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 8
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The object of the expedition was accomplished in part only- the South sea had not been discovered; neither had the golden
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land of Quivira, if that had been one of the objects ; but the upper Mississippi had been found, explored from the mouth of the Wis- consin to about the mouth of the Arkansas; its identity with the Rio del Espiritu Santo of the Spaniards established; and the fact that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico instead of the Vermillion sea definitely settled. It was further learned that the Missouri extended far westward, and that via it a way might yet be found to reach the South sea. The great Joliet and his no less great assistant and companion, Marquette, secured at once among Frenchmen the credit to which they were entitled for the results of their hazardous expedition. Joliet was obliged to make his report from memory, but this was sufficient to satisfy the Provin- cial Government. He had merely carried the route to the South sea one step nearer its destination. Unknown to him, he had also invaded the modern Louisiana Purchase at several points, and liad made one of the first maps of its eastern border, of the river course, and of the Indian villages in that section of the province.
As an additional proof that the paramount object of this expe- dition was the discovery of the South sea and not that of the Mississippi, it may be noted that no action was taken by the Pro- vincial Government to establish settlements in the region thus explored under Joliet-to take advantage of the discovery, which added to France a splendid new empire, which she was not slow to estimate at its true value a few years later. For ten years this land, flowing with milk and honey, went begging for occupancy by the nations of Europe. Had the English at that time estab- lished a few settlements on the upper Mississippi, the war of 1755-62 might have been avoided, and European history vastly changed. Had Spain, during this period, sent colonies to the upper and lower Mississippi, she would have secured what she struggled so hard to obtain in subsequent years-the exclusive right to navigate that river, and the establishment of the Gulf of Mexico as a mare clausem, or closed sea. However, no matter which nation had profited by this expedition of Louis Joliet, the end would have been the same-the transfer of the river and the country to the United States in spite of all Europe.
It appears strange at first glance to observe that France did not take immediate advantage of this discovery of the Upper Missis- sippi ; but it does not seem so strange when the object of the French is taken into consideration. They were not looking for a country to colonize, nor for the ultimate object of finding the Mississippi ; but were in search of a water route to the South sea I-6
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(Pacific ocean). When it was learned that the Mississippi did not lead to the South sea, except perhaps remotely through the Missouri, the object of France was accomplished. This view seems to afford the only reasonable conclusion as to why France did not follow up the discovery with colonies along the Missis- sippi. Father Marquette, on the other hand, desired to reach the "great river" in order to establish missions among the Indians there-particularly among the Illinois. His object was wholly realized. But the time had not come for France to feel the imperative necessity, in order to forestall Spain and Great Brit- ain, of establishing permanent colonies on the banks of the Missis- sippi. She therefore waited; and in the meantime other important discoveries were made. The following patent explains itself :
"LOUIS, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE: TO OUR DEAR AND WELL-BELOVED ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE, GREETING :
"We have received with favor the very humble petition, which has been presented to us in your name, to permit you to endeavor to discover the western part of New France; and we have con- sented to this proposal the more willingly, because there is noth- ing we have more at heart than the discovery of this country, through which it is probable a road may be found to penetrate to Mexico; and because your diligence in clearing lands which we granted to you by the decree of our council of the 13th of May, 1675, and by Letters Patent of the same date, to form habitations upon the said lands, and to put Fort Frontenac in a good state of defense, the seignicry and government whereof we likewise granted to you, affords us every reason to hope that you will suc- ceed to our satisfaction and to the advantage of our subjects of the said country.
"For these reasons, and others thereunto moving us, we have permitted and do hereby permit you by these presents, signed by our hand, to endeavor to discover the western part of New France, and for the execution of this enterprise to construct forts wher- ever you shall deem it necessary; which it is our will that you shall hold on the same terms and conditions as Fort Frontenac, agreeably and conformably to our said Letters Patent on the 13th of March, 1675, which we have confirmed as far as is needful, and hereby confirm by these presents. And it is our pleasure that they be executed according to their form and tenor.
"To accomplish this and everything above mentioned we give you full powers; on condition, however, that you shall finish this
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enterprise within five years, in default of which these presents shall be void and of no effect; that you carry on no trade what- ever with the savages called Outaouacs and others who bring their beaver skins and other peltries to Montreal; and that the whole shall be done at your expense and that of your company, to which we have granted the privilege of the trade in buffalo skins. And we command the Sieur de Frontenac, our Governor and Lieutenant-General, and the Sieur Duchesne, Intendant, and the other officers who compose the supreme council of the said country, to affix their signatures to these presents ; for such is our pleasure. Given at St. Germain en Laye, this 12th day of May, 1678, and of our reign the thirty-fifth.
"(Signed) LOUIS."
Inasmuch as the above "letters patent" were the basis and authority for the proceedings of M. de la Salle in his attempt to explore the western country for his king, it may be well to regard it with more than a passing glance. The king acknowledged that he received with favor "the very humble petition" of M. de la Salle to explore for the glory and benefit of his sovereign "the western part of New France" upon the conditions that he should finish the enterprise within five years, that he should carry on no trade with the Indian tribes which brought their beaver and other skins to Montreal, and that the whole expense should be borne by M. de la Salle and his company, their only recompense being "the privilege of the trade in buffalo skins." If La Salle expected any other remuneration for this extraordinary service, he seems to have been left free to get such as he could from the forts he should establish and the savage tribes through which he should pass. After he had already done such good service for his coun- try, which was duly acknowledged by his sovereign, it seems passing strange that the whole expense of this expedition of dis- covery, from which France was sure to gain such immense benefit in knowledge and territory, should have been coolly placed on the shoulders of this heroic man. But if the King of France was not actuated by noble motives, his "humble" subject, the Sieur de la Salle, most certainly was. He did not hesitate to risk all his prop- erty and his life on the explorations which he knew meant so much to the colonial importance and graudeur of France. He was pre-eminently, if not the leader, one of the leaders of the newly developed movement to place the whole of the Mississippi valley under the control and sovereignty of France before any other nation could forestall the attempt. The king's patent shows
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nothing of all this. The king seems to have had no other or higher motive than to permit M. de la Salle to explore the western part of New France at his own risk and expense. The vast ques- tion that was destined soon to shake the world in war-the right- ful possession of the Mississippi valley through the sovereignty of that river-had yet found no serious consideration at the Court that was seeking by force of arms to dismember all Europe in order that it might bind the fragments to its emaciated self. The mighty Louis, therefore, in response to the "humble" petition of his faithful subject, M. de la Salle, condescended to permit him under severe restrictions to go among the Western savages, where death was almost certain to be encountered, and make important and valuable discoveries for the enlightenment and benefit of France. He may have known the man to whom he committed this privi- lege. If so, he knew him to be brave, intelligent, unconquerable by hardships, loyal to his sovereign, patriotic in every beat of his great heart and faithful unto death.
La Salle hoped to secure recompense from the seignory of the forts which he should erect and from certain other privileges; but this was merely a hope, from which nothing was realized. It was necessary for him to abandon all his own pursuits, to suffer serious losses at the outset, to fight against severe sickness and other discouraging misfortunes, to put everything he possessed into the venture, and to borrow extensively from his friends, for people instinctively trusted this uncommon man. He was expected to establish forts in the wilderness, around which should grow up prosperous colonies, yielding him a pleasing revenue. Ilis past was excellent. He had written his name deep in the tomes of the perpetual woods, by the deadly swamp and the roar- ing river, along the perilous trails where cannibals skulked and prowling wolves waited their repast. His views were correct. The Mississippi flowed into the Gulf; forts established along its course cemented the ownership of France; the marvelous fertility of the great valley was revealed ; the establishment of a splendid empire for France in the New World kindled the heart. All this he saw, and it passed with his blood. He fought down ill report ; overcame all opposition to his scheme of adding to the crown of France a jewel of dazzling radiance; and willingly placed in the balance the fortunes of himself and his friends and the glorious reputation he had carned with his vital breath on other deadly journeys among the savages.
It would seem that Colbert, the French minister, had in view in thus sending out M. de la Salle, the establishment of forts
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along the Mississippi for the purpose of hampering the move- ments of the Spaniards in their mining operations farther to the west. It became known to the French that Spain was receiving immense amounts of gold and silver from her American posses- sions, and the hearts of the great Louis XIV and Colbert became exceedingly envious. It was a period in the history of human events when the prosperity of one nation was succeeded by the jealous hostility of every other. If one made a lucky find or stroke, others demanded a division, and war followed a refusal, all for the glory of the King and the Holy Church. Thus it was natural and politic that France should want a division of the spoils wrested from the American savages. Incidentally, they may have thought that the possession of the Mississippi valley might be advantageous to French finances and pride. La Salle was just the man to suit their wishes, because he was wholly unselfish, devoted to his country, and an earnest adherent of the Catholic Church. His influence upon the Indians was sure to be beneficial; his power to cement men and hold them to broad ideas of improvement, was all important where organization was every- thing. He was young, his birth having occurred at Rouen, in Normandy, France, November 22, 1643; he was therefore fuller of vigor and less liable to become dogmatic than an older person would have been. After having performed a number of impor- tant services among the savages of America, all with uncommon success, he was now, without suitable compensation, to be sacri- ficed in the terrible Mississippi country.
In preparing for his expedition La Salle requested that Father Louis Hennepin, the Recollet friar, might accompany him in the capacity of chaplain and misisonary. As it turned out, Hennepin became the chief chronicler of the expedition, but it is not always possible to tell when he is recording history and when sailing on the seas of fancy. Luckily for La Salle, he had a powerful assistant in the redoubtable Henry de Tonty, who could always be depended upon in any emergency, but about whom unfortu- nately very little is positively known. Though an Italian, he had lost his right hand in battling for the king of France, but this loss was partly remedied or supplied by an iron or a copper one. The expedition journeyed westward by stages, first to Niagara, in the vicinity of which their boat was built, the first of consider- able size to navigate the upper lakes. It was begun January 22, 1679, and continued under the immediate supervision of Sieur de Tonty. It was necessary to guard it constantly to prevent its being burned by the Senecas. It was finished and launched above
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the Falls by the middle of July and towed up the river nearly to Lake Erie, to be rigged before being set adrift on the treacherous waters of the inland lakes. It was a sail-rigged and sea-going schooner, armed with five small cannon and three large muskets. At the bow was rudely carved the armorial bearings of the Count de Frontenac, a griffin, which gave name to the ship. It was of about sixty tons burden, and cost according to Father Hennepin about $12,000, but this estimate was made at the time it was loaded with furs, worth say $2,000.
At length the start was made August 7, 1679, amid the dis- charge of the cannon and the chanting of the Te Deum. They ascended through Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, where they weathered a terrible gale, passed through the straits of Michil- limackinac, stopping at the chapel at St. Ignace, continued the voyage about the 2d of September, and in due time arrived at Green Bay, on the western shore of Lake Michigan. It was here that La Salle received large quantities of furs, to be sent back to Montreal on the Griffin for his private account. It does not appear to have been a violation of his patent, provided he did not deal in beaver skins. But the vessel after setting forth on her return was never again heard from. Whether she foundered in a gale, was burned by the Indians at some stopping place, or was scuttled by the sailors, after they had first sold the furs for their own gain, will never be known. It has been stated that La Salle himself long entertained the latter notion. He had previously lost so often and so heavily from similar dishonest practices, that this view is not to be wondered at, nor is it probably wrong.
IIe had committed the. Griffin to a pilot and five sailors, which act reduced his forces to fourteen men. On the 19th of Septem- ber, he proceeded in four canoes along the western shore of Lake Michigan, rounding the southern end and finally landing at the mouthi of tlie St. Joseph river, Michigan. It was now about the first of November. Here they awaited the arrival of Sieur de Tonty with twenty-four men, and in the meantime built a wooden fort eighty feet long and forty feet wide near the mouth of the river, and named the same Fort Miami, after the tribe of Indians in the neighborhood. On December 3, the Tonty party having arrived, the forces now aggregating about thirty-three persons, ascended the St. Joseph river or its branches to the vicinity of South Bend, Ind., thence by portage passed across to the Kankakee, and thence down the same to the Illinois river, which they slowly descended in their boats. During much of this jour- ney, snow mantled the earth, and the cold was severe. Near
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Starved Rock they found the principal village of the Illinois Indians, consisting of four hundred and sixty lodges or wigwams. Here La Salle arrived December 25. After securing a quantity of maize from the Indian stores, they continued their journey, the village being deserted. The Indians were away on their annual hunt. In two days they arrived at Lake Peoria or Lac limiteoui. They were well received by the village, comprising about eighty lodges, and treated to a feast of buffalo meat. At this point some of his men deserted him. Messengers from the Iroquois pre- judiced the Peorias against him. He was poisoned by some of his own men, but an antidote saved him.
Under these and other almost insuperable obstacles, La Salle was at last forced to the conclusion to proceed no farther until the return of spring. The remainder of his men were set to work to build a fort on a hill in what is now the suburb of Peoria. By about the first of March, 1680, it was so near finished that it was occupied by the whites and named Crevecoeur, or Broken Heart, after a fortress of that name in the Netherlands. During this time, also, he put his best mechanics to work on a brigantine to be used in navigating the Illinois and the Mississippi rivers the ensuing year. Finally, leaving the faithful Tonty in charge of the forces and fort, I,a Salle returned to Canada to procure appli- ances that were absolutely needed, leaving instructions with Michael Accault to proceed to the Mississippi as soon as the ice should break up and explore the upper course of that river, La Salle promising to send men down the Wisconsin as soon as pos- sible to meet him and assist him in making the exploration. Thus, after the most herculean labors, the expedition was brought to a temporary standstill. Although the Griffin had likely been sent to the bottom ; her valuable cargo of furs had probably been sold and the proceeds confiscated by his men ; his best forces had. deserted him; all had been saved from starvation only by the Indians ; some of his men had tried to murder him with poison, and he was ruined financially and his friends ruined with him, this remarkable man did not for an instant falter in the line of duty marked out for him by his king, but resolutely set forth anew to build and equip a brigantine that should yet carry him to suc- cess on the waves of the surging Mississippi. Struck by the severest adversity, he showed like flint the fire that was in his adamantine heart. His fort should have been named Coeur de Icon.
He had left with Tonty at Fort Crevecoeur fifteen men, and had taken with himself four and in addition his Mohegan hunter.
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They passed up the Illinois river, thence across the portage to Lake Michigan, thence around to Fort Miami on the St. Joseph river, thence across Michigan to Detroit, thence down the lakes, and finally arrived at Fort Frontenac May 6, 1680. Here La Salle found that his affairs had gone from bad to worse, and his creditors were preparing to seize the residue of his estate. While here he learned, also, that the deserters from Fort Crevecœur had captured and destroyed Fort Miami. With a party of men, he waylaid these rascals on their return to Canada, killed two and imprisoned the others at Frontenac. Nothing was heard from the Griffin ; it had disappeared forever. A vessel for Ins relief from France was wrecked in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and much of the cargo was lost. As a whole, matters could scarcely be worse, and would have taken the heart out of any other person than this iron man.
On the Ioth of August, with a new outfit and a company of twenty-five new men, and assisted by a lieutenant named La For- est, he started for Fort Crevecoeur and the relief of Tonty. Upon his arrival there he found the fort dismantled, the camp deserted, although his unfinished brigantine was apparently uninjured. He continued on down the Illinois to its mouth, and saw for the first time the mighty stream to which his name was destined to be inseparably linked through all history. Not finding Tonty nor any trace of him, he resolved to turn back, despite the counsel of his associates to go on down the Mississippi. But he well knew that he would need all his forces, especially the invincible and faithful Tonty, and so resolved to find him before continuing the journey. Accordingly, he passed back to Fort Miami on Lake Michigan, arriving in January, 1681.
In the meantime, Tonty had been deserted by all his men but five, and the deserters had dismantled Fort Crevecoeur, and gone back to Canada. Under the direction left by his chief, he went up the Illinois and fortified Starved Rock, and afterward repaired partially the dismantled Fort Crevecoeur. The five men who remained with him were Francois de Boisrondet, Etienne Renault, Fathers Ribourde and Membre and L'Esperance, the servant of La Salle. Here they would have been found by La Salle on his return, had they not been dispersed by the Iroquois, who came to attack the Illinois. The extraordinary dealings of Tonty with the Iroquois on this occasion-his tact, courage, persistence and generalship-have scarcely ever been surpassed in the history of Indian negotiation. Ile saved the Illinois tribe from destruction, though they were dispersed and he was finally compelled to start
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back for Canada. He was several times wounded and a dozen times within an inch of death. On this journey Father Ribourde was murdered by a small band of Kickapoos. After extraordi- nary hardships, the remainder of the little party reached Green Bay, and were saved from starvation in mid-winter by the friendly Pottawattomies. In the spring they continued on to Mackinac to await the return of La Salle. The latter had made no mistake in selecting the heroic Tonty for his lieutenant.
While La Salle was away from Fort Crevecoeur, Michael Accault as instructed took two men and a canoe, rowed down the Illinois to the Mississippi, and thence up that stream on a voyage of discovery. La Salle had told Father Louis Hen- nepin that he should expect him to accompany the expedition. He gave Accault a calumet of peace and one man to row the canoe and assist him, and commodities to the value of about $200, to be used in making presents to the savages, whom they were sure to encounter. Ten knives, twelve shoemaker's awls, two pounds of colored glass beads, a parcel of needles, were included in the outfit. Thus provided Accault and his two companions set out down the Illinois on the 29th of February, 1680. Hennepin says, "When we had gone fifty leagues down the river, we came to the place where it falls into the Mississippi. The
ice which came down stopt us here till the 12th of March." Hennepin claims that the expedition went south to the sea, but it could not possibly have done so in the time he mentions. His story is so irregular, and so manifestly incorrect, that no absolute dependence can be placed in his narrative. It seems, however, that they went up the Mississippi, as they had been told to do, or were taken up, as far as the Falls of St. Anthony, which Henne- pin really named; and they were thus apparently the first white men to explore the Mississippi above the mouth of the Wiscon- sin. They were captured a short distance above the mouth of. the Illinois by a large war party of savages (Sioux) on their way down the river and came near being killed through the ardor of the young warriors. "Having thus traveled nineteen days in our canoe by water, we came within six leagues of the fall of St. Anthony, where they held an assembly to consult what they should do with us." ( Upon reaching Lake Pepin, Hennepin named it Lake of Tears from the wailing of some of the Indians.) At last they separated and gave us to three of their chiefs, instead of three of their son's which had been killed in the war; then they seized our canoe (when near St. Paul) and took away all our equippage; our canoe they pulled to pieces ; their own they hid
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among the alders, so that though we might have gone conven- iently enough quite up to their country by water, yet we were obliged by their conduct to travel no less than sixty leagues afoot."
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