in order to remove the outer skin, and then is boiled a long time in water, but the Frenchmen sometimes season it with oil; and this is gru. The Savages, pounding the corn very fine, sometimes cook it with tallow, and more often only with water; this is sagamite. However, the gru answers for bread; a spoonful of gru and a mouth- ful of meat go together. "But the greatest torture — without which everything else would have been only a recreation, but which passes all belief, and could never be imagined in France unless it had been experienced — is the mosquitoes, the cruel perse- cution of the mosquitoes. I believe the Egyptian plague was not more cruel. . . . There are here the frappe'd'abord, and the brulots; these are very small flies whose sting is so sharp — or, rather, so burning — that it seems as if a little spark had fallen on the part that they have stung. There are gnats, which are brulots, except that they are still smaller, we hardly see them, and they especially attack the eyes. There are wasps, there are gad-flies, — in a word, there is omne genus muscarum 1 ; but we would not speak of the others, were it not for the mosquitoes. "This little creature has caused more swearing since the French came to Mississipi, than had been done before that time in all the rest of the world. Be that as it may, a swarm of mosquitoes sets out with the traveler in the morning; when we go through the willows or near the cane-brakes, as almost al- ^very species of flies. PERRIER GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA 243 ways happens, another swarm flies furiously to the pirogue, and does not leave it. We are obliged to wave our hand- kerchiefs continually, which seldom frightens them; they make a little flight and return immediately to the attack; our arms become weary sooner than they do. When we are on land from ten o'clock until two or three, for the purpose of taking our dinner, we have a whole army to fight. We then make a smudge, — that is to say, a large fire that is afterward smothered with green leaves, and we must stay in the thickest of the smoke, if we wish to avoid the persecution; I do not know which is worse, the remedy or the evil. After having dined, we might be inclined to take a little nap at the foot of a tree, but that is absolutely impossible; the time of rest is spent in fighting mosquitoes. We reembark with the mosquitoes; at sunset we land again; we must immediately hasten to cut canes, wood, and green leaves so as to make our baires and the smudge, and to prepare our meal; each one does his share of the work. Then it is not one army, but many armies, that we must fight; that is the mosquitoes' hour! We are eaten, devoured; they enter our mouths, our nostrils, our ears; our faces, hands, and bodies are covered with them; their sting penetrates the clothing, and leaves a red mark on the flesh, which swells on those persons who are not yet proof against their stings. Chicagou, 1 in order to make the people of his Tribe comprehend the multitude of French- men that he had seen, told them that there were as many in the great village [in Paris] as there were leaves on the trees or mosquitoes in the woods. After having hastily eaten our supper, we are impatient to bury ourselves under our baires, although we know that we shall stifle with the heat; but with whatever skill, whatever adroitness we slip under this baire, we always find that some mosquitoes have entered, and only one or two are needed to make us spend a wretched night. "Such are the inconveniences of a Mississipi voyage." 2 *See p. 214, n. 2, ante. 2 "At the Akensas, this 3rd of October, 1727-" The Jesuit Relations, LXVII., pp. 279-297- THE HATCHEZ MASSACRE — THE STORY OF A GREEDY COMMAND A7\[T, OF SAVAGE VEHGEAKLCE, A?iD A CLEVER DiDIAH WOMAJi Perrier, Governor of Louisiana, was a good man, and the people soon felt that he was the man the colony needed : firm but mild, progressive, interested in the welfare of the colony as well as in that of the individuals, — no one had reason to complain. Father du Poisson wrote of him, October 3, 1727: "Dur- ing our stay at new Orleans, we saw peace and good order reestablished by the care and wisdom of the new Command- ant-General. There had been two factions among the people who were at the head of affairs; one was called la grande bande, and the other, la petite bande. This division is done away with, and there is every reason to hope that the Colony will be more firmly established than ever." 1 But withal, Perrier did not have that intimate Bienville understanding of the Indian character, nor had he, like Bienville, that innate faculty of seeing through the cunning subtlety of the Indian mind and of reading that arriere-pensee, that sort of crafty mental reservation, which the savage always carefully concealed. Perhaps Perrier himself was conscious of this shortcom- ing. At any rate, in his report dated March 13, 1726, we read: "Since the departure of M. de Bienville, the English have done nothing but make attempts to win over the Indian tribes. They have sent not only to the Alabamas but also to the Abecars, Choctaws and Chickasaws, more than two hundred horses loaded with goods to win them over to their aid. Happily the Choctaws and Chickasaws, who are our nearest neighbors, quarreled with them after having sold them a large quantity of skins. . . . They [the English] have sent a message to the Choctaws that they were ready to make peace with them on condition that they would bring them the head of the French interpreter, whom they Jesuit Relations, LXVII., p. 277- 244 SAVAGE VEHGEAKCE 245 accuse, most wrongfully, of killing and robbery. Although these Indians appear very well-intentioned toward us, there is danger that the English may win them over, because we lack here always satisfactory goods for the Indians/' 1 Perrier placed too much trust in their pledges of friend- ship and loyalty. It would seem that his desire to be just led him to appoint a certain Chepart, or d'Etcheparre, as Commandant at the post among the Natchez;. Le Page du Pratz; says that this Chepart had commanded there once before and had been deposed for maladministration, and that Perrier reappointed him, because he gave credence to his protestations of innocence. Considering the honesty and integrity of Perrier, Chepart would never have been appointed, had the General-Commandant known the full truth. This appointment proved the undoing of Perrier and occasioned what was perhaps the craftiest, the most treacherous and the most gruesome massacre in those far-off pioneer days. The Natchez; Massacre, which defied the descriptive powers of even a Le Page Du Prats, and the consequent Chickasaw Wars brought home to the Company a full realisation of the importance of a strong post at Fort de Chartres. A few years later they confessed their powerlessness to cope with the ever increasing difficult problems in the colony, and, in 1731, voluntarily surrendered their charter, and Louisiana reverted to the Crown, where Druot de Valde- terre and Bienville had wished her years before. "The Nation of the Natchez;/ 1 writes Le Page Du Pratz; 2 , "is composed of the Nobility and the People. The People, in their language, are called Miche-Miche-Quipy, which means Stinkards, a name, neverthless, at which they take offense, and one would not dare to speak it in their presence, as it would put them in very bad humor. The language of the Stinkards is totally different from the language of the Nobility, to whom they owe absolute submission. The language of the Nobility is soft, grave, and fairly rich; the nouns are declined as in Latin without the article. The Quoted in Dunn, Mission of the Ouabache, p. 288. 2 The account of the Natchez Massacre is taken from Le Page Du Pratz, Histoire de La Louisiane, II., pp. 193-396. Chevalier de Champigny in La Louisiane Ensanglantee, 1773, states that Du Pratz; had given the best account of the Natchez War. Other sources will be quoted in the course of this chapter. 246 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Nobility is divided into Suns [Soleils], Nobles, and those of Distinguished rank [Consider 6s] . The Suns are so called, because they descend from a man and a woman who made them believe they came from the Sun. . . . "This man and this woman, who gave the Laws to the Natchez;, had children, and ordained that their race should always be distinct from the bulk of the Nation, and that none of their descendants could ever be put to death for any cause whatsoever. . . . Their precautious care to keep their blood pure caused them to establish a usage of which we find an example only among a Nation of the Scythians, of which Herodot speaks. Their children being brothers and sisters, could not marry each other without guilt and so, to have offspring, they had to marry men and women of the class of the Stinkards; but to forestall the disagreeable consequences that would result from infidelity on the part of the women, they ordained that Nobility should be trans- mitted only through the women. 1 Their children, both male and female [of the female Suns], were Suns and respected as such; but with this difference that with the male children, this dignity was a personal privilege, which they could enjoy only during their own lifetime. Their children [that is of the males] were only Nobles, and, in turn, their children again only of Distinguished Rank. The children of the Con- sideres were absorbed by the People and placed in the class of the Stinkards. . . . "The women are protected against this fusion with the People. From mother to daughter the Nobility holds and they are Soleilles [Sun -Women] for all times. . . . Still they never attain to Sovereignty, any more than the children of the Suns [male Suns]; but the eldest son of that Soleille [Sun- Woman], who is the nearest kin to the mother of the reigning Sovereign, ascends the Throne when a vacancy occurs. The reigning Sun bears the title of Great Sun [Grand Soldi]." It will be remembered that Chepart had been appointed by Perrier to command at the Natchez; Post. x The Herrero tribe in South Africa follows a similar custom : the oldest son of the chief's eldest sister becomes chief. This information was supplied by J. Pothman, O. M. I., of Belle' ville, 111., former missionary in South Africa. SAVAGE VEHGEAHCE 247 "This Commandant [Chepart], having taken possession of his Post, planned to establish one of the finest plantations in the colony. With this purpose in view he inspected all the lands not yet occupied by the French, but he found nothing that would quite satisfy his big ideas. There was only the Village of the White Apple [Pomme Blanche], in extent a league square, that could satisfy him, and promptly he resolved to establish his plantation there. Those lands were approximately two leagues from the Fort. . . . All taken up with the beauty of his plan, the Commandant ordered the Soleil of the White Apple to report at the fort. This Village belonged to the Nation of the Natche? with whom the French had had a previous war. "When the Soleil appeared before the Commandant, this officer, without further compliment, told him to look for other lands to establish his Village, because he [the Com- mandant] had decided to begin the erection of buildings on the site of the Village of the White Apple at once; that he must vacate the cabins without delay and go elsewhere. . . . That Commandant evidently thought he was speaking to a slave . . . forgetting that the Natives of Louisiana are bitter opponents of slavery, the Soleils especially, being ac customed to govern despotically, rebel against it all the more. "The Soleil of the White Apple thought that, by talking reason to the Commandant he could make him understand. . . . He told him that his ancestors had lived in that Village as many years as he had hairs in his tresses and that, therefore, it was only fair that his people should remain there. "As soon as the interpreter had explained this answer to the Commandant, the latter flew into a fit of rage and threatened the Soleil that, if he did not vacate the Village within a few days he would have reason to regret it. The Soleil replied that when the French had come to ask for land they [the Natchez] had told them there was a great deal of it that was not occupied by anyone, that they could have it, that the same Soleil had offered to guide them, help them along, that they would walk the same path. He would have said more, but the Commandant, who became furiously angry, replied that he expected to be obeyed without any further discussion. The Soleil, without giving way to 248 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS anger, withdrew, saying he would call in the Old Men of his Village to hold council about this matter. "He assembled the Elders and in that Council it was agreed that they should set forth to the Commandant, that the grain of all the people in the Village was already out of the ground, that the hens were hatching their eggs, and that, if they left their Village then, the chickens and the grain would be lost to the French as well as to themselves, since the French have not enough hands to harvest all the grain they have put into their fields. "This resolution was presented to the Commandant, who rejected the same and threatened to punish them if they failed to vacate the village within a very short specified time. "The Soldi brought this answer back to the Council, which discussed the question. It was a knotty problem. The policy of the Elders prevailed, that they propose to the Commandant to permit them to remain in the Village until harvest so they would have time to gather in and thresh their grain, and then each cabin would give him, after so many moons, to be agreed upon, a hamper of grain for each barrel (the Village of the Apple numbered more than eighty cabins) and a chicken; that the Commandant appeared to them to be very selfish, and that this proposal was made to gain time and that before the expiration of the time set, they would take measures to throw off the French domination. "The Soleil went back to the Commandant to offer the tribute just mentioned with the request that he wait till the first frosts; that then the grain would have been gathered and would be dry enough to be threshed; that in this way they would not lose their grain and would not be exposed to the danger of dying from famine; that he, the Commandant, would find this arrangement profitable and that, as soon as the grain is threshed, they would bring him his share. "The greed of the Commandant prompted him to accept this proposal, but blinded him from seeing the consequences of his tyranny. However, he pretended condescendingly to accept their offer only as a favor and to cause pleasure to a Nation he esteemed and which had always been friendly to the French. The Soleil pretended to be highly pleased with the reprieve, a delay that gave them ample time to SAVAGE VEHGEAHCE 249 take the necessary precautions for the safety of the Nation, for he was not at all deceived by the feigned good'will of the Commandant. "The Soldi reconvened his council and reported to the Elders that the French Commandant had accepted the offer made to him and had granted the requested delay. Then he set forth to them that they must make good use of the time to escape the payment proposed and to overthrow the tyran- nical domination of the French, which becomes more and more oppressive as their numbers increase . . . ; that since this undertaking is a matter of the greatest importance, the utmost secrecy, cautious steps, and much diplomacy are necessary; that, therefore, they must show even greater signs of Friendship to the French Chief than heretofore; that this matter required several days of mature reflection before definitely deciding it and proposing it to the Grand Soleil 1 and his council; that they should now retire, and he would call them again after a few days to decide what course to pursue. "After five or six days he called in the Elders, who in the meantime had talked the matter over among themselves The result was, that all the voices were united upon the same means to attain the end they had in mind, that is, the total destruction of the French in that Province. "The Soleil, seeing them gathered together, spoke to them thus: 'You have had time to reflect upon the matter I have put before you; and thus, I believe, you will quickly agree upon the means of ridding ourselves of our wicked ^athurin le Petit, missionary in Louisiana, writes the following in Jesuit Relations, LXVIIL, pp. 125435: "The Sun is the principal object of veneration to these people; as they cannot conceive of anything which can be above this heavenly body. ... It is for the same reason that the great Chief of this Nation, who knows nothing on earth more dignified than himself, takes the title of brother of the Sun. . . . Every morning the great Chief honors by his presence the rising of his elder brother, and salutes him with many howlings as soon as he appears above the horizon. Then he gives orders that they shall light his calumet; he makes him an offering of the first three puffs which he draws; afterward raising his hand above his head, and turning from the East to the West, he shows him the direction which he must take in his course. . . . Those who enter [the cabin of the Chief] salute by a howl. . . . He thanks him for his politeness [a sign to be seated] by a new howl. At every question which the Chief puts to him, he howls once before he answers, and when he takes his leave, he prolongs a single howl until he is out of his presence. ... In the presence of his wife he [the Big Sun] acts with the most profound respect, never eats with her and salutes her with howls." In this latter performance the Sun Cacique of the Natchez does not stand alone. 2 5 o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS neighbors. 1 After the Soldi had finished speaking, the Eldest of the Elders rose, saluted his chief after his own fashion and said : c Tor some time we have been convinced that the prox- imity of the French does us more harm than good; we Elders see this, but the young people do not see it. The Mer- chandise of the French pleases the young, but what pur- pose does it serve other than entice away the maidens and corrupt the blood of the Nation and make them idle and conceited? It is the same with the young men; it has come to this that the married men are burdened unto death with work trying to find nourishment for the fam- ily and to satisfy the cries of the children. Before the Frenchmen came into our country, we were men, men who were content with what we had, and it was enough for us, but today we only grope about, afraid to find thorns; we walk like slaves and it will not be long before we shall be slaves of the French, for they already treat us as though we were slaves. Once they are strong enough, they will cast aside diplomacy; for the least offense on the part of our young people, they will fasten them to the stake and whip them as they whip their black slaves. Have they not done it already to one of our young men, and is not death itself to be preferred to such slavery?' "He paused a moment, took new breath and continued thus: " Why do we wait? Shall we let the French multiply until we can no longer oppose their efforts? What will the other Nations say? We are considered the most intel- ligent of the Red Men; they will say that we have less in- telligence than the other Nations. Why then wait longer? Let us free ourselves [mettons-nous en liberte] ; let us show that we are real men, men who can be satisfied with what we have; let us begin this very day to prepare ourselves; let us have foodstuffs made ready by our women, without telling them the reason why; let us bring the Calumet of Peace to the Nations of this country; let us explain to them that since the French are stronger in our neighborhood than elsewhere, they make us feel more than others that they want to make slaves of us; that once they are stronger, they will do the same to all the Nations of this country; SAVAGE VEHGEAHCE 251 that it is to their own interest to forestall such calamity; that to do that, they need only to join us, to destroy all the French on the same day and at the same hour; that the day of vengeance shall be the day on which the delay granted by the Commandant expires and on which we are to deliver the contributions agreed upon, that the hour shall be the fourth of the day (9 o'clock in the morning); that at that hour several Warriors shall go to him with grain as to begin payment; that they shall carry their guns on the pretext of going on a hunt; that in every house of a Frenchman there shall be two Natchez to one Frenchman; that they shall ask to borrow their Guns and ammunition for a general hunt on the occasion of a great Feast and that they will bring them meat [from the hunt]; that the shots fired at the Commandant's shall be the signal for all to attack the Frenchmen and kill them; then we shall be in position to prevent that those who come by the Great Water from the ancient French Village [New Orleans] could ever establish themselves here.'' "The same Elder added that, after they had made clear to the other Nations the necessity of taking this violent meas- ure, they would leave with each a bundle of twigs, which would contain the same number of twigs as their own bundle, and equal to the number of days that would intervene be- tween this day and the day on which they would all attack at the same time; that, so as not to make a mistake, they must draw from the bundle one twig each day, break it, and throw it aside, and that this task is to be committed to a discreet man. Then he was silent and sat down. All the Elders approved his plan and were of the same opinion. The plan was also approved by the Soleil of the Apple; but there was still question of getting the consent of the Grand Soleil [the Great Sun] and the other Small Soleils — for, if all the princes were of the same opinion, then the whole Nation would blindly obey. They took the further pre- caution that none of the women, not even the Soleilles [Sun- Women], should have any knowledge whatsoever of this plot or the least suspicion of what they planned to do against the French. "The Soleil of the Apple was very intelligent, which made it easy to win over the Grand Soleil to his scheme. 252 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS The reigning Soleil [Great Sun] was a young man without experience, who could, therefore, be won over all the more readily, since all the Soleils agreed that the Chief of the Apple had a just and penetrating mind; nor had he ever associated much with the French. This Prince [chief of the White Apple] went to the Sovereign of the Nation and made him understand that it was necessary to take this step, because he himself was compelled to leave his Village . . . the French Habitans and soldiers had themselves complained about the Commandant; that as long as the Grand Soleil and the Angry Serpent, 1 his brother, had lived, the Command- ant of the Fort had not dared to undertake anything, because the Grand Chief of the French, who lives in their large Village (He means to say New Orleans) loved them; but since he, the Grand Soleil, was not at all known to them, being still young, they would laugh at him; therefore, the only means to uphold his authority is to rid himself of the French in the manner and with the precautions outlined by the Elders. "The result of this conference was that, already the next day, when the Soleils came in the morning to salute the Grand Soleil, he instructed them to go to the Soleil of the Apple without speaking of it to any one. The thing was done, and the convincing mind of the Soleil of the Apple drew all the Soleils into his project. In consequence, a Council was formed including all the Soleils and the Noble Elders, who all approved the project. These noble Elders were named Chiefs of Em- bassies to visit the other Nations. Warriors were assigned to accompany them and they were forbidden, under pain of death, to speak of this matter to anyone, whosoever it might be. This resolution taken, all departed at the same time, this being done without the knowledge of the French. "Despite the deep secrecy observed by the Natchez [members of the Conference], the People felt a certain un- easiness because of the great Council held by the Soleils and the Noble Elders, and it is not new among the nations of the world that the subjects worm into the secrets of the Court. However, the curiosity of the People could not be ^rpent Pique — Angry Serpent — was a brother to the former Great Jfo and had died about a year before. SAVAGE VEHGEAHCE 253 satisfied; it is only the Soleilles [Sun- Women or Princesses] of that Nation, who have a right to ask why secrets are withheld. But the young Grande Soleille [wife of the Great Sun] was only eighteen years old and so it was only the Bras- Pique — the Tattoed Arm [the Mother of the Great Sun], who had a very keen mind, who might feel offended that nothing was said to her. In fact, she showed her chagrin to her son, who explained to her, that these Delegations were sent to renew the good understanding with these Nations and that it was quite a long time that the Calumet had been brought to them, which had made the impression his Nation slighted them by this neglect. That feigned excuse seemed to appease the Soleille, Tattoed Arm, but did not quite re- move all uneasiness from her mind. In fact, her suspicions grew as she noticed that the Soleils had secret meetings with the Deputies when the Calumets (or Embassies) returned, whereas ordinarily these meetings were held in public. "She was peeved at this and said to herself: 'What, they hide from the whole Nation what it should know? And they hide it even from me? 1 Her anger would have burst forth at once, had it not been tempered by prudence. It was fortunate for the French that she thought herself slighted, for I believe the Colony owes its safety rather to the chagrin of an offended woman than to her love for the French. . . . "She feared there would be even greater secrecy, so deep that she would discover nothing if she made noise about it. For that reason she devised a clever ruse. She induced the SoIei'I, her son, to accompany her to visit a sick relative at the Village of the Flour (or Corn Village), and to say nothing about it. She took him by the longest route, saying it was the most picturesque, but in reality, because it was the least frequented. Having a keen mind, she suspicioned that they kept this profound secrecy because they harbored some sinister plot against the French, and the movements of the Soleil of the Apple strengthened her misgivings. Now, finding herself alone with her son in a solitary place and relying on the respect he had always shown her she said : fc Let us sit down here, for I am tired and I have something to say to thee: Open thy ears to hear me; I have never 254 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAHS known thee to tell me a falsehood and I have always said that a liar does not deserve to be called a man, but a Soleil, who would tell a falsehood, deserves the contempt even of women; therefore, I think thou wilt tell me the truth. Then tell me: Are the Soleils not brothers? Is their interest not a common interest? Yet, all the Soleils keep a secret from me, as though I could not hold my tongue. Am I a woman who speaks in her sleep? I am heartbroken to see myself thus scorned by my brothers and even by thee. What then? Art not thou a child of my womb? Didst thou not nourish at my breast on the strength of my blood? Does not my blood flow in thy veins? Wouldst thou be Soleil if thou wert not my son? Hast thou already forgotten, that without my care thou wouldst long be dead? Every- one has told thee, and I also, that thou art the son of a French- man, but my own blood is much dearer to me than the blood of strangers. Today I walk by thy side like a she-dog with- out being noticed. I am astonished thou dost not push me aside with thy foot; I do not at all wonder that others keep secrets from me. Elders despise the women who are not their relatives; but thou art my son and keepest secrets from me. Didst thou ever see in our Nation that a son scorned his mother? Thou art the only one who does that. What! all these manoeuvres in the Nation, and I do not know the reason, though I am the Old Soleille [Sun-Mother], and my son is the Soleil? Dost thou fear that I reject thee and make thee a slave of the French against whom you plot? Ah! how I loathe to be thus scorned and to deal with men who know not gratitude!' "The son was profoundly affected by the words his mother had spoken to him with tearful eyes. He listened to these reproaches with the prudence characteristic of these Natives and with the respect due to a mother and a Princess. Then he replied in these words: fc Thy reproaches are like arrows that pierce my heart. I have never treated thee with con- tempt or neglect; but hast thou ever heard it said that one is to betray what the Elders of the Council have agreed? And I, who am a Soleil, must not I set the example? That secret has been kept from the Grande Soleille as well as from thee. Although they know that I am the son of a French- man, they do not distrust me. They did, indeed, surmise, SAVAGE VEHGEAHCE 255 that thou, with thy keen mind, wouldst penetrate the secret of the Council, but, keeping the secret from the Grande Soleille, it was proper to say nothing to thee. But since thou hast detected all, what dost thou further wish that I tell thee? Since thou knowest as much as I do, hold thy tongue. 1 " 'I am not at all interested to know, 1 she said, 'against whom you take steps, but just because it is against the French, I fear you have not taken sufficient precautions to surprise them. You know, they are very intelligent, though the Commandant here has lost his mind; they are brave and courageous and have quantities of Merchandise with which they can enlist all the Warriors of the other Nations against us. If you bore this grudge against Red Men, I should sleep without worry; furthermore, I am no longer young; whether it be French or Red Men that kill me, the life of an old woman counts for little. If your Elders thought that you can surprise the French as easily as the Red Men, they are mistaken; they [the French] have resources which the Red Men dream not of. 1 "Her son then told her she need have no apprehensions as to the measures taken. After having told her all that I have reported above, he added that, all the Nations had approved the plan, and that they had promised to attack the same day, and at the same hour, each the French Villages nearest to them; that the Chatkas [Choctaws] had undertaken to destroy all the French living along the lower Big River (the River St. Louis — Mississippi) and up as far as the Tonicas; that they had sent no Delegates to that Nation; that the Tonicas and Oumas were too friendly to the French, and it was better to kill them all together with the French who lived there. He finally told her that the bundles of twigs were on the flat board in the Temple. "When the Bras-Pique [Tattoed Arm, the Sun-Mother] had obtained the full information, she pretended to approve and from that moment on molested her son no more and only busied herself with her own plans, as to how she could wreck the whole barbarous plot. Time was urgent, because the intervening term, designated before the day set for Action, had nearly elapsed. 256 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "That woman could not rest satisfied to see all the French massacred on one day through the Conspiracy of the Natives; to succeed in her plans, she conceived the idea to warn some of the Indian maidens who loved the French, which she actually did, cautioning them, however, not to dare to say that the warning came from her. "In the hope of opening the eyes of the Commandant, the Bras-Pique stopped a soldier, whom she met in the road, and told him to go at once to the Commandant and tell him that the Natchez had gone mad and that he had better be on his guard; that it would be enough if he made the least repairs on the Fort in the presence of some of them, just to show that he distrusted them, and that then all their evil designs would evaporate. The soldier faith- fully executed his mission, but the Commandant, far from giving credence to this view or profiting by it, or, at least, investigating and cautiously sifting the matter, treated the soldier like a coward and visionary, had him put in chains, and said he [the commandant] would carefully re- frain from making any repairs on the Fort . . . ; that the Natchez, seeing him take steps for defense, would think that he lacked courage and was afraid of them. . . . "The Bras-Pique, fearing that despite all the precautions taken and the secrecy which she recommended, her plans might be discovered or betrayed, went into the temple and withdrew several twigs from the fatal Bundle: her plan was to advance the date [in the Village of the White Apple] so that those Frenchmen who might escape the Massacre there, could warn their countrymen [elsewhere]. She was so active [trying to get action from her warnings] that several Frenchmen were cautioned and some of them then spoke to the Commandant, but he had seven of them put in chains for being cowards. . . . "This Soleille, seeing that the date approached and that several messengers had been punished for having given good advice, decided to speak to M. Maffe, a Sub-Lieutenant, thinking that the Commandant would pay more attention to the opinion of an Officer than to that of Soldiers; but she was mistaken; the Commandant paid no more attention to the Officer than to the Soldiers. ^ 1 fy ■ #1 4-n 1 Ik 1 i IK-ST -J . > i «M» ■■ *i 3k ^8" "'-"' i * * >..: ?»* y 1 fj ^* N \ • i/ n \ £ ^ ,.*, < \\ ' i^. *•£>» ) 1 1 " ** ** '/* \ , A^ A it' r » t t 5 r»* iik'i s / * / v/ -:< v -i # - 'O <^ •A \ V ^A i ■ j A\ \\ \ « |m\ ; '! 1 iSJM.I 1 11 \ * v ^ j § M- • i \ *| *"* v. f ' ' ■ ** S \ % *L\ \ ^ D ^ 3 ; « \ * I o^ n / / % ^ \ * <,. \ -^c S \ v* V t> V •■••, • i • <*> 1 t * >S f fif \ ?i V> i ' <-> .. 1 1 "S » i\ \ ■it, / i '' 1 ° ! ' AH %* "& ^ ^, f 2 **">•> V "^ £ X> »\ "■'l a\ "^ ffi ,5 J N i j \ \ SAVAGE VEHGEAHCE 257 "The Commandant, despite all these warnings, conceived the idea of going with several Frenchmen to the large Vil- lage of the Natchez to make merry, to bring some brandy and to pass the night there; they amused themselves until the small hours of the morning when they returned to the Fort. Scarcely had the Commandant arrived there, when he received urgent warnings to be on his guard. "The Commandant, still dizzy from the debaucheries of the night, added imprudence to disregard of the last warn- ings; he ordered the interpreter to go at once to the large Village, to ask the Grand Soleil, if it was true that he would shortly appear at the head of his Warriors to kill all the French. That was early in the morning. One may well imagine, without saying it, what was the answer of the Grand Soleil. Though young, he knew how to pretend, and to speak to the Interpreter in a manner that fully satisfied the Com- mandant, who congratulated himself on having disregarded the warnings sent to him. He then went to his house near the Fort to sleep off the fatigues of the previous night. "The Natchez had too well prepared their plot not to have the success which they expected. The fatal moment arrived at last. . . . The houses of the French, filled with enemies; the Fort, too, occupied by Savages, who had en- tered by the door and by the breaches, and the Soldiers, being without Officers or even a Sergeant, could not defend themselves. In the meantime the Grand Soleil arrived with warriors carrying grain, pretending ostensibly to begin payment of the contribution. The Commandant was so elated with joy that he immediately gave orders to set free those who had given him warnings, so that they might see with their own eyes that they had been wrong. But scarcely had they stepped out to witness the delivery of the merchandise by the Natives, when several shots were fired at the small Galley 1 [boat in the river], near the Command- ant's house, at the Interpreter, at a Servant and at several x Father Le Petit's letter, covering the Natchez Massacre from a somewhat different angle, will be frequently quoted. He writes: "The arrival of a number of richly loaded boats for the garrison and the colonists, determined them to hasten their enterprise and to strike their blow sooner than they had agreed with the other confederate Tribes." — Jesuit Relations, LXV1IL, p. 165. See also Rochemonteix, Les Jesuites et la 7<[ouvelle'France au XVIIle Siecle, I., pp. 351'354. 2 5 S FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS other Frenchmen. As this discharge was the preconcerted Signal, a great number of shots were heard in the same moment. Then the Commandant understood, but too late, the wisdom of the warnings that had been given him; he runs to the Gar- den, he calls the Soldiers of the Garrison; vain hope, they are no more! They rush at him with raised guns and kill him. "The Natchez had taken the precaution to take posses- sion of the small Galley, no doubt to make sure of the merchandise and at the same time to be in position to check the French who might want to embark and save themselves; they had also a detachment on the other shore of the river to kill those who might escape. 11 Father du Poisson, S. J., 1 missionary at John Law's former concession on the Arkansas, was on his way to New Or- leans in the interest of his mission of whites and Indians. He arrived at the post of the Natchez on the 26th of Novem- ber, 1729, and stopped there to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass. That was Saturday, the eve of the first Sunday of Advent. Father Philibert, Capuchin, pastor of the parish, was not at home. The people asked Father du Poisson to fill his place the next day. He said the Mass and preached. In the afternoon, when he was about to continue his journey, he was told that there were some Frenchmen who were very sick; so he called on them and administered the last Sacraments. The following day, Monday, Nov. 28, he said Mass and brought Holy Viaticum to a sick man who had confessed the day before. Returning from this mission of charity, he met an Indian chief, who laid hands on him, threw him to the ground, and cut off his head with a hatchet. M. du Codere, Commandant at the Yasou post, drew his sword to defend Father du Poisson, when he was himself killed by a musket ball fired by another Savage. "The Massacre 2 broke out in the whole colony at the same hour. The French women, who were made slaves, were quartered in a house situated on an elevation under guard of several warriors; from there they saw a part of this tragic Scene; they saw how some women defended their husbands and how others tried to avenge them; but these heroines ^ochemonteix, op. cit., I., pp. 353 if. 2 Le Page du Pratz, op. cit. SAVAGE VEKGEATiCE 259 were sacrificed to the vengeance of the enemy, who, accord' ing to their custom, spared only the young. "During the massacre, the great Chief of the Natchez was seated quietly under the tobacco shed of the Company. His warriors laid at his feet the head of the Command- ant, about which they ranged those of the principal French of the post, leaving their bodies a prey to the dogs, the bus- sards, and other carnivorous birds. "When they were assured that no other Frenchman re- mained at the post, they applied themselves to plunder the houses. . . . While the brandy lasted . . . they passed their days and nights in drinking, singing, dancing and insulting in the most barbarous manner, the dead bodies and the memory of the French." 1 There were other outrages, too horrible to describe. Le Page du Prat? continues: "I draw the curtain over the other parts of the picture; what has been said is horrible, enough: I shall only add that, out of about seven hundred persons only a small number were saved, who brought the frightful news to the capital, New Orleans." 2 One of the French, who had escaped the butchery, fled to the Yasous. The Chief of that tribe received him with every sign of good'will, supplied him with food, and even furnished him a pirogue to escape to New Orleans. The Chief charged him to tell M. Perrier that he had nothing to fear from his nation, "they would not lose their mind," that is, they would always remain attached to the French. 3 This messenger found New Orleans in tears, because of the frightful massacre; the message of the Chief of the Yasous contributed not a little to pacify the minds. Soon, however, word reached the capital that the Yasous, loaded with presents and goaded on by the Natchez, had broken their promise and had attacked the French of that Post (Yazous), *Le Page du Prats. Ibid. The Commandant Chepart, M. du Codere, M. des Ursins, Messrs. de Kolly (Koli), father and son, des Noyers, etc., were some of the men massacred. Marc Antoine de la Loire des Ursins was stationed at Fort de Chartres under de Boisbriand and later owned a concession near Natchez. 2 The number of those who were killed outright or who died in consequence of the bru* talities endured is given by some historians between 150 and 200. Rochemonteix, op. cit. t p. 350, n. 4. 3 Le Petit in Jesuit Relations, LXVIII., p. 165. 26o FROM QUEBEC TO Js[EW ORLEANS and spared only four women and five children, whom they had made slaves. Des Roches, who commanded there during the absence of M. de Codere, and 17 men were massacred. Father Souel, missionary among the Yaz;ous, had been shot on the previous day. A few days after this second butchery, Father Dout- releau, missionary in the Illinois country, with five fellow travelers came down the river on his way to New Orleans. At the mouth of the Yasous River they disembarked, im- provised an altar, and the missionary began to say Mass, at which his companions assisted. A number of savages, who had noticed them, approached, greeted them as friends, and took their places behind the Frenchmen, who knew nothing of the Yasous massacre. At the Kyrie Eleison of the Mass, the Yazous fired their guns; Father Doutreleau was wounded at the elbow, one of the Frenchmen was killed, another was wounded in the hip, and the other three fled. One of these jumped into the pirogue, rowed away from shore, and then returned to pick up the wounded French- men. Father Doutreleau, still in his priestly garments, holding chalice and paten in one hand, swam to the boat. As he climbed into the boat he looked around to see if any of the pursuers were following, and received a discharge of small shot in the mouth. Father Doutreleau grabbed the rudder, the others rowed, and thus they escaped behind the bushes that lined the Mississippi. For the purpose of aid- ing their flight from the fatal shores, they cast all their bag- gage into the Mississippi, keeping only some pieces of raw bacon for food. They had planned to stop at the post of the Natchez to dress their wounds, but seeing that everything was demol- ished or burnt, they quickly rowed on, hotly pursued by Natchez canoes, and finally, after several days of privation and almost superhuman hardships, they reached New Orleans. 1 M. Perrier immediately sent Captain le Merveilleux with a detachment to warn the habitants of both banks of the River to be on their guard and to construct redoubts, en- closed palisaded works (des redoutes), at certain points, to put their slaves and cattle in safety. The Arkansas, ^ochemonteix, op. at., I., p. 355. SAVAGE VEHGEAHCE 261 a powerful tribe, friendly to the French, attacked the Yaz;ous. Perrier sent two ships under Loubois to equip the Tonicas and, in case of attack, to serve as asylum for women and children; he surrounded New Orleans with a moat, placed guards, and furnished arms and ammunition to the homes in the city and surrounding territory. 1 M. le Sueur, a hardy Canadian frontiersman, went to the Choctaws to enlist their aid against the Natchez;. The Choctaws were already peeved because the Natchez; had advanced the date of the massacre. They were a strong rival nation and, prompted by jealousy or ambition, pledged him their support. At the head of 700 men Le Sueur at' tacked the Natchez, and completely routed them. The rem- nant of the Natchez; fled to two palisaded forts. They were besieged by le Sueur, who had been joined by Loubois, but since the Choctaws became impatient at the inactivity imposed by the siege, the two French leaders accepted the conditions offered by the besieged, to wit: surrender of all the prisoners, women, children and Negroes. No sooner had the French withdrawn, than the Natchez; renewed their hostilities. The following year, in December, 1730, Perrier, with 600 men, many of them reinforcements just arrived from France, ascended the Mississippi, and on Jan. 20, 1731, his men stood before the Natchez; forts. Some of these savages fled to the Chickasaws, others dispersed through the country, and the Grand Soleil and the principal chiefs entrenched them- selves in one of the forts. The Soleil, the chiefs, and the other savages, with the exception of about twenty, who had es- caped, were taken prisoners and sent as slaves to San Domingo. A few months later the captive Soleil died. The news of his death, together with the idea that many of their brethren were in bondage, aflamed anew the hatred of the Natchez;. They dug up the hatchet and attacked the Tonicas and Natchitoches. Again defeated, the Natchez; finally ceased to exist as a Nation, and the survivors were absorbed by the Chickasaws. ^eiler tells what precautions were taken aux Allemands, and the same method was probably employed elsewhere. "Posts of observation were established along the Ger' man Coast on high trees on the river bank, and when the men went out in the fields, women with flint'lock firearms went up into the tops of the trees to keep a sharp lookout, and to warn the men by shots when Indians sneaked out of the swamps and approached the habi- tations." — Op. cit., p. 59, 262 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS The destruction of the hostile tribes gave a short-lived peace to the colony. The Natchez wars had exhausted the strength of the Company of the Indies, and it ceded Louisi- ana and the Illinois country back to the Crown, January 22, 1731. From that time on down to the Conquest, Louisiana remained a crown colony. M. Perrier was retained as Gov- ernor under the new administration, but, wearied of Indian troubles, he soon resigned and returned to France. Many years before, in a similar crisis, Frontenac 1 had been recalled to New France, and thus also Bienville was considered the only man who could save Louisiana, and Bienville returned to the scenes of his youthful daring exploits. The Chickasaws were a strong and bold nation, hostile to the French, and allies of the English, with whom they had commercial relations. They occupied all the vast territory between the Illinois Indians on the north and the Choctaws on the south. Each year they grew stronger by the absorp- tion of the remnants of other tribes. Assured of the back- ing of the English, they incessantly disturbed the French who lived among the Tonicas and Arkansas, and attacked the convoys on their way to Fort de Chartres and the Illi- nois country. This greatly annoyed the Governors of Quebec and Louisiana. The Chickasaws favored the establishment of English colonies on the Ohio and in the Illinois country. The English, on their part, greatly desired the establishment of such colonies, since they served as a wedge between the two French colonies, Canada and Louisiana. Alliance with the English had a decided commercial advantage for the Chicka- saws, because the English paid better prices for peltries than the French and furnished them with European mer- chandise at less cost. *See p. 46, ante. FRAHQOIS-MARIE BISSOT DE VIKCEHN.ES The British complained of the ' 'unlimited inclination the French have to encroach upon His Majesty's territories 1 ' and were determined to "prevent the inconveniences to which His Majesty's Plantations of America and the Trade of the Kingdom 11 would be subject by a communication between Louisiana and Canada. 1 That mental attitude was chronic on the part of the British, and covered at least the Ohio Valley. The French, on their part, watched with keen jealousy — and that, too, was habitual — the operations of the English, their westward movement, and their contacting with sav- ages in the Ohio Valley. August 7, 1725, Captain Tobias Fitch, 2 who had been sent to the Creeks to counteract the influence of the French, sum- moned two Spaniards, who happened to be among those savages, in the following terms: "I am sent here by the Government of Carolina To See our Friends, The Creek Indians, and To Transact affairs here for Our Said Government, and I am not To Suffer any white Man To Reside in this place with- out giveing me an account of his Business. I therefore De- mand of you who Impower'd You To Come into This nation and for what purpose are You Come?" September 30, 1726, the Company of the Indies had sent to M. Perrier, Governor of Louisiana, the following instruc- tions, that were to guide M. de Vincennes in watching the movements of the English: "One hundred and twenty leagues above the Akansas, there flows into the Mississipi the river Ouabache 3 formed by four other rivers, of which one has its source near Lake Erie and is called Saint- Jerome or Ouabache [Wabash], the other, called Ohio, has its source near the Iroquois, and the other two, called Chaouanons [Cumberland] and lSee pp. 217-218, ante. 2Tobias Fitch's Journal, Mereness, op. cit., p. 186. 3"Ouabache," writes Dunn, "signified not only the river Wabash as we know it, but also the Ohio river from the mouth of the Wabash to the Mississippi. In other words, up to the middle of the eighteenth century, the Wabash was treated as the main stream and the Ohio as a tributary of it." Dunn, The Mission of the Ouabache, p. 255. 263 264 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS des Casquinamboux [Tennessee], take their source near Virginia. The country watered by these rivers abounds in buffalo and is not occupied by any nation of Europe. "Since it is by the first of these rivers that one travels from Louisiana to Canada, and since that communication would be completely broken if the English established themselves at the conflux of one of these three rivers, which would at the same time expose the country of the Illinois and jeopard- ise all the upper part of the colony, the Company has ordered the establishment of a post on the river Ouabache and has requested the governor of Canada to give orders on his part to sieur de Vincennes, who commands among the Ouya- tanons-Miamis [on or near the site of the present Lafayette, Indiana], now settled on the upper Ouabache, to act in concert with the commandant of the new post to bring that nation closer, both to protect the post as also to ob- serve the English and to drive them away, in case they approach/ ' The Company also sent him Boisbriand's letter of earlier date, in which this officer writes "that the lack of merchan- dise has prevented him from sending to establish the said post, and that he considers it necessary to give the command of that post to M. de Vincennes, who is already half-pay lieutenant of infantry in Louisiana, and who understands better than anyone else how to handle the Miamis." 1 M. de Vincennes had come down from the Ouyata- nons-Miamis to Fort de Chartres to report to M. Des Liettes, then commanding at that post, that the English had already settled on the upper Ohio. The Company further instructed Perrier that if this report "should prove true, then there is no time to lose: he should have the Ouyatanons occupy the lower Ohio 1 This chapter is based on the painstaking researches of the scholarly and genial M. Pierre Georges Roy, chief archivist of the Province and City of Quebec, Canada. I am deeply indebted to Mr. Roy for innumerable courtesies. After two years of careful research work, during which time hundreds of documents, accumulated in the Quebec archives for a period of three centuries, were studied, M. Pierre'Georges Roy, published his findings in a book entitled, Le Sieur de Vincennes, Fondateur de Vlndiana et Sa Famille. Documents are freely quoted from this work as also from the excellent treatise, The Mission of the Ouabache, by James Piatt Dunn. See also Pierre Margry, Memoires et Documents, VI., pp. 657-658. POST VIHCEHKES 265 and then erect the fort of the Wabash near the confluence of the river Casquinamboux [Tennessee]. . . . M. Perrier is to investigate this matter carefully and see if, by giving eight or ten soldiers to sieur de Vincennes together with the missionary destined for the Wabash, 1 he might not be in position to safeguard, with the help of the savages, the com- munication between Louisiana and Canada and prevent the English from penetrating into our colony without com- pelling the Company to construct a fort on the lower Wabash, the expense of which construction and the maintenance of the garrison would be a matter of importance.' 12 The Governors of Canada had never quite forgotten that the Illinois country had been detached from New France and made a part of Louisiana at the request of Law, in 1717. A certain friction remained. In 1723, the Directors of the Company of the Indies filed complaint with the Minister against Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, accusing him of not properly cooperating with the government of Louisiana. Vaudreuil stoutly defended himself in a letter dated Oc- tober 11, 1723. Among other things he writes: "On various occasions the Ouyatanons would have made war on the Illi- nois, if, in consequence of the orders I have always given to Sr. de Vincennes, to preserve peace between these two nations, he [Vincennes] had not checked the movements of the Ouyatanons, among whom he is very highly esteemed, and had not made with them several trips to the Illinois." In the meantime, Vaudreuil received word that Boisbriand had recommended Vincennes for the post to be established on the Wabash. It will be remembered that the boundary line between New France and Louisiana ran from the mouth of the Illinois River eastward to the present Terre Haute, thus placing the post among the Ouyatanons [Lafayette], where Vincennes then commanded, clearly under the jur- isdiction of the Governor of Canada. Vaudreuil resented Boisbriand's action and sent him the following curt letter, dated August 17, 1724, : "I am delighted with the promotion of the Srs St-Ange, father and son, but x The Jesuit Father d'Outreleau. See p. 267, post. 2 Margry, op. cit., pp. 658-660. 266 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS I am astonished you would think of detaching the Sr de Vin- cennes from my government, and that you would have un- dertaken to persuade him to leave a post where he is much needed by reason of his standing among the savage nations of this post, which, you know, is in no way dependent on the government of the Mississipi. I should be sorry to be obliged to present my complaints to the Court, which I will do, however, if one continues to detach [men from my government]. I flatter myself, Monsieur, that you will give attention to this matter, and that you will reflect upon the inconveniences that might result from it." 1 J. P. Dunn calls attention to a very important point in connection with the establishment of the post on the Wabash : "that what was contemplated was not the fortification of an existing French village, but the transfer of an Indian tribe to unoccupied territory, the formation of a small military es- tablishment, and the erection of a new Indian mission ;" that there was nothing existing at that place at that time, neither a French village, nor Indian tribes, nor a mission. Father Mermet, who is often mentioned as missionary on the Wabash, was neither at the present site of Vincennes, nor even on the Wabash proper, but at Sieur Juchereau's tannery, near the mouth of the Ohio (then called Ouabache), somewhere near the site of the present Cairo, Illinois. 2 The earliest official mention of a missionary at the post, subsequently known as Vincennes, is contained in a memoir* prepared by an official of the Company of the Indies, in 1728. In this document the Jesuit Father D'Outreleau is listed as being "at the Ouabache." Dunn then arrives at the conclusion that Father D'Outreleau was not actually "at the Ouabache," but was only "destined for the Oua- bache," but never functioned there as missionary. 4 Dunn further points out the following: that, according to Sommervogel, the noted Jesuit biographer, Father Beaubois, some time before 1725, wrote a twelve-page Memoir on ip.-G. Roy, op. cit. s p. 93. 2 See p. 163, n. 1, ante. 3 Dunn, op. cit., p. 262. 4 Rochemonteix, op. cit., I., p. 355, speaks of d'Outreleau as missionary at the Wabash — missionaire a Ouabache. POST VmCEHNES 267 the Importance of fortifying the Ouabache 1 which the English can easily occupy; that later, when Beaubois accompanied the Illinois Indian chiefs to France, he submitted this same matter with other needs of the colony to the French au- thorities; that he brought Father D'Outreleau with him to Louisiana, intending to send that Father to the new post, which he knew would be established; that, according to Madeleine Hachard's Relation, Father D'Outreleau actually went to the Illinois country in September, 1727, and was nearly drowned when his canoe was completely wrecked; that, in what little mention there is of Father D'Outreleau, he is spoken of as coming from the Illinois 2 and going to the Illinois; that Bienville, in a letter of May 13, 1737, speaks of him as the "former superior of the Illinois 11 and that he was "too old to learn the Indian language 1 ' and that, there- fore, he never was sent to the Ouabache even when the In- dians established themselves there. This post had at first no specific name, and was referred to as Au Ouabache. Bienville, in a letter of August 20, 1735, calls it the "fort of the Piankeshaws. 11 Later, when St. Ange commanded there, it was called Poste St-Ange The name of Vincennes was not applied to it until some twenty years after the founder's tragic death. M. Pierre-Georges Roy has positively established the identity of the founder of the post on the Wabash and cleared away that lack of certainty, that doubt and mystery, which seemed to surround the distinguished founder of Indiana. Francois-Marie Bissot de Vincennes was born and bap- 1 In this connection the following extract from the accounts of the colony for 1726 has a peculiar interest: "At the Ouabache (Post), when it shall be established — (For) A Priest 600 livres shillings For wine, flour, candles, etc 195 For a domestic 185 8 980 8 "At Cascasquia French Village and cure The Rev. Father Beaubois, Jesuit, who went to France on the Bellow." — J. P. Dunn, op. cit., pp. 286-287- 2 It must be remembered that Aux Illinois was a very general term and might designate all the country between the Wabash and the Mississippi and beyond. Consequently, it would seem that this point of Dunn's argument would not positively prove that Father d'Out' releau was not at Vincennes. Rochemonteix, op. cit., I., p. 268, states that Father Guymonneau (who died 1736), took up his residence at "poste de Vincennes or Saint'Ange on the Ouabache above its confluence with the Ohio." Unfortunately he fails to state in what year. 268 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS tised at Montreal, June 17, 1700. He was the son of Jean- Bissot de Vincennes, an army officer, and Marguerite For- estier. His cousin, Francois Margane de Batilly, stood sponsor at his baptism, and his aunt, Marie-Madeleine Forestier, was godmother. 1 Francois de Vincennes occasionally signed Margane de Vincennes. It was then the custom to adopt the sponsor's name and use it in place of one's own Christian name — merely as a compliment to the sponsor. This innocent com- pliment, paid to his godfather, became, in the course of time, a source of great confusion among historians. Margane became Morgan, and Vincennes became Saint Vincent, etc. Jean-Baptiste Bissot de Vincennes, father, was educated in the Seminaire de Quebec, where he spent four years, 1676-1680. Seven years later, he sold the greater part of his belongings and went to France, probably to seek a posi- tion in the army. At any rate, a document of 1695 is signed by himself as "Ensign of the Navy,' 1 and in the official report of 1696 to the Minister, Vincennes is listed with the annotation, "Bon officier — good officer." In September, 1696, a large number of ambassadors of western tribes held a powwow at Quebec under the patronage of the great Onontio, Governor Frontenac. 2 The old Governor was at his best; he spoke to the delegates of each tribe and thoroughly impressed those forest children with the splendor of his power. When they prepared to go back to the woods, Frontenac gave them a practical farewell address. He said: "I don't want you to go back home naked [without presents]. Here are guns, and powder, and bullets, which I give you. Make good use of them; don't go shooting roebucks and buffaloes; shoot the Iroquois, they have less bullets and lead x "Acte de Naissance de Francois Marie Bissot de Vincennes (Montreal, 17 juin 1700): "Le dixseptieme juin mil sept cent a ete baptize Francois Marie fils de Jean Bissot sr de vincennes officier dans les troupes et de Marguerite Forestier sa femme ne le meme jour des d. mois et an. Le parain Francois Margane ecuier sr de Batilly aussi officier dans les troupes. La mareine Marie Magd. Forestier fille du sr Forestier chirurgien. Batilly M. Magdelaine forestier R. C. De Breslay P. I. faisant les fonctions curiales." Pierre-Georges Roy, Le Sieur de Vincennes, Fondateur de Vlndiana et sa Famille, p. 300. 2 lbid., p. 36. POST V1KCEHKES 269 than you have. . . . War brings out the real men. Nothing makes me feel better than to see the face of a warrior H The Westerners left Quebec in high spirits, and shortly after, Frontenac improved this friendly disposition by sending D'Ailleboust as Commandant to Michillimackinac, and Jean- Bissot de Vincennes in the same capacity to the Miamis. The Montigny mission expedition, en route for the Tamarois in 1698, met Vincennes at Michillimackinac, and the two parties traveled together several days. 1 In 1712 the Foxes plotted with the Five Nations and the English to drive the French from Detroit. M. Du Buisson was then Commandant at that post, but had only thirty sol- diers at his disposal. At this critical moment, Jean-Bissot de Vincennes, father, arrived from the Miamis and helped to extricate the French from their precarious position. Vin- cennes, the elder, died at Ouyatanon in 1719, and many years later the savages wept at the mention of his name — such was the esteem and love they had for him. At the age of eighteen, 1718, Frangois-Marie Bissot de Vincennes came to the Miamis with his father and served there as junior officer. Governor Vaudreuil, October 22, 1722, reported to the Conseil de Marine that the "Sr. de Vin- cennes fils" [son], a junior officer of the troops, commanded among the Ouyatanons, that he was very useful to the colony, and that the savages were attached to him as they had been to his father. FranQois-Marie Bissot de Vincennes is the officer who was finally chosen to establish the post on the Ouabache. The official budget for 1731 makes allowance for salary and main- tenance at this post for the last six months of that year. This permits the conclusion that Vincennes began the erection of his fort about the middle of the year 1731. The further development of this fort is clear from Vin- cennes' own letters to an officer of the Marine. "March 7, 1733. "The Ouabache [nation] is composed of Five nations [tribes], which include four Villages, of Which the Smallest has sixty men bearing Arms, and The whole may total six to seven Hundred men, whom it would be necessary To bring x See p. 135, ante. 2 7 o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS together, for The Good Of the service, and take away from Them The proximity Of the English. It has Been impossible To bring together all these Nations, because there was always a lack Of merchandise In This place. The fort which I have had built is eighty leagues Up the Ouabache, Above the Rivers by which the english would have little distance to come down and open trade with These Nations. The place is suited for A large Establishment, which I would have built, if I had had The men. With regard to the Trading that One can do there, it is in furs. One can send out From This post each year thirty thousand Skins. That, Monsieur, is all The Trading that One can do here for the present." Vincennes stresses the need of troops because the savages, both the Illinois and Miamis and others, are more insolent than they have ever been. He then reminds the official of the im- portance of this post: "It is The passage Of all the nations as well Of the Lakes as Of other places." June 21, 1737, Bienville wrote to the Minister as follows: "The Peanghikeas [Piankeshaws] among whom we have a post, where the deceased M. de Vincennes commanded, have nearly all quitted their village, with the exception of about 15 men who were still with Sr. de Saint- Ange. They went up the Ouabache to another village. I foresee that, since that sta- tion diminishes [in importance] one would be annoyed by the Chikachas in that post, where the garrison is not strong. That circumstance and the recent and repeated attempts of English to wedge into the colony by way of the Oyo [Ohio] by which they descend into the Ouabache 1 determines me to replace that fort at 40 leagues farther down at the mouth of this river. I should have placed it there in the beginning if the Savages had been willing to follow us. . . . ". 2 This fort at the mouth of the Wabash, as it is known today, was probably never built. "You do me The honor To suggest To send you an Inven- tory Of the works completed and to be built. There is only a fort and Two Houses within the enclosure. A Guard- house should be built at once with Barracks to quarter The Soldiers. But it is not possible to remain In this place with *See p. 263, n. 3, ante. 2 P.-G. Roy, op. tit., p. 117- POST VmCEHHES 271 so few Soldiers. There should be thirty men with One Officer. I am more perplexed than ever In this place by The war Of the chicachies [Chickasaws], who came here twice since spring; only Twelve days ago The last party abducted three persons' 1 etc. He then asks the officer to bear in mind the difficult position he and his little garrison are in. "Your very humble and very obedient Servant Vinsenne" Vicennes wrote another letter to the same officer two weeks later. This letter is dated: Du fort de Uabache, ce 21* mars 1733. Vincennes reports that "The marquis de Bauharnois 1 has sent me A collar and A calumet for the Illinois, which I have sent on to monsr. de St. Ange to urge The nations to go to strike the chicachias. All the nations of Canada and the Lakes leave this spring to go there. All those Of this neighborhood have gone already including their Chief. . . " He then continues to tell that the Chickasaws have killed six Frenchmen, that the same party killed a savage and his wife of this post, and that the Marquis de Beauharnois \Lemar- quis de beauharnois] 2 is determined to destroy the Chidkasaws. He complains that they are in need of everything, and that he must borrow from voyageurs, who pass through the post. He dreads to think of the time when these nations will return from the war, that all the prisoners will be loaded on to him, that they will want presents and more presents to "cover their dead." beauharnois, Governor of Canada. 2 Vincennes' orthography is as interesting as that of George Rogers Clark. Spelling was not the Commandant's strong point. Occasionally, as above, he signed Vinsenne. See P-G. Roy, op. cit., pp. 103405. THE CHICKASAW WARS Father Le Petit writes 1 : "The Tchikachas, a brave Nation but treacherous. . . have endeavored to seduce the Illinois Tribes The Illinois have replied to them: 'We are almost all of the prayer (that is, according to their manner of ex- pression, that they are Christians), and. . . inviolably attached to the French We always place ourselves before the ene- mies of the French; you must pass over our bodies to go to them, and to strike us to the heart before a single blow can reach them 1 ". Their conduct was in conformity with their words. When the Illinois heard of the Natchez and Yasous Massacres, Chicagou, at the head of the Mitchigamias, and Mamantouensa, at the head of the Kaskaskias, 2 came to New Orleans to weep over the Black Robes and the French and to offer their services to Perrier. The situation in which the French found themselves was this: The Chickasaws had adopted the remnants of the Natchez and, according to P. Baudoin, "made use of them to Jesuit Relations, LXVIIL, p. 201. 2 Father Le Petit writes of their stay at New Orleans: "The Illinois had no other res' idence but with us, during the three weeks they remained in this city. They charmed us by their piety, and by their edifying life. Every evening they recited the rosary in alter' nate choirs, and every morning they heard me say Mass; during which, particularly on Sun' days and Feast'days, they chanted the different prayers of the Church suitable to the Offices of the day. At the end of the Mass, they never fail to chant with their whole heart the prayer for the King. The Nuns chanted the first Latin couplet in the ordinary tone of the Gre' gorian chant, and the Illinois continued the other couplets in their language in the same tone. This spectacle, which was novel, drew great crowds to the Church, and inspired a deep devotion. In the course cf the day, and after supper, they often chant, either alone or to gether, different prayers of the Church, such as the Dies irae, etc., Vexilla Regis, etc., Stabat Mater, etc. To listen to them, you would easily perceive that they took more delight and pleasure in chanting these holy Canticles, than the generality of the Savages, and even more than the French receive from chanting their frivolous and often dissolute songs. . . . 'The first time the Illinois saw the Nuns, Mamantouensa, perceiving before them a troop of little girls, remarked, '1 see, indeed, that you are not Nuns without an object." He wished to say, that they were not mere solitaries, laboring only for their own perfection. 'You are," he added, like the black Robes, our Fathers; you labor for others. Ah! if we had above there two or three of your number, our wives and daughters would have more sense, and would be better Christians.' 'Ah, well!" the Mother Superior answered him, 'choose those whom you wish.' 'It is not for me to choose/ said Mamantouensa, 'it is for you who know them. The choice should fall on those who are most attached to God, and who love him most." " Jesuit Relations, LXVIIL, pp. 209'214. 272 O ^S O ^ s a 3* W o f- i o £ o — £^ K g A TYPICAL HABITANT— LE PERE GODBOUT From painting b> Charles Huot Archives De La Province De Quebec From P.'G. Roy, Ulle D'Orleans FAILURE OF CHICKASAW CAMPAIGNS 273 make incursions to the upper course of the river [Mississippi] and to attack the convoys that went up to the Illinois coun- try." 1 To keep open the line of communication along the Mississippi, the Wabash and the Ohio routes, the French felt it necessary to weaken the aggressive power of the Chick- asaws and to prevent the English from establishing them- selves in all that territory, which they considered the domain of the King of France. M. de Bienville, again Governor of Louisiana, sent word to the Chickasaws to bring him without delay the heads of the Natchez; warriors then living among them. The chief of the Chickasaws replied: l 'The Natchez are now one nation with the Chickasaws and we cannot deliver their heads. 1 ' 2 Not satisfied with this reply, Bienville declared war against them. He sent word to M. d'Artaguiette, Command- ant at Fort de Chartres, to raise as many men as he could — soldiers, Canadians, French, and Illinois Indians, and to meet him in the country of the Chickasaws on the 10th of May, 1736. Bienville himself raised all the troops he could in Louisiana, ascended the Mobile River to Tombechbech, now Cotton-Gin Port, where 1200 Choctaw Indians joined him. "M. de Bienville, 11 writes Le Page du Prats, "sent Cap- tain le Blanc with five armored boats to Fort de Chartres: one boat carried a cargo of Powder and the others Merchan- dise, all destined for the war against the Chicasaws. The Captain also carried the instructions for M. d'Artaguiette, commandant at Fort de Chartres. "When the Chicasaws heard of these war preparations made by the French, they closely watched the River, think- ing they might be attacked from that side. In fact, having spied the Convoy of M. le Blanc, they attacked it, but without success, since no one was killed and the Convoy arrived at the Arkansas. M. le Blanc, having taken a short rest with that Nation, departed for the Illinois, but left the Powder there, for reasons that no one has ever been able to understand or surmise. "Captain le Blanc reached Fort de Chartres without further incident or delay and delivered the orders of the l Rochemonteix, op. cit., p. 362, n. 1. 2 Ibid. 274 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS governor to d'Artaguiette. The Commandant sent a boat to the Arkansas that same day to bring up the Powder destined for his Fort and for the War against the Chicasaws. On the return voyage this boat was ambuscaded; the at- tack was so sudden that all the men were killed except M. du Tissenet the younger, and a man named Rosalie. They were made slaves, and the Powder destined for the War against the Chickasaws fell into their own hands." 1 We have seen that Bienville's army arrived at Tombech- bech on the 20th of April. The army struck camp at this fort and remained there until the 4th day of May. Time was wasted allowing the Choctaws to present the calu- met to the Governor and holding a court-martial over four French soldiers and a Swiss, who were accused of treason. Bienville's report gives this explanation of the disastrous delays: "The rains, which had troubled me so much on the river, did not leave me on land. Hardly were we en- camped when a violent storm broke out, which raged sev- eral times during the night and made us all fear for our pro- visions and ammunition." 2 Le Page du Prats continues: "Bienville's army reached the Fort of the Chicasaws on the 27th of May. The English flag floated over the Fort, and the French saw four Englishmen, who came out of near-by cabins, enter the Fort. The Fort was attacked, but with little success — thirty two men killed and seventy wounded on Bienville's side. Bienville retreated, and off on one side in the distance, his men saw a party of Chic- asaws, coming towards them and holding aloft the Calumet of Peace and a Letter which they showed; they came from another village than the one of the Fort. "When the French saw them they thought it was a Party, which M. d'Artaguiette, prisoner of that Nation, sent with *Le Page du Pratz, op. cit., III., pp. 401-426. Pierre d'Artaguiette was a son (according to some writers, a younger brother) of Diron d'Ar- taguiette, former royal commissioner of Louisiana. Perrier had previously made him Gom- mandant of a Fort among the Natchez "as an acknowledgment of the intrepidity with which, during the siege, he had exposed himself to the greatest dangers, and everywhere braved death." See also Villiers du Terrage, Les Dernieres Annies de Louisiane, pp. 21-22. 2 Quoted in Alcee Fortier, History of Louisiana, I., p. 122. FAILURE OF CHICKASAW CAMPAIGNS 275 a letter, from some Village that he might have reduced; but this was only partly true. This surmise was based on what the Choctaws, who had discovered them, had been told, that they came to present to the Governor the Calumet of Peace and to deliver a Letter from a French Chief who was a slave. One of the Choctaws had run ahead as fast as he could to bring this news to the general, who at once gave orders to shoot them down; Four of them were killed and the rest fled. . . . The next day a quarrel broke out between the Soulier Rouge [Red Shoe] , a Choctaw Chief, and the French. Bienville returned to Mobile and Louisiana with his army; the first war against the Chickasaws had been a failure. "Shortly after, a Sergeant from the Illinois Garrison ar- rived at New Orleans and reported that M. D'Artaguiette had received through M. le Blanc the orders of Bienville to be in the country of the Chickasaws not later than the 10th of May, 1736, with all the troops he could gather and that he, the general, would be there at the same time; that in consequence of these orders, M. D'Artaguiette had calcu- lated so well that he reached the country of the Chicka- saws with all his troops on the 9th of May; that he had sent reconnoitering parties to locate the French army [Bienville's] ; that he had done so each day until the 20th of May; that his Indians, hearing the French were not yet there, insisted that he attack the Chickasaws that day or they would go back to their own country; 1 that D'Artaguiette had finally decided to attack the enemy on the 21st, and that he had at first been successful, having forced the Enemy to abandon their Village and their Fort; that he had attacked another Village with the same success; but that, pursuing the fugi- tives, M. D'Artaguiette had been twice wounded and that, when his Indians saw this, they withdrew and deserted the Commandant, the Jesuit Father 2 who accompanied the troops, 46 Soldiers and 2 Sergeants; that during that whole day this small group of Soldiers had sustained and defended their Commandant, who had finally been forced to surrender with his troop; that the Enemy instead of torturing them 1 Almost all savages are capable of striking only one blow, and then they disperse. 2 Rochemonteix, op. cit., pp. 365-366. 276 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS had treated them kindly and led thern to their Village, where they were cared for; that they had dressed and treated their wounds in the hope of obtaining peace from M. de Bienville when he should arrive; that, having heard that the French were in their country, they had compelled M. D'Ar- taguiette to write to the General; but since that deputation had failed, and learning that the French had withdrawn, and seeing that they could gain nothing by delivering up these Slaves, they had put them to death at a slow fire. "The Sergeant further told that he had been one of the prisoners but had fallen into the hands of a very kind master, who had even helped him to escape. This story this Ser- geant related publicly and it is through him that the sad end of D'Artaguiette became known. 111 The three brothers Drouet de Richardviile, all of them distinguished officers, lost their lives in this battle. M. d\Ar- taguiette, Francois-Marie Bissot de Vincennes, de Cou- lange, a fourth brother of the Drouet, Tisne, d'Esgly, de Saint- Ange, de Tonti and 15 or 16 soldiers were made pris- oners. The remnant of the French and the Iroquois, who fought against the Chickasaws, withdrew in good order under the leadership of a certain Voisin, 2 a soldier-boy, only 16 years of age, who assumed command with the coolness and composure of a veteran. The Chickasaws pursued them 25 leagues, but the young boy covered his retreat, and his army marched 45 leagues without food, carrying the wounded with them. Father Senat, 3 chaplain of the expedition, could have escaped with Voisin and his men; they asked him to do so, and even offered him a horse, but he refused, his duty being to remain with the French who had been taken prisoners. The wounded men called to him: "Dear Father, do not leave us." Mathurin Le Petit, reporting this unhappy event to his Superior, June 25, 1738, writes as follows: "To- gether with 23 or 24 frenchmen, he [Senat] was immediately led to a prominent hill in the center of the village, where the savages, infuriated by the loss in battle of many of their J Le Page du Pratz, ibid. 2 Rochemonteix, op. cit., 365. 3 Antoine Senat was born at. Auch, France, September 26, 1699. In 1733 he sailed for Louisiana and reached Kaskaskia early in 1734- Pvochemonteix, op. at., p. 367, n. 2. FAILURE OF CHICKASAW CAMPAIGNS 277 companions, attacked them with reproaches, insults, and clubs, and ignominiously stripped them of their clothing. Yet they were left to themselves, so to speak, until a double pile of wood was being raised, not far away, and in plain view, for the purpose of burning them. ... It is certain that each and all, piously kneeling together with their Mis- sionary, chanted long and loudly many prayers — which the savages, from whom we learned the fact, called a song to go above. They repeated the same pious hymns while they were being led to the two piles, or were carried thither — as was the case with those who were unable to walk, owing to their wounds; nor did they interrupt their singing amid the fire until they fell, half burned or suffocated by the flames. This sight won the admiration of the savages, so that those whom they had, on the very same day, scorn- fully called 'women' they often proclaimed to be men and heroes. 111 Historians have to this day not solved the question why this campaign went wrong. 2 Whose fault was it? One thing is certain, this first campaign against the Chicka- saws was a dismal failure. Bienville was eager to blot out the stain of defeat. M. de la Buissonniere was now Commandant at Fort de Char- tres, and de Beauharnois Governor of Canada. Bienville appealed to these two and to France for aid in a second war against the Chickasaws. M. de Longueuil brought 440 men, French and Indians, from Canada; M. de la Buisson- niere, Commandant of Fort Chartres, brought his soldiers and some Indians; M. de Bienville had received reinforce- ments in men and war material from the mother country, and all met on the 15th of August, 1739, at Fort Assumption, 3 Jesuit Relations, LXVIII., p. 308 and 69, pp. 28-31. Father Mathurin Le Petit, Superior of the Jesuits in Louisiana, states very positively that the torture and execution of the prisoners took place on Palm Sunday, March 25, 1736. April 13, 1736, Toussaint Loisel wrote from SaintcAnne des Illinois, to his brother who lived at Montreal. In this letter he reports on the death of D'Artaguiette, Vincennes, and 40 Frenchmen. Therefore by this date news of the deaths had already reached Fort de Chartres. If March 25 is the correct date, the whole campaign must be advanced by two months. Rochemonteix holds that the torture took place in May and not in March, op. cit., I., p. 370, n. 2 See Le Page du Pratz, op. cit., and Villiers du Terrage, op. cit., p. 21. 3 Fort Assumption was built specifically for this war against the Chickasaws. 278 FROM QUEBEC TO X[EW ORLEANS near the present city of Memphis. By the end of 1739, the army of Bienville numbered 1200 Europeans and 2000 Indians and Negroes. The Chickasaws were attacked on the 21st of February, 1740, and immediately sent their delegates to sue for peace. Provisions began to fail, and sickness broke out in the camp of the French, especially among the soldiers recently arrived from France. Bienville gives this explanation: "It was not advisable to risk the glory of the arms of the King on the chance of a doubtful success. 111 Contrary to all expectation, Bien- ville accepted the terms offered by the savages, and thus ended the second Chickasaw War, which had taken two years of preparation on the part of the French. Bienville was growing old and evidently lacked the fire and courage of his youth. He had spent nearly 40 years of his life in Louisiana. With his brother d 1 Iberville he was the founder of Louisiana, and thrice he had been Governor of the colony. His star was sinking; he was very sensitive to the severe criticism heaped upon him for his dubious con- duct of the two Chickasaw Wars. In 1741 he asked to be recalled to France. M. de Vaudreuil, son of the former Governor of Canada, succeeded him as Governor of Louisi- ana, the 10th of May, 1743. 'Quoted in Alc£e Fortjer, op. at., I., 126. A FEW PAGES AT RANDOM FROM THE HISTORY OF THE MISSIOH OF THE HOLT FAMILY AT CAHOKIA An old document in the Archives of the Seminaire de Quebec takes us back to the days of Boisbriand. "We, Pierre Dugue de Boisbriant, Knight of the mili- tary order of St. Louis, first Lieutenant of the King in the province of Louisiana, Commandant in the Islinois, And Marc antoine de la Loere des Ursins, chief Clerk of the Royal Company of the Indies at the said place, "At the request of the Missionaries of the Kaokias and Tamarois to grant them a tract of land four leagues square in fee simple [en franc alcu] 1 together with the adjacent Islands, beginning a quarter of a league above the little river of the Kaokias, 2 situated above the village of the Sav- ages and thence running back towards the fort de Chartres, following the course of the Mississipi, running to a depth of [four leagues]. . . . , "We, by virtue of our powers, the said tract of land has been granted to the Messieurs the Missionaries of the Ka- okias and Tamarois in fee simple, on which they may, from this moment, cause to work, clear, and plant, awaiting the formal grant, which will be forwarded from france by the general directors of the Royal Company of the Indies. At fort de Chartres this twenty second day of June one thousand seven hundred twenty two. boisbriand, des ursins." J. P. Mercier and J. Courier, missionaries, certify to the correctness of the copy and forward this document des Tamarois, April 12, 1735. With the greatest care, the same Fathers prepared a map or plat of the Seminary holdings at Cahokia. It must be remembered that a few thousand acres of land meant very little in those days. It was the improvements — house, barn, mill, etc. — that gave value to a tract of land. The part act- 1 In English law: "free and common socage." 2 The lower course of Cahokia Creek has been changed and it now empties into the Missis' sippi fully a mile north of its original mouth. 279 z8o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS ually under cultivation was called domaine. This tract had been granted by the Company of the Indies to the "Missionaries of the Kaokias and Tamarois" under the same conditions as concessions had been conveyed to Renault and many others in Louisiana. It was understood that such concessions were granted with a view to developing the country and bringing settlers, or colons, to them. The owners of such concessions were really nothing else than the under- takers of the settlement of a territory. In order to make their grants more fruitful, they had to secure the cooperation of settlers. 1 "Explanation of the plan and settlement of the seigniory of the missions of the Tamarois. 2 "The island of the Holy Family, which hides the view of the Mississipi from the French settlement as well as from the savage village of the Kaokias, a league long, and a little more, by nearly a half league in its widest part, is completely covered with a forest of full-grown trees, good for building purposes and firewood, especially a great deal of poplar, few walnut-trees and mulberry-trees, and nearly everywhere covered with horse-weed [presle], which the horses greedily seek for. When the waters of the Missouri and the Mississipi rise very high, a great part of this island is inundated. The little river of the Kaokias [riviaire des Kao\ias], which has its source in several swamps, a league and a half more or less from here, together with a small arm of the mississipi, form the river which separates us from the island. One could place a water-mill on the said river des Kaokias, if during high water the Mis- sissipi did not check its current for quite a distance. It is covered with trees on both sides of its bed. "The riviere du pont [river of the bridge] also issues from a swamp and flows quite gently into the mississipi, almost directly across from the former village of the Kaskakias. The mississipi never backwaters it to such extent that it would not turn a mill a short distance above the place where a bridge is indicated. It is the cost of a dam and the lack of water in the long droughts which have kept us from build- ing one there rather than in the hills. 1 Canada and Its Provinces, I., pp. 8'9. 2 ^uebec Seminary Archives. Some punctuation has been inserted to facilitate the reading. STRAY LEAVES FROM OLD RECORDS 281 "The riviere du Platin [river of the Prairie] issues from the foot of a rather high rock and flows through a chain of hills and then, at the foot of the bluffs, it has very little current. Its bed sometimes dries out, but never the pond whence it takes its waters. We had first thought of con- structing our mill on the said river, a suitable distance be- low the foot of the bluffs, but we have changed our mind, because of the expense of a dam, which the heavy showers and downpours of rain would easily carry away, since there is no one in this country sufficiently skilled to build one strong enough to withstand these torrents. This is what renders the mill, which the Jesuit fathers built in similar hills, useless; it can operate only in heavy showers; further- more, in less than 24 [hours] it caused 7 to 800 livres repairs [damages]. In about three years, since it was begun, it did not grind 150 minots 1 of flour, and it cost, figuring con- struction and repairs, at least 20,000 livres. The dam of the one built between the fort de Chartres and the Kaska- kias, like the one of the fathers, was carried away by the rain; it seems, however, that it is better than the former [the one at the mill of the Jesuits]. "The water-fall, where we place our mill, issues from a rock, which forms the bluff, it may be thirty feet high; the opening through which the water rushes is large enough that a man could enter; the cavity of the said rock is spacious and encloses a sort of small lake, the depth of which no one has as yet dared to sound and much less measure its full extent. After heavy rains or the melting of the snow, the opening of the rock not being large enough for the excess water, there is a loud noise in the cavity, and then the water rushes out with great force, both through the said opening as also by another crevice of the said rock, which serves as overflow to the first. 2 The way we place the structure of the mill, all that fury of water cannot damage it, because the first trough, which is five feet wide, is placed cross- wise to receive the full downpour of water and gives only so much water to the other troughs as is required for the mill. The troughs 3 are hundred feet long, the large wheel is 18 feet 1 Minot about one bushel and one peck. 2 Falling'Springs, near Cahokia. 3 Troughs of the millrace. 282 FROM QUEBEC TO NEW ORLEANS in diameter, the millstones five feet, not having been able to find larger ones. . . . "In the long droughts, we believe, there will not be enough water to turn the said mill; it may, nevertheless, turn about six months of the year, which may suffice to grind 8,000 [minots] of grain. "Number 32 marks the domain, which we have reserved for ourselves, in the prairie of the Kaokias. It has only six arpents 1 frontage. In the prairie du moulin [prairie of the mill], we shall reserve another, at least 20 arpents, in the very place where the mill is situated, leaving it in the center, or nearly so, of the second domain, the depth of which we shall cause to run from the bluffs to the mississipi or from the mississipi to the bluffs, taking for direction a line running north northeast. On the two sides of the first domain, seven pieces of ground have been granted, by warranty deeds, to 7 habitants, of whom only the first, who are nearest the french village, are in full possession; concerning the three others, as well as ourselves, they sow in the farther part of their fields fifteen and twenty minots of grain for this year in the uncultivated fields, which they bought from the said savages, and which have three arpents of frontage; our domain as also the three fields of the habitants, being occu- pied by the Kaokias, whom one has not been able to per- suade to move farther than a league away, because of the fear they entertain that some nation destroy them, if they moved farther away from the french, we can sow only at the farther end, where we have enough cultivated ground for sowing 200 minots; 3 weeks ago we placed 170 minots into the ground. The twelve arpents, granted without contract, on this side of our domain, that is to say, on the side of our village, were given to the men named Richard, Blodin, Louis gault, la Source; the nine arpents on the other side of the said domain belong to Rolet, frangois Mercier, Robillard, who is the farthest away; all these lands should run north northeast, as we think, which may be changed a trifle [cTun air de vent] when a sworn surveyor, who is not yet in this country, shall have arrived and will survey them officially. ^he arpent as a linear measure is equivalent to 180 French feet or 191.85 English feet. STRAY LEAVES FROM OLD RECORDS 283 "The said habitants, having absolutely demanded that their lands begin at the little river which separates the island from this prairie and to grant them the depth up to the bluffs, in the same manner as it was granted by all the concession- ers or seigniors to all the habitants of the Illinois, we were not in position to refuse them, not only so that we should not be alone in this mission, which would not be expedient for us, but also not to give occasion to cry out against us, which would not have failed to happen. As to the cens et rentes, 1 no habitant pays it as yet in all this country; that will, no doubt, be done later. "The full extent of the land, belonging to the mission and which is on the bluffs, is covered almost exclusively with white oak; the wood there is very clear and there are numbers of small prairies in extent from 5 to 6 arpents up to twenty and 25. Those who know, say that the grape would thrive admirably on these slopes. If we had a vine- dresser, we should make an attempt, because the wild grape of various kinds is not wanting in this country. They also say that the sheep would find fat pastures. I shall investigate; in that case one could procure them from the sea [Louisiana], where there are plenty of them, which means, nevertheless, that it would cost much to transport them by water. "The former village of the Kaskakias [just north of the mouth of the River des Peres] is rightly considered a very advantageous location for the stone fort, which the crown orders to be built in the- Illinois country [aux Illinois] : the limestone, the stone to cut, the timber for building, a river to shelter the ships, the view upon the mississipi about two leagues above and two leagues below, the rock which comes down to the mississipi with a very gradual slope, a beau- tiful prairie, which comes up to the said rock, the mississipi which would be protected by the said fort as well as the missouri, which empties into the river five leagues from here, on the west side of the said river, and the river of the Illi- nois, which there mixes its waters, eleven leagues from here, coming from the east, all that would seem to invite the con- ltl The cens was a moderate tax paid a* a recognition of the seignior's rights. . . . The rente was a substantial rent for the land." Alvord, op. at., I., p. 205. 284 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS struction of the said fort in this place, as is much spoken of. In that case it is not difficult to see that the seigniory of the tamarois would be well established from one end to the other. "You will find, Gentlemen, several erasures in this com- mon letter, which we wrote a month ago. These erasures come partly from changes of habitants who take land to- day and leave it tomorrow. If the messenger who leaves tomorrow gave us more time, we should have recopied it, but he is in such haste that we have not even time to write several private letters. As to the map, which we have the honor to send you, we made it the best we could; it is sufficiently correct as to distance from one place to another. If Mr Renault 1 had not been sick, he would have done us the pleasure to draw it himself, and no doubt it would have been made better. However that may be, it can always give you an idea of the location of our seigniory of the Tama- rois. We have again the honor, to be with much respect and submission. Gentlemen Your very humble and very obedient servants des Tamarois ce 12^ avril 1735 J. P. Mercier, ptre (Signed) J. Courier, Ptre " April 20, 1743, Mercier wrote to Vaudreuil, Governor of Louisiana, telling him that, in view of the grant made to the mission by Boisbrand, "the mission has expended a large sum of money to solidly establish the little french village of the Kaokias. In 1731, we bought from the savages the land where we expect to locate the habitants who may come here . . . then we built a water mill, the labor of which cost 4000 francs; there is often a shortage of water and we had to build a wind-mill, which cost 100 ecus. 2 (Our horse- power mill would suffice for our own use). We do not grind enough grain to pay the miller, nor to pay for the canvass, which is very expensive here, nor the repairs that will be 1 Very probably Philippe Renault, director of mines in the Illinois country. 2 Ecu, that is, 3 livres, equivalent to 60c. STRAT LEAVES FROM OLD RECORDS 285 necessary from time to time. . . . Besides, we have built a wooden bridge across a little creek, % league from here, to facilitate communication between the two prairies con- tained in our tract of four leagues granted to our mission. Then, too, we had to give quite a lot of presents to prevail upon the savages to withdraw peaceably a short distance, to avoid the many quarrels that occurred between the French and these savages. More than half of them have moved about three leagues away from here, where we gave them as much land as they needed; the rest have promised to go, but they have so often broken their word that one cannot count on their promises in this matter, nor in other matters." Since these expenditures were incurred for the good of the establishment of the village of the French and the de- velopment of the country, Mercier humbly submits the expense account, which, however, was never paid. August 14, 1743, the Governor very graciously replied to Father Mercier and touched on another point of inter- est: "I should have liked to cut down the quantity of brandy, which ordinarily goes to the Illinois, but the abominable laxity in this matter in the past, together with the actual need of having some of it, as Messrs. de Bienville and Salmon have assured me, have prevented me from taking that step this year, but will look after it the following years. M. de Bertet 1 would do well to keep it under control as much as possible, so it will not be used for trade with the savages. . . "As to the land which you purchased from the Savages in 1731, I do not think you can claim it, because such a pur- chase cannot take place — it does not give you title.' 1 In the same month, August, 1743, Vaudreuil and Salmon 2 wrote to Bertet at Fort de Chartres about the mission property: "Concerning the four leagues of land granted at the time of the Company of the Indies to the priests of the foreign missions, we have verified by their titles that that is a franc aleu simple and not a fief noble [not a seigniory], 3 as you list it; there is no doubt that they are the owners of it, that they may possess it themselves or dispose of it as a gift or for a consideration. . . . Commandant at Fort de Chartres. 2 Edme'Gratien Salmon was Intendant and First Judge in the Superior Council of the Province. "Therefore they were not entitled to the small tax known as cens. 286 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "We see from a letter of M. Mercier, priest of the for- eign missions, that they occupy a tract of land, which, they say, was acquired from the Savages in 1731. That owner- ship is not so well established; that title is not so clear. However, since they are in possession of it, one can let them alone . . . you will kindly let us know in what this tract consists, how much they paid the Savages, of what benefit it is to the missionaries, and if later at any time, it could be useful to the habitants, when that section is more settled." Another page of earlier date, but concerning a totally different matter: All the while that Bishop Saint- Vallier was in Europe, in France, or prisoner in England, 1700-1713, he never lost sight of the needs and interests of his vast diocese in Amer- ica, reaching from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. There was a close connection between the Sem- inary of Foreign Missions in Paris and the Seminary of Quebec, the former often supplying missionaries for the vast field in America. M. Bergier, Superior of the Mission of the Holy Family at Cahokia, had died. Dominique- Marie Varlet was sent to Canada in 1712, with the approval of Saint- Vallier, who was in Paris at the time. Varlet pre- sented his credentials to the Vicars-General at Quebec, and proceeded at once on his long journey to the Tamarois mis- sion, taking the land route. As Superior of the Tamarois mission, he was Vicar-General of the Bishop of Quebec for that territory. In 1717, he journeyed to Quebec and brought two missionaries, Calvarain and Thaumur de la Source, 1 back with him to the Tamarois. KThe Directors of Foreign Missions held Varlet in highest esteem and recommended him for a bishopric in some one of their distant missions in the Far East. Accordingly, February 19, 1719, he was consecrated Coadjutor Bishop of Babylon, with the right of succession. Msgr. de Mornay was one of the co-consecrators. By a strange coincidence, the Bishop of Babylon died the very day on which Varlet thaumur de la Source was the son of a surgeon at Montreal. He was probably a rel- ative of the la Source who accompanied the Montigny party to Cahokia in 1698. STRAY LEAVES FROM OLD RECORDS 287 was consecrated Bishop, and, therefore, the latter succeeded at once. Then the unexpected happened. The Pope had instructed Bishop Varlet to present his credentials to the Papal Nuncio at Paris, before leaving for his diocese. The new Bishop completely and systematically ignored all orders from the Holy See, joined the sect of the Jansenists, went to Holland, consecrated schismatic Bishops, and became head of the Jansenist church at Utrecht, where he died in 1732. 1 May 25, 1732, M. Mercier, Superior at Cahokia, reports to M. Lyon of the Quebec Seminary a number of interesting things concerning the Fort de Chartres country. He writes: "Scarcely a month ago I had the honor to send you with a certain Louis Poulin from the parish of St. Joachim 2 , all the papers and documents that will help you to adequately understand the steps we have taken in the matter of a new church in the prairie of the fort de chartres. I need not repeat any of that matter now. I will only say that, of all the persons who compose that new parish, only two or three did not make their duty, 3 but I have every reason to believe that they have done so since then. "On the Holy day of easter last, the said church was dedicated under the name of St. Anne 4 to the great con- tentment and entire satisfaction of everybody. On Wednes- day [of Holy Week], having left M. Courier here [Cahokia], I went to the said parish. I remained there for the feast of easter and had much consolation to see the piety and fervor with which everyone approached the sacraments, because heretofore the greater number of the habitants and other people of that place, without any scruple, went on years without making their easter. . ." 1 Abbe Auguste Gosselin, Mgr. Smnt-Vallter, I., pp. 331, ff., and Taschereau, MS., Seminary Archives. 2 Ste. Genevieve, Mo. 3 Did not comply with a Catholic's Easter duty. 4 As is well known, Ste-Anne is held in great veneration in Canada. This love for Good StcAnne, as they call her, is one of those precious heritages brought to the shores of Canada centuries ago by the first settlers, who, in turn, had inherited that love for their Bonne Stc Anne from their ancestors in the Normandie. The famous shrine of StcAnne de Beaupre is known the world over. 288 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS M. de St. Ange, Commandant at Fort de Chartres, in his report to Perrier, Governor of Louisiana, evidently had men- tioned the fact that the people were building this church and had taken up the matter of services with Father Mercier. Perrier wrote to St. Ange about it, and also reported to the Minister at Versailles as follows: "The habitans of the Prairie of Fort de Chartres, in the Illinois, have addressed us, requesting the confirmation of the choice they have made of a priest of the Foreign missions to take charge of the church and Parish house, which they have built, at their own expense. We are informed that, before the building of this parish church, these habitans had no one to serve them but the Jesuit missionary to the Mitchigamia, who is at the same time chaplain of Fort de Chartres. We informed M. de St. Ange, who commands at this post, that our opin- ion is, that it was not within the rights of these habitans to name a priest, 11 etc. 1 In the same letter of May 25, 1732, Father Mercier re- ports that "several savages wish to become christians, which makes me forget almost entirely all the trouble we have had with them up to the present. . . . "The house [lumber for house at Cahokia], which I had cut sixty by thirty-two feet, because it is all walnut and can carry that length and width, may be raised about the begin- ning of July. The two long sides have two galleries, which are not for the beauty of the building, but for the preservation of the sills [solles], which will last half as long again. The two gable ends will be preserved by two small additions [allonges], the one for a dairy-room and the other for a store- room. . . . "We sowed 53 minots of wheat; the weather is favorable for a prospect of a crop of 5 to 600 minots. At present we are planting corn. "The convoy from the sea [New Orleans] arrived two weeks ago and brought us the news of the re-union of Loui- siana to the domain of the King. That will change matters a great deal. I do not know whether ours will be better or worse. 11 The charter that had been granted to the Company of the Indies obligated the Company to provide for the build- 1 Quoted in Dunn, Mission of the Ouabache, p. 298. ■',' s € f STRAY LEAVES FROM OLD RECORDS 289 ing of mission churches and for the support of missionaries at the Company's expense. The amount to be contributed for the maintenance of each missionary per year was 600 livres (or $120.00 of our money), and 275 livres ($55.00) for chapel needs. This was ordinarily not paid in money, but in merchandise, at the Company's warehouse — aux prix de la mer 1 — New Orleans price. At the comptoir des Islinois — Illinois warehouse, the price was 50% higher. M. Mercier's book-keeping 2 is perfect. Merely as a matter of record, he reports to the Seminary authorities, that, even figuring the merchandise the missionaries received, at Illi- nois prices, the Company had left unpaid an amount of 16,909 livres, 14 chelins, 6 deniers. The initial outlay for the establishment of the 'Tamarois mission had been 10,800 livres. 3 This sum, added to the amount left unpaid, made a total of 27,709 livres, which the Seminary of Quebec had to supply, over and above many other expenses contracted. The same letter states that M. Gagnon had charge of the church of Ste-Anne of Fort de Chartres from the 8th of May, 1730, to November 10, 1731 ; that a boy by the name of Robert had been sent by Boisbriand, in the name of the Company, to board with the Fathers at the Holy Family Mission, in order to learn the Illinois language. Board-bill, not paid! The letter also contains the information that Thaumur de la Source had charge of the chapel of Fort de Chartres in 1722 and one half of 1723 — 18 months. M. Mercier him- self was chaplain au Missouri (Fort Orleans) the latter part of 1723 and eleven months in 1724 — 14 months. M. Gagnon and M. Courier had left Quebec for the Tamarois, May 8, 1730. "Louis Lemieux [an old servant] can do almost nothing any more on account of his advanced age." Mercier asks for a middle-aged couple — the man could do the outside work, and his wife could take care of the house. He also writes: "It is time to think of building a large church and then a blacksmith-shop/ 1 x At the price at sea, or f. o. b. New Orleans, that is, not figuring transportation up the Mississippi. 2 The original accounts are preserved in the Archives of the Seminaire de Quebec. 3 3ee page 132, ante. 2 9 o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Merrier further writes that he needs missionaries for the "Missouri and Osages [le Missouri et les hosages], and for the French settlements, who have asked for some/ 1 However, October 16, 1732, he writes that the mission of the Missouris [la mission du missoury] cannot be thought of as long as there is no commandant on that river — the missionaries would be too much exposed. On August 3, 1732, Mercier reports that they (at the Cahokia Mission) had "harvested 3500 bundles [gerbes] of the best wheat in the world." The spiritual progress of the mission is not so good. "If only the Peorias were away from here! — they will leave this fall — we could have some hopes of doing something with several Kahos [Cahokia Indians] 11 . Mercier writes that the savages have the idea that once the French are strong enough, they will send them all off. All these Illinois savages are contemptuous and insolent towards the French at this time, and the latter must be always on the alert. There is no commandant at Cahokia. "Unless some help come from Canada or from the sea . . . we must dread the same fate as the post of the Natchez; — quod Deus avertat — which may God prevent. 11 M. Mercier closes this interesting letter with a eulogy on the Illinois country. "If only twenty families would come down from Canada, that would start a parish. More than two hundred habitans could be wonderfully placed, and in very short time they could live as comfortably as they do in Canada. Really, I cannot help admiring the beauty of the Illinois country! 111 Bossu 2 wrote a touching appreciation of Mercier: "I knew Abbe Mercier very well. He was a Canadian and Vicar general of the Illinois country. He was a man of dis- tinguished integrity, whose friendship could only be beneficial to me, because of his knowledge of the customs of the Sav- 1 Mercier at that distant date remotely suggests the first stanza of the State song, Illinois: By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois, O'er thy prairies verdant growing, Illinois, Illinois, Comes an echo on the breeze, Rustling through the leafy trees, And its mellow tones are these, Illinois, Illinois. 2 Bossu, op. cit., I., pp. 182-184. STRAY LEAVES FROM OLD RECORDS 291 ages, whom he edified by his virtue and unselfishness. The language of the country was familiar to him, and he spoke it with such ease that the Savages thought much of him and consulted him on all sorts of matters. . . . The nations of the Savages of these region's have always respected him. A man of such character could not live too long for the well- being of these Peoples. This worthy Apostle of Louisiana was stricken during lent with a lingering illness, of which he died one friday at eleven thirty at night. He died a Chris- tian hero. Personally, I regretted his death very much. The French and the Savages were not to be consoled. 11 Bossu tells how the savages came in groups to weep over him. "These Peoples, whom we are pleased to call Savages, know the true virtue of a man. ... He labored for their welfare, and they called him father or Chief of the prayer. 11 BARTHELMT DE MAKARTY— THE ?{EW FORT DE CHARTRES One of the last acts of Vaudreuil, 1 as Governor of Louisi- ana, was to request that the post of the Illinois (Fort de Chartres), which was a majority, 2 be raised to the dignity of a King's lieutenancy. He proposed Barthelmy de Makarty as Major and M. Neyon de Villiers 3 as his Aide-Major. When Boisbriand came to the Illinois country, he remained some time at Kaskaskia, and then selected a site for Fort de Chartres. The main objective of the fort was to keep open the line of communication on the Mississippi. Guns of those days did not carry very far, and the fort had to be placed near the river. That probably determined the site in the American Bottom. The high waters of 1727 de- stroyed Fort de Charters, but, after some correspondence and reductions of various kinds, it was rebuilt, probably on the old site. But it seems the old fort never gave full satisfaction, because of the weakness of construction and the scant protection it would offer in case of attack. As early as 1735 the crown planned to build a substantial fort of rock, for the protection of the French interests along the Mississippi. On the 12th of April, 1735, the Quebec Seminary Fathers, J. P. Mercier and J. Courier, wrote a letter to the seminary authorities at Quebec, giving a de- tailed description of the lands of the Mission of the Holy Family at Cahokia. In this letter they give the following interesting information: "The former village of the Kas- kakias [just north of the mouth of the River des Peres] is rightly considered a very advantageous location for the stone fort, which the crown orderd to be built in the Illinois country [dux Illinois]".* Makarty was appointed Commandant of Fort de Char- tres, June 11, 1750. Grace King writes: "The family (origi- 1 Vaudreuil was appointed Governor of Canada in 1752. 2 The commanding officer stationed there ranked as major. 3 June, 1754, Neyon married Mile, du Bot, the sister'in'law of Kerlerec, Governor of Louisiana. 4 See p. 283, ante. 292 MAKARTT AK[D SAUCIER 293 nally Macarthey-Mactaig) was a noted one among the great Irish families, who preferred exile to the religious and political tyranny of their English conquerors. In the seven- teenth century, Bartholomew Macarty, of the Albemarle Regiment, sought refuge in France, where he gained promotion in the navy, and died a Chevalier of St. Louis and Major- General of Division in the department of Rochefort. His two sons, Jean Jacques and Barthelmy, came to Louisiana in 1730, the former as commander of a marine detachment, the latter as a lieutenant in the same command under him. 11 "Barthelmy de Macarty (as he was called) cast his life in New Orleans, where he married Dame Frangoise Helene Pellerin, who bore him eight children — four sons and four daughters. 111 Celeste Eleonore became the wife of Miro, fourth Spanish Governor of Louisiana. Makarty was made a captain in 1732, and four years later was promoted to the position of Aide-Major of New Orleans. He accompanied Bienville on his unfortunate expeditions against the Chicka- saws, and on June 11, 1750, was appointed to the command at Fort de Chartres. Bienville gave him this note: "Conduct good. Under- stands detail and discipline. Attached to the service and doing well 11 . Kerlerec added a limiting clause to his ap- preciation of Makarty: "A very good officer 11 , he wrote, "personally agreeable, but with little talent for dealing with the savages. 112 In August of the following year, Makarty went up to the Illinois country with six bateaux and four companies of soldiers. Bossu was one of the officers under Makarty. Of the St. Francis River he writes: "The game is so plen- tiful . . . that when we stopped for the night on its shores, it was impossible to sleep, because of the multitude of swans, cranes, geese, bustards, and ducks, that came and went all night in those swampy places . . . and when one approaches the country of the Illinois . . . one sees such multitudes of wild pigeons that the sun is actually darkened 1 Grace King, Creole Families of T^etu Orleans, p. 368. See also John F. Snyder, Captain John Baptiste Saucier. The French generally wrote Ma\arty. 2 Villiers du Terrage, op. cit., 294 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS . . . What a pity that so beautiful a country is so sparsely populated or that it should be inhabited by brutes." 1 Bossu relates that Makarty had a touch of the gout, and, fearing he might have to winter en route, left the convoy at the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi and traveled ahead. At this point of the journey Bossu's boat capsized, and he seems quite vexed at the idea of losing his belongings while in f the service of the King. The Indians had been insolent and restless for some time. The French had not forgotten the Natchez; massacre and had every reason to fear an open rebellion. In a letter dated at Fort de Chartres, March 28, 1752, Bossu writes: "The Piankashaws and Ouytanons, at the instigation of the English had plotted the total destruction of the five French villages 2 established among the Illinois. . . . The sav- ages had planned the attack and wanted to strike before the arrival of the convoy. I was at that time at Kaskaskia, where M. de Montcharvaux commanded. . . . The savages were scattered about in the houses of the habitants." Through a clever ruse, for which Bossu takes the credit, the plot was discovered. "They had planned to execute the massacre on Christmas Day after the parish High Mass. . . . As soon as they thought they had been discovered they thought only of flight; we fired upon them and sent 22 sprawling upon the ground. A sergeant, named Jeunesse, a Creole and a good hunter, killed four of them in my presence. M. de Gruisse on his part, attacked those who were in the house of the Jesuits ... all is quiet at present; nevertheless, command has been given, by way of precaution, that the habitants carry their guns when they go to Mass, and that the officer on guard place two sentinels at the door of the church during divine service." Bossu relates another story; it is a tale of cruel Indian revenge and massacre, an anecdote that shows the power of endurance of a savage, and sheds an interesting light on life in the Fort de Chartres country two hundred years ago. 2 1 Bossu, op. cit., I., p. 128. K^ahokia, St. Philippe, Prairie du Rocher, Ste'Anne, Kaskaskia. — Bossu, op. cxt., I., pp. 130433. 3 Bossu, op. cit., I., pp. 148-154. MAKARTT AND SAUCIER 295 "In 1752, the Savages of the tribe of the Koakias [Ca- hokias], while on a hunt, met six Savages of the Nation of the Foxes; they made them prisoners, although they were not at war, and decided among themselves to burn them. . . . One Fox was fortunate enough to escape As he was pursued by his tormentors, he jumped into a lake .... fie remained hid among the rushes, raising only his head from time to time to breathe. He had the endurance to remain in that position during the time they burned his comrades. Night having come on, he escaped from the close watch of the Illinois. . . . Having returned to his Nation, he related what had happened to him among the Illinois. . . . The Chief of the Nation convoked a coun- cil. . . . The Sioux, the Sauks and the Kickapoo . . . marched under the banner of the Foxes . . . 1000 warriors. . . . The warriors being assembled . . . embarked in 180 bark canoes on the Wisconsin, which empties into the Mississ- ipi. . . . They passed in good order the Fort of the Ko- akias, where Chevalier de Volsei commanded. . . . They disembarked a quarter of a league from the enemy's vil- lage. . . . The Foxes had advisedly [positivement] chosen the feast of Corpus Christi [Jour de la fete-Dieu] for their attack upon the Illinois. They knew that the Savages went to Fort de Chartres to see the ceremony, which the French observe on that solemn day. The Fort is only a league away. . . . The young men pounced upon the village of the enemy and killed all they met, shouting the while the death cry . . . and then fled as swiftly as they had come. The Illinois rushed to arms & pursued them; but the body of the army of the Foxes which was lying on the ground in the high grasses, fired their guns and killed 28 Illinois; then they plunged headlong into the village and massacred men, women, and children; they set fire to the village etc. ... I was an eyewitness to this carnage, which hap- pened June 6, 1752. ... I even had occasion to save the life of a young girl about 15 years old. . . . When the enemies pursued her, she threw herself into my arms, Ss? the Bar- barians did not dare to shoot at her for fear they might strike me. . . . Only the Savages who had gone to Fort de Chartres, to see the Procession, escaped the vengeance of the Foxes. These, satisfied with their victory, stepped 296 FROM QUEBEC TO KEW ORLEANS into their little canoes ... 6? passing the French Fort of the Koakias, fired a volley of musketry. . . . The village of the Mitchigamias lost in that unfortunate affair about eighty persons, counting the dead and the slaves. This attack was the deathblow to the already weakened Illinois and they gradually went down to their final doom." When Makarty went to the Illinois, it was the opinion of the Governor that, in view of the fact that the village of Kaskaskia was decidedly the more important settlement, the new fort should be built there. Jean Baptiste Saucier, an engineer, was selected to draw plans of the new fort and make an estimate of cost in wood and in stone. He was instructed to confer with Makarty and his staff as to the new location. After "mature deliberation", these men de- cided not to build the fort at Kaskaskia, as the Governor had suggested, but near the old Fort de Chartres. It is rather strange that after so many years of delib- eration as to a better location for Fort de Chartres, they should decide to build the new fort in the bottoms, when such excellent sites as the mouth of the River des Peres were considered. Probably the reason for finally selecting the present site was the proximity of Kaskaskia, which was easily the principal settlement in the Illinois district, while the west bank of the Mississippi offered no villages at the time, except Ste. Genevieve. Perhaps, too, the reason is the one that Morris Birckbeck gave in 1805, for the location of Shawnee Town 1 : "This place I account as a phenomenon evincing the pertinacious adhesion of the human animal to the spot where it has once fixed itself!" November 29, 1754, dispatches of the Minister, demanding the "strictest economy", reached Kerlerec. 2 The dissolute Louis XV and his coterie of roues squandered the louis d'or at dice, with wine and women, but strictest economy must be observed in the far-away struggling colonies. Ker- lerec reported back that de Verges, chief engineer of the colony, after a visit to the Illinois country, had cut down the cost of the fort which was then under construction, from 270,000 to 230,000 livres. In fact, an order was sent from Paris to suspend building, but the foundations 3 had 1 Milo Milton Quaife, Pictures of Illinois One Hundred Tears Ago, p. 13. 2 Villiers du Terrage, op. cit., pp. 53'54. 3 Bossu, op. cit., I ., pp. 145446. MAKARTT AKD SAUCIER 297 been laid some time in 1753, and the next year Kerlerec could report that the order had arrived too late, and that the fort was nearly completed. According to Philip Pittman, engineer for Loftus, the plans were never fully carried out. There is in the Archives du Ministere des Colonies in Paris a plat of "The Fort planned to be built across from the Establishment of the Caskakia 11 , that is, on the bluff now known as Garrison .Hill . "There had been for years 11 , writes Alvord, "a palisade fort in Kaskaskia, but it was only a protection against Indians. In 1759, the inhabi- tants became apprehensive at the success of the British in the east and, fearing the near approach of the enemy, petitioned the commandant for a fort, offering to provide the materials. With this understanding a strong palisade fort was constructed on the bluffs across the river [Kas- kaskia] from the village, where the outlines of the earthworks may still be traced. 111 Bossu writes in a letter dated Aux Illinois, May 16, 1753: "The Sieur Saussier 2 , Engineer, has just finished the plans to construct a new fort 3 here in accordance with the views of the court. It will bear the name of the old fort, which is called Fort de Chartres 11 . In another letter, dated Aux Illinois, July 21, 1756, Bossu relates that he came a second time to the "old Fort de Chartres, where I remained until I could get lodging in the new Fort, which is nearly finished. It is built of rock, flanked with 4 bastions, it can house a garrison of 300 men. 114 1 Alvord, op. cit., I., p. 237- This fort is commonly and persistently, though incorrectly, called Fort Gage. The former habitation of the Jesuit Fathers in the village of Kaskaskia became Fort Gage. See p. 437, post. 2 According to Snyder, Eulalie, the eldest daughter of Makarty, who had a great admira' tion for Jean Baptiste Saucier (Saussier), died at this post. Saucier lies buried in the ceme' tery at Cahokia. ? Bossu, op. cit., I., pp. 145446. According to the Bellin map (1755), the old Fort de Chartres was built 100 toises (600) feet from the river, and the new fort was erected 60 toises (360 feet) east of the old fort. 4 Bossu, Ibid. In a letter dated November 29, 1926, Baron Marc de Villiers writes that during his twenty years of research work in the archives of Paris he never came across the plan of Fort de Chartres. A Paris archivist, whose name I have been unable to decipher, writes: "I am sure I saw an account of the construction of Fort Waskokias [Kaskaskias] with mention of the names of Macarty and Saussier.'" 2 9 8 FROM QUEBEC TO NEW ORLEANS It is amusing to read in the same letter that Bossu felt he needed a change of climate and asked M. de Makarty to allow him to go to "Kaokias". ! ! "The journey" he writes, "can be made by water or by land . . . there is a small Fort in that place, on the left bank of the Mississipi, which is the grand highway of the Illinois to Canada and it is the centre of quite an active fur trade with New France. ..." SOCIAL LIFE IJi THE FORT DE CHARTRES COUKTRT 1 "In studying the history of New France 1 ', writes Thomas Chapais, "the relation of church and state cannot be ig- nored. Under the Old Regime the union of these two powers was a part of the public law". 2 In accordance with this principle, which also obtained in the Mississippi Valley, the Sunday sermon was not only a religious instruction, but, in part at least, its character was also administrative and sometimes judicial. There were no printing presses in the early colony, and so the acts and ordinances of the Governors and Intendants were read from the pulpit by the cure. Births, marriages, and deaths of princes, victories and treaties were thus made known to the people, and Te Deums in thanksgiving for happy events were announced. 3 The humblest habitant got all the important news at a time when no other means of publicity existed. The church bells marked the hours of work and the hours of repose, they rang out in case of fire and during a storm. The cure was not only the spiritual pastor, he was also the guide, and the protector and counselor of all. Those early French settlers were neither all good nor all bad, nor were they all intermarried with savage women, nor were they all coureurs de bois. Most of them knew little more than to read and write, and their accounts, if any were kept, were sometimes carved with a pocket-knife into the doorstep or window-casing. The ancestors of most of them had come from the Nor- mandie, and they naturally adhered to V usage du pays — the custom of the country. The first settlers followed the rivers — the only highways of those days. Every cul- tivateur wanted river frontage, bottom ground, and high ground. So they laid out narrow strips, measured in arpents, and gave to each four or six arpents in width and ten or more in length. The houses were built in a row, each on l This chapter is drawn chiefly from J'E. Roy, Histoire de la Seigneurie de Lauzon, IV., pp. 156-239. See also Sidney Breese, Early History of Illinois, pp. 190-213. 2 Thomas Chapais in Canada and Its Provinces, I., p. 9. 3 Public announcements were made at the church door a son de trompe — to the sound of the trumpet, or to the beat of the drum, when the trumpet was lacking. 299 300 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS its own land, but never far apart. Their ancestors in Can- ada had so long been subject to the brutal attacks of the savages that they preferred the open prairie, where no Indian could lurk behind a tree; and, in case of attack, the settlers would always be near one another. "The houses", writes Breese, 1 "were built in a very simple and unpretending style of architecture. Small timbers which the 'commons' supplied, roughly hewed and placed upright in the ground a few inches apart, formed the body, the interstices being filled with sticks, pieces of stone and mud, neatly whitewashed within and without, with low eaves and pointed roofs, covered with thatch, or with shingles fastened by wooden pins. Those of the wealthier class were of strong, well-hewed frames, in the same peculiar, though more finished style, or of rough limestone, with which the country abounded. Porches, or galleries as they were called, protected them on every side from the sun and storms, whilst the apartments within were large, airy and convenient, with little furniture, but well-scoured or neatly- waxed floors. Pictures illustrative of our Saviour's passion, or the Blessed Virgin . . . deco- rated the walls . . . well calculated to inspire devotional sentiments in a people naturally and by education so much inclined thereto. " Their dishes and pots were mostly of earthenware; they had tin spoons, sine coffee pots and tea kettles, iron forks, perhaps a copper dipper, — but no knives for table use. Those were still the frontier days, when men and women had to be prepared to fight off the lurking savage, and each man and woman carried a large dagger-like clasp knife for protection, usually dangling on a little chain fastened to the cincture or belt. Why have two knives! At meals both men and women used their dagger knives. "By honoured tradition, 11 writes Adjutor Rivard, 2 "the cradle passes from generation to generation, a precious family x Sidney Breese, Early History of Illinois, pp. 197-198. At the age of eighteen Sidney Breese came from central New York to Kaskaskia, where he studied law under the Hon. Elias K. Kane. Later in life he was conspicuous in politics, holding such important positions as U. S. Senator, Circuit and Supreme Court Judge, and Chief Justice of Illinois. He died at Carlyle, Clinton, Co., 111., June 27, 1878. Breese, Illinois, was named in his honor. 2 Adjutor Rivard, Chez T^ous (Our Old Quebec Home), pp. 3444. OTHER DATS OTHER WATS 301 possession; and it is the born right of the eldest daughter to bring it down from her father's roof when she awaits the first visit of the stork. Thus from mother to daughter has the old cradle, affectionately known as the 'blue-box, ' descended to us. And who fashioned it in the far-away past? . . . The colonist has hewn for himself a home in the forest. In the middle of the clearing he has built the house which harbours his love, his joy, his dearest hopes. . . . "O God, do Thou bless the houses where the cradle is held in honour! Bless those hearths where many a birth comes to cheer the ancient cradle and bring it perpetual youth! Bless the families who hold in reverence the vir- tues of former days, to the glory of our Church and of our Country." The children did not eat at the family table until they had received their first Holy Communion. In better sit- uated families they had a small table to themselves, in others they ate at the block, on which meat was chopped or people sat, for want of an extra chair. Children in their quarrels would say to one another: "You still eat at the block.' ' All the early settlers were hunters; and the flint-lock musrfe-loader and powder-horn hung from the middle beam of the kitchen, which also served as living-room and bed- room. The Last Will and Testament, sometimes drawn up by an itinerant notary, was a solemn document. It set forth that nothing is more certain than death, and nothing more uncertain than the hour thereof. In the formula used, the testator then professed his faith and "recommended his soul to God the Father Almighty, praying Him, through the merits of the passion and death of our Lord and through the intercession of the glorious Virgin Mary, . . . that when his soul shall free itself from his body, to vouchsafe to place it among the number of the blessed in the heaven- ly kingdom. " A peculiar custom prevailed, that immediately after the death of the testator, the notary, who had written the will, was called, and the will was solemnly read in the presence of the family, over the corpse of the departed. 302 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Men and young men, on week-days and on Sundays wore the capot — a garment of home-spun gray, caught about the waist by a belt of red or checkered woolen stuff, and topped off with a tuque or Norman hat with a broad ribbon about the crown and hanging down on one side. The color of the tuque varied. In the Quebec district they wore the bonnet rogue; in the Three Rivers district, white; and at Montreal and Fort de Chartres, blue. Most of the habitants made their own shoes — soft sole, and top reaching to the knee. They were called bottes sauvages. 1 Of course, they did their own tanning of hides. Women's dress! Blue or scarlet bodice without sleeves, skirt of a different color, and straw hat while at work in the fields. The inventories of those days show a large assort- ment of short cloaks made of etoffe or calico; bodices of woolen stuff; skirts of dimity or drugget, and of white and red striped cotton or flowery calico, and handkerchiefs of many colors, made of cotton, muslin, or even silk. Jewelry was rare. Every good wife wore her wedding-ring, a silver ring, and a silver cross. "In their domestic relations 1 ', writes Breese, "they were exemplary, kind to their slaves, and affectionate to their children, loving each other as much as they should, and faithful to all their vows. In truth, the domestic circle was a very happy and a very cheerful one. "Though there were slaves within it, it was not a prison house, and such was the kindness always manifested towards them in health and in sickness that they sought not to escape from it. . . . When sick or afflicted, they were nursed with the greatest care, and withal, were the re- cipients of so much kindness, as to become unmindful of the fetters with which a wicked policy had bound them." As tillers of the land the habitants in the Mississippi Valley 2 were not very successful. They had the advantage ^hoes of the savages. 2 Constantin Francois de Volney wrote in 1803: l "I thought I noticed in my travels in the United States [1796], that the French did not have the same aptitude to establish farming colonies as the immigrants from England, Ireland, and Germany." The French colonists at Vincennes, Volney thought to be hunters rather than farmers — plutot chasseurs que culti* vateurs. Volney, Tableau du Climat et du Sol des EatS'Unis d" Amerique, p. 392. This view is not true of the French Canadians along the St. Lawrence, where they love OTHER DATS OTHER WATS 303 of a rich alluvial virgin soil, and it was perhaps not so much due to their own industry as to the soil that the crops grew. According to Breese, "their implements and mode of using them were primitive indeed, a wooden plow, gen- erally, and to carry their grain at harvest, small carts re- sembling those used by the Swiss peasantry in their vin- tages, with no iron about them. ... To these, if oxen were used, they were connected not by a yoke, but by a strong wooden bar, well secured to the horns by strips of untanned hide, and guided by a rope of the same ma- terial. If horses were used, they were driven tandem, at length, or one before the other, and controlled entirely by the whip and voice, without any ropes or reins." The life of the habitant was patriarchal, simple, sober, and frugal; hospitality was generous, and courtesy charming. He was satisfied with little on the principle that c 'content- ment surpasses riches. " He was retentive of the old. Why do things differently? Ce nest pas V usage du pays! — It is not the custom of the country! "They [the habitants] visited on feast-days and Sundays,' ' writes Roy, "to enjoy themselves, to dance, to eat fruit, to play cards. Houses in which there was no violin were rare. The workingman, bent over his plow or in the midst of his hardest labors, loved to sing. It was the same with the frugal, thrifty housewife, no matter how tired from her work. "Pretexts for merry-making were many. If they killed a hog, they gave the choicest pieces to their friends. They exchanged blood-sausage and liver-sausage. St. John's fires were lighted; . . . the baptism of a baby was nearly al- ways a pretext for a reunion of relatives and friends. . . . It was not a real wedding, if it did not last three days and three nights". Georges Bouchard, who, in Other Days Other Ways, so beautifully sketched the simple, humble life of the habv tant of former days, writes: "One must have lived among their land and are willing to till the soil which their forefathers had the courage to clear. Georges Bouchard speaks of "the most intimate marriage of a people to the soil," and "what the sword has conquered and defended, the plough preserves and fructifies." Georges Bouchard, M. P., Other Days Other Ways, p. 148. 30 4 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS these men of the soil to be able to appreciate all the whole- some and exuberant gaiety, all the charm of these village feasts. . . . The old fiddle, fashioned by the dexterous hand of the grand'pere, out of a length of jplaine (hard maple) free of knots and a plank of fir, in the course of long winter nights spent at the corner of the fireplace, often revealed itself a choice instrument under the deft touch of the village fiddler. . . . The fiddlestick was formed very simply of a lock of horsehair from la Grise (the gray mare), drawn taut on a bow of supple wood. . . . "At weddings particularly does the fiddle demonstrate its superiority over all other instruments of music. His services, letained a long time ahead of the ceremony, the violoneux arrives with a flourish and is received with en- thusiasm. He is less of a hireling than a professional man called in to direct consequential and stirring entertain- ment. . . . "After kissing la mariee (the bride) and greeting la com- pagnee (the company, the guests), the violoneux allows him- self to be steered into la grand'' chambre (the big room, the bedroom of the father and mother) where he lays his wraps on the bed and partakes of the customary p'tit coup (little drink). . . . The fiddle is stripped of its shroud of checkered cotton to be tuned up and adjusted to the shoulder of its owner with a solemnity that compels the deepest silence. The silk kerchief wraps itself about the neck of the artist. The dancers swiftly find their places in the middle of the floor for the opening cotillon. ... In the bottom of a glass of rum the fiddler finds the fortitude to carry on to the end "i A French parish had in olden days, and, in the Province of Quebec, has to this day a number of important officials. Besides the Cure (the parish priest) there was the Bedeau (the sexton), "at once sacristan, master of ceremonies, grave digger, and farm hand," the Marguilliers (church trustees) and the Maitre-chantre (the master-singer). Bouchard de- scribes this important functionary as follows: "It was the privilege of the master-singer to chant at the occasional grand'messes (high masses) on weekdays, with the assist- ance of one of the other choristers. But he was not the least Bouchard, op. cit., pp. 121426. < < 1 o s < & CO C/3 o < -3 3 2 CO H tf O c2 [X| ?>i -O i o 2 CO o z o W -c 8 Xu w Q H o OTHER DATS OTHER WATS 30$ upset if he happened to be without assistance for one of these ceremonies; he would soften his voice and drop the tone one key for the responses, and the attending faithful often had the illusion of hearing two different voices chanting the duo parts.'' 1 In the absence of the missionary priest, the master-singer would lead in prayer, and, if occasion de- manded, conduct funeral services. It is recorded that Rene Kiercereau, 1 a master-singer, buried nineteen whites, ten Negroes, and five Indians in Laclede's colony, St. Louis, Mo., between October, 1770, and March, 1772. Another important ceremony was the drawing up by the notary and signing of the ante-nuptial contract. This ceremony generally took place the Sunday preceding the wedding. The notary would solemnly read the contract in the presence of the relatives and friends. When he came to the part reciting the mutual dowry, he would "rush for the bride and place a sonorous kiss on both cheeks." It must be remembered that the Commandants and officers of Fort de Chartres were mostly men of the nobility, and some of them Knights of the Military Order of St. Louis. Their families lived in the village of Ste-Anne. This infused into the social atmosphere a certain refinement and etiquette. Then, too, there was the proximity of the fort, the Fleur-dc Lis floating over its ramparts, the morning and evening drum- beats, the bugle calls, the commands of the officers and the drilling of the soldiers, the hurried departure or arrival of messengers, the coming and going of convoys with news they brought from New Orleans. To quote Breese again: "When their isolated position is considered, separated by a long river and a vast ocean from old France, and by a trackless wilderness from Cana- da, .. . every institution calculated to inspire the feelings of equality and soften and subdue their native asperities would in this way contribute to swell the measure of their happiness, and what could be better adapted to this end than a religion whose holy days and fetes brought the whole population so frequently together as on one common level. . .In the same dance all classes cheerfully participated. . . . The black-eyed brunette, who engaged as a daily avocation ^ohn Rothensteiner, History of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, I., p. 103. 3 o6 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS in what the fashionable might consider menial services, in the ball-room, attired in her finery, full of cheerful smiles and artless coquetry, might be the leading star of every eye. ... To her a courtly Knight of the Military Order of St. Louis might bow with the most respectful obeisance, while, at the same time, she was the betrothed of a poor, but honest laborer . . . and so they lived on in comparative happiness and tranquillity, laughed and danced, loved and married, and died, and these make up their short and simple annals." 1 Creese, op. cit., pp. 210, 211, 226. RUMORS OF WAR— ACADIA AHP THE OHIO V ALLEY The rivalry between France and England dated back many centuries; it was fought out on the high seas and on many a battlefield, from the War of the Roses down to the world- famous battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815. "In the fourteenth century", writes William Wood, 1 "France and England began their first Hundred Years' War, a war which they were inevitably forced to renew, again and again, until the vital question of undivided sovereignty over the land of France had been settled beyond dispute. France was the stronger power on land, and so she ultimate- ly won this long and decisive struggle. Two centuries and a half later, France and England began another mighty con- flict, which may be justly regarded as a second Hundred Years' War, but which, from its nature and results, should be more aptly called the Great Imperial War. This time it was not the possession of any particular land that was the main object of contention, but rather the general com- mand of the sea. Yet this change of object made no real difference in kind. The second war was inevitably renewed like the first, at every crisis, till the command of the sea was settled as decisively as the actual possession of the land of France had been. But, in degree, there was a very great difference between the first war, which was waged within the limits of a single country, and the second, which was waged over every sea, seaboard and hinterland where the ubiquitous rivals crossed each other's path." The European background of American history is again seen clearly. In 1713 the German Emperor, Charles VI, promulgated what is known in history as the Pragmatic Sanction, 2 by virtue of which, among other things, it was specified that the possessions, that is, the countries ruled by the Hapsburgs, were to fall to the eldest daughter, in default of a male heir. Maria Theresa was the eldest daugh- ter of Charles VI, her brother Leopold having died. Her 1 Wood in Canada and Its Provinces, I., p. 231. 2 Catholic Encyclopedia, IX., pp. 662*665. 307 3 o8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS father, the Emperor, died October 20, 1740, thus leaving Maria Theresa heir to the throne of the Hapsburgs. The Elector of Bavaria, Charles Albert, as the descendant of a daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I, who had died 1564, laid claim to the crown of the Hapsburgs. War followed, known as the War of the Austrian Succession 1 (1744-1748). England and Austria were aligned against Bavaria, France, Saxony, and Frederic II of Prussia. The war spread to the colonies, and Louisbourg fell before the English naval for- ces, June 16, 1745, and thus Louisbourg, Cap-Breton, and the lie Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) became British possessions. The War of the Austrian Succession ended with the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, October 18, 1748. The French people said France had fought for the King of Prussia, who had added to his domains. Austria was not satisfied, because Frederic had taken some of her territory, nor were England and France happy over the results of the war. The peace had been made on the basis of mutual restitution, or exchange, and Louisbourg had been given back to France in exchange for Madras, which the French had taken from the English; but the boundary line between Acadia and New England, which had been in dispute for more than a century, remained unsettled. The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was thus followed by an armed peace of eight years, during which time each nation prepared for a new war. French and English commissioners held sessions for five years, trying to settle the exact boundary of Acadia and other ques- tions. The upshot of all these conferences was volumes and volumes of memoirs. The British commissioners desired to push the boundary northward, so that the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes would form the southern boundary of New France. The French, on their part, insisted that the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes had always formed the cen- ter of their possessions, but never the southern limit. They also held that the Allegheny Mountains formed the eastern border of Canada and Louisiana. Fox, a few years later (1756), only put into words what had been the British view- point all along — that, as far as England was concerned, there were no Alleghenies. ^Also known as King George's War. PREPARING FOR THE FINAL STRUGGLE 309 De la Galissoniere, who had been a member of the Boun- dary Commission, became Provisional Governor of Canada, June 10, 1747. Capable, wide-awake, and energetic, Ga- lissoniere lost no time to prepare for the defense of what he considered the "incontestable rights of France. 11 He increased the militia to 12,000 men, and planned the strengthening of the chain of French forts, extending from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. It was he who forced from the phlegmatic Louis XV an order to rebuild Fort de Char- tres. The British, too, used the interim to clear the deck for action. So, while the mother countries, England and France, were nominally at peace, there were forebodings and rum- blings of a storm that was gathering in the American col- onies. The proximate preliminary disturbances, that ultimately led to the final clash in the Seven Years' War, occurred in the two extreme sections of the French possessions in Amer- ica, more than 2,000 miles apart. In the extreme northeast the storm clouds gathered over a people who had actually lived on that ground for a century and a half — Acadia; 1 while in the other, the practically uninhabited Ohio Valley, the stake was future possession. The characters of the lead- ers, on both sides, in these preliminary struggles, were totally different. In both sections innumerable belligerent acts occurred long before the formal declaration of war was passed between the courts of England and France. In pursuance of his general plan of building up the 2500- mile line of defense, Galissoniere, in 1749, sent Celoron de Blainville to the Ohio Valley to reassert the exclusive rights of France, and to make a careful survey, with a view to fur- ther fortifications that might become necessary. Blain- ville's detachment was a formidable one, numbering three hundred men. Captain Contrecoeur was one of the offi- cers, and the Jesuit Bonnecamps, 2 a noted mathematician, 1 In 1603 Henry IV of France granted to Sieur de Monts a territory designated as La Cadie. It is commonly claimed that the name La Cadie or UAcadie (Acadia) is derived from the Micmac Indian word cadie or from the Malecite Indian word quoddy, both meaning fertile lands or pastoral fields. Emile Lauvriere, La Tragedie d'un Peuple, I., p. 3. 2 Joseph'Pierre de Bonnecamps, S. J., was instructor of hydrography at the Jesuit College of Quebec. Rochemonteix, op. cit., II., p. 74. 3 io FROM QUEBEC TO X[EW ORLEANS was specially detailed by the Governor to accompany the expedition as chaplain, because of his ability to take precise measurements. The expedition left Lachine, near Montreal, June 15, 1749, and required five months to complete its work. Blainville had instructions to bury, at certain places, lead' en plates, setting forth the claims of France as follows: IN THE YEAR 1749 DURING THE REIGN OF LOUIS XV KING OF FRANCE WE CELERON COM- MANDER OF A DETACHMENT SENT BY MON- SIEUR THE MARQUIS DE LA GALISSONIERE COM- MANDER IN CHIEF OF NEW FRANCE FOR THE RESTORATION OF TRANQUILLITY IN SOME VIL- LAGES OF INDIANS OF THESE DISTRICTS HAVE BURIED THIS PLATE AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THE OHIO AND TCHADAKOIN THIS 29 JULY NEAR THE RIVER OYO OTHERWISE BEAUTIFUL RIVER AS A MONUMENT OF THE RENEWAL OF POSSESSION WHICH WE HAVE TAKEN OF THE SAID RIVER OYO AND OF ALL THOSE THAT THEREIN FALL AND OF ALL THE LANDS ON BOTH SIDES AS FAR AS THE SOURCES OF THE SAID RIVERS IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE PRE- CEDING KINGS OF FRANCE ENJOYED OR HAD A RIGHT TO ENJOY THEM AND AS THEY THERE- IN HAVE MAINTAINED THEMSELVES BY ARMS AND BY TREATIES ESPECIALLY BY THOSE OF RISWICK OF UTRECHT AND OF AIX-LA-CHA- PELLE. 1 Blainville asked the Governor of Pennsylvania to warn his subjects against trading beyond the Alleghenies, and notified him that English merchants trading in the valley would be seized. The English paid no attention to the notice served on them. The Ohio Company was formed, and the English government granted it 600,000 acres of land in that dis- puted valley. Under orders of this new Company, Christ- opher Gist, "to the great disgust of the Indians", entered this valley as surveyor, to prepare the way for planting : N. Y. Col. Dcs., VI., 610. See facsimile in Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America V., p. 9. PREPARING FOR THE FIHAL STRUGGLE 311 colonists there, and the English seised French traders found in that same valley. A third element entered this dispute between French and English over lands in America — the savages; they in- habited the disputed borderlands, and by this time began to resent the intrusion of all whites, whether French or English. The rival powers were perfectly clear on this point. February 4, 1755, Governor Shirley of Massachusetts wrote to Secretary Robinson: "The Indians in general are cer- tainly uneasy at any incroachmts upon their lands whether by French or English." 1 l K T. Col. Dcs„ vu p. 939 THE DEPORTATION OF THE ACADIA^S The Treaty of Utrecht, 1713, had ceded Acadia, bound- ed by its ancient limits (limitibus suis antiquis comprehend sam), 1 to England. The difficulty lay in the fact that the an- cient boundary lines had never been definitely settled. Cap- Breton and He Saint- Jean (Prince Edward Island) remained French possessions. By the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (Octo- ber 18, 1748), the cession of Acadia to England was again confirmed. The British changed its name to Nova Scotia, and Halifax became its capital and chief port in 1749. Neither France nor England awaited the decision of the Boundary Commission, but each laid claim to what it most desired on that much disputed peninsula. The French held there were two Acadias, the British Acadia and the French Acadia. Galissoniere disliked the establishment of Halifax, which became the seat of the British Governors of Nova Scotia, be- cause he considered it a menace to the future of Cap-Breton. He therefore conceived the idea of engaging the savages to oppose it. The total Acadian population at that time probably numbered 15,000. Galissoniere also invited the French of British Acadia to emigrate to French Acadia and settle around the forts which he proposed to build along the frontier of the isthmus, connecting Nova Scotia with the mainland — Gaspereau and Beausejour. 2 The Governors of Halifax were like Pharaoh 3 of old, who "said to his people: Behold the people of the children of Israel are numerous and stronger than we. Come, let us wisely oppress them, lest they multiply : and if any war shall rise against us, join our enemies. 4 . . . And the Egyptians hated the children of Israel, and afflicted them and mocked them and they made their life bitter. The Acadians of Nova Scotia, or British Acadia, were will- ing to leave their homes and possessions, but the Governors of ^enri D\Arles, Acadie, I., p. 112, n. 2. Edouard Richard's manuscript Acadie was recast, corrected, annotated, and edited by Henri d' Aries (1916). 2 These forts were built by his successor, M. de la Jonquiere. Rochemonteix, Les Jesuites et La T^puvelle France au XVIIIe Siecle, II., p. 77- *Exodus, I., 944. 4 Jonothan Belcher, then Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, read a document before Governor Charles Lawrence and his Council, July 28, 1755, in which he set forth the proportion of THE TRAGEDY OF A PEOPLE 313 Halifax did all in their power to prevent this emigration and depopulation of the country. As early as December 28, 1720, the Lords of Trade wrote to Governor Philipps: "We are of opinion they ought to be removed as soon as the Forces which we have proposed to be sent to you shall arrive in Nova Scotia. . . ."* But Pharaoh had said: "Let us wisely oppress them". Craggs, Secretary of State, wrote to Philipps: "If one allowed the Acadians to depart, the colonial power of France would be augment- ed to that extent, and to that we must not lend ourselves. It would be better to deport them to some place, where, thrown in with our people, lost among strangers, they will lose their language, their religion and the souvenir of the past, to be- come true Englishmen." 2 Many years later, a group of these Acadians, deported to Philadelphia, presented a petition to the King. This pe- tition recites under what conditions they remained in their country. "It is a matter of certainty, — and within the com- pass of some of our memories — that in the year 1730, Gen- eral Philipps, the Governor of Nova Scotia, did, in your Ma- jesty's name, confirm unto us, and all the inhabitants of the French to English inhabitants as follows: "At Annapolis, 200 families at 5 each Family is 1000 Mines, 300 at 5 1500 Pisiquid,300 1500 Chignectou, 800 40000 8000 600 English Families at 5 3000 Ballance of the French against the English Inhabitants 5000 "Besides the French at Lunenburgh and the Lunenburghers [German colonists] themselves who are more disposed to the French than to the English." Belcher then stated that the Acadians had refused to take the unqualified oath of allegiance, and if they took it, they would not be influenced by it and that such a superiority of numbers was dangerous to the King's subjects and deterred others from coming into the Province. He concluded his presentation to the Council as follows: "I think myself obliged for these Reasons and from the highest necessity which is Lex temporis, to the interests of His Majesty in the Province, humbly to advise that all the French inhabitants may be removed from the Province." Canadian Archives, 1905, II., p. 65. ! Quoted in Henri D'Arles, op. cit., I., pp. 197'199. 2 Ibid., p. 199. 314 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS whole extent of the Bay of Minas and rivers thereunto be' longing, the free and entire possession of those lands we were then possessed of. . . . And on condition that we should behave with due submission and fidelity to Your Majesty, agreeable to the oath which was then administered to us, which is as follows, vis. : 'We sincerely promise and swear, by the faith of a Christian, that we shall be entirely faith' ful, and will truly submit ourselves to His Majesty King George, whom we acknowledge as sovereign Lord of New Scotland, or Acadia; so God help us.' "And at the same time, the said General Philipps did, in like manner, promise the said French inhabitants, in Your Majesty's name, that they should have the true [free] ex' ercise of their religion, and be exempted from bearing arms, and from being employed in war, either against the French or Indians. 111 From this the Acadians were known as the French Neutrals. Later on, several Governors attempted to exact from these French Neutrals an absolute oath of allegiance, which they refused to take. The petition continues: "We acquainted Governor Cornwallis, that if Your Majesty is not willing to continue that exemption to us, we desire liberty to evac uate the country, proposing to settle on the Island of St. John, where [which] the French Government was willing to let us have; which proposal he at the time refused to consent to, but told us he would acquaint Your Majesty therewith and return us an answer. But we never received an answer, nor was any proposal of that made to us until we were made prisoners. 112 The Acadians, on their part, were true to their oath, and refused to take up arms against England in 1744, when Cap' tain Duvivier attempted to reconquer Acadia from the Brit' Quoted in Henri D' Aries, op. cit., III., p. 416, Appendix. They asked exemption from bearing arms against the French, because they were their own blood and kin; from fighting the Indians, because they feared bloody reprisals if they fought against savages who had heretofore been their friends. A few years later a group of British of Nova Scotia requested the same exemption from fighting against their relatives in the colonies. 2 "Their loyalty had always been a qualified one. A reservation of not being obliged to serve in war against the French had been in the past allowed in their oath; but such reser- vation had not been approved by the Crown, though it had not been practically disallowed." Justin Winsor, T^arrative and Critical History of America, V., p. 455. THE TRADEGT OF A PEOPLE 315 ish. However, M. Le Loutre, missionary among the Mic- macs, in French Acadia, accompanied the fruitless expedi- tion and incited the savages to take part in it. Encouraged by Galissoniere, Le Loutre urged the inhabitants of Brit- ish Acadia to emigrate and locate about the forts Beause- jour and Gaspereau. 1 It is estimated that some four thou- sand actually left British Acadia and settled near the afore- mentioned forts. Le Loutre's slogan, so productive of re- sults, was: "Emigration and Liberty! 11 Of course, many of the emigrants suffered great hardships and privations because of their leaving the fertile fields they had cleared and cultivated. Monseigneur Pontbriand, Bishop of Quebec, severely censured Abbe le Loutre for his too active part in the emigration movement, declaring that if the court had decided to encourage emigration, "that is not our affair, say nothing, neither one way nor the other. 112 Edward Cornwallis, who was then Governor of Nova Scotia, was naturally vexed at the evacuation of his terri- tory, and also considered the erection of the two forts Beause- jour and Gaspereau a provocation on the part of the French. In the spring of 1750 he sent Major Lawrence with 400 men to dislodge the French. De la Corne, Commandant of Beausejour, checked Lawrence at a point considered by the French to be the boundary between British and French Acadia. Lawrence erected a fort (Fort Lawrence) two miles from Beausejour. Between 1750 and 1755 the British cap- tured some three hundred French merchant vessels. Charles Lawrence became Lieut. Governor of Nova Scotia November 1, 1753. The wretched Francois Bigot 3 was then the vampire Intendant of Canada, and his friend^M. de Vergor the venal Commandant of Beausejour. Lawrence was determinded to get rid of the so-called French Neutrals and in June, 1755, sent an army of two thousand men under Col. Monckton against Beausejour, although the formal declaration of war between France and England did not take place till nearly a year later. During the siege of Beausejour, that is, about the 6th of June, 1755, Lawrence carried out an ignoble plot of disarming iRochemonteix, op. cit., II., p. 86. 2 Ibid., p. 109. 3 See pp. 345, n. 1 and 349, n. 1, post. 3 i6 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAHS the Acadians in the Mines district (British Acadia). One hundred and fifty soldiers from Fort Edward and Halifax proceeded to the Mines country, ostensibly on a "fishing frolic." They reached Grand Pre towards evening and asked that two soldiers might be permitted to sleep in each home — just as a favor to these supposed fishermen — to obviate the inconvenience of sleeping in barns. The unsuspecting Aca- dians made room for his Majesty's fishermen in their already crowded houses. At midnight, in accordance with instruc- tions received from Lawrence, the soldiers seised all arms and ammunition, carried them to a boat waiting in the harbor and brought them to Fort Edward. A few days later an order was issued demanding the surrender of all arms in the Beaubassain district, under penalty of being treated as rebels. 1 To this spoliation and the principle it involved, the Aca- dians made the following protest: "We most humbly beg Your Excellency to consider our past conduct. You will see, that, very far from violating the oath we have taken, we have maintained it in its entirety, in spite of the solicitations and the dreadful threats of another power [France].... More- over, our guns, which we regard as our own personal property, have been taken from us, notwithstanding the fact that they are absolutely necessary to us, either to defend our cattle, which are attacked by the wild beasts, or for the protection of our children and of ourselves. . . . Besides, the arms that have been taken from us are but a feeble guarantee of our fidelity. It is not the gun which an inhabitant possesses, that will induce him to revolt, nor the privation of the same gun that will make him more faithful; but his conscience alone must induce him to maintain his oath. . . ." 2 The deportation of the Acadians was a foregone conclu- sion. It mattered little whether they took an absolute oath to the King of England or held to their qualified oath as sanc- tioned under Governor Phillips — they were to be scattered to the winds with the least possible chance of ever returning. Lawrence commissioned Morris, then Provincial Surveyor, later judge, to work out a plan that would rid the colony of the Acadians, and he did it with diabolically wicked finesse. ^douard Richard, Acadia, II., pp. 642. 2 Quoted by Richard, op. at., II., p. 37. THE TRAGEDT OF A PEOPLE 317 "They are at all adventures to be rooted out" — that was the advice he gave the Council. In his Reflections on the Methods proposed to prevent their Escape out of the Colony and the Design of removing them, Morris wrote: "It will much facilitate their readiness to go, if a persuasion could obtain among them that they are to be removed to Canada ... for it is natural to think they will be unwilling to quit their possessions, and to offer them- selves to go voluntarily to be transported, they know not whither M1 "After Mature Consideration," so reads the report of Charles Lawrence, of July 28, 1755, "it was unanimously Agreed, 2 That to prevent as Much as possible their attempt- ing to return and molest the Setlers that may be set down on their Lands, it would be most proper to send them to be dis- tributed amongst the several colonies on the Continent, and that a sufficient number of Vessels should be hired with all possible Expedition for the purpose." 3 The stage was now set for the perpetration of one of those shocking crimes of history, one of those inhuman deeds that will be told and retold to the end of time. Col. John Winslow was in command at Grand Pre; Captain Alexander Murray at Fort Edward and Pigiquit; Major Handfield at Annapolis, and Col. Robert Monckton at Beau- sejour, while Governor Lawrence sat scheming at Halifax. The letter, which Lawrence sent to Col. Monckton, July 31, 1755, is typical of the instructions issued to all the Com- mandants. "It will be necessary," wrote Lawrence, "to keep this measure as secret as possible, as well to prevent their attempting to escape, as to carry off their cattle, etc., etc., and, the better to effect this, you will endeavour to fall upon some stratagem to get the men, both young and old — specially the heads of families — into your power, and detain them till the transports shall arrive, so as they may be ready to be shipped off; for, when this is done, it is not much to be feared that the women and children will attempt to go away and iReport Concerning Canadian Archives, 1905, II., Appendix B, p. 8. 2 By the Council at Halifax. De Beaujeu had defeated Gen. Braddock on the Monongahela July 9, 1755. The sting of Braddock's defeat may have had some influence on the mind of the Council. "Canadian Archives, 1905. Append. B, p. 8. 3 i8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAHS carry off the cattle. But, lest they should, it will not only be very proper to secure all their shallops, boats, canoes, and every other vessel you can lay your hands upon; but also to send out parties to all suspected roads and places from time to time, that they may be thereby intercepted.... ,,1 Edouard Richard, who himself was an Acadian, wrote the following bitter lines: "The lineal descendant of Law- rence's victims can, though late, now rend the veil that still hides his infamy, and brand his memory as that of a scomv drel." 2 The following letter, which Lawrence sent to Col. Monck' ton, August 8, 1755, seems to indicate that he was far more interested in the cattle of the Acadians than in preserving the lives of the unsuspecting inhabitants. After telling Monckton that the transports 3 for taking off the inhabitants will soon arrive, he continues: "I am hopeful that you will, in the meantime have accomplished the directions you had in my last letter with regard to the inhabitants. As there may be a deal of difficulty in securing them, you will, to prevent this as much as possible, destroy all the villages on the North and North'West side of the Isthmus that ly at any distance from the Fort of Beausejour, and use every other method to distress, as much as can be, those who may attempt to con- ceal themselves in the woods. But I would have all care taken to save the stock, and the harvest upon the ground, which can be gathered in with any safety to the men; and prevent as much [as possible] the French fugitives and Indians from carrying off or destroying the cattle." 4 Another letter reads : "Upon the arrival of these Vessels from Boston, and Chignecto in the Bason of Mines, as Many of the Inhabitants of the Districts of Mines, Pisiquid, Cobi' quid, the River of Canard, &c, as can Be Collected By Any Means, Particularly the Heads of Families & Young Men, are to Be Shipped On Board of them at the Above Rate Quoted by Pvichard, op. cit., II., p. 58. Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, then a British colony, had a large share in the plan and execution of the deportation. 2 Ibid., p. 22. 3 Some of these transports were furnished by Thomas Hancock, uncle of John Hancock, later a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The Hancock firm, of Boston, supplied provisions for garrisons in Nova Scotia. Canadian Archives, 1905, II., Append. B, p. 8. THE TRAGEDY OF A PEOPLE 3 i 9 of Two Persons to a Ton, Or as Near it as Possible." 1 All was now ready for the first act of the cruel drama of deportation. Richard remarks: "Seldom does it happen that the servant, for whom flattery is a necessity, fails to outdo his master. " 2 Lawrence's servants, located at strategic points, began the drive. It was most successful at Grand Pre. Wins- low's Journal tells the sad story. On the second day of Sep- tember, 1755, Winslow issued a citation 3 "To the Inhabitants of the District of Grand Pre, Mines, River Cannard, &c, as well ancient as young Men & Lades [Lads] "I there- fore order and Strictly Injoyne by these Pressence to all the Inhabitants as well of the above named Districts as of all the other Districts, both old men & young men as well as all the Lads of ten years of age to attend at the Church at Grand Pre on Friday the 5th Instant at Three of the Clock in the afternoon that We May Impart to them what we are ordered to Communicate to them: Declaring that no Excuse will be admitted on any Pretense whatsoever on Pain of Forfit- ting Goods and Chattels on Default." How wholly unsuspecting the poor people were of the horrors that awaited them is clear from an entry in Winslow's Journal for September 4, 1755: "A fine day, and the inhabi- tants were very busy about their harvest." Only a small number failed to respond to the summons and fled to the woods instead. Richard graphically describes Winslow in the presbytery of Grand Pre, from which the priest had been banished, 4 and where he had established his headquarters, watching at a distance the clouds of dust rising from the roads. In obe- dience to his peremptory orders, "people on foot were slowly wending their way from neighboring farms; then came well- filled carts . . . they all passed before the church casting anx- ious looks on the public square covered with tents and sol- diers . . . the new-comers had scattered in groups in the houses, on the door-steps, along the fences. All these groups were grave and almost silent. They exchanged a few words on the weather, the harvest, absent friends, or on indifferent Canadian Archives, 1905, Append. B, pp. 1344. 2 Richard, op. cit., II., p. 79. 3 Canadian Archives, ibid., p. 19. 4 The missionary priests had been captured or driven off about the middle of July, 1755. 320 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS subjects; but minds were busy with other thoughts; ... as often happens on such sad and solemn occasions, it was the object of the meeting that they spoke least of. . . . "The clock was on the stroke of three; the officers appeared on the threshold of the priest's house; the groups had begun to move; they had drawn near to the church. They had entered. "Winslow followed closely in full uniform, surrounded by his officers. He took his place at a table set in the middle aisle, his glance rested on that silent crowd, kneeling, because despite the profanation of their temple, it was still the hal' lowed place, the house of prayer. They had knelt partly through habit perhaps, but also to implore God's help in their hour of distress. The church was full; there were pres- ent four hundred and eighteen men and lads above ten years of age." 1 Winslow rose to read their sentence of condemnation 2 as follows: "Gentlemen, — I have Received from his Excel- lency Governor Lawrence, The Kings Commission which I have in my hand 3 and by whose orders you are Convened together to Manifest to you his Majesty's Final resolution to the French Inhabitants of this his Province of Nova Scotia, who for almost half a Century have had more Indulgence 4 Granted them, than any of his Subjects in any part of his Dominions; what use you have made of them, you your Self Best Know. 5 "The Part of Duty I am now upon is what thoh Necessary is Very Disagreeable to my Natural make 6? Temper as I Know it Must be Grievious to you who are of the Same Specia. 1 Richard, op. cit., II., p. 87- Winslow's Journal reads: "Att three in the afternoon the french inhabitants appeared agreable to their citation at the church in Grand-Pre, amount' ing to 418 of their best men . . . upon which I ordered a table to be sett in the centre of the church . . . and then declared them the King's prisoners. ^Canadian Archives, 1905, II., Append. B, pp. 19-20. That the whole matter of the deportation of the Acadians and the responsibility therefor is still a live issue is evident from Emile Lauvriere's La Tragedie d'un Peuple, 1924. On page 464, vol. I., Lauvriere quotes the above document with the following running commentary: 3 "Decidedly, either the orders came from the King of England, or Lawrence and Wins- low lied." 4 "Then why were they refused the single 'indulgence 1 which they asked, and to which they had a right: the right to leave?" 6 "In fact, those neutrals had saved the English by not taking part against them in 1744." THE OLD CITY WALLS— QUEBEC THE TRAGEDY OF A PEOPLE 321 "But it is not my Business to annimedvert, but to obey Such orders as I receive and therefore without Hessitation Shall Deliver you his Majesty's orders and Instructions vist. "That your Lands 6? Tennements, Cattle of all Kinds and Live Stock of all sortes are Forfitted to the Crown with all other your Effects Saving your Money and Household Goods and you your Selves to be removed from this his Province. "This it is Peremtorily his Majesty's orders That the whole French Inhabitants of these Districts be removed, and I am Throh his Majesty's Goodness Directed to allow you Liberty to Carry of your money and Household Goods as Many as you Can without Discomemoading the Vessels you Go in. I shall do Every thing in my Power that all Those Goods be Secured to you 1 and that you are Not Molested in Carrying of them of and also that whole Familys Shall go in the same Vessel, 2 and make this remove, which I am Sen- sable must give you a great Deal of Trouble, as Easy as his Majesty's Service will admit and hope that in what Ever part of the world you may Fall you may be Faithful Subjects, a Peasable 6? happy People. "I Must also inform you That it is his Majesty's Pleasure that you remain in Security 3 under the Inspection 6? Direc- tion of the Troops that I have the Honr. to Command, and then declared them the King's Prisoners." 4 Their parish church had become their jail. That evening the men hungered and begged for bread. Winslow's Journal for September 5, 1755, contains this laconic entry: "The French People not having any Provissions with them and Pleading Hunger Begd for Bread on which I Ddd 5 them and ordered that for the Future they be Supplyd from their re- spective Familys. 6 Thus Ended the Memorable fifth of Sep- 1 "Yes, when there was not room enough in those ships to place the poor people. Pouah! when one deports to a hostile country people whom one has ruined forever and cast into distress, one has no right to address them such sanctimonious wishes of good luck, under pain of passing for a detestable hypocrite.'" 2 "We shall see what becomes of that promise.'" 3 'The euphemism of that word is monstrous.'" *'That means to say in good French . . . : now that I have you in the trap, I will keep you; you are my prisoners." 6 I gave them. 'During the seven weeks of captivity the women were compelled to bring them food. At other places the men were led away as prisoners, and the women ordered to follow with food supplies. 322 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS tember, a Day of great Fatigue 6? Troble" — for Winslow! Bancroft writes: "I know not if the annals of the human race keep the record of sorrows so wantonly inflicted, so bitter and so perennial, as fell upon the French inhabitants of Acadia." 1 This stricture receives added strength from the following letter 2 of Capt. Murray to Winslow: "Dear Sir, — I reced your Favor and am Exstreamly Pleased that things are So Clever at Grand Pre and that the Poor Devils are So resigned. Here they are more Patient then I Could have Expected for People in their Circumstances "When I think of those of Annapolis I applaud our thoughts of Summoning them in. I am afraid their will be Some Lives Lost before they are Got together, you Know our Solidiers Hate them and if they can find a Pretence to Kill them, they will. "I am Vastly Happy to think your Camp is So well Se- cured. . . . "I Long Much to See the Poor wretches Embarked and our affar a Little Settled and and then I will do my Self the Pleasure of Meeting you and Drinking their Good Voyage". In the forenoon of September 10, 1755, Winslow sent orders that within one hour two hundred and fifty of the prisoners, beginning with the young men, were to embark on the vessels that had just arrived. The Journal relates the incident as follows: "I Ordered ye prisoners to March. They all An- swered they would not go without their fathers. I Told them that was a word I did not understand for that the Kings Com- mand was to me absolute & Should be absolutely obeyed 6? That I Did not Love to use Harsh Means but that the time Did not admit of Parlies or Delays and Then ordered the whole Troops to Fix their Bayonets and advance Towards the French and Bid the 4 Right hand Files of the Prisoners Consisting of 24 men, wich I told of my Self, to Divied from the rest, one of whome I Took hold on (who oposed the Marching) and bid March. He obeyed 6? the rest followed, thoh Slowly, and went of Praying, Singing & Crying being Met by the women & Children all the way (which is 1J^ mile) with Great Lamenta- x George Bancroft, History of the United States, IV., p. 206. 2 Canadian Archives, 1905, Append. B, II., p. 22. The letter is dated Fort Edward, 8th Sept., 1755. THE TRAGEDY OF A PEOPLE 323 tions upon their Knees, praying 6-Pc." 1 Casgrain adds this revolting scene: "Another squad, composed of a hundered married men, was embarked directly after the first amid similar scenes. Fathers inquired of their wives on the shore where their sons were, brothers asked about their brothers, who had just been led into the ships; and they begged the officers to put them together. By way of answer the soldiers thrust their bayonets forward and pushed the captives into the boats' 1 . 2 Parkman writes : "In spite of Winslow's care [ !] some cases of separation of families occured; but they were not numer- ous". To this Richard sharply replies: "I say cases of non- separation were not numerous. 1 ' One can readily understand that Edouard Richard, de- scendant of a banished Acadian family, should stigmatise Lawrence and the deportation in the following words that seem to rise from his innermost soul at the thought of the in- justice to his forbears: "To make its success [of the deporta- tion] more certain, he [Lawrence] gives instructions to dis- perse his victims in places far distant from each other; he burns 3 everything to prevent them from coming back; dismembers families to destroy all hope of return, and to keep them en- grossed with the more pressing question of finding relatives. To make assurance doubly sure, he instructs the governors of other provinces to keep them constantly under watch. Thus the game is played; the crime is consummated. The plan was infernal in its conception, infernal in its execution; its author stopped at nothing to ensure its full success."' '4 Canadian Archives, 1905, Append. B, p. 23. 'This is the forest primeval; but where are the hearts that beneath it Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman? Where is the thatch'roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers, — Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers forever departed! Scattered like dust and leaves, when the mighty blasts of October Seize them, and whirl them aloft, and sprinkle them far o'er the ocean. Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful village of Grand-Pre." Longfellow,[Ei> angeline. 2 Henri Raymond Casgrain, Pelerinage au Pays d'Evangeline, p. 178. 3 "For several successive evenings," writes Haliburton, "the cattle assembled round the smouldering ruins, as if in anxious expectation of the return of their master . . . , while all night long the faithful watch dogs of the Neutrals howled over the scene of desolation, and mourned alike the hand that had fed, and the house that had sheltered them.'" Judge Thomas C. Haliburton quoted in Henri D'Arles, op. cit., III., p. 83, n. 31. 4 Richard, op. cit., II., p. 130. 3 2 4 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Monckton and Handfield were not quite as successful as Winslow and Murray. During the following months vessel upon vessel, laden with the wretched cargo of crushed hu- manity, young men and boys calling for their fathers, wives and mothers seeking their husbands, daughters separated from their mothers, lovers cruelly parted forever, families and friends ruthlessly torn asunder — sailed from the ports of Nova Scotia to destinations generally made known to the captains of the ships in sealed orders. The unhappy Acadians still found consolation in the thought, that, though separated at the time of embarkation, they would all be sent to the same place and would there meet their loved ones. But that was not Lawrence's plan. The ships sailed, some to Boston, others to Connecticut, New York, Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, 1 Virginia, the Carolinas, to the West Indies, to England, France and everywhere. 2 "How could they ever General Philip Sheridan was a grandson of an Acadian deported to Maryland. 2 The following may serve to give an idea of the narrow and unchristian mental atti' tude of the Atlantic seaboard colonists towards the unhappy Acadians deported to their shores. Jonathan Belcher, Chief Justice of New Jersey, wrote to Governor Morris of Penn- sylvania: "I am truly surprised how it could enter the thoughts of those who had the order- ing of the French Neutrals, or rather traitors and rebels to the Crown of Great Britain, to direct any of them into these Provinces, where we have already too great a number of for' eigners for our own good and safety. I think they should have been transported to old France, and I entirely coincide with Your Honor that these people would readily join with the Irish Papists, etc., etc., to the ruin and destruction of the King's Colonies, and should any attempt be made to land here [Elizabethtown], I should think it my duty to the King and to his good people under my care to do all in my power to crush an attempt.'" Quoted by Richard, op cit., II., p. 232. "Strange irony of human affairs!" exclaims Richard (p. 252). "This little people had been overwhelmed with woe on the simple pretext of disloyalty; and the last Acadians had no sooner quitted Boston than the standard of revolt was hoisted over this same town. And, stranger still, this same people, who had become the warders of these pretended rebels, eagerly welcomed the soldiers of France, while those who would not be disloyal to their English sovereign [Tories], were going into exile and taking refuge on the lands of the same Acadians." During 1783 and the years immediately following at least 20,000 Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. In 1784 emigration of Loyalists likewise set in for the western part of the Province of Quebec. The British government favored the Loyalists and paid them an indemnity of $15,000,000.00 for losses sustained on account of the War of Independence. For the benefit of the Loyalists settled in western Quebec, the Prov' ince of Upper Canada (Ontario) was formed in 1791 with Col. Simcoe as first Lieut. Governor. Immigration to Ontario rapidly increased and by 1796 the new province had a population of 30,000. P-G. Roy, Les Petites Choses de Tiotre Histoire, II., pp. 164-166. According to Hugh L. Keenleyside, in Canada and the United States (p. 38), 100,000 Tories, later known as United Empire Loyalists, emigrated to Canada. THE TRAGEDY OF A PEOPLE 325 unite again?' ' writes Richard. "How many years would elapse before the husband could find his wife, the parents their children, deported, no one knew where? Would they survive the grief, the hardships, the climate? . . . The wife cast upon a foreign shore, separated from her husband and children, them- selves cast on other distant coasts, whom she despaired of ever seeing again; these are the broken ties which time could not re- new, which memory could not efface. So long as the body was vigorous, it might hold out; but grief wastes the strength, the body sinks, and this weeping mother, the inconsolable wife could but languish and die. . . . Like Antores of old, they expired with their eyes turned toward their native land". And still, the deportations of 1755 "were only the beginning of a systematic and pitiless persecution which continued long after the peace of 1763". 1 Thomas Chandler Haliburton 2 tells in his History of Nova Scotia what the covetous Lawrence and his subalterns did to enrich themselves, while the ships that carried the victims of their atrocity were unloading their cargoes on unfriendly and even hostile shores: "The most valuable lands were granted to gentlemen residing at Halifax, among whom were many of His Majesty's Council. That portion of it which fell into the hands of resident proprietors, was divided among a few indi- viduals. " : The number of Acadians at that time is generally estimated at 14,000 or 15,000. "Of this number," writes Lauvriere, "more than one'half were deported at the first; during the following three years another one fourth was sent away, and the remaining fourth, con' stantly hunted down by a pitiless enemy, during many years wandered about homeless.'" Lauvriere, op. cit., I., p. 492. "Friendless, homeless, hopeless, they wandered from city to city, From the cold lakes of the North to sultry Southern savannas, — From the bleak shores of the sea to the lands where the Father of Waters Seizes the hills in his hands, and drags them down to the ocean, Deep in their sands to bury the scattered bones of the mammoth. Friends they sought and homes; and many, despairing, heartbroken, Asked of the earth but a grave, and no longer a friend nor a fireside. Written their history stands on tablets of stone in the churchyards." Longfellow, Evangeline 2 Haliburton Hist, and Stat. Account of Jfyva Scotia, I., p. 100. Thomas Chandler Haliburton was a grandson of a Loyalist, or Tory, who had emi' grated to Nova Scotia after the Revolutionary War. England provided these emigre Loyalists with land at the expense of the Acadians who had returned to their country. Thomas Hali' burton became judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, 326 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Emile Lauvriere mentions the names of Lawrence's chief agents who received 20,000 acres each. The Lords of Trade later reduced these concessions to 5,000 acres each. 1 And so the story goes on. 2 No matter where their lot had been cast, the Acadians longed for the land of their forefathers. Michael Franklin, who became administrator of the Province of Nova Scotia in 1766, was kind and friendly and brought relief to the victims of his predecessors, Lawrence, Belcher and Wil- mot. "At last", writes Rameau, 3 "the frightful series of dis- asters which had befallen the Acadian people during eleven years, was drawing to a close. After having been proscribed, transported, retransported, plunged and replunged into want and misery' ' the return to the shores of Acadie set in. "Aca- dians arrived from France, from the West Indies, Canada and the United States, going from one settlement to another in search of a father, a mother, a brother, a relative whose where- abouts they had not yet found. Often death had claimed the ^mile Lauvriere, La Tragedie D'un Peuple, II., p. 8. 2 A moderate English view of this much discussed question, which has perhaps a sem' blance of a counterpart in the invasion of Belgium during the World War, is that of William Wood, in Canada and Its Provinces, I., p. 245: "They [the Acadians] were, in themselves, neither better nor worse than other men, and it was not their fault that they were living between two jealous rival powers at a very critical time, when each had to use all legitimate means of strengthening itself and weakening its opponent. Yet they undoubtedly were a potential factor on the French side, and so unfortunately situated as to be a very dangerous menace to the British. The treaty of Aix-la'Chapelle had left the Acadian boundaries un' settled. . . . The fact was that the French and British were manoeuvering for position all along the line, and the Acadians could not be neutral, even if they had so wished. Acadia was an outpost of the French in Canada, a landing'place for the French from Europe, and a living link between the two. The Acadians had been mildly ruled for forty years — as is unintentionally proved by the pictures of their happy life, drawn by the compassionate school of writers. But since this did not turn them into friends, and since they could not safely be allowed the chance of turning into active enemies, they had, perforce, to be rendered neutral. A sparse population could not be interned as it stood. A concentration camp was impracticable. So deportation was the only alternative. In any case, this would have been a rough 'and'ready expedient, as time pressed and means were scanty. But it certainly was carried out with needless brutality, families being broken up and scattered about indis' criminately all over the British colonies, each of which tried to shift this unwelcome burden on to its unwilling neighbours. On the whole, the expulsion of the Acadians was a quite justifiable act of war, carried out in a quite unjustifiable way." To this the following note of the Special Editor is appended : "Parkman has taken the same view; but it can be and has been disputed. Deportation in war time has been resorted to by other powers. But is it justifiable? That is the ques' tion.'" ^Quoted by Richard, op. cit., II., p. 330, THE TRAGEDY OF A PEOPLE 327 long sought one. . . . Slowly the scattered members of one family succeeded, not infrequently, in all getting together once more. February 11, 1780, the famous English statesman and ora- tor, Edmund Burke, 1 delivered a speech in Parliament on Economical Reform. He concluded by proposing to suppress the Board of Trade for its bungling policy with regard to the colonies. In the course of his speech he said : "The province of Nova Scotia was the youngest child of the board. Good God! what sums the nursing of that ill-thriven, hard-visaged, and ill-favoured brat has cost to this wittol nation ! . . . Sir, I am going to state a fact to you, that will serve to set in full sun- shine the real value of formality, and official superintendence. "There was in the province of Nova Scotia, one little neg- lected corner, the country of the neutral French; which having the good fortune to escape the fostering care of both France and England, and to have been shut out from the protection and regulation of councils of commerce and of boards of trade, did in silence, without notice, and without assistance, increase to a considerable degree. But it seems our nation had more skill and ability in destroying than in settling a colony. 2 "In the last war we did, in my opinion, most inhumanly, and upon pretences that in the eye of an honest man are not worth a farthing, root out this poor, innocent, deserv- ing people, whom our utter inability to govern, or to recon- cile, gave us no right to extirpate. . . ." Where history stops, there the poet sets in, and the expul- sion of the Acadians has found its most irretrievable condem- nation in the bitter-sweet story of Longfellow's Evangeline. 3 x Quoted in Henri D'Arles, op. cit., II., pp. 380-381. 2 December 20, 1759, the Lords of Trade had written to the King: "We are extremely sorry to find, that notwithstanding the great expense which the public has been at in removing the French inhabitants, there should yet be many of them remaining. It is certainly very much to be wished, that they could be entirely driven out of the Peninsula". Quoted in Bancroft, op. cit., IV., p. 206, n. 4. 3 According to Richard, Judge Haliburton inspired Longfellow and suggested to him the idea of writing Evangeline. In 1923 the request was made by a sectarian clergyman in Toronto, that Evangeline be no longer on the list of books used in the schools of Canada. Lauvriere, op. cit., II., p. 279. THE PROXIMATE PRELIMINARIES OF A GREAT WAR— WASHINGTON SURRENDERS AT FORT NECESSITY— ENGLISH AND FRENCH EN- LIST THE SAVAGES— THE GRANDE LUTTE OR FINAL STRUGGLE BE- TWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND The preliminary hostilities,, during what J. S. McLen- nan 1 calls an "imperfectly'kept truce rather than a peace", preceding the formal outbreak of the Seven Years' War, played alternately, and at times concurrently, in the two af- fected sections — Acadia and the Ohio Valley. In the spring of 1753, the Marquis Duquesne, Governor of Canada, sent an expedition to the valley of the Ohio to as- sure its possession for the French by actual military occupation. Marin was in charge, and the French built several forts — Presqu'ile (now Erie, Pa.), le Boeuf (now Waterford, Erie Co., Pa.), and Fort Machault at Venango, the confluence of the Allegheny and French Creek (now Franklin, Pa.). Marin died, and was succeeded by Legardeur de Saint-Pierre. Fort Machault was particularly offensive to the English, because it directly threatened their possessions. Dinwid- die, Governor of Virginia, sent a messenger with a small es- cort, guided by Christopher Gist, to Saint-Pierre, who was Commandant at Fort le Boeuf, to call his attention to the fact that he was building forts on English territory and to request him to withdraw peaceably. In looking about for an officer best qualified to carry out this delicate and im- portant mission, the choice had fallen upon the twenty-one year old George Washington, who was then Adjutant-Gen- eral of the Virginia militia. 2 Sixty miles north of the present Pittsburgh, in the state of Pennsylvania, Washington saw the French flag float over the house formerly owned by an English trader, named Fra- sier, who had been driven out, and he found Joncaire, a French l J. S. McLennan in Canada and Its Provinces. 2 Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, V., p. 492; Villiers du Terrage, op. cit. t p. 60. 328 OK THE PLAIHS OF ABRAHAM 329 officer, in command. This was at Venango, now Franklin, Pennsylvania. Washington's own story of his meeting with Joncaire and of his spending a great part of the evening with him gives a thoroughly human touch to the characters con- cerned: "He invited us to sup with them, and treated us with the greatest complaisance. The wine, as they dosed themselves pretty plentifully with it, soon banished the restraint which at first appeared in their conversation, and gave a license to their tongues to reveal their sentiments more freely. They told me that it was their absolute de- sign to take possession of the Ohio, and by G — they would do it; For that, although they were sensible the English could raise two men for their one, yet they knew their mo- tions were too slow and dilatory to prevent any undertak- ing of theirs. They pretend to have an undoubted right to the river from a discovery made by one La Salle, sixty years ago; and the rise of this expedition is, to prevent our settling on the river or waters of it, as they heard of some families moving out in order thereto". 1 The next day Washington proceeded to Fort le Boeuf, where Le Gardeur de Saint-Pierre commanded, and deliv- ered his message, December 11, 1753. By the middle of Feb- ruary, 1754, Washington had returned to Williamsburg, Virginia, to make his report. Dinwiddie gave orders to send Washington with two hundred men to build a fort at the Forks of the Ohio, the present Pittsburgh, but before this expedition got under way, some backwoodsmen under Captain Trent had pene- trated the mountain passes and set to work building a fort at that place. While this work was in progress, Contrecoeur, a French officer, came along with a much stronger force and issued the following peremptory summons to Trent: "Sir, "Nothing can surprise me more, than to see you attempt a settlement upon the Lands of the King my Master, which obliges me, Sir, to send you this Gentleman Chev. Le Mer- cier, Captain of the Bombardiers, Commander of the Artil- lery of Canada, to know of you Sir, by virtue of what Au- thority you are come to fortify yourself within the Domin- lWashington's Journal, America, a Library of Original Sources, III., pp. 11'37- 330 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS ions of the King my Master. ... It is incontestable, that the lands situated along the Beautiful River, belong to his Most Christian Majesty 1 . . . . "Sir, if you come into this place charged with orders, I summon you in the name of the King my Master, by virtue of orders which I have from my General, to retreat peace- ably your Troops from off the Lands of the King, or else I find myself obliged to fulfill my duty ... in that case, Sir, you may be persuaded that I will give orders, that there shall be no damage done to my Detachment. " 2 Contrecoeur immediately set to work, built a stockade at the Forks of the Ohio and called it Fort Duquesne (the present Pittsburgh). But Washington had now got started with his men on the way to the Forks. In the meantime, Contre- coeur had sent out Coulon de Jumonville, with thirty men, to bear summons to any English he might find in the valley, warning them to retire from French territory. Jumonville's instructions 3 as to the manner of procedure, in case he obtained knowledge of any movements of the Englishmen on the do- mains of the King, were as follows: "We command that in that case he send us two good legs [a runner] to inform us of what he has learned, of the day on which he expects to serve the summons, and, as soon as made, to make all haste to bring us the reply. "If the sieur de Jumonville should hear that the English are on the other side of the high mountain range [Alleghenies], he shall not cross the height of the lands, not wishing to disturb them and wishing to maintain the harmony which prevails between the two crowns. ... 23 May, 1754". An Indian guide led Washington to a glen, where two Frenchmen had been tracked. On the morning of the 28th of May, 1754, Washington and his men fell upon the camp of Jumonville. The French, taken by surprise, cried: "To arms!" Washington commanded fire. Jumonville and eight men fell. One man escaped and brought the news of the fatal attack to Fort Duquesne. Washington retreat- ed to Great Meadows, where he received reenforcements. 1 Title of the King of France. 2 N- T. Col. Dcs., VI., p. 841. 3 Villiers Du Terrage, op. cit., p. 60. OK THE PLAIHS OF ABRAHAM 331 Coulon de Villiers, a brother of Jumonville, advanced from Fort Duquesne with five hundred men and eleven guides. Washington hurriedly threw up breastworks, which he called Fort Necessity. The French surrounded him on the 28th of June, and after several days of fighting, in which the French had seventeen casualties and the English one hundred and fifty, Washington signed the articles of capitu- lation on the 3rd day of July, 1754: "This 3rd day of July, at 8 o'clock in the evening. "Since it has never been our intention to disturb the peace and the good harmony which exists between the two prince friends, but only to avenge the assassination which has been perpetrated upon one of our officers, bearer of a summons and his escort, and as also to prevent any estab- lishment on the lands of the King my master. "In view of these considerations, we do not object to grant pardon to all the English who are in the fort under the conditions as follows," etc. Article VII of the terms of capitulation reads: "That since the English have in their power one officer, two petty officers and in general the prisoners whom they took from us in the assassination [dans Vassassinat] of sieur de Jumon- ville, and since they promise to send them under escort as far as Fort Duquesne, situated on the Beautiful River, and that as guarantee of this article and this treaty, Mrs Jacob Vambram and Robert Stobo, both captains, shall be sur- rendered to us as hostages until the arrival of our French and Canadians afore-mentioned' 1 etc. "Done in duplicate in one of the posts of our blockade, the day and year above-mentioned "Signed James Mackay, Go Washington, Coulon Villier." 1 Washington surrendered July 4, 1754. Coulon de Villiers had granted him and his men the honors of war; they marched out, drums beating. "The unfortunate articles of capitulation 11 , as Winsor 2 calls them, have been and are still a subject of animated dis- cussion between French and American historians. ^'G. Roy, Rapport de V archiviste de la Province de Quebec (19224923), p. 342. One of the original copies of the Articles is preserved in the Archives of Montreal. 2 Winsor, op. n't., V. 12. 332 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS The prelude to the articles speaks of "U assassin — mur- dering — of one of our officers". Some historians maintain that, since these articles were formulated in French, which Wash- ington did not understand, they should not be construed as admitting his mistake. To this the French reply that he had a German, named De Brahm, 1 among his troops, and that Brahm acted as his interpreter. A reasonable explanation might be that both sides were surprised. The French certainly were, and called: "To arms!" Washington hearing the French cry: "To arms!" gave orders to shoot. Washington was still a young man and had not yet acquired the sangfroid of a veteran fighter. His whole life is so replete with honor that it must be sup- posed, he would not have wilfully fired upon a "bearer of a summons", at a time when the two countries were at peace. Perhaps the version of William Wood gives a plausible explanation. "Nine hours of desultory firing in a down- pour of rain convinced Washington that his men could not hold out against such a superior force, and he sent Captain Van Braam to arrange terms in reply to the summons of de Villiers. Van Braam, in reading aloud the French articles in English, without a good knowledge of either language, translated Tassassinat du Sieur de jumonvilW as 'the death of Sieur de Jumonville, 1 and Washington, who was listen- ing on the other side of the sputtering candle, accepted the terms as he then understood them. The next day, July 4, 1754, Washington marched out with the honors of war, leaving Van Braam and Stobo as hostages, for the due re- turn to Fort Duquesne of the French prisoners taken when de Jumonville was killed." 2 The Indians began more and more to resent the intrusion of the whites, still the strength of the whites compelled them to take sides, and thus the savages were drawn into the quarrel. "The Indians, therefore," writes Wood, "chose what appeared to them to be the lesser evil for the time being. Both white races accused them of treachery. But they simply fought for their own interests, just as the dominant whites did for theirs. l De Brahm, Vambram, J. V, Braam — all variations of the same name. *Wood in Canada and Its Provinces, I., pp. 235'237- OK THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM 333 "In making up their minds the Indians looked at the three main chances which always affected them — which race was the more congenial, which was the better one to trade with, and which one was going to win. "The first question was almost invariably answered in favour of the French. Partly because of their pleasanter manners, partly because of their greater adaptability, and partly because of their very failure to grow as a colonizing power, the French, nearly always proved the more natur- ally attractive to the Indian. . . . The American colonists, on the other hand, were nearly always uncongenial. They were an expanding race of farmers, uprooting and destroy- ing the Indians like weeds wherever they went. One of their pioneers was soon followed by a dozen, and these by a hundred, and so on, till the red man was completely dis-. placed. "Decidedly, the French were the more congenial to the Indians. But which was the better race to trade with? Both French and British cheated as a rule, and both were, of course, entirely devoid of conscience about the liquor traffic. . . . Owing to various causes, of which congeniality was always the principal, the Indians, who knew nothing of the out- side world, were generally inclined to believe more in French than in British prowess, especially as the French understood so much better how to make the greatest show of whatever force they had. So in this, as in other questions, the bulk of the Indians threw in their lot against the British and with the French." 1 Parkman admits the above facts and enumerates some of the causes of this lack of harmonious understanding be- tween the English colonists and the savages. "The annual present", he writes, "sent from England to the Iroquois was often embezzled by corrupt governors or their favorites. " 2 The Indian chiefs were vain, loved display and grandiose speeches, wanted to be feasted with all their men, women and children, liked to visit with the commandant or Gover- nor at the latter's or the government's expense, and to the wearisome disgust of the officer, who had to smile, and smoke, and speech through all this lengthy social function. It was x Wood, in Canada and Its Provinces, I., p. 235. 2 Francis Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, I., p. 74. 334 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS boresome, but, in modern parlance, it meant good business if judiciously performed. The French, in their eagerness to gain the good will of the savages for their own cause, met them more than half way; they studied their language, flattered their prejudices, and were very careful not to ruffle their dignity or insult their ancient customs. Edouard Richard tersely characterises the English and the French in this way: "The Frenchman's first thought was, fc How shall I win the Indian's heart? 1 The Englishman's main question was, or seems to have been, 'How shall I make that d — d redskin respect me?' "* It is a fact that all through the French regime, the actu- ating principle of the policy of the French, or, at least the theoretical policy of the government, towards the savages, was in striking contrast to that pursued in other colonies. The charter granted by Richelieu to the Company of the Hundred Associates stipulated that if any savage, after having been received into the Catholic Church, desired to live in France, he had the rights of citizenship at once, with- out any letter of naturalisation. 2 The French officers and commandants showed the same kind of regardful courtesy to the savages in America. Writes Parkman : "When a party of Indian chiefs visited a French fort, they were greeted with the firing of cannon and rolling of drums; they were regaled at the tables of the officers, and bribed with medals and decorations, scarlet uniforms and French flags. . . . Complaisance was tempered with dig- nity . . . they clearly saw that while on the one hand it was necessary to avoid giving offence, it was not less nec- essary on the other to assume bold demeanor and a show of power; to caress with one hand, and grasp a drawn sword with the other". 3 The English were perhaps more business-like, but they were less supple, less willing to sit through those long In- dian ceremonials, which certainly were not a pleasure, nei- ^douard Richard, op. cit., I., p. 316. 2 Canada and Its Provinces, XV., p. 24. See also G. Goyau, Les Origines religieuses du Canada, XXXIII. 3 Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, I., pp. 74'76. OH THE PLAIHS OF ABRAHAM 335 ther to French nor English officers. "The proud chiefs", says Parkman, "were disgusted by the cold and haughty bearing of the English officials, and a pernicious custom pre- vailed of conducting Indian negotiations through the medium of the fur- traders, a class of men held in contempt by the Iroquois, and known among them by the significant title of fc rum carriers\ With more or less emphasis, the same remark holds true of all the other English colonies . . . . ,n Many of those early colonists were a rather rough lot. William Newnham Blane, who traveled through the Amer- ican colonies much later, gives an opinion of the English backwoodsman, which is not at all flattering. Speaking of the settlers at Albion, Illinois, he writes that they are "very much degenerated; for they have copied all the vices of the Backwoodsmen . . . drinking, fighting . . . and, when fight- ing, 'gouging' and biting. In England, if two men quarrel, they settle their dispute by what is called c a stand up fight'. The by-standers form a ring, and even if one of the combat- ants wish it, he is not permitted to strike his fallen antago- nist. This is a manly, honourable custom. . . . But fighting in the Backwoods is conducted upon a plan, which is only worthy of the most ferocious savages. The object of each combatant is ... to 'gouge' the other, that is, to poke his eye out, or else get his nose or ear into his mouth and bite it off. . . . Until I went into the Backwoods, I could never credit the existence of such savage mode of fighting". 2 This type of frontier settlers, "rude, fierce and contemp- tuous", was not inclined to respect the rights of the sava- ges, but drove the Indians from their hunting grounds "with curses and threats", as though they had no rights whatsoever. The French, on the other hand, were more considerate, and tried to help the savage along, stabilise him, and teach him the arts of civilization. Thus, for instance, the Jesuit Fathers gathered the Indians together at Sillery, and later transplanted them to Ste Foy 3 , and finally to Loretteville, where their village can be seen to this day. All in all, there Parkman, op. cit., pp. 74'76. 2 Quaife, Pictures of Illinois One Hundred Tears Ago, p. 49. 3 H. A. Scott, Histoire de Ste Foy, pp. 45, ff. 336 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS were many reasons why the savage disliked the Frenchman less than the frontier English settler. The stage was set for another war. In numbers the two colonies were very unequal, the British having a population of more than a million to the sixty thousand French. 1 Both ^here were many reasons why the French population of Canada was so far below the number of the British in the American colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. The main reason was the total lack of understanding of the importance of the colonies and the conse' quent lack of interest in them since the days of Louis XIV and Colbert. Voltaire gave ex' pression to this ignorance of actual conditions when with his witty flippancy he spoke of Canada as "a few acres of snow." But France made an economic mistake long before this when she refused to admit the Huguenots to her American colonies. For the proper understanding of this phase of our history it is necessary to revert to the religious wars in France and to the Edict of Nantes. To understand the Edict of Nantes it must be remembered that, as the sense of national power rose in the sixteenth century, rulers adopted the false principle that only one religion, and that the religion of the ruling prince, should be tolerated in each state and that the subjects were bound to take the religion of the governing prince, according to the adage : Cujus regio ejus religio. This obtained in Holland, where Catholic worship was absolutely forbidden, in Germany after the Peace of Augsburg, and in England, where those Protestants, who differed or dissented from the Established Church, were forced to seek religious liberty in America, where they in turn applied the same principles of intolerance to those who differed from them. The Protestants in France were known as Huguenots, probably from their connection with Geneva, where a group, known as Eidgenots (Eidgenossen), who opposed the duke of Savoy, became designated as Huguenots from one of their leaders, Besanzon Hugues. After much argument and excesses on both sides, religious peace was reestablished in France by the Edict of Nantes in 1598. By virtue of this edict, Catholic worship was again established wherever it had been abolished by the Huguenots and, on the other hand, the Huguenots received full freedom of conscience and a large measure of freedom of worship. Strongholds, which the Huguenots had captured, were left in their hands. In the course of time the Huguenots made common cause with the domestic enemies of the State. Richc lieu, while respecting their religious liberty, decided to put an end to their political power. Rohan and Soubise, Huguenot leaders, effected an uprising in the South of France and made an alliance with England against the King of France. England sent a fleet of ninety vessels manned by 10,000 men to La Rochelle, July, 1627- Richelieu and the King laid siege to La Rochelle, drove off the English fleet and captured the Huguenot stronghold. Thereafter Richelieu refused to permit Huguenots to settle in New France, saying he had enough trouble with them at home without sending them to Canada. Louis XIV in the course of time curtailed the civil rights enjoyed by the Huguenots and in 1685 revoked the Edict of Nantes, motivated by his ideas of over-centralized government with an admixture of the false principle stated above, that the subjects follow the religion of the Ruler. Having been excluded from public service the Huguenots had become manufacturers, mer' chants and farmers. Although the regrettable decree revoking the Edict of Nantes strictly forbade them to leave the country, a strong movement of emigration set in at once. Vauban, who strongly opposed the revocation of that Edict, wrote: "Revocation brought about the desertion of 100,000 Frenchmen, the exportation of 60,000,000 livres, the ruin of commerce; 5«;i ' f i" ** * FORT KASKASKIA— 1759 From Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society OK THE PLAIHS OF ABRAHAM 337 colonies would be backed up by their respective mother coun- tries. "Roughly, it may be said," writes the military critic Wood, "that as the French army was twice as strong as the British would ultimately make theirs, so the British navy was at least twice as strong as was the French at the start. " Of the ruling powers in the mother countries the same author writes: "Not that the British government of 1756 was a good one, not that it was by any means free from cor- ruption . . .; but that the French were decidedly worse. ' n Madame de Pompadour was in power and changed Min- isters to suit her whims; there were four Ministers of For- eign Affairs during the period of the Seven Years 1 War, and other portfolios suffered a similar fate at the behest of an ambitious woman, 2 who, with Du Barry, contributed so large- ly to discredit the reign of the phlegmatic, indolent, pleas- ure-loving Louis XV. "What would life be worth without coffee?" he drawled out one day. And he sleepily added: "But then, what is it worth even with coffee?" 3 There you have Louis XV — filled up with the pleasures of life, blase and bored to death. enemies' fleets were reinforced by 9,000 sailors . . . and foreign armies by 600 officers and 1,200 men, more inured to war than their own.'" All this valuable emigration was lost to New France. Many went to England. 'Tour' ing their eager multitudes into England," writes Arthur Henry Hirsch in The Huguenots of South Carolina, p. 166, "the French Protestants were thereby at the same time enriching and empoverishing their welcome hostess; enriching her by their genius and skill, impover' ishing her by displacing English labor, by sapping the poor fund of its accumulations. . . . The problem, then, of Great Britain was how to keep these efficient folk and at the same time rid herself of them. The answer was found in one word: colonization. . . . Great Britain's motive in sending the Huguenots to South Carolina was a mixture of Christian benevolence and economic shrewdness. ..." "Thousands of families settled at various convenient points along the Atlantic coast. South Carolina was one of their most favored retreats and became known as the home of the Huguenots in America. In this province they made eight settlements, six in and about Charles Town. . . . " — Ibid, p. 3. See also F. X. Funk, Manual of Church History, II., pp. 126431; Catholic Encyclopedia, VII., pp. 527-537- 1 Wood, in Canada and Its Provinces, I., p. 246. 2 "Poor France!" exclaims Richard, "In order to retain a firm hold of your sceptre, you had invented the Salic Law [the rule excluding women from the throne in France]. You would not be governed by queens, and you have been ruled by harlots. You were rich and honored; those women squandered your coins and your honor. What havoc the wit of your madcaps has wrought in you?" Richard refers to Voltaire and Rousseau, op. cit., I., p. 18. 3 Clara E. Laughlin, So You re Going to Paris, p. 265. See also Rochemonteix, op. cit., pp. 80, ff. 338 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle had settled no difficulties between the governments of Europe; they had prepared for eight years, each hoping to be more successful in the next clash. There were enough explosives in the chancelleries of Europe, and it needed only a spark to set them off. This spark was furnished by Washington's attack on Jumon- ville. "Rash or otherwise," observes Winsor, 1 "this onset of the youthful Washington began the war. . . . When Major-General Braddock and his two regiments sailed from England for Virginia, and the Baron Dieskau and an army . . . sailed for Quebec, the diplomats of the two crowns bowed across the Channel, and protested to each other it all meant nothing." But armies once mobilised cannot easily be checked, and the struggle known as the Seven Years' War, or, the French and Indian War, was on. It was the Grande Lutte, the Final Struggle between France and England, for the pos- session of America (1756-1763). In December, 1754, Croghan 2 , a noted Indian Trader, inform- ed Governor Morris that the Ohio Indians were ready to aid the English. The following year, Kerlerec, Governor of Louisiana, wrote to the Minister: "In case of war, I am simply forced to call in the savages, but that means does not strongly appeal to me, although the English pay a premium to the Cher- okee for the scalps of the French. . . ." 3 Winsor, op. cit., V., pp. 493495. 2 "George Croghan came to Pennsylvania from Ireland in 1741, and entered the Indian trade. He was the first of Pennsylvania traders to penetrate the Northwest, and soon was regarded as having great influence among the Indians in that region, and was employed by Pennsylvania in her negotiations with the natives. ... By 1755, George Croghan and William Trent, with whom he was in partnership, were in financial difficulties, but were relieved from the pressure by the generosity of their creditors. Shortly after Sir William Johnson was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs, he made Croghan his deputy. The latter held this position for a number of years. At the outbreak of the Revolution he appears to have sided with the colonists, but later was subject to suspicion and, in 1778, he was declared a public enemy by Pennsylvania." Clarence W. Alvord & Clarence E. Carter, The Critical Period, p. 221. 3 Villiers du Terrage, op. cit., p. 70. May 14, 1756, Governor Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia issued the following proclama' tion: "We do hereby promise a reward of thirty pounds for every male Indian prisoner above the age of sixteen years brought in alive; for a scalp of such male Indian twenty 'five pounds, and twenty 'five pounds for every Indian woman or child brought in alive. " Quoted in Richard, op. cit., II., p. 260. OH THE PLAIHS OF ABRAHAM 339 And so French and English called in the savages to fight their battles against white men. Le Page du Prats says somewhere that the Indian was at first not a bad neighbor to the white man, but abuse by the white man made him a dreaded and treacherous enemy. The Indians were, above all, opportunists, ever ready to receive presents, whether given by French or English. Before the coming of the Eu- ropeans they had at least been self-supporting. The pres- ents and trading with the whites made them economically dependent. All in all, they fought the battles of the one who gave them most presents, the most merchandise and bullets, and the most rum or brandy for their beaver skins. Some clearer heads among the savages began to see that the encroachment of the whites meant banishment of their tribes; that cultivated fields meant, for the Indians, search for new hunting grounds; that, after all, they were the real owners of the land. At a conference of the Commissioners of the seven colonies with the chiefs of the Iroquois, held at Albany at the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, "Hen- drick, the famous sachem of the Mohawks, spoke the Indian mind with unpalatable plainness and truth. Taking a stick and throwing it over his shoulder he said: 'This is the way you have thrown us behind you. . . . The Governor of Virginia and the Governor of Canada are quarreling about lands which really belong to us, and their quarrel may end in our destruction. 1 " ] It is entirely beyond the scope of this volume to follow the interesting campaigns of the French and Indian War, the two years of French successes, the turning of the tide, and to note how fort after fort and city after city fell into the hands of the British. England and Prussia were the allies against France and Austria. In Europe it was well-nigh a single-handed fight between Austria, under Maria Theresa, and Frederic II, who led the armies of Prussia. The European result of the Seven Years 1 War was that Frederic had strengthened the posi- tion of Prussia as a great power. Neither Prussia nor Aus- tria entered the colonial phase of the Seven Years' War. In America it was the great final struggle fought out between 1 Wood in Canada and Its Provinces, I., p. 238. 340 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS England and France, both using the savages, but without any aid from any other European country, except Spain, which came in so late that its entry had no material effect on the outcome of the struggle. Louisiana was at no time drawn directly into the war, but the Illinois country played an important role because of its man-power and the large quan- tity of supplies furnished to New France. The Illinois district furnished food supplies: grain, flour, and meat to the French garrisons at Detroit, Miami, Ouia- tanon and Fort Dusquesne. Dumas, the Commandant of Fort Duquesne, asked for 120,000 hundredweight of flour and 40,000 hundredweight of pork. In the spring of 1757, Makarty sent Captain Coulon de Villiers 1 to Fort Duquesne with as large a quantity of provisions as he could gather. These voyages were long, tedious and dangerous. The convoys were obliged to descend the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio, and then ascend that river for a distance of a thou- sand miles, continually laboring against the stream. Then there were the Falls of the Ohio, where Louisville now stands; there were no settlements, or practically none, along its shores; and there was the constant danger of ambuscades. Trade followed the streams, and all commerce with New Orleans was by row boat. So also, a few years later, the commerce between the Illinois country and Pittsburgh was carried on by large row boats, known as bateaus (bateaux). An estimate made by Baynton, Wharton & Morgan, merchants of Philadelphia, in 1767, gives a good idea of the cost of transportation in those early days. "It will require at least forty five Batteaus, Annually, to be built at Pitts- burgh, to transport the Provisions, Which Batteaus are all made of green Timber and will not last longer than One Summer; But admitting They would — The Expence of sending Them against Stream to Fort Pitt, would be more than their Cost; . . . Batteau costs at Fort Pitt L 55 2 — 5 Men to navi- gate each Batteau at 4 L per month for 4 Months, . . . L80." 3 1 Villiers du Terrage, op. cit., p. 85. There were seven brothers Coulon, six of whom were killed fighting the British. 2 55 Pounds Pennsylvania currency. 3 Alvord and Carter, The T^ew Regime, pp. 476477- "/^ pint of Rum per Day was allowed to each Man, also 1 Pound of Flour and 1 Pound of Beef." Ibid OH THE PLAIHS OF ABRAHAM 341 December 23, 1757, Kerlerec reported to the Minister on the afore-mentioned convoy, conducted by Coulon de Vil- Hers: "Monseigneur, I have the honor to report to you that the chevalier de Villiers, captain of infantry in the service of this colony attached to the post of the Illinois, and whom I had sent to convoy the relief and supplies which M. de Makarty sent last spring to M. Dumas, commandant at fort Duquesne, performed his duty with all possible prudence and distinction/ ' Kerlerec then tells that the season was not favorable for Vipers' returning to the Illinois imme- diately and that, therefore, he desired to fight the English for the twofold purpose of sharing in the glory of the arms of the King and of avenging the death of his brother, "who was assassinated by the English." 1 De Villiers 1 attempt to avenge his brother's death a second time was at first not successful. However, July 13, 1757, he set out again with 22 Frenchmen for the village of Attique (Kittan ing), where he picked up 32 Indians to attack the fort of George Croghan, a bitter opponent of the French. The guide lost his way, and landed at Fort Granville instead. Fire was exchanged from noon till darkness set in; during the night Villiers managed to pile four cords of wood against one of the bastions, which was then set on fire. The next morn- ing he prepared for a bayonet attack, but, since the Com- mandant of the fort, two officers, and six soldiers had been killed, the rest surrendered at discretion. Kerlerec stresses the moderation of Villiers. There were thirty soldiers, three women and seven children in the fort. The Indians craved to burn some of the soldiers, which Villiers pre- vented. Thirty-three of these prisoners were sent to Fort de Chartres, of whom 32 arrived. Only one prisoner, a ser- geant, was killed by the savages. Bossu, who was then sta- tioned at Fort de Chartres, relates that the French ransomed the prisoners from the Indians and sent them to New Or- leans, where they arrived in the month of December, 1758. 2 Because of relief and foodstuffs sent to Fort Duquesne in 1757, the expenditures of Fort de Chartres, for a period of 8 months, amounted to 582,455 livres. 3 1 Villiers du Terrage, op. cit., p. 85. This was Coulon de Villiers' second encounter with the English. See p. 331, ante. 2 Ibid., p. 87. 3 lbid. t p. 102. 342 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Some time during 1757, Makarty received word through the Indians that the English were planning an expedition against the Ohio, and hastened to build the Fort de l'As- cension (Fort Massac 1 at the present Metropolis, Illinois, near the junction of the Cherokee with the Ohio). Verges, the government engineer, had ordered the construction of this fort the preceding year, but the building was delayed for want of funds. Makarty describes it as follows: "It is a square flanked with four bastions with a curtain [encein- te] of two rows of tree trunks [pieux] joined and set against a banquette inside. ... It is strong enough to hold out against the savages, but not against the English. The walls should really be of masonry and the fort should have at its disposal two armed bateaux to prevent the enemy from pass- ing during the night. . . ," 2 Fear of an attack by the British produced another French stronghold in the Illinois country — Fort Kaskaskia. "There had been for years," writes Alvord, "a palisade fort in Kaskas- kia, but it was only a protection against the Indians. In 1759 the inhabitants became apprehensive at the successes of the British in the east, and fearing the near approach of the ene- my, petitioned the commandant for a fort, offering to pro- vide the materials. With this understanding a strong pali- sade fort was constructed on the bluffs across from the vil- lage, where the outlines of the earthworks may still be traced." 3 J. F. Snyder 4 gives the following description of Fort Kas- kaskia: "At each of its four corners was a blockhouse bas- tion — the two of its eastern side larger than those on the west — connected by lines of high embanked pickets. On each side of the western gate were the officers' quarters, and the cazernes, or soldiers' barracks, including the corps Makarty sent M. Aubry with one hundred and fifty French and one hundred savages to build this fort. In 1758 the Marquis de Massiac became Secretary of the Marine. The Department of the Marine was in charge of New France and Louisiana. Evidently Fort de r Ascension was later renamed Fort Massiac, in honor of the Secretary of the Marine. P-G. Roy. 2 Villiers, op. at., p. 79. 3 Alvord, Centennial History of Illinois, I., p. 237- journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol 6, No. 1, April, 1913, p. 63. According to Pittman, Fort Kaskaskia was burnt down in October, 1766. OH THE PLADiS OF ABRAHAM 343 de garde, or guard house, correspondingly flanked the east- ern gate. The main store house was situated along the south- ern line of pickets, near the southwestern angle; and in a similar position near the northwestern angle was the pow- der magazine built of stone. From the western gate the chemin au prame, road to the boat landing or ferry, led down the precipitous face of the bluff to the Kaskaskia river/ ' In November 1758, Ligneris, the Commandant of Fort Duquesne, was forced to fall back on Fort Machault, and, after burning Fort Duquesne, he sent the artillery to Fort de Chartres. Makarty, on his part, reports that he was greatly astounded to see the artillery of Fort Duquesne arrive, and that the Cherokees had attacked the convoy and killed two men and wounded three others. August 30, 1759, Makarty notified Kerlerec that Niagara had been captured by Johnson. With Duquesne and Niagara in the hands of the British, the communication between Loui- siana and Canada was cut. Makarty severely censures the management of the defense of Niagara. In the month of December, 1759, the rumor spread that the English would invade Louisiana from the north. Jan- uary 2, 1760, Kerlerec called a council to fortify New Orleans. About the middle of June, 1760, Kerlerec was obliged to go to Mobile, which was blockaded by an English frigate. Before leaving for Mobile he sent word to Makarty to come down to New Orleans to take charge of the colony during his absence. Neyon de Villiers, brother-in-law of Kerlerec, who had been designated in 1757 for the majority of the Illinois, but had never received official letters of appoint- ment, departed to take his place. November 23, 1760, Beletre, the former Commandant at De- troit, reported to the Commandant at Fort de Chartres, Neyon de Villiers, that he had been forced to surrender; that the English intended to attack Fort de Chartres that spring, and that they had constructed a fort at the Falls of the Ohio (Louisville). The surrender by France, he added, had had a bad effect upon the savages, who said that "the French had become the slaves of the English. " Kerlerec states that "these posts [Illinois], not being in- cluded in the surrender, they could have kept the English 344 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS busy at least that summer." Kerlerec also states that he forwarded to Neyon de Villiers all that he could spare in ammunition and merchandise, and hopes the convoy will reach him by April 10, 1761. The sieur Bellnos, who ac- companied this convoy, made the trip to Fort de Chartres and return in 67 days. His party feared they might be inter- cepted by the English if the latter could come down the Wabash on an early rise of that river. 1 The Grande Lutte between France and England was fought out along the Ohio, on the Great Lakes, along Lake George and Lake Champlain, along the St. Lawrence, at Louisbourg in Acadia — and this hard-fought final struggle climaxed at Quebec, September 13, 1759, between the armies of Wolfe 2 and Montcalm. In the back-country, in the Illinois and in Louisiana, it was only the belated reports, the echoes of victories and defeats, that aroused corresponding senti- ments in the hearts of commandants, officers, soldiers, and people. Every child knows the fascinating story of the battle of the Plains of Abraham. 3 Wolfe's army scaling the rocks near Quebec, and Montcalm, finding the British Red Coats in line on the Plains in the morning; both Generals mor- 1 Villiers, op. cit., pp. 1164 18. Sixty seven days was considered record time. 2 It is related that on one occasion an older general remarked to the King that Wolfe was mad. "Mad is he?" retorted the King, "Well, I only hope he bites some of my generals!" James Wolfe is described as a lanky, awkward, ungainly figure measuring six feet three inches in height and crowned with red hair. Even after Pitt, the British Prime Minister, had entrusted the siege of Quebec to Wolfe he is said to have exclaimed after a dinner given in his honor: "Good God! that I should have entrusted the fate of the country and of the ad' ministration to such hands." Wolfe was of a weakly constitution, being afflicted with tuberculosis of the kidney, but his mettle is clear from a remark he made to his surgeon only a few days before his victorious death on the Plains of Abraham: "I know perfectly well you cannot cure my complaint; but patch me up so that I may be able to do my duty for the next few days, and I shall be content." W. T. Waugh, M. A., James Wolfe, Man and Soldier, p. 265. 3 " Abraham Martin (nicknamed VEcossais, the Scotchman), was born in 1589; he came to Canada in 1614. In the previous year, he had married Marguerite Langlois; but it is not known whether she came with him, or later. His family lived with him after 1620, and they were among the few French colonists who remained in Quebec after its surrender to the English in 1628. Martin was for many years an engage of the Hundred Associates, who granted him lands on the heights of Quebec, afterwards known as the 'Plains of A bra' ham.' In 1647, he is mentioned as royal pilot. He died in September, 1664, leaving a numer' ous family; one of his daughters married the explorer De Grosseiliers," Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, XXXII., note 12. OH THE PLAIHS OF ABRAHAM 3 45 tally wounded. Wolfe hears the cry: "They run!" The blood streaming from his wounds, he feebly asks : "Who runs? 11 "The French, 11 is the reply. "Thank God, I die in peace 11 are the last words of the great General. Montcalm, trying to rally his fleeing troops, is mortally wounded. He is taken to Quebec, and on hearing that his wounds are fatal, he sighs : "So much the better, I shall not see the British in Quebec, 11 and he died the next morning. Many who have stood on the Plains of Abraham as they are today, who have surveyed the field of battle and ex- amined the place where the British scaled the rocks, wonder how it happened that Montcalm did not prevent the British from ascending the cliffs. Colonel William Wood, F. R. S. C, a military critic and writer of military history, brings to light the following highly interesting facts: "On the very eve of 1759 the despairing Montcalm wrote home: 'The fortifications are so ridiculous and so bad that they would be taken as soon as attacked. 1 'What a country, 1 as he constantly wrote home in private letters, 'what a coun- try, where rogues grow rich and honest men are ruined. 1 ' Wood then sets forth that "the source of all decisive strength in that war was in the warring mother countries, not in America. 11 Consequently, that mother country, "whose sea-power could make the Atlantic a good road for its own ships, but a bad one for its enemy's, was certain to win in the end. . . ." The old weakness of the system of govern- ment showed up again; the overlapping powers of Governor and Intendant, and, in this case, of Commander-in-Chief of the armies. "Montcalm's own military position, difficult at first, became impossible as time went on. He would have gladly resigned on several occasions; and it was only the highest sense of duty to a ruined cause that prevented him from going home after VaudreuilV contemptible pro- l French and French Canadian writers are bitter in their denunciation of Vaudreuil and Big' ot. Casgrain writes: "Great and small trembled before those arrogant and imperious masters (Bigot, Deschenaux, his secretary, and Pean, major of the troops); Vaudreuil himself, the weak and debonair Governor, had neither enough sense to understand the full extent of the evil, nor enough will power to check it. Without directly participating in the frauds, he seemed to be in connivance, because he shielded them with his silence and with his name." Rochemonteix adds: "That narrowness of mind explains, if it does not excuse, his per' petual jealousy (jalousie perpetuelle), his touchiness, and his childish vanity." Regarding 346 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS ceedings in 1758 — proceedings which followed Montcalm's victory at Carillon, that is, Ticonderoga." Vaudreuil was interferingly present as usual; he would not let Mont- calm have the militia that was available; he issued ambig- uous orders to confuse the General, and ended by sending reenforcements when they were no longer needed. "Vaudreuil, the Governor, was (in every possible mili- tary way) a vain and fussy fool, wholly incompetent to con- duct a campaign himself, but intensely jealous of Mont- calm, bent on thwarting him at every turn, and, though personally honest, equally bent on letting the absolutely corrupt and corrupting Intendant Bigot have a perfectly free hand. Now, Bigot practically controlled all the supply and transport services of all the forces in New France. . . . Vaudreuil, a French Canadian born, set French and French Canadians by the ears; while Bigot, who was French-of- France by birth, was quite impartial as to whom he robbed, traduced, supported, or divided — always supposing that the profits came to him. . . . Vaudreuil the fool and Bigot the knave were interferingly present all through. . . . Mont- calm, on the 12th [September 1759], ordered French regulars to camp at Wolfe's Cove itself . . . Vaudreuil gave counter- orders . . . quite angrily and accompanied by the historic imbecility that 'those English haven't got wings — Fll see about it myself to-morrow.' 1 Vaudreuil's to-morrow never came. ... As Wolfe's right seemed not yet formed, Mont- calm attacked, with the result we know. He was thwarted by his own side to the very last. There were twenty-five field guns available. But he was only allowed the use of three. And so the tale goes on." 2 the relation of Vaudreuil to Montcalm, Casgrain says that Vaudreuil's character was not of the kind that would back up Montcalm and aid him in the operations of his army. Desandrouins is perhaps severest of all in his condemnation of Vaudreuil when he writes: "He lays down the law to him [Montcalm] like to a schoolboy. ... He consults him only to follow the advice of another, he makes one break after another.'" Quoted in Rochemon' teix, Lesjesuites au XVIIIe Siecle, II., pp. 127-128. x The next morning, the day of the great Battle of the Plains, September 13, 1759, when Montcalm saw the British redcoats on the heights between Ste-Foy and Quebec, he exclaimed in disgust: "There they are where they have no right to be!" 2 William Wood, Unique Quebec, in the Centenary Volume, 1824-1924, pp. 55-79. See also, Canada and Its Provinces, I., pp. 264-267- OK THE PLAIHS OF ABRAHAM 347 Wood observes: "It should not be necessary to detract from the honour or fame of either of these eminent men, in the attempt to exalt the other: — let us more worthily con- tinue to honor and esteem the Brave Dead, to whose memory a joint monument has been erected at Quebec. 11 But he calls Montcalm the "organiser, strategist, tactician, and ev- ery unprejudiced soldier's beau ideal of what a fighting leader ought to be 11 and "worthy of a place beside Lee himself and Stonewall Jackson. . . ." Wolfe and Montcalm have a common monument with the following beautiful inscription: MORTEM VIRTUS COMMUNEM FAMAM HISTORIA MONUMENTUM POSTERITAS DEDIT BRAVERY GAVE THEM A COMMON DEATH HISTORY A COMMON FAME POSTERITY GAVE THIS MONUMENT Wood then suggests this inscription to be placed over Montcalm's tomb in the Ursuline chapel at Quebec: QUATRE FOIS VICTORIEUX UNE FOIS VAINCU TOUJOURS AU GRAND HONNEUR DES ARMES DE LA FRANCE FOUR TIMES VICTORIOUS VANQUISHED BUT ONCE ALWAYS TO THE GREAT HONOUR OF THE ARMS OF FRANCE AFTER THE FALL OF QUEBEC—LEV IS" LAST STATED— TREATIES OF FOKTAIKEBLEAU A?s[D PARIS— BANISHMENT OF THE JESUITS Quebec fell September 13, 1759, and with Quebec fell the power of France in America. However, Marquis de Levis, a brave French Canadian General, gathered the straggling rem- nants of the French Canadian soldiers at Montreal and formed them into a new army, in the hope of retaking Quebec from the British. His men, some 9,000 of them, were a sorry looking lot, half-starved, poorly clad, equipped with muzzle loaders, and knives instead of bayonets, but they were brave and patriotic. Levis, with his army, left Montreal April 17, 1760, and by April 28th was within a few miles of Quebec. His ap- proach had been so rapid that Murray, the General in charge of Quebec, did not have time to remove the ammunition he had stored in the church of Ste Foy, and, therefore, blew up the ammunition, church and all. The two armies met west of Quebec on the Ste Foy Road, a mile from the field where Wolfe and Montcalm had fought the year before. Murray was beaten, and retreated to Quebec. Levis' attack on Quebec proper, however, failed. September 8, 1760, Montreal fell into the hands of the British, and thus New France, discovered by Jacques Car- tier in 1535, the Canada of Champlain, of Laval, of Fron- tenac and Talon, the Canada so gallantly defended by Montcalm, passed over to Great Britain. Detroit and Michillimakinac were gradually occupied by the soldiers of King George, but the Fleur-de-Lis still floated over Louis- iana and Fort de Chartres. The dissolute and wretched Louis XV, whose reign dis- graced France for a period of fifty-nine years, took but little interest in the colonies. 1 The age of Voltaire was cynical, and men and women lived on in a fool's paradise and thought themselves smart, and a flippant jest counted for more than a battle won. So, when Choiseul wrote a letter to Vol- x The first part of this chapter is drawn chiefly from Villiers du Terrage, Les Derniere Annies de la Louisiane, pp. 150459. 348 AFTER THE FALL OF QUEBEC 349 taire, shortly after the capitulation of Montreal, he jest- ingly remarked: "If you counted on us for your winter furs, I wish to inform you that you must apply to England." That was all he cared. The vices of the court of Louis XV were copied by his Intendant, the arch-traducer of New France, Francois Bigot 1 , and others. Nevertheless, the gov- ernment instituted an investigation, and Bigot and nine others, mostly his friends and accomplices, were condemned to make restitution of 21,000,000 livres, and Bigot was sent to the Bastille, all his property was confiscated, and he was banished from France. But that did not give back Canada, which his malpractices had helped to forfeit. After the surrender of Montreal, September 8, 1760, it was clear that France had definitely lost Canada; but in Europe the Seven Years' War was still on. Choiseul, Prime Minister of France, conceived the idea of making peace with England in a rather peculiar way. He proposed a colonial and maritime peace, that is, cessation of hostilities on the seas and in the colonies, but continuation of the war on the continent. But Choiseul was no match for Pitt, the Prime Minister of England, who flatly refused to talk peace unless that peace included cessation of hostilities on the continent. Choiseul then proposed to surrender to England the con- quests France had made in Hanover, in exchange for the lost colonies. Like refusal on the part of Pitt! Thereupon, February, 1761, France and Spain formed a treaty, known as the Family Pact, according to the terms of which Spain was to declare war on England if peace had not been con- cluded within seven months (by August 15, 1761). With the help of the Spanish fleet, Choiseul hoped to be in po- 1 According to Chapais, Francois Bigot belonged to a family of professional men. From 1739 to 1745 he was commisaire ordonnateur of Louisbourg, Cape Breton. Charges of dis' honesty were brought against him. From 1748 till the Conquest he was Intendant of New France. In 1754 Bigot sailed for France and wrote thus to Vergor, one of his accomplices: "Profit by your place, my dear Vergor; clip and cut, — you are free to do what you please — so that you can come soon to join me in France and buy an estate near me." "To make his fortune as quickly as possible," writes Chapais, "that was his main objective. Craving for pleasures, a gambler, dissolute, fastidious in his tastes and going to the most unbelievable excess in his love of luxury, he had of necessity to make a great deal of money fast to taste and exhaust the pleasures of life. With that he was intelligent, active, a worker when it had to be, resourceful and clever, knew how to beat down obstacles and rendered real ser' vice in difficult situations." Quoted in Henri D'Arles, op. cit., II., p. 263, note 2 and 3. 350 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS sition to cope with England. But the year 1762 was very unfortunate for France and Spain — defeats in Germany and Portugal, which countries they had tried to force into their pact. Furthermore, they lost nearly all the West Indies and a part of the Philippines. The peace parleys began anew. Spain foresaw that France would ultimately cede the east bank of the Mississippi to England. Now, Spain was not at all anxious to see the British flag on the east bank of the Mississippi and this river open to British merchandise and contraband traffic. Choiseul now offered New Orleans and the west bank of the Mississippi to Spain. Thus the Treaty of Fontainebleau came into existence. By the terms of this treaty, which was signed November 3, 1762, France ceded to Spain New Orleans and the west bank of the Mississippi, as a compen- sation for Spain's part in the late war. Spain was not at all enthusiastic over this gift. Wall, the Prime Minister of Spain, wrote to the Spanish ambassador at Paris that he considered it "a negative utility, that is to say, possessing a country to keep another [England] from getting it." Charles III, King of Spain, wrote: "Without the hope of some day showing the same courtesy to France [of giving it back] I would always have opposed the cession/ ' Spain was not ready to take possession, and so the treaty was kept secret. The Treaty of Paris, between England, France, and Spain, which ceded the whole east bank of the Mississippi to Eng- land, was signed February 10, 1763. Article VI of the Treaty of Paris gave the inhabitants eighteen months time to emigrate, and permitted them to sell their property and their goods, provided they were sold to subjects of His Britannic Majesty. The Treaty speaks of "New Orleans and the island on which it is situated" — a clear proof how little the makers of the Treaty, even Choiseul and his colleagues, knew of the geography of Louisiana. In the meantime, England prepared to take possession of Louisiana and the Illinois district. Major Robert Farmar arrived at Mobile September 30, 1763. France, on her part, sent M. d'Abbadie, Commissary-General of the navy, and now appointed Controller of Louisiana, to New Orleans to wind up the affairs of the King of France in that country, AFTER THE FALL OF QUEBEC 351 and to transfer it to Spain at the proper time. M. cTAbbadie arrived at New Or leas, June 29, 1763. After all the misery, famine, and suffering — and defeat in a war that had lasted seven years, New Orleans celebrated the feast of St. Louis, July 24, 1763, as though nothing had happened, with great pomp, for externals must be kept up; 21 cannon shots were fired for the feast of the King; 19, for that of the Governor; 13, in honor of M. d'Abbadie; 13, for M. de la Freniere; 9, for Makarty; 9, for the Council (Su- perior); 9, for Mme de Kerlerec; 9, for Mme d'Abbadie; and finally 21, in honor of the King. 1 The European background strongly reacts on America during the interim, that is, during that period of time when the Mississippi Valley was no longer French, while neither England nor Spain had as yet taken actual possession of the territories allotted to them. Louisiana and the Illinois were a sort of No Man's Land, a Fools' Paradise, where no one really had authority, and bold and arrogant men unwarrant- edly forced to the front and became bastard heroes for the moment. Speaking of the life and work of the Jesuit missionaries in America, Parkman writes: "Their story is replete with marvels — miracles of patient suffering and daring enter- prise. They were the pioneers of Northern America." 2 Breese exclaims: "Who but the Jesuits would undertake sudh dangerous missions — so full of personal peril and ex- posing them to such suffering — bearing the fury of the ele- ments in their bark canoes, wading and dragging them over shoals, carrying them across tedious and difficult portages, feeding on dry corn or moss from the trees, sleeping in the open air and deprived of every earthly comfort. With no weapon but the crucifix and the breviary, with no aids but the faithful compass and their savage guides, with no hopes to cheer them in which the world bore part, prompted alone 1 Villiers, op. cit., p. 161. 2 Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, I., p. 52. 35 2 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS by religious enthusiasm, did they wander upon those then unknown seas, and gladly meet all the dangers which beset them." 1 But Choiseul and de la Freniere, two inmates of the eight- eenth century French Fools' Paradise, were animated by quite different sentiments towards the Jesuit missionaries, and banished them from the Mississippi Valley in a heart- less, unjustifiable and brutal manner. The causes that gradually brought about the banishment of the Jesuits must be briefly examined for the proper un- derstanding of these pages of our history. In the year 1750, Sebastian Joseph Carvalho 2 , who is later known in history as the Marquis of Pombal, became Prime Minister of Portugal. In the same year, Spain made a land deal with Portugal, whereby the seven Reductions 3 of Paraguay, which were Spanish, were exchanged for the Portuguese colony of San Sacramento. Now, the Jesuits had developed flourishing missions in Paraguay, and Pombal, like king Achab, who coveted the vineyard of Naboth, coveted those missions, because he thought, or pretended to think, the Jesuits were mining gold. Pombal ordered the Indians to leave these missions, which he desired (as Etchape had done to the Natche^), and ordered them to settle on other lands, far away, that had been allotted to them. The Jesuits could not well 1 Breese, op. cit., p. 76. ^arvalho's name was often mentioned to King John V of Portugal for promotion. The King finally forbade the very mention of his name saying: "That man has hairs on his heart and he comes from a cruel and vindictive family." T. J. Campbell, The Jesuits, p. 431. 3 Reduction from re, ducir, that is, to bring back. Reductions were villages where con* verted Indians lived — natives who had been brought back from the wilds and forests. The Jesuit Fathers gathered the savages together in separate colonies, which no white man, except the government officials, was permitted to enter. The Indians knew the colonists mostly as slave'dealers. "The savages flocked to these reductions from all quarters, for these reservations afforded the only protection from the organized bands of man'hunters who scoured the country — the hiamelu\es, as they were called because of their relentless ferocity. . . . The Indians of the Reductions were taught all the trades, and became carpen' ters, joiners, painters, sculptors, etc. They were also cultivators and herdsmen, and some stations could count as many as 30,000 sheep and 100,000 head of cattle Altogether, there were about a hundred Reductions." There is question here of seven Reductions and 30,000 Indians who were ordered to decamp within thirty days. Campbell, op. cit., pp. 301-304 and 444-448. 4 See page 247, ante. DEATH OF MAJOR GENERAL JAMES WOLFE ON THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM SEPTEMBER 13, 1759 From painting by Benjamin West CO w D a H E o D o 3 AFTER THE FALL OF QUEBEC 35 3 approve of these harsh measures perpetrated against their charges, although they endeavored to persuade the Indians to bear their hard lot. The Indians rebelled against the harsh conditions imposed upon them, but were beaten in the War of Paraguay. From that day on Pombal bitterly and systematically hounded the Jesuits. "The height of PombaPs persecution was reached with the burning [at Lis- bon, 1761] of the saintly Father Malagrida . . . ; while the other Fathers, who had been crowded into prisons, were left to perish by the score." 1 The storm against the Jesuits broke next in France. The remote general causes of the antipathy against the Jesuits were those that were at the bottom of the war of ideas 2 that ultimately resulted in the horrors of the French Revolution in 1789. The specific occasion that brought on the persecution in France may be stated as follows : Pere Antoine La Valette, 3 Superior of the missions on the island of Martinique, employed many natives on the mission farms on this island. These farms were the support of the missions. Then, too, the simple-minded natives were not capable of transacting business and of marketing their produce profitably, and so Father La Valette, rightly or wrongly, managed these transactions for them. At first his operations were successful, and the Governor of the Island praised him very highly for his interest in the colony and the welfare of its natives (1753). Tempted, no doubt, by the outlook for bigger business, he borrowed money to work the undeveloped resources of the colony. But, unhappily for Valette, the war that cost France her American colonies broke out, and ships carrying some 2,000,000 livres' worth of Martinique goods were seised by the British, and, with one fell blow Father La Valette was bankrupt. His creditors knew, of course, that La Valette could not pay, and therefore instituted proceedings against the Paris Catholic Encyclopedia, XIV., p. 97, and IX, p. 566. 2 Voltaire wrote to Helvetius in 1761 : "Once we have destroyed the Jesuits, we shall have easy work with the Pope.' 1 Campbell, op. cit., p. 480. 3 Campbell, op. cit., pp. 482, ff. See also Catholic Encyclopedia XIV., p. 97- 354 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS province of the Society of Jesus. The procurator of this pro vince offered to negotiate a settlement, but refused to assume responsibility for the debts of a province which was wholly independent of his province. The courts of Paris condemned the Paris province to payment of the debt. The attorney for the Jesuits appealed the case to a higher court — the "Grand'chambre du Parlement" of Paris. This was a signal for all the opponents of the Jesuits to combine to fight the Society, which they heartily disliked. The war of extermination was proclaimed. A woman entered the case, and a wicked woman at that. It was no less a per- sonage than Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of that disgusting weakling Louis XV. Father Perisseau, the King's confessor, had demanded her removal from court. But she was the royal mistress and all powerful. The Due de Choi- seul, Prime Minister of France, owed his appointment to Pompadour. The King disliked the whole affair, but was too weak to assert his authority. The Parliament of Paris went far beyond merely sustain- ing the decision of the lower courts as to the payment of the sum of 2,400,000 livres; it also decreed the total suppression of the Society in France. This decree went into effect April 1, 1763. The opposition to the Society of Jesus spread over other countries of Europe, and Pope Clement XIV, for the sake of peace, decreed its total abolition, August 16, 1773. This was an administrative measure, adopted for the sake of having peace with the royal courts that so bitterly opposed the Jesuits. The eminent historian, Dr. F. X. Funk, says: "It can- not be said that the Society had deserved this fate, especially as the character of its opponents [Pombal, Pompadour, etc.] was not such as to excite confidence, whilst sovereigns, such as those of Prussia and Russia, would certainly not have taken the Order under their protection had it been guilty of outrageous crimes." 1 St. Alphonsus Liguori epitomised the situation in these words: "Poor Pope! What could he do in the circumstances J Dr. F. X. Funk, Manual of Church History, II., p. 173. AFTER THE FALL OF QUEBEC 355 in which he was placed, with all the sovereigns conspiring to demand this suppression? 111 The decree of the Parliament of Paris augured evil for the missionaries in Louisiana and Illinois. Father Watrin, Superior of the Jesuit house at Kaskaskia, has left a very detailed, concise, though impassioned state- ment of the expulsion of the missionaries from Louisiana and the Illinois country in a document entitled : Banissement des Jesuites, written in Paris and dated September 3, 1764. The following account is taken from his memoir, 2 which was written at the request of his Superior. "I am familiar," writes Father Watrin, "with the affair that interests you, and likewise with all that can in any way relate thereto. I lived for almost thirty years in Louisi- ana, 3 and only departed from thence at the beginning of this year. 11 It must be remembered that all the territory east of the Mississippi had been ceded to England in the Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763, while the west bank and New Orleans had been given to Spain by the secret Treaty of Fontaine- bleau, Nov. 3, 1762. True, the Treaty of Fontainebleau was not- yet known to the public, but Choiseul, who had negotiated it, knew that Louisiana now belonged to Spain, and the world knew that the east bank belonged to Great Britain. Father Watrin continues: "There came upon the ship M. d'Albadie, commissary-general of the navy and con- troller of Louisiana, and with him Monsieur de la Fren- iere, 4 procurator-general of the superior council of this colony. . . . Monsieur the commissary [d'Abbadie] did not delay to notify the superior of the Jesuits of what was brew- ing against them. C I believe, 1 he said to him, 'that Monsieur the procurator-general [de la Freniere] is charged with some order that concerns you 1 . 11 Catholic Encyclopedia, XIV., p. 82. 2 Le Bannissement desjesuites de la Louisiane, in Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, LXX., p. 233, ff. 3 Father Watrin was then 67 years old. 4 M. LeRoy, father of Nicolas de la Freniere, with four of his brothers, came from Canada to Louisiana at the time of Bienville. As was the custom, each took a different name. The eldest chose the name Lafreniere. See p. 416, n. 4, post. 356 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS The Superior Council of Louisiana, urged on by de la Fren- iere, decreed to examine the "Institute 1 ," that is, the official collection of rules governing the Jesuits, which is written in Latin. Only one member of the council, de la Freniere, may have understood this language. Father Watrin, there- fore, writes: "It was a great undertaking for the council of New Orleans to pronounce upon the Institute of the Jesuits, 11 but "to these gentlemen, it was enough to believe them- selves well informed." "The decree was declared on the 9th of July. It was said that the Institute of the Jesuits was hostile to the royal au- thority, the rights of the Bishops, and the public peace and safety; and that the vows uttered according to this Institute were null. It was prohibited to these Jesuits, hitherto thus styled, to take that name hereafter, or to wear their customary garb, orders being given them to assume that of the secular ecclesiastics. Excepting their books and some wearing ap- parel which was allowed to them, all their property, real and personal, was to be seised and sold at auction. It was ordained that the chapel ornaments and the sacred vessels of New Orleans should be delivered up to the Reverend Capuchin Fathers; that the chapel ornaments and sacred vessels of the Jesuits living in the country of the Illinois, should be delivered up to the royal procurator for that coun- try, and that the chapels should then be demolished; and that, finally, the aforesaid Jesuits, so-called, should return to France, embarking upon the first ships ready to depart, — prohibiting them meanwhile, from remaining together. A sum of six hundred livres was assigned to pay each one's passage, and another, of 1,500 francs, for their sustenance and support for six months." The general motives for the condemnation of the Jesuits of Louisiana were copied from the decrees de la Freniere had brought with him from France, "but, in that which the council of New Orleans issued, it undertook to insert some- thing special and new. It stated that the Jesuits established in the colony had not given any care to their missions; that they had thought only of making their estates valuable; and Hnstitutum Societatis Jesu, that is, the official collection of all the regulations governing this Society, — its code of laws. Since 1581, the official text used in the Society is a Latin version. Catholic Encyclopedia, XIV., p. 82. AFTER THE FALL OF QUEBEC 3 57 that they were usurpers of the vicariate-general 1 of New Orleans." Father Watrin replies to these specific accusations: "The Jesuits will not fear ... to show what they accomplished in their missions. I am going to separate these into two portions, 11 to show "that among the Jesuits established amid the Illinois, there remained some seal and care in regard to their mission's. " He cites the case of Father de Guyenne, who had spent thirty'six years in the missions of Louisiana, who had been cure of Fort de Chartres, and who was "everywhere respected as a man of rare virtue, of singular discretion, and of an in- violable attachment to the duties of a missionary. 11 "At one and one-fourth leagues from the village of the Illinois savages, 11 continues Father Watrin, "there was a French village also named Cascakias. 11 He then tells of the visits to the sick, of the instructions carefully given to the French and to the Negroes and savages, slaves of the French, and of the liturgical functions, "the solemn mass and the vespers that were sung punctually with the benediction [of the Blessed Sacrament]. "Since the year 1753, there has been in the French village of Cascakias a newly-built parochial church; this church is 104 feet long and 44 feet wide. 11 This church could never have been finished if "three Jesuits, successively cures of this parish, had not employed for this purpose the greater part of what they obtained from their surplice [stole fees] and their mass-offerings. 11 Then Father Watrin tells how fifteen years before that time a new village under the name of "Sainte Genevieve 112 was established on the other bank of the Mississippi, and that then the cure of "Cascakias 11 visited them and helped ^ee p. 223, ante. Under Bishop Saint' Vallier the Superior of the Jesuits and the Superior of the Capuchins was each Vicar'General. Under Bishop de Mornay, himself a Capuchin, and Msgr. Dosquet, only the Capuchin Superior held that office. Bishop Pontbriand (1741) ap- pointed a Jesuit Vicar-General and placed the Capuchins under his jurisdiction. In May, 1765, the Capuchin, Father Dagobert, superseded the Jesuit, Father Baudoin, as Vicar-General of Louisiana. 2 According to Watrin, the first church in old St. Genevieve was built about 1749, al- though, according to Houck, the first village was founded about 1730. Because of the poverty of the place, the east-siders nicknamed it Misere, 358 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS them to build a church. "However, in order to go to this new church he must cross the Mississipi, which, in this place is three eights of a league wide; he sometimes had to trust himself to a slave, who alone guided the canoe; it was necessary, in fine, to expose himself to the danger of perish- ing, if in the middle of the river they had been overtaken by a violent storm. . . . There is no need to call attention to the fact that, to accomplish only a part of the work that has just been indicated, care, courage, and constancy were necessary. At eighty leagues from the Illinois was the post called Vincennes or Saint Ange, from the names of the officers who commanded there. This post is upon the river Oua- bache. . . . There were, at the last, in this village at least sixty houses of French people, without counting the Miami savages, who were quite near. There, too, was sufficient cause for care and occupation. The document enumerates the services of the Jesuit mis- sionaries among the Alibamons, the Choctaws, at the Fort of Mobile where they assisted the Governors in the dis- tribution of presents to the savages, that Father Carette had abandoned the mission among the Arkansas, because the Commandant did nothing to support the work of the mis- sionary, that the room, where divine service was held, was entirely unsuited for that purpose, "everything that was in the fort entered there, even unto the fowls," and that "a chicken, flying over the altar, overturned the chalice, which had been left there at the end of the mass. 11 Father Watrin recalls the deaths of Father du Poisson in the Natchez; massacre, of Father Souel among the Yasous, the dastardly attack on Father d'Outreleau, 1 the burning at the stake of Father Senat, 2 who remained with d'Ar- taguiette in his defeat, to offer succor to the captive French. "But, perhaps someone has chosen to say that it is not becoming for missionaries to possess great estates . . . but, it would then have been necessary to provide otherwise for their subsistence, for the expenses of their journeys, for the construction and maintenance of their houses and their chapels. . . . Where would they, then, have found funds ^ee p. 260, ante. 2 See p. 276, ante. AFTER THE FALL OF QUEBEC 3 59 for these expenses, even for their food and clothes, when, in the needs of the State, the treasurers of the colony no ths Grand'' chambre du Parlement of Paris. To the third specific accusation raised by the Superior Council of New Orleans, that the Jesuits "were usurpers of the vicariate general" to the prejudice of the Capuchin Fathers, Watrin replies that they had obeyed the orders given them in this matter by the Bishop of Quebec, and that this very Council, when the difficulty between the Capuchins and the Jesuits was brought before it, had "adjudged to the Jes- uits, by a decree, the legitimate possession of the grand' vicariate. " The execution of the decree of despoliation and banish' ment issued by the Superior Council, which body was a relic of the French regime in Louisiana, now, at least tech' nically, Spanish territory, and in the Illinois country, which now belonged to Great Britain, was certainly a"usurpation of power 1 ' on the part of de la Freniere and the Superior Council. "A courier was sent to carry the decree of destruction 11 to the Illinois country. "Meanwhile, it was executed prompt' ly against those [Jesuits] of New Orleans. Their establish' ment was quite near this town, and proportioned to the needs of twelve missionaries; there was quite a large gang for cul' tivating the land, and for plying other trades, as is the cus' torn in the colonies; there were also various buildings, with herds of cattle and suitable works. Everything was seised, inventoried, and sold at auction, and this execution lasted a long time. . . . They [the executers] found themselves well feasted, and they were sure their employment was a very lucrative one. 11 The chapel ornaments and the sacred vessels were given to the Reverend Caphuchin Fathers. "After that, the chapel was ra^ed to the ground; and the sepulchres of the bodies buried for thirty years in this place, and in the neighboring cemetery, remained exposed to pre fanation. 11 [!] "Meanwhile, the courier despatched to Illinois 1 to bear the decree, arrived on the night of September 23, [1763] ^he Illinois country having been ceded to England by the Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763, neither Choiseul, nor the Superior Council of New Orleans, nor de la Freniere had any jurisdiction over this territory. 3 6o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS at fort Chartres, distant six leagues from the residence of the Jesuits. He delivered to the procurator of the king the commission which charged him to execute the decree; and on the next day, about eight or nine o'clock in the morning, that officer of justice repaired to the house of the Jesuits, accompanied by the registrar and the bailiff of that juris- diction. ... He read to Father Watrin, the superior, the decree of condemnation, and, having given him a copy of it, he made him at once leave his room to put the seal upon it; the same thing was done with the other missionaries who happened to be in the house. There remained one hall where they could remain together, although with great inconven- ience; but this favor was refused them. ...[!] "The procurator of the king . . . would not even permit the Jesuits to remain at the house of one of their confreres, who, being cure of the place, had his private lodging near the parish church. . . . The missionaries, driven from their own house, found quarters as best they could. . . . The news of their condemnation had already caused many tears to be shed in the village [of the savages] . They were asked why they were thus treated, especially in a country where so many disorders had been so long allowed. The old mission- ary, after several repeated interrogations, finally replied: 'Arechi Kiecouegane tchichi \i canta manghi, — It is because we sternly condemn their follies'." The savages requested "that at least the chapel and the house of the missionary be preserved, in order that the best instructed person among them might assemble the children and repeat the prayers to them; and that every Sun- day and feast-day he might summon those who prayed, that is to say, the Christians, — by the ringing of the bell, 1 to fulfill as well as possible the duties of religion. . . . They obtained what they asked. " Monsieur Bobe, the commissary at Fort de Chartres, in a single day sent four letters to the procurator of the King, who was putting the decree in execution at Kaskaskia, beg- ging him to use moderation. The Fathers were in conse- quence permitted to crowd together with one of their con- freres in a small house built for one man. 1 This bell, a gift of Louis XV to the Mission of the Immaculate Conception at Kaskas' kia, is still at Kaskaskia, Illinois. AFTER THE FALL OF QUEBEC 361 The savages groaned, most of the French people were in consternation, and regarded the decree of banishment as a public calamity. "The more intelligent of the habitants asked by what right the government had taken possession of the property of the Jesuits; and what power it had over persons in a country ceded by the treaty of peace to the crown of England." "What could they [the Jesuits] have done? Protest against the decree and its execution? . . . Would they [the officials] have given public notice of their protest? They [the Jesuits] would assuredly have been treated as people revolting against public authority; they would have been seised, and perhaps placed in irons, as malefactors; orders had been given on that point." A melancholy picture presented itself to the mission- aries after their property had been seised and the public auction thereof completed. "The sacred vessels and the pictures had been taken away, the shelves of the altar had been thrown down; the linings of the ornaments had been given to negresses decried for their evil lives; and a large crucifix, which had stood above the altar, and the candle- sticks, were found placed above a cup-board in a house whose reputation was not good. ... It was at that time that the Jesuits of the Illinois saw their associate, Father de Vernay, arrive; he came from the post of Saint Ange, 1 seventy or eighty leagues distant. The order to carry out the decree in regard to him had been sent there also; this order was so exactly followed that from the seizure and sale of his pos- sessions they did not except a little supply of hazelnuts which was found in his house. 1 '' 2 Father de Vernay had been ill with fever for six months, but the order to leave had been given nevertheless. "He set out on his way; it was then ^he present Vincennes, Indiana. 2 According to H. S. Cauthorn, Father Julien Devernai, as he signed the records, was very ill and had been so most of the time during the spring and summer of 1763 and later was very feeble from his protracted illness. "At a late hour of the night, when the inhabitants were sleeping, they [the men sent by the Superior Council of New Orleans] went to the residence of Father Devernai, and infirm and weak as he was, arrested him and seized all his provisions and property. . . . They would have destroyed St. Francis Xavier's church, if they had not been afraid they would arouse the people, and thus be prevented from carrying off the priest and his church property. " H. S. Cauthorn, St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Vincennes, Indiana, p. 97. 362 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS the month of November; he had to travel across very wet woods and prairies, exposed to cold and rain." On the 24th day of November, 1763, all were embarked: the banished missionaries, a number of slaves — old men, women and children, and twenty Englishmen, whom the savages had captured some months before. The voyage to New Orleans was made in exceptionally short time — twenty- seven days. It is refreshing to read that Makarty, under whose com- mand the present Fort de Chartres was built, rendered the services of a Good Samaritan to the victims of the cruel de- cree. Writes Father Watrin: "Finally, at seven or eight leagues from New Orleans, they reached the estate of Mon- sieur de Macarty, former lieutenant of the king in that city, who by his kind attentions recalled to their remembrance the benevolence he had always shown at Illinois, where he had been major-commandant-general. After they arrived in town, he gave them several tokens of his friendship. . . . The Reverend Capuchin Fathers, hearing of the arrival of the Jesuits, had come at six o'clock in the evening (it was the 21st of December) to the landing place, to manifest to them the interest they took in their misfortune, and their intention of rendering them all the kind offices that they could " While the victims of his vengeance were in New Orleans awaiting deportation, de la Freniere obsequiously called on the Fathers to tell them how sorry he was that duty had compelled him to execute the decree of the Council (which he himself had helped to formulate!). The Fathers, know- ing well the character of the man, made no reply. De la Freniere did not yet know the irresistible power of retri- butive justice, repaying every good deed in full measure and every unjust act in a measure that is full, pressed down and round — sometimes even in small details. "Father Meurin 1 asked the Gentlemen of the Council for permission to return to the Illinois. This was a brave res- olution, after the sale of all the property of the Jesuits; he ^ebastieri'Louis Meurin was born December 26, 1709, entered the Jesuit novitiate at Nancy, September 26, 1726 and sailed for New Orleans and the missions in the Mississippi Valley in 1741. He composed an Illinois'French dictionary in 24 parts. Rochemonteix, Les Jesuits et La K[ouville France au XVIII, Steele, I., pp. 391, and 411. AFTER THE FALL OF QUEBEC 363 could not count upon any fund for his subsistence, the French were under no obligation to him, and the savages have more need of receiving than means for giving; furthermore, the health of this Father was very poor, as it had always been during the twenty-one years he spent in Louisiana. "* The first group of banished Jesuits arrived at Saint Sebastian, Spain, April 6, 1764. Choiseul had ordered the Fathers of Louisiana to report at Versailles at a time when the Fathers of France were wandering at his orders as exiles into Spain. And so the exiles of the Mississippi Valley, walking across the Pyrenees into France, met the Fathers from France wandering into Spain. 2 x Four of the Jesuits embarked on the Minerve, February 6, 1764, with them the abbe Forget du Verger of the Mission of the Koly Family at Cahokia. The memoir quoted was written September 3, 1764, and sent to one of Watrin's friends, but was not published at the time, so as not to aggravate matters. A copy was sent to Father Ricci, General of the Society, and was found in the archives of the Society in 1865. 2 Banissement des Jesuites. THE CAHOKIA MISSION PROPERTY ABBE FORGET DU VERGER December 1, 1763, Neyon de Villiers, Commandant at Fort de Chartres, reported to his superior officer, D' Abba- die, on various matters concerning the administration of the Illinois posts: the belts and speeches sent out by Pon- tiac, the couriers, belts and talks that he (Villiers) had sent out to persuade the savages to make peace with the English, on the sorry plight he had been in since the evacuation of Canada and the cutting off of all communication with that country, etc. It is all written in minor key, and evidently he was anxious to get away from everything as soon as possible. No doubt many of the French felt the same way — they desired to get away. The savages were restless and were grouping together under the leadership of Pontiac; a new government was coming and, as French subjects, they dread- ed British sovereignty, as Catholics, they feared that all the unfair restrictions still enforced against them and their faith in the eastern colonies, would be applied against them immediately upon taking possession by the British. There can be no question that many of the habitants honestly believed they and their colony were doomed to utter ruin. Families could be seen carrying their belongings on their backs and making their way towards the river, which they crossed in canoes. Farmers drove their cattle from the fields and transported them across the Mississippi; they were ready to leave the lands they had cleared and cultivated to escape the hated British flag. Others sold all their belongings, if they could, and with wife and children and bundles, went down the river to New Orleans, or across to Ste. Genevieve, or to Laclede's trading post. "Several inhabitants", writes Villiers, "have demanded permission to descend [to New Orleans] to make arrangements for their emigration [to go back to France]. I have given permission to a large number of young men to do this and to hunt while going down/ 11 Of course, a soldier, an officer, a true missionary like Meu- rin, will stand to his post if the good of the service so demands 1 Critical Period, p. 56. 3 ican Revolution points out some of the sectarian causes of the Revolution in New England. She also quotes interesting specimens of "Election" and "Artillery" sermons. "An illustra' tion," writes Miss Baldwin, "of the most violent articles written by the clergy is one against General Gage, by the fiery-tongued old preacher, John Cleaveland, of Ipswich. The virulence of this attack is almost incredible. 'Thou profane, wicked monster of falsehood and perfidy,' he wrote on June 17, 1775, ' . . . your late infamous proclamation is as full of notorious lies, as a toad or rattlesnake of deadly poison — you are an abandoned wretch. . . . Without speedy repentance, you will have an aggravated damnation in hell. . . .' This same John Cleaveland and many of his fellow ministers won the bitter enmity of the Loyalists and the English by their bitter attacks upon the Tories, and seem to have been responsible for a part at least of the harsh treatment meted out to them by the patriots. Cleaveland published ar' tides ... in which he first suggested that it might be the 'proper dictate of wisdom, as the way, and only way left us of our preservation and safety, as soon as we see the sword of Great Britain drawn against us, to sacrifice every New England Tory among us." " Baldwin, op. at., p. 158. See also Van Tyne, op. at., pp. 346'368. 4 6o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "In the United Kingdom, whence most of our early colo- nists came, . . . the Calvinist Puritans were non-conformists; the Methodists, the Baptists, the Quakers together with the Catholics, were all dissenters from the Established Church and consequently political rebels. "Religious liberty was not established in America when members of all these rebel and mutually antagonistic groups were 'harried out of the land 1 . Each colony desired pri- marily its own form of religious worship, and with three exceptions, exacted the same rigid conformity as had been required of it at home. Rhode Island and Pennsylvania practiced religious tolerance; Maryland made it the basic law of the colony. . . . in It is clear that this embroilment in the field of religion helped to bring about an estrangement from the mother country. But there were many other causes, cumulative in effect and creating a general spirit of discontent. A daughter who marries and founds her own home is gradually weaned away from her mother and from the home that nurtured her, and she becomes more interested in the welfare of her own children than in that of her kin. So the colonists, separated from England by an ocean three thousand miles wide, fighting their own battles against wilderness and savage, became more and more absorbed in their own welfare, and gradually developed a mentality differing in many points from that of the mother country. Then, too, the non-English element in the colonies had become quite strong, particularly in the center, in Pennsyl- vania, where about two thirds of the population were non- English, and they "commonly had no particular attachment to Old England. 1 ' 2 Even the language of the colonists began to differ from the language of the mother country. It was at the same time more archaic and more modern, inasmuch as it retained many of the forms their ancestors had brought over, and, on the other hand, adopted words and expres- sions from the Indians and from other languages, besides producing some of their own to meet the demand of new conditions. Benjamin Franklin, with all his serene philoso- 1 William Franklin Sands, quoted in The Fortnightly Review, vol. XXXVI., no. 3, pp. 47 and 48. 2 Peter Kalm, op. cit., I., p. 207. See Van Tyne, op. cit., pp. 315 and 345. THE COLOHIES RISE AGAINST EHGLAHD 461 phy, resented hearing the uppers of London speak of "our American subjects 1 ' as sort of second-rate citizens. The pompous Samuel Johnson exclaimed on one occasion: "They are a race of convicts I" 1 Of course, in that early day no one thought of a British Empire as a federation of practically independent states. On the contrary, George III and his counsellors believed the time had come, now that France had been expelled from Canada, to centralize, to draw in the reins of government, and tighten the bonds between the home country and the de- pendencies in America. In Canada, the friction between the French-of-France and the French Canadians had proven fatal in the battle of the Plains of Abraham. Similar friction, though of less degree, existed between the English-of-England and the Anglo-Americans, as was clearly demonstrated in Braddock's foolhardy disregard of the warnings given him by the co- lonials, including George Washington. The colonists had hoped that the newly ceded Missis- sippi Valley would offer them great opportunities for land speculation. The Mississippi Land Company, which num- bered among its members such men as the Washingtons, was formed after the Treaty of Paris; it petitioned the crown for 2,500,000 acres of land in the territory that now forms Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Lord Hillsborough, the new Secretary for the Colonies, interposed the imperial authority and blocked the westward expansion. The hopes of the eastern capitalists were frustrated. England con- sidered the newly acquired territory as belonging to the Empire, or even to the Crown, and not to any single colony, although the original charters had granted to some of them the land from ocean to ocean. The Quebec Act was also intended to check illegal land-grabbing. 2 The French and Indian War and the Pontiac War had cost England a great amount of money, and her Ministers felt that at least a part of this debt should be paid by the colo- nists, who had, after all, driven England into the war with France, and for whose defense against the savages England agreed to maintain an army of some 10,000 men in the colon' ^asquet, op. cit., p. 237- 2 Alvord, Centennial History of Illinois, I., pp. 303-307, See p. 455, ante. 462 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAHS ies. General Sir Jeffrey Amherst was in charge of the dis- tribution of these troops, which he placed at various centers — Quebec, Montreal, Niagara, Detroit, Nova Scotia, South Carolina, Pensacola, the lower Mississippi, and St. Augustine. From each center, soldiers were stationed at the different posts within the given district. Thus English soldiers were placed at Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and the mouth of the Illinois. Amherst held that it was better "to colonise from the west eastward, since the boundaries would in this way be sooner protected from attack." 1 George Grenville, who was then Colonial Secretary, held that, since this distribution of troops was to the benefit of the colonists, they should also bear part of the burden. The House of Commons was opposed to land-taxes. What, then, was more natural than to think of customs-duties. Gren- ville imposed the Sugar Act, 1764, providing a duty on foreign sugar and many other items, with a three pence per gallon duty on molasses. As early as 1733, there had been a duty of six pence per gallon on molasses, but nobody had paid it. Grenville decided to enforce the law. Revenue men were sent to America, coast guards were placed along the Atlantic seaboard, and a complete and detailed system of law enforcement was organised. Offenders were no longer judged by juries, who had proved too lenient, but by com- manders of British vessels, who had the right to issue war- rants to search anyone's premises for smuggled goods. Molasses played an important role in the economic system of those days, somewhat like malt syrup in our own day. In the year 1763, puritanical Massachusetts had imported 15,000 hogsheads of molasses from the French West Indies. 2 Molasses was used to make rum, and rum in turn was used to purchase slaves and to trade with the Indians. If England insisted on the payment of duty on all the imported molasses, that would mean the death blow to New England distil- leries, slave trade with Guinea, and, they said, would spell uni- versal ruin. John Adams remarked that molasses thus became "an essential ingredient of American independence/ 13 But, after all, molasses was a rather prosaic subject for political ilbtd., I, p. 250. 2 David S. Muzzey, An American History, p. 95. 3 Van Tyne, op. cit., p. 128. THE COLOHIES RISE AGAIKST ENGLAND 463 oratory, and so "there followed," says Alvord, "with the char- acteristically English love of a phrase, a long and acrimonious discussion of the question of taxation without represen- tation, a discussion involving the issue of the relation of colonies to the mother country." 1 To determine the exact limits of the rights of the mother country over the colonies, — that was precisely the difficult question. 2 Leaders like Franklin gave this matter serious thought and study. They realised that it resolved itself to this: either grant Parliament the right to impose any and all laws at will, or deny Parliament the right to impose any laws at all. They chose the latter, and that meant, in effect, a declaration of independence. But it was a difficult matter to convince the different colonies of the absolute need of union. As Wood says: "They would not join together to defend themselves, though they could not defend them- selves if they did not join together. . . . What they really wanted was thirteen separate little armed mobs, separately controlled by thirteen assemblies. . . ." 3 Peter Kalm expressed the same idea when he wrote: "It is to be observed, that each English colony in North America is independent of the other, and that each has its proper laws and coin, and may be looked upon in several lights as a state by itself. From hence it happens, that in time of war, things go on very slowly here: for not only the sense of one province is sometimes directly opposite to that of another; but frequently the views of the governor and those of the assembly of the same province are quite different " 4 In 1765, Grenville caused the adoption of the Stamp Act, which required a revenue stamp on all legal documents, articles of commerce and newspapers, etc. He honestly believed it would be the least burdensome sort of tax and 'Alvord, op. cit., p. 308. 2 Rev. Isaac Skillman, pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Boston, in An Oration Upon the Beauties of Liberty, or The Essential Rights of the Americans, exclaims: "Does the King ask for tall masts? Let him have them as a gift; that British streets be paved with American gold? let him have it but by way of trade, not taxation; for courts of Admiralty, that women spare their husbands to be sent confined in horrid men of war and sent back to tyranny? that judges be appointed by the King? Never!" Quoted in Baldwin, op. cit., p. 118, n. 39. 3 Wood, in Canada and Its Provinces, I., p. 239. 4 Peter Kalm, op. cit., p. 205. 464 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS hoped it would yield at least L60,000 each year. The opposition to Grenville's stamps was general, and riots broke out, chiefly at Boston. 1 The hated Stamp Act was repealed in March, 1766. The colonists rejoiced and drank freely to the health of good King George and his Ministers. At Boston, John Hancock, later a signer of the Declaration of Independence, gave a barrel of Madeira to the public, and New York erected a statue, made of lead and plated with gold, to King George. A few years later, this statue was melted down and cast into bullets. 2 During the ministry of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who was ill at the time, Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, or Minister of Finance, reintroduced and passed the obnoxious and odious taxation measures of Grenville. Matters now soon came to a head. In May, 1768, the Liberty, a ship carrying a cargo consigned to John Hancock, entered the harbor of Boston. The customs officer who had boarded the ship was locked up in the hold until the whole cargo had been unloaded. Other customs officers had to flee to escape the violence of the mob. 3 To punish the Bostonians and to enforce the law, the British government sent two regiments of soldiers — and then followed the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770. A strange coincidence occurred at this time. The very day of the Boston Massacre, Parliament abro- gated the Townshend Taxes, but King George III, to uphold his authority and the principle underlying these taxes, in- sisted on retaining a moderate tax on tea — and then followed the Boston Tea Party, to knock out the principle with equal stubbornness. It was the riot against the Townshend Taxes that Aubry had reported. The struggle, known as the War of Independence or the Revolutionary War, followed — a death struggle for liberty, which, in effect, meant the birth of a great nation. One of the first questions that occupied Continental Con- gress was: What will Canada do? Will the Canadians remain 1 The Canadians, whose attitude towards England was different, caused no opposition to the Stamp Act. Chapais, op. cit., p. 176, n. 2 Pasquet, op.cit.,p. 246. 3 The "Rescue Rioters" and "Sons of Liberty," rather indefinite organizations, often re' cruited from the lower and radical classes, did much to annoy British officials and Empire Loyalists. Van Tyne, op. cit., pp. 134 and 170. THE COLOHIES RISE AGAINST ENGLAND 465 loyal to their King, or, will they join the cause of the colon- ists? For the proper understanding of the events that fol- lowed, the relative numbers of English and French Cana- dians inhabiting Canada must be borne in mind. The passage of the Quebec Act, June 14, 1774, had satis- fied the vastly preponderant French Canadians. The "King's old subjects' ' of Montreal vehemently protested against the Quebec Act because of the concessions made to the French Canadian Catholics, and appealed to the English of Quebec to cooperate in the protest. Continental Congress, in session at Philadelphia, played a double-cross game, was caught at it, and thus the one chance of inducing the French Canadians to espouse the cause of the colonists was lost, and with it Canada, probably for ever. On October 11, 1774, it was resolved by Continental Congress to prepare a Memorial to the People of Great Brv tain, "stating to them the necessity of a firm, united, and invariable observation of the measures recommended by the Congress". "Mr. Lee, Mr. Livingston, and Mr. Jay, are appointed a Committee to prepare a draught of the Memorial and Address." 1 This Address was discussed and amended in various sessions and definitely approved by the same Congress, Friday, October 21, 1774. "To the People of Great Britain, from the Delegates ap- pointed by the several English Colonies. . . . "Friends and Fellow-Subjects :" In the preamble it is stated: "The cause of America is now the object of universal attention; it has at length be- come very serious. . . . "Know then:" Here follows an exposition of their position and a list of their grievances. Among others: "That we think the Legislature of Great Britain is not authorised by the Constitution to establish a Religion fraught with sanguinary and impious tenets, or to erect an arbitrary form of Government in any quarter of the globe. . . . x The texts and information covering the Memorial to the People of Great Britain, the Ad- dress to the Inhabitants of Quebec, and the Address to the King are taken from American Ar- chives, Fourth Series, prepared and published under authority of an Act of Congress, 1833, vol. I., pp. 910-938. Courtesy of the Belleville Public Library. 466 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAHS "Now mark the progress of the Ministerial plan for en- slaving us." Then follows an enumeration of grievances: ". . . By another Act 1 the dominion of Canada is to be ex- tended, modelled, and governed, as that by being disunited from us, detached from our interests, by civil as well as re- ligious prejudices, that by their numbers daily swelling with Catholick emigrants from Europe and by their devotion to Administration, so friendly to their religion, they might become formidable to us, on occasion, be fit instruments in the hands of power, to reduce the ancient, free, Protestant Colonies to the same state of slavery with themselves. 2 This was evidently the object of the Act 3 ; and in this view being extremely dangerous to our liberty and quiet, we cannot forbear complaining of it as hostile to British America. . . . "Nor can we suppress our astonishment, that a British Parliament should ever consent to establish in that country a Religion that has deluged your Island in blood, and dis- persed impiety, bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebellion, through every part of the world. . . . "Remember the taxes from America, the wealth, and we may add the men, and particularly the Roman Catho- licks of this vast Continent, will then be in the power of your enemies. . . . "If neither the voice of justice, the dictates of the law, the principles of the Constitution, or the suggestions of humanity, can restrain your hands from shedding human Quebec Act. 2 The same cry had been raised in New England at the time of the French and Indian War. Writes Baldwin: "How the ministers played upon the affections and fears of the people! How warmly they besought them to give generously, to fight and fight again for all they held dear! One can imagine the ardent Mayhew as he cried: l And what horrid scene is this, which restless, roving fancy, or something of an higher nature, presents to me, and so chills my blood ! Do I behold these territories of freedom, become the prey of arbitrary power? . . . Do I see the slaves of Lewis [King of France] with their Indian allies, dispossess' ing the frec'born subjects of King George, of the inheritance received from their forefathers, and purchased by them at the expense of their ease, their treasure, their blood! ... Do I see a protestant, there, stealing a look at his bible, and being taking [sic] in the fact, punished like a felon! ... Do I see all liberty, property, religion, happiness changed, or rather trans' substantiated, into slavery, poverty, superstition, wretchedness !' " Mayhew, Election Sermon, 1754, quoted in Baldwin, op. cit., p. 87. See p. 324, n. 2, ante. 3 "The Quebec Act passed . . . with no thought of giving offense to the English provinces. ...The Quebec Act was passed with the desire to put an end to that injustice done by the hasty Proclamation of 1763. . . ." Van Tyne, op. cit., pp. 401402. THE COLONIES RISE AGAINST EHGLAKD 467 blood in such an impious cause, we must tell you that we will never submit to be hewers of wood or drawers of water for any Ministry or Nation in the world. October 22, 1774, it was ordered by Congress that 120 copies of this Address be immediately struck off. On the same day it was resolved "That an Address be prepared to the People of Quebec. "Ordered, That Mr. Cushing, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Dick- inson, be a Committee to prepare the above Address. . . ." The draft of this Address was discussed and "recommitted" in the session of October 24, 1774. Wednesday, October 26, 1774, the Address to the Inhabit tants of the Province of Quebec was approved. "Friends and Fellow-Subjects :" The Address proceeds to instruct the inhabitants of Quebec in the philosophy of government quoting Beccaria and Montesquieu. "When the fortune of war, after a gallant and glorious resistance, had incorporated you with the body of English subjects, 1 we rejoiced in the truly valuable addition, both on our own and your account. . . . Little did we imagine that any .... Ministers would so audaciously and cruelly abuse the Royal authority as to withhold from you the fruition of the irrevocable rights to which you were thus entitled. . . ." Then follows an enumeration of rights which the Cana- dians should have: Participation in the government, Trial by Jury, Habeas Corpus, Freedom of the Press, etc. The Address proceeds : "These are the rights you are entitled to, and ought, at this moment, in perfection, to exercise. "And what is offered to you, by the late Act of Parlia- ment, 2 in their place? "Liberty of conscience in your Religion? "No. God gave it to you; and the temporal powers with which you have been, and are connected, firmly stipulated for your enjoyment of it. !By the Treaty of Paris, 1763. 2 Quebec Act. 4 68 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "If laws, divine and human, could secure it against the despotick caprices of wicked men, it was secure before. 11 Referring to a passage in the Canadian law, which au- thorised the people to levy taxes for "making roads, and erect- ing and repairing publick buildings, 11 the Address exclaims: "Have not Canadians sense enough to attend to any other publick affairs, than gathering of stones from one place and piling them up in another? Unhappy people! who are not only injured, but insulted. 11 The Address continues to suggest the thought that Great Britain's concessions to the French Canadians are not sincere. lt . . . Scorning to be illuded by a tinselled outside, and exert- ing the natural sagacity of Frenchmen, examine the specious device, and you will find it, to use an expression of Holy Writ, fc a whited sepulchre, 1 for burying your lives, liberty, and property. 111 Then follows this flattering appeal: "We are too well acquainted with the liberality of sen- timent distinguishing your Nation, to imagine that difference of Religion will prejudice you against a hearty amity with us. You know that the transcendent nature of freedom elevates those who unite in her cause, above all such low-minded infirmities. The Swiss Cantons furnish a memorable proof of this truth. Their Union is composed of Roman Catholick and Protestant States, living in the utmost concord and peace with one another, and thereby enabled, ever since they bravely vindicated their freedom, do defy and defeat every tyrant that has invaded them. 11 The Address concludes by informing the Canadians that "we have addressed an humble and loyal Petition to his Majesty, praying relief of our and your grievances. Saturday, October 21, 1774, Mr. Lee, Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Henry, and Mr. J. Rutledge were appointed as a committee to draw up the Address to his Majesty. October 22, 1774, Mr. J. Dickinson was added to the committee. i'The Quebec Act, which the revolutionists had been furiously opposing, because they thought it too favourable to the Roman Catholics and French Canadians, was now denounced to the habitants as an insidious attempt to take away their British liberties and prevent their adopting American liberties instead." Wood in Canada and Its Provinces, III., p. 78. THE COLONIES RISE AGAINST ENGLAND 469 On the same day, 1 October 26, 1774, "The Address to the King being engrossed and compared was signed at the table by all the Members: — "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty: Most Gracious Sovereign: 1 ' The Address "begs leave to lay our Grievances before the Throne. " Then follows the usual recital of wrongs suffered by the colonies. Referring to the last sessions of Parliament, the Address recites various offensive Acts passed : " . . . and a fourth for extending the limits of Quebec, abolishing and restoring the French laws, whereby great numbers of British Freemen are subjected to the latter, and establishing an absolute Gov- ernment and the Roman Catholick Religion throughout those vast regions that border on the Westerly and Northerly boundaries of the free Protestant English settlements. ..." The "humble and loyal Petition to his Majesty" con- cludes: "We therefore most earnestly beseech your Majesty, that your Royal authority and interposition may be used for our relief, and that a gracious Answer may be given to this Petition. . . ." Agents of Congress spread the "Address to the Inhabi- tants of Quebec," while it was to the interest of the English government to make known the other two documents. So, before long, all three documents became known in Canada, and the duplicity of Congress was hopelessly exposed. At the request of Governor Carleton, who had been active in procuring for the French Canadians the benefits granted them by the Quebec Act, Bishop Briand issued a powerful pastoral letter, recalling to the Canadians the sacredness of the oath of allegiance to the King of England taken by them. 2 He also pointed out the liberties already actually enjoyed under and by virtue of the Quebec Act. The intelligentsia among the French Canadians, the seig- niors, the bourgeosie, the merchants 3 and the clergy were ^n the same day that the Address to the Inhabitants of Quebec was approved. 2 See p. 454, ante. 3 Alignment in times of violent political upheaval is never clear'Cut nor is it all one way. As a class, the merchants of New England were patriots, while in Virginia the majority of them were Loyalists; most of the Virginia planters supported the Revolution, while the New England planters were Tories. See Isaac S. Harrell, Loyalism in Virginia. 470 FROM QUEBEC TO NEW ORLEANS loyal to England, and their preponderant influence kept Canada within the British Empire. 1 Congress evidently realised its blunder, and on February 15, 1776, resolved to send a committee to Canada to explain its position and wishes, and to solicit the aid of the Cana- dians. Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase, and Charles Car- roll were the official members of the delegation. Rev. John Carroll, cousin to Charles Carroll and later the first Bishop, and then Archbishop of Baltimore, accompanied the dele- gates by request. They were again confronted with the ridi- culous and contradictory documents passed by Congress. Their mission was unsuccessful, which is not surprising, for, as Russell writes: "It is difficult to understand how the people of the American colonies could have imagined it possible to win over Canada to a union with them against Great Britain, when at every turn they outraged the people on what was dearer to them than life itself.' 12 In the meantime, the atmosphere was somewhat cleared of the poisons of intolerance, especially after France and Spain joined the cause of the colonies, and the war went on. "This general war [American Revolution]," writes Wood, "was something vastly more complex than any mere struggle between a King and his subjects, a mother country and her colonies, or the British and Americans. On one side stood the home government and the loyalists in Amer- ica; quite alone throughout the war. On the other stood the home opposition in politics and the American revolu- tionists in arms, but not alone, except at first. For pres- x Chapais, Cours d'Histoxre du Canada, I., pp. 135-173. — F. P. Walton expresses the same thought when he writes: ""It was precisely because the French Canadians felt that they had been treated with justice and even with generosity by the British crown, that when the crisis came . . . they turned a deaf ear to the advances of the Americans. " F. P. Walton, in Canada and Its Provinces, III., p. 7- 2 Quoted in Guilday, op. cit., p. 104. Hugh L. Keenleyside, in Canada and the United States (1929), after reviewing the history of the Canadian-American relations holds that the forma- tion of the Dominion in 1867 "ended apparently forever, the possibility of the political union of these J:wo^North American nations." "It is conceivable," he writes (p. 382), "although from present indications unlikely, that with the lapse of time Canada may break the strong bonds of affection that unite the Dominion with the remainder of the British Empire; it is in- conceivable, if history has any meaning whatever, that Canada should unite, politically, with the American Republic.'' ' If British stupidity was responsible for the creation of the Amer- ican Republic, American*stupidity was chiefly responsible for French Canadian non-participa- tion in the American Revolution. See p. 477, n. 3, post. THE COLONIES RISE AGAINST ENGLAND 4 7i ently France [February, 1778] and Spain [1779] and Holland [1780] joined the enemy in arms, and later on the Germans, Prussians, Russians, Swedes and Danes formed the hostile armed neutrality of the north. 111 The names of Washington, Greene, Barry, John Paul Jones, Lafayette, Rochambeau, Baron von Steuben, Kosciusko, Pulaski, de Kalb and others are known to every child; and to adult and child they conjure visions of the war. It was a hard and a long struggle, for the colonists were weak in numbers, in means, and sometimes in cooperation and loyalty in their cause. Rochambeau did not exaggerate when he wrote to Paris: "Sometimes Washington commands 15,000 men and sometimes only 3000. " 2 Steuben, who had been drilled in the traditions of Frederic II, made of this motley crowd an army, that, with the help of La Grasse's fleet, was able to hold out against overwhelming numbers and resources of the British, and, under the prudent and cau- tious leadership of the great Washington, win the independ- ence that has proved such a blessing to America. But the Revolutionary War was not fought out in the East only. Nor were Washington, and Steuben, and Lafa- yette, and Rochambeau the only great men of this period. The West, too, played an important part in the winning of liberty, and the outstanding figure in the army of the West is George Rogers Clark. When France and England prepared to fight for the pos- session of the Ohio Valley, which, in effect, meant exclusive supremacy on the American continent, each pressed the respective friendly Indian tribes into service. In the same manner, England and the colonists sought the alliance of the savages at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. During the Seven Years 1 War English and French in- dulged in mutual accusations on the subject of permitting the savages to perpetrate their wonted cruelties on white prisoners of war. The same happened during the Revo- lutionary War. 1 The latter countries combined in protest against the British pretension to the right of search at sea. Wood, in Canada and Its Provinces, III., p. 73. 2Pasquet, op. cit., p. 257. 472 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Montreal and Albany had been the centers of bitter rivalry for the Indian trade between French and English. Detroit and Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh), three hundred miles apart, became the western centers in the struggle for Amer- ican independence. Detroit and Fort Pitt were respectively the British and American centers, from which each sought to bring its influence to bear upon the savages in the numer- ous councils held with the Indians. The stake for which the leaders fought amounted to some 8,000 savages of various tribes : the Delewares and Munsee, Shawnee, Wyandot, Chip- pewa, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Vermillion, and the Wabash tribes, the Miami or Pickawillanee, Mingo, Ottawa, the Seneca, Sauk, and numerous other tribes. 1 All the western trails led to Detroit, all the way from Kaskaskia and Vin- cennes. Detroit was an important center of the ever im- portant fur trade, and, in turn, Detroit furnished other posts with supplies and grain. 2 At first the colonists took a rather ideal stand and planned to keep the savages neutral, telling them that this would be a "family quarrel" between the colonists and the English across the sea, and that they should "keep the hatchet buried deep;" 3 however, as a precautionary measure, Congress appointed three departments of Indian Affairs. George Mor- gan, then a Colonel in the colonial army, had charge of one of the departments. Morgan suggested the plan which was followed by the better type of Indian agents: "The cheapest and most humane mode of obtaining an alliance with the savages is by buying of their Friendship ; they have been long taught by contending Nations to be bought and sold." 4 However, even at this time there were direct invitations to the savages to take an active part in the fighting. Ethan Allen 5 wrote to some Canadian tribes in May, 1775: "I want to have your warriors come and see me, and help me fight the King's Regular Troops. You know they 1 James Alton James, George Rogers Clar\ Papers, XV. Hbid., XIII., n. 1. Hbid., XVII. *Ibid., XVIII. 5 Probably when he was getting the "Green Mountain Boys" ready for the attack on the British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga. Fanny, a daughter of General Ethan Allen, died a nun in the convent of the Hotel-Dieu, Montreal. THE COLONIES RISE AGAINST EHGLAKD 473 stand all along close together, rank and file, and my men fight so as Indians do, and I want your warriours to join me and my warriours, like brothers, and ambush the Regulars: if you will, I will give you money, blankets, tomahawks, knives, paint, and anything that there is in the army, just like brothers; and I will go with you into the woods to scout; and my men and your men will sleep together, and eat and drink together, and fight Regulars, because they first killed our brothers . . . but if you our brother Indians do not fight on either side, we will still be friends and brothers; and you may come and hunt in our woods, and come with your canoes in the lake, and let us have venison at our forts on the lake, and have rum, bread, and what you want and be like broth- ers. 1 May 25, 1776, the Indian Commissioners were instructed to offer L50 Pennsylvania currency for every soldier prisoner brought to them. The Indians were to be given free plunder of the garrison. June 17, 1776, Washington was authorised to employ Indians. 2 The British, apparently from the beginning, planned to make use of the savages in the war against the "rebels' \ Of course, one side accused the other of using Indians, and so General Gage urged that Carle ton, who wanted to make it a "white man's war," should employ savages, be- cause the "rebels" had used them on the frontier of Quebec, etc. Lord Dunmore instructed Major Connolly to induce the savages to fight for the British. 3 With the help of the Indians a wedge was to be driven between the northern and southern colonies. British as well as American Indian agents held conference after conference with the savages, each promising great rewards if they gave them support, and dire punishment, if they joined the enemy. After all, these children of the forests understood little of the issues at stake. They were cajoled, threatened, bribed with presents, feasted, and supplied with rum. Here were two bodies of whites fighting each other on lands that the Indian claimed as his own. 1 James, op. cit., XVI. 2Jbtd., XIII., p. 213. Htid., XVIII and XIX; Wood, Canada and Its Provinces, III., p. 77- 474 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS There was only one way to keep the faith of the savages — "by buying of their Friendship," as Morgan had suggested. The English pursued the same policy. Major De Peyster wrote to General Haldimand from Detroit: "But the Indians must have presents: whenever we fall off from that article they are no more to be depended upon." 1 The position of the colonial Indian agents became in- creasingly difficult, because settlers continued to push west- ward into the territory reserved to the Indians. 2 In fact, some unscrupulous frontiersmen designedly provoked the savages to hostilities in order to defeat them in war, and then seise their lands. The British made capital of this in their conferences with the savages and convinced them that ulti- mately the colonists would take all their lands from them. British influence and backing prompted the Six Nations and the Chippewa Indians to send the following ultimatum to the Virginians and Pennsylvanians : "You have feloniously taken Possession of part of our Country on the branches of the Ohio, as well as the Susquehanna, to the latter [Pennsyl- vanians], we have some time since sent you word to quit our Lands as we now do to you, as we don't know we ever give you liberty, nor can we be easy in our minds while there is an arnTd Force at our very doors, nor do we think you, or anybody else would — Therefore, to use you with more lenity than you have a right to expect, we now tell you in a peaceful manner to quit our Lands wherever you have pos- sessed yourselves of them immediately, or blame yourselves for whatever may happen." 3 The Colonials kept their eyes on Detroit, and Arthur St. Clair, Secretary for Indian Commissioners, suggested a volun- teer expedition of five hundred men to take Detroit by sur- prise. This was in the fall of 1775, when Generals Montgom- ery and Arnold were making their attack on Quebec. Wash- ington and the leading men of the country hoped and believed that Quebec would be taken, and then Detroit would fall into the hands of the Americans. The St. Clair expedition was, l Clar\ Papers, XXV., n. 1. 2 By Royal Proclamation, Sept. 19, 1763, the western lands were temporarily reserved for the use of Indians. Canadian Archives, (1906), p. 112. 3 Morgan, Letter Boo\ I, February 2, 1777 in James, op. cit., XXVII. THE COLONIES RISE AGAINST ENGLAND 4 75 therefore, not approved, and was not undertaken. Washing- ton wrote to General Schuyler, in the supposition that Quebec would surrender: "If you carry your arms to Montreal, should not the garrisons of Niagara, Detroit, ^c ... be called upon to surrender or threatened with the consequences of a refusal? They may, indeed, destroy their stores, and, if the Indians are aiding, escape to Fort Chartres; but it is not very probable. in During the winter of 1775-1776, Canada was practically under the control of the Americans, but the double attack upon Quebec under Montgomery and Arnold failed, Mont- gomery being killed under the walls of Quebec, and Arnold wounded. The failure of the Canadian campaign gave new impetus and courage to Hamilton at Detroit. "The summer months [of 1776]," writes James, "were full of foreboding for the now terror stricken frontiersmen. Six hundred Cherokee were reported as being ready to strike the Virginia frontier with a determination to kill or make prisoners of all the people. These savages had also accepted the war-belt from the Shaw- nee and Mingo, and agreed to fall on the Kentucky settle- ments. A general confederation of all the western tribes was reported, whose purpose was to destroy all frontier settlements as soon as their scattered young men could be called in and the corn necessary for subsistence should ripen." 2 Hamilton delivered tomahawks, bullets and powder to the Mingo, who were bitter enemies of the Americans, and, according to Morgan, harangued them as follows: "That he wonder'd to see them so foolish as not to observe that the Big Knife 3 was come up very near to them, & claimed one half the water in the Ohio, 6? that if any of the Indians crossed over to their side of the River they immediately took him, laid his head on a Big Log and chopp'd it off — that he had now put them in a way to prevent such Usage, 6-? that if they met any of them they should strike their Toma- hawks into their heads, cut off some of their hair 6? bring it to him." 4 ijames, op. cit., XXVIII. (Letter of Nov. 5, 1775). 2 Ibid., XXXII. Cornstalk, a noted Shawnee chief gave the information about the confed' eration. 3 Big Knife or Long Knife, that is, the Americans. 4 Morgan, Letter Boo\, Ibid., XXXIII. 476 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS This speech gained for Hamilton the unenviable title of "Hair Buyer" General. The Americans believed him guilty of offering rewards for scalps. It has been pointed out that the savages disliked the Eng- lish colonists more than the French explorers, partly for the reason that the English colonist was followed by a hun- dred others — and then the hunting grounds of the Indian, from the savage's standpoint, were ruined. It was pre- cisely the American frontiersmen who pushed their settle- ments farther and farther into the Indian country. Morgan, who thoroughly understood the savage mentality, recom- mended "to restrain the frontiersmen and promote good order among them . . . make liberal donations, and in all respects treat the Indians with 'Justice, Humanity and Hospitality/ ,n September 2, 1777, Hamilton suggested the use of Indians to harass and distress the frontiers. These savage war bands were indeed urged to act with humanity. But one might as well blow up the dam that holds back the floodwaters of the Mississippi, and then expect the waters not to pour through the crevasses, as hold the savages, turned loose on the set- tlers, to rules of humanity. The year 1777 is, therefore, known as the "bloody year." "In isolated localities," writes James, "too remote for warning, men were killed or captured while at work in the fields or out hunting. Women and children were burned in the houses or, as in other cases, the entire family were carried away as prisoners. Hard pressed by their pursuers, the Indians killed such prisoners as hindered their rapid retreat. Thus the tomahawk saved them from sharing in the fate of their companions which was frequently more cruel. Upon arrival at an Indian village men prisoners were forced at times to satisfy the cruel instincts of their captors by running the gauntlet or were burned at the stake. Some were sold to British and French traders and later effected their escape or were ransomed. Women were compelled to become the wives or slaves of the warriors and children were adopted into the tribe." 2 ijames, op. cit., XXXV. Hbxd., XXXVII. THE COLONIES RISE AGAINST EHGLATiD 477 But not all British leaders were " Hair-Buy ers." In Novem- ber, 1777, discussing the war against the rebels, Lord Suffolk declared that "there were no means which God and Nature might have placed at the disposal of the governing powers, to which they would not be justified in having recourse' 1 to crush the rebels. Pitt, Earl of Chatham, rose to reply as follows: "But who is the man, who has dared to authorise and associate to our arms the tomahawk and scalping knife of the savage? . . . What! to attribute the sanction of God and Nature to the massacres of the Indian scalping-knife. . . . They shock every sentiment of honor. They shock me as a lover of honorable war and a detester of murderous barbarity. These abominable principles, and this more abominable avowal of them, demand a most decisive indignation. " 2 In the colonies, too, there were Englishmen whose very souls rebelled against the irresponsible and uncontrollable turning loose of savages. June 8, 1778, Lieutenant-Governor Edward Abbott 2 voiced this protest to Sir Guy Carleton 3 : "Your Excellency will plainly perceive the employing In- dians on the Rebel frontiers has been of great hurt to the cause, for many hundreds would have put themselves under His Majesty's protection was there a possibility; that not being the case, these poor unhappy people are forced to take up arms against their Sovereign, or be pillaged & left to starve; cruel alternative. This is too shocking a subject to dwell upon; Your Excellency's known humanity will certainly put a stop, if possible, to such proceedings, as it is not people in arms that Indians will ever daringly attack, but the poor inoffensive families who fly to the deserts to be out of trouble, 62? who are inhumanly butchered sparing neither women or children." 4 1 James, op. at., XXXIX. 2 Abbott commanded at Vincennes on the Wabash. 3 Guy Carleton (17244808) served under Amherst at the siege of Louisbourg (1758), under Wolfe at Quebec (1759) and took part in the British attack on Havana (1762); became Lieut.' Gov. of Quebec in 1766, and inspired the Quebec Act (1774). During the Revolutionary War he commanded the British army in Canada, defended Quebec against Montgomery and Arnold, and forced the latter to retreat. In 1782 he superseded Gen. Amherst as Commander' in'Chief of the British army in North America. The fact that Carleton gave inspiration to the Quebec Act and was in consequence loved by the French Canadians was perhaps the most potent single factor that helped to save Canada to Great Britain. 4 Abbott to Carleton, June 8, 1778, James, op. cit., p. 47- 478 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, took steps to check the rear attacks perpetrated by the savages of the back country under Hamilton's direction and to protect the frontier set" tlements of Virginia. This was in the spring of 1777. Con- gress appointed General Hand to Fort Pitt, with instructions to invade the Indian country. The Tories along the border lines were very active, and consequently not enough men could be gotten together; moreover, other difficulties arose, and as a result Hand's threatened offensive collapsed into complete failure. General Mcintosh was next entrusted with the task of punishing the savages, but, like his predecessor, he failed. Mcintosh asked to be relieved of the command of the Western army and was superseded by Colonel Daniel Brodhead. While nothing positive was gained by these at- temps against the savages, still the British officials at Detroit became alarmed, particularly so because of the "greatly damped spirits" of their savage friends. But the days of Hamilton's "Hair-Buying" were drawing to a close. The half-hearted undertakings of Hand and Mc- intosh were to be overshadowed by the dashing, daring, aggressive offensives of George Rogers Clark, by universal consent of historians the greatest Revolutionary hero of the Western frontier. SPANISH LOUISIANA AFTER O'REILLY— EARLY LIFE OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK— FRONTIER HARDSHIPS— BEGIHNIHGS OF KENTUCKY —HAMILTOK THE HAIRSUYER GEN- ERAL— CLARK PLAHS DRIVE U^ TO EHEMY COUNTRY The keen, calculating, military O'Reilly drove the fear of the law into the somewhat turbulent inhabitants of Louisiana. Pedro Piernas, who had been recalled by Ulloa almost immediately upon his arrival at Principe de Asturias, at the mouth of the Missouri, was sent back to his post by O'Reilly. A census taken by Piernas shows a population of 891 in the various settlements of the Spanish Illinois, west of the Mississippi. In 1772, the population had increased to 1288, 803 whites and 485 slaves, which increase was mainly due to influx from the British side. The population of St. Louis is given at 399 whites and 198 slaves. 1 In October, 1770, Don Luis Unsaga superseded O'Reilly as Governor of Louisiana, and Don Francesco Cru2;at fol- lowed Piernas at St. Louis in 1775. Unsaga was easy-going and closed an eye to contraband trade of the Louisianians of the Spanish side with the English east of the Mississippi. A memoir of that day records that he managed the affairs of the colony well, without neglecting his own. Crusat followed the example of his chief in leniency towards smug- glers. February 1, 1777, Bernardo Galves came to the colony as successor to Unsaga, and Don Fernando de Leyba 2 followed Crusat at St. Louis, July, 1778. That was the setting on the west, or the Spanish bank of the Mississippi, in the summer of 1778, when George Rogers Clark, who will always be considered one of the most dramatic, meteor-like figures in American history, or iHouck, op. cit., II., pp. 29-30. 2 "In September, 1779, his wife died and was buried in the church 'in front of the right hand ballustrade,' and in June, 1780, Don Fernando de Leyba was buried by her side in the same church." Houck, op. cit., II., p. 32, n. 479 4 8o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEAHS the history of any country, made his daring dash through the British Illinois, from the Falls of the Ohio to the east bank of the Mississippi. Burgoyne had surrendered at Saratoga (October 17, 1777), Washington had weathered the crisis in the cold and hungry winter at Valley Forge (1777-1778), France had openly es- poused the cause of the colonists (February, 1778), Lord North had made the mother country's far-reaching but be- lated overtures of peace, and the British had evacuated Phil- adelphia, when Clark undertook his daring march to drive the British from their back-country strongholds and put an effectual stop to the savages' attacks on the border inhabitants. George Rogers Clark, son of John Clark and Ann, nee Rogers, was born in Albermarle County, Virginia, Novem- ber 19, 1752, when France and England were preparing to fight out the question of possession of the Ohio Valley and final domination in North America. His father owned a 400-acre farm a few miles from Charlottesville, and two and a half miles from Shadwell, the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson. Five years later his parents sold out and went to Caroline County, Virginia. At the age of eleven George Rogers was sent to a private school, conducted by a certain Donald Robertson, to re- ceive a classical education. His elder brother, John Rogers, James Madison, and John Tyler attended the same school with George Rogers. The boy was a failure at Latin and Greek, "and so at the end of six or eight months he was sent home." 1 Still, his taste was not frivolous, his talents simply ran in a different direction. His niece, Diana Gwathmey Bullitt, writes of him: "I learned from his mother, with whom I lived a great deal, that General Clark was very fond of history and geog- raphy, and the study of nature from his earliest youth. When I lived with him he used to caution me against novel reading and urged me to read history." 2 He was thrifty, too, and at the age of fifteen earned money for his own support. His father's account book charges him \James Alton James, The Life of Georgz Rogers C\ar\, pp. 2'5; Frederick Palmer, C\ar\ of the Ohio, p. 38. 2 Temple Bodley, George Rogers Clar\, p 4, n. 2. p COLONEL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK The Son of Virginia The Sword of Kentucky The Conqueror of the Illinois Erected at Quincy by the State of Illinois, igog Charles ]. Mulligan, sculptor 1 \** 4. ' .■'-■ $JJ^ FATHER GIBAULT— THE PATRIOT PRIEST OF THE WEST THE COMIHG OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 481 with clothes and other articles, and credits him with the mon- ey for a crop of tobacco, which the boy had raised. At the age of nineteen he engaged in surveying, and his father's account book, under date of April 13, 1772, charges him with "Surveyors Instruments L 7.0 and Euclid's Ele- ments L 12.0." He was then a "tall, slender, blue-eyed youth with clear complexion and sandy hair/ 11 In the early summer of 1772, Clark, with a few adven- turous youths, went down the Ohio on a tour of exploration. In the fall of that year he returned home, where the little boys, and even their elders looked upon him as a hero, who had seen the far West. He was so taken up with the wil- derness, that his glowing descriptions induced his father to accompany him to the land he had picked out for himself, some 130 miles below Pittsburgh. They made clearings, and George Rogers filled in with surveying farms of the settlers who were pouring into that part of the country. He wrote to his brother Jonathan: "I had an offer of a very considerable sum for my place. I get a good deal of cash by surveying on this river . . . and drive on pretty well as to clearing, hoping by spring to get a full crop." 2 In the spring of 1774, Clark descended the Ohio with some ninety men to form a settlement in Kentucky. In the previous year, 1773, Daniel Boone had come into Kentucky with his family and some other families and hunters, — all told, eighty persons. Richard Henderson of North Carolina or- ganised the Transylvania Company, and by treaty of March 17, 1775, with Cherokee chiefs, obtained 20,000,000 acres of land between the Kentucky and Cumberland Rivers, in exchange for L10,000 worth of clothing, trinkets, ornaments, and firearms. 3 At this time, the savages, particularly the Shawnee, were very hostile to the whites, and the Pennsylvanians and Vir- ginians had a quarrel of their own about boundary lines. ^dley, op. tit., p. 8. According to Frederick Palmer, Clark had red hair. Hbid., p. 9. 3 James, op. tit., p. 21. — One way of acquiring land in those days was by means of what was known as the "tomahawk title.'" Settlers would chip a piece of bark off a tree and mark on the tree the date and the number of acres they claimed for themselves. When they cleared and planted a portion of land thus acquired by the "tomahawk title," they established a better title known as "corn title." Ibid., p. 6. 482 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "The Pennsylvanians, engaged primarily in trade, desired to have the natives remain in undisturbed possession of their forests, whereas the Virginians sought to gain actual possession of the soil." 1 Dr. Connolly, agent of Lord Dunmore, then Governor of Virginia, stirred up trouble with the Shawnee and with the Pennsylvanians. Clark joined CresapV expedition against the Shawnee. Cresap, however, was careful not to molest friendly Indians, particularly not Logan, a noted Mingo chieftain. Then an "inhumanly brutal" crime was committed, which precipitated the conflict known as Lord Dunmore's War. "Five men, one of them a brother of Logan, and his sister with her babe, crossed the Ohio, as had been their custom, to visit with a family named Greathouse, and to secure a supply of rum. After three of the Indians had been made hopelessly drunk and the two others, accepting a challenge to shoot at a mark, had discharged their guns, they were set upon by Greathouse and his criminal associates and all were killed. " 3 While taking part in Cresap's expedition, Clark met Jos- eph Bowman, Leonard Helm, William Harrod and other men, who later rendered distinguished services in the con- quest of the Northwest. When the war was over, Clark took up surveying in Ken- tucky for the Ohio Company, at a salary of L80 per year, "with the privilege of taking what lands he wanted for himself." 4 The proprietors of Transylvania (Henderson Co.) took steps to obtain recognition from Congress for what they in- tended to be the fourteenth member of the United Colonies. Clark writes: "While in Virginia I found there was var- ious oppinions Respecting Hendersons claim. Many thought it good, others doubted whether or not Virginia could with propriety have any pretentions to the Countrey." 5 Tran- sylvania lay within the limits of the original grant made to Virginia. x James, op. cit., p. 13. 2 Michael Cresap was the son of Thomas Cresap, a leading man in the Ohio Company and a friend of Washington. At the outbreak of Lord Dunmore's War, Michael Cresap was commissioned captain. 3 Ibid., p. 15. 4 Bodley, op. cit., p. 21. 5 James, C\ar\ Papers, p. 209. THE COMIJiG OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 483 Clark was determined to contest the Henderson claim, and called a general meeting of the settlers at Harrodstown, June 6, 1776. The people elected Clark and John Gabriel Jones delegates to the Assembly of Virginia at Williams- burg, to protest the proprietary claims of Henderson 6? Company, and to pray for the establishment of a county gov- ernment under the protection of Virginia. When the delegates reached Williamsburg they found that the Assembly had adjourned. Jones returned to the Hol- ston 1 to help fight off the attacks of the Cherokee, while Clark went on to Hanover, where the Governor, Patrick Henry, was ill. Patrick Henry "appeared much disposed to favour the Kentuckyens and wrote by me to the [Executive] Coun- sill on the subject. I attended them. My application was for five hundred pounds of powder only [for the defense of Kentucky], to be co[n]veyed to Kentucky as an Immediate supply." Clark reasoned that to grant the powder was an implicit acknowledgment of the rights of Virginia over Kentucky. But the Council was conservative and circumspect, and in- formed Clark they would lend the powder to the Kentuck- ians, "as to Frends in distress," but that Clark must be answerable for it in the event the Assembly would not acknowledge the Kentuckians as citizens of Virginia. Clark refused to accept the powder under this condition, but the wary Council replied that what they had offered was already a "stretch of power," and that they could do no more for him. To show their good will towards him and the cause he represented, they issued an order to the keeper of the magazine to deliver the quantity of powder requested. Clark was only a lanky stripling, twenty-four years of age, but on this occasion he showed the clear vision and strong determination of a veteran diplomat. His bristles were up, he sent the order back to the Council with the remark that he could not think of transporting this quan- tity of powder at his own risk through an enemy country, and "that if a Cuntrey was not worth protecting it was not worth Claiming, 6?c., &c. . . ." That plucky act of Clark's woke up the Council. They sent for him, and "Orders was immediately issued, dated ^he small settlements along the Holston River were collectively known as "The Holston."" 484 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS August 23rd, 1776, for the conveying those Stores to pitts- burg and their to await further orders from me." 1 Virginia was thereby committed to maintaining its "west- ern charter jurisdiction. 1 ' The same year, December 7, 1776, the Virginia Assembly passed a bill, forming out of Fincastle County three distinct counties: Washington, Montgomery, and Kentucky. The Henderson claim was repudiated. The problem of transporting the powder from Pitts- burgh to Kentucky was still before Clark. He suspected that the Indians of the upper Ohio knew of his plans and would intercept him, if possible. Clark, John Gabriel Jones, and seven oarsmen departed secretly and disembarked near the mouth of Limestone Creek. "We hid our stores in four or five different places, at a considerable distance apart, and running a few miles lower in our Vessel set it a drift and took by Land for Harrods Town in order to get a force suf- fitient and Return for our stores." 2 With two men Clark hurried on towards Harrodstown, while John Todd, who had chanced across Clark's men, proceeded with nine men to get the powder. The party was attacked by savages, and two of Todd's men were killed. They did not bring away the powder. In January, 1777, a force of thirty men delivered it to Harrodsburg. Hamilton, British Lieutenant-Governor of Detroit, cleverly fanned the revenge that was burning in the hearts of the sav- ages. Unscrupulous frontiersmen were in great part responsible for this attitude of the Indians. One need only think of the murder of Logan's family by that savage white, Greathouse. The bitter feelings of the forest children and the deep wounds that made their hearts bleed may be judged from Logan's sympathetic cry of despair. "I appeal to any white man to say if he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the last long and bloody war, 3 Logan remained quiet in his cabin, an advocate of peace ... I had even thought to live with you, but for the injuries of one man 4 . . . , who last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all x Jamcs, C\ar\ Papers, p. 213. 4 Logan erroneously blamed Michael Cresap. Hbid., p. 214. 3 Pontiac War. THE COMITiG OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 485 the relatives of Logan, not sparing even my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have fully glutted my vengeance ... I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one. 111 And so the innocent were made to suffer with the guilty, and the year 1777, which was the gloomiest year for Wash- ington, became also the "bloody year. 11 Clark was an out- standing fighter in defense of the settlers against the attacks of the savages during this year. "To enumerate all the little actions that happened, 11 he writes in his Memoir, 2 "it is Impossible. They ware continual and frequently sevear whin compared to our small forces. The Forts ware often attacted (policy seem to have Required that the whole should be imbodied in one place, but, depending on Hunting for the greatest part of our provitions, forbid it). No people could be in a more allarming situation, detached at least two Hundred miles from the nearest settlement of the States, surrounded by numerous Nations of Indians, each one far superior in number to ourselves and under the Influance of the British government and pointedly directed to distroy us, as appeared by many Instruments of writing left on the brest of people Kiled by them. I was frequently affraid that the people would think of Making their peace with DeTroit 3 and suffer themselves and Families to be carried of. Their distress may be easily conceived from our situation, but they yet remained firm in hopes of Relief, which they received by the arrival of a Company of Men under Comd of Col John Bowman on the 2d of Septr. This Reinforcement though small added new life to the appearance of things. Incouraged 1 James, Life of George Rogers Clar\, p. 19. 2 Clar\ Papers, p. 216. George Rogers Clark was gifted with remarkable powers of dc scription, but his spelling and punctuation are very defective. In accordance with the prin' ciple followed throughout this volume of introducing the actors of those far'off days and then letting them speak in their own words so that the reader may understand the souls of these men, I have preferred to let Clark tell his own story. I have, however, taken the liberty to insert some punctuation to facilitate the reading of Clark's extremely fascinating story of his exploits. 3 The British General Henry Hamilton commanded at Detroit. 486 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS by this and the stand they had already made, every one seemed determined to exert himself in Strengthing the Cuntrey by Incouraging as many of his friends as possible to move out, 1 which succeeded in the end.' 1 Frontier life was hard, hard by its very nature, hard for the more refined because of the rough types of many of the frontiersmen, "wild and ungovernable, little less savage than their tawny neighbors,' 1 hard because of the brutal attacks of the savages, and the women shared the hardships with the men. "Some of them were skilled in the use of the rifle and took their turns at the portholes. While off duty they assisted in loading guns, cared for the wound- ed, cooked such scanty food as could be secured, and melted the pewter plates into bullets." 2 The government of the new colony was in embryonic condition. Individual rights counted for little; individual might held the field, and individual prowess counted for more than organised methods. "I am afraid," said John Todd, "to lose sight of my house, lest some invader take possession." And again: fc Tm worried to death almost by this learned ignoramus set; and what is worse, there are two lawyers here and they can't agree!" 3 Harrodsburg became the county seat, and a county lieu- tenant, colonel, lieutenant-colonel, sheriff, and justices of the peace were appointed. Clark 4 gave much thought to the local government, to how the newly-created county fitted into the general interests of the United Colonies, and to how the rear attacks of the savages might be effectually checked. "The defence of our Forts, the procuring pro- vitions, and, when possible, surprising the Indeans (which was frequently done), burying the dead and dresing the wounded seemed to be all our business. The whole of my time when not thus Imployed [I spent] in Reflecting on things in Geni, particularly Kentucky, how it accorded with the interest of the United States, whether it was to their in- terest to support it [or] not 6?c. ... As the Commandant ^ove to Kentucky. 2 James, Life of George Rogers Clarl{, p. 57. Hbid., p. 55. 4 George Rogers Clark was commissioned Captain of militia in 1774, Major in 1776, and Lieutenant-Colonel in 1778. THE COMWG OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 487 of the different Towns of the Illinois and Waubash, I knew, was busily Ingaged in Exciting the Indians, their Reduction became my first object. Expecting that it might probably open a field for further action, I sent two young Hunters, S. More 6-P B. Linn to those places as spies with proper In- structions for their conduct/ 11 Philippe Rastel de Rocheblave, formerly Commandant at Ste. Genevieve, but discharged by O'Reilly for disorders in his accounts, was at this time British Commandant at Fort Gage, the fortified former house of the Jesuits, situated in the village of Kaskaskia. August 13, 1777, Sir Guy Carle- ton wrote to Lord Sackville, Secretary for the Colonies: "Mr. Rocheblave is a Canadian gentleman, formerly in the French Service, whom I have employed to have an Eye on the proceedings of the Spaniards, and the management of the Indians on that side. 112 Galvez;, who was decidedly friendly to the cause of the American colonists, was at this time Spanish Governor- General in Louisiana. Oliver Pollock, an Irish-American, agent of Virginia and of Continental Congress in New Or- leans, enjoyed the protection and friendship of Galves, and the two rendered incalculable service to the colonies, and to Clark in particular. Pollock was a merchant, established in Louisiana, who had acquired a great fortune, and whose credit was limitless because of his honesty and business acumen. "These assets were translated into terms of cash with which he made huge purchases, fitted out the neces- sary equipment for transportation by land and sea, and laid down by his own name tremendous sums of money for those days, with which he made necessary advances whenever they were required. 113 Alvord states that Pollock bor- rowed on his own account the sum of $80,000.00 "to sustain the finances of the united colonies and Virginia in the west. 114 l Clar\ Papers, p. 217- Even at this time it was evidently Clark's plan to make a drive right into the heart of the enemy country, capture the British strongholds, Vincennes, Kas' kaskia, Cahokia, and Detroit, and stop the forays of the savages by removing from their midst their sponsors and protectors. 2 Public Archives of Canada, Q. 14, p. 66. See p. 500, n. 2, post. 3 Margaret B. Downing, in Illinois Catholic Historical Review, October, 1919, p. 200; Palmer, op. cit., pp. 275-277 and 283-289. 4 Alvord, Centennial History of Illinois, I., p. 330, n. 3, 488 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS These were the men on whom the multi-national Roche- blave was "to have an Eye." Clark, on his part, sent out two pairs of eyes to scruti- nize Rocheblave and his position at Kaskaskia. More and Linn went to St. Louis "as hunters, who had come to dispose of some beaver skins and procure supplies there." Thence they crossed over to Cahokia and proceeded down to Kas- kaskia to examine Rocheblave's positions. "They returned to Harrodsburgh," writes Clark, "with all the information I could have Reasonably expected. I found by them that they had but little expectation of a visit from us, but that things ware in good [order] . . . that the greatest pains ware taken to inflame the minds of the French Inhabitants against the Americans, notwithstanding, they could discover traces of affection in some of the Inhabitants. . . ." x Clark's drive into the enemy country was by no means to be a haphazard, hit-or-miss undertaking. Keeping his plans to himself — and this was one of his outstanding char- acteristics — he proceeded to Williamsburg to lay his designs before Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia. "On the 10th of Decembr I communicated my Views to Govr Henry. At first View he apperd to be fond of it, but to Detach a party off at so great a Distance (although the service performed Might be of great utility) appeared Daring and Hazardous as nothing but secrecy would probably give sucksess to the Enterprise. To lay the Matter before the assembly then seting would be dangerous, as it would soon be known throughout the Fronters and probably the first prisoner taken by the Indians would give the allarm, which would end in the certain distruction of the party. He had several private Counsills composed of select gentn. After makeing every Inquirey into my prosed [proposed] plan of opperation (and particularly that of a Retreat in case of Mis- fortune, which I intended a cross the Mississippi into the Spanish Territory), the Expedition was resolved on." 2 Truly, it looked hazardous and even foolhardy to lead his army right through enemy country to its farthest western outpost, and then to begin in the rear, capturing the enemy posts as he moved eastward. Jefferson said it l C\at\Papers,p.21$, 2 Ibid. 5 p. 219. THE COMING OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 489 was the fertile and active mind of Clark that conceived this plan: "It was an idea of his own 6? he came down from his native country to propose to Govr Henry to raise volunteers himself and undertake the reduction of the Illinois posts. Govr Henry approved the design, but considering secrecy as essential to success, could not ask authority from the legis- lature, but consulted Colo. Mason, R. H. Lee, some others and myself, who not only advised it, but pledged ourselves to Clarke to use our best endeavors in the legislature, if he succeeded, to induce them to remunerate himself and his followers in lands." 1 Clark's plan of capturing Kaskaskia and the other Illi- nois posts could, of course, not be made public for two rea- sons: the British would have intercepted his course, and then, too, quite a number of men, though willing to fight for the safety of the settlers, their own kin, in Kentucky, would not risk their heads trying to capture British posts in the Illinois. Clark writes of the further progress of the deliberations: "After giving the Council all the intiligence I possibly could, I resolv'd to pursue my other Plans, But being desired by the Governour to stay some time in Town, I waited with impatience; he, I suppose, believeing that I wanted the Com- mand, and was determined to give it to me; But it was far from my Inclination at that time." 2 January 2, 1778, Patrick Henry appointed George Rogers Clark to lead the expedition into the Illinois country. Clark was only 26 years of age, apparently careless and nonchalant, but really clear-headed, determined, energetic, quick to act, and confident of success. After being engaged to conduct the campaign, he writes: "I was then as Determined to prosecute it with Vigour, as I was before indifferent about the Command. I had since the beginning of the War taken pains to make myself ac- quainted with the true situation of the British posts on the Fronteers; and since find that I was not mistaken in my judg- ment — I was ordered to Attact the Illinois; in case of Suc- cess, to carry my Arms to any Quarter I pleased. I was certain that with five hundred Men I could take the Illi- K^uoted in Temple Bodley, George Rogers, Clark, 45, n. 3. *C\ar\Papers, pp. 115416. 490 FROM QUEBEC TO KEW ORLEANS nois, and by my treating the Inhabitants as fellow Citizens, and shew them that I ment to protect rather than treat them as a Conquered People, Engageing the Indians to our Inter- est 6?c. It might probably have so great an effect on their Countrymen at Detroiet (they already disliked their Mas- ter) that it would be an easy prey 1 for me. I should have mentioned my design to his Excellency, but was convinced, or afraid, that it might lessen his esteem for me, as it was a general oppinion that it would take several thousand to approach that Place. I was happy with the thoughts of fair prospect of undeceiveing the Publick respecting their formidable Enemies on our Fronteers." 2 a Clark at this time planned to take the British posts in the Illinois country first and then capture Hamilton at Detroit. 2 Mason Letter, Clar\ Papers, p. 116. CLARK EHTERS KASKASKIA UKDER COVER OF DAKKHESS—HE SURPRISES THE VILLAGERS AKLD ROCHEBLAVE— CLARK AJ<[D GIBAULT MEET— THE LIBERTY BELL OF THE WEST—CAPTAITi BOWMAH AT CAHOKIA Clark 1 set out from Williamsburg January 18, 1778, car- rying with him two sets of instructions from Patrick Henry. The one set was intended for the public, and authorised Clark to raise an army for the defense of the settlers in Kentucky. The other gave official sanction to his own plan of attack- ing the English posts in the Illinois country. Public Instructions. "Lieut. Colonel George Rogers Clark: "You are to proceed, without loss of time, to enlist seven companies of men, officered in the usual manner, to act as militia under your own orders. They are to proceed to Ken- tucky, and there to obey such orders and directions as you shall give them, for three months after their arrival at that place; but to receive pay, etc., in case they remain on duty a longer time. George Rogers Clark wrote two accounts of his western campaign. In the fall of 1779, less than a year after the capture of Vincennes, he prepared the first narrative for his friend Colonel George Mason. This is commonly known and quoted as the Mason Letter. James Alton James writes in Clar\ Papers, p. 114, n. 1: "One of Clark's companions, with more education than Clark himself possessed, probably acted as amanuensis in writing this letter, and may have assisted in its composition. The signature, however, is in Clark's own hand. The location of this letter was unknown for a number of years." In the meantime, James Madison and United States Senator John Brown of Kentucky strongly urged Clark to give them all the facts, saying: 'You cannot be too minute in detail of causes and effects, of views and measures, of occurrences and transactions. . . . Circumstances and facts which may appear unimportant to you, will not be thought so by others. . . . " Bod' ley, op. cit., p. 35, n. 1. In consequence of this urgent request, Clark wrote a second account of his exploits. This second statement, which was never finished, is known as the Memoir. According to James (Clar\ Papers, p. 629), the "Memoir is not made up of reminiscences of an old man who strove for the dramatic in his presentation . . . the Memoir must be regarded as the supplement." The texts quoted in this volume, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from James Alton James, George Rogers Clar\ Papers, Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library, vol. VIII, Virginia Series, vol. III. 491 492 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "You are empowered to raise these men in any county in the Commonwealth ; and the county lieutenants, respectively, are requested to give all possible assistance in that business. "Given under my hand at Williamsburgh, January 2, 1778. P. Henry." Secret Instructions. "Virginia SCT. "In Council, Wmsbug, Jan. 2, 1778. "Lieut. Colonel George Rogers Clark: "You are to proceed with all convenient Speed to raise Seven Companies 1 of Soldiers to consist of fifty men each, officered in the usual manner 6? armed most properly for the Enterprise, 6? with this Force attack the British post at Kaskasky. "It is conjectured that there are many pieces of Cannon fe? military Stores to considerable amount at that place, the taking 6j? preservation of which would be a valuable acqui- sition to the State. If you are so fortunate therefore as to succeed in your Expectation, you will take every possible Measure to secure the artillery 6? stores 6? whatever may advantage the State. "For the Transportation of the Troops, provisions, &?c, down the Ohio, you are to apply to the Commanding Officer at Fort Pitt for Boats, 6?c. during the whole Transaction you are to take especial Care to keep the true Destination of your Force secret. Its success depends upon this. Orders are therefore given to Captn Smith to secure the two men from Kaskasky. Similar conduct will be proper in similar cases. "It is earnestly desired that you show Humanity to such British Subjects and other persons as fall in your hands. If the white Inhabitants at the post & the neighbourhood will give undoubted Evidence of their attachment to this State (for it is certain they live within its Limits) by taking the Test prescribed by Law and by every other way & means in their power, Let them be treated as fellow Citizens 6? their persons 6^ property duly secured. Assistance 6? pro- tection against all Enemies whatever shall be afforded them, x "He was to have the men and the money, men on paper and paper money. 1 " Palmer, op. cit., 157. TAKITiG OF KASKASKIA AKD CAHOKIA 4 93 6-? the commonwealth of Virginia is pledged to accomplish it. But if these people will not accede to these reasonable Demands, they must feel the Miseries of War, under the direction of that Humanity that has hitherto distinguished Americans, 6? which it is expected you will ever consider as the Rule of your Conduct, 6? from which you are in no Instance to depart. "The Corps you are to command are to receive the pay 6? allowance of Militia 6? to act under the Laws 6? Regulations of this State now in Force as Militia. The Inhabitants at this Post will be informed by you that in Case they accede to the offers of becoming Citizens of this Commonwealth a proper Garrison will be maintained among them & every Attention bestowed to render their Commerce beneficial, the fairest prospects being opened to the Dominions of both France 6? Spain. "It is in Contemplation to establish a post near the Mouth of Ohio. Cannon will be wanted to fortify it. Part of those at Kaskasky will be easily brought thither or otherwise se- cured as circumstances will make necessary. "You are to apply to General Hand for powder & Lead necessary for this Expedition. If he can't supply it the person who has that which Capt Lynn brot from Orleans 1 can. Lead was sent to Hampshire by my orders fe? that may be delivered you. Wishing you success, I am Sir, Your rTble Serv., P. Henry." 2 Clark immediately encountered all sorts of opposition. He writes that he could have executed his long studied plan "with the greatest ease if it had not been [for the] following Conduct of many leading Men in the fronteers, that had liked to have put an end to the enterprise, not knowing my Destination, and through a spirit of obstinacy. They combined and did every thing in their power to stop the Men that had Enlisted, and set the whole Fronteers in an uproar, even condescended to harbor and protect those that Deserted. I found my case desperate, the longer I remained the worse it was — I plainly saw that my Principal Design [capture of Detroit?] was baffled — I was resolved to *See p. 487, ante. 2 Hon. Henry Pirtle, Claris Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 95-97- 494 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS push to Kentucky with what men I could gather in West Augusta; being joined by Capts Bowman and Helms, who had each raised a Compy for the Expedition, but two thirds of them was stopt by the undesign'd Enemies to the Country that I before mentioned. In the whole I had about one hun- dred 6? fifty Men Collected and set Sail for the Falls." 1 On the 12th day of May, 1778, Clark set out from Red- stone. A considerable number of families and private ad- venturers, who intended to settle at the Falls of the Ohio, joined his party. Captain Smith, on the Holston River, had previously informed Clark that he would meet him with two hundred men. "But you may easily guess at my mortification on being informed that he had not arrived; that all his [Smith's] Men had been stopt by the incessant labours of the populace, except part of a Compy that had arrived under Command of one Capt Deland. Some on their March being threatened to be put in Prison if they did not return; this information made me as Desperate as I was before Determined. "Reflecting on the Information that I had of some of my greatest opponents censureing the Governour for his Con- duct, as they thought, ordering me for the Protection of Kentucky only; that and some other secret impulses Oc- cationed me in spite of all Council to Risque the Expedition to convince them of their error until that moment, secret to the Principal Officers I had — I was sensible of the im- pression it would have on many, to be taken near a thousand [miles] from the Body of their Country to attact a People five times their number, and merciless Tribes of Indians their Allies and determined Enemies to us. "I knew my case was desperate, but the more I reflected on my weakness the more I was pleased with the Enter- prise. ... To stop the desertion I knew would ensue on Troops knowing their Destination, I had encamped on a small Island 2 in the middle of the Falls; [I] kept strict ^C\ar\ Papers, p. 117 (Mason Letter). Clark's Memoir speaks of a "Little Island of about seven acres opposite to whare the Town of Lewisville now stands." This island was later known as Corn Island. Only a small portion of it is left today. The huge dam of the hydroelectric plant recently built just be' low the Falls has raised the water in the Ohio to such level that the Rapids are no longer perceptible. James, in Life of George Rogers C\ar\ writes: "He took possession of an island 70 acres in extent."' TAKING OF KASKASKIA A7\[D CAHOKIA 4 95 Guards on the Boats, but Lieutenant Hutchings of Dil- lards Compy contrived to make his escape with his party after being refused leave to return. Luckely a few of his Men was taken the next day by a party sent after them; on this Island I first began to discipline my little Army, know- ing that to be the most essential point towards success. Most of them determined to follow me, the rest seeing no probability of making their escape, I soon got that sub- bordination as I could wish for; about twenty families that had followed me, much against my Inclination, I found now to be of service to me in guarding a Block house that I had erected on the Island to secure my Provisions. "I got every thing in Readiness on the 26th of June [1778], sett off from the Falls, double Man'd our Oars, and pro- ceeded day and Night until we run into the mouth of the Tenesse River; 1 the fourth day landed on an Island to prepare Ourselves for a March by Land; a few hours after we took a Boat of Hunters 2 but eight days from Kaskas- kias They were Englishmen, 6? appear'd to be in our Interest; their intiligence was not favorable; they asked leave to go on the Expedition, I granted it. . . . In the even- ing of the same day I run my Boats into a small Creek about one mile above the old Fort Missack [Massac], Reposed ourselves for the night, and in the morning took a Rout to the Northwest and had a very fatiegueing Journey for about fifty miles, until we came into those level Plains that is fre- quent throughout this extensive Country. x Clark knew that spies were kept on the river below the towns of the Illinois and there' fore decided to march to Kaskaskia by land — a distance of approximately 120 miles. He had only 175 men. His original plan had been to attack Vincennes first, but "as post St. Vincennes at this time was a Town of Considerable force consisting of near four Hundred Militia with an Indean Town adjoining ... I could by no means venture near it 6? Resolved to begin my Carear in the Illinois, where their was . . . less danger of being amediately overpowered by the Indeans, and in case of necessity probably make our retreat good to the Spanish side of the Mississippi. . . ." Clar\ Papers, p. 224 (Memoir). 2 John Duff and a party of hunters but lately come from Kaskaskia. They gave Clark a report of the latest developments in the Illinois country: that Gov. Abbott of Vincennes had gone to Detroit on important business; that Rocheblave commanded at Kaskaskia; that the fort and militia at Kaskaskia were kept in good order, and that "all Hunters, both Indians and others, ware ordered to keep a good lookout for the Rebels . . . but that, if we could sup' prize the place, which they ware in hopes we might, they made no doubt of our being able to do as we pleased. . . ." C\ar\ Papers, pp. 225-226 (Memoir). 496 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "As I knew my Success depended on secrecy, I was much affraid of being discovered in these Meadows, as we might be seen in many places for several miles; nothing extraor- dinary happened dureing our Route, Excepting my guide losing himself and not being able, as we judged by his con- fusion, of giving a Just account of himself; It put the whole Troops in the greatest Confusion. 111 "The cry of the whole Detachment was that he was a Traitor. 11 Clark threatened him: fct If he did not discover and take us into the Hunters Road that lead from the East into Kaskaskias . . . that I would have him Imediately put to death. 112 "I never in my life felt such a flow of Rage — to be wander- ing in a Country where every Nation of Indians could raise three, or four times our Number, and a certain loss of our enterprise by the Enemie's getting timely notice. I could not bear the thoughts of returning; in short, every idea of the sort served to put me in that passion that I did not master for some time; but in a Short time after our circumstance had a better appearance, for I was in a moment determined to put the guide to Death if he did not find his way that Evening. I told him his doom. The poor fellow, scared almost out of his wits, begged that I would stay awhile where I was and suffer him to go and make some discovery of a Road that could not be far from us, which I would not suffer for fear of not seeing him again, but ordered him to lead on the party, that his fate depended on his success; after some little pause he begged that I would not be hard with him, that he could find the Path that Evening, fie ac- cordingly took his course and in two hours got within his knowledge. "On the Evening of the 4th of July we got within three miles of the Town Kaskaskias, 3 having a River of the same name to cross to the Town. After making ourselves ready for anything that might happen, we marched after night to l Clar\ Papers, p. 119 (Mason Letter). 2 /bicL, pp. 226-227 (Memoir). 3 The march from Fort Massac to Kaskaskia required six days. "We traveled two days without any provisions, being very hungry. . . . About midnight we marched into the town.'" Joseph Bowman to George Brinker, July 30, 1778. C\ar\ Papers, p. 615. a o ■l~> •n T) rt _c! m £ U-l • 2 oo 2 t^ n OO z t-» > 1 < o M ►c CO < o CO < £ f z u o {*> -^ u < s 3 rt < o 2 -c h o C* *-> n v l-l o X THE HISTORIC BELL OF KASKASKIA— THE LIBERTY BELL OF THE WEST A Gift of the King to the Church of the Illinois This Bell was cast at La Rochelle, France, in 1745 Photograph by courtesy of Reime Studio, Belleville, Illinois TAKING OF KASKASKIA A7s(D CAHOKIA 4 97 a Farm that was on the same side of the River about a mile 1 above the Town, took the family Prisoners 2 6^ found plenty of Boats to Cross in; and in two hours Transported our- selves to the other Shore with the Greatest silence. "I learned that they had some suspician of being attacted and had made some preparations, keeping out Spies, but they, making no discoveries, had got off their Guard. I immediately divided my little Army into two Divisions, ordered one to surround the Town, with the other I broke into the Fort." 3 In his Memoir Clark writes: "With one of the Divi' tions I march of to the Fort and ordered the other two into different Quarters of the Town, that if I met with no resistance, at a certain signal a geni shout was to be given and certain part was to be amediately possessed and men of each detachmt that could speak the French language to Run through every streat and proclaim what had happened. . . . I dont suppose greator silence ever Reagnd among the In- habitants of a place than did at this present. . . . Mr. Roche- blave was secur'd but as it had been some time before he could be got out of his Room, I suppose it was in order to inform his Lady what to do to secure Publick Letters &t, as but few was got, his chamber not being Visited for the night, shee had full oppertunity of doing, but by what Means we never could learn. I dont suppose among her Trunks — although they never was examined. She must have expected the loss of even her cloaths from the Idea she entertained of us." 4 "[I] Sent Runners through the Town ordering the People on the pane of Death to keep close to their Houses, which they observed, and before daylight had the whole disarmed; nothing could excell the Confusion these People seemed to ^ear Garrison Hill, atop of which the earthworks of old Fort Kaskaskia may still be seen. 2 "In the eavining of the fourth of July ... we got with in a few miles of the Town whare we lay untill near dark, keeping spies a head, after which we continued our march and took pos- session of a House whare in a large Family lived on the [left] bank of the Kaskias River about three Quartirs of a Mille above the Town whare we ware informed that a few Days before the people ware under arms but had concluded that the cause of the allarm was without foundation and that at present all was quiet that their was great number of men [in] Town but that the Indians had gen 1 * left it. . . ." C\ar\ Papers, p. 227 (Memoir). 3 Ibid., pp. 119420 (Mason Letter). Hbid., pp. 227-228 (Memoir). 498 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS be in, being taught to expect nothing but Savage treatment from the Americans, Giving all for lost. Their lives were all they could dare beg for, which they did with the great- est fervancy; they were willing to be Slaves to save their Families. "1 told them it did not suit me to give an answer at that time, they repared to their houses trembling as if they were led to Execution; my principal would not suffer me to dis- tress such a number of People, except, through policy it was necessary. A little reflection convinced me that it was my Intrest to Attach them to me, according to my first Plan; for the Town of Cohos 6? St Vincents and the numer- ous Tribes of Indians attached to the French was yet to influence, for I was too weak to treat them any other way. "I sent for all the Principal Men 1 of the Town who came in as if to a Tribunal that was to determine their fate forever, Cursing their fortune that they were not apprised of us [in] time to have defended themselves. I told them I was sorry to find that they had been taught to harbour so base an opinion of the Americans and their Cause : Explained the nature of the dispute to them in as clear a light as I was capable of. It was certain that they were a Conquered People and by the fate of War was at my mercy and that our Principal was to make those we Reduced free instead of enslaving them as they immagined, that if I could have surety of their Zeal and attachment to the American Cause, they should immediately enjoy all the priviledges of our Government and their property secured to them, that it was only to stop farther effusion of Innocent Blood by the Savages under trie influence of their Gouvernour, that made them an object of our attention 6?c. ^he information Clark obtained from these men was that several persons then in town seemed to be inclined to the American cause; and that there were then a great many Indians in the neighborhood of Cahokia, 60 miles away. A number of the men cited to appear before Clark accused Gabriel Cerre, a prominent merchant of Kaskaskia, of encouraging the Indians to murder the whites. Cerre was at St. Louis on his way to Canada. Clark had his house guarded. Cerre, hearing of the capture of Kaskaskia, returned from St. Louis to protect his family. Clark cited Cerre and his accusers, "some of them of the American party, many of whom were in debt to him." His enemies weakened very noticeably when confronted before Clark with the victim of their lying tongues. Clark and Cerre became close friends that day. TAKIHG OF KASKASKIA A?s[D CAHOKIA 499 "No sooner had they heard this than Joy sparkled in their Eyes and [they] fell into Transports of Joy that really surprised me. As soon as they were a little moderated they told me that they had always been kept in the dark as to the dispute between America 6? Britain, that they had never heard any thing before but what was prejuditial and tended to insence them against the Americans, that they were now convinced that it was a Cause they ought to Es- pouse; that they should be happy of an oppertunity to con- vince me of their Zeal, and think themselves the happyest People in the World if they were united with the Ameri- cans, and beg'd that I would receive what said their real sentiments. . . . "I told them that an Oath of fedelity was required from the Citizens, and, to give them time ro reflect on it, I should not Admfnister it for a few days. In the meantime, any of them that chose, was at liberty to leave the Country with their families; except two or three particular Persons, that they might repair to their families, conduct themselves as usial without any dread. "The Priest that had lately come from Canada 1 had made himself a little acquainted with our dispute; Con- trary to the principal of his Brother 2 in Canada, was rather prejudiced in favour of us. He asked us if I would give him liberty to perform his duty in his Church. I told him that I had nothing to do with Churches more than to defend them from Insult. That, by the laws of the state, his Re- ligion had as great Previledges as any other/ 13 A more detailed account is given in Clark's Memoir as follows: "After some time the Priest got permition to wait on me. He came with five or six Elderly Gentn with him. How ever shocked they already ware from their present situation, the addition was obvious and great when they entered the Room whare I was siting with other Officers, a dirty, savage apperance, as we had left our Cloath at the River. We ware almost naked and torn by the Bushes and Bryers. They ware shocked, and it was some time before father Pierre Gibault. 2 Bishop Briand had issued a letter, reminding the Canadians of their oath of allegiance. See p. 469, ante. 3 Clar\Papers, pp. 120-121 (Mason Letter). 5 oo FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS they would Venture to take seats an longer before they would speak. They at last was asked what they wanted. The priest informed me (after asking which was the prin- cipal) that, as the Inhabitants expected to be separated, never perhaps to meet again, they beged through him that they might be permited to spend more time in the church to take their leave of each other 1 (I knew they expected their very Religion was obnoxtious to us). I carelesly told him that I had nothing to say to his church, that he might go their if he would, if he did, to inform the people not to ven- ture out of the Town. They attempted some other Con- versation, but was informed that we was not at leisure. They went off after answering me a few questions that I asked them with a very faint degree that they might [be] totally discouraged from petitioning again, as they had not yet come to the point I wanted. "The whole Town seem to have collected to the Church. Infants was Carried and the Houses Genly left without a person in them, without it was such that cared but little how things went, and a few others that was not so much allarmed. Order was given to prevent the soldiers entering a house. They Remained a considerable time in the church, after which the priest and many of the principal men came to me to Return thanks for the Indulgence shewn them and beged permission to address me farther on a subject that was more dear to them than any thing else. That their present situation was the fate of war. That the loss of their property they could reconsile, but was in hopes that I would not part them from their families and that the women and children might be allowed to keep some of their Cloaths and a small Quantity of provitions, that [they] ware in hopes by Industry that they might support them, that their whole conduct has been Influanced by their Comdts whome they looked upon themselves bound to obey and that they ware not shore, ware not certain of being acquainted with the nature of the American war as they had had but little op- portunity to inform themselves, that Many of [them had] frequently expressed themselves as much in favour of the Americans as they dare do. In Short, they said every thing x They knew the sad story of the deportation of the Acadians and expected the same heartless fate. TAKING OF KASKASKIA A^D CAHOKIA 501 that could be supposed that Sensible men in their allarming situation would advance. All they appeared to aim at was some lenity shewn their women and families, supposing that their goods would appease us. "I had suffitient Reason to believe that their was no Finess in all this but that they really spoke their sentiments and the height of their expectations. This was the point I wished to bring them to — I asked them very abruptly, whether or not they thought they were speaking to sava- ges; that I was certain they did from the tenor of their con- versation. Did they suppose that we ment to strip the women and children, or take the Bread out of ther mouths, or that we would condesend to make war on the women and Children or the Church; that it was to prevent the effution of Innocent blood by the Indians through the Instigation of their Comdts and Enemies that caused us to visit them, and not the prospect of Plunder, that as soon as that object was obtained, we should be perrfectly satisfied, that, as the King of France had Joined the Americans, 1 their was a probability of their shortly being an end to the War (this information very apparently effected them), they ware at liberty [to] take which side they pleased with out any dred of loosing their property or having their families distressed, as for their church, all religians would be tolerated in amer- ica, and that, so far from our Intermedling with it, that any Insult offered to it, should be punished, and to convince them that we ware not savages and Plunderers as they had conceived, that they Might return to their Families and in- form them that they might conduct themselves as utial, with all Fredom, and without apprehention of any danger, that from the information I had got since my arrivall, so fully convinced me of their being Influanced by false infor- mation from their leaders, that I was willing to forget every thing past, that their friends in confinement should ame- diately [be] Released and the guards with drawn from every part of the Town, except Seres, 2 and that I only required a complyance to a proclamation I should amediately issue 6fc. This was the substance of my reply to them. France had entered the conflict February 22, 1778. It is very probable that this develop' ment of the war was not known to the inhabitants of Kaskaskia, 2 Gabriel Cerre. See p. 498, n. 1, ante. 5 02 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "They wished to soften the Idea of my conceiving that they supposed us to be savages and Plunderers, that they had conceived that the property in all Towns belonged to those that Reduced it &?c &c. I informed them that I new that they ware taught to believe that we ware but little better than barbarians, but that we would say no more on the subject, that I wish them to go and Relieve the ancsiety of the Inhabitants. Their Feelings must be more easily guessed than expressed. They Retired and in a few minutes the Scene was changed from an almost mortal dejection to that of Joy on the extream, the Bells Ringing, 1 the Church crow[d]ed, Returning thanks, in short, every appearance of Extravagant Joy that could fill a place with almost confu' tion. . . . 2 "I ordered Majr Bowman to mount his company and part of another and a few Inhabitants, to inform their Friends what had happened, on Horses to be procured from the Town and proceed without delay and, if possible, get possession of Kohos 3 befor the Insuing morning. ... He gave orders for collecting the Horses on which Numbers of the Gentn came and informed me, that they was sensible of the design that the Troops ware much fatiegued, that they hoped I would not take it amiss at their offering themselves to Execute what ever I should wish to be done at Kohos, that the people ware their friends and relations and would follow their Example, at least, they hoped that they might be permitted to Accompany the Detachment. Conceiving that it might be good policy to shew them that we put confidence in them, and that in fact [was] what I wish[ed] for from obvious Rea- 1 This bell is commonly known as the "Liberty Bell of the West". It was cast at La Rochelle, France, in 1745, and bears the following inscription: POUR LEGLISE DES ILLINOIS A GIFT OF THE KING PAR LES SOWS DU ROI FOR THE CHURCH OF THE J Like the other "Liberty BelP it is cracked and silent. The savages it once called to Mass and Vespers are gone. Their descendants, if any, have become strangers in the land of their forefathers. Its sweet peal that once rang out the Angelus and echoed back from Fort Kas' kaskia Hill is heard no more. But the bell, such as it is today, is jealously guarded as a precious relic by the Creoles of Kaskaskia Island. 2 Clar\ Papers, pp. 229-232 (Memoir). 3 Cahokia. TAKIHG OF KASKASKIA A?iD CAHOKIA 503 sons ... I told them [if] they went they ought to [be] Equipt for War, although I was in hopes that every [thing] would be amicably Settled, but as it was the first time they ever boor arms as free men, it might be well to equip themselves and try how they felt as such, Espetially, as they ware agoing to put their friends in the Same situation 6?c. They appeared Highly pleased at the Idea and in the Eavening the Majr set out with a Troop but little Inferiour to the one we had Marched into the Cuntrey, the French being commanded by their former militia officers. These new Friends of ours was so Elated at thought of the Perade they ware to make at Kohas that they ware too much Ingaged in Equiping themselves to appear to the best advantage that it was night before the party Moved, and the distance 20 Leagues, that it was late in the Morning of the 6th before they Reach Kohokia, detaining every person they Met with. 1 ' 1 Captain Bowman 2 relates the details of their activities on the way to Cahokia: "I was ordered by our commanding officer (Colonel Clark) with thirty men mounted on horse- back, to attack three other French towns up the Missis- sippi. The first is called Parraderuski, 3 about fifteen miles from Kaskaskias; the town we had in possession; and before they had any knowledge of my arrival, I was in possession of this place, which was no small surprise to them; in con- sequence of which they were willing to comply with any terms I should propose. From thence I proceeded to St. Philip's, about nine miles higher up the river, which I like- wise took possession of. . . . From thence I proceeded to Cauhow, 4 about forty or fifty miles above St. Philip's, which contained about one hundred families. . . ." Clark continues: "They got into the borders of the Town before they ware discovered. The Inhabitants was at first much allarmed at being thus suddenly visited by strangers in a Hostile ap- pearance and ordered to surrender the Town, even by their Friends and Relations, but as the confution among the Wo- men [and] Children appeard greator than they expected l Clar\ Papers, pp. 232-233, (Memoir). 2 Bowman to John Hite, July 30, 1778. Clar\ Papers, p. 612. 3 He means Prairie du Rocher. Spelling was not a strong point with these frontier heroes. 4 Cahokia t 504 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS from the cry of the big Knife 1 being in Town, they Ame- deately assumed and gave the people a detail of what had happened at Kaskaskias. The Majr informed them not to be allarmed, that although Resistance at present was out of the question, he would convince them that he would prever their friendship than otherways, that he was au- thorised to inform them that they ware at Liberty to become Free americans, as their Friends at Kaskaskias had, or, that [they who] did not chuse it, might move out of the Cuntrey, except those that had been ingaged in Inciting the Indians to war. Liberty and Fredom & hosaing for the Americans ran thrugh the whole Town. The Kaskaskias Gentn dis- persed among their Friends. In a few hours the whole was Imicably [arranged] and Majr Bowman snugly Quartered in the old British Fort 2 . ... A considerable number of Indians that was then incampt in the Neighberhood, as this was a principal post of Trade, amediately fled. One of them that was at St. Louis some time after this got a Letter wrote to me excusing himself for not paying me a Visit." 3 "In a few days the Inhabittants of the Country took the Oath Subscribed by Law; and every Person appeared to be happy; Our friends the Spanyards doing every thing in their power to convince me of their friendship. A Cor- respondence immediately commenced between the Gouv- ernour 4 and myself." 5 Fernando de Leyba had superseded Don Francesco Crusat in the government of upper Louisiana in the month of July, 1778. Later, Clark wrote to Mason: "An intamacy had commenced between Don Leybrau, Lieut. Governour of Western Illinois and myself. He omited nothing in his Power to prove his Attachment to the Americans with Clark's own marginal note to the Memoir reads: "Big Knife is a name we ware gen' erally known to the westward and much dreaded by the Indians at the time." 2 The "old British Fort" was the former house of the Seminary Fathers in charge of the Mission of the Holy Family at Cahokia. Bowman in his letter to Hirte says that it was "a large stone house, well fortified for war — I was immediately threatened by a man of the place, that he would call in 150 Indians to his assistance, and cut me off. This fellow I took care to secure, but lay upon arms the whole night; this being the third night without sleep." Clar\ Papers, p. 614. Hbid., p. 233 (Memoir). 4 De Leyba. Hbid., p. 122 (Mason Letter). TAKING OF KASKASKIA A?s[D CAHOKIA 505 such openness as left no room for doubt; as I was never before in Compy of any Spanish gent I was much surprised in my expectations; for instead of finding that reserve thought peculiar to the Nation, I here saw not the least symptoms of it, Freedom almost to excess gave the greatest Pleasure. "* iClar^ Papers, p. 129 (Mason Letter). There is a tradition, somewhat confused, it is true, that Clark "met, loved, and became bethrothed to Terese, the beautiful young sister of the Spanish Lieutenant'Caverncr." But, unhappily for himself, Clark assumed tremendous personal obligations to finance the Illinois campaign. He was financially ruined, and, so tradition tells the story, he told Terese he could never marry her, nor did he ever marry an' other. After the death of her brother at St. Louis, Terese went to New Orleans and ulti' mately returned to Spain, where she devoted her life to the service of God in a convent and died in 1821. Bodley, op. cit., pp. 89 and 368. See also Palmer, op. cit., pp. 291-304. "IKLFIHITE IMPORTANCE" OF VmCE?iHES— FA- THER GIBAULT AKP DR. LAFFOW—THE WIH- TilJiG OF VWCEKtHES Clark writes in his Memoir: 'Tost St. Vincenes 1 I found to be a place of Infinite Importance to us to gain, it was now my object, but sensible that all the force we had, Joined by every man in Kentucky, would not be able to approach it, I resolved on other Measures than that of arms." 2 Clark fully realised the precarious situation he was in. By a daring drive, he had, indeed, captured the farthest post in the back-country, but, could he hold his position? That was the question that agitated his mind. Hundreds of miles lay between him and the nearest reenforcements in Kentucky, and he knew no assistance could be expected from that quarter. With the 175 men he had brought into the Illinois country he was holding Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and the stretch of country that lay between them. Then, too, there was Vincennes, a British fort, that lay between him and Kentucky. What if a force from that post marched against him? He would be hopelessly lost. He must get posses- sion of Vincennes. But, "as the whole was appris'd of me, I was by no means able to march against it (their Governour 3 a few months before going to Detroyet). I was resolved, if possible, to win their affection, which I thought myself in a fair way of doing. More fully to know the sentiments of the Inhabitants about there; And to execute my Plans, I pretended that I was about to send an Express to the falls of Ohio for a Body of Troops to Join me at a certain place in order to at tact it; it soon had the desired effect. Advo- cates immediately appeared among the people in their be- half." 4 ir The English as well as the Americans seem to have taken for granted that every French post bore the name of a saint, and thus Vincennes became "St. Vincenes v ' and "St Vincent." One would not have been surprised had Bowman written "St. Parraderuski" for Prairie du Rocher. The British named Post Vincennes "Fort Sackville". 2 Clar\Papers, p. 234 (Memoir). 3 E. A. Abbott. Hbid., p. 122, (Mason Letter). 506 THE WITiHIHG OF VIHCEHHES 507 It was like the judgment of Solomon. Clark reasoned blood would tell, and so it did. Many of the people of Vincennes were blood relations of the Kaskaskians, and so the latter spoke up to defend them from harm that might come to them from an armed attack upon the village and fort. Then, too, the people at Vincennes were Father Gibault's parishioners, whom he felt in duty bound to pro- tect. He spoke to Clark about the matter, who records it as follows: "Mr. Jeboth, the Priest . . . offered to under- take to win that Town for me, if I would permit him and let a few of them go; they made no doubt of gaining their friends at St. Vincents to my Interest; the Priest told me he would go himself, and gave me to understand, that, al- though he had nothing to do with temporal business, that he would give them such hints in the Spiritual way that would be very conducive to the business. 1 ' 1 The two men learned to understand each other, and became close friends. Clark writes in his Memoir: "From some things that I had learnt [I] had some reason to suspect that Mr Jebault, the Priest, was inclined to the American Interest previous to our arrival in the Cuntrey and now, great respect showed him having great Influance over the people 2 at this period, St Vincent also being under his Jurisdiction. I made no doubt of his Integrity to us. I sent for him and had long conferance with him on the subject of St Vincenes. In answer to all my Queries he informed me, that he did not think it was worth my while to cause any Military prepara- tion to be made at the Falls for the attack of St Vincenes. Although the place was strong and a great number of Indians in its Neighberhood, that, to his Knowledge, was Genly at war; that Govr Abbot had a few weaks left the place on some business to DeTroit; that he expected that when the In- habitants was fully acquainted with what had past at the Illinois, and the present happiness of their Friends, and made fully acquainted with the nature of the war, that their Sentiments would greatly change; that he knew that his appearance their would have great weight, Eaven among the savages; that, if it was agreable to me, he would take l C\ar\?apers, p. 122 (Mason Letter). 2 The meaning is not quite clear, but seems to be this: The great respect the people had for Father Gibault was a proof that he had great influence over them . 5 o8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS this business on himself and had no doubt of his being able to bring that place over to the American Interest without my being at the Trouble of Marching Troops against it; that, his business being altogether Spiritual, he wished that another person might be charged with the Temporal part of the Embassy, but that he would privately direct the whole fefc. He named Doctr Lafont as his assosiate. "This was perfectly agreable to what I had been secretly aiming at for some Days. The plan was amediately setled and the Two Doctors with their intended Retinue, among whom I had a spie, Set about prepairing for their Journey and set out on the 14 th of July with the Following Adress and great numbers of Letters from their Friends to the In- habitants. . . ."* The letter of instructions 2 to Jean B. Lafont reads as follows : Fort Clark 3 14 July 1778. Sir, Having the good fortune to find two men like Mr. Gibault and yourself to carry and to present my address to the inhabitants of Post Vincennes, I do not doubt that they will become good citizens and friends of the states. Please disabuse them as much as it is possible to do, and in case they accept the propositions made to them, you will assure them that proper attention will be paid to rendering their commerce beneficial and advanta- geous; but in case those people will not accede to offers so reasonable as those which I make them, they may expect to feel the miseries of a war un- der the direction of the humanity which has so far distinguished the Americans. If they become citizens you will cause them to elect a commander from among themselves, raise a company, take possession of the fort and the munitions of the King, and defend the inhabitants till a greater force can be sent there. (My address will serve as a commission.) The inhabitants will furnish l C\ar\?apers, pp. 237-238 (Memoir). 2 Ibid., pp 53-55 3 After the capture of Kaskaskia, Fort Gage became Fort Clark. THE WIHHIHP OF VIHCEHHES 509 victuals for the garrison which will be paid for. The inhabitants and merchants will trade with the savages as customarily, but it is necessary that their influence tend towards peace, as by their influence they will be able to save much inno- cent blood on both sides. You will act in concert with the priest, who I hope will prepare the in- habitants to grant you your demands. If it is necessary to grant presents to the savages, you will have the kindness to furnish what shall be necessary provided that it shall not ex- ceed the sum of 200 piastres. I am Sir, respectfully your very humble and very obedient servant G. R. Clark. The Memoir continues: "Mr Jebault and party arrive[d] safe and after their spending a day or two in Explaining Matters to the people, they Universally acceeded to the propotial (except for a few Europeans that was left by Mr. Abbot, that amediately left the Cuntrey) arid went in a body to the church whare the Oath of Allegiance was ad- ministered to them in the Most Solem Manner, an officer was Elected, and the Fort Amediately [taken possession of], and the American Flag displayed to the astonishment of the Indians, and every thing setled far beyond our most sanguine hopes. 1 ' 1 How Clark's plenipotentiaries, Dr. Jean B. Laffont and Father Gibault, transacted the delicate business entrusted to them is interestingly told by Esra Mattingly: "A priest, Father Gibault, volunteered to secure Vin- cennes. His services being accepted, he left, accompanied by Moses Henry, Indian Agent, and Dr. Lefont. Father Gibault talked to the leading citizens as he visited them in his official capacity, and finding them ready to revolt, he soon laid his plans for capture. On Sunday August 6th, 1778, 2 l C\ar\ Papers, p. 238 (Memoir). 2 This date is evidently wrong. According to James, who quotes the text of the oath from the original, the oath of allegiance was taken July 20, 1778. This date would seem correct. Clark states that Father Gibault and party returned to Kaskaskia about the 1st of August. See p. 510, post. 5io FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS the people went to Church. Services being over, Francis Bosseron, a French merchant, arose and asked the priest for information concerning Clark and his conduct and in- tentions. The reply showed that he would soon appear before Vincennes able to conquer it. Prospect of war was decisive; a proposition that Vincennes declare itself for America was unanimously accepted and Dr. Lefont adminis- tered the oath to the congregation. The people marched to the Fort, which was at once surrendered by its commander, St. Marie, 1 who was glad to do so, and in a few days the stars and stripes first floated in the winds that blew over the great state of Indiana. The flag was made by Madame Goddan of Vincennes, on order of Francis Bosseron, for which she received ten livres, and was hoisted August 8th, 1778." 2 The oath of allegiance 3 of the inhabitants of Vincennes reads: "You take an oath upon the holy Gospels of God Almighty to renounce all fealty to George III, King of Great Britain and his successors, and to be loyal and true subjects of the Republic of Virginia, as a free and independent State, and that I will never do or cause to be done any thing or matter which might be prejudicial to liberty; and I will inform a judge of the aforesaid State of any treasons or con- spiracies which will come to my knowledge against the aforementioned State or any other of the United States of America. In faith of which we have signed our names at Post Vincennes, July 20th, 1778. Vive le Congress." 4 Clark's Memoir continues: "The people hear [Vincennes] amediately began to put on a new face and to talk in a dif- ferent Stile and to act as perfect Fremen with a Garison of their own, with the United States at their Elbows. Their Language to the Indians was Amediately altered. They began as Citizens of the States and informed the Indians that their old Father, the King of France, was come to Life : The name of St. Marie does not appear in the list of those who took the oath, though four names are completely torn out. However, August 22, 1780, Joseph St. Marie signed a Memorial of the citizens of Vincennes to the French Minister Lucerne. C\ar\ Taper s, p. 449. 2 Quoted by Joseph L. Thompson in Illinois Catholic Historical Review, vol. I., number 2, p. 236. 3 Clar\Papers,p.56. 4 "Long live Congress." THE WIWilHG OF VIHCEHHES 511 again and had Joined the Big Knife as was Mad at them for Fighting for the English, that they would advise them to make peace with the Americans as soon [as] they could, otherways they might expect the Land to be very Blody &?c 6?c. They began to think seriously throughout those Cuntreys. . . . "Mr. Jebault and party accompanied by several gentn of St Vincenes Returned about the first of August with the Joyfull News. During his absence on this business, which caused great ancsiety in me (for without the possession of this post all our Views would have been blasted), I was exceedingly Ingaged in Regulating of things in the Illinois." 1 Here was a post 2 that Clark considered "of infinite im- portance to us to gain," 3 for, "without the possession of this post all our Views would have been blasted," 4 but "all the force we had, Joined by every man in Kentucky, would not have been able to approach it." 5 "I was by no means able to march against it." 6 "I wanted men." 7 Yet, this strategically important place was won for Clark and the American cause by Father Gibault and Dr. Laffont without firing a single gun, without shedding a drop of blood. This business had been to Clark a source of "great ancsiety," and the report of its successful termination was "Joyfull News" to him. One can readily imagine with what eager enthusiasm Clark listened to the report of his voluntary envoys. They had reached Vincennes, they had explained the cause of the Americans to the people there, and that was the all- important matter. More than that, a number of Father Gibault's parishioners had come along to Kaskaskia to meet Clark. Personal contact with these people had been estab- lished, and that, he hoped, would tell in an emergency. l C\ar\ Tapers, p. 239 (Memoir). 2 "Fort Sackville [Vincennes] . . . was a well'built wooden fort inclosing three acres of ground and located but a few feet back from the river [Wabash] . The four bastions, each surmounted by three guns, were built of solid logs and stood 12 feet above the level of the general wall, itself 11 feet in height." James, op. cit., p. 122. Hbid., p. 234 (Memoir). 4 Ibici, p. 239 (Memoir). Hbid., p. 234 (Memoir). 6 Ibid., p. 122 (Mason Letter). Ubid., p. 123 (Mason Letter). 5 i2 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Governor Patrick Henry highly appreciated the signal ser- vices of these two men. In a letter to Clark, dated December 15, 1778, he wrote : "I beg you will present my Compliments to Mr Gibault 6? Doct Lafong 6? thank them for me for their good Services to the State. ' n That the British retook Vincennes does not lessen the merit of Gibault and Laffont; that was due to the weakness of Clark's forces. The possession of Vincennes, even for a short time, had served its purpose. Without the first pos' session, Clark could never have taken it from Hamilton in 1779. The plenipotentiaries had occasion to explain the Ameri- can side of the war to the inhabitants of Vincennes. Being a British post, Vincennes had heard only the British version of the underlying questions. Gibault had also been the bearer of "spirited compliments" from Clark to "an Indian chief, called Tobaccos son, 1 ' the "Grand Door of the waubash," so powerful "that nothing of Importance was . . . undertaken by the League of the Waubash without his assent.' 12 Thus a first friendly con- tact had been established with the Indians of the Wabash, a contact that, through the diplomacy of Clark and Helms, developed into staunch and loyal friendship to the Americans. Father Gibault and Laffont told the people about Clark and how he had granted them liberties and freedom of religion. They heard so much about Clark that they were anxious to see him. They also heard that Clark was the friend of Father Gi- bault, their pastor, and they were ready to receive him any time it pleased him to knock at their doors. Patrick Henry to Clark, December 15, 1778. C\ar\ Papers, p. 87- December 12, 1778, the Virginia Council forwarded Instructions to Colonel George Rogers Clar\e Commander in Chief of the Virginia Troops in the County ofllllinois. These instructions were written by Governor Henry and approved by the Council. The Council considers Clark's situation critical and recommends that he cultivate the good-will and friendship of the French and Indians. "With their concurrence, great Things may be accomplished. . . . "Upon a fair presumption that the people about Detroit have Similar Inclinations with those at Illinois and Wabash, I think it possible, that they may be brought to expell their British Masters 6? become fellow Citizens of a free State. "I recommend this to your Serious Consideration, and to consult with some confidential persons on the Subject, perhaps Mr. Gibault the Priest (to whom this Country owes many Thanks for his Zeal and Services) may promote this affair. . . ." C\ar\ Papers, pp. 79'80. 2 Ibid., p. 241 (Memoir). THE WIHHIHG OF VIHCEJiNES 513 The information, imparted to the people of Vincennes as to friends, prepared the way for Clark's capture of that post — in fact, was an indispensable prerequisite. Without the achievement of Gibault and LafFont, Clark's march through a strange country and his taking of Fort Sackville with the aid of the people of Vincennes, already friendly to his cause, are unthinkable. Without Gibault and LafFont, there would be no reason for erecting a statue to Clark at Vincennes. CLARK EHTERS D^TO TREATIES WITH IKDIAHS —ATTEMPT OF MEADOW ITiDIAlsiS TO CAPTURE HIM AT CAHOKIA— CLARK'S BRAVADO INTIMIDATES SAVAGES Being now "in possession of the whole' ' of the country, Clark found his "Situation to be more disagreeable, " for, as he writes, "I wanted Men." 1 He realised this the more at each step in "Regulating of things in the Illinois." The enlistment of most of his men terminated "three months after their arrival at that place." He had to replenish his ranks. Clark himself writes to Mason: "The greatest part of my Men was for returning, as they were no longer Ingaged. Surrounded by numerous Nations of Savages, whose minds had been long poisoned by the English, It was with difficulty that I could Support that Dignity that was necessary to give my orders that force that was neces- sary, but by great preasents and promises I got about one hundred of my Detachment Enlisted for eight months, and, to colour my staying with so few Troops, I made a faint of returning to the Falls, as though I had sufficient confidence in the People, hoping that the Inhabitants would remon- strate against my leaving them, which they did in the warm- est terms, proving the necessity of the Troops at that place, that they were affraid if I returned, the English would again possess the Country. Then, seemingly by their request, I agreed to stay with two Companies of Troops, and that I hardly thought, as they alleg'd that so many was neces- sary; but if more was wanted I could get them at any time from the Falls; where they were made to believe was a Con- siderable Garrison. "As soon as possible [I] sent off those that could not be got to stay, with Mr. Rochblanch and Letters to his Excel- lency, letting him know my situation and the necessity of Troops in the Country. Many of the French [being] fond of the service, the different Companies soon got Compleat." 2 Hbid., p. 123 (Mason Letter). Hbid. 514 "REGULATING THINGS W THE ILLINOIS" 515 Clark appointed French officers, which stimulated the enlisting of young Frenchmen. Thereupon he established a garrison at Cahokia under command of Captain Bowman, arid another at Kaskaskia under Captain Williams. Col. Linn was placed in command of those who were to be discharged at the Falls. "Captn John Montgomery was dispatched to Government with Let™ and also Conducted Mr. Roche- blave 1 thither." 2 Of Vincennes Clark writes: "[I] plainly saw it would be highly necessary to have an American officer at that post. Captn L. Helms appeared Calculated to answer my pur- pose; he was past the Meridian of life and a good deal ac- quainted with Indian business. I sent him to Command at that post and also appointed him Agent for Indian affar [affairs] in the Department of the waubash." 3 "Domestick affairs being partly well settled, the Indian Department [be] came next the object of my attention and of the greatest importance. "My sudden appearance in their Country put them under the greatest consternation. They was generally at War against us, but the French and Spainyards appearing so fond of us, confused them. They counciled with the French Traders to know what was best to be done, and of course was advised to come and selicit for peace, and did not doubt but we might be good Friends. iPhillippe de Rocheblave had served with distinction in the French and Indian War, particularly at the Battle of Monongahela, July, 1755. He also conducted a detachment of men and ammunition from Fort de Chartres to Fort Massac during this war. April 11, 1763, the banns of marriage were published for the third time, at Kaskaskia, between Phillippe Francois de Rastel, chevalier de Rocheblave, and Michel Marie Dufresne, daughter of Jacques Michel Dufresne, an officer of the Kaskaskia militia. After the Conquest he commanded at Ste. Genevieve, then under Spanish regime. Discharged by O Reilly, he returned to Kas' kaskia and was appointed by Governor Carleton to watch developments in the Illinois coun' try. Sent to Virginia as prisoner, he escaped to Canada in 1780. Rocheblave had two sons: Noel, who was accidentally drowned while on his way to Detroit, and Pierre, who became a wealty merchant at Montreal. The last descendant of this family, a daughter of Pierre, died at Montreal in 1914. She was noted for her nobie character, charity and liberality, and people spoke of her only as Miss Mademoiselle de Rocheblave. P'G. Roy, Bulletin des Recherches Historiques, IV., p. 357- 2 Clar\ Papers, p. 240 (Memoir). 3 Ibid., p. 240 (Memoir). 516 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS "It may appear otherwise to You, but [I] always thought we took the wrong method 1 of treating with Indians, and strove as soon as possible to make myself acquainted with the French and Spanish mode, which must be prefferable to ours, otherwise they could not possibly have such great in- fluence among them; when thoroughly acquainted with, it exactly Coinsided with my own idea, and Resolved to follow that same Rule as near as Circumstances would permit. tc The Kaskaskias, Peoreanas & Mechegames immediately treated for peace; I sent letters and speaches by Capt Helms to the Chief of the Kickebues & Peankeshaws residing at Post St Vincents, desireing them to lay down their Toma- hawk, and if they did not chuse it, to behave like Men and fight for the English as they had done; but they would see their great father, as they called him, given to the Dogs to eat (gave Harsh language to supply the want of Men; well knowing that it was a mistaken notion in many that soft speeches was best for Indians), But if they thought of giving their hands to the Big knives, to give their Hearts also, and that I did not doubt but after being acquainted, that they would find that the Big knives of better Principals than what the bad Birds the English had taught them to believe. 1 ' 2 Clark displayed remarkable talent for reaching the hearts and minds of the simple forest folks. He explained the nature of the war between the Big Knives (Americans) and the English as follows: "That a great many years ago, our fore- fathers lived in England, but the King oppressed them in such a manner that they were obliged to Cross the great Waters to get out of his way; But he, not being satisfied to loose so many Subjects, sent Governours and Soldiers among them to make them obey his Laws, but told his Governours to treat them well and take but little from them until they grew populus, that then they would be able to pay a great deal. By the good treatment we got, we grew to be a great People and flourished fast — The King then wrote to his ^or the French method of dealing with the Indians, see pp. 333-335 and 377, ante. "He [Clark] concluded that the States' method of dealing with the Indians had been wrong. . . . The old method had been that of bargaining. The Indians had been approached with bribes in return for land grants or raising or burying the tomahawk. The British could afford bribes and Clark could not. . . . The Indians should have presents for being good, not to make them good." Palmer, op. cit., pp. 253'254. *Clar\ Papers, p. 123 (Mason Letter). "REGULATING THINGS W THE ILLINOIS" 517 Gouvernour €sP Officers that we had got Rich and numerous enough, that it was time to make us pay tribute, that he did not care how much they took, so as they left us enough to eat, and that he had sent them a great many soldiers to make the Americans pay if they refused, that when they had made the Americans do as they pleased, they would then make the Indians pay likewise; But for fear the In- dians should find it out by the Big Knives that the English intended to make them also pay, 6? Should get mad with the English for their treatment to their neighbours the Big Knives, that they, his Governours, should make us Quarrel 6?c. "We bore their Taxes for many Years, at last they were so hard that, if we killed a Deer, they would take the Skin away and leave us only the Meat, 1 and make us buy Blankets with corn to fead their Soldiers with. By such usage we got Poor and was obliged to go naked; And at last we com- plained — The King got mad and made his Soldiers Kill some of our People and Burn some of our Villages. The Old Men then held a great Council and made the Tomahawk very sharp and put it into the hand of the young Men, told them to be strong and Strike the English as long as they could find one on this Island. They immediately struck and Killed a great many of the English. The French King, hearing of it, sent to the Americans and told them to be strong and fight the English like Men, that, if they wanted help or Tomahawks, he would furnish them St. &c. 2 "They received the Speeches from the Capt with another of his own, and after some Consultation they resolved to take the Big Knives by the hand and came to a conclusion of Peace — And said the Americans must be Warriers and no deceivers, or they would never have spoke as they did; that they liked such People; and that the English was Liers and they would listen to them no longer. . . ." 3 With keen forethought, Clark had sent "spirited compli- ments by Mr Jebault 11 (July, 1778) to a distinguished and in- fluential Piankeshaw chief, "Tobaccos son, 11 whom the Indians called the "Grand Door to the waubash," because his influence and power were so great "that nothing of Importance was to J At that time the skins were of greater value than the meat. 2 Clar\ Papers, p. 125 (Mason Letter). Hbid., p. 124. 5 i8 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS be undertaken by the League on the Waubash without his assent. 11 The chief had been flattered by Clark's compliments, and had returned them by Father Gibault. Clark writes: "I now, by Captn Helms, Touched him on the same spring that I had done the Inhabitants. . . . in Helms "touched 11 the Grand Door to the Wabash so effectually that Tobacco announced they intended to serve the Big Knives, and that he would "tell all the Red people on the waubash to blody the Land no more for the English and Jumpt up, struck his Breast, Called himself a Man and a warriour, and said he was now a Big knife. . . , 112 Clark's treaty-making at Cahokia was a more exciting, and for a time, at least, an extremely hazardous affair. Clark writes to Mason: "It was with astonishment that I viewed the Amaseing number of Savages that soon flocked into the Town of Cohos to treat for peace, and to hear what the Big Knives had to say, many of them 500 miles distant, Chipoways, Ottoways, Petawatomies, Missesogies, Puans, Sacks, Foxes, Sayges, Tauways, Mawmies and a number of other Nations all living east of the Messicippa and many of them then at War against us. 3 "I must confess that I was under some apprehention among such a number of Devils, and it proved to be just, for the second or third night, a party of puans 6? others endeav- ored to force by the Guards into my Lodgings to Bear me off; but was happily Detected and made Prisoners by the elacrity of the Sergea[n]t. 114 Clark's Memoir gives the details of this attack: "A party of what is called Meadow Indians that Rove about among the different Nations . . . was informed that [if] they would contrive to take me off, they would get a great reward &c. They came Down as others had done, pretending to treat for peace. They ware lodged in the yard of Mr Bradies . . . Vbid., p. 241. 2 Clar\ Papers, pp. 241-242 (Memoir). Tobacco remained a true friend to the Americans. 3 These savages had heard of the happenings at Kaskaskia and came down the Mississippi to see if the strange reports that had come to them were really true. At Cahokia "they found the palefaces 1 fort, which the French and then the British had said would forever command the Father of Waters, was, indeed, flying a new flag, the Big Knife flag." Palmer, op. cit , p. 255. Hbid., p. 125 (Mason Letter). "REGULATING THINGS Di THE ILLINOIS" 519 about one Hu[n]dred yards from my Quarters and nearly the same distance fronting the Fort, the Little River Kohokias passing fronting the Houses on the opposite side of that part of the streat, 1 which was there about knee deep . . . They listened to what was passing, Loitired about and got pretty well acquainted With our people. . . . They had ob- served the House I lodged in 2 . . . and had supposed the Guards to be but few. [They] formed ther plan in the following mariner. Some of them was to cross the River, fire of their Guns ... on which they ware to attempt to get in under the protection of the Quarter Guard, as [though] flying from other Indians, their Enemies, that had fired on them across the River. If they suckceeded, to Butcher the Guard and Carry myself off. A few nights after ther ar- rival they made the attempt about one aclock. . . ." 3 "The Town took the alarm and was immediately under Arms which convinced the Savages that the French were in our Interest. ... I immediately ordered the Chiefs to be put into Irons by the French Militia. They insisted that it was only to see whether the French would take part with the Americans or not, that they had no ill Design. This treat- ment of some of the greatest Chiefs among them occationed great confusion among the rest of the Savages. The Pris- oners, with great submission celicited to speak to me, but was refused. They then made all the interest they possibly could amongst the other Indians (who was much at a loss what to do, as there was Strong Guards through every Quar- ter of the Town) to get to speak to me; but I told the whole that I believed they were a set of Villians, that they had Joined the Inglish and that they were welcome to continue in the Cause they had espoused; that I was a Man and a Warrier; that I did not care who was my Friends or Foes; and had no more to say to them. "Such conduct Alarmed the whole Town, but I was sensible that it would gain us no more Enemies than we had already, and if they after selicited for terms, that it would be more sincere, and probably a lasting good effect on the Stream. 2 To show the Indians he did not fear them Clark would not stay at the fort. See p. 520. 3 Clar\ Papers, pp. 248-249 (Memoir). 5 2o FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Indian Nations. Distrust was visible in the Countenance of almost every Person during the latter part of the day. "To shew the Indians that I disregarded them, I remained in my Lodging in the Town about one hundred Yards from the Fort, seemingly without a guard, but kept about fifty Men conceiled in a Parlour adjoining, and the Garrison under Arms; there was great Counciling among the Savages dure- ing the Night; But to make them have the greater idea of my Indifferency about them : I assembled a Number of Gen- tlemen 6? Ladies, and danced nearly the whole Night. "In the morning I summoned the different Nations to a grand Council, and the Chief, under Guard, released and invited to Council that I might speak to them in presence of the whole. ... I produced a Bloody Belt of wampom and spoke to them in the following manner: I told the Chief that was Guilty, that I was Sencible their Nation was en- gaged in favour of the English, and if they thought it right, I did not blame them for it, and exhorted them to behave like Men and support the Cause they had undertaken; that I was Sensible that the English was weak and wanted help; that I scorned to take any advantage of them by Persuading their Friends to desert them; that there was no People but Americans, but would put them to death for their late be- haviour; That it convinced me of their being my Enemies. But it was beneath the Character of Americans to take such revenge, that they were at their Liberty to do as they pleas'd, But to behave like Men and not do any mischief until three days after they left the Town, that I should have them es- corted safe out of the Village, and after that expiration of time, if they did not choose to return and fight me, they might find Americans enough by going farther, That if they did not want their own Women and Children massecred, they must leave off killing ours and only fight Men under Arms, which was commendable; that there was the War Belt, We should soon see which of us would make it the most Bloody &C — Then told them that it was customary among all Brave Men to treat their Enemies well when assembled as we were; that I should give them Provisions 6? Rum, while they staid, but by their behavior I could not conceive that they deserved that appellation, and I did not care how soon they left after that day. . . , "REGULATING THINGS IK THE ILLINOIS" 521 "The whole looked like a parcel of Criminals. The other Nations rose and made many submissive Speeches excusing themselves for their conduct in a very pretty manner and something noble in their sentiments ; they alledged that they were persuaded to War by the English . . . that they did not speak from their lips only, but that I should hereafter find that they spoke from their Hearts, and that they hoped I would pitty their blindness and their Women and Chil- dren; and also selicited for their Friends that had been Guilty of the late crime. "I told them that I had instructions from the Great Man of the Big Knives not to ask Peace from any People, but to offer Peace and War, and let them take their Choice ... I presented them with a Peace 6? War Belt and told them to take their choice; excepting those who had been Imprisoned. They with a great deal of seeming Joy took the Belt of Peace 1 ." The Councils at Cahokia lasted five weeks during August and September, 1778, and every day the captive chiefs, shackled in irons, were "brought into the Counsel, but not suf- fered to speak, and on finishing with the others I had their Irons taken off." Thereupon Clark poured over them the hot lava of his vitriolic sarcasm: that "all people said they ought to Die," that it was contemptible to "watch and Ketch a Bear sleaping," that they were "only old women and too mean to be killed by a B. Knife," that, since they were "only old women," they "ought to [be] punished for puting on Britch Cloath," that "as long as you stay hear you shall be treated as all skaws [squaws] ought to be," etc. "After some time they Rose and advanced with a Belt and Pipe of Peace ... a Sword laying on the Table, I Brok ther Pipe and told them that B. K. [Big Knives] never treated with women." When other chiefs rose and spoke in behalf of the pris- oners, Clark told them that he "had never made war upon them, that if the B. K. come across such people in the woods, they commonly shot them down as they did wolves to pre- vent ther Eating the Dear, but never Talked about it &c." 2 "At last two young men advanced to the Middle of the Floor, set down and flung their Blankets over their heads. . . . l C\ar\ Papers, pp. 126-127 (Mason Letter). 2 Ibid, 250 (Memoir). 522 FROM QUEBEC TO ?iEW ORLEANS Two of the chiefs with a pipe stood by them . . . [and] of- fered those two young men as an attonement for their guilt . . . The two young men . . . frequently would push the Blanket aside as if impatient to know their fate ... I ordered the young men to Rise and oncover themselves ... I con- cluded by saying, that it was only such men as them that [should be] chiefs of a nation, that through them the B. K. granted Piece and Friendship to their people, that I took them by the Hand as my Brothers and chiefs of their Nation and I expected that all present would acknowledge them as such. I first presented them to my own officers, to the French and Spanish Gentn present, and Lastly to the Indians, the whole greeting them as chiefs and ended the Business by having them Saluted by the Garison." 1 After sitting through wearisome Indian Council cere- monies and listening to endless speeches for five long weeks, Clark was glad to get back to Kaskaskia to "have a moments Leasure: which was taken up with deeper Reflections than I ever before was Acquainted with. My situation and weakness convinced me that more depended on my own Behaviour and Conduct, than all the Troops I had, far re- moved from the Body of my Country; Situated among French, Spanyards and Numerous Bands of Savages on every Quar- ter." 2 Weeks and months went by. Clark enforced "Strict subordination among the Troops, 1 ' drilled his raw and un- disciplined men, and continued to occupy his mind with "deeper Reflections." "But no Intiligence from St Vincents!" 3 Brave Captain Helms had indeed sent out "Intiligence" in the form of an urgent appeal for relief, but the message had not reached Clark — it had been intercepted by Hamilton. December 17, 1778, Helms had sent the following des- perate call for help: "Dear Sir, "At this time theer is an army within three miles of this place. I heard of their comin several days beforehand; sent *C\ar\ Papers, pp. 249-252 (Memoir). 2 Ibid. y p. 129 (Mason Letter). 3 Ibtd., p. 132 (Mason Letter). "KEGULATIHG THINGS W THE ILLINOIS" 523 spies to find the certainty. The Spies being taken prison- ers, I never got intelligence till they got within 3 miles of the town. As I had calld the militia 6? had all assurance of their integrity, I ordered, at the fireing of a Cannon, every man to apear, but I saw but few. Capt Burron [Bosseron] behaved much to his honour and Credit, but I doubt the certaint[y] of a certain gent. Ecuse hast as the army is in sight. My Determination is to defend the Garrison, though I have but 21 men but wht has lef me. I referr you to Mr Wms for the test [rest]. The army is in three hun- dred yd [yards] of village. You must think how I feel, not four men that I can really depend on, but am determined to act brave. Think of my condition. I know its out of my power to defend the town, as not one of the militia will take arms, thoug before sight of the army, no braver men. Their is a flag at a small distance. I must conclud. Yr. humble servt LeoD Helm." 1 Hamilton reached Vincennes with five hundred men, counting the Indians, December 17, 1778. It was a cold, wintry day, — "it snowed, 11 writes Hamilton, "and blew fresh from day-break till one o'clock, when to my surprise I perceived the Rebel flag still flying at the fort. 11 Major Hay, who had been sent forward to hoist "St. George's flag," sent word back to Hamilton "that the [Helm] would not strike his colors till he knew what terms he was to have!" "He was answered humane treatment, that no other terms would be mentioned." 2 Thereupon the "Rebel flag" was struck, and "St. George's flag" again floated over Fort Sackville, only to be taken down definitely a few months later by George Rogers Clark. Clark writes of these critical days in his Memoir: "No information from St Vincents for some time past ... we began to suspect some thing was wrong. We sent spies that did not Return and we remained in a state of suspence." 3 . 79. Agreed to for the following Reasons — The Remoteness of Succour, the state and Quantity of Provisons Ss?c. The Unanimity of officers and men on its expediency. The Hon'ble Terms allowed and lastly the confi- dence in a Generous enemy. Henry Hamilton L. Govr & Supr Intends" 3 Hamilton's report has a pathetic note that arouses a touch of sympathy for the much hated "Hair Buyer" General. l C\ar\ Tapers, pp. 144445 (Mason Letter). 2 lbid., p. 288 (Memoir). 3 Ibid., pp. 145 and 162 (Bowman s Journal). 5 56 FROM QUEBEC TO HEW ORLEANS Hamilton: "Having given the necessary orders, I pass'd the night in sorting papers and in preparing for the disagreable ceremony of the next day. "Mortification, disappointment, and indignation had their turns. "At ten o'clock in the morning of the 25th, we marched out with fix'd Bayonets and the Soldiers with their knapsacks — the colors had not been hoisted this morning, that we might be spared the mortification of hawling them down." 1 Clark: "The Morning of the 25th aproaching, arrange- ments ware made for receiving the Garrison, and about 10 Oclock it was delivered in Form." 2 Bowman: "25th About 10 O Clock Capt. Bowman & Capt. McCarty Companies paraded on the one side of the Fort Gate, Govr Hamilton and his Garrison Marched out, whilst Col. Clark, Capts Williams & Wetheringtons comp'y marched into the fort, Reliev'd the Gentry's, hoisted the Amer- ican colors — Secur'd all their arms. Govr Hamilton marched back to the fort, shut the Gates — Orders for 13 Cannon to be fired. " 3 Fine Sport for the Sons of Liberty! THE EHP OF BRITISH DOMIHATIOH IK THE ILLINOIS COUHTRT FINIS Hamilton's Report, Clar\Papers, p. 191. 2 Clar\ Papers, p. 289 (Memoir). Capt. Rogers arrived with the Willing four days after the capture of Vincennes. 3 Ibid., p. 162 (Bowman's Journal). See J. Nick Perrin, History of Illinois, for chain of title and summary outline of subsequent events. INDEX INDEX Abbadie (D'Abbadie, D'Albadie), M. de, 350, 355, 373; opinion of La Freniere, 417; biog. note, 374 n. 1; opinion of patriotic spirit of New Orleans rebels, 422. Abbott, Lieut.'Gov. Edward, protests against employing savages, 477- Acadia, 23, 309 n. 1. Acadians, deportation of, 312-327; led into New Orleans Rebellion, 416. Accault, Michel, 87, 147 n. 1. Address to the Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec, 467, 468; to His Majesty, 468, 469. Advertising, John Law, 183; English, 185. Agriculture, 210, 302, 303. Aiguillon, Duchesse de, 29. Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 308, 312, 338. Albany, center of English fur trade, 81 n. 1, 92. Albion, Illinois, 335. Allen, Gen. Ethan, 472. Allouez, Claude, Jesuit missionary, 126, 127. Amherst, Sir Jeffrey, biog. note and character of, 373 n. 1, 380; suggests smallpox inoc' ulation, 380, 462. Annapolis, 313. Aramepinchicue, 147 n. 1. Arnold, Gen. Benedict, before Quebec, 474, 475. Arpent, linear measure, 182 n. 2. Artillery Sermons, 459 n. 1. Aubry (Aubre, Aubrey, d'Aubre, d'Aubrie), last Governor of French Louisiana, 381 ff; replies to Pontiac's delegates, 392; awkward position of, 412, 416, 418; re ports troubles in Boston, 455, 456. Austrian Succession, War of, 308 ff. B. Background, European, 10. Balise (Balise), 412. Banishment of Jesuits from Louisiana and Illinois country, 355-363. Bank of Amsterdam, 171; of France, 172. Baptism, first at St. Louis, 439. Barber, Rev. Daniel, 457. Barry, Commodore, 471 . Baudoin, 272, 357 n. 1. Bayley, Lieutenant, 545. Baynton, Wharton & Morgan, merchants, 340, 409; invest in Illinois commercial undertakings, 426, 437. Behaim, Martin, 13 n. 2, 18. Belcher, Jonathan, Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, 312 n. 4, 324 n. 2. Beletre, Commandant at Fort Detroit, 343. Beaubois, Nicolas Ignatius de, Jesuit mis- sionary, 213, 223, 224, 233 n. 2. Beauharnois, M. de, Governor of Canada, 277. Beaujeu, Abbe Louis, 118 n. 1. Beaujeu, Captain, 99, 101 n. 1. Beaujeu, Daniel, H. M., 118 n. 1, 317 n. 2. Beaujeu, Louis Lienard, 118. Beauvais, Jean Baptiste, purchases Jesuit property (Kaskaskia), 406. Beaver trade, 27. Bergier, M., Quebec Seminary missionary, 148 n. 1, 286. Bienville, Governor, 112 n. 1, 115, 123, 124, 155, 174, 193, 230; recalled, 233, 244; de- clares war against Chickasaws, 273; re- signs, 278. Big Knife, 473 n. 3. Bigot, Francois, Intendant, 345 n. 1, 349 n. 1. Biloxi, 114. Binneteau, Julien, Jesuit missionary, 128, 136, 147, 150. Bissot, Claire-Francoise, 74. Blainville, Celeron, 310. Bloody Run, 379. "Bloody Year," 485. Blouin, M., leader of inhabitants of Kaskas- kia, 424, 428 n. 2. Bobe, Commissary at Fort de Chartres, 360, 366. Boiret, Superior, Quebec Seminary, 371. Boisbriand, Dugue de, 7, 174, 193, 195; con- ference with Illinois Indians, 196-198, 213, 219, 225, 265, 279. Bonnecamps, Joseph-Pierre de, 309 n. 2. Boone, Daniel, 481. Bossu, officer under Makarty, 294. Boston Massacre, 464. Boston Tea Party, 464. Bouquet, General, 378 n. 2, 380. Bourgmond, Etienne, 202. Bowman, Capt. Joseph, 482, 494; captures Prairie du Rocher, St. Philip and Caho- kia, 503, 504; takes part in Clark's expe- dition against Hamilton, 526-556; Journal of, 529-556. Braddock, General, 317 n. 2, 338. Brebeuf, Jesuit missionary, 28. Breese, Sidney, 300 n. 1. Briand, Bishop of Quebec, issues pastoral letter reminding French Canadians of oath of allegiance, 469; correspondence with Meurin and Gibault, 437451; 499 n. 2. British military administration in Illinois country, 397-437, 487, 497- 559 560 INDEX Buisonniere, Commandant at Fort de Char' tres, 277. Burgoyne, General, surrenders at Saratoga, 480. Burke, Edmund, 327. Butricke, Ensign, describes life at Fort de Chartres, 429-434. Bullion, Madame de, 27. C. Cabot, John, 15, 18, 19. Cabeza de Vaca, 74. Cadillac, LaMothe, 161, 165, 192, 211. Cahokia, 131, 140, 145, 151, 298; sale of mission property, 364'372, 400, 403. Cahokia Volunteers, 529. Calumet, 66. Canada, from Algonquin word Kanata, meaning village, or group of cabins. Canada, proportion of French Canadian and English population, 452. Cap-Breton, 308. Cap-St. Antoine, 142 n. 3. Cap-St. Cosme, 142, 143 n. 1. Cape of Good Hope, 17. Capuchin missionaries, 223. Carignan regiment, 38. Carleton, biog. note, 477 n. 3; Governor of Canada, 453; opinion of French Canadians, 453; requests Bishop Briand to remind French Canadians of oath of allegiance, 469; employs Rocheblave, 487. Carolana, 115. Carroll, Charles, delegate to Canada, 470. Carroll, Rev. John, delegate to Canada, 470. Cartier, Jacques, 22, 23 n. 2. Carvalho, Sebastian Joseph, 352 n. 2. Casco, Maine, 43. Casgrain, Henri Raymond, 323. Catholics: Murray asks for fair treatment of, 453; Catholic Emancipation, 454. Cavelier, Abbe Jean, 79, 99, 105. Cens et rentes, 283 n. 1. Cerre, Gabriel, merchant of Kaskaskia, 498 n. 1. Chaise, Jacques de la, Intendant of Louisi' ana, 232. Champlain, Samuel de, 23'26. Charles I, King of England, 115. Charles II, King of Spain, 121. Charles IV, Emperor, 307- Charlesbourg, 39. Charleville (Charlwice), Capt. Francois, 529. Charlevoix, Jesuit traveler, 205, 208, 213, 214 n. 3. Chartres, Fort de, see Forts. Chase, Samuel, delegate to Canada, 470. Chataugue, brother of Bienville, 174. Chepart, 245. Cherokees, River of the, now known as Tennessee River, 342. By error the text reads "Cherokee River." Cheyney, 10, 15. Chicago, 136, 144, 150. Chicagou, Indian chief, 214, 272. Chignectou, 313. Choiseul, Prime Minister of France, 349, 352, 354, 363, 415. Chouteau, August, 407- Chouteau, Madame Marie Therese, 407 n. 2. Chouteau, Pierre, 386. Cipango (Japan), 5. Clajon, M., leader of inhabitants of Kas- kaskia, 424. Clark, Rogers, 471; biog. note, 480, 481, 486 n. 4; surveyor for Ohio Company, 482; delegate to Williamsburg, 483; asks for powder, 483; transports powder, 484; lays his plans before Patrick Henry, 488; in command of expedition to the Illinois, 489; writes two accounts of western campaign: Mason Letter and Memoir, 491 n. 1; re- ceives public and secret instructions, 491493; captures Kaskaskia, 497; romance with Therese de Leyba, 505 n. 1; sends Gibault and Laffont to Vincennes, 507' 511; enters treaties with Indians at Caho- kia, 518-522; at Vincennes, 516-518; at- tack on, by Meadow Indians, 519; no news from Vincennes, 522, 523; attends dance at Prairie du Rocher, 524; rumored attack from Hamilton, 524, 525; decides to attack Hamilton, 526; reports desper- ate situation to Patrick Henry, 526, 527; letter to inhabitants of Vincennes, 542; attacks Fort Sackville, 545-549; summons Hamilton, 549, 550; meets Hamilton, 551- 553 ; submits articles of surrender to Ham- ilton, 555; marches into Fort Sackville, 556. Cleaveland, Rev. John, New England min- ister, assails Gen. Gage, 459 n. 1. Clement, XIV, suppresses Society of Jesus, 354. Closse, Maj. Lambert, 28. Cole, Edward, representative of Indian de- partment in Illinois, spends money lav- ishly, 427. Coligny, Admiral, 23. Collet, Hippolyte, Franciscan missionary, 439 n. 4. Collet, Father Luc, Franciscan missionary, 366 n. 3, 439 n. 4. Colonization : Spanish, English, French, 16. Colonization Companies, 20-21; London Company, 21; Plymouth Company, 21; Company of the Hundred Associates, 34; Company of the West Indies, 37; Company of the West (Mississippi Company), 173, 189, 276; Company of the Indies, 176,220,221. INDEX 561 Columbus, Christopher, 13, 15. Concession, 181 n. 1. Connolly, Agent of Lord Dunmore, 482. Conseil des Indes, 221. Conszil de Marine, 166. Continental Congress, sends out three curi- ous and contradictory documents, 465' 469; sends delegation to solicit French Canadian aid, 470; denounces Quebec Act, 466; duplicity of, becomes known to French Canadians, 469. Contrecoeur, Captain, 309, 330. Corne, de la, 315. Corn Island, 494 n. 2. Cornstalk, Shawnee chief, 475 n. 2. Corn Title, 481 n. 3. Cornwallis, Edward, Governor of Nova Scotia, 314. Coulon, Jumonville, Sieur de, 330. Coulon, Nicolas, Sieur de Villiers, 215, 340. Courcelle, M. de, 38, 40. Coureurs de bois, see forest traders, 30-32, 299. Courier, J., Quebec Seminary missionary, 151, 279. Court-martial, of New Orleans rebels, 422. Court Session, first in Illinois, 225-231. Couture, relation of, 103 n. 1. Coxe, Daniel, 115. Cradle, 301. Craggs, Secretary of State, 313. Cresap's Expedition, 482. Cresap, Michael, biog. note, 482 n. 2. Critical Period, 388. Croghan, Indian trader, 338 n. 2, 378, 395; makes treaty with Pontiac, 395 n. 3; re- ports on conference with Indians at Fort de Chartres, 425 ff. Crozat, Antoine, 160, 161, 169. Cruzat, Don Francesco, Gov. of Upper Louisiana, 479. D. Dabbadie, see Abbadie. Dablon, Jesuit Superior, 52, 55 n. 3. Dagobert, Capuchin, V. G., 357 n. 1, 443. Dalsell, Captain, 379- Daniel, Jesuit missionary, 28. D'Arensbourg, Karl Friedrich, 240 n. 1. D'Artaguiette, Diron, 155, 194, 205, 225. D'Artaguiette, Pierre, Commandant at Fort de Chartres, 273-276. Dauphine Island, 178. David Franks &? Company, 437- Davion, Antoine, 110, 131, 143 n. 5. DeKalb, 471. De la Barre, Governor, 45, 97- De Liette, 214, 234. De Lignery, 214. De Mesy, Governor, 37- De Monts, Sieur, 23, 309 n. 1. De Mornay, Coadjutor Bishop of Quebec, 223, 286, 357 n. 1. Denonville, Governor, 45. Deportation, of Acadians, 312-327; of French from the Illinois country planned, 424; of French Canadians demanded by "King's Old Subjects; ' 453. De Peyster, Major, 474- Des Ursins, 225. Devernai (Devernay), Jesuit missionary, 361 n. 2. Devil's Hole, 379. D'Iberville, Pierre le Moyne, 109; naval battle with British, 111-113; finds mouth of Mississippi, 114, 144. Dieskau, Baron de, 338. Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia, 329. Dollard des Ormeaux, 28. Domestic animals, 182 n. 3. Douay, Pere Anastase, 105. Doutreleau, Jesuit missionary, 260, 266, 267 n. 2. Du Barry, Madame, 337 n. 2. Duchesneau, Intendant, 42. Duclos, 162. Du Codere, 258, 260. Duff, John, 495. Du Luth, Greysolon, 88. Dunmore, Lord, Gov. of Virginia, 473, 482. Duot, M., murderer of La Salle, 104, 105. Du Poisson, Jesuit missionary, describes voy- age up the Mississippi, 239'243, 258. Duquesne, Marquis de, Gov. of Canada, 328. Du Tisne, 191, 192, 213, 234. Duvivier, Captain, 314. DTnctot, M., murderer of La Salle, 104, 105. E. Ecu, equivalent to 623^ cents. Edict of Nantes, 336 n. 1. Education, under Laval, 30. Eidrington, Lieut. James, at Fort de Chartres, 401 n. 1, 402 n. 2. Election Sermons, 459 n. 1. Embarras River, 534- Emigration agents, 185. Engages, 182. England, economic condition of, 19. English Turn, 115. Epidemic, at Fort de Chartres, 432. Expedition, Jolliet-Marquette, 55-73. Exploration, motives of, 25. Falling Springs, 281 n. 2. Falls of the Ohio, 340. Family Pact, France and Spain, 349. 562 INDEX Family Quarrels, between British and Amer' cans, 472. Farmar, Maj. Robert, 350, 373; character of, 384; at Fort de Chartres, 425; describes difficulties of voyage up the Mississippi, 425. Ferdinand I, Emperor, 308. Filles a la Cassette, 235, 236. Fitch, Capt. Tobias, 235, 236. Forest traders (Coureurs de bois), 30-32, 299. British, 377 n. 3. Forest, universal, 8. Forget du Verger, sale of Cahokia mission property, 364-372. Fort Arbre Croche, 376. Fort Assumption, 277- Fort Beauharnois, 214. Fort Beausejour, 312, 315. Fort Cahokia, 195, 504 n. 2. Fort Carlos Tercero el Rey, 413. Fort Carrillon (Ticonderoga), 346. Fort Cataroqui, 74, 80. Fort Cavendish, see Fort dc Chartres, 425, 437 n. 2. Fort Chambly, 7- Fort Crevecoeur, 87. Fort de Chartres, 7, 219, 225, 236, 237, 245, 309, 341; released to Capt. Sterling, 397 ff; description of, by Capt. Gordon, 401 n. 1; threatened by Mississippi and de- struction of, 434-436, 437 n. 2. Fort Detroit, 340, 376; western center of British operation, 472. Fort Duquesne (later Fort Pitt), 340. Fort el Principe de Asturias, Senor don Car- los, 413, 414. Fort Frontenac, see Cataroqui. Fort Gage, designated by Capt. Lord, 437, 437 n. 2. Fort Gaspereau, 312. Fort Granville, 341. Fort Kaskaskia, 342, 399, 437 n. 2, 497- Fort Lawrence, 315. Fort le Boeuf, 328, 376. Fort Machault, 328. Fort Massac (U Ascension), 342, 399, 515 n. 1. Fort Maurepas, 114. Fort Miami (Fort St. Joseph), 86, 97, 135. Fort Miami (British Fort on Maumee River), 376. Fort Michillimackinac, 376. Fort Mobile, 118. Fort Natchitoches, 166. Fort Necessity, 331. Fort Nelson, 113. Fort Niagara, 343, 376. Fort Orange (Albany), 81 n. 1, 92. Fort Orleans, 203, 236, 289. Fort Ouabache (Post Vincennes or St. Ange), 267 n. 2, 386. Fort Ouyatanon, 264, 340, 376. Fort Pitt, 376, 436 n. 2; western center of American operation, 472. Fort Presqu ile, 328, 376. Fort Prudhomme, 95, 97- Fort Rosalie (Natchez), 166. Fort Sackville, see also Vincennes, descrip- tion of, 511 n. 2; infinite importance of, 506; Gibault and Laffont emissaries to, 507-510; inhabitants "well disposed' ' toward Clark, 533 n. 1, 541, 542; inhab- tants give powder to Clark and feed his men, 547; name of, 545 n. 2. Fort Sainte-Anne, 40. Fort Saint-Jean, 40. Fort Sainte-Therese, 40. Fort Schlosser, 376. Fort St. Louis (Louisiana), 118. Fort St. Louis (Starved Rock), 91, 92 n. 1, 98, 107, 147, 213. Fort St. Louis (Texas), 101, 108. Fort Sorel, 40. Fort Tombecbeck (Tombigbee, Tombekbe), 116, 273. Fort Venango, 376. Fort des Yazous, 260. Foucaut, M., killed by savages, 230 n. 3. Fox, British Prime Minister, 308. France, joins American cause, 501 n. 1. Frances I, King of France, 23. Franciscans, 26 n. 1, 51, 52, 83, 85, 99. Franklin, Benjamin, 457; delegate to Canada, 470. Frederic II, King of Prussia, 308, 339. French, doctrine on rights of discovery, 81. French Neutrals, 314. French strategy, 119, 120. French Canadian population, at beginning of French and Indian War, 336, 336 n. 1. Freniere, de la, 352, 355 n. 4, 362; convokes delegates, 410, 416, 416 n. 4; demands expulsion of Ulloa, 418; execution of, 422. Freres Charon or hospitaliers, 145. Freres Donnes, 14^. Frontenac, Governor, 41, 41 n. 2, 44, 45, 48. Frontier life, 486. Frontier settlers, 335, 553 n. 5. Gage, Gen. Thomas, protests bill of Edward Cole, 427; to Hillsborough, concerning approaching ruin of Fort de Chartres, 434 ff; abuse of by Rev. John Cleaveland, 459 n. 1. Gagnon, M., Quebec Seminary missionary, 289. Galissoniere, de la, Gov. of Canada, 309- Gallicanism, 223 n. 1. Galves, Bernardo, Gov. of Louisinaa, 479, 487. INDEX 563 Gayarre, Spanish controller of Louisiana, 411. George III, 461, 464. Germany, 21. German emigrants, 184, 185, 187- Germans in New Orleans Rebellion, 417- Gibault, 438; biog. note, 44; at Kaskaskia, 445; blesses first church in St. Louis, 446; visits large mission field, 448; strain of missionary life, 449451 ; first school teacher in the Middle' West, 451 n. 1; meets Clark, 499; volunteers to win Vincennes for Clark, 507'5ll; influences French to join Clark, 530 n. 3; blesses Clark's troops, 530 n.l. Gist, Christopher, 310, 328. Gladwin, General, 390. Gordon, Captain Hugh, 403 . Gordon's Journal, 401 n. 1. Grand Pre, 316, 319. Gravier, Jacques, Jesuit missionary, 127, 129, 147, 150, 190. Great Meadows, 330. Greathouse, murders Logan's family, 482. Greene, General, 471- Grenville, William Windham, British Coloni' al Secretary, 462. Grievances, of inhabitants of Illinois, 423 ff. Griffon, La Salle's galley, 85, 86. Guyenne, Jesuit missionary, 357. H. Habitation, 181 n. 1. Hachard, Madeleine, relation, 267- Hair Buyer General, see Henry Hamilton, 475, 476. Haldimand, Gen. Frederick, 455. Haliburton, Judge Thomas C, 323, 325 n. 2. Halifax, 312. Hamilton, Alexander, protests against Que' bee Act, 458. Hamilton, Henry, destroys Fort de Chartres, 436; delivers tomahawks to savages, 475; Hair Buyzr General, 475, 476; encourages savages, 484; occupies Fort Sackville, 523; replies to Clark's summons, 550; requests conference with Clark, 550, 551; tries to explain his conduct, 552 n. 1; surrenders to Clark, 556. Hancock, John, 318 n. 3, 464. Hancock, Thomas, 318 n. 3. Hand, General, 478, 493. Handfield, Major, 317- Harrod, William, 482. Harrodsburg, 486. Hay, Major, Indian partisan, 552. Heath, Sir Robert, 115. Hebert, Louis, 26. Helm, Leonard, 482, 494; appointed to com' mand at Vincennes, 515; sends out call for help, 522, 523. Henderson, Richard, 481; Henderson Com' pany, 482. Hendrick, Mohawk chief, 339. Hennepin, Louis, Franciscan missionary and explorer, 83, 84, 85, 87; captured by sav' ages 88; unreliable chroncicler, 96 n. 3, 115 n. 2. Henry, Gov. Patrick, appoints Clark to lead expedition to the Illinois, 489; appreciates services of Gibault and Laffont, 512; ad' vises Clark to confer with Gibault, 512 n. 1. Herrero, tribe, 246 n. 1. Hiawatha, song of, 64 n. 1. Hiens, 103, 105. Hilaire, Capuchin missionary at St. Louis, 447- Hill, Gen. Jack, 122. Hillsborough, Earl of, plans deportation of French from Illinois country, 424; to Gage, concerning approaching ruin of Fort de Chartres, 434 ff; blocks westward ex- pansion, 461. Holston River, The Holston, 483 n. 1. Horse Shoe Plain, 537- Hospital, Montreal, 27; New Orleans, 224; Quebec, 29. Huguenots, French, 23, 336 n. 1. Huissier, 405 n. 1. Hunter, Robert, Gov. of Virginia, 217. Hurricane, 178, 209 n. 1. Hutchins, Ensign, 403 ; concerning approach' ing ruin of Fort de Chartres, 435. I. Illinois, State Song, 290 n. 1. Illinois tribes, 126 n. 2. Indians: classification of, 8; conversion of, 28; not economic men, 369 n. 2. Indians: Abenakis or Abnaki, 95; Cenis or Coenis, 102, 105; Chickasaws, 244, 261, 271 ; wars against, 272'278; Choctaws, 244; Dakotah or Sioux, 9; Five Nations, 9, 125 n. 1; Fox, 211-216; attack Metchigamia village, 295; Illinois, 65, 66 n. 2, 196 n. 2, n. 3; Iroquois, 9, 28, 45, 125 n. 1, 211 n. 2; Kaskaskias, 272; Longhouse, 9; Micmacs, 9; Missouris, 200, 201, 290; Mohawks, 40; Natchez, 244-262; Osage, 200, 201, 290; Penobscots, 9, 377 n. 2; Pianke- shaws, 270; Shawnees, 391, 482, 516; Southern, 9; Taensas, Natchez, 143; etc. Institutum Societatis Jesu, 356 n. 1. Intendant, duties of, 35. Instructions, Colbert to Frontenac, 51. Intolerance, religious, 457'459; 466 n. 2. Irish Immigrants, 187 n. 1. Irving, Washington, 14. Island of the Holy Family, 140 n. 1. Italy's contribution to exploration, 18. 564 INDEX James I, King of England, 21. James II, 44 n. 1, 115 n. 2. Jamestown, 16, 22. Jesuit College, Quebec, 52, 131. Jesuits, expulsion of, 353'363; suppression of, 354. Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, 10 n.3. Jogues, Isaac, Jesuit missionary, illustration, facing page, 65. Johnson, Samuel, 461. Johnson, Sir William, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 378. Jolliet, Louis, 48, 49, 52, 53; mishap in Lachine Rapids, 75, 80. Joncaire, 328. Jones, John Gabriel, 483. Jones, John Paul, 471 . Jubilee, published by Meurin, 443. Jussiaume, Paul, purchaser of Jesuit property (Kaskaskia), 406. Kalm, Peter, Swedish traveler, gives origin of Negro slavery, 174; describes lack of union between American Colonies, 463, 465. Kaskaskia, 58 n. 1, 126429, 151, 153, 210, 225, 237, 399 n. 1; Kaskaskia Village, 445; destruction of, 159 n. 1. Kaskaskia River, 194. Kaskaskia Volunteers, 529. Kaske, Chariot, Shawnee chief, 391. Kerlerec, Gov. of Louisiana, 292, 293, 296, 341, 343, 411. Khan, the Great, 17- Kiala, Fox chief, 213. Kiercereau, Rene, 305, 439 n. 2. King's Old Subjects, 452, 453 ; protest against Quebec Act, 465. Kip, William Ingraham, 11 n. 3. Kipling, 531 n. 2, 534 n. 2, 537 n. 1, 539 n. 1. Kosciusko, General, 471- L. Laclede-Liguest, Pierre, 403, 404; bids on *; Kaskaskia Mission property, 406; declines to give his name to trading post, 408. Lafayette, 471- Laffont, emissary to Vincennes, 507-510. La Grange, purchases Cahokia Mission pro- perty, 367, 370. Lagron, Arthur, determines site of Fort Crevecoeur, 87 n. 1. La Harpe, Bernard de, 178. Lalemant, Jesuit missionary, 28. Lamberville, 153. La Moth (La Mothe), Captain, 547, 548. La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, 74; jour' neys of, 79-105; at court of Versailles, 82; heavily indebted, 82; builds the Griffon, 85; wreck of the Griffon, 86; at Creve- coeur, 89; at Fort Miami, 95; supposed intrigue against, 91 n. 3; at mouth of Mississippi, 95, 96; at Matagorda Bay, 100; death of, 104. Last Will and Testament, 301. La Tour, early French engineer in Louisiana, 175. Laval, Francois de, first Bishop of Quebec, 30,83, 130 n.3, 132 n. 2, 223. La Valette, Pere Antoine, Superior, Martin- ique, bankruptcy of, 353. Law, John, 170; system of finance, 172; operates Mississippi Company, 173-189- Lawrence, Charles, Gov. of Nova Scotia, 312 n. 4, 315, 338 n.3. Layssard, Pierre Etienne Marafet, purchases Cahokia slaves, 370, 405. League, French, as linear measure, 23^ miles; English, 3 miles. Le Caron, Franciscan, 26. LeClercq, Father Crestien, 83. LeClercq, Father Maxime, Franciscan mis- sionary with La Salle, 99. Le Loutre, Acadian missionary, 315. Le Mercier, Captain, 329. Le Moyne, Charles, 28. Leopold I, Emperor of Austria, 121. Le Page, du Pratz, 178. Le Petit, Mathurin, Jesuit missionary, 249 n. 1. Les Allemands, 240 n. 1, 261 n. 1. Levi, Andrew, Levi 6? Company, merchants, 437. Levis, General Marquis de, 348. Leyba, Don Fernando de, Gov. of Upper Louisiana, 479, 504. Leyba, Therese de, supposed betrothed to Clark 505 n. 1. Liberty Bell of the West, 360 n. 1, 502 n. 1. Liberty of conscience, 467. Liberty, religious, 460, 470 n. 1; proclaimed by Clark, 501. Ligneris, Commandant at Fort Duquesne, 343. Liguori, St. Alphonsus, 354- Limpach, Bernard, Capuchin, first canonical pastor of St. Louis, 447- Lind, Captain, 389. Linn, B., sent to Kaskaskia, 487, 488. Liquor traffic, 30, 31, 285. Livre, as measure of weight, 1 lb. plus. Livre, money, equivalent to franc, or 19 cents. The purchasing power of a livre 200 years ago was probably at least ten times that of the standard franc of today. Lock, 17. INDEX 565 Loftus, British officer, 374; attempts to reach Fort de Chartres, 381 ff; character of, 384. Logan, Mingo chief, his family assassinated, 482; Logan's speech, 484, 485. Long Knife, 475 n. 3, 504 n. 1. Longfellow, Evangeline, 323 n. 1, 325 n. 1. Lords of Trade, 217, 218, 313, 327 n. 2. Lord, Captain Hugh, names Fort Gage; re- mits former house and grounds of Jesuits at Kaskaskia to Quebec Seminary, 437- Loretteville, 335. Louis XIV, 37, 42, 51, 52, 98, 113, 116, 121, 122, 168, 169, 336 n. 1. Louis XV, 169, 296, 337, 348, 412. Louisbourg, 308. Louis d'or, approximately, $4-75. Louisiana, 160, 161, 210; divided into nine districts, 219; Illinois country made part of 219. Louvigny, Sieur de, 212. Loyola, Joseph, Spanish commissary of New Orleans, 411. Loyalists, 324 n. 2. Lunenburgh, 313. M. Macleane, Undersecretary of State, receives offer of bribe, 427. Magellan, 17. Maisonneuve, 27, 28. Maisonville, Indian agent, 395, 548. Makarty (Macarty), Barthelmy de, Com' mandant at Fort de Chartres, 7, 292, 342, 362; death of, 384 n. 2. Malagrida, Portuguese Jesuit, 353. Mamantouensa, Indian chief, 272 n. 1. Mance, Jeanne, 27, 29. Marest, Gabriel, Jesuit missionary, 128, 149, 153, 156. Maria-Theresa, Empress of Austria, 307, 339. Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, 177 n. 1. Marquette, Father James, 49, 53; illness of, 73; establishes mission on the upper Illinois River, 77; death of, 78. Marquis, M., suggests Republic, 419; protests against the word "sedition," 420. Marquise d'Abrado, Senorita de Laredo, fiancee of Ulloa, 415. Martin, Abraham, 344 n.Jf. £, Mason Letter, 491 n. 1. Massacre Island, 117- Massacre, Michillimackinac, 379 n. 1, Massacre, Mitchigamias, 295. Massacre, Natchez, 258. Master-Singer, 304- Maxent, Laclede & Company, 404 n. 3; Maxent attempts to pay German farmers, 417. Mazarin, Prime Minister of France, 168. McCarty, Captain, takes part in Clark's expedition against Hamilton, 528'556. Mcintosh, General, 478. Membre, Zenobe, Franciscan missionary, 83, 91. Memoir, George Rogers Clark's, 491 n. 1. Memorial, of inhabitants of Kaskaskia, 400 n. 1. Memorial, to the People of Great Britain, 465 ff. Menendez, Pedro, 16. Meramec River, 190, 205. Mercier, J. P., Quebec Seminary missionary, 151, 203, 213, 279, 285, 287, 288, 290, 291. Mermet, Jesuit missionary, 163 n. 1, 266. Messieurs du Seminaire, 147 n. 3. Method of dealing with Indians, French, English, 333-335, 337; Clark's method, 516. Meurin, Sebastian-Louis, Jesuit missionary, 362 n. 1, 371, 438; praises Gibault, 447; praises Wilkins, 448. Mexico, 108, 116, 163 n. 1. Michillimackinac, 88, 94, 97, 129, 134, 135, 161. Milhet, Jean, delegate to Paris, 410. Minas (Mines), 312, 316. Mines, gold, silver, lead, 190, 193, 204-207- Minot, French measure, 281 n. 1. Misere, nickname for St. Genevieve, 409- Mission: cost of establishment, 132, 133. Missions, principal in the Mississippi Valley : Guardian Angel (Chicago), 136. Holy Family (Tamarois-Cahokia), 131, 145, 279; seigniory of, 280-284, 370; sale of property, 364-372; 445. Immaculate Conception, 58 n. 1, 132, 137, 147, 158, 194. Juchereau's Tannery, 118 n. 1. La Pointe, 50. Michillimackinac, 50, 135. Missouri, 203, 236, 289. Natchitoches, 163. Natchez, 144, 164, 258. Mobile, 118, 133. Peoria (Franciscan), 87, 91; (Jesuit Mis- sion), 137- Poste Arkansas, 258. Poste Ouabache, 266, 267- River des Peres, 151, 153. Ste. Anne, of Fort de Chartres, 287, 366 n. 3, 441. St. Francis Xavier, 73. St. Joachim (Ste-Genevieve), 357- Saint Ignace, 50. St. Philiippe de la Visitation, 207- Sault Ste. Marie, 48. Taensas, 143. Tonicas, 143. Yazous (Yazoo), 259. Mississippi: various names, 49 n.l, 61 n. 1. Mississippi Company, 173, 189, 276. 566 INDEX Mississippi Bubble, 189. Mississippi Land Company, 461 . Missouri River, 67 n. 2. Mobile, 118, 373, 389. Molasses, an ingredient of American inde' pendence, 462. Money, paper, 172 n. 2, 208; devaluation of, 410. Monckton, Col. Robert, 315. Monopoly, 222 n. 1, 224, 236. Montcalm, General, 345. Montcalm 6? Wolfe, joint monument, 347- Montigny, Francois de, 110, 115, 131, 144, 165. Montmagny, 27- Montgomery, General, before Quebec, 474, 475. Montgomery, Capt. John, conducts Roche' blave to Virginia, 515. Montreal, 22, 26; center of French fur trade, 81 n. 1. Monts, Sieur de, 23. More, Samuel, sent to Kaskaskia, 487, 488. Morgan, George, 427; quarrels with Col. Reed, 428, 472. Morris, Judge, 316. Mosquitoes, 242. Murray, Capt. Alexander, 317- Murray, General, first Governor of Canada, 452; gives aid to repair ravages of war, 452 n. 3. Mussulmans, 16. N. Natchez, 164, 165; customs of tribe, 245, 246. Natchitoches, 166, 261. Naval Battle, D'Iberville against British, 111413. Negro slaves, 174 n. 1, 207, 305. New France, motives for establishment of, 25. New Orleans, 174, 208, 410. Nicknames, 409 n. 3. Nille, Major, 548. North, Lord Frederick, passes Quebec Act, 454. Northwest Passage, 17 n. 1, 20. Nova Scotia, 312. O. Oath, of allegiance of French Canadians, 454; Vincennes, 510; of fidelity, Kaskas' kia, 499; of supremacy, 452 n. 2. Ohio Company, 310, 482. Ohio River, 68, 74, 143 n. 2, 164; forks of, 329. Okaw River (Kaskaskia or Metchagamia), origin of name, 151 n. 3, 153 n. 2. O'Reilly, Count Alexander, biog. note, 419 n. 5; at mouth of Mississippi, 420; receives La Freniere and committee, 420; takes solemn possession of New Orleans, 421; issues proclamation, 421; arrests leaders of Rebellion and holds court' martial, 421-422; 479. Orleans, Duke of, regent, 170, 189. Pain Court (nickname for St. Louis), 403. Palatinates, 186. Palermo, Illinois, site of PontiaC'Croghan Treaty, 395 n. 3. Papachengouya, Illinois chief, addresses Boisbriand, 196. Passage to the Orient, 17, 73 n. 2. Passage to South Sea, 68 n. 1, 72. Peltrie, Madame de la, 29. Penicaut, 155, 188. Pennsylvanians, 482. Penobscot chiefs, conference with, 377 n. 2. Pensacola, 113, 199. Peoria, 63 n. 1, 213. Perez, Fray Juan, 13. Perilaud, first murderer tried in Illinois, 225. Perisseau, Jesuit confessor to Louis XV, 354. Perrier, Governor of Louisiana, 234, 244, 260. Perrot, Francpis'Marie, Governor, 42, 46 n. 2. Perrot, Nicolas, forest trader, 46. Perruquier, Tonica chief, 387- Pest ships, 187, 188. Petit, planter, cuts cable of Spanish packet* boat, 418. Petition, of Acadians, 313, 314. Petticoat Rebellion, 160. Pharaoh, 312, 313. Philadelphia, 313. Philibert, Capuchin missionary, 258. Philip V, King of Spain, 199. Philipps, Governor of Nova Scotia, 313. Phipps, English admiral, 43, 45. Piasa, 67 n. 1, 139. Piernas, Don Pedro, Spanish Commandant on the Missouri, 414. Pinet, Francois, Jesuit missionary, 136, 148., 153. Pitt, British Prime Minister, 344 n. 2, 457; protests against employing savages, 477- Pittman, Lieut. Philip, 385. Pittsburg, 340. Piziquid, 313. Plains of Abraham, 344 n. 2. Pollock, Oliver, 487; aids Clark, 487- Polo, Marco, 14 n. 1. Pombal, Marquis de, 352. Pompadour, Madame de, 337- Pontbriand, Msgr., Bishop of Quebec, 315. INDEX 567 Pontchartrain, French Prime Minister, 161 . Pontiac, 375'378; blocks British advance, 378-396; at Fort de Chartres, 384, 389, 390; character of, 394; makes treaty with Croghan, 395 n. 3; death of, 433 n. 2. Portugal, 21. Post St. Ange, see Post Vincennes. Post Vincennes, 267 n. 2, 386. Pot, French liquid measure, 238 n. 2. Pradel, Jean de, 202, 234. Pragmatic Sanction, 307. Prairie du Rocher, 7, 400, 442, 447. Praslin, Duke of, French Minister of For' eign Affairs, 415. Prince Edward Island, 308. Princesse des Missouris, 214. Protestant religion in England, 19. Pulaski, General, 471. Q. Quebec, 16, 24 n. 1; fall of, 348. Quebec Act, 454, 455; grievance to American colonists, 458. R. Raguet, Abbe, 232. Raphael, Capuchin Father, Vicar-General of Louisiana, 223. By error the name of Father Gabriel appears in the text, p. 223. Rasle, Jesuit missionary, 128. Rebellion, New Orleans, 411. Recollects, 26 n. 1. Reductions (of Paraguay), 352 n. 3. Reed, Col. John, supersedes Major Farmar at Fort de Chartres, 425; opinion of Bayn- ton, Wharton 6? Morgan, 428. Renaudiere, M., mining engineer, 205. Renault, Philippe, 195, 206, 284 n. 1. Rescue Rioters, 464 n. 3. Revolutionary War, 457; nature of, 470. Ribourde, Gabriel de la, Franciscan mission- ary, 80 n. 4, 91; death of, 93. Richard, Edouard, 318. Richelieu, Cardinal, 29, 34 n. 1, 336 n. 1. Richelieu River, 40. Rivalry: French and British 99, 124, 179, 217, 218, 263, 309; French and Spanish, 113, 116, 179, 199-203; Indians and Whites 333 ff., 339. River des Peres settlement, 151. Robertson, Colonel, 374. Roberval, Sieur de, 23. Robinet, Jean Louis, 405. Rochambeau, 471- Rochemore, Intendant, opinion of La Fren- iere, 417- Rocheblave, Philippe Francois de Rastel, Chevalier de, 442; banishes Meurin, 443; commands at Fort Gage, 487, 514; biog. note, 515 n. 1. Rocher, Saint-Louis, 92 n. 1. Rock of the Cross, 143 n. 1. Rogers, Captain, in command of Willing, 533 n. 1; arrives at Vincennes, 556 n. 2. Ross, British officer, 392; reports on attitude of savages toward English, 393, 395. Rouensa, Illinois chief, 138, 147 n. 1, 152. Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 337 n. 2. Rui y Morales, Capt. Don Francesco, 413. Rumsey, Lieut. J., 397, 403. Sackville, Lord George, English Secretary for Colonies, 487- Sagamite, 65. Saint-Denis, Charles Juchereau de, 118 n. 1. Saint-Denis, Louis Juchereau de, 163 n. 1. Saint-Ignace, 50. Saint-Lusson, 46. Saint-Pierre, Legardeur de, 328. Saint- Vallier, second Bishop of Quebec, 131, 132 n. 2, 142, 148, 149, 222, 286, 357 n. 1. Sainte-Pierre (fieiligenstein), Paul de, priest at Cahokia, 371. Sale, of mission property (Cahokia), 364- 372; sale of Jesuit mission property (Kas- kaskia), 405, 406. Salic Law, 337 n. 2. Salmon Falls, 43 n. 3. Salmon, Edme-Gratien, 285 n. 2. Sanche, Dona Emanuele, 163 n. 1. Sanche, Don Remon, 163 n. 1. San Domingo, 161, 180, 206, 261, 324, 416. Saucier, Jean-Baptiste, Engineer, Fort de Chartres, 7, 297- Schenectady (Corlar), 40, 43 n. 3. Schools: Industrial, 30, 145; for boys and girls at New Orleans, 224 n. 1. Scythians, 246. Search at Sea, 471 • Seignelay, French Prime Minister, 98. Seminary of Foreign Missions, 131, 366. Seminary of Quebec, 30, 49; sends mission- aries to the Tamarois, 110, 130, 366, 370. Senat, Antoine, Jesuit missionary, 276. Serigny, brother of Bienville, 199. Settlement, 181 n. 1. Sheridan, Gen. Philip, 324 n. 1. Shirley, Governor of Massachusetts, 311, 318 n. 1. Silk worm industry, 180. Sillery, 335. Simon, Colonel, 324 n. 2. Sinnot, Indian agent ,395. Six Nations, ultimatum to Virginians and Pennsylvanians, 474. Skillman, Rev. Isaac, Baptist minister as- sails taxation, 463 n. 2. Slaves, Negro, 174 n. 1, 207, 305, 369. 508 INDEX Smallpox, 380, 381. Smith, Captain, 492. Social life (French), 299-306. Soeurs donnees, 145. Sons of Liberty, 464 n. 3. Source, M. de la, 141 n. 1. Source, Thaumur de la, Quebec Seminary missionary, 289. South Carolina, 164. Spain, 21. Spanish, expedition to the Missouris, 200, 201; Forts, 413. Spotswood, 124. Stamp Act, 463, 464. Starved Rock, 92. St. Ange, Sieur de, 7, 195, 213, 237, 288, 388; holds council with Indians, 392; commandant at St. Louis, 408, 409 n. 1; death of, 414 n. 2. St. Augustine, 16, 22. St. Anthony Falls, 88. St. Clair, Arthur, Secretary for Indian Com' missioners, 474. St. Cosme, Jean Francois Buisson de, 110, 123, 131, 133, 145. St. Croix, Lieutenant, recognizes his son, 554. Ste-Foy, 335; battle of, 348. Ste-Genevieve (St. Joachim), 287, 357, 375, 440. St. Louis, Feast of, at New Orleans, 387. St. Louis (IX), name given to Laclede's trading'post, 408; hurts British fur trade, 409; record of first baptism, 439; popula- tion of, 479. St. Roch, church of, 177 n. 1. Sterling, Capt. Thomas, takes possession of Fort de Chartres, 397 ff; leaves the Illi' nois, 425. Steuben, Baron von, 471 • Sueur, M. le, 261. Sulpicians, 51, 79. Superior Council (Quebec), 36, 37, 42; S. P. of New Orleans, decrees expulsion of Jesuits, 356; demands Ulloa's credentials, 411; demands expulsion of Ulloa, 416, 417, 418. Swiss emigrants, 185. Talon, Jean, 38, 39, 48, 52. Tamarois, 131, 145. Tamarois, chief of Kaskaskias, tells Ross to leave their lands, 392, 393. Taschereau, E. A., 149. Terre Haute, 219. Thirty Years' War, 184. Thwaites, Reuben Gold, 10 n. 1. Tobacco, 180. Tomahaw\ Title, 481 n. 3. Tonti, Henri de, 84; at Crevecoeur, 91, 92; goes in search of La Salle, 107, HO, 117, 132, 133, 140, 143. Tories, 324 n. 2; origin of name, 458 n. 3. Toscanelli, Paolo, 13 n. 1. Townshend, Charles, British Minister of Finance, 464; taxes, 464. Tracy, Marquis de, 37, 40. Trade routes to Orient, 15. Trades, 30; trading, 369. Tranchepain, Mere, Superior of Ursulines at New Orleans, 224. Transylvania Company, 481. Treaty of Fontainebleau, 350, 375, 410. Treaty of Paris, 350. Treaty of Utrecht, 124, 312. Trent, Captain, 329. U. Ulloa, Don Antonio, Spanish Governor of Louisiana, 411, 417; departs for Spain, 418; opinion of La Freniere, 418. Union, of United States and Canada, improb' able, 470 n. 2. Unzaga, Don Luis, Gov. of Louisiana, 479. Ursuline Convent, New Orleans, 224, 235 n. 2; Quebec, 29. Valdeterre, Drouot de, 220. Valentine, Capuchin missionary at St. Louis, 447. Valley Forge, Washington at, 480. Varlet, Dominique'Marie, 286. Vasco da Gama, 17- Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, 265, 292 n. 1, 345 n. 1, 346. Vaudreuil, M. de, Gov. of Louisiana, 278, 284. Vera Cruz, 123, 163. Vercheres, Marie Madelaine de, 32. Verrazano, 18, 22. Vespucci, Amerigo de, 18. Vicar'General, of Louisiana, Father de Beaubois, Jesuit; Father Raphael, Capu- chin, 223 (The name Father Gabriel was erroneously inserted for Father Raphael). Father Baudoin, Jesuit, 357 n. 1; Father Dagobert, Capuchin, 357 n. 1. Vigo (Vague), reports Hamilton's capture of Vincennes, 525. Villere, Joseph Roy de, 416 n. 1; arrests Maxent, 417; death of, 422 n. 2. Villiers, Coulon de, 215, 340. Villiers, Neyon de, 292 n. 3, 364, 375, 381; vacates Fort de Chartres, 386. Vincennes, Francois-Marie Bissot de, 264; baptismal record, 268 n. 1, 276. INDEX 569 Vincennes, Jean-Baptiste Bissot de, 135, 268. Virginia, committed to maintain western charter jurisdiction, 484. Voltaire, 336 n. 1, 337 n. 2, 349, 353. W. Wabash, 69, 263 n. 3. Wabashes, Little, 532. War, French and Indian, 328-347- War, against the Chickasaws, 272-278. War, against Natchez, 260-262. War, against the Fox, 211-216. War of the Roses, 307. War, of Spanish Succession, 122-125. War, Lord Dunmore's, 482. War of Paraguay, 353. War, Pontiac, 378-396; causes of, 396 n. 2. War, Revolutionary, 457; nature of, 470. Washington, George, 328; capitulates, 331; authorized to employ Indians, 471, 473, 485. Watrin, Jesuit Superior, Kaskaskia, 355; gives account of expulsion of Jesuits from Louisi- ana and Illinois country, 355-363. Wedding, French, 304. Whigs, origin of name, 458 n. 3. White Apple, Natchez village, 247- White Mans War, 473. Wilkins, Lieut.-Col., at Fort de Chartres, 428; resigns from army, 434 n. 2; suggests small post at Kaskaskia, 436; friend of Gibault, 446, 448. William and Mary, 44, 108, 115 n. 2. Williams, Captain, receives scalping party, 553, 554. Willing, Clark's galley, 429. Winslow, Col. John, 317- Winslow's Journal, 319 ff. Wolfe, Gen. James, 344 ff. Wolfe and Montcalm, joint monument, 347- Wood, Col. William, opinion on deportation of Acadians, 326 n. 2; describes lack of union between American Colonies, 463; describes Congress juggling Quebec Act, 468 n. 1. Worthington, Captain, 535. Yazous (Yazoo), 259, 260. 2 / ,\wv^\\\x\\\\\\x\\\\vw ^ I- = CT* SVNV^^OR FT.CHE(}UAMEGON 5AULT STE.A\ARIE^< SpbithanysTaUL . 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