USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Discovery and conquests of the Northwest, with the history of Chicago, Vol. I > Part 5
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The next morning, La Salle, with four of his men, followed the path of the fugitives and their pursuers down the river, to see if any tidings could be heard of Tonty. He kept on till he arrived at the mouth of the river, and here, for the first time, beheld the majestic Father of Waters, whose accumulated floods were gath- ered from the far-off realms of Nature's unoccupied domain, still slumbering in secret recluses.
Neither Tonty nor any signs of life could be found, and he returned to the spot where he had left his three companions. From here the whole party, after loading themselves with half-burnt corn, which the destroyers had set fire to, started for Ft. Miamis on the St. Joseph river, arriving at the place in January, 1681. Here he found his command, who, according to his orders, had fol- lowed on with the baggage, after he had left Michilimack- inac, a few weeks before, in such haste, to relieve Tonty.
47
Warlike Policy of the Iroquois.
All his plans had miscarried; here were his men hud- dled together within the scanty limits of Ft. Miamis, but his base of operations on the Illinois river had been swept away like chaff before a whirlwind, and not a solitary representative of his allies, the Illinois, remained in their native land, and his work was to begin anew. His resolution was taken at once. A strong league of all the western tribes must be formed, for defensive pur- poses, against the Iroquois, before he dared to push his explorations down the Mississippi; and, indeed, it was all-important, that the French should show themselves able to defend those western tribes, as a preliminary step toward getting possession of their country, or, rather, gaining a foothold in it.
The late Iroquois invasion of the Illinois country, of which La Salle had just witnessed the ravages, was not a mere ebullition of savage frenzy, but the result of a public policy quite as excusable as the ordinary wars of civilized nations, made to secure fiscal ends. The fur trade was the largest interest, at that time, throughout the entire country, and sharp rivalry in this branch of commerce had always existed between the Dutch set- tlements, on the Hudson river, and the Canadian French. Acting in harmony with the Dutch, the Iro- quois themselves had become factors of this branch of industry, and reaped quite a revenue by buying furs of the western tribes, and selling them to the Dutch. It was, therefore, adverse to their interest to have the French among the Illinois, inasmuch as it gave, not only the entire Illinois' trade to them, but threatened to turn the trade with the tribes to the east away from them- selves into French hands.
A similar rivalry exists this day between Chicago and Canadian cities, as to who shall command the most trade. But the matter is settled by national comity, in the shape of reciprocity treaties, instead of a resort to the sword.
La Salle with his men remained at Ft. Miamis till March, when the severity of winter had abated, and he could again venture into the forest haunts of the Indians to execute his plans. The Illinois tribes had returned to their ancient villages, smarting under their latc humiliation, and the occasion was favorable for La Salle's plan, to unite them with the Miamis and other western tribes, for the purpose of repelling Iroquois in- vasion. He therefore convened a council of the different
48
Heroism of Tonty.
tribes, and soon persuaded them to forget their former causes for resentment, and unite under his standard to make common cause against the common enemy, of both the French and the western tribes. By this politic diplomacy, La Salle had turned the late Iroquois victory over the Illinois to his own account, and opened the way for resuming his grand adventure; but before anything farther could be done, it was necessary to return to- Canada and acquaint his friends with the new situation. .
The genial influences of May had made the canoe navigation of the lake secure, and he started, at once, along the east shore to reach Canada by the same route he had last come. Arriving at Michilimackinac, his cup. of joy was brimming over; for Tonty had also just ar- rived there from Green Bay, at which place he had been ice-bound for the winter, as La Salle himself had been at Ft. Miamis, on the St. Joseph. The two dis- tinguished explorers were necessary to each other, and. their joy was mutual.
When the Iroquois army came upon the Illinois vil -- lage, Tonty was among them with Father Membre; and, rightly judging that his allies would be defeated by their haughty invaders, he determined to try the arts of di- plomacy to ward off, if possible, the impending blow. Both armies were drawn up in order of battle on the open prairie in front of the village; and the usual pre -- lude to an Indian fight, such as horrible yellings and defiant war-whoops, were in full tide, when Tonty, with a heroism seldom witnessed, advanced from the ranks of his Illinois friends toward the Iroquois, bearing a. flag of truce. The astonished invaders received him into their councils, and, for a time, their skirmishing,. which had already begun, ceased.
The Iroquois were undecided, in opinion, whether he- should be instantly tomahawked or let go, and one chief thrust his spear into his side, inflicting a painful wound. -perhaps to experiment on his mettle. Tonty bore it, with the immobility of a subject for the dissecting-room, which had the effect to elevate him, vastly, in the esti- mation of the Iroquois, and they let him go, but were- not to be turned from their purpose; and they attacked. the Illinois and drove them from their homes-seized a. large number of their squaws, whom they led to their far-off lodges in the present State of New York, there" to become their supernumerary wives. The devastation
49
Tonty Starts from Chicago for the Mississippi.
of this battle-field was the scene that had greeted La. Salle on his arrival in the Illinois country, as just told.
After Tonty's efforts to bring about a reconciliation between the two contending armies had failed, he with- drew, and, with Membre, made the best of his way to the mission of St. Francis Xavier at Green Bay.
The following summer was employed by La Salle in his trip to Canada and return to his place of rendezvous at Ft. Miamis. All that he had hoped for, in the way of preparation, for his third attempt had been accomplished to his satisfaction, and nothing remained but to start on the enterprise. Besides the twenty-three Frenchmen in his command, eighteen Indians were taken into his service, ten of whom chose to take their squaws with them, to do camp duty .* Father Membre accompanied the expedition, and has given its history, which begins. as follows:
"On the 21st of December I embarked, with the Sieur de Tonty and a part of our people, on Lake Dauphin (Michigan), to go toward the divine river called by the Indians Checaugou, in order to make necessary arrange- ments for our voyage. The Sieur de La Salle joined us there with the rest of his troop, on the 4th of Janu- ary, 1682, and found that Tonty had had sleighs made, to put all on and carry it, when the Checaugou was. frozen over."
The exact words of Father Membre have been quoted to show the antiquity of the name Chicago, which the father spelled Checaugou.
The whole party began their journey, it appears, with sleighs drawn by the men, on the icy faces of the Chi- cago, Desplaines and Illinois rivers, till open water was reached at Peoria lake. Here the canoes were un- loaded from the sleighs and launched in the Illinois river. The camping utensils were stowed away, the four Indian babies, who accompanied them, slung away in some nook where they would be least in the way, and the flotilla moved along on its way, propelled by strong arms assisted by the current.
The old site of Ft. Creve-Cœur and the amateur ship- yard near by it, was soon passed, as they skimmed down the whirling current, and the view was quickly lost to sight, if not the painful remembrances which must have
* These Indians were fugitives from New England, who, having been conquered in King Philip's war, had found an asylum in the far West.
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50
Possession taken of the Mississippi Valley.
been recalled to La Salle and Tonty .* When night came, the whole party moored their boats on the bank of the river, pitched their tents, slung their kettles on tripods, and built their fires. After a supper of boiled hominy and dried beef, they prostrated their weary forms on the ground for the night. This was the daily routine till the mouth of the Mississippi was reached, although it was varied with intercourse with different tribes of Indians on their way, among whom such im- provements as adobe houses, earthen plates and domes- tic fowls were found.t
It was on the 9th of April, that they arrived at the low and grassy margin of the Gulf of Mexico, upon those attenuated points of spongy soil scarcely deserving the name of banks. Far in the rear, upon the treeless banks of the river, the dry grasses of April rasped their dry blades together, with a din of buzzing, before the wind. The gulf rolled in her heavy swells against the unceasing torrent of the river, which met like two op- posing forces of nature; and here, amid these desola- tions, the party landed, and erected the inevitable cross. Beside it, the arms of France, engraved on a leaden plate, was buried. A solemn service of prayer and singing was then performed, and, with impressive forms, possession was taken of the whole valley of the Missis- sippi, and named Louisiana, in honor of Louis XIV., king of France.
The whole party now started on the return, tugging against the scalloping currents of the river, which tossed their light boats like vessels in a storm. Far away, to the right and left, the distant forests pushed their hoary tops into the horizon, walling in the lonely passage to the sea the gathered waters of half a continent. This immense valley was now a French province, by virtue of the wooden cross just erected; around which the am- phibious monsters of the gulf were to gambol, in security, as soon as the adventurers were out of sight. This immense domain, the portion of which lying west of the Mississippi river, was sold by the first. Napoleon to the United States in 1804. But La Salle could not peer into the book of fate.
*The original plan of building a vessel to navigate the Mississippi had been abandoned for the more practical canoe of that early age.
t These were seen below the Arkansas.
CHAPTER III.
La Salle returns to the Illinois country-Ft. St. Louis built-La Salle leaves Tonty in command of Ft. St. Louis, and starts for France-Tonty unjustly super- seded in command by La Barre, the new Governor of Canada-La Salle at the Court of Louis XIV .- La Barre recalled-Tonty restored to command-La Salle furnished with a fleet to sail for the mouth of the Mis- sissippi and establish a Colony-The fleet passes its desti- nation, and lands on the coast of Texas at Metagorda Bay-La Salle builds a fort-His vessels lost-Des- perate condition of the Colony-La Salle starts across the wilds for the Illinois country-He is assassinated on the way-The murderers fall upon each other -- Return of Cavelier and his party-Tonty's fort on the Arkansas --- Mendacious concealment of La Salle's death-Iberville and Bienville make a settlement at the mouth of Mis- sissippi-Analysis of the English Colonies.
La Salle's exploration of the Mississippi was the work of a master mind; but, for the present, it was an un- wieldy acquisition to the complicated, as well as over- burdened, executive capabilities of the Canadian gov- ernment.
Had La Salle's means been sufficient, he would have immediately established a fort at the mouth of the river, as a depot, for receiving and shipping buffalo hides and furs, from the inexhaustible sources of supply for these valuable goods; in the limitless wilds drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries. But his labors, thus far had not only exhausted his own means in exploration, but had drawn largely upon the resources of his friends, as well as leaving him in debt, even to the men who had performed the drudgery of the camp.
On his passage up the Mississippi, he had been seized
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52
Fort St. Louis Built.
with a violent attack of fever, and was unable to pur- sue his journey, with the comfortless accommodations afforded by their canoes; but, fortunately for him, a fort had been built at the Chickasaw bluffs, on their passage down,* and his strength barely held out till their arrival at this place. Here he remained till he was able to resume his journey, attended by Father Membre. Meantime, Tonty. hastened forward to the Illinois country with the men; for it was all-important that a nucleus of French power should be established here, in order to utilize the late discoveries.
STARVED ROCK.
This was no easy task to accomplish, especially from the untempered materials out of which it was to be im- provised; but La Salle, who never looked upon any ob- stacle in his way, as insurmountable, went to work with his accustomed resolution, as soon as he was able again to take the field. The yellow tints of autumn had be- gun to imprint their stamp upon the forests, when he and Tonty had commenced building Ft. St. Louis at Starved Rock, where the western tribes might gather
* Fort Prudhomme. On their passage down the river, a landing was made here for the purpose of hunting. While thus engaged, Father Prudhomme was lost in the woods, and, while searching for him, a fort was built and named for him. He was found after a two days' search, in a state of great exhaustion.
53
The Iroquois Repulsed.
around the lilies of France, with an assurance of pro- tection .*
This work completed, La Salle intended to sail for France, as soon as he could arrive at Quebec, the start- ing point.
At this juncture, rumors of an Iroquois invasion of the Illinois country came to hand, and postponed his anticipated visit to the French court; for to desert his Illinois allies in this hour of danger, would be a forfeit- ure of French interests on the prairies, as well as a re- linquishment of his plans for a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi.
A large number of Indians, composed of several western tribes besides the Illinois, were now tenanted along the Illinois river adjacent to the fort, who, with the aid of a small number of Frenchmen, would be able to repel any Iroquois invasion likely to be sent against them. But to hold these capricious wanderers to the French interest, a stock of goods for barter with them, and a few Frenchmen to do military duty, were neces- sary. These must come from Canada.
Had Frontenac still been governor, all would have been well; but this able man had been removed through the machinations of some of the jarring interests of the province, and La Barre put in his place. He was no friend to La Salle; and instead of reinforcing him with the necessary men for service in the Illinois country, he detained those in Canada designed for that post, and withheld all supplies from him.
La Salle had now no other recourse left, but to remain at his post in the Illinois country during the winter, ruminating in his fertile brain on future plans, whereby he could bring to the knowledge of the French king an appreciative sense of the magnitude of his discoveries. The next summer was nearly spent in the same painful uncertainty amidst the servile tribes of the prairies, whose lack of courage to protect themselves contrasted unfavorably with the prowess of the conquering Iroquois.
Autumn was approaching-the expected invasion of these champions of the forest had not come-and La Salle determined to start for France. On his way to Quebec he met an officer going to the Illinois country, with a commission from La Barre, the governor of Can-
* This spot was chosen as a place of great natural strength, where a few Frenchmen could hold a nation of savages at bay.
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54
La Salle Sails for the Mouth of the Mississippi.
ada, to take possession of Ft. St. Louis, the citadel of the rock tower, which was then the key to the interior. Tonty had first built the fort, and, by virtue of La Salle's authority, now held command of it; and though he alone was better qualified to command it than any other one except La Salle, yet he peaceably conformed to the authority of La Barre, and took a subordinate position under Baugis, the late appointee of La Barre.
The following March the expected Iroquois came and besieged the place for six days. The fort held out, and the discomfited invaders, for once, balked of their ex- pected victory, retreated.
La Salle was now in Paris. La Barre's villainous aspersions had preceded him, in the vain attempt to. undervalue his discoveries, and wrest from him what little authority yet remained, in his hands, as commander of Ft. Frontenac and almoner of seigniorial rights of the lands of the Illinois country .* This was more than calumny could accomplish. Sixteen years of toil and disappointment, of hope deferred, crowned at last with a success only waiting recognition, had moulded lines of irresistible advocacy into the weather-beaten face of La Salle.
He no sooner gained a hearing at the court of Ver- sailles, than the reports of his enemies recoiled upon themselves. La Barre was recalled, Denonville was; made governor of Canada, and the command of Ft. St. Louis restored to Tonty, the incarnation of courage and fidelity, and the only one now worthy of holding it.
La Salle, now fully restored to the confidence of the French court, was furnished with a fleet of four vessels to fulfill the cherished project of his ambition-the establishment of a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. The fleet sailed from Rochelle on the 24th of July, 1684, with 280 adventurers who enlisted in the service as emigrants, to form a colony in the wilds of America.
Among them were artisans of various trades and a. few young women. Several priests also accompanied the expedition, among whom was Cavelier, the brother
* La Salle's patent of nobility had invested him with authority to parcel out the lands around Ft. St. Louis to French settlers, who would marry natives and settle on the land. This was done to encourage permanent colonization, but the recipients of these emoluments abused their privileges by marrying new wives as often as their whimsical propensities or their in- terests demanded, greatly to the disgust of La Salle.
55
French Colony. in Texas.
of La Salle, and Joutel, whose history of the progress and tragical termination of the scheme is now esteemed as the best authority.
The general command was given to La Salle, but un- fortunately another person, by the name of Beaujeu, had charge of the fleet, whose authority did not go be- yond the management of the vessels. He was by birth from a family of note, and had been for many years in the king's service-at least long enough to spoil him for the position he was now to occupy as a subordinate to La Salle, whose experience in the wilds of America was sneered at by the officious captain.
On their way to the mouth of the Mississippi, much dissension arose between Beaujeu and La Salle. The former was envious, and the latter tenacious. One ves- sel, containing valuable stores, was captured by Spanish cruisers in consequence of Beaujeu's disobedience of La Salle's orders to land at Port de Paix, a harbor of La Tortue.
After much detention at the West India Islands, in consequence of the sickness of La Salle, the fleet finally entered the Gulf of Mexico, and made sail for their destination, as near as they could calculate their course from the latitude and longitude taken by La Salle when he with his canoe fleet, two years before, had discovered the mouth of the river to which they were now tending.
Coasting along the northern shore of the gulf, they made several landings, but finally passed by the place, either through ignorance or design .* Continuing along
* La Salle's expedition to plant a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi river has been considered by historians, especially Parkman, only as a colon- izing scheme; but new facts relating to it have been brought to light by the publication of the Margry papers, and also by a work entitled "Penalosa," translated from the Spanish by J. G. Shea.
From these two sources, there is reasonable suspicion that the French court intended this colony to be a base of operations, from which to wrest territory from Spain, on the south, and place the same under the French crown, as a part of Louisiana; but such purposes, if contemplated, of course were never disclosed. The theory is, that the fulfillment of this utopian design, was to be brought about by the assistance of Penalosa, the Spanish governor of New Mexico, who was to reinforce La Salle with an army of Indians, who, together with the French colonists, were to settle and hold the country, as a French province.
Penalosa had been despoiled of his immense wealth by the Spanish In- quisition, as a punishment for some unguarded expression on religious dog- mas, and been divested of official authority, hence his disloyalty.
In order to conceal these designs, it is possible it was given out, that La Salle was carried by the mouth of the Mississippi by mistake, and that Beaujeu refused to transport him back to the place. This is shown to be false by both Margry and Shea. La Salle's erratic wanderings in Texas to
56
La Salle Starts for the Illinois Country.
the shore, which trended southwardly, La Salle finally made a landing at Matagorda Bay, in doing which one of his vessels became stranded and lost. Here he built a fort .*
The note in the margin is Joutel's account of the building of the fort. The same faithful historian has recorded in his journal the wanderings of La Salle in his search for the fatal river, as he (Joutel) always called it. This search was persisted in for two years, during which time disease and death were wasting away the unhappy colony, till but a feeble remnant was left, while, to make their situation still more desperate, their last remaining vessel was wrecked in crossing the bay on some local service. To save them, La Salle formed the desperate resolution to make his way on foot across the country to Canada, and obtain relief for these vic- tims of his unlucky enterprise.
Joutel, in giving an account of his starting, says:
"We set out on the 12th of January, in the year 1687, being seventeen in number, viz .: Monsieur de La Salle, Monsieur Cavelier, the priest, his brother, Father An- astasius, the recollet, Messieurs Moranget and Cavelier, nephews to Monsieur de La Salle, the Sieurs Duhaut the elder, L'Archeveque, Hiens, Liotot, surgeon, young
explore the country, while waiting for Penalosa's reinforcements which never came, accords with this theory.
Parkman wrote his history of La Salle before the publication of the Mar- gry papers or Shea's "Penalosa." Had this not been the case he would not have stated that Beaujeu refused to transport La Salle back to the mouth of the Mississippi, after it became evident that the fleet had passed it.
*"When Mons. de Beaujeu was gone, we fell to work to make a fort, of the wreck of the ship that had been cast away and many pieces of timber the sea threw up; and during that time several men deserted, which added to Monsieur de La Salle's affliction. A Spaniard and a Frenchman stole away and fled, and were never more heard of. Four or five others followed their example, but Monsieur de La Salle, having timely notice, sent after them, and they were brought back. One of them was condemned to death, and the others to serve the king ten years in that country.
" When our fort was well advanced, Monsieur de La Salle resolved to clear his doubts, and to go up the river where we were, to know whether it was not an arm of the Mississippi, and accordingly ordered fifty men to attend him, of which number were Monsieur Cavelier, his brother, and Monsieur Chedeville, both priests, two recollet friars, and several volunteers, who set out in five canoes we had, with the necessary provisions. There remained in the fort about an hundred and thirty persons, and Monsieur de La Salle gave me the command of it, with orders not to have any commerce with the natives, but to fire at them if they appeared.
"Whilst Monsieur de La Salle was absent, I caused an oven to be built, which was a great help to us, and employed myself in finishing the fort and putting it in a posture to withstand the Indians, who came frequently in the night to range about us, howling like wolves and dogs; but two or three musket shots put them to flight. It happened one night that, having fired
57
Dispute about Buffalo Meat.
Talon, an Indian,* and a footman belonging to Monsieur de La Salle, etc. We carried along with us part of the best things every man had, and what was thought would be of use, wherewith the five horses were loaded, and we took our leaves with as much tenderness and sorrow as if we had all presaged that we should never see each other more. Father Zenobius was the person who ex- pressed it to me most significantly, saying he had never been so sensibly touched at parting with anybody."
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