Discovery and conquests of the Northwest, with the history of Chicago, Vol. I, Part 1

Author: Blanchard, Rufus, 1821-1904
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago, R. Blanchard and Company
Number of Pages: 714


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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



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Rufus Blanchard


Discovery and Conquests


OF THE


NORTHWEST


WITH THE


HISTORY OF CHICAGO 11


IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I.


BY


Rufus Blanchard.


CHICAGO :


R. BLANCHARD AND COMPANY


169 RANDOLPH ST.


1898


The author acknowledges lasting obligations to the citizens of Chicago for their generous confi- dence in him, during his half century's labors among them in cartography and history; by virtue of which he submits the following pages to them, without the immunity of a copyright, not fearing that anyone would unjustly appropriate them, to the prejudice of Theirs respectfully,


RUFUS BLANCHARD.


1198386


INTRODUCTION.


It would not be just for me to introduce the reader to the following pages, without first gratefully acknowl- edging a lasting debt of obligation to Mr. L. Z. Leiter, for his generous assistance, thereby enabling me to bring this work before the public in a style which the good taste of Chicago people will approve. And here it can with truth be said, that, he has always manifested a lively interest in every effort to obtain and give to the public a complete history of our City and State, and to give aid to every work aiming at a higher life or public utility.


It has been twenty years since the first volume of this work was written, since which time many of the pioneers of Chicago have passed away. They have gone ere they had lived to see what may now be called, with no im- propriety, the second stage of this City's growth.


From interviews with them the writer obtained much material as to the infancy of our City, when it consisted of board sidewalks, without curbing, precariously nailed to sleepers resting on mud; streets thrown up of alluvial soil, or in some cases covered with plank in a slip-shod manner, vibrating up and down as carriages passed over them. Most of the private houses were made of boards nailed on a slender frame-work of scantling, one or two stories high, without basements.


Such was Chicago as the writer first saw it. It did not then present a promising subject for history, but a few years later the march of improvement changed all this. The future gleamed brightly before prophetic eyes, and it is not too much to say that the Kinzies, the Beaubiens, Gurdon S. Hubbard, the Clybourns and others, to whom the writer was indebted for informa- tion in his researches, had but an imperfect conception of Chicago's destiny.


5


Introduction.


The history of Chicago would be imperfectly written unless it was accompanied with an outline record of the great interior, whose advance in nationality, as States represent it-has ever been and must ever be abreast with the City itself.


Spain took the lead in settling the New World. The West India Islands, Peru, Mexico and Florida were Spanish provinces before any other nation had obtained even a foothold in the great Western inheritance of Nature. Despising the slow process of agriculture as a means of wealth, they wasted their strength in search- ing for gold wherever they went, and left the fairest portions of America to be colonized by France and England. France pushed her settlements up the St. Lawrence river, and ultimately into the country of the great chain of lakes and the entire valley of the Missis- sippi, with a view of holding the great channels of American commerce, while the English set their foot upon the Atlantic coast, without any plans for the future. Year after year they toiled in contentment along the eastern fringe of the continent, hardly beyond the hear- ing of the waves that beat against their narrow foothold in the New World. What was beyond these confines they knew not, nor had they time to inquire, for other work was before them. Across the ocean they had un- consciously borne the elements of a great nation. These had to be planted on a new soil and cultivated into a vigorous growth. While this planting season was in progress, the French, with far-reaching ambition, were strengthening their positions in the interior by building forts and establishing friendly relations with the Indians.


No rivalship between the two nations was manifested at first, but ultimately the religion and State policy of France was destined to come into competition with these same elements in the workings of the English mind. The latter prevailed after a long and apparently even-matched warfare, and the hopes of France were dashed to the ground.


The English flag now waved over lake, river and coast, wherever beginnings had been made, but their triumph had but a transient tenure. A new idea seizes upon the minds of men, and a new flag springs into ex- istence. The English in turn are driven from the soil, and only the Indians, its natural inheritors, left to con- tend against the Americans. A prolonged struggle


7


Introduction.


ensued on their part for existence, and on ours for ad- vancement. Many complex conditions were brought into the issue. The early French relations to the In- dians; their intermarriages and consequent sympathy for them; the fur trade and its medley of associations; the partially successful missionary efforts, both of the French Roman Catholic Fathers and of the United Brethren, or Moravians-all these brought a charm of romance into the ever open chasm between the pioneer soldiers and the tenacious Indians.


The jurists, the schoolmasters and the ministers of New England and Virginia followed a host of pioneers to the new field, where all the appliances of civilization were to be built, and the timber taken from the stump. During this process the stream of wealth has more than kept pace with expectation, till we now find ourselves equal in rank and influence with the older States of the Union. For this position we are partly indebted to re- cruits from all the enlightened nations of Europe, and it is not too much to say that we are made up of the activity and enterprise of the world, as it brimmed over its confines at home, and found a broader field here for its action.


"The West," "Western," "Western characteristics," are significant expressions. They mean dash, spirit, elasticity, resolution and hope. Nor is it strange that these are the prominent traits of a people whose star of destiny has so suddenly risen to the zenith; of a people nurtured into confidence in themselves by an almost unremitting tide of advancement in everything which constitutes national grandeur; and if the images of youth are to be recast in our mature years, they will have to be run in even a larger mold.


The second volume will consist of an historic record of the City's growth in her mature years, when she was no longer a house built on the sand, but on deep found- ations of granite dimension stone. The era of building libraries, universities, and kindred institutions, is now present with us. The era of railroad concentration; of street-car transportation, in its improved speed, and safety; of private commercial interest; of manufactur- ing plants; of inventions and progress-is now in full tide. The World's Columbian Exposition of 1892, first a dream, soon a reality, drew confidence and capital here, and will be treated as its importance deserves. A


8


Introduction.


new and broader field for the ambitious spirits of Chi- cago followed in its train.


Large cities are the result of geographical thorough- fares, fashioned by the hand of Nature. These are working in harmony with art in Chicago, and it is easy to build a city where the hydraulic power of Lakes and Rivers converge in a great interior plateau in the heart of a continent. London is the acknowledged metropo- lis of the world, because the wisdom of the Anglo-Saxon people have made it such. By concentrating the great thoroughfares of the world to herself. In Chicago Nature has been foremost in doing the same thing. The ultimate issue of this belongs to future generations, while it may be truthfully said, that the foot of Time, in its unremitting tramp, falls with equal force and grandeur on both sides of the great ocean that rolls be- tween the old world and the new, without separating their common interests.


Across the broad Atlantic flew The germ-cells of a nation new. They struck New England's rugged shore- The threshold of the open door That led within, where grandeurs rise Beneath the dome of western skies.


Beside the shore of Michigan A city poses in the van, Where Art and Nature both have vied To build Chicago by its tide.


CHICAGO, May, 1898. RUFUS BLANCHARD.


CHAPTER I.


Jaques Cartier explores the St. Lawrence River-Settle- ment of Quebec-Discovery of Lake Champlain-Ex- pedition against the Iroquois-Dutch Settlement at Al- bany-Discovery of Lake Huron-The Falls of St. Mary reached-The French take formal possession of the country-Discovery of the Mississippi River-The Pictured Rocks-Discovery of the Chicago Portage- Marquette winters at Chicago-The Indians' affection for him-Religious services on the prairies-Death of Marquette-The removal of his remains to St. Ignace -His Journal-Late discovery of his bones.


The forces of Nature lay the foundations of the largest cities; not man. Their architecture is grander than he can conceive. His first plans for them mis- carry, while Nature, in her own irresistible way, pro- vides some spot accessible to a large and fruitful coun- try where the carrying trade both of land and water can find a convenient entrepot.


On the great plateau intermediate between the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi valley the surface of the earth was excavated for a great chain of lakes whose waters originally spread over large portions of the interior.


The receding waters from this plateau have brought to the surface the best agricultural country in the world, where the sedimentary deposits of ages untold can be utilized to produce food for nations. Geological changes laid this foundation for our national grandeur, whatever other influences have ornamented and given the finishing touches to its structure.


During the centuries that drained this interior, Europe was wasting human life in war, not on great issues that affected all classes, but on the establishment


IO


Settlement of Quebec.


of dynasties, long since gone into deserved obscurity, and on religious dogmas, transient as cloud studies.


America offered a nobler field for ambition, and on its shores the first recoil began; but it was reserved for the great Northwest, of which Chicago is the commer- cial center, to finish this work, by turning the tide of trade between Europe and America in favor of the latter. This has been accomplished, in obedience to the laws of nature, against whose fiat no European legislation can contend with success.


The discovery and exploration of the whole interior of the country was the work of French zeal and enthu- siasm. To propagate the faith was the first object, at least in theory, but not far behind it was ambition to annex new realms to the crown of France. In pursuit of these two objects, the exploits of their adventurers, soldiers and missionaries have justly challenged the admiration of the world. Borne along by the tidal wave of glory, these men gathered force and strength as they penetrated into the country, and breathed the air of freedom which pervaded the limitless creation of prairie and forest under the regime of the red man.


Even before the Spaniards, under De Soto, had pene- trated from Florida to the Mississippi river, which was from 1539 to 1543, the French, under Jaques Cartier, had sailed up the St. Lawrence as far as Quebec. This. was in 1534. The delighted adventurers returned to France with the news of their discoveries of the wedge- shaped river, ninety miles wide at its mouth, graduating to the dimensions of a common river at Quebec.


What was beyond was left to conjecture, for the present, for France was then too much distracted with religious dissensions, at home, to utilize her discoveries on the St. Lawrence, and it was not till 1608 that she made the attempt. At that time Samuel de Champlain, who was justly called the father of New France, made a permanent settlement at Quebec. He was the man for the place; austere in religion, sapient in politics, and courageous in war.


The deeds of the first settlers of all new countries are germ-cells of future destiny. Even the early Indian policy has had its influence, and it is not too much to say, may have had much to do with casting the lot of the Northwest, ultimately, with the English colonies, instead of with the French, who were its first discover-


II


Settlement at Albany.


ers and white owners. The tribes along the St. Law- rence, or Hochelega, as it was sometimes called, were friendly with the French, whom they called Ononthio (our older brother). In Champlain they beheld their champion who could lead them to victory against their ancient enemies, the Iroquois, or Five Nations, who in- habited the present State of New York. Their central seat of power was located on the banks of Onondaga lake, among the cluster of lakes which was then, and is now, the paradise of the region thereabouts.


Without discussing the merits of the dispute between these traditionary enemies, Champlain consented to lead a war party of his allies, of the St. Lawrence, against the Iroquois. It was in 1609, the next year after the settlement of Quebec, that he, with a canoe fleet of noisy Indians, paddled his way up the river, then without a name, which connects the waters of Lake Champlain* with the St. Lawrence river. Fol- lowing the western bank of the lake nearly to the present site of Ticonderoga, at midnight, they saw the enemy, who, like themselves, were on some adventure. The two parties held a parley and agreed to land and wait till daylight before commencing the fight.


In accordance with this truce, each band chose their positions like duelists on a field of honor. Champlain opened the battle by piercing two Iroquois chiefs through the body at a single shot of his rifle, and the brave but astonished Iroquois fled before the effective weapons of warfare which had been so unexpectedly introduced among them. But the end was not yet. The same year Henry Hudson sailed up the river, which bears his name, to the present site of Albany, where Ft. Orange was built soon afterward. Around this nucleus of German power (ultimately English power) the Iroquois gathered with amicable intentions, all the more abiding from the fact that the French had assaulted them at first sight, and thus made them their enemies.


This good fellowship was reciprocated. The Indians wanted guns, kettles and knives, and the Dutch wanted furs in exchange for them. In a few years they wanted more. As the aggressive spirit of the French, on the St. Lawrence, began to make itself manifest, the Dutch found their Iroquois allies a convenient bulwark, be-


* The lake took its name from him.


I2


First News of the Mississippi.


hind which to take shelter from their Canadian foes, both French and Indian, who at an early day often threatened the Northern border with destructive forays; meantime Champlain's colony soon began to feel the weight of Iroquois vengeance, relieved only by treacher- ous intervals of peace.


In 1615 Champlain pushed his explorations to the banks of Lake Huron, and flourishing missionary stations were established in the country of the Hurons on the Eastern shore of the lake, which still perpetuate their memory.


In 1641 two zealous missionaries, Jogues and Ram- bault, reached the falls of St. Mary, and in 1658 two venturesome fur traders, one of whose names was De Groseilles, reached the Western extremity of Lake Su- perior, and wintered among the Sioux, the same people whose descendants overwhelmed the army of Gen. Cus- ter, in the Black Hills, during the summer of 1876. At that time these tribes numbered 40,000* and held the country far to the West-even beyond the Mississippi river. They told the French traders about the great river which flowed southwardly through the interior, which were the first direct tidings which came to them of this stream. The next spring the two traders re- turned to Canada with an escort of 250 Indians and a valuable cargo of furs. A great sensation was produced by this imposing delegation. The news they brought of the great river was particularly inspiring to the French, whose passion for water channels of communication into the interior was overweening.


An expedition to return with the Sioux to their dis- tant lodges beyond the great lakes, was immediately set on foot; all classes were eager to join it, the fur traders for peltries, and the missionaries to open new fields for gospel cultivation. The former provided themselves with trinkets for barter with the Indians, and the latter with baptismal basins wherewith to put the seal of Christianity upon their disciples, who were to be converted from heathenish darkness into the light of Christianity.


Armed with these and other appliances, the hosts of the devil were to be attacked in the very heart of his dominion, to use the language of the Jesuit relations during those days of chivalric piety. And in truth,


* Charlevoix, Carver, Pike.


13


Alouez at the Falls of St. Mary.


when these hardy old Soldiers of the Cross appropri- ated the watchwords of the battle-field, as fitting ex- pressions to symbolize the work before them, it can not be denied that the metaphor was not far-fetched, especially after Jogues, Lallemant, Brebeuf, Garreau and Garnier had fallen victims of Iroquois vengeance, as they did soon afterwards.


The expedition started from Montreal the next spring, numbering thirty young Frenchmen, to whom were added Fathers Leonard Garreau and Gabriel Dreuilletes,* and the Sioux delegation who had accom- panied the traders. The eyes of the ever watchful and jealous Iroquois were upon them, and they had but little more than lost sight of their starting place, when they were waylaid by these ubiquitous foes. Father Garreau and several others were killed on the spot; the other Frenchmen saved themselves by flight, leaving their canoes and merchandise in the hands of the victors. No cause for a quarrel had yet had place between the Iroquois and Sioux, and the latter were allowed to de- part in peace for their homes.


It was not till 1665 that any further progress was made in Western exploration. At this time Father Alouez, reaching the Falls of St. Mary in September,


* This eminent missionary had been stationed for several years among the Abenaquis of Sagadehoc (Maine). Returning from thence to Canada, by »order of his superiors, he was soon commissioned to go to Boston on an em- bassy, to bring about a comity of interest, both religious and secular. Can- . ada at that time was oppressed by the burdens of impolitic legislation, such as the banishment of Huguenots and onerous restrictions on the fur trade, and her statesmen beheld with amazement the rising power of the Massa- · chusetts colony, and felt a strong desire to negotiate a treaty with the Bos- tonians, for the purpose of working in harmony together for the conversion ·of the Indians, and also to keep them under a wholesome restraint by a con- cert of action between the English and French. In response to this over- ture, the prudential Bostonians, under the counsels of such men as Winslow, Dudley, Bradford and Eliot, declined the proposal. Every possible token of respect was shown their distinguished guest. But these considerate repre- sentatives of the New American Idea, based on religious toleration, deter- mined not to dilute the force of it by complicity with the elements in Can- ada, which were carrying weights in the exciting race for National grandeur between the two contestants. Moreover, the Iroquois had never raised the hatchet against Massachusetts, and if they had swept Canada with the fire- brand and scalping-knife, even as the sickle reaps the wheat field and the fire consumes the stubble, might it not be in the providence of God to pun- ish them for their persecutions of the Huguenots? Therefore the disap- pointed priest was dismissed with a refusal to grant his request, softened with courtly blandishments, but withal an air of independence, as much as to say: we are willing to trust to the providence of God for our future des- tiny, and you must also do the same.


14


French take Possession of the Northwest.


coasted along the southern shore of Lake Superior to the great village of the Chippewas.


Here he summoned a council of Indian nations, com- posed of delegations from all the tribes of the adjacent countries, among whom were representatives from the Illinois tribe, which is the first mention made of them. In Father Alouez they beheld a champion of human rights, and to him they unbosomed their griefs by first informing him of their ancient grandeur, and then of their diminished numbers from hostile visitations of the Sioux on the West and the Iroquois from the East, who had extended their conquests over the prairies, even before the white man had come among them. Alouez addressed them with words of paternal care, offering them the Christian religion and promising them pro- tection against the Iroquois.


Soon after this, missions were established at Green Bay, St. Mary's and La Point, but the next notable event which took place was the grand gathering at St. Mary's. Nicholas Perrot was the moving spirit of this convention. Thither he summoned chiefs from no less than fourteen tribes to help celebrate the ceremonials, for a great deed was to be executed. Possession was to be taken of the country. Fifteen Frenchmen were present, among whom were Alouez and Joliet. A large wooden cross was consecrated, and elevated like a. liberty pole of modern days. This done, around it knelt the priests, who sang, chanted and prayed with suitable impressment, and went through the forms of taking possession of the country along the upper lakes and "Southward to the sea," a description of an un- known quantity, for up to that time no explorer had ventured very far into the interior.


It was well known, however, that a great river coursed Southwardly through the country, but whither did it lead? The hopeful theory was, that it opened into waters leading to Cathay, China, for this pleasing illusion, which had been the incentive to Columbus when he penetrated the secrets of the ocean, was still the golden dream of the Canadian adventurers.


Pending these speculations, Father Marquette and Joliet obtained leave from Taylon, the Intendant of Canada, to start on an expedition for the purpose of bringing to light the mysteries of this river, the country it drained, and whither it went.


15


Discovery of the Mississippi.


Joliet was born in Canada and was educated for a. priest, but was evidently better fitted, by nature, for an explorer than for a father confessor. But Marquette had not mistaken his calling. With peculiar fitness and grace his sacerdotal robes depended from his shoulders, belted around his waist by the inevitable cord of his priestly order. The love of God and man, and the deep adoration of the blessed Virgin, who was his patron Saint, were ever visible in his face, which was. cast in a mould of benevolence.


The tender passions of his youth found vent in the pious devotions which were his every-day routine, and which for nearly twenty years had made him conspicu- ous among his Jesuit brethren in the vanguard of that army of pioneers, who were winning fame on the page of history. The two distinguished men started from St. Ignace, a small missionary station on the north shore of the Straits of Mackanaw. Two birch bark canoes, five men, a bag of corn meal, a string of dried beef and a blanket apiece, constituted their outfit, except the all- important appliances for religious devotions, such as beads and crosses, so necessary to the success of the enterprise.


Their route lay along the north shore of Lake Michi- gan and the west bank of Green Bay. Fathers Alouez and Dablon had established the mission of St. Francis. Xavier here four years previously, and welcomed the adventurers on their laudable enterprise, with that hearty unction which can only be appreciated by men who have missions to perform, big with future destiny. Resuming their journey, they passed through the waters of Lake Winnebago, and thence, accompanied by In- dian guides, continued up the Fox river to the carrying place across to the Wisconsin river. Into this stream they launched their canoes, and for the first time dipped their paddles into the tributary waters of the Mississippi. Down its current they passed under cedar-crested preci- pices of solid rock, through forest glooms and across long stretches of sandy prairie. No marks of human life were apparent along these, then silent, grandeurs. which are now the admiration of tourists in the pic- turesque State of Wisconsin.


On the 17th of June they emerged from the prairie. copse which fringed the banks of the Wisconsin, entered the forest shades which stud the Mississippi, and soon




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