USA > Tennessee > The history of Tennessee, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 3
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" You are welcome," said he to De Soto. "It is needless to talk long. What I have to say
can be said in a few words. You shall know how willing I am to serve you."
39
VILLAGE OF MOBILE.
1540.]
They resumed their march, accompanied by Tuscaloosa, who, mounted on a strong hackney belonging to De Soto, was detained under the guise of friendship in a sort of honourable captivity. But no fair speeches or courteous attentions could blind the bold chieftain to the fact that his liberty was restrained ; nor were his people less indignant. While on the route two of the Spa- niards were missed. Suspecting they had been slain, De Soto demanded tidings of them from Tuscaloosa's followers. " Why do you ask us ?" said they. "Are we their keepers ?"
Apprehensive of some latent design, De Soto sent two troopers in advance to reconnoitre Mo- bile, a strongly fortified village, which is supposed to have occupied Choctaw Bluff, on the Alabama River. This village contained eighty houses, each large enough to hold from five hundred to a thousand men. It was surrounded by a high palisade, formed of the trunks of trees, bound together with vines, and covered with a smooth coating of prepared clay, so as to resemble a wall of masonry. As De Soto, accompanied by Tuscaloosa, approached the village with his van- guard, consisting of two hundred horse and foot, large numbers of warriors, clad in furs and de- corated with feathers and other ornaments, fol- lowed by musicians and dancers, and by a body of young and beautiful maidens, came out to welcome them as to a festival. They had
40
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1540.
scarcely entered within the walls before Tusca- loosa was engaged in earnest conversation with his people. Presently tidings were brought to De Soto, that within the houses immense num- bers of warriors were assembled, amply supplied with their usual weapons and missiles of offence. Orders were at once given to the Spaniards to be on the alert.
Desirous of avoiding a resort to arms, if possible, De Soto endeavoured to regain posses- sion of the person of Tuscaloosa. He sent several messages to the chief by Juan Ortiz, in- ·viting him to come and partake of the dinner which awaited him; but the haughty chief dis- dained to return any reply. At length, one of his principal warriors, wrought to a passionate frenzy by the voices of the Spaniards, rushed from the house in which Tuscaloosa remained surrounded by his people, and fiercely exclaimed : " Where are these robbers, these vagabonds, who call upon my chief Tuscaloosa to come out with so little reverence ? Let us cut them to pieces on the spot, and so put an end to their wicked- ness and tyranny."
An Indian placed a bow in his hand. Giving freedom to his motions by throwing back his splendid fur mantle, he directed the arrow, drawn to its head, against a group of Spaniards assembled in the square. At this moment he fell dead, being nearly cleft in twain by the
41
BATTLE OF MOBILE.
1540.]
sweep of a sword wielded by stout Baltasar de Gallegos. A fierce tumult immediately arose. Myriads of armed warriors swarmed from the houses, and commenced an attack upon the Spa- niards with clubs, and arrows, and stones. Taken at a disadvantage, five of the latter were quickly slain; and it was with great difficulty that De Soto and his companions retreated from the town to where their horses were tied. Some succeeded in mounting before their pursuers ar- rived, others were slain before their eyes, with- out the power to rescue them. All the baggage fell into the hands of the enemy. It was carried into the town amid great rejoicings. The mana- cles of the Indian captives, who had been con- strained to bear these burdens, were speedily struck off, and arms placed in their hands. In the mean time, the fight was kept up outside the walls, although the gates were shut. A rein- forcement of cavalry from the main body having at length enabled the foot soldiers to shake off their thronging foes, De Soto now headed a fu- rious charge, and the Indians were driven into the town. Assailed from within by a storm of arrows and other missiles, the Spaniards were compelled to retire from before the walls. Their retreat was the signal for 'another fierce sally. In this manner the battle raged for three hours with varying success, the Spaniards fighting in a compact body, advancing and retreating as one
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1
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1540.
man. A small detachment within the city, sheltering themselves in a house, defended their post for many hours with a courage bordering on despair. At length the Indians were forced by loss of numbers to retire within their en- closures, and a great portion of the Spanish main body, under Moscoso, coming up at this time, an assault was determined on.
Obedient to the orders of their leader, two hundred of the cavalry, protected by bucklers, sprang forward, and after repeated repulses dashed in the gates with their battle-axes. At the same time others clambered over the wall, by breaking away the mud plastering for a pre- carious foothold. In the streets, and from the walls and housetops, the Indians, though falling in great heaps, sought desperately, by the crush of numbers, to overwhelm their assailants. None asked quarter, but all fought until they fell. The great pool which supplied the town with water was crimsoned with the blood of the dead and the dying. Yet of this water the Spaniards drank to appease the thirst by which they were consumed, and then, rejoining their companions, continued the battle. To put an end to this fierce and dubious conflict, De Soto mounted his horse, and with lance in hand, and the battle-cry of "Our Lady of Santiago !" hurled himself into the midst of the struggling masses, closely followed by the gallant Nuno de Tobar. De Soto,
43
SLAUGHTER OF THE INDIANS.
1540.]
deeply wounded in the thigh by an arrow, fought standing in his stirrups. Rending through the multitude on every side, trampling some beneath the hoofs of their horses, and thrusting the life out of innumerable others, the two cavaliers maintained their sanguinary supremacy until night and sheer exhaustion terminated the con- flict.
At this time the town was set on fire, and the flames extending themselves with great rapidity, enveloped with a burning girdle the hapless In- dians who yet held possession of the houses. Conscious of the fate impending over them, those who were at large gathered together, and men and women precipitated themselves upon their foes. But what impression could poorly equipped and ill-disciplined thousands make upon men cased in defensive armour, wielding infinite- ly superior weapons, and directed by consum- mate military skill ? Piled one upon another, they fell clutching at the arquebusses, swords, and lances, to the last. For nine hours this
terrible battle continued. When it ceased, the great town of Mobile was a heap of ashes, and six thousand Indians lay slaughtered around. To the Spaniards it was a victory purchased at a fearful price. Eighty-two of their number were killed, or mortally wounded, two of whom were near kinsmen to De Soto; and not one of the survivors came out of the battle unhurt.
44
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1541.
Seventeen hundred dangerous wounds attested alike the courage of the Mobilians and the en- durance of the Spaniards. The latter had like- wise to mourn the irreparable loss of a large number of mules, besides the destruction of their baggage, which, with the robes of the priests, the consecrated vessels, and other ornaments sacred to their worship, had been consumed in the flames. Tidings of his ships awaiting him at Pensacola Bay reaching De Soto at this . time, caused great rejoicing among the troops, many of whom desired nothing better than to
abandon the country. Among the cavaliers a scheme was arranged to desert De Soto, and re- embark for their several homes. Indignant at this contemplated treachery, De Soto turned his back upon his vessels, and marching northward, took up his winter-quarters in the province of Chickasa. Finding here a supply of maize, he remained for several months; but the natives, who had for some time feigned a friendship for the invaders, became jealous of their prolonged sojourn, and toward the spring of 1541, in the midst of a dark, cold, blustering night, rushed into the village where the Spaniards were en- camped, and set it on fire. Roused suddenly from their slumbers, the troops rushed out and fought in such clothes and with such arms as they could catch up hastily. Forty Spaniards and not less than fifty horses were killed in this
45 ,
DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
1542.]
sudden onslaught; while most of the garments of the Spaniards were consumed by the fire, which also injured irretrievably much armour and many weapons. 1
Repairing these disasters as best they might, they resumed their wanderings; and after strug- gling for seven days through a wilderness alter- nating with swamp and forest, entered the village of Chisca, whence De Soto beheld for the first time, from the lower Chickasa Bluffs, the mighty waters of the Mississippi. Here, on the confines of Tennessee, and not far from the present city of Memphis, the wearied troops, after traversing a dense forest for several days, halted for three weeks to build piraguas. Embarking in them, they crossed the river in detachments, without opposition, and continuing their march along its western bank, finally took up their quarters for the winter in the province of Pacahas, in Arkansas. At this place died Juan Ortiz, the interpreter. In the spring of 1542, De Soto, now hopeless of finding gold, and changing from his sterner mood to a pro- found melancholy as he contemplated his losses and continual disappointments, descended the Washita and encamped at the confluence of the Red River with the Mississippi. At this place he commenced the building of two brigantines ; sending out, in the mean time, a detachment to ascertain the course of the great river and the
: 46
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1542.
distance to the sea. In eight days the troopers returned, and reported the route impracticable, by reason of the swamps and rivers by which it was obstructed.
Hoping to recruit his own failing strength, and that of his followers, in the opposite pro- vince of Quigualtanqui, De Soto sent a messen- ger to the cacique of a tribe whose residence was in the vicinity of the modern town of Natchez, demanding his homage, on the ground that he was the son of the Sun, and as such entitled to worship and obedience. " If he be so," respond- ed the chieftain, " let him dry up the river be- tween us, and I will believe him. If he visits my town in peace, I will receive him in friend- ship ; if as an enemy, he shall find me ready for battle."
Already sick of a mortal disease, De Soto was in no mood to retort upon the chieftain his scorn- ful reply. Tortured with anxiety for the safety of his command, his illness daily increased. Confident that his end approached, he convened his officers, and appointed Luis de Moscoso his successor. The poor remains of his once goodly army were next summoned by detachments to his couch. After taking a solemn leave of them, he humbly confessed his sins, and on the 21st of May, 1542, expired, in the forty-second year of his age.
Mournfully depositing the body of their be-
.
47
RETURN TO MEXICO.
1543.]
loved commander, wrapped in his mantle, in the trunk of an evergreen oak, hollowed out for that purpose, they reverently lowered it, at midnight, beneath the waves of that magnificent river he had been the first European to discover.
Resuming their wanderings soon after, the disconsolate adventurers endeavoured to reach Mexico by way of the Red River. Beguiled by their guides, they reached, by a tortuous and difficult route, the prairies of the west, from whence, after great suffering, and beset by innu- merable difficulties, they retraced their steps to the Mississippi ; and, constructing brigantines on its banks, sailed down the river to its mouth.
On the 10th of September, 1543, three hundred and eleven haggard men, blackened by exposure, shrivelled by famine, some clad in skins of wild beasts, and others in Indian mats, or in the ragged remains of their former gay apparel, after a voyage of fifty days, entered the Panuco, a river of Mexico, flowing into the Gulf Stream, where they were kindly received, and entertained with unbounded hospitality. They were the only survivors of the famous but inglorious expedition of Hernando de Soto.
48
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. -
[1650.
CHAPTER III.
The Spanish settlements restricted to Florida-French, Eng- lish, and Dutch colonies in North America-The Jesuit missions in Illinois-Marquette ordered to explore the Mis- sissippi valley-The Illinois entreat him not to venture- His noble reply-Sets out on his journey-How attended, and by whom-Reaches Maskoutens-Rude evidences of Christianity among the natives-Speech of Jolliet-The voyageurs descend the Wisconsin-Their reception at the Des Moines villages-Marquette's address-Response of the chief-Description of the monstrous Piasau-The voyage down the Mississippi-False alarm of the travellers-They reach the cotton wood region-Approach the village of Michigaméa-Hostile preparations by the natives-Rescue of Marquette and his party-Escorted to Arkansas, and hospitably entertained-The return to Canada.
BUT though a fatality attended all those Spa- nish adventurers who attempted to obtain a per- manent foothold on the northern shore of the Gulf Stream, Spain claimed henceforth the sove- reignty of Florida, including within the limits of her new domain the territory on both sides of the Mississippi, extending backward to the prairies of the West. A century and a quarter after the death of De Soto, the only indication of Spanish possession was the small settlement at St. Augustine, founded in 1564 by the bigoted and sanguinary Melendez. But while the co-
49
/
JESUIT MISSIONS.
1671.]
lonial possessions of Spain on the North Ame- rican continent were restricted to a solitary fort and a slender garrison on its southern peninsula, other nations had entered with success upon the field of adventure; and from Labrador to Caro- lina, the Atlantic coast of the new world was dotted at intervals with thriving colonies. In remote Canada the energetic Champlain had founded a prosperous province. At the East, the sedate, God-fearing men of the New Eng- land provinces were indoctrinating a hardy race in the principles of true political liberty. On the banks of the Hudson, the Dutch of New Netherland had lately taken the oath of allegi- ance to the Duke of York, afterward James II .; while farther to the south, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas were increasing rapidly in wealth and population.
Up to this period all traces of De Soto's great discovery appear to have been lost, and the existence of the Mississippi was only con- jectured from imperfect narratives of that un- fortunate expedition, and from reports brought by the Illinois Indians to the members of the Jesuit missions, one of whose stations was at the Saulte de Sainte Marie, a little below the foot of Lake Superior. Here the humble but heroic Marquette first heard of a great river flowing through the Illinois country, and tracing its way southward for thousands of miles, until it finally
5
50
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
- [1671.
poured its immense volume of waters into an unknown sea.
In 1671 a new missionary station was formed at Point St. Ignatius, to which Marquette was ordered to repair; and here he continued, de- voted to the duties of his calling, until 1673, when he was directed by M. Talon, the Intend- ant in New France, to explore the region west- ward. These instructions realized the most ardent wishes of the pious father, and he imme- diately prepared for the journey, "firmly re- solved to do all, and suffer all, for so glorious an enterprise. " The terrified Indians to whom Marquette had preached, and by whom he was greatly beloved, characterized his attempt as reckless and desperate. They told him he would meet with nations who never spared the stranger ; that the great river was full of hidden dangers, and abounded with terrible monsters, who swal- lowed up men and canoes; that an immense bird, swooping from afar, pounced upon hapless voy- agers, carried them to its inaccessible eyrie among the mountains, and there deliberately tore its victims to pieces with beak and talons. And, lastly, they told him of heats that would dry up the very marrow of his bones. Nothing daunted, the good Marquette thanked them kindly for their counsel, but told them "that I could not profit by it, since the salvation of souls was at stake, for which object I would be over-
51
MARQUETTE AT MASKOUTENS.
1673.]
joyed to give my life." And so, in the spring of 1673, father James Marquette, the Sieur Jolliet, a French Canadian, who had already now some local fame as an explorer, and five boat- men, departed from Mackinaw in two frail birch bark canoes, so light as to be easily borne across portages on the shoulders of four men, crossed Lake Huron into Green Bay, ascended Fox River to the portage of the Wisconsin, and reached Maskoutens on the 7th of June. Beyond this no European explorer had ever ventured. The village of Maskoutens was beautifully situ- ated on an eminence, around which spread prairies on every side, "interspersed with thick- ets, or groves of lofty trees." But what most cheered the heart of the pious Marquette was to behold a handsome cross planted in the centre of the village, and adorned with skins, belts, bows and arrows, the votive offerings of warriors that had seldom sent out war-parties in vain, to the Christian Manitou, whom Father Allouez had taught them thus rudely to worship.
"I am sent by our governor to discover new countries, and the reverend father, by the Al- mighty, to illumine them with the light of the gospel," said Jolliet; and he requested of his astonished hearers two guides, to put them in their way. It was granted.
Nine miles from Maskoutens, the voyageurs, after carrying their boats across the portage,
52
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
[1673.
embarked upon the broad shallow waters of the Wisconsin, with its difficult sandbars and its lovely vine-clad islets ; and, on the 17th of June, after descending the river for one hundred and twenty miles, entered the Mississippi "with a joy," says Marquette, " that I cannot express."
For fourteen days they floated down the river without perceiving any sign of human life. At length, on the 25th of June, they discovered an Indian trail, leading westward from the water's edge, until at a distance of two leagues across a beautiful prairie it diverged to three Indian vil- lages. Toward one of these, a village standing on the right bank of the river, Des Moines, Mar- quette, and Jolliet advanced, leaving the canoes in charge of the boatmen. It was a hazardous service, and the two humble yet resolute voya- geurs evinced their knowledge of the risk they ran, by devoutly commending themselves to God. Halting within sight of the village, they raised a low cry ; whereupon, after the confusion occa- sioned by their presence had subsided, four old men advanced toward them, two of whom bore tobacco-pipes handsomely adorned, and orna- mented with many kinds of feathers. " Who are you ?" inquired Marquette. "We are Illi- nois," they responded ; and presenting the peace- pipes, invited their visitors to enter the village.
" How beautiful is the sun, O Frenchman! when thou comest to visit us ! All our town
53
1673.] MARQUETTE'S ADDRESS.
awaits thee, and thou shalt enter all our cabins in peace."
Such was the greeting which met Marquette as he approached the cabin appointed for his reception ; while the crowd which closed respect- fully behind the travellers, occasionally cried out, " Well done, brothers, to visit us !"
After smoking the calumet, they were invited to attend a council at the great Sachem's village. Crowds thronged the way, all eager to behold the adventurous Frenchmen, and all eager to do them reverence. Assembled in the council-house, Marquette addressed himself to the hushed multi- tude. Dividing his discourse into four heads, closing each part with a present, he declared the object of his mission to be one of discovery, and himself the bearer of tidings of peace and good- will to all the nations on the river. He next preached to them concerning God the Creator, at whose bidding he had come to exhort them to acknowledge and obey him. He spoke also of the governor of Canada; and after telling them that he had vanquished their enemies the Iro- quois, concluded by asking for all the informa- tion they could give respecting the course of the Great River to the sea, and the nations through which they had yet to pass.
Then the great chief arose, and thanked the voyageurs for having visited them. "Never," said he, " has the earth been more beautiful, nor
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1673.
the sun so bright as to-day ; never has our river been so calm, nor so free from rocks, which your canoes have removed as they passed ; never has our tobacco had so fine a flavour, nor our corn appeared so beautiful." He closed by present- ing Marquette with a youthful slave in token of his esteem for the governor, and with a calumet ornamented with feathers of various hues, to protect him during a voyage which he earnestly exhorted him to prosecute no farther.
" I do not fear death," responded Marquette," " and esteem no happiness greater than that of losing my life for the glory of Him who made all." A festival followed, consisting of hominy, fish, buffalo, and dog-meat, served up in succession ; but of the last their visitors would not partake. After passing the night in the dwelling of the principal chief, the travellers were accompanied the following day to their canoes by six hun- dred persons, who took leave of the good father in the kindest manner, and received from him a promise that he would return the next year and instruct them-a pledge which he subsequently redeemed.
Toward the close of June the little party resumed their voyage ; and as they coasted the rocks above the present town of Alton, they were startled at beholding, painted thereon, rude re- presentations of the fabled Piasau, a monster " as large as a calf, with horns on the head like
55
VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI.
1673.]
-
a deer, a fearful look, red eyes, bearded like a tiger, the face somewhat like a man's, the body covered with scales, and the tail so long that it twice makes the turn of the body, passing over the head and down between the legs, and ending at last in a fish's tail." e same day they reached the mouth of the Missouri, and, float- ing downward, passed another beautiful river, known subsequently as the Wabash-the same we now call the Ohio."
It was the middle of July, and as they ap- proached the region of the cane they became oppressed with the intolerable heat and annoyed by swarms of musquitos. An awning formed from the sails of the canoes afforded an indif- ferent protection both from the insects and the sun. As the voyageurs were thus gliding with the current, they perceived a party of Indians standing on the shore, armed with guns. Mar- quette presented his calumet, and accosted them in Huron, but they replied in what seemed to him the language of defiance. Happily he was mistaken ; and after landing and partaking of their hospitality, the adventurous party re-em- barked, and descended the river, whose banks presently were found clothed with lofty forests of cotton-wood, elms, and other unknown trees, until, in about thirty-three degrees north lati- tude, they came within sight of the village of Michigamea. Marquette and his companions
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1673.
were no sooner discovered by the natives than they assembled in great numbers, armed with bows, arrows, axes, war-clubs, and bucklers ; and while some kept watch upon the shore, others sprang into their canoes, evidently bent on the destruction of the intruders. In vain Marquette displayed the calumet, and made re- peated signals of peace. The danger every instant became more imminent. One war-club had already been hurled at him, and innumera- ble bows were in the act of being bent, when some of the chiefs on shore recognised the calu- met, and commanding their warriors to desist, hastened to throw aside their weapons and wel- come the wanderers to their village. The next morning they were escorted by a deputation eight or ten leagues down the river, to the chief village of Akansea, or Arkansa, where they were again entertained with great hospitality, and where, by means of an interpreter, Marquette endeavoured to bring them to a knowledge of the true God.
Here, in the region where De Soto breathed his last, and where Moscoso fitted out his crazy brigantines, the adventurous voyage was termi- nated. From the answers of his entertainers Marquette discovered that the Great River emp- tied into the Gulf of Mexico; and fearful of losing the fruit of his discoveries, resolved to return to Canada. Taking leave of their doubt-
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