USA > Michigan > History of Michigan, civil and topographical, in a compendious form; with a view of the surrounding lakes > Part 4
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
where it was ascertained that the Iroquois deputies would pass with their hostages. Here he laid for some days in ambush with his warriors. The deputies soon arrived with forty young savages, and as they landed from their canoes, Kondiaronk took them by surprise, massacred a part, and made the remainder prisoners. At the same time he informed the captured Iroquois, that he was directed by the French Governor to occupy that position, and to attack a party of Iroquois who were expected to advance that way for the pur- pose of descending upon the French settlements, and to con- duct the prisoners to Montreal. The Iroquois were, of course, amazed, for they deemed themselves to have been the victims of perfidy. Having related the object of their mission to Kondiaronk, who feigned astonishment, and alleged that he also had been the subject of treachery, the Iroquois prisoners were released, with ammunition sufficient to defend themselves on their way back, while their hearts were filled with grati- tude at the humanity of the Hurons, and they vowed eternal war against the French. One prisoner of the Iroquois was, however, retained, with whom Kondiaronk returned to Michi- limackinac ; and the French commandant at that post, igno- rant of the proceedings of Denonville, condemned this prisoner to be shot.
An aged Iroquois slave, who belonged to Kondiaronk, was permitted to witness the execution of his countryman, while the circumstances were withheld from his knowledge. 'This Iroquois slave was then told to go back to his tribes, and re- late the barbarous perfidy of the French. The anger of the Iroquois was, of course, raised to the highest pitch. M. De- nonville, when he heard of the act, declared that if Kon- diaronk was taken, he should be executed; while the Iro- quois were still expected to consummate the league. But the convictions fastened upon the minds of the Iroquois by Kondiaronk were not to be removed. When, therefore, they reached Montreal, where the Governor was waiting their arrival, they came not, as Denonville expected, with the calumet and the belt of wampum-emblems of peace. A band of twelve hundred warriors landed on the upper end
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EARLY CONDITION OF CANADA.
of the island, burned the houses and corn-fields, massacred men, women, and children, cut in pieces about a hundred re- gular troops and fifty Hurons who were sent to defend the entrance to the town, took two hundred prisoners, and then embarked in their canoes. The impression which had been stamped on their minds by Kondiaronk could not be effaced, and their revenge was fully glutted with the blood of the French at subsequent periods. This masterpiece of savage policy turned the current of French plans and prospects-a policy which, in blackness and diplomatic address, rivals the basest intrigue of a civilized court.
The French government, after it had once obtained a foot- hold in Canada, pushed its enterprises into the interior ; and the progress of its settlements was attended with all the suf- ferings connected with the enmity of the Iroquois and the hardships of a trackless wilderness. The colonies which had been sent out from France, were comprised mainly of gentle- men in narrow circumstances, to whom lordships had been granted, a large number of adventurers of humbler preten- sions, somewhat volatile and thriftless in their character, and missionaries of the Roman Church. There were three prominent and distinct orders in the religious establishments of Canada. The Jesuits comprised the first, and consisting of gen- tlemen of influence, whose minds had ripened in the mould- ering cloisters of the church, their powers were paramount to all others in the administration of the colonial policy. " They sought," says La Hontan, " to dive down to the bottom of men's minds."* Artful, accomplished, learned, polished, they were what the Jesuits have been in every age ; striving to mould the affairs of the colony to their own purposes, and thus to wield a political influence for ecclesiastical ends, they watched, with lynx-eyed vigilance, all the affairs and relations of individuals in the state as well as the church. From their extensive knowledge and address, they devoted themselves to the education of the youth of the colony, so far as they were educated at all , and were the most active agents
* La Hontan's Voyages.
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
in the exploration of the wilderness. The priests were more local in their habits, and their efforts were mainly confined to the ministrations of the altar ; while the Recollets, a very humble class of ecclesiastics, daily practised self-debasement, and assumed vows of perpetual humiliation and poverty. In the more remote settlements, rude log-huts were built and a few fields were cleared. Quebec and Montreal were the central points of colonial enterprize and influence, and into these settlements was transfused something of the character which belonged to the parent government abroad. Slight co- lonial establishments were erected along the banks of the streams and lakes for a three-fold purpose-trade, religion, and military defence. Small forts, surrounded with pickets, and constructed from the rude means at hand, were built up to protect the Jesuits, who had their chapels near them ; and they were also used as depots of the fur trade.
The wars-which soon broke out between the French and English for the purpose of obtaining the dominion of the country-no less than the hostility of the Iroquois, soon made it advisable to re-appoint the Count de Frontenac to the chief command ; and in October of 1689 he arrived at Quebec, with the Iroquois chiefs, who had been sent to the French galleys. Notwithstanding the energy and address of Frontenac, little was effected in securing the friendship of the Five Nations, but more vigorous measures were prosecuted to advance the French settlements, and to secure the cultivation of the lands. At the same time the fur trade was carried on with increased success ; and the military posts, which had been established on the upper lakes, were strengthened. In 1698 peace was de- clared between France and England, and the English and French governors entered into arrangements by which ami- cable relations were for some time preserved with each other, and also with the Indians.
During the period of the French domination in Canada, its jurisdiction was somewhat extraordinary. Quebec and Mon- treal were not only the seat of the fur trade, but also of civil, military, and ecclesiastical influence. The machinery of the colonial government was, in fact, made up of the civil magis-
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EARLY CONDITION OF CANADA.
tracy, the military power, and the clergy. Although the Coutume de Paris was adopted as the law of the land, the administration of the colonies was probably founded more upon temporary expediency than clearly defined justice. There is, doubtless, great inconvenience attending the exer- cise of a compact and well-organized frame of jurisprudence in a new colony, separated from the parent state by three thousand miles of ocean, and over a people scattered through a trackless and unbounded forest. The administration of jus- tice was accordingly unsettled and arbitrary. The command- ants of the military posts in the remote points of colonial ju- risdiction, were recognized as general supervisors of the colo- nists around their forts, and they were invested with a sum- mary authority, subject, however, to the colonial government- comprising the legislative, the judicial, and the executive powers. This authority was, however, in most instances ex- ercised with great mildness ; and the French of that region look back upon the period as the golden age of jurispru- dence.
The French Colonial government was under the general supervision of the Governor-general, the chief magistrate of the country. Subject to his general power, there were also Intendants, under-governors, and a council. The Governor- general of Quebec was allowed an annual salary of twenty thousand crowns, which included the support of a company of guards for his own protection, and also that of the fort. To this sum was added a thousand crowns, which was the annual present made to him by the " Farmers of the Beaver Skins." He also had the disposal of all the military posts, and could bestow commissions on whom he pleased, with the ap- probation of the King, excepting particular governorships, or the place of a Lord-lieutenant of the province or the mayor of any town. He was also empowered to make certain con- ditional grants to the inhabitants all over Canada, with the confirmation of the Intendant, to give twenty-five licenses a year to those whom he might select for the purpose of trading with the savages ; and his criminal jurisdiction extended to the right of suspending executions against criminals. By this re-
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
prieve he might procure a pardon .* He was, however, not au- thorized to dispose of the king's money without the consent of the Intendant, who alone had the power to draw it from the naval treasury. Beside these rights, the Governor-ge- neral was invested with certain privileges, among which was the exemption from duty on all his wines and other provisions received from France.
The Supreme Council of Canada was a judicial body, but when any complex question came up before them, they ge- nerally required the aid of the Jesuits, who were, without ex- ception, gentlemen of extensive and accurate knowledge. This body had the right of conveying their places to their heirs with the approbation of the king. In making treaties with foreign powers and the Indian tribes, the aid of the Je- suits was also required, because they were in most instances acquainted with the topography of the country, the princi- ples of international law, and they had, moreover, great influ- ence with the Indians. The influence of the Jesuits breathed through every department of the colonial government.
When the Baron La Hontan visited Quebec in 1684, the sovereign council, according to his statement, consisted of twelve counsellors, who constituted the supreme judicature, and decided causes without appeal. At that time no advo- cates or attorneys appeared in court, and the litigant parties argued their own causes. The result was, that suits were quickly brought to a termination, and no court fees or other charges were demanded. The judges were allowed four hundred livres a year from the crown, and they also " had a dispensation," says La Hontan, "of not wearing the robe and the cap."+ Besides these officers, there was also a Lieutenant- general, both civil and military, an Attorney-general, a Chief- Justice in Eyre, and a Grand Provost.# The Governor's an- nual salary was a thousand crowns, which he increased in some degree by engaging in the fur trade. The pay of the inferior officers was small. The mayor of Quebec was al- lowed a salary of six hundred crowns, the Governor of Mon-
ยท Charlevoix's Journal. t La Hontan. # Ibid,
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EARLY CONDITION OF CANADA.
treal two thousand, the Governor of Trois Rivieres a thou- sand ; a captain had a hundred and twenty livres a month, a lieutenant ninety, and a common soldier's pay was six sous a day.
The dazzling hopes of gold and gems in the wilderness having faded from the eyes of the French king, the attention of his colonies in Canada was directed to the fur trade. A large body of adventurous and indigent men, taken from those classes who had no employment at home, had emigrated from France, to invest their energies in the north-western forests, which then abounded in furs of the greatest value. Their trading posts for the prosecution of this traffic were erected on the most prominent avenues in the interior of Canada and upon the lakes, at those points where the Indians were most in the habit of resorting. The wilderness at that time was filled with the fur-bearing animals, and the most valuable kind were beavers. From various causes, springing from the want of system in their operations, so great an amount of peltries was collected at the warehouses, that they could not be disposed of. It appears, indeed, that during the early stages of the French fur trade, there was great improvidence on the part of the colonial government in its prosecution, because the fur-bearing animals were permitted to be killed for amusement without discrimination, and the Indians, who could not appreciate their value, and therefore sold them for trifles, were encouraged to do the same. The necessary consequence was, that the most valuable furs were accumulated at the different posts, and destroyed for want of a market, while the forests were exhausted of that which has since been found a rich source of national wealth. As the French market became glutted with peltries, the merchants declined buying more, and the traders therefore transported a large amount to the English provinces annually, and many had permanent establishments in the province of New- York.
From the class of the traders arose that original body of men, the Coureurs des Bois. They consisted of those French emigrants who volunteered their services in the employ of
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
the large fur companies. Obedient to their employers as sailors to the commanders of their ships, they were accustomed to advance up the northern lakes to Michilimackinac and be- yond, to explore the remotest inland streams of the forest, with their large canoes laden with dry goods and trinkets, at places in which they could exchange their manufactured Eu- ropean articles with the Indians for furs. The goods, as well as the licenses for the traffic, were generally procured by the traders from the merchants ; and they sold to the mer- chants their peltries on their return. During each year, the traders having laden their canoes with peltries, swept down the sparkling waters of the lakes to Quebec and Montreal, through the Ottawas River or across the portage at Niagara into Lake Ontario ; accompanied by numerous canoes of the Ottawas and the Hurons, who supposed that they could there find a better market for their skins than could be obtained at Michilimackinac. Desertions of the French be- came frequent ; some of the Coureurs des Bois absconded to the English posts, and others wandered deep into the forests, and became incorporated with the Indians.
In order to prevent this desertion, a plan was devised by the French Colonial Government, which was humane as well as judicious. This was the granting of licenses to trade to those who were worthy of confidence, and the prohibition of all others from going out of the colony. These licenses were vended to old officers and poor gentlemen, who had the privi- lege of selling them to the traders, according to their value. The number of these licenses was regulated by the Court, and their distribution belonged to the Governor-general. " Permis- sions," of more ample character, were also granted from the same source to the commandants of the forts.
As Canada was settled by many indigent noblemen, to whom lands had been granted, these were not exactly the proper persons to advance agriculture. They were, for the most part, officers and gentlemen who had not funds sufficient to maintain the proper workmen upon their domains. It was therefore found necessary to settle the lands of those to whom lordships were given, with tenants who were obliged to labor
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EARLY CONDITION OF CANADA.
hard, and expend all their advances of money before they could procure the necessary subsistence ; while the fur trade, which was the predominating spirit of the times, spread a restless and migratory disposition among the people. Another fact which impeded the progress of agriculture, was the mode of tenure in the distribution of lands. The tenants held their farms trammelled with conditions as rigid and illiberal as the villeins of the dark ages ; and this, of course, took away all interest of the tenant in the soil, excepting so far as he could benefit himself. The fur trade, moreover, was soon taken out of the hands of the companies by the French king, and almost every body embarked in it. This caused the utmost confu- sion. As early as 1706 the furs were purchased by the tra- ders in Canada, frequently at a higher price than they could command in France. Such, however, was not the fact in the English colonies along the Atlantic. In that quarter there seems to have been more systematic organization. Their arti- cles for the traffic could be afforded cheaper than those of the French ; their plans were conducted with greater judgment, and the necessary consequence was, that while they were ac- cumulating wealth by the fishery and the fur trade, the French were growing poor.
The condition of commerce and agriculture among the French at that period, when the forests abounded with all the sources of wealth, exhibits strongly the want of national en- terprise and enlightened legislation on the part of that go- vernment. Had the French Government comprehended the full value of the fertility of the soil, and of the furs which abounded in the wilderness, it might have established penal laws to prevent the wanton destruction of the fur-bearing ani- mals, organised a liberal system of land distribution, which would have furnished motive for exertion to agriculturists, and planted vigorous colonies in this part of the continent, which would have poured a broad stream of wealth upon that empire, and perhaps have perpetuated the dominion of France in this country. It is clear, however, that when none of the precious metals were discovered, it permitted the colonies to pine in comparative neglect and barrenness. Besides the furs
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
which were annually shipped to France, trade in lumber was prosecuted with the West Indies, and a large amount was sent to those islands.
As the funds for the payment of the officers and soldiers ge- nerally arrived from France too late, certain local bills were is- sued, and these were circulated in the place of coin. By virtue of an ordinance of the Governor and Intendant, this money was made of cards ; and its value, the mark of the treasury, and the arms of France were stamped upon it in Spanish wax. Paper money was afterwards struck in France, and impressed the same as the current money. It was ordained that these bills should be returned every year into the Canadian trea- sury before the annual arrival of the French ships, in order to receive an additional mark and to prevent counterfeits. This paper money was, however, soon disused, and card money substituted, stamped with new impressions. All bills to the value of four livres and upwards were signed by the Intendant ; and all below that sum were only marked. At a subsequent period, the Governor-general signed those which were of the value of six livres. During the first weeks of autumn, these bills were carried back to the treasurer, and bills of exchange were received in return. So long as these bills of exchange were paid, the bills were preferred to specie, but they soon ceased to be honored ; and in 1713 they had be- come so depreciated in value, that the inhabitants proposed to lose one half, on condition that the king should cause them to be taken up. This was done in 1717. The paper cur- rency was abolished, and the colonial officers were again paid in current coin.
As early as 1684, the French Colonial establishments in Canada had grown to considerable importance. At that time, according to La Hontan, Quebec exhibited some architectural excellence. There were six churches in the high city, and also a cathedral, over which were a bishop and twelve preben- daries, who resided in the chapter house. It was the head- quarters of the Roman church and the rendezvous of the priests, who were, as a general fact, men of correct morals, and contented with the bare necessaries of life. Here was
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EARLY CONDITION OF CANADA.
the church of the Jesuits, a massive edifice, with its altar sup- ported by four great columns of black stone, which La Hon- tan calls " a sort of Canada porphyry." The Jesuit fathers had large and stately apartments, looking out upon grounds adorned with groves and gardens, and containing ice- houses and other means of luxury .* It appears, that at that time the influence of the church, moulded, in a great measure, the po- licy of the colony ; because the directors of the seminary of St. Sulpicius at Paris were proprietors of the Island of Mon- treal, and had the power of nominating the bailiff and other magistrates ; and they had, in fact, previously had the nomi- nation of the Governor. These directors, who were lords, had sent out missionaries to Montreal from time to time, and they lived under the direction of a Superior. 3 They had
apartments allotted to them in a large and convenient house, built of free stone, which was constructed on the model of St. Sulpicius at Paris. Cantons on the south side of the island produced a considerable revenue, as the land was fertile, and the inhabitants were rich in agricultural products, for which they found in the city a ready market.
In 1720, Quebec and Montreal had grown to a population of many thousands. It consisted of nobles, nuns, priests, ar- tisans, traders, and soldiers connected with the machinery of the church and state. A polished form of society, instinctive in the French nation, prevailed herc. A great portion of their time was spent in amusement, and much wealth was squan- dered in extravagance. In summer the colonists embarked in parties of pleasure, in their calashes or canoes : and in winter they drove their carioles upon the snow or skated upon the river. On the annual arrival of the French ships, the colony was enlivened by interesting topics of news from the parent go- vernment. Hunting was resorted to by the gentlemen, not only for amusement, but profit. The least rusticity in lan- guage or behavior was not perceived, from the bishop to the most obscure menial of the church, from the aristocratic part- ner to the humble and reckless voyageur of the fur trade.
* La Hontan.
5
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
" The Canadians," says Charlevoix, " drew in with their na- tive breath the air of freedom." The agricultural class were contented with their lot, while the noblesse of a chivalrous cast of character, boasted of ancestral exploits and exulted in military glory. The French language was spoken with the utmost accuracy and elegance. There were at that time, however, but few rich men in the country, because wealth, which was easily accumulated, was seldom hoarded. The most brilliant assemblies were given at the mansions of those in power. At stated intervals the settlements were enlivened by the traders, returning from the interior posts of the wilder- ness like mariners from the ocean ; or by savages, who, sweep- ing down from the clear and brimming waters of the upper lakes, with their canoes laden withi beaver skins, would land upon the shores, hold their mercantile carnival in the market- place, and fill the store-houses of the merchants with furs.
The early history of the French domination in Canada is intimately connected with the migrations of the missionaries, the explorations of the traders, and the military expeditions of the French, backed by their Indian confederates, against the Iroquois. The missionaries were regarded by many of the Indians as supernatural beings, jugglers, on whom the desti- nies of life and death depended ; and strong prejudices were fre- quently aroused against them on this account, causing the most cruel murders. The Iroquois, as a body, not only dis- liked the French, but they despised their religion ; and ac- counts of the massacre and torture of the priests upon the shores of Lake Huron, by their tribes, abound in the old Je- suit journals. On one occasion, boiling water was poured upon the priests in mockery of baptism, while they were grasping the cross for succour ; and red-hot tomahawks were thrown into their flesh when convulsed in the agonies of death .*
We do not design to enter into a minute specification of the military operations of that period. They were mainly confined to expeditions sent out against the English colonies
* Anonymous journal of a Catholic missionary, published in Paris.
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EARLY CONDITION OF CANADA.
and the Iroquois. The savages, in fact, kept the French in continual consternation, by hovering around their settlements ; and the progress of agriculture and the advance of the colo- nies were thus in a great measure checked. A council with the Iroquois had been held by the French at Onondaga, which resulted in no permanent league. Numerous expedi- tions against the English were also sent out upon the bor- ders ; and the massacre of Schenectady, on the Sth of Fe- bruary, 1690, by a body of two hundred Canadians and In- dians, who travelled through a wilderness covered with deep snows, to accomplish the most infamous butchery which blackens the annals of modern warfare, was followed by pro- jects on the part of each of the two nations to undermine the power of the other, which however, were not carried out to any stable consequences.
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