The history of Linn county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &t., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics history of the Northwest etc, Part 1

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 840


USA > Iowa > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &t., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics history of the Northwest etc > Part 1


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111


HISTORY


OF


LINN COUNTY


1878


IOWA


E


IT


T


LIBRARY Brigham Young University


YOUNG


To U


977.7


H621i


222048


-


Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Brigham Young University .


https://archive.org/details/historyoflinncou1878chic


1,


977.7 HG2 li


THE


HISTORY


OF


LINN COUNTY,


IOWA,


CONTAINING


A history of the County, its Cities, Gowns, KP


-


A Biographical Directory of its Citizens, War Record of its Vol- unteers in the late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, His- tory of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map of Linn County, Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c.


ILLUSTRATED.


·


0


-


222098


-


3


CHICAGO:


WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY, 1878.


1


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by


THE WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY.


In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.


ulver Vage Moyne 22, PRINTERS 18 &120 MONROE ST CHICAGO C


PREFACE.


T HE historian who delves among the records of the far past, and weaves in continuous thread the story of former generations, for the instruction of ages yet to come, must be governed in the methods of his work by one invaria- ble rule, which is : the acceptance of such facts, and only such, as have become established, either by written evidence or by undoubted verbal testimony trans- mitted in consecutive order and bearing on its face the impress of truthfulness, from its consistency with known facts.


The historian who writes of the near past finds, oftentimes, more delicate questions arising for him to decide than does the contemporary of the musty pages. While the latter has but his own sense of consentaneousness to satisfy, the former has a wider constituency to win over to his mode of think- ing. The writer upon ancient events is stimulated to careful research by the hope of discovering that which will subvert the theories of his collaborators, and vindicate his own claim to literary fame. The man who treats of the early deeds of a generation yet living can have no such ambition. His duty is to tell the tale in a simple manner, leaving to those who shall come after him the more agreeable task of embellishment.


The historian has endeavored to adhere to the rules which should govern all volumes of this class. Rumors have been given only as such ; traditions find their appropriate place, and assumptions are treated with lightest stroke. Indisputable facts, based upon definite dates and corroborated by testimony admissible in courts of justice, alone stand recorded as facts.


Herein lies the greatest danger : the impartial observance of this rule plays havoc with individual claims in more than one instance. It is just to our- selves that we say : We have been actuated by no motives but the highest in the discharge of our duty. If statements made within these pages conflict with personal assertions, let it be remembered by the critic that majority judgment has, in every case, prevailed with us on all disputed points. We do not expect


iv


PREFACE.


to please every subscriber ; that would indicate a millennial condition of unity between the writer and the public which has never been attained, even in sacred history. We have tried to give a truthful record of events as the facts have been made known to us.


To those members of the county Press, those numerous Clergymen, In- structors, Pioneers and friends who have so generously aided in the prepara- tion of this work, the heartiest thanks are publicly expressed.


The papers on " The Geology of Linn County" and " The Mound Build- ers" are from the pen of MR. GEORGE W. BETTESWORTH, of Cedar Rapids, whose familiarity with the topics treated upon is recognized by all who know him. They form an especially interesting feature of this work, advancing, as they do, several original ideas in relation to the respective subjects.


When the present generation shall have passed into the silent grave, and the historian is no longer able to converse face to face with them, the value of this history will be conceded.


AUGUST, 1878.


THE PUBLISHERS.


CONTENTS.


HISTORICAL.


PAGE.


History Northwest Territory.


19


Geographical Position ... 19 Early Explorations .. 20 Discovery of the Ohio ... 33


English Explorations and Set- tlements. 35 American Settlements ... 60


Division of the Northwest Ter- ritory .. 66 Tecumseh and the War of 1812 70


Black Hawk and the Black


Hawk War.


74


Other Indian Troubles.


79


Present Condition of the North- west 86


Chicago ...... 95 Illinois .. 240


Indiana


242


Iowa ..


243


Michigan


244


Wisconsin 245


Minnesota


247


Nebraska.


248


History of Iowa :


Geographical Situation. 109


Topography ...


109


Drainage System 110


Rivers


111


Lakes


118


Springs


119


Prairies, 120 Geology 120 Climatology. 137 Discovery and Occupation. 139 Territory 147


Indians .... 147 Pike's Expedition 151 Indian Wars. 152 Black Hawk War .157 Indian Purchase, Reserves and


Era of Outlawry


.367


Social Development.


386


Vote, 1876-1877


388


Treaties ...


.159


Spanish Grants


.163


History of Iowa:


PAGE.


History of Linn County :


Butter and Cheese ... 392


Early Settlements ..


166


Judiciary ...


.394


Territorial History ..


173


Criminal Mention


396


Boundary Question


177


Indian Scare.


.. 399


Bill Johnson's War.


.400


State Organization 181


Growth and Progress. 185


Agricultural College and Farm.186 State University. 187


State Historical Society. .193


Penitentiaries


194


Insane Hospitals


.195


College for the Blind.


197


Press


448


Educational


455


Cornell College.


456


Deaf and Dumb Institution .. 199 Soldiers' Orphans' Homes 199


State Normal School. 201


Asylum for Feeble Minded


Children .. 201


Reform School 202 Fish Hatching Establishment .. 203 Public Lands 204


Public Schools


218


Political Record.


223


War Record.


229


Number Volunteers. 233 Number Casualties-Officers ... 234


Number Casualties-Enlisted


Men ... 236


Population.


238


Ely


584


Agricultural Statistics.


274


Palo


585


History of Linn County.


307


Fairfax.


588


Geology.


307


Mound Builders.


317


Waubeck


594


General Summary.


321


Personal Sketches.


.344


General Sketches


348


Organization 357


601


La Fayette


602


Springville.


603


Viola


.609


Toddville


611


Too Lates and Errata.


612


ILLUSTRATIONS.


PAGE.


Mouth of the Mississippi 21


Source of the Mississippi 21


Tecumseh, the Shawanoe Chieftain 69 Wild Prairie. 23


La Salle Landing on the Shore of Green Bay. 25


27 · Big Eagle ... 80 Trapping 29


Buffalo Hunt


Captain Jack, the Modoc Chieftain 83 Hunting ... 32 Kinzie House .. 85 Iroquois Chief 34


Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain Lincoln Monument 87 43 Indians Attacking Frontiersmen .. 56 A Pioneer School House. 88 A Prairie Storm. 59


PAGE.


Pioneers' First Winter 94 Great Iron Bridge of C., R. I. & P. R. R., Crossing the Mississippi at Davenport, Iowa 91


Black Hawk, tlie Sac Chieftain ....


75


Chicago in 1833.


95


Old Fort Dearborn, 1830


98


Present Site Lake Street Bridge,


Chicago, 1833.


98


A Representative Pioneer. 86 Ruins of Chicago 104 View of the City of Chicago. 106


Hunting Prairie Wolves ..


249


Agricultural Societye


401


Natural Phenomena. 402


War History .. 411


Roster


417


Post Offices.


448


Western College.


463


Coe Collegiate Institute 479 Homoeopathic Medical Society.481 Iowa Union Medical Society .. 481 Hog Culture 48L


Miscellaneous . 482


History of Towns :


Cedar Rapids. 484


Marion.


534


Mount Vernon


557


Lisbon


568


Center Point ..


574


Western


580


Bertranı. 583


Central City.


.592


Paris


596


Prairieburg.


.597


Walker.


600


Troy Mills.


Material Growth and Prosperi-


ty .. .389


PAGE.


A Pioneer Dwelling .. 61


Breaking Prairie. 63


Indians Attacking a Stockade 72


PAGE.


Half-Breed Tract ... 164


CONTENTS.


LITHOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS.


PAGE.


Brown, H. N


589


Ellison, Samuel


279


Mckean, Thos. J. 541


Butler, J. V ... 747


Higley, H. G. .162


Peet, John .. 297


Crowe, Edward M 607


Kurtz, John E. .713


Phillips, F. M. 581


Smyth, Wm, 227


Davis, W. L 441


Ellis, Robt .. 509


McKean, A. J.


261 Stephens, R. D 305


LINN COUNTY VOLUNTEERS.


PAGE.


PAGE.


PAGE.


Infantry :


Infantry :


Infantry :


Forty-sixth 443


Sixth 418


Sixteenth .. 426


Cavalry :


Eighth 419


Eighteenth 427


Second 434


Ninth. 419


Twentieth 428


Sixth .. 444


Eleventh 420


Twenty-fourth 435


Eighth 445


Twelfth


421


Thirty-first ..... 438


Ninth 445


Thirteentli


423


Thirty-seventh. 440


Miscellaneous 146


Fourteenth 425


Forty-fourth 440


BIOGRAPHICAL TOWNSHIP DIRECTORY.


PAGE.


L'AGE.


PAGE.


Bertram


796


Fayette 762


Maine. .687


Bowlder 698 Franklin 705


Brown 721


Grant 783


Otter Creek 775


Buffalo 814


Jackson 681


Putnam


780


Cedar Rapids 651


Linn 736


Rapids. follows Cedar Rapids


Clinton .. .741


790


College


Fairfax 807


ABSTRACT OF IOWA STATE LAWS.


PAGE.


Adoption of Children ... .287


Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes


275


Commercial Terms .. 289


Lease .296


Married Women ...


282


Marks and Brands.


.284


Notice to Quit. .293


Notes .. .290, 297


Orders. 290


Quit Claim Deed .299


Receipts .. .290


Wills and Codicils. 293


Warranty Deed. 298


Taxes. 277


Forms : Articles of Agreement 291 Fences 284


Bills of Sale .. 292


Bond for Deed 299


Intoxicating Liquors. 301


Jurisdiction of Courts


281


MISCELLANEOUS.


PAGE.


Map of Linn County Front.


How to Keep Accounts .. .269 Interest Table. 270


Miscellaneous Table 270 ident ..... .. 264 Practical Rules for Every-Day Use .. 265


Names of the States of the Union


Population of the Principal Coun-


and their Significations 271 tries in the World. 273


Population of the United States ..... 272


PAGE.


PAGE.


Population of Fifty Principal Cities of the United States ... ......... 272 Population and Area of the United States. .273


United States Government Land


Measure. 268


Forms :


Chattel Mortgage .298


Limitation of Actions .281


Confession of Judgment. 290


Landlord and Tenant. .288


Capital Punishment. 282


Charitable, Scientific and Religious Associations. 300


Mechanics' Liens. 285


Roads and Bridges


286


Surveyors and Surveys .. .287


Suggestions to Persons Purchasing Books by Subscription. 303


Support of Poor .287


Wills and Estates.


276


Weights and Measures


.289


Wolf Scalps.


.284


Bills of Purchase .290


PAGE.


PAGE.


Jurors 281


Descent 275


Damages from Trespass. 284


Exemptions from Execution 282


Estrays 283


Marion City .. 613


Spring Grove 801


Marion Township. 636


Washington 765


417


Fifteenth 426


First


PAGE.


PAGE.


Daniels, Addison. 373 Leigh, John B. 407


McClelland, F. 475


Stephens, Louisa B., Mrs 339


Population of Linn County ......... .304


Surveyor's Measure . 269 Constitution of United States. 250 Vote for President and Vice Pres-


Interest. 275


Monroe .811


Mortgages. 294


MAP OF


IOWA.


DELAWARE


4


KER


10


12


7


8


12


10


18


18


LG


15


17


16


15


13


18


17


5


14


T86N


SPRING


GR ONE


Jipe


22


23


92


22


23


19


00


2.3


24


PARIS Ha


ASASPAARLE


29


25


29


28


West Pour Zy RO 26


30


20


27


26


25


25


3.2


34


96


32


33


34


35


36


37


92


95


36


95


30


6


5


4


3


7


CENTER POINTS"


10


12


10


12


SHT


GT


17


13


18


17


16


15


14


13


48


15


13


18


13


WAUBECK


BUEF


()


T. 85.N.


AM[Finingville


24


24


19


20


2


29


19


20


93


K


26


25


30


-28


27


26


25


30


99


2.8


27


26


FARMERS CLUB HALL P.O.


32


34


32


35


36


32


3k


35


96


31


3205533


95


Todville


P.O.


COUNTY


13


18


15


6 FARM 15


13


17


16


15


14


T.84 N.


R


29


20


21


22


23


24


20


FALO


30


29


27


26


SPRINGVILLE


I


O


3/


32


33


DUBUQUE 9% Ba


SOUTH


3,


3.2



96


37


33


ZINN JUNCTION-


MIA


8


12


.9


10


72


10


11


12


ok


15


15


T 83N


D


CEDAR RAPIDS


0


30


27


26


25


30


30


30


25


28


Ły


31


32


33


94


35


30


33


35


36


MICH


& NORTH


BERTRAM


4


3


LISBON


9


12


MT VERNON


CEDAR


C


13


18


16


15%


T. 82N


RF


X


O


O


19


20


2


23


1


R.


R


29


27


25


30


29


28


27


26


30


26


30


28


24


25


HVCHO


3.


32


3.3


36


31


.92


33


JOHNSON


R.7.W.


R.6.W.


COUNTY.


R. 5.W.


9


4


2


-


37


33


31


32


35.


36.


$35-


36


PO


R.8.W.


13


18


VIOLA


17


(15


14


26


29


28


25


30


WESTE


33


35


35


36


LO MARION


6


3


1


3


ARALT


13


78


20


122


23


24


12 3 2. 20


22


21


19


20


Morgan


2


5


2


6


3


18


10


15


PROP


19


20


20


. 2.


22.91


1237


19


20


22:


19


23


24


HW


·().)


BUCHANAN


CO.


MIL


18


20


21


2


23


24


19


.55


HEINBURGH


2010


CENTRAL


CITY


123.


12


'KLN200


2


8.30


29


19


20


120


24


29


KITER


73


-18


sil


ÅWEST CEDAR RAPIDS


JAN


A


Viel


28


R


WESTERN COLLEGE


-


IR


M


Kast I


126


93


11


2


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.


When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi River ; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the "New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old "Northwestern Territory."


In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States, including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula- tion, at the present time, of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one third of the entire population of the United States.


Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far- stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent on the globe.


For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North- west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United States.


(19)


20


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


EARLY EXPLORATIONS.


In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto founded no settlements, produced no results, and left no traces, unless it were that he awakened the hostility of the red man against the white man, and disheartened such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery for better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready to seize upon any news from this extensive domain, and were the first to profit by DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before any adventurer took advantage of tliese discoveries.


In 1616, four years before the pilgrims "moored their bark on the wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene- trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary, below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent result ; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes, nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white man among the Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen- eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken of the Northwest. This same year Marquette established a mission at Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac.


During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St. Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied -as all others did then-that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come. Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.


BRIGHAM


MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI.


21


22


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe- dition, prepared for the undertaking.


On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist- ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But, nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told them he was willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar- quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in giving them an abundant " chase." This was the farthest outpost to which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the year previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake. He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to Joliet, said : "My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun- tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage,


returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin, which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck out into the' broadening current and became conscious that they were now upon the bosom of the Father of Waters. The mystery was about to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of


23


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand "reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab -. itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas- tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors.


THE WILD PRAIRIE.


On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person. After remaining a few days they re-embarked and descended the river to about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course


24


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois, rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, "did we see such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards, swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River." The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and reported their discovery-one of the most important of the age, but of which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and ministered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the mouth of a stream-going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan-he asked to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe, he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefully passed away while at prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The river has since been called Marquette.


While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre- paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun by him. These were Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin.


After La Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of those ages-a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific, when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol- lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan, dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes by a chain of forts with the Gulf of Mexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un- measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis- tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized.


LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also received from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chey.


25


THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.


alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a fort, and passed on to Green Bay, the " Baie des Puans " of the French, where he found a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors,


LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OF GREEN BAY.


started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never afterward heard of. He remained about these parts until early in the Winter, when, hear- ing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all the men-thirty working men and three monks-and started again upon his great undertaking.


By a short portage they passed to the Illinois or Kankakee, called by the Indians, "Theakeke," wolf, because of the tribes of Indians called by that name, commonly known as the Mahingans, dwelling there. The French pronounced it Kiakiki, which became corrupted to Kankakee. "Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to observe the country," about the last of December they reached a village of the Illi- nois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that moment




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.