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AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY 1 OF 1
SOME NEW COUNTRIES AND NATIONS
IN
NORTH AMERICA, IN 1673, 1
BY PERE MARQUETTE AND SIEUR JOLIET.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCHI.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY
OF SOME NEW COUNTRIES AND NATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA, IN 1673,
BY PERE MARQUETTE* AND SIEUR JOLIET.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH.
I EMBARKED with M. Joliet, who had been chosen to conduct this enterprise, on the 13th May, 1673, with five other Frenchmen, in two Jacques
* Father Joseph Marquette, an illustrious French Missionary, of noble birth was born in Picardy, France. . Previous to his discovery of the Mississippi he bad resided in Canada, where he acquired a knowledge of the languages of the principal Indian tribes who lived in the regions about the lakes.
These Indians had given him from time to time accounts of a Great River of the West, which they called Mescha-cebe, or the Great river ; Namese-sipou, or the River of the Fishes. While others called it Chuca-gua, Sassa-goula, and Mala-banchi. It has been subsequently called by the Spaniards La Palissade, Rio Escondido; and by the French Colbert, and sometimes St. Louis. It soon became a matter of curious speculation what course this river pursued, and at what place it disembogued itself into the sea. In order, therefore, to estab- lish this point, as well as to close his career with some brilliant discovery before he returned to France, M. Talon planned an expedition to explore it to its mouth. For this purpose he selected M. Joliet, a merchant of Quebec, to conduct the enterprise ; a man of intelligence, of great experience in Indian affairs, and who possessed a bold and energetic spirit. He also associated with him Father Marquette, who had been long and favorably known to the Indians by his missionary labors. .
They accordingly set out on a voyage of discovery on the 13th May, 1673. Ou
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bark canoes .* We laid in some Indian corn and smoked beef for our voyage. We first took care, however, to draw from the Indians all the information we could, concerning the countries through which we designed to travel, and drew up a map, on which we marked down the rivers, nations, and points of the compass to guide us in our journey. The first nation we came to was called the Folles-Avoines, for the nation of wild oats. I entered their river to visit them, as I had . preached among them some years before. The wild oats, from which they derive their name, grows spontaneously in their country. They grow in marshy ground, and are not unlike our European oats. The grain is not thicker than ours, but it is twice as long, and therefore it yields much more meal. It makes its appearance in June and does
his return Father Marquette wrote an account of his voyage, which he sent to France, where it was published in 1681. In every point of view this narra. tive is one of the most authentic and interesting which can illustrate the early history of Louisiana. It is related of the Sieur Joliet that he also kept a journal of this expedition, which was afterwards lost by the upsetting of his canoe in the river St. Lawrence, as he was returning to Montreal. The French Govern- ment some years afterwards rewarded the Sieur Joliet for this service, by a grant of the island of Anticosti, in the St. Lawrence. >
Nothing is known of Marquette except what is related of him by Charlevoix. After returning from this expedition, he took up his residence and pursued the vocation of a missionary among the Miamies, in the neighborhood of Chicago. While passing by water along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, towards Michilimackinac, Le entered a small river on the 18th May, 1675. Having landed he constructed an alar, performed mass, and then retired a short dis. tance into the word, requesting the two men who had charge of his canoe to leave him alone for half an hour. When the time had elapsed the men went to seek for him, and found him dead. They were greatly surprised at this event, but they remembered that when he was entering the river be expressed a presentiment that his Hif. would end here. To this day the river retains the name of Marquette. His retains were removed, the year after his death, to the Catholic cemetery a: Mobilimackinac.
. Marquette and Jolie's point of departure to discover the Mississippi River was the French post at My intimackine, from whence they proceeded to Fox River, which falls into Green ( Potawotamie) Bay. Fifteen years afterwards, the celebrated traveler, La Botaan, set ont bom the same post to explore the Mis- souri and St. Peters Rivas.
+ Folles -. trouves was the name given by the French to the " Menomonies," who lived to the ra ith of the Bay of Puans or Green Bay. They were bounded on the north by the Chippeways; on the south by the Winnebagoes; on the west by the Sauks and Sioux Dabeota; and east by the Miamies and Illinois Indians.
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not ripen until September. In this month the Indians go to shake the grain off the ears in their canoes, which easily falls if it be ripe, and which afterwards serves them for food. They dry it over a fire, then pack it away in a kind of sack made of the skins of animals, and having made a hole in the ground they put the sacks therein, and tread upon it until the chaff is separated from the grain, and then winnow it. Afterwards they pound it in a mortar to reduce it into meal; they then boil it in water, and season it with grease, which makes it very palatable.
I acquainted them with my design of discovering other nations, to preach to them the mysteries of our holy religion, at which they were much surprised, and said all they could to dissuade me from it. They told me I would meet with Indians who spare no strangers, and whom they kill without any provocation or mercy; that the war they have one with the other would expose me to be taken by their warriors, as they are constantly on the look-out to surprise their enemies. That the Great River was exceedingly dangerous, and full of frightful mon- sters who devoured men and canoes together, and that the heat was so great that it would positively cause our death. I thanked them for their kind advice, but told them I would not follow it, as the salvation of a great many souls was concerned in our undertaking, for whom I should be glad to lose my life. I added that I defied their monsters, and their information would oblige us to keep more upon our guard to avoid a surprise. And having prayed with them, and given them some instructions, we set out for the Bay of Puan (Green Bay), where our missionaries had been successful in converting them. The name they give to this bay is preferable in the Indian language to ours ; for, according to the word they make use of, it signifies Salt Bay. It is the name they give to the sca. This obliged us to inquire whether there were any salt springs in their country, as among the Iroquois, but they could not tell us of any.
This bay (Green Bay) is about thirty leagues long, and eight broad in the greatest breadth ; for it grows narrower and forms a cone at the extremity. It has tides that flow and ebb as regular as the sea. . We left this bay to go into a river (Fox River) that discharges itself therein, and found its mouth very broad and deep. It flows very gently, but after we had advanced some leagues into it we found it difficult to navigate, on account of the rocks and the currents; we for- tunately overcame all these difficulties. It abounds in bustards, ducks, and other birds, which are attracted there by the wild cats, of which
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they are very fond. We next came to a village of the Maskoutens,* or nation of fire. Here I had the curiosity to taste some mineral water which came from a spring on the banks of the river, and to examine a plant which the Indians had told Father Allouez was a specific for the bite of snakes. The root of this plant is very hot, and tastes like gunpowder; they chew it, and apply it to the part of the body that has been stung. This cures the wound. The snakes have such an antipathy to this plant, that they run away from a man who has his body rubbed with it. It has several stalks about a foot in length; the leaves are somewhat long; the flower is white, and the whole looks like our gilliflower. I put one into our canoe to examine it at my leisure.
The French have never before passed beyond the Bay of Puans (Green Bay). This Bourg consists of three several nations, viz., Miamies, f Maskoutens, and Kickapoos. The first are more docile than the others, better formed, and more liberal. They wear long hair over their ears, which gives them a good appearance. They are es- teemed good warriors, and so cunning that they never return from their warlike excursions without booty. They are quick to learn any- thing. Father Allouezt told me that they were so desirous to be in- structed that they would never give him any rest at night. The
* The word Maskoutens means a " prairie." Their country lies on the south side of Fox River.
f The Miamies and the Ilinois have been considered the same people, from the great atlinity between their languages. The Illinois consisted of five tribes, viz., Cahokias, Kakaskins, Tamaroas, Peorias, and Metchegamias.
# Father Claude Allouez, a distinguished French missionary, came to Canada in 1665. In 1667 he commenced his missionary labors among the Chippeways, and formed a treaty of commerce and mutual defence with the Chippeways, Potawatomies, Sacs, and Foxes, against the Iroquois. In 1669 he learned from the remote tribes of the West the existence of the Great River, Mississippi, and returned to Quebec to mige the establishment of permanent missions among them, as well as to send out a party to explore the Great River. As yet no Frenchman had advanced beyond Fox River of Green Bay. All beyond was a region of romance, nussown, or mystified by Indian tradition. The un. wearied Jesuits of the Catholic church were always in advance of civilization. The history of their labors is connected with the origin of every celebrated town in the annals of fresh America; not a river was entered, not a cape was turned, but a desmit led the way. The sites and ceremonies of the Catholic church were extended to the remote West, The Franciscan, as a mendicant order ben; excluded from the newly discovered world, the office of converting the natives of New France was entrusted to the Jesuits. They plunged into the affairs of men, to maintain the interests of the church,
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Maskoutens and Kickapoos are more robust, and resemble our pea- sants more than the former. As the bark of the birch tree is scarce in this country, they are obliged to make their wigwams with rushes, which serve as well for covering them as for walls. It must be owned that they are convenient, for they take them down and carry them wherever they please, without any trouble.
When I arrived there I was very glad to see a great cross, set up in the middle of the village, adorned with several white skins, red girdles, bows and arrows, which the converted Indians had offered to the great Manitou, to return him their thanks for the care he had taken of them during the winter, and granting them a prosperous hunting. Manitou is the name they give in general to all spirits whom they think to be above the nature of man. I took pleasure in looking at this bourg. It is beautifully situated on an eminence, from whence we look over an extensive prairie, interspersed with groves of trees. The soil is very fertile, and produces large crops of corn. The Indians also gather large quantities of grapes and plums. As soon as we had arrived we assembled the chiefs together, and informed them that we had been sent by our governor to discover new countries, and teach them the knowledge of their Creator, who being absolute master of all his creatures will have all nations to know him, and that therefore to comply with his will we did not value our lives, and were willing to subject ourselves to every kind of danger, adding that we wished them to furnish us with two guides, and enforced our request with some presents, which were kindly accepted by them, in return for which they gave us mats, with which we made our beds during the voyage. They also furnished us with two guides to accompany us for some days.
The next day, being the 10th of June, the two guides (Miamics) embarked with us in sight of all the village, who were astonished at our attempting so dangerous an expedition. We were informed that at three leagues from the Maskoutens, we should find a river which runs into the Mississippi, and that we were to go to the west-south- west to find it, but there were so many marshes and lakes, that if it had not been for our guides we could not have found it. The river upon which we rowed and had to carry our canoes from one to the other, looked more like a corn-field than a river, insomuch that we could hardly find its channel. As our guides had been frequently at this portage, they knew the way, and helped us to carry our canoes overland into the other river, distant about two miles and a half; from whence they returned home, leaving us in an unknown country,
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having nothing to rely upon but Divine Providence. We now left the waters which extend to Quebec, about five or six hundred leagues, to take those which would lead us hereafter into strange lands.
Before embarking we all offered up prayers to the Holy Virgin, which we continued to do every morning, placing ourselves and the events of the journey under her protection, and after having en- couraged cach other, we got into our canoes. The river upon which we embarked is called Mesconsin (Wisconsin); the river is very wide, but the sand bars make it very difficult to navigate, which is increased by numerous islands covered with grape vines. The country through which it flows is beautiful; the groves are so dispersed in the prairies that it makes a noble prospect ; and the fruit of the trees shows a fertile soil. These groves are full of walnut, oak, and other trees unknown to us in Europe. We saw neither game nor fish, but roebuck and buffaloes in great numbers. After having navigated thirty leagues we discovered some iron mines, and one of our company who had seen such mines before, said these were very rich in ore. They are covered with about three feet of soil, and situate near a chain of rocks, whose base is covered with fine timber. After having rowed ten leagues further, making forty leagues from the place where we had embarked, we came into the Mississippi on the 17th June (1673).
The mouth of the Mesconsin (Wisconsin) is in about 422º N. lat. Behold us, then, upon this celebrated river, whose singularities I have attentively studied. The Mississippi takes its rise in several lakes in the North. Its channel is very narrow at the mouth of the Mescon- sin, and runs south until it is affected by very high hills. Its current is slow, because of its depth. In sounding we found nineteen fathoms of water. A little further on it widens nearly three-quarters of a league, and the width continues to be more cqual. We slowly followed its course to the south and south-east to the 42º N. lat. Here we per- ceived the country change its appearance. There were scarcely any more woods or mountains. The islands are covered with fine trees, but we could not see any more roebucks, buffaloes, bustards, and swans. We met from time to time monstrous fish, which struck so violently against our canoes, that at first we took them to be large trees, which threatened to upset us. We saw also a hideous monster; his head was like that of a tiger, his nose was sharp, and somewhat resembled a wildcat : his beard was long; his cars stood upright; the color of his head was gray ; and his neck black. He looked upon us for some time, but as we came near him our oars frightened him away.
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When we threw our nets into the water we caught an abundance of sturgeons, and another kind of fish like our trout, except that the eyes and nose are much smaller, and they have near the nose a bone like a woman's busk, three inches broad and a foot and a half long, the end of which is flat and broad, and when it leaps out of the water the weight of it throws it on its back.
Having descended the river as far as 41º 28', we found that turkeys took the place of game, and the Pisikious that of other animals. We - call the Pisikious wild buffaloes, because they very much resemble our domestic oxen ; they are not so long, but twice as large. We shot one of them, and it was as much as thirteen men could do to drag him from the place where he fell. They have an enormous head, their forehead is broad and flat, and their horns, between which there is at Icast a foot and a half distance, are all black and much longer than our European oxen. They have a hump on the back, and their head, breast, and a part of the shoulders are covered with long hair. They have in the middle of their forehead an ugly tuft of long hair, which, falling down over their eyes, blinds them in a manner, and makes them look hideous. The rest of the body is covered with curled hair, or rather wool like our sheep, but much thicker and stronger. They shed their hair in summer, and their skin is as soft as velvet, leaving nothing but a short down. The Indians use their skins for cloaks, which they paint with figures of several colors. Their flesh and fat is excellent, and the best dish of the Indians, who kill a great many of them. They are very fierce and dangerous, and if they can hook a man with their horns, they toss him up and then tread upon him. The Indians hide themselves when they shoot at them, otherwise they would be in great danger of losing their lives. They follow them at great distances till, by loss of blood, they are unable to hurt or defend themselves. They graze upon the banks of rivers, and I have seen four hundred in a herd together.
We continued to descend the river, not knowing where we were going, and having made an hundred leagues without seeing anything but wild beasts and birds, and being on our guard we landed at night to make our fire and prepare our repast, and then left the shore to an- chor in the river, while one of us watched by turns to prevent a surprise. We went south and south-west until we found ourselves in about the latitude of 40° and some minutes, having rowed more than sixty leagues since we entered the river. On the 25th Jane we went ashore, and found some traces of men upon the sand, and a path which led into a
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large prairie. We judged it led to an Indian village, and concluded to examine it. . We therefore left our canoes in charge of our men, while M. Joliet and I went to explore it; a bold undertaking for two men in a savage country. We followed this little path in silence about two leagues, when we discovered a village on the banks of a river, and two others on a hill about half a league from the first. We now com- mended ourselves to God, and having implored his help, we came so near to the Indians that we could hear them talk. We now thought" it time to make ourselves known to them by screaming aloud. At the sound of our voices, the Indians left their huts, and probably taking us for Frenchmen, one of us having a black robe on, and seeing but two of us, and being warned of our arrival, they sent four old men to speak to us, two of whom brought pipes, ornamented with different colored feathers. They marched slowly, without saying a word, but presenting their pipes to the sun, as if they wished it to smoke them.
They were a long time coming from their village, but as soon as they came near, they halted to take a view of us, and seeing the ceremonies, they performed, and especially seeing them covered with cloth, we judged that they were our allies. I then spoke to them, and they said that they were Illinois, and as a sign of friendship they presented us their pipes to smoke. They invited us to their village, where all the people had impatiently waited for us. These pipes are called by the Indians cabinets, and as this word is so common among them, I shall make use of it in future, when I want to speak of pipes. At the door of the cabin in which we were to be received, we found an old man in a very remarkable posture, which is the usual ceremony in receiving strangers. He was standing up, all naked, with his hands lifted up to Heaven, as if he wished to screen himself from the rays of the sun, which nevertheless passed through his fingers to his face. When we came near to him, he said, " What a fair day, French- men, this is to come to visit us! All our people have waited for thee, and thou shalt enter our cabin in peace." IIe then took us into his, where there were a crowd of people who devoured us with their eyes, but who kept a profaurl silence. We only occasionally heard these words in a low voice, "These are our brothers who have come to see us."
As som as we sat down, they presented us, according to custom, their calumet, which one must accept, or he would be looked upon as an Queiny, and it is sufficient to place it only to your mouth, and pre- tend to smoke. While the old men smoked in our cabin to entertain us, the great chict of the Illinois sent us word to come to his village,
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where he wished to hold a council with us. We went accordingly to him, and were followed by all the people of this village, for they had never seen any Frenchmen before. They never appeared tired of. gazing at us. They went backwards and forwards to look at us, without making any noise, and this they esteemed as a mark of respect. Having arrived at the borough of the chief, we espied him at the door of his cabin, between two old men, who were likewise naked, and standing, holding the calumet towards the sun. He made us a short . speech, to congratulate us on our arrival in his country, and presented us with his calumet, which we had to smoke before we could enter into his cabin. This ceremony being over, he conducted us and desired us to sit down upon a mat, and the old men of the nation being present, I thought fit to acquaint them with the subject of our voyage, and there- fore I told them, Ist, that we designed to visit all nations that were on the river, down to the sea. 2d. That God, who had created them, took pity on them, and had sent me to bring them to a knowledge of Him, and to repent. 3d. That the great captain of the French had commanded me to tell them that he had conquered the Iroquois, and wished to live in peace with them. 4th. And lastly, that we desired them to tell us all about the sea and the nations we were to pass through before we arrived there.
After we sat down, the chief placed a slave near us, and made us a. present of the mysterious calumet, which he thought more valuable to us than the slave. He showed to us by this present his respect for our great captain, and he begged us to remain among them, because . of the dangers to which we were exposed in our voyage. I told him that we did not fear death, and that I would esteem it a happiness to lose my life in the service of God, at which he seemed to be much surprised. The council being over, we were invited to a feast, which consisted of four dishes, The first was a dish of sagamite, that is some Indian meal boiled in water, and seasoned with grease; the master of ceremonies holding a spoonful of it, which he put thrice into my mouth, and then did the like to M. Joliet. The second dish consisted of three fish, whereof he took a piece, and having taken out the bones, and blown upon it to cool it, he put it into my mouth. The third dish was a large dog, which they had killed of purpose, but under- standing that we did not eat this animal they sent it away. The fourth was a piece of buffalo meat, of which they put the fattest pieces into our months.
As soon as we had feasted, we were taken to a village of three lau- dred cabins, attended by an officer, who kept the people from crowding
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upon us. They presented us with belts, garters, and other articles made of the hair of bears and buffaloes. We slept in the chief's hut, and, on the following morning, we took leave of him, promising to return to his village in four moons. He escorted us to our canoes with nearly six hundred persons, who saw us embark, evincing in every way the pleasure our visit gave them. It will not be improper for me to relate here, what I observed of the customs and manners of this people, which are very different from any I have ever before visited. The word Ilinois in their language signifies men; as if they looked upon all other Indians as beasts. And truly it must be con- fessed that they are more humane than any others I have ever seen. The short time I remained with them did not permit me to inform myself of their customs and manners as much as I desired. They are divided into several villages, some of which I have not scen. They live so remote from other nations, that their language is entirely different. They called themselves "Perouarca." Their language is a dialect of the Algonquin. They are very mild in their dispositions. They keep several wives, of whom they are very jealous, and watch them closely. If they behave unchastely, they cut off their cars or nose, of which I siw several who carried those marks of their infi- delity.
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