USA > Louisiana > The history of Louisiana : from the earliest period, Volume I > Part 8
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De Gourgues next marched against St. Augustine, and the other fort; there were but fifty men in each ; they surrendered, and were not ill treated. The, buildings were burnt and the forts dismantled.
The French being too few in number to hold pos- session of the country, De Gourgues brought them back to France. He was obliged to conceal himself to avoid falling a victim to the resentment of Philip II., who offered a large price for his head, and whose Ambassador, at Paris, demanded that he should be punished. for having waged war against a LOU. I. 4
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prince in amity with his own sovereign. Thus are often the most heroic, useful and disinterested ser- · vices, that an individual renders to his country, not only unrewarded, but the source of chagrin, distress and misery. Sic vos, non vobis.
During the remainder of the reign of Charles the ninth, the kingdom was distracted by the struggles of the Condes, the Guises and the Colignys; so that the re-establishment of the French colony in Florida, was not attempted. Charles died on the thirtieth of May 1574, at the age of twenty-four, and was suc- ceeded by his brother, Henry the third.
Elizabeth of England, who during her long reign, -saw the crown of France on the heads of five kings, does not appear to have thought of the new world, till 1578. On the eleventh of June of that year, she authorised Sir Humphry Gilbert, by letters patent, to discover and take possession of such remote, hea- then and barbarous countries, as were not possessed by any christian prince or people.
Sir Humphry was not successful in his attempt. He made no settlement, and his country gained no advantage, but the formal possession which he took of the island of Newfoundland. In his pursuit of farther advantages, he lost his fortune and his life.
Henry the third does not appear to have turned his attention towards the western hemisphere, till the ninth year of his reign; when he granted to the Marquis de la Roche. the powers which the Mar- quis de Robertval had enjoyed under Francis the first, and which Heury the second had granted to the former. who had been prevented by the distress- es of the times to avail himself of them. The grant is of the twelfth of January 1583. It states that the king, in compliance with the wishes of his predeces- sor, appoints the Marquis, his Lieutenant-General
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in Canada,' Hochelaga, Newfoundland, Labrador, the river of the great bay, (St. Lawrence) Norem- begue and the adjacent country.
The condition of the grant is, that the grantee shall have in particular view, the extension of the catholic faith. His authority is declared to' extend. over persons in the land and sea service. He is to appoint the captains and officers of the ships, and they are to obey him; he is authorised to press ships and' to raise troops, declare war, erect fortifi- cations and towns, baronies, earldoms and fiefs of less dignity, to enact laws and punish those who break them. . The exclusive commerce of the coun- try is granted him, and he is empowered, in case of . death, or sickness, to appoint, by will or otherwise. one or more lieutenants, in his stead.
The success of the grantee did not correspond to the extent of his powers. Desirous of visiting the country, over which they were to be exercised. he fitted out a ship. The island of Sable, on which the Baron de Levy had stopped in 1508, was the first land he saw. He left on it forty wretches, whom he had taken out of the prisons of Paris. A Spanish ship had lately been cast on it; the timber, these men took from the wreck, enabled them to build huts. The cattle and sheep left by the baron had greatly multiplied, and afforded them meat. The Marquis from thence proceeded to the conti- nent, and explored the shores of the country, which was after called Acadie, and now Nova Scotia. He returned to France and died, without having been able to advance his interest or that of his country, by his grants.
Sir Humphry Gilbert had a half brother, who makes a most conspicuous figure, in the history of the new world, and of England-Sir Walter Raleigh, who had taken an interest in the expedition that
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followed the grant. . To him, the Queen granted a new one, on the twenty-sixth of March, 1584. With- in a month from that day. the grantee equipped two vessels, which reached the northern continent of America, on the coast of the present state of North Carolina. They entered Pamplico sound, by Occa- cock inlet, and proceeded to Roanoke island. A. short time was spent in exploring the country, and. trafficking with the natives.
On the return of the adventurers, their report greatly excited the hopes of their patron. The new discovered country was called Virginia, in honor of the maiden queen. and Sir Richard Grenville was despatched, to convey thither a small colony, which Sir Walter abundantly supplied with provisions, arms and ammunition.
Sir Richard landed one hundred and eight colo- nists, whom he left under the orders of Ralph Lane, after having visited the barren snores of Albemarle and Pamplico sounds.
The English, like the French in Caroline, instead of employing their time in the tillage of the soil, wast- ed it in the search after ores. The stock of provisions brought over, not being renewed by agriculture, was exhausted; and the colonists scattered themselves along the shore, in small parties, with the hope of finding a precarious subsistence in fishing and hunt- ing. Sir Francis Drake, returning in the following year from a successful expedition against the Spa- niards, (the first act of hostility of England against Spain, in the new world) visited Virginia; and at first determined on adding one hundred men to those under Ralph Lane. and leaving one of his vessels with them; but, at last, at their request, he took him and his men on board of his fleet and carried them back to England.
Sir Richard arrived some time after, with three,
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vessels. Finding the country deserted, and desirous of keeping possession of it, he left as many of his men as he could spare, fifty in number, on Roanoke island. Some time after his departure, these men were massacred by the natives.
The ill success of Sir Walter Raleigh's attempt. did not discourage him. He fitted out three ships, in which. a number of colonists embarked; some women accompanied them ; an ample supply of pro- visions was provided, and John White was placed at the head of the colony, with twelve assistants, who were to act as his council. On reaching the island of Roanoke, in the latter part of July 1587, they erected cabins for their accommodation during the winter, and made preparations for a crop in the spring, and in the following year, their chief crossed the Atlantic to solicit further aid from the knight.
On his reaching England, he found the nation in great alarm, at the formidable preparations of the King of Spain for the invasion of the country, and Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Richard Grenville, too much engaged, in providing the means of defending their country, to attend to the affairs of Virginia. Sir Walter, at last, assigned his patent to a company of merchants, at the head of whom was John Smith.
On the first of August 1589, Henry the third of France fell, in his thirty-ninth year, under the knife. of Jacques Clement, a fanatic priest.
Ninety-six years had rolled away since the dis- covery of America, at the death of Henry, the last Monarch of the house of Valois. The French, the Spaniards and the English had made a number of attempts at colonization, on the northern continent; yet, besides a few soldiers, whom the Spaniards had sent to garrison fort St. Augustine, the few colo- nists left by John White on Roanoke island, and the
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forty, by the Marquis de la Roche, on Sable island, there was not an European, living under his national flag in North America, the northern part of which was now known to Europe under the appellation of Canada, the middle by that of Virginia, and the southern by that of Florida.
Garcilasso de la Vega .- Laet .- Purchas .- Charlevoix .- Marshall.
1589).
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CHAPTER II.
The Bourbons .- Henry IV .- Philip III .- Pontgrave and Chauvin .- Trois rivieres .- Gosnuld .- Cape Cod. - James I .- Commandeur de la Chatte .- Champlain .- Hochelaga .- Dumontz .- Acadie .- Port Rossignol .- Port Mouton .- Penobscot .- Pentagoct .- Port Royal. Poutrincourt .- Earls of Southampton and Arundel .- Captain Weymouth .-- Ill success of a colony sent to Acadie .- Pontgrave sails with the colonists for France ; he is met by Pontgrave and returns .- The Marchioness of Guercheville .- James' patents to the northern and southern companies .- Abortive effort of the northern .- First attempt of the southern .- James Town .- Quebec. Expedition against the Iroquois .- Henry Hudson .- Chauvin .- New, France .- Prospercus state of the co- lony .- Second expedition against the Iroquois .- Louis XIII .- Jesuits sent to Acadie .- Lake Champlain .- Nova Belgica .- New Amsterdam .- Lasausaie .- Aca- die .- La Here .- Port Royal .- Becancourt .- St. Sau- - veur .- Argal drives the French from Acadie .- Thc Earl of Soissons .- Prince of Conde .- Montreal .- Company of St. Maloes .- New England .- Third ex- pedition against the Iroquois .- They murder three Frenchmen, and plot the destruction of the colony .- Brother Pacific .- Marshal of Montmorency .- New Plymouth .- Philip IV .- Sir William Alexander .- First irruption of the Iroquois .- William and Edward de Caen .- Fort of Quebec .- Jesuits sent to Canada .- Charles I. - Swedish Colony. - Company of New France .- Kerts .- Capture of a French fleet .- Fa- mine and discutions .- The capture of Quebec .- Sir Robert Heath .- Carolana .- New Hampshire .- Peace of St. Germain .- Canada and Acadie restored.
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AT the death of Henry the third, the house of Valois became extinct. Its princes had occupied the French throne, for two hundred and sixty-one years; the first king of that branch, having been Philip VI., who succeeded to Charles V. Henry of Bourbon, was the nearest. tho' a very distant, kins- man of the deceased monarch; their common ancestor being Louis IX., more commonly called St. Louis, who died in 1226.
The assignees of Sir Walter Raleigh's patent, in March 1590, fitted out three ships, in which White embarked for Virginia. So much time was lost in a fruitless cruize against the Spaniards, that these vessels did not reach their destination till the month of August. The colonists, whom White had left on Roanoke island, three years before, were no longer . there, and every effort to discover them was fruit- less. No other attempt was made to find them. .. and the period and manner of their perishing was. never known.
A French vessel came to Sable Island, for the forty wretches, whom de la Roche had left there. Twenty-eight had perished; the survivors were taken back to France.
Henry the fourth, the first king of France of the house of Bourbon. did not obtain at once the peace- able possession of the throne. He had been bred a protestant. and the catholics suspected the sin- cerity of his attachment to their faith, which he had · embraced. He confirmed his power by the victories of Arque and Ivry, and to silence all opposition, pro- nounced his abjuration, and his adherence to the catholic faith, in St. Denys, before his coronation, , and in the following year, the fifth since his prede- . cessor's demise, the city of Paris opened its gates to him.
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On the thirteenth of September 1598, the crown of Spain, by the death of Philip the second, in the seventy-second year of his age, passed to his son, Philip the third. The revolution, which severed the Spanish provinces in the low countries, from the dominions of Spain, began in the latter part of the reign of the deceased monarch; and the war, which ended in the beginning of the next. left the house of Nassau, in possession of these provinces. The loss of territory, thus sustained, was followed in the latter part of the life of Philip III., by a considerable dimi- nution of population, through the ill advised expul- sion of the Moors.
The attention of Henry the fourth, nor that of his subjects, does not appear to have been drawn to Ame- rica, till many years after his accession. Pontgrave, an experienced navigator of St. Maloes, who had for several years traded to Tadoussac, on the nor- thern shore of the river St. Lawrence, at a short distance below the spot on which the city of Que- bec has since been built, and Chauvin, a captain of the king's ships, who had obtained a patent, nearly similar to that of the Marquis de la Roche, made a voyage to Canada, in 1602. They proceeded up the river St. Lawrence, as far as the place, on which the city of Trois Rivieres .now stands, where Pontgrave, wished to begin a settlement; but Chauvin, more anxious of promoting his interest, by traffic with the Indians, than that of his country, by planting a co- lony, refused his consent. A few men, however, were left at Tadoussac, who would have perished, if the Indians had not relieved them.
The English now kept pace with the French, in . their endeavours to make a settlement in the. new world. . Bartholomew Gosnold, a bold navigator, departed from Falmouth, with thirty two men in a , LOU. I. 5
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barque, and sailing as nearly west as possible, made the continent on the eleventh of May of the same year, towards the forty-third degree of northern lati- tude. He gave the names, which they still bear, to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Elizabeth Islands, in the present state of Massachusetts; but no. ac- · count has reached us of his leaving any person be- : hind. Indeed, the small number of men he took out, precludes any idea of it.
`On the third of May 1603, Queen Elizabeth died in the seventieth year of her age. without issue, and was succeeded by James VI. of Scotland, the son of the unfortunate Mary Stuart.
At the accession of the House of Stuart to the throne of England, there was not a single individual of the English or French nation in North America,' living under the protection of his national flag.
The Commander de la Chatte, who had acquired the rights of Chauvin. formed a company, chiefly composed of merchants of Rouen, to whom were joined several persons of distinction. It prepared an expedition, the command of which was given to Pontgrave, to whom Heury the fourth had granted letters patent, authorising him to make discoveries and settlements. on the shores of the river St. Law- rence. Samuel de Champlain, an experienced sea- man, who makes a conspicuous figure in the history of the new world, accompanied him. They sailed - in 1603.
After a short stay at Tadoussac, they left the shipping there ; and proceeded, in a light boat, with five sailors to the rapids of St. Louis, or the Indian · town of Hochelaga, which Cartier had visited sixty- eight years before. They carried on some traffic with the natives, and joining the shipping, returned to France.
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Their patron, the Commander de la Chatte, had died during their absence, and his powers had been vested by the king, in Pierre de Guard, Sieur du Monts, to whom had also been granted the exclusive trade, in furs and peltries from the 40th to the 50th degree of north latitude, with the authority of grant- ing land, as far as the 46th. He was also created Vice Admiral, and Lieutenant-General over that extent of country. He was allowed the free exer- . cise of his religion (the Calvinist) in America, for himself and his people. He covenanted to settle the country, and establish the Roman Catholic reli- gion among the Indians.
The grantee fitted out four vessels, one of which was intended for the fur trade, at Tadoussac. Pont- grave was directed to proceed with another to Can- ceaux, to sail through the canal between Royal Island and that of St. John, and to drive interlopers away. Dumontz intended to go to Acadie, with the other two.
The expedition left Havre de Grace, the seventh of May 1604. In the following month, Dumontz entered a port of Acadie, in which he found a ves- sel trading. in violation of his exclusive privilege; he confiscated it, and gave the name of Rossignol (that of his master) to the port. He proceeded to ano- ther place, to which he gave the name of Port Mou- ton, from the circumstance of a sheep being drowned there. He landed his men here, and staid one month, while Champlain was exploring the coast. They afterwards proceeded to an island, to which the name of St. Croix was given. They there com- mitted some wheat to the ground, which succeeded amazingly.
During the winter, the French suffered much for want of water. The difficulty they found in procur-
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ing a supply from the continent, induced them to use melted snow. This brought on the scurvy, which made great havock among them. As soon as the ' weather grew moderate, Dumontz went in search of a more favourable spot. He sailed along the coast, and up the rivers Penobscot and Pentagoct. Un- able to find a suitable place, he returned to the island, where he was soon met by Pontgrave. Des- pairing of success there, he moved his men to Port Royal. Pontgrave was so delighted with the place, that he solicited and obtained from Dumontz a grant of it, which was afterwards confirmed by the king.
More attentive to acquire wealth by a trade in furs and peltries, than a subsistence by the culture of the soil, Pontgrave derived but little advantage from his grant.
In the autumn, Dumontz returned to France. The complaints of the merchants of Dieppe and St. Ma- loes, who represented his privilege as destructive of the fisheries, from which these cities derived great advantages. induced the king to revoke it. Undis- mayed by this untoward event, he prevailed on Pou- trincourt to fit out a ship for the relief of the colo- nists, at Port Royal.
Acadie, had in the meanwhile, attracted the at- tention of the English. The carls of Southampton and Arundel fitted out a ship, the command of which they gave to Weymouth. He sailed from the Downs on the thirtieth of March 1605, and after' a passage of forty-four days. reached the continent between the forty-first and forty-second degrees of north lati- tude: coasting it northerly, he entered the river Penobscot. and ascended it upwards of sixty miles. The plaus of his employers, were not agricultural; the discovery of mines of the precious metals, and the purchase of furs and peltries, were the objects they had in view. After tratlicking for awhile with
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. the Indians, and setting up crosses (in token of his having taken possession of the country) in different . parts of the banks of the river, he returned to Eng -. land, carrying thither a Sagamore and five other chiefs.
The ship, which Dumontz had induced Poutrin- court to fit out for Acadie, left La Rochelle, on the twelfth of May 1606; her passage was tedious. Left so long without assistance, the colonists began to despair. Pontgrave had used in vain his best ef- forts, to inspire them with confidence and patience. . At last, unable to withstand their clamoursany longer, he embarked with them for France; leaving behind two men only, who willingly remained in the fort, to preserve the property, which the smallness of the only vessel he could procure prevented him from carrying away. He had not left sight of French bay, when he met a barque, by which he was informed of the arrival of Poutrincourt, at Canceaux. This induced him to retrograde, and on re-entering Port Royal, he found there Poutrincourt, who had passed between the continent and the island of Cape Breton.
Abundance being thus restored to the colony, the chiefs gave their undivided attention to its security. Fortifications were erected, and land inclosed and cultivated. Employment checked idleness and its consequence, disease ; the friendship of the natives was secured, and the colony began to thrive. Du- montz' affairs in France, had not been equally pros- perous. He was unable to recover his privilege, and received a very trifling indemnification. He was at last permitted to exercise it, during one year; at the expiration of which. it was to be enjoyed by the Marchioness of Guercheville, a lady of great distinc- tion, at the court of France: but, this favour was
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burdened with the obligation of making a settlement on the banks of the St. Lawrence. His former friends had not abandoned him; but their object was not colonization. but traffic with the Indians. They fitted out two ships, which they placed under the orders of Champlain and Pontgrave, who were sent to trade at Tadoussac.
In the meanwhile, a plan had been adopted in England, under the auspices of James the first, which was the origin of the extension of his domin- ions to the western hemisphere. Letters patent had been issued on the tenth of May 1606, granting to Sir Thomas Gates and his associates, the territo- ries in America, lying on the coast, between the thirty- fourth and forty-fifth degrees, either belonging to the king, or not possessed by any christian prince or people. The grantees were divided into two com- panies.
The southern was required to settle between the 34th and 41st, and the northern between the 38th and 45th. But neither was to settle within one hun- dred miles from any establishment made by the other. -
The northern company fitted out a vessel the same year; but she was taken by the Spaniards, who claimed the exclusive right of navigating the Ameri- can seas. During the next. they sent two vessels, in which were embarked about two hundred colo- nists, who were landed near Sagadehoc, in the fall. They erected a small fortification, to which they gave the name of Fort George. The winter was extremely severe. The leader, and some of the principal colonists, fell victims to the diseases, which the great cold produced. The rest, hearing of the death of their most influencial patron, by the vessel that brought them provisions in the spring, returned to England quite dispirited.
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The southern company was more fortunate. Its Arst expedition consisted of a vessel of one hundred and twenty tons, and two barques, which besides their crews, carried one hundred and fifty colonists. The command of it was given to Newport. It sailed from the Thames, on the nineteenth of December 1606, and did not enter the bay of Chesapeake, till the seventeenth of April following. It proceeded up the river, then called Powhatan, but to which New- port gave the name of James river, on the shores of which, was laid the foundation of the oldest town of English origin, now existing in the new world ; it was called James Town. St. Augustine in Florida, and Port Royal in Acadie, now Annapolis of Nova Sco- tia, are the only towns on the northern continent, which, in point of antiquity, rightly claim the prece- dence of it.
About fifteen months after, on the third of July 1608, Champlain laid, on the northern shore of the St. Lawrence, the foundation of the city of Quebec, at the distance of three hundred and sixty miles from the sea. The place was called by the Indians Que- becio, a word indicating a narrowed place; the width of the stream there diminishing from three to one mile, while about thirty miles below, it expands to twelve and fifteen.
Champlain was joined here, in the spring, by Pont- grave. Parties of the Hurons, Algonquins and Mon- tagnez, were preparing for an expedition against the Iroquois, and he was induced to accompany them. He imagined, that aided by these three nations, who were numerous, and had a strong in- terest to unite with him, he would be able succes- sively to subdue all others; but he was ignorant that the Iroquois, who kept in awe every Indian, within a circle of three hundred miles, were about to be sup-
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ported by an European nation, jealous of the pro- gress of his own in Canada.
This year Henry Hudson, an English seaman, in the service of the Dutch East India Company, sent to seek a ·northwest passage to China, discovered . the river which still bears his name, tho' sometimes called the North river, and now separates the states of New York and New Jersey.
Champlain, ascending the St. Lawrence, entered the river, to which the name of Sorel was afterwards given, in the company of his red allies. They went up this stream, as far as its rapids, near the place now called Chambly. Here, finding it impossible to proceed farther in their boats, they marched along the shore; the Indians bearing on their shoulders their bark canoes, which alone could now be of any use.
A few days after, towards sun set, they perceived - the camp of the Iroquois. The allied army, having taken some slight precaution, went to rest. Before dawn, Champlain placed two Frenchmen in the woods, that they might. as soon as light beamed, fall on the flank of the enemy. The Algonquins and - Hurons were divided into two bands. All were armed as the foe, with bows and arrows; but great reliance was placed in the fire-arms of the French, to whom it was recommended to take good aim at three Iroquois chiefs, whom high feathers, decora- ting their heads, rendered conspicuous.
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