USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of Wisconsin from prehistoric to present periods : the story of the state interspersed with realistic and romantic events > Part 7
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Cortes died at Seville, in December, 1547,* after having been for several years coldly received at the Spanish court. History thus repeats itself, "Court favors are of short duration."
Pineda, in 1519, traversed the coast of the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, as far as Panuco, in Mexico, and it is alleged, discovered the Mississippi river, which was called the "River of the Holy Spirit." The next year Ayllon landed upon the coast of Georgia and South Car- olina, and five years later he explored as far as Virginia, where he planted an ill-fated settlement, on the present site of Jamestown. }
Pamfilo de Narvaez, a contemporary of the great explorer, sailed for the West India, shortly after the discovery of Columbus. In 1501, he participated in the conquest of Santa Domingo, Jamaica, and Cuba, and was second to Velasquez, the governor in command of the Spanish forces. The tyrannical Velasquez, in 1520, sent him on an expedition to Mexico, to bring Cortes to submission, and with orders to arrest Cortes, and to succeed him as governor of that country. At Zempoalla, Cortes surprised and took him prisoner, after Narvaez had lost an eye in the battle. He was imprisoned by Cortes for five years, while the balance of the army joined Cortes, and took part in the battles which resulted in the conquest of Mexico. After his liberation, Narvaez returned to Spain, and succeeded in obtaining an extensive tract of land in Florida. He arrived at Tampa Bay in 1528, with a force of 400 men, and pro- ceeded to Appalachicola, with the intention of settling in Florida, but was everywhere met by hostile natives. After numerous adversities, he again reached the seacoast, and, while attempting to go to Mexico in boats, he was drowned, by the sinking of his boats, near the mouth of the Mississippi river. All of his companions, except four, perished before reaching Sonora.
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was one of the lieutenants of De Narvaez, who conducted the unfortunate expedition, and lost his life while crossing the Gulf Stream out at sea, and was one of the few who survived the perils of the deep and the horrors of the land and lived to tell, in after years, one of the most remarkable tales ever chronicled in American history. In those days, long since past and gone, Henry
*Prescott's Conquest of Mexico.
+The Old Northwest. (By Prof. Hinsdale) Page 6.
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VIII. was king of England, and sixteen rulers have since occupied that throne.
Cabeza de Vaca was the descendant of an honorable family in Spain, whose honors were earned at the battle of Narvaez de Talosa, in the 13th century, one of the greatest battles won in those days against the Moors. De Vaca's grandfather was the conqueror of the Canary Islands.
De Vaca sailed from Spain as treasurer and sheriff of the expedition of 600 men, under De Narvaez, the intended conquerer and colonizer of the "Flowery Land," already discovered by Ponce de Leon. The expedition reached Santa Domingo and thence sailed to Cuba. It was on Good Friday, in the year 1528, some ten months after leaving Spain, when they reached Florida, and landed at a place now called Tampa Bay.
After taking formal possession of the country for Spain, they set out to explore the vast unknown wilderness. While at Santa Domingo, shipwreck and desertion had reduced the original 600 men to only 345. The most fearful misfortunes met them on every hand. After reaching Florida, each day brought new misfortunes. Food was scarce, and the hostile Indians beset them on every hand; while the numberless lakes, rivers, and almost impregnable swamps, made progress both difficult and dangerous. They finally became so enfeebled that they could not get back to their vessels. They, at last, struggled through and reached the coast, far west of Tampa Bay. Here they decided to build boats and coast to the Spanish settlements in Mexico. After great toil, five rude boats were made, and they turned westward along the coast of the Gulf. Storms scattered their boats and wrecked them, one after another.
DROWNING OF NARVAEZ IN THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
Many of the despairing and haggard adventurers were drowned while crossing the Gulf stream, Narvaez among them, while scores were cast upon the inhospitable shores and perished by exposure and starva- tion. Of the five boats, three had gone down with all on board; and of the eighty men who escaped shipwreck, but fifteen were now alive,
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while their arms and clothing were at the bottom of the Gulf. At this time, the survivors were on Mal Hado, "The Isle of Misfortune." which was west of the mouth of the Mississippi.
The Indians on the island, who lived on roots, berries and fish, treated their starving guests as generously as possible. In the spring, Vaca's thirteen companions determined to escape. Vaca being too sick to walk, he, together with two other sick men, Oviedo and Alaniz, were abandoned and left behind by the deserters. Alaniz soon perished, and Oviedo fled from some danger, and was never more heard of, while Vaca, a naked skeleton, scarcely able to stand, faced the dangers alone. It is recorded that his sufferings were almost unendurable, for when he was not the victim of cruel treatment by the savages, he was looked upon as a worthless incumbrance and an interloper among them. The deserters fared even worse than Vaca. They had fallen into cruel hands and all had been slain, except Andres Darantes, Alonzo del Castello Maldonado, and the negro, Esterinco. These three naked slaves, and the skeleton Vaca, were now the only survivors of the 600, who had left their homes in Spain, in 1527, to conquer the new world, and even they were separated for seven long years, though occasionally hearing from each other. Then they finally met and were united again in Texas, west of the Sabine river.
While the fifteen Spaniards were on the Isle of Mal Hado, the Indians wished to make them doctors and to cure sickness by blowing upon the sick ones, and with their hands remove the disease, and bade them to do so on some of the sick ones. The Spaniards laughed at this, thinking it an Indian joke, but the Indians were in earnest, for they took away their food, and informed them that the stones and the herbs in the field had power to heal, and that they must necessarily have greater power. This hint gavo Vaca the key and passport to safety. This strange and interesting clew eventually saved the trio of despairing Spaniards; without this all would have perished in the wilderness, and the world would never have known the result of that Spanish expedi- tion. After Vaca's desertion by his last surviving companion, he began to wander about. His captors were indifferent and paid little attention to him, as he could not serve as a warrior, on account of his physical condition, and as a hunter he was equally unavailable. By degrees he began making long trips northward and down the coast. In time he saw a chance for trading, in which the Indians encouraged him. From the northern tribes he brought down skins and face-paint, flakes of flint, for arrow heads, and reeds for shafts. These he exchanged among the coast tribes for shells, beads and other traffic, which were in demand among the northern tribes. On account of the constant wars raging between the various Indian tribes, they dared not venture beyond their limits. Vaca thus became the first American trader. These lonely trading expeditions were carried on by thousands of miles of travel on
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foot through the trackless wilderness. Vaca was the first European who saw the American bison -- the buffalo-which then roamed the plains in vast herds. He left a record for the generations of the "hunch-back cow," whose meat he ate in the Red River country of Texas. Vaca was, not only the first great American traveler and trader, but also the first learned doctor and wizard, as he became, through long practice, skilled in the art of healing the sick.
When, at last, the four wanderers came together, after their long separation, during which time they had suffered untold horrors, it took ten months to escape from their captors. They had no clothing, and as there was no shelter, their constant exposure to the heat and cold soon caused them, says Vaca, "to shed their skins like snakes."
In August, 1535, the Spanish trio escaped to an Indian tribe, called the Avavares. Vaca now initiated his companions in the arts of Indian medicine-men, and the four began to practice their strange profession. Thus, from tribe to tribe, they slowly wended their way, across Texas to the vicinity of New Mexico, and as far north as Santa Fé. With each new tribe, they tarried awhile and healed the sick. In the Mexican states, they found Indians who dwelt in houses of sod and boughs, and raised beans and pumpkins. These were the Jovas, a branch of the Pimas, who long since disappeared from the face of the earth.
1.
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DE VACA AND COMPANIONS, ON THEIR MARCH.
In the Sierra Madre, they found a race of superior Indians, whom they found unclad, except the women, who wore tunics with short sleeves and a skirt to the knee, with an overskirt of dressed deerskin, reaching to the ground. These people presented to de Vaca some turquoises and five arrow-heads, each tipped with a single emerald.
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A day's march beyond the village in southwestern Sonora, they met an Indian, wearing upon his neck symbols of civilization-the buckle of a sword-belt, and a horse-shoe nail. This was the first sign of civilization that had been seen in their eight years wanderings. The Indian told them of men with beards like themselves who had come from the sky and made war upon their people. They now entered Senaloa, and found themselves in the land of flowers and streams. The Indians were in mortal fear of two Spanish brutes, who were in the vicinity, and were trying to capture slaves. They had just left, but Vaca and Esteranico, with eleven Indians, hurriedly followed their trail, and the next day over- took four Spaniards, who conducted them to their rascally captain, Diego Alcuraz. The Spanish captain sent back for Dorantes and Cas- tillo, who arrived five days later, accompanied by several hundred Indians. After resting a short period they again journeyed forth, and after a few days hard travel they reached Culioscan, on May Ist, 1536, and were warmly received by Melchior Daiz. After a short rest, the wanderers made a journey of 300 miles through a land swarming with hostile savages, and, at last, reached the city of Mexico in safety, where they were received with great honor.
Cabeza de Vaca, Castillo and Dorantes sailed for Spain on April Ioth, 1537, and arrived in August. Esteranico, the negro, remained in Mexico. The report of Vaca and his companions caused the fitting out of the expedition which resulted in the discovery of Arizona, New Mexico, Indian Territory, Kansas, and Colorado, and established the nucleus of the first European towns in the United States.
The Spanish government rewarded de Vaca by making him gov- ernor of Paraguay in 1540, but on account of inefficiency he was after- wards recalled and given a pension of 2,000 ducats. He died at Seville, many years later.
Ferdinand de Soto, one of our early Spanish explorers, and the discoverer of the Mississippi river, was born in Spain, in 1496. In his youth he was a distinguished literary student, and remarkably skilled in athletic exercises. He accompanied the tyrannical Pedrasias Davila, in 1519, to the Isthmus of Darien, and was a daring and independent opponent of that officer's tyrannical rule, while governor of Darien. In 1528, he left Davila's service and explored the coast of Guatamala and Yucatan, in search of a water communication supposed to exist between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He was with the celebrated butcher Pizarro, * in 1532, in the expedition for the conquest of Peru, and used his influence with that great robber of temples to prevent the slaughter of the Peruvian king.
Having quickly amassed a fortune in Peru, de Soto returned to Spain and married the daughter of Davila. Shortly after his marriage,
*Pizarro's death was in accordance with his life. In Peru, he lived the life of an assassin, by virtue of conquest. On June 26th, 1541, he expiated his crimes at the hands of assassins, who were incited by his own deeds of blood.
DE SOTO ON THE BANKS OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
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Diego Columbus (son of Christopher Columbus) relinquished his right to the crown, to appoint a governor of Cuba. De Soto being in favor at the Spanish court, was immediately appointed, under the title of governor-general.
De Soto's love for travel and adventure, stimulated by the reports of the mythical El Dorado in North America, prompted him to under- take the conquest of Florida. He sailed in April, 1538, with twenty officers, twenty-four priests and six hundred men, and landed at Tampa Bay on May 25th, 1539, and in July his ships were sent back to Havana. The next year, he moved slowly westward and, from time to time, had serious and disastrous conflicts with the Indians. His second winter was spent in the great Chickasaw country, where his camp, together with forty of his followers, was burned by the Indians, because he attempted to impress them into service, as luggage carriers. After marching several days, through almost impregnable swamps, de Soto and his expedition reached the Mississippi in June, 1541, and were the first white men to gaze upon the water of that mighty river. Here they constructed rude barges, crossed the river and traveled to the White river, which was the west limit of the exploration. From the White river they traveled south past the Hot Springs of Arkansas, and win- tered on the Washita river.
The following spring, de Soto moved his expedition down the Washita to the Mississippi, where he was taken sick with fever, and died, either in May or June, 1542.
"His soldiers pronounced his eulogy, by grieving for their loss. The priests chanted over his body the first requiems that were ever heard on the waters of the Mississippi. To conceal his death, his body was wrapped in a mantle, and, in the stillness of midnight, was silently sunk in the middle of the stream. The wanderer had crossed a large part of the continent, in his search for gold, and found nothing so remarkable as his burial place."*
The now greatly reduced expedition found its way down the Miss- issippi to the Gulf, and finally succeeded in reaching their countrymen in Mexico.t
De Soto's faithful wife, who had patiently waited his return to Havana, died upon the third day after hearing of her husband's unfor- tunate death.
At the time de Soto's expedition was in the region south of the Missouri, another expedition, headed by Corondot, came overland from Mexico, and was searching in the same vicinity for the fabled "Seven Cities of Cibola."
These two visionary commanders were within a few days travel of
*Bancroft's History. Vol. I., 50. (Sixth Volume Edition.)
+Hinsdale's Old Northwest, 7.
+Hinsdale's Old Northwest, 7.
-
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each other, so close in fact, that Corondo heard of de Soto's party, and sent him a letter which failed to reach him.
In those days of Spanish explorations, the only form of wealth known to them was the precious metals, and they, being unable to find those in Florida and the adjacent country, again centered their attentions on Mexico, where they had already found them in such great and surprising abundance.
After the death of de Soto, Spain became so indifferent to her rights that she allowed the Mississippi to slip from her grasp, and go into the hands of the French, without hardly a struggle, and only awoke, a century later, to realize her loss and mistake.
While the Spanish laid claim to the whole country, from the Gulf to Canada, her greatest stronghold was peninsula Florida.
Menendez de Aviles, on St. Augustine's day, August 28th, 1565, arrived in Florida, and built a fort, which became the nucleus of the present city of St. Augustine. One hundred and ninety-eight years later-1763, Spain surrendered the key of the Gulf and the India Seas, as the price of the Queen of the Antilles.
+St. Augustine was defended with great difficulty against the Indians, the French and Indian adventurers, but was captured and pillaged by Sir Francis Drake, in 1586, and by the pirates in 1665.
The city was built after the old Spanish style, the widest streets being only from
12 to 15 feet across. The original dwellings were constructed of a conglomerate of shells and shell-lime, from Anastasia Island.
In the center of the city, where now stands the Plaza de la Constitution, once stood the residence, custom-house and slave market of the Spanish governors.
Old Fort San Marco, which was finished in 1756, after nearly a century's labor, still stands, and is an object of historical interest. Also, the Ponce de Leon Hotel which was built of coquina, in the Moorish style, and covers four acres.
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CHAPTER XVI. FRENCH EXPLORERS AND EXPLORATIONS.
1634 -- 1763.
Object of French Exploration .- Explorations of Verazzano .- Cartier .- Champlain .- Nicollet .- Radisson and Groseilliers. - Menard. - Allouez .- Joliet .- Marquette .- La Salle.
WHILE the great incentive to the Spanish explorations was gold, the main motive of the French explorations in America was (1) religious zeal, and (2) love for gold and adventure, through that great channel known as the fur trade.
The first French explorer of North America was Giovanni de Veraz- zano,* an Italian of noble birth, who was commissioned by Francis I., king of France, to make a voyage of discovery to North America. In 1524, he set sail, and went by way of Madeira, in command of the frigate Dolphin, and after meeting much stormy weather reached the coast of America, and sailed along its coast from the 34º of latitude to Newfound- land. He discovered the continent at Cape Fear, or New Jersey, and is thought to have discovered New York bay. The genuineness of a letter written to Francis I., giving an elaborate account of his discoveries, has frequently been questioned.
The next French explorer of America was Jacques Cartier, } who was sent out by the king of France on a tour of discovery. He sailed from St. Malo, in 1534, in command of two ships, to explore the north- east coast of America. He first landed at Cape Buena Vista, Newfound- land, then passed up the straits of Belle Isle, and discovered the main- land of Canada, which he claimed in the name of the king of France. The next year, with another expedition, he discovered the St. Lawrence river, and explored its banks as far as Stradeconna, the Indian name of Quebec. Cartier, believing that this river was the long-sought passage to Cathay, left his ships, and with two or three companions, sailed up the St. Lawrence to Hochelaga, a large fortified Indian village at the foot of Mount Royal, where Montreal is now situated. The unusual severity of the climate during the first winter, together with the sickness of his men, caused him to sail back to France in 1536, and nothing was further done towards the colonization of America until 1540, at which time Jean Francis La Roche obtained leave to form a settlement in Canada. Cartier was again sent out, in 1541, by the king, in command of five ships. After landing at Quebec, he built Fort Charlesbourg, and took formal possession of Canada, in the name of his royal master, and
*Verazzano was born in Italy, in 1480, and is said to have been put to death in Spain for piracy, in 1527.
tJacques Cartier was born in Brittany, 1494.
As late as 1552, he lived at Limoilin, his native village, as seigneur.
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raised a cross, surmounted by the fleur-de-lis, upon which was blazoned the legend, Franciscus Primus Dei Gracia Francorum Rex regnat.
Cartier's attempt to colonize Canada proved futile, on account of his having carried away an Indian chief during his previous voyage.
Samuel de Champlain, the suave French explorer, was born in 1567. and served in the army of Henry IV., of France, while a young man; then accompanied the fleet of the Spanish to the West Indies. In 1603 he was sent to Canada, by De Chaste,* upon whom had been bestowed some of the new territory. Stopping at Hochelaga, on the St. Lawrence, he, like Cartier, was filled with admiration for this beautiful country, and became at once convinced that the beautiful valley of the St. Law- rence must be the seat of the future French-American empire. This land contained all that the enthusiastic Frenchman desired, as the forests and waters abounded in the valuable furs which, next to gold and silver, were the prime objects of the early American explorers, while the great river of the unknown regions, it was believed, would lead to the lands of Marco Polo. He returned to France, with the determi- nation to plant, in Canada, a colony that would reflect glory upon his country, and extend the dominions of the Catholic church.
From 1604 to 1607, Champlain was engaged in exploring the gulf and coasts of the St. Lawrence, and the adjacent waterways, seeking a desirable spot for his permanent settlement. In 1608, after his third voyage to Canada, he established a settlement at Quebec, which, after many misfortunes and struggles, became both permanent and pros- perous. The next year, this intrepid explorer and his hardy companions plunged into the wilderness of northern New York, where, near Lake Champlain, they met a party of Mohawk Indians, which they attacked and principally destroyed. Champlain, however, was much impressed by the courage they displayed, as well as the formidable confederation to which they belonged.
It was fortunate that Champlain concluded not to invade the seats of the Iroquois, as he had first determined, but to more permanently lay the foundation of New France, farther northward. The establishment of New France, through the strenuous efforts of Champlain, fully entitled him ever to be known as " the Father of New France."
In 1629, the settlement at Quebec was captured by English adven- turers, and Champlain taken to London as a prisoner, but was liberated in 1632, and shortly after returned to Quebec. It was on Christmas day, 1635, that this daring explorer, who had the honor of being the first governor of New France, died at Quebec, and in his death the spirit of the colony appeared for a time to depart. The Iroquois, the insatiate enemies of Champlain, took advantage of Champlain's death, and wreaked their vengeance on the French settlers, and their allies, the Algonquin tribes. The Dutch traders at Albany, ever jealous of the
*According to Prof. Hinsdale, he came to Canada with Pontgrève.
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French traders, supplied the Five Nations with firearms and ammuni- tion, and it was not long ere many of the Indians were a match for the best shots in Canada .* The French settlers were driven within their gates, while their allies, the Algonquins, were driven as far west as the Wisconsin river.
The first actual explorer of the territory now known as Wisconsin was Jean Nicollet, who was born at Cherbourg, in Normandy, and while a young man emigrated to Canada in 1618. At this time the celebrated Champlain, entertaining ambitious schemes of exploration, and desir- ing to rival even Columbus, was in the habit of occasionally sending young men among the Indian tribes, to learn their languages and cus- toms, to be serviceable to him as interpreters and explorers. Nicollet was thus selected by Champlain, shortly after his arrival at Quebec, and was dispatched to the Algonquins, on the Ottawa; and next to the Nipissings, on Lake Nipissing. After years of intimate association with the various Indian tribes, he was employed as interpreter at Three Rivers, where he soon gained an enviable reputation as an adroit man- ager of the red men, who assembled there from the adjacent country for the purpose of trade and council. In 1634, he was dispatched by the governor of New France to secure the good will of the Indian tribes upon the shores of Winnepegou,* and other lakes of the northwest.
Nicollet, in company with Fathers Brebeuf, Daniel, and DaVost, Jesuit priests who were journeying towards the Huron country, to estab- lish the mission which was afterwards abandoned by the Recolletts, journeyed, with his priestly companions, as far as Isle des Allumetts. At this island he parted company with his comrades, and proceeded by way of Lake Nipissing to Georgian Bay, where he spent some time among the Hurons, and secured seven of their tribe to accompany him upon his voyage of discovery to the northwest.
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