USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. I > Part 6
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There is no doubt that the beautiful water-courses and velvet plains of the Upper Mississippi valley were visited and admired by French coureurs long before an attempt was made to pene- trate the swampy mazes and tangled forests of the lower Louis- iana country west of the great river. Canada, which had been settled many years before La Salle explored the Mississippi in 1682, sought every means to secure the fur trade of the north- western tribes. From conditions in which there were immense profits there sprang up the famous coureurs de bois, who refused to be governed by the grants of trade privileges of the king and began an irregular traffic, first on the shores of the great lakes, and a little later on the branches of the upper Mississippi. Doubtless, many of these venturesome men, whose names are wholly unknown to history, traversed the country and opened the trade which became so valuable and so sought after by the mer- chants of Montreal and Quebec. The Indians were eager for guns, powder, lead, hatchets, scalping knives and merchandise, and readily parted with ten-yes, a hundred-times their valua- tion in furs and robes to these venturesome traveling traders, for
* An Examination of the Charter and Proceedings of the Hudson Bay Company, &c. James Edward Fitzgerald, London, 1849.
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such the coureurs de bois were. It is well known that this class of bush rangers largely absorbed the northwest fur trade during the period of the earliest explorations and settlement. The king complained, the Company of the West complained, but what could be done when the coureurs were sustained by the merchants of Montreal? At first secrecy was enjoined, but when this course was found unnecessary and more or less burdensome, their deal- ings with the coureurs were openly transacted, despite the serv- ants of the king. When such men as Du Lhut ( Duluth) and Le Sueur openly placed themselves at the head of roving bands of coureurs and invaded the northwest, building palisaded forts here and there, forming their own treaties with the Indians, and obtaining the bulk of the immensely valuable fur trade, and when the merchants of Canada, knowing the power of suchi leaders and facing ruin if they opposed them, deliberately bid for their custom and openly sustained them, what could the King or the King's officers do but submit? 'Thus the Upper Mississippi valley came to be explored long before the slow-acting officers of the King had started west of the great lakes to find the Mechasipi or Mis- sissippi, called the "Great River," with the hope that it would lead them to the South Sea.
One of the earliest Frenchmen to visit the Mississippi basin was Jean Nicolet. In 1613 he passed from Montreal to Georgian Bay, thence into Lake Huron, thence to the straits of Mackinac, whence he discovered Lake Michigan, and having coasted along its western shore in a small canoe, he entered Green Bay and there found the Quinipegous ( Winnebagoes), by whom he was well received. He brought with him a robe of gold cloth of some fanciful Chinese pattern, cither for the purpose of impressing the Indians, or because he thought he might reach China, in which case he could appear in court costume without extra trouble or expense. Having robed himself in this garment, he astonished and awed his savage beholders. He told them that his object was to secure peace between the Indians and the French, and the savages gave him a royal feast, at which were served one hun- dred and twenty beavers. He went up the river Fox to the port- age, and then down the Wisconsin, until, according to his own story, he was within three days' sail of the sea, as he supposed from the statements of the Indians, but really of the great water, the Mississippi. He thus narrowly missed a fame that would have made his name far more prominent in the annals of Amer- ican discovery and exploration than the one he attained.
Nicholas Perrot accompanied the expedition under M. St.
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Lusson, who took possession of the western country at the Sault Ste. Marie in 1671. In time he attained great influence over the western tribes, particularly over the Foxes, with whom the French had more trouble than with any other tribe, not excepting even the Sioux. The Foxes called him Metamenens, or Little Maize. He accompanied St. Lusson in the capacity of interpreter, and was sent to Green Bay and to the river Wisconsin to secure dele- gates to the conference at the Sault and to take possession of the western country in the name of France. The Foxes and Mas- coutins refused to send delegates to the conference at the Sault. All the others in modern Wisconsin did. But the temper of the other two tribes was mollified by the courageous Perrot. On this visit he reached the headwaters of the Wisconsin river.
In the spring of 1685 Perrot was commissioned to go to Green Bay and was made commandant of the new countries he should discover. Taking twenty Frenchmen with him, representatives of Canadian merchants, he reached that point, and a few days . later arrived at the portage between the Fox and the Wisconsin rivers, and there encountered opposition from a small band of the Hurons ; but he continued on, reached the Mississippi, where he built a fort which was called St. Nicholas, sent a few Winneba- goes to open friendly communication with the Aiouez (Iowas) to the westward, and ascended the river for the purpose of find- ing another suitable location for a fort .. One was selected on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Pepin, and the stockade was speedily erected and named Fort St. Antoine. The following year the Foxes, Kickapoos, Mascoutins and others to the number of one hundred made an attempt to surprise and destroy the fort, and would have done so if it had not been for the sagacity and cour- age of Perrot. He had been away and only six men were left in charge of the fort. Returning as the attack was on the point of being made, he deceived them into believing that the fort con- tained forty men, all well armed ; but he would not have been able to accomplish this ruse had it not been for a friendly Mascoutin chief, who informed him of the intentions of the savages. A lit- tle later Perrot was ordered on important eastern service, and during his absence the fort was evacuated, owing to the hostility of the Indians, particularly the Sioux. In 1688 he returned, and with him at this time came forty Frenchmen, also representatives of Canadian merchants, all well armed and prepared to invade the territory of the dreaded Sioux. At Green Bay the wily and treacherous Foxes attempted to dissemble, but Perrot refused their feast until they had explained their recent hostile conduct.
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Having humbled them, he continued down the Wisconsin and up the Mississippi to Fort St. Antoine. Here he soon made his influ- ence felt, backed as he was by forty Frenchmen armed to the teeth. The Sioux became tamer and finally friendly. In the spring of 1689 they sent for him and escorted him to their vil- lages, where he was received with great enthusiasm, real or affected. He was carried around on a beaver robe, followed by many Indians, all smoking, and was wept over after the custom of the savages by the head chiefs. He was probably now in the region of St. Croix river, the principal land of the Sioux. At this time he visited the Mantantans on St. Peter's river,* and other bands of the Sioux nation on the upper branches of the Mis- sissippi. Descending the river to Fort St. Antoine or Anthony he took formal possession of the country in the name of the king of France, as shown by the following document :
"Nicholas Perrot, commanding for the King at the post of the Nadouesioux, commissioned by the Marquis D'Denonville, governor and lieutenant-general of all New France, to manage the interests of commerce among all the Indian tribes and peo- ples of the Bay des Puants, Nadouesioux, Mascoutins and other western nations of the Upper Mississippi, and to take possession in the King's name, of all the places where he has hitherto been and whither he will go. We this day, the 8th of May, 1689, do in presence of Father Marest of the Society of Jesus, missionary among the Nadouesioux ; of M. D'Borie-Guillot, commanding the French in the neighborhood of Ouiskonche ( Wisconsin) of the Mississippi ; Augustin I,egardeur, Sieur D'Caumont and MM. Le Sueur, Hebert, Lemire and Blein: Declare to all whom it may concern, that having come from the Bay des Puants and to the lake of the Ouiskonches and to the river Mississippi, we did transport ourselves to the country of the Nadouesioux on the bor- der of the river Saint Croix, and at the mouth of the river Saint Peter, on the bank of which were the Mantantans, and farther up into the interior to the northeast of the Mississippi as far as the Menchokatoux, with whom dwell the majority of the Songes- tokous and other Nadouesioux, who are to the northeast of the Mississippi to take possession for, and in the name of the King, of the countries and rivers inhabited by said tribes and of which they are proprietors. The present act, done in our presence, signed with our hand and subscribed by Father Marest, MM
* The river St. Peter was no doubt named in honor of Peter Le Sueur, who later built Fort I,'Huillier on one of its branches. He was present when Perrot thus took possession of the country in the name of France.
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D'Borie-Guillot and Caumont and the Sieurs Le Sueur, Hebert, Lemire and Blein. Done at the post, St. Anthony, the day and year aforesaid."
About the year 1676 an engineer nained Randin, who had assisted in laying out Fort Frontenac, was commissioned by the provincial government to visit the nations of the Ojibways and the Sioux living at the head of Lake Superior, to make them valuable presents for the purpose of gaining their good will. As nothing further is heard of this expedition, it is probable that it was abandoned .*
In September, 1678, Daniel Greysolon du Lhut (Du Luth) was granted the privilege of visiting the Sioux and Assiniboin nations for purposes of trade and discovery. With three French com- panions he went to Lake Huron, where he wintered, and early in April of the following year reached Sault Ste. Marie. Early in July he arrived at the country of the Issatis, a branch of the Sioux living at this time on Mille Lacs in the modern State of. Minnesota, and formally took possession of the country for France. He had no doubt gone up the St. Louis river, thence crossed over to the Mississippi and descended to Sandy lake, then having on its shores the principal villages of this branch of the Sioux. He seems to have remained here a considerable length of time, and had the courage to make a long journey to the coun- try of the Sissetons, another branch of the Sioux living about two hundred and fifty miles to the westward. His companions were MIM. Lamonde, La Taupine and Dupuy. The following winter he lived at a rude post on the northern border of Minnesota, trading for all the beaver skins the Indians had, and collecting a large quantity. He and his companions were coureurs de bois, and did not scruple to take all the beaver skins offered. No doubt the authorities at Montreal divided the profits with him as a con- sideration for mutual benefits. In June, 1680, with four French companions and an Indian, he went again to the Sioux (Issatis) country, and while there learned of the presence of two whitemen farther south on another branch of the Mississippi. Thinking they might be Englishmen, bent on invading the territory which he had taken possession of in the name of France, he went down to investigate, and met Father Hennepin and his companion, as elsewhere narrated. Through the instrumentality of Du Luth they were set at liberty, and the Indians were severely rebuked for having treated them so shamefully.
* New York Colonial Documents, Vol. IX. I-5
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Soon after this date Du Luth returned to Montreal, and later went to France. Upon his return in 1683, he was again licensed to trade with the western Indians and was authorized to hold them in subjection. About the time of his arrival at Keweenaw point of Lake Superior, two French traders there were murdered and plundered by the Indians. He immediately apprehended the murderers, gave them a fair trial and shot them in the presence of four hundred of their friends. By this date there were many French traders with headquarters at Keweenaw point-probably as many as one hundred. In performing this act of retaliation, Du Luth had back of him forty-two of these resolute men.
As early as 1659 Medard Chouard des Groseilliers and Peter Esprit de Radisson, two French runaways, who had assisted the English on Hudson Bay as against the French, were located at St. Esprit Point, or Chequamegon, on Lake Superior, about mid- way between the modern cities of Ashland and Washburn, Wis- consin. On that date they were engaged in trading with the Indians ; and for the protection of their goods against the weather and the Indians, had erected a log fort. They had on hand guns, ammunition, hatchets, kettles, bells, beads, tobacco, etc., to be traded for the furs of the redmen. About this time, or a little later, it is known that they went as far to the northwest as the Mille Lac in Minnesota and Lake Assiniboine in Manitoba, and in doing so very probably passed across the divide to the Mississippi a short distance below the town of La Prairie, Minnesota. They were not alone, but no doubt had a number of French Canadians with them for the purpose of visiting the Indian tribes and trad- ing for their furs. There is some evidence to show that they went to that point in about 1655; and it is claimed by some writers that they went there by the way of the Wisconsin and the Mis- sissippi rivers, but this is not known to be a fact. If it were true, their discovery of the Mississippi would ante-date that of Joliet and Marquette by fifteen to eighteen years. Father René
Menard had come to this section about the same time as a mis- sionary among the Tinnontates, the Tobacco band of the Hurons, who had fled west to Lake Superior before the hostile Iroquois. It is claimed that the Tinnontates fled to Green Bay, thence across to the Mississippi via the Wisconsin, thence up the former and either the Chippewa or the St. Croix to Lake Superior, and that Father Menard accompanied them. If so, he may have been the discoverer of the upper Mississippi. But it is not known to be true. It is known, however, that Radisson and Groseilliers met the Tinnontates among the marshes of the upper Chippewa
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branches. Here and on Lake Superior this tribe met the Otta- was and formed an alliance with them against the Sioux. They seem to have located finally on Black river, Wisconsin, where Father Menard served them until his disappearance in about 1660-1. His hassock and breviary found later among the Sioux proved what had become of him. In 1660 Radisson and Groseil- liers returned to Canada with sixty canoes loaded with valuable furs and were accompanied and assisted by several hundred Indians. They had heard of the great river to the westward.
Every attempt made by the French to explore the northwest, was governed by the particular object of limiting the advances of the English in that direction. Du Luth, although one of the most prominent and indefatigable of the coureurs de bois, took upon himself nevertheless the task of preventing the English from reaching the upper branches of the Mississippi or the south- ern and western borders of Lake Superior. The dauntless Per- rot assumed the same responsibility. In fact the licenses of the coureurs were granted at Montreal upon the distinct proviso that the English must be forestalled, as one of the primary objects of the westward movements of the French traders. But notwithstand- ing this injunction which was faithfully observed, and notwith- standing the covert approval of the illicit trade of the coureurs at Montreal and the friendship and encouragement of the merchants there, the former found it decidedly to their advantage to take their furs to the English settlements along the Atlantic coast. By doing so they often received double the price for their furs. It was reported that during the summer of 1679, the trader La Taupine obtained from the Ottawas in two days' trading about nine hundred beaver skins. Others were equally lucky, and the trade went to the English. In 1681 amnesty was granted to the coureurs, and after that date they were duly licensed, but their operations would have continued the same, license or no license. Unquestionably, the presence of Du Luth on the upper branches of the Mississippi and along the western border of Lake Superior, prevented the English of Hudson Bay from invading that rich fur country and fastened the claim of France to that soil.
Father Marquette reached La Pointe de Esprit in September, 1669. The French traders had been there for more than ten years. He writes, "When the Illinois (Indians from the west side of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Des Moines river) come to La Pointe, they cross a great river, which is nearly a league in width, flows from north to south and to such a distance that the Illinois, who do not know what a canoe is, have not yet
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heard any mention of its mouth. It is hard to believe that that great river discharges its waters into Virginia, and we rather think it has its mouth in California. If the savages who promise to make me a canoe do not break their word to me, we shall explore this river as far as we can, with a Frenchman and this young man (an Illinois .Indian), who was given me (to be his slave) and who knows some of those languages (of the tribes along the Mississippi), and has a facility for learning the others. We shall visit the natives dwelling there, in order to open the passage to such of our Fathers as have been awaiting this good fortune for so long a time. This discovery will give us full knowledge either of the South sea or the Western sea." Father Marquette would have gone to the Mississippi at this time had it not been for the threats of the Sioux. Through his Indian slave and otherwise he heard much of the Illinois across the Mississippi and earnestly desired to open that field to the missionary service. At this time the Illinois had eight large villages west of the Mis- sissippi near the mouth of the Des Moines, and invited visits from the missionaries. It was an opportunity, or "good fortune" as he termed it, which greatly impressed the good Father Mar- quette. Where so many nations received the Fathers indifferently or with death, it was an important epoch to be invited to visit them. He therefore waited impatiently to make the journey to the Illinois on the Mississippi.
Father Allouez wrote in 1669 of the Wisconsin river that "it leads to the great river called Messisipi * which is only six days' sail from here." Father Dablon wrote in 1670 that the Indians reported the great river to flow over three hundred leagues to the south and that it was more than a league wide. It was in 1669 that La Salle went down the Ohio river to the falls at Louisville. The same year two French traders at La Pointe de Esprit, while out on the lake fishing, were surprised by a sudden and violent storm and drowned. West of La Pointe about fifty or sixty leagues were the fierce and unrelenting Sioux, standing as a bar- rier against the westward advancement of the eastern Indians or the Frenchmen. But by going in considerable numbers and well armed, the latter steadily made inroads in their domain. Good results were anticipated from these visits. Father Claude
* Father André, while on Green Bay and Fox river in 1672, learned that Missip- issi was the Neptune, or evil Manitou, of the Indians then there-Menomoneeg, Pottawattomies and others. At their village of Chouskouebika (probably the modern Pensaukee), the Indians gave feasts and sacrifices to gain the favor of this deity. As the name Missipissi is much like Mississippi, and as it significd the deity of the water or great water, may not this have been the origin of the latter which signifies great water ?
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Allouez wrote in 1672, "Thus our holy faith is more and more gaining a foothold among these peoples, and we have good hope that in a short time we shall carry it as far as the famous river named Missisipi and perhaps even to the South Sea."
The zeal of the missionaries for the conversion of the Indians- for the salvation of their souls-led to their visits to the savage villages. As early as 1559 the Dominicans traversed the coun- try from Pensacola to the Mississippi-may have even crossed that river. They felt amply repaid for all their dangers and hard- ships when they were permitted to baptize dying infants or adults, believing, as they did, that the souls of such were sent thereby to heaven. It was not until 1658 that the Jesuits of Can- ada determined to visit the country of the Foxes, Illinois, and the tribes on the Mississippi. The missons at Sault Ste. Marie, Green Bay and Mackinac were the first in the West. René Menard went to Keweenaw on Lake Superior in 1660, and Claude Alloucz followed him in 1665, going to Chequamegon. He was the first missionary to meet the Sioux and to learn of the existence of the Mississippi. A few years later Marquette was prevented from visiting the Sioux by their hostility, but he likewise learned of the Mississippi and determined to visit the tribes thereon at the first opportunity, for the purpose of carrying the light of the gospel to those heathen. Then came the Kaskaskia mission founded by Marquette and continued by Allouez and Gravier. The Marests, Mermet, Pinet and Bennetau, soon came to the Illinois. With Iberville, came Jesuits to the mouth of the Mis- sissippi, but a mission was not established there until later. In 1698 St. Come and Davion were sent to Louisiana by the Catholic Seminary at Quebec. Poisson was murdered at Natchez, Sonel at Yazoo, Senat burnt at the stake, and Doutreleau wounded at a later date. Aubert was killed while with D'Verendrye in the north- west. Guignas had failed to found a mission among the Sioux. It remained for men like Du Luth to compel the Sioux to treat the missionaries as befitted their efforts and to permit the estab- lishment of missions among them. At no time was the policy of France toward her missionaries as favorable and encouraging as . that of Spain toward hers. The latter in almost every instance backed the missions with detachments of soldiers, with colonists, seeds, stock, implements, etc. The former permitted the missions to take care of themselves. If they were destroyed by the Indians, the French government did little or nothing to repair them. The Most Christian King did not prove himself such in the wilds of America. Hence the well-meaning Fathers were
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derided, starved, burnt and butchered, and yet they immensely assisted in advancing the colonial interests of their country.
Before the nature of the Indians was fully known to Europe- ans, the policy of Louis XIV was to civilize them, and Frontenac was told to amalgamate them with the whites. His first efforts were aimed at this object ; but his course was not approved by the Jesuits, who were later accused of having at heart a much greater interest in their property than in the usefulness of their missions. In fact, this was one of the charges against them when they were expelled from the colony in 1764. But whatever may be said against them, they cannot be charged with lack of zeal, nor of willingness to face hardships and danger. It is true, however, that their efforts to convert the Indians, likewise the efforts to civilize them, were wholly wasted. The nature of the Indian was hostile to both these prerogatives of the white race.
It was destined that Louis Joliet and Father James Marquette should lay the foundation of French discoveries and claims on the Mississippi river. The former was born in Canada, and educated at the Jesuit college at Quebec, and was afterward in close sym- pathy with the Jesuit missionary work, though himself engaged in the fur trade. His experience in the western wilderness, familiarity with the Indian tongues, skill in overcoming the hos- tility of the natves, and hardihood and invincible courage, caused him to be selected by the Provincial Government for the discovery " of a route to the South Sea. This expedition was incited by M. Talon, Intendant of Canada, to whom the distinguished credit should be given. He selected Louis Joliet as the fittest man then available in the Province, to conduct the expedition ; and further decided that one of the Jesuit priests should accompany him in the capacity of companion and assistant.
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