USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I > Part 9
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"As to my powers, they are very ample, being to punish according to cir- cumstances, by reprimands, by arrests, by imprisonment or by deprivation of civil rights; and in case of distinct disobedience, to run my sword through any one who has offended against me."
Although it was stipulated in the articles of agreement with the company that the king would support the garrison, in the fall of 1703 the soldiers were so poorly paid that nine of them deserted. They returned after a short absence and were pardoned by Cadillac. About the same time Cadillac learned that his captain, Tonty, had entered into a plot with the Jesuits of Michilimackinac to cripple Detroit by encouraging the establishment of a new post at St. Joseph on Lake Michigan. When confronted with the evidence of the conspiracy, Tonty, it is said, admitted the truth and was likewise pardoned, on promise of good behavior. These pardons indicate that Cadillae was not always unduly severe in his administration of affairs.
Notwithstanding Tonty's promise of good behavior. he was soon engaged in another scheme. Cadillac detected him and one of the company's commis- sioners in the embezzlement of goods belonging to the company, for the pur- pose of carrying on an illicit trade in furs. The furs they had collected were con- fiscated and charges against the offenders were forwarded to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, the governor-general. The commissioner was a relative of Vaudreuil and an intimate friend of some of the directors of the company, who preferred countercharges against Cadillac, and in the fall of 1704 he was summoned to
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appear before the governor and intendant for trial. He was acquitted, but was not allowed to return to Detroit. Cadillac then appealed to the colonial min- ister at Paris and received instructions while still at Quebec to present his case to Count Pontchartrain. Vaudreuil then gave him permission to return to Detroit, but Cadillac wanted a complete vindication. After a patient hear- ing, Count Pontchartrain announced himself as satisfied that Cadillac had done "all that could be expected of a faithful officer and an honest man," and promised that the annoyances to which he had been subjected should be stopped.
On June 14, 1705, the company executed an agreement to restore to Cadillac the post of Detroit and all its appurtenances. In accordance with this agree- ment, the property was to be invoiced in the presence of M. de Tonty, Father de L'Halle and the company's clerks, Cadillac to pay for the merchandise in money or bills of exchange; that Count Pontchartrain was to decide whether Cadillac should pay for the buildings erected by the company; that the new proprietor was to supply the company with beaver skins not amounting in value to more than twenty thousand livres per year; that he was not to trade at any point on the lakes outside of Detroit; and that the company should have the privilege of sending an inspector to see if that feature of the agreement was being infringed. In addition, Cadillac was to defray the entire expense of maintaining the post, except a portion of the priest's salary, which was to be paid by the inhabitants.
Cadillac's victory was only temporary. Count Pontchartrain was unable to keep his promise that the annoyances should be brought to an end and the intriguing went on. The company did not want Detroit to be colonized, while Cadillac's ambition was to build up a permanent colony. To this end he had caused a number of Indian bands to locate near the fort. The Huron village was a short distance down the river, in the opposite direction were four bands of the Ottawa and a Miami settlement, and the Wolf Indians occupied the land known as the "King's Commons." He also offered inducements to Canadians to settle near the post and encouraged unmarried soldiers to take Indian wives. Under his liberal policy, it is said that within eight months after he landed at Detroit, his settlement promised to become a rival of Montreal or Quebec. After more than four years of bickerings, his enemies succeeded in having him removed. In the spring of 1710 he was appointed governor of Louisiana. So many of his friends left at the same time that the town was practically de- serted, though the original stockade had been previously enlarged to accom- modate the growing population. To make matters worse for Cadillac, his suc- cessor took all his property and refused to account for it. The value of this property, as shown by an inventory taken in April, 1720, was as follows :
400 arpents of land at 100 francs. 40,000.00
Loss of same for ten years at 6 francs per year. 24,000.00
1 warehouse 3,000.00
House of M. de LaMothe 2,500.00
2 other houses 1,500.00
1 barn, etc. 1,200.00
1 stable 500.00
1 dove cot 400.00
1 ice house 300.00
Chapel and house of almoner 3,000.00
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CITY OF DETROIT
1 mill 8,000.00
29 horned cattle and 1 horse 9,000.00
Loss of mill at 1.000 francs per year 10,000.00
For 29 horned cattle which should have been bred dur- ing the 10 years 9,000.00
Furniture, grain, flour, tools, etc.
7,000.00
Premium on same at 4 per cent
2,800.00
Due for King's service & care of sick.
4,331.73
Total 126,531.73
The loss of this property, valued at 126.531 francs (or livres), 7 sous and 3 deniers, was a severe one to a man who had spent ten of the best years of his life in building up a colony in the wilderness of North America, hoping thereby to uphold the honor of his king and enrich himself.
QUARREL WITH THE JESUITS
Cadillac was reared a Catholic and in his religious faith and practices was decidedly partial to the Franciscan order. While commandant at Miehilimack- inac, he became embroiled with the Jesuit missionaries over the sale of brandy to the Indians. The competition between the French and English for the con- trol of the fur trade was then at its height. As the English traders were per- mitted to sell intoxicating liquors to the natives in unlimited quantities, the French claimed that it was necessary for them to pursue the same policy, in order to prevent their rivals from obtaining a monopoly of the trade. The Jesuits protested against the custom, and, knowing the commandant to be in sympathy with the Franciscans, tried to place all the blame on him, hoping to have him removed and a commandant more friendly to their order appointed. Cadillac had been at Michilimackinac but a few months when the Jesuits scored a victory by having the transportation of brandy to the post prohibited.
On March 21, 1795, a deputation of Indians and French traders called ou . Cadillae to remonstrate against the prohibition. One of the chiefs reminded him that former commandants had not been so severe upon them, and said: "If we are your friends, give us the liberty of drinking. Our beaver is worth your brandy and the Great Spirit gave us both to make ns happy. If you wish to treat us as your enemies, or as slaves, do not be angry if we carry our beaver to Orange or Cortland (English trading posts), where they will give us rum ; as much of it as we want."
After this incident, Cadillae wrote to a friend in Quebec that the Jesuits had acted in bad faith and made misrepresentations to secure the order pro- hibiting the shipment of brandy to the post. With him the interests of the king and the French traders were paramount and he refused to obey the order. By doing so he made a bitter and lasting enemy of Father Etienne de Carheil, the Jesuit priest at the post.
Cadillac's idea, in establishing the post of Detroit, was to make it sufficiently powerful to cheek the aggressive campaign of the English for the trade of the Indians of the upper lake country. His plan was to induce the Indians to settle near the post, teach them the French language, and thus make it possible to bring about an alliance for their mutual protection. To accomplish this he made the right to supply the Indians with liquor one of the principal pro- visions of his commission. He well knew that the adoption of such a policy,
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and his open preference for the Recollet priests, would still further alienate the Jesuits, especially when they should learn that it was his determination not to permit them to control the religious affairs of the post. He anticipated, but did not fear, the opposition of Father Carheil, the Montreal traders and Governor Callieres, who was an ardent supporter of the Jesuits, all of whom realized that the settlement of the Indians near Fort Pontchartrain, where they could easily obtain liquor, would draw a large part of the trade away from Michilimackinac.
Although a stanch friend of the Franciscan order, Cadillac was not in- tolerant. As already stated, when he left Montreal on June 2, 1701, Father Valliant, a Jesuit priest, was one of his company. On the way to the Detroit River, Cadillac noticed a discontent among the men and traced it to rumors that they would not be paid for their services, that they would not be per- mitted to bring their wives to Detroit, or to visit their families in Montreal, etc. It had been settled before starting that Father Valliant was to go as a mis- sionary to the Indians, and that his colleague, Father de L'Halle, was to be the priest and almoner of the post. Cadillac knew that Father Valliant wanted to be superior to Father de L'Halle, and suspected him with being the author of the rumors. Soon after landing at Detroit, he called the men together, told them frankly that he had observed their discontent and inquired the cause. Father Valliant, seeing that a day of reckoning was at hand, and that he was likely to be placed on record, hastily departed, without waiting for permission or an escort, and went to Michilimackinac. After his departure no Jesuit offi- ciated at Detroit for several years.
The absence of the Jesuits did not prevent them from engaging in intrigues and doing many things to harass Cadillac and retard the growth of Detroit. Under date of August 31, 1703, Cadillac wrote to Count Pontchartrain as follows:
"You were good enough to write to me that the King wishes the missions of Detroit to be administered by the Jesuit fathers, and that their Superior at Quebec would grant me some who would be more in sympathy with me than Father Valliant had been. It would appear that your orders were sufficient to induce this Superior to provide for that mission promptly, especially after the special favor you have done him by approving of Father Valliant remain- ing in this country, after having opposed the will of His Majesty as he has done.
"The arrangement made by M. de Callieres also seemed to compel him, absolutely, to have the mission provided for, as is clearly explained therein. Yet you will see that, up to the present, the Jesuits have done nothing to carry out His Majesty's intentions, which you explained clearly both to M. de Callieres and to their Superior at Quebec, with which you were pleased to acquaint me.
"I do not know whether they have sent you word that it was agreed, in consequence of the arrangement which had been made, that the Company of the Colony should pay to each missionary of Detroit the sum of 800 livres a year; that it would have the things they would want for their food and cloth- ing necessary for their use, brought for them at its cost and expense; and that it would get dwellings for them in the villages of the savages until there was time to build them more conveniently. I have carried out, for my part, the ar- rangements which have been made; the Company has carried them out on its side, having this spring (in accordance with the agreement) sent a boat on purpose for Father Marest, Superior of Missilimakinak, who feigned important
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reasons for not coming here, so the Company has incurred that expense in vain, as it had already done regarding Father Valliant.
"You wish me to be friendly with the Jesuits and not to pain them. Having thought it well over, I have only found three ways of sueeeeding in that. The first is to let them do as they like; the second to do everything they wish; the third, to say nothing about what they do. By letting them do as they like, the savages would not settle at Detroit and would not be settled there; to do as they wish, it is necessary to cause the downfall of this post; and to say nothing about what they do, it is necessary to do what I am doing; and (yet) in spite of this last essential point, I still cannot induce them to be my friends."
To just what extent the antipathy of the Jesuit fathers was responsible for the ultimate defeat of Cadillae's plans at Detroit would be difficult to deter- mine. Persons who engage in conspiracy or faetional intrigue do not keep an open record of their deeds. That they eonnived with the merehants of Mon- treal and others for his downfall is certain, though it took them nearly ten years to accomplish their purpose. It is equally certain that none rejoiced more upon his final removal, to which they had contributed.
DISPOSAL OF LOTS
On June 14, 1704, Count Pontehartrain wrote to Cadillac, advising him of a decree giving him authority to make conveyances of the lands in and around the village, though some of the lots and lands had been taken prior to that time by some sort of an agreement, the exact nature of which is not known. The lots inside the fort were small-about 20 by 25 feet,-though a few were larger. The houses occupied by the soldiers belonged to the commandant, but the civilians owned their homes. At the time the authority was granted by the king to make eonveyanees, Cadillac was in the midst of his litigation with the Company of the Colony and no lots were conveyed to individuals until in Mareh, 1707. Between that time and June 28, 1710, sixty-eight lots in the village were granted to private citizens. He also granted a number of traets · for agricultural purposes, which are known as the "French Farms" or "Private Claims," and which are further described in Chapter XX of this work. The complete deseription of all of Cadillae's grants in the village, along the river and in the "gardens" is published in Volume 33, pp. 373-82, of the Michigan Pioneer and Historieal Society Collections. The following list gives the num- ber of each lot granted within the village and the name of the person receiving it from Cadillac :
1. Pierre Chesne
2. André Chouet
3. Pierre Faverau dit LeGrandeur
4. Joseph Despré
5. Salomon Joseph Du Vestin
6. Pierre Leger dit Parisien
7. Bonnaventure Compien dit L'Esperance
20. Franeois Tesée
8. Jacob de Marsac dit Desrocher
9. M. D'Argenteuil
10. Jean Riehard
11. Jean Labatier dit Champagne
12. Estienne Bontran
13. Pierre Hemard
14. Antoine Dupuis dit Beauregard
15. Jacques L'Anglois
16. Guillaume Bovet dit Deliard
17. Michael Massé
18. Michel Campo
19. Louis Normand
21. Pierre Chantelon
22. Francois Bienvenu dit de L'Isle
23. Pierre Estevé
24. Blaise Surgere
25. Pierre Poirier
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CITY OF DETROIT
26. Antoine Ferron
48. Jerome Marliard
27. Pierre Tacet
49. André Bombardie
28. Francois Fafard de Lorme
50. Pierre Du Roy
29. Michel Dizier (Disier)
51. Pierre Roy
30. Jacob de Marsac
52. Francois Margue
Rencontre
53.
Antoine Magnant
Desloriers
54. Francois Bonne
Xaintonge 55. Touissaints Dardennes
56. Pierre Bassinet
Guilleaume Aguet
57.
Francois Brunet
Louis Gastineau
58. Antoine Beauregard
Joseph Parent
59. Marie Le Page
Martin Sirier
60.
Jacques Campo
Quilenchivé
61.
Jean Serond
Du Figuier
63.
L'Arramée
La Montagne
64. René Le Moine
44. Antoine Dufresne
66. Paul Guillet
45. Jean Baptiste Chornic
67. Joseph Rinand
47. Paul L'Anglois
Lot No. 59, conveyed to Marie Le Page, is the only record of a conveyance to a woman in early Detroit. As an example of how Louis XIV conducted colonial affairs, in 1716, after Cadillac had left to become governor of Louisiana, all grants were annulled by royal ediet and the titles reverted to the king.
FIRST WHITE WOMEN
In September, 1701, Madame Cadillac and Madame de Tonty left Quebec for Fort Frontenac, intending to join their husbands at Detroit the following spring, as soon as it was considered safe to undertake the journey. The treaty with the Iroquois had just been concluded and they made their arrangements to go by way of Lake Erie. When importuned by friends in Quebec to refrain from such a toilsome and dangerous journey, especially as the country to which she contemplated going was wild and barbarous, where she would be without congenial company and attractions, Madame Cadillac replied: "Do not waste your pity upon me, dear friends. I know the hardships, the perils of the journey, the isolation of the life to which I am going; yet I am eager to go. For a woman who truly loves her husband has no stronger attraction than his company, wherever he may be."
Although the two women were accompanied only by Indians and rough canoe men, they were treated with the utmost respect and arrived at Detroit without accident or adventure. The following description of their landing is taken from Mary Catherine Crowley's address at the Bi-Centenary celebra- tion in 1901:
"One day toward the end of May (1702) the sentry whose pleasant task it is to watch the river, beholds down toward the lake of the Eries a dark object, just at the line where the blue-gray clouds and the silver waters meet ; so far off that it might almost be mistaken for a wild duck, which as it flies dips its wings to the surface of the stream, a fog stealing up from the lake,
65.
Jacques Le Moine
46. Jean Casse
68 Antoine Tuffé dit du Fresne
31. 32. 33. 34. Jacques Du Moulin
35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. M. Derancé 41. 42. 43. Pierre Mallet
62
Pierre Robert
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CITY OF DETROIT
or the smoke of an Indian fire from the land. As it draws nearer, however, it is seen to be a canoe: another appears in its wake. The sentry calls the news in a loud voice and every civilian in the little town hurries to the strand; the occupants of the canoes may be a party of redskins returning from the lower lakes, or perhaps even a band of Iroquois come with treacherous offerings of peace belts, as they did at Miehilimackinac.
"Monsieur de Cadillac orders the garrison under arms. The bateaux come nearer; now a white banner waves from the prow of the foremost canoe as it glides up the shining path made by the sunlight. A sunbeam kisses the flag, and at the same moment the spectators on the shore catch sight of its golden fleurs de lis. A glad shout goes up from a hundred throats: 'This is verily the convoy from Fort Frontenac!' *
* Now we distinguish the figures in the canoes ; the Indian rowers, the sturdy forms of the Canadians who form the escort of the women, the happy wives of the soldiers. In the stern of the ladies' flagship we see Madame de Tonty, buxom and comely, a charming pie- ture of a young matron of New France; Madame Cadillac, handsome and gra- eiously dignified as the wife of the seigneur should be, yet with a bright, glad smile. Against her knee leans little Jacques, her six year old son, who calls out cheerily at the sight of his father and of his older brother Antoine, who came with Cadillae."
MADAME CADILLAC TABLET
At noon on May 30, 1903, a tablet commemorative of the arrival of these first white women in Detroit was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies. It is located on the Detroit Art Museum, at the corner of Hastings Street and Jef- ferson Avenue, and shows in bas-relief Madame Cadillac landing from the canoe, greeted by her husband, while Indians are seen peering from behind the trees farther back from the river.
The idea of the tablet originated with Mrs. Marguerite Beaubien. by whom it was unveiled. It was presented to the city and the Detroit Museum of Art by Mrs. Bertram C. Whitney, president of the Women's Bi-Centenary Com- mittee; was accepted for the city by Mayor William C. Maybury, and for the Museum of Art by Theodore C. Buhl, custodian of the museum. The memorial address was delivered by Alfred Russell.
A FEW FIRST THINGS
A few events, each the first of its kind, that occurred in old Detroit, be- tween the time it was founded and the departure of Cadillac in 1711, were:
The first white child born in the village was a daughter of Alphonse de Tonty and his wife. She was named Therese, in honor of Madame Cadillae. The exact date of birth is not known.
The first recorded baptism was that of Marie Therese, daughter of Antoine de LaMothe and Therese Cadillac. Farmer gives the date of this baptism as February 2, 1704.
The first known death was that of Father Constantine de L'Halle, who was killed by an Indian in the summer of 1706.
The first wheat ever sown in Michigan was sown at Detroit on October 7, 1701, by direction of Cadillac.
CHAPTER VII DETROIT UNDER FRENCH RULE
FRENCH COMMANDANTS AFTER CADILLAC-PIERRE ALPHONSE DE TONTY-SIEUR DE BOURGMONT-SIEUR DUBUISSON-FRANCOIS DE LA FOREST-JACQUES CHARLES SABREVOIS-SIEUR DE LOUVIGNY-PICOTE DE BELESTRE-SIEUR DESCHAILLONS- SIEUR DE BOISHEBERT-SIEUR DE LIVANDIERE-NICOLAS JOSEPHI DESNOYELLES -PIERRE JACQUES PAYAN DE NOYAN-PIERRE JOSEPH CELORON-PAUL JOSEPH LE MOINE-SIEUR DE MUY -JEAN BAPTISTE HENRY BERANGER-PICOTE DE BE- LESTRE II-FIFTY-NINE YEARS' PROGRESS.
The principal events in the history of Detroit from 1701 to 1710-while Cadillac was commandant-have been chronicled in the preceding chapter. During that period Cadillac sent frequent reports to the governor-general of New France, and to Paris, concerning the condition of the post. None of his successors was so enterprising in this respect, and many events that ocenrred between 1710 and 1760 are left, to a considerable degree, in obscurity. The purpose of this chapter is to give a list of the commandants that followed Cadillac, in the order in which they served, together with such information regarding the occurrences under each as could be gleaned from sources con- sidered reliable. The first commandant after Cadillac was
PIERRE ALPHONSE DE TONTY
Pierre Alphonse de Tonty, Baron de Paludy, a son of Laurent and Angelique (de Liette) de Tonty, was born in 1659. His father is credited with having been the inventor of Tontine insurance. An older brother, Henry de Tonty, was La Salle's lieutenant in the efforts to discover the mouth of the Mississippi River. He wore an artificial hand and was called by the Indians "The man with the iron hand."
Alphonse de Tonty was an associate and confidant of Cadillac and accom- panied him to the Detroit River in 1701 as second in command. When Cadillac was called to Montreal in 1704, and placed under arrest upon his arrival, Tonty was left in charge of the post. Soon after Cadillac's departure, Tonty began selling powder to the Indians and also became involved in the embezzlement of furs belonging to the Company of the Colony. This caused Cadillac to lose confidence in a man whom he had trusted implicitly, and at his solicitation Tonty was removed. M. de la Forest was made temporary commandant on September 25, 1705, but was sneceeded in the following Jannary by Sienr de Bourgmont, of whom more will be said later.
It appears that when Cadillac returned to Detroit in 1706, he pardoned Tonty, who remained at the post and secretly worked to destroy the influence of his superior officer among the Indians. It is reported that he received a Vol. 1-7
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pension of 6,000 franes a year for this service. In July, 1717, he was made commandant, though four others had preceded him in that position after the removal of Cadillac. At that time the commandant was required to pay all the expenses of the post, a missionary, an interpreter, presents for the Indians, clothing, subsistence and a surgeon for the soldiers of the garrison, all out of the profits derived from his trade. Tonty borrowed 26,246 livres, 18 sous and 4 deniers from Francois Bouat to invest in goods for trade with the Indians. He did not succeed as well as he anticipated, his debt to Bouat was a source of constant anxiety, and he turned the trade over to Francois La Marque and Louis Gastineau for an annuity. They took in three other partners-Thierry, Nolan and Gouin-and these five controlled the trade, paying Tonty every year a sum sufficient for the maintenance of the post.
During Cadillac's time, and for some years after he left, it was the custom to hold a sort of fair every year, usually lasting three days. On these occa- sions the Indians came to the post and bought such goods as they wanted, pay- ing for them with their furs. There were at first twenty or more stores, from which the natives could purchase. Under the Tonty administration they found but two stores, both owned by the same persons, with no competition in prices, which were higher than ever before. This created great dissatisfaction among the Indians, and also among the French or Canadians, causing trade to decrease to an alarming extent. Many left the post. Others appealed to Tonty for relief, but he could do nothing, having disposed of his trading rights under an agreement that could not be broken.
Complaints were lodged against him, by both the leading citizens and the Indians, and early in the winter of 1721-22 Tonty went to Quebec to answer the charges. During his absence Sieur de Belestre discharged the duties of commandant. In 1724 Tonty was again summoned to Quebec to answer charges made against him by Francois La Marque, who had purchased from Cadillac certain rights at Detroit, but was forbidden by Tonty to visit the post for the purpose of looking after his interests. When the Marquis de Beauharnois be- . came governor of New France early in 1727, Tonty went to Quebec to welcome him and to make certain recommendations for the improvement of the post. 1Ie failed to make a favorable impression on the new governor. To make matters worse for him, the Huron Indians were threatening to abandon their village near Detroit and remove to the Maumee River, unless they were given a new commandant. This threat outweighed anything Tonty could bring to bear, as it was plain that if the Indians went to the Maumee (now Toledo, Ohio), their trade would go to the English, which would ruin Detroit. Beanharnois told the Indians that Tonty's term would expire the following spring, when they should have a new commandant. He was therefore relieved of the command in the spring of 1728.
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