Winnebago County, Wisconsin - Chapter 8, 1880

The Huron Missions - Arrival of the Jesuits - They Take Charge of the American Missions - Jean de Brebeuf, Daniel and Davost - Their Journey to the Hurons - The Bark Mission House - Instructing the Indians in Defensive Works - The Indian's Idea of the Christian Heaven - Frightful Ravages of the Pestilence among the Indians - They Persecute the Jesuits - Arrival of Nuns at Quebec - Founding of Montreal - The First Century of the History of the Interior of the Continent Like a Tale of Chivalry.

HE Franciscan Friars, who had established five missions in the territory from Acadia to Lake Huron, found ^^ their forces inadequate to the requirements of the great task before them, and to the charge of the Jesuits was given the control of the missionary field of labor. In 1626, three of the brotherhood embarked from France for Quebec, where they duly arrived, and commenced that task which will make their name forever famous in the early annals of American history. Their names were Lallemant. Masse and Jean de Brebeuf. The latter was a Norman, a descendant of a noble family of Normandy - a man of most imposing presence, born to command, of fine physical proportions, highly gifted by nature, and of great educational attainments. They set themselves to work to master the Algonquin and Huron languages, which in due time were acquired, and then Brebeuf went to his assigned place, the distant Huron mission - the post formerly occupied by Le Caron.

When Champlain returned to Quebec after its evacuation by the British in 1633, the Jesuit force had received accessions, in the person of the Father Superior, Paul Le Jeune and others; and, among those assembled at Quebec on Champlain's arrival was Brebeuf, who had lived for two years at the Huron Mission, and who now was to return to his post accompanied by Father Daniel and Davost. But a difficulty occurring with the Hurons, the priests were obliged to put off their journey for a year. In the mean time, they assiduously studied the Huron language, and made due preparations to be in readiness to accompany the Hurons, when they made their next annual trip up the Ottawa.

"Le Jeune had learned the difficulties of the Algonquin mission. To imagine that he recoiled or faltered would be an injustice to his order; but on two points he had gained convictions : First, that little progress could be made in convening these wandering hordes till they could be settled in fixed abodes; and, secondly, that their scanty numbers, their geographical position, and their slight influence in the politics of the wilderness offered no flattering promise that their conversion would be fruitful in further triumphs of the Faith. It was to another quarter the Jesuits looked most earnestly. By the vast lakes of the West dwelt numerous stationary populations, and particularly the Hurons, on the lake which beais their name. Here was a hopeful basis of indefinite conquests ; for, ihe Hurons won over, the Faith would sprei»d in wider and wider circlet, embracing, one by one, the kindred tribes - -^he Tobacco Nation, the Neutrals, the Fries, and the Andastes. Nay, in His own time, God might lead into His fold even the potent and ferocious Iroquois."

''The way was pathless and long, by rock and torrent and ihe gloom of savage forests. The goal was more dreary yet_ Toil, hardships, famine, filth, sickness, solitude, insult - all ihat is most revolting to men nurtured among arts and letters, all that is most terrific to monastic credulity : such were the promise and the reality of the Huron mission. In the eyes of ihe Jesuits, the Huron country was the innermost stronghold of Satan, his castle and his donjon-keep. All the weapons of his malice were prepared against the bold invader who should assail him in this, the heart of his ancient domain. Far from shrinking, the priest's zeal rose to tenfold ardor. He signed the cross, invoked St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, or St. Francis Borgia, kissed his reliquary, said nine masses to the Virgin, and stood prompt to battle with all the hosts of Hell."

"A life sequestered from social intercourse, and remote from every prize which ambition holds worth the pursuit, or a lonely death, under forms, perhaps, the most appalling - these were the missionaries' alternatives. Their maligners may taunt them, if they will, with credulity, superstition, or a blind enthusiasm ; but slander itself cannot accuse them of hypocrisy or ambition. Doubtless, in their propagandism, they were acting in concurrance with a mundane policy ; but, for the present at least, this policy was rational and humane. They were pro- . moting the ends of commerce and national expansion. The foundations of French dominions were to be laid deep in the heart and conscience of the savage. His stubborn neck was to be subdueil to the 'yoke of the Faith.' The power of the priest established, that of the temporal ruler was secured. These sanguinary hordes, weaned from intestine strife, were to unite in a common allegiance to God and the King. Mingled with French traders and French settlers, softened by French manners, guided by French priests, ruled by French officers, their now divided bands would become the constituents of a vast wilderness empire, which in time might span the conti- nent. Spanish civilization crushed the Indian ; English civilization scorned and neglected him; French civilization embraced and cherished him." - Parkman's Jeiuils in North Anurica.

In the summer of 1634, the Indians havin^j made their yearly descent of the Ottawa, were congrej^ated in lesser numbers than usual, at Three Kivers. It seems that a terrible pestilence had broken out in their country and was prevailing with great virulence. They were much dejected; and it was with the greatest difficulty that their consent was obtained, for the Jesuits to accompany them to their homes. In a few days the wild multitude departed, and in their midst were the three black-robed Jesuits, paddling with the rest, and on their way to the mouth of the Ottawa. Their route was the same toilsome one over which Champlain and Le Caron had travelled years before. The distance was some nine hundred miles, and required a month to travel it. Brebeuf counted thirty-five portages where the canoes had to be carried around rapids. They were compelled to go bare-foot, so as not to injure the frail canoes and more than fifty times they had to wade in the rapid current over the shoal places; dragging the canoe by ropes. Their bare feet were cut by the sharp stones, and although Brebeuf was a man of fine physical powers, he doubted if his strength would hold out to the journey's end. At last they reach the shores of Lake Huron, and then theirplace of embarkation. But the three missionaries had been separated at some distant point on the route, Brebeuf's Indian companions now threw his baggage on the ground and strided off to their respective villages, leaving him alone in the wilderness, on the shore of the lake, to his own resources. He was familiar with the place; so hiding his luggage in the woods, he looked up a trail and following it, soon came to an opening in the forest and saw the bark lodges of Ihonatiara. As the blackrobed figure emerged from the forest, the crowd rushed out from the \'illage to meet him, shouting a glad welcome. They were his old friends. A nimiber of young Indians went with him to recover his luggage, which was obtained and carried to his abode, the hospitable roof of a thrifty Indian, whose bark lodge was abundantly supplied with corn and other staples of Indian food. Here he waited for some weeks, in an.xious e.xpectation of the arrival of Daniel and Davost. At last, they appeared, exhausted with fatigue. They then selected the most populous town of the Hurons for their abode, which they called Rochelle, and where the Indians constructed for them a house, thirty feet long and twenty wide. The inner construction with its contents was a marvel, the fame of which attracted myriads of visitors. The clock, mill and magnifying gla-^s were wonders of wonders.

The)' now settled down to the regular routine of their daily life. They had four working men attached to the mission. There was tluir garden plat, for corn and vegetables, to cultivate. This work was done by themselves, and their men, who varied the task in hunting and fishing. At the stroke of four by the clock, all Indian visitors were expected to retire, which they did, the demand of the clock beingdeemed imperati\e; when the door was barred, and the study of the Huron language entered into, bj- culti\ated minds that could master all tlie peculiarities of theconstruction. Certain hours were devoted to the instruction of the children, and others to visiting the sick; and as the Hurons were kept in constant fear of an attack by the Iroquois, a portion of time was used in instructing them the art of constructing defensive works. They found the Indians more apt in comprehending the benefits to be derived from these, than from the doctrines of the christian religion. At times, they secured attention to their religious teachings; but the Indians were too strongly wedded to their savage vices, habits and inclinations, to readily give them up; so the converts were few. The poor Jesuits were horrified at the shameless sensuality of the Indians, and their obscene banter. The young squaws were wantons, without any moral or modest restraint on their inclinations; and frequentl)' had three or four temporary marriages, before a permanent one. The continual protestations of the Jesuits were for a long time of no avail, except in individual instances. The Indians would answer " that they were a different people from the French, and not suited for the Frenchman's Heaven; and that it did not contain the enjoyments of Indian life; their was no hunting ground there, and no war dances." One Indian girl pretended that she died and went there, and found that all the converted Indians there were slaves to the pale faces. They beat them and made drudges of them, and that was what they were so anxious to convert them for. She escaped and was glad to get back and warn her people. The superstitious nature of the Indians, inclined to a belief in all such improbable stores; and this one, artfully told, found many believers.

During the prevalence of the pestilence, one of them said to the Jesuits: "I see plainly that your God is angry with us, because we will not believe and obey him. Ihonatiara, where you first taught his word, is entirely ruined. Then you came here to Ossossane, and we would not listen; so Ossossane is ruined too. This year you have been all through our country, and found scarcely any who would do what God commands; therefore the pestilence is everywhere. " The fathers considered this most hopeful and logical reasoning, but their anticipations of a profitable application were dashed, when he continued: "My opinion is, tliat we ought to shut you out from all the houses, and stop our ears when you speak of God, so that we cannot hear; then we shall not be guilty of rejecting the truth, and he will not punish us so cruelly. "

The pestilence, that had now prevailed for over a year, was committing terrible ravages, and deaths were occurring with frightful rapidity. A superstitious fear took possession of them, that the mysterious black-robes were sorcerers, and were partially answerable for their misfortunes, and that they had bewitched the nation. They held them in mysterious awe, as powers who could perform marvels, and yet they and their Great Spirit would not relieve them. They gathered in ominous knots and in dejection and terror denounced the poor Jesuits as evil magicians. Councils were held in which they were doomed to death; but each feared to execute the sentence. When they entered the sick lodge, the inmates would tell them to go. If they accosted a sick one, he would avert his face and refuse to answer. They were abused and insulted at every opportunity; but nothing diverted them from their purpose of visiting the sick, and baptizing the dying infants.

At last, some of their converts came to them secretly, and told them that their death was decreed. Their house was set on fire; they were persecuted and reviled in every possible manner, and then called to appear in council, which they did with such an undaunted front, as to astonish the Indians, and secure a postponement of judgment. For some reason, the hostility to them somewhat abated; their friends multiplied, and comparative safety was assured.

In 1638, a number of mechanics, from Quebec, arrived at the Huron Mission, and built a wooden chapel at Ossossane, where there were about sixty converts. This was looked upon as a marvel of architecture. Years passed, and mission houses multiplied in the Huron and Ottawa countries.

The cause of Christianity in the Americaji wilds, aroused a fervor in France, that was like the enthusiasm of the days of the Crusades. High-born ladies, even, among them, the young, beautiful and accomplished, contributjed their wealth, and joining religious orders, went to Quebec. On their arrival, the cannon roared a welcome; soldiers and priests assembled at the landing, and when the nuns reached the shore, they kneeled and kissed the sacred soil. The Indians regarded them as divinities. They were conducted to an enclosure of palisades, which contained a church and other buildings, and among them a number of log cabins, in which lived Indian converts. In their demonstrations of delight, at meeting their pupils, they seized and kissed every female Indian child they could find, fondling them "without minding," says F"ather Le Juene, "whether they were dirty or not. Love and charity triumphed over every human consideration. "

Madame de la Peltrie, a young widow and scion of Norman nobility, was of the number. She was, in fact, the patronesss of the enterprise, having wealth at her command. In her zeal, she was for going to the Huron Mission, and it was with difficulty that she could be restrained from such an unheard of undertaking.

They took up their quarters in a small wooden building, until the large stone convent was built, three years aterwards. Here they were crowded with such a number of children that the floor was covered with beds, and the labor was unceasing. While thus situated, the small-pox broke out among the neighboring Indians, when they flocked to Quebec for relief. A hospital had been formerly established, in which the hospital nuns were now ensconced. This was soon filled to overflowing, and various cabins were occupied by the sick. Here lay the sick and dying savages, on the floor and in berths; while in the midst of the most revolting scenes of distress, the nuns heroically labored, sometimes without sufficient food. The disease at last abated, and released them from their exhausting toil.

Among them was a fair, delicate girl, Marie de St. Bernard, of whom another sister writes: "Her disposition is charming. In our times of recreation, she often makes us cry with laughing. It would be hard to be melancholy when she is near. "

The site of Montreal, up to this period, was merely a camping ground, temporarily occupied by the traders, during the season of the yearly descent of the Indians with their furs.

In 1642, a colony arrived from France, endowed by charitable and religious enthusiasts, for the purpose of establishing religious houses on the site of Montreal. In May, of that year, they proceeded to that point, one of the most exposed to the attacks of the Iroquois. Among them was Mademoiselle Mance, a nun from France, and two other women. They were

."iccompanicd by Madame de La Peltrie, from Quebec, and the new colony was under the command of Maisonneuvc, a name honored in the early annals of the country for meritorious and iieroic conduct.

They landed and immediately erected an altar, which the ladies decorated with great taste. The priest put on his vestment, and then the ladies, officers in uniform, soldiers and laborers assembled before it, and kneeled on the bare ground while offering up their adorations. When the service was over they pitched their tents, made their camp fires and partook of their repast. The soldiers then stationed their guard, and, amid the silence of the forest night, they retire to their tents. In the morning a provisional chapel was built of bark, and then commenced the erection of wooden structures. Such was the founding of Montreal. On Sunday afternoon they strolled through the pleasant surrounding meadows and adjoining forests, admiring the wild flowers and the birds which enlivened the scene with their gay warblings.

Hut, lurking in the thickets, were the deadly Iroquois, that might at an)' moment make a descent on them, and put all their valor and heroism to the severest test.

The first century of the history of the interior of this continent is more like a tale of chivalry or romance than reality. The glowing pages which relate the long struggle between the Moorish dynasty of Spain and the Gothic Monarchy, and which culminated in the splendid reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, grand as they are, in dramatic effect, must pale their ineffectual fires before those of the great drama that embraced a continent in its scenes.

The opening act presents the vast, savage continent, as a theatre of unceasing war betw.een the several Indian nations inhabiting it. Groups of painted savages, in every direction, aret)n the war-path; some filing through the dark recesses of tiie forest; others writhing through the contortions of the war-dance. In one place a village is in flames, and its lurid glare lights up a scene of pillage and massacre, in which men, women and children are indiscriminately slaughtered amid the most fiendish exultations. A tribe or a nation is exterminated, and its populous abodes converted into a desolation. In another village the whol.e population is assembled, to rejoice over the return of the victorious warriors and enjoy the torture of their prisoners, who must run the g.uuitlet, the victims of the most atrocious cruelt)- that savage invention can devise.

of heroes - a mere handful - have come, who propose to boldlj- push into this vast field of carnage, and interpose their feeble numbers against the savage multitude, in an effort to check the bloody strife, and unite tiie warring tribes in the bonds of peace and good will. Will they have the temerity to enter this field of bloodshed and terror, dependent alone on their skill, courage and fortitude?

The scene shifts, and Champlain is the great central figure in the drama, who, with four comrades, is seen in the midst of a swarthy multitude, who are his allies. He has invaded the tigers' den - the hunting grounds of the terrible Iroquois, that have been so long licking their bloody jaws and revelling in spoils and carnage. He has become the great captain of the Algonquins, and will lead them against the foe which has so long ravaged the country.

The forests resounds with the sounds of battle; the war-whoops' shrill cry is heard; the Iroquois have met a foe they cannot conquer, and flee in dismay before the victorious legions of Champlain's allies.

Another scene presents the distant solitudes of Lake Huron, with Champlain standing on its shores, whither he has penetrated - nine hundred milesin the interior. Anon the scene shifts, and the black-robed Jesuit is seen, paddling his canoe on some stream in the distant forest, or dragging it through the rapids. In another, delicate and high-born ladies, even the young and accomplished, are surrounded by troops of little Indian girls - again the scene discloses them in the frightful hospital, amid the deadl}- pestilence and the repulsiv scenes of disease and death, unremittingly toil ing with heroic fortitude.

On the bank of some forest lake or river, is a tableau. A motley crowd is gathered around the camp fire, which lights up the sombre forest, and throws its fitful lights and shadows on the picturesque group, in which are seen promiscuously mingled, the black robe of the Jesuit, the red cap and sash of the courrtcr lies hois, the half naked sa\age and the gay uniform of the French ofiicer. Next comes that inexorable event that interrupts all the plans of man. The little hamlet of Quebec is shrouded in gloom. The tiiisscrcrc is chanted, and the whole population is in tears. The light o New France is extinguished. The great captain and hero will no longer guide its steps ir the pathway of its progress. The immortal Champlain has yielded to the demands of the common lot, and all his cares, ambitions and noble aspirations have come to an end.

is no longer a terror and obstacle to their ambitious domination. Their war-party, a thousand strong, glides along the forest trail; the war-whoop again rings out its frightful peal - the defenseless mission house is in flames, and lights up with lurid glare the midnight massacre, and the troops of exultant fiends, frenzied with blood and carnage. The beautiful country of the Hurons is one wide-spread scene of desolation. Its villages arc depopulated and its people are scattered outcasts. A nation is destroyed! !