Carroll County, Indiana - Biographical sketches (1 of 2 so headed), 1882

Introih'Ctiox

CrSTOM has made it a law, which we may not violate with impunity, that an introductory should precede the presentation of the subject matter contained in the pages that, follow. Whatever may have been necessary in the experiments of others, therefore, must be equally so in this; yet, the labor and reseai-ch that have been bestowed in the preparation of the body of the work must in a measure compensate for the particularity that might otherwise be deemed essential as introductory matter. If what has been written in the succeeding pages for the edification of the present and coming generations, concerning what has been done in the past, in the inseparable connection which links it with the present, shall be appreciated and accepted in the spirit of earnest investigation for the development and jM-eservation of the essential truths of our history, the labors of the aitthor and compiler will not have been in vain. It is not possible, in the very nattu'e of things, to anticipate, in the selection and arrangement of matter, for a work of this class especially, the peculiar wants and expectations of individual minds; hence, while it is desirable to meet the reasonable approbation of the masses for whom the book is designed, the con.siderate reader owes it to his or her own good sense of propriety to ponder well the evidences adduced in support of a controverted statement, and the reasonableness cf the construction of it, before passing judgment upon the integi-ity of the statement itself. Again, what is hereinafter submitted has not been prepared from any motive involving mere pecuniary considerations, btit from an innate desire to do e(jual an exact justice to the subject which has been placed in the author's hands for discussion and elaboration. That some errors of judgment and errors of fact may have been committed is not improbable, for it is human to err; but nothing has been written and j^resented except what was believed to be jtist and true, or within the range of reasonable probability.

Among the developments of this last half of the nineteenth centiuy, there are few which have impressed themselves more distinctly upon society than that wherein is manifested the necessity for a recognition of the fact that it is due from those who now constittite the citizenship of a given locality, to those who succeed them, their children and their children's children, that they should interest themselves in the collection and preservation of the leading facts essential to the accurate determination of local, as opposed to general, history. Until within the past few years, this field has remained almost wholly imcultivated. Recently, however, the demands of the situation have caused to be opened up the avenues to this rich mine of uitwrought material, and now invite the interposition of the historian's hand, to collect, digest and arrange it for the general good. In the past, recourse was seldom had, in the preparation of general history, to the gathering, determination and investigation of local facts as a means of justly representing local interests, beyond those which connect themselves, immediately or remotely, with the annals of the State or nation: hence, we have seldom or never seen, in State or national histories, anything tending to inform the general reader that a given county, for example, has a history of its own, to which his attention might with propriety be dii-eeted. The case now is dift'erent, and that which so interests tis as citizens of a town or county is so arranged as to present in review, under appropriate heads, the facts and incidents that have come under our own observation, or connected with the past of our -'wn neighborhood, township or county. Of this class of material, with such an arrangement, topically or otherwise, should our histories of State or nation of the fttture abound, thus adapting them to the wants of both the general and local reader.

With a view, then, of confoi'ming otu- plan of arrangement to the idea suggested, in what has been written of the history of Carroll County in the succeeding pages, the matter has been divided and placed under appropriate heads, as periods, significant of its character, for the double purpose of putting in possession of the local reader information pertinent to Carroll County, and, as intrpductory thereto, a fair review of the discoveries and explora- .tions antedating the first settlements on that portion of the American continent in which we, as a nation, are interested: of its aboriginal inhabitants in their family and tribal relations; something of the early adventurers who labored in the movement toward civilization on the continent, in the gi-eat Teiritory of the Northwest, in the Territory and State of Indiana, and in the Wabash Valley; of the outline history of our State, civil, political and social, with a concise presentation of its natural history - designed to give the leading features in those departments which it is believed every citizen should understand - together with a statement of what is known concerning the Mound-Builders, and other pertinent prehistoric remains.

A leading article in the department of general historv will be found in a liberal review of the public land system of the United States, embracing a statement of the sources and means whence and whereby the title to our general domain was finally settled as a perpetual right in fee simple, vested in the Government of the United States, and thence to her citizens: the svstems of surveys adopted from time to time for the determination and tierpetuation of boitndaries to tracts of land adapted to the wants of individual piu-chasers, and that now in force governing all the sm-veys of public lands over which the General Government exercises jurisdiction: the land districts and land offices as they have been determined and located in the State of Indiana: the surveys of the public lands in Carroll Coimty, when and by whom made, embodying a fund of information rarely to be found in one volume.

aceiirate recital of the legislative and official proceedings connected with the process of organization as a county jurisdiction, and the consequent outgrowth thereof, but a cai-efully prepared account of the early settlements of the county, with incidents, which form the most interesting characteristic reflex of pioneer life: a department of personal reminiscences, in which the "old settlers " give their own version of the occurrences of the past in which they were participants; the introduction of different foi-ms of Chi'istian worship, the organization and growth of religious societies and churches; our educational system in the several stages of its development, from the methods of the old-fashioned " deestrick" or "privet soule," down to the highly disciplined and well-regulated " institutions of learning " which are the pride of om- county, and underlie the structure and establish the perpetuity of our body politic.

A compact history of the public institutions of the county, the legitimate outgi-owthof its structure, will find a conspicuous place with a summary account of the special economy of each, and of the county edifices also: the organization of the vaiious coiu'ts, their province, and something of the proceedings distinguishing them, with their officers, etc. ; the leai-ned professions, with occasional personal details: the leading industries of the county, and who have been engaged in them; business establishments and business men; in short, every department of society exerting an active influence in the development and utilization of the resources of oiu- county, will have a hearing to the extent of the information we may have gleaned concerning them. In addition to all this, something will be found representative of our social system, as exhibited in the management, influence and purposes of the benevolent and other social orders that have in times past, or ha\e now, a histoiy worthy of record as examples for the future.

In the department of township history, it has been the aim to collect and presence, in satisfactory form, a concise review of home life as we find it among the people who give character to society in the immediate neighborhood where they reside. This review necessai'ily embraces a gi-eat diversity of facts, given with more elaborate pai-ticularity than would be practicable in the narration of the facts pertinent to the discussions of general history. In this department, also, as a means of preserving with gi-eater fullness the essentials of local history, it has been the aim to present dates of settlement, names and peculiarities of settlers, and their first homesteads in the township; the establishment of churches and the moving spirits in the movement; the erection of schoolhouses, the character of the schools, with the names of teachers and school officers, as completely as they could be ascertained ; mechanical and other enterprises that have been the result of applied local talent. Indeed, whatever of value could be obtained tending to give a clear and comprehensive reflex of what the past has been, has been collated and given an appropriate place among the incidents of the neighborhood and township.

And last, though not the least valuable foatiu'e of the work, will be found presented in the department of illusti-ations, which includes accurately di-awn and tastefully engraved raa])s of the civil townshijjs, locating homesteads, schoolhouses, chiu'ches, and other notable buildings; home views, landscape illustrations, portraits, and historical representations mementoes of the past, which, extending into the future, furnish an interesting reflex of individuals and of scenery, wliose identity would otherwise fade from memory and become extinct, and the lessons taught thereby lost to coming generations.

Period Of Di.Scovery

TONS - Voyages of Columbits and his Immediate Successoils, .John and Seba.stian Cabot, Corteueal and Others - E.xpeditions by the portuguese, french and spaniards - dis- COVERY" OF THE 8t. Lawrence and the Cod Fisheuies of Newfoundland - French Traders and their Traffic with the Indians - The Fur Trade - Missionary Labors of the" French - Occupation of Florida by the Spani.\rds, and Incidents - Subsequent Occupation by the French - Searching for Water Communication with the Pacific - East Indies - China - Discoveries of the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, Wabash, Etc. - Incidents.

XpROM the time when order sprang from chaos and the sun -L came forth to gladden the earth, sepai-atiug the day fi-om the night, the East has been recognized as the source of light, the precui'sor of knowledge, whence the tide of civilization has since flowed to dispel the darkness of ignorance and to enlighten the world, in the progress of the ages. As in the remote, so in the recent past. Evolutions and revolutions are upward and forward, never downward nor backward. When knowledge began first to enlarge the domain of thought, and the genns of intelligent motives to expand the area of human progi-ess - the energies of the moving world of sentient beings actuated by powers emanating fi'om the great fountain, accepted the guidance of destiny, and, with the star of empire, moved Westwai-d. The nations of antiquity, the peoples inhabiting the countries of the Old World, directed by the same impulse, turning their faces toward the setting sun, took up the line of march f jr the unseen havens beyond. Such are the experiences which the history of the world - the stream of time - is continually presenting for om- consideration. Far buck in the remote past, beyond the eastern exb'emity of the Mediterranean Sea, we ai'e told, the first pair, created in the image of God, were placed in the Garden of Eden. The entire human family, by common acceptation, ai'e the offspring, in direct line, of this primitive pair. In the com-se of time, their posterity having peopled the countries round about, began to disperse, emigrating into foreign lands, always to the westward, populating the countries between them and the setting sun. Centuries passed, and the descendants of earlier descendants occupied the eastern shores of the Atlantic. All beyond was a vast expanse of waters, seemingly occupying the extremities of the universe. Still they looked forward, and, in their mind's eye, beheld a continent, inhabited they knew not by whom, but the siu-face of which the foot of white man had never ti'od. Inspiration told them this, for, following in the wake of the inviting sun, whose cheering rays had thus lighted them on their way, the desire to traverse those ti'ackless waters by the great headlight of the universe would not yield to the imjiulses of doubt or fear - and they moved forward. The history of the world's jirogress during the succeeding centuries fully attests the grandem- of the conception that dictated the discovery of a new world, whose horizon, extending westwai'd beyond the extremities of the American continent, mingles with and is re illumined by the morning suiLshiue of the old.

Pre-Cohiibian Voyages

About the middle of the ninth centuiy, the spirit fi'om which the desire for adventure in the direction just indicated was evolved, took fonn, giving iinpuls(> io the schemes of those adventurers, impelling them forward to tin' attainmont of the object-s cont..'mi)lated.

In the year A. D. WCiO, the Scandinavians discovered Icehmd, and, in 87i and 875. colonized it. These Scandinavians then occupied a peninsula in the north o{ Eui'ope, bounded on the north by the Ai'ctic Ocean, on the south and east by the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia and Finland, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, embracing an ai-ea of 300,000 square miles, including now the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden, md, anciently, Denmark also. The people along the Atlantic coast especially, were good sailors, energetic, and possessed with the spirit of adventure. This led them to embark frequently in the enterprises foreshadowing discovery. Having discovered and colonized Iceland, less than a centuiy later they discovered and col. nized Greenland. On the authority of M. Rafn, a Danish historian in high repute, because of his intimate knowledge of the narratives of those early voyagers, it is stated, a' so, that America was discovered by that people in A. D. 985. about the time of the discovery of Greenland; that, early in the following centuiy, and repeatedly afterwai-d, the Icelanders visited the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, the Bay of Gasp6 being their principal station; that they had penetrated along the coast as far as Cai'olina, and that they introduced among the natives a knowledge nf Chi'istianity. "' This account, though meager, is distinct and consistent. Its consistency can scarcely be disputed: and it is almost equally obvious that the coxintri' referred to under the name of Vinland is in the vicinity of Rhode Island. A conclusion resting on such strong grounds scarcely requires to be supported by the high authority of Humboldt and Malte Brun."*

It has been stated, also, with some show of authority, thai, subsequent to the Scandinavian discoveries and previous to the expeditions of Cohmibus, the coast of North America had been visited by a Welsh Prince. " In Cardoc's Historic of Cambria", it is stated that Madoo, son of Owen Gwynnedd, Prince of Wales, set sail westwai-d in 1170, with a small fleet, and, after a voyage of several weeks, landed in a region totally different, both in its inhabitants and productions, from Em-ope. Madoc is supposed to have reached the coast of Virginia."t

" The discovery of a continent so large that it may be said to have doubled the habitable world is an event so much the more grand and interesting that nothing pai-allel to it can ever occur again in the history of mankind. America had of course been known to the barbarous tribes of Eastern Asia for thousands of years; but it is singular that it should have been visited by one of the most enterprising nations of Em-ope five centm-ies before the time of Columbus, without awakening the attention of either statesmen or philosophers."]!

Whatever the facts may have been, as stated in these several accounts, it is apparent that the period had not an-ived when the Old World, ripe with the experiences of the past, was ready for the approjiriation of the New; hence, it appears to have been re^ served for the enteii^rise of the fifteenth centm-y to ti-ansmit the civilization of that age to the new continent across the Atlantic. One of the primary considerations which tended to induce the voyages of Colvunbus, and his predecessors as well, was the desire to be instrumental in the discovery of a more direct route to the East Indies and to China, by sailing westward, whereby the facilities for trade with those coimtries might be enlarged, and more direct commimication established, as a means of increasing maritime operations, with their consequent pecuniary advantages. These were the objective points, which, with the considerations named as the inducing agencies, were pi-esent with and directed the voyages of discovfsrj' during the centuries preceding the closing years of the fifteenth. Actuated by similar motives, with a like purpose in view, the succeeding discoveries were made.

Voyages Of Columeds

Cln-istopher Columlius (the Latinized form of the Italian Colombo and the Spanish Colon) was the eldest son of Dominico Colombo and Suzanna Fontanarossa; was born at Genoa, Italy, about the year 1435 or 1436. His father was a wool-comber of some small means, and, two years after the disoovei-y of the West Indies, he was still living, having, in 1409, removed fi-om Genoa to Savonia. Christopher was sent to the University of Pavia, where he devoted himself to the mathematical and natural sciences, and no doubt received instructions in nautical astronomy from Antonio de Terzago and Stefanodi Faenza. On his removal from the imiversity, it appears that he worked for some months at his father's ti-ade; but. on attaining his fifteenth year, he selected and entered upon the life of a sailor. Some of the results of his early education are seen in his subsequent cai-eer.

With some very well defined ideas of the task before him, he set sail on this tirst great voyage of discovery, imder the patronage of the United Kingdoms of Castile and Leon, on the 3d of An gust, 1492, sailing westward.

" It was toward the East that his hopes directed his western com-se - hopes whose supposed tulfiUment still lives in the misapplication to the New AVorld of the terms Indian and Indies. Much of oiu- subsequent knowledge of America has been owing to the same desire of reaching the East Indies that led to its discovery," (I, p. 198.)

After meeting with some adverse winds and cm-rents, which delayed his progi-ess, on the morning of October 1"2, 1492, he discovered the island of San Salvador, one of the Bahamas, The island of Cuba was discovered November 7 of the same year, and Hispaniola, or San Domingo, a short time after. Colnmbus, supposing these latter islands to be a part of the Indies, they and the others in the vicinity were subsequently called the West Indies. The discovery of the continent by him, however, was not made until the year 1498. It had, meantime, in June, 1497, been discovered by John Cabot, sailing imder the patronage of Henry VII, of England, along the coast of Labrador. This incident could not with propriety be made to detract in the least from the credit of Columbus, who projected the enterprise and established the feasibility of what another executed by the use of his capital and foresight. To-day, Columbus is recognized by the civilized world as the discoverer of America. In 1498, Sebastian Cabot, son of the discoverer of the coast of Labrador, commenced the exploration where his father left it, and traversed the border as far down as Virginia, claiming the country in the name of the King of England.

Portuguese Exploratiox

Manuel, King of Portugal, in the summer of 1501, sent out, under the command of Gaspar Cortereal, an expedition of discovery in the West and Northwest. The expedition explored the coast of North America six or seven hundred miles, till, somewhere south of the 50th degree of north latitude, its further progress was checked by the great accumulation of ice. " The name of Labrador, transferred fi-om the territory south of the St. Law- rence to a more northern coast, is a memorial of bis voyage; and is, perhaps, the only permanent ti'ace of Portngiiese adventiu'e within the limits of North America."*

French Voyages And Explorations

Among the first to compete for the prosecution of discoveries in the New World was the French. It is claimed that, as early as 1488, fom- years before the first voyage of Columbus, Cousin, a French navigator of Dieppe, while at sea oflf the coast of Afi-ica, having been di-iven westwai'd by strong winds and eiu'rents, came in sight of an unknown shore, where he discovered the mouth of a great river, probably the St. Lawrence.

This statement, though somewhat traditional, carries with it some evidence of plausibility, since there is good reason to believe that the cod fisherie.s off' the coast of Newfoundland were visited and established prior to the date of Cabot's voyage to that locality, in 1497, by the Normans, Bretons and Basques. " The Normans, offspring of an ancestry of conquerors ; the Bretons, that stubborn, hai-dy, unchanging race, who. among Druid mommients, change- Jess as themselevs, cling with Celtic obstinacy to the thoughts and habits of the past; the Basques, that primeval people, older than history - all fi-equeuted, from a very early date, the cod-banks of Newfoundland."

The name of Cape Breton, found on the oldest maps, is a memorial of the early French voyages. It appears, also, that in the original language of the Basques, Baccalaos, a cod-fish, was the name applied by the inhabitants of Newfoundland to the adjacent coast. Because of that use, Cabot gave the name to the continent whose borders he had traversed. Peter Martyr, in Hakluyt, Vol. Ill, p. 30, says: " Sebastian Cabot himself named those lands Baccalaos, because that in the seas thereabout he found so great multitudes of certain bigge fishes, much like unto tunies (which the inhabitants call baccalaos), that they sometimes stayed his shippes." The same name was used generally by wi'iters of the then current and the succeeding centmy.

Judge Martin, in the introduction to his history of North Carolina, says; " The French made several attempts to establish permanent settlements on the continent of North America. As early as the year 1500, one of the Norman navigators sailed fi-om Rouen, visited and drew a chart of the gulf and pai't of the River St. Lawrence, and Thomas Aubart, of Dieppe, in the year 1508, sailed up the Kiver St. Lawrence. And it is known that, as early as 1504, the Basque whalers and fishermen from Britany and Normandy, visited its shores." (Vol. I, p. 1, 2.) "And it is well established," says Parkman, in Pioneei-s of France (p. 171), "that in 1517, fifty Castilian, French and Portuguese vessels were engaged in it (fishing) at once; while in 1527, on the 3d of August, eleven sail of Norman, one of Breton and two of Portuguese fishermen were to be found in the Bay of St. John."

About the same time, probably in advance of these latter dates, the French had growing establishments in Canada for fishing, and for trading in furs with the natives.

In their traffic with the Indians of the locality, they gave, in exchange for the furs purch'ised from them, knives, hatchets and other utensils of iron and brass adapted to their use, with trinkets and other iu'ticles used for ornamentation. These exchanges of goods took place chiefly between these French traders and the Iroquois. To the natives, the aiiicles of Eiu'opean manufactm-e given in exchange for the fi-uits of their hunting and trap])ing, more than a ineri' commercial value, and hi'n<^i were treasured up as sacred relics - mementoes of fortimate possession, and transmitted to succeeding generations with characteristic ceremony. Three- quarters of a century later, some of these same relics were discovered by Capt Smith in his voyage up the Chesapeake, in possession of the Susquehannocks, who had obtained them from the Iroquois. In the procession of the generations, many of these articles passed also into other hands, finding their way into the hands of the tribes inhabiting the territories further to the westward, whose counti'y had been traversed by the Iroquois in their niunerous warlike expeditions against the Ottawas, Miamis and Illinois. That some of these cherished relics should find their way around the borders of the lakes, even to the headwaters of the ancient Ottawa (Omee or Maumee), woirld not be considered outside the natural order of things. The Ke-ki-ong-a of the primitive Miamis and their predecessors was the center, or radiating point, also, for the numerous kindi'ed bands to the north and south of the great lakes, is known to have been visited by some of the original recipients of those articles exchanged for furs on the banks of the St. LawTence. Indeed, numerous members of the Algonquin family, resident on the noi-th bank of the St. Lawi-ence, at the date when the tralfic with the French traders was going on, began early to emigi-ate westward toward Lake Michigan, to the west and south of Lake Erie, whence they wei'e accompanied by traders, still ambitious to open and extend the avenues of trade to localities rich in furs and hitherto unoccupied by white men. These ti'aders not infi'equently intei-married with the natives, as a more effectual means of secm-ing their confidence, which opened up opportunities to advance jiecuniaiy interests by enlarging the facilities for commercial intercourse.

Jacques Cartiee

Subsequently, Jacques Cartier, on a voyage of discovery, sailed from St. Malo, in France, April 20, 1534. The result of his first voyage was the discovery and reconnaissance of the northern coast of Newfoundland. Having done this, he retvu-ned and made port un the 1 5th of September of the same year. The prestige acquired in his first voyage induced a second. For this purpose, three vessels were fitted out during the winter of 1 534-35, and, on the 15th of May of the latter year, he embarked again, fi'om the same port, to pursue his ideal of discovery under the patronage of the French Government Entering the broad gulf at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, he sailed up that steam, as far as the island of Orleans, in the month of September. A little later, he ascended to the site of the present city of Monti-eal, where inducements were offered by the natives to go farther to the westward, representing that the country to which he was invited abounded in great stores of gold and copper; " that there were three great lakes, and a sea of fi-esh water so liu'ge that no man had ever found the end." Notwithstanding these recitals, however, on the 5th of October following, he left Montreal, and, retm-ning, wintered on the River St Croix, whence, during the succeeding summer, he made a return voyage to France.

In 154(1, five years afterward, a charter was gi-anted to Francis de la Roque. Seignem- de Rubervid, investing him with supreme power over all territories and islands which lie nom' the gulf or along the River St. LawTcnce. I'nder this chiu'ter, a s(juadrou of five vessels, commanded Ijy Admiral Cai'tier and sujjplied with all the necessaries, men and provisions, for forming a colony, bore Ruberval to his new possessions. A fort wa.s erected im mediately upon their arrival, of which Ciu-tier was placed in command, and a colony planted luider favorable auspices. A further expedition was fitted out in 1603. by a company of Koueu merchants, with tlie objective pm-poseof speculations iutlie f;ir ti'ade. and sent to the same territory.

Samuel Champlaine

This expedition was placed in chai'ge of Samuel Champlaiue. who was also a member of the company. One of the results of this enterprise was the founding of the city of Quebec, in 1008. The great profits of the fm' ti-ade ofi'ered inducements for still greater adveutm-e, and for the farther extension of settlements to the westwai'd in the Indian country. These inducements were accepted, and a great number of traders and other adventm-e- loving spirits found their way to the extensive domain of New France. These adventiu-ers were not exchisively of the class known as traders. There were among them membei-s of the society of Jesuits, who came for the double pm-pose of discovery and the establishment of missions as a means of disseminating the principles of Christianity among the chikh-en of the forest.

So zealous and active were those reverend fathers in their selfappointed work that, in 1611, a mission had been established among the Indians of that region. From that time forward, vigorous efforts were made, through the insti-umentality of these missions, to improve the facilities for ti-affic in furs, which was a som'ce of revenue to the persons engaged in it. Thus, through the joint efforts and assiduous perseverance of these French priests and traders, the movements were generally attended with success. On the religious side of the question, it has been stated as a result that, in ten years, up to 1621, 500 converts of these Recollets had been established in New France. In 1635, a Jesuit college was formed at Quebec. In like proportion, the accumulations of the fur trade increased with the additional enterprise developed in that department.

The immediate successor of Champlaine, the fii'st Governor of New France, who died dm'ing the year 1635, was f'-hesteaufort. His temu'e of office, however, was short, and he was succeeded by M. de Montmagny in 1686.

With this latter appointment, a change in the affairs of tlie Govermnent was noticeable, the fiu' trade becoming the chief object of attention. A natm-al consequence of this policy was the extension of explorations into new territories, and the enlargement of the area of trade. " Rude forts were erected as a means of defense to the trading-houses," and of protection to the trade. Not far removed from these posts was the uever-failing auxiliaiy - a chapfil of Jesuits siurmounted by a cross.

lu 1640, when Charles Raymbault and Claude Pijart were appointed to missionary work among the Algonqnins of the North and West, their route to the westwai-d whs by the' way of the Ottawa and French Rivers, so that the whole coast of Ohio and Southern Michigan remained unknown, except as seen by missionaries from the stations in Canada.* It may be readily infen-ed, therefore, that these localities had been previously visited, though by a different route, by other missionaries, because, at a date more than twenty years in advance of this, explorations had been made by them to points further northward, and perhajis by traders also, for it had grown to be a maxim that wherever the went the traders had gone before.

" In August (6th), 1654, two young fur traders, smitten with the love of adventure, joined a band of Ottawas or other Algonqnins, and, in their gondolas of bark, ventured on a voyage of 500 leagues. After two yeai-s, they returned, accompanied by a Meet of fifty canoes. ***** They describe the vast lakes of the West and the niunerous tribes that hover around them; they speak of the Knisteneaux, whose homes stretch away to the Northern Sea; of the powerful Sioux, who dwelt beyond Lake Superior, and they demand commerce with the French and missionaries for the boundless West."*

The Western Indians demanding the presence of missionaries among them, the Bishop of Quebec supplied tbem. In making his selections, the charge fell iipon Father Mesnai-d to visit Green Bay and Lake Superior, and accordingly this mission was established in 1660. In August (Sth) of that year. Father Claude AUouez embai'ked on his mission to the F-m West. Two years afterwai-d, he retm-ned to Quebec and ui'ged the establishment of permanent missions there, to be accompanied by colonies of French emigrants. Success attended the efforts of this reverend father, and he was accompanied, on his retm-n to th(f mission, by Claude Dablon and James Marquette, then recently from France. The field of labor covered by this mission embraced all the region of coimti7 extending fi-om Green Bay westward to the head of Lake Superior, and southward to the countries of the Sacs, Foxes, Miamis and Pottawatomies, whither, also, the ubiquitous ti'aders had preceded them. Subsequently, in 1671, Father Mai'quette gathered around a chapel at Point St. Ighace, on the continent of the peninsula of Michigan - the remnants of one branch of the Hiu'on nation that had inhabited the countiy bordering on the western extremity of Lake Erie.f The year following, Allouez and Dablon explored the country south of the village founded by Marquette, bearing the cross through Wisconsin and the north of Illinois, visiting the Mascoutins and Kickapoos, on the Milwaukee! and the Miamis, at the head of Lake Michigan.

The Spanish In Florida The Huguenots

Ponce de Leon who had been a voyager with Columbus in several of his expeditions, becoming, from some cause, disaffected with his commander, manifested a disposition to utilize the advantages gained by his experience with him, and make discoveries on his own account. Accordingly, in March, lol'i, under the pati'onage of the King of Spain, he sailed from Porto Rico, and, on the 6th of April following, discovered a new region, which, on account of its fiorid and blooming appearance, he named Florida. Of this new region, claimed by him in the name of the Spanish King, he was appointed Governor, on condition of his establishing a colony there at his own expense. He was to have the exclusive right to the island of Bimini, one of the Lucayos, discovered previously by him, said to contain a spring, possessing, among other miraculous properties, that of rejuvenation, and be its Adelantado, or Governor, the King building the forts. Notwithstanding his failure to be made young again throxigh the agency of the mai'velous effects attributed by the natives to this spring, and to seciu'e the golden prize anticipated, his courage remained with him. " For nine yeai's he attempted to plant a colony in Florida; but the Indians attacked him fiercely: he was mortally wounded, and died soon afterwai'd, in Cuba." (Pai'kman. ) whence the general outline of tlie coast of Florida became knowii to the Spaniards, and they vainly endeavored to profit by the infonnation obtained regai-ding that country. " Meanwhile, Cortez had conquered Mexico, and the fame of that iniquitous but magnificent exploit rang throiigh all Spain. Many an impatient cavalier bm-ned to achieve a kindred fortune. To the excited fancy of the Spaniards, the unknown land of Florida seemed the seat of surpassing wealth, and Pamphilo de Narvaez essayed to possess himself of its fancied treasures. Landing on its shores, and proclaiming desti'uction unless they acknowledged the sovereignty of the Pope and the Emperor, he advanced into the forests with 300 men. Nothing could exceed their -suflferiugs. Nowhere could they find the gold they came to seek. The village of Appalachee, where they hoped to gain a rich booty, offered nothing but a few mean wigwams. The horses gave out, and the famished soldiers fed upon their flesh. Themen sickened, and the Indians unceasingly hai-assed their march. At length, after 28( I leagues of wandering, they foimd themselves on the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, and desperately put to sea in such crazy boats as their skill and means could construct. Cold, disease, famine, thirst, and the fury of the waves melted them away. Narvaez himself perished, and of his wretched followers no more than four escaped, reaching, by land, after years of vicissitudes, the Chi'istian settlement of New Spain."*

The interior of Florida was not yet explored, and the Spanish voyagers, haunted by the visions of gold which their vivid imaginings had pictured, were not slow in attempting the realization of these fancied ideals. Hei-nando de Soto, a companion of PizaiTo in his conquest of Peru, having come to America a needy adventui'er, he obtained permission to conquer Florida. AVith 620 chosen men and an ample armament, he landed at Tampa Bay (Espiritu Santo), ofi" the Florida coast, in July, 1539. The adventurers began their mai'ch, and for months and years they wandered thi'ough wild and boundless wastes, guided by the varying prospects of anticipated gain, never, however, their phantom El Dorado. In the third year of their journeyings, they reached the banks of the Mississippi, crossing over at a point above the mouth of the Ai'kansas. Advancing westward, they found no treasures - nothing but hardships. " Finding neither gold nor the Southern Sea, for both of which they had hoped, they retm'ned to the banks of the Mississippi." Dejected by his frequent failures, De Soto was attacked by a malignant fever, from which he died on the 21st of May, 1542, and " to ))reserve his body from the Indians, his followers sank it, at midnight, in the river, and the BuUen waters of the Mississippi biu'ied his ambition and his hopes." Other similar enterprises followed in the course of years, but all were alike disastrous, and the Spaniards failed to gain a permanent foothold in this land of flowers.

"After the treacherous peace between Charles IX (of France) and the Huguenots, Coliguy renewed his solicitations for the colonizations of Florida. The King gave consent: in 1504, three shipswere conceded for the service, and Landonnior, who, in the former voyage, had been ujjon the American coast - a man of great intclliLjriici'. t)i(]ugli a seaman rather than a soldier - ^was appoiiilrit to Wm\ Ini'rli the colony." Emigi-ants followed readily, and til. 'v \VMn> liospitably entertained by the natives. A monument, bearing the arms of France, was crowned with laiu'els, and its base encircled with baskets of corn. The apparent prosperity of the French colony was unsatisfactory to the Spaniards, who had never relinquished their right to the territory, though they had abandoned it, and measm-es were adopted to recover their lost opportunities. In this emergency, Pedro Melendez de Aviles, a naval oflicer of unscrupulons daring, appeared upon the scene, and a compact was soon formed by which he was constituted Governor. This was on the 20th of May, 1565. In the meantime, the Huguenots had made a plantation in Florida, and were prospering in the enjoyment of privileges of which they had been deprived in the country of their nativity. Then, the cry was raised by the King of Spain, and other bigoted followers of the Romish chm-ch in alliance with him, that the heretics - not only the Huguenots, who were especially pnjscribed because of their opinions, but the reformers, followers of Luther and Calvin - must be extirpated. Melendez. the champion of bigotiy and intolerance, imdertook the invasion, which was to be succeeded by the execution of the thi-eat. Encountering the French fleet, his name and the objects of his visit being demanded, he answered: " I am Melendez of Spain, sent with strict orders from my King to gibbet and behead all of the Protestants in these regions. The Frenchman who is a Catholic I will spare; every heretic shall die." Later, Melendez, knowing that the French settlement was in defenseless state, " led his men through the low land that divides the St. Augustine from the St. Johns, and, with a furious onset, surprised the weak gai'rison, who had only looked toward the sea for the approach of danger. After a short contest, the Spaniards were masters of the fort; soldiers, women, children, the aged, the sick, were alike ntassacred. Nearly two hundred persons were killed."*

The despotism of Melendez continued during the succeeding two years. Finally, Dominique de Gourgues. a bold soldier of Gascony, eminently qualified for the self-imposed task, biu'ning with a desire to avenge his own wrongs and the honor of his country, having equipped tlu'ee ships, with 150 men, embarked, on the 22d of August, 1567, for the Florida coast. Keaehiug there, he immediately set himself about his work, attacking the Spanish fort with such determined resolution that it was finally demolished. Not a Spaniard escaped. All were cut down but a few, reserved by Goiu'gues for a more inglorious end. The fate of the men who had murdered the Huguenot colonists as heretics - " not as Frenchmen, but as Lutherans " - was sealed. They were hanged on the veiy trees where Uie French had hung before them. Over them was nailed the inscription, biu-ned with a hoi iron on a tablet of pine, " Not as to Spaniards, but as to ti-aitors, robbers and miu'derers."

The mission of Gom'gues was accomplished. He had avenged the wrongs inflicted on his countrymen an<l against humanity. He returned to his native countiy with the full consciousness of having faithfully discharged his obligation to defend the right and punish the wi'ong.

The Jesuits, despairing of their ability to maintain their rights of possession in that territory, left Florida in disgust, the French reformers still holding their position.f

Previous to the consummation of his plans for the execution of the gi'eat piu'poso of his life. La Salle was often visited by Indians, at his settlement on the St LawTence, above Montreal. " On one occasion," says Parkman, "he was visited by a band of Seneca Iroquois, not long before the seom'ge of the colony, but now, in virtue of the treaty, wem'ing the semblance of friendshi]). The visitors spent the winter with him, and told him of a river called the Ohio, rising in theii' country and flowing into the sea, but at such a distance that its mouth could only be reached after a joiu' ney of eight or nine months. * « * lu accordance with the geographical views then prevalent, he conceived tliat this great river must needs flow into the ' Vermillion Sea; ' that is, the Gulf of California. If so, it would give him what he sought - a western passage to China."* His resolution was then formed, and without delay he descended the St. Lawrence to Quebec, where the pui-pose of his mission and his plans were laid before the Governor in extenso. The plausibility of the enterprise was readily acknowledged by the Governor, Coui'celle, and M. Talon, Inteudant of Justice. Without delay the necessary commission was granted him. to which reference is hereafter given. The cost, however, was to be his own, and he was at liberty to adopt such means of conducting it as might be in consonance with his own ideas of propriety.

In May, IBIVJ. M. Talon, then Intendaut of Justice, Police and Finance, under appointment of Louis, the French King, for the province of New France, having a short time previously returned fi'om a conference with his sovereign at Paris concerning the prior and subsequent administration of the affairs of the province, and the measures best adapted to develoji the resom-ces of the country, in cai-rying out the instnictions received at that time to extend the domain of discovery in the New World, having, with the conom'- rence of Gourcelle. the Provincial Governor, appointed Robert Cavalier, Siem' de La Salle, a person of great energy and discretion, to execute the task, which, the sequel will show, was fi'aught with such momentovis consequences to the civilization of Europe and of the world. Sieui- de La Salle was instructed to jienetrate further than had ever before been done, to the southwest and south; keep a journal of his adventm-es in all instances, and, on his retm'n, reply to the written instructions in his commission. These instructions required, among other things, that he should take possession of all the new territory discovered by him, " in the King's name, displaying the arms of France and issuing jirorra I'erbeaux to settlers, to serve as titles."

In reporting this appointment to the King, he remarks: " His Majesty will probably have no news of him (Sieur de La Salle) before two years from this, when I shall retiu'n to Frances." Another appointment of the same character was made in the jierson of Sieur de St. Louisson, who was given like general instructions, and directed to penetrate to the west and northwest. The chief pm-pose involved in the explorations of these special routes , was the discovery of a more direct passage by water to the East Indies and China, points presumed to possess extraordinai-y advantages for trade with tLe countries of Western Em-ope.

It was the custom of the period for provincial oflicers chief in authority to report annually to the home government, in October or November, a detailed account of the transactions of the preceding year, with suggestions for the futm'e. In February. KiTl, M. Colbert, the King's Secretary, in a communication addi'essed to the Intendant, reviewing his report, covering a period from the early part of the year 1669, to the date of the rejiort of 167(1, under consideration, says ; " The resolution you have taken to send Siem- de La Salle toward the south and Sieur de St. Luisson to the north, to discover the South Sea passage, is very good; biit the principal tiling to which you ought to apply yom-self, in discoveries of this nature, is to look for the copiier mine."

Subsequently, in his rejiort to the King, dated in November. 1671, M. Talon, the Intendant, makes this annoimcement concerning the progress of the expeditions before cited: Siem- de La Salle he has not yet returned fi-om his jom-ney to the southwiu-d of the country. But Siem- de Luisson is retm-ned, after having advanceil as far as 500 leagues from here (Quebec), and planted the cross and set up the King's arms in presence of seventeen Indian nations, assembled on this occasion, fi-om all jiai-ts; all of whom voluntarily submitted themselves to tUe dominion of His Maji-sty. wli.iin .ilonc they regai-d as their sovereign protector." The im-.t in^ ^i th.' In

; north of Lake Michigan. He reports, also, that "According to the calculation made fi-om the reports of the Indians, and fi-om maps, there seems to remain not more than fifteen hundi-ed leagues of navigation to Tai-tary, China and Japan. Such discoveries must be the work either of time or of the King."

Of the details of the route pm-sued b)' La Salle in this expedition, since no record made by himself is now known to be extant except_so much as relates to the circumstances attending his starting-out, and to the conclusion of his enterprise. What occur-

Having detei-mined to proc-ed in his work, he left La Chine, and, ascending the St. Lawi-ence, he moved westward, in company with Collier and Gallinee, imtil, on the thirty-fifth day of their jom-ney, they reached Ii-ondequoit Bay, on the south side of Lake Ontario. Thence the party took its coiu-se, coasting along the southern shore of the lake, reaching the town of Otinawatawa, in the vicinity of Hamilton, on the 24th of September. Here, meeting with Louis Joliet, a young adventm-er who had been sent out by M. Talon to discover and explore the copper mines of Lake Superior, and, failing in the pm-pose of his mission, was retm-ning. This meeting changed the plan of operations, the i)rie.sts, Dollier and Gallinee, determining to continue on the route by way of the lakes, while La Salle, on the other hand, proposed to go, as his better judgment seemed to dictate, by the way of the Ohio Eiver. On the last day of September, 1669, the pai-ty separated, each branch pm-suing its proposed route. After leaving the priests. La Salle went to Ommdaga in search of a guide to direct him on his way. Thence he made his way to a point some six or seven leagues distant from the southern shore of Lake Erie, where he reached a branch of the Ohio, probably the Alleghany, which he descended imtil met by a gi-eat fall in the river, imderstood to be the Falls of the Ohio, at Louisville. Here the direct narrative ends, and we are left in doubt concerning his subsequent movements, deferring, however, to the consideration of circumstances pertinent to the issue transjiiring diu-ing the succeeding two or thi-ee yeai-s.

This was in the fall of l(i69, and he was the beai-er of a commission from the French Government, clothing him with the authority and directing him to make discoveries to the southwest and south of the countries over which the jiu-isdiction of the Government then extended, and to penetrate in those directions farther than had ever been done before.

Statements in the correspondence of the Government officials fi-om time to time, during the period of his absence, kept the authorities fully infoi-med as to the range of his movements, showed that he had not returned, and would not at an earlier date than was expected. In fact, the matter was well imderstood in official circles, having in the beginning been definitely stated, that he would not retm-n until the expiration of two years at least. The correspondence also develops the further fact that he did return about the time anticipated. These tend to shovr conclusively that his movements were in exact accord with the instructions imder which the enterprise was conducted. Hence, in view of the jjreliminaiy facts stated, it is not a question of great moment whether he piu'sued the course originally sketched out for and by himself, in detail, or varied, according to circumstances. That He piu'- sued the route, in a general way. at least, that at first most forcibly determined him, there is it room to doubt. And that he executed the trust according to his instructions will scarcely admit of a peradventure.

Taking into consideration all the facts pertinent to the issue thus far developed, the more probable route, after leaving the Falls of the Ohio at Loiiisville, was to descend that river to the mouth of the Wabash, since, on a manuscript map di-awn in 1673, and still extant, exhibiting the area of discovery of that date or immediately antecedent thereto, the Mississippi Kiver is not shown, but the Ohio is traced a short distance below the falls, and a part of the Eastern and Northern Illinois delineated thereon - a very significant fact, indicating the extent of La Salle's exploration. From this, the inference is very naturally and reasonably di-awn that, with the information manifestly in the possession of the compiler of that map, who must have been, at the same time, cognizant of the movements of M. de La Salle, if not a companion - it is highly probable that, if La Salle had descended the Ohio below the mouth of the Wabash, these additional ouUines of discovery would have been represented also. Having thus designated the Ohio, the compiler placed on its margin these words: " Riviere Ohio, ainsy appellee par les Iroquois a causa de sa beautiS, par ou le siem' de la Salle est descendu."* (The River Ohip, so called by the Irofjuois liecanse of its beauty, by which La Salle descended.)

Accepting this probability as true - and there seems to be little reason to doubt it - that he ascended the Wabash, where did he leave that stream 'r The obvious answer is that, if he subsequently embarked on the western extremity of Lake Erie, which accords with the accepted account, and ascended the strait to Lake St. Clair and beyond, as we have seen, he must have traversed the Wabash " to the canying-place," on La Riviere de Portage, or Little River, and thence by Portage to the " Riviere de la Roche (Maumee) at Ke-ki-onga," and down that river until it debouches into Lake Erie. This is the more probable, too, in view of the further fact that, being a trader as well as an explorer, the greater inducement was in favor of the central or chief village of the Miamis - not only the principal arena of trade with that nation, but the great converging point of all the sources of information, as stated by Little Tiu'tle, in his address to Gen. Wayne at the treaty of Greenville, and his statements were not mere speculations, but had their foundation in the traditions of his fathers from time immemorial. Hence, the route was practicable, since it offered the means of acquiring more complete and accurate information, concerning that which he most desired to know, than was obtainable from any other soiu'ce.

Returning again to the consideration of the question whether La Salle, during the period of his two years' absence, from 10(jU to 1(571, ascended the Wabash to the head- waters of that river, and thence over the Portage to the Miami village at Ke-ki-ong-a, subsequently descending thi> Maumee to Lake Erie, thus making con-, nection between the Falls of the Ohio and the west end of the lake, as stated in the ])reeeding ))ages, let it bo observed that further corroborative circiunstancos occur in the following passages, taken from an official account of his voyages and explorations:

" In 1670, Siem- de La Salle caused a ship and lai-ge house to be built above the Falls of Niagara, within thi'ee or four leagues of Lake Erie, * * * -which, being completed in 1677, about the Feast of St. John the Baptist, was conducted, freighted with merchandise, into the said Lake Erie, and thence passed through the Detroit (Strait). * * * navigated Lake Hm-on as far as Missilimackanaek, and thence, tlu'ough that of the Illinois or Missagan beyond the Hm-on Islands, which said bai-k was constiiicted for the greater convenience of trading with the French who inhabited the said place of Missilimackanaek for more than forty years (1636) * * *. For the continuance of which trade, he caused a fort and buildings to be erected, and a bark to be begim, at a place called Crevecoer, in order to proceed as far as the South Sea, two-thirds of which bark only were built, the said Sieur de La Salle having afterward employed canoes for his trade in said countries, as he had already done for several years, in the Rivers Oyo, Ouabach, and others in the surrounding neighborhood, which flow into the said River Mississippi, whereof possession was taken by him in the King's name, as appears by the relations made thereof. The countries and rivers of the Oyo or Abache, and circumjacent territory were inhabited by our Indians, the Chaouanons, Miamis and Illinois.",*

If he had traversed the Wabash with canoes inthe progress of his trade for several years before the expedition just cited, the conclusion that he did so dm-ing the late fall of 1669, and during the year's of 1670 and 1671, seems more than probable, since we have no record or allusion to the fact that he did so at a later period. If, then, he was exploring and trading on the AVabash at the time designated, what more reasonable than the presumption that he established a trading-post at Ke-ki-ong-a, the centi'al village of the Miapiis, and another at Ouiatenon, on the Lower Wabash, the chief town of the Weas, a branch of the Miamis, transporting his articles of traffic up the river to " the carrying-place," and, having taken them across " the portage," deposited them in the fort near the junction of the St. Mary's and the St. Joseph's, palisaded, according to the necessities, for protection and defense, preparatory to conveying them liy way of the Maiunee to Lake Erie.

Having occupied one or more years in executing his pm-poses of discovery and trade, the record informs us that, in 1671 and 1672, " La Salle embarked on Lake Erie, ascended the Detroit to Lake Huron, coasted the imknown shores of Michigan, passed the straits of Michillimackinac, and, leaving Green Bay behind him, entered what is described as an incomparably larger bay, but which was evidently the soitthern portion of Lake Michigan. Thence he crossed to a river flowing westwai-d - evidently the Illinois - and followed it until it was joined by another river flowing fi-om the northwest to the southeast. By tins the Mississippi only can be meant; and he is reported to have said that he descended it to the 36th degi-eeof latitude, where he stopped, discharged itself, not into the Gulf of California Gulf of Mexico, and resolved to fol'ow it thither at a future day. when better provided with men and supplies."-!-

From the death of Champlaine, in 1635, until 1672, when Count de Frontenac was apijointed Governor General of New France, a manifest want of judicious management was ai^jiarent in tlie conduct of administa-ative officers and subordinates inti-usted with the direction of under colonial afl'airs. This condition of things had the efi'ect to create disti-ust, induce insubordination and retard the movemeuts tending to promote the prosperity of frontier settlements. Upon the incoming of Fronteuac, however and the development of his administrative policy, there was an improvement in the regulatory system of the Government, with inducements to greater activity in the extension of trade and of settlements. Military posts were established and garrisoned as a means of protecting those engaged in pioneer enterprises at the principal points designated, as warranted by the demands of these growing interests. As early as 1672, a considerable trade had grown up among the Miamis and their allies in the teiTitory watered by the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan, the St. Mary's and Maumee adjacent to Lake Erie, which, in the not very remote futm-e, would demand the attention of the colonial authorities to encourage and protect. The erection and maintenance of militai'y posts by the Government in these localities, therefore, for th^ protection of trade, were the natural outgrowth of the situation.

Meanwhile, the Iroquois were making warlike incursions against the Miamis and Illinois. During the progress of these expeditions against triljes inhabiting the country watered by the Wabash, Kankakee and Illinois Rivers, to the southward of Lake Michigan, the route of the incursionists lay along the southern shore of Lake Erie, and in the direction of the principal village of the Miamis. While the Miamis were not the special objects of Iroquois enmity, they were understood to be in alliance with the Illinois, and, as a consequence, subject to distrust, and not unfrequeutly suffered from the aggressions of their formidable assailants. The situation induced a change in the line of commercial intercourse between the French and their Indian allies, with whom the Iroquois were at war. In order to avoid the complications incident to the maintenance of a trading-post on the line of warlike operations, it was determined to occupy and fortify, for the time being, another position more remote, at the mouth of the River St. Joseph's, at its entrance into Lake Michigan. At a later date. La Salle gave this reason for the change: "I can no longer go to the Illinois but by the Lakes Hiu-on and Illinois (Lake Michigan), because the other ways which I have discovered, by the head of Lake Erie and the southern coast of the same, had become too dangerous, by fi-equent encounters with the Iroquois, who ai'e always npon these coasts.* " * * * Accordingly, in the month of November, 1 679, a fort was erected by La Salle at the mouth of the St. Joseph's River, ostensibly for the purpose of protecting trade, but without doubt for another purpose then quite as apparent - defense against the incui-sions of the Iroquois especially, who, at that time, and for two years or more prior thereto, had been engaged in a war with the Illinois and Miamis - a circumstance also tending to show why he had not continued at the head of the Miami of Lake Erie (Maumee), in line of most direct communication between the Northern lakes and the Mississippi, which had been discovered and traversed by him and his associates for some time previously.

Father Hennepin, who was one of La Salle's pai'ty, gives the following account of the building of this fort, called the " Fort of the Miamis;" " There was, at the mouth of the river of the Miamis, an eminence, with a kind of platform on top, and naturally fortified. It was high and steep, of ti'iangular figul-e, formed on two sides by the river, and on the other by a deep ravine. He felled the trees by which it was covered, and cleared away the underbrush for two gunshots in the direction of the woods. Then he began a redoubt forty feet long by eighty broad, fortified by square beams and joists, and musket-proof, laid one on another, his design being to jiut inclined palisades around the two sides facing the river. He cut down palisades which he wished to plant eii tenaiUi' twenty-five feet high on the land side.

" The mouth of November was spent in these works, during which time we ate nothing but bear meat that our hunter killed. There were at this place many of these animals, that were attracted to it by the great 'cjuantities of gi-apes growing everywhere there; but om- people, seeing the Sieur de La Salle all unmanned by the fear entertained by the loss of his bai-k. and utterly annoyed also at the delay of his men, whom the Sieui' de Tonty was to bring us, the rigorous setting- in of winter as a climax, disheai-tening them, the mechanics worked only reluctantly, storming against the fat bear meat, and at their being deprived of liberty to go and kill deer to eat with the bear tat, but their aim all tend ed to desertion.

"We made a bark cabin during this halt, in order to say mass more conveniently, and. on holidays and Sundays. Father Gal)riel and I preached alternately, choosing the most impressive matters to exhort our m?n to patience and perseverance.

" From the commencement of the same month, we had examined the mouth of the river. We had marked a sand bank there, and, to facilitate the entrance of the bark, in case it arrived, the channel was marked out by two tall poles, planted on either side of the entrance, with bear-skin pendants, and buoys all along. We had, moreover, sent to Missilimaekanack two of our men. informed of all things, to serve as guides to Luke the pilot."*

This same father, the year following, visited the villages of the Miamis in the vicinity and on the Illinois River, in his experiences learning much of the habits and mode of thought of this peojile, of whom he said: "There were many obstacles that hindered the conversion of the savages, but in general the difficulty proceeds from the indifference they have to everything. When one speaks to them of the creation of the world, and of the mysteries of the Christian religion, they say we have reason : and they applaud, in general, all that we say on the gi'eat affair of om- salvation. They would think themselves guilty of a great incivility if they should show the least suspicion of incredulity in respect to what is proposed. But, after having approved all the discourses upon these matters, they pretend, likewise, on their side, that we ought to pay all possible deference to the relations and reasonings they may make on their part. Superstition," he says, " is one of the gi'eat hindrances to conversion, and the custom of tradei-s, in common with themselves, to make the most of the bargain by cheating, lying and artifice, to promote personal gain, thus encom-aging fraud and injustice. On the other hand, the best accounts agree that it was thi-ough the agency and persevering exertions of missionaj'ies, combined with the active and enterprising movements of traders, that the amicable relations and moderate trade were brought about between the colonists of Canada and the Miami Indians, in the seventeenth eentiu'y."

While the conditions of hostility existed between those belligerent Indian Wbes, no steps appear to have been taken on the pai't of the Provincial Government towai-d the erection and maintenance of a fort at the head of the Maumee, other than that probably built by La Salle while he occupied the place as a tradingjiost, until there was a temporary suspension, at least, of warlike operations among the belligerent elements. In 1685, the French Government began to adopt more prompt and positive measures for the protection of the Miamis: yet. with the greater or less activity on the part of the combatants, the warfare continued for a series of years, lieirig allayed only by ti'eaty, about the year 1695. Notwithstanding this temporary interrujition of trade along the short route to the Mississippi, it was nevertheless resvimed soon after the obstructions were removed, if not before that time, and the necessary defenses erected for its maintenance. This becomes manifest when it is shown that a commandant was appointed by the French Government, and provided with the requisite outfit, at Ke-ki-ong-a, on the Maumee, and at Ouiatenon, on the Wabash. In an account of the occurrences in Canada from the 1st of November, 160(5. to the l^th of October, 1697, appears the following item concerning appointments in the military department:

" Count de Frontenac, after having taken the advice of the principal officers of this country, ordered D'Argenteuil to place himself at the head of the soldiers about to proceed to Missilimackanack and the Miamis. Sieur de Vincennes was to command at the latter post. These officers and soldiers have precisely only what is necessary for their subsistence, and are very expressly forbidden to trade in beaver." This appointment carries with it the very reasonable presumption that a fort had already been built, which was necessary to be supjilied with officers and men. No change appears to have been made in the meantime; in a like annual report of the oocmi-ences of the preceding year, bearing date November 16, 1704, we find the following statements of appointments made:

" Dispatched Father Valliant and Sieur de Joucaire to Seneca, and I sent Sieur de Vinsiene to the Miamis. with my annexed order and message to be communicated to them.

" Sieur de Vinsiene, my Lord, has been formerly commandant at the Miamis (1697), by whom he was much beloved; this led me to select him in preference to any other, to prove to that nation how wTuu.cf they were to attack the Iroquois - o\^x allies and theirs --without any cause; and we - M. de Beaucharnois and I - after consultation, permitted said Sieur de Vinsiene to carry some goods. and to take with him six men and two canoes."

Again, in a communication fi-om Vaudrueil to Pontchartrain, dated October 19, 1705, the following fm-ther statement occurs touching this matter:

" I did myself the honor to inform you last year that I regarded the continuance of the peace with the Iroquois as the principal affair of this country, and, as I have always labored on that principal, it is that also which obliged me to send Sieur de Joneaire to the Senecas, and Siem- de Vinsiene to the Miamis."*

In addition to what has already been shown concerning the early discovery and use of the line of communication by water from the Northern lakes to the Mississippi, as a means of establishing trade between those points, the attention of the reader is directed to the following extract from a paper prepared by the provincial officers of the British Government in this coimtry, in review of the progress of discoveries and courses of trade during a long series of yeai's anterior thereto:

" It is evident, from Father Hennepin's and La Salle's travels, that the communication between Canada and Mississi])pi is a very recent discovery; and. jierhaps, such a one as no nation less industrious than the French would have attemjited; but it pntist be allowed that they have a great advantage over us in this jiai-ticular, to which even the natm'e of their religion and Government do greatly contribute; for their missionaries, in blind obedience to their superiors, spend whole years in exploring new countries; and the encouragement the late French King gave to the discov- erers and planters of new tracts of land, doth far exceed any advantages your Majesty's royal predecessors have hitherto given to their subjects in America. ***** From this lake (Erie) to the Mississippi, they have three diffei'ent routes. The shortest by water is up the River Miamis, or Ouamis (Mamnee), on the southwest of Lake Erie; on which river they sail about one hundred and fifty leagues without interniption. when they find themselves stopped by another landing of about three leagues, which they call a carrying-place, because they are generally obliged to carry their canoes overland in those places to the next river, and that where they next embark is a very shallow one, called the La Riviere de Portage (now Little River, or the Little Wabash); hence they row about forty leagues to the River Ouabach, and from there about one hundred and twenty leagues to the River Ohio, into which the Ouabach falls, as the River Ohio does, about eighty leagues lower, into the Mississippi, which continues its course for about three hundred and fifty leagues directly to the Bay of Mexico.

" There are 1 ikewise two other passages, much longer than this, which are particularly pricked down in Hennepin's map, and may be described in the following manner:

" From the northeast of Lake Erie to a fort on Lake St. Clair, called Pont Chai-trin. is about eight leagues sail; here the French have a settlement, and often foiu- hundred traders meet there. Along this lake they proceed to the Straits of Michilimackinack 120 leagues. Here is a gamson of about thirty French, and a vast concoui-se of traders, sometimes not less than one thousand, besides Indians, being a common place of rendezvous. At and near this place, the Outarwas, an Indian nation, ai'e settled.

" From the Lake Hm-on they pass by the Sti-ait Michilimackinack foiu' leagues, being two in breadth, and of gi-eat depth, to the Lake Illinois (Michigan): thence 150 leagiies on the lake to Fort Miamis, situated on the mouth of the River Chicagoe; fi'om hence came those Indians of the same name, viz.. Miamis, who are settled on the forementioned river, that nms into Erie. Up the River Chicagoe they sail but three leagues to a passage of one-fom-th of a league; then enter a small lake of about a mile, and have another very small portage, and again another of two miles to the River Illinois, thence down the sti'eam 130 leagues to Mississippi.

" The next is from Michilimackinack. on Lake Illinois, to the Lake de Puans, ninety leagues, thence to the River Paaus, eighty leagues, thence up the same to a portage of about foiu- miles before they come to the River Owisconsing. thence forty leagues to Mississippi. These distances are as the traders reckon them; but they appear generally to be much overdone, which may be owing to those peoples coasting along tlie shores of the lakes, and taking in all the windings of the rivers.

"They have another much shorter passage fi-om Mount Heal (Montreal) to Lake Huron, by the French River on the north of St Lawrence, which communicates with the two latter points; but it abounds with falls, and therefore, is not so much used. They have also by this river a much shorter passage to the upper lake, or Lake Superior."*

Although this paper bears date September S, 17'J1. it must be remembered that its statements are baaed wholly u|iiin the r(>])orts of travels and explorations made by La Salle and Hennepin, especially, and the maps prepared by them, or imder their sui)ervision, communicated within the jjoriod from 1(169 to 1685, and that the language is simply descriptive of what was ascertained and known by those voyageurs nearly half a century before the paper was written. And it is exceedingly strange, too, that many historians who have wi'itten upon the subject should fix the period of the discovery of this particular route in 171 t3,when the very testimony upon which the statement rests says, they were so made fi'om the date fiuTiished by these two noted travelers, and not fi-om discoveries made at a period immediately anterior to 172] , as the language used might readily be consti-ued to import. Still fm-ther, also, must it be understood that the account is from English officials, who necessarily were not cognizant of the details of recent discoveries made by another nation not enjoying the most fi-ieudly relations with them, but governed wholly by the published statements of earlier operations within their reach. Hence, while the account in the main is just and fair, the presumption should not go forth that the document alluded to contained the first emmciation that such discoveries had been made, when, in fact, it only recited what had long before been within the knowledge of the nations.

Of like import with the foregoing is the statement of Father AUouez, who, in describing the countries bordering on the Lakes Illinois and Erie, their water-com-ses and means of transport to and from the principal marts of trade, items of advantage, proper to be known in the selection of eligible sites for future settlements, says: " There is at the end of Lake Erie, ten leagues below the strait, a river by which we could greatly-shorten the route to the Illinois (country), being navigable for canoes about two leagues nearer than that way by which they usually go there " - referring to the route by way of the Maumee and Wabash, speaking also of another route shorter and better, by way of the Ohio, because of its being navigable for vessels of greater capacity than canoes, and to this latter there were objections not attaching to the one previously cited.*

That this route by way of the Maumee and Wabash was probably traveled at a much earlier date, even, than that usually claimed for it, is at least strongly suggested by a map published as early as 1657 - di-awn, no doubt, two or thi-ee years before, by M. de Sanson, Royal Geographer to the King of France - designed to accm-ately represent the relative situation of New France with its numerous lakes, rivers and mountains, to the best advantage. By this map, a copy of which has been published in this country. Lake Erie is located with considerable accuracy, " with a river flowing into it from the southwest for a distance, clearly representing the present coiu-se of the Maimiee, from the site of the old French fort at Ke-ki-ong-a to the lake. The St. Mary's and St. Joseph's are not delineated, showing that their coui-ses had not yet been explored." This, with other facts before presented, must establish, beyond successful controversy, the very early visitation of this country by white men of careful and painstaking observation and of extensive research. Guided by the same som-ces of information from which much of the testimony relative to the eai-ly occupancy by the French of the Upper Wabash and its ti'ibutaries, and the navigation of them with canoes in the transportation of articles of commerce from one poi'tion of the country to another, that testimony is equally applicable to the histoiy of discoveries, trading operations and visitations preliminary to settlement in the middle and lower Wabash coimtry. Indeed, for the pui-poses of trade and its inseparable incidents, the whole route from and below Ouiatenon to Ke-ki-ong-a was a continuous thoroughfare and appropriated for a common purpose. This was the country of the Miamis, and almost exclusively occu])ied by them and their immediate branches, the Thorntowns and AVeas, until by suifer- auce the Pottawatomies gained a habitation among them near the margii^ of the Tippecanoe ; and the Jesuit priests, with their forerunners, the French traders, who came among them in their homes farther to the northward near the lakes, visited and traded with them here.

Incidents Of Discovery

Father Hennepin, in his account of the expedition from Fort Miamis, at the mouth of the St. Joseph's River, to the Illinois country, speaks of the movements of the party, relating numerous incidents of travel, which are valuable as giving a more accurate idea of the country and its inhabitants as seen two centm-ies ago, than is perhaps elsewhere obtainable. Speaking of rejoining the other members of the party at the portage at the head of the carrying-place from the St. Joseph's to the Kankakee, he says: "We found there a number of buffalo horns and the car ! casses of those animals, and some canoes that the Indians had I made of buffalo skins to cross the river with their load of meat. This place is situated on the edge of a gi-eat plain, at Ihe extremity of which, on the western side, is a village of Miamis, Mascoutens and Ouiatenons, gathered together."

This portage was not far from the present city of South Bend, Ind. West of this city, and not far distant, is Lake Kankakee, from which the Kankakee, the ancient Seignelay River takes its rise. The distance intervening between the head of this little lake and the St. Joseph's River is about two miles, over a piece of marshy ground, almost level, yet with sufficient fall to justify the utilization of the water in the lake as a motive power in the propulsion of machinery. This latter fact was fully demonstrated in 1832, when Alexander Coquillard, one of St. Joseph's entei-prising pioneer citizens, dug a race fi'omthe lake thi-ough a portion of this mai-sh land to the St Joseph's River, thus seciu-iug a flow of water sufficient to ran a grist and saw mill.

" The River Seignelay, which flows to the Islinois (Indians), rises in a plain in the midst of much boggy land, over which it is not easy to walk. This river is only a league and a half distant fi'om that of the Miamis (St. Joseph's), and thus we transported all our equipage and canoes by a road which we marked for the benefit of those who might come after us, after leaving, at the portage of the Miami River, as well as at the fort which we had built at its mouth, letters to serve as a guide to those who were to come and join us by the bark, to the number of twenty-five.

" The River Seignelay is navigable for canoes to within a hunch-ed paces of its source, and it increases to such an extent in a short time that it is almost as broad, and deeper than the Marne. It takes its coui'se through vast marshes, where it winds about so, though its current is pretty strong, that, after sailing on it for a whole day, we sometimes foimd that we had not advanced more than two leagues in a straight line. As far as the eye could reach.'nothing was to be seen but marshes, full of flags and alders. For more than forty leagues of the way, we could not have found a camping-ground, except for some hummocks of frozen earth on which we slept and lit our fire. Om- provisions ran out, and we could find no game after passing these marshes, as we had hoped to do, because there are only great open plains, where nothing grows except tall grass, which is di'y at this season (December), and which the Miamis had burned while himting buffalo, and, with all the address we employed to kill some deer, our hunters took nothing; for more than sixty leagues' journey, they killed only a lean stag, a small deer, some swans and two wild geese for the subsistence of thirty-two men. If our -eanoemen had found a chance, they would infallibly have all abandoned us, to strike in- land and join the Indians, whom we discerned Ijy the flames of the j^rairies, to which they had set fire in order to kill the buffalo more easily.

" These animals are ordinarily in great numbers there, as it is easy to judge by the bones, the horns and skulls that we saw on all sides. The Miamis hunt them at the end of avitumn, in the following manner; When they see a herd, they gather in great numbers and set fire to the grass everywhere around these animals, except some passage which they leave on purpose, and where they take post with their bows and arrows. The buffalo, seeking to escape the fire, are thus compelled to pass near these Indians, who sometimes kill as many as a hundred and twenty in a day, all of which they distribute according to the wants of th* families; and these Indians, all trimnphant over the massacre of so many animals, come to noti fy their women, who at once proceed to bring in the meat. Some of them at times take on their backs 300 pounds' weight, and also throw their children on top of their load> which does not seem to bm-then them more than a soldier's sword at his side.

" These cattle have very fine wool instead of hair, and the females have it longer than the males. Their horns are almost black, much thicker than those of the cattle in Eiu'ope, but not quite so long. The head is of monstrous size; the neck is very short, but very thick, sometimes six hands broad. They have a hump, or slight elevation, between the two shoulders. Their legs are very thick and short, covered with a long wool. On the head and between the horns, they have long black hair, which falls over their eyes and gives them a fearful look. The meat of these animals is very succulent. They are very fat in autumn, because all the summer they are up to their necks in the gi-ass. These vast countries are so full of prairies that it seems this is the element and the country of the buffalo."*

In addition to what has been drawn fi-om Henue}nu"s travels in Northern Indiana, and his route along the Kankakee, some facts pertaining to a better understanding of the earlier descriptions of the country than are usually found in the histories of the present day. we introduce in this place, further accounts given by Charlevoix, in his journal of travels in North America, wi'itten in 1720 and 1721. In his letter of September 17, 1720, he says: " I think I informed j'ou in my last that I had the choice of two ways to go to the Illinois. The first was to return to Lake Michigan, to coast all the south shore, and to enter into the little river, Chicagou. After going up it five or six leagues, they pass into that to the Illinois, by the means of two portages, the longest of which is but a league and a quarter. But, as this river is but a brook in this place, I was informed that at that time of the year I should not find water enough for my canoe; therefore. I took the other route, which has also its inconveniences, and is not so pleasant, but it is the sui-est.

and I went up that river about sis leagues. I landed on the right, and I walked a league and a quarter; at first by the bank of the river, then cross the coimtiy in a vast meadow, interspersed all over with little clusters of trees that have a very fine effect. They call it the meadow de la Tele de Boeuf (the Buffalo's Head), because they fovmd here a buffalo's head of a monstrous size. Why should there not be giants among these animals 'i I encamped in a very fine place, which they call the Fort des Renards (of the Foxes), because the Renards, that is to say, the Outagamis, had here, not long since, a village fortified after their manner.

" This morning I walked a league further in the meadow, having almost all the way my feet in water. Then I met with a little pool, which communicates with several others of different bigness, the largest of which is not one hundred paces in compass. These are the sources of the river called Tbeakiki, and which our Canadians, by corruption, call Kiakiki. Theak signifies a wolf, I forget in what language, but this river is so called because the Mahingans. which are also called the Wolves, formerly took refuge here."* This river, here called Theakiki, is the same called by Hennepin and others Seignelay, now known as the Kankakee, probably a corruption of Theakiki. The Mahingans. or Wolves, were a tribe of Indians at one time inhabitants of the Peninsula of Michigan, whence the name Wolverines, sometimes applied to the inhabitants, of that State.

" We put our canoe, which was brought hither by two men, into the second of these springs or pools, and we embai-ked; but we found scarce water enough to keep it afloat ; ten men. in two days, might make a straight and navigable canal, which would save much trouble, and ten or twelve leagues' way; for the river, at first coming out fi-om its spring, is so nan-ow that we are continually obliged to turn so short that every moment one is in danger of breaking the canoe, as it has just now hajipened to us."

In the letters patent gi-anted by Louis XIV, King of France, September 14, 1712, to Anthony Crozat, bestowing upon him the commerce of the countiy of Louisiana, the following paragraph occurs, which may be a soiu-ce of information to the inquiring reader; " We have appointed, and do appoint, the said Sieur Crozat solely to carry on a trade in all the lands possessed by us and bounded by New Mexico, and by the lands of the English of Carolina, all the establishments, ports, havens, rivers, principally the port and haven of the Isle Dauphine, heretofore called Massacre; the river of St. Louis, heretofore called Mississippi, from the edge of the sea as far as the Illinois; together with the river St. Philip, heretofore called Missouri; and of St. Jerome, heretofore called Ouabache, with all the countries, teiTitories, lakes within land, and rivers, which fall directly or indirectly into that part of the River St. Louis, * * reserving, however, to ourselves the liberty of enlarging, as we shall think fit, the extent of the government of the said country of Louisiana."