THE SITE */ FORT de CREVECOEUR 1925 Printed by Authority ot the State of Illinois. 1 w ( \K V fth LI E> R.AFLY OF THE UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS 977.35 l£63s cop. 2 Illinois Historical Surv Y •J'^ S, THE SITE of FORT de CREVECOEUR \ ^'rvV:; •$*•■ 1925 Printed by Authority of the State of Illinois. ILLINOIS PRINTING CO., DANVILLE, ILL. (37081-500) r 7 ^ c^ 5 .2. THE SITE OF FORT de CREVECOEUR The committee to designate the site of Fort de Creve- coeur, appointed in accordance with an act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois by the President of the Illinois State Historical Society, herewith presents its re- port. HISTORY OF FORT de CREVECOEUR In January, 1680, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, entered the string of small lakes opposite and above the modern city of Peoria and encamped at an Indian village, called Pimiteoui, situated on the site of modern Averyville. On January 15, La Salle selected the position for the fort and began building it at once. It was finished in a few weeks. On March 1, La Salle himself started on a return journey to the East, and Father Hennepin the day before began his wanderings up the Mississippi River. Some days later Tonti received an order, sent back by La Salle, to inspect Starved Rock as a possible site for a permanent fort. During Tonti's absence sometime in April the troop- ers, left at Fort de Crevecoeur, demolished the fort and deserted. 1 The site was never again occupied except for a few days. Thus the history of Fort de Crevecoeur ex- tends over a period of only about three months. Its im- portance lies in the fact that it was the first public building erected by white men within the boundaries of the modern state of Illinois and the first fort built in the West by the French. Its site is, therefore, a monument to the beginning of the occupation of the Mississippi Valley by men of European birth. > The date of the destruction of Fort de Crevecoeur may be found in Margry; Decouvertes et Etablissements des Frart(ais, I, 520. o ■ : I THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION The problem concerning the site of the fort is a purely historical one, and its solution can be accomplished only by the careful collection of all information written by contem- poraries that may have come down to our time. After this operation of collection was completed, the committee found that the location of the approximate site of the fort was not difficult. Of the men who were participants in the building of Fort de Crevecoeur, four have written concern- ing it; and their accounts have been preserved. First of all there is La Salle himself, whose statements must be accepted as being of greater value than those of all others. Three of La Salle's companions who were present at the time of the building, Henri de Tonti, Father Louis Hennepin, and Father Zenobe Membre, have also left a record of their experiences. La Salle's accounts are as follows: A letter addressed to one of his associates containing an account of the ex- plorer's activities during the year 1679 to September 29, 1680, printed by Pierre Margry, in his Decouvertes et Etab- lissements des Francais dans I'Ouest et dans le Sud de VAmerique Septentrionale, etc., II, 32ff; a similar letter, covering the period August 22, 1680, to the autumn of 1681, printed in the same, II, 115ff; a letter dated August 22, 1682, in the same, II, 212ff ; a description of the Illinois River, no date, in the same, II, 164ff. Besides these letters of La Salle there is the "Relation Officielle de l'Entreprise de Cavelier de la Salle" ("Official Account of the Enterprise of Cavelier de la Salle"), the authorship of which is discussed on a later page. It is printed in Margry, Decouvertes et Etablissements des Fran- gais, I, 435ff. Henri de Tonti, the faithful lieutenant of La Salle, wrote two accounts of his journeyings; one is printed in Margry, Decouvertes et Etablissements des Francais, I, 573ff; the second may be consulted in the Illinois Historical Collec- tions, I, 128ff. In neither account is there information that is of assistance to this investigation. Father Zenobe Membre, a Recollect priest and compan- ion of La Salle, wrote an account of his journeyings. This is embodied in Le Clercq, Etablissement de la Foi, published at Paris, 1691, a scarce volume now and most easily con- sulted in the translation by John D. Gilmary Shea. Father Louis Hennepin, a Recollect friar, has won for himself an evil reputation by wrongly claiming for himself the glory of first voyaging to the mouth of the Mississippi River. This claim was made several years after the publi- cation of his first book and does not invalidate anything he may have written concerning Fort de Crevecoeur. Still La Salle had an unfavorable opinion of him, which he ex- pressed as follows: "He never fails to exaggerate every- thing; it is his character. . . . He speaks more in conform- ity with what he wishes than what he knows." 2 Hennepin's first volume, entitled Description de la Louisiane nouvelle- ment decouverte au Sud 'oiiest de la Nouvelle France, was published in Paris, 1683. His second work, including the first with additions, was entitled Nouvelle Decouverte d'un tres grand Pays Situe dans V Amerique, etc. This last may be most easily examined in the composite English edition of 1698 reprinted by Reuben G. Thwaites, in 1903, with the title: A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America, by Father Louis Hennepin. All passages from the foregoing works containing in- formation about the site of Fort de Crevecoeur will be found reproduced in full in the Appendices to this report; the original French with translation is printed when essen- tial. A sixth source of information is found in the contempo- rary maps drawn by Jean Baptiste Louis Franquelin, an in- habitant of Canada during these years. He eagerly col- 2 Margry, Decouvcrtes el Etablissements des Franfais, II, 259. lected all information concerning the vast West and in- serted it on his map, which was issued in several editions. Franquelin was greatly interested in the explorations of La Salle and must have received from his own lips much of the information he incorporated on his map. The first map, which was probably the work of Franque- lin, showing the site of Fort de Crevecoeur is entitled, "Carte de l'Amerique Septentrionale et partie Meridionale . . .avec les nouvelles decouvertes de la Riviere Mississippi ou Colbert." (No name, no date). The lower Mississippi is entirely omitted; and Francis Parkman, the historian, in- fers that it was the work of Franquelin and was made in 1682 or 1683 before the geographer heard of La Salle's voyage to the Gulf of Mexico. 3 3 Parkman, La Salle (ed. 1905), 482. The map is reproduced in outline in Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, IV, 227. Franquelin's map, 1682 8 When La Salle returned from the West in 1683 on his way to Paris, he gave Franquelin much more complete in- formation concerning the Illinois River Valley. It is quite possible that La Salle himself carried the drawing to Paris, where it was dated 1684. The original map has been lost, but Francis Parkman, before this occurred, had a careful copy of it made; and this latter is now in the Harvard Col- lege library. A reproduction of this important Franquelin map is printed by Reuben G. Thwaites in his edition of the Jesuit Relations, volume 63. Reproductions of parts of both these maps by Franquelin will be found in this report. LAKE PIMITEOUI On January 1, 1680, La Salle and his party canoed along a "little lake" called Pimiteoui, and landed at a village in- habited by Illinois Indians, also named Pimiteoui, where they established themselves for a few days. Since the establishment of the site of Fort de Crevecoeur depends on the determination of the position of this Indian village and the general character of Lake Pimiteoui, the topography as it presented itself to the eyes of La Salle must be clearly described. Fortunately there exists an excellent description of the lake by La Salle himself. The translation is here given in full; the original French may be found in Appendix I, A: "Five leagues lower one finds the river of Moingoane, which flows through a beautiful prairie which one can see from the river. Seven leagues lower is the little lake of Pimiteoui, seven to eight leagues in length and one to two leagues in width at its widest place, composed, as it were, of three little lakes which communicate with each other by as many straits. The first and the most northerly is bor- dered, on the west, by a beautiful prairie, and on the east by a swampy woods, which extends to the foot of some mountains covered with timber which run along these three small lakes on the east and southeast sides. The little lake, or the lake in the middle, also has swampy land on the west, then some rather high hills, and thirdly a beautiful prairie; then the river narrows and continues at the same width up to another small lake between two chains of hills covered with timber, from which it is more or less distant, leaving between them and its bed a great interval of woods inter- spersed with marshes which are inundated entirely during flood waters. As far as this second lake one finds prairies only once. About a league below Pimiteoui, at the left in descending, the border of the river is, moreover, everywhere covered with timber. The shore is very much more elevated than the depth [farther inland]. The land always slopes downward to the foot of the hills where the waterfalls form some great marshes; these are full of fish of all kinds, be- cause the flooded river rises a great deal, in the spring, above this kind of wood-covered bank which borders it and fills up these marshes; the fish, which find a great deal to eat there, stop in them; and when the river, having returned into its bed, can no longer go forth because of the height of its banks, the Indians build drains there, in the summer, by means of which they drain these marshes, where they catch as many fish as they wish." We have also a description of the lake in Hennepin's New Discovery, (Appendix V, B). He writes: "At the end of the fourth day of the year we crossed a little lake, in length about seven leagues and in width one, named Pimiteoui, which signifies in their language that there is in this place an abundance of fat beasts. The Sieur de la Salle judged by the astrolabe that the latitude was thirty- three degrees forty-five minutes. This lake is very remark- able because the river of the Illinois although it freezes as far as there — this lasts only four or five weeks and happens only rarely — is never frozen from this place down to its discharge into the Mississippi." La Salle's rather detailed description of the three ex- pansions of the Illinois River into three "lakes" extending from Chillicothe to opposite Peoria corresponds exactly to 10 present-day conditions. The general contour of the lakes can have undergone very little change, confined between two lines of bluffs as the river is. From the streams pouring down the ravines, deposits have been constantly made along the shores, modifying the outlines within circumscribed limits; but for the purpose of this discussion such minor changes may be discounted, since the determination of the site of the fort is, in the opinion of the committee, not af- fected very materially by them. 4 La Salle states that the length of Lake Pimiteoui, com- posed of three lakes, was seven or eight leagues. Evidently he did not make a careful measurement of the distance. Father Hennepin writes that the distance was seven leagues. The French league is 2.49 miles; and the three lakes there- fore extended, according to the reckoning of the explorers, over a distance of 17V2 or 20 miles. The present length of the lakes from Chillicothe to the foot of the lake opposite Peoria, as measured on the United States Geological Sur- vey map, is about 19 miles. La Salle's estimate was, there- fore, approximately correct. The translation of La Salle's description of the lakes needs some elucidation. In writing of the middle lake he calls it the "little lake — or the lake in the middle." This may be interpreted as the smallest of the three, but not necessarily, for La Salle calls Lake Pimiteoui itself a "little lake"; and this limiting adjective attached to the middle lake does not convey an idea of comparison any more than in the case of the whole lake. If it had been the intention to write "the smallest lake," the expression would have been "le plus petit". La Salle describes the land bordering the little lake in the following words: "Le petit lac ou lac du milieu a auss'y des pays noyez a l'ouest et puis des cos- teaux assez hauts, et le troisiesme une belle campagne." 4 For an excellent discussion of the geology of the region see United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 506, Geology and Mineral Resources of the Peoria Quadrangle, Illinois, by J. A. Udden. The map in the pocket should be consulted. 11 MCSSV/LLg 7 LAKE P£OfVA From V.$, 7o/j oy r ftp ft tcaL «» | 1 ■ — ■ ■ .l. . . ) l.l . I »'^ ' ■ ■■ ■' ■■ !■ 12 We translate this as follows: "The little lake, or lake in the middle, also has swampy land on the west, then some rather high hills, and thirdly a beautiful prairie." It is in- correct to interpret this last phrase as meaning and "the third lake has a beautiful prairie", as a hasty reader might do. In the first place no beautiful prairie borders any of the lakes except the upper; secondly there is evidently the intention of describing a series of land formations from the lake's edge, namely, in the first place, "marshy land"; sec- ondly, "bluffs"; and thirdly, beyond the bluffs, "a prairie". The final argument supporting this interpretation is that La Salle continues his narrative by describing the third lake which lay beyond the narrows; this lower or third lake of La Salle's Lake Pimiteoui is the one lying opposite Peoria and is called today Peoria Lake. La Salle's estimate of seven or eight leagues as the extent of the three lakes proves conclusively that this lower lake was included in his description. THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF PIMITEOUI The next point to establish is the site of the Indian vil- lage also called Pimiteoui. This offers almost no difficulty, and there is general agreement among investigators. La Salle writes (Appendix I, B) : "We travelled four days toward the south quarter of the southwest along this river and arrived, on January 5, at the place which the savages call, in their language, Pimiteoui. On the night before, while crossing a small lake, we had perceived some smoke; and that day at nine o'clock in the morning, we found on two shores of the river a quantity of pirogues and saw some great clouds of smoke which issued forth from eighty huts filled with savages." Father Zenobe Membre (Appendix IV, A) writes: "They left it on the 1st of January, 1680, and by the 4th were thirty leagues lower down amid the camp of the Illinois; they were encamped on both sides of the river, which is very narrow there, but very near there 13 forms a lake about seven leagues long and one wide, called Pimiteoui." By general agreement among those who have investi- gated the conditions existing in the neighborhood at the time of La Salle, this village of Pimiteoui is placed on the western side of the river at the narrows between the second and the lowest lake; this is where the village of Averyville stands today. It is possible to designate the site more closely. In 1683 La Salle built 'Fort St. Louis on Starved Rock. After La Salle's death his lieutenants, La Forest and Tonti, petitioned for the cession of land and rights which had been made to their former commander; and their petition was granted in 1690. Tonti, during the win- ter of 1690-1691, abandoned Starved Rock and built Fort St. Louis at the village of Pimiteoui and shortly afterwards the Jesuits followed him to the same place. Here at Pimiteoui, or Pimitoui as it was then called, the French maintained a fort until 1763, when they hauled down the flag which had floated — though not continuously — over the middle Illinois River Valley from the time La Salle built Fort de Crevecoeur until France abandoned the purpose of building an empire in the Mississippi Valley. The ruins of the French fort, called sometimes Fort St. Louis and some- times Fort Pimitoui were seen by many people living in quite recent times. Descriptions place the site of the fort on the present-day Catherine Street in Averyville. In this neighborhood was the ancient Indian village of Pimiteoui. 5 6 For an account of Fort Pimiteoui see Alvord, The Illinois Country (Illinois Centennia i History, Volume I) , 89; on the ruins of the old fort, see Bateman and Selby, Historical Encyclo~ pedia of Illinois and History of Peoria County, Pt. II, 19. 14 THE SELECTION OF THE SITE OF FORT de CR&VECOEUR On January 15, 1680, La Salle set out from Pimiteoui to build a fort as a protection to his men and property from possible attacks from the Iroquois. Father Hennepin writes that it was on that day that he and La Salle selected the site. La Salle is the better authority and it is most probable that during his stay at Pimiteoui the leader had explored the environs with a view of selecting the best site for his proposed fortification. The accounts of the move- ment from the Indian village to the site do not aid us much in our search. La Salle himself writes (Appendix I, C) that a thaw had "rendered the river free from ice from Pimiteoui as far as there", i. e., the site of the fort, Father Hennepin states that the thaw had freed the river from ice below the village. From these passages it is evident that the fort was situated downstream. Since a fairly definite location of Fort de Crevecoeur is found in the maps by Franquelin, the committee prefer to bring in their testimony at this time. The first map was made in 1682 or 1683 presumably before news of La Salle's successful voyage to the mouth of the Mississippi in the year 1682 had reached Canada. Franquelin may have seen La Salle on his hasty trip east in 1680; and if such was the case, Franquelin's location of the fort on this earlier edition of his map was made from the most direct source of infor- mation. There can be no question, however, that before the edition of his map drawn in 1684, Franquelin conferred with La Salle, for in it the situation in the Illinois valley is reproduced in the greatest detail. We have thus the very best and most indubitable testimony in the map of 1684. If the reader will consult the reproductions of parts of these two maps by Franquelin, he will see that the geog- rapher has not attempted to separate the three lakes form- ing Lake Pimiteoui; this would have been difficult on a map 15 Franquelin's map, 1684 16 of the size covering such an extent of territory. He does, however, in both cases place Fort de Crevecoeur on the southern river bank below the lake. The committee are unanimously of the opinion that the testimony of these maps concerning the site of Fort de Crevecoeur is most important, and that all passages from the written accounts that seemingly contradict this testi- mony must be interpreted in conformity with it or discarded as valueless. In accordance with the maps, the site of Fort de Crevecoeur must be sought on the narrows of the river south of the lower end of Peoria Lake. All the sites situ- ated on the bank of the lake that have been claimed by various investigators may, therefore, be disregarded. There are passages from contemporary written accounts that indicate the same position and contain information that make it possible to designate more definitely the site of the fort. The most important passages of this sort con- cern the beginning of La Salle's return journey to Fort Frontenac in March, 1680. La Salle himself writes (Ap- pendix I, E) : "I embarked with six Frenchmen and a sav- age in two canoes, the river being free before the fort; but we had not travelled an hour when we found it frozen. I believe that the little current that was present in that part was the cause of the ice remaining there so long; and not wishing to part with my canoes that I wished to send back to the fort loaded with Indian corn, when I should arrive at the village, I encouraged my men to hope that at the end of the frozen lake the current would have rotted the ice and we should have a free passage." He then had sleds made and they dragged their canoes as far as the Indian village at modern Utica. The passage does not inform us clearly how far they canoed on the narrower river nor how soon upon entering the lake they struck ice. The explorers had noticed that the water of the Illinois river, however, froze as far as the 17 lower end of the lake, but below the lake it was never frozen. 6 The canoes would have travelled in less than an hour between two and a half to three miles. From the passage, therefore, some idea of the site of the fort is given. It was a mile or two or more below the lower end of the lake. There exists a narrative of La Salle's explorations dur- ing the years 1679 and 1681, which is published by Pierre Margry (Appendix, II, B) under the title of "Official Ac- count of the Enterprise of Cavelier de la Salle." Who was the author is uncertain. Perhaps it was written by La Salle himself or more probably by a friend in Paris who drew from La Salle's letters, some of which have not been pre- served, or else obtained his information from conversations with the explorer. A comparison of this narrative with that by Hennepin proves that one must have been derived very directly from the other; in fact there can be no doubt of plagiarism by one or the other. In the minds of the committee, after comparing the two, Father Hennepin is the plagiarist. Even in the passages quoted in the appendix of this report, (Appendices II, A and III, C), the careless- ness of the friar as a copyist is evident. The narrative of La Salle's canoe trip up the river in this "Official Account" adds the following information: "The current, rather rapid, kept the river near the fort free from ice; but after a league (two and one-half miles) of navigation and at the entrance of an enlargement, or of a lake, some eight leagues long, that the river forms, they found it frozen." The statement that they travelled a league before reaching the lake is not found in La Salle's letter. Furthermore it is inconceivable that the writer could have had any purpose to serve in falsifying the ac- count of this particular episode. The information is given "Both Father Membre and Father Hennepin state this, but the latter was probablv follow- ing the former. Le Clereq, Establishment of the Faith, II. 119; Henrepin, New Discovery, (Thwaites ed.) I, 154. Both passages in Appendix of this report. 18 with such certainty that we must conclude that the writer himself knew the situation of the fort or else had what he regarded as reliable authority for the statement. A third passage from one of La Salle's letters, which may be misinterpreted and has been used by all those in- vestigators who have attempted to locate the site of the fort on Peoria Lake, is easily understood in the light of what has already been proved. On August 22, 1682, in a letter to a friend he describes the Illinois River and uses the fol- lowing expression: (Appendix, I, D) "But at various places, as at Pimiteoui, a league to the east of Crevecoeur, and at two or three other times below, it (the river) is enlarged to one or two leagues." There might be some doubt as to whether La Salle meant the lake or the village of Pimiteoui, but since other testimony locates the fort about a league south of the enlargement, he evidently had the lake in mind. The historian finds many difficulties in interpreting La Salle's written statement, since he was not always clear in his expressions and sometimes was very care- less; in two places he writes of "Pimiteoui, or Crevecoeur,*' as if the two places were identical. 7 Of course in describ- ing the whole Mississippi Valley the identifying of two places only a few miles apart may be excusable. The lower end of Peoria Lake has probably undergone greater changes since 1680 than any other part of the water system composing the three enlargements of the river which La Salle called Lake Pimiteoui, for here the river valley has received the wash from Farm creek on the south and Kickapoo creek on the north. The flat land has been continuously built up by the detritus which these carry, so that the end of the lake lies today farther up stream than in the time of La Salle. The members of the committee realize that by the action of the water there has been lost a fixed and definite point from which to measure the two miles and a half down stream. Still this is not such an im- 7 Margry, Decouvertes el Elablissemcnts des Franfais, II, 133, 248. 19 portant loss, since the distances given by La Salle are evi- dently only approximate. When he said a league, he did not anticipate that future historians would attempt to check his estimate by a surveyor's chain. After a careful consideration of these three passages, written either by La Salle or by one with more explicit information derived from the explorer than is available to- day, the members of the committee are unanimously of the opinion that the site of Fort de Crevecoeur was in the neighborhood of Wesley. This opinion is supported by hoary tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation of Peorians and people of the environs. Al- though the committee place little reliance on unverified tra- dition, it is satisfying to find that the site discovered by careful analysis of the historical sources coincides with popular memory. Until further information on this subject is obtained the committee prefer not to designate the exact spot of La Salle's fort. J. C. THOMPSON, Chairman of Committee. 20 FINAL REPORT Crevecoeur is a proper name and should be printed as one word. The fort erected on the eastern bank of the Illinois river by La Salle in 1680 was so called in conse- quence of the recent destruction of Fort de Crevecoeur in the Netherlands by Louis XIV, who captured that strong- hold in 1672. There is proof that Henri de Tonti was present at this engagement. Fort de Crevecoeur was not the first habitation es- tablished within what are now the corporate limits of Illinois. That favor must be accorded to Father Mar- quette's winter cabin, which rested two leagues from the lake on the northern bank of the west fork of the south branch of the Chicago river. It was constructed during the winter of 1674-1675. Father Marquette was driven from his cabin by flood waters in the spring of 1675 due to the break up of the ice in the Des Plaines river. He secured his effects in trees and took refuge upon a hillock nearby. Shortly thereafter he crossed the portage and proceeded by canoe on his voy- age to the mission of the Cascasquias. The site of Fort de Crevecoeur was selecteed by La Salle Jan. 15, 1680. It was placed in command of Henri de Tonti March 1, 1680, when La Salle departed on his weary journey of sixty-five days to Fort Frontenac. It was de- serted by its garrison in April, 1680, after Tonti had re- paired to Starved Rock pursuant to an order issued by La Salle. It was damaged by fire set by the Iroquois in October, 1680. Its ruins were visited in February, 1682, by Father Membre who attended La Salle on his voyage of discovery. Fort de Crevecoeur was associated intimately with the two most daring achievements of La Salle: (1) the march of five hundred leagues to Fort Fontenac in 1680 and (2) the exploration of the Mississippi river in 1682. Fort de Crevecoeur was built upon the termination of a ridge at a distance from the river which extended to the 21 base of the ridge during severe rains. This is the time and place to state that the fort rested near the bank of the river. There is nothing in the record to indicate that the fort stood near the shore of the lake. It was defended on one side by the river; that is to say, the side facing the stream was abrupt enough to be regarded as inclosed. Two wide and deep ravines fortified two other sides. A trench was excavated in the rear uniting the two ravines, thus forming an irregular square surmounted by a natural pla- teau. The location of the trench is plainly visible. The prelimniary report is an assembly of source ma- terials that cannot be questioned, to which attention is invited. It includes, among other things, three reproduc- tions of original maps together with the printed testimony of the four men — Hennepin, La Salle, Membre and Tonti — who were identified with the fort, and who left their im- pressions concerning it. We must be bound by this record. Fort de Crevecoeur stood about one league downstream from Peoria lake. The record is too lengthy to be inserted here but ( 1 ) La Salle had not travelled an hour by canoe, when he found the lake frozen; (2) after a league of navi- gation, they found the lake covered with ice; (3) the lake — a league to the east of Crevecoeur; (4) the maps of Fran- quelin, 1682 and 1684, place the fort on the eastern bank of the river below the lake. The preliminary report was returned before a final judgment was reached. It does not purport to fix the exact site of Fort de Crevecoeur. It determines only the neigh- borhood, a league below the lake, that includes three sites to be considered: (1) the Wesley site; (2) the Lagron site; and (3) the site chosen by the Daughters of the American Revolution. All other sites may be disregarded. Decisions are painful. But we find that the river extended to the base of the cliff during severe rains. This would eliminate the Wesley site, the tract of land between the foot-hills and the river now occupied by the recently incorpo- rated Village of Crevecoeur. 22 The brief submitted by Mr. Lagron is clear and consist- ent, but the formation so particularly described no longer exists. Its area is traversed by the right of way of the Erie road and is not available. The brief will repay a most careful study. The only location that meets with the essential require- ments of the record — the geographical situation — the com- manding position — the abrupt front — the two wide and deep ravines — the trench — the irregular square — the natural plateau — and last but not least, the traditions — is the site chosen by the Daughters of the American Revolution. This is our best judgment. If it is not the true site, we earnestly recommend it as the most suitable emplacement for the marker until future generations shall find out the right. OTTO L. SCHMIDT, President Illinois State Historical Society. JESSIE PALMER WEBER, Secretary Illinois State Historical Society. J. C. THOMPSON, Chairman of Committee. 23 APPENDICES APPENDIX I. LA SALLE'S TESTIMONY A: La Salle's Description of Lake Pimiteoui. From Margry, Decouvertes et Etablissements des Fran- cais, II, 177-178. On trouve cinq lieues plus bas celle des Moingoane, qui traverse une belle campagne qu'on descouvre de la riviere. Sept lieues plus bas est le petit lac de Pimiteoui, long de sept a huit lieues et large de une a deux par le plus large, compose comme de trois petits lacs qui s'entre-communi- quent par autant de destroits. Le premier et le plus sep- tentrional est borde, a l'ouest, d'une belle campagne, et, a Test, de bois noyez qui s'estendent jusqu'au pied des mon- tagnes couvertes de bois qui regnent tout le long de ces trois petits lacs du coste de Test et du sud-est. Le petit lac ou lac du milieu a aussy des pays noyez a l'ouest et puis des costeaux assez hauts, et le troisiesme une belle campagne, puis la riviere se retrecit et continue egalement large jusqu'a un autre petit lac entre deux chaisnes de costeaux couverts de bois, dont elle s'esloigne parfois plus et parfois moins, laissant entre eux et son lit un grand intervalle de bois entre- coupe de marais qui inondent entierement dans les des- bordemens des eaux. On ne trouve jusqu'a ce second lac qu'une fois les campagnes. Environ une lieue audessous de Pimiteoui, a gauche en descendant, le bordage de la riviere est partout ailleurs couvert de bois. L'escore de la terre est beaucoup plus releve que la profondeur, qui va tousjours en baissant jusqu'au pied des costeaux, dont les esgouts forment de grands marais qui sont pleins de poissons de toute sorte, parceque, la riviere desbordee surmontant de beaucoup, le printemps, cette espece de chaussee couverte de bois qui la borde et remplissant ces marais, le poisson, qui y trouve beaucoup a manger, s'y arreste, et lorsque la diviere, rentree dans son lit, ne peut plus en sortir a cause 24 de la hauteur du bordage, les Sauvages y font des saignees Teste, par le moyen desquelles ils assechen ces marais, ou ils prennent autant de poissons qu'ils veulent. [Translation] Five leagues lower one finds the river Moingoane, which flows through a beautiful prairie which one can see from the river. Seven leagues lower is the little lake of Pimiteoui, seven to eight leagues in length and one to two leagues in width at its widest place, composed, as it were, of three little lakes which communicate with each other by as many straits. The first and the most northerly is bordered, on the west, by a beautiful prairie, and on the east by a swampy woods which extends to the foot of some mountains covered with timber which run along these three small lakes on the east and southeast sides. The little lake, or the lake in the middle, also has swampy land on the west, then some rather high hills, and thirdly a beautiful prairie; then the river narrows and continues at the same width up to another small lake between two chains of hills covered with timber, from which it is more or less distant, leaving between them and its bed a great interval of woods inter- spersed with marshes which are inundated entirely during flood waters. As far as this second lake one finds prairies only once. About a league below Pimiteoui, at the left in descending, the border of the river is, moreover, every- where covered with timber. The shore is very much more elevated than the depth [farther inland]. The land always slopes downward to the foot of the hills where the water- falls form some great marshes; these are full of fish of all kinds, because the flooded river rises a great deal, in the spring, above this kind of wood-covered bank which borders it and fills up these marshes; the fish, which find a great deal to eat there, stop in them; and when the river, having returned into its bed, can no longer go forth because of the height of its banks, the Indians build drains there, in the 25 summer, by means of which they drain these marshes, where they catch as many fish as they wish. B : La Salle's account of the village of Pimiteoui. From Margry, Decouvertes et Etablissements des Fran- cats, II, 37-38. Nous marchasmes quatre journees vers le sud-quart de sud-ouest le long de cette riviere et arrivasmes le cinquiesme de Janvier au lieu que les Sauvages appellent en leur langue Pimiteoui. Nous avions aperqeu, des la veille, des fumees en traversant un petit lac; et ce jour-la sur les neuf heures du matin, nous trouvasmes des deux costez de la riviere quan- tite de pirogues et vismes de grandes fumees qui sortoient de quatre-vingts cabanes pleines de Sauvages que nous des- couvrismes les premiers et qui ne nous aperceurent qu'apres que nous eusmes double la pointe derriere laquelle ils estoi- ent campez a demy-portee de fusil. Nous estions dans huit canots sur une ligne, nous laissant aller au courant de l'eau et tenant nos armes en main. [Translation] We travelled four days toward the south quarter of the southwest along this river and arrived, on January 5, at the place which the savages called, in their language, Pimiteoui. On the night before, while crossing a small lake, we had per- ceived some smoke; and that day at nine o'clock in the morning, we found on two shores of the river, a quantity of pirogues and saw some great clouds of smoke which issued forth from eighty huts filled with savages whom we were the first to discover and who only perceived us after we had doubled the point behind which they were camping within half a gun shot. We were in eight canoes drawn up in a line, letting ourselves float with the current of the water and holding our arms in hand. 26 C : La Salle's Description of Fort de Crevecoeur. From Margry, Decouvertes et Etablissements des Francais, II, 48-49. Je dis ces sortes de raisons a ceux qui me restoient pour les encourager a entreprendre volontiers le travail de cette fortification, qui devoit estre grand pour si peu de monde. lis s'y resolurent tous de bonne grace, et nous rendismes au lieu que j'avois destine, le 15 Janvier, sur le soir, un grand degel, qui survint a propos, ayant rendu la riviere libre depuis Pimiteoui jusques la. C'estoit un petit tertre esloigne du bord de la riviere d'environ trois arpents, jusques au pied duquel elle se repandoit toutes les fois qu'il tomboit beaucoup de pluye. Deux ravines larges et pro- fondes enfermoient deux autres costez, et le quartiesme a moitie, que je fis achever de fermer par un fosse qui joignoit les deux ravines. Je fis border l'autre coste des ravines de bons chevaux de frise, escarper le penchant du tertre tout autour, et de la terre qu'on en tiroit je fis faire sur la hauteur un parapet capable de couvrir un homme, le tout revestu depuis le pied du tertre jusqu'au haut du parapet de grands madriers, dont le bas estoit en coulisse entre de grandes pieces de bois qui regnoient tout autour du bas de l'eminence, et le haut des madriers arreste par d'autres grandes traverses retenues a tenons et a mortoises par d'autres pieces de bois qui sortoient de l'espaisseur du para- pet. Au devant de cet ouvrage je fis planter partout des pieux pointus de vingt-cinq pieds de haut, d'un pied de diametre, enfoncez de trois pieds dans terre, chevillez aux traverses qui retenoient le haut des madriers avec une fraise au haut de deux pieds et demy de long pour empescher la surprise. Je laissay la figure qu'avoit ce platon, qui quoyque irreguliere, ne laissoit pas d'estre assez bien flanquee contre des Sauvages; je fis faire deux logemens pour mes gens dans deux des angles flanquants pour estre tous postez en cas d'attaque, le moyen fait de grosses pieces de bois a Tespreuve du mousquet, dans le troisiesme la forge faite de 27 mesme matiere le long de la courtine qui regarde le bois, le logis des Recollects dans le quatriesme angle, et fis placer ma tente et celle du sieur Tonty dans le milieu de la place. [Translation] I gave these kinds of reasons to those who remained with me in order to encourage them to undertake willingly the work of this fortification, which was bound to be heavy for so small a number of people. They all agreed to it with good grace, and we repaired to the place that I had destined. On January 15, toward evening a great thaw, which opportunely occurred, rendered the river free from ice from Pimiteoui as far as there [the place destined]. It was a little hillock about 540 feet from the bank of the river; up to the foot of the hillock the river expanded every time that there fell a heavy rain. Two wide and deep ravines shut in two other sides and one-half of the fourth, which I caused to be closed completely by a ditch joining the two ravines. I caused the outer edge of the ravines to be bor- dered with good chevaux-de-frise, the slopes of the hillock to be cut down all around, and with the earth thus excavated I caused to be built on the top a parapet capable of covering a man, the whole covered from the foot of the hillock to the top of the parapet with long madriers (beams), the lower ends of which were in a groove between great pieces of wood which extended all around the foot of the eleva- tion; and I caused the top of these madriers to be fastened by other long cross-beams held in place by tenons and mortises with other pieces of wood that projected through the parapet. In front of this work I caused to be planted, everywhere, some pointed stakes twenty-five feet in height, one foot in diameter, driven three feet in the ground, pegged to the cross-beams that fastened the top of the madriers and provided with a f raise at the top 2\U feet long to prevent surprise. I did not change the shape of this plateau which, though irregular, was sufficiently well flanked against the savages. I caused two lodgments to be built 28 for my men in two of the flanking angles in order that they be ready in case of attack; the middle was made of large pieces of musket proof timber; in the third angle the forge, made of the same material, was placed along the curtain which faced the wood. The lodging of the Recol- lects was in the fourth angle, and I had my tent and that of the sieur de Tonti stationed in the center of the place. D : La Salle's Description of the Illinois River, August 22, 1682. From Margry, Decouvertes et Etablisse- ments des Francais, II, 247. La riviere Teakiki est presque tousjours egalement large pendant ces quatre-vingt-dix lieues, approchant de la largeur de la Seine devant Paris, la ou elle se contient dans son lit; mais en divers endroits comme a Pimiteoui, une lieue a Test de Crevecoeur et deux ou trois autres fois au dessous, elle s'eslargit jusqu a une et deux lieues et en beau- coup d'endroits, ou les deux costeaux qui la costoyent depuis le village des Islinois s'esloignent d'environ une demy-lieue Tun de l'autre. [Translation] The Illinois River, wherever it keeps within its bed, is for these ninety leagues almost always of the same width, approximating the width of the Seine before Paris. But at various places, as at Pimiteoui, a league to the east of Crevecoeur, and at two or three other times below, it is enlarged to one or two leagues and in many places where the two lines of hills which border it from the site of the village of the Illinois are distant from each other about half a league. E: La Salle's account of journey from Fort de Creve- coeur. From Margry, Decouvertes et Etablisse- ments de Francais, II, 55. Cependant l'hyver estant beaucoup plus long qu'a l'ordi- naire et les glaces ostant la communication avec le village 29 ou estoit le bled d'Inde en cache, les vivres commengant a manquer a ceux qui travailloient au fort, je me determinay a partir pour trouver moyen de les en pourveoir. Je m'em- barquay avec six Francois et un Sauvage dans deux canots, la riviere estant libre devant le fort; mais nous n'eusmes pas marche une heure que nous la trouvasmes glacee. Je croyois que le peu de courant qu'il y avoit en cet endroit estoit cause que les glaces y duroient plus longtemps, et, ne voulant pas quitter mes cantos que je voulois renvoyer chargez de bled d'Inde au fort quand je serois arrive au village, je fis esperer a mes gens qu'a la fin de ce lac glace le courant auroit pourri les glaces, et que nous aurions le pas- sage libre. Nous fismes deux traisneaux et mismes nostre equipage et nos canots dessus, et traisnasmes le tout jusqu'au bout du lac, a sept ou huit lieues de long. La riviere se trouva le lendemain couverte de glaces environ quatre lieues durant au dela du lac, qui estoient trop foibles pour marcher dessus et trop fortes pur les pouvoir casser et pour y exposer des canots d'escorce. Nous passasmes done cette journee, 2 de Mars, a porter tout par terre dans la neiga jusqu'a my-jambe et a travers des bois, et arrivas- mes le soir a des cabanes Sauvages ou nous nous mismes a couvert de la pluye qui tomba toute la nuit en grande quan- tite. [Translation] However, the winter being much longer than ordinarily and the ice preventing communication with the village where the Indian corn was en cache, the provisions began to fail those who were working at the fort, and I determined to set out in order to find means of providing for them. I embarked with six Frenchmen and a savage in two canoes, the river being free before the fort; but we had not travelled an hour when we found it frozen. I believe that the little current that was present in that part was the cause of the ice remaining there so long; and not wishing to part with my canoes that I wished to send back to the fort loaded 30 with Indian corn when I should arrive at the village, I en- couraged my men to hope that at the end of the frozen lake the current would have rotted the ice, and we should have a free passage. We made two sleds and put our equip- ment and our boats upon them and dragged the whole to the end of the lake, which was seven or eight leagues in length. On the following day, we found the river for about four leagues beyond the lake covered with ice, which was too weak to travel upon and too strong to break and to expose to it the bark canoes. We passed, therefore, this day, the second of March, in carrying everything by land through the snow, which was knee deep, and across the wood; and we arrived in the evening at some Indian huts, where we sought shelter from the rain which fell in great quantity all night. APPENDIX II : Testimony of the writer of the "Official Account" of the enter- prises of Cavelier de La Salle. A: The building of Fort de Crevecoeur. From Mar- gry, Decouvertes et Etablissements des Francais, I, 476-477. Un grand degel estant survenu le IS Janvier et ayant rendu la riviere libre au-dessous du village, le sieur de La Salle se rendit avec tous ses canots au lieu qu'il avoit choisy pour y faire un fort. C'estoit un petit tertre esloigne d'en- viron deux cents pas du bord de la riviere qui s'estendoit jusqu'au pied dans le temps des grandes pluyes. Deux ravines larges et profondes fortifioient deux autres costez, et une partie du quatriesme, que le sieur de La Salle fit achever de retrancher par un fosse qui joignoit ensemble les deux ravines. II fit border leur talus exterieur, qui luy ser- voit de contrescarpe, de bons chevaux de frise. II fit escarper de tous costez cette eminence, dont il fit soutenir la terre autant qu'il luy estoit necessaire par de fortes pieces de bois avec des madriers, et il fit planter autour, de peur de 31 quelque surprise, une palissade dont les pieux estoient longs de vingt pieds, et gros a proportion. II laissa le haut du tertre en sa figure naturelle, qui formoit un quarre irregu- lier, et il se contenta de le border d'un bon parapet de terre, capable de couvrir ses gens, dont il fit faire le logement dans des angles de ce fort, afin qu'ils fussent toujours prests en cas d'attaque. Les Recollects furent logez dans le troisiesme. Le magasin, solidement construit, fut place dans le quatriesme, et la forge, le long de la courtine qui regardoit le bois. Pour luy, il se posta au milieu avec le sieur de Tonty. [Translation] A great thaw having occurred on January 15 and having rendered the river free below the village, Sieur de la Salle proceeded with all his canoes to the place where he had chosen to build a fort. It was a little hillock at a distance of about 200 paces from the bank of the river which ex- tended to the foot during severe rains. Two wide and deep ravines fortified two other sides and a part of the fourth, which the Sieur de la Salle caused to be completely cut off by a ditch which joined together the two ravines. He caused their opposite slopes, which served him as a counter- scarp, to be bordered with good chevaux-de-frise. He caused all sides of this elevation to be cut into a steep slope, the earth of which he caused to be supported, so far as there was need of it, by strong pieces of wood with madriers. For fear of some surprise, he caused to be planted all around a palisade whose posts were twenty feet in length and as thick in proportion. He left the top of the hillock in its natural shape, which formed an irregular square, and he satisfied himself with bordering it with a good parapet of earth, capable of covering his men, for whom he caused the lodg- ment to be built in some angles of this fort, in order that they might be always ready in case of attack. The Recol- lects were lodged in the third angle. The store-house solidly 32 constructed, was placed in the fourth, and the forge, along the curtain which faces the wood. As for him, he stationed himself with the Sieur de Tonti in the middle. B : Site for the fort. From Margry, Decouvertes et Etablissements des Francais, I, 488-489. il partit le er du mois de Mars avec six des plus robustes de ses gens et un Sauvage, en deux canots. Le courant, assez rapide, tenoit la riviere libre de glaces aupres du fort Mais apres une lieue de navigation et a l'entree d'un eslargissement ou d'un lac de huit lieues de long, que forme la riviere, ils la trouverent glacee. Le sieur de La Salle, qui ne vouloit pas abandonner ses canots, ayant dessein de les renvoyer au fort chargez de bled d'Inde, dit a ses gens qu'au bout de ce lac, le courant auroit fondu les glaces et leur ouvriroit le passage. Ainsi ils resolurent de faire deux traisneaux sur lesquels ils mirent leurs canots et tout leur equipage, et les traisnerent sur las neige jusqu'au bout du lac. Ils y trouverent, le lendemain, la riviere couverte de glace trop foible pour pouvoir marcher dessus, et trop forte pour y exposer des canots d'escorce. Ils furent done contrains de porter les canots et tout le reste durant quatre lieues, tousjours dans la neige jusqu'a mi-jambes, et a travers les bois. Ils arriverent le soir a des cabanes des Sauvages, ou ils se mirent a couvert d'une forte pluye qui tomba toute la nuit. [Translation] ... he set out on the first of the month of March with six of the most robust of his men and one savage, in two canoes. The current, rather rapid, kept the river near the fort free from ice; but after a league of navigation and at the entrance of an enlargement, or of a lake, some eight leagues long, that the river forms, they found it frozen. Sieur de la Salle, who did not wish to abandon his canoes, having planned to send them back, loaded with Indian corn to the 33 forts, told his men that at the end of this lake, the current would have melted the ice and opened their passage. So they resolved to make two sleds on which they loaded their canoes and their equipment, and dragged them through the snow to the end of the lake. They found there, the follow- ing day, the river covered with ice too weak to travel upon and too strong to expose to it the bark canoes. They were therefore forced to carry the canoes and all the rest for a distance of four leagues, always through the knee-deep snow and across the woods. They arrived in the evening at some Indians' huts where they sheltered themselves from a hard rain which fell all night. APPENDIX III : Henri de Tonti's Testimony. A: Tonti's account of Fort de Crevecoeur. From Margry, Decoavertes et Etablissements des Fran- cais, I, 583. Le 15, ayant trouve un lieu propre pour faire bastir une barque de quarante tonneaux, pour descendre le Mississipy ou fleuve Colbert, Ton y construisit un fort qui fut nomme Crevecoeur, et Ton travailla a une barque de quarante ton- neaux. [Translation] The 15th [of January], having found a place fitted for having a boat of forty tons built to descend the Mississippi or Colbert River, they constructed there a fort which was named Crevecoeur and they worked on a boat of forty tons. B : Tonti's account of Fort de Crevecoeur. From Illi- nois Historical Collections, I, 131. As it was necessary to fortify ourselves during the winter we made a fort which was called Crevecoeur. C: Tonti's testimony on open water, November 14, 1694. From Margry, Decouvertes et Etablisse- ments des Francais, I, 595. Apres nous traisnasmes nostre equipage soixante-dix lieues, scavoir vingt sur la riviere de Chicago et cinquante 34 sur celle des Illinois. Estant arrivez au fort de Contrecoeur (sic) , nous y trouvasmes la navigation, et comme plusieurs de nos Sauvages furent obligez de faire plusieurs canots d'escorce d'orme, cela fut cause que nous n'arrivasmes que le 6 Fevrier au fleuve de Mississipi, qui fut nomme Colbert par M. de La Salle. [Translation] After we dragged our equipage seventy leagues, namely twenty on the Chicago River and fifty on that of the Illinois, having arrived at Fort de Crevecoeur, we found there open navigation; and as several of our Indians were obliged to make several elm-bark canoes, that was the cause that we arrived only on February 6 at the Mississippi River, which was named Colbert by M. de la Salle. APPENDIX IV: Testimony of Father Zenobe Membre. A: Father Membre's description of Lake Pimiteoui. From Le Clercq, Establishment of the Faith (Translated by J. G. Shea), II, 118-119. They left it on the 1st of January, 1680, and by the 4th were thirty leagues lower down amid the camp of the Illi- nois; they were encamped on both sides of the river, which is very narrow there, but very near there forms a lake about seven leagues long and one wide, called Pimiteoui, meaning in their language that there are plenty of fat beasts in that spot. The Sieur de la Salle estimated it at thirty-three degrees forty-five minutes. It is remarkable because the Illinois River, which for several months in winter is frozen down to it, never is from this place to the mouth, although navigation is interrupted in places by accumulations of float- ing ice from above. 35 B : Father Membre's Description of Fort Crevecoeur. From Le Clercq, Establishment of the Faith (Translated by Shea), II, 123. With this assurance the little army, on the 14th of Jan- uary, 1680, the floating ice from above having ceased, repaired to a little eminence, a pretty strong position, near the Illinois camp, where the Sieur de la Salle immediately set to work to build a fort, which he called Crevecoeur, on account of many vexations that he experienced there, but which never shook his firm resolve. The fort was well advanced and the little vessel already up to the string-piece by the first of March, when he resolved to make a journey to Fort Frontenac. C: Father Membre's account of La Salle's journey to the east. From Le Clercq, Establishment of the Faith (Translated by Shea), II, 129-131. Father Louis having set out on the 29th of February, 1680, the Sieur de la Salle left the Sieur de Tonty as com- mandant of Fort Crevecoeur with ammunition and pro- visions, and peltries to pay the workmen, as has been agreed, and merchandise to trade with and buy provisions as they were needed; and having lastly given orders as to what was to be done in his absence, he set out with four Frenchmen and one Indian on the 2d of March, 1680. He arrived on the 11th at the great Illinois village where I then was, and thence, after twenty-four hours' stay, he con- tinued his route on foot over the ice to Fort Frontenac. From our arrival at Fort Crevecoeur, on the 14th of Janu- ary past, Father Gabriel, our Superior, Father Louis, and myself, had raised a cabin, in which we had established some little regularity, exercising our functions as mission- aries towards the French of our party, and towards the Illinois Indians, who came in crowds. As by the end of Feb- ruary I already knew a part of their language, because I spent the whole of the day in the Indian camp, which was 36 but half a league off, 1 our Father-Superior appointed me to follow them when they began to return to their village. A chief named Oumahouha had adopted me as his son in the Indian fashion, and Monsieur de la Salle had made him presents in order that he might take good care of me. Father Gabriel resolved to stay at the fort with the Sieur de Tonty and the workmen. APPENDIX V: Father Hennepin's Testimony. A: Description of Lake Pimiteoui. From Hennepin, Description de la Louisiane, 140-141. Sur la fin du quatrieme jour en traversant un petit Lac qui forme la Riviere, on remarqua des fumees qui firent con- noistre que les Sauvages estoient cabannez pres de-la : En effet, le cinquieme sur les neuf heures du matin on vit des duex cotez de la Riviere quantite de Peroquets, & environ quatre-vingts Cabannes pleines de Sauvages qui n'apper- ceurent nos Canots qu'apres que nous eumes double une pointe, derriere laquelle les Illinois estoient campez a demie portee du fusil, nous estions dans huit Canots sur une ligne, tous nos gens les armes a la main, & nous laissans aller au courant de la Riviere. ^Translation^ At the end of the fourth day while crossing a little lake which the river forms, we noticed some smoke which in- formed us that the Savages were cabined near there. In fact, on the fifth at nine o'clock in the morning, we saw on the two sides of the river a quantity of pirogues and about eighty cabins full of savages who saw our canoes only after we had doubled a point behind which the Illinois were en- camped at the distance of half a gun shot. We were in •Investigators have attempted to use this statement in determining the site of Fort de Crevecoeur, but an "Indian camp" was very changeable. The passage offers no certain point from which to measure. Of course Indians pitched their temporary camps in the vicinity of Fort de Crevecoeur, wherever it mav have been situated. That the camp here referred to can- not be identified with the Indian village of Pimeteoui is evident. 37 eight canoes drawn up in line, all our men having their arms in hand; we allowed the canoes to float with the current of the river. B : Hennepin describes Lake Pimiteoui. From Henne- pin, Nouvelle decouverte d'un tres grand pays situe dans VAmerique, entre le Nouveau Mexique, et la Mer Glaciate . .., 199-200. Sur la fin du quatrieme jour de Fan nous traversames un petit Lac long d'environ sept lieues, & large d'une, nomme Pimiteoui, ce qui signifie en leur langue, qu'il y a en cet endroit, beaucoup de betes grasses. Le Sieur de la Salle jugea par l'Astrolabe, qu'il etoit a trente trois degrez quar- ante cinq minutes. Ce Lac est fort remarquable, en ce que la Riviere des Illinois etant glacee jusques la ce qui ne dure que quatre ou cinq Semines, & n'arrive que rarement, elle ne Test jamais depuis cet endroit jusqu'a son embouchure dans Meschasipi. [Translation] At the end of the fourth day of the year we crossed a little lake, in length about seven leagues and in width one, named Pimiteoui which signifies in their language that there is, in this place, an abundance of fat beasts. The Sieur de la Salle judged by the astrolabe that the latitude was thirty- three degrees forty-five minutes. This lake is very remark- able because the river of the Illinois although it freezes as far as there — this lasts only four or five weeks and hap- pens only rarely — is never frozen from this place down to its discharge into the Mississippi. C: Hennepin describes Fort de Crevecoeur. From Hennepin, Description de la Louisiane, 166ff. . . . ces raisons & quelque autres sembables que je leur dis les persuaderent, & les engagerent tous de bonne grace a la construction d'un Fort que Ton nomma Creve-coeur scitue a quatre journees du grand Village des Illinois descendant vers le Fleuve Colbert. 38 Un grand degel estant survenu le quinze de Janvier, & ayant rendu la Riviere libre au dessous du Village, le Sieur de la Salle me pria de l'accompagner, & nous nous rendi'mes avec un de nos Canots au lieu que nous allions choisir pour travailler a ce petit Fort: c'estoit un petit tertre eloigne d'environ deux cens pas du bord de la Riviere qui s'etendoit jusques au pied dans le temps des pluyes, deux ravines larges & profondes fortifioent deux autres costez, & une partie du quatrieme que Ton fit achever de retrancher par un fosse qui joignoit ensemble les deux ravines, on fit border leur Talus exterieur qui luy servoit de Contrescarpe, on fit des Chevaux de frize, & escarper de tous cotez cette eminence, & on fit soiitenir la terre autant qu'il estoit necessaire par de fortes pieces de bois avec de Madriers, & on fit planter au tour de peur de quelque surprise une Pallissade dont les pieux estoient longs de vingt-cinq pieds & d'un pied d'espaisseur, on laissa le haut du tertre en sa figure naturelle qui formoit un quarre irregulier, & on se contenta de le border d'un bon Parapet de terre capable de couvrir tout notre monde dont on fit faire le Logement dans deux des Angles de ce Fort afin qu'ils fussent toujours prests en cas d'attaque, les Peres Gabriel, Zenoble & moy nous nous logeames dans une Cabanne couverte de planches que nous ajustames avec nos Ouvriers, & dans laquelle nous nous retirions apres le tra- vail, tout notre monde pour la Priere du soir & du matin, & ou ne pouvans plus dire la Messe, le vin que nous avions fait du gros raisin du pais nous venant a manquer, nous nous contentions de chanter les Vespres les Festes & Dimanches, & de faire la Predication apres les Prieres du matin, on mit la Forga le long de la courtine qui regardoit le bois, le Sieur de la Salle se posta au milieu avec le Sieur de Tonty, & Ton fit abattre du bois pour faire du charbon pour le Forgeron. [ Translation] . . . these reasons and some similar ones, which I told them, persuaded them, and they all willing agreed to the construction of a fort which we named Creve-coeur [sic~\, 39 situated at four days journey from the great village of the Illinois as one journeys toward the river Colbert. [Missis- sippi]. A great thaw having occurred on January 15 and having rendered the river free below the village, the Sieur de la Salle asked me to accompany him and we proceeded with one of our canoes to the place which we were going to choose for the construction of this little fort. It was a little hillock at a distance of about two hundred paces from the bank of the river which extended to the foot during severe rains. Two wide and deep ravines fortified two other sides and a part of the fourth which we caused to be completely cut off by a ditch which joined together the two ravines. We caused their opposite slopes to be bordered which served him [sic] as a counterscarp, we made chevaux-de- frise, 2 and caused all sides of this elevation to be cut into a steep slope, and we caused the earth to be supported, so far as there was need of it, by strong pieces of wood with madriers. For fear of some surprise, we caused to be planted a palisade whose posts were twenty-five feet long and a foot in thickness. We left the top of the hillock in its natural shape which formed an irregular square, and we satisfied ourselves with bordering it with a good parapet of earth capable of covering all our people for whom we caused the lodgment to be built in two of the angles of this fort in order that they might always be ready in case of attack. The Fathers Gabriel, Zenoble [sic], and I were lodged in the cabin covered with planks which we, with our workers fixed up and into which we retired after work and all of our people for evening & morning prayer, and when we could no longer read Mass, after the wine, which we had made from the large grape of the country, failed us, 2 The relation between Hennepin's Description de la Loutstane and the "Official Account (Appendix II) has often been pointed out. There certainly has been copying by someone. The error made by Hennepin in this sentence, as can be seen by comparing it with the Official Account ' (Appendix II, A) leaves no doubt that he did the copying and that he was a careless copyist at that. 40 we contented ourselves with singing the Vespers, Feasts, and Sundays and with preaching after morning prayers. We placed the forge along the curtain which faced the woods. The Sieur de la Salle with Sieur de Tonti placed himself in the middle; and we had wood brought to make charcoal for the forge. 2 D : Hennepin describes the Indian villages. From Hen- nepin, Nonvelle decouverte d'un tres grand pays situe dans l } Amerique, . . 197. Le plus grand Village des Illinois est compose de quatre ou cinq cens Cabannes, chacune de cinq ou six feux. Ces Vil- lages son situez dans une plaine un peu marecageuse a quarante degrez de latitude sur la rive droite d'une Riviere aussi large que la Meuse Test devant Namur. [Translation] The largest village of the Illinois is composed of four or five hundred cabins, each of five or six fires. These villages are situated in a plain, a little marshy, at forty degrees of latitude on the right bank of a river as wide as the Meuse that is in front of Namur. E : Hennepin's description of the fort. From Hennepin, Nouvelle decouverte d'un tres grand pays situe dans I' Amerique, .... 223. II faut remarquer ici, que quelque hyver, qu'il fasse dans les Contrees de ce charmant Pays des Illinois, il ne dure que deux mois tout au plus. Et en effet le 15. de Janvier il sur- vint un grand degel, qui rendit la Riviere libre au dessous du Village, ou nous etions. Nous nous trouvames done tout d'un coup comme dans une espece de printemps. Le Sieur de la Salle me pria de l'accompagner. Nous nous rendimes donee en Canot au lieu, que nous allions choisir pour travailler a ce Fort. C'etoit un peitt tertre elogne d'environ deux cens pas du bord de la Riviere, laquelle s'etendoit jusqu'au pied dans le temps des pluyes. Deux ravines larges & profondes forti- 41 fioient les deux autres cotez de cette petite eminence. On acheva de retrancher une partie du quatrieme par un fosse, qui joignoit ensemble les deux ravines. On fit border leur talus exterieur, qui servoit de contrescarpe par des Chevaux de Frize, & ensuite on escarpa cette eminence de tous costez. On en fit soutenir la terre autant qu'il etoit necessaire, par de fortes pieces de bois, & par des Madriers. On fit faire le logement a deux des Angles de ce Fort, afin que nos gens fussent toujours prests en cas d'attaque. Les Peres Gabriel, Zenobe & moy nous logeames dans une Cabanne couverte de planches, que nous ajustames avec nos Ouvriers. Nous nous y retirions apres le travail avec tout notre monde pour la priere du soir, de meme que nous trou- vions le matin pour le meme sujet. Nous ne pouvions plus dire la Messe, par ce que le Vin, que nous avions fait des gros Raisins du pays, avoit manque. Nous nous contentions de chanter les Vespres les jours de festes, & les Dimanches, & nous faisions la predication apres les prieres du matin. On mit la forge le long de la Courtine, qui regardoit le bois. Le Sieur de la Salle se posta au milieu de Fort avec Sieur de Tonty, & on fit abbattre du bois pour en faire du Charbon pour la forge. [Translation] It is necessary to note here, that whatever winter that occurs in the region of this charming country of the Illinois, lasts, only two months at the most. And, in fact, on the 15th of January a great thaw followed, which rendered the river free below the village, where we were. We found ourselves, then, suddenly in a sort of spring. The Sieur de la Salle asked me to accompany him. We went, then, in a canoe to the place that we were going to choose for the construction of this fort. It was a little hillock at a distance of about two hundred paces from the edge of the river, which extended up to the foot in time of rains. Two wide and deep ravines fortified the two other sides of this little elevation. We finished cut- 42 ting off a part of the fourth by a ditch which joined to- gether the two ravines. We caused their exterior slopes, which served him as counterscarp, to be bordered with some chevaux-de-frise, and then cut down this eminence on all sides. We caused the earth to be supported, as much as it was necessary, by strong pieces of wood and by madriers. We caused a lodgment to be built in two angles of this fort, so that our men were always ready in case of attack. The Fathers Gabriel, Zenobe and I lodged ourselves in a cabin covered with planks which we, with our workers, adjusted. We retired there after work with our people for evening prayer; likewise, we met in the morning for the same reason. We were not able to say Mass because of the wine, which we had made from the large grape of the country, had failed. We satisfied ourselves with chanting the vespers, the days of feasts, and Sundays, and we deliv- ered the sermon after the morning prayers. We placed the forge along the curtain which faced the wood. The Sieur de la Salle stationed himself with Sieur de Tonti in the middle of the fort and we caused wood to be carried in order to make charcoal for the forge. Uithomount Pamphlet Binder Gaylota Bros. Makers ^ w& Y¥< W