USA > Missouri > A history of Missouri from the earliest explorations and settlements until the admission of the state into the union, Volume I > Part 18
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With these Indians he made peace, and they marched, says Frey- tas, "with us that day up by the borders of that beautiful river, which is rapid, and forms in parts very delightful and beautiful prairies, so fertile that in some they gather the fruit twice a year, and great
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forests in parts at distances of two, four, six, and ten leagues, and strange trees not seen until this place. From this point we turned our route northward, following the river, which drew its current from thence, leaving the east on our right, and that day the army halted in the prairies by the river, and the Excanxaques Indians lodged somewhere apart; and it is worth noting what they did that evening, which was their going to the number of six hundred to hunt cibolas (buffaloes), which they found very near, and in less than three hours they returned, each bringing one, two, and some three cows' tongues from the incredible slaughter which they made of them. The next day the army marched, and after going four leagues we dis- covered the great range already mentioned, which ran from east to north, covered with smokes, by which they gave notice of the arrival of the Christian army, and soon after we discovered the great settle- ment of the city of Quivira situated on the widespread prairies of another beautiful river, which came from the range to enter and unite with that which we had hitherto followed."
Here, Penalosa is said to have crossed the great river which served him as a guide, and in sight of a so-called city, halted in the prairie, and the Escanxaques were ordered to retire and not to enter "the city" until commanded otherwise, and they did this, much aganist their will. because they wanted to destroy it with the aid of the Span- iards. Freytas tells us that the people were so numerous "who appeared before the great settlement, men, women and children, that it excited wonder, and then seventy head chiefs came very well attired in their style with neat chamois and buckskin, and caps and bonnets of ermine, and they welcomed the Senor Adelantado with the greatest marks of love and respect that they could. His illustrious lordship received them with pleasure and ordered them to be entertained, and he gave them some presents with his accustomed liberality, endeavor- ing to quiet their minds, which were disturbed by the alarm which they had felt on seeing him and the Excanxaques, their avowed enemies, as well as to gain their good will for the furtherance of his expedition, and giving them to understand the friendly intercourse that they would maintain with them; and from the outset impressing this on them, not only by words but also by most devoted affection and example . and afterwards his lordship received a present of a great quantity of ermine, buckskin, chamois, marten, otter, beaver, and sable skins, and a quantity of Indian corn in grain and bread, beans
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FREYTAS ACCOUNT
and pumpkins, sandpipers, turkeys, partridges, and rabbits, and much fresh fish which the Indians brought, giving him to understand that he should receive them as a mark of their good will till the next day, when he might enter their city, which was on the other bank of the rapid river, and that they would serve him with much love and all possible hospitality.
"With this they returned to their houses with very courteous supplies for the governor and chiefs of the city. . . . The Senor Adelantado detained two of those chiefs that evening, and that night, with fair words and better deeds; they were examined ques- tioned as to their land and the qualities of it and its tribes. . . . The account of these caciques and the questions of Don Diego and the Father chaplains lasted till midnight, at which hour they were sent to sleep; but they, seeing themselves alone and among such strange and foreign folk and that their enemies, the Escan- xaques, were so near, fled, and crossed the river to their city, which at sunrise was depopulated and without inhabitants, because their enemies, the Escanxaques, without being observed by our men, slipped off and attacked the city, killing, burning, and destroying all they could; on which surprise his lordship ordered the army to cross the river, and it was forded with difficulty, as it was night, and he encamped at the entrance of the town, which is situated on the delightful banks of another river, which runs through the midst of it, and the houses and streets are on both banks. The shape of the buildings for the most part is round, two or three and four stories, covered with straw, with wonderful skill, and the framework of coleo, curcura, or otate, which are all three names of a solid cane, strong and full of knots, of which walking-sticks are usually made, which does not grow in warm climates; and as we observed in what we saw, they plant twice a year, as some fields were ready to harvest and others were planting. We could find no Indian to act as inter- preter, as all had fled, fearing the great fury of their enemies the Escanxaques, whom they supposed to be favored by and in alliance with our men, and to arrest the conflagration of the city it was necessary for the army to march in two bodies, and that the one with the Maestro de Campo should spend most of the day in keeping back the Escanxaques.
"The next morning the army marched through the town, some two leagues, and having counted thousands of houses, halted on the
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bank of another river, which also entered it; and it was remarked that every quarter of a league, a little more or less, highways entered the city of sixteen paths and some more, well beaten and even, which came down from the lofty range, which was some six leagues distant from the buildings.
"From this point, the Senor Adelantado sent a squad of twenty- five soldiers with Sergeant Major Francis de Madrid to go and explore all the town, without their being able to reach the end of the streets, and when farthest on they discerned more of the town, and more smokes of the ridge, which ran along the right side of the city toward the north.
"Before arriving at this town we passed many very large rivers . , and most of these rivers very deep to run asequias for irrigation, and the soil black, strong, fertile, and covered with grass; and in conclusion all the plain from the city of Quivira to the ridge, which must be six or seven leagues, seemed a paradise; and Senor Don Diego, seeing that it was useless to follow men who fled, and .. . as he had no orders to make new discoveries, from that part, turned back to these provinces on the eleventh of June. . . . There were on this expedition men of various nations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, and all unanimously declared that they had never seen so fertile, pleasant, and agreeable a country as that."
It has been supposed that the country so traversed and described was situated north of the Missouri river, but this is highly improb- able. Starting from Santa Fe and marching in a course a little north of east, Penalosa must have seen the western slopes of the Ozarks, in the present state of Arkansas or southwest Missouri. There, he would find "a very high and insuperable ridge," which he supposed to be near the sea, and beyond this ridge, on the eastern slopes of the Ozarks, he found Quivira, so he marched ahead, finding the country "pleasant and delightful," full of beautiful rivers and springs, with marshes we now call swamps, and fruit trees of every kind, and grapes of fine flavor, "like those of Spain, and even better," and finally, after marching through this pleasant and most fruitful land "during the months of March, April, May, and the kalends of June," they found "a large river which they called the Michipi." So, if this march is not altogether a fiction, that Penalosa did find the Mississippi (or a large tributary like the White) is con- firmed by the fact that he there "saw the first Indians of the Escan-
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xaques nation," that is to say, the Arkansas tribe of Indians, then dwelling along the Mississippi (as well as on the White and St. Francois), between the mouth of the Ohio and Arkansas rivers, just as Joliet, and Marquette, and La Salle afterward found them in their chief village, Kapaha, and which may well be the "Taracari" of Freytas. From here the Senor Adelantado marched up the river, or as the chronicler says, "up by the borders of that beautiful river which is rapid."
As usual, a state of war existed among the Indians. The Arkan- sas tribe accompanied the expedition, and being now on the Missis- sippi, the range of hills run to the north; in other words, Penalosa had on one side the great river and on the other side the hills, " covered with smokes, by which they gave notice of the arrival of the Chris- tian army," and soon they discovered "the great settlement of Quivira." The chronicler calls it also the "City of Quivira." But, it is evident that when he calls it a "great settlement," he gives us a correct idea of what he really means and saw. It undoubtedly was a populous Indian settlement, extending for many miles. From these settlements numerous paths led to the hunting grounds in the prairies and into the hills. Here the Indians, unharmed- by the buffalo, "plant twice a year, as some fields were ready to harvest and others were planting." It is in the rich alluvial bottoms of northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri, along the Mississippi, the St. Francois, Black, White, and other rivers, running parallel with the Mississippi and into it, and covered with many aboriginal remains, that Penalosa might have witnessed this, but certainly not north of the Missouri river, in Kansas or Nebraska, where some writers have endeavored to locate Quivira.
As Penalosa marched north, he discovered another " beautiful river, which came from the range of hills, to enter and unite with the stream which they had hitherto followed." But to what stream reference is made cannot now be determined. That it was not a large stream is shown by the fact that the army crossed by fording it. After crossing this stream, the army encamped at the entrance of the town, which it is said was situated "on the delightful banks of another river, which runs through the midst of it, and the houses and streets are on both banks." Evidently it was some creek, or stream, like the Castor, the Big river, or Maramec, in southeast Missouri. Here the Escanxaques clandestinely crossed over into the settlement of
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Quivira and began their work of destruction, and after a futile attempt to enter into negotiations with the Quivirians, Penalosa marched home, "as he had no orders to make new discoveries." On his march, on this expedition, Don Diego crossed many great rivers, "very deep" and capable of being utilized for irrigation, and in conclusion, the veracious chronicler says that "all the plain from the city [set- tlement] of Quivira to the ridge [the Ozark hills], which must be six or seven leagues [about the distance from the Mississippi to the highlands, in the neighborhood of the mouth of the Ohio], seemed a paradise." The fact that the narrative of Freytas exaggerates and magnifies the discoveries and population of the countries through which he says Penalosa marched is in and of itself not suf- ficient reason for us to discredit this expedition entirely. Like all other Spanish narrators of exploring expeditions of that age, he gives a vivid, lively and exaggerated account of what he saw, or thought he saw, and experienced. The general description of the country is as accurate as can well be expected, and it remains for us to separate what may be fictitious and exaggerated from what is true.
But from these conjectures let us turn to the explorers of another nation, who are about to lift the veil that shrouded in mystery the great river and its countless tributaries.
CHAPTER VI
Gulf claimed as a "Spanish Inland Sea"-Discovery of Mississippi made from headwaters to Sea-Indefatigable French Explorers of Canada- Rumors of the "Great River"-Radisson and Groseilliers, their voyages- Navigate the "Forked River" in 1669-Mention the Osages-Jean Nicolet probably sailed on the Mississippi in 1634-Father Allouez first mentions the river by its present name-Missionaries hope to reach the Sea of Florida or that of California by following its waters-Louis XIV impressed with the importance of finding a route to the South Sea from Canada- Joliet employed to explore this river-Marquette associated with him- Start on their voyage of discovery in 1673-Find the Peorias and Mong- wenas on the Des Moines-Locate their villages in what is now Missouri- Discover the mouth of the Missouri-Pass the narrows at Grand Tower- Find iron deposits in Perry County, Missouri-Mention the conglomerate caving bluffs near Apple Creek-Pass the mouth of the Ohio-Meet Indians who have intercourse with Europeans-Stop at the village of the Arkansas and then return north-Joliet loses his papers and journal in the St. Law- rence-La Salle receives a commission to explore the Mississippi-Begins his voyage of discovery December, 1681-Reaches Kapaha March 12th- Reaches the Gulf April 6th-Takes possession of the valley of the Mississippi in the name of France, under the name of Louisiana-Copy of Procès Verbal.
As Spain claimed exclusive dominion of the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, considering it a Spanish "inland sea," it would seem, naturally, the discovery of the Mississippi, emptying its vast waters into the Gulf, ought to have been made from the mouth to its head- waters by the Spaniards. The discovery of this great river and the territory drained by it, however, was made inversely, as it were, from its headwaters to its mouth, and thus, by right of discovery, a new political power planted on the shores of this southern sea. Enterprising French explorers, with and without government sanction, starting west from the seat of French power on the St. Lawrence, were indefatigable in widening the sphere of French trade and French influence in what would now be called the "Hinterland" of Canada. Jesuit missionaries who were unremitting in their labors and full of enthusiastic hope of converting the untutored savages dwelling and roving in the wild and unknown wilderness, often, like Menard and Marquette, perished alone in forests. The story of the "great river," said to be "over three leagues in width," and offering an easy route to the "Vermillion sea," or "the Sea of Japan
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and China," or "the Gulf of Mexico," fired the imagination of the people as well as that of the representatives of the French crown. .
Eleven years before Marquette and Joliet, and fourteen years before La Salle, Pierre d'Espirit, Sieur Radisson1 and his brother- in-law, Medard Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers,2 saw the Mississippi and paddled their bark canoe on its waters. Radisson and Groseil- liers were bold and daring voyageurs des bois, and constant com- panions in their wanderings through the pathless and unbroken wilderness of the west, and from 1658 to 1664 were alternately in the employ of France and England, as their fancy or self-interests dictated. Radisson made notes of his individual and his joint travels with Groseilliers from 1652 to 1664, and these he copied out in 1665. They relate to four distinct voyages west from Canada. The narratives were not intended for publication, but for the perusal of Charles II. of England, whose patronage and favor these adven- turers were seeking in 1684. In some way the narratives came into the possession of Samuel Pepys, the celebrated diarist, who was secretary of the admiralty, both under Charles II. and James II. The Pepys papers fell into the hands of a London shop-keeper who used some of them as waste-paper, but in 1750 Richard Rawlinson, a famous collector, rescued many of these papers from oblivion, and among them chanced to find the priceless narrative of Radisson, from 1652 to 1664. Radisson was not a scholar. He wrote in a language the grammatical forms of which he knew but indifferently; hence these narratives are unique specimens of English.3
1 Sieur Radisson was born at St. Malo, and in 1656, at Three Rivers, married Elizabeth Hainault, and after her death a daughter of Sir John Kirk or Kerth. He and Groseilliers were engaged in many joint explorations of the west, and for some reason abandoned the interest of their country for England; in 1668 they secured a ship from Charles II. and established themselves on Hudson's Bay. They founded the Hudson Bay Company in 1670, and remained in the employ of the English until 1681, when they returned to France and took command of a French expedition to establish the French on Hudson's Bay and drive out the English they had established there. In 1683 they returned to Europe and again entered the English service. Radisson went back to the Hudson's Bay country, but Groseilliers remained in England, where he died.
2 Groseilliers was born, according to Sulte ("Canadien Francaise," vol. ii., p. 144), in 1625 at St. Cyr, in Brie, France; arrived in Canada in 1641, about 16 years old, and was in the service of the Jesuits in 1645-6 in the Hudson Bay country. In 1647 he married Helene, widow of Claude Etienne, a daughter of Abraham Martin, from whom the "Plains of Abraham," famous in the annals of Canada, derive their name. Her mother was Marguerite Langlois, daughter of Noel Langlois. His wife died in 1651, and in 1653 he married Margaret Radisson, a sister of his friend and fellow explorer.
3 II Wisconsin Historical Collection, p. 64.
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RADISSON AND GROSEILLIERS
The Jesuit "Relations" refer to the departure and return of these adventurers on what may be termed their second voyage. Although not named, they are sufficiently identified. According to this narra- tive,4 "On the 6th day of August, 1654, two young Frenchmen, full of courage, having received permission from Monsieur the governor of the country to embark with some of the people who had come down to our French settlements, began a journey of more than five hundred leagues, under the guidance of these argonauts, conveyed not in great galleons or large oared barges, but in little gondolas of bark. The two pilgrims fully expected to return in the spring of 1655, but these peoples did not conduct them home until toward the end of August of this year, 1656. Their arrival caused the country universal joy, for they were accompanied by fifty canoes, laden with goods which the French come to this end of the world to procure. The fleet rode in state and in fine order along our mighty river, propelled by five hundred arms, and guided by as many eyes, most of which had never seen the great wooden canoes of the French,- that is to say, their ships." Radisson's narratives make it clearly apparent that these adventurers whose departure and arrival are thus chronicled were, a few years afterwards, the first Europeans who discovered both the waters of the Mississippi and the Missouri.
In June, 1658, Radisson and Groseilliers made their third voyage, going up the Ottawa river to Lake Huron and beyond. They started with twenty-nine Frenchmen, but, being attacked by the Iroquois, all the other Frenchmen returned, leaving them alone with their Hurons, who served them as guides to the upper country. Arrived at French river, the Indians divided their party; "seaven boats went toward west-northwest and the rest south." Radisson and Groseilliers went with the south-bound canoes. They visited various Indian tribes, and, possibly, were the two Frenchmen referred to in the Jesuit "Relations" 5 for 1669-71 by Father Allouez. They are
4 42 Jesuit Relations, 1652-57, p. 219.
5 54 Jesuit Relations (Burrows Bros. Ed.), p. 225. Although Father Allouez writes ten years after the voyage of Radisson and Groseilliers it ought to be remembered that these tribes were but rarely visited by white men at that time; that such a visit was an extraordinary event among them, and that there- fore any unusual or fraudulent conduct would be treasured in memory. The habitat of the various tribes as related by Radisson was the same in that locality as when Father Allouez wrote. In the 44 Jes. Rel., p. 237 et seq. for 1666-7 reference is again made to "two Frenchmen, who have made their way far in- land," and who according to Father Dreuillettes gave him information as to
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mentioned in an uncomplimentary manner, as having visited the Outagamis (Foxes), then dwelling along the Fox river, in Wisconsin, as follows: "They (the Outagamis) have poor opinion of the French ever since two traders in beaver-skins appeared among them; if these men behaved as they ought, I would have had less trouble in giving these poor people other ideas of the whole French nation." They passed the winter of 1658-9 among the Pottawottomies in what is now Wisconsin, and there they met as visitors the Mascoutins, or "Fire Nation," and in 1659 visited these Indians. Here they heard of the "Nadoneceronon" nation, or Sioux, and other Indian tribes. The Mascoutins, Radisson says, "are tall and bigg and very strong," and further explains: "We desired not to goe to the north till we had made discovery in the south, being desirous to know what they did. They (the Mascoutins) told us if we would goe with them to the great Lake of the Stinkings (Lake Michigan) the time was come of their traffick, wch was of as many knives as they could gett from the French nation. . .. We finding this opportunity would not lett it slippe, but made guifts, telling (them) that the other nations would stand in feare of them because of us."
And so they accompanied the Mascoutins into the interior south- ward, animated by curiosity, and it may be supposed, not unmixed with a desire to secure peltries. In their wanderings they first saw the Mississippi and Missouri, and traveled not only on and along the boundary, but also within the limits of the present state of Missouri, and unconscious of the great historic importance of the facts he re- lates, Radisson tells us:6
"We weare 4 moneths in our voyage wthout doeing anything but goe from river to river. We mett several sorts of people. We conversed wth them, being long time in alliance wth them. By persuasion of som of them we went into ye great river that divides itself in 2, where the hurons wth some Ottanake & the wild men that had warrs wth them had retired. There is no great difference in their language, as we weare told. This nation have warrs against those of [the] forked river. It is so called because it has 2 branches, the one toward the west, the other toward the south, wch we believ runns towards Mexico, by the tokens they gave us. Being among these people, they told us the prisoners they take tells them that they [the prisoners] have warrs against a nation, against men that
the "Makoutensak" and "Outichakonk." These Frenchmen were undoubt- edly Radisson and Groseilliers.
6 Radisson notes as something remarkable that "their arrows are not of stones as ours are, but of fish boanes," and in this strangely is confirmed by Coronado in his letter to Mendoza, dated August 3, 1540, in which he says that with certain bows and arrows he sends the viceroy "there are two with bone points, the like of which have never been seen, according to what these con- querors say."-14th Report, Bureau of Ethnology, part i., p. 563.
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REACH THE "FORKED RIVER"
build great cabbans & have great beards & have such knives as we have had. Moreover they shewed a Decad of beads & guilded pearls that they have had from that people, wch made us believe they weare Europeans. They shewed one of that nation that was taken the year before. We understood him not; he was much more tawney than they wth whom we weare. His armes and leggs weare turned outside; that was the punishment inflicted uppon him. So they doe with them that they take, & kill them with clubbs & doe often eat them. They doe not burne their prisoners as those of the northern parts.
" We wear informed of that nation that live in the other river. These weare men of extraordinary height and biggnesse, that made us believe they had no communication wth them. They live onely upon Corne and Citrulles, wch are mighty bigg. They have fish in plenty throughout ye yeare. They have fruit as big as the heart of an Oriniak [Elk] wch grows on vast trees wch in compasse
are three armefull in compasse . . . . Their arrows are not of stones as ours are, but of fish boans, and other boans that they work greatly, as all other things. . . . Their dishes are made of wood. ... They have a kind of drink that makes them mad for a whole day.
"This I have not seen, therefore you may believe as you please."
The "forked river" is undoubtedly the Mississippi, and the description of Radisson: "it is so called because it has 2 branches, the one toward the west, the other toward the south, wch we believe runns toward Mexico, by the tokens they gave us" is remarkably accurate in its conjecture. But that they reached the mouth of the Missouri and perhaps points on the Missouri, would appear from the statement, "being among those people, they told us the prisoners they take tells them that they [the prisoners] have warrs against a nation, against men that build great cabbans, and have great beards, & had such knives [swords] as we have had." This passage evi- dently describing the Spaniards and their "great cabbans" in Mexico.
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