USA > Michigan > Marquette County > Beard's directory and history of Marquette County with sketches of the early history of Lake Superior, its mines, furnaces, etc., etc > Part 9
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He spent much time in devotion, beginning with the exer- cises of St. Ignatius, saying mass daily, confessing his compan- ions twice a week, and exhorting them, as his strength allowed. Though earnestly longing to commence his mission amongst his beloved Illinois, yet he was cheerfully resigned to the will of God.
After a season of special prayer, that he might so far recover as to take possession of the land of the Illinois, in the name of Christ, his strength increased, and on the 29th of March, he left his solitary and desolate wintering, and in ten days he reached his destination.
The Illinois, to the number of six hundred fires, were await- ing his arrival. They received him with unbounded joy, as an angel from heaven, come to teach them the prayer. After much private teaching from cabin to cabin, and exhortation to the principal chiefs, he gathered them in grand concourse, and there, on a lovely April day, upon a beautiful open plain, with thou- sands of the tawny sons and daughters of the prairie hanging upon his lips, the dying man preached Christ, and him crucified.
His persuasive words were received with universal approba-
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tion, while his fast-failing strength warned him that his own days were numbered.
He desired to reach his former mission of St. Ignatius, at Mackinaw, before his departure, that he might die with his re- ligious brethren, and leave his bones among his beloved Hurons. He promised the Illinois that some other teacher of the prayer should take his place and continue the mission, and bade them a loving and regretful farewell.
They escorted him, with great barbaric pomp to the lake, contending with one another for the honor of carrying his little baggage.
For many days, accompanied only by his two voyageurs, he coasted in his frail canoe along the eastern shore of Lake Mich- igan, his strength rapidly failing and his precious life ebbing away. He became entirely helpless, and was lifted like a child into and from the canoe. His vision also failed, but his gentle- ness, his cheerful joy in the prospect before him, and his calm trust in God never faltered.
Daily he recited his breviary. He encouraged his despond- ing companions, and exhorted them to put confidence in the God of their salvation, who would not forsake them.
They read to him, at his request, a meditation on death, which he had long before prepared for this eventful hour. Often did he, with hopeful voice exclaim, " I believe that my Reedemer liveth." On the evening before his death, with a face radiant with joy, he told his companions that on the morrow he should die. Calmly and sweetly, as if talking of the death of another, he gave directions as to the disposition of his body.
On the following day as he approached the mouth of a river, he pointed out the place for his burial, upon an eminence on its bank. The weather was propitious, and the voyageurs passed on. But a wind arose, and they were driven back to the rivers' mouth, which they entered. He was carried on shore; a fire was kindled ; a slight shelter of bark raised, and he was laid upon the sand.
Here he gave his last instructions ; thanked his followers for their faithful and long service ; administered to them the rites
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of their religion ; sent by them his last kind message to his religious brethren, and bade them go and take their rest, until his final hour should come. After two or three hours, and as he was about to enter his agony, he called them, gave them a last embrace, asked for the holy water, handed one of them his crucifix from his neck, asking him to hold it before him, and with his eyes fixed sweetly upon it, pronounced his profession of faith, and thanked God that he had granted him the grace to die a missionary of the cross, in a foreign land alone.
As his spirit was about to pass, one of his companions cried aloud " Jesus Marie !" Aroused by the sound, he repeated the words, and as if some glorious object appeared to him, he fixed his dying gaze beyond, and above the crucifix, and with a coun- tenance all beaming with holy rapture, his soul departed without a struggle, as gently as if he had fallen asleep.
Thus, on the 18th of May, 1675, at the age of 38, and after nine years of faithful service in the missionary field, father Mar- quette departed, and like his great model, the apostle to the Indies, he died upon a desolate beach, and like him, his dying hour was illuminated by a radiance from a brighter world.
The little stream, upon whose banks he breathed his last, still bears his honored name. And there will ever be connected with that spot tender remembrances and hallowed associations. In 1821, father Richard, the well beloved priest at Detroit, paid to it a loving pilgrimage, and erected thereon a wooden cross, with an inscription traced in rude characters with a pen knife, in its crude simplicity a fit tribute from a fit man.
But no enduring marble is required to preserve in fresh fra- grance the memory of his virtues. His is one of those few, those immortal names, " that were not born to die."
But his mortal remains do not repose in their original rest- ing place. Two years after his death, the Indians belonging to his mission of St. Ignatius, returning from their winter hunting- grounds, stopped at his grave, sought his remains, and according to an Indian custom, cleaned his bones, placed them reveren- tially in a box of birchen bark, and then in a mournful proces- sion, the thirty canoes moved on towards Mackinaw.
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Before reaching the mission, they were met by fathers Pierson and Nouvelle, and all the Indians at the Mission, who came out to pay a fond tribute to their best beloved missionary.
Then the solemn De Profundis was intoned, and then, with all appropriate rites the precious remains were deposited in the church, and on the following day, in a vault beneath the church.
The mission was subsequently removed to Old Mackinaw, and the rude church has long since disappeared, and the precise spot where the remains of father Marquette now lie, mingled with the dust, is not known.
AT THE SAULT.
When Marquette left the Sault, in 1669, the wise and evan- gelic Dablon, then principal of all the Ottawa inissions,-as the missions of the upper lakes were named,-was in charge of the mission at that point.
He was succeeded by father Drouillets, who, full of sanctity and zeal, labored there with most wonderful success, for nine years.
Large numbers were baptized, and in general council, the Indians adopted the God of prayer as their God.
Here, in June, 1671, took place a most impressive ceremony.
In October, 1770, M. Talon, Intendant of New France, com- missioned Sieur de St. Lusson, commissioner to search for copper mines, and take possession of the country through which he should pass, in the name of the King of France. M. Perrot, an interpreter well known to the Indians, and of great influence among them, in the Spring of 1671, was directed to gather to- gether the Indian nations of these northern lakes, at the Sault, and a grand council was held on the 14th of June, at which fourteen of these nations were largely represented. St. Lusson caused a cross to be prepared end erected, and near it a cedar pole to which was affixed the arms of France, and then " In the name of the most high, most mighty, and most redoubtable monarch, Louis 14th, of the christian name, King of France and Navarre," he took possession of the whole lake region, and the countries, rivers contiguous and adjacent thereto, whether discovered, or to be discovered, bounded by the Northern and Western Seas, and
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by the South Sea, declaring that these regions were dependant upon his majesty, and subject to his laws and customs. There were present on this occasion fathers Dablon, Drouillets, Allouez and Andre, together with various officers, soldiers and citizens. Allouez made a famous speech in praise of the greatness of the French King. The ceremony was one calculated to deeply im- press the savage mind.
RESULTS OF JESUIT MISSIONS.
It would be a grateful task to dwell upon the labors and character of those Jesuits who were the compeers of Marquette and Dablou.
But with these men passed away the " golden age" of the Jesuits in the Northwest. They were among the best fruits of that wonderful system which for a century and a half made the order of Jesus one of the greatest powers of the world.
They were placed in circumstances that developed in an ex- traordinary degree many of the best results of that training and discipline instituted by Loyalla, without at the same time bring- ing forth those bitter evils that are among their natural fruits.
They exhibited great learning, a high self-control, an inflex- ibility of purpose, an enduring constancy, an unwearied patience in toil and hardship, a calm courage that despised danger and triumphed over the intensest suffering, a fervent zeal, and an earnestness of devotion that find few parallels in history. They did not develop, nor did the circumstances of their situation tend to develop that bitter intolerance, that hatred of civil and religious freedom, that passion for intrigue, that systematic treachery, that insatiate lust of power, and that unscrupulous and cruel abuse of power when obtained, that marked the Jesuits of Europe, and aroused against them the deep indignation of Protestant and Catholic christendom, and that led to their ex- pulsion from the most enlightened Catholic kingdoms of Europe, and their suppression by the Pope himself.
But the influences that were already operating in the courts of Europe, and undermining Jesuitical power there, began to be felt in the wilds of Canada.
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Colbert, the great minister of the grand monarch, liked them not, and Frontenac cordially hated them.
From 1671 to 1681, and from 1689 to his death, in 1698, he was at the head of affairs in Canada. The Recollects, whom he favored, were re-established in the new world.
Jealousies and dissensions sprang up, and in a thousand ways the plans and the purposes of the Jesuits were thwarted. Special efforts were made to ruin their influence at court.
It is a curious study to read the voluminous dispatches that passed between Canada and the court of France.
. Louis XIV was at the very culmination of his power, and in the full exercise of that system of centralized absolutism founded by Richelieu and perfected by himself.
He was as minutely informed of the transactions of an in- significant post on the watery wastes of Lake Superior, as if they were taking place on the banks of the Seine. And the minutest orders issued from his ministers, and sometimes from himself in relation to these distant places.
In seeking to give to the Jesuits who distinguished themselves in the early annals of the North west, their true place upon the pages of history, we cannot place them beside the founders of New England.
They were not, in any sense, the founders of empires. They did not lay foundations broad and deep for free institutions. And even as missionaries among the Indians they seem to have exerted but little permanent influence upon Indian life and character.
"As from the wing the sky no scar retains,
The parted wave, no furrow from the keel ;"
So Indian character and destiny show us no distinct trace of the abundant and self-denying labors of these men.
At least those traces are sadly disproportioned to the learn- ing, the piety, the fervent zeal and the precious human life be- stowed upon this field of labor.
Doubtless, some of the causes of this result lie deep in Indian character, and the unfavorable circumstances surrounding them. But there are, as we conceive, other causes, growing out of the
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fundamentally erroneous system of Jesuit Catholicism still more effective; causes that must ever prevent that system from ac- complishing any great permanent good for the race.
There is no element of freedom in it; unlimited, unquestion- ing obedience is of its very essence. To develop the human soul and intellect, it must, like the body, have freedom.
But if they were not founders of empires, if they did little or nothing towards the elevation of Indian character, these men still have a proud place upon the historic page, which all should readily concede.
As discoverers and explorers, they have had few superiors.
Persevering, self-denying, toil-enduring, courageous-no pri- vations disgusted, no hardships appalled, no dangers terrified.
Contemptuous of threatened evil, they boldly placed them- selves in the power of untutored and unfriendly savages; living with them in their dirty camps; partaking of their inconceiv- ably filthy food; sleeping with them and their dogs; annoyed by their vermin; poisoned with their stench ; submitting meekly to the contumely of the haughty, and the insults and brutality of the mean.
Calmly, persistently they braved the forced toil of paddling the canoe, or over sharp stones and up foaming rapids of drag- ging its weight, often wading waist dcep in water, or plunging through ice and snow.
Piercing winds, bitter cold, dire want, and terrific danger, were among their common trials. Yet they persevered with a ceaseless assiduity and untiring energy, that no suffering could subdue. Industriously they traveled, anxiously they inquired, carefully they observed, and carefully and minutely, under every disadvantage, by the light of the glimmering camp fires, they committed the result of their travels, inquiries and observations to writing. They opened to France and the world a knowledge of the great Northwest, of the mighty lakes and noble rivers, of these beautiful prairies and extensive forests.
They were not only discoverers, but they were pioneers, in the pathway of civilization.
Following in their footsteps came the trader, the voyageur,
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the soldier, and ultimately the mechanic, the farmer, the mer- chant and the gentleman.
Delightful French hamlets sprung up by the side of the mission station, and there was reproduced in the forest recesses of the new world a new and delightful edition of rural life, amid the vales and vine-clad hills of France.
But their chiefest claim to admiration lies in their personal character, their apostolic zeal, and their sublime and heroic virtues. Actuated by no love of glory, inspired by no hope of self-aggrandizement, but panting with an earnest desire to save souls for whom Christ had died, and to open the pathway to heaven to benighted heathen, they faced the untold horrors of the missionary life, among wild, wandering, irreverent, brutal savages; and here developed in the midst of trials the most severe, those christian graces of character to which our attention has been called, and which entitle them to a high rank among the christian heroes of the world.
Success could have added nothing to the rich fragrance of their virtues.
It becomes us, who now occupy the soil, enriched and made sacred by their tears, their toil, their suffering and their death, not only to revere, but to perpetuate their memories.
FUR TRADE.
It is probable that the French fur traders had penetrated the region of Lake Superior in advance of the missionaries. But of this we have no authentic record. But the establishment of the missions and the success of the missionaries very largely promoted the fur trade, and it became a source of very great profit and wealth. The settlement of Canada, the growth of Montreal and Quebec, and the prosperity of all the French settlements therein was very largely owing to the importance of this trade. The commerce in beaver skins alone was immense, and the profits enormous.
It is said that two-thirds of the furs that entered into this trade came from the region of the upper lakes.
At first this trade was carried on without restrictions, and especially by a class of persons known as Coureurs de Bois, or
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rangers of the wood, many of whom were of a most disorderly character.
For the purpose of regulating the trade the Governor-Gen- eral of Canada, by direction of the King, granted to some twenty-five gentlemen each year, a license to engage in this trade, and all others were strictly prohibited from engaging in it upon pain of death. At first each licensee was permitted to send out two canoes, with six men and a thousand crowns in merchan- dise suitable for the savage trade. It was expected that this merchandise would purchase one hundred and sixty packs of beaver skins, worth eight thousand crowns.
The profits upon the trade were divided between the licensees, the merchant who furnished the goods, and the Coureurs de Bois, who collected and bought them in. In addition to this, the merchant who took the furs usually made a large profit thereon.
The immense profits of this trade aroused the cupidity of the English traders residing in New York, and they were determined to at least share in the trade of the upper lakes, and if possible, to control it.
For nearly a century the English spared no efforts and no expense to secure this result. They paid higher prices for beaver skins than was paid by the French at Montreal, and they suc- ceeded in corrupting many of the French traders, and induced them to sell their furs to them. Through their allies, the Iro- quois, they endeavored to enlist the Ottawas and Chippewas in their interest, sometimes through fear, sometimes through hope of gain.
It was a matter of vital interest to the French of Canada to keep the control of this trade, and especially to retain in their interest the Ottawas and Chippewas, who were among the most successful hunters.
To this end they employed enterprising and active agents to go among the Indians and obtain an influence over them.
One of the most useful and successful of these agents was Duluth, whose name has been perpetuated by naming a town for him. Duluth was a Captain of these Correur de Bois, of
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great energy, and complete knowledge of Indian character, and of dauntless courage. As early as 1679 he was stationed near the Sault St. Marie for the purpose of preventing the English from engaging in the fur trade of Lake Superior. He subse- quently erected a temporary fort near La Pointe. For many years he held the entire confidence of Frontenac, De La Barre and De Nouville, who were successively in command in Canada. And in their dispatches to France they recognize his great in- fluence with the Indians and the important services that he ren- dered in defeating the English project of securing this trade. In 1682 he was present at a conference of great officers at Mon- treal for the purpose of concerting measures for this purpose. In 1685 he led a force of Lake Superior Indians to Niagara against the Iroquis. In 1686, under an order from the Governor General, he established what was called the Fort of Detroit, of Lake Erie, where Fort Gratiot now stands at the foot of Lake Huron.
The object of this fort was to command the passage to Mack- inaw and Lake Superior, and thus prevent the English from se- curing the trade of those regions. In this he was so far success- ful that in 1687 he captured an expedition of sixty Englishmen with an Indian escort who were seeking access to the upper lakes. But the English were not discouraged. They gave eight pounds of powder or six quarts of rum for one Beaver skin while the French gave but two pounds of powder, and not to exceed one quart of brandy. In this way they held out great inducements to the Indians and to the regular French traders to bring their beaver to New York.
The establishment of a permanent fort at Detroit in 1701, aided very much in securing this trade to the French, but it did not put an end to the struggle.
Thus in 1747 one Le Duc, a fur trader, was robbed by the Lake Superior Indians of his furs at the instigation of the Eng- lish, and it is reported that a famous chief had accepted the hatchet from the English and that the Indians had collected to the number of over 100 to waylay the French.
In order to check the English, the Governor General in 1750
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granted a large tract of land at the Sault for a signiory to Sieurs de Bonne and Repentigny, the object of which is set forth in an exceedingly interesting letter written by him the following year to the French Minister.
" QUEBEC, CANADA, October 5th, 1751.
" My Lord : By my letter of the 24th of August last, I had the honor to let you know that in order to thwart the movements that the English do not cease to make in order to seduce the Indian nations of the North, I had sent the Sr. Cheur. de Repentigny to the Sault Ste. Marie, in order to make there an establishment at his own expenses, to build there a palisade fort, (forte de pieux) to stop the Indians of the Northern posts who go to and from the English to intercept the commerce they carry on, stop and prevent the continuation of the talks ("paroles") and of the presents which the English send to those nations to corrupt them, to put them entirely in their interests, and inspire them with feelings of hate and aversion for the French.
"Moreover, I had in view in that establishment, to secure a retreat to the French voyageurs, especially to those who trade in the northern part, and for that purpose to clear the lands which are proper for the production of Indian corn there (bled' Inde) and to subserve thereby the victualing necessary to the people of said post, and even to the needs of the voyagers.
* * * * *
* * *
" The said Sr. de Repentigny forbid the Indians of his post to go and winter at Saginaw, which is not little to say, for these nations go thence from there very easily, and in a short time to the English, who load them with presents. These Indians keep the promises which I required from them ; they all stayed in Lake Superior, whatever were the inducements the English made to attract them to themselves. * * *
" He arrived too late last year at the Sault Ste. Marie to fortify him- self well; however, he secured himself against insults, in a sort of fort large enough to receive the traders of Michilimackinac.
" The weather was dreadful in September, October and November. Snow fell one foot deep on the 10th of October, which caused him a great delay. He employed his hired men during the whole winter in cutting 1,100 pickets, of 15 feet, for his fort, with doublings ("rendoublayes"!) and the timber necessary for the construction of three houses, one of them 30 feet long by 20 feet wide, and the two others 25 feet long, and the same width of the first.
" His fort is entirely finished with the exception of a redoute of oak, which he is to have made 12 feet square, and which shall reach the same distance above the gate of the fort. As soon as this work shall be com-
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pleted, he will send me the plan of his establishment. His fort is 110 feet square. * * * * * * *
"As for the cultivation of the lands-the Sieur de Repentigny had a bull, two bullocks, three cows, two heifers, one horse, and a mare, from Michilimackinac.
"He could not, on his arrival, make clearing of lands, for the works of his fort had occupied entirely his hired meu, (engages.)
"Last spring he cleared off all the small trees and bushes within the range of the fort.
" He engaged a Frenchman, who married at the Sault Ste. Marie, an Indian woman, to take a farm; they have cleared it up and sowed it, and without a frost they will gather 30 to 35 sacks of corn, (bledinde.)
" The said Sr. de Repentigny so much feels it his duty to devote him- self to the cultivation of these lands, that he has already entered into a bargain for two slaves, whom he will employ to take care of the corn that he will gather upon these lands.
" I beg of you, my lord, to be well persuaded that I shall spare no pains to render this establishment equally useful to the service of the King, and to the recommendation of the travelers (voyageurs.)
" I am, with very profound respect, &c., " LA JONQUIERE." In 1754, a succeeding Governor General writes :
" The Sir Chev'r de Repentigny who commands at the Sault Ste Marie occupies himself much with the establishment of his post, which is essential to stop the Indians who come down from Lake Superior to go to Cheneguen, (Oswego) but I don't hear it said that this post is of [yields him] a great revenue."
This establishment was erected for the fur trade at 2,000 francs per year from 1755 until it was accidently burned in 1762. At this time Henry gave the following description of the Sault :
" Here was a stockaded fort, in which under the French Gov- ernment, there was kept a small garrison, commanded by an officer, who was called the governor, but was in fact a clerk, who managed the Indian trade here, on government account. The houses were four in number, of which the first was the gov- ernor's, the second the interpreter's, and the other two which were the smallest, had been used for barracks. The only family was that of M. Cadotte, the interpreter, whose wife was a Chip- pewa."
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