Fayette County, Ohio - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 3 of those read), 1881

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 3 of those read)

St. Ignace, or Mackinaw, as previously stated, liad become a principal center of the Jesuit missions, and it had also grown into a headquarters for an extensive Indian trade. Duly licensed traders, as well as the Coureurs do Bois - men who had run wild, as it were, and by their intercourse with the nations had thrown off all restraints of civilized life - resorted to ^ this vicinity in considerable numbers. These, lost to all sense of national pride, instead of sustaining, took every measure to thwart La Salle's plans. They, with some of the dissatisfied crew, represented to the Indians that La Salle and his associates were a set of dangerous and ambitious adventurers, who meant to engross all the trade in furs and skins and invade their liberties. These jealous and meddlesome busybodies had already, before the arrival of the G-riffin, succeeded in seducing fifteen men from La Salle's service, whom with others he had sent forward the previous spring, under command of Tonty, with a stock of merchandise ; and, instead of goiug to the tribes beyond and preparing the way for a friendly reception of La Salle, as they were ordered to do, they loitered about Mackinaw the whole summer and squandered the goods, in spite of Tonty's persistent efforts to urge them forward in the performance of their duty. La Salle sent out other parties to trade with the natives, and these went so far, and M^ere so bus}' in bartering for and collecting furs, that they did not return to Mackinaw until November. It was now getting late, and La Salle was warned of the dangerous storms that swept the lakes at the beginning of winter ; he resolved, therefore, to continue his voyage without waiting the return of his men. He weighed anchor and sailed westward into Lake Michigan as far as the islands at the entrance of Green Bay, then called the Pottawatomie Islands, for the reason that they were then occupied by bands of that tribe. On one of these islands La Salle found some of the men belonging to his advance party of traders, and who, having secured a large quantity of valuable furs, had long and impatiently waited his coming.

that already and legitimately belonged to mercliants operating at Montreal, and with which the terms of his own license prohibited his interfering. Without asking any one's advice he resolved to load his ship with furs and send it back to Niagara, and the furs to Quebec, and out of the proceeds of the sale to discharge some very pressing debts. The pilot with five men to man the vessel were ordered to pi-oceed with the Griffin to Niagara, and return with all imaginable speed and join La Salle at the mouth of the St. Joseph river, near the southern shore of Lake Michigan. The Griffin did not go to Green Bay City, as many writers have assumed in hasty perusals of the original authorities, or even penetrate the body of water known as Green Bay beyond the chain of islands at its mouth.

The resolution of La Salle, taken, it seems, on the spur of the moment, to send his ship back down the lakes, and prosecute his voyage the rest of the way to the head ^f Lake Michigan in frail birchen canoes, was a most unfortunate measure. It delayed his discoveries two years, brought severe hardships upon himself and greatly embarrassed all his future plans. The Griffin itself was lost, with all her cargo, valued at sixty thousand livres. She, nor her crew, was ever heard of after leaving the Pottawatomie Islands. What became of the ship and men in charge remains to this day a mystery, or veiled in a cloud of conjecture. La Salle himself, says Francis Parkman, " grew into a settled conviction that the Griffin had been treacherously sunk by the pilot and sailors to whom he had intrusted her ; and he thought he had in after years found evidence that the authors of the crime, laden with the merchandise they had taken from her, had reached the Mississippi and ascended it, hoping to join Du Shut, the famous chief of the Coureurs de Bois, and enrich themselves by traffic with the northern tribes."

The following is substantially Hennepin's account of La Salle's canoe voyage from the mouth of Green Bay south, along the shore of Lake Michigan, past Milwaukee and Chicago, and around the southern end of the lake ; thence north along the eastern shore to the mouth of the St. Joseph river ; thence up the St. Joseph to South Bend, making the portage here to the head waters of the Kankakee ; thence down the Kankakee and Illinois through Peoria lake, with an account of the building of Fort Crevecoeur. Hennepin's narrative is full of interesting detail, and contains many interesting observations wpon the condition of country, the native inhabitants as they ap])eared nearljtwo hundred years ago. The privation and suffering to which La Salle and his party were exposed in navigating Lake Michigan at that early day, and late in tlio fall of the year, when the waters were vexed with tempestuous storms, illustrate the courage and daring of the undertaking.

Their suffering did not terminate with their voyage upon the lake. Difficulties of another kind were experienced on the St. Joseph, Kankakee and Illinois Rivers. Hennepin's is, perhaps, the first detailed account we have of this part of the " Great West," and is therefore of great interest and value on this account. l3Li3o4:92

" We left the Pottawatomies to continue our voyage, being fourteen men in all, in four canoes. I had charge of the smallest, which carried five hundredweight and two men. My companions being recently from Europe, and for that reason being unskilled in the management of these kind of boats, its whole charge fell upon me in stormy weather.

" The canoes were laden with a smith's forge, utensils, tools for carpenters, joiners and sawyers, besides our goods and arms. We steered to the south toward the mainland, from which the Pottawatomie Islands are distant some forty leagues; but about midway, and in the night time, we were greatly endangered by a sudden storm. The weaves dashed into our canoes, and the night was so dark we had great difficulty in keeping our canoes together. The daylight coming on, we reached the shore, where we remained for four days, waiting for the lake to grow calm. In the meantime our Indian hunter went in quest of game, but killed nothing other than a porcupine ; this, however, made our Indian corn more relishing. The weather becoming fair, we resumed our voyage, rowing all day and well into the night along the western coast of the Lake of the Illinois. The wind again grew too fresh, and we landed upon a rocky beach, where we had nothing to protect ourselves against a storm of snow and rain except the clothing on our persons. We remained here two days for the sea to go down, having made a little fire from wood cast ashore by the waves. We proceeded on our voyage, and toward evening the winds again forced us to a beach covered with rushes, where we remained three days ; and in the meantime our provisions, consisting only of pumpkins and Indian corn purchased from the Pottawatomies, entirely gave out. Our canoes were so heavily laden that we could not carry provisions with us, and we were compelled to rely on bartering for such supplies on our way. We left this dismal place, and after twelve leagues rowing came to another Pottawatomie village, whose inhabitants stood upon the beach to receive us. But M. La Salle refused to let anyone land, notwithstanding the severity of the weather, fear- ing some of his men might run away. We were in such great peril that La Salle flung himself into the water, after we had gone some three leagues farther, and with the aid of his three men carried the canoe of which he had charge to the shore upon their shoulders, otherwise it would have been broken to pieces by the waves. We were obliged to do the same with the other canoes. I, myself, carried good Father Gabriel upon my back, his age being so well advanced as not to admit of his venturing in the water. We took ourselves to a piece of rising ground to avoid surprise, as we had no manner of acquaintance with the great number of savages whose village was near at hand. We sent three men into the village to buy provisions, under protection of the calumet, or pipe of peace, which the Indians at Pottawatomie Islands had presented us as a means of introduction to, and a measure of safety against, other tribes that we might meet on our way."

The calumet has always been a symbol of amity among all the Indian tribes of North America, and so uniformly used by them in all their negotiations with their own race, and Euroj)eans as well ; and Father Hennepin's description of it, and the respect that is accorded to its presence, are so truthful that we here insert his account of it at length :

" This calumet," says Father Hennepin, " is the most mysterious thing among the savages, for it is used in all important transactions. It is nothing else, however, than a large tobacco pipe, made of red, black, or white stone. The head is highly polished, and the quill or stem is usually about two feet in length, made of a pretty strong reed or cane, decorated with highly colored feathers interlaced with locks of women's hair. Wings of gaudily plumaged birds are tied to it, making the calumet look like the wand of Mercury, or staff which ambassadors of state formerly carried when they went to conduct treaties of peace. The stem is sheathed in the skin of the neck of birds called ' Huars ' (probably the loon), which are as large as our geese, and spotted with white and black ; or else with those of a duck (the little wood duck, whose neck presents a beautiful contrast of colors) that make their nests upon trees, although the water is their ordinary element, and whose feathers are of many different colors. However, every tribe ornament their calumets according to their own fancy, with the feathers of such birds as they may have in their own country.

"A pipe such as I have described is a pass of safe conduct among all the allies of the tribe which has given it ; and in all embassies it is car- ried as a symbol of peace, and is always respected as such, for the savages believe some great misfortune would speedily befall them if they violated the public faith of the calumet. All their enterprises, declarations of war, treaties of peace, as well as all of the rest of their ceremonies, are sealed with the calumet. The pipe is filled with the best tobacco they have, and then it is presented to those with whom they are about to conduct an important affair ; and after they have smoked out of it the one offering it does the same. I would have perished," concludes Hennepin, " had it not been for the calumet. Our three men, carrying the calumet and being well armed, went to the little village about three leagues from the place where we landed ; they found no one at home, for the inhabitants, having heard that we refused to land at the other village, supposed we were enemies, and had abandoned their habitations. In their absence our men took some of their corn, and left instead some goods, to let them know we were neither their enemies nor robbers. Twenty of the inhabitants of this village came to our encampment on the beach, armed with axes, small guns, bows, and a sort of club, which, in their language, means a headbreaker. La Salle, with four well-armed men, advanced toward them for the purpose of opening a conversation. He requested them to come near to us, saying he had a party of hunters out who might come across them and take their lives. They came forward and took seats at the foot of an eminence where we were encamped ; and La Salle amused them with the relation of his voyage, which he informed them he had undertaken for their advantage ; and thus occupied their time until the arrival of the three men who had been sent out with the calumet ; on seeing which the savages gave a great shout, arose to their feet and danced about. We excused our men from having taken some of their com, and informed them that we had left its true value in goods ; they were so well pleased with this that they immediately sent for more corn, and on the next day they made us a gift of as much as we could conveniently find room for in our canoes.

" The next day morning the old men of the tribe came to us with their calumet of peace, and entertained us with a free offering of wild goats, which their own hunters had taken. In return, we presented them our thanks, accompanied with some axes, knives, and several little toys for their wives, with all which they were very much pleasec^

" We left this place and continued our voyage along the coast of the lake, which, in places, is so steep that we often found it difficult to obtain a landing ; and the wind was so violent as to oblige us to carry our canoes sometimes upon top of the bluff, to prevent their being clashed in pieces. The stormy weather Lasted four days, causing ns much suffering ; for every time we made the shore we had to wade in tlie water, carrying our effects and canoes upon our shoulders. The water being very cold, most of us were taken sick. Our provisions again failed us, which, with the fatigues of rowing, made old Father Gabriel faint away in such a manner that we despaired of his life. With a use of a decoction of hyacinth. I had with me, and which I found of great service on our voyage, he was restored to his senses. We had no other subsistence but a handful of corn per man every twenty-four hours, which we parched or boiled ; and, although reduced to such scanty diet, we rowed our canoes almost daily, from morning to nio-ht. Our men found some hawthorns and other wild

" Having thus refreshed ourselves, we continued our voyage directly to the southern part of the lake, every day the country becoming finer and the climate more temperate. On the 16th of October we fell in with abundance of game. Our Indian hunter killed several deer and wild goats, and our men a great many big fat turkey-cocks, with which we regaled ourselves for several days. On the 18th we came to the farther end of the lake. Here we landed, and our men were sent out to prospect the locality, and found great quantities of ripe grapes, the fruit of which were as large as damask plums. We cut down the trees to gather the grapes, out of which we made pretty good wine, which we put into gourds, used as flasks, and buried them in the sand to keep the contents from turning sour. Many of the trees here are loaded with vines, which, if cultivated, would make as good wine as any in Europe. The fruit was all the more relishing to us, because we wanted bread."

Other travelers besides Hennepin, passing this locality at an eai'ly day, also mention the same fact. It would seem, therefore, that Lake Michigan had the same modifying influence upon, and equalized the temperature of, its eastern shore, rendering it as famous for its wild fruits and grapes, two hundred years ago, as it has since become noted for the abundance and perfection of its cultivated varieties.

" Our men discovered prints of men's feet. The men were ordered to be upon guard and make no noise. In spite of this precaution, one of our men, finding a bear upon a tree, shot him dead and dragged him into camp. La Salle was very angry at this indiscretion, and, to avoid surprise, placed sentinels at the canoes, under which our effects had been put for protection against the rain. There was a hunting party of Fox Indians from the vicinity of Green Bay, about one hundred and twenty in number, encamped near to us, who, having heard the noise of the gun of the man who shot the bear, became alarmed, and sent out some of their men to discover wlio we were. These spies, creeping upon tlieir bellies and observing great silence, came in the night-time and stole the coat of La Salle's footman and some goods secreted under the canoes. The sentinel, hearing a noise, gave the alarm, and we all ran to our arms. On being discovered, and thinking our numbers were greater than we really were, they cried out, in the dark, that they were friends. We answered, friends did not visit at such unseasonable hours, and that their actions were more like those of robbers, who designed to plunder and kill us. Their headsman replied that they heard the noise of our gun, and, as they knew that none of tlie neighboring tribes possessed firearms, they supposed we were a war party of Iroquois, come with the design of murdering them ; but now that they learned we were Frenchmen from Canada, whom they loved as their own brethren, they would anxiously wait until daylight, so that they could smoke out of our calumet. This is a compliment among the savages, and the highest mark they can give of their affection.

" We appeared satisfied with their reasons, and gave leave to four of their old men, only, to come into our camp, telling them we would not permit a greater number, as their young men were much given to stealing, and that we would not suffer such indignities. Accordingly, four of their old men came among us ; we entertained them until morning, when they departed. After they were gone, we found out about the robbery of the canoes, and La Salle, well knowing the genius of the savages, saw, if he allowed this affront to pass without resenting it, that we would be constantly exposed to a renewal of like -indignities. Therefore, it was resolved to exact prompt satisfaction. La Salle, with four of his men, went out and captured two of the Indian hunters. One of the prisoners confessed the robbery, with the circumstances connected with it. The thief was detained, and his comrade was released and sent to his band to tell their headsman that the captive in custody would be put to death unless the stolen property were returned.

" The savages were greatly perplexed at La Salle's peremptory message. They could not comply, for they had cut up the goods and coat and divided among themselves the pieces and the buttons ; they therefore resolved to rescue their man by force. The next day, October 30, they advanced to attack us. The peninsula we were encamped on was separated from the forest where the savages lay by a little sandy plain, on which and near the wood were two or three eminences. La Salle determined to take possession of tlie most prominent of these elevations, and detached five of his men to occupy it, following himself, at a short distance, with all of his force, every one having rolled their coats about the left arm, which was held up as a protection against the arrows of the savages. Only eight of the enemy had firearms. The savages were frightened at our advance, and their young men took behind the trees, but their captains stood their ground, while we moved forward and seized the knoll. I left the two other Franciscans reading the usual prayers, and w^ent about among the men exhorting them to their duty; I had been in some battles and sieges in Europe, and was not afraid of these savages, and La Salle was highly pleased with my exhortations, and their influence upon his men. When I considered what might be the result of the, quarrel, and how much more Christian-like it would be to prevent the effusion of blood, and end the difficulty in a friendly manner, I went toward the oldest savage, who, seeing me unarmed, supposed I came with designs of a mediator, and received me with civility. In the meantime one of our men observed that one of the savages had a piece of the stolen cloth wrapped about his head, and he went up to the savage and snatched the cloth away. This vigorous action so much terrified the savages that, although they were near six score against eleven, they presented me with the pip^ of peace, which I received. M. La Salle gave his word that they might come to him in security. Two of their old men came forward, and in a speech disapproved the conduct of their young men ; that they could not restore the goods taken, but that, having been cut to pieces, they could only return the articles which were not spoiled, and pay for the rest. The orators presented, with their speeches, some garments made of beaver skins, to appease the wrath of M. La Salle, who, frowning a little, informed them that while he designed to wrong no one, he did not intend others should affront or injure him ; but, inasmuch as they did not approve what their young men had done, and were willing to make restitution for the same, he would accept their gifts and become their friend. The conditions were fully complied with, and peace happily concluded without farther hostility.

" The day was spent in dancing, feasting and speech-making. The chief of the band had taken particular notice of the behavior of the Franciscans. ' These gray-coats,' said the chief of the Foxes, ' we value very much. They go barefooted as well as we. They scorn our beaver gowns, and decline all other presents. They do not carry arms to kill us. They flatter and make much of our children, and give them knives and other toys without expecting any reward. Those of our tribe who have been to Canada tell us that Onontio (so they call the Governor) loves them very much, and that the Fathers of the Gown have given up all to come and see us. Therefore, you who are captain over all these men, be pleased to leave with us one of thes3 gray-coats, whom we will conduct to our village when we shall have killed wliat we design of the buffaloes. Tliou art also master of these warriors ; remain with us, instead of going among the Illinois, who, already advised of your coming, are resolved to kill you and all of your soldiers. And how can yon resist so powerful a nation V

" The day November 1st we again embarked on the lake, and came to the mouth of the river of the Miamis, which comes from the southeast and falls into tlie lake."

Much confusion has arisen because, at different periods, the name of " Miami " has been applied to no less than five different rivers, viz. : The St. Joseph, of Lake Michigan ; the Maumee, often designated as the Miami of the Lakes, to distinguish it from the Miami which falls into the Ohio River below Cincinnati ; then there is the Little Miami of the Ohio emptying in above its greater namesake ; and finally the Wabash, which with more propriety bore the name of the " River of the Miamis." The French, it is assumed, gave the name " Miami " to the river emptying into Lake Michigan, for the reason that there was a village of that tribe on its banks before and at the time of La Salle's first visit, as already noted on page 24. The name was not of long duration, for it was soon exchanged for that of St. Joseph, by which it has ever since been known. La Hontan is the last authority who refers to it by the name of Miami. Shortly after the year named, the date being now unknown, a Catholic mission was established up the river, and, Charlevoix says, about six leagues below the portage, at South Bend, and called tlie Mission of St. Joseph ; and from this circumstance, we may safely infer, the river acquired the same name. It is not known, either, by whom the Mission of St. Joseph was organized ; very probably, however, by Father Claude Allouez. This good .man, and to Avhose writings the people of the West are so largely indebted for many valuable historical reminiscences, seems to have been forgotten in the respect that is showered upon other more conspicuous though less meritorious characters. The Mission of tlie Immaculate Conception, after Marquette's death, remained unoccupied for the space of two years, then Claude Jean AUouez received orders to proceed thither from the Mission of St. James, at the town of Maskoutens, on Fox River, Wisconsin. Leaving in October, 1676, on account of an exceptionally early winter, he was compelled to delay his journey until tlie following February, when he again started ; reaching Lake Michigan on the eve of St. Joseph, he called the lake after this saint. Embarking on the lake on the 23d of March, and coasting along the western shore, after numerous delays occasioned by ice and storm, he arrived at Chicago River. lie tlien made the portage and entered the Kaskaskia vilhige, which was probably near Peoria Lake, on the 8th of April, 1677. The Indians gave him a very cordial reception, and flocked from all directions to the town to hear the " Black Gown " relate the trnths of Christianity. For the glorification of God and the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, Allouez "erected, in the midst of the village, a cross twenty-five feet high, chanting the Yexilla Regis in the presence of an admiring and respectful throng of Indians ; he covered it with garlands of beautiful flowers." Father Allouez did not remain but a short time at the mission ; leaving it that spring he returned in 1678, and continued there until La Salle's arrival in the winter of 1679-80. The next suceeding decade Allouez ]>assed either at this mission or 'at the one on St. Joseph's River, on the eastern side of Lake Michigan, where he died in 1690. Bancroft says : " Allouez has imperishably connected his name with the progress of discovery in the West ; unhonored among us now, he was not inferior in zeal and ability to any of the great missionaries of his time."

" We had appointed this place (the mouth of the St. Joseph) for our rendezvous before leaving the outlet of Green Bay, and expected to meet the twenty men we had left at Mackinaw, who, being ordered to come by the eastern coast of the lake, had a much shorter cut than we, who came by the western side ; besides this, their canoes were not so heavily laden as ours. Still, we found no one here, nor any signs that they had been here before ns.

" It was resolved to advise M. La Salle that it was imprudent to remain here any longer for the absent men, and expose ourselves to the hardships of winter, when it would be doubtful if we could find the Illinois in their villages, as then they would be divided into families, and scattered over the country to subsist more conveniently. We further represented that the game might fail us, in which event we must certainly perish with hunger ; whereas if we went forward, we would find enough corn among the Illinois, who would rather supply fourteen men than thirty-two with provisions. We said further that it would be quite impossible, if we delayed longer, to continue the voyage until the winter was over, because the rivers would be frozen over and we could not make use of our canoes. Notwithstanding these reasons, M. La Salle thought it necessary to remain for the rest of the men, as we would be in no condition to appear before the Illinois and treat with them with onr present small force, whom they would meet with scorn. That it would be better to delay our entry into their country, and in the meantime try to meet with some of their nation, learn their language, and gain their good will by presents. La Salle concluded his discourse with the declaration that, although all of his men might run away, as for himself, he would remain alone with his Indian hunter, and find means to maintain the three missionaries - meaning me and my two clerical brethren. Having come to this conclusion, La Salle called his men together, and advised them that he expected each one to do his duty ; that he proposed to build a fort here for the security of the ship and the safety of our goods, and ourselves, too, in case of any disaster. None of us, at this time, knew that our ship had been lost. The men were quite 'dissatisfied at La Salle's course, but his reasons therefor were so many that tliey yielded, and agreed to entirely follow his directions.

" Just at the mouth of the river was an eminence with a kind of plateau, naturally fortified. It was quite steep, of a triangular shape, defended on two sides by the river, and on the other by a deep ravine whicli the water had washed out. We felled the trees that grew on this hill, and cleared from it the bushes for the distance of two musket shot. We began to build a redoubt about forty feet long by eighty broad, with great square pieces of timber laid one upon the other, and then cut~ a great number of stakes, some twenty feet long, to drive into the ground on the river side, to make the fort inaccessible in that direction. We were employed the whole of the month of November in this work, which was very fatiguing - having no other food than the bears our savage killed. These animals are here very abundant, because of the great quantity of grapes they find in this vicinity. Their flesh was so fat and luscious that our men grew weary of it, and desired to go themselves and hunt for wild goats. La Salle denied them that liberty, which made some murmurs among the men, and they went unwillingly to their work. These annoyances, with the near approach of winter, together with the apprehension that his ship was lost, gave La Salle a melancholy which he resolutely tried to, but could not, conceal.

" We made a hut wherein we performed divine service every Sunday ; and Father Gabriel and myself, who preached alternately, carefully selected such texts as were suitable to our situation, and fit to inspire us with courage, concord, and brotherly love. Our exhortations produced good results, and deterred our men from their meditated desertion. "We sounded the mouth of the river and found a sand-bar, on which we feared our expected ship might strike ; we marked out a cliannel through which the vessel might safely enter by attaching buoys, made of inflated bear-skins, fastened to long poles driven into the bed of the lake. Two men were also sent back to Mackinac to await there the return of the ship, and serve as pilots.

" M. Tonti arrived on the 20th of ISTovember with two canoes laden with stags and deer, which were a welcome refreshment to our men. He did not bring more than about one-half of his men, having left the rest on the opposite side of the lake, within three days' journey of the fort. La Salle was angry with him on this account, because he was afraid the men would run away. Tonti's party informed us that the Griffin had not put into Mackinaw, according to orders, and that they had heard nothing of her since our departure, although they had made inquiries of the savages living on the coast of the lake. This confirmed the suspicion, or rather the belief, that the vessel had been cast away. However, M. La Salle continued work on the building of the fort, which was at last completed and called Fort Miamis.

" The winter was drawing nigh, and La Salle, fearful that the ice would interrupt his voyage, sent M. Tonti back to hurry forward the men he had left, and to command them to come to him immediately ; but, meeting with a violent storm, their canoes were driven against the beach and broken to pieces, and Tonti's men lost their guns ancF equipage, and were obliged to return to us overland. A few days after this all our men arrived except two, who had deserted. We prepared at once to resume our voyage, rains having fallen that melted the ice and made the rivers navigable.

" On the 3d of December, 1679, we embarked, being in all thirtythree men, in eight canoes. We left the lake of the Illinois and went up the river of the Miamis, in which we liad previously made soundings. We made about five and twenty leagues southward, but failed to discover the place where we were to land, and cany our canoes and eifects into the river of the Illinois, which falls into that of the Meschasipi, that is, in the language of the Illinois, the great river. We had already gone beyond the place of the portage, and not knowing where we were, we thought proper to remain there, as we were expecting La Salle, who had taken to, the land to view the country. We stayed here quite a while, and La Salle failing to appear, I went a distance into the woods with two men, who fired oif their guns to notify him of the place where we were. In the meantime two other men went higher up the river, in canoes, in search of him. We all returned toward evening, having vainly endeavored to find him. The next day I went up the river myself, but hearing nothing of him, I came l)a"ck, and found our men very much perplexed, fearing he was lost. However, about four o'clock in the afternoon M, La Salle returned to us, having his face and hands as black as pitch. He carried two beasts as big as muskrats, whose skin was very fine and like ermine. He had killed them w^ith a stick as they hung by their tails to the branches of the trees.

" He told us that the marshes he had met on his way had compelled him to bring a large compass ; and that, being much delayed by the snow, which fell very fast, it was past midnight before he arrived upon the banks of the river, where he fired his gun twice, and hearing no answer, he concluded that we had gone higher up the river, and had, therefore, marched that way. He added that, after three hours' march, he saw a fire upon the hill, whither he went directly and hailed us several times ; but hearing no reply, he approached and found no person near the fire, but only some dry grass, upon which a man had laid a little while before, as he conjectured, because the bed was still warm. He sup2)osed that a savage had been occupying it, who fled upon his approach, and was now hid in ambuscade near by. La Salle called out loudly to him in two or three languages, saying that he need not be afraid of him, and that he was agoing to lie in his bed. La Salle received no answer. To guard against surprise. La Salle cut bushes and placed them to obstruct the way, and sat down by the fire, the smoke of which blackened his hands and face, as I have already observed. Having warmed and rested himself, he laid down under the tree upon the dry grass the savage had gathered and slept well, notwithstanding the frost and snow. Father Gabriel and I desired him to keep with his men, and not to expose himself in the future, as the success of our enterprise depended solely on him, and he promised to follow our advice. Our savage, who remained behind to hunt, finding none of us at the portage, came higher up the river, to where we were, and told us we had missed the place. We sent all the canoes back under his charge except one, which I retained for M. La Salle, who was so weary that he was obliged to remain there that night. I made a little hut with mats, constructed with marsh rushes, in which we laid down together for the night. By an unhappy accident our cabin took fire, and we were very near being burned alive after we had gone to sleep."

Here follows Hennepin's description of the Kankakee portage, and of the marshy grounds about the headwaters of the stream, as already quoted on page 24.

" Having passed through the marshes, we came to a vast prairie, in which nothing grows but grasses, which were at this time dry and burnt, because the Miamis set the grasses on lire every year, in hunting for wild oxen (buffalo), as I shall mention farther on. We found no game, which was a disappointment to us, as our provisions had begun to fail. Our men traveled about sixty miles without killing anything other than a lean stag, a small wild goat, a few swan and two bustards, which were but a scanty subsistence for two and thirty men. Most of the men were become so weary of this laborious life that, were it practicable, they would have run away and joined the savages, who, as we inferred by the great iires which we saw on the prairies, were not very far from us. There must be an innumerable quantity of wild cattle in this country, since the ground here is everywhere covered with their horns. The Miamis hunt them toward the latter end of autumn."

That part of the Illinois River above the Desplaines is called the Kankakee, which is a corruption of its original Indian name. St. Cosme, the narrative of whose voyage down the Illinois River, by way of Chicago, in 1699,' and found in Dr. Shea's work of " Early Voyages Up and Down the Mississippi," refers to it as the The-a-li-ke, " which is the real river of the Illinois, and (says) that which w^e descended (the Desplaines) was only a branch." Father Marest, in his letter of November 9, 1712, narrating a journey he had previously made from Kaskaskia up to the Mission of St. Joseph, says of the Illinois River : " We transported all there was in the canoe toward the source of the Illinois (Indian), which they call Hau-ki-ki. Father Charlevoix, W'ho descended the Kankakee from the portage, in his letter, dated at the source of the river Theakiki, September 17, 1721, says : " This morning I walked a league farther in the meadow, having my feet almost always in the water ; afterward I met with a kind of a pool or marsh, which had. a communication with several others of different sizes, but the largest was about a hundred paces in circuit ; these are the sources of the river The-a-ki-ki, which, by a corrupted pronunciation, our Indians call Ki-a-ki-ki. Tlieak signiiies a wolf, in what language I do not remember, but the river bears that name because the Mahingans (Mohicans), who were likewise called wolves, had formerly taken refuge on its banks." The Mohicans were of the Algonquin stock, anciently living east of the Hudson River, where they had been so persecuted and nearly destroyed by the implacable Iroquois that their tribal integrity was lost, and they were dispersed in small families over the west, seeking protection in isolated places, or living at sufferance among their Algonquin kindred. Tliej were brave, faithful to the extreme, famous scouts and successful hunters. La Salle,- appreciating these valuable traits, usually kept a few of them in his employ. The "savage," or "hunter," so often referred to by Hennepm, in the extracts we have taken from his journal, was a Mohican.

In a report made to the late Governor Ninian Edwards, in 1812, by John Hays, interpreter and Coureur de Bois of the routes, rivers and Indian villages in the then Illinois Territory, Mr. Hays calls the Kankakee the Quin-que-que, which was probably its French-Indian name. Col. Guerdon S. Hubbard, who, for many years, dating back as early as 1819, was a trader, and commanded great influence with the bands of Pottawatomies, claiming the Kaiikakee as their country, informs the writer that the Pottawatomie name of the Kankakee is Ky-an-ke-a-kee, meaning "the river of the w^onderful or beautiful land - as it really is, westward of the marshes. " A-kee," "Ali-ke " and "Aki," in the Algonquin dialect, signifies earth or land.

The name Desplaines, like that of the Kankakee, has undergone changes in the progress of time. On a French map of Louisiana, in 1717, the Desplaines is laid down as the Chicago Eiver. Just after Great Britain had secured the possessions of the French east of the Mississippi, by conquest and tr^ty, and when the British authorities were keenly alive to everything pertaining to their newly acquired possessions, an elaborate map, collated from the most authentic sources by Enian Bowen, geographer to His Majesty King George the Third, was issued, and on this map the Desplaines is laid down as the Illinois, or Chicago Eiver. Many early French writers speak of it, as they do of the Kankakee above the confluence, as the " River of the Illinois." Its French Canadian name is Aio Plein, now changed to Desjjlaines, or Riviere Au Plein, or Despleines, from a variety of hard maple - that is to say, sugar tree. The* Pottawatomies called it Sheskik-mao-shi-ke Se-pe, signifying the river of the tree from which a great quantity of sap flows in the spring. It has also been sanctified by Father Zenobe Membre with the name Divine River, and by authors of early western gazetteers, vulgarized by the appellation of Ivickapoo Creek.

Below the confluence of the Desplaines, the Illinois River was, by La Salle, named the Seignelay, as a mark of his esteem for the brilliant young Colbert, who succeeded his father as Minister of the Marine. On the great map, prepared by the engineer Franquelin in 1684, it is called Eiver Des Illinois, or Macoupins. The name Illinois,

Names Of The Illinois

" We continued our course," says Hennepin, " upon this river (the Kankakee and Illinois) very near the whole month of December, at the latter end of which we arrived at a village of the Illinois, which lies near a hundred and thirty leagues from Fort Miamis, on the Lake of the Illinois. We suffered greatly on the passage, for the savages having set lire to the grass on the prairie, the wild cattle had fled, and we did not kill one. Some wild turkeys were the only game we secured. God's providence supported us all the while, and as we meditated upon the extremities to which we were reduced, regarding ourselves without hope of relief, we found a very large wild ox sticking fast in the mud of the river. We killed him, and with much difliculty dragged him out of the mud. This was a great refreshment to our m#n ; it revived their courage - being so timely and unexpectedly relieved, they concluded that God approved our undertaking.

The great village of the Illinois, where La Salle's party had now arrived, has been located with such certainty by Francis Parkman, the learned historical writer, as to leave no doubt of its identity. It was on the north side of the Illinois River, above the mouth of the Yermill on and below Starved Rock, near the little village of Utica, in La Salle county, Illinois.

"We found," continues Father Hennepin, "no one in the village, as we had foreseen, for the Illinois, according to their custom, had divided themselves into small hunting parties. Their absence caused great perplexity amongst us, for we wanted provisions, and yet did not dare to meddle with the Indian corn the savages had laid under ground for their subsistence and for seed. However, our necessity being very great, and it being impossible to continue our voyage without any provisions, M. La Salle resolved to take about forty bushels of corn, and hoped to appease the savages with presents. We embarked again, with these fresh provisions, and continued to fall down the river, which runs directly toward the south. On the 1st of January we went through a lake (Peoria Lake) formed by the river, about seven leagues long and one broad. The savages call that place Pimeteoui, that is, in their tongue, ' a place where there is an abundance of fat animals.' "

Resuming Hennepin's narrative : " The current brought us, in the meantime, to the Indian camp, and M. La Salle was the first one to land, followed closely by his men, which increased the consternation of the savages, whom we easily might have defeated. As it was not our design, we made a lialt to give them time to recover themselves and to see that we were not enemies. Most of the savages who had run away upon our landing, understanding that we were friends, returned ; but some others did not come back for three or four days, and after they had learned that we had smoked the calumet.

" I must observe here, that the hardest winter does not last longer than two months in this charming country, so that on the 15th of January there came a sudden thaw, which made the rivers navigable, and the weather as mild as it is in France in the middle of the spring. M. La Salle, improving this fair season, desired me to go dowii the river with him to choose a place proper to build a fort. We selected an eminence on the bank of the river, defended on that side by the river, and on two others by deep ravines, so that it was accessible only on one side. We cast a trench to join the two ravines, and made the eminence steep on that side, supporting the earth with grea% pieces of timber. We made a rough palisade to defend ourselves in case the Indians should attack us while we were engaged in building the fort ; but no one offering to disturb us, we went on diligently with our work. When the fort was half finished, M. La Salle lodged himself, with M. Tonti, in 'the middle of the fortification, and every one took his post. We placed the forge on the curtain on the side of the wood, and laid in a great quantity of coal for that purpose. But our greatest difficulty was to build a boat - our carpenters having deserted us, we did not know what to do. However, as timber was abundant and near at hand, we told our men that if any of them would undertake to saw boards for building the bark, we might surmount all other difficulties. Two of the men undertook the task, and succeeded so well that we began to build a bark, the keel whereof was forty-two feet long. Our men went on so briskly with the work, that on the 1st of March our boat was half built, and all the timber ready prepared for furnishing it. Our fort was also very near finished, and we named it ' Fort Crevecoeur,' because the desertion of our men, and other difficulties we had labored under, had almost ' broken our hearts.' "

" M. La Salle," says Hennepin, " no longer doubted that the Griffin was lost ; but neither this nor other difficulties dejected him. His great courage buoyed him up, and he resolved to return to Fort Frontenao by land, notwithstanding the snow, and the great dangers attending so long a journey. We had many private conferences, wherein it was decided that he should return to Fort Frontenac with three men, to bring with him the necessary articles to proceed with the discovery, while I, with two men, should go in a canoe to the River Meschasipi, and endeavor to obtain the friendship of the nations who inhabited its banks.

"M. La Salle left Tonti to command in Fort Crevecosur, and ordered our carpenter to prepare some thick boards to plank the deck of our ship, in the nature of a parapet, to cover it against the arrows of the savages in case they should shoot at us from the shore. Then, calling his men together, La Salle requested them to obey M, Tonti's orders in his absence, to live in Christian union and charity ; to be courageous and firm in their designs, and above all not to give credit to false reports the savages might make, either of him or of their comrades who accompanied Father Hennepin."

Hennepin and his two companions, with a supply of trinkets suitable for the Indian trade, left Fort Crevecoeur for the Mississippi, on the 29th oi February, 1680, and were captured by the Sioux, as already stated. From this time to the ultimate discovery and taking possession of the Mississippi and the valleys by La Salle, Father Zenobe Membre was the historian of the expedition.

La Salle started across the country, going up the Illinois and Kankakee, and through the southern part of the present State of Michigan. He reached the Detroit River ; ferrying the stream with a raft, he at length stood on Canadian soil. Striking a direct line across the wilderness, he arrived at Lake Erie, near Point Pelee. By this time only one man remained in health, and with his assistance La Salle made a canoe. Embarking in it the party came to Niagara on Easter Monday. Leaving his comrades, who were completely exhausted, La Salle on the 6th of May reached Fort Frontenac, making a journey of over a thousand miles in sixty-five days, " the greatest feat ever performed by a Frenchman in America."

La Salle found his afPairs in great confusion. His creditors had seized upon his estate, including Fort Frontenac. Undaunted by this new misfortune, he confronted his creditors and enemies, pacifying the former and awing the latter into silence. He gathered the fragments of his scattered property and in a short time started west with a company of twenty-five men, whom he had recruited to assist in the prosecution of his discoveries. He reached Lake Huron by the way of Lake Simcoe, and shortly afterwards arrived at Mackinaw. Here he found that his enemies had been very busy, and had poisoned the minds of the Indians against his designs.

for Fort Frontenac. On this journey, as La Salle passed up the Illinois he was favorably impressed with Starved Koek as a place presenting strong defences naturally. He sent word back to Tonti, below Peoria Lake, to take possession of " The Rock " and erect a fortili cation on its summit. Tonti accordingly came up the river . with a part of his available force and began to work upon the new fort. While engaged in this enterprise the principal part of the men remaining at Fort Crevecoeur mutinied. They destroyed the vessel on the stocks, plundered the storehouse, escaped up the Illinois River and appeared before Fort Miami. These deserters demolished Fort Miami and robbed it of goods and furs of La Salle, on deposit there, and then fled out of the country. These misfortunes were soon followed by an incursion of the Iroquois, who attacked the Illinois in their village near the Starved Rock. Tonti acting as mediator, came near losing his life at the hand of an infuriated Iroquois warrior, who drove a knife into his ribs. Constantly an object of distrust to the Illinois, who feared he was a spy and friend of the Iroquois, in turn exposed to the jealousy of the Iroquois, who imagined he and his French friends were allies of the Illinois, Tonti remained faithful to his trust until he saw that he could not avert the blow meditated by the Iroquois. Then, with Fathers Zenobe Membre and Gabriel Rebourde, and a few Frenchmen who had remained faithful, he escaped from the enraged Indians and made his way, in a leaky canoe, up the Illinois River. Father Gabriel one fine day left his companions on the river to enjoy a walk in the beautiful groves near by, and while thus engaged, as he was meditating upon his holy calling, fell into an ambuscade of Kickapoo Indians. The good old man, unconscious of his danger, was instantly knocked down, the scalp torn from his venerable head, and his gray hairs afterward exhibited in triumph by his young murderers as a trophy taken from the crown of an Iroquois warrior. Tonti, with those in his company, pursued his course, passing by Chicago, and thence up the west shore of Lake Michigan. Subsisting on berries, and often on acorns and roots which they dug from the ground, they finally arrived at the Pottawatomie towns. Previous to this they abandoned their canoe and started on foot for the Mission of Green Bay, where they wintered.

La Salle, when he ariived at St. Joseph, found Fort Miamis plundered and demolished. He also learned that the Iroquois had attacked the Illinois. Fearing for the safety of Tonti, he pushed on rapidly, only to find, at Starved Rock, the unmistakable signs of an Indian slaughter. The report was true. The Iroquois had defeated the Illi- nois and driven them west of the Mississippi, La Salle viewed the wreck of his cherished project, the demolition of the fort, the loss of his peltries, and especially the destruction of his vessel, in that usual calm way peculiar to him ; and, although he must have suffered the most intense anguish, no trace of sorrow or indecision .appeared on his inflexible countenance. Shortly afterward he returned to Fort Miamis. La Salle occupied his time, until spring, in rebuilding Fort Miamis, holding conferences with the surrounding Indian tribes, and confederating them against future attacks of the Iroquois. He now abandoned the purpose of descending the Mississippi in a sailing vessel, and determined to prosecute his voyage in the ordinary wooden pirogues or canoes.

Tonti was sent forward to Chicago Creek, where he constructed a number of sledges. After other preparations had been made. La Salle and his party left St. Joseph and came around the southern extremity of the lake. The goods and effects were placed on the sledges prepared by Tonti. La Salle's party consisted of twenty-three Frenchmen and eighteen Indians. The savages took with them ten squaws and three children, so that the party numbered in all fifty-four persons. They had to make the portage of the Chicago River. After dragging their canoes, sledges, baggage and provisions about eighty leagues over the ice, on the Desplaines and Illinois Rivers, they came to the great Indian town. It was deserted, the savages having gone down the river to Lake Peoria. From Peoria Lake the navigation was open, and embarking on the 6th of February, they soon arrived at the Mississippi. Here, owing to floating ice, they were delayed till the 13th of the same month. Membre describes the Missouri as follows : " It is full as large as the Mississippi, into which it empties, troubling it so that, from tlie mouth of the Ozage (Missouri), the water is hardly drinkable. The Indians assured us that this river is formed by many others, and that they ascend it for ten or twelve days to a mountain where it rises ; that beyond this mountain is the sea, where they see great ships ; that on the river are a great number of large villages. Although this river is very large, the Mississippi does not seem augmented by it, but it pours in so much mud that, from its mouth, the water of the great river, whose bed is also slimy, is more like clear mud than river water, without changing at all till it reaches the sea, a distance of more than three hundred leagues, although it receives seven large rivers, the water of which is very beautiful, and which are almost as large as the Mississippi." From this time, until they neared the mouths of the Mississippi, nothing especially worthy of note occurred.

On the 6 til of April tliej came to the place where the river divides itself into three channels. M. La Salle took the western, the Sieur Dautray the southern, and Tonti, accompanied "by Menibre, followed the middle channel. The three channels were beautiful and deep. The water became brackish, and two leagues further it became perfectly salt, and advancing on they at last beheld the Gulf of Mexico. La Salle, in a canoe, coasted the borders of the sea, and then the parties assembled on a dry spot of ground not far from the mouth of the river. On the 9th of April, with all the pomp and ceremony of the Holy Catholic Church, La Salle, in the name of the French king, took jjossession of the Mississippi and all its tributaries. First they chanted the " Yexilla Regis " and " Te Deum," and then, while the assembled voyagers and their savage attendants fired their muskets and shouted " Yive le Roi," La Salle planted the column, at the same time proclaiming, in a loud voice, " In the name of the Most High, Mighty, Invincible, and. Yictorious Prince, Louis the Great, by the Grace of God King of France and of Navarre, Fourteenth of that name, I, this 9th day of April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two, in virtue of the commission of His Majesty, which I hold in my hand, and which may be seen by all whom it may concern, have taken, and do now take, in the name of His Majesty and his successors to rhe crown, possession of this country of Louisiana, the seas, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits, and all the people, nations, provinces, cities, towns, villages, minerals, fisheries, streams and rivers, within the extent of the said Louisiana, from the mouth of the great river St. Louis, otherwise called Ohio, as also along the river Colbert, or Mississippi, and the rivers which discharge themselves therein, from its source beyond the country of the Kadonessious (Sioux), as far as its mouth at the sea, and also to the mouth of the river of Palms, upon the assurance we have had from the natives of these countries that we were the first Europeans who have descended or ascended the river Colbert (Mississipj)i) ; hereby protesting against all who may hereafter undertake to invade any or all of these aforesaid countries, peoples or lands, to the prejudice of His Majesty, acquired by the consent of the nations dwelling herein. Of which, and of all else that is needful, I hereby take to witness those who hear me, and demand an act of the notary here present."

At the foot of the tree to which the cross was attached La Salle caused to be buried a leaden plate, on one side of which were engraven the arms of France, and on the opposite the following Latin inscription:

Cio Ioc Lxxxil

After which, La Salle remarked that His Majesty, who was the eldest son of the Holy Catholic Church, would not annex any country to his dominion without giving especial attention to establish the Christian religion therein. He then proceeded at once to erect a cross, before which the " Vexilla " and " Domine Salvum fac Regem " were sung. The ceremony was concluded by shouting " Vive le Eoi ! "

Thus was completed the discovery and taking possession of the Mississippi valley. By that indisputable title, the right of discovery, attested by all those formalities recognized as essential by the laws of nations, the manuscript evidence of which was duly certified by a notary public brought along for that purpose, and witnessed by the signatures of La Salle and a number of other persons present on the occasion, France became the owner of all that vast country drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries. Bounded by the AUeghanies on the east, and the Eocky Mountains on the west, and extending from an undefined limit on the north to the burning sands of the Gulf on the south. Embracing within its area every variety of climate, watered with a thousand beautiful streams, containing vast prairies and extensive forests, with a rich and fertile soil that only awaited the husbandman's skill to yield bountiful harvests, rich in vast beds of bituminous coal and deposits of ii'on, copper and other ores, this magnificent domain w*as not to become the seat of a religious dogma, enforced by the power of state, but was designed under the hand of God to become the center of civilization - the heart of the American republic - where the right of conscience was to be free, without interference of law, and where universal liberty should only be restrained in so far as

Had France, with the same energy she displayed in discovering Louisiana, retained her grasp upon this territory, the dominant race in the valley of the Mississippi would have been Gallic instead of Anglo- Saxon.