USA > New York > Pioneer history of the Holland Purchase of western New York : embracing some account of the ancient remains > Part 12
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* Brown's History of Illinois.
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France. "It was then announced to the assembled envoys of the wild Republicans thus congregated together from the springs of the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, and the Red river, that they were placed under the protection of Louis XIV., the king of France. ALLOUEZ acted as interpreter, and brilliantly clad officers from the veteran armies of Europe, mingled in the throng. ‘A cross of red cedar was then raised, and the whole company bowing before the emblem of man's redemption, chanted to its glory a hymn of the seventh century;' and planting by its side a cedar column on which were engraved the arms of the BOURBONS, it was supposed that the authority and faith of France was permanently united upon this continent." *
On the 10th of June, 1673, MARQUETTE and JOLIET, with five Frenchmen as companions, transported upon their shoulders, across the narrow passage which divides the Fox river of Green Bay from the Wisconsin of the Mississippi, two bark canoes, and launched them upon its waters. The Indians to whom MAR- QUETTE had imparted his design, endeavored to dissuade him from it. "Those distant nations," they said, " never spare the stranger -the great river abounds with monsters which devour both men and canoes." "I shall gladly," replied MARQUETTE, "lay down my life for the salvation of souls." "The tawny savage, and the humble missionary of JESUS, thereupon united in prayer."t "My companion," said MARQUETTE," is an envoy of France to discover new countries; and I am an embassador from God to enlighten them with the gospel."
The party floated down the Wisconsin between alternate hills and prairies, without seeing man, or the wonted beasts of the forests, during which no sound broke the appalling silence, save the ripple of their own canoes, and the lowing of the buffalo. They entered the great "Father of waters," with a joy that could not be expressed. After descending the Mississippi about sixty leagues, they were attracted by a well beaten trail that came down to the water's edge. Halting, and tracing it for six miles they came to three Indian villages, on the banks of the Des Moines. Entering one of them, four old men advanced bearing a peace-pipe. "We are Illinois "# said they, and offered the calu-
* History of Illinois t Bancroft.
* " We are men."
8
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met. " An aged chief received them at his cabin with upraised hands, exclaiming, 'how beautiful is the sun, Frenchmen, when thou comest to visit us. Our whole village awaits thee; thou shall enter in peace into all our dwellings.' And the pilgrims were followed by the devouring gaze of an astonished crowd.
The party descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas, and returning, entered the mouth of the Illinois. Coming up that river, they visited the villages upon its banks, the humility and kind words of MARQUETTE conciliating and winning the favor of their inhabitants. In all the different nations and tribes the party had encountered in their long voyage, there was no demon- strations of hostility, except at one village, low down in their route on the western bank of the Mississippi. There, the natives assembled, armed for war. and threatened an attack. "Now," thought MARQUETTE, "we must indeed ask the aid of the virgin;" but trusting rather to the potency of a peace-pipe, embellished with the head and neck of brilliant birds, that had been hung round his neck by the chieftain upon the Des Moines, he raised it aloft. At the sight of the mysterious emblem, "God touched the hearts of the old men, who checked the impetuosity of the young; and throwing their bows and quivers into the canoes, as a token of peace, they prepared a hospitable welcome."* The tribe of Illinois, that inhabited its bank, entreated MARQUETTE to come and reside among them. One of their chiefs, with their young men, conducted the party by the way of Chicago to lake Michigan; and before the end of September, all were safe in Green Bay.
Thus, MARQUETTE and JOLIET, with their few companions, were the pioneer navigators of the Mississippi; above the mouth of the Arkansas; t the first Europeans to tread the soil of Wisconsin, lowa. Illinois and Missouri. But it remained for another bold
NOTE .- It is worthy of remark here, that most of these Indian nations of the West hated and feared the Iroquois. The early French adventurers knew well how to profit by this. With more of good policy than truth, they were careful to represent them- selves as the enemies of the Iroquois, and to add that the great captain of the French had chastised the Five Nations and commanded peace. In these first villages of the Illinois that Marquette and Joliet visited, a festival of fish, hominy, and the choicest viands from the prairies was prepared for the messengers who brought the glad tidings that the Iroquois had been subjugated.
* Jesuit Relations.
t Ferdinand De Soto, a Spanish adventurer, had in 1541, entered the mouth of the Mississippi, and ascended it probably as far up as the mouth of the Arkansas.
·
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adventurer with more enlarged views; one who is identified prominently with our immediate local history, to complete the discovery.
And what an advent was that of the indefatigable Jesuit! He was highly educated, as were most of those of his order, that came out to the unexplored regions of the New World. He was a lover of nature in its rudeness, simplicity, beauty and grandeur. No wonder, that floating down the majestic river; viewing its banks upon either hand, their rich and variegated scenery; or up the Illinois, catching glimpses of wide prairies, skirted with wood-lands and carpeted with wild flowers, the buffalo and decr grazing and sporting upon them; flocks of swan and ducks rising upon the wing. or seeking shelter from the strangers in coves and inlets; - that he became an enthusiast; worshipped with increased devotion the Author of all things, to whose service he had dedicated himself ; mingled with his prayers and thanksgivings, his admiration of the beautiful waters and landscapes that he was assisting to bring within the pale of his church, and under the temporal dominion of his king.
JOLIET returned to Quebec to announce the discoveries : MARQUETTE remained to preach the gospel among the Miamis who dwelt near Chicago. " Two years afterwards, sailing from Chicago to Mackinac, he entered a little river in Michigan. Erecting an altar, he said mass after the rites of the Catholic Church; then begging the men who conducted his canoe to leave him alone for half an hour;
-" in the darkling wood, Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down, And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks And supplication."
At the end of the half hour, they went to seek him, and he was no more! The good missionary, discoverer of a world, had fallen asleep on the margin of the stream that bears his name. Near its mouth the canoe-men dug his grave in the sand. Ever after the forest rangers, if in danger on lake Michigan, would invoke his name. The people of the west will build his monument." *
The success of MARQUETTE and JOLIET was destined to confirm
* Bancroft.
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another adventurer, in his previously half formed resolutions to enter upon a broader and farther extended field of discovery; to lead another to find an uninterrupted navigation through a chain of lakes and rivers to the " country of the Illinois," and finally to trace the " great river" they had discovered, to its source.
THE FIRST VESSEL UPON THE UPPER LAKES.
An event transpiring within our borders, upon the banks of the Niagara, of so much local and general interest as the building and launching of the first sail vessel that floated upon the waters of lake Erie, demands especial notice, and more of minute detail than can be bestowed generally upon events preceding the main objects of this work. It was the pioneer advent of our vast inland commerce, the sails of which are now spread out upon our long chain of lakes and rivers, upon the borders and in the valleys of which an Empire has sprung into existence ! A commerce equal to the export trade of the whole union, with foreign countries; its principal mart, the "City of the Lakes," the young, the rapidly advancing emporium of the great West, and Western New York. Here, it will only be necessary to speak of the humble beginning of all this; its first slow, and after rapid progress, will occupy succeeding pages.
ROBERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE, was a native of France, of good family, of extensive learning, and possessed an ample fortune. He renounced his inheritance by entering the seminary of the Jesuits. After profiting by the discipline of their schools, and obtaining their praise for purity and vigilance, he had taken his discharge from their fraternity. With no companion but poverty, but with a boundless spirit of enterprise, about the year 1667, when the attention of all France was directed towards this continent, the young adventurer embarked for fame and fortune in the new world. Established at first as a fur trader at La Chine, he explored lake Ontario and ascended to lake Erie. Returning to France in 1775, by the aid of Count FRONTENAC he obtained the rank of nobility, and the grant of Fort Frontenac, now Kingston, on condition of maintaining a post there. The grant was in fact the concession of a large domain, and a monopoly of the traffic with the Five Nations.
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" In the portion of the wilderness of which the young man was proprietary, cultivated fields proved the fertility of the soil; his herd of cattle multiplied; groups of Iroquois built their cabins in the environs; a few French settled under his shelter; a few Franciscans now tolerated in Canada, renewed their missions under his auspices; the noble forest invited the construction of log cabins and vessels with decks; and no canoe-men in Canada could shoot a rapid with such address as the pupils of LA SALLE."*
This was destined to be with him but a short stopping place; " flocks and herds," a small spot in the wilderness converted to rural civilized life, was not the climax of his ambition. He aspired to higher achievments than to be the patron of a village, or a trading post. The voyages of COLUMBUS, and a history of the rambles of DE Soro, were among the books he had brought with him from home. When JOLIET returned from the west, after his tour with MARQUETTE, he took Fort Frontenac in his way, and spread the news of the brilliant discoveries they had made. LA SALLE had caught from the Iroquois a glimpse of the Ohio and its course, and some accounts of a new and hitherto undiscovered country bordering upon it. He conceived the design of making it the country of his prince. It was he who first proposed the union of New France with the valley of the Mississippi, and suggested their close connection by a line of military posts. He proposed also to open the commerce of Europe to them both, and for that purpose repaired to France.
By his earnest, bold enthusiasm,-his tone of confidence in ultimate success- he made patrons of his enterprise, COLBERT, the minister of Louis XIV., and at the instance of the Marquis de SEIGNEILLY, COLBERT's eldest son, he procured the exclusive right of a traffic in buffalo skins and a commission for the discovery of the Great River. The commission was as follows: -
"LETTERS PATENT
"GRANTED BY THE KING OF FRANCE TO THE SIEUR DE LA SALLE, ON THE 12TH OF MAY, 1678. " Louis, by the grace of God, king of France and Navarre, to our dear and well beloved Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle, greeting :-
" We have received with favor the very humble petition which has been presented to us in your name, to permit you to endeavor to discover the western part of our country of New France; and we have consented to this proposal the more willingly because there is nothing we have more at heart than the discovery of this country. through which it is probable that a passage may be found to Mexico; and because your
* Bancroft.
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diligence iu clearing the land which we grauted to you by the decree of our council of the 13th of May, 1675, and by letters patent of the same date, to form habitations upon the same lands, and to put Fort Frontenac in a good state of defence, the Seigniory and government whereof we likewise granted to you; affords us every reason to hope that you will succeed to our satisfaction, and to the advantage of our subjects of the said country.
"For these reasons, and others thereunto moving us, we have permitted, and do hereby permit you, by these presents, signed by our hand, to endeavor to discover the western part of our country of New France ; and for the execution of this enterprise, to construct forts wherever you shall deem it necessary; which it is our will you shall hold on the same terms and conditions as Fort Frontenac, agreeably and conformably to our said letters patent of the 13th of May, 1675, which we have confirmed as far as is needful, and hereby confirm by these presents,-and it is our pleasure that they be executed according to their form and tenure.
" To accomplish this, and every thing above mentioned, we give you full powers; on condition however, that you shall finish this enterprise in five years, in default of which their pursuits shall be void and of none effect; that you carry on no trade whatever, with the savages called Outaouacs, and others, who bring their beaver skins and other peltries to Montreal; and that the whole shall be done at your expense, and that of your company to which we have granted the privilege of trade in buffalo skins. And we call on Sieur de FRONTENAC our governor and lieutenant general, and on Sieur de CHESNEAU, intendant of justice, policy and finance, and on the officers who compose the supreme council in said country, to affix their signatures to these presents; for such is our pleasure. Given at St. Germaine en Laye, this 12th day of May, 1678, and of our reign the thirty-fifth.
[Signed] COLBERT. LOUIS.
Accompanied by TONTI, an Italian, and Father HENNEPIN, a number of mechanics and mariners, with military and naval stores, and goods for the Indian trade, he arrived at Fort Frontenac in 1678. In the fall of that year, a wooden canoe of ten tons, the first that ever entered the Niagara river, bore a part of his com- pany to the foot of the rapids. at Lewiston. He established a trading post upon the present site of Fort Niagara. The work of ship-building was immediately commenced. The keel of a small vessel of sixty tons burthen, was laid at the mouth of Cayuga creek. *
* This locality has been questioned. Governor Cass, locates La Salle's ship yard at Erie; Mr Bancroft at the mouth of the Tonawanda, or rather did so in his history of the United States, In a letter to the author, dated London May 17th, 1848, he says :- " As to the ship building of La Salle above Niagara Falls, Mr. Catlin is quite con- fident it took place upon the opposite or Canada side of the river. His local knowledge is greater than mine, and his opinion merits the most respectful consideration." In coming to this conclusion, Mr Catlin must have set aside the authority of Hennepin, who was present and taking note of all that was passing at the time. He says the ship- building was commenced " two leagues above the Falls." This to be sure does not determine which side of the river it was; but it is determined in a portion of his journal that follows, that the portage of these first adventurers was upon this side. After the vessel was built Hennepin went to Fort Frontenac, and returning to join his comrades
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TONTI and HENNEPIN, venturing among the Senecas, established relations of amity; while LA SALLE urged on the completion of his vessel; gathering, at the same time, furs from the natives, and sending on messengers with merchandize to trade for furs and skins, and to apprise the Illinois of his intended visit, and prepare the way for his reception.
"Under the auspices of LA SALLE, Europeans first pitched a tent at Niagara; it was he who in 1679, amid the salvo from his little artillery, the chanting of the Te Deum, and the astonished gaze of the Senecas, first launched a wooden vessel, a bark of sixty tons, on the upper Niagara river, and in the Griffin, * freighted with a colony of fur traders for the valley of the Mississippi, on the 7th. day of August, unfurled a sail to the breezes of lake Erie."
The following is HENNEPIN's account of the advent of LA SALLE upon the Niagara river, the building and launching of the Grif- fin, &c .: -
"On the 14th day of January, 1679, we arrived at our cabin at Niagara, to refresh ourselves from the fatigues of our voyage. We had nothing to eat but Indian corn. Fortunately, the white fish, of which I have heretofore spoken, were just then in season. This delightful fish served to relish our corn. We used the water in which the fish were boiled in place of soup. When it grows cold in the pot, it congeals like veal soup.
"On the 20th, I heard, from the banks where we were, the voice of the Sieur de LA SALLE, who had arrived from Fort Frontenac t in a large vessel. He brought provisions and rigging necessary for the vessel we intended building above the great fall of Niagara, near the entrance into lake Erie. But by a strange misfortune, that vessel was lost through fault of the two pilots, who disagreed as to the course.
"The vessel was wrecked on the southern shore of lakeOntario, ten leagues from Niagara. The sailors have named the place La.
who had gone up with the vessel to the " mouth of lake Erie " they cast anchor " at the foot of the three mountains," and he speaks of the difficulty they had in ascending the three mountains with their provisions, munitions of war, &c. The three moun- tains were evidently. - first, the high river bank at Lewiston; secondly, the distinct offset which may be seen near the residence of S. Scovel and thirdly, the upper ledge or terrace, upon the map inserted in Baron La Hontan's "voyages to North America" published in London, in 1703, the landing place at Lewiston is distinctly marked, and the " three mountains" of Hennepin, are called the " Hills." Additional evidence could be cited. The place where the Griffin was built is clearly designated, and should no longer be questioned.
* In compliment to Count Frontenac whose armorial bearings were adorned by two griffins, as supporters.
t Now Kingston.
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Cap Enrage, (Mad Cap.) The anchors and cables were saved, but the goods and bark canoes were lost. Such adversities would have caused the enterprise to be abandoned by any but those who had formed the noble design of a new discovery.
"The Sieur de LA SALLE informed us that he had been among the Iroquois Senecas, before the loss of his vessel, that he had succeeded so well in conciliating them, that they mentioned with pleasure our embassy, which I shall describe in another place, and even consented to the prosecution of our undertaking. This agreement was of short duration, for certain persons opposed our designs, in every possible way, and instilled jealousies into the minds of the Iroquois. The fort, nevertheless, which we were building at Niagara, continued to advance. But finally, the secret influences against us were so great, that the fort became an object of suspicion to the savages, and we were compelled to abandon its construction for a time, and content ourselves with building a habi- tation surrounded with palisades.
"On the 22d we went two leagues above the great falls of Niagara, and built some stocks, on which to erect the vessel we needed for our voyage. We could not have built it in a more "convenient place, being near a river which empties into the strait, which is between lake Erie and the great falls. In all my travels back and forth, I always carried my portable chapel upon my shoulders.
"On the 26th, the keel of the vessel and other pieces being ready, the Sieur de LA SALLE sent the master carpenter named MOYSE. to request me to drive the first bolt. But the modesty appropriate to my religious profession, induced me to decline the honor. He then promised ten louis d'or for that first bolt, to stim- ulate the master carpenter to advance the work.
" During the whole winter, which is not half as severe in this country as in Canada, we employed in building bark huts one of the two savages of the Wolf tribe, whom we had engaged for hunting deer. I had one hut especially designed for observing prayers on holidays and Sundays. Many of our people knew the Gregorian chant, and the rest had some parts of it by rote.
" The Sieur de LA SALLE left in command of our ship yard one TONTI, an Italian by birth, who had come to France after the revolution in Naples, in which his father was engaged. Pressing business compelled the former to return to Fort Frontenac, and I conducted him to the borders of lake Ontario, at the mouth of the river Niagara. While there he pretended to mark out a house for the blacksmith, which had been promised for the convenience of the Iroquois. I cannot blame the Iroquois for not believing all that had been promised them at the embassy of the Sieur de LA MOTTE.
"Finally the Sieur de LA SALLE undertook his expedition on foot over the snow, and thus accomplished more than eighty leagues.
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He had no food, except a small bag of roasted corn, and even that had failed him two days' journey from the fort. Nevertheless he arrived safely with two men and a dog which drew his baggage on the ice.
" Returning to our ship yard, we learned that the most of the Iroquois had gone to war beyond lake Erie, while our vessel was being built. Although those that remained were less violent, by reason of their diminished numbers, still they did not cease from coming often to our ship yard, and testifying their dissatisfaction at our doings. Some time after, one of them, pretending to be drunk attempted to kill our blacksmith. But the resistance which he met with from the smith, who was named LA FORGE, and who wielded a red hot bar of iron, repulsed him, and together with a reprimand which I gave the villian, compelled him to desist. Some days after, a squaw advised us that the Senecas were about to set fire to our vessel on the stocks, and they would, without doubt, have effected their object, had not a very strict watch been kept.
" These frequent alarms, the fear of the failure of provisions, on account of the loss of the large vessel from Fort Frontenac, and the refusal of the Senecas to sell us Indian corn, discouraged our carpenters. They were moreover enticed by a worthless fellow, who often attempted to desert to New York, (Nouvelle Jorck, ) a place which is inhabited by the Dutch, who have succeeded the Swedes. This dishonest fellow would have undoubtedly been suc- cessful with our workmen, had I not encouraged them by exhorta- tions on holidays and Sundays after divine service. I told them that our enterprise hadsole reference to the promotion of the glory of God, and the welfare of our Christian colonies. Thus I stimu- lated them to work more diligently in order to deliver us from all these apprehensions.
"In the meantime the two savages of the Wolf tribe, whom we had engaged in our service, followed the chase, and furnished us with roe-bueks, and other kinds of deer, for our subsistence. By reason of which our workmen took courage and applied themselves to their business with more assiduity. Our vessel was consequently soon in a condition to be launched. which was done, after having been blessed according to our church of Rome. We were in haste to get it afloat, although not finished, that we might guard it more securely from the threatened fire,
"This vessel was named The Griffin, (Le Griffon) in allusion to the arms of the Count de FRONTENAC, which have two Griffins for their supports. For the Sieur de LA SALLE had often said of this vessel, that he would make the Griffin fly above the crows. We fired three guns, then sung the Te Deum, which was followed by many cries of joy.
" The Iroquois who happened to be present, partook of our joy and witnessed our rejoicings. We gave them some brandy to
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drink, as well as to all our men, who slung their hammocks under the deck of the vessel, to sleep in greater security. We then left our bark huts, to lodge where we were protected from the insults of the savages.
"The Iroquois having returned from their beaver hunt, were extremely surprised to see our ship. They said we were the Ot-kon, which means in their language, penetrating minds. They could not understand how we had built so large a vessel in so short a time, although it was but sixty tons burthen. We might have called it a moving fort, for it caused all the savages to tremble, who lived within a space of more than five hundred leagues, along the rivers and great lakes.
" I now went in a bark canoe, with one of our savage hunters, to the mouth of lake Erie. I ascended the strong rapids twice with the assistance of a pole, and sounded the entrance of the lake. It did not find them insurmountable for sails, as had been falsely represented. I ascertained that our vessel, favored by a north or northeast wind, reasonably strong, could enter the lake, and then sail throughout its whole extent with the aid of its sails alone; and if they should happen to fail, some men could be put on shore and tow it up the stream.
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