Cook County, Illinois - The whole text, 1884 (part 2 of 61)

His illness not permitting him to remain among the Illinois, he soon left them to return to Michilimackinac, promising to come again to the Illinois, or send another to take his place. So much had he attached these simple Indians to himself, that a large number of the tribe escorted him nearly a hundred miles on his return journey, or nearly to the point at which he wished to strike Lake Michigan on his return to his mission, down the eastern shore of the lake. Sick and weary when he embarked, his strength npidly failed as his journey was continued, and on the 19th of May he felt that death was near As he reached the mouth of a small river, he requested his companions to land, and there in a hut of bark, which they built for him, the good missionary died that night. They dug a grave on the bank of the river, and leaving him resting there, made their way to the Mission of St. Ignace. In the w inter of 1676, the bones of Marquette were taken from the grave, by a party of Kiskakin Indians, carefully placed in a box of birch bark, and carried to St. Ignace, where they were buried, with solemn ceremonies, beneath the floor of the mission.

Canadian vovageurs, and it may be that the more lawless courier, De Bois, bad also passed to the interior by this route before Marquette and Juliet returned from their expedition to the Mississippi, in the fall of 1673, and for the first time gave to the world a written account of the route from the Illinois River to Lake Michigan by wav of the Chicago portage.*

'it has been related, f too, that Nicholas Perrot, in the year 1671, left Sault Ste. Marie and visited " at Chicago," " Tetenchoua." the principal chief of the Miamis, who " never moved without a guard of forty warriors, who kept watch, night and day, about his cabin." The object of this visit of Perrot was to induce this powerful chief to enter into an alliance with the French. Fathers Allouez and Dablon met this same "Tetenchoua," with three thousand braves, at a Mascoutin village in Wisconsin, in 1674 - the Miamis and the Masi-outins having joined against their common enemy, the Sioux.

On the death of Marquette, Father Claude Allouez was appointed to the Illinois mission, to which he made several visits ; the first in the spring of 1677, when he was met by an Illinois chief and eighty Indians at the mouth of the Chicago River, and conducted by them to the Illinois village. The second was made in 167S, when he remained until 1680. He again visited Chicago in 1684, with Kurantavc. and it was probably at this rime that the fort was built'at Chicago by the latter.

Early Chicago, And The Northwest

In that paper he attempted to show, among other things, that Father Marquette was not the first white man who visited the present site of Chicago, and that the Miami Indians never made this site their home, as has been usually asserted by those who have written concerning early Chic ago.

Additional testimony from the early explorers of the Northwest, in connection with early maps, corroborated by official documents, will be lure presented to confirm the foregoing propositions and also to controvert what the writer Irelieves to Ik- other erroneous statements concerning Marquette and Joliet and the history of the Northwest.

Nearly every writer, who alludes to early Chicago, intimates that Marquette was the first white man who navigated the Chicago River, and some assert that he built a log cabin and was its " first civilized settler."

In none of Marquette's writings, nor on either of his maps, does he use the word Chicago. Charlevoix, a Jesuit priest, who visited the Northwest in 1721, was the first writer to couple the names of Marquette and Chicago. He says :* "On arriving at Chicagou.on Like Michigan, they separated. Father Marquette remained among the Miamis, and Joliet went to Quebec. The missionary was well received by the great chief of the Miamis. He took up his abode in the chief town of these Indians, and spent the last years of his life in announcing Jesus Christ to them.

These statements were made from hearsay testimony. He had not seen the manuscript journals of Marquette. They were at that time in the Jesuit College at Quebec.} The very modest and apparently truthful records made in those journals by Ma rquette. disprove every statement quoted from the writings of Charlevoix, as will appear farther on. Joliet's journal and map, made for the Government of France, were lost, by the upsetting of his canoe in the rapids of the St. Lawrence, just before reaching Montreal. Marquette had died at the age of thirtv-eight. His journal, or a copv of it, and a map of the trip he made with loliet, we're sent to France, but the Government took no official action in relation to them. New explorations were made not long after Marquette's death. Those belonging to the order of Rccollet missionaries were '-chosen almost always as chaplains to the troops and forts, and were to be found at every French post. '* They were 44 the fashionable confessors, and were stationed at trading points. In this way they became involved in disputes, and, favored by and favoring Frontenac, found themselves arrayed, in a manner, against the rest of the clergy. A general charge, made about that time, seems to have been, that the Jesuits had really nativcs."f 'The Recollets were more " liberal " than the Jesuits. A jealousy, and at times, it would seem, an animosity, existed between them and the Jesuits. What purported to be a published narrative of Marquette, by M. Thevenot, in Paris. 1681, was "derided, called a fable, or narrative of a pretended voyage," ctc.J

In most, if not all the narratives made during the forty years subsequent to Marquette's death, his name is not mentioned except by Jesuits. Joliet is but occasionally alluded to. Father Douay. a Rccollet missionary who accompanied I.aSalle in 1687, says:

"It was at this place Cape St. Anthony only, and not further, that the Sieur Joliet descended in 167.5. 'They were taken, with their whole party, in the Mansopcla. 'These Indians having told them that they would be killed if they went any farther, they turned back, not having descended lower than thirty or forty leagues below the mouth of the Illinois River. I had' brought with me the printed book of this pretended discover}-, and I remarked all along my route that there was not a word of truth in it."*;

A copy of this "printed book " is in the library of the Chicago Historical Society. It is entitled, " Reccuil de Voyages" in which there is a map of the Mississippi V alley. The map is wonderfully accurate, considering the circumstances under which it was made. It has been suggested by some well informed historians, that the map was not made by Marquette, but was the one which Joliet drew from memory, and sent to the French Government after he lost his originals. This seemed quite plausible. It is quite unlike the map found with Ntarquettc's manuscript, a far-simile of which was first published by Mr. Shea, in 1852. The workmanship and skill in drawing, exhibited in the former, is much superior to that of the latter. The circumstances under winch they were drawn were probably very different. Marquette was at the mission of St, Francis, near Green Bay, thirteen months after making the first trip before he commenced the second. He had ample time to make a finished map. The one copied by Mr. Shea, evidently was, like his journal, unfinished, and made during his journey.

The recent discovery of the original map of Joliet, which Frontenac sent to the French Government, a facsimile of which may be seen in this b<M>k, settles the long vexed question, and reflects upon Marquette the honor of being the author of the first published map of the upper Mississippi Valley - the one here rc-produced. Mr. Jared Sparks regarded the map in Thevenot's book as gcnume.whcther it were made by Joliet or Marquette, and says : " I t is valuable as confirming the genuineness of the narrative. It was inqiossible to construct it without having seen the principal objects delineated."*

It was not till about fifty vears ago that the genuineness of the narrative of Marquette, published by Thevenot, was established, except as above suggested In the Hotel Dicu, at Quebec, thirtv-seven pages of manuscript were found, essentially the same as the published narrative. By comparing these with the parish records made by Marquette, at Bouchcrville, in 166S, their authorship was established. With these manuscripts there were twenty-three pages more of manuscript and a map in the same hand-writing, that gave an unfinished account < if Marquette's last trip to the Illinois. Mr Shea published the latter in 1851. The* will again be referred to,

Father Marquette was a good, unselfish, truthful modest man. He relates what occurs and descries what he sees, without embellishment or display He writes as a scholar, and as a nun of careful observation and practical sense. There is no tendency to exaggerate nor to magnify the difficulties he had to encounter or the importance of this discovery."! He had what miVht seem a morbid desire to suffer privations and endure hardships, and says he "esteemed no happiness greater than that of losing his life for the glory of Him who made all. J He wished " to die in a wretched cabin amid the forests, destitute of all human aid."g He was bom in Wance and came to this country in 1668. The Most Rev. Alexander Tache, the Archbishop of Manitoba and a great-grandson of Joliet. the discoverer, kindly sen the writer a photographic copy of the first entry made by Marquette m this country, in the Boucherville Canada. Parish Records, May 20\ ,668. It is the library of the Chicago Historical Society to the mission on the south shore of Lake Superior He soon returned from thence to Sault Stc. MaVie where , mission was established This he soon left for La Pointe nac InSnUPnCn°r/ a,nd fr°m ,hcnce b:ick ttJ Michilimackinac. in none of these missionsdid he seem contented or were his labors attended with marked success url >ig Ins seven years' residence in this country, unfevorhopes and defeat his good intentions. The last entry he made in h« journal after finishing his j, urnev w j h Joliet, ,s more despondent than assuring. He says ;

" Had all this voyage caused but the salvation of a single soul, I should deem all my fatigue well repaid. And this I have reason to think, for, when I was returning, I passed by the Indians of Peoria ; I was three days announcing the faith in all their cabins, after which, as we were embarking, they brought me. on the water's edge, a dying child, which I baptized a little before it spired, by an admirable Providence for the salvation of that innocent soul."*

The journals of Marquette have internal evidence of being more truthful ami reliable than the writings of most of the other missionaries and explorers of the Northwest. The latter abound in self-praise, exaggeration and evident misstatements. Some of the writers, as has been well said, " seem to tell the truth by accident, and fiction by inclination,"!

Marquette's journals and official documents, when obtainable, will therefore be used to corroborate doubtful statements or establish historical facts .for this paper.

It would be a difficult task, if not impossible, to determine who was the first civilized explorer of the Northwest and the discoverer of the Mississippi Valley. In 1541, De Soto crossed the Mississippi above the mouth of the Arkansas, and in 1543, his successor. Moscoso, sailed down the great river to the Opening gulf.J

In 1639. Sletir Nicolet. after having spent ten years of his life with the Indians, visited the Winnehagoes who then resided on and near Winnebago Lake and Fox River. Wisconsin, and " reached the waters of the Mississippi.^

On a map in Jeffery's " Natural ami Civil History of the French Dominions in North and South America,'' published in London. 1761, « is said: " The Ohio country was known early to the Kuglish, and thoroughly discovered beyond the Mississippi by Colonel Wood, "from 1054 to 1664, as also by Captain Bolt, in 1670." The writer has found no contemporaneous evidence that corroborates these statements.

In the year 1670. Father Allouez visited the Winnebagoes and Mascoutins, and savs the MascootilU saw upon the Mississippi Riv<-r " men like the French, who were splitting trees with l-mg knives whip saws ?i some of whom had their house vessel > 011 the water.)

The first official action towards discovery and the establishment of the French Government over the Northwest, of which there is a record, known to the writer, was in 1670. M. Talon, the Intendant of New France, in his report to the King, dated at Quebec, September 10, 1670. says : " I have dispatched persons of reputation, who promise to penetrate farther than ever has been none ; the one to the west and the northwest of Canada, and the others to the southwest and south. These adventurers are to keep journals, take possession, display the king's arms, ami draw up preen PerbtMX to serve as title."*

Under date of November 2,1671, he reports to the King oa follows : '-Sicur de la Salle has not returned from his journey to the southward of this country. B"t >»cur de Lusson is returned, after having advanced as far as five hundred leagues** from here, and planted the cross and set up the King's arms in presence of seventeen Indian nations, assembled, on this occasion, from all parts; all of whom voluntarily submitted themt lint!, p. jtj,

"st published a. fat simile the original map in the French Geographical Review of February, 1880, believes this to be Joliet's :n Governor of New France, and the names, BuuJt, given to the Mississippi, Outreiaise, to the Illinois, and La Frontenarir, to first presented to Frontenac. Joliet's later maps are dedicated to Colbert, and in them the Mississippi is named in his honor. | I lie work of Kaudin, Count Frontcr.ac's engineer.

Early Chicago And The Northwest

The principal speaker at this convention, held June 4, 167 1 was Father Allotted, a Jesuit missionary, who had a knowledge of the Algonquin language. He was not exempt from exaggeration, as will be seen in his speech, which, in part, was as follows :+ nn^- thc S0«« t*od. waking himself a man for the love r,f men. was nailed, and .lied to satisfy his eternal Father for our sins lie is the master of our lives; thc ruler »( heaven, earth and hell It is he of whom I am continually speaking town, and whose- name and words I have borne through all your country. Hut look at this post to which are fitted thc arms of ,he great chief of France, w hom wc call King - he lives across the sea. lie is the chief of the greatest chiefs; and has no equal on earth. All (he chiefs whom you have ever seen are but children beside him. He is like a irre.it tree, and they are hut the little herbsthat one walks over and tramples under foot \,», know Dnontio. (hat famous chief (governor! at Quebec. \ ou know, an.l you have seen, that he is the terror of the Iroqums. and thai his very name makes them tremble since he has laid their country waste and burned their towns with lire. Across ihc sea there arc ten thousand Onontios like him, who are but the warniirs of our great King, of whom I have told you. When he says [ am going to war.' everybody obeys his orders, and each of these ten thousand chiefs raises tmopof'a hundred warriors, some on sea and sonic on land. Some embark in great ships, such as von have seen at Quebec. Vour canoes carry onlv four or five men, or, ai thc most, ten or twelve; but our ships carry four or live hundred and -vomctinies a thousand. < Mhers go to war by land and in such numbers that if they stood in a double hie they would reach from here to Mississaqucnk. which is more than twenty Icaguesoff. When our king attacks his enemies he is more terrible than the thunder; the earth trembles: the air and thc sea are all on lire with the blaze of his cannon; he is seen in thc midst of his warriors, covered over" with the blood of his enemies, whom he kills in such numbers that he dcx-s not reckon them by the scalps, but bv thc streams of blood which he causes follow, lie tikes so many prisoners that he holds them in no account, but lets them go where thev will, to show that he is not afraid of them, lint now nobody dare's make war on him. A.I the nations beyond thc sea have submitted to him. and begged humbly for peace, Men come from every quarter of the earth to listen to him and admire him. All that is done in the world is decided by lum alone."

In this same strain much more was said bv the missionary, and no wonder the confiding and uncivilized Indians " voluntarily submitted themselves " to such a powerful sovereign who, they hoped, would protect them Hum the Iroquois, whom they so much feared. Nicholas Perrot was the person who invited the various tribes to the convention. He was well known to the Indians. He was a fur-trader, interpreter for the government, and the discoverer of the lead mines at (ialena.

Charlevoix, corroborated by others, savs: "In 1671, after having visited all the northern nations" and "invited them to meet in the following spring at Sault Ste. Mane - * he , Perrot turned south and went to Chicago at the lower end of Lake Michigan where the Miamis then were." The Miamis were invited to attend, hut the great age of their chief, Tetenchoua, and the War that a fatal accident might befall him, in case he left his home, and who " never marched except with a guard of forty soldiers," the invitation was declined. I he Pottawatomies, were, however, empowered to act in behalf of the Miamis. Particular allusion is made to this trip of Perrot " to Chicago at thc lower end of Lake Michigan where the Miamis are," in order to announce the proposition that the Chicago there spoken of and the one subsequently alluded to by early writers, as the home »f the Miamis, did not embrace the present site of Chi- ^<go. Chicago was a name applied to a tract of country at the south end of Lake Michigan. It nowhere has been found by the writer located by thc early writers upon the west side. In these investigations it will be shown that at least three streams bore the name of Chicago m some of its varied spellings, viz: the- St. Joseph, the Grand Calumet and the Dcsplaines. Coxe. in his History of Louisiana, calls the Illinois the river Checagou.

The early writers often speak of the Miamis at Chicago. Many old maps have been examined by the writer, but not one indicates that the Miamis ever resided where Chicago now is. Ou the contrary, the Matcouthw are shown to have been there, and the Miamis were invariably located on the Fox River, in » iscnnsin, or at the southeast of Utke Michigan, on thc St. Joseph, Wabash and Maumee rivers. The latter name, a synonym of Miami, was formerly called the Miami River of Lake Krie, and the St. Joseph was frequently called the river of the Miamis. Le Clercq says : " The Miamis in 1680 arc situated south bv cast of the bottom of Lake Dauphin Michigan , on the borders of a pretty fine river, about fifteen leagues inland a» 410 north latitude."

Ou an old French map, now in the archives at Paris, and lately produced by M. Margrv, bearing date of 1670-82* thc Miamis are located southeast of Lac de Illinois Michigan on the R, des Miamis (St. Joseph .

And while referring to this map it will be seen that a stream occupying the geographical position of the (.rand Calumet, and emptying into the extreme south end of Lake Michigan, bears the name of R. Chekagoue. This is probably the earliest map upon which a river is named Chekagoue, and this stream was doubtless the western boundary of the lands of the Miamis, f and was the Chicago alluded to by Little Turtle in his speech of July 22, 1795. J Jt will be seen by further examination of this map, made a short time after Marquette's death, that seven streams enter the lake from the west, but none have the north and south branches peculiar to the Chicago River, and only one of them bears a name, the Melico Milwaukee .

If further proof were necessary to show that the Miamis were located at thc south anil southeast of the lake, and not at the present site of Chicago, the following maps might be cited : La Hontan, Paris, 1703; J. B. Hofmann, Paris, 1701 ; G. Del Isle, Paris. 1700 and 170.5-18-22; Sencx, 1710; Nicholas de Her, Paris, 171S-26; I. F. Bernard. Paris. 1726: Sir D'Anville, Parts, 1746: Sieur Robert de Vaugondv, Paris, 1753; Jefferv's from D'Anville. London, 1755'; Bellin. Paris, 1755 : Sieur LeKouge, Paris, 1755 - Sanson, 1764 ; Fadden's Atlas, London, 1767; Sayer vS: Bennet, London, 179°: Samuel Lewis, Philadelphia, 1776.

By referring to the Marquette map published by Thcvenot, it will lie seen that dotted lines indicate the route taken by Joliet and Marquette. It is thought by some that these arc not properly laid down, especially the one leading from the villages of the Illinois to the Mississippi. Some think the Illinois Indians were on the Des Moines River near Des Moines, Iowa, and not on the Illinois River in the south part of Bureau and LaSalle counties, III. It issaid the latter points are too far from the Mississippi River for men to go and return again in five days. From Keokuk, the nearest point on the Mississippi, to Des Moines is one hundred and sixty-two miles. From Davenport to I>es Moines, in a nearly due west course it is one hundred and seventyl-rwhrre in this volu

Sir William hihnsiw, in hit rtpnrtt to the Lamb of Trade, under il»le November IJ, >?<j, Index ribimtlhe western bound»f> of i he Iroquois, in. liMine ihr territory of the Miami*, vy*: -- - - To the Ohio *hove the Rifts thence northerly to the south end ol Use Michignn, then alowc ihe eastern shore of faint Ukr, cii-, London d.xtinieou N. V. Col. vol. 71, 57$.

five miles. By railroad from Port Byron on tlitr Mississippi River, to Bureau Junction cm the Illinois, is sixty-one miles, and to Utica it is eighty-one miles. In Marquette's journal, on the 25th of June, he speaks of leaving the Mississippi River and going to the villages of " the Illinois." who at once recognized them, and exclaimed, "How beautiful is the sun, oh Frenchman, when thou contest to visit us."*

They were invited to visit " the great Sachem of the Illinois." He "went with a good retinue," the Indians following -' without noise, and with marks of great respect " entertained for the two men. They arrived at the town, where they were cordially received, and sumptuously treated. When night came he "slept in the Sachem's cabin," and the next day took leave of him, "promising to pass back through his town in four1 moons."f They were escorted back to the Mississippi by the Sachem and " nearly six hundred persons," to where they had left their canoes with the boatmen, with strict instructions to keep careful watch 1 if them until their return. This return route is marked by a dotted line, " Chtmin Jti rttour " from the " CachouachKia. Illinois " to the river. Marquette says, " The short stay I made them did not permit me to acquire all the information I would have desired. J They were divided into several villages, some of which are quite distant from that of which I Speak, and which is called Peouare."}} This village is on the west of the Mississippi River, and is "distant a hundred leagues from the Cascasquias."] From the foregoing, it would seem that Marquette visited " the Illinois Indians " upon the river which received its name from them. He did not make a false promise to them to " return to their town again in four moons," After having descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas, and "having gathered all the information that could be desired from the expedition " - that is, -' to ascertain where the river emptied," they started on their return, July 17, 1673. In pursuance of the promise to the Illinois, they entered the river of the Illinois, upon the banks of which they lived. They found there the town of composed of seventy four cabins. After Marquette had again promised to " return and instruct them," he says, " One of the chiefs of this tribe, with his young men, escorted us to the Illinois Lake, whence we at last returned in the close of September to the bay of the Fetid Green Bay.

A dotted line from the Illinois town to' the lake, shows that they entered the latter between 400 and 410 north latitude, which would be at or near the south end of the lake. The court house in Chicago, three blocks south of Chicago River, is in latitude 41 0 -'6'. It will be seen by referring to the map, that an inland bav or lake is shown upon it just north of the route they took. This is probably Calumet Lake. Reasons for this (-inclusion will be given further on.

Marquette returned to the Mission near Green Hay. having in about four months and a hah' traveled, as estimated two thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven thirteen months. On the 25th of October, 1674, he starteil with two boatmen to return to the Illinois Indians, with the hope of establishing a mission there. His journal will Ik- often referred to in order to determine the route which he took. From the 25th to the 30th of October, they were going from the mission to Lake Michigan ;v'</'sturgecm Bay. They overtook five canoes of I'ottawatomies and four of Illinois Indians, who were on their way to Kas'-.askia. the place to which Marquette was going. They agreed to make the journey together.

Marquette had traveled the mute but once. The Indians were probably well acquainted with it and knew all the good Stopping-places along the west shore of the lake.

We will carefully review the route Marquette took and. if possible, determine where his stopping-places were. He had reached Lake Michigan at a point opposite Sturgeon Bay - where there is now a ship canal. He says, in his journal : " You meet eight or ten pretty fine rivers." We will name those that enter the lake from the west, commencing at the north, and give the distances between each as follows : From starting point to Kewane River, twenty-four mites; Twin River, twenty-one; Manitowoc, five'; Sheboygan, twenty- live ; Black Creek, four ; Sauk ("reek Fort Washington , twenty; Milwaukee, twenty-four ; Oak Creek, ten ; Root River, Racine1, thirteen ; Tike River, ten ; Bike Creek Kenosha . one, and a very small creek at Waukegan fifteen miles. From Waukegan to Chicago, a distance of thirty-six miles, no river enters the lake. Lake Bluff - probably "the bluffs 'spoken of in Marquette's journal - is thirty miles north of Chicago. The entire distance between the points named is two hundred and eight miles. From Marquette's journal, it appears that he was traveling on the lake about nine clays. This would make an average of twenty-three and one-ninth miles per day.

He started on the lake, October 31, 1674, and savs : " We- started with pretty fair weather and stopped for the night at a little river." V'e assume that little river to be the Kewane, twenty-four miles south of where they starteil.

November 1. he says : " We halted at night at a river from which a fine road leads to the I'ottawatomies." Marquette locates the I'ottawatomies southeast of the head of Green Bay. The west branch of Twin River rises in Brown County. Wisconsin, less than three miles from the head of the bay. and hence it is assumed that the river at the mouth of which he encamped was Twin River, which is twenty-one miles from the mouth of Kewane River, Thus in two days, they traveled fortyfive miles.

November ,5, he says ; " As 1 was on land walking, coming to a river which I could not cross, our people put in to take me on board, but we could not get out again on account of the swell. All the other canoes went on except the one that came with us."

We will assume that this was the Sheboygan River - too deep to ford, and thirty miles from 'Twin River. He was detained here till the 5th. On that day he says ; " We had hard work to get out of the river.' At noon we found the Indians in a river." We are not sure what this river was; whether Black Creek, a small stream m Sheboygan County, or Sauk Creek, in Ozaukee County : the latter being twenty-four miles, and Black Creek not to exceed live miles from the mouth of the Sheboygan. If the Indians stopped at the first stream they reached after Marquette's boat left them, and waited for Marquette to overtake them, it would have been Black Creek. This seems probable, as they had agreed to go on together.

On the 6th. he says: "We made a good day's travel," but probably did not encamp at the mouth of a river. They found " foot-prints of men, which obliged us to stop 'next day " - probably for two days, as no entry is made on the 8th.

On the 9th. he says ; " We landed at two o'clock, on account of the fine cabinage. We were detained here five days." This is assumed to be at Milwaukee, which is twenty-four miles from the mouth of Sauk Creek, and about forty-four miles from Black Creek - reached in about one and a half days' travel.

On the 15th, he says : " Alter traveling sufficiently, we cabined in a beautiful spot, where we were detained three days." This may have been at Root Rivef Racine . twenty-three miles, or at l'ike River, thirtythree miles south of Milwaukee - probably the former place.

On the 20th, he says : " Wc slept at the bluffs, cabined poorly enough." ' It is assumed that this was at what is now "Lake Bluff," thirty miles north of Chicago, thirty miles from Racine, and twenty miles from the mouth of l'ike River. These are the only noticeable bluffs on the west side of the lake, except those above Milwaukee. He says : " Wc arc detained two days and a half. Pierre going into the woods, finds the prairie twenty leagues from the portage. He also passed by a beautiful canal, vaulted, as it were, about as high as a man. There was a foot of water in it." By going west from the shore at Lake Bluff, some five or six miles, the great prairie, that extends south to Calumet River and the Dcsplaincs, is reached. No prairie is found on the west of the bluffs above Milwaukee, or at any bluffs on the west shore of the lake, except those mentioned. The succeeding entry in Marquette's journal suggests that the Milwaukee bluffs were not alluded to, when he says : " Having started alniut noon, we had hard enough work to make a river." Had it been those above Milwaukee, it would not have been a hard task to reach Milwaukee River, within five miles of them, or even Oak Creek, ten miles further south. On the other hand, it would have been a hard afternoon's work to row the canoe thirty miles. Not a creek enters the lake, between the bluffs and Chicago. Such a half day's journey deserved a notice in his journal. On the 21st of November, 1674, he says: "We are detained here [at the mouth of Chicago River, probably, J three days. An Indian having discovered some cabins, came to tell us. Jacques went with him there the next day. Two hunters also came to see me. They were Mascoutins, to the numbers of eight or nine cabins." On many of the old maps, the Mascoutins are located west of where Chicago now is. Marquette says : " Having been detained by the wind, we remarked that there were large sand-banks off the shore, on which the waves broke continually." By reference to early maps of Chicago, it will be seen that Chicago River took a short turn just before reaching the lake, and its mouth was about one-fourth mile further south, at, or near, what is now the foot of Madison Street. No entries are made between the 21st and 27th.

On the 27th, he says: "We had hard enough work to get out of the river." It is well known that the river had a wide mouth, and a sand-bar crossed it, so that it was oftentimes difficult to "cross the bar."*

He continues by saying: " Having made about three leagues" seven and one-fourth miles we found the Indians" (of their party, and also met "three Indians, who had come from the village." They were detained there by the wind the remainder of the month. He does not speak of being at the mouth of a river. There is none after leaving Chicago, for the distance of twelve miles, when the Little Calumet River is reached.

On the 1st of l)eceml>er the only entry made is, '- We went ahead of the Indians so as to be able to say mass." No entry is made on the 2d. On the 31! he writes: " Having said mass and embarked, wc were compelled to make a point and laud, on account of the fog." He seems to be making very slow progress.

On the 4th, he says: " We started well to reach Portage [Little Calumet] River, which was frozen half a foot thick." No entry is made in his journal from the 4th to the i2th. On the latter day he writes: - As they besKi 1 ION OK CAREY > H I ft 11801.)

gan to draw (their boats on the ice] to get to the portage, the Illinois having left, the Pottaw atomies arrived [at the portage] with much difficulty." On the 4th, he savs: " Being cabthed near the portagcf two leagues up the river we resolved to winter there, on my inability to go further." This would take him up the Little Calumet to " Indian Ridge " and near Calumet Lake.

" Being cabined near the portage " "two leagues up Portage River " and subsequently, after making a portage and going up another river three leagues " without finding any portage," suggests that there were two portages, and therefore there must have lieen three distinct streams or bodies of water on which lie traveled. Now it is assumed that these were the Little Calumet, the Grand Calumet and the Dcsplaines rivers. From the Little to the Grand Calumet there was a portage of about one mile, and from the Grand Calumet, in those days, the route was up the Grand Calumet to Stony

Brook near Blue Island, then up Stony Brook to the Desplaines River, and |>robably by way of the " Sag ' - an old river bed or slough that extends nearly the entire distance from Stony Brook to the Desplaines, and through which the "Feeder" now runs from the Calumet to supplv water for the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

On the old maps prior to iSoo there were represented two distinct rivers, the Grand and Little Kilhmick. The Grand Calumet [Killimick] took its me near La Porte, Indiana, and ran a westerly course to near Blue Island, about forty-two miles, then turning north and receiving from the west a tributary, Stony Brook, it turned nearly east and running nearly parallel with itself, in an opposite direction, and about three miles distant see Morse's and Carey's maps it entered I.ake Michigan nt its extreme southern limit - near what is now the northeastern corner of Lake County, Indiana. At the mouth of this stream " Indiana Citv " was " founded." To-day the mouth is closed by drifting sands. The Grand Calumet has no outlet there except in high water. " Indiana City" is a thing of the past. There was also a Little Calumet. It was simply an outlet of Calumet and Wolf lakes, only about six miles in length. There is now but one Calumet river.

Among the old papers of General Hull, who was stationed at Detroit from 1805 to 1812, his grandson, the late William II. Clark, of this city, found a manuscript map - a fac-simile of which is published here - on which the Grand and Little Killamick are delineated with a straight line uniting them, on which the word " Canal " is written ; as though the two rivers were thus united. The writer has visited the two streams and the " canal," and carefully examined them. The former are wide, and as a rule, very shallow near the banks, and in them is an abundance of aquatic vegetation, such as pond lilies, lotuses, water-grass, moss, etc. On tiie banks of what was the Grand Calumet there is a heavy growth of wood and underbrush on each side from where the -- canal " leads from it. The " canal," which is about one mile in length, and much narrower than either stream, has abrupt banks, which appear lobe washed wider each year. The boatman who took the writer over these streams was a hunter and fisherman, and had fished in them for over twenty-five years. I le said the " canal" was much wider than w:hen he first saw it. On the bottom of it there is neither lily, lotus nor water-grass visihle its entire length. There are no trees or underbrush on its banks. It has all the appearance of l>eing a new stream. All the water from the Grand Calumet now runs through this new stream, or "canal." into the Little Calumet, reaching the latter stream not far from the outlet of Calumet Lake. The slough, or old river bed, of what was once the Grand Calumet, east of this "canal." in times of high water, has a current from the east that finds an outlet through the " canal " and the Little Calumet. It is not definitely known who made this " canal." It may have been cut through by the water, without the aid of man. It is the nearest point between these streams, and may have been the portage, over which loads of furs and boats were dragged. This travel may have killed the grass, and thus in high water afforded it a chance to cut a channel in this road between the high grass on either side. 'The banks of what was the Grand Calumet are several feet higher than those of the Little Calumet where the "canal" enters it. About the year iSoo many canals were projected in the United States, and tome Were made. Possibly this was the one referred to bv Major Long in his report to the Secretary of War, wherein he says : " The Chicago and Desplaines rivers are connected bv means of a kind of canal, which has been made partly bv the current of the water and partly by the French and ' Indians, for the purpose of getting their boats across in that direction in lime of high water." There docs not appear to have been any such canal mailt* at the place named, and possibly it may refer to the " canal " under consideration. The influx of a ImkIv of water like the Grand Calumet into the Little Calumet and at nearly right angles with the stream, would be likely to produce changes in the latter stream. It has done so. 'The northern bank hasl>ecn encroached upon, anil the river-bed is moving north. Again, there is a much greater volume of water than before. The outlet from Wolf Lake was formerly into the Little Calanet. 'The bed is still visible. Gurdon S. Hubbard, now living, sul>sequently to 1819 was having boats loaded with furs and merchandise, drawn up by men along the lake shore, when they were surprised to find that a " new river " had been made to enter the lake, which was so deep and the sides so steep that they could not cross it. It was an outlet from Wolf Lake. Colonel Hubbard speaks positively 00 this point, and says he knows there was no river there before the spring of that year, as he had previously passed over the ground. Major Long, in speaking of his journey on the lake shore, from the " BigCalatnick "to the " Little Calnmick," says: "There are near to this place two streams, one of which, named Pine River, was opened last year 1822 ; the other was formed a short time before."*

Schoolcraft's map a portage is marked from Chicago to the Desplaines River, also from Milwaukee to Rock River. But up to the time of the cutting through of the canal, portages marked on the old maps are at the south or extreme southwest end of Lake Michigan For evidence of this sec Le Hontan s, Du Pratz's and other maps.

The last map of Marquette's suggests that the route was from the southwest corner of the lake, and from the fact that his line is continuous and nearly straight from the lake to the Illinois, it suggests that the 'sag " was then filled with water and there was a nearly conr^t. ~ Ay'- - > evidently stopped the outflow, ami raised the volume in Wolf Lake. The " new rivers ' were the results. By the abrupt turning of the Grand Calumet, about sixteen mdes from its mouth, so that its waters reached the lake nearer than they would have done by following its original channel, the country above the outlet would, in a measure, become drained, and the mean height of the water in the stream be less than it was before such diversion was made. Stony Brook would be affected by the change, and the part of the stream that once filled the "sag ' would be drained off. The length of the portage would be increased. This was probably the case, for since about the time of the opening of the " canal - probably about 1800 - the line of travel was changed, and the Chicago River was the route usually taken after that date. Major Long, Mr. Schoolcraft and others of their time went by way of the South Branch of the Chicago River ; and thence to the Desplaines. On tinuous water communication after he had "dragged half an arpent " and entered the Grand Calumet. He represents several streams on the west side of the lake, but not one of them has the peculiar north and south "branches" of Chicago River. Nor does the one from the southwest end of the lake have any branches. Chicago River is peculiar in this respect. It does not exceed a mile in length. The two branches extend for miles north and south of the forks.

By referring to the first map of Marquette, it will be seen that the ' portage " there marked is between two streams, both of which rnn in a southerly direction - the Desplaines and Stony Brook. In some old maps the portage between the Desplaines and the forked Chicago River is from the North Branch of the latter.* It would seems from this that the portage was not from the Chicago River of a later date, for that was made from the

South Branch. It would seem more probable thai the forked river was the Calumet and .Stony lirook. The portage from the South Branch of the Chicago River to the Desplaines, which some claim was the mute of Marquette, would 1* between that stream, which runs north-

Section Uk I. A Hontan S Map Uk 1703

\Vc will now return again to Marquette where we left him in his little cabin on the Little Calumet, near the portage. During his sojourn he saw many Indians passing his cabin. On the 30th of December, 1674, he says: " Jacques arrived from the Illinois village, which is only six leagues from here, where they are starving."

The next entry is made January 16, 1675. It appeal* that about eighteen leagues distant some Frenchmen resided, and one of them was a surgeon, who visited Marquette. "An Indian came and brought whortleberries and bread, for the men to eat. Jacques returned with the surgeon, and went on to the village of the Illinois which was about five miles beyond that of the French." On the 24th he says : " Jacques returned with a bag of corn and other refreshments that the French had given him for me. " 26th. Three Illinois brought us from the head men [of the Illinois] two bagsof corn, some dried meat, squashes and twelve beavers. * * * They had come twenty leagues." On the 20th of February he writes : M We had time to observe the tide which comes from the lake, rising and falling, although there appears no shelter on the lake. We saw the ice go against the wind." These phenomena must have been witnessed by him from his cabin, as he looked to the west upon the Calumet lake. It was not upon Lake Michigan, for he was two leagues up the river and conlined by sickness. He had previously spoken of tides in other inland bodies of water he had visited He was of Opinion that there were tides in the lakes.

"On the 28th (March] the ice broke and choked above us. On the 29th the water was so high that we had barely time to uncabin in haste, put our things on trees and try to find a place to sleep on some hillock, the water gaining on us all night ; but having frozen a little, and having fallen a little, * * * we are going to embark to continue our route. '

"31. Having started yesterday we made three leagues on the river, going up [on Grant' Calumet and Stony Brook] without finding any portage. We dragged for half an arpent " [from the Little to reach the Grand Calumet]. ' Besides this outlet " [to Lake Michigan the route thev went] "the river has another [outlet) by which we must descend." The Grand Calumet then emptied into the extreme south end of Lake Michigan. He probably did descend that stream, and finding himself so far east he chose to go back to Michilimackinac by an unknown route along the east shore of the lake, rather than turn and go up the west side over a portion of the way he had previously traveled. Had this trip been by way of what is now known as Chicago River, it is not probable that he would have turned to the south upon entering the lake and gone by an unknown route, when his point of destination was to the north, over a route, which he had previously traveled. And that he and Joliet took the same route from the Desplaines by way of what is now called " the Sag " and down Stony Brook to the Calumet, is evidenced by the following entry in his journal : " Here [on the east side of the Desplaines] we began our portage, more than eighteen months ago." April 1, he is detained at the same place " by a strong south wind." " We hope tomorrow to reach the spot where the French are, fifteen leagues from here." The strong south wind would impede his progress down the Desplaines River.

" 6. The high winds and cold prevent us from proreeding. The two lakes [Michigan and Calumet] by which we have passed are full of bustards, geese-, ducks cranes and other birds that we do not know. We have just met the surgeon, with an Indian, going up with a canoe load of furs ; but the cold being too severe for men who have to drag their canoes through the water, he has just made a cache of his beaver, and goes to the village [the French village where the surgeon lived] with us to-morrow." It was on this day, the 6th of April. 1675, that Marquette made his last entry in his journal. It is said by some writers, that he reached the town of Kaskaskia on the 8th of. April, and alter having several times assembled the chiefs of the nation, he took possession of that land in the name of Jesus Christ, ami gave the name of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, to a mission, which he established there. Now this may all be true, but it looks as though a fancy sketch hail found its way into sober history. Marquette made no mention of any such event. If he had been able to collect the different tril>es and found a mission, it is likely he would have made mention of it. In just forty-two days after he made his last entry, he died, at the mouth of the Marquette River, upon the northwestern shore of Lake Michigan. In that time, he had traveled from the Desplaines River t<> the Illinois town, and from thence, back to and down to the mouth of the Grand Calumet, and thence up the east side of the lake to the place of his death - where Ludington now is - a journev of at least four hundred and forty-five miles. Alloue/. went to " kachkaehkia " in 1676, and again 1677. In his journal he says :*

'* In spile of <mr efforts to hasten on. it was the 271ft of April Iwdtre 1 reached Kachkaehkia, .1 large Illinois town. I immediately entered the cabin where Father Marqnettr had lodged, and the Sachem.., with all the people, being assembled. I told them the object of my coming among them, namely, to preach to them the lrue, living and immortal Cod, and his Son Jesus Christ. They listened very attentively to my whole discourse, and thanked me for the trouble I touk for their salvation. I found this village much increased since last year. They lodged in and fifty-one cabins."

Karlv Chicago And The Northwest

'- A» I had but little time to remain, having come only to acquire the necessary information for the perfect establishment of H mission, I immediately set to work to give all the instruction I could to these eight different nations, to whom. I>y the helpof Cod 1 made myself sufficiently understood. I would go to the c .tLii 11 iif the chief of a particular tribe that I wished to instruct, and lltetc. preparing a little altar with my chapel ornaments, 1 expose*) i crucifix, before which I explained the mysteries of our faith. 1 laid the foundation of this mission by the baptism of thirl) -live children and a sick adult, who soon after died, with one of the infants, to go and take possession of heaven in the name of the whole nation. And we, too, to take possession of these tribes in the name 'if Jesus Christ, on the jd of May, the Feast of the Holy Crass, erected in the midst of the town, a cross twenty live feet tiijrh. chanting the I'txith Mtgit in the presence of a great number.. I Illinois of all tribes, of whom I call say in truth, that they did not take Jesus Christ crucified for a foliy nor for a scandal | oil the con. trary. they witnessed the ceremony with great respect, anil heard all I had to say on the mystery, with admiration The children even went to kiss the cross, through admiration, and the old earnestly commended me to place il well sol hat ii could not fall. The time of my departure having come, I b>ok leave of all these tribes, and left them in a great desire of seeing me as s-joii as possible, whien 1 more willingly induced them to expect."

11 This mission owes its establishment to the late Father Gra> vier. Father Marquette was, in truth, the rirsi who discovered the Mississippi, about thirty-nine years ago ; but not being acquainted with the language of the country, he did not remain. Some time afterward he made a second journey, with the intention of fixing there his residence, and laboring for the conversion of these people . but death, which arrested him on the way, left to another the care of accomplishing this enterprise. This was Father Allotic/, who charged himself with it. He was acquainted with the language of the Oumiamis, which approaches very nearly to that of the Illinois, He, however, made but a short sojourn, having the idea while there, that he should be able to accomplish more in a different country , where indeed, he ended his apostolic life. Thus Father Cravier is the one who should properly be regarded as the founder ol the mission of the Illinois. '-

Having now given the reason fur believing that Father Marquette did not establish the mission of Kaskaskia. and that he did not preach to the Miamis at the site of Chicago, additional evidence will now be advanced to show that the Chicagou and the Chicago". River of the early writers, did not refer to the location of the Chicago and its river of the present time. In the early part of the eighteenth century, the English as well as the French, were endeavoring to acquire a knowledge of the Northwest, and secure a foot-hold there. English commissioners were appointed to examine, and report upon it. In their report made to the King, September 8, 1721,! they allude to the communication between Montreal three different routes ; the shortest by water is up the river Miantis, or Ouamis [Maumee] on the southwest of Lake Eric, " etc., by way of a portage on the Wabash, and thence down to the Mississippi River. '-There are likewise two other passages much longer than this, which are particularly pricked down in Hennepin's map, and may be described in the following manner." These routes were round by way of the lakes. " From the Lake Huron they pass by the Strait Miehillimackinack four leagues, being two in breadth and of a great depth, to the Lake Illinois [Michigan] ; thence one hundred and fifty leagues on the lake to Fort Miamis, situated on the mouth of the river Chigagoe [St. Joseph], From hence came those Indians of the same name, viz : Miantis. who are settled on the forenientioned river that runs into Lake Erie [Maumee]. Up the river Chigagoe, they sail but three leagues to a passage of one-fourth of a league : then enter a small lake of about a mile, and have another very small linage, and again, another of two miles to the River Illinois Kankakee . thence down the stream one hundred ami thirty leagues to the Mississippi."* This evidently means the St. Joseph River, and not the Chicago of to-day. By referring to Hennepin's map a reduced copy of which is here given, it will be seen that the portage Jranx-ffaats was ltetween the St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers of the present time. The other route alluded to by the commissioners, was by way of Green Hay, Fox and Wisconsin rivers, and down the latter stream to the Mississippi. By reference to Hennepin's map, it will be seen that the portage Jraag-piaats is marked ltctweeii the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. Charlevoix also alludes to Chicago in 1721. as follows:

Lake Michigan, in a place called Chicagou. from the name of a small river which runs into the lake, and which has its source not far from the river of the Illinois. They are divided into three villages, one on the Kiver St. Joseph , the second on another river jth Rrnd. tnd., about the year tljj. il or mill rate dag, from the head ph. a distance <>t about four milei, docriptioo of ih« poruute. Wh«« s now comparatively dry Land, and

That this place was at the south end of the lake, and not upon its west side, appears evident. The map of 1679-82, recently found in Paris and reproduced bv Margry, has the name of Chikagoue applied to the Oram] Calumet. That and the St. Joseph River were evidently known as Chicagou River at times, prior to 1700. The name was also frequently applied to the Desplaines River, which was also called Divine River. It is named Chicago on the maps of Del. isle, Paris, 1719: Sieur I)' Anville in 1746; Jeffreys. London, 1761; Franquelin, Pans, 1684; Sieur De Rouge, Paris, 1755.

Toe map of the United States, published by W. Winterbotham, in London, 1795,10 accompany his history of the United Slates, suggests that the Chicago of that tlate was not on the river now known bv that name. -' Little Fort " on that map marks the site of Wankegan - so named from "Little Fort," South of Waukegan to the Little Calumet, onlv one stream enters the lake - the Chicago River. This is shown uin>n the map as a stream with no name, while Chicago, upon no stream, is Still further south. The same is to I* seen on Gary's map of a later tlate. Roth these maps show the outline ot the Grand Calumet very correctly.

Many references arc made by early writers to Chicago, but except those of recent date it is spoken of as being the home of the Miamis, or at the south cud of the lake, or at a place where there is a fort. Neither of these descriptions would apply to Chicago.

In a translation in Magazine of American History f LaSalle, in one of his letters, says : " 1 sent M dc Tonty in advance, with all mv people, who, after marching three days along the lake ami reaching the division hue called Checagou," etc. * * * This was the 2d and 3d of January. 1682. - I remained behind to direct the making 0f some caches in the earth." etc. The Checagou here spoken of is, by some, thought to refer to the Chicago of to-day.

If that is so, LaSalle's people must have traveled in hose three days, January, 1682, one hundred ami fifteen m.les~the tbstancc from St. Joseph to Chicago.

seems more probable that they traveled sixty miles to the mouth of the Grand Calumet, which as can be seen upon the map reproduced by Margry, was, in 1079-8... called C hckagou. Hut farther on. in this letter I a- Salle speaks of the Checagou River in a manner that places beyond a doubt that he means the Desplaines In speaking of the Teatiki Kankakee , he savs - U is' found to receive on the left, in its descent, another river nearly as large, which is called the river of the Iroouois bankS' r fTri,i"K # * * - receives on thHSu bank that of Checagou. This river flows from the gay of I uans, and is a torrent rather than a river, although it has a course of more than sixty leagues " etc

He speaks of a " Portage of Chicago," and says " This is an isthmus of land at 41" and 50' north latitude, at the west of Illinois Lake, which is reached by a channel formed by the junction of several rivulets, or meadow ditches." The latitude given would make the portage and isthmus north of west of the court-house in Chicago, which is in latitude 410 26' - too far north for the South branch portage. There may have been a portage from the North branch over an isthmus to the Desplaines, but as far as is known to the writer, no one has ever thought there was one. It may be that there is a mistake in this latitude by typographical error or otherwise.

LaSalle did not like the Chicagou route to the Illinois. His first trip was by the St. Joseph and Kanka kee. He did not wish to experiment with a new route. On the map, made in his day, and probably from data furnished by him or his men, the Grand Calumet was named Chekagotie. He would be obliged to go by boat sixty miles from the mouth of the St. Joseph to Grand Calumet, instead of going up the St. Joseph as he had done on his first journey. In some other early maps the name Checagou may have been applied to the forked rtver on the west side of the lake - the Chicago River of to da\ but no M iamis appear to havt bi en there. The map-makers in the oltl world were doubtless as much perplexed to locate the Chicago of one hundred and fifty years ago, as an American map-maker would be to accurately locate some of the towns and rivers of unpronounceable names in Central Africa reported by Stanley ami other explorers of that region. It seems very doubtful whether the parties at the treaty of Greenville, in '795- fully understood the location and history of Chicago. They described the thirty-six miles of "land that were ceded at " the mouth of a river where a fort formerly stood." There is no record, nor even tradition, that a fort ever stood at the mouth of Chicago River, prior to 1X0.5. Tradition says one was built bv a French trailer named Garay. upon the North branch, and that the branch was called Garay Creek. It is probable that forts, or more probably stockades, as places for the storage of furs, were erected at the mouths of many rivers and near portages. The earthworks around the remains of one of these are said to exist on the north side of the - sag.' before alluded to, in the town of Falos, Cook County, and its ruins are thus described bv Dr. V. A. Boycr, of C hicago :

"I have many limes visited, when cm hunting excursions, the remains of an old fort, located in the- lown of I'alos. Conk County, 111., at the crossing of the old sag trail, which crossed the AuMgaiinnshkee swamp, and was ihc only crossing east of the Des-

Ihc remain-, of ihe foi l, situated north of the sag and near the crossing, were on Ihc elevated limber land, commanding a view of the surrounding country, and as .. military post would well command and guard the crowing. * - - | have never been able to lind any ac saw it m 1S33. and since then have visited it often in company with other persons, some of whom arc still living. I feel sure that 'it was not built during the S,»c War. from its appearance. » - - 1 1 seems probable lhat it was the work of t rench fur-lrader* or explorers, as there were trees a century old growing in its environs. It was evidcmly the work of an enlightened people, skilled in the science of ii" .u -|s a ""^Sc-tic point it must completely com-

The manuscript from which the above is taken, is in the library of the Chicago Historical Society, and with it is a map showing the location of the " fort " in the western part of Section tS of the town of Palos. It 1., reported that near that place, and near the point where the sag enters the Desplaines, many relics of

Indians and those evidently made by a more civilized people have been found. If the sag was the thoroughfare of the early French explorers and traders, it is reasonable to suppose that many relics of theirs will be found when that part of the county is settled and the land plowed.* It was a habit of the trailers to (tithe their furs and other articles which they wished to hide from the view of strangers who might pass that way.

One other point and this paper will be brought to a close. It Ls frequently asserted that Marquette was the discoverer of the Mississippi River. Juliet's name in connection with the discovery is often ignored. By referring to the report of Count Frontenac to M. Colbert, Minister at Paris, under date of November 2, 1672, it will be seen that Louis Joliet was commissioned to go " to the country of the Mascotitins to discover the South Sea and the great river they call the Mississippi, which is supjxised to discharge itself into the sea of California. He is a man of great experience in these sorts of discoveries; and has already been almost at that Great River, the mouth of which he promises to sec."

" Nieur Joliet - - * has returned three months ago, ami discovered some very line countries, and a navigation so easy through the beatifut rivers he has found, that a person can go from Lake Ontario and Fort Frontenac in I Kirk to the f.ulf of Mexico, there being Only one carrying-place, half a league in length, where Lake Ontario communicates with Uke Kric- * - * lie has been within ten days' journey of the liulf of Mexico. * * * 1 send you by my secretary the map he has made of \\\ and the observations he has been able to recollect, as he has lost all his minutes and journals in the shipwreck suffered within sight of Montreal, where after having completed a voyage of twelve hundred leagues, lie was near being drowned, and' lost all his pa|>ers and a little Indian whom he brought I rum those countries. These accidents have caused me great regret, lie a ft with the Fathers uf Satill Me. Marie in Lake Superior, copies of his journals ; these we can not get before next >ear. Vou will glean from them additional particulars of this discovery, in which he has verv well acquitted himself. '$ men a piece "I land an the south .iaV of the ten or twelve inches, lie found, m he exprew* it, of arrow ltinl«. and I think 4t.n1: sixty «.r sevei - - - there nc four rudt from thr margin the island Anticosti, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, "as a reward for having discovered the country of the Illinois, whereof he has transmitted a map to my Lord Colbert, and for a voyage he made to Hudson's Bay in the public interests."* Thus it appears that Joliet was the person employed and the one paid for having made the discovery so often ascribed to Marquette. That the latter accompanied Joliet and saw what he saw, and that he remained in the country and took a second trip to the Illinois, is true. He evidently bore the same relation to Joliet that the army chaplain does to his superior officers. Many a chaplain, upon his return from the war, has written an account of the campaign better than the colonel, under whom he served, could have done. It may have been that Marquette was a closer observer and better writer than Joliet. Hut this has not been proved. The original journals of Joliet were lost. The copies which he left with the Fathers at Sault Ste. Marie, as reported by Count Frontenac. have not been made public. No data are at hand to enable one to determine the character and merits of Joliet's journals. If they still exist, it is to be hoped that some person, with the. enthusiasm and industry of a Margry, will search the French archives and the depositories of the Jesuits and other missionaries, and do for the memory of Joliet what ha* been so well done for I^iSalle.

That Joliet was the head of the expedition is clearly proven. Soon after his return to his native city, Quebec, he married Miss Claire F. Bissot, of that city. Octobet 7, 1675. He led a very active life in attending to his own private business, "" addition to faithfully and efficiently discharging governmental duties that were entrusted to him. He died at almut fifty-six years of agt leaving a wife and seven children, viz.: Louis, Marie. Charlotte, Francois, Jean Baptiste, Claire, Anne, and Marie < Icneveive.

In closing, it may be said that the expedition ol Juliet ami Marquette was particularly disastrous. Joliet lost his records and maps, and Martptette lost his lifex It was just two years and one day after Marquette, started from Mackinac that he died. He was sick at tht Mission of St. F rancis, and in his cabin, " near the portage," nearly seventeen months - leaving him less than, eight months in which to do all his work of discovet, and missionary labors in the Mississippi Valley.

La Salle. - It is believed bv many students of northwestern bisturv-. that before joliet and Marquette had visited this region, another great explorer had passed up the Chicago River to the Illinois, if not even to the Mississippi. This was the famous Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. LaSalle was the son of a wealthy and' aristocratic merchant of Rouen. He was born in 164',. and received a thorough education in his native country. Born a Catholic, he became early connected with tlie Jesuits. This connection, although severed in his early manhood, debarred him from anv portion of the inheritance of his father, and at the age of twenty-three he s;uled for Canada to seek his fortune. The little settlement of Montreal, which he li ad selected as his destination, was then governed by the Seminary of St. Sub pice, a corporation of priests, who held it and the surrounding country by seignorial rights. This post, ln-ing the most advanced settlement on the St. Lawrence, was in constant danger from the attacks of the neighboring Iroquois, and its proprietors were willing and glad to grant their lands, on easy terms, to anv person brave enough to venture still farther up the St' Lawrence, and advance the line of settlement toward the enemy. l.a- Salle was both fearless and ambitious, and accepted a grant of land at the La Chine Rapids, equally dangerous as a place of residence, and convenient as 'a place of trade. The divided waters of the St. lawrence unite below the island on which Montreal is built, and form the Bay of St. Louis. On the southern shore of the bav was the seigniory of LaSalle. He at once commenced the improvement of his domain, which gave him an opportunity of frequent intercourse with the Seneca Iroquois. From them he heard of the Ohio, and also of another great river in the west, which he conceived must flow into the California Sea. After a residence of seven or eight years in Canada he had become thoroughly familiar with several Indian dialects, and with the manners and characteristics of the surrounding tribes. He was restless and adventurous, ami desired to penetrate farther into the magnificent country he had adopted as his home, and conceived the design of himself exploring the Ohio, and perhaps the "sea" into which the Indians said it flowed. Proceeding to Quelle, he gained the consent of CourdUea and Talon to his proposed plan, but no aid toward carrying it out. He accordingly sold his grant to raise the necessary sum, and the proprietors of Montreal desiring also to explore these regions, the two contemplated expeditions were merged in one. The combined party consisted of twenty-four men and seven canoes, with two priests of St. Sulpice as the I eaders of the Montreal party. There were two additional canoes for the Senecas, who acted as guides as far as their village on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. These Seneca guides here left the party, and with one Indian whom they found "at the head of" the lake and induced to act in that capacity," they proceeded on their journey. On reaching the Indian village at Niagara they found Johet, who had reached that point on his return from the copper mines of Lake Superior. He had made a map of the region he had traversed ; and his description of the country, of the spiritual needs of the Indians, and, possibly, of the influence the Jesuits were gaining over them, induced the two priests of St. Sulpice to change the direction of their voyage to the north. The party separated at Niagara, the priests to go to Lake Superior, and LaSalle to continue his journey toward the south. I his was in the last of September, ' 1669. His movements during the following year are not clearly traced.

From an unpublished memoir entitled " H istoire de Monsieur de la Salle," which is said to be a narrative of his explorations, as related by himself to the Abbe Renaudot, at the timet of his visit to Paris in 167S to lay his plans for proposed discovery before King Louis XIV., and Colbert, Prime Minister, it is inferred that he reached the Ohio, and descended it to the falls below Louisville, when his voyageurs deserted him, and he was compelled to retrace his route alone, returning during 1669. The narrative continues:

"Sometime thereafter he m:nle a second expedition to the same river, which he quitted below I .ake Erie - made a portage of six or seven leagues to embark on that Like, traversed it toward the north, UCenrkd the river out of which it Rows, passed the I-akc of Ilirly Water, entered the fresh water sea. doubled the point of land thai cuts this sea in two (Lakes Huron anil Michigan), and descended from north to south, leaving on the west the Day of the Puans (lirccn Hay), discovered a bay infinitely larger, at the bottom of which, toward the west, he found a very beautiful harbor, and at the bottom of this he found a river, which runs from the cast to the west, which he followed ; and having arrived at about the l8o»« of longitude, and the 30th of latitude, he came to another river which uniting with the lirst. flowed from the northwest to the southeast. This he followed as far as the 36th* of latitude, where he found it advisable to stop, contenting himself with the almost certain hope of some day passing by way of this river even to the Golf of Mexico. Having but a handful of followers, he dared not risk a further expedition in the course of which he was likely to meet with olvstaclcs loo great for his slrenglh."'

From the passage quoted above, Pierre Margry, a noted French savant, has formed the opinion that La- Salle, in 1670. before the voyage of Joliet, entered the Chicago, and passed thence to the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, and that he therefore must be regarded as the first white man who saw the prairie and stream forming the site of the wonderful city of 1S83, Whether LaSalle passed what he calls " the division line called Checagou." as early as 1670, is problematical, but his later visits to the locality, during the years of his weary journeys between the St. Joseph and the Illinois rivers, and his detailed ami accurate description of the old " |x>rtagc " as it was in 1682, have almost as thoroughly identified his name with the history of "Checagou as with the " Rock of St. Louis" or " Crevecceur."

In if>73. Frontenac, the Governor of Canada, resolved to establish a frontier |K)st at Quinte Bay, on Lake Ontario, which should not only hold in check the Iroquois, but also secure to its holders a monopoly of the fur trade of the upper lakes, which the F.nglish'and Dutch of New York were making strong efforts to secure. The career of LaSalle is clearly traced from this period. Frontenac recognized in him the qualities he desired in his agents - determination, unresting energy and persistency. LaSalle found in Frontenac a man who was equally ambitious with himself, and equally daring in the accomplishment of his designs. The fort on Lake Ontario would be not only a source of immediate profit, but a step toward the Mississippi, the wealth of Quivira and the lands of the Cibola of the Spaniards. LaSalle was deputed by Frontenac to visit Onondaga, the principal town of the Iroquois, and invite the chiefs to meet the Governor at the Bay of Quinte, where a council should be held in regard to the proposed fort. 1-aSalie, believing the mouth of the Cataragua the present Kingston ) the better site, Frontenac changed the place of the council to that locality. Frontenac, escorted by one hundred and twenty canoes and four hundred men, proceeded from Quebec to the appointed place, arriving July 12,1673. The council was held, and resulted according to the desires and plans of the Governor. A palisaded fort was constructed by his men, which was called Fort Cataragua ;

In the autumn of 1674. LaSalle went to France with letters of recommendation from Frontenac, both to the Ring and his powerful minister. Colbert. La- Salle petitioned the court of France for a patent of nobility, in consideration of his services as an explorer, and also for a grant of seigniorv, of the fort on lake Ontario, which was now called Fort Frontenac. both his petitions were granted, and he returned to Canada a noble, and proprietorof one of the most valuable grants in the colony. He took immediate possession of his domain, replaced the hastily constructed fort of palisades by a substantial stone building, well fortified and garrisoned. Around this grew up quite a village, composed of the cabins of the French laborers and Indian employes of the proprietor, who was only strengthening and fortifying this post as a base for further operations, the exploration of the Mississippi and the countries to the west of it, l>eing now the object of his desire. Again he sailed to France for aid, and again returned successful, reaching Canada early in the fall of 167S, with permission from the Government to pursue his proposed discoveries in new countries, to build forts and take possession of such countries in the name of France; and he was also granted, for his private benefit, a monopoly of the trade in buffalo skins. He brought with him, from France, supplies, laborers and personal followers ; chief among whom was Henri de Tonty, his ever-after faithful friend and supporter. A fort at the mouth of the Niagara River which would command the upper lakes, and a vessel with which to navigate their waters, were the next steps to be accomplished. After many vexatious delays.and much and serious loss, the U >rt. or a depot of supplies, was completed. The equipment and stores for the vessel were carried from the foot of the rapids in the Niagara River, around the falls to the quiet water above - a portage of about twelve miles. This work was accomplished by the 22nd of January, and the carpenters set to work to build the first vessel that entered the great lakes of the Northwest. It is believed that the " Griffin " was built .it the mouth of Cayuga Creek, and for the immediate design of carrying materials to the Illinois River, wherewith to construct another vessel for the navigation of the Mississippi to its mouth. The vessel was launched in the spring of 1679. Tonty having the superintendence of the work during the absence of LaSalle, who had been obliged to return to Fort Frontenac for fresh supplies, and who returned in August, bringing with him three Flemish friars; two of whom - Fathers Membrc and Ribourde - were, after Marquette and Altouez, the earliest missionaries in Illinois. »>- the 7th of August the " Grillin " had been towed up the Niagara River to the shore of Lake Krie, and on that day the voyage was fairly commenced which brought LaSalle and Tonty to Crevecceur and the Rock of St. Louis. The entire party on board the vessel consisted of thirty-four, including the sailors and laborers. The capacity of the " Griffin " was forty-five tons. Early in September they arrived at one of the islands at the entrance of Green Hay, where LaSalle disembarked his cargo, consisting principally of materials wherewith to build another vessel on the Illinois River ; and, reloading the "Griffin " with furs, wherewith to pay his creditors in Canada, sent her back to the Niagara' in charge of the pilot, with orders to bring her to the head of Lake Michigan, as soon as her cargo was discharged. La- Salle, with fourteen men, among whom were the Fathers Mcmbre\ Ribourde and Hennepin, embarked in four heavily laden canoes, and proceeded south along the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan. They passed the mouth of the Chicago River, and, coasting the southern shore of the lake, reached the mouth of the St. loseph, which LaSalle calls "the river of the Miamis," on the 1st day of November, 1679. Here they expected to meet Tonty, whom they had left at Michilimackinac to arrange some affairs of LaSalle's, and who was to make his way to St. Joseph by the eastern shore of the lake. LaSalle remained at the mouth of the river twenty days before Tonty arrived, and during that time his men nearly completed a fort, which was called the " Fort of Miamis." After the arrival of Tonty, La- Salle still lingered at the St. Joseph, hoping and waiting for the ap|>earance of the " Griffin." Finally, yielding to the importunities of his men. he started for the Illinois River, Sending two of his followers back to Mi( liilimai kinai to gain tidings of the vessel, and leaving four in charge of the fort. On the 3d of December, 1679, the party thirty-three in all embarked on the St. Joseph in eight eanocs.and ascended the river to where now is the village of South bend, Indiana. After a long search for the portage leading to the Kankakee, then called Theakiki, and which was about four miles in length, they finally reached the place. Shouldering their canoes anil luggage, they traversed this frozen plain and embarked on the southern branch of the Illinois. Descending the gradually widening river, they passed the Indian village where Marquette and Allouez had already preached to the inhabitants, but which was now deserted, the savages having departed to their hunting-grounds. On the 4th of January, 1680, they reached the Indian camp, a short distance below Peoria Lake, then called I'imitouai. This encampment of Illinois consisted of about eighty wigwams. LaSalle first terrified the Indians, and then succeeded in establishing the most friendly relations with them. The Frenchmen were invited to partake of the usual feasts ami festivities. On explaining to them his purpose to build a borl to descend the Mississippi to the sea their jealousy awoke, and was fanned by the representations of a Mascoutin chief who visited the camp. The tales told by the Indians of the horrors and perils to be encountered on the Mississippi, finally so wrought on the fears of LaSalle's followers that six deserted him utterly, and dissatisfaction and even mutiny were rife among those who remained. Tonty and a few others continued faithful, but it was dangerous to remain at the Indian camp, and LaSalle resolved to fortify himself in a position where he could resist successfully an attack of hostile Indians, if such should be made. About the middle of January he selected a spot for a fort on the southern bank of the Illinois River, about a mile and a half below the Indian encampment. The fort was completed and christened Crevecceur.* It was enclosed by a palisade twenty-five feet high, within which were the huts of the men. ami the cabins of LaSalle, Tonty and the friars 1-aSalle had ere this almost given up hope of the return of the " Griffin," which was to bring to him, at the head of Lake Michigan, many articles needed for the construction of another vessel on the Illinois River. Determined not to fail in his design, La- Salle concluded to return on foot to Fort Frontenac for the needed supplies. The vessel was commenced at Fort Crevecceur, and the work so hurried on by LaSalle and Tonty that in the course of six weeks the hull was nearly finished, and LaSalle started, on the 21] of March, 1680, with five attendants, for Fort Frontenac, leaving Tonty in command of the fort, with a garrison of four- teen or fifteen men. LaSalle and his men embarked in two canoes, but made slow progress. They were obliged to drag the canoes over the half-frozen ice and mow through the woods and marshes - the river being frozen sufficiently to stop their progress, but not strong enough to bear their weight. They passed the deserted village of Kaskaskia, now the site of Utica, and about a mile and a half above the village LaSalle's attention was arrested by the high cliff of yellow sandstone on the south bank of the river, now called Starved Rock. Knowing by this time the precarious tenure of his footing in the country, and the remarkable advantages of the cliff as a fortress, he sent word to Tonty to retreat to it if necessary and there fortify himself. On the 18th of March the party reached a point some miles below the site of Joliet, and there secreting their canoes, struck across the country for the fort at St. Joseph. Wading through marshes, and staggering over the half-frozen, half-thawed ground of the prairie, fording streams when they could, and constructing rafts when they were forced to do so, they at last reached Lake Michigan, and following its shores arrived, on the night of the 24th, at the fort, which had been built the autumn before at the mouth of the St. Joseph. Here LaSalle found two of his men whom he had sent to Michilimackinac to learn tidings of the " Griffin," and who had returned without gaining the slightest clue to her fate. Sending these two men to reenforce Tonty, he pushed on through the wilderness and reached Fort Frontenac on the 6th of May, t6So ; enduring the hardships and exposure of this journey of sixty-five days, through an utterly wild and savage country, with undaunted courage and resolution. He wasted no time at Fort Frontenac, but hastened on to Montreal to procure the needed supplies for his post on the Illinois River. While LaSalle was thus braving and daring every danger for the accomplishment of his purpose, and looking to his return to the Illinois as the final step to be taken before he should be fairly embarked on his long delayed voyage, the hardest blow he had yet received fell upon him. Fort Crevecceur was destroyed. During a brief absence of Tonty, its faithful commander, nearly all the garrison deserted ; having first plundered and then destroyed the fort. The faithless men, not satisfied with their work of evil at Crevecceur, returned to Canada by way of the St. Joseph River, and also destroyed Fort Miamis, whence they proceeded toward Fort Frontenac with the intention of murdering LaSalle, but were captured by the latter before they reached their destination, and carried prisoners to the fort. Anxious for the fate of Tonty and his few remaining men, laSallc hastened his preparations, and on the 10th of August embarked at Fort Frontenac, with a new command of twenty-five men, for the Illinois. He reached Michilimackinac by way of Lake Simcoe and the Georgian Bay, and leaving there La Forest, his lieutenant, with a small command and instructions to follow him speedily, hastened forward with twelve men to the St. Joseph River, where he found as he anticipated, only the ruins of his fort. At St. Joseph he again divided his force. Leaving five men to rebuild Fort Miamis, and await the arrival of La Forest and the remainder of his party, he set out with seven followers for the Illinois, arriving at his destination by the same route he had traversed on his first visit to the river. As he approached the site of the old Raskaskia village, he looked with hope to the high cliff on the south bank of the river, which he had named the " Rock of St. Louis,"* half expecting that Tonty had taken refuge there, according to the instructions he had sent him. No sign of fortifka- tion was visible, - no sign of human life. A little farther, and the site of the Indian village of the Kaskaskias was reached. No village greeted the eyes of the horrified voyagers ; but the torn and mangled corpses which strewed the prairie, and the horrible skulls which grinned from the charred poles of the burned cabins, bore silent evidence that the Iroquois had done their evil work, and that the friendly tribe on which he relied for protection and assistance was scattered, if not totally destroyed. Finding nothing among the mutilated remains that caused him to believe that Tonty or any white man was among the slain, LaSalle resolved to push on and rescue his faithful followers if they were still alive. He left three of his men secreted on an island near the site of the ruined village, and with the remaining four descended the river to the Mississippi, finding no trace of Tonty. but, all along, signs of the fearful havoc committed by the invaders. The disappointed and almost disheartened commander rejoined his followers at the desolated village, and the united party retraced their path to the junction of the Kankakee with the Desplaines. He entered the latter river, and had proceeded but a short distance, when he found, in a bark cabin on its bank, a bit of sawed wood, and from this slight token of the presence of civilized man, believed that Tonty must have passed up the stream to safety. This was true. Tonty, with the two friars Membre ami Ribourde, the young officer lioisrondet, and two men of the Crevecceur garrison, escaped the Iroquois massacre, anil ascended the Illinois to the junction of the two branches. Father Ribourde, wandering from the rest of the party, was slain by a band of' Kickapoos. Tonty and his companions continued their journey up the Desplaincs until the canoe could be used no longer, ami then crossing the "Checagou portage" to Lake Michigan, traversed its western shore to Green Hay. where they arrived the last of November, and spent a part of the winter at the village of a friendly Pottawatomie chief, and the remainder at the mission of St. Francis Xavier.

In the meantime, 1-aSallc, after finding a trace of the presence of Tonty on the Uesplaines, struck across the northern part of Illinois, and arrived at his fort on the St, Joseph about midwinter, where he remained until spring, and during that time learned of the safety of Tonty and where he was, from a band of wandering Outagamies, or Foxes. Hcfore spring he hail formed a plan, and taken measures to carry it out, for uniting the western tribes in a common league, and of colonizing them around a F rench fort in the valley of the Illinois, which should be a center of trade and a safe point from which to extend his explorations to the south and west. In May, 1681, he went to Mackinac, where he met Tonty and Father Membre, who had already arrived there from Green Bay. Together they proceeded to Fort Frontenac, and once more made arrangements for the exploration of the Mississippi. It was autumn when LaSalle again reached the mouth of the St. Joseph, and not until the latter part of December was he ready to leave Fort Miamis. The party which he gathered for this expedition consisted of twenty-three Frenchmen and eighteen Mohegans and Abnakis. ten of whom took along their squaws, " to cook for them, as their custom is." There were also three children. Among the Frenchmen were 'Tonty, Membre, Dautrey, and Prudhomme. LaSalle sent a portion of his party from the St. Joseph, on the 21st of December, remaining himself to attend to the supplies necessarily left behind at the fort. Father Membre, of the advance party, says : tn go toward the Divine River, called by the Indians, Cheeagou,* in order to make necessary arrangements for our voyage. I he Sieur de la Salle joined ns there with the re>i of his troops, on the 4th of laiUIBfy, lAM, and found that Tonly had had sleighs made lo put all on and carrv it over the Cheeagou, which "was frozen ; for though the winter in these parts is only two months long, it is, notwithstanding, very severe."

LaSalle tells the story of the journey by way of the Cheeagou to the Illinois, but does not quite agree with Metnbre on dates. He says, in a communication to

"1 sent M. de Tonty (from the St. Joseph) in advance with all my people, who. after marching three days along the lake, and reaching the division line called Cheeagou, were stopped, after a .lav's march along the river of the same name, which falls Into the Illinois, by the ice. which entirely presented further navigation. This was the 2d and jd of January, 1682. I remained behind to direct the making of some caches in the earth, of the thing-, I left behind. Having finished my caches. 1 left, the sSth of December, anil went on foot lo join the Sieur de Tonty, which 1 diil the 7th of January, the snow having detained me some days at the portage of Chccagou."