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ORIGINAL NARRATIVES
OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY
REPRODUCED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
General Editor, J. FRANKLIN JAMESON, Ph.D., LL.D., Litt.D.
DIRECTOR OP THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN THE
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON
EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
1634 — 1699
ORIGINAL NARRATIVES
OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY
EARLY NARRATIVES
OF THE NORTHWEST
1634—1699
EDITED BY
LOUISE PHELPS KELLOGG, Ph.D.
OF THE RESEARCH DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OF WISCONSIN
fVITIf A FACSIMILE AND TIVO MAPS
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
NEW YORK
COPTMOHT, 1917, BT
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this booh
may be reproduced in any form without
the permission of Charles Scribner's Sons
CONTENTS
EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST, 1634-1699
Edited by Louise Phelps Kellogg
PASB
General Introduction 3
The Journey of Jean Nicolet, by Father Vimont, 1634 [1642] . . 9
Introduction 11
Nicolet among the Island Algonquin ...... 15
His Journey to the Winnebago . . . . . . .16
The Journey of Raymbault and Jogues to the Sault, by Father
Lalemant, 1641 17
Introduction 19
Their Departure from Huronia ....... 23
The Mission to Sault Ste. Marie 24
The Mission to the Nipissing 25
Radisson's Account of His Third Journey, 1658-1660 [1654-1656?] . 27
Introduction . 29
Radisson and Grosseilliers Plan for Westward Exploration . . 34
The Departure from Three Rivers; Montreal ..... 36
The Voyage up the Ottawa; the Prisoner 37
Hardships of the Journey; Lake Nipissing 41
Georgian Bay .......... 42
Manitoulin Island 43
The Potawatomi and the Mascoutin 45
On Lake Superior ......... 47
Among the Cree and the Chippewa 50
Winter Hunting .......... 51
Visit to the Potawatomi ........ 53
Argument with the Indians as to the Return Voyage ... 54
Down the Ottawa River ........ 57
Encounter with the Iroquois ........ 58
Summary of Discoveries ........ 61
Arrival at Montreal and Three Rivers ...... 62
V
VI
CONTENTS
Adventures of Nicolas Perrot, by La Potherie, 1665-1670
Introduction
First Relation of the French and the Western Indians
Perrot and His Merits ......
Mediates between the Potawatomi and the Menominee
The Juggler; the Potawatomi Returning from Montreal
The Winter Village of the Fox
The Quarrels of Frenchmen and Indians .
The Miami and the Mascoutin
Honors to Perrot and His Men
Mutual Fear of Potawatomi and Iroquois
The Feast before the Journey to Montreal
Father Allouez's Journey to Lake Superior, 1665-1667
Introduction
Departure from Three Rivers
Barbarous Conduct of the Huron Canoemen
Lake Nipissing; Lake Huron
Healing of Those Injured by Explosion .
The Sault and Lake Superior .
Keweenaw Bay; Father Menard's Converts
Chequamegon Bay; Beginnings of the Mission
General Council of the Ottawa Nations .
Their False Gods and Superstitious Customs
The Mission of La Pointe de St. Esprit .
Sorcerers and Persecutors
The Mission to the Tobacco Huron
To the Ottawa
To the Potawatomi ....
The Conversion of a Centenarian .
The Healing of the Sick
The Mission to the Sauk and the Fox
To the Illinois .....
To the Sioux .....
To the Cree .....
To the Chippewa and the Nipissing; Journey to Lake Nipigon
Father Allouez's Wisconsin Journey, 1669-1670
Introduction
From the Sault into Lake Huron .
Into Lake Michigan .....
Into Green Bay ......
The Mission to the Sauk and the Potawatomi
To the Fox
Their Character and Customs
CONTENTS
vu
The Mission to the Miami and the Mascoutin
To the Menominee and the Winnebago .
Condition of the Christian Indians
Fathers Druillettes and Andre
PAoa
165
158
159
160
The Journey of Dolliee aot) Galinee, by Galinee, 1669-1670
Introduction
Abbe de Queylus Commits a Western Mission to DoUier
Projects of M. de La Salle .....
Galinee departs with DoUier and La Salle
Canoe Navigation ......
Shelter and Food .......
Discovery of Lake Ontario .....
Among the Seneca ......
Negotiations to Obtain a Western Slave .
Torture of a Prisoner ......
Discouragements from the Journey
Niagara River and Falls .....
The End of Lake Ontario; La Salle and the Rattlesnakes
Arrival at Tinawatawa; Adventvu"es of JoUiet .
Reasons for Separating from La Salle
Mass before Separation; Departure from Tinawatawa
Arrival at Lake Erie ......
Game and Fruits and Vines .....
The Winter Encampment .....
The March Resumed in the Spring
Reunion of the Party; Search for the Missing Canoe
Loss of the Baggage and Altar Service .
Entrance into Lakes St. Clair and Hiu"on
Arrival at the Sault; the Mission There
Fishing and Furs at the Sault; the Ottawa River Route
The Return to Montreal; Galin6e's Map
The Pageant of 1671
Introduction ....
Talon's Plans; the Sieur de St. Lusson
The Pageant at the Sault
The Mississippi Voyage of Jolliet and Marquette, 1673
Introduction
Frontenac and Talon Send out Jolliet and Marquette
Their Departm-e from St. Ignace ....
The Menominee; Wild Rice .....
Green Bay; the Tides ......
The Mascoutin and Their Village ....
161
163
167
168
170
172
173
175
177
179
183
186
188
189
191
192
194
195
196
197
198
201
203
204
205
207
208
211
213
217
218
221
223
227
229
230
232
233
VUl
CONTENTS
Embarkation on the Wisconsin River
Entrance into the Mississippi
The Buffalo
A Village of the Illinois ....
Reception and Feast at the Chief's Village
Character, Habits, and Customs of the Illinois .
The Calumet and Calumet Dance .
Descent of the Mississippi; the Painted Monsters
The Missouri
The Ohio . . . •
The Chickasaw Country; the Michigamea
The Village of the Quapaw ....
The Resolve to Return ....
Ascent of the Mississippi; Kaskaskia; Green Bay
Makquette's Last Voyage, 1674-1675
Fran?
Introduction
Marquette's Journal ....
Marquette Receives His Orders; Sets out from St.
Among the Mascoutin of Milwaukee River
Winter Quarters at Chicago
Departure in the Spring
Dablon's Narrative .
The Journey to Chicago
To the Illinois Mission .
The Father's Last Illness
His Death .
What Occurred at the Removal of His Bones
His Virtues; His Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Immaculate
235
236
237
239
240
243
245
248
249
250
252
254
256
257
259
261
262
262
264
265
268
269
270
271
272
274
276
278
Memoir on La Salle's Discoveries, by Tonty, 1678-1690 [1693]
Introduction
La Salle and Tonty Sail to Quebec
To Detroit, Mackinac, and the Sault
Lake Michigan ......
The Portage to the Illinois River; Fort Crfevecoeur
Conflict with the Iroquois ....
Parleyings with Them .....
Murder of Father La Ribourde; Shipwreck of Tonty
Winter among the Potawatomi; with La Salle to Frontenac; to Chi'
cago .....
Descent of the Mississippi
Among the Taensa
Among the Natchez and the Choctaw
The Mouths of the Mississippi
281
283
286
287
288
289
291
293
294
296
297
299
301
302
CONTENTS ix
PAGB
The Return to Mackinac 304
Fort St. Louis of the Illinois; Repulse of the Iroquois . . , 305
La Salle's Privileges Confirmed; Reorganization .... 306
Descent of the Mississippi; Exploration in the Gulf .... 307
Return to the Illinois and Detroit ....... 308
The Ambuscade of the Seneca ....... 310
News of the Death of La Salle ....... 311
Expedition to Rescue His Men 313
Their Fate 316
The Murder of La Salle 317
Return from the Cadadoquis ........ 320
Memoir of Duluth on the Sioux Country, 1678-1682 . . . 323
Introduction 325
Plans for the Exploration ........ 329
Reconciliation of Sioux and Assiniboin ...... 330
Exploration by Water; Rescue of Father Hennepin .... 331
The Vermillion Sea; Return and Defense of Duluth . . . 333
The Voyage of St. Cosme, 1698-1699 335
Introduction 337
The Seminarists Leave Mackinac; Aid of Tonty .... 342
On Lake Michigan ......... 343
Welcome by the Jesuits at the Chicago Mission .... 346
Descent of the Illinois River ....... 348
The Jesuit Mission of the Illinois ....... 350
Further Descent of the River . . . . . . .351
Entrance into the Mississippi ....... 354
TheTamarois 355
The Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Arkansas ..... 357
Christmas on the Mississippi ....... 358
The Arkansas Tribesmen ........ 359
Index 363
MAPS AND FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION
FAGB
A Page of the Manuscript of Radisson's Journal. From the original
in the Bodleian Library, Oxford 34
Contemporary Map made to Illustrate Marquette's Discoveries.
From the original in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris . . . 228
A Portion of Franquelin's Great Map op 1688 (Dep6t des Cartes,
Paris). From a copy in the Library of Congress .... 342
NOTE
The first of the illustrations in this volume is a facsimile of a
page of the manuscript of Radisson's journal, photographed from
the original in the Bodleian Library at Oxford (Rawlinson, A. 329).
The photograph used is in the possession of the State Historical
Society of Wisconsin, which has kindly lent it for the purposes of
the present reproduction.
We are also indebted to the same society, and to its superinten-
dent, Dr. M. M. Quaife, for the opportunity to reproduce the second
of our illustrations, a map in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris,
bearing the title " Carte de la nouvelle decouverte que les RR. Peres
Jesuistes ont fait en I'annee 1672, et continu^e par le R. Pere Jacques
Marquette de la mesme Compagnie, accompagne de quelques Fran-
9ois en I'annee 1673, qu'on pourra nommer la Manitoumie, a cause
de la Statue qui s'est trouvee dans une belle valine, et que les Sau-
vages vont reconnoistre pour leur Divinite, quils appellent Manitou,
qui signifie Esprit, ou Genie." The original, a map measuring 73
by 44 centimetres, is preserved in vol. C, 17701, in the library
named, and is no. 7 in Gabriel Marcel's Cartographie de la Nouvelle
France, closely resembling no. 202 in Henry Harrisse's Notes sur la
Nouvelle France. It has been reproduced, as no. 30, in Marcel's
Reproductions de Cartes et de Globes relaiifs a la Dicouverte de VAmi-
rique, atlas (Paris, 1893), and is discussed on pp. 106-108 of the vol-
ume of letter-press accompanying that atlas. It was evidently
drawn from the description of Marquette's Mississippi River voy-
age, and was the prototype of the map published in Melchisedec
Thevenot's Recueil de Voyages (Paris, 1681), a map reproduced in
the late Dr. R. G. Thwaites's Jesuit Relations, vol. LIX., but con-
tains additional data.
As to the name Manitoumie (which to be sure never adhered to
the region), one who looks at the legend of the map in our facsimile,
or in the original photograph, even with a magnifying glass, may
easily think that the word has not precisely the form Manitoumie,
but comparison with the duplicate will probably convince him that
though the word in our map seems to end with the two letters
xiv NOTE
"-me," yet above and between them an "i" has been subsequently
inserted by way of correction.
The third illustration represents a portion of Franquelin's great
map of 1688, a manuscript map in the Ubrary of the Dep6t des
Cartes et Plans, in Paris, one of the libraries of the Ministry of the
Marine. It is designated as 4040® (no. 227 in M. de la Ronciere's
Catalogue General of the collection), 6 bis, and bears the title "Carte
de I'Amerique septentrionnale depuis le 25 : jusqu'au 65* deg. de latt.
et environ 140: et 235 deg. de longitude, contenant les pays de Ca-
nada ou Nouvelle France, la Louisiane, la Florida, Virginia, N"* Suede,
N^® Yore, N''* Angleterre, Acadie, Isle de Terre-neuve, etc.; Le Tout,
tres fidellement dresse, conformement aux observations que I'Auteur
a faites luy mesme pendant plus de 16 annees, par Tordre des Gou-
verneurs et Intendans du Pays. ... En I'Annee 1688: Par Jean Bap-
tiste Louis Franquelin, Hydrographe du Roy a Quebec en Canada."
Jean Baptiste Louis Franquelin, b. 1653, was employed by the
French government in Canada in the making of several important
maps. His large "Carte de la Louisiane" of 1684 is reproduced in
Thwaites's Jesuit Relations, vol. LXIII. Of another large map by
him, "Carte de I'Amerique Septentrionale," etc., of date about 1687,
the essential portion is reproduced in A. L. Pinart's Recueil de Cartes
(Paris, 1893), no. 12. The map of 1688 represents a more advanced
state of geographical knowledge, but no complete reproduction of it
has been published. A rough facsimile of a portion of it appeared
in the fourth edition of E. D. Neill's History of Minnesota (1882),
and in Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, IV. 230-
231. The original measures 160 by 105 centimetres. A manuscript
copy in the same dimensions, beautifully executed, is in the Map
Division of the Library of Congress. Our reproduction is from a
photograph of this, and embraces an area of the original measuring
about 29 X 22 inches, reduced about one-half in each dimension.
Acknowledgments are made to Mr. P. Lee Phillips, chief of the
Map Division, for the opportunity to photograph. Careful study
of the map will show how it reflects the results of the explorations
made by La Salle, Perrot, and perhaps Tonty and others. Since its
reproduction for this volume, a full-size photograph of the original
has been acquired by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin;
another is in the possession of the Michigan Historical Commission.
J. F. J.
EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE
NORTHWEST, 1634-1699
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
In the seventeenth century the term Northwest was used
to designate the region of the upper Great Lakes and the
northeastern part of the Mississippi Valley. It was ordi-
narily spoken of by the colonists of the St. Lawrence as le
pays d'en haul — the Upper Country. The discovery and
exploration of the Upper Country was accomplished by the
French, who had appropriated the St. Lawrence Valley as
their sphere of influence, and by the seventeenth century had
begun to people it. In the first half of the century the Great
Lakes were discovered; the exploration of the Mississippi
Valley was the work of the second half-century.
The fitness of the French for this especial task has often
been recoimted. Gifted with imperial imaginations, with
visions of future greatness, imdaunted by obstacles, undis-
mayed by hardships, the founders of New France planned to
add to that colony an empire in the vast hinterland beyond
the sources of their own great river, a region that is now fitly
designated as the heart of America. The numerous tribes of
aborigines dwelling in this wilderness they speedily learned
to conciliate and exploit. The laborers for the expeditions
were recruited from the Canadian colonists, who readily de-
veloped a woodcraft that rivalled that of the natives, pad-
dling canoes and portaging burdens with a good humor and
adaptation to emergencies that made them useful members
of exploring parties. Trained to habits of obedience to
superiors, they responded with alacrity and pleasure to the
demands of wilderness faring.
The leaders of these expeditions were from two walks of
life, military officers of the colonial troops and missionaries
3
4 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
of the Church; both of these professions were recruited chiefly
from the lesser nobiUty and higher bourgeois class of France.
Officers and missionaries vied with one another in devotion
to their duties and in ardor for the service of the Crown.
Thus, for the discovery and exploration of the Northwest,
France enlisted religious enthusiasm, military zeal, pioneering
adventure, and far-sighted patriotism, embodied in mission-
ary, soldier, voyageur, and builder of empire.
The founder and forerunner of the great French line of
discoverers and explorers was Samuel de Champlain. It
was Champlain who chose the site for the capital of the
colony on the rock of Quebec, who ascended the St. Lawrence
and the Richelieu to the lake that still perpetuates his name.
Moreover, Champlain was the discoverer of the Great Lakes,
and had planted the flag of France on the shore of Lake
Huron, before the English had landed on the coast of New
England or appropriated its narrow, rocky shores.
Champlain was not only himself an explorer, but he care-
fully provided for the continuance of the work by sending
promising youths to live in Indian villages, there to learn
woodcraft and the native languages, and thence to accompany
their Indian friends upon remote voyages for trade or war.
Jean Nicolet, one of Champlain's chosen interpreters, as
early as 1634 carried his discovery beyond the shores of Lake
Huron, through the straits of Mackinac, out upon Lake
Michigan, down its western arm. Green Bay, and landed on
the farther margin of the valley of St. Lawrence in the present
State of Wisconsin. With the narrative of Nicolet's voyage
our volume begins.
Meanwhile in the heart of the Ontarian forests, at the
foot of Georgian Bay, the Jesuits had begun a flourishing
mission for the Huron tribesmen; from this as a base, in 1643,
a missionary exploring party went with some Indian visitors
to the strait where the waters leap down from Lake Superior.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION 5
This they christened the Sault de Ste. Marie, and on its
shores Fathers Raymbault and Jogues preached to a mingled
throng of the tribesmen of the upper lakes, and looked for-
ward with longing vision to the time when they should all be
sheltered within the fold of the Church. At the Sault they
saw the entrance to the greatest of the Great Lakes, and
thus before the seventeenth century was half-way on its course
Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior were placed upon the
map of North America. When in 1669-1670 the Sulpician
missionaries, Galinee and Dollier de Casson, seeking new fields
for converts, skirted the shores of Lake Ontario, wintered
almost within sound of the Falls of Niagara, and the following
spring navigated Lake Erie, the straits of Detroit and St.
Clair, and crossing Lake Huron arrived at Sault Ste. Marie,
the circuit of the Great Lakes was completed and the sources
of the St. Lawrence revealed to the world.
The interior wilderness was more diflficult to penetrate
than these great bodies of water; the records of its discovery
are less circumstantial. Some time between 1650 and 1660
two daring voyageurs, known to us as Radisson and Gros-
seilliers, accompanied a trading fleet of Indians to the Upper
Country and spent several years upon the shores of Green
Bay and Lake Superior, wandering far through inland forests,
mingling with various tribesmen, trafficking for their rich
stores of furs, and learning the woodland routes. Since,
however, the journals of their travels were not made known
until the nineteenth century, the impress of their discoveries
on the progress of geographical knowledge in their own time
was sUght.
The Indians of the Upper Country had for some time
known the value of the white men's goods and had sent an-
nual trading fleets to Montreal and Three Rivers to secure
the coveted ammunition, blankets, kettles, and trinkets, when
in 1665 Nicolas Perrot conceived the plan of carrying goods
6 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
into the Indian country, and of securing alliances with the
tribesmen who were thickly clustered around the western
end of Green Bay and its wooded streams. Perrot spent five
years among the tribes in this vicinity, becoming the best-
informed and most noted trader and interpreter of his time.
To this same region in 1669 came Father Claude Allouez, who
had previously opened a mission on Chequamegon Bay, and
had skirted both the southern and the northern shores of
Lake Superior and traced its coast-line for the remarkable
map of that lake that was published in 1670. Father Allouez
in the years succeeding his first visit to Green Bay opened
missions at many of the villages on the eastward-flowing
streams, and in his travels explored the waterways that inter-
lace the Fox River route and lead to the waters of the Mis-
sissippi. But as yet no Frenchman, if we except the untracked
journeys of Radisson and GrosseiUiers and the last tragic
voyage of Father Menard who is thought to have perished on
the head streams of the Wisconsin, had ventured over the
easy divide that separates the valley of the great river from
that of the Great I^akes.
Meanwhile, the governor of New France, exulting in the
discoveries already accomplished and anticipating those yet
to be made, in 1671 sent his envoy, Sieur Daumont de St.
Lusson, to plant upon the straits of Ste. Marie the arms and
emblems of the French monarch, and before a wondering
crowd of awed aborigines to proclaim in solemn conclave the
sovereignty of France over the whole American Northwest.
It yet remained to discover the Mississippi. By the time
of St. Lusson's pageant the existence of a great interior river
had become an open secret to the missionaries and officers
of the West. Only government initiative was needed to set
on foot an expedition for the purpose of this discovery. The
honor of conducting such an expedition was accorded by the
governor to Louis Jolliet, a native-born Canadian, who had
GENERAL INTRODUCTION 7
had singular success in striking new paths through the wilder-
ness. At the St. Ignace mission on the straits of Mackinac
JoUiet secured for his proposed journey the companionship of
Father Jacques Marquette, who had already spent three
years at the missions of the upper lakes. After many con-
sultations the route via Green Bay and Fox River was chosen,
and at the present site of Portage, Wisconsin, the divide be-
tween the two great drainage systems was easily crossed.
In the lovely, early summer days of our Western woods the
canoe floated gently down the Wisconsin River to its union
with the Father of Waters, which was entered the 17th of
June, 1673. Thence the two explorers continued down the
Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas, finding neither
falls nor rapids to obstruct or endanger their progress. On
the return journey another portage route, by way of the Il-
linois, Des Plaines, and Chicago rivers, was followed. Thus
the easy approach to the great central valley of North Amer-
ica was definitely established, and its exploration and ex-
ploitation intrusted to the leaders of New France.
Among these leaders were two remarkable explorers and
colonizers, Robert Cavelier de La Salle and Daniel Greysolon
Duluth. Both had imperial ambitions, both sought to se-
cure the Mississippi Valley for France and make it the seat
of a noble civilization. La SaUe chose for his sphere of opera-
tions the genial prairies of the Illinois. Duluth discovered
the portage routes from Lake Superior to the sources of the
Mississippi and planned his establishment for the head-
waters of the great river among the powerful tribe of the Sioux.
His plans were frustrated by the policy of the Canadian gov-
ernors, who summoned him to the St. Lawrence before his
task was well begun. La Salle perished at the hands of an
assassin, while striving to colonize the Mississippi's mouth.
Henri de Tonty, lieutenant of La Salle, cousin of Duluth,
held together for some years after the former's death the
8 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
remnants of French occupation in the valley. Around his
Fort St. Louis on the Illinois he gathered a small settlement
of Frenchmen, and a large concourse of friendly Indians.
Many times he made the arduous journey from the St. Law-
rence to his inland home, transporting supphes, escorting
settlers and missionaries. Vainly he sought at the Missis-
sippi's mouth for the lost colonists of La Salle. In the valley
of the Arkansas Tonty established the oldest colony in the
lower valley, and thither at the very close of the century he
escorted the seminary missionaries St. Cosme and Montigny.
The narrative of their journey from Michilimackinac to the
Arkansas post forms the closing number of our volume.
The latter years of Tonty's life were given to assisting in
founding the colony of Louisiana at the mouth of the Mis-
sissippi, thus continuing La Salle's plan of interior occupation,
and completing the arch of French control in North America.
With one end resting upon the St. Lawrence at Quebec and
the other planted on the Mississippi at New Orleans, with
the keystones at the Wisconsin and Chicago portages. New
France rivalled in extent and promise any colony of any
European power in any part of the world. The crumbHng
of this arch of empire is the story of the eighteenth century.
It is our opportunity here to present the narratives of the
discoverers, explorers, and founders of the French empire in
North America — narratives full of the charm of brave deeds,
of heroic endurance, of abiding enthusiasms, and of famous
achievements. With the exception of Radisson's journal, all
were originally written in French; the editors hope that the
flavor, as well as the accuracy, of the originals has been pre-
served for our English readers.
THE JOURNEY OF JEAN NICOLET, BY FATHER
VIMONT, 1634 [1642]
INTRODUCTION
That the French explored the heart of the North American
continent while the English occupied only the Atlantic coast
plain during the seventeenth century was chiefly due to the
lure of the St. Lawrence River. The year after Champlain
had founded his colony at the site of Quebec (1608) he had
followed the great river to the Richelieu and, ascending that,
had discovered the lake that bears his name. By 1615 he
had penetrated to Lake Huron, explored its eastern border,
and heard of the great fresh-water seas beyond, whose coasts
he was not destined to see, but whose discovery was due to
the zeal for exploration that he inspired. Choosing adven-
turous and promising youths, he sent them into the Indian
villages to acquire the native languages, and the skill in wood-
craft and voyaging that helped to plant the lihes of France
on the farther margin of the Great Lakes. Such a disciple
and agent of Champlain was Jean Nicolet.
Bom in the Norman port of Cherbourg, Nicolet arrived
in New France in the sunamer of 1618, and immediately began
his novitiate among the Algonkin Indians on the upper
Ottawa. His career of adventure was interrupted by the
English capture of the St. Lawrence colony in 1629, where-
upon Nicolet retired farther into the continent among the
Huron Indians and returned to Quebec only after the Treaty
of St. Germain (1632) had brought back Champlain as gov-
ernor of the restored French dependency. Flushed with
triumph at his return, Champlain planned to enlarge the
domain of his beloved France and arranged for Nicolet to
penetrate to the remotest peoples of whom rumor had reached
Quebec. Thus, fourteen years after the Pilgrim fathers
11
12 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHW^EST
landed on the Massachusetts coast, a French discoverer had
advanced (1634) a thousand miles west, passed the straits of
Mackinac, sldrted the shores of Green Bay, and made his
landfall in the present State of Wisconsin.
Both Champlain and his envoy supposed that the "People
of the Sea," whom they sought, were dwellers in Asia, or on
the shores of the western ocean; hence the provision of the
damask robe, and the disappointment at finding savages
instead of Moguls, fresh-water lakes instead of southern seas.
During his thirteen months of absence from Quebec Nicolet
may have wandered farther than we know. The Jesuit
letter of 1640 says: "Sieur Nicolet, who has advanced farthest
into these so distant countries, has assm-ed me that if he had
sailed three days' journey farther upon a great river which
issues from this lake he would have found the sea." Does
this imply the discovery of the Mississippi? We think it
probable that the "great river which issues from this lake
[Michigan] " was the Fox, whence in three days he might have
reached a westward-flowing stream that would ultimately lead
to the sea. This was his interpretation of the information
from the Winnebago, whose language he but imperfectly under-
stood. After a winter's sojourn among them, he returned to
Quebec and reported the discoveries he had made.
This was his last westward journey. Settling at Three
Rivers, he founded a Canadian family, among whose de-
scendants were those who carried the flag of New France far
out upon the plains of the Saskatchewan, though they never
saw the western ocean. In going to Quebec in 1642 on an
errand of mercy for an Indian captive, Nicolet's boat was
capsized by a treacherous breeze, and he was lost in the stormy
waters. His eulogist says: "This was not the first time that
this man had exposed himself to death for the salvation and
weal of the Savages."
We owe our knowledge of Nicolet's explorations to the
INTRODUCTION 13
series of reports of missionary operations in North America
under the auspices of the Jesuit order, that are known as the
Jesuit Relations. After the return of the French to the shores
of the St. Lawrence in 1632 all missionary enterprises in
Canada were placed under the control of the Society of Jesus.
Each year Jesuit missionaries wrote from their remote stations
throughout the continent reports of their work, which were
arranged by the superior into a continuous narrative and
pubHshed at Paris in an annual volume. These small yearly
volumes issued by the Parisian house of Sebastien Cramoisy
were eagerly read by the pious supporters of French missions
and had a wide circulation. In 1673 their issue was stopped,
and later these Relations became exceedingly rare, accessible
only in the collections of bibliophiles or in the larger Hbraries.
Their importance for the study of Canadian history caused
the Canadian Government in 1858 to issue a reprint of the
entire series. No complete English edition, however, ap-
peared until 1896, when under the editorial supervision of
Dr. Reuben G. Thwaites the Jesuit Relations and Allied
Documents, 1610-1791, began to be published by Burrows
Brothers, of Cleveland, Ohio. The series was completed in
1903 and comprises seventy-three volumes. These are bi-
lingual in form, the French (sometimes Latin) text appearing
on the left-hand page, the English translation on the right.
Besides a reprint of the original Jesuit Relations, this series
contains much hitherto unpublished material from original
manuscripts of Jesuit missionaries. Full bibHographical in-
dications and illustrative material add to the value of the
edition.
As a result of the reawakened interest in the Jesuit Rela-
tions during the latter half of the nineteenth century, the name
of Jean Nicolet began to appear in our histories. John Gil-
mary Shea, in his History of the Discovery of the Mississippi
(1853), cited a passage from the Relation of 1642 describing
14 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
Nicolet's voyage. The following year, in an article on "In-
dian Tribes in Wisconsin/' appearing in Wisconsin Historical
Collections, III. 125-129, Shea again called attention to Nico-
let's remarkable voyage, placing it in the year 1639. This
date was adopted by historians until 1876, when Benjamin
Suite, a careful student of Canadian origins, proved from
church registers and other contemporary documents that
Nicolet visited Wisconsin in 1634. Suite's article was pub-
lished in Wisconsin Historical Collections, VIII. 188-194, and
his conclusions regarding the date are generally accepted.
Two other articles resulting from investigations into Nicolet's
life and antecedents appeared in volume XI. of the same
series, pp. 1-25. Consul W. Butterfield, in his History of the
Discovery of the Northwest hy Jean Nicolet in 1634 (Cincin-
nati, 1881), embodied the results of careful study of all the
known data on Nicolet's career.
The Jesuit Relations make several references to Nicolet's
explorations. The selection we publish is from the Relation
of 1642, which was written by Father Vimont, a personal
friend and admirer of the great explorer. It is found in the
Thwaites edition in volume XXIII., pp. 275-279.
THE JOURNEY OF JEAN NICOLET, 1634
I WILL now speak of the life and death of Monsieur Nicol-
let, interpreter and agent for the Gentlemen of the Company
of New France. He died ten days after the Father,^ and had
lived in this region twenty-five years. What I shall say of
him will aid to a better understanding of the country. He
came to New France in the year 1618 ; and forasmuch as his
nature and excellent memory inspired good hopes of him, he
was sent to winter with the Island Algonquins, in order to
learn their language.^ He tarried with them two years,
alone of the French, and always joined the barbarians in their
excursions and journeys, undergoing such fatigues as none
but eyewitnesses can conceive; he often passed seven or
eight days without food, and once, full seven weeks with no
other nourishment than a little bark from the trees. He
accompanied four hundred Algonquins, who went during that
time to make peace with the Hyroquois,' which he success-
fully accomplished; and would to God that it had never
been broken, for then we should not now be suffering the
calamities which move us to groans, and which must be an
extraordinary impediment in the way of converting these
tribes. After this treaty of peace, he went to live eight or
nine years with the Algonquin Nipissiriniens,^ where he
passed for one of that nation, taking part in the very frequent
councils of those tribes, having his own separate cabin and
* Father Charles Raymbault, for whom see the succeeding document.
* The "Island Algonquins" were the tribe occupying a large island in Ot-
tawa River, known as Allumettes, ruled by a chief called Le Borgne (the one-
eyed). This chieftain exacted tribute of all voyagers up or down the Ottawa,
and was well known to the early French explorers.
' Hyroquois or Iroquois, a powerful confederation of five Indian tribes dwell-
ing south of Lake Ontario. Nothing is known of this specific peace (or truce)
save what is here narrated. The colony of New France struggled against the
Iroquois during the whole first century of its existence.
* The Nipissing Indians were a tribe of Algonquian stock dwelling north of
the lake (in the present province of Ontario) to which they gave their name.
15
16 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1634
household, and fishing and trading for himself. He was
finally recalled, and appointed agent and interpreter. While
in the exercise of this office, he was delegated to make a jour-
ney to the nation called People of the Sea,^ and arrange peace
between them and the Hurons, from whom they are distant
about three hundred leagues westward. He embarked in the
Huron country,^ with seven savages ; and they passed by many
small nations, both going and returning. When they arrived
at their destination, they fastened two sticks in the earth,
and hung gifts thereon, so as to relieve these tribes from the
notion of mistaking them for enemies to be massacred. When
he was two days' journey from that nation, he sent one of
those savages to bear tidings of the peace, which word was
especially well received when they heard that it was a Euro-
pean who carried the message ; they despatched several young
men to meet the Manitouiriniou — that is to say, "the wonder-
ful man." They meet him; they escort him, and carry all
his baggage. He wore a grand robe of China damask, all
strewn with flowers and birds of many colors. No sooner
did they perceive him than the women and children fled, at
the sight of a man who carried thunder in both hands — for
thus they called the two pistols that he held. The news of
his coming quickly spread to the places round about, and
there assembled four or five thousand men. Each of the
chief men made a feast for him, and at one of these banquets
they served at least sixscore beavers. The peace was con-
cluded ; he returned to the Hurons, and some time later to the
Three Rivers,^ where he continued his employment as agent
and interpreter, to the great satisfaction of both the French and
the savages, by whom he was equally and singularly loved.
* The Winnebago Indians dwelling on the shore of Green Bay. The French
called them "Puants," a translation of their aboriginal name, which signified
"ill-smelling or dirty water," a variation of the word applied to the sea. The
Winnebago were of Dakotan stock, and before Nicolet's day had occupied all
of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
2 The Huron, of Iroquoian origin, occupied the peninsula between Lake
Erie and the southern end of Georgian Bay. The earliest French missions were
founded in their villages and were familiar to early westward explorers.
3 Three Rivers (Trois Rivieres), on the St. Lawrence, at the mouth of St.
Maurice River, was the third post of importance in the colony of New France.
THE JOURNEY OF RAYMBAULT AND JOGUES
TO THE SAULT, BY FATHER LALEMANT, 1641
INTRODUCTION
During the early part of the seventeenth century the
Huron mission was the centre for Western enterprise and dis-
covery. This mission was founded in 1615 by the Recollect
fathers, who in 1625 called Jesuit missionaries to their aid.
During the occupation of New France by the English (1629-
1632) this mission served as a refuge for the interpreters and
adventurers scattered among the interior tribes, and after
the reoccupation by the French (1632) was assigned to the
exclusive care of the Jesuits. They maintained the mission
with great effectiveness, until its disastrous overthrow at the
hands of the Iroquois in 1649 and 1650. The Huron country
was situated between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, along
the Wye and Severn rivers, bordering on Matchedash and
Nottawasaga bays, in the present province of Ontario. The
Huron were docile and gentle, and village after village became
the home of a "black-gown" missionary, and the site of a rude
bark chapel. In 1639 a central station, named Ste. Marie,
was established upon the Wye ; this was a large, substantially
built village surrounded by a moat whose outlines are visible
to the present day. From Ste. Marie attempts were made
to discover distant tribes and open the way for further mis-
sionary enterprises. As younger Jesuits sought the promis-
ing American field, plans were made to preach the gospel to
the Algonquian tribes who surrounded the Huron on every
side. Among those chosen for this new enterprise was Father
Charles Raymbault, a Norman youth, who, after a novitiate
at Rouen, arrived in Canada in the summer of 1637. Three
years he tarried in the colony to make himself master of the
Algonquian tongue, being stationed for a time at Quebec and
19
20 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
for a time at Three Rivers. Late in the autumn of 1640 he
arrived at Huronia and was assigned to his field of labor
among the Nipissing Indians, whose winter hunting-grounds
lay adjacent to the villages of the Huron, the two tribes being
on friendly terms. From one camp to another, throughout
the cold of a Canadian winter, Father Raymbault wandered,
willing to starve or freeze might he but snatch some souls
from the gates of Hell. With the coming of the tardy spring,
the Nipissing returned to their villages on the northern shore
of Lake Nipissing, accompanied by their faithful missionary.
Meanwhile in the Huron mission was laboring Father
Isaac Jogues, a friend and early comrade of Raymbault, who,
originally from Orleans, had made his novitiate at Rouen
and Paris. He had come to New France a year earlier than
his colleague, and, assigned at once to Huronia, had greatly
aided in the founding of Ste. Marie. After its completion
he had attempted an unsuccessful mission to the Petun or
Tobacco Huron, ancestors of the modern Wyandot Indians.
Upon his return he found Raymbault en route to his sojourn
among the Nipissing. The latter mission was terminated
for the time by the resolve of that tribe to celebrate an elabo-
rate ceremony known as the feast for the dead. Invitations
had been sent throughout the Algonquian Northwest ; and on
the shore of Lake Huron, sixty mUes northwest of the Huron
villages, there assembled by the 1st of September, 1641, two
thousand savages from the region of the upper lakes. Thither
Father Raymbault came with his Nipissing, while from the
Huron villages the other "black gowns" sought the concourse.
Under the vivid pen of the Jesuit historian the description
of this festival reads like a page strayed from a Grecian epic
— so mighty were the combats, so virile the games, so plain-
tive the chants, and so agile the dances of these barbarians.
This is a picture of the primitive Indians, before the white
man's fire-water and epidemics had enfeebled their bodies
INTRODUCTION 21
and lowered their morals. Among their amusements we even
find the greased pole of our own rude forefathers ; and under
the guise of mourning their dead they displayed many feats of
valor and indulged in hearty feasts.
Among the participants in the festival were a tribe of
Indians who had come from a distance of a hundred or more
leagues and who reported themselves to be dwellers beside
the great strait where the waters leap from the upper or
"Superior" lake into the basin of Lake Huron. The Jesuit
fathers, having eagerly made friends with these distant tribes-
men, were invited to accompany them to their village, where-
upon Raymbault and Jogues were chosen for the honor of
the voyage. In the following pages the narrative of their
journey is told — the first description of the Sault Ste. Marie
and its aborigines, whose name yet remains as a memorial of
the expedition.
After returning to Huronia Raymbault essayed a further
mission to the Nipissing, but his enfeebled condition made
rest imperative. Jogues begged to be allowed to accompany
him to Quebec. There the invalid missionary passed away,
October 22, 1642. For Jogues was reserved a martyr's fate
and fame. Captured by the Iroquois on his return route to
the Huron mission, he was tortured as a prisoner until rescued
by the Dutch of Albany, who sent him back to France. Thence
in June, 1644, he again sought Quebec, and was finally mas-
sacred by the Iroquois when he essayed a mission to their
country. The portion of his biography which forms a part
of the history of New York is set forth, in connection with
portions of his narrative writings, in an earlier volume of this
series. Narratives of New Netherland, pp. 235-263.
The following account of the discovery of Sault Ste. Marie
in 1641 is taken from the second part of the Jesuit Relation of
1642, which was written from the country of the Huron by
Father Jerome Lalemant. In all probability he had with
22 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
him, as he wrote, the original narratives of the discoverers
themselves. Certainly the narrative must be regarded as
first-hand material, since the writer was present both at the
departure and at the return of Raymbault and Jogues, and
heard their adventures from their own lips. The passage we
here present is from Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, XXIII . 223-
227.
THE JOURNEY OF RAYMBAULT AND JOGUES
TO THE SAULT, 1641
In this gathering of so many assembled nations,^ we
strove to win the affections of the chief personages by means
of feasts and presents. In consequence of this, the Pauoiti-
goueieuhak invited us to go and see them in their own coun-
try. (They are a nation of the Algonquin language, distant
from the Hurons a hundred or a hundred and twenty leagues
towards the west, whom we call the inhabitants of the Sault.)^
We promised to pay them a visit, to see how they might be
disposed, in order to labor for their conversion, especially as
we learned that a more remote nation whom they call Pou-
teatami^ had abandoned their own country and taken
refuge with the inhabitants of the Sault, in order to remove
from some other hostile nation who persecuted them with
endless wars. We selected Father Charles Raymbaut to
undertake this journey ; and as, at the same time, some
Hurons were to be of the party, Father Isaac Jogues was
chosen, that he might deal with them.
They started from our house of Ste. Marie,^ about the
1 This refers to the feast for the dead described in the Introduction, ante.
2 Pauoitigoueieuhak is one form of the native name of this tribe, and means
"dwellers at the falls." The French translated this name into their own lan-
guage and called the tribe Saulteurs (Sauteux). They are known to us as the
Chippewa, one of the largest tribes of Algonquian stock. This tribe still dwells
in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, and in Ontario along the northern shore
of Lake Superior.
3 The Potawatomi in language and customs are nearly allied to the Chip-
pewa. From their temporary refuge at Sault Ste. Marie they removed to the
entrance of Green Bay, and gradually spread along the western shore of Lake
Michigan, occupying the sites of Milwaukee and Chicago, and doubling around
the southern end of Lake Michigan into northern Indiana and southwest Michi-
gan. By successive cessions in the early nineteenth century they sold their
lands and removed to Kansas and Oklahoma, where remnants of the tribe are
now living.
* See Introduction, ante, for this mission village.
23
24 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1641
end of September, and after seventeen days of navigation
on the great lake or fresh-water sea that bathes the land of
the Hurons, they reached the Sault, where they found about
two thousand souls, and obtained information about a great
many other sedentaiy nations, who have never known Euro-
peans and have never heard of God — among others, of a cer-
tain nation, the Nadouessis,^ situated to the northwest or
west of the Sault, eighteen days' journey farther away. The
first nine days are occupied in crossing another great lake
that commences above the Sault; during the last nine days
one has to ascend a river that traverses those lands.^ These
peoples till the soil in the manner of our Hurons, and harvest
Indian corn and tobacco. Their villages are larger, and in
a better state of defense, owing to their continual wars with
the Kiristinons, the Irinions, and other great nations who
inhabit the same country.^ Their language differs from the
Algonquin and Huron tongues.
The captains of this nation of the Sault invited our Fathers
to take up their abode among them. They were given to
understand that this was not impossible, provided that they
were well disposed to receive our instruction. After having
held a council, they replied that they greatly desired that good
fortune — that they would embrace us as their Brothers, and
would profit by our words. But we need laborers for that
purpose ; we must first try to win the peoples that are nearest
to us, and meanwhile pray Heaven to hasten the moment of
their conversion.
Father Charles Raymbaut had no sooner returned from
^This was the Algonquian name for the Sioux Indians. It signified the
"enemy," and indicates the hostile spirit that existed for generations between
the Chippewa and the Sioux. The habitat of the latter was at the western end
of Lake Superior, about the headwaters of the Mississippi, thence west to the
Missoiu-i, where several large branches of their tribe dwelt. They are still on
reservations in the Dakotas along the tributaries of the Missouri.
2 This is a description, from the reports of the Indians, of the route to the
Sioux via Lake Superior, St. Louis River, and by various portages to the lakes
of the upper Mississippi.
3 Kiristinons (Christinaux) are the tribe now known as the Cree, a northern
Algonquian people who roamed the plains north and west of Lake Superior to
the shores of Lake Winnipeg and beyond. "Irinions" refers to the Illinois,
then the largest tribe between the Ohio, the Mississippi, and Lake Michigan.
1641] JOURNEY OF RAYMBAULT AND JOGUES 25
this journey to the Saut than he reembarked in another
canoe, to seek the Nipissiriniens at their winter quarters and
to continue instructing them. Father Rene Menard/ who
had recently come to our assistance, went with him, for we
deemed it advisable to retain Father Claude Pijart,^ so as
not to abandon entirely a number of other Algonquin bands
who come here every year to winter with the Hurons.
The lake was so agitated, the winds so contrary, and the
storms so great, that the canoe was compelled to put back
to our port, whence it had started ; and, as the ice formed im-
mediately afterward, . it rendered the voyage impossible.
Father Charles Raymbaut thereupon fell seriously ill, and has
not had one day's good health since.
A great many Algonquins landed at the same time near
our house, with the intention of spending the winter here.
God wished to give employment to the two Fathers who
knew the Algonquin language, and who remained in health,
so as thereby to save some souls that he had chosen for Heaven ;
for disease carried off several children, and I do not think
that a single one of them died without having received bap-
tism, whatever opposition the parents may often have shown
thereto.
iRene Menard entered the Jesuit order in 1624 at the age of nineteen;
sixteen years later he came to Quebec, and in 1641 was sent to the Huron coun-
try as a missionary for the Algonquian tribes. This was his first attempt to
winter among the savages; the next spring, however, he and Pijart began a
Nipissing mission that was maintained for eighteen months. Returning to
Huronia, he labored there until the ruin of that mission. In 1660 he visited Lake
Superior, and during the following summer, somewhere in the wilderness of north-
ern Wisconsin, was lost in the woods and never found.
2 Claude Pijart came to Canada three years before Menard, was assigned
to the Algonquian mission, became, in 1653, superior of his order, and acted as
pastor for the town of Quebec, where he died November 16, 1680.
RADISSON'S ACCOUNT OF HIS THIRD
JOURNEY, 1658-1660 [1654-1656 ?]
INTRODUCTION
After the voyages described in the preceding documents
nearly twenty years elapsed before any recorded expeditions
of discovery and exploration into the Northwest took place.
This was due in large measure to the harassing of New France
by wars with the Iroquois — raids which resulted in the com-
plete overthrow of the flourishing Huron missions, and ren-
dered extremely hazardous all journeying in the Upper Coun-
try.
The Iroquois, after destroying the tribes south of Lake
Erie, turned their arms against the villages of the Huron,
capturing numbers whom they either put to torture or trans-
ported to their own coimtry and incorporated into their
confederacy. The Jesuit missionaries were forced to flee
before this storm of war, and with a few of their neophytes
took refuge at Quebec. Even here they were not safe from
the fury of their enemies. The island of Orleans at the foot
of the Quebec bluff was raided and many Huron carried cap-
tive. All the waterways were infested by war parties. It
was no longer safe to journey from Quebec up the St. Law-
rence, much less to venture forth into the great wilderness
of the Northwest. Nor did the Western Indians dare to
bring to the colony the peltry they gathered in the northern
regions; New France, whose economic life rested on the fur
trade, was on the verge of ruin. Means were sought to escape
the Iroquois by roundabout routes; some tribesmen crossing
the network of lakes in northern Canada came down the St.
Maurice to the little post at Three Rivers.
At this post there dwelt two young Frenchmen whose
29 I
so EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
exploits of exploration and discovery were to create a new epoch
for the French colony in the New World. M^dart Chouart,
Sieur des Grosseilliers, had been born in eastern France,
somewhere in the region of the Marne, so lately scarred and
torn by battling armies. In 1637 he arrived in New France,
and having entered the Jesuit service as a donne or assistant,
spent nine years in the Huron mission. About the middle
of the seventeenth century he removed to Three Rivers, where
in 1653 he married Marguerite, widowed sister of Pierre Esprit
Radisson. Radisson and Grosseilliers soon formed a con-
genial partnership which endured through many years of
association in adventure. Radisson, although the younger,
appears to have been the leader in their expeditions, and to
his fertile mind and dauntless spirit we may attribute the
success of their explorations.
Radisson had reached New France in the summer of 1651.
The following spring, while exploring the environs of Three
Rivers, he was taken prisoner by a party of Iroquois and
carried to their villages, where adoption saved him from the
stake. On a visit to Albany he was rescued from the savages
by some Dutch merchants, who sent him home to France;
thence he returned to Three Rivers in the summer of 1654.
Notwithstanding his rough treatment at the hands of the
Iroquois he accompanied, in 1657, a colony into their country,
to escape only with difl&culty in the following year.
Meanwhile Radisson yearned to see the mysterious West,
whence the caravans of furs arriving at Three Rivers brought
news of great lakes and streams, gentle people, and game
untold. Perchance traditions of Nicolet's voyage, lingering
at Three Rivers, whetted his desire to venture in the foot-
steps of the earlier explorer. As for Grosseilliers, his sojourn
among the Huron had certainly made him familiar with the
peoples of the West and taught him something of their lan-
guages and customs.
INTRODUCTION 31
The two brothers (as they called themselves) secured the
governor's permission to return with one of the trading fleets
of Indian canoes that during a lull in Iroquois hostilities had,
to the great joy of the colonists, reached the St. Lawrence
unmolested. The voyage — known as the third Radisson
voyage, the two to the Iroquois being the first and second
respectively — is described in the following pages.
The date of this third voyage or rather first Western voyage
is much in doubt; it has usually been referred to the years
1658 to 1660. The Jesuit Relation of 1656, however, mentions
the return in that year of two nameless travellers, who had
spent two years in the interior of the country ; and since no
mention can be found of Radisson or Grosseilliers in the
register of Three Rivers during those years, some scholars
assume that they were the anonymous voyagers of the Relation.
The question of the date cannot be determined from the sources
now available.
The two discoverers made a second journey to the West,
in the course of which they visited Lake Superior and the head-
waters of the Mississippi, and seem to have journeyed over-
land to Hudson Bay. They returned to New France with
an immense fortune in furs, and, angered by some unjust
treatment, left the colony and offered their services as ex-
plorers to the English king, Charles II. Under his patronage
they made several voyages to Hudson Bay ; aided in founding
the great fur company of that name ; returned once more to
the French service and revisited Canada, where Grosseilliers
thenceforth remained. Radisson, however, deserted once
more to the English service, made several more voyages to
Hudson Bay, and, having married an English wife, lived in
London on his pension from the Hudson's Bay Company
until his death about the year 1710.
The manuscripts of Radisson's narratives have had al-
most as adventurous a career as their author. The journals
32 EARLY NARRATIVES OP THE NORTHWEST
of the first four voyages to the Iroquois country and to the
Northwest were written, not for pubHcation, but for the
edification and entertainment of Charles II. of England,
whose patronage Radisson desired. They were written in
English, the EngHsh of an unaccustomed foreigner. They
came into the hands of Samuel Pepys, the diarist, who was
secretary of the Admiralty under Charles II. and his brother
James. Part of Pepys's manuscripts were secured by a
London shopkeeper, who was using them for waste paper
when, in 1750, Richard Rawlinson rescued the remnants,
among them the narrative of Radisson. Rawlinson's col-
lection came into the possession of the Bodleian Library at
Oxford, where the Radisson manuscripts (Rawlinson A. 329)
remained unnoticed until the last quarter of the nineteenth
century. Interest having been aroused in Radisson as the
founder of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the records of
his voyages thither having been found in the British Museum,
the Bodleian journals were brought to light, and in 1885
published under the editorship of Gideon D. Scull for the
Prince Society in Boston. They awakened much interest
among students of Western history, both for the charm of the
narrative, for the vivid description of natural objects, and
for the great daring of the adventurers. Discussion of the
probable route and extent of the discovery has been volumi-
nous, since they were the first white men known to have pene-
trated into the country beyond the Great Lakes. Thus they
probably were the discoverers of Iowa, Minnesota, and the
Canadian Northwest. They are likewise claimed as the first
French discoverers of the Mississippi River. The difficulty
of interpreting Radisson's text, written in a language un-
familiar to himself and some years after the completion of
his journeys, adds to the differences of opinion with regard to
the route and the locations described. Nevertheless the es-
sential facts of his discovery are clear, and as the earliest
INTRODUCTION 33
description we now possess of the country beyond the upper
lakes, these pages have an especial significance.
We reprint by permission of the Prince Society from their
edition of Radisson's Journals, pp. 134-172.
RADISSON'S ACCOUNT OF HIS THIRD
JOURNEY, 1658-1660 [1654-1656?]
Nmo followeth the Auxoticiat Voyage into the Great and filthy
Lake of the Hurrons, Upper Sea of the East, and Bay of
the North.
Being come to the 3 rivers, where I found my brother who
the yeare before came back from the lake of the Hurrons with
other french, both weare upon the point of resolution to
make a journey a purpose for to discover the great lakes
that they heard the wild men^ speak off; yea, have seene
before, For my brother made severall journeys when the
Fathers lived about the lake of the hurrons, which was upon
the border of the sea. So my brother seeing me back from
those 2 dangerous voyages, so much by the cruelties of the
barbars as for the difficulties of the wayes, for this reason
he thought I was fitter and more faithfuU for the discovery
that he was to make. He plainly told me his minde. I know-
ing it, longed to see myselfe in a boat. There weare severall
companies of wild men Expected from severall places, because
they promissed the yeare before, and [to] take the advantage
of the Spring (this for to deceive the Iroquoits, who are all-
way es in wait for to destroy them), and of the rivers which is
by reason of the melting of the great snows, which is onely
that time, For otherwise no possibility to come that way be-
cause for the swift streams that runs in summer, and in other
places the want of watter, so that no boat can come through.
We soone see the performance of those people, For a com-
pany came to the 3 rivers where we weare. They tould us
that another company was arrived att Mont Royal,^ and that
2 more weare to come shortly, the one to the Three Rivers, the
^The French habitually spoke of the Indians as "sauvages," savages;
Radisson, whose use of English was not idiomatic, translates the idea into the
term "wild" (or uncivilized) men.
2 Montreal, named from the peak that dominates its site, was founded in
1642 as a religious colony by Maisonneuve and his associates. It became the
great fur-trade market of New France.
34
.,,^
(^Q^^'^,J^)^
r
/^/£u^*^
'^lO^i
//> /^/. <^lP h L ^ f Y Tor- /'. / , --^/
(2^1, Vc^Q ^
^
A PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT OF RADISSON'S JOURNAL
From the original in the Bodleian Library, Oxford
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 35
other to Saegne, a river of Tudousack/ who arrived within
2 dayes after. They divided themselves because of the scant
of provision ; For if they weare together they could not have
victualls enough. Many goes and comes to Quebecq for
to know the resolution of mr Governor, who together with the
Fathers thought fitt to send a company of French to bring
backe, if possible, those wildmen the next yeare, or others,
being that it is the best manna of the countrey by which the
inhabitants doe subsist, and makes the French vessells to
come there and goe back loaden with merchandises for the
traffique of furriers who comes from the remotest parts of the
north of America.
As soone as the resolution was made, many undertakes the
voyage ; for where that there is lucre there are people enough
to be had. The best and ablest men for that businesse weare
chosen. They make them goe up the 3 rivers with the band
that came with the Sacques. There take those that weare
most capable for the purpose. Two Fathers weare chosen to
conduct that company, and endeavoured to convert some of
those foraigners of the remotest country to the Christian
faith. We no sooner heard their designe, but saw the effects
of the businesse, which effected in us much gladnesse for the
pleasure we could doe to one another, and so abler to oppose
an ennemy if by fortune we should meet with any that would
doe us hurt or hinder us in our way.
About the midle of June we began to take leave of our
company and venter our lives for the common good. We
find 2 and 30 men, some inhabitants, some Gailliards^ that
desired but doe well. What fairer bastion then a good tongue,
especially when one sees his owne chimney smoak, or when
we can kiss our owne wives or kisse our neighbour's wife with
ease and delight? It is a strange thing when victualls are
wanting, worke whole nights and dayes, lye downe on the
bare ground, and not allwayes that hap, the breech in the wat-
ter, the feare in the buttocks, to have the belly empty, the
wearinesse in the bones, and drowsinesse of the body by the
bad weather that you are to suffer, having nothing to keepe
you from such calamity.
^ The River Saguenay, at whose mouth is the port Tadoussac.
* "Gaillard" means a merry fellow or a jolly companion.
36 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
Att last we take our journey to see the issue of a prosperous
adventure in such a dangerous enterprise. We resolved not
to be the first that should complaine. The French weare to-
gether in order, the wildmen also, saving my brother and I
that weare accustomed to such like voyages, have foreseene
what happened afterwards. Before our setting forth we
made some guifts, and by that means we weare sure of their
good will, so that he and I went into the boats of the wild
men. We weare nine and twenty french in number and 6
wildmen. We embarked our traine in the night, because
our number should not be knowne to some spyes that might
bee in some ambush to know our departure; For the Iro-
quoits are allwayes abroad. We weare 2 nights to gett to
mont royall, where 8 Octanac^ stayed for us and 2 French.
If not for that company, we had passed the river of the med-
dowes,^ which makes an isle of Mont royall and joines itself e
to the lake of St. Louis, 3 leagues further then the hight of
that name.
We stayed no longer there then as the french gott them-
selves ready. We tooke leave without noise of Gun. We
cannot avoid the ambush of that eagle, which is like the owle
that sees better in the night then in the day. We weare not
sooner come to the first river, but our wildmen sees 5 sorts
of people of divers countrys laden with marchandise and
gunns, which served them for a shew then for defence if by
chance they should be sett on. So that the glorie begins to
shew itsselfe, no order being observed among them. The one
sings, the other before goes in that posture without bad en-
counter. We advanced 3 dayes. There was no need of such
1 The Ottawa Indians were a branch of the Algonquian stock, first en-
countered by the French on the islands in Lake Huron. Later they fled west-
ward before the pressure of the Iroquois, and after brief sojourns at Mackinac
and in the interior of Wisconsin located for a time on Chequamegon Bay. Still
later they returned to the vicinity of Mackinac, which became their permanent
habitat. A remnant of this tribe lives at present on Little Traverse Bay. The
Ottawa were traders, and acted as middlemen between the French and the
farther tribesmen. Hence the great flotillas coming down to Canada with furs
were said to come from the Ottawa, while the region of the upper lakes was known
as the Ottawa country.
2 This stream is still called River des Prairies, separating Montreal and
Jesus islands.
165g-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 37
a silence among us. Our men composed onely of seaven
score men, we had done well if we had kept together, not to
goe before in the river,^ nor stay behind some 2 or 3 leagues.
Some 3 or 4 boats now and then to land to kill a wild beast,
and so putt themselves into a danger of their lives, and if there
weare any precipice the rest should be impotent to helpe.
We warned them to looke to themselves. They laughed
att us, saying we weare women ; that the Iroquoits durst not
sett on them. That pride had such power that they thought
themselves masters of the earth ; but they will see themselves
soone mistaken. How that great God that takes great care
of the most wild creatures, and will that every man confesses
his faults, and give them grace to come to obedience for the
preservation of their lives, sends them a remarquable power
and ordnance, which should give terrour and retinue to those
poore misled people from the way of assurance.
As we wandered in the afforesaid manner all a sunder, there
comes a man alone out of the wood with a hattchett in his
hand, with his brayer, and a cover ^ over his shoulders, making
signes aloud that we should come to him. The greatest part
of that flock shewed a palish face for feare att the sight of
this man, knowing him an ennemy. They approached not
without feare and apprehension of some plot. By this you
may see the boldnesse of those buzards, that think themselves
hectors when they see but their shadowes, and tremble when
they see a Iroquoit. That wild man seeing us neerer, setts
him downe on the ground and throwes his hattchett away and
raises againe all naked, to shew that he hath no armes, desires
them to approach neerer for he is their friend, and would lose
his life to save theirs. Hee shewed in deed a right captayne
for saveing of men that ruimed to their mine by their indis-
cretion and want of conduct; and what he did was out of
meere piety, seeing well that they wanted wit, to goe so like
a company of bucks, every one to his fancy, where his litle
experience leads him, nor thinking that danger wherin they
^ The adventurers were ascending Ottawa River, the usual route to the Upper
Country. Some commentators have asserted that Radisson and Grosseilliers
took the St. Lawrence route through the lower lakes ; but that view is now gen-
erally discarded.
* The Indian was clad in a blanket (cover) and breech-cloth (brayer).
38 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
weare, shewing by their march they weare no men, for not
fearing. As for him, he was ready to die to render them
service and prisoner into their hands freely. "For," saith he,
"I might have escaped your sight, but that I would have
saved you. I feare," sayth he, "not death"; so with that
comes downe into the watter to his midle. There comes many
boats about him, takes him into one of the boats, tying a
coard fast about his body. There is he fastned. He begins
to sing his fatal song that they call a nouroyall. That horrid
tone being finished, makes a long, a very long speech, saying.
Brethren, the day the sunne is favourable to mee, appointed
mee to tell you that yee are witlesse before I die, neither can they
escape their ennemys, that are spred up and downe everywhere,
that watches all moments their coming to destroy them. Take
great courage, brethren, sleepe not; the ennemy is att hand. They
wait for you; they are soe neare that they see you, and heare you,
and are sure that you are their prey. Therefore I was willing to
die to give you notice. For my part that what I have ben I am a
man and commander in the warrs, and tooke severall prisoners;
yet I would put meselfe in death's hands to save your lives. Believe
me; keepe you altogether; spend not your powder in vaine, think-
ing to frighten your enemys by the noise of your guns. See if
the stoanes of your arrowes be not bent or loose; bend your bowes;
open your ears; keepe your hattchetts sharpe to cutt trees to make
you a fort; doe not spend soe much greas to greas yourselves, but
keep it for your bellies. Stay not too long in the way. It 's robbery
to die with conduct.
That poore wretch spake the truth and gave good instruc-
tions, but the greatest part did not understand what he said,
saving the hurrons that weare with him, and I, that tould them
as much as I could perceive. Every one laughs, saying he
himself is afraid and tells us that story. We call him a dogg,
a woman, and a henne. We will make you know that we
weare men, and for his paines we should burne him when we
come to our country. Here you shall see the brutishnesse of
those people that think themselves valliant to the last point.
No comparison is to be made with them for vallour, but
quite contrary. They passe away the rest of that day with
great exclamations of joy, but it will not last long.
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 39
That night wee layd in our boats and made not the ketle
boyle, because we had meat ready dressed. Every boat is
tyed up in the rushes, whether out of feare for what the
prisoner told them, or that the prisoner should escape, I know
not. They went to sleepe without any watch. The French be-
gan to wish and moane for that place from whence they came
from. What will it be if wee heare yeatt cryes and sorrows
after all? Past the breake of day every one takes his oare
to row ; the formost oares have great advantage. We heard
the torrent rumble, but could not come to the land that
day, although not farr from us. Some twelve boats gott
afore us. These weare saluted with guns and outcrys. In the
meane while one boat runs one way, one another ; some men
lands and runs away. We are all put to it; non knowes
where he is, they are put to such a confusion. All those
beasts gathers together againe frighted. Seeing no way to
escape, gott themselves all in a heape like unto ducks that
sees the eagle come to them.
That first feare being over a litle, they resolved to land
and to make a fort with all speed, which was done in lesse then
two houres. The most stupidest drowsy are the nimblest for
the hattchett and cutting of trees. The fort being finished,
every one maketh himselfe in a readiness to sustaine the
assault if any had tempted. The prisoner was brought, who
soone was despatched, burned and roasted and eaten. The
Iroquoits had so served them, as many as they have taken.
We mist 20 of our company, but some came safe to us, and lost
13 that weare killed and taken in that defeat. The Iroquoite
finding himselfe weake would not venture, and was obliged to
leave us least he should be discovered and served as the other.
Neverthelesse they shewed good countenances, went and builded
a fort as we have done, where they fortified themselves and
feed on human flesh which they gott in the warres. They
weare afraid as much as we, but far from that ; For the night
being come, every one imbarks himselfe, to the soimd of a low
trumpet, by the help of the darknesse. We went to the other
side, leaving our marchandises for our ransome to the ennemy
that used us so unkindly. We made some cariages that
night with a world of paines. We mist 4 of our boats, so
that we must alter our equipages. The wildmen complained
40 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
much that the French could not swime, for that they might
be together. The French seeing that they weare not able
to undergo such a voyage, they consult together and for
conclusion resolved to give an end to such labours and dangers ;
moreover, found themselves incapable to follow the wildmen
who went with all the speed possible night and day for the
feare that they weare in. The Fathers, seeing our weak-
nesse, desired the wildmen that they might have one or two to
direct them, which by no means was granted, but bid us doe
as the rest. We kept still our resolution, and knowing more
tricks then they, would not goe back, which should be but dis-
dainful and prejudiciall. We told them so plainly that we
would finish that voyage or die by the way. Besides that the
wildmen did not complaine of us att all, but incouraged us.
After a long arguing, every one had the liberty to goe back-
wards or foi-wards, if any had courage to venter himselfe with
us. Seeing the great difficulties, all with one consent went
back againe, and we went on.
The wildmen weare not sorry for their departure, because
of their ignorance in the affaire of such navigation. It 's a
great alteration to see one and 30 reduced to 2. We en-
couraged one another, both willing to live and die with one
another ; and that [is] the least we could doe, being brothers.
Before we [went] to the lake of the hurrons we had crosses
enough, but no encounter. We travelled onely in the night
in these dangerous places, which could not be done without
many vexations and labours. The vanity was somewhat
cooler for the example we have seene the day before. The
hungar was that tormented us most ; for him we could not goe
seeke for some wild beasts. Our chiefest food was onely
some few fishes which the wildmen caught by a line, may be
two dozens a whole day, no bigger then my hand.
Being come to the place of repose, some did goe along the
water side on the rocks and there exposed ourselves to the
rigour of the weather. Upon these rocks we find some shells,
blackish without and the inner part whitish by reason of
the heat of the smi and of the humidity. They are in a
maner glued to the rock;^ so we must gett another stone to
^ Apparently the punctuation should be, a period after " whitish " and a
comma after " humidity."
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 41
gett them off by scraping them hard. When we thought to
have enough [we] went baclv again to the Cottages, where
the rest weare getting the htle fishes ready with trips/ gutts
and all. The kittle was full with the scraping of the rocks,
which soone after it boyled became like starch, black and clam-
mie and easily to be swallowed. I think if any bird had
lighted upon the excrements of the said stuff, they had stuckt
to it as if it weare glue. In the fields we have gathered severall
fruits, as goosberyes, blackberrys, that in an houre we
gathered above a bushell of such sorte, although not as yett
full ripe. We boyled it, and then every one had his share.
Heere was daintinesse slighted. The belly did not permitt us
to gett on neither shoos nor stockins, that the better we
might goe over the rocks, which did [make] our feet smart [so]
that we came backe. Our feet and thighs and leggs weare
scraped with thorns, in a heape of blood. The good God
looked uppon those infidels by sending them now and then a
beare into the river, or if we perceived any in an Isle forced
them to swime, that by that means we might the sooner kill
them. But the most parts there abouts is so sterill that there
is nothing to be scene but rocks and sand, and on the high
wayes but deale trees that grow most miraculously, for that
earth is not to be seene than can nourish the root, and most of
them trees are very bigg and high. We tooke a litle refresh-
ment in a place called the lake of Castors, which is some 30
leagues from the first great lake.^ Some of those wildmen hid
a rest ^ as they went down to the French ; but the lake was
so full of fishes we tooke so much that served us a long while.
We came to a place where weare abundance of Otters, in
so much that I believe all gathered to hinder our passage.
We killed some with our arrows, not daring to shoote because
we discovered there abouts some tracks, judgmg to be our
ennemy by the impression of their feet in the sand. All
knowes there one another by their march, for each hath his
1 "Tripe des roches." This is a species of lichen that in extremity of
hunger is scraped from rocks and eaten. While unpalatable, it is capable of sus-
taining life.
2 Lake of Castors (Beaver Lake) is the present Lake Nipissing, en route to
the "first great lake" (Huron).
* /. e., made a cache.
42 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
proper steps, some upon their toes, some on their heele, which
is natural to them, for when they are infants the mother
warpeth them to their mode. Heer I speake not of the hor-
rid streams we passed, nor of the falls of the water, which weare
of an incredible height. In some parts most faire and de-
licious, where people formerly lived onely by what they could
gett by the bow and arrows. We weare come above 300
leagues allwayes against the streame, and made 60 carriages,
besides drawing,^ besides the swift streams we overcame by
the oares and poles to come to that litle lake of Castors which
may be 30 or 40 leagues in compasse. The upper end of it is
full of Islands, where there is not time lost to wander about,
finding wherewith all to make the kettle boyle with venison,
great bears, castors and fishes, which are plenty in that place.
The river that we goe to the great lake is somewhat f avorable.^
We goe downe with ease and runing of the watter, which emp-
ties itsselfe in that lake in which we are now coming in. This
river hath but 8 high and violent streams, which is some 30
leagues in length. The place where we weare is a bay all
full of rocks, small isles, and most between wind and water
with an infinite [number] of fishes, which are seene in the water
so cleare as christian. That is the reason of so many otters,
that lives onely uppon fish. Each of us begins to looke to his
bundle and merchandizes and prepare himselfe for the bad
weather that uses to be on that great extent of water. The
wildmen finds what they hid among the rocks 3 months be-
fore they came up to the french.^ Heere we are stiring about
in our boats as nimble as bees and divided ourselves into 2
companys. Seaven boats went towards west norwest and the
rest to the South.
After we mourned enough for the death of our deare
countrymen that weare slained coming up, we take leave of
each other with promise of amitie and good correspondence
* Radisson here distinguishes between portages (carriages), when all canoes
were unloaded and dragged around the obstruction, and decharges (drawings),
when the canoe's load was lightened so that it could in that condition be drawn
over the shallows or through the rapids.
* Formerly Rivifere des Fran9ai3, it is now known as French River, emptying
into Georgian Bay.
* Radisson means before they came down to the French merchants at
Three Rivers.
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 43
one with another, as for the continuance of peace, as for the
assistance of strength, if the enemy should make an assault.
That they should not goe to the french without giving notice
one to another and soe goe together. We that weare for the
South went on severall dayes merily, and saw by the way the
place where the Fathers Jesuits had heretofore lived; a de-
licious place, albeit we could but see it afarre off.^ The coast
of this lake is most delightfull to the minde. The lands
smooth, and woods of all sorts. In many places there are
many large open fields wherein, I believe, wildmen formerly
lived before the destruction of the many nations which did in-
habit, and tooke more place then 600 leagues about; for I
can well say that from the river of Canada to the great lake
of the hurrons, which is neere 200 leagues in length and 60 in
breadth, as I guesse, for I have [been] round about it, plenty
of fish. There are banks of sand 5 or 6 leagues from the
waterside, where such an infinite deale of fish that scarcely
we are able to draw out our nett. There are fishes as bigg
as children of 2 years old. There is sturgeon enough and
other sorte that is not knowne to us. The South part is with-
out isles, onely in some bayes where there are some. It is
delightfull to goe along the side of the watter in summer where
you may pluck the ducks.
We must stay often in a place 2 or 3 dayes for the con-
trary winds; For [if] the winds weare anything high, we
durst not venter the boats against the impetuosity of the
waves, which is the reason that our voyages are so long and
tedious. A great many large deep rivers empties them-
selves in that lake, and an infinit number of other small rivers,
that cann beare boats, and all from lakes and pools which
are in abundance in that country.
After we travelled many dayes we arrived att a large is-
land^ where we foimd their village, their wives and children.
You must know that we passed a strait some 3 leagues be-
yond that place. The wildmen give it a name; it is an-
other lake, but not so bigg as that we passed before. We
calle it the lake of the staring hairs, because those that live
^ The southern shore of Georgian Bay, the country of the Huron mission.
See narrative of Raymbault and Jogues, ante.
2 Probably Manitoulin Island, where the French first found Ottawa villages.
44 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
about it have their hair Hke a brush turned up. They all
have a hole in their nose, which is done by a straw which is
above a foot long. It barrs their faces. Their ears have or-
dinarily 5 holes, where one may putt the end of his finger.
They use those holes m this sort : to make themselves gallant
they passe through it a skrew of coper with much dexterity,
and goe on the lake in that posture. When the winter comes
they weare no capes ^ because of their haire tourned up. They
fill those skrews with swan's downe, and with it their ears
covered; but I dare say that the people doe not for to hold
out the cold, but rather for pride. For their coimtry is not so
cold as the north, and other lakes that we have seene since.
It should be difficult to describe what variety of faces our
arrivement did cause, some out of joy, others out of sadnesse.
Neverthelesse the numbers of joyfull exceeded that of the
sorrowfull. The season began to invite the lustiest to hunt-
ing. We neither desire to be idle in any place, having learned
by experience that idlenesse is the mother of all evil, for it
breeds most part of all sicknesse in those parts where the
aire is most delightfuU. So that they who had most knowl-
edge in these quarters had familiarity with the people that
live there about the last lake.
The nation that we weare with had warrs with the Iro-
quoits, and must trade. Our wildmen out of feare must con-
sent to their ennemy to live in their land. It 's true that
those who lived about the first lake had not for the most part
the conveniency of our french merchandise, as since, which
obliged most of the remotest people to make peace, consider-
ing the enemy of theirs that came as a thunder bolt upon
them, so that they joyned with them and forgett what was
past for their owne preservation. Att our coming there we
made large guifts, to dry up the tears of the friends of the de-
ceased. As we came there the circumjacent neighbours came
to visit us, that bid us welcome, as we are so. There comes
newes that there weare ennemy in the fields, that they weare
seene att the great field. There is a councell called, and re-
solved that they should be searched and sett uppon them as
[soon as] possible may be, which [was] executed speedily. I
offered my service, soe went and looked for them 2 dayes;
1 Caps.
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 45
finding them the 3d day, gave them the assault when they
least thought off it. We played the game so furiously that
none escaped.
The day following we returned to our village with 8 of our
enemys dead and 3 alive. The dead weare eaten and the liv-
ing weare burned with a small fire to the rigour of cruelties,
which comforted the desolat to see them revenged of the death
of their relations that was so served. We weare then pos-
sessed by the hurrons and Octanac ; but our minde was not to
stay in an island, but to be knowne with the remotest people.
The victory that we have gotten made them consent to what
we could desire, and because that we shewed willing[ness]
to die for their defence. So we desired to goe with a com-
pany of theirs that was going to the nation of the stairing
haires.
We weare wellcomed and much made of, saying that we
weare the Gods and devils of the earth ; that we should f our-
nish them, and that they would bring us to their ennemy to
destroy them. We tould them [we] were very well content.
We persuaded them first to come peaceably, not to destroy
them presently, and if they would not condescend, then would
wee throw away the hattchett and make use of our thunders.
We sent ambassadors to them with guifts. That nation called
Poutouatemic]i ^ without more adoe comes and meets us with
the rest, and peace was concluded. Feasts were made and
dames with guifts came of each side, with a great deale of
mirth.
We visited them during that winter, and by that means we
made acquaintance with an other nation called Escoteclve,
which signified fire, a faire proper nation; the}^ are tall and
bigg and very strong.^ We came there in the spring. When
we arrived there weare extraordinary banquetts. There they
never have seen men with beards, because they pull their
^ The Potawatomi Indians, for whom see p. 23 ante, note 3.
' This tribe was probably the Mascoutin, an Algonquian tribe, allied to the
Miami and Illinois. Their original habitat appears to have been in southeast
Michigan; thence about the middle of the seventeenth century they migrated
to Wisconsin and had a large village on upper Fox River. In the eighteenth
century they migrated to the Wabash, and dwindled in number until they be-
came as a tribe extinct.
46 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
haires as soone as it comes out; but much more astonished
when they saw our armes, especially our guns, which they
worshipped by blowing smoake of tobacco instead of sacrifice.
I will not insist much upon their way of living, For of their
ceremonys heere you will see a pattern.
In the last voyage that wee made I will lett you onely know
what cours we runned in 3 years' time. We desired them to
lett us know their neighboring nations. They gave us the
names, which I hope to describe their names in the end of this
most imperfect discours, at least those that I can remember.
Among others they told us of a nation called Nadouecero-
non,^ which is very strong, with whome they weare in warres
with, and another wandering nation, living onely uppon what
they could come by. Their dwelling was on the side of the
salt watter in summer time, and in the land in the winter time,
for it 's cold in their country. They calle themselves Chris-
tinos, and their confederats from all times, by reason of their
speech, which is the same, and often have joyned together
and have had companys of souldiers to warre against that
great nation. We desired not to goe to the North till we had
made a discovery in the South, being desirous to know what
they did. They told us if we would goe with them to the
great lake of the stinkings,^ the time was come of then- trafick,
which was of as many knives as they could gett from the
french nation, because of their dwellings, which was att the
coming in of a lake called Superior, but since the destructions
of many neighboring nations they retired themselves to the
height of the lake. We knewed those people well. We
went to them almost yearly, and the company that came up
with us weare of the said nation, but never could tell punc-
tually where they lived because they make the barre of the
Christinos from whence they have the Castors that they
bring to the french. This place is 600 leagues off, by reason
of the circuit that we must doe. The hurrons and the Octa-
nacks, from whence we came last, furnishes them also, and
comes to the furthest part of the lake of the Stinkings, there
to have light earthen pots, and girdles made of goat's hairs,
^ Sioux.
2 Green Bay, the habitat of the Winnebago (stinkards). See p. 16, ante,
note 1.
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 47
and small shells^ that grow att the sea side, with which they
trim their cloath made of skin.
We finding this opportmiity would not lett it slippe, but
made guifts, telling that the other nation would stand in
feare of them because of us. We flattered them, sajdng none
would dare to give them the least wrong, in so much that
many of the Octanacks that weare present to make the same
voyage. I can assure you I liked noe country as I have that
wherein we wintered; For whatever a man could desire was
to be had in great plenty; viz. staggs, fishes in abundance,
and all sort of meat, come enough. Those of the 2 nations
would not come with us, but turned back to their nation.
We neverthelesse put ourselves in hazard, for our curiosity, of
stay 2 or 3 years among that nation. We ventured, for that
we understand some of their idiome and trusted to that.
We embarked ourselves on the delightfullest lake of the
world. I tooke notice of their Cottages and of the journeys of
our navigation, for because that the country was so pleasant,
so beautifuU and fruitfuU that it grieved me to see that the
world could not discover such inticing countrys to live in.
This I say because that the Europeans fight for a rock in the
sea against one another, or for a sterill land and horrid coun-
try, that the people sent heere or there by the changement of
the aire ingenders sicknesse and dies thereof. Contrarywise
those kingdoms are so delicious and under so temperat a cli-
mat, plentifull of all things, the earth bringing foorth its fruit
twice a yeare, the people live long and lusty and wise in their
way. What conquest would that bee att litle or no cost ;
what laborinth of pleasure should millions of people have,
instead that millions complaine of miseiy and poverty !
What should not men reape out of the love of God in convert-
ing the souls heere, is more to be gained to heaven then what
is by differences of nothing there, should not be so many
dangers committed under the pretence of religion ! Why so
many thoesoever are hid from us by our owne faults, by our
negligence, covetousnesse, and unbeliefe. It 's true, I con-
fesse, that the accesse is difficult, but must sa}^ that we are
like the Cockscombs of Paris, when first they begin to have
^The original wampum was made from sea-shells, bored by the Indians.
After the coming of French goods, porcelain beads took the place of shell wampum.
48 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
wings, imagining that the larks will fall in their mouths
roasted ; ^ but we ought [to remember] that vertue is not ac-
quired without labour and taking great paines.
We meet with severall nations, all sedentary, amazed to see
us, and weare very civil. The further we sejoumed the de-
lightfuller the land was to us. I can say that [in] my life-
time I never saw a more incomparable coimtry, for all I
have ben in Italy; yett Italy comes short of it, as I think,
when it was inhabited, and now forsaken of the wildmen.
Being about the great sea, we conversed with people that
dwelleth about the salt water,^ who tould us that they saw-
some great white thing sometimes uppon the water, and came
towards the shore, and men in the top of it, and made a noise
like a company of swans; which made me believe that they
weare mistaken, for I could not imagine what it could be,
except the Spaniard ; and the reason is that we found a barill
broken as they use in Spaine. Those people have their
haires long. They reape twice a yeare; they are called Ta-
targa, that is to say, buff.^ They warre against Nadouecero-
nons, and warre also against the Christinos. These 2 doe no
great harme to one another, because the lake is betweene
both. They are generally stout men, that they are able to
defend themselves. They come but once a year to fight.
If the season of the yeare had permitted us to stay, for we
intended to goe backe the yeare following, we had indeav-
oured to make peace betweene them. We had not as yett
scene the nation Nadoueceronons. We had hurrons with us.
Wee persuaded them to come along to see their owne nation
that fled there, but they would not by any means. We
thought to gett some castors there to bring downe to the
French, seeing [it] att last impossible to us to make such a
circiiit in a twelve month's time. We weare every where
much made of ; neither wanted victualls, for all the different
1 The reference is to the fabled land of Cockaigne.
2 This is supposed to mean that somewhere near Lake Superior (the great
sea) they met Indians that had been as far as Hudson Bay and had there seen
ships.
3 Buffalo Indians. There is no distinct tribe with this appellation ; prob-
ably it here refers to the Indians of the plains who hunt the buffalo and war with
both Sioux and Cree. Some editors think it refers to the Teton branch of the
Sioux. "Tetanka" is the Siouan word for buffalo.
165^1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 49
nations that we mett conducted us and furnished us with all
necessaries. Tending to those people, went towards the
South and came back by the north.
The Summer passed away with admiration by the diver-
sity of the nations that we saw, as for the beauty of the shore
of that sweet sea. Heere we saw fishes of divers, some like
the sturgeons and have a kind of slice att the end of their nose
some 3 fingers broad in the end and 2 onely neere the nose,
and some 8 thumbs long, all marbled of a blakish coUor.
There are birds whose bills are two and 20 thumbs long.
That bird swallows a whole salmon, keeps it a long time in
his bill. We saw alsoe shee-goats very bigg. There is an
animal somewhat lesse then a cow whose meat is exceeding
good. There is no want of Staggs nor Buffes. There are so
many Tourkeys that the boys throws stoanes att them for
their recreation. We found no sea-serpents as we in other laks
have scene, especially in that of d' Ontario and that of the
stairing haires. There are some in that of the hurrons, but
scarce, for the great cold in winter. They come not neere
the upper lake. In that of the stairing haires I saw yong boy
[who] was bitten. He tooke immediately his stony knife and
with a pointed stick and cutts off the whole wound, being no
other remedy for it. They are great sorcerors and turns the
wheele.^ I shall speake of this at large in my last voyage.
Most of the shores of the lake is nothing but sand. There
are mountains to be scene farre in the land. There comes
not so many rivers from that lake as from others ; these that
flow from it are deeper and broader, the trees are very bigg,
but not so thick. There is a great distance from one an-
other, and a quantitie of all sorts of fruits, but small. The
vines grows all by the river side ; the lemons are not so bigg
as ours, and sowrer. The grape is very bigg, greene, is scene
there att all times. It never snows nor freezes there, but
mighty hot; yett for all that the country is not so unwhol-
som, For we seldome have scene infirmed people. I will
^ This is probably a reference to the wheel of feathers that is attached to
the calumet, or ceremonial pipe. In the journal of his so-called fourth voyage
Radisson in describing the calumet says : "There is tyed to it the tayle of an
eagle all painted over with severall coulours and open like a fan, or like that makes
a kind of a wheele when he shuts."
50 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
speake of their manners in my last voyage, which I made in
October.
We came to the strait of the 2 lakes of the stinkings and
the upper lake, where there are litle i3les towards Norwest,
Few towards the southest, very small. The lake towards
the North att the side of it is full of rocks and sand, yett great
shipps can ride on it without danger. We being of 3 nations
arrived there with booty, disputed awhile. For some would
returne to their country. That was the nation of the fire, and
would have us backe to their dwelling. We by all means
would know the Christinos. To goe backe was out of our
way. We contented the hurrons to our advantage with
promises and others with hope, and persuaded the Octonack
to keepe his resolution, because we weare but 5 small fine
dayes from those of late that lived in the sault of the com-
ing in of the said upper lake, from whence that name of salt,
which is panoestigonce in the wild language, which heerafter
we will call the nation of the salt.^
Not many years smce that they had a cruell warre against
the Nadoueseronons. Although much inferiour in numbers,
neverthelesse that small number of the salt was a terror unto
them, since they had trade with the French. They never
have seene such instruments as the French furnished them
withall. It is a proude nation, therfore would not submitt,
although they had to doe with a bigger nation 30 times then
they weare, because that they weare called ennemy by all
those that have the accent of the Algonquin language, that the
wild men call Nadoue, which is the beginning of their name.
The Iroquoits have the title of bad ennemy, Maesocchy Na-
doue. Now seeing that the Christinos had hattchetts and
knives, for that they resolved to make peace with those of the
sault, that durst not have gon hundred of leagues uppon that
upper lake with assurance. They would not hearken to any-
thing because their general resolved to make peace with those
of the Christinos and an other nation that gott gunns, the
noise of which had frighted them more then the bulletts that
weare in them. The time approached, there came about 100
of the nation of the Sault to those that lived towards the
north. The christinos gott a bigger company and fought a
* The Saulteurs or Chippewa, for whom see note 2, on p. 23, ante.
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 51
batail. Some weare slaine of both sids. The Captayne of
these of the Sault lost his eye by an arrow. The batail being
over he made a speech, and said that he lost his sight of one
side, and of the other he foresee what he would doe ; his cour-
age being abject by that losse, that he himself e should be am-
bassador and conclud the peace.
He seeing that the Iroquoits came too often, a visit I must
confesse very displeasing, being that some [of] ours looses
their lives or liberty, so that we retired ourselves to the
higher lake neerer the nation of the Nadoueceronons, where
we weare well receaved, but weare mistrusted when many
weare scene together. We arrived then where the nation of
the Sault was, where we found some french men that came
up with us, who thanked us kindly for to come and visit them.
The wild Octanaks that came with us foimd some of their na-
tions slaves, who weare also glad to see them. For all they
weare slaves they had meat enough, which they have not in
their owne country so plentifull, being no huntsmen, but al-
together Fishers. As for those towards the north, they are
most expert in hunting, and live uppon nothing else the most
part of the yeare. We weare long there before we gott ac-
quaintance with those that we desired so much, and they in
lik maner had a fervent desire to know us, as we them. Heer
comes a company of Christinos from the bay of the North
sea, to live more at ease in the midle of w^oods and forests, by
reason they might trade with those of the Sault and have the
Conveniency to kill more beasts.
There we passed the winter and learned the particularitie
that since wee saw by Experience. Heere I will not make a
long discours duriag that time, onely made good cheere and
killed staggs, Buffes, Elends, and Castors.^ The Christinos
had sldll in that game above the rest. The snow proved
favourable that yeare, which caused much plenty of every
thing. Most of the woods and forests are very thick, so that
it was in some places as darke as in a cellar, by reason of the
boughs of trees. The snow that falls, being very light, hath
not the strenght to stopp the eland, which is a mighty strong
beast, much like a mule, having a tayle cutt off 2 or 3 or 4
^ Deer, buffalo, moose, and beaver. Eland was then the Dutch name for
the European elk.
52 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
thumbes long, the foot cloven like a stagge. He has a muzzle
mighty bigge. I have seene some that have the nostrills so
bigg that I putt into it my 2 fists att once with ease. Those
that uses to be where the buffes be are not so bigg, but about
the bignesse of a coach horse. The wildmen call them the
litle sort. As for the Buff, it is a furious animal. One must
have a care of him, for every yeare he kills some Nadouesero-
nons. He comes for the most part in the plaines and meddows;
he feeds like an ox, and the Oriniack so but seldom he galopps.
I have seene of their homes that a man could not lift them
from of the ground.^ They are branchy and flatt in the midle,
of which the wildman makes dishes that can well hold 3 quarts.
These homes fall off every yeare, and it 's a thing impossible
that they will grow againe. The horns of Buffs are as those
of an ox, but not so long, but bigger, and of a blackish collour ;
he hath a very long hairy taile ; he is reddish, his haire f rized
and very fine. All the parts of his body much [like] unto an
ox. The biggest are bigger then any ox whatsoever. Those
are to be found about the lake of the Stinkings and towards
the North of the same. They come not to the upper lake but
by chance. It 's a pleasur to find the place of their abode,
for they tourne round about compassing 2 or 3 acres of land^
beating the snow with their feete, and coming to the center
they lye downe and rise againe to eate the bows of trees that
they can reach. They go not out of their circle that they
have made untill hunger compells them.
We did what we could to have correspondence with that
warlick nation and reconcile them with the Christinos. We
went not there that winter. Many weare slained of both
sides the summer last. The wound was yett fresh, wherfore it
was hard to conclude peace between them. We could doe
nothing. For we intended to turne back to the French the
summer following. Two years weare expired. We hoped to
be att the 2 years end with those that gave us over for dead,
having before to come back at a year's end. As we are once
in those remote countreys we cannot doe as we would. Att
last we declared our mind first to those of the Sault, encourag-
^ This entire description applies to the moose, which Radisson calls both
"eland" and "oriniack." The latter term is a variation of orignal, the present
French-Canadian term for moose.
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 53
ing those of the North that we are their brethren, and that we
would come back and force their enemy to peace or that we
would help against them. We made guifts one to another,
and thwarted a land of allmost 50 leagues before the snow
was melted. In the morning it was a pleasur to walke, for
we could goe without racketts.^ The snow was hard enough,
because it freezed every night. When the sun began to shine
we payd for the time past. The snow sticks so to our racketts
that I believe our shoes weighed 30 pounds, which was a
paine, having a burden uppon our backs besides.
We arrived, some 150 of us, men and women, to a river
side, where we stayed 3 weeks making boats. Here we
wanted not fish. During that time we made feasts att a high
rate. So we refreshed ourselves from our labours. In that
time we tooke notice that the budds of trees began to spring,
which made us to make more hast and be gone. We went up
that river 8 dayes till we came to a nation called Poutouate-
nick and Matouenock; that is, the scrattchers. There we
gott some Indian meale and come from those 2 nations, which
lasted us till we came to the first landing Isle. There we
weare well received againe. We made guifts to the Elders to
encourage the yong people to bring us downe to the French.
But mightily mistaken; For they would reply, "Should you
bring us to be killed? The Iroquoits are every where about
the river and undoubtedly will destroy us if we goe downe,
and afterwards our wives and those that stayed behinde.
Be wise, brethren, and offer not to goe downe this yeare to
the French. Lett us keepe our lives." We made many
private suits, but all in vaine. That vexed us most that we
had given away most of our merchandises and swapped a
great deale for Castors. Moreover they made no great har-
vest, being but newly there. Beside, they weare no great
huntsmen. Our journey was broaken till the next yeare, and
must per force.
That summer I went a hunting, and my brother stayed
where he was welcome and putt up a great deale of Indian
corne that was given him. He intended to furnish the wild-
men that weare to goe downe to the French if they had not
enough. The wild men did not perceive this; For if they
1 Snowshoes.
54 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
wanted any, we could hardly kept it for our use. The win-
ter passes away in good correspondence one with another, and
sent ambassadors to the nations that uses to goe downe to the
french, which rejoyced them the more and made us passe that
yeare with a greater pleasur, saving that my brother fell into
the falling sicknesse,^ and many weare sorry for it. That
proceeded onely of a long stay in a new discovered country,
and the idlenesse contributs much to it. There is nothing
comparable to exercise. It is the onely remedy of such dis-
eases. After he languished awhile God gave him his health
againe.
The desire that every one had to goe downe to the French
made them earnestly looke out for castors. They have not
so many there as in the north part, so in the beginning of
spring many came to our Isle. There weare no lesse, I be-
lieve, then 500 men that weare willing to venter themselves.
The come that my brother kept did us a world of service.
The wildmen brought a quantity of flesh salted in a vesell.
When we were ready to depart, heere comes Strang news of
the defeat of the hurrons, which news, I thought, would putt off
the voyage. There was a councell held, and most of them
weare against the goeing downe to the French, saying that
the Iroquoits weare to barre this yeare, and the best way was
to stay till the following yeare. And now the ennemy, seeing
himselfe frustrated of his expectation, would not stay longer,
thinking thereby that we weare resolved never more to go
downe, and that next yeare there should be a bigger com-
pany, and better able to oppose an ennemy. My brother and
I, seeing ourselves all out of hopes of our voyage, without our
come, which was allready bestowed, and without any mer-
chandise, or scarce having one knife betwixt us both, so we
weare in a great apprehension least that the hurrons should,
as they have done often, when the Fathers weare in their
country, kill a frenchman.
Seeing the equipage ready and many more that thought
long to depart thence for marchandise, we uppon this re-
solved to call a publique councell in the place; which the
Elders hearing, came and advised us not to undertake it, giv-
ing many faire words, saying, "Brethren, why are you such
* Epilepsy.
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 55
ennemys to yourselves to putt yourselves in the hands of those
that wait for you? They will destroy you and carry you
away captives. Will you have your brethren destroyed that
loves yoU; being slaiaed? Who then will come up and bap-
tize our children? Stay till the next yeare, and then you
are like to have the number of 600 men in company with you.
Then you may freely goe without mtermission. Yee shall
take the church along with you, and the Fathers and mothers
will send their children to be taught in the way of truth of
the Lord."^ Our answer was that we would speake in pub-
lique, which granted, the day appointed is come. There
gathered above 800 men to see who should have the glorie
in a round. They satt downe on the ground. We desired
silence. The elders being in the midle and we in their midle,
my brother began to speak. "Who am I? am I a foe or a
friend? If I am a foe, why did you suffer me to live so long
among you ? If I am friend, and if you take so to be, hearken
to what I shall say. You know, my uncles and brethren,
that I hazarded my life goeing up with you; if I have no
courage, why did you not tell me att my first coming here?
And if you have more witt then we, why did not you use it
by preserving your knives, your hattchetts, and your gunns,
that you had from the French? You will see if the ennemy
will sett upon you that you will be attraped like castors in
a trappe; how will you defend yourselves like men that is
not courageous to lett yourselves be catched like beasts?
How will you defend villages ? with castors' skins ? how will you
defend your wives and children from the ennemy 's hands ? "
Then my brother made me stand up, saying, " Shew them
the way to make warrs if they are able to uphold it." I
tooke a gowne of castors' skins that one of them had uppon
his shoulder and did beat him with it. I asked the others if I
was a souldier. "Those are the armes that kill, and not your
robes. What will your ennemy say when you perish without
defending yourselves? Doe not you know the French way?
^ Grosseilliers, who had lived among the Jesuits, seems to have had some
idea of Christianizing these distant nations. The Jesuit Relation for 1660, de-
scribing the return of Radisson and Grosseilliers, says : "They passed the winter
on the shores of Lake Superior and were fortunate enough to baptize there two
hundred little children." Jes. Rel, XLV. 235.
56 EARLY NARRATI\^S OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
We are used to fight with armes and not with robes. You say
that the Iroquoits waits for you because some of your men
weare killed. It is onely to make you stay untill you are
quite out of stocke, that they dispatch you with ease. Doe
you think that the French will come up here when the great-
est part of you is slained by your owne fault? You know
that they cannot come up without you. Shall they come to
baptize your dead? Shall your children learne to be slaves
among the Iroquoits for their Fathers' cowardnesse? You
call me Iroquoit. Have not you scene me disposing my life
with you? Who has given you your life if not the French?
Now you will not venter because many of your confederates
are come to visit you and venter their lives with you. If you
will deceave them you must not think that they will come an
other time for shy words nor desire. You have spoaken of
it first, doe what you will. For myne owne part, I will ven-
ter choosing to die like a man then live like a beggar. Having
not wherewithall to defend myself e, farewell ; I have my sack
of come ready. Take all my castors. I shall live without
you." And then departed that company.
They weare amazed of our proceeding; they stayed long
before they spoake one to another. Att last sent us some
considerable persons who bid us cheare up. "We see that
you are in the right; the voyage is not broaken. The yong
people tooke very ill that you have beaten them with the skin.
All avowed to die like men and undertake the journey. You
shall heare what the councell will ordaine the morrow. They
are to meet privatly and you shall be called to it. Cheare up
and speake as you have done; that is my counceU to you.
For this you will remember me when you \\dll see me in your
country ; For I will venter meselfe with you." Now we are
more satisfied then the day before. We weare to use all
rhetorique to persuade them to goe downe, For we saw the
country languish very much, For they could not subsist, and
moreover they weare afraid of us. The councell is called,
but we had no need to make a speech, finding them disposed
to make the voyage and to submitt. "Yee women gett your
husbands' bundles ready. They goe to gett wherwithall to
defend themselves and you alive."
Our equipage was ready in 6 days. We embarked our-
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 57
selves. We weare in number about 500, all stout men. We
had with us a great store of castors' skins. We came to the
South. We now goe back to the north, because to overtake
a band of men that went before to give notice to others.
We passed the lake without dangers. We wanted nothing,
having good store of come and netts to catch fish, which is
plentyfuU in the rivers. We came to a place where 8 Iro-
quoits wintered. That was the company that made a slaugh-
ter before our departure from home. Our men repented now
they did not goe sooner, For it might be they should have
surprised them.
Att last we are out of those lakes. One hides a caske of
rneale, the other his campiron, and all that could be cumber-
some. After many paines and labours wee arrived to the
Sault of Columest,^ so called because of the Stones that are
there very convenient to make tobacco pipes. We are now
within 100 leagues of the french habitation, and hitherto no
bad encounter. We still found tracks of men which made us
still to have the more care and guard of ourselves. Some 30
leagues from this place we killed wild cowes and then gott
ourselves into cottages, where we heard some guns goe off,
which made us putt out our fires and imbark ourselves with all
speed. We navigated all that night. About the breake of
day we make a stay, that not to goe through the violent
streames for feare the Ennemy should be there to dispute the
passage. We landed and instantly sent 2 men to know
whether the passage was free. They weare not halfe a mile
off when we see a boat of the ennemy thwarting the river,
which they had not done without discovering our boats, hav-
ing nothing to cover our boats nor hide them. Our lightest
boats shewed themselves by pursueing the ennemy. They
did shoot, but to no effect, which made our two men come
back in all hast. We seeing ourselves but merchandmen, so
we would not long follow a man of warre, because he nmned
swifter then ours.
We proceeded in our way with great diligence till we came
to the carriage place, where the one halfe of our men weare
in readinesse, whilst the other halfe carried the baggage and
the boats. We had a great alarum, but no hurt done. We
^ Calumet Rapids of Ottawa River.
58 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
saw but one boat, but have seene foure more going up the
river. Methinks they thought themselves some what weake
for us, which persuaded us [of] 2 things : 1st, that they weare
afraid ; 2ndly, that they went to warne their company, which
thing warned us the more to make hast.
The 2nd day att evening after we landed and boyled an
horiniack^ which we killed. We then see 16 boats of our
ennemy coming. They no sooner perceived us but they went
on the other side of the river. It was a good looke^ for us
to have seene them. Our wildmen did not say what they
thought, For they esteemed themselves already lost. We
encouraged them and desired them to have courage and not
[be] afraid, and so farr as I think we weare strong enough for
them, that we must stoutly goe and meet them, and they
should stand still. We should be altogether, and put our
castors' skins upon pearches, which could keepe us from the
shott, which we did. We had foure and 20 gunns ready, and
gave them to the hurrons, who knewed how to handle them
better then the others. The Iroquoits seeing us come, and
that we weare 5 to 1, could not imagine what to doe. Never-
thelesse they would shew their courage ; being that they must
passe, they putt themselves in array to fight. If we had not
ben with some hurrons that knewed the Iroquoits' tricks, I
believe that our wild men had runned away, leaving their
fusiques^ behind. We being neere one another, we com-
manded that they should row with all their strength towards
them. We kept close one to another to persecut what was
our intent. We begin to make outcryes and sing. The
hurrons in one side, the Algonquins att the other side, the
Ottanak, the panoestigons, the Amickkoick, the Nadouice-
nago, the ticacon,^ and we both encouraged them all, crj'ing
out with a loud noise. The Iroquoits begin to shoot, but we
made ours to goe one forwards without any shooting, and
that it was the onely way of fighting. They indeed turned
their backs and we followed them awhile. Then was it that
we weare called devils, with great thanks and incouragements
that they gave us, attributing to us the masters of warre and
^ Moose. " Luck ' Fusees.
* Huron, Algonkin, Ottawa, Chippewa, Beaver, Sioux, and Kiskakon (an
Ottawa clan) Indians.
105^1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 59
the only Captaynes. We desired them to keepe good watch
and sentry, and if we weare not surprized we should come
safe and sound without hurt to the French. The Iroquoite
seeing us goe on our way, made as if they would leave us.
We made 3 carriages that day, where the ennemy could
doe us mischief if they had ben there. The cuiming knaves
followed us neverthelesse pritty close. We left 5 boats be-
hind that weare not loaden. We did so to see what inven-
tion our enemy could invent, knowing very well that his
mind was to surprise us. It is enough that we are warned
that they follow us. Att last we perceived that he was be-
fore us, which putt us in some feare; but seeing us resolut,
did what he could to augment his number. But we weare
mighty vigilent and sent some to make a discovery att every
carriage through the woods. We weare told that they weare
in an ambush, and there builded a fort below the long Sault,
where we weare to passe. Our wildmen said doubtlesse they
have gott an other company of their nation, so that some
minded to throw their castors away and retume home. We
told them that we weare almost att the gates of the French
habitation, and bid [them] therefore have courage, and that
our lives weare in as great danger as theirs, and if we weare
taken we should never escape because they knewed us, and I
because I runned away from their country having slained
some of their brethren,^ and my brother that long since was
the man that furnished their enemy with arms.
They att last weare persuaded, and landed within a mile
of the landing place, and sent 300 men before armed. We
made them great bucklers that the shot could not pearce in
some places. They weare to be carryed if there had ben oc-
casion for it. Being come neere the torrent, we finding the
Iroquoits lying in ambush, who began to shoot. The rest of
our company went about cutting of trees and making a fort,
whilst some brought the boats; which being come, we left
as few men as possible might bee. The rest helped to carry
wood. We had about 200 men that weare gallant souldiers.
The most weare hurrons, Pasnoestigons, and Amickkoick fre-
quented the French for a time. The rest weare skillfull in
their bows and arrows. The Iroquoits perceiving our device,
^ See Introduction, ante, for Radisson's experiences among the Iroquois.
60 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [165&-1660?
resolved to fight by forceing them to lett us passe with our
arms. They did not know best what to doe, being not so
munished nor so many men above a hundred and fifty. They
forsooke the place and retired into the fort, which was under-
neath the rapide. We in the meane while have slained 5 of
theirs, and not one of ours hurted, which encouraged our
wildmen. We bid them still to have good courage, that
we should have the victory. Wee went and made another
fort neere theirs, where 2 of our men weare wounded but
lightly.
It is a horrid thing to heare [of] the enormity of out-
cryes of those different nations. The Iroquoits sung like
devils, and often made salleys to make us decline. They
gott nothing by that but some arrows that did incommodat
them to some purpose. We foresee that such a batail could
not hold out long for want of powder, of shott and arrows;
so by the consent of my brother and the rest, made a speech
in the Iroquoit language, inducing meselfe with armours that
I might not be wounded with every bullet or arrow that the
ennemy sent perpetually. Then I spoake. "Brethren, we
came from your country and bring you to ours, not to see
you perish unlesse we perish with you. You know that the
French are men, and maks forts that cannot be taken so soone
therefore cheare upp. For we love you and will die with you."
This being ended, nothing but howling and crj^ing. We
brought our castors and tyed them 8 by 8, and rowled them
before us. The Iroquoits finding that they must come out
of their fort to the watterside, where they left their boats, to
make use of them in case of neede, where indeed made an
escape, leaving all their baggage behind, which was not much,
neither had we enough to fill our bellyes with the meat that
was left ; there weare kettles, broaken gunns, and rusty hatt-
chetts.
They being gone, our passage was free, so we made hast
and endeavoured to come to our journey's end ; and to make
the more hast, some boats went downe that swift streame
without making any carriage, hopeing to follow the ennemy;
but the bad lacke was that where my brother was the boat
turned in the torrent, being seaven of them together, weare
in great danger. For God was mercifull to give them strength
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 61
to save themselves, to the great admiration, for few can
speed so well in such precipices. When they came to lande
they cutt rocks. My brother lost his booke of annotations
of the last yeare of our being in these foraigne nations. We
lost never a castor, but may be some better thing. It 's
better [that one] loose all then lose his life.
We weare 4 moneths in our voyage without doeing any
thing but goe from river to river. We mett severall sorts of
people. We conversed with them, being long time in al-
liance with them. By the persuasion of som of them we
went into the great river that divides itselfe in 2, where the
hurrons with some Ottanake and the wild men that had
warrs with them had retired.^ There is not great difference
in their language, as we weare told. This nation have warrs
against those of [the] forked river. It is so called because it
has 2 branches, the one towards the west, the other towards
the South, which we believe runns towards IMexico, by the
tokens they gave us. Being among these people, they told
us the prisoners they take tells them that they have warrs
against a nation, against men that build great cabbans and
have great beards and had such knives as we have had. More-
over they shewed a Decad of beads and guilded pearls that
they have had from that people, which made us believe they
weare Europeans. They shewed one of that nation that was
taken the yeare before. We understood him not; he was
much more tawny then they with whome we weare. His
armes and leggs weare turned outside; that was the punish-
ment inflicted uppon him. So they doe with them that they
take, and kill them with clubbs and doe often eat them.
They doe not bume their prisoners as those of the northern
parts.
We weare informed of that nation that live in the other
river. These weare men of extraordinary height and bigg-
nesse, that made us believe they had no communication
with them. They live onely uppon Corne and Citrulles,^
^This paragraph is thought by some scholars to be out of place, that it
belongs to the description of the Wisconsin territory, p. 45, ante. Others suppose
it to be in the nature of a summary of their discovery of the Mississippi, which is
usually thought to be indicated by the "forked river."
* Citruelles are pumpkins, frequently raised by Indians.
62 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
which are mighty bigg. They have fish in plenty throughout
the yeare. They have fruit as big as the heart of an Oriniak,
which grows on vast trees which in compasse are thi'ee arme-
full in compasse. When they see Utle men they are affraid
and cry out, which makes many come help them. Their ar-
rows are not of stones as ours are, but of fish boans and other
boans that they worke greatly, as all other things. Their
dishes are made of wood. I having seene them, could not
but admire the curiosity of their worke. They have great
calumetts of great stones, red and greene. They make a
store of tobacco. They have a kind of drink that makes them
mad for a whole day. This I have not seene, therefore you
may believe as you please.
When I came backe I found my brother sick, as I said be-
fore. God gave him his health, more by his courage then
by any good medicine. For our bodyes are not like those of
the wildmen. To our purpose; we came backe to our car-
riage, whilst wee endeavoured to ayde our compagnions in
their extremity. The Iroquoits gott a great way before, not
well satisfied to have stayed for us, having lost 7 of their
men; 2 of them weare not nimble enough, For our bulletts
and arrows made them stay for good and all. Seaven of our
men weare sick, they have ben like to be drowned, and the
other two weare wounded by the Iroquoits.
The next day we went on without any delay or encounter.
I give you leave if those of mont Roy all weare not overjoyed
to see us arrived where they affirme us the pitifull conditions
that the country was by the cruelty of these cruell barbars,
that perpetually killed and slaughtered to the very gate of
the French fort. All this hindered not our goeing to the
French att the 3 rivers after we refreshed ourselves 3 dayes,
but like to pay dearly for our bold attempt. 20 inhabitants
came downe with us in a shawlopp. As we doubled the
point of the river of the meddows we weare sett uppon by
severall of the Iroquoits, but durst not come neare us, because
of two small brasse pieces that the shalop carryed. We tyed
our boats together and made a fort about us of castors' skins,
which kept us from all danger. We went downe the streame
in that posture. The ennemy left us, and did well ; for our
wildmen weare disposed to fight, and our shaloupp could not
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 63
come neare them because for want of watter. We came to
Quebecq, where we are saluted with the thundring of the
guns and batteryes of the fort, and of the 3 shipps that weare
then att anchor, which had gon back to france without cas-
tors if we had not come. We weare well traited for 5 dayes.
The Governor made guifts and sent 2 Brigantins to bring us
to the 3 rivers, where we arrived the 2nd day of, and the 4th
day they went away.
That is the end of our 3 years' voyage and few months.
After so much paine and danger God was so mercifull [as]
to bring us back saf to our dwelling, where the one was made
much off by his wife, the other by his friends and kindred.
The ennemy that had discovered us in our goeing downe
gott more company, with as many as they could to come to
the passages, and there to waite for the retourne of those
people, knowinge well that they could not stay there long
because the season of the yeare was almost spent; but we
made them by our persuasions goe downe to Quebecq, which
proved well, For the Iroquoits thought they weare gone an-
other way. So came the next day after our arrival] to make
a discovery to the 3 rivers, where being perceived, there is
care taken to receive them.
The French cannot goe as the wildmen through the woods,
but imbarks themselves in small boats and went along the
river side, knowing that if the ennemy was repulsed, he would
make his retreat to the river side. Some Algonquins weare
then att the habitation, who for to shew their vallour dis-
posed themselves to be the first in the poursuit of the enemy.
Some of the strongest and nimblest French kept them com-
pany, with an other great number of men called Ottanacks,
so that we weare soone together by the ears. There weare
some 300 men of the enemy that came in the space of a four-
teen night together; but when they saw us they made use
of their heels. We weare about 500; but the better to play
their game, after they runned half a mile in the wood they
turned againe, where then the batail began most furiously by
shooting att one another.
That uppermost nation, being not used to shooting nor
heare such noise, began to shake off their armours, and tooke
their bows and arrows, which indeed made [more] execution
64 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1658-1660?
then all the guns that they had brought. So seeing 50 Al-
gonquins and 15 French keep to it, they resolved to stick to
it also, which had not long lasted; For seeing that their ar-
rows weare almost spent and they must close together, and
that the enemy had an advantage by keeping themselves be-
hind the trees, and we to fall uppon we must be without
bucklers, which diminished much our company that was fore-
most, we gave them in spight us place to retire themselves,
which they did with all speed. Having come to the watter
side, where their boats weare, saw the French all in a row,
who layd in an ambush to receive them, which they had
done if God had not ben for us ; For they, thinking that the
enemy was att hand, mistrusted nothing to the contrary.
The French that weare in the wood, seeing the evident danger
where their countrymen layd, encouraged the Ottanaks, who
tooke their armes againe and followed the enemy, who not
feared that way arrived before the French weare apprehended,
by good looke.
One of the Iroquoits, thinking his boat would be seene,
goes quickly and putts it out of sight, and discovers himselfe,
which warned the French to hinder them to goe further uppon
that score. Our wildmen made a stand and fell uppon them
stoutly. The combat begins a new; they see the French
that weare uppon the watter come neere, which renforced
them to take their boats with all hast, and leave their booty
behind. The few boats that the french had brought made
that could enter but the 60 French, who weare enough. The
wildmen neverthelesse did not goe without their prey, which
was of three men's heads that they killed att the first fight ;
but they left Eleven of theirs in the place, besides many more
that weare wounded. They went straight to their countrey,
which did a great service to the retoume of our wildmen,
and mett with non all their journey, as we heard after-
wards.
They went away the next day, and we stayed att home
att rest that yeare. My brother and I considered whether
we should discover what we have seene or no ; and because
we had not a full and whole discovery, which was that we have
not ben in the bay of the north, not knowing anything but
by report of the wild Christinos, we would make no mention
1658-1660?] RADISSON'S THIRD JOURNEY 65
of it for feare that those wild men should tell us a fibbe. We
would have made a discovery of it ourselves and have an
assurance, before we should discover anything of it.
The ende of the Auxotacicac voyage,
which is the third voyage.
ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT,
BY LA POTHERIE, 1665-1670
INTRODUCTION
The year 1665 is marked by the re-establishment of the
profitable fur trade of New France with the Northwest,
which (as we have seen in the introduction to Radisson's
Journal, ante) had been almost destroyed by the raids of
the hostile Iroquois. The king in that summer sent his
famous Carignan regiment, 1400 strong, to subdue the hostile
bands and protect the pathways of commerce. Therefore a
great flotilla from the Upper Country appeared upon the St.
Lawrence, bringing hundreds of tribesmen to exchange their
furs for the iron implements and weapons of the French, and
for the much-prized blankets and silver ornaments offered
by the white traders. After the great fair at Montreal had
been held, and promises had been made that the Iroquois
should be subdued, the great fleet of canoes prepared to re-
turn to the Upper Country, and with them went such adven-
turous Frenchmen as the love of gain or the lure of the unknown
tempted to endure the hardships of wilderness life. Among
these rangers of the woods was Nicolas Perrot, who began a
life among the Indians that was destined to continue for
thirty-five years and make him one of the most influential
and best-informed men of his time on Indian habits and
history.
Perrot had but just attained his majority when he set
forth on his eventful voyage. The date of his arrival in
New France is not known, but at the time of his departure
he had acquired the Algonquian language and was versed in
the art of winning the red men's good-will. The Jesuit Re-
lation for 1665 speaks of a "Frenchman who went up the
year before." This may possibly have been Perrot, but his
69
70 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
first recorded voyage is narrated below, when he sought the
Potawatomi tribesmen at Green Bay. His address and in-
fluence soon secured this important nation for the French
aJHance, whereupon Perrot visited the other tribes in this
locality, winning alliances, good-will, and a vast influence over
all the Western aborigines.
The descriptions of his adventures, although not presented
in chronological form, appear to have covered the first five
years (1665-1670) of Perrot's life in the Western country.
In 1670 he visited the colony once more, where the governor
asked him to remain in order to form part of the escort of
Sieur de St. Lusson, who was preparing to go the next spring
to take formal possession of all the Northwest. The record
of the expedition forms a later division of this volume.
After the Sault Ste. Marie pageant of 1671 we hear no more
of Perrot's activities until 1683, when he was sent to Wis-
consin as accredited government agent. The following year
he led a large detachment of Indian warriors from the banks
of the Mississippi to reinforce Governor La Barre's unfor-
tunate expedition into the Iroquois country. He returned to
the Northwest in the spring of 1685 as commissioned com-
mandant for Green Bay and all its dependencies, built several
posts on the Mississippi, discovered the presence of lead in
southwestern Wisconsin, and finally, in 1689, at Fort St.
Antoine upon Lake Pepin, took possession for King Louis
of all the upper Mississippi region and the country of the
Sioux. It was in this period that he presented to the mission
at Green Bay the beautiful silver ostensorium, the oldest
relic of French occupation in the West, now in the possession
of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
It was at the Green Bay mission that a great disaster
overtook Perrot's fortunes, for while he was absent on Denon-
ville's military campaign of 1687, the mission house in which
$40,000 worth of his furs was stored was burned by hostile
INTRODUCTION 71
tribesmen and the means of settling with his creditors was
lost.
After the departm-e of Denonville and the return to Can-
ada of Count de Front enac, in 1689, Perrot was again employed
as government agent among the Northwestern tribes, whose
languages and alliances he so well understood. In spite,
however, of his ascendancy over these fierce warriors he was,
in 1695, in great danger of being burned by the Miami, and
was rescued just in time by the Foxes, who had always been
his friends. He later directed his efforts toward adjusting
local quarrels and rendering the Upper Country safe for traders
and travellers, until the edict of 1696 recalled all comman-
dants from the Northwest and overthrew the labor of years.
Once more, in 1701, the services of Perrot were utilized
as interpreter at the great peace conference held at Montreal
between the Iroquois and the nations of the upper lakes.
The declining years of his life seem to have been passed at
Montreal, where he was occupied in writing his Memoire sur
les Maeurs, Coustumes et Relligion des Sauvages de VAmerique
Septentrionale, and where he died in 1718.
His Memoire remained in manuscript until 1864, when it
was edited by Rev. Jules Tailhan and published at Paris.
An English translation appears in E. H. Blair, Indian Tribes
of the Upper Mississippi and Region of the Great Lakes (Cleve-
land, 1911), L 25-272.
In addition to this Memoire Perrot apparently kept jour-
nals of his adventures and experiences that have disappeared,
but were extensively used by early Canadian historians.
The one who most freely owns his debt to information from
Perrot is La Potherie.
Charles Claude le Roy, sieur Bacqueville de la Potherie,
was a West Indian Creole, who had influential connections at
the court of Louis XIV., and received official appointments
therefrom. In 1697 he was sent with the French fleet to
72 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
Hudson Bay, and on that voyage met Canadian adventurers
and heroeS; notably Iberville and his brothers. The suc-
ceeding year he was appointed to an important post in Can-
ada, and arrived just in time to meet the great governor
Frontenac before his death. La Potherie spent about five
years in the colony, and was present in person at the great
peace treaty of 1701, where all the tribes from the North and
West gathered to negotiate and exchange prisoners with the
Iroquois. At that assembly La Potherie and Perrot are
known to have met, and without doubt the former secured
from the latter both the narrative of his adventures and such
notes and diaries as Perrot could furnish for the history La
Potherie proposed to write. To the completion of this work
Perrot's material contributed largely. The volumes ap-
peared at Paris in 1716 under the title Histoire de VAmerique
Septentrionale. It acquired some measure of popularity and
subsequent editions appeared in 1722 and 1753. Of the four
small volumes, the second and third appear to be almost
wholly reproductions of the lost journals of Nicolas Perrot,
and give much fuller descriptions of his relations to the West-
em Indians and life among them than may be foimd in Per-
rot's own Memoire. Miss Blair has incorporated an English
translation of these two volumes of La Potherie in her Indian
Tribes, as above cited. We have chosen for reproduction
(with permission of the publishers, the Arthur H. Clark
Company) the selection from volume I., pp. 307-339, which
recounts Perrot's first years in Wisconsin, and describes the
tribes as he saw them before they had been changed by the
iufluence of white men.
ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT,
BY LA POTHERIE, 1665-1670
Chapter VIII
. . . All the Outaouak peoples^ were in alarm. While we
were waging war with the Iroquois, those tribes who dwelt
about Lake Huron fled for refuge to Chagouamikon,^ which
is on Lake Superior; they came down to Montreal only
when they wished to seU their peltries, and then, trembling.
The trade was not yet opened with the Outaouaks. The
name of the French people gradually became known in that
region, and some of the French made their way into those
places where they beHeved that they could make some profit ;
it was a Peru for them.^ The savages could not under-
stand why these men came so far to search for their worn-out
beaver robes f meanwhile they admired all the wares brought
to them by the French, which they regarded as extremely
precious. The knives, the hatchets, the iron weapons above
all, could not be sufficiently praised; and the guns so as-
tonished them that they declared that there was a spirit
within the gun, which caused the loud noise made when it
was fired. It is a fact that an Esquimau from Cape Digue, ^
at 60° latitude, in the strait of Hudson Bay, displayed so
* As explained in note 1 on p. 36, ante, the Ottawa were a specific tribe of
Algonquian stock; but the term here employed, "all the Outouak peoples," re-
fers to the several Algonquian tribes that dwelt in the Upper Country, such as
the Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Menominee, Foxes, Sauk, Mascoutin, etc.
2 Now called Chequamegon Bay, on the northern shore of Wisconsin.
' A reference to the immense treasure and profit secured by the Spanish
from the native empire of Peru.
* The beaver pelts most desired by the traders were those that had been
worn by the Indians, since the oil they used upon their persons rendered the
furs more supple and valuable.
* This illustration of Esquimaux life at Cape Diggs (Digue) on Hudson Strait
was derived from La Potherie's personal experience. See Introduction, ante.
73
74 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665-1670
much surprise to me when he saw a gode^ suddenly fall,
covered with blood, as the result of a gunshot, that he stood
motionless with the wonder caused by a thing which seemed
to him so extraordinary. The Frenchmen who traded with
the Canadian tribes were often amused at seeing those peo-
ple in raptures of this sort. The savages often took them
[the Frenchmen] for spirits and gods; if any tribe had some
Frenchmen among them, that was sufficient to make them
feel safe from any injuries by their neighbors ; and the French
became mediators in all their quarrels. The detailed con-
versations which I have had with many voyageurs in those
countries have supplied me with material for my accounts
of those peoples; all that they have told me about them
has so uniformly agreed that I have felt obliged to give the
public some idea of that vast region.
Sieur Perot has best known those peoples; the gover-
nors-general of Canada have always employed him in all their
schemes; and his acquaintance with the savage tongues, his
experience, and his mental ability have enabled him to make
discoveries which gave opportunity to Monsieur de la Salle
to push forward all those explorations in which he achieved
so great success. It was through his agency that the Mis-
sissippi became known.^ He rendered very important ser-
vices to the colony, made known the glory of the king among
those peoples, and induced them to form an alliance with
us. On one occasion, among the Pouteouatemis, he was re-
garded as a god. Curiosity induced him to form the ac-
quaintance of this nation, who dwelt at the foot of the Bay
of Puans. They had heard of the French, and their desire
to become acquainted with them in order to secure the trade
with them had induced these savages to go down to Montreal,
under the guidance of a wandering Outaouak who was glad
to conduct them thither.^ The French had been described
* Gode is a sea-bird, probably the murre or awk, common in the North At-
lantic and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
2 Perrot probably saw the Mississippi before La Salle had done so ; whether
he had made it known before the voyage of Jolliet and Marquette in 1673 is
questionable.
' Perrot would seem to imply that he was the first Frenchman the Potawatomi
had ever seen. Either he was ignorant of the visit of Radisson and Grosseilliers
and other early adventurers, or he purposely magnifies his own discoveries.
1665-1670] ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT 75
to them as covered with hair (the savages have no beards),
and they beheved that we were of a different species from
other men. They were astonished to see that we were made
hke themselves, and regarded it as a present that the sky
and the spirits had made them in permitting one of the celes-
tial beings to enter their land. The old men solemnly smoked
a calumet^ and came into his presence, offering it to him as
homage that they rendered to him.
After he had smoked the calumet, it was presented by
the chief to his tribesmen, who all offered it in turn to one
another, blowing from their mouths the tobacco-smoke over
him as if it were incense. They said to him: "Thou art
one of the chief spirits, since thou usest iron; it is for thee
to rule and protect all men. Praised be the Sun, who has
instructed thee and sent thee to our country." They adored
him as a god; they took his knives and hatchets and in-
censed them with the tobacco-smoke from their mouths;
and they presented to him so many kinds of food that he
could not taste them all. "It is a spirit," they said; "these
provisions that he has not tasted are not worthy of his lips."
When he left the room, they insisted on carrjdng him upon
their shoulders; the way over which he passed was made
clear; they did [not] dare look in his face; and the women
and children watched him from a distance. "He is a spirit,"
they said; "let us show our affection for him, and he will
have pity on us." The savage who had introduced him to
this tribe was, in acknowledgment thereof, treated as a cap-
tain. Perot was careful not to receive all these acts of ado-
ration, although, it is true, he accepted these honors so far
as the interests of religion were not concerned. He told
them that he was not what they thought, but only a French-
man ; that the real Spirit who had made all had given to the
French the knowledge of iron, and the ability to handle it
as if it were paste. He said that that Spirit, desiring to show
his pity for his creatures, had permitted the French nation
to settle in their country in order to remove them from the
^ The calumet was the sacred pipe of the Indians and was used in all forms
of worship and negotiation. The word is supposed to be derived from the
Norman-French "chalumet," meaning a reed. The heads of the calumets are
made of pipestone, the stems of hollow wood, with fantastic decorations.
76 EARLY NARRATIVES OP THE NORTHWEST [1665-1670
blindness in which they had dwelt, as they had not known
the true God, the author of nature, whom the French adored ;
that, when they had established a friendship with the French,
they would receive from the latter all possible assistance;
and that he had come to facilitate acquaintance between
them by the discoveries of the various tribes which he was
making. And, as the beaver was valued by his people, he
wished to ascertain whether there were not a good oppor-
tunity for them to carry on trade therein.
At that time there was war between that tribe and their
neighbors, the Malhominis.^ The latter, while hunting with
the Outagamis, had by mistake slain a Pouteouatemi, who
was on his way to the Outagamis.^ The Pouteouatemis,
incensed at this affront, deliberately tomahawked a Mal-
homini who was among the Puans.^ In the Pouteouatemi
village there were only women and old men, as the young
men had gone for the first time to trade at Montreal; and
there was reason to fear that the Malhominis would profit
by that mischance. Perot, who was desirous of making their
acquaintance, offered to mediate a peace between them.
When he had arrived within half a league of the village, he
sent a man to tell them that a Frenchman was coming to
visit them; this news caused universal joy. All the youths
came at once to meet him, bearing their weapons and their
warlike adornments, all marching in file, with frightful con-
tortions and yells; this was the most honorable reception
^ The Menominee (Malhominis) were an important tribe of Algonquian
people, who have, so far as known, always dwelt in Wisconsin. When first
noticed they appear to have lived on the shore of Lake Superior, whence they
passed southward to the northwest shore of Green Bay. Their name was de-
rived from the wild rice which was plentiful in their habitat and formed one of
their standard articles of food. They still live in Wisconsin, either on the Ke-
shena reservation or on farms that have been allotted to them. Many tribal
members have made great progress toward civilized life.
2 Outagami was the aboriginal name for the tribe called by the French les
Reynards, by the English the Foxes. They were recent comers in Wisconsin,
having been driven thither by Iroquois enmity. A valiant tribe, devoted to
their own customs, they became to New France a great source of danger in the
eighteenth century through a series of disastrous wars. In the course of these
they removed their habitat to the Mississippi and later to Iowa, where a portion
of the tribe still dwells.
' The Winnebago, for whom see p. 16, note 1, ante.
1665-1670] ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT 77
that they thought it possible to give him. He was not un-
easy, but fired a gun in the air as far away as he could see
them; this noise, which seemed to them so extraordinary,
caused them to halt suddenly, gazing at the sun in most
ludicrous attitudes. After he had made them understand
that he had come not to disturb their repose, but to form an
alliance with them, they approached him with many gesticu-
lations. The calumet was presented to him; and, when he
was ready to proceed to the village, one of the savages stooped
down in order to carry Perot upon his shoulders; but his
interpreter assured them that he had refused such honors
among many tribes. He was escorted with assiduous atten-
tions; they vied with one another in clearing the path,
and in breaking off the branches of trees which hung in the
way. The women and children, who had heard "the spirit"
(for thus they call a gun), had fled into the woods. The men
assembled in the cabin of the leading war chief, where they
danced the calumet to the sound of the drum. He had them
all assemble next day, and made them a speech in nearly
these words :
Men, the true Spirit who has created all men desires to put
an end to your miseries. Your ancestors would not listen to him;
they always followed natural impulses alone, without remembering
that they had their being from him. He created them to live in
peace with their fellow-men. He does not like war or disunion;
he desires that men, to whom he has given reason, should remember
that they all are brothers, and that they have only one God, who
has formed them to do only his will. He has given them dominion
over the animals, and at the same time has forbidden them to make
any attacks on one another. He has given the Frenchmen iron,
in order to distribute it among those peoples who have not the use
of it, if they are willing to live as men, and not as beasts. He is
angry that you are at war with the Pouteouatemis; even though it
seemed that they had a right to avenge themselves on your young
man who was among the Puans, God is nevertheless offended at
them, for he forbids vengeance, and commands union and peace.
The sun has never been very bright on your horizon; you have al-
ways been wrapped in the shadows of a dark and miserable ex-
istence, never having enjoyed the true light of day, as the French
do. Here is a gun, which I place before you to defend you from
those who may attack you; if you have enemies, it will cause them
78 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665-1670
terror. Here Is a porcelain collar/ by which I bind you to my body;
what will you have to fear, if you unite yourselves to us, who make
guns and hatchets, and who knead iron as you do pitch? I have
united myself with the Pouteouatemis, on whom you are planning
to make war. I have come to embrace all the men whom Onontio,*
the chief of all the French who have settled in this country, has
told me to join together, in order to take them under his protection.
Would you refuse his support, and kill one another when he desires
to establish peace between you? The Pouteouatemis are expecting
many articles suited to war from the hands of Onontio. You have
been so evenly matched [with them; but now] would you abandon
your families to the mercy of their [fire] arms, and be at war with
them against the will of the French? I come to make the dis-
covery of [new] tribes, only to return here with my brothers,' who
will come with me among those people who are willing to unite
themselves to us. Could you hunt in peace if we give [weapons of]
iron to those who furnish us beaver-skins? You are angry against
the Pouteouatemis, whom you regard as your enemies, but they
are in much greater number than you; and I am much afraid that the
prairie people * will at the same time form a league against you.
The father of the Malhomini who had been murdered
by the Pouteouatemis arose and took the collar that Perot
had given him; he Hghted his calumet, and presented it to
him, and then gave it to the chief and all who were present,
who smoked it in turn; then he began to sing, holding the
calumet in one hand, and the collar in the other. He went
out of the cabin while he sang, and, presenting the calumet
and collar toward the sun, he walked sometimes backwards,
sometimes forward; he made the circuit of his own cabin,
went past a great number of those in the village, and finally
returned to that of the chief. There he declared that he at-
tached himself wholly to the French; that he believed in
the living Spirit, who had, in behalf of all the spirits, domi-
nation over all other men who were inferior to him ; that all
* A belt of wampum, called by the French porcelaine.
' Onontio was the title given by the tribesmen to the governor of New
France ; sometimes this term was used to refer to the king, who was called the
-'Great Onontio." The governor at this time was Daniel de Remy, sieur de
Courcelles.
* Brothers is used figuratively, denoting other Frenchmen.
* Probably the Mascoutin, for whom see note 2 on p. 45, ante.
1665-1670] ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT 79
his tribe had the same sentiments ; and that they asked only
the protection of the French, from whom they hoped for life
and for obtaining all that is necessary to man.
The Pouteouatemis were very impatient to learn the fate
of their people who had gone trading to Montreal; they
feared that the French might treat them badly, or that they
would be defeated by the Iroquois. Accordingly, they had
recourse to Perot's guide, who was a master juggler. That
false prophet built himself a little tower of poles, and therein
chanted several songs, through which he invoked all the
infernal spirits to tell him where the Pouteouatemis were.
The reply was that they were at the Oulamanistik River, ^
which is three days' journey from their village ; that they had
been well received by the French ; and that they were bring-
ing a large supply of merchandise. This oracle would have
been believed if Perot, who knew that his interpreter had
played the juggler, had not declared that he was a liar. The
latter came to Perot, and heaped upon him loud reproaches,
complaining that he did not at all realize what hardships his
interpreter had encountered in this voyage, and that it was
Perot's fault that he had not been recompensed for his pre-
diction. The old men begged that Perot himself would re-
lieve them from their anxiety. After telling them that such
knowledge belonged only to God, he made a calculation,
from the day of their departure, of the stay that they would
probably make at Montreal, and of the time when their re-
turn might be expected; and determined very nearly the
time when they could reach home. Fifteen days later, a
man fishing for sturgeon came to the village in great fright,
to warn them that he had seen a canoe, from which several
gunshots had proceeded ; this was enough to make them be-
lieve that the Iroquois were coming against them. Disorder
prevailed throughout the village; they were ready to flee
into the woods or to shut themselves into their fort. There
was no probability that these were Iroquois, who usually
make their attacks by stealth; Perot conjectured that they
were probably their own men, who were thus displaying their
joy as they came near the village. In fact, a young man
1 Manistique River, a tributary of Green Bay in the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan.
so EARLY NARRATI^^S OF THE NORTH\\TST [1665-1670
who had been sent out as a scout came back, in breathless
haste, and reported that it was their own. people who were
returning. If their terror had caused general consterna-
tion, this good news caused no less joy throughout the \'il-
lage. Two chiefs, who had seen Perot blow into his gun
at the time of the first alarm, came to let him know of the
arrival of their people, and begged him alwa3's to consult
his gun. All were eager to receive the fleet. As they ap-
proached, the new-comers discharged a salvo of musketrj^
followed by shouts and yells, and continued their firing as
they came toward the ^^llage. ^ATien they were two or three
hundred paces from the shore, the chief rose in his canoe
and harangued the old men who stood at the water's edge ;
he gave an account of the favorable reception which had
been accorded them at Montreal. An old man informed
them, meanwhile praising the sk}' and the sun who had thus
favored them, that there was a Frenchman in the \'illage who
had protected them in several times of danger; at this, the
Pouteouatemis suddenly flung themselves into the water,
to show their joy at so pleasing an occm'rence. They had
taken pleasure m painting themselves in a verj^ pecuhar man-
ner; and the French garments, which had been intended to
make them more comfortable, disfigured them in a ludicrous
fashion. They carried Perot vrith. them, whether or no he
would, in a scarlet blanket (Monsieur de la Salle was also
honored \\-ith a like triumph at Huron Island), and made
him go around the fort, while they marched in double files in
front and behind him, with guns over their shoulders, often
firing voUeys. This cortege arrived at the cabin of the chief
who had led the band, where all the old men were assembled ;
and a great feast of sturgeon was served. This chief then
related a more detailed account of his voyage, and gave a
ver}' correct idea of French usages. He described how the
trade was carried on ; he spoke ^-ith enthusiasm of what he
had seen m the houses, especially of the cooking; and he
did not forget to exalt Onontio, who had called them his chil-
dren and had regaled them ^dth bread, prunes, and raisins,
which seemed to them great delicacies.
1665-1670] ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT 81
Ch.\pter IX.
Those peoples were so delighted with the alliance that
they had just made that they sent deputies in every direc-
tion to inform the Islinois, Miamis, Outagamis, Maskoutechs,
and Kikabous that they had been at Montreal, whence they
had brought much merchandise; they besought those tribes
to visit them and bring them beavers. Those tribes were
too far away to profit by this at first ; only the Outagamis
came to estabhsh themselves for the Tsinter at a place thirty
leagues from the bay/ in order to share in the benefit of the
goods which they could obtain from the Pouteouatemis.
Their hope that some Frenchmen would come from Chagoua-
mikon induced them to accumulate as many beavers as pos-
sible. The Pouteouatemis took the southern part of the bay,
the Sakis- the northern; the Puans, as they could not fish,
had gone into the woods to live on deer and bears. AMien
the Outagamis had formed a ^^llage of more than six hun-
dred cabins, they sent to the Sakis, at the beginning of spring,
to let them know of the new establishment that they had
formed. The latter sent them some chiefs, with presents,
to ask them to remain in this new settlement ; they were
accompanied by some Frenchmen. They found a large
%allage, but destitute of ever}i;hing. Those people had only
five or six hatchets, which had no edge, and they used these,
by turns, for cutting their wood ; they had hardly one knife
or one bodkin to a cabin, and cut their meat ^ith the stones
which they used for arrows; and they scaled their fish with
mussel-shells. Want rendered them so hideous that they
aroused compassion. Although their bodies were large,
^ This was probably the \Tllage where the Jesuit missionaries first found
the Outagami or Foxes. Its exact location is not known, but it is beheved to
have been on Wolf River, somewhere in Waupaca or Outagami CountA-, Wis-
consin.
' The Sauk tribe was closely allied to the Foxes, but preser\"ed a separate
tribal existence until about 1733, when the two united and have since been known
as Sauk and Foxes. The chief Sauk village was first at Green Bay, then on the
Wisconsin near the present Sauk City, thence removed to the mouth of Rock
River. The Sauk war under the chief Black Hawk occurred in 1S32 ; at its close
the tribe was removed beyond the Mississippi
82 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665-1670
they seemed deformed in shape; they had veiy disagree-
able faces, brutish voices, and evil aspects. They were con-
tinually begging from our Frenchmen who went among them,
for those savages imagined that whatever their visitors pos-
sessed ought to be given to them gratis ; everything aroused
their desires, and yet they had few beavers to sell. The
French thought it prudent to leave to the Sakis for the winter
the trade in peltries with the Outagamis, as they could carry
it on with the former more quietly in the autumn.
All the tribes at the bay went to their villages after the
winter, to sow their grain. A dispute occurred between
two Frenchmen and an old man, who was one of the leading
men among the Pouteouatemis ; the former demanded pay-
ment for the goods, but he did not show much inclination to
pay; sharp words arose on both sides, and they came to
blows. The Frenchmen were vigorously attacked by the
savages, and a third man came to the aid of his comrades.
The confusion increased; that Frenchman tore the pendants
from the ears of a savage, and gave him a blow in the belly
which felled him so rudely that with difficulty could he rise
again. At the same time the Frenchman received a blow
from a war-club on his head, which caused him to fall motion-
less. There were great disputes among the savages in re-
gard to the Frenchman who had just been wounded, who had
rendered many services to the village. There were three
families interested in this contention — those of the Red
Carp, of the Black Carp, and of the Bear.^ The head of
the Bear family — an intimate friend of the Frenchman, and
whose son-in-law was the chief of the Sakis — seized a hatchet
and declared that he would perish with the Frenchman,
whom the people of the Red Carp had slain. The Saki
chief, hearing the voice of his father-in-law, called his own
men to arms ; the Bear family did the same ; and the woimded
Frenchman began to recover consciousness. He calmed the
Sakis, who were greatly enraged; but the savage who had
1 Indian clans were designated by some natural object, usually some ani-
mal. The clan was an intermediate organization between the single family and
the tribe; it took its inheritance through the mother, and persons of the same
clan were not permitted to marry. The animal or tutelary being was worshipped
in common by all the group.
1665-1670] ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT 83
maltreated him was compelled to abandon the village. These
same Frenchmen's lives were in danger on still another oc-
casion. One of them, who was amusing himself with some
arrows, told a Saki who was bathing at the water's edge to
ward off the shaft that he was going to let fly at him. The
savage, who held a small piece of cloth, told him to shoot;
but he was not adroit enough to avoid the arrow, which
wounded him in the shoulder. He immediately called out
that the Frenchman had slain him ; but another Frenchman
hastened to the savage, made him enter his cabin, and drew
out the arrow. He was pacified by giving him a knife, a little
vermilion to paint his face, and a piece of tobacco. This
present was effectual; for when, at the Saki's cry, several
of his comrades came, ready to avenge him on the spot, the
wounded man cried, "What are you about? I am healed.
Metaminens" (which means "little Indian com" — ^this name
they had given to the Frenchman, who was Perot himself)
"has tied my hands by this ointment which you see upon my
wound, and I have no more anger," at the same time show-
ing the present that Perot had given him. This presence of
mind checked the disturbance that was about to arise.
The Miamis, the Maskoutechs, the Kikabous, and fifteen
cabins of Islinois came toward the bay in the following sum-
mer, and made their clearings thirty miles away, beside the
Outagamis, toward the south. These peoples, for whom the
Iroquois were looking, had gone southward along the Mis-
sissippi after the combat which I have mentioned.^ Before
that flight, they had seen knives and hatchets in the hands
of the Hurons who had had dealings with the French, which
induced them to associate them.selves with the tribes who
already had some union with us. They are very sportive
when among their own people, but grave before strangers;
well built; lacking in intelligence, and dull of apprehension;
easily persuaded; vain in language and behavior, and ex-
tremely selfish. They consider themselves much braver
than their neighbors; they are great liars, employing every
kind of baseness to accomplish their ends; but they are in-
dustrious, indefatigable, and excellent pedestrians. For this
^This refers to a prehistoric enmity between the Winnebago and Illinois
described by La Potherie in an earlier chapter.
84 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665-1670
last reason, they are called Metousceprinioueks, which in their
language means "Walkers."
After they had planted their fields in this new settlement,
they went to hunt cattle. They wished to entertain the
people at the bay ; so they sent envoys to ask the Pouteoua-
temis to visit them, and to bring the Frenchmen, if they were
stni with them. But those savages were careful not to let
their guests know how desirous their neighbors were to be-
come acquainted with the French ; so they went away with-
out telling the latter, and came back at the end of a fort-
night, loaded with meat and grease. With them were some
of those new settlers, who were greatly surprised to see the
French — whom they reproached for not having come to visit
them with the Pouteouatemis. The French saw plainly that
the latter were jealous, and they recognized the importance of
becoming acquainted with those peoples, who had come to
the bay on purpose to trade more conveniently with us. The
Pouteouatemis, when they saw that the French desired to go
away with a Miami and a Maskoutech, made representations
to them that there were no beavers among those people —
who, moreover, were very boorish — and even that they were
in great danger of being plundered. The French took their
departure, notwithstanding these tales, and in five days
reached the vicinity of the village.^ The Maskoutech sent
ahead the Miami, who had a gun, with orders to fire it when
he arrived there ; the report of the gun was heard soon after-
ward. Hardly had they reached the shore when a venerable
old man appeared, and a woman carrying a bag in which was
a clay pot filled with cornmeal porridge. More than two
hundred stout young men came upon the scene ; their hair was
adorned with headdresses of various sorts, and their bodies
were covered with tattooing in black, representing many
kinds of figures; they carried arrows and war-clubs, and
wore girdles and leggings of braided work. The old man held
in his hand a calumet of red stone, with a long stick at the
end ; this was ornamented in its whole length with the heads
of birds, flame-colored, and had in the middle a bunch of
feathers colored a bright red, which resembled a great fan.
1 This village site has been identified near the town of Berlin, Wisconsin,
on the upper Fox River.
1665-1670] ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT 85
As soon as he espied the leader of the Frenchmen, he pre-
sented to him the calumet, on the side next to the sun ; and
uttered words which were apparently addressed to all the
spirits whom those peoples adore. The old man held it some-
times toward the east, and sometimes toward the west;
then toward the sim ; now he would stick the end in the ground
and then he would turn the calumet around him, looking
at it as if he were trjdng to point out the whole earth, with
expressions which gave the Frenchman to understand that
he had compassion on all men. Then he rubbed with his
hands Perot's head, back, legs, and feet, and sometimes his
own body. This welcome lasted a long time, during which
the old man made a harangue, after the fashion of a prayer,
all to assure the Frenchman of the joy which all in the village
felt at his arrival.
One of the men spread upon the grass a large painted
ox-skin,i the hair on which was as soft as silk, on which he
and his comrade were made to sit. The old man struck two
pieces of wood together, to obtain fire from it ; but as it was
wet he could not light it. The Frenchman drew forth his
own fire-steel, and immediately made fire with tinder. The
old man uttered loud exclamations about the iron, which
seemed to him a spirit; the calumet was lighted, and each
man smoked; then they must eat porridge and dried meat,
and suck the juice of the green com. Again the calumet
was filled, and those who smoked blew the tobacco-smoke
into the Frenchman's face, as the greatest honor that they
could render him; he saw himself smoked like meat, but
said not a word. This ceremony ended, a skin was spread
for the Frenchman's comrade. The savages thought that
it was their duty to carry the French guests ; but the latter
informed the Maskoutechs that, as they could shape the iron,
they had strength to walk, so they were left at liberty. On
the way, they rested again, and the same honors were paid
to him as at the first meeting. Continuing their route, they
halted near a high hill, at the summit of which was the vil-
lage; they made their fourth halt here, and the ceremonies
were repeated. The great chief of the Miamis came to meet
them, at the head of more than three thousand men, accom-
* A buffalo robe ; the French called buffaloes oxen or wild cattle.
86 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666-1670
panied by the chiefs of other tribes who formed part of the
village. Each of these chiefs had a calumet, as handsome
as that of the old man; they were entirely naked, wearing
only shoes, which were artistically embroidered like buskins;
they sang, as they approached, the calumet song, which they
uttered in cadence. When they reached the Frenchmen,
they continued their songs, meanwhile bending their knees,
in turn, almost to the gromid. They presented the calumet
to the sun, with the same genuflexions, and then they came
back to the principal Frenchman, with many gesticulations.
Some played upon instruments the calumet songs, and others
sang them, holding the calumet in the mouth without light-
ing it. A war chief raised Perot upon his shoulders, and,
accompanied by all the musicians, conducted him to the
village. The Muskoutech who had been his guide offered
him to the Miamis, to be lodged among them ; they very ami-
ably declined, being unwilling to deprive the Maskoutechs
of the pleasure of possessing a Frenchman who had con-
sented to come under their auspices. At last he was taken
to the cabin of the chief of the Maskoutechs ; as he entered,
the lighted calumet was presented to him, which he smoked ;
and fifty guardsmen were provided for him, who prevented
the crowd from annoying him. A grand repast was served,
the various courses of which reminded one of feeding-troughs
rather than dishes; the food was seasoned with the fat of
the wild ox. The guards took good care that provisions should
be brought often, for they profited thereby.
On the next day, the Frenchman gave them, as presents,
a gun and a kettle; and made them the following speech,
which was suited to their character :
Men, I admire your youths; although they have since their
birth seen only shadows, they seem to me as fine-looking as those
who are born in regions where the sun always displays his glory.
I would not have believed that the earth, the mother of all men,
could have furnished you the means of subsistence when you did
not possess the light of the Frenchman, who supplies its influences
to many peoples; I believe that you will become another nation
when you become acquainted with him. I am the dawn of that
light, which is beginning to appear in your lands, as it were, that
which precedes the sun, who will soon shine brightly and will cause
you to be born again, as if in another land, where you will find.
1G65-1670] ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT 87
more easily and In greater abundance, all that can be necessary
to man. I see this fine village filled with young men, who are, I
am sure, as courageous as they are well built; and who will, without
doubt, not fear their enemies if they carry French weapons. It
is for these young men that I leave my gun, which they must regard
as the pledge of my esteem for their valor; they must use it if they
are attacked. It will also be more satisfactory in hunting cattle
and other animals than are all the arrows that you use. To you
who are old men I leave my kettle; I carry it everywhere without
fear of breaking it. You will cook in it the meat that your young
men bring from the chase, and the food which you offer to the
Frenchmen who come to visit you.
He tossed a dozen awls and knives to the women, and
said to them : "Throw aside your bone bodkins ; these French
awls will be much easier to use. These knives will be more
useful to you in killing beavers and in cutting your meat
than are the pieces of stone that you use." Then, throwing
to them some rassade:^ "See; these will better adorn your
children and girls than do their usual ornaments," The
Miamis said, by way of excuse for not having any beaver-
skins, that they had until then roasted those animals.
That alliance began, therefore, through the agency of
Sieur Perot. A week later the savages made a solemn feast,
to thank the sun for having conducted hkn to their village.
In the cabin of the great chief of the Miamis an altar had
been erected, on which he had caused to be placed a Pindi-
ikosan. This is a warrior's pouch, filled with medicinal herbs
wrapped in the skins of animals, the rarest that they can
find; it usually contains all that inspires their dreams.^
Perot, who did not approve this altar, told the great chief
that he adored a God who forbade him to eat things sacrificed
to evil spirits or to the skins of animals. They were greatly
surprised at this, and asked if he would eat provided they
shut up their Manitous;^ this he consented to do. The
chief begged Perot to consecrate him to his Spirit, whom he
* A French term for the ordinary round beads of glass or porcelain, which
soon superseded the Indians' bone and shell ornaments.
'The common "medicine-bag" of the North American Indian, containing
objects of his veneration, is well described by Perrot.
' Manitou was the Algonquian term for spirit ; in this instance it was ap-
plied to the medicine-bag which was supposed to be the abode of the personal
god of each owner.
88 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTITW'EST [1665-1670
would thenceforth acknowledge; he said that he would pre-
fer that Spirit to his own, who had not taught them to make
hatchetS; kettles, and all else that men need; and he hoped
that by adoring him they would obtain all the knowledge
that the French had. This chief governed his people as a
sort of sovereign; he had his guards, and whatever he said
or ordered was regarded as law.^
The Pouteouatemis, jealous that the French had found
the way to the Miamis, secretly sent a slave to the latter,
who said many unkind things about the French; he said
that the Pouteouatemis held them in the utmost contempt,
and regarded them as dogs. The French, who had heard
all these abusive remarks, put him into a condition where he
could say no more outrageous things; the Miamis regarded
the spectacle with great tranquillity. When it was time to
return to the bay, the chiefs sent all their young men to es-
cort the Frenchmen thither, and made them many presents.
The Pouteouatemis, having learned of the Frenchman's ar-
rival, came to assure him of the interest they felt in his safe
return, and were very impatient to know whether the tribes
from whom he had come had treated him well. But when
they heard the reproaches which he uttered for their sending
a slave who had said most ungenerous things regarding the
French nation, they attempted to make an explanation of
their conduct, but fully justified the poor opinion which he
already had of them. The savages have this characteristic,
that they find a way to free themselves from blame in any
evil undertaking, or to make it succeed without seeming to
have taken part in it.
Chapter X.
It was for the interest of the Pouteouatemis to keep on
good terms with the French; and they had been too well
received at Montreal not to return thither. Indeed, after
having presented to Perot a bag of Indian corn, that he
might, they said, "eat and swallow the suspicion that he
^ The position of a chief among the Miami was unusually prominent for
North American Indians, The Jesuit missionaries represent the great Miami
chief as having more influence and being attended with more guards and sur-
rounded with more ceremony than the chief of any other tribe in the Northwest.
1665-1670] ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT 89
felt toward them," and five beaver robes to serve as an emetic
for the ill-will and vengeance which he might retain in his
heart, they sent some of their people on a journey to Mon-
treal. When they came in sight of Michilimakinak, which
then was frequented only by them and the Iroquois, they
perceived smoke. While they were trying to ascertain what
this meant, they encountered two Iroquois, and saw another
canoe off shore. Each party was alarmed at the other; as
for the Iroquois, they took to flight, while the Pouteouatemis,
plying their paddles against contraiy winds, fled to their
own village; they felt an extraordinary anxiety, for they
knew not what measures to take for protection against the
Iroquois. All the peoples of the bay experienced the same
perplexity. Their terror was greatly increased when, a fort-
night later, they saw large fires on the other shore of the bay,
and heard many gun-shots. As a climax to their fears, the
scouts whom they had sent out brought back the news that
they had seen at night many canoes made in Iroquois fashion,
in one of which was a gun, and a blanket of Iroquois ma-
terial ; and some men, who were sleeping by a fire. All those
canoes came in sight the next morning, and each one fled,
at the top of his speed, into the forest ; only the most coura-
geous took the risk of awaiting, with resolute air, the Iroquois
in their fort, where they had good firearms. As we were at
peace with the Iroquois, some of the bolder spirits among
our Frenchmen offered to go to meet that so-called army,
in order to learn the motive which could have impelled them
to come to wage war against the allies of Onontio. They
were greatly surprised to find that it was a fleet of Outaouaks,
who had come to trade; these people had, whfle travelling
across the country, built some canoes which resembled those
of the Iroquois. The men whom the Pouteouatemis had seen
at Michilimakinak were really Iroquois ; but they had feared
falling into the hands of the Pouteouatemis quite as much
as the latter had feared them. The Iroquois, while fleeing,
fell into an ambuscade of forty Sauteurs, who carried them
away to the Sauteur village; they had come from a raid
against the Chaouanons^ near Carolina, and had brought
1 Chaouanon was the French word for the Shawnee, an important Algon-
quian tribe, whose name means "Southerners." When first known to whites
90 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665-1670
with them a captive from that tribe, whom they were going
to burn. The Sauteurs set him at Hberty, and enabled him
to return to the bay by entrusting him to the Sakis. This
man gave them marvellous notions of the South Sea, from
which his village was distant only five days' journey — near
a great river which, coming from the Islinois, discharges its
waters into that sea. The tribes of the bay sent him home
with much merchandise, urging him to persuade his tribes-
men to come and visit them.
These peoples held several coimcils, to deliberate whether
they should go down to Montreal; they hesitated at first,
because they had so few beavers. As the savages give every-
thing to their mouths, they preferred to devote themselves
to huntmg such wild beasts as could furnish subsistence for
their families, rather than seek beavers, of which there were
not enough; they preferred the needs of life to those of the
state. Nevertheless, they reflected that if they allowed the
Frenclimen to go away without themselves going down to
trade, it might happen that the latter would thereafter at-
tach themselves to some other tribes ; or, if they should after-
ward go to Montreal, the governor would feel resentment
against them because they had not escorted these French-
men thither. They decided that they would go with the
Frenchmen; preparations for this were accordingly made,
and a solemn feast was held ; and on the eve of their depar-
ture a volley of musketry was fired in the village. Three men
sang incessantly, all night long, in a cabin, invoking their
spirits from time to time. They began with the song of
Michabous;^ then they came to that of the god of lakes,
rivers, and forests, begging the winds, the thunder, the storms,
and the tempests to be favorable to them during the voyage.
The next day, the crier went through the village, inviting
the men to the cabin where the feast was to be prepared.
They found no difficulty in going thither, each furnished
they were residing in Tennessee on the Cumberland River. Later they gathered
in southern Ohio, where they formed the most intractable barrier to American
advance. Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief, and his tribe opposed the Americans
until the close of the War of 1812. They were removed, first to Missouri,
later to Oklahoma.
^ "Michabous" is one form of the name of the Great Spirit, which all
Indian tribesmen invoke as their highest deity.
1665-1670] ADVENTURES OF NICOLAS PERROT 91
with his Ouragan and Mikouen.^ The three musicians of
the previous night began to sing ; one was placed at the en-
trance of the cabin, another in the middle, and the third at
its end ; they were armed with quivers, bows, and arrows, and
their faces and entire bodies were blackened with coal. While
the people sat in this assembly, ui the utmost quiet, twenty
young men — entirely naked, elaborately painted, and wearing
girdles of otter-skin, to which were attached the skins of
crows, with their plumage, and gourds — ^lifted from the fires
ten great kettles ; then the singing ceased. The first of these
actors next sang his war-song, keeping time with it in a dance
from one end to the other of the cabin, while all the sav-
ages cried in deep guttural tones, "Hay, hay!" When the
musician ended, all the others uttered a loud yell, in which
their voices gradually died away, much as a loud noise dis-
appears among the mountains. Then the second and the
third musicians repeated, in turn, the same performance;
and, in a word, nearly all the savages did the same, in alter-
nation— each singing his own song, but no one venturing to
repeat that of another, unless he were willing deliberately to
offend the one who had composed the song, or unless the
latter were dead (in order to exalt, as it were, the dead man's
name by appropriating his song). During this, their looks
were accompanied with gestures and violent movements;
and some of them took hatchets, with which they pretended
to strike the women and children who were watching them.
Some took firebrands, which they tossed about everywhere;
others filled their dishes with red-hot coals, which they threw
at each other. It is difficult to make the reader understand
the details of feasts of this sort, unless he has himself seen
them. I was present at a like entertainment among the
Iroquois at the Sault of Montreal,^ and it seemed as if I
were in the midst of hell. After most of those who had been
invited to this pleasant festival had sung, the chief of the
1 Dish and spoon ; it was customary for each guest at the feast to come pro-
vided with his own utensils.
* A mission colony of Iroquois was established at Sault St. Louis or the
village of Caughnawaga, on the south bank of the St. Lawrence not far from
Montreal. La Potherie is comparing Perrot's account of the feast among the
Miami with one he has himself witnessed.
92 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665-1670
feast, who had given the dance, sang a second time ; and he
said at the end of his song (which he improvised) that he was
going to Montreal with the Frenchmen, and was on that
account offering these prayers to their God, entreating him
to be propitious to him on the voyage, and to render him ac-
ceptable to the French nation. The young men who had
taken off the kettles took all the dishes, which they filled
with food, while the three chanters repeated their first songs,
not finishing their concert until everything had been eaten
— a feat which did not take long to accomplish. An old man
arose and congratulated, in the most affable manner, the chief
of the feast on the project which he had formed, and encour-
aged the young men to follow him. All those who wished to
go on the voyage laid down a stick ; there were enough people
to man thirty canoes. At the Sault,^ they joined seventy
other canoes, of various tribes, all of whom formed a single
fleet.
1 Sault Ste. Marie.
FATHER ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE
SUPERIOR, 1665-1667
INTRODUCTION
The Jesuit missions to the Western tribes that had be-
gun so auspiciously in the eariy years of the seventeenth
century were completely wrecked in the middle of the cen-
tury (1649) by the hostile incursions of the Iroquois, and the
death or flight of the Indian neophytes. The tribes that
had dwelt on the shores of Lake Huron, the islands of Geor-
gian Bay, and the lower peninsula of Michigan fled like leaves
before a northern blast and sought refuge on the distant
shores of Lake Superior, or hid themselves in the dense forests
of northwestern Wisconsin. Driven from their former habi-
tats, lurking in hidden coverts of the woods, the renmant of
the Huron tribes and their Algonquian neighbors wandered
through the northern wilderness, stopping here and there
as chance brought them respite to build temporary villages
or raise an occasional crop of corn.
The Jesuit fathers, of whom some had suffered martyr-
dom with their Huron converts, and others had fled to the
settled parts of the colony, sought in vain for more than a
decade to re-establish their ruined missions. In 1654 Father
Leonard Garreau courageously set forth from Montreal to
accompany an Algonquian fleet to the western country;
but only a short distance up the Ottawa River he fell into
an Iroquois ambuscade and was killed. Father Ren6 Me-
nard, a refugee from the Huron mission, succeeded in 1660 in
reaching the shores of Lake Superior, where, after wintering
in a wretched hut at the bottom of Keweenaw Bay, he started
in the early summer of 1661 to visit some refugee Huron upon
the headwaters of Black River. Somewhere upon the Wis-
95
96 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
consin River he was lost in the dense woods, and his fate was
never known.
Jean Claude Allouez, unterrified by the martyrdom of
these early apostles to the Northwestern tribes, accompanied
the returning fleet of 1665, somewhere in which was the
trader and explorer Nicolas Perrot. At the Sault they parted
company, and Allouez after skirting the shores of Lake Su-
perior finally arrived at the Ottawa village on Chequamegon
Bay, where he founded the mission of the Holy Spirit.
Even as a youth in his home in southern France, Allouez
had ardently longed to seek the mission fields in foreign
lands; great had been his joy, therefore, when he had been
assigned by the superiors of his order to work upon the dis-
tant banks of the St. Lawrence. There seven years had been
passed in acquiring the Algonquian language and learning
Indian lore, before he finally reached his chosen field of labor
on the shores of the northern inland sea. With vivid pen he
pictures for us in the passage that follows his outward jour-
ney and his first two dismal winters at this remote post on
Chequamegon Bay. Then by another long and toilsome
journey, he returned in the summer of 1667 to Quebec to
tarry but two days in the house of his friends, duty driving
him again to the distant north. The next year (1668) the
Algonquian tribes largely abandoned Chequamegon Bay, and
Father Allouez founded a flourishing mission at the Sault,
which for many years served as headquarters for the Jesuits
of the Upper Country. Thence he visited Wisconsin, and after
1669 for nearly a decade devoted his services to the numerous
tribes about Green Bay. Heedless of fatigue or himger,
cold or heat, he travelled over snow and ice, swollen streams
or dangerous rapids, seeking distant Indian villages, count-
ing it all joy if by any means he could win a few savages for
a heavenly future.
Allouez was a keen observer and had a ready pen; his
INTRODUCTION 97
descriptions are graphic, his incidents vivid. Zealot though
he may have been with regard to his mission enterprises,
Wisconsin historians owe him an undying debt of gratitude
for his faithful portrayal of our earliest history. In 1671
he was with St. Lusson, at his great pageant at Sault Ste.
Marie; while the next year we fibnd him again in the Wis-
consin mission, where he had the misfortune to have his cabin
burned, December 22, 1672, and his diary and papers lost.
About this time he built the mission house of St. Francis
Xavier at De Pere. When he was reinforced by the arrival
of other Jesuits, he left to them the missions around the
bay, and chose for himself a more severe field of labor among
the distant Mascoutin and Foxes.
It was from the mission house at De Pere that Father
Marquette in 1674 set forth on his second journey to the
Illinois, a voyage which was to end only with his death.
Thereafter Allouez adopted the Illinois mission as his own,
and while temporarily abandoning it during La Salle's regime,
was later found at Fort St. Louis of the Illinois when Tonty
was in command of that post. In 1689 this devoted servant
of the cross died at the Miami village on St. Joseph River.
A second St. Francis Xavier, Allouez is said during his twenty-
four years of service to have instructed a hundred thousand
Western savages and baptized at least ten thousand.
The first selection we have made from Allouez's writings
is taken from the Jesuit Relation of 1668, first published in
that year at Paris by S^bastien Cramoisy. In the Thwaites
edition it is found in volume L., pp. 249-311, and volume LI.,
pp. 21-69. It describes the outward journey to Chequamegon
Bay and the experiences of the missionary during the years
1665-1667.
FATHER ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE
SUPERIOR, 1665-1667
Chapter II.
Journal of Father Claude Allouez's Voyage into the Outaouac
Country.
Two years ago, and more, Father Claude Allouez set out
for that great and arduous mission, in behalf of which he has
journeyed, in all his travels, nearly two thousand leagues
through these vast forests, enduring hunger, nakedness, ship-
wreck, weariness by day and night, and the persecutions of
the idolaters ; but he has also had the consolation of bearing
the torch of the Faith to more than twenty different infidel
nations.
We cannot gain a better knowledge of the fruits of his
labors than from the Journal which he was called upon to
prepare.
The narrative will be diversified by the description of the
places and lakes that he passed, the customs and super-
stitions of the peoples visited, and by various incidents of
an unusual nature and worthy of relation. He begins as
follows :
"On the eighth of August, in the year 1665, I embarked
at Three Rivers with six Frenchmen, in company with more
than four hundred savages of various nations, who, after
transacting the little trading for which they had come, were
returning to their own country.
"The Devil offered all conceivable opposition to our
journey, making use of the false prejudice held by these
savages, that baptism causes their children to die. One of
their chief men declared to me, in arrogant and menacing
terms, his intention, and that of his people, to abandon me
on some desert island if I ventured to follow them farther.
We had then proceeded as far as the rapids of the River des
Prairies, where the breaking of the canoe that bore me made
98
1665] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 99
me apprehensive of the threatened disaster. We promptly
set about repairing our little vessel ; and, although the sav-
ages did not trouble themselves either to aid us or to wait
for us, we were so expeditious as to join them near the Long
Sault,^ two or three days after we started.
"But our canoe, having been once broken, could not long
be of service, and our Frenchmen, already greatly fatigued,
despaired of being able to follow the savages, who were thor-
oughly accustomed to such severe exertions. Therefore, I
resolved to call them all together, in order to persuade them
to receive us separately into their canoes, showing them that
our own was in so bad a condition as to be thenceforth useless
to us. They agreed to this; and the Hurons promised, al-
though with much reluctance, to provide for me.
"On the morrow, accordingly, when I came down to the
water's edge, they at first received me well, and begged me
to wait a very little while, until they were ready to embark.
After I had waited, and when I was stepping down into the
water to enter their canoe, they repulsed me with the asser-
tion that there was no room for me, and straightway began
to paddle vigorously, leaving me all alone with no prospect
of human succor. I prayed God to forgive them, but my
prayer was unanswered ; for they were subsequently wrecked,
and the divine Majesty turned my abandonment on the part
of men to the saving of my life.
"Finding myself, then, entirely alone, forsaken in a
strange land — for the whole fleet was already a good distance
away — I had recourse to the blessed Virgin, in whose honor
we had performed a novena which gained for us from that
Mother of Mercy a very manifest daily protection. While
I was praying to her I saw, quite contrary to my hopes, some
canoes in which were three of our Frenchmen. I hailed
them, and resuming our old canoe, we proceeded to paddle
with all our strength, in order to overtake the fleet. But
we had long since lost sight of it, and knew not whither to
^ The Long Sault of Ottawa River is about forty-five miles above Montreal.
It is now avoided by means of the Grenville Canal. It is famous in Canadian
history for the defense (1660) by a handful of French led by Dollard against
a horde of Iroquois. It thus became the Thermopylae of New France. See
Francis Parkman, The Old Regime in Canada (Boston, 1875), pp. 72-82,
100 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665
go, it being very difficult to find a narrow detour which must
be taken in order to gain the portage of Cat Rapids (as that
part is called).^ We should have been lost had we missed
this narrow channel ; but it pleased God, owing to the blessed
Virgin's intercessions, to guide us directly, and almost with-
out our realizing it, to this portage. Here, as I saw two more
canoes, belonging to the savages, I leaped into the water, and
hastened to intercept them by land on the other side of the
portage, where I found six canoes. ' How is this ? ' said I to
them; 'do you thus forsake the French? Know you not
that I hold Onnontio's voice in my hands, and that I am to
speak for him, through the presents he entrusted to me, to
all your nations?' These words forced them to give us aid,
so that we joined the bulk of the fleet toward noon.
"Upon landing, I felt that I must, in that critical state of
affairs, use every possible and most effective means for the
glory of God. I spoke to them all, and threatened them with
the displeasure of Monsieur de Tracy, whose spokesman I
was.2 Fear of disobliging that great Onnontio impelled one
of the chief men among them to take the word, and harangue
long and forcibly to persuade us to turn back. The weakness
of this discontented man was turned to account by the evil
spirit for closing the way against the Gospel. None of the
others were better disposed ; so that, although our French-
men found places for themselves without much difficulty, no
one would be burdened with me — all declaring that I had
neither skill at the paddle, nor strength to carry loads on my
shoulders.
"In this abandoned state I withdrew into the woods,
and, after thanking God for making me so acutely sensible
1 Cat Rapids, now called Les Chats, lie at the head of the widening of the
Ottawa known as Lake des Chaudieres, not far above the city of Ottawa.
2 Alexandre de Prouville, Marquis de Tracy (1603-1670), was a French
general who had served in the West Indies, and was appointed in November,
1663, governor-general of all the French possessions in the New World. He
arrived in Canada in June, 1665, and took such vigorous measures against the
Mohawk Indians that the colony secured a temporary peace. Allouez had been
commissioned by Governor Tracy to announce to the visiting Algonquian In-
dians the arrival of the Carignan regiment, designed to protect New France and
its Algonquian allies against Iroquois aggression. Tracy returned to France
m August, 1667.
1665] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 101
of my slight worth, confessed before his divine Majesty
that I was only a useless burden on the earth. My prayer
ended, I returned to the water's edge, where I found the
disposition of that savage who had repulsed me with such
contempt entirely changed ; for, unsolicited, he invited me
to enter his canoe, which I did with much alacrity, fearing
he would change his mind.
"No sooner had I embarked than he put a paddle in my
hand, urging me to use it, and assuring me it was an honor-
able employment, and one worthy of a great captain. I
willingly took the paddle and, offering up to God this labor
in atonement for my sins, and to hasten those poor savages'
conversion, I imagined myself a malefactor sentenced to the
galleys ; and, although I became entirely exhausted, yet God
gave me sufficient strength to paddle all day long, and often
a good part of the night. But this application did not pre-
vent my being conmionly the object of their contempt and the
butt of their jokes; for, however much I exerted myself, I
accomplished nothing in comparison with them, their bodies
being large and strong, and perfectly adapted to such labors.
The slight esteem in which they held me caused them to steal
from me every article of my wardrobe that they could ; and
I had much difficulty in retaining my hat, the wide rim of
which seemed to them peculiarly fitted for defense against
the excessive heat of the sun. And when evening came, as
my pilot took away a bit of blanket that I had, to serve him
as a pillow, he forced me to pass the night without any cover-
ing but the foliage of some tree.
''When hunger is added to these discomforts, it is a severe
hardship, but one that soon teaches a man to find a relish in
the bitterest roots and the most putrid meat. God was
pleased to make me suffer from hunger, on Fridays especially,
for which I heartily thank him.
"We were forced to accustom ourselves to eat a certain
moss growing upon the rocks. It is a sort of shell-shaped
leaf which is always covered with caterpillars and spiders;
and which, on being boiled, furnishes an insipid soup, black
and viscous, that rather serves to ward off death than to im-
part life.^
* Tripe de roche, for which see p. 41, note 1, ante.
102 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665
''One morning, we found a stag that had been dead four
or five days. It was a lucky accident for poor starveHngs.
I was given a piece of it, and although its offensive odor de-
terred some from eating any, hunger made me take my share ;
but my mouth had a putrid taste, in consequence, until the
next day.
"Amid all these hardships, whenever we came to any
rapids I carried as heavy burdens as I could ; but I often suc-
cumbed under them, and that made our savages laugh and
mock me, saying they must call a chUd to carry me and my
burden. Our good God did not forsake me utterly on these
occasions, but often wrought on some of the men so that,
touched with compassion, they would, without saying any-
thing, relieve me of my chapelle ^ or of some other burden, and
would help me to journey a little more at my ease.
"It sometimes happened that, after we had carried our
loads and plied our paddles all day long, and even two or three
hours into the night, we went supperless to bed on the ground,
or on some rock, to begin over again the next day with the
same labors. But everywhere the Divine Providence mingled
some little sweetness and relief with our fatigue.
"We endured these hardships for nearly two weeks; and
after passing the Nipissirinien Lake, as we were descending
a little river,2 we heard cries of lamentation and death-songs.
Approaching the spot whence came these outcries, we saw
eight young savages of the Outaouacs, frightfully burned by a
direful accident, a spark having by inadvertence fallen into
a keg of powder. Four among them were completely scorched,
and in danger of dying. I comforted them and prepared them
for baptism, which I would have conferred had I had time to
see them sufficiently fitted for it ; for, despite this disaster,
we had to keep on our way, in order to reach the entrance to
the Lake of the Hurons, which was the rendezvous of all these
travellers.
"They arrived there on the twenty-fourth of this month,
to the number of a hundred canoes; and then they applied
* The sacred vessels, collectively, which were used in the celebration of
the mass.
* Lake Nipissing and French River. See p. 15, note 4, and p. 92, note 2,
ante.
1665] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 103
themselves to the healing of these poor burned men, using on
them all their superstitious remedies.
"I was made well aware of this on the following night by
the singing of certain jugglers, which filled the air, and by a
thousand other ridiculous ceremonies employed by them.
Others offered a sort of sacrifice to the Sun, to effect the cure
of these patients; for, sitting in a circle, ten or twelve in
number, as if to hold a council, on the point of a rocky islet,
they lighted a little fire, with the smoke of which they sent
up into the air confused cries, which ended with a speech ad-
dressed to the Sun by the oldest and most influential man
among them.
"I could not endure the invocation of any of their imag-
inary divinities in my presence ; and yet I saw myself quite
alone, and at the mercy of all these people. I wavered for
some time, in doubt whether it would be more fitting for me
to withdraw quietly, or to offer opposition to their super-
stitious practices. The completion of my journey depended
upon them ; if I incensed them the Devil would make use of
their anger in closing against me the door to their country,
and in preventing their conversion. Besides, I had already
perceived how little weight my words had with them, and
knew that I should turn them still more against me by op-
posing them. Despite all these reasons, I believed that God
demanded this little service from me; and accordingly I
went forward, leaving the result to his Divine Providence.
I accosted the chief jugglers, and, after a long talk, sustained
by each side, God was pleased to touch the sick man's heart
so that he promised me to permit no superstitious ceremonies
for his cure ; and, addressing God in a short prayer, he in-
voked him as the author of life and of death.
"This victory is not to be regarded as slight, being gained
over the Evil One in the heart of his empire, and on ground
where, for so many ages, he had been obeyed and worshipped
by all those tribes. Hence he resented it soon after, and sent
us the juggler, who howled about our cabin like a desperate
man, and seemed bent on venting his rage upon our French-
men. I prayed our Lord that his vengeance might not fall
on any one but me, and my prayer was not in vain : we lost
only our canoe, which that wretch broke in pieces.
104 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665
" I had at the same time the grief to learn of the death of
one of those poor burned men, without being able to attend
him. Still I hope that God may have shown him mercy,
in consequence of the acts of faith and contrition and the
few prayers which I made him recite, the first time I saw him,
which was also the last.
"Toward the beginning of September, after coasting
along the shores of the Lake of the Hurons, we reached the
Sault : for such is the name given to a half-league of rapids
that are encountered in a beautiful river which unites two
great lakes — that of the Hurons, and Lake Superior.
''This river is pleasing, not only on account of the is-
lands intercepting its course and the great bays bordering
it, but because of the fishing and hunting, which are excellent
there. We sought a resting-place for the night on one of
these islands, where our savages thought they would find
provision for supper upon their arrival ; for, as soon as they
landed, they put the kettle on the fire, expecting to see the
canoe laden with fish the moment the net was cast into the
water. But God chose to punish their presumption, and
deferred giving any food to the starving men until the fol-
lowing day.
"On the second of September, then, after clearing this
Sault — which is not a waterfall, but merely a very swift cur-
rent impeded by numerous rocks — we entered Lake Superior,
which will henceforth bear Monsieur de Tracy's name, in
recognition of indebtedness to him on the part of the people
of those regions.^
"The form of this lake is nearly that of a bow, the south-
ern shore being much curved, and the northern nearly straight.
Fish are abundant there, and of excellent quality ; while
the water is so clear and pure that objects at the bottom can
be seen to the depth of six brasses.^
"The savages revere this lake as a divinity, and offer it
sacrifices, whether on account of its size — for its length is
two hundred leagues, and its greatest width eighty^ — or be-
1 The name was used only temporarily, quickly reverting to the earlier
form, Superior (or Upper) Lake.
* Brasse was a French linear measure amounting to 5.318 English feet.
' Its extreme length from east to west is 412 miles, its extreme breadth 167.
1665] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 105
cause of its goodness in furnishing fish for the sustenance of
all these tribes, in default of game, which is scarce in the
neighborhood.
"One often finds at the bottom of the water pieces of pure
copper, of ten and twenty pounds' weight. I have several
times seen such pieces in the savages' hands ; and, since they
are superstitious, they keep them as so many divinities, or
as presents which the gods dwelling beneath the water have
given them, and on which their welfare is to depend. For
this reason they preserve these pieces of copper, wrapped up,
among their most precious possessions. Some have kept
them for more than fifty years ; others have had them in their
families from time immemorial, and cherish them as house-
hold gods.
"For some time, there had been seen a sort of great rock,
all of copper, the point of which projected from the water;
this gave passers-by the opportunity to go and cut off pieces
from it. When, however, I passed that spot, nothing more
was seen of it ; and I think that the storms — which here are
very frequent, and like those at sea — have covered the rock
with sand. Our savages tried to persuade me that it was a
divinity, who had disappeared for some reason which they do
not state.
"This lake is, furthermore, the resort of twelve or fifteen
distinct nations — coming, some from the north, others from
the south, and still others from the west; and they all betake
themselves either to the best parts of the shore for fishing, or
to the islands, which are scattered in great numbers all over
the lake. These peoples' motive in repairing hither is partly
to obtain food by fishing, and partly to transact their petty
trading with one another, when they meet. But God's pur-
pose was to facilitate the proclaiming of the Gospel to wan-
dering and vagrant tribes — as will appear in the course of this
journal.
"Having, then, entered Lake Tracy, we spent the whole
month of September in coasting along its southern shore —
where, finding myself alone with our Frenchmen, I had the
consolation of saying holy mass, which I had been unable to
do since my departure from Three Rivers.
"After I had consecrated these forests by this holy cere-
106 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665
mony, God led me to the water-side, and, to crown my joy,
made me chance upon two sick children, who were being
placed in canoes for a journey into the interior. I felt strongly
inspired to baptize them, and, after all necessary precautions,
did so in view of the danger to which I saw them exposed,
of dying during the winter. All my past fatigues were as
nothing to me thenceforth; and I was thoroughly inured to
hunger, which ever followed us in close pursuit, our provision
consisting only of what our fishermen's skill, which not al-
ways met with success, could furnish us from day to day.
*'We then crossed the bay named for Saint Theresa^ by
the late Father Menard. There this brave missionary spent
a winter, laboring with the same zeal which afterward made
him sacrifice his life in the quest of souls. I found, at no great
distance thence, some remnants of his labors, in the persons
of two Christian women who had always kept the faith, and
who shone like two stars amid the darkness of that infidelity.
I made them pray to God, after I had refreshed their memory
concerning our mysteries.
"The Devil, doubtless filled with jealousy at this glory
which, in the heart of his estates, is paid to God, did what he
could to prevent my coming up hither; and, having failed
in his object, he vented his spite on some writings I had
brought with me, designed for the instruction of these in-
fidels. I had enclosed them, with some medicines for the
sick, in a little chest, which the evil spirit, seeing that it
would be of great service to me in the savages' salvation,
tried to make me lose. Once it was wrecked in the eddies
of some rapids ; again it was left behind at the foot of a port-
age; it changed hands seven or eight times; and, finally, it
fell into those of that sorcerer whom I had censured at the
entrance to the Lake of the Hurons, and who, after removing
the lock, took what he chose, and then left it all open to the
rain and exposed to passers-by. God was pleased to con-
found the evil spirit and to make use of the greatest juggler
of these regions — a man with six wives, and of a dissolute
life — for its preservation. This man put it into my hands
* Father Menard arrived at Keweenaw Bay of Lake Superior, March 1,
1661, the day of Ste. Theresa, to whom he dedicated his new abode. For a
sketch of this missionary see p. 25, note 1, ante.
1665] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 107
when I had given it up as lost, assuring me that the theriac^
and some other medicines, together with the images that were
in the chest, were so many manitous or demons, who would
make him die if he dared touch them. I learned, by subse-
quent experience, how serviceable these writings in the lan-
guages of the country were to me in converting the people."
Chapter III.
Of the Missionary's Arrival and Sojourn at the Bay of Saint
Esprit, called Chagouamigong.
"After coasting a hundred and eighty leagues along the
southern shore of Lake Tracy, where it was our Lord's will
often to test our patience by storms, famine, and weariness
by day and night, finally, on the first day of October, we ar-
rived at Chagouamigong, whither our ardent desires had
been so long directed.
"It is a beautiful bay, at the head of which is situated the
great village of the savages, who there cultivate fields of
Indian com and lead a settled life. They number eight
hundred men bearing arms, but are gathered together from
seven different nations, living in peace, mingled one with
another,
"This large population made us prefer this place to all
others for our usual abode, that we might apply ourselves
most advantageously to the instruction of these infidels,
build a chapel, and enter upon the functions of the Christian
religion.
"At first, we could find shelter only under a bark roof,
where we were so frequently visited by these people, most
of whom had never seen any Europeans, that we were over-
whelmed; and my efforts to instruct them were constantly
interrupted by persons going and coming. Therefore I de-
cided to go in person to visit them, each in his cabin, where
I told them about God more at my ease, and instructed them
more at leisure in all the mysteries of our faith.
"While I was occupied in these holy pursuits, a young
^ Theriac was a much-prized remedy in mediaeval times, composed of opium
flavored with various spices, such as nutmeg, cinnamon, or mace.
108 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665
savage — one of those who had been burned during our jour-
ney— came to seek me, and asked for my prayers, assuring
me of his earnest desire to become a Christian. He told me
something that had happened to him, of which the reader
may think what he chooses. 'I had no sooner obeyed thee,'
said he to me, 'by sending away that sorcerer who was bent
on curing me with his jugglery, than I saw the Creator of all
things, of whom thou hast so often told me. He said to me
in a voice which I heard distinctly : "Thou shalt not die, for
thou didst listen to the black gown." He had no sooner
spoken than I felt singularly strengthened, and found myself
filled with a great confidence that I should regain my health,
as, indeed, here I am, perfectly cured.' I have strong hopes
that He who has wrought for the saving of the body, will not
neglect that of the soul; and I feel all the more confidence
that He will not, since this savage has come of his own free
will to seek me, in order to learn the prayers and receive the
necessary instruction.
"Soon afterward, I learned that we had sent to Heaven
an infant in swaddling-clothes, its death having occurred two
days after I gave it holy baptism. St. Francis, whose name it
bore, has doubtless presented that innocent soul to God, as
the first-fruits of this mission.
"I know not what will happen to another child, which
I baptized immediately after its birth. Its father, an Ou-
taouac by nation, summoned me as soon as it was born, even
coming to meet me, to tell me that I must baptize it at once,
in order to insure it a long life. This was an admirable
course of action for one of these savages, who formerly be-
lieved that baptism caused their children to die, and now are
persuaded of its necessity for insuring them long lives. That
belief gives me easier access to these children, who often come
to me in troops to satisfy their curiosity by looking at a
stranger, but much more to receive, without thinking about
it, the first seeds of the Gospel, which will in time bear fruit
in those young plants."
1665] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 109
Chapter IV.
General Council of the Nations of the Outaouac Country,
Upon the Father's arrival in the country of the Outa-
ouacs, he found their minds filled with alarm at a fresh war
in which they were about to engage with the Nadouessi, a
warlike nation, using no other arms in its wars than the bow
and the club.
A detachment of young warriors was already forming
under the lead of a chief who, having suffered an injury,
did not consider whether the vengeance which he was bent
on exacting would cause the ruin of all the villages of his
country.
To forestall such a disaster, the elders called a general
council of ten or twelve circumjacent nations, all interested
in this war, in order to stay the hatchets of these rash ones
by the presents which they should give them in so important
an assembly.
To promote this end, the Father was invited to attend,
and did so, that he might at the same time address all these
people in the name of Monsieur de Tracy, from whom he bore
a speech in three clauses, with three presents to serve as their
interpreters.^
All this great assembly having given him audience, "My
brothers," said he to them, "the motive that brings me to
your country is very important, and makes it fitting that
you should listen to my words with more than usual atten-
tion. Nothing less is concerned than the preservation of
your entire land, and the destruction of all your enemies."
As the Father found them all, at these words, well disposed
to listen to him attentively, he told them about the war that
Monsieur de Tracy was undertaking against the Iroquois —
how, by means of the King's anus, he was about to compel
them to assume a respectful demeanor, and was going to make
commerce safe between us and the Algonquin peoples, cleans-
ing all the highways from those river pirates, and forcing them
to observe a general peace or see themselves totally destroyed.
^ The Indians were accustomed to present or receive a gift, or a string of
wanipum. with every important measm-e proposed in council.
110 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665
And here the Father took occasion to expatiate upon the
piety of his Majesty, who wished God to be acknowledged
throughout all his domains, and who received into his al-
legiance no peoples who did not submit to the Creator of all
the universe. He next explained to them the chief articles
of our faith, and spoke to them earnestly concerning all the
mysteries of our religion. In short, he preached Jesus Christ
to all those nations.
It is assuredly a very great consolation to a poor mission-
ary, after a journey of five hundred leagues amid weariness,
dangers, famines, and hardships of all sorts, to find himself
listened to by so many different peoples, while he proclaims
the Gospel and gives out to them the words of salvation,
whereof they have never heard mention.
Those are seeds that remain for a time in the ground,
and do not at once bear fruit. One must go and gather it
in the cabins, in the forests, and on the lakes; and that is
what the Father did, being present everywhere — in their
cabins, at their embarkations, on their journeys — and eveiy-
where finding children to baptize, sick persons to prepare
for the sacraments. Christians of long standing to hear in
confession, and infidels to instruct.
One day, it is true, while he was reviewing in his mind
the obstacles encountered by the faith, in consequence of
the depraved customs of all those peoples, he felt inwardly
impelled, during the holy sacrifice of the mass, to ask of God,
by the intercession of St. Andrew the Apostle, whose festival
the Church was that day celebrating,^ that it might please
his divine Majesty to show him some light for the establish-
ment of Jesus Christ's kingdom in those regions in the place
of paganism. From that very day God made him recognize
the formidable obstacles he should there encounter, in order
that he might more and more brace himself against those
difficulties — of which the following chapter will give a toler-
able conception.
1 November 30.
1665] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 111
Chapter V.
Of the False Gods and some Superstitious Customs of the Savages
of that Country.
Following is what Father AUouez relates concerning the
customs of the Outaouacs and other peoples, which he has
studied very carefully, not trusting the accounts given him by
others, but having been himself an eye-witness and observer
of everything described in this manuscript.
"There is here," he says, "a false and abominable re-
ligion, resembling in many respects the beliefs of some of the
ancient pagans. The savages of these regions recognize no
sovereign master of Heaven and Earth, but believe there
are many spirits, some of whom are beneficent, as the Sun,
the Moon, the lake, rivers, and woods; others malevolent,
as the adder, the dragon, cold, and storms. And, in general,
whatever seems to them either helpful or hurtful they call a
Manitou, and pay it the worship and veneration which we
render only to the true God.
"These divinities they invoke whenever they go out
hunting, fishing, to war, or on a journey, offering them sacri-
fices, with ceremonies appropriate only for sacrificial priests.
"One of the leading old men of the village discharges
the function of priest, beginning with a carefully-prepared
harangue addressed to the Sun, if the eat-all feast, ^ which
bears a certain resemblance to a holocaust, is held in its
honor. He declares in a loud voice that he pays his thanks
to that luminary for having lighted him so that he could
successfully kill some animal or other, praying and exhorting
it by this feast to continue its kind care of his family. Dur-
ing this invocation, all the guests eat, even to the last morsel ;
after which a man appointed for the purpose takes a cake of
tobacco, breaks it in two, and throws it into the fire. Every
one cries aloud while the tobacco bums and the smoke rises
aloft ; and with these outcries the whole sacrifice ends.
^ The literature of Indian customs contains many descriptions of this kind
of feast, which had something of a religious significance, and was supposed to
bring good fortune in hunting. The name describes its character; it was the
established etiquette to eat every morsel provided, hence it frequently became a
disgusting orgy.
112 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665
"I have seen," continues the Father, "an idol set up in
the middle of a village; and to it, among other presents,
ten dogs were offered in sacrifice, in order to prevail on this
false god to send elsewhere the disease that was depopulating
the village. Every one went daily to make his offerings to
this idol, according to his needs.
"Besides these public sacrifices, they have some that are
private and domestic ; for often in their cabins they throw
tobacco into the fire, with a kind of outward offering which
they make to their false gods.
"During storms and tempests, they sacrifice a dog, throw-
ing it into the lake. 'That is to appease thee,' they say to
the latter; 'keep quiet.' At perilous places in the rivers,
they propitiate the eddies and rapids by offering them pres-
ents ; and so persuaded are they that they honor their pre-
tended divinities by this external worship, that those among
them who are converted and baptized observe the same
ceremonies toward the true God, until they are disabused.
"As, moreover, these people are of gross nature, they
recognize no purely spiritual divinity, believing that the
Sun is a man, and the Moon his wife ; that snow and ice are
also a man, who goes away in the spring and comes back in
the winter; that the evil spirit is in adders, dragons, and
other monsters ; that the crow, the kite, and some other birds
are genii, and speak just as we do ; and that there are even
people among them who understand the language of birds,
as some understand a little that of the French.
"They believe, moreover, that the souls of the departed
govern the fishes in the lake; and thus, from the earliest
times, they have held the immortality, and even the metemp-
sychosis, of the souls of dead fishes, believing that they
pass into other fishes' bodies. Therefore they never throw
their bones into the fire, for fear that they may offend these
souls, so that they will cease to come into their nets.
"They hold in very special veneration a certain fabulous
animal which they have never seen except in dreams, and which
they call Missibizi, acknowledging it to be a great genius,
and offering it sacrifices in order to obtain good sturgeon-
fishing.^
* The same as "Michibous/' for whom see p. 90, note 1, ante.
1665] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 113
"They say also that the little nuggets of copper which
they find at the bottom of the water in the lake, or in the
rivers emptying into it, are the riches of the gods who dwell
in the depths of the earth.
"I have learned," says the Father who has brought to
light all these follies, 'Hhat the Iliniouek, the Outagami, and
other savages toward the south, hold that there is a great
and excellent genius, master of all the rest, who made Heaven
and Earth ; and who dwells, they say, in the East, toward the
country of the French.
"The foimtain-head of their religion is libertinism; and
all these various sacrifices end ordinarily in debauches, inde-
cent dances, and shameful acts of concubinage. All the
devotion of the men is directed toward securing many wives,
and changing them whenever they choose ; that of the women,
toward leaving their husbands ; and that of the girls, toward
a life of profligacy.
"They endure a great deal on account of these ridiculous
deities ; for they fast in their honor, for the purpose of learn-
ing the issue of some affair. I have," says the Father, "seen
with compassion men who had some scheme of war or hunt-
ing pass a whole week, taking scarcely anything. They show
such fixity of purpose that they will not desist until they
have seen in a dream what they desire — either a herd of moose,
or a band of Iroquois put to flight, or something similar — no
very difficult thing for an empty brain, utterly exhausted
with hunger, and thinking all day of nothing else.
"Let us say something about the art of medicine in vogue
in this country. Their science consists in ascertaining the
cause of the ailment, and applying the remedies.
" They deem the most common cause of illness to come from
failure to give a feast after some successful fishing or hunting
excursion; for then the Sun, who takes pleasure in feasts,
is angry with the one who has been delinquent in his duty,
and makes him ill.
"Besides this general cause of sickness, there are special
ones, in the shape of certain little spirits, malevolent in their
nature, who thrust themselves of their own accord, or are
sent by some enemy, into the parts of the body that are most
diseased. Thus, when any one has an aching head, or arm,
114 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1665
or stomach, they say that a manitou has entered this part of
the body, and will not cease its torments until it has been
drawn or driven out.
"The most common remedy, accordingly, is to summon
the juggler, who comes attended by some old men, with
whom he holds a sort of consultation on the patient's ailment.
After this, he falls upon the diseased part, applies his mouth
to it, and, by sucking, pretends to extract something from it,
as a little stone, or a bit of string, or something else, which
he has concealed in his mouth beforehand, and which he
displays, saying : ' There is the manitou ; now thou art cured,
and it only remains to give a feast.'
"The Devil, bent on tormenting those poor blind crea-
tures even in this world, has suggested to them another rem-
edy, in which they place great confidence. It consists in
grasping the patient under the arms, and making him walk
barefoot over the live embers in the cabin ; or, if he is so ill
that he camiot walk, he is carried by four or five persons,
and made to pass slowly over all the fires, a treatment which
often enough results in this, that the greater suffering thereby
produced cures, or induces unconsciousness of, the lesser pain
which they strive to cure.
"After all, the commonest remedy, as it is the most prof-
itable for the physician, is the holding of a feast to the Sun,
which is done in the belief that this luminary, which takes
pleasure in liberal actions, being appeased by a magnificent
repast, will regard the patient with favor, and restore him to
health."
All this shows that those poor people are very far from
God's kingdom; but He who is able to touch hearts as hard
as stone, in order to make of them children of Abraham and
vessels of election, will also be abundantly able to make
Christianity spring up in the bosom of idolatiy, and to il-
lumine with the lights of the Faith those barbarians, plunged
although they are in the darkness of error, and in an ocean
of debauchery. This will be recognized in the account of
the missions undertaken by the Father in that extremity of
the world, during the first two years of his sojourn there.
1665] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 115
Chapter VI.
Relation of the Mission of Saint Esprit on Lake Tracy.
After a hard and fatiguing journey of five hundred leagues,
during which all kinds of hardships were encountered, the
Father, after pushing on to the head of the great lake, there
found opportunity, in founding the missions of which we
are about to speak, to exercise the zeal which had made him
eagerly undergo so many fatigues. Let us begin with the
mission of Saint Esprit,^ which is the place of his abode. He
speaks as follows:
"This part of the lake where we have halted is between
two large villages, and forms a sort of centre for all the na-
tions of these regions, because of its abundance of fish, which
constitutes the chief part of these peoples' sustenance.
"Here we have erected a little chapel of bark,^ where
my entire occupation is to receive the Algonkin and Huron
Christians, and instruct them; baptize and catechize the
children; admit the infidels, who hasten hither from all di-
rections, attracted by curiosity ; speak to them in public and
in private; disabuse them of their superstitions, combat
their idolatry, make them see the truths of our Faith; and
suffer no one to leave my presence without implanting in
his soul some seeds of the Gospel.
"God has graciously permitted me to be heard by more
than ten different nations ; but I confess that it is necessary,
even before daybreak, to entreat him to grant patience for
the cheerful endurance of contempt, mockery, importunity,
and insolence from these barbarians.
"Another occupation that I have in my little chapel is
the baptism of the sick children, whom the infidels them-
selves bring hither, in order to obtain from me some medicine ;
and as I see that God restores these little innocents to health
^ Usually spoken of as La Pointe de St. Esprit, because of the long point
(now an island) protecting the eastern side of the bay.
^The location of Allouez's bark chapel is thought by local antiquaries to
have been on the mainland of Chequamegon Bay on its southwest side, not far
from the mouth of Whittlesey's Creek. See full discussion in Wiacormn His-
torical Collections, XIII. 419, 437-440.
116 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
after their baptism, I am led to hope that it is His will to make
them the foundation, as it were, of His Church in these regions.
"I have hung up in the chapel various pictures, as of
Hell and of the universal Judgment, which furnish me themes
for instruction well adapted to my hearers; nor do I find it
difficult then to engage their attention, to make them chant
the Pater and Ave in their own tongue, and to induce them
to join in the prayers which I dictate to them after each
lesson. All this attracts so many savages that, from morn-
ing till evening, I find myself happily constrained to give them
my whole attention.
"God blesses these beginnings; for the young people's
debauches are no longer so frequent ; and the girls, who for-
merly did not blush at the most shameless acts, hold them-
selves in restraint, and maintain the modesty so becoming
to their sex.
"I know many who boldly meet the overtures made to
them, with the reply that they have learned to pray, and
that the black gown forbids them such acts of licentiousness.
"A little girl, ten or twelve years old, coming one day to
request my prayers, I said to her: 'My little sister, you do
not deserve them ; you well know what was said about you
some months ago.' 'It is true,' she replied, 'that I was not
a good girl then, and that I did not know such actions were
naughty ; but since I have begun to pray, and you have told
us that such things were wicked, I have stopped doing them.'
"The first days of the year 1666 were spent in presenting
a very acceptable new-year's gift to the little Jesus, consist-
ing of a number of children brought to me by their mothers,
through a divine inspiration altogether extraordinary, to be
baptized. Thus, little by little, this church was growing;
and as I saw it already imbued with our mysteries, I deemed
the time had come to transfer our little chapel to the midst
of the great village, which lay three-quarters of a league
from our abode, and which embraces forty-five or fifty large
cabins of all nations, containing fully two thousand souls.^
^ This was a very large population for an Indian village ; it was probably
due to the refugees from various tribes that had fled thither. There are local
evidences that the site of this village was at the bottom of Chequamegon Bay,
on the present Fish Creek.
1666] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 117
"It was just at the time of their great revels; and I can
say, in general, that I saw in that Babylon a perfect picture
of libertinism. I did not fail to carry on there the same pur-
suits as in our first abode, and with the same success; but
the Evil Spirit, envying the good there wrought by the grace
of God, caused some diabolical jugglery to be carried on daily,
very near our chapel, for the cure of a sick woman. It was
nothing but superstitious dances, hideous masquerades,
horrible yells, and apish tricks of a thousand kinds. Yet
I did not fail to visit her daily ; and, in order to win her with
kindness, I made her a present of some raisins. At length,
the sorcerers having declared that her soul had departed,
and that they gave up hope, I went to see her on the morrow,
and assured her that this was false; and that I even hoped
for her recovery, if she would believe in Jesus Christ. But
I could produce no effect on her mind, and that made me
determine to appeal to the very sorcerer who was attending
her. He was so surprised to see me at his house that he seemed
quite overcome. I showed him the folly of his art, and that
he was hastening the death of his patients rather than their
recovery. In reply, he threatened to make me feel its effects
by a death that should be beyond dispute; and beginning
his operations soon after, he continued them for three hours,
calling out from time to time, in the midst of his ceremonies,
that the black gown would die through them. But it was
all in vain, thanks to God, who was able even to make good
come out of evil ; for, this very man having sent me two of
his children, who were ill, to be baptized, they received,
through these sacred waters, the cure of soul and body at
the same time.
"On the following day, I visited another famous sorcerer,
a man with six wives and living the disorderly life that can
be imagined from such a company. Finding in his cabin a
little army of children, I wished to fulfill my ministry, but
in vain; and that was the first time in those regions that I
saw Christianity scoffed at, especially in matters concerning
the resurrection of the dead and the fires of Hell. I came out
with this thought : Ibant Apostoli gaudentes a conspedu concilii,
quoniam digni habiti sunt pro nomine Jesu contumeliam pati}
^ Acts V. 41.
118 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
"The insults offered me in this cabin soon became known
outside, and caused the others to treat me with the same
insolence. Already a part of the bark — that is, of the walls
— of our church had been broken; already a beginning had
been made in stealing from me all my possessions ; the young
people were becoming more and more numerous and inso-
lent; and the word of God was listened to only with scorn
and mockery. I was therefore compelled to abandon this
post, and withdraw again to our customary abode, having
this consolation upon leaving them, that Jesus Christ had
been preached and the Faith proclaimed, not only publicly,
but to each savage in private; for, besides those who filled
our chapel from morn till eve, the others, who remained in
their cabins, were taught by those who had heard me.
"I have myself overheard them in the evening, after all
had retired, repeating audibly and in the tone of a captain
all the instruction which I had given them during the day.
They freely acknowledged that what I teach them is very-
reasonable ; but license prevails over reason, and, unless
grace is very strong, all our teachings are of slight effect.
"Upon the occasion of a visit from one of them for the
purpose of being instructed, at the first words I spoke to him,
about his having two wives, 'My brother,' he rejoined, Hhou
speakest to me on a very delicate subject; it is enough for
my children to pray ; teach them.'
"After I had left that village of abomination, God led me
two leagues from our dwelling, where I found three adult
sick persons; these I baptized, after adequate instruction,
and two of them died after their baptism. God's mysteri-
ous ways excite our admiration, and I could cite many very
similar illustrations of them which show the loving care of
Providence for its elect."
1666] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 119
Chapter VII.
Of the Mission to the Tionnontateheronnons.
"The Tionnontateheronnons of the present day are the
same people who were formerly called the Hurons of the
tobacco nation.^ They, like the rest, were forced to leave
their comitry to escape from the Hyroquois, and to retire to
the head of this great lake, where distance and scarcity of
game furnish them an asylmn against their foes.
"They formerly constituted a part of the flourishing
church of the Hurons, and had as pastor the late Father
Gamier, who gave his life so courageously for his dear flock ;
therefore they cherish his memory with very marked venera-
tion.2
"Since their country's downfall, they have received no
Christian nurture ; whence it results that they are Christians
rather by calling than by profession. They boast of that
fair name, but the intercourse which they have so long had
with infidels has nearly effaced from their minds all vestiges
of religion, and has made them resume many of their former
customs. Their village is at no great distance from our
abode, which has enabled me to apply myself to this mission
with greater assiduity than to the other more distant ones.
"I have, accordingly, tried to restore this church to its
pristine state by preaching the word of God, and administer-
ing the sacraments. I conferred baptism upon a hundred
children during the first winter I spent with them ; and upon
* This tribe, which was known as Petun by the French, was originally
settled in Nottawasaga township of Simcoe County, Ontario, where its members
raised much tobacco. Defeated and massacred by the Iroquois in 1649 they
fled to the forests of Wisconsin, then migrated to the vicinity of Mackinac,
whence Cadillac induced them to remove to Detroit River. Under the name of
Wyandot they were prominent in the Northwestern Indian wars of the eighteenth
century. A remnant still remains on their reservation near Amherstburg, Ont.
* Charles Garnier was born May 25, 1606, took his Jesuit novitiate at
Paris, and came to New France in 1636. In November, 1639, he accompanied
Isaac Jogues to the Tobacco Huron, but was received unfavorably, and driven
away. Only after the third effort in 1647 did Garnier succeed in founding his
mission, which became very flourishing, until the attack of the Iroquois in
December, 1649. Garnier was murdered while attempting to rally and succor
his flock.
120 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
others subsequently, during my two years of intercourse
with them. The adults partook of the sacrament of penance,
attended the holy sacrifice of the mass, prayed in public and
in private; in short, as they had been very well taught, it
was a matter of no great difficulty for me to restore piety to
their hearts, and make them put forth once more the pious
sentiments they formerly had for the Faith.
"Of all these baptized children, God chose to take but
two, who winged their way to Heaven after their baptism.
As for the adults, there were three of them for whose sal-
vation God seems to have sent me hither.
"The first was an old man, Ousaki^ by birth, formerly
of importance among his own people, and ever held in esteem
by the Hurons, by whom he had been taken captive in war.
A few days after my arrival in this country, I learned that
he was lying ill four leagues from here. I went to see him,
and instructed and baptized him; and three hours later he
died, leaving me every possible proof that God had shown
him mercy.
"Even although my journey from Quebec should bear no
further fruits than the saving of this poor old man, I would
deem all the steps that I had taken only too well rewarded,
inasmuch as the Son of God did not begrudge him even His
last drop of blood.
"The second person I have to mention was a woman,
far advanced in years, who was confined, two leagues from
our abode, by a dangerous illness, occasioned by the unex-
pected ignition of a bag of powder in her cabin. Father
Garnier had promised her baptism more than fifteen years
before, and was on the point of conferring it, when he was
killed by the Iroquois. That good Father was unwilling to
break his promise, and like a good pastor he brought it about,
by his intercession, that I should arrive here before she died.
I visited her on All Saints' Day,^ and, after refreshing her
memory concerning all our mysteries, found that the seeds
of God's word, implanted m her soul so many years before,
had there bonie fruits which awaited only the baptismal
waters in order to attain their perfection. Accordingly I
conferred this sacrament upon her, after I had thoroughly
* A Sauk Indiau; see p. 81, note 2, ante. * November 1.
1666] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 121
prepared her; and on the very night of her receiving this
grace she rendered up her soul to her Creator.
"The third person was a girl, fourteen years of age, who
applied herself very assiduously to all the catechisms and
prayers which I caused to be recited, and of which she had
learned a great portion by heart. She fell ill; her mother,
who was not a Christian, called in the sorcerers, and made
them go through all the fooleries of their infamous calling.
I heard about it and went to see the girl, broaching to her
the subject of baptism. She was overjoyed to receive it;
and after that, mere child although she was, she made op-
position to all the jugglers' practices, which they were bent
on executing in her presence. She declared that by her bap-
tism she had renounced all superstitions; and in this cou-
rageous contest she died, praying to God until her very last
breath."
Chapter VIII.
0/ the Mission to the Outaouacs, Kiskakoumac, and
Outaouasinagouc. ^
"I group these three nations together because they have
the same tongue, the Algonquin, and form collectively one
village, which corresponds to that of the Tionnontateheron-
nons, among whom we are dwelling.
"The Outaouacs claim that the great river^ belongs to
them, and that no nation can launch a boat on it without
their consent. Therefore all who go to trade with the French,
although of widely different nations, bear the general name
of Outaouacs, under whose auspices they make the journey.
"The old home of the Outaouacs was a district on the
Lake of the Hurons, whence the fear of the Iroquois had
driven them, and whither all their longings are directed as to
their native land.
"These peoples have very httle inclination to receive
^ These are three of the divisions of the Ottawa people. Kiskakon is a
word that means "Cut Tails" ; the Ottawa-Sinago were the squirrel clan of the
tribe.
*The Ottawa River was frequently called the Grand or Great River by
the people of New France.
122 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
the faith, since they are extremely addicted to idolatry,
superstitions, legends, polygamy, unstable marriages, and
every sort of licentiousness, which makes them renounce all
natural shame. All these obstacles did not deter me from
preaching to them the name of Jesus Christ, and proclaiming
the Gospel in all their cabins and in our chapel. The latter
was filled from morning till night, and there I gave constant
instruction in our mysteries and in God's commandments.
"In the first winter that I spent with them I had the
consolation to baptize about eighty children, including some
boys and girls between eight and ten years old, who, by their
assiduity in coming to offer prayer to God, showed themselves
worthy of this blessing. A circumstance greatly facilitating
the baptism of these children is the belief, now very com-
mon, that those sacred waters not only do not cause death,
as was formerly held, but even give health to the sick and
restore the dying to life. Indeed, as a matter of fact, of all
those children that were baptized, God was pleased to take
to himself only six, leaving the rest to serve as a foundation
for this new church.
"As for the adults, I did not see fit to baptize many,
because their superstitions, being so firmly rooted in their
minds, offer a serious hindrance to their conversion. Of
four whom I considered well prepared for this sacrament, the
Divine Providence made itself clearly manifest in the case of
one poor sick man, who lived two leagues from our dwelling.
I knew not that he was in such a state, and yet felt inwardly
prompted, despite my scanty strength and ill health, to go
and see him. Accordingly, I made my way to a hamlet
distant a good league from us, but found no sick people
there. I learned, however, that there was another hamlet
farther on; and, notwithstanding my weakness, felt that
God demanded of me that I should repair thither. I did so
with much difficulty, and found that dying savage only
waiting for baptism, which I gave him after the necessary in-
struction. He was fortunate in having shared in the instruc-
tions that I gave during the winter, when he visited our
chapel with the rest ; and in having, by his attention, shown
himself deserving of God's mercy.
"In the sunamer of that same year I was occupied chiefly
1666] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 123
in attending the sick of this mission ; three whom I found in
danger I baptized, and two of them died in the profession of
Christianity. Again God led me into the cabins, just in
time to confer baptism on eleven sick children, who had not
yet the use of their reason ; of these, five have gone to enjoy
God. Of seventeen more children whom I baptized there,
during the autumn and winter following, but one died, who
ascended to Heaven almost at the same time when a good
old blind man breathed his last, three days after his baptism."
Chapter IX.
0/ the Mission to the Pouteouatamiouec.
"The Pouteouatami are a people speaking the Algonquin
tongue, but in a dialect much harder to understand than
that of the Outaouacs. Their country lies along the Lake of
the Ilimouek, a large lake which had not before come to
our knowledge, adjoining the Lake of the Hurons, and that
of the Stinkards, in a southeasterly direction. ^ These peo-
ple are warlike, and they engage in hunting and fishing. Their
country is excellently adapted to raising Indian corn, and
they have fields covered with it, to which they are glad to
have recourse, to avoid the famine that is only too common
in these regions. They are extremely idolatrous, clinging
to their ridiculous legends, and are addicted to polygamy.
We have seen them all here, to the number of three hundred
men bearing arms. Of all the people with whom I have
mingled in these regions, they are the most docile, and the
best disposed toward the French. Their wives and daughters
are more modest than those of the other nations. They
observe among themselves a certain sort of civility, and also
show it toward strangers, which is rare among our barbarians.
Once when I went to see one of their elders, his eyes feU upon
my shoes, which were made after the French fashion; and
curiosity moved him to ask leave to take them, in order to
examine them easily. Upon returning them to me, he would
not permit me to put them on myself, but obliged me to al-
^ Allouez terms Lake Michigan, Lake of the Ilimouek (Illinois Indians),
adjacent to Lake Huron and to the Lake of the Stinkards (Green Bay).
124 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
low him to perform that service, even insisting on fastening
the thongs, and showing the same marks of respect that ser-
vants do to their masters upon rendering them this service.
KneeUng at my feet, he said to me, 'It is in this way that
we treat those whom we honor.'
"On another occasion when I went to see him, he arose
from his seat to yield it to me, with the same formahties
that politeness demands of gentlefolk.
"I proclaimed the Faith to them publicly in the general
council held a few days after my arrival in this country, and
privately in their cabins during their month's sojourn here,
and afterward throughout the following autumn and winter,
during which I baptized thirty-four of their children, nearly
all of this number being in the cradle. I may say, too, for
the consolation of this mission, that the first one of all these
people to take possession of Heaven in the name of all his
countrymen, was a Pouteouatami child whom I baptized soon
after my arrival, and who died immediately afterward.
"During the same winter I received into the church five
adults, of whom the first was an aged man, about a hundred
years old, who was regarded by the savages as a sort of di-
vinity. He was wont to fast twenty days at a time, and
had visions of God, that is, according to these people, of the
Maker of the Earth. Nevertheless, he fell ill; and he was
attended in his sickness by two of his daughters, who showed
an assiduity and love above the capacity of savages. Among
other services rendered him by them was that of repeating
to him, in the evening, the instructions which they had heard
during the day in our chapel. God was pleased to make use
of their piety for their father's conversion ; for, when I visited
him, I found him versed in our mysteries, and, the Holy
Ghost operating in his heart through the mmistry of his
daughters, he passionately asked to be made a Christian. I
granted his request by baptizing him — a ceremony which I
did not think it advisable to defer, seeing that he was in
danger of death. Thenceforth, he would not allow in his
presence any juggler's ceremonies for his cure; he would
have no conversation, except on the saving of his soul ; and
once, when I was urging upon him frequent prayer to God,
*Know, my brother,' said he, 'that I am continually throwing
1666] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 125
tobacco into the fire, and saying, "Thou maker of Heaven
and Earth, I would honor thee." ' I contented myself with
making him understand that it was not necessary to honor
God in that way, but merely to speak to him with the heart
and the mouth. Then, the time having come when the
savages ask the fulfillment of their desires in a ceremony
much resembling the Bacchanalia or carnival, our good old
man caused search to be made in all the cabins for a piece
of blue cloth, declaring his wish therefor because it was the
color of Heaven, Ho which,' said he, 'I would keep my heart
and thoughts ever directed.' Never have I seen a savage
more given to prayer than he ; among other prayers, he was
wont to repeat the following with unusual fervor : ' My Father
who art in Heaven, my Father, hallowed be your name,' —
finding more sweetness in those words than iu the ones I
taught him, ' Our Father who art in Heaven.' One day, taking
thought of his extreme old age, he exclaimed of his own ac-
cord, in the sentiments of St. Augustine : ' Too late have I
come to know you, 0 God, too late have I come to love you.'
I doubt not that his death, w^hich was not long delayed, was
precious in God's sight, who for so many years left him in
idolatry, and reserved for him so few days for closing his life
in so Christian a manner.
"I must not omit here a rather strange circumstance:
on the day after his death his relatives, contrary to all usage
of this countr}'-, burned his body and reduced it entirely to
ashes. ^ The cause of this is found in a legend which passes
here for truth.
"It is held beyond dispute that this old man's father was
a hare, an animal which runs over the snow in winter, and
that thus the snow, the hare, and the old man are of the same
village, that is, are relatives. It is further said that the hare
told his wife that he disapproved of their children's remain-
ing ia the depths of the earth, as that did not befit their
condition, they being relatives of the snow, whose country
is above, toward the sky ; and, if it ever occurred that they
were put iuto the gromid after their death, he would pray
the snow, his relative, in order to punish the people for this
^ Cremation is not usual among the North American aborigines ; when
used it is due to some superstition, or is the custom of a particular clan.
126 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
offense, to fall in such quantities and so long that there should
be no spring. And, to confirm this story, it is added that
three years ago the brother of our good old man died, in the
beginning of the winter; and, after he had been buried in
the usual manner, snow fell to such an extent, and the winter
was so long, that people despaired of seeing the spring in its
season. Meanwhile, all were dying of hunger, and no remedy
could be found for this general suffering. The elders as-
sembled, and held many councils, but all in vain; the snow
still continued. Then some one of the company said he re-
membered the threats which we have related. Straightway
they went and disinterred the dead man, and burned him ;
when immediately the snow ceased, and spring followed.
Who would think that people could give credence to such
absurd stories? And yet they regard them as true beyond
dispute.
"Our good old man was not the only one of his house
to whom God showed mercy. His two daughters, who were
the cause of his salvation, were undoubtedly drawn to Heaven
by his prayers ; for, one of them being seized with an ailment
which lasted but five days, God guided my steps so fortu-
nately for her eternal happiness that, although I could not
reach her until the evening before her death, I had leisure
to prepare her for holy baptism, which she received in time
to go and bear her good father company in the glory which
she had obtained for him. The third daughter, surviving
both the others, seems to have inherited their piety. I found
this woman so discreet, so modest, and so well disposed to-
ward the Faith, that I did not hesitate to admit her into the
Church through partaking of the sacraments. The entire
family of that good neophyte — and it is a large one — feel
the effects of this goodness, which seems natural to them.
They all have a tender regard for me, and, from a feeling
of respect which they bear me, call me by no other name
than 'uncle.' I hope that God will show mercy to all of them,
for I see them more inclined to prayer than is usual among
savages.
"We can also relate, among the marvels that God has
wrought in this church, what happened in regard to another
family of this nation. A young man, in whose canoe I had
1666] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 127
a place on my journey to this country, was seized, toward
the close of the winter, with the contagious disease that was
prevalent. I tried to show hini as much kindness as he had
shown me ill usage on the journey. As he was a man of
considerable importance, no kind of jugglery was spared
for his cure; and it was carried so far that at length they
came to tell me that they had extracted from his body two
dog's teeth. 'That is not what causes his illness,' said I to
them, 'but rather the tainted blood which he has in his body,'
for I judged that he had the pleurisy. Meanwhile, I began
to instruct him in good earnest ; and on the next day, finding
him well prepared, I gave him holy baptism with the name of
Ignace, hoping that great saint would confound the evil
spirit and the jugglers. Indeed, I bled him ; and, showing
the blood to the juggler, who was present, 'There,' said I to
him, 'is what is killing this sick man. Thou shouldst, with
all thy affected arts, have drawn from him every drop of this
corrupt blood, and not some alleged dog's teeth.' But he,
perceiving the relief which this bleeding had afforded the sick
man, determined to have the glory of his cure ; and, to that
end, made him take a kind of medicine, which produced such
an ill effect that the patient remained for three whole hours as
one dead. This result was proclaimed throughout the village,
and the juggler, much surprised by the turn of affairs, con-
fessed that he had killed the poor man, and begged me not to
forsake him. He was not, in truth, forsaken by his patron,
Saint Ignatius, who restored him to life, in order to confound
the superstitions of these infidels.
"This young man was not yet cured when his sister fell
ill of the same disease. We enjoyed greater freedom in the
discharge of our functions, in view of what had occurred in
her brother's case, and I had every opportunity to prepare
her for baptism ; and besides that grace, the blessed Virgin,
whose name she bore, procured her recovery.
"But hardly was she out of danger when the same dis-
ease seized her cousin, in the same cabin. He appeared to
me more dangerously ill than the two others had been, which
made me hasten to baptize him, after the necessary instruc-
tion. He was already feeling better, in consequence of this
sacrament, when his father took it into his head to make a
128 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
feast, or, rather, a sacrifice to the Sun, to ask the latter for
his son's recovery. I came upon them in the midst of the
ceremony, and hastened to embrace my sick neophyte, and
convince him that God alone was the master of life and death.
He immediately acknowledged his error, and made atonement
to God by the sacrament of penance; but I, addressing his
father and all the sacrificers, said to them : ' I despair now of
this patient's recovery, since you have had recourse to others
than Him who has in His hands both life and death. You
have killed this poor man by your impiety, and I give up all
hope for him.' He died, in fact, some time afterward ; and
I trust that God may have accepted his temporal death as
penance for his offense, so that He will not deprive him of the
everlastiug life which this man will have obtained by the in-
tercessions of Saint Joseph, whose name he bore.
"The gain is more assured in regard to children, of whom
I baptized seventeen toward the close of this mission, which
I was forced to bring to an end by the departure of these
people, as they returned to their own country after harvest-
ing their Indian corn. On taking leave, they gave me a very
pressing invitation to visit them in the following spring.
May God be forever glorified in the minds of those poor
barbarians, who have at last acknowledged Him, after recog-
nizing, from the earliest times, no divinity greater than the
Sun."
Chapter X.
Of the Mission to the Ousakiouek and Outagamiouek}
"I next add these two nations because they are mingled
with and allied to the preceding, and have, besides, the same
language, the Algonquin, although differing greatly in various
idioms, a fact which makes it very difficult to understand
them. Nevertheless, after some labor on my part, they un-
derstand me now, and I understand them, sufficiently for
their instruction.
"The country of the Outagami lies southward toward the
Lake of the Ilimouek. They are a populous tribe, of about a
thousand men bearing arms, and given to hunting and war-
^ Sauk and Outagami.
1666] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 129
fare. They have fields of Indian com, and hve in a country-
offering excellent facilities for the hunting of the wildcat,
stag, wild ox, and beaver. Canoes they do not use, but
commonly make their journeys by land, bearing their pack-
ages and their game on their shoulders. These people are as
much addicted to idolatry as the other nations. One day,
on entering the cabin of an Outagamy, I found his parents
dangerously ill; and when I told him that bleeding would
cure them, the poor man took some powdered tobacco and
sprinkled it completely over my gown, saying to me : ' Thou
art a spiiit; come now, restore these sick people to health;
I offer thee this tobacco in sacrifice.' ^What art thou doing,
my brother?' said I; 'I am nothing, but He who made all
things is the master of our lives, while I am but His servant.'
'Well, then,' he rejoined, scattering some tobacco on the
ground, and raising his eyes on high, 'to Thee, then, who
madest Heaven and earth I offer this tobacco. Give these
sick persons health.'
''These people are not very far removed from the rec-
ognition of the Creator of the world ; for it is they who told
me what I have already related, namely, that they acknowl-
edge in their country a Great Spirit, the maker of Heaven
and earth, who dwells toward the country of the French.
It is said of them and of the Ousaki that, when they find a
man alone and at a disadvantage, they kill him, especially
if he is a Frenchman; for they cannot endure the beards of
the latter people. Cruelty of that kind makes them less
docile, and less inclined to receive the Gospel, than are the
Pouteouatami. Still I failed not to proclaim it to nearly
six-score persons, who passed a summer here. I found none
among them sufficiently well prepared for baptism, though I
conferred it on five of their sick children, who then recovered
their health.
"As for the Ousaki, they above all others can be called
savages. They are very numerous, but wandering and
scattered in the forests, without any fixed abode. I have
seen nearly two hundred of them, to all of whom I have pub-
lished the Faith, and have baptized eighteen of their children,
to whom the sacred waters were salutary for both soul and
body."
130 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
Chapter XL
Of the Mission to the lUmouec, or Alimouek.
"The Himouec speak Algonquin, but a very different
dialect from those of all the other tribes.^ I understand them
only slightly, because I have talked with them only a very
little. They do not live in these regions, their country being
more than sixty leagues hence toward the south, beyond a
great river — which, as well as I can conjecture, empties into
the sea somewhere near Virginia. These people are hunters
and warriors, using bows and arrows, rarely muskets, and
never canoes. They used to be a populous nation, divided
into ten large villages; but now they are reduced to two,
continual wars with the Nadouessi on one side and the Iro-
quois on the other having well-nigh exterminated them.
"They acknowledge many spirits to whom they offer
sacrifice. They practise a kind of dance, quite peculiar to
themselves, which they call 'the dance of the tobacco-pipe.'
It is executed thus : they prepare a great pipe, which they
deck with plumes, and put in the middle of the room, with a
sort of veneration. One of the company rises, begins to
dance, and then yields his place to another, and this one to
a third ; and thus they dance in succession, one after another,
and not together. One would take this dance for a panto-
mime ballet; and it is executed to the beating of a drum.
The performer makes war in rhythmic time, preparing his
arms, attiring himself, running, discovering the foe, raising
the cry, slaying the enemy, removing his scalp, and returning
home with a song of victory, and all with an astonishing ex-
actness, promptitude and agility. After they have all danced,
one after the other, around the pipe, it is taken and offered
to the chief man in the whole assembly, for him to smoke;
then to another, and so in succession to all. This ceremony
resembles in its significance the French custom of drinking,
several out of the same glass ; but, in addition, the pipe is
left in the keeping of the most honored man, as a sacred trust,
1 The language of the Illinois-Miami division of the Algonquian stock
differs considerably from that of the northern tribes with whom Allouez was
familiar.
1666] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 131
and a sure pledge of the peace and union that will ever sub-
sist among them as long as it shall remain in that person's
hands.
"Of all the spirits to whom they offer sacrifice, they
honor with a very special worship one who is preeminent
above the others, as they maintain, because he is the maker
of all things. Such a passionate desire have they to see him
that they keep long fasts to that end, hoping that by this
means God will be induced to appear to them in their sleep ;
and if they chance to see Him, they deem themselves happy,
and assured of a long life.
"All the nations of the south have this same wish to see
God, which, without doubt, greatly facilitates their conver-
sion ; for it only remains to teach them how they must serve
Him in order to see Him and be blessed.
" I have proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ here to eighty
people of this nation, and they have carried it and published
it with approbation to the whole country of the south ; con-
sequently I can say that this mission is the one where I have
labored the least and accomplished the most. They honor
our Lord among themselves in their own way, putting His
image, which I have given them, in the most honored place
on the occasion of any important feast, while the master of
the banquet addresses it as follows : ' In Thy honor, 0
Man-God, do we hold this feast ; to Thee do we offer these
viands.'
"I confess that the fairest field for the Gospel appears to
me to be yonder. Had I had leisure and opportunity, I would
have pushed on to their country, to see with my own eyes all
the good thiags there of which they tell me.
"I find all those with whom I have mingled affable and
humane ; and it is said that whenever they meet a stranger,
they give a cry of joy, caress him, and show him every possible
evidence of affection. I have baptized but one child of this
nation. The seeds of the Faith which I have sown in their
souls will bear fruit when it pleases the master of the vine to
gather it. Their country is warm, and they raise two crops
of Indian corn a year. There are rattlesnakes there, which
cause many deaths among them, as they do not know the
antidote. They hold medicines in high esteem, offering
132 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
sacrifice to them as to great spirits. They have no forests
in their country, but vast prairies instead, where oxen, cows,
deer, bears, and other animals feed in great numbers."
Chapter XII.
Of the Mission to the N adouesiouek.
"These are people dwelling to the west of this place,
toward the great river named Messipi.^ They are forty
or fifty leagues from this place, in a country of prairies, rich
in all kinds of game. They cultivate fields, sowing therein
not Indian corn, but only tobacco; while Providence has
furnished them a kind of marsh rye which they go and har-
vest toward the close of summer in certain small lakes that
are covered with it. So well do they know how to prepare it
that it is highly appetizing and very nutritious.^ They
gave me some when I was at the head of Lake Tracy, where
I saw them. They do not use muskets, but only bows and
arrows, with which they shoot very skillfully. Their cabins
are not covered with bark, but with deerskins, carefully dressed,
and sewed together with such skill that the cold does not enter.
These people are, above all the rest, savage and wild, appear-
ing abashed and as motionless as statues in our presence.
Yet they are warlike, and have conducted hostilities against
all their neighbors, by whom they are held in extreme fear.
They speak a language that is utterly foreign, the savages
here not understanding it at all. Therefore I have been
obliged to address them through an interpreter, who, being
an infidel, did not accomplish what I might well have wished.
Still I succeeded in wresting from the demon one innocent
soul of that country, a little child, who went to Paradise soon
after I had baptized it. A solis ortu usque ad occasum lauda-
hile nomen Domini.^ God will give us some opportunity to
^ This is the first mention in the Jesuit Relations of the Mississippi River
by this name.
2 The wild oats or wild rice that grows so plentifully in the streams and
lakes of Wisconsin and Minnesota forms a nourishing food of great value in
Indian economy.
' Psalm cxiii. 3.
1666] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 133
announce His word there, and glorify His holy name, when
it shall please his divine Majesty to show mercy to those
people. They are well-nigh at the end of the earth, so they
say. Farther toward the setting Sun there are nations named
Karezi, beyond whom, they maintain, the earth is cut off,
and nothing is to be seen but a great lake whose waters are
ill-smelling, for so they designate the sea.
"Toward the northwest there is a nation which eats
meat uncooked, being content to hold it in the hand and
expose it to the fire, while beyond these people lies the North
Sea. On this side are the Kilistinons, whose rivers empty
into Hutston's Bay.^ We have, besides, some knowledge
of the savages inhabiting the regions of the south, as far as
the sea; so that only a little territory and few people are
left to whom the Gospel has not been proclaimed — if we
credit the reports often given us by the savages."
Chapter XIII.
0/ the Mission to the Kilistinouc.
"The Kilistinouc have their usual abode on the shores of
the North Sea, and their canoes ply along a river emptying
into a great bay, which we think is, in all probability, the one
designated on the map by the name of Hutson. For those
whom I have seen from that country have told me that they
had known of a ship ; and one of their old men declared to
me that he had himself seen, at the mouth of the River of the
Assinipoualac,^ some peoples allied to the Kilistinouc, whose
country is still farther northward.
"He told me further that he had also seen a house which
the Europeans had built on the mainland, out of boards and
pieces of wood; and that they held books in their hands,
like the one he saw me holding when he told me this. He
made mention of another nation, adjoining the Assinipoualac,
who eat human beings, and live wholly on raw flesh; but
these people, in turn, are eaten by bears of frightful size,
1 The Christinaux Indians, for whom see p. 24, note 3, ante. They ranged
as far northward as Hudson Bay.
* The present Assiniboine River.
134 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1666
all red, and with prodigiously long claws. ^ It is deemed
highly probable that they are lions.
"Concerning the Kilistinouc, they appear to me extremely
docile, and show a kindness uncommon among these bar-
barians. They are much more nomadic than any of the
other nations, having no fixed abode, no fields, no villages;
and living wholly on game and a small quantity of oats which
they gather in marshy places. They pay idolatrous wor-
ship to the Sun, to which they are wont to offer sacrifice by
fastening a dog to the top of a pole and leaving it thus sus-
pended until it rots.
"They speak nearly the same tongue as do the people
formerly called Poissons-blancs,^ and as the savages of Ta-
doussac. By the grace of God I understand them, and they
me, sufficiently for their instruction. They had never heard
of the Faith, and this novelty, together with their docUity
of temperament, made them very attentive to me. They
have promised me to render homage henceforth only to the
Creator of the Sun and of the world. The wandering and
vagrant life which they lead made me postpone baptizing
those whom I saw to be best prepared, and I only baptized
a new-born girl-baby.
"I hope this mission will some day bear fruit commen-
surate with the labors which will be bestowed upon it when
our Fathers go and winter with the people, as they do with
the savages from Tadoussac,' at Quebec. They have in-
vited me thither, but I cannot give myself wholly to some while
depriving so many others of the succor I owe them, as being
the nearest to this place and the best fitted to receive the
Gospel."
' The Assiniboin are a Siouan tribe, offshoot from the Yankton family of
the Sioux. Their habitat was on Lake Winnipeg and the river of their name.
They traded with the Christinaux and were frequently supplied from Hudson
Bay. The animals here described are grizzly bears.
* Poissons-blancs (whitefish) was the French appellation of the Attikamegue
Indians who lived on the upper waters of St. Maurice River. Allouez speaks
of them in the past tense, for they were nearly extinct at this time because of the
attacks of the Iroquois and the ravages of small-pox.
' Tadoussac lies at the mouth of Saguenay River, where the Jesuits had a
1667] ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 135
Chapter XIIII.
0/ the Mission to the Outchihouec}
"They are called sauteurs by the French, because their
abode is the sault by which Lake Tracy empties into the
Lake of the Hurons. They speak the common Algonquin,
and are easily understood. I have proclaimed the Faith to
them on various occasions, but especially when I sojourned
with them at the head of our great lake for a whole month.
During that time, I instructed them in all our mysteries;
I also baptized twenty of their children, and an adult who was
sick ; this man died on the day after his baptism, bearing to
Heaven the first-fruits of his nation."
Chapter XV.
Of the Mission to the Nipissiriniens, and Father Alloues^s Jour-
ney to Lake Alimibegong.
"The Nipissiriniens formerly received instruction from
our Fathers who sojourned in the country of the Hurons.'
These poor people, many of whom were Christians, were com-
pelled by the incursions of the Iroquois to flee for refuge even
to Lake Alimibegong, only fifty or sixty leagues from the
North Sea.s
"For nearly twenty years they have neither seen a pastor
nor heard the name of God. I thought that I ought to be-
stow a part of my labors on that old-time church, and that
a journey undertaken to their new country would be attended
with Heaven's blessings.
" On the sixth day of May of this year, 1667, I embarked
in a canoe with two savages to serve me as guides, through-
out this journey. Meeting on the way two-score savages from
the North Bay, I conveyed to them the first tidings of the
Faith, for which they thanked me with some politeness.
"Continuing our journey, on the seventeenth we crossed
* A variant for the Chippewa tribe, for whom see p. 23, note 2, ante.
» See Introduction to Raymbault and Jogues, ante.
• Lake Nipigon, north of Lake Superior, emptying into it by a river of the
saine name.
136 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1667
a portion of our great lake, paddling for twelve hours with-
out dropping the paddle from the hand. God rendered me
very sensible aid; for, as there were but three of us in our
canoe, I was obliged to paddle with all my strength, together
with the savages, in order to make the most of the calm,
without which we should have been in great danger, utterly
spent, as we were, with toil and lack of food. Nevertheless,
we lay down supperless at nightfall, and on the morrow con-
tented ourselves with a frugal meal of Indian corn and water ;
for the wind and rain prevented our savages from casting
their net.
"On the nineteenth, invited by the beautiful weather,
we covered eighteen leagues, paddling from daybreak until
after sunset, without respite and without landing.
"On the twentieth, finding nothing in our nets, we con-
tinued our journey, munching some grains of dry com. On
the following day, God refreshed us with two small fishes,
which gave us new life. Heaven's blessings increased on the
next day, our savages catcliing so many sturgeon that they
were obliged to leave part of them at the water's edge.
"Coasting along the northern shore of this great lake
on the twenty-third, we passed from island to island, these
being very frequent. There is one, at least twenty leagues
long, where are found pieces of copper, which is held by the
Frenchmen who have examined it here to be true red copper. '^
"After accomplishing a good part of our journey on the
lake, we left it on the twenty-fifth of this month of May,
and consigned ourselves to a river, so full of rapids and falls
that even our savages could go no farther ; and learning that
Lake Alimibegong was still frozen over, they gladly took the
two days' rest imposed upon them by necessity.
"As we drew near our journey's end, we occasionally met
Nipissirinien savages, wandering from their homes to seek a
livelihood in the woods. Gathering together a considerable
number of them, for the celebration of Whitsuntide,^ I pre-
pared them by a long instruction for hearing the holy sacri-
fice of the mass, which I celebrated in a chapel of foliage.
They listened with as much piety and decorum as do our
1 Isle Royale, now under the jurisdiction of Keweenaw County, Michigan.
2 Whitsunday fell on May 29 in 1667.
16671 ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY TO LAKE SUPERIOR 137
savages of Quebec in our chapel at Sillery;^ and to me it
was the sweetest refreshment I had during that journey, en-
tirely removing all past fatigue.
"Here I must relate a remarkable circumstance which
occurred not long ago. Two women, mother and daughter,
who had always had recourse to God from the time of their
instruction, and had received from Him unfailing and ex-
traordinary succor, very recently learned by experience that
God never forsakes those who put their trust in Him. They
had been captured by the Iroquois, and had happily escaped
from the fires and cruelties of those barbarians ; but had soon
afterward fallen a second time into their clutches, and were,
consequently, left with no hope of escape. Yet one day,
when they found themselves alone with a single Iroquois,
who had remained behind to guard them while the rest went
out to hunt, the girl told her mother that the time had come
to rid themselves of this guard, and flee. To this end she
asked the Iroquois for a knife to use on a beaver-skin that
she was ordered to dress; and at the same time, imploring
Heaven's aid, she plunged it into his bosom. The mother,
on her part, arose and struck him on the head with a billet
of wood, and they left him for dead. Taking some food,
they started forth with all haste, and at length reached their
own country in safety.
"We spent six days in paddling from island to island,
seeking some outlet; and finally, after many detours, we
reached the village of the Nipissiriniens on the third day
of June. It is composed of savages, mostly idolaters, with
some Christians of long standing. Among them I found
twenty who made public profession of Christianity. I did
not lack occupation with both classes during our two weeks'
sojourn in their country, and I worked as diligently as my
health, broken by the fatigues of the journey, allowed. I
found more resistance here than anj^ivhere else to infant
baptism ; but the more the Devil opposes us, the more must
we strive to confound him. He is hardly pleased, I think, to
see me make this latest journey, which is nearly five hundred
leagues in length, going and coming, including the detours we
were obliged to make."
^ A mission colony not far from Quebec.
FATHER ALLOUEZ'S WISCONSIN JOURNEY
1669-1670
INTRODUCTION
In our last selection Allouez, in the summer of 1667, was
left at his farthest north on Lake Nipigon; the following
narrative commences with the autumn of 1669. Within the
two years unrecorded here, he had visited the St. Lawrence
twice, had secured more workers for the Western field, and
had established permanent headquarters at Sault Ste. Marie.
At this place Father Claude Dablon had been made superior of
all the Western missions; while Father Jacques Marquette
had taken Allouez's former place at the Bay of Chequamegon.
Allouez was eager to begin new work among the Wiscon-
sin tribes, many from among whose members had paid him
short visits in his hut on Chequamegon Bay. No sooner had
he reached the Sault, after the long fatiguing canoe journey of
a thousand miles, than he began preparations for a voyage
to Green Bay and the villages upon its shores. The succeed-
ing narrative is especially interesting to the student of West-
ern history, since by this journey Allouez opened the way for
the later exploration of Father Marquette, and in his accurate
and detailed descriptions portrays with careful hand the Wis-
consin of the aborigines.
The extract that follows is from the Jesuit Relation of
1669-1670, first published at Paris in 1671. It is found in
the Thwaites edition in volume LIV., pp. 197-214.
141
FATHER ALLOUEZ'S JOURNEY INTO
WISCONSIN, 1669-1670
Chapter XII.
0/ the Mission of Saint Frangois Xavier on the "Bay of Stink-
ards," or rather " of Stinking Waters."
Letter from Father Allouez, who has had charge of this Mission,
to the Reverend Father Superior.
My Reverend Father, Pax Christi.
1 SEND to Your Reverence the journal of our winter's
campaign, wherein you will find how the Gospel has been
proclaimed, and Jesus Christ preached, to peoples that wor-
ship only the Sun, or some imaginary idols.
On the third of November, we departed from the Sault,
I and two others. Two canoe-loads of Prouteouatamis
wished to conduct me to their country ; not that they wished
to receive instruction there, having no disposition for the
Faith, but that I might curb some young Frenchmen, who,
being among them for the purpose of trading, were threaten-
ing and maltreating them.^
We arrived on the first day at the entrance to the Lake
of the Hurons, where we slept under the shelter of the is-
lands. The length of the journey and the difiiculty of the
way, because of the lateness of the season, led us to have
recourse to Saint Francis Xavier, patron of our mission;
this obliged me to celebrate holy mass, and my two compan-
ions to receive communion on the day of the feast,^ in his
honor, and still further to invoke him, twice every day, by
reciting his orison.
On the fourth, toward noon, we doubled the cape which
^ See Parrot's account of the disorder and license of the early coureurs des
hois, p. 82, ante.
2 December 3 was the feast-day of St. Francis Xavier ; see p. 145, 'post.
142
16691 ALLOUEZ IN WISCONSIN 143
forms the detour,* and is the beginning of the strait or the
gulf of Lake Huron, which is well known, and of the Lake of
the Ilinois, which up to the present time is unknown, and is
much smaller than Lake Huron. Toward evening the con-
trary wind, which was about to cast our canoe upon the shoals
of rocks, obliged us rather to finish our journey.
On the 5th, upon waking, we found ourselves covered with
snow, and the surface of the canoe coated with ice. This
little beginning of crosses which our Lord was pleased to al-
lot us invited us to offer ourselves for greater ones. We
were compelled to embark with all the baggage and provisions,
with great difficulty, our bare feet in the water, in order to
keep the canoe afloat, which otherwise would have broken.
After leaving a great number of islands to the northward,^
we slept on a little island, where we were detained six days
by the bad weather. The snow and frosts threatening us
with ice, my companions had recourse to Saint Anne, to whom
we entrusted our journey, praying her, together with St.
Francis Xavier, to take us under her protection.
On the eleventh we embarked, notwithstanding the con-
trary wind, and crossed to another island, and thence to the
mainland, where we found two Frenchmen with several
savages. From them we learned of the great dangers to
which we were about to expose ourselves, by reason of the
storms that are frequent on this lake, and the ice which
would soon be afloat. But all that was not sufficient to shake
the confidence that we had reposed in our protectors. After
invoking them, we launched the canoe, and then doubled
successfully enough the cape^ which makes a detour to the
west, having left in our rear a large island named Michili-
makinak, celebrated among the savages. Their legends about
this island are pleasing.
They say that it is the native country of one of their
gods, named Michabous — that is to say, "the Great Hare,"
Ouisaketchak, who is the one that created the earth; and
that it was in these islands that he invented nets for catch-
^ Still called Detour, in Chippewa County, Mich.
2 The Cheneaux Islands of Mackinac County, now utilized for summer
homes.
' Cape St. Ignace, directly west of Mackinac Island.
144 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
ing fish, after he had attentively considered the spider while
she was working at her web in order to catch flies in it. They
believe that Lake Superior is a pond made by beavers, and
that its dam was double, the first being at the place called by
us the Saiilt, and the second five leagues below. In ascend-
ing the river, they say, this same god found that second dam
first and broke it down completely; and that is why there
is no waterfall or whirlpools in that rapid. As to the first
dam, being in haste, he only walked on it to tread it down;
and, for that reason, there still remain great falls and whirl-
pools there.
This god, they add, while chasing a beaver in Lake Su-
perior, crossed with a single stride a bay of eight leagues in
width. In view of so mighty an enemy, the beavers changed
their location, and withdrew to another lake, Alimibegoung,
whence they afterward, by means of the rivers flowing from it,
arrived at the North Sea/ with the intention of crossing over
to France ; but, finding the water bitter, they lost heart, and
spread throughout the rivers and lakes of this entire country.
And that is the reason why there are no beavers in France,
and the French come to get them here.^ The people believe
that it is this god who is the master of our lives, and that
he grants life only to those to whom he has appeared in sleep.
This is a part of the legends with which the savages very
often entertain us.
On the fourteenth, God delivered us from two great
dangers, through the intercession of our protectors. While
we were taking a little rest, our canoe was borne away from
us by a gust of wind, which carried it to the other side of the
river; then it was brought back to us by another gust of
wind, when, awakened by the noise it made, we were think-
ing of making a raft, in order to go and get it. Toward eve-
ning, after making a long day's journey and finding no place
^ Lake Nipigon discharges into Lake Superior, but the portages between
its tributaries and Albany River — an affluent of Hudson Bay — are very short
and easy ; thus Allouez, who had been at Lake Nipigon, thought of it as directly
communicating with the North Sea.
* Either the missionary put his own interpretation upon this myth, or it
was of very recent growth, since the Indians of that region had known of white
men only in their own generation. This is an interesting example of the con-
stant adaptation of the old myths to new conditions.
1669] ALLOUEZ IN WISCONSIN 145
for disembarking, by reason of the inaccessible banks, we were
forced to remain out in the stream during the night; but,
being surprised by an unusual gust of wind, we were obliged
to land among rocks, where our canoe would have been
shattered if God in His Providence had not taken charge
of our guidance. In this second danger we appealed to Him
by the mediation of our intercessors, and afterward said
mass in thanksgiving.
After we had continued our voyage until the twenty-
fifth, amid continual dangers, God indemnified us for all our
hardships by causing us to chance upon a cabin of Pouteoua-
tamis, who were engaged in fishing and hunting at the edge
of the wood. They regaled us with all that they had, but
especially with fene, which is the nut of the beech-tree, which
they roast, and pound into flour. I had leisure to instruct
them, and to confer baptism upon two little sick children.
On the twenty-seventh, while we were trying to paddle
with the utmost vigor possible, we were perceived by four
cabins of savages named Oumalouminek,^ who forced us to
land ; but as they were pressed with hunger, and we were at
the end of our provisions, we could not remain long together.
On the twenty-ninth, as the mouth of the river which we
were to enter was frozen over, we were in great difficulty.
We thought of making the rest of the journey to the ren-
dezvous by land; but, a furious wind having arisen during
the night, we found ourselves enabled, owing to the breaking-
up of the ice, to continue our voyage. We finished it on the
second of December, on the eve of Saint Francis Xavier's
day, when we arrived at the place where the French were;
and they helped us to celebrate his day with the utmost
solemnity in our power, thanking him for the succor that he
had procured for us during our voyage, and entreating him
to be the patron of that mission, which we were about to start
under his protection.
On the following day, I celebrated holy mass, at which
the French, to the number of eight, paid their devotions.
As the savages had gone into winter quarters, I found here
only one village of different nations — Ousaki, Pouteouatami,
Outagami, Ovenibigoutz — about six hundred souls. A league
^ The Menominee Indians, for whom see p. 76, note 1, ante.
146 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
and a half away was another, of a hundred and fifty souls;
four leagues distant, one of a hundred souls ; and eight leagues
from here, on the other side of the bay, one of about three
hundred souls. ^
All these nations have their fields of Indian com, squashes,
beans, and tobacco. On this bay, in a place that they call
Ouestatinong,^ twenty-five leagues away, there is a large
nation named Outagami, and a day's journey from them there
are two others, Oumami and Makskouteng.' Of all these
peoples, a portion gained a knowledge of our Faith at Saint
Esprit Point, where I instructed them ; we shall do so more
fully, with Heaven's help.
In the matter of our sustenance, we have had a good deal
of trouble. Scarcely have we foimd material to make our
cabin; all that we have had for food has been only Indian
corn and acorns ; the few fish that are seen here, and that but
seldom, are very poor ; and the water of this bay and of the
rivers is like stagnant ditch-water.
The savages of this region are more than usually barba-
rous ; they are without ingenuity, and do not know how to
make even a bark dish or a ladle ; they conmaonly use shells.
They are grasping and avaricious to an extraordinary de-
gree, and sell their little commodities at a high price, because
they have only what is barely necessary. The season in
which we arrived among them was not favorable for us : they
were aU in a needy condition, and very little able to give us
any assistance, so that we suffered hunger. But blessed be
God, who gives us aU these opportunities and richly recom-
penses, besides, all these hardships by the consolation that He
makes us find, amid the greatest afflictions, in the quest of so
many poor savages' souls, which are not less the work of
His hands and the price of the blood of Jesus Christ, His
Son, than those of the princes and sovereigns of the earth.
^ Allouez's mission during the winter of 1669-1670 at the mixed village of
Sauk, Potawatomi, Fox, and Winnebago, is believed to have been located on
Oconto River, probably at the rapids where the city of Oconto, Wis., now stands.
The village a league and a half away would have been on the Pensaukee ; that
of four leagues distant at Peshtigo, where an Indian village existed until com-
paratively recent times.
* The site of this village is noted on p. 81, note 1, ante.
» This village is located on p. 84, note 1, ante.
1670] ALLOUEZ IN WISCONSIN 147
Of the Mission to the Ousaki.
The village of the Ousaki is the first where I began to
give instruction. As soon as we were provided with a cabin
there, I assembled all the elders, to whom, after relating the
news of the peace with the Iroquois, I expatiated on the pur-
pose of my journey, which was naught else than their instruc-
tion. I explained to them the principal articles of our be-
lief, which they heard with approval, appearing to me very
v^^ell disposed toward Christianity. Oh, if we could succor
them in their poverty, how flourishing our Church would be !
The rest of that month, I labored for their instruction, and
gave baptism to several sick children, — having the consola-
tion of seeing one of these, some time afterward, leave the
Church Militant, which had received him into the number
of her children, to enter the Church Triumphant, there to
sing eternally the mercies of God toward him, and to be an
advocate for the conversion of the people of his nation.
Among those who had not heard about our mysteries
were some irreligious persons, who made fun of them. God
put into my mouth words wherewith to check them ; and I
hope that, strengthened by Grace, we shall, with time and
patience, have the consolation of winning some of them to
Jesus Christ. Those who are Christians have come punc-
tually every Sunday to prayers and to instruction, where we
have the Pater and Ave chanted in their language.
In the month of January I puiposed to go and carry the
Gospel to another village, but it was impossible for me to go
and settle down among them. I tried to make up for this by
frequent visits.
Of the Mission to the Pouteouatamis.
On the seventeenth of February I repaired to the village
of the Pouteouatamis, which is eight leagues from this place,
on the other side of the lake.^ After walking aU day without
^ The site of the Potawatomi village is thought to have been on the east
shore of Green Bay, about six miles from the mouth of Fox River, not far from
Point Sable. This seems to have been the village where Perrot also first en-
countered the Potawatomi.
148 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
halting, we arrived there at sunset, sustained by some small
bit of frozen meat that hunger made us eat. On the day after
my arrival, they made us a present of all the fat of a bear,
with many manifestations of affection.
On the nineteenth, I assembled the councO, and, after
relating the news, informed them of the purpose that had
brought me to their country, reserving for the following day
a fuller discourse on our religion. This I carried out with
success and the divine blessing, causing them, of their own
accord, to draw this conclusion, that, since the Faith was so
necessary for avoiding Hell, they washed to pray, and hoped
that I would procure them a missionary to instruct them, or
else would myself stay and do them that kindness.
In the days following, I visited all the cabins, and in-
structed the inmates very fully in private, with satisfaction
on both sides. I had the consolation of conferring baptism
there on two new-born babes and on a young man who was
djdng, who exhibited an excellent disposition.
On the twenty-third, we set out to return thence ; but the
wind, which froze our faces, and the snow, compelled us to
halt, after we had gone two leagues, and to pass the night
on the lake. On the following day, the severity of the cold
having diminished, although very little, we continued our
journey with much suffering. On my part, I had my nose
frozen, and I had a fainting fit that compelled me to sit down
on the ice, where I should have remained, my companions
having gone on ahead, if, by a divine providence, I had not
found in my handkerchief a clove, wluch gave me strength
enough to reach the settlement.
At the opening of the month of March, the great thaws
having begun, the savages broke up their settlements to go
in quest of the means to sustain life, after being for some time
pressed with hunger.
I was very sorry not to have been able to go through all
the villages, by reason of the remoteness of some of them, and
the little inclination of others to receive me. I resolved to
try at least to establish Christianity firmly in a neighboring
village, composed for the most part of Pouteouatamis. Call-
ing the men together twice, I ex-plained to them fully our
mysteries and the obligation resting upon them to embrace
1670] ALLOUEZ IN WISCONSIN 149
our Faith ; and that this was the sole reason that had brought
me to their country in the autumn. They received veiy favor-
ably all that I said to them, and I often visited them in their
cabins, to inculcate in the inmates what I had taught themx in
public. I baptized some sick children there, and received
great consolation in the assurance which certain persons gave
me that, since hearing me five years ago at the Point of Saint
Esprit, on Lake Superior, they had always invoked the true
God. They said that they had been very appreciably pro-
tected by Him; that they had always succeeded in their
hunting and fishing; that they had not been ill, and that,
in their families, death did not occur so frequently as was
usual before they adopted prayer. On another day, I taught
the catechism to the girls and women, our cabin being entirely
filled. These poor people are very well disposed, and show
great good will ; many of them question me on various matters,
in order to receive instruction, propounding to me their diflB.-
culties, which arise only from their high idea of Christianity,
and from their fear of not being able to fulfill its obligations.
Our stay was not long, as hunger was pressing them, and they
were forced to go in search of provisions. We withdrew full
of consolation, praising and blessing God that His holy name
had been respected, and the holy Faith well received, by these
barbarian peoples.
On the 21st of that month, I took the sun's altitude, and
found that this was about 46 degrees, 40 minutes; and its
elevation from the pole, or the complement of the above,
was about 43 degrees, 20 minutes.^
The ice did not break up here until the 12th of April, the
winter having been extremely severe this year; and conse-
quently navigation was much impeded.
On the 16th of April, I embarked to go and begin the
mission to the Outagamis, a people of considerable note in
all these regions. We slept at the head of the bay, at the
mouth of the River des Puans, which we have named for
^In 1902 a combined sun-dial and compass of French manufacture was
found on the site of this village. It apparently dates from the seventeenth
century, and on the reverse contains notes of the latitude of principal places in
New France. It was with some similar instrument that Allouez took his ob-
servation. The true latitude is about 44° 31'.
150 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
Saint Francis.^ On our way we saw clouds of swans, bus-
tards, and ducks. The savages set snares for them at the
head of the bay, where they catch as many as fifty in one
night, this game seeking in autumn the wild oats that the
wind has shaken off in the month of September.
On the 17th, we ascended the River Saint Frangois, which
is two, and sometimes three, arpents wide.^ After proceed-
ing four leagues, we found the village of the savages called
Saky, whose people were beginning a work that well deserves
to have its place here. From one bank of the river to the
other they make a barricade by driving down large stakes
in two brasses of water, so that there is a kind of bridge over
the stream for the fishermen, who, with the help of a small
weir, easily catch the sturgeon and every other kind of fish,
— ^which this dam stops, although the water does not cease to
flow between the stakes.^ They call this contrivance Miti-
hikan, and it serves them during the spring and a part of the
summer.
On the eighteenth we passed the portage called by the
natives Kekaling,^ our sailors dragging the canoe among
rapids, while I walked on the river-bank, where I found apple-
trees and vine-stocks in great numbers.
On the 19th, our sailors ascended the rapids for two
leagues by the use of poles, and I went by land as far as the
other portage, which they call Ooukocitiming, that is to say,
"the bank."^ We observed on this same day the eclipse
of the sun predicted by the astrologers, which lasted from
noon until two o'clock; a third of the sun's disk, or nearly
that, appeared to be eclipsed, the other two-thirds making
^ Fox River was first known as Riviere des Puans ; after the removal of
the Outagami or Fox Indians to its banks (about 1680) it acquired their name,
which in varying forms it has since retained.
2 The French arpent was an area a Httle larger than an acre, or about 220
feet square. The meaning is that the river is 400, or at times 600, feet wide.
3 This primitive weir was at the rapids later called De Pere from the estab-
lishment there of the Jesuit mission. The place is now covered by a govern-
ment dam.
* This rapid was at the site of the modern Kaukauna, which is a variation
of the Indian name. In all early navigation of the Fox, these rapids had to be
portaged.
6 Probably Grand Chute, at the site of the present city of Appleton.
1670] ALLOUEZ IN WISCONSIN 151
a crescent.* We arrived in the evening at the entrance to
Lake des Puans, which we have named Lake Saint Fran-
gois; it is about twelve leagues long and four wide, extends
from the north-northeast to the south-southwest, and abounds
in fish, but is uninhabited, on account of the Nadouecis, who
are there held in fear.^
On the twentieth, which was Sunday, I said mass, after
voyaging five or six leagues on the lake, after which we came
to a river, flowing from a lake bordered with wild oats ; this
stream we followed, and found at the end of it the river that
leads to the Outagamis, in one direction, and that which
leads to the Machkoutenck, in the other. We entered this
first stream, which flows from a lake;^ there we saw two
turkeys perched on a tree, male and female, resembling per-
fectly those of France — the same size, the same color, and the
same cry. Bustards, ducks, swans, and geese are in great
number on aU these lakes and rivers, the wild oats, on which
they live, attracting them thither. There are large and
small stags, bears, and beavers in great abundance.
On the twenty-fourth, after turning and doubling several
times in various lakes and rivers, we arrived at the village of
the Outagamis.
This people came in crowds to meet us, in order to see,
as they said, the Manitou, who was coming to their country.
They accompanied us with respect as far as the door of the
cabin, which we were made to enter.
This nation is renowned for being populous, the men
who bear arms numbering more than four hundred; while
the number of women and children there is the greater on
accoimt of the polygamy which prevails among them, each
man having commonly four wives, some having six, and others
1 The solar eclipse of April 19, 1670, was total in the northernmost parts
of North America. A description of the phenomena observed at Quebec occurs
in this Relation just after the portion we extract.
2 This lake still retains the tribal name Winnebago. It is the largest in
Wisconsin, about thirty miles long by eleven at its widest part. The Nadouecis
were the Sioux tribes. See p. 24, note 1, ante.
* After crossing Lake Winnebago to the site of Oshkosh, the missionary
entered upper Fox River; thence through Lake Butte des Morts, a widening
of the stream, he reached the entrance of Wolf River, whose course he followed
to the Outagami village.
152 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
as many as ten. Six large cabins of these poor people were
put to rout this month of March by eighteen Iroquois from
Tsonnontouan/ who, under the guidance of two fugitive
Iroquois slaves of the Pouteouatamis, made an onslaught,
and killed all the people, except thirty women whom they led
away as captives. As the men were away hunting, they met
with but little resistance, there being only six warriors left in
the cabins, besides the women and children, who numbered
a hundred or thereabout. This carnage was committed two
days' journey from the place of our winter quarters, at the
foot of the Lake of the Ilinioues, which is called Machihi-
ganing.2
On the twenty-fifth, I called together the elders in a
large assembly, with the purpose of giving them the first
acquaintance with our mysteries. I began with the invoca-
tion of the Holy Ghost, to whom we had made our appeal
during our journey, to pray for His blessing upon our labors.
Then, when I had, by means of a present which I thought I
ought to make them, dried the tears which the remembrance
of the massacre peipetrated by the Iroquois caused them to
shed, I explained to them the principal articles of our Faith,
and made known the law and the commandments of God, the
rewards promised to those that shall obey Him, and the pun-
ishments prepared by Him for those that shall not obey Him.
They understood me without my having need of an inter-
preter, and that, too, with attention ; but, oh, my God !
what ideas and ways contrary to the Gospel these poor peo-
ple have, and how much need there is of very powerful grace
to conquer their hearts! They accept the unity and sover-
eignty of God, Creator of all things ; for the rest, they have
not a word to say.
An Outagami told me, in private, that his ancestor had
come from Heaven, and that he had preached the unity and
the sovereignty of a God who had made all the other gods;
that he had assured them that he would go to Heaven after
his death, where he should die no more; and that his body
would not be found in the place where it had been buried,
^Thls is the Algonquian-French appellation of the Seneca tribe of the
Iroquois confederacy.
* Lake Michigan. This Iroquois attack occurred near the site of Chicago.
1670] ALLOUEZ IN WISCONSIN 153
which was verified, said this Outagami, the body being no
longer found where it had been put. These are fables which
God uses for their salvation ; for after the man had finished
telling me everything, he added that he was dismissing all
his wives, retaining only one, whom he would not change;
and that he was resolved to obey me and pray to God. I
hope that God will show him mercy. I tried to visit the
people in their cabins, which are in very great number, some-
times for the purpose of instructing them in private, and
at other times to go and carry them some little medicine,
or, rather, something sweet for their little sick children, whom
I was baptizing. Toward the end, they brought them to
me voluntarily in the cabin where I lodged.
I spoke their language, in the assurance they gave me
that they understood me; it is the same as that of the Satzi.^
But alas, what difficulty they have in apprehending a law that
is so opposed to all their customs !
These savages withdrew to those regions to escape the
persecution of the Iroquois, and settled in an excellent coun-
try, the soil, which is black there, yielding them Indian corn
in abundance. They live by hunting during the winter, re-
turning to their cabins toward its close, and living there on
Indian corn that they had hidden away the previous autumn ;
they season it with fish. In the midst of their clearings they
have a fort, where their cabins of heavy bark are situated, for
resisting all sorfs of attacks. On their journeys, they make
themselves cabins with mats. They are at war with the Na-
douecious, their neighbors. Canoes are not used by them;
and, for that reason, they do not make war on the Iroquois,
although they are often killed by them. They are held in
very low estimation, and are considered by the other nations
as stingy, avaricious, thieving, choleric, and quarrelsome.
They have poor opinion of the French, ever since two traders
in beaver-skins appeared among them ; if these men had be-
haved as they ought, I should have had less trouble in giv-
ing these poor people other ideas of the whole French
nation, which they are beginning to esteem, since I explained
to them the principal and only motive that brought me to
their country.
1 Misprint for Saki (Sauk).
154 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
On the twenty-sixth, the elders came into the cabin where
I was lodging, to hold council there. The assembly having
been convened, the captain, after laying at my feet a present
of some skins, harangued in the following terms: "We thank
thee," he said, "for having come to visit and console us in
our affliction ; and we are the more obliged to thee, inasmuch
as no one has hitherto shown us that kindness." They
added that they had nothing further to say to me, except
that they were too dispirited to speak to me, being all oc-
cupied in mourning their dead. "Do thou, black gown, who
art not dispirited and who takest pity on people, take pity
on us as thou shalt deem best. Thou couldst dwell here near
us, to protect us from our enemies, and teach us to speak
to the great Manitou, the same as thou teachest the savages
of the Sault. Thou couldst cause to be restored to us our
wives, who were led away prisoners. Thou couldst stay the
arms of the Iroquois, and speak to them of peace in our be-
half for the future. I have no sense to say anything to thee ;
only take pity on us in the way thou shalt judge most fitting.
When thou seest the Iroquois, tell them that they have taken
me for some one else. I do not make war on them, I have
not eaten their people ; but my neighbors took them prisoners
and made me a present of them ; I adopted them, and they
are living here as my children." This speech has nothing of
the barbarian m it. I told them that in the treaty of peace
which the French had made with the Iroquois, no mention
had been made of them ; that no Frenchman had then been
here, and that they were not known ; that, as to other matters,
I much approved what their captain had said ; that I would
not forget it, and that in the following autumn I would render
them an answer. MeanwhOe, I told them to fortify themselves
in their resolution to obey the true God, who alone could pro-
cure them what they asked for, and infinitely more.
In the evening four savages, of the nation of the Ouma-
mis,^ arrived from a place two days' journey hence, bring-
1 The Miami (Oumami) Indians were closely allied in language and cus-
toms to the Illinois. Their habitat was in northern Indiana and eastern Il-
linois, whence they had been driven by the Iroquois into Wisconsin, and had
formed a village with the Mascoutin (Machkoutench) on the upper Fox. La
Salle found the Miami on St. Joseph River in 1678. By the eighteenth century
1670] ALLOUEZ IN WISCONSIN 155
ing three Iroquois scalps and a half-smoked arm, to console
the relatives of those whom the Iroquois had killed a short
time before.
On the twenty-seventh, we took our departure, com-
mending to the good angels the first seed sown in the hearts
of these poor people, who listened to me with respect and
attention. There is a glorious and rich harvest for a zeal-
ous and patient missionary. We named this mission after
Saint Mark, because on has day the Faith was proclaimed
there. ^
0/ the Mission to the Oumamis and Machkoutench.
On the twenty-ninth, we entered the river which leads to
the Machkoutench, who are called by the Hurons Assista
Ectaeronnons, "Nation of Fire." This river is very beautiful,
without rapids or portages, and flows toward the south-
west.2
On the thirtieth, landing opposite the village and leaving
our canoe at the water's edge, after walking a league through
beautiful prairies, we perceived the fort. The savages,
espying us, immediately gave the cry in their village, hastened
to meet us, and accompanied us with honor into the cabin
of the chief, where refreshments were straightway brought
to us, and the feet and legs of the Frenchmen with me were
anointed with oil. Afterward a feast was prepared, which
was attended with the following ceremonies. When all were
seated, and after some had filled a dish with powdered to-
bacco, an old man arose and, turning to me, with both hands
full of tobacco which he took from the dish, harangued me as
follows : " This is well, black gown, that thou comest to visit
us. Take pity on us; thou art a Manitou; we give thee
tobacco to smoke. The Nadouessious and the Iroquois are
eating us; take pity on us. We are often ill, our children
are dying, we are hungry. Hear me, Manitou ; I give thee
tobacco to smoke. Let the earth give us corn, and the rivers
they had migrated to Ohio, where the Maumee, Great and Little Miami Rivers
perpetuate their memory.
1 St. Mark's day is April 25.
* Fox River comes from the southwest, not flows toward it. AUouez was
advancing toward the southwest.
156 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
yield us fish ; let not disease kill us any more, or famine treat us
any longer so harshly ! " At each desire the old men who were
present uttered a loud "Oh!" in response. I had a horror
of this ceremony, and, begging them to hear me, I told them
it was not I to whom their vows must be addressed ; that in
our necessities I had recourse to prayer to Him who is the
only and the true God ; that it was in Him that they ought
to place their trust ; I told them that He was the sole Master
of all things, as well as of their lives, I being only His servant
and envoy ; that He was my sovereign Lord, as well as my
host's; and that wise men nevertheless willingly honored
and listened to the black gown, as being a person who is heard
by the great God and is His interpreter. His officer, and His
domestic. They offered us a veritable sacrifice like that
which they make to their false gods.
Toward evening, I gathered them together, and made
them a present of glass beads, knives, and hatchets, that I
might say to them: "Become acquainted with the black
gown. I am not the Manitou who is the master of your lives,
and has created Heaven and Earth; I am His creature, I
obey Him, and I bear His word through all the earth." I
then explained to them the articles of our holy Faith, and
God's commandments. These good people only half under-
stood me; but, before I left them, I had the consolation of
seeing that they comprehended our principal articles of be-
lief; they received the Gospel with respect and awe, and
showed themselves well satisfied to have a knowledge of the
true God.
The savages named Oumamis are here only in very small
numbers, their main body having not yet come in from their
hunting; therefore I say almost nothing about them in de-
tail. Their language is in harmony with their disposition :
they are gentle, affable, sedate ; they also speak slowly. This
whole nation was to arrive in sixteen days; but, obedience
calling me to the Sault, I was not at liberty to wait for them.
These people are settled in a very attractive place, where
beautiful plains and fields meet the eye as far as one can see.
Their river leads by a six days' voyage to the great river
named Messi-Sipi, and it is along the former river that the
other populous nations are situated. Four leagues from here
1670] ALLOUEZ IN WISCONSIN 157
are the Kikabou and the Kitchigamich, who speak the same
language as the Machkouteng.^
On the first of May, I went to visit them in their cabins ;
and I instructed them, speaking their language sufficiently to
make myself understood by them. They heard me with re-
spect, admired the main features of our Faith, and were
eager to lavish on me all the best things they had. Those
poor mountaineers are kind beyond all power of behef; but
they do not fail to have their superstitions, and to practise
polygamy, as is customary with the savages.
The courtesies that they showed me kept me busy al-
most all day : they came to my cabin to give me an invita-
tion, conducted me to their own, and, after making me sit
down on a fine new piece of fur, presented me a handful of
tobacco, which they placed at my feet ; and brought me a
kettle full of fat, meat, and Indian corn, accompanying it
with a speech or a compliment. I always took occasion
thereupon to inform them of the truths of our Faith, while
God, by His grace, never failed to make me understood,
their language being the same as that of the Saki.
I baptized there five children who were in danger of dying,
whom they themselves brought to me that I might give them
medicine. When, at times, I sought retirement for the pur-
pose of praying, they would follow me, and, from time to
time, come and interrupt me, saying to me in a suppliant tone,
"Manitou, take pity on us!" In truth, they taught me the
respect and affection with which I ought to address God.
On the second of May, the elders came to our cabin to
hold a council ; they thanked me, by an address and by some
gift, for having come to their country ; and they exhorted me
to come thither often. "Guard our land," they said; "come
often, and teach us how we are to speak to that great Mani-
tou whom thou hast made us know." This people appears
very docile. See there a mission all in readiness, and capable
of giving, in conjunction with the two neighboring nations,
full occupation to a missionary. As we were pressed for time,
^The Kickapoo (Kikabou) were kindred to the Mascoutin (Machkouteng);
they later dwelt with them on the Wabash. A remnant of the tribe is extant.
The Kitchigamich are not positively identified. They may have been a wander-
ing portion of the Michigamea, for whom see Marquette's narrative, post.
158 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
I set out to return to the place whence I had come ; and ar-
rived there safely, proceeding by way of the River Saint
Frangois, in three days.
On the sixth, I paid a visit to the Oumalouminek, eight
leagues distant from our cabin, and found them at their
river ^ in small numbers, the young people being still in the
woods. This nation has been almost exterminated by the
wars. I had difficulty in understanding them, but in time
made the discovery that their language is Algonquin, although
much corrupted. They succeeded in understanding me better
than I understood them. After making a little present to
the elders, I proclaimed the Gospel to them, which they ad-
mired and heard with respect.
On the ninth, the elders invited me to their council, and
there made me a present, with an expression of thanks for my
having come to visit them in order to give them a knowledge
of the true God. "Take heart," they said to me; "instruct
us often, and teach us to speak to Him who has made all
things." This mission we have named after Saint Michael,
as well as the river where they dwell.
On the tenth, when I arrived at the settlement, a Poute-
ouatami, not daring to ask me for news, addressed our dog in
these words : " Tell me, 0 captain's dog, what is the state of
affairs among the Oumacouminetz ? Thy master has told
thee; thou hast followed him everywhere. Do not conceal
the matter from me, for I dare not ask him about it." I saw
well what his design was.
On the thirteenth I crossed the bay to go to find the
Ovenibigoutz^ in their clearings, where they were assem-
bling. The next day, I held council with the old men and the
youth, and proclaimed the Gospel to them, as I had done to
the others. About thirty years ago, all the people of this
nation were killed or taken captive by the Hiniouek, with the
exception of a single man who escaped, shot through the
body with an arrow. When the Hiniouetz had sent back his
^The Menominee River is now the boundary between Wisconsin and
Michigan.
* The Winnebago tribe. Allouez in the following paragraph refers to the
traditional Illinois-Winnebago war, which was waged early in the seventeenth
century, and which greatly weakened the Winnebago.
1670] ALLOUEZ IN WISCONSIN 159
captive countrymen to inhabit the country anew, he was
made captain of his nation, as having never been a slave.
They speak a peculiar language which the other savages
do not understand ; it resembles neither the Huron nor the
Algonquin. There are, they say, only certain tribes of the
southwest who speak as they do. I learned some words from
them, but more especially the Catechism, the Pater, and the
Ave.
I visited them in their cabins and instructed them, doing
the same to the Pouteouatamis who live with them ; and both
asked me, with gifts, to come and instruct them in the follow-
ing autumn.
Condition of the Christians.
We cannot make our Christians live strictly up to their
profession of Christianity, on account of the way in which
we are obliged to live among them in the beginning ; having
only a cabin, after their own mode, we cannot instruct them,
or perform the other exercises of religion at stated times,
as is done in a chapel. We have, however, tried to call them
together every Sunday, to teach them the Catechism and make
them pray to God. We have here seven adult Christians
and forty-eight others, either children or persons almost grown
up, whom we baptized when they were dangerously iU, a part
of them at the Point of Saint Esprit, and a part in these dis-
tricts during the past winter. I do not count those who have
died, who are about seventeen in number. I have received
consolation this winter from seeing the fervor of our Chris-
tians, but especially that of a girl named Marie Movena,* who
was baptized at the Point of Saint Esprit. From last spring
up to the present time, she has resisted her relatives : despite
all the efforts they have made to compel her to marry her
stepbrother, she has never consented to do it. Her brother
has often struck her, and her mother has frequently refused
her anything to eat, sometimes reaching such a pitch of anger
that she would take a firebrand and burn her daughter's arms
with it. This poor girl told me about all this bad treatment ;
but her courage could never be shaken, and she willingly made
an offering of all her sufferings to God.
As far as concerns the infidels hereabout, they greatly
160 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
fear God's judgments and Hell's torments. The unity and
sovereignty of God are very satisfying to their minds. Oh, if
these poor people had the aids and the means that Europeans
have in abundance for accomplishing their salvation, they
would soon be good Christians. Oh, if they saw something
of the magnificence of our churches, of the devotion with
which they are frequented, of the extensive charities that are
maintained for the benefit of the poor in the hospitals, I am
sure that they would be greatly affected thereby.
On the twentieth, I embarked with a Frenchman and a
savage to go to Sainte Marie du Sault, whither obedience
called me, leaving all these peoples in the hope that we should
see them again next autumn, as I had promised them.
In conclusion we add here that, as a reenforcement to the
workers in so large a mission, there have been sent to it Father
Gabriel Drouillette, one of the oldest and most influential
missionaries; and Father Louys Andre, who arrived here
last year and was at the very outset assigned to this mis-
sion.^ He accordingly arrived there after having served a
novitiate of a year here, as missionary among the Algonquins
who make their abode in these parts.
' Gabriel Druillettes (1610-1681) arrived in Canada in 1643, and was em-
ployed at the Abenaki mission in Maine, at Tadoussac, and at various Algon-
quian missions along the St. Lawrence. He came to Sault Ste. Marie in 1671
and remained there nearly ten years. Louis Andre, born in 1631, reached New
France in June, 1669. He remained at the upper missions about thirteen years,
doing good service in Wisconsin and at St. Ignace. After a professorship of
some years at Quebec, he died there in 1715.
THE JOURNEY OF DOLLIER AND GALINEE, BY
GALINEE, 1669-1670
INTRODUCTION
Zealous and devoted as were the Jesuit missionaries of
New France, they were not the only reUgious order to whom
the great adventure appealed, nor the only priests to seek
for converts in the heart of the American continent.
In the midst of old Montreal still stands by the water-
side the grim, gray seminary of St. Sulpice, whose founders
were the seigneurs of the city and who still own much of its
landed territory. The brothers of St. Sulpice, an order founded
in Paris in 1641, were brave and gallant men, many of them
of noble birth and lofty ideals. They dreamed of an empire
in New France that should be the Kingdom of God upon the
earth, and with the coming to Montreal of the Western In-
dians for their yearly barter, fair opportunities opened to the
Sulpicians for mission work among the tribesmen. Already
the brother of the great Fenelon had begun a mission on the
north shore of Lake Ontario, when a chance came to open new
mission territory in the Far Southwest. The governor of New
France fostered the enterprise for the exploration's sake, and
in midsummer of 1669 a brave little flotilla of seven birch-bark
canoes set off from the water-gate of St. Sulpice to seek a
new route into the Western unknown.
Three remarkable men, all in the vigor of early life, were
leaders of this expedition. Frangois Dollier de Casson, power-
ful in frame, erect and soldierly of bearing, was a Breton of
noble family, who had served as cavalry captain under the great
Turenne. Although but thirty-three years old, he had been
three years in Canada, and had learned the Algonquian tongue
by wintering in the huts of the savages. Burning with a desire
163
164 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
for their conversion, he had persuaded his superior to permit
him to explore for unknown tribes who might listen to the
gospel message with more docility than those who had been
longer in contact with the French. In 1671 he became su-
perior of St. Sulpice at Montreal, and the head of its religious
interests, and there he died in September, 1701.
Dollier de Casson was the originator and leader of the ex-
pedition. At the last moment it was decided to associate
with him a newly-arrived member of the order, Rene de
Brehant de Galinee, likewise of a noble Breton family. He
had reached Montreal in the late summer of 1668, and, being
an expert mathematician, was chosen to accompany the ex-
pedition as map-maker and chronicler. A shrewd observer
and ready writer, possessed of a keen sense of the picturesque,
Galinee gives us in the following pages one of the most inter-
esting narratives of travel that has survived from the seven-
teenth century. His New World experiences were limited.
In 1671 he returned to France, never again to visit the great
wilderness whose waterways he so vividly described.
The third member of the expedition was still younger than
the two priests, but destined to leave a permanent impress on
the history of North America. Robert Rene Cavalier, Sieur
de La Salle, was a Norman from Rouen, where his father was
a wealthy burgher interested in the fortunes of the Company of
New France. Robert's elder brother Jean had preceded him
to Canada, where as a member of the Sulpician order he was
in a position to aid his younger brother. Upon the latter's
arrival, in 1666, he had secured for him a seigneury on the upper
end of Montreal Island, named, in derision of his ambition
for Western exploration, La Chine. That it might lead to the
discovery of a new water-route to China was apparently La
Salle's earliest hope. With a quick and comprehensive mind
he readily mastered the Algonquian language, and the winter
before his first journey entertained upon his fief two Seneca
INTRODUCTION 165
Indians, from whom he learned of the existence of south-
westerly-flowing streams.
Filled with his project, he sought the governor at Quebec,
who consented to his expedition, prudently stipulating, how-
ever, that La Salle himself should bear the necessary expense.
To provide for this La Salle resold his seigneury to the priests
of St. Sulpice, and at the governor's instance joined forces
with them in their projected expedition.
So far as is recorded, this was the first journey from the lower
Great Lakes to the upper ones, the first expedition to come
within sound, if not within sight, of the cataract of Niagara,
the first to map the shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie. The
incidents of the voyage are so graphically given by Gahn^e
that the reader can follow the travellers with ease. La Salle
accompanied them only to the head of Lake Ontario; into
the vexed question of his further route we need not here enter.
After a winter near Port Dover, in southern Ontario, the
two priests set forth in March for their Western journey. In
May they arrived at the Jesuit mission at Sault Ste. Marie;
by June they were again at St. Sulpice in Montreal, having
made the grand tour of the Great Lakes during an absence
of a little less than a year.
Galinee's manuscript account of their voyage is in the
Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris, in the Renaudot collection,
whose founder was a friend of the Sulpitian missionaries. It
is a small manuscript of forty-eight pages, evidently written
upon the author's return to Montreal, while every incident
was fresh in his memory. DoUier de Casson generously com-
mends it, saying: "I wrote a long account of [the voyage],
but as it is much inferior to that of M. de Galin^e I have
thought best to omit it, because M. de Galinee's description
will give you much more satisfaction."
The manuscript was found in 1847, in the library named,
by Pierre Margry, who had it copied and furnished transcripts
166 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
to Parkman and several Canadian historians. In 1875 the
Historical Society of Montreal published a version from which
several important paragraphs were omitted, and in which
many verbal changes were made. Margry republished it
in his Decouvertes et Etablissements des Frangais dans VAmerique
Septentrionale, I. 112-166. This was collated with the original
manuscript; and first translated into English, by James H.
Coyne, who published the narrative bilingually in the Ontario
Historical Society Papers and Records, vol. IV. We reprint
from this edition the English version, pp. 1-75. The original
manuscript at the Bibliothdque Nationale is in vol. 30 of the
Collection Renaudot.
THE JOURNEY OF DOLLIER AND GALINEE,
1669-1670
Narrative of the Most Noteworthy Incidents in the Journey of
Messieurs Dottier and Galinee.
In the year 1669 M. DoUier spent part of the winter with a
Nipissing chief named Nitarikyk in order to learn in the woods
the Algonkin language. The chief had a slave the Ottawas had
presented to him in the preceding year, from a very remote
tribe in the southwest. This slave was sent by his master
to Montreal on some errand. He came and saw here the Abbe
de Queylus/ in whose presence he gave so naive a descrip-
tion of the route to his country that he made everybody be-
lieve he was thoroughly familiar with it, and could easily con-
duct any persons that should wish to go there with him.
The Abb^ de Queylus, who is very zealous for the salva-
tion of the Indians of this country, saw that the man might
be of great service in the conversion of his countrymen, who,
he said, were very numerous. So he thought he could not
do better than write M. DoUier by this same slave, that if he
was still of the same disposition that he had long since mani-
fested to him, to labor for the salvation of the Indians, he be-
lieved God was presenting an excellent opportunity by means
of this slave. The latter would be able to conduct him
amongst tribes hitherto unknown to the French, and perhaps
more tractable than those we have hitherto known, amongst
whom, so far, it has been found impossible to produce any
result.
M. DoUier, who was actuaUy intending to sacrifice himself
1 Gabriel, Abbe de Queylus, the head of the Montreal establishment of
Sulpicians, arrived in New France in the summer of 1657 ; during his term as
vicar general he made three voyages to France, returning permanently in 1671,
and dying there in 1677. His relations with the Jesuit order were not cordial,
and he desired to rival their missionary work among the Western Indians.
167
168 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
in some of the missions of this country, seized this opportu-
nity as if it had been sent him from God, and made great friends
with the slave, endeavoring to acquire from him some knowl-
edge of his native tongue. In short, he managed so well
with the man that he extracted a promise from him to conduct
him to his own country.
With this purpose in view M. Dollier returned from the
woods in advance of the Indians with whom he was sojourning,
in order to go to Quebec to buy the necessary supplies for the
undertaking, after receiving the necessary orders from M. de
Queylus.
It was at this place that M. de CourceUes^ requested him
to unite with M. de la Salle, a brother of M. Cavelier, in order
that they might together make the journey M. de la Salle
had been long premeditating towards a great river, which he
had understood (by what he thought he had learned from the
Indians) had its course towards the west, and at the end of
which, after seven or eight months' travelling, these Indians
said the land was "cut," that is to say, according to their
manner of speaking, the river fell into the sea. This river is
called, in the language of the Iroquois, "Ohio."^ On it are
settled a multitude of tribes, from which as yet no one has
been seen here, but so numerous are they that, according to
the Indians' report, a single nation will include fifteen or
twenty villages. The hope of beaver, but especially of finding
by this route the passage into the Vermillion Sea, into which
M. de la Salle believed the River Ohio emptied, induced him
to undertake this expedition, so as not to leave to another the
honor of discovering the passage to the South Sea, and thereby
the way to China.^
M. de Courcelles, the governor of this country, was willing
to support this project, in which M. de la Salle showed him
some probability by a great number of fine speeches, of which
^ Daniel de Remy, Sieur de Courcelles, was governor of New France from
1665 to 1672. He imposed a peace upon the Iroquois after an invasion of the
Mohawk lands in central New York.
* The word "Ohio" is said to mean beautiful, therefore the French usually
called the stream La Belle Rivifere.
' The Vermillion Sea was the Gulf of California, leading to the South Sea,
now the Pacific Ocean, thence across to China, the goal of early New World ex-
ploration.
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN^E 169
he has no lack. But in short, this expedition tended to a
discovery, that could not be otherwise than glorious to the
person under whose government it was made, and, moreover,
it was costing him nothing.
The project having been authorized by the Governor,
letters patent were despatched to M. de la Salle, granting
permission to search in all the forests, and all the rivers and
lakes of Canada, to see if there might not be something good
in them, and requesting the governors of provinces in which
he might arrive, such as Virginia, Florida, etc., to allow him
passage, and render assistance as they would wish us to do
for them in like case. It was to help on this project, more-
over, that M. DoUier was requested by the Governor to turn
his zeal towards the tribes dwelling on the River Ohio and to
agree to accompany M. de la Salle. Permission, moreover,
was given to soldiers who wished to undertake this expedition
to leave the ranks. At all events, the expedition made a great
noise.
Messieurs Dollier and de la Salle went up to Montreal
again, after making their purchases at Quebec, and bought
all the canoes they could, in order to be able to take as large
a party as possible. M. Barthelemy was intended to be a
member of the party, and had, as well as M. Dollier, received
authority from the Bishop of Canada.^ Accordingly, towards
the end of the month of June, 1669, everybody was preparing
in good earnest to set out. M. de la Salle wished to take five
canoes and fourteen men, and Messieurs Dollier and Barthe-
lemy three canoes and seven men.
The talk was already of starting as soon as possible, and
every one had done his packing, when it occurred to the Abb6
de Queylus that M. de la Salle might possibly abandon our
gentlemen, and that his temper, which was known to be rather
volatile, might lead him to quit them at the first whim, per-
haps when it was most necessary to have some one with a
little skill in finding his bearings for the return journey, or
^ Francois de Laval de Montmorency was the first bishop of Canada.
Born near Chartres in 1622, he was educated as a Jesuit, came to Canada in
1659 as vicar apostolic, was chosen bishop of Quebec in 1674, resigned in 1685,
and died at Quebec in 1708. A patron of education, the Seminary of Quebec was
his legacy to Canada.
170 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
acquainted with the situation of known countries, in order
not to get them into difficulties through imprudence; and,
besides, it was desirable to have some trustworthy map of the
route that was contemplated.
It was from these considerations that the Abbe de Queylus
permitted me to accompany M. Dollier when I asked his
leave. I had already some smattering of mathematics, enough
to construct a map in a sort of fashion, but still sufficiently
accurate to enable me to find my way back again from any
place I might go to in the woods and streams of this country.
Besides, they were glad to leave some person here who knew
Algonkin, to serve as an interpreter to the Ottawas, when they
come here. Accordingly I was accepted for the expedition in
the place of M. Barth^lemy, who, from his perfect knowledge
of the Algonkin language, could be more useful at this place
than myself.
1 had only three days to get my crew together. I took
two men and a canoe, with some goods suitable to barter for
provisions with the tribes through which we were to pass,
and was ready to embark as soon as the rest. The precipi-
tancy with which my journey was decided upon did not per-
mit me to write the Bishop and the Governor.
Our fleet, consisting of seven canoes, each with three men,
left Montreal on the 6th of July, 1669, under the guidance
of two canoes of Seneca Iroquois,^ who had come to Montreal
as early as the autumn of the year 1668 to do their hunting
and trading. These people whilst here had stayed a long
time at M. de la Salle's, and had told him so many marvels
of the River Ohio, with which they said they were thoroughly
acquainted, that they inflamed in him more than ever the
desire to see it. They told him that this river took its rise
three days' journey from Seneca, that after a month's travel
one came upon the Honniasontkeronons and the Chioua-
nons,2 and that, after passing the latter, and a great cataract
or waterfaU that there is in this river, one found the Outagame
* The Seneca, called by the French Sonontouans (or Tsonontouans), was
the most westerly division of the Iroquois.
2 The latter tribe was that of the Shawnee ; the former probably a sub-
division of that tribe, whom the Iroquois called Ontonagannhas, meaning the
rude, barbarous people.
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINEE 171
and the country of the Iskousogos/ and finally a country so
abundant in roebucks and wild cattle that they were as thick
as the woods, and so great a number of tribes that there could
not be more.
M. de la Salle reported all these things to M. DoUier, whose
zeal became more and more ardent for the salvation of these
poor Indians, who perhaps would have made good use of the
word of God, if it had been proclaimed to them ; and the great-
ness of this zeal prevented M. DoUier from remarking that M.
de la Salle, who said that he understood the Iroquois per-
fectly, and had learned all these things from them through his
perfect acquaintance with their language, did not know it at
all, and was embarking upon this expedition almost blindly,
scarcely knowing where he was going. He had been led to
expect that by making some present to the village of the
Senecas he could readily procure slaves of the tribes to which
he intended to go, who might serve him as guides.
As for myself, I would not start from here unless I could
take with me a man who knew Iroquois. I have applied my-
self to Algonkin since I have been here ; but I should have
been very glad at that time to know as much Iroquois as Al-
gonkin. The only person I could find who could serve me for
this purpose was a Dutchman. He knows Iroquois perfectly,
but French very little. At length, unable to find any other, I
embarked. M. Dollier and I intended to call at Kente to
obtain intelligence of our gentlemen who are on mission
there,^ but our guides were of the great village of Seneca,
and we dared not leave them lest we should be unable to find
any others.
With the outfit I have mentioned, we left Montreal on the
6th of July, 1669, and the same day ascended the St. Louis
Rapids, which are only a league and a half away. Navigation
above Montreal is quite different from that below. The
latter is made in ships, barks, launches, and boats, because the
^The country of the Outagami and Mascoutin (Iskousogos) before their
migration to Wisconsin was not far from the western end of Lake Erie.
2 A Sulpician mission had been begun in 1668 on the north shore of Lake
Ontario at the present Bay of Quinte (Kente) not far from the modern Kings-
ton. The two missionaries were Claude Trouve and Franfois, Abbe de Fenelon.
This mission was maintained until 1673.
172 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
River St. Lawrence is very deep, as far up as Montreal, a
distance of 200 leagues; but immediately above Montreal
one is confronted with a rapid or waterfall amidst numerous
large rocks, that will not allow a boat to go through, so that
canoes only can be used. These are little birch-bark canoes,
about twenty feet long and two feet wide, strengthened in-
side with cedar floors and gunwales, very thin, so that one
man carries it with ease, although the boat is capable of carry-
ing four men and eight or nine hundred pounds' weight of bag-
gage. There are some made that carry as many as ten or
twelve men with their outfit, but it requires two or three men
to carry them.
This style of canoes affords the most convenient and the
commonest mode of navigation in this country, although it is
a true saying that when a person is in one of these vessels he
is always, not a finger's breadth, but the thickness of five or
six sheets of paper, from death. These canoes cost Frenchmen
who buy them from Indians nine or ten crowns in clothes,
but from Frenchmen to Frenchmen they are much dearer.
Mine cost me eighty livres. It is only the Algonkin-speaking
tribes that build these canoes well. The Iroquois use all
kinds of bark except birch for their canoes. They build canoes
that are badly made and very heavy, which last at most only
a month, whilst those of the Algonkins, if taken care of, last
five or six years.
You do not row in these canoes as in a boat. In the latter
the oar is attached to a rowlock on the boat's side ; but here
you hold one hand near the blade of the oar and the other at
the end of the handle, and use it to push the water behind
you, without the oar touching the canoe in any way. Moreover,
it is necessary in these canoes to remain all the time on your
knees or seated, taking care to preserve your balance well;
for the vessels are so light that a weight of twenty pounds on
one side more than the other is enough to overturn them, and
so quickly that one scarcely has time to guard against it.
They are so frail that to bear a little upon a stone or to touch
it a little clumsily is sufficient to cause a hole, which can,
however, be mended with resin.
The convenience of these canoes is great in these streams,
full of cataracts or waterfalls, and rapids through which it is
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINIEE 173
impossible to take any boat. When you reach them you load
canoe and baggage upon your shoulders and go overland until
the navigation is good ; and then you put your canoe back into
the water, and embark again. If God grants me the grace of
returning to France, I shall endeavor to take over one of these
canoes, to show it to those who have not seen them. I see
no handiwork of the Indians that appears to me to merit
the attention of Europeans, except their canoes and their
rackets for walking on snow. There is no conveyance either
better or swifter than that of the canoe ; for four good canoe-
men will not be afraid to bet that they can pass in their canoe
eight or ten rowers in the fastest launch that can be seen.
I have made a long digression here upon canoes because, as
I have already said, I have found nothing here more beauti-
ful or more convenient. Without them it would be impossible
to navigate above Montreal or in any of the numerous rivers
of this country. I know none of these without some water-
fall or rapid, in which one would inevitably get wrecked if he
wished to run them.
The inns or shelters for the night are as extraordinary as
the vehicles, for after paddling or portaging the entire day you
find towards evening the fair earth all ready to receive your
tired body. When the weather is fine, after unloading your
canoe, you make a fire and go to bed without otherwise hous-
ing yourself ; but when it is wet, it is necessary to go and strip
some trees, the bark of which you arrange upon four small
forks, with which you make a cabin to save you from the rain.
The Algonkins carry with them pieces of birch-bark, split
thin and sewed together so that they are four fathoms in
length and three feet wide. These roll up into very small
compass, and under three of these pieces of bark hung upon
poles eight or nine men can be easily sheltered. Even winter
cabins are made with them that are warmer than our houses.
Twenty or thirty poles are arranged lengthwise so that they
all touch each other at the top, and the bark is spread over
the poles, with a little fire in the centre. Under these strips
of bark I have passed days and nights where it was veiy cold,
with three feet of snow upon the ground, without being ex-
traordinarily inconvenienced
As to the matter of food, it is such as to cause all the
174 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
books to be burned that cooks have ever made, and themselves
to be forced to renounce their art. For one manages in the
woods of Canada to fare well without bread, wine, salt, pep-
per, or any condiments. The ordinary diet is Indian com,
called in France Turkey wheat, which is ground between two
stones and boiled in water; the seasoning is with meat or
fish, when you have any. This way of living seemed to us all
so extraordinary that we felt the effects of it. Not one of us
was exempt from some illness before we were a hundred leagues
from Montreal.
We took the Lake Ontario route, our guides conducting us
along the River St. Lawrence. The route is very difficult as
far as Otondiata,^ about forty leagues from here, for it is
necessary to be almost always in the water dragging the canoes.
Up to that place there are only thirteen or fourteen leagues of
good sailing, in Lake St. Francis and Lake St. Louis. The
river banks are of fairly good land here and there, but com-
monly it is mere sand or rocks. It is true the fishing is pretty
good in all these rapids, for most frequently we had only to
throw the line into the water to catch forty or fifty fish of the
kind called here barbue (catfish). There is none like it in
France. Travellers and poor people live on it very comfort-
ably, for it can be eaten, and is very good cooked in water
without any sauce. It is also full of a very good oil, which
forms admirable seasoning for sagamite, the name given to
porridge made of Indian com.
We took two moose in Lake St. Francis, which were the
beginning of our hunting. We fared sumptuously on them.
These moose are large animals, like mules and shaped nearly
like them, except that the moose has a cloven hoof, and on
his head very large antlers wliich he sheds every winter, and
which are flat like those of the fallow deer. Their flesh is
very good, especially when fat, and the hide is very valuable.
It is what is commonly called here the orignal. The hot
weather and our scanty experience of living in the woods
made us lose a 'good part of our meat.
The mode of curing it in the woods, where there is no salt,
is to cut it in very thin slices and spread it on a gridiron raised
1 Otondiata was Grenadier Island, not far from Oswegatchie River, at
whose mouth now stands Ogdensburgh, New York.
1669]
JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN^E 175
three feet from the ground, covered with small wooden switches
on which you spread your meat. Then a fire is made under-
neath the gridiron, and the meat is dried in the fire and smoke
until there is no longer any moisture in it and it is as dry as a
piece of wood.^ It is put up in packages of thirty or forty,
rolled up in pieces of bark, and thus wrapped up it will keep
five or six years without spoiling. When you wish to eat it
3^ou reduce it to powder between two stones and make a broth
by boiling with Indian corn. The loss of our meat resulted
in our having nothing to eat but Indian corn with water for
nearly a month, for generally we were not in fishing spots,
and we were not in the season of good hunting.
At last, with aU our misery, we discovered Lake Ontario
on the second day of August, wliich comes in sight like a great
sea, with no land visible but what you coast along. What
seems land on the lake-shore is merely sand and rocks. It
is true that in the depth of the woods fine land is remarked,
especially along some streams that empty into the lake. It
is by this route that the reverend Jesuit Fathers go to their
Iroquois missions, and on the river of Onondaga that they
intend to make their principal establishment.^ They have
eight or ten men there now for the purpose of building a
house and making clearings to sow grain. Before this year
there were only one Father and one man for each nation, but
this year they have sent a considerable shipment of men and
merchants to begin a permanent establishment to which the
missionaries may retire from time to time to renew their
spuitual and bodily strength, for, to tell the truth, the life
of missionaries in this country is the most dissipating life
that can be imagined. Scarcely anything is thought of but
bodily necessities, and the constant example of the savages,
who think only of satisfying their flesh, briags the mind into
an almost inevitable enervation, unless one guards against it.
There are rivers flowing into Lake Ontario that lead into
'This method of preparing meat is called by frontiersmen "jerking,"
and the dried product is known as "jerk."
2 This settlement, called Ste. Marie, was on the eastern side of Onondaga
Lake, between Syracuse and Liverpool, New York. The mission to the Onon-
daga, begun by Jogues in 1646, was re-established nine years later and named
Mission of St. Jean Baptiste.
176 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
the forests of the Five Iroquois Nations, as you will see them
marked on the map. On the 8th of August we arrived at an
island where a Seneca Indian has made a sort of coimtry
house, to which he retires in summer to eat with his family a
little Indian corn and squash that he grows there every year.
He has concealed himself so well, that unless one knew the
spot one would have a great deal of difficulty in finding it.
They are obliged to conceal themselves in this way when they
leave their villages, lest their enemies, who are always around
for the purpose of suiprising and killing them, should discover
them.
The good man received us well and entertained us hospi-
tably with squashes boiled in water. Our guide would stay
two days with him, after which, leaving us to go to notify
the village of our arrival, we were not in entire security for
our lives in the vicinity of this tribe, and many reasons gave
us ground for apprehending something disagreeable.
In the first place, the peace had been made very shortly
before, and these barbarians had often broken it with us when
it seemed still more assured than this one, and all the more
easily, as there are no authorities amongst them, everj-one
being perfectly free in his actions, so that all that is necessary
is for a young ruffian, to whom the peace is not acceptable,
or who remembers that one of his relations was killed in the
preceding wars, to come and commit some act of hostility, and
so break the treaty that has been made by the old men.
Secondly, the Antastogue or Antastouais, who are the
Indians of New Sweden,^ that are at war with the Senecas,
are continually rovmg about in the outskirts of their country,
and had shortly before killed ten men in the very spot where
we were obliged to sojourn an entire month.
Thirdly, a week or a fortnight before our departure from
Montreal, three of the soldiers in garrison there, having gone
to trade, found a Seneca Indian who had a quantity of furs,
to get which they made up their minds to murder the Indian,
and in fact did so. Happily for us the matter was discovered
1 The Andastes were of Iroquoian stock, occupying the valley of the Susque-
hanna River. The English called them Susquehannocks, Minquas, or Cones-
toga Indians. See A. C. Myers, Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, West New
Jersey, and Delaware (Original Narratives Series), pp. 103, 104.
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN^E 177
five or six days before our departure, and the criminals, being
convicted, were put to death in presence of several Seneca
Indians that were here at the time, and who were appeased at
the sight of this justice; for they had resolved, in order to
avenge the deceased, who was a man of importance, to kill
just as many Frenchmen as they could catch away from the
settlements. Judge for yourselves whether it would have had
a good result for us in this country if we had left Montreal
before those criminals had been executed. But nevertheless,
although the bulk of the nation was appeased by this execu-
tion, the relatives of the deceased did not consider themselves
satisfied, and wished at all hazards to sacrifice some French-
men to their vengeance, and loudly boasted of it. On this
account we performed sentry duty every night, and con-
stantly kept all our weapons in good condition.
However, I can assure you, that for a person who sees
himseK in the midst of all these alarms and who must, more-
over, add the constant fear of dying of hunger or disease in
the midst of a forest, without any help — in the midst, I say,
of all these alarms, when one believes he is here by the will of
God, and in the thought that what one suffers is agreeable to
Him and will be able to serve for the salvation of some one of
these poor Indians, not only is one free from sadness, but, on
the contrary, one tastes a very appreciable joy in the midst
of all these hardships.
This is what we experienced many times, but especially
M. DoUier, who was sick near Seneca with a continued fever,
that almost carried him off in a short time. He said to me at
the time, "I am well pleased, and even rejoice, to see myself
destitute as I am of all spiritual and corporal aid." "Yes,"
said he, "I would rather die in the midst of this forest in the
order of the will of God, as I believe I am, than amongst all
my brethren in the Seminary of Saint Sulpice."
At length, after thirty-five days of very difficult naviga-
tion, we arrived at a small stream, called by the Indians
Karontagouat,^ which is at the part of the lake nearest to
Seneca, about one hundred leagues southwestward from Mon-
treal. I took the altitude at this place with the Jacob 's-staff
that I had brought, on the 26th August, 1669, and as I had a
^ The present Irondequoit River of central New York.
178 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
very fine horizon to the north, for no more land is seen there
than in the open sea, I took the altitude from behind, which
is the most accurate. I found the sun then distant from the
zenith 33 degrees, to which I added 10 degrees 12 minutes,
being the sun's north declination for that day. The equinoc-
tial was distant from the zenith, and consequently the north
pole elevated above the horizon, at this place, 43 degrees 12
minutes, which is its actual latitude, and agreed pretty well
with the latitude I found I had obtained by dead reckoning,
follomng the practice of sailors, who do not fail to get the
latitude they are in although they have no instrument for
taking altitude.^
No sooner had we arrived at this place than we were
visited by a number of Indians who came to make us small
presents of Indian corn, squashes, blackberries, and blue-
berries, fraits that they have in abundance. We returned the
compliment by making them also a present of knives, awls,
needles, glass beads, and other things which they esteemed
and with which we were well provided.
Our guides requested us to wait at this place until the
next day, and informed us that the principal persons would
not fail to come in the evening with provisions to escort us
to the village. And, in fact, the evening was no sooner come
than we saw a large band of Indians arriving with a number
of women loaded with pro\dsions, who came and camped
near us and made bread for us of Indian corn and fruits.
They would not speak there in form of council, but told us
we were expected at the village, and that word had been sent
through all the cabins to assemble all the old men for the
council, which was to be held to learn the reason of our coming.
Thereupon M. DolHer, M. de la Salle, and I consulted to-
gether to know in what manner we should act, what should be
offered as presents, and how many should be made. It was
resolved that I should go to the village with M. de la Salle
to try to get a slave of the tribes to which we wished to go for
the purpose of conducting us thither, and that we should take
eight of our Frenchmen with us. The rest were to remain
1 This observation was very accurate, being about the true latitude of the
entrance to Irondequoit River. The Jacob's-staff, or cross-staff, was a rude prede-
cessor of the quadrant.
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN^E 179
with M. DoUier in charge of the canoes. The business was
carried out in this way, and no sooner had dayhght appeared,
on the next day, the 12th August, than we were notified by the
Indians that it was time to start. We set out accordingly,
ten Frenchmen with 40 or 50 Indians, who obhged us every
league to take a rest for fear of tiring us too much. About
half way, we found another band of Indians coming to meet us
who made us a present of provisions and joined us in order
to return to the village. When we were about a league away
the halts were more frequent and the crowd kept adding to
our escort more and more untU at last we saw ourselves in
sight of the great village, which is in the midst of a large clear-
ing about two leagues in circumference.^
In order to reach it, it is necessary to ascend a small hill,
on the brow of which the village is situated. As soon as we
had climbed this hill, we perceived a large number of old men
seated on the grass waiting for us, who had left a good place
for us opposite them, where they invited us to sit down,
which we did. At the same time an old man, who could scarcely
see and hardly hold himself up, so old was he, rose and in
a very animated tone made us an oration, ia which he as-
sured us of his joy at our arrival, that we might regard the
Senecas as our brothers and they regarded us as theirs, and
that, feeling thus, they requested us to enter their village,
where they had prepared a cabin for us whilst waiting until
we should broach our purpose. We thanked them for their
civilities and informed them through our interpreter that on
the foUowing day we should tell them the object of our journey.
Thereupon an Indian, who had the office of introducer of
ambassadors, presented himself to conduct us to our lodging.
We followed him, and he took us to the largest cabin of the
village, where they had prepared our abode, with orders to
the women of the cabin to let us lack for nothing. And in
truth they were always very faithful whilst we were there to
attend to our kettles, and bring us the necessary wood to light
up during the night.
This village, like all those of the Indians, is nothing but a
lot of cabins, surrounded with palisades of poles twelve or
1 Thir was the Seneca village on the site of Boughton Hill, about one mile
south of Victor in Ontario County, New York.
ISO EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
thirteen feet high, fastened together at the top and planted
in the ground, with great piles of wood the height of a man
behind these palisades, the curtains being not otherwise flanked,
merely a simple enclosure, perfectly square, so that these
forts are not defensible. Besides, they scarcely ever take care
to settle on the bank of a stream or spring, but on some hill,
where, as a general rule, they are some distance from water.
By the evening of the 12th, we saw all the principal persons
of the other villages arriving to attend the council, which was
to be held next day.
The Seneca nation is the most numerous of all the Iroquois.
It is composed of four villages, two of which contain one
hundred and fifty cabins each, and the other two about thirty
cabins, in all, perhaps, a thousand or twelve hundred men
capable of bearing arms. The two large villages are about
six or seven leagues apart, and both are six or seven leagues
from the lake shore.
The country between the lake and the large village,^
farthest to the east, to which I was going, is for the most part
beautiful, broad meadows, on which the grass is as tall as my-
self. In the spots where there are woods, these are oak plains,
so open that one could easily run through them on horseback.
This open country, we were told, continues eastward more
than a hundred leagues. Westward and southward it extends
so far that its limit is unknown, especially towards the south,
where treeless meadows are found more than one hundred
leagues in length, and where the Indians who have been there
say very good fruits and extremely fine Indian com are grown.
At last, the 13th of August having arrived, the Indians as-
sembled in our cabin to the number of fifty or sixty of the
principal persons of the nation. Their custom is, when they
come in, to sit down in the most convenient place they find
vacant, regardless of rank, and at once get some fire to Hght
their pipes, which do not leave their mouths during the whole
time of the council. They say good thoughts come whilst
smoking.
When we saw the assembly was numerous enough, we began
to talk business, and it was then M. de la Salle admitted he was
unable to make himself understood. On the other hand, my
^ On the site of the present city of Geneva, New York.
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINl^E 181
interpreter said he did not know enough French to make him-
self thoroughly understood by us. So we deemed it more con-
venient to make use of Father Fremin's man to deliver our
address and interpret to us what the Indians should say;
and it was actually done in this way. It is to be remarked
that Father Fremin ^ was not then at the place of his mission,
but had gone a few days before to Onondaga for a meeting
that was to be held there of all the Jesuits scattered among the
five Iroquois nations. At that time there was no one but
Father Fremin's man, who served as our interpreter.
Our first present was a double-barrelled pistol worth sixty
livres, and the word we joined to the present was that we re-
garded them as our brothers, and in this character were so
strong in their interest that we made them a present of this
double-barrelled pistol, so that with one shot they could kill
the Loups,^ and with the other the Andostoues, two tribes
against whom they wage a cruel war.
The second present consisted of six kettles, six hatchets,
four dozen knives, and five or six pounds of large glass beads,
and the word was that we came on the part of Onontio (so they
call the Governor) to confirm the peace.
Lastly, the third present was two capotes, four kettles, six
hatchets, and some glass beads; and the word was that we
came on the part of Onontio to see the tribes called by them
the Touguenha,^ Hving on the River Ohio, and we asked of
them a slave from that country to conduct us thither. They
decided that our proposition should be considered. So they
waited until nexi, day before answering us. These tribes have
this custom, that they do not speak of any business without
making some present, as if to serve as a reminder of the speech
they deliver.
Early next morning they all proceeded to our cabin, and the
^Father Jacques Fremin (1628-1691) entered the Jesuit order in 1646;
coming to Canada about nine years later he became in 1669 superior of the
Jesuit missions to the Iroquois. In later life he served at the mission colonies
on the St. Lawrence, dying at Quebec. He was the author of several of the
Jesuit Relations.
^ The Delaware Indians, called the Loups (Wolves) by the French. Their
habitat was along the river of their name.
* This was an Iroquois word for the Shawnee tribe. See another form of
the word, p. 170, note 2, ante.
182 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
head chief amongst them presented a wampum belt, to assure
us we were welcome amongst our brothers. The second pres-
ent was a second wampum belt, to tell us they were firmly
resolved to keep the peace with the French and their nation
had never made war on the French ; they would not begin it
in a time of peace. For the third present they told us they
would give us a slave, as we asked for one, but begged us to
wait until their people came back from the trade with the
Dutch, to which they had taken all their slaves, and then they
would give us one without fail. We asked them not to keep us
waiting more than a week, because the season was getting late,
and they promised us. Thereupon everybody went off hom.e.
Meanwhile they treated us in the best way they could, and
everyone vied with his neighbor in feasting us after the fash-
ion of the country. I must confess that several times I had
more desire to give back what I had in my stomach than to
put anything new into it. The great dish in this village, where
they seldom have fresh meat, is a dog, the hair of which they
singe over coals. After scraping it well, they cut it in pieces
and put it into the kettle. When it is cooked, they serve you
a piece of three or four pounds' weight in a wooden platter
that has never been rubbed with any other dishcloth than the
fingers of the lady of the house, which appear all smeared with
the grease that is always in their platter to the thickness of a
silver crown. Another of their greatest dishes is Indian meal
cooked in water and then served in a wooden bowl with two
fingers of bear's grease or oil of sun-flowers or of butternuts
upon it. There was not a child in the village but was eager to
bring us now stalks of Indian corn, at another time squashes,
or it might be other small fruits that they go and gather in the
woods.
We passed the time in this way for seven or eight da5^s,
waiting until some slave should return from the trading to be
given to us. During the interval, to while away the time, I
went with M. de la Salle under the guidance of two Indians,
about four leagues south of the village we were in, to see an
extraordinary spring.^ It forms a small brook as it issues
1 This spring, which yields sulphuretted hydrogen gas, is situated in Bris-
tol township of Ontario County, about half-way between Honeoye and Canan-
daigua.
1669]
JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINISE 183
from a rather high rock. The water is very clear, but has a
bad odor, hke that of Paris mud, when the mud at the bottom
of the water is stirred with the foot. He put a torch in it, and
immediately the water took fire as brandy does, and it does not
go out until rain comes. This flame is, amongst the Indians, a
sign of abundance, or of scarcity when it has the opposite
qualities. There is no appearance of sulphur or saltpetre, or
any other combustible matter. The water has no taste even ;
and I cannot say or think anything better than that this water
passes through some aluminous earth, from which it derives
this combustible quality.
During that time, also, brandy was brought to the village
from the Dutch, on which several Indians got drunk. Several
times relations of the man who had been kiUed at Montreal a
few days before we left, threatened us in their drunkenness
that they would break our heads. It is a somewhat common
custom amongst them when they have enemies, to get drunk
and afterwards go and break their heads or stab them to death,
so as to be able to say afterward that they conciinitted the wicked
act when they were not in their senses. It is actually their
custom not to mourn for those who have died in this manner,
for fear of causing pain to the living by reminding him of his
crime. However, we always kept so weU on our guard that no
accident happened to us.
Lastly, it was during that time that I saw the saddest
spectacle I ever saw in my life. I was told one evening that
some warriors had arrived, that they had brought in a prisoner,
and he had been put in a cabin not far from our own. I went
to see him, and found him seated with three women, who were
striving to outdo each other in bewailing the death of their
kinsman, who had been killed on the occasion on which this
man had been made prisoner.
He was a young fellow of eighteen or twenty yeai-s, very
well formed. They had dressed him from head to foot since
his arrival, and had done him no harm since his capture. They
had not even given him the salutation of blows with sticks,
which it is their custom to give their prisoners on entering the
village. So I thought I should have time to ask for him in
order that he might be our guide ; for it was said he was one
of the Touguenhas. I went accordingly to M. de la Salle for
184 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
that purpose, who told me the Senecas were men of their
word ; as they had promised us a slave they would give us one,
and it mattered little to us whether it was this man or another,
and it was best not to press them. I gave myself no further
trouble accordingly. Night came on and we went to bed. The
Hght of next day had no sooner appeared than a large company
entered our cabin, to tell us the prisoner was to be burned, and
had asked to see some of the Mistigouch. I ran to the public
square to see him, and foimd him already on the scaffold,
where they were fastening him, hand and foot, to a stake. I
was astonished to hear from him some Algonkin words, which I
recognized, although from his manner of pronouncing them they
seemed somewhat hard to make out. At last he made me un-
derstand that he would be glad if his execution were put off till
the next day. If he had spoken good Algonkin I should have
understood him, but his language differed from Algonkin even
more than that of the Ottawas. So I understood him but
very Httle.
I sent word to the Iroquois by our Dutch interpreter, but
he told me the prisoner had been given to an old woman in
place of her son, who had been killed : that she could not bear
to see him live, and all her relations were so much concerned
in her grief that they could not delay his execution. The irons
were in the fire to torture the poor wretch. As for myself, I
told my interpreter to ask for him as the slave that had been
promised, and I would make a present to the old woman to
whom he belonged; but our interpreter never would make
this proposition, sajdng it was not the custom amongst them,
and the matter was too important. I went so far as to threaten
him in order to make him say what I wished, but could effect
nothing, because he was obstinate like a Dutchman, and ran
away from me.
I remained alone accordingly near the poor sufferer, who
saw before him the instruments of his execution. I endeavored
to make him understand that he must no longer have recourse
to anyone but God, and should offer Him this prayer, "Thou
who madest all, have pity on me ; I am sorry I have not obeyed
Thee ; but if I live I will obey Thee entu-ely." He understood
me better than I understood him, because all the tribes border-
ing on the Ottawas understand Algonkin. I did not think I
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINEE 185
could baptize him, not only because I did not understand him
sufficiently to know his frame of mind, but also because the
Iroquois were urging me to leave him, in order to begin their
tragedy; and, moreover, I believed that the act of contrition
which I was persuading him to make might save him. Certainly,
if I had foreseen this accident the evening before, I would have
baptized him, because I should have had time to instruct him
during the night ; but I could do nothing at the time but en-
courage him to suffer patiently, and to offer to God his torments,
saying often to him, "Thou who madest all, have pity on me,"
which he repeated, with his eyes raised to heaven.
At the same time I saw the principal relative of the de-
ceased approach with a gun-barrel red-hot up to the middle.
This obliged me to withdraw. The others began to find fault
with me for encouraging him, the more so because amongst
them it is a bad omen for a prisoner to endure torture patiently.
I retired therefore with grief, and scarcely had I turned my
head when this barbarian of an Iroquois applied his red-hot
gun-barrel to the top of his feet, which made the poor wretch
utter a loud cry, and forced me to turn towards him. I saw
that Iroquois with a grave and steady hand applying the iron
slowly along his feet and legs, and other old men smoking
round the scaffold, with all the young people leaping for joy
to see the contortions that the violence of the fire compelled
the poor sufferer to make.
Meanwhile I retired to the cabin in which we lodged, filled
with grief at not being able to save this poor slave, and it was
then I recognized more than ever how important it was not to
engage one's self amongst the tribes of these countries with-
out knowing their language or being sure of one's interpreter ;
and I may say that the lack of an interpreter under our own
control prevented the entire success of our expedition.
I was in our cabin praying to God and very sorrowful. M.
de la Salle came to tell me he feared, in the tumult he saw the
whole village was in, there was reason to apprehend some in-
sult might be offered to us ; there were many persons getting
drunk that day, and finally he was resolved to get away to the
place where the canoes and the rest of our people were. I told
him I was ready to follow him, and that remaining with him I
had difficulty in getting that pitiful spectacle out of my mind.
186 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
We told seven or eight of our men who were with us at the time
to withdraw for that day to a httle village haK a league from
the large one in which we were, for fear of some insult, and M.
de la Salle and I came away and found M. DoUier six good
leagues from the village.
There were some of our men barbarous enough to wish to
see the torture of the poor Toaguenha from beginning to end.
They reported next day that he had been burned with hot
irons over his whole body for the space of sLx hom-s, until there
was not a single spot on him that was not roasted. After that
they had required him to run six courses through the square
where the Iroquois awaited him armed with large flaming
brands, with which they kept urging him on and knocking him
down when he would come near them. Many took kettles
full of coals and hot cinders, with which they covered him the
instant that, by reason of his exhaustion and weakness, he
wished to rest for a single moment. At last, after two hours
of this barbarous amusement, they killed him "v^ith a stone,
and afterwards, everyone throwing himself upon him, tore him
to pieces. One carried off his head, another an arm, a third
some other limb, and everyone hurried away to put it in the
kettle to feast on it. Several presented portions of his flesh
to the French, telling them there was no better eating in the
world; but no one would try the experiment. Towards eve-
ning everybody assembled in the square, each with a small stick
in his hand, with which they began to beat the cabins on all
sides with a very great clatter, to drive away, as they said, the
dead man's soul, which might have hidden itself in some cor-
ner to do them harm.
We returned to the village some time afterw^ard to collect
amongst the cabins the supply of Indian corn that we needed
for our expedition, which the women of the village brought to
us, each according to her means. We had to carry it on our
necks six good leagues, the distance from the village to the place
where we were encamped.
During our sojourn at the village we had made careful en-
quiry as to the road we must take to reach the River Ohio, and
everybody had told us that in order to get to it from Seneca,
it was six days' journey by land of about twelve leagues each.
This made us think it was not possible for us to get to it that
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINl^E 187
way, as we could hardly carry anything for so long a journey
but the mere necessaries of life — carrying our baggage being
out of the question. But at the same time we were told that
in going to Lake Erie by canoe we should have only three days'
portage to get to that river/ much nearer the tribes we were
seeking than we should find it going by Seneca.
But what prevented us more than all was that the Indians
told our Dutch interpreter he had no sense to wish to go to
the Toaguenha, who were an extremely wicked people, that
would endeavor to discover our fire in the evening, and after-
wards come in the night and kill us with their arrows, with
which they would have us covered before we could perceive
them ; that furthermore, we ran a great risk along the Ohio
River of encountering the Antastoez, who would unquestion-
ably break our heads ; that for this reason the Senecas were
unwilling to come with us, for fear people might think they
were the cause of the Frenchmen's death, and they had much
difficulty in making up their minds to give us a guide, for fear
Onontio should impute our death to them and afterward come
to make war upon them in order to avenge it.
This kind of talk was going on without our knowing any-
thing about it, but I was quite astonished to see the ardor of
my Dutchman abating, who kept dinning into my ears that
the Indians, where we wished to go, were no good and would
kill us without fail. When I told him there was nothing to
fear as long as we kept proper sentry, he answered me that the
sentry, being near the fire, would not be able to perceive
those coming in the night under cover of the trees and under-
brush. In short, by all his talk, he showed me he was fright-
ened. In fact, he no longer prosecuted the business of the
guide with as much ardor as before, and, moreover, the In-
dians were given the cue. So they kept putting us off from
day to day, saying that their people were slower in returning
from trade than they expected. We suffered a great deal
from this delay, because we were losing the favorable season
for navigation, and could not hope to winter with any tribe
if we delayed longer, a contingency that M. de la Salle regarded
^ This was the route via Erie (formerly Presque Isle) and French Creek
to the Allegheny River, which was sometimes called the Ohio, as being the head-
waters of that stream.
188 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
as certain death, because we were not certain of being able to
subsist in the woods. However, thank God, we experienced
the contrary.
We were extricated from all these difficulties by the arrival
of an Indian who came from the Dutch and camped at the
place where we were. He was from a village of Iroquois of
the Five Nations, collected at the end of Lake Ontario for the
convenience of hunting roebuck and bear, which are plentiful
at that place. This Indian assured us we should have no dif-
ficulty in finding a guide; there were a number of slaves
there from the nations to which we desired to go, and he
would wiUingly take us there. We thought it well to adopt
this course, both because we were always making headway
and nearing the place we wished to go to, and because, the
village consisting of only eighteen or twenty cabins, we per-
suaded ourselves we should all the more easily become its
masters and make them do through fear a part of what they
would not be willing to do for friendship.
In that hope, we quitted the Senecas. We discovered a
river one-eighth of a league wide and extremely rapid, which
is the outlet or communication from Lake Erie to Lake On-
tario.^ The depth of this stream (for it is properly the River
St. Lawrence) is prodigious at this spot ; for at the very shore
there are fifteen or sixteen fathoms of water, which fact we
proved by dropping our line. This outlet may be forty leagues
in length, and contains, at a distance of ten or twelve leagues
from its mouth in Lake Ontario, one of the finest cataracts
or waterfalls in the world ; for all the Indians to whom I have
spoken about it said the river fell in that place from a rock
higher than the tallest pine trees ; that is, about two hundred
feet. In fact, we heard it from where we were. But this fall
gives such an impulse to the water that, although we were
ten or twelve leagues away, the water is so rapid that one can
with great difficulty row up against it. At a quarter of a
league from the mouth, where we were, it begins to contract
and to continue its channel between two steep and very high
rocks, which makes me think it would be navigable with
difficulty as far as the neighborhood of the falls. As to the
part above the falls, the water draws from a considerable
^ The River Niagara.
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN^E 189
distance into that precipice, and very often stags and hinds,
elks and roebucks, suffer themselves to be drawn along so
far in crossing this river that they find themselves compelled
to take the leap and to see themselves swallowed up in that
horrible gulf.
Our desire to go on to our little village called Ganastogue
Sonontoua Outinaouatoua^ prevented our going to see that
wonder, which I regarded as so much the greater, as the River
St. Lawrence is one of the largest in the world. I leave you
to imagine if it is not a beautiful cascade, to see all the water
of this great river, which at its mouth is three leagues in width,
precipitate itself from a height of two hundred feet with a
roar that is heard not only from the place where we were,
ten or twelve leagues distant, but actually from the other
side of Lake Ontario, opposite this mouth, from which M.
Trouve^ told me he had heard it. We passed this river,
accordingly, and at last, after five days' voyage, arrived at
the end of Lake Ontario, where there is a fine large sandy
bay, at the bottom of which is the outlet of another little
lake discharging itself. This our guides made us enter about
half a league, and then rniload our canoes at the place nearest
the village, which is, however, five or six good leagues away.
It was at that place, whilst waiting for the principal per-
sons of the village to come to us with some men to carry our
baggage, that M. de la Salle, having gone hunting, brought
back a high fever which pulled him down a great deal in a
few days. Some say it was at the sight of three large rattle-
snakes he foimd in his path whilst climbing a rock that the
fever seized him. It is certainly, after all, a*very ugly sight ;
for these animals are not timid like other serpents, but wait
for a man, putting themselves at once in a posture of de-
fence, coiling half the body from the tail to the middle as if
it were a cable, holding the rest of the body quite erect, and
darting sometimes as much as three or four paces, all the time
1 This small village is thought to have been situated in the Beverly swamp,
near the village of Westover, Ontario. It is usually spoken of as Tinawatawa,
see 'post.
^ Claude Trouve was one of the Sulpitian fathers who had charge of the
mission on the Bay of Quinte, A native of Tours, he came to Canada in 1667,
was five years at the Lake Ontario mission (1668-1673), later on the lower St.
Lawrence.
190 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
making a great noise with the rattle that they carry at the
end of their tails. There are a great many of them at this
place, as thick as one's arm, six or seven feet long, entirely
black. The rattle that they carry at the end of the tail, and
shake very rapidly, makes a noise like that which a number
of melon or squash seeds would make, if shut up in a box.
At last, after three days' waiting, the principal persons
and almost everyone in the village came to find us. We held
council in our camp, where my Dutchman succeeded better
than we had done at the large village. We made two presents
in order to obtain two slaves, and a third to get our packs
carried to the village. The Indians made us two presents;
the first of fourteen or fifteen dressed deer-sldns, to tell us they
were going to take us to their village, but were only a hand-
fiil of people, incapable of resisting us, and begged us to do
them no harm and not to burn them as the French had burnt
the Mohawks.^ We assured them of our good-will. They
made us another present of about five thousand wampum
beads, and, lastly, of two slaves for guides. One was from
the nation of the Shawanons and the other from the Nez-
Perces.2 I have thought since that he was from a nation
near the Pottawattamies ; however, both were good hunters
and showed that they were well disposed. The Shawanon
fell to M. de la Salle and the other to us. They told us, be-
sides, that on the following day they would help us to carry
our baggage to their village, in order to go on from there to
take us to the bank of a river, where we could embark for the
purpose of entering Lake Erie.
We were very much pleased with the inhabitants of this
little village, who entertained us to the best of their ability.
M. Dollier could not contain the joy that he had in seeing
himself with so favorable a prospect of arriving soon amongst
the tribes to whom he wished to consecrate the rest of his
days, for he had resolved never to return if he could find any
nation willing to receive him. We conversed with our guide,
1 Reference is here made to the signal punishment for treachery that Tracy
m 1666 inflicted upon the Mohawk tribesmen.
2 Nez Perces was one of the names given to the Ottawa Indians, for whom
see p. 36, note 1, ante. This tribe should not be confused with the Nez Percys
of the Far West, who are of the Shahaptian family.
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN^E 191
who assured us that in a month and a half of good travelling
we should be able to reach the first nations on the River Ohio
... in the woods, because there was no means of reaching
any nation before the snows. We devoured, in spirit, all these
difficulties, and made no account of anything, provided we
could go where we thought we were called of God.
We set out from this place with more than fifty Indians,
male or female, about the 22nd of September, and our Indians,
sparing us, obliged us to take two days in making our portage
as far as the village, which was only, however, about five
leagues away. We camped, accordingly, in the \dcinity of
the village, where our Indians went himting and killed a roe-
buck, and it was in that place that we learned there had arrived
two Frenchmen at the village we were going to, who were on
their way from the Ottawas and were taking back an Iroquois
prisoner belonging to the latter.
This news surprised us, because we did not think there
was any Frenchman out on service in that direction. How-
ever, two of the most influential persons left us to go to re-
ceive these new guests, and we pursued our journey next day
with the fatigue you may imagine ; sometimes in the water up
to mid-leg, besides the inconvenience of the packs, which get
caught in the branches of trees and make you recoil three or
four paces. But, after all, one is hardly sensible of those
fatigues when he thinks that by them he is pleasing God and
able to render Him service.
At last we arrived at Tinawatawa on the 24th of Sep-
tember, and found that the Frenchman who had arrived the
day before was a man named Jolliet,^ who had left Montreal
before us with a fleet of four canoes loaded with goods for the
Ottawas, and had orders from the Governor to go up as far
as Lake Superior to discover the situation of a copper mine,
specimens from which are seen here that scarcely need refin-
ing, so good and pure is the copper. After finding this mine
^ Louis Jolliet was Canadian born, baptized at Quebec in September,
1645. He had been a student at the Jesuit college until 1666, took minor orders
and served as clerk of the church. In 1667, however, he abandoned an eccle-
siastical career, paid a visit to France, and on his return made the voyage of
exploration here described. His later career will appear in subsequent pages
of this volume.
192 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
he was to find out an easier route than the ordinary one to
transport it to Montreal. M. JolHet had not been able to
see this mine, because time pressed him for his return ; but
having discovered amongst the Ottawas some Iroquois pris-
oners that these tribes had taken, he told them that Onontio's
intention was that they should live at peace with the Iroquois,
and persuaded them to send one of their prisoners to the Iro-
quois as a token of the peace they wished to have with them.
It was this Iroquois who showed M. Jolliet a new route,
heretofore unknown to the French, for returning from the
Ottawas to the country of the Iroquois. However, the fear
this Indian had of falling again into the hands of the Antastoes
led him to tell M. Jolliet he must leave his canoe and walk
overland sooner than would have been necessary. Indeed,
but for this terror on the part of the Indian, M. Jolliet could
have come by water as far as Lake Ontario, by making a port-
age of half a league to avoid the great falls of which I have
already spoken. In the end he was obliged by his guide to
make fifty leagues by land and to abandon his canoe on the
shore of Lake Erie.
Meanwhile M. de la Salle's illness was beginning to take
away from him the inclination to push further on, and the
desire to see Montreal was beginning to press him. He had
not spoken of it to us, but we had clearly perceived it. More-
over, the route M. Jolliet had taken, with the news he brought
us — that he had sent some of his party in search of a very
numerous nation of Ottawas called the Pottawattamies,
amongst whom there never had been any missionaries, and
that this tribe bordered on the Iskoutegas and the great
river that led to the Shawanons— induced M. Dollier and me
to wish to go and search for the river into which we wished
to enter by way of the Ottawas rather than by that of the
Iroquois, because the route seemed to us much easier and we
both knew the Ottawa language.
Another accident confirmed us in this thought, which
was, that after we had equipped the Indian, who was to serve
as our guide, with a capote, a blanket, kettle, and knife,
there arrived an Indian from the Dutch, who brought brandy,
of which these people are very fond, and our guide took a
strong desire to drink of it. Not having the wherewithal to
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINEE 193
trade, he gave his capote in order to obtain six mouthfuls of
it from a keg with a reed, and then threw it up into a wooden
platter.
I was informed of this affair, which did not please me,
because our guide, having traded his capote, would certainly
ask us for another to get through the winter, and we had no
more left. So I thought, that in order to make sure of our
guide, it was necessary to put a stop to this business. I went
to the cabin where the bar was kept, and there actually found
our trader, from whose hands I took away the capote which
he had already virtually pledged, causing him to be informed
that I would return it to him when he was no longer drunk.
The man was so angry at this affair that he went and hunted
up all we had given him and handed it back to us; but he
had no sooner left us than a Shawanon presented himself to
conduct us, whom we took at the word. However, as this
act had been noised about, the principal persons assembled,
and came to make us a present of two thousand wampum
beads so that we might not remember what had passed. We
promised, and they feasted us handsomely.
If M. Dollier's mission had not been for the Ottawas, to
the exclusion of the Iroquois, he would have stopped in this
village, where he was indeed urged with all imaginable prot-
estations to apply himself to prayers in good earnest. But
we had to pass on, without being able to do them any good
further than to confirm them in the good intentions they had,
and we promised them that the black robes of Kente should
come to see them next winter ; and in fact we wrote about it to
M. de Fenelon,^ who was carrying on a successful mission
at Kente, and M. Trouve did us the favor to fulfil the promise
we had given them and to come there to announce the Word
of God as early as the month of November following. M.
JoUiet offered us a description he had made of his route from
the Ottawas, which I accepted, and I reduced it at the time
to a marine chart, which gave us a good deal of information
as to our way, God having deprived us of our second guide in
the manner I shall mention hereafter.
1 Francois de Salignac, Abbe de Fenelon (1641-1679), came to Canada in
1667 ; after his five years at the Quinte mission he taught an Indian school, but
having displeased Frontenac was in 1674 sent back to France.
194 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
At last M. de la Salle, seeing us determined to depart in
two or three days, in order to proceed to the bank of the river
that was to take us to Lake Erie, explained himself to us, and
told us that the state of his health no longer permitted him to
think of the journey he had undertaken along with us. He
begged us to excuse him if he abandoned us to return to Mon-
treal, and added that he could not make up his mind to winter
in the woods with his men, where their lack of skill and ex-
perience might make them die of starvation.
The last day of September, M. DoUier said holy mass for
the second time in this village, where most of us, as well on
M. de la Salle's side as on ours, received the sacrament in
order to unite in our Lord at a time when we saw ourselves
on the point of separating. Hitherto we had never failed to
hear holy mass three times a week, which M. Dollier said
for us on a little altar prepared with paddles on forked sticks
and surrounded with sails from our canoes. We took the
greatest possible care not to be seen by the Indians, who
would perhaps have made a mockery of our holy ceremony.
So we have had the happiness and the honor of offering the
holy sacrifice of the mass in more than two hundred places
where it never had been offered.
We had no trouble in persuading our men to follow us.
There was not one at that time who desired to leave us ; and
it may be said with truth that more joy was remarked in those
who were going to expose themselves to a thousand perils
than in those who were turning back to a place of safety,
although the latter regarded us as people who were going to
expose themselves to death; as indeed they announced as
soon as they arrived here, and caused a great deal of pain to
those who took some interest in our welfare. M. Jolliet was
kind enough to inform me likewise of the place where his
canoe was, because mine was now almost worthless, which
made me resolve to endeavor to get it at the earliest possible
moment, for fear Indians should carry it off from us.
We set out then from Tinaouataoua on the 1st of October,
1669, accompanied by a good number of Indians, who helped
us to carry our canoes and baggage, and after making about
nine or ten leagues in three days we arrived at the bank of
the river which I call the Rapid, because of the violence of its
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN^E 195
current, although it had not much water, for in many places
we did not find enough to float our canoes, which did not draw
a foot of water. ^
Holy mass was said on the fourth, St. Francis' Day, and
that same day I asked all our men which of them would go
by land as far as the place where the canoe was that had been
given me, as it was impossible for twelve of us to embark in
three canoes on a river where there is so little water as in this.
My Dutchman offered himself, and said to me that he had
thoroughly understood the route to go there and would find
it without fail. As I knew none in our party more intelligent
than he, I was glad he had proposed the thmg to me. I told
him to take our Shawanon Indian and the one we had from
Montreal, with provisions and ammunition, and go on and
wait for us at the place where the canoe was, and we should
soon join him.
They left us that same day, the 3rd of October, and the
rest of us set out on the 4th of the same month, two in each
canoe, and the rest by land. It is marvellous how much dif-
ficulty we had in descending this river, for we had to be in
the water almost all the time dragging the canoe, which was
unable to pass through for lack of water, so that although this
river is not more than forty leagues in length, we took eight
whole days to descend it. We had very good hunting there.
At last we arrived, on the 13th or 14th, at the shore of
Lake Erie, which appeared to us at first like a great sea, be-
cause there was a great south wind blowing at the time.
There is perhaps no lake in the whole country in which the
waves rise so high, which happens because of its great depth
and its great extent. Its length lies from east to west, and its
north shore is in about 42 degrees of latitude. We proceeded
three days along this lake, seeing land continually on the
other side about four or five leagues away, which made us
think that the lake was only of that width ; but we were im-
deceived when we saw that this land, that we saw on the
other side, was a peninsula separating the little bay in which
we were from the great lake, whose limits cannot be seen
when one is in the peninsula. I have shown it on the map I
send you pretty nearly as I saw it.
^ Grand River of Ontario.
196 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1669
At the end of three days, during which we made only 21
or 22 leagues, we found a spot which appeared to us so beauti-
ful, with such an abundance of game, that we thought we could
not find a better in which to pass our winter. The moment
we arrived we killed a stag and a hind, and again on the fol-
lowing day two young stags. The good hunting quite deter-
mined us to remain in this place. We looked for some favor-
able spot to make a winter camp, and discovered a very
pretty river, at the mouth of which we camped, until we
should send word to our Dutchman of the place we had
chosen.^ We sent accordingly two of our men to the place
of the canoe, who returned at the end of a week, and told us
they had found the canoe but seen neither the Dutchman
nor the Indians. This news troubled us very much, not
knowing what to decide. We thought we could not do better
than wait in this place, which was very conspicuous, and
which they must necessarily pass to go to find the canoe.
We hunted meanwhile and killed a considerable number
of stags, hinds, and roebucks, so that we began to have no
longer any fear of leaving during the winter. We smoked the
meat of nine large animals in such a manner, that it could
have kept for two or three years, and with this provision
we awaited the winter with tranquillity whilst hunting and
making good provision of walnuts and chestnuts, which were
there m great quantities. We had indeed in our granary 23
or 24 minots^ of these fruits, besides apples, plums and grapes,
and alizes^ of which we had an abundance during the autumn.
I will tell you, by the way, that the vine grows here only
in sand, on the banks of lakes and rivers, but although it has
no cultivation it does not fail to produce grapes in great
quantities as large and as sweet as the finest of France. We
even made wine of them, with which M. DoUier said holy mass
all winter, and it was as good as vin de Grave. It is a heavy,
dark wine like the latter. Only red grapes are seen here, but
in so great quantities, that we found places where one could
easily have made 25 or 30 hogsheads of wine.
1 The exact site was identified in 1900 by the Ontario Historical Society,
on Patterson's Creek, near Port Dover, Ontario.
2 The minot was equivalent to about a bushel and a quarter.
3 Cranberries.
1669] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINEE 197
I leave you to imagine whether we suffered in the midst
of this abundance in the earthly Paradise of Canada; I call
it so, because there is assuredly no more beautiful region in
all Canada. The woods are open, interspersed with beauti-
ful meadows, watered by rivers and rivulets filled with fish
and beaver, an abundance of fruits, and what is more impor-
tant, so full of game that we saw there at one time more than
a hundred roebucks in a single band, herds of fifty or sixty
hinds, and bears fatter and of better flavor than the most
savory pigs of France. In short, we may say that we passed
the winter more comfortably than we should have done in
Montreal.
We stayed a fortnight on the lake shore waiting for our
men ; but seeing that we were at the beginning of November,
we thought they had certainly missed the way, and so we
could do nothing else than pray to God for them. We could
not pass the winter on the lake shore because of the high winds
by which we should have been buffeted. For this reason we
chose a beautiful spot on the bank of a rivulet, about a quarter
of a league in the woods, where we encamped. We erected a
pretty altar at the end of our cabin, where we had the hap-
piness to hear holy mass three times a week without missing,
with the consolation you may imagine of finding ourselves
with our good God, in the midst of the woods, in a land where
no European had ever been. Monsieur DoUier often told
us that that winter ought to be worth to us, as regards our
eternal welfare, more than the best ten years of our life. We
confessed often, received communion as well. In short, we
had our parochial mass, holidays and Sundays, with the
necessary instructions; prayer evening and morning, and
every other Christian exercise. Orison was offered with tran-
quillity in the midst of this solitude, where we saw no stranger
for three months, at the end of which our men while hunting
discovered a number of Iroquois coming to this place to
hunt beaver. They used to visit us and found us in a very-
good cabin whose construction they admired, and afterward
they brought every Indian who passed that way to see it.
For that reason, we had built it in such a fashion that we could
have defended ourselves for a long time against these barbari-
ans, if the desire had entered their minds to come to insult us.
198 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
The winter was very severe all over Canada in the year
1669, especially in February, 1670. However, the deepest
snow was not more than a foot, which began to cover the ground
in the month of January, whilst at Montreal there is usually
seen three feet and a half of it, which covers the groimd dur-
ing four months of the year. I believe we should have died of
cold, if we had been in a place where the weather was as severe
as in Montreal. For it turned out that all the axes were
worthless, and we broke almost all of them; so that, if the
wood we were cutting had been frozen as hard as it is in Mon-
treal, we should have had no axes from the month of January ;
for the winter passed off with all possible mildness.
However, we could not help longing for the season of
navigation, so as to get to the Pottawattamies at an early
date, and that I might be able to return this year to Montreal,
in order to send back to M. Dollier the thuigs he would re-
quire in his mission.
On the 23rd of March, Passion Sunday, we all went to the
lake shore to make and plant a cross in memory of so long a
sojourn of Frenchmen as ours had been. We offered our
prayers there, and seeing that where we were was almost
clear of ice we resolved to set out on the 26th March, the day
after Annunciation.
But as the river by which we had gone to the place of our
wintering was not so exposed either to the wind or sun as the
lake, it was still entirely frozen, so that it was necessary to
portage all our baggage and our canoes as far as the lake,
where we embarked after living in that place five months and
eleven days.
We made six or seven leagues that day, and were met by
so heavy a wind that we had to stop and wait two days, during
which the wind continued so strong that, catching my canoe
which my men had not taken care to fasten securely, it carried
it out so far before we perceived it, that it was more than a
good quarter of a league distant from the shore. Two men got
into another canoe to go and rescue it, and actually reached
it; but the violence of the wind came very near drowning
them. Unable to manage their own canoe because of mine,
which was playing at the sport of the wind and which they
were unable to hold, they were obliged to cut the line with
1670] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN^JIJ 199
which they had attached it to their own, in order to save
themselves. The wind was off land, therefore it did not ap-
pear to me very strong, so I thought they were letting the
canoe go because they were not strong enough to bring it.
I embarked accordingly with two men in the canoe that re-
mained to us. We were no sooner far enough out to be caught
by the wind than we knew well there was no means of saving
my canoe. So I was constrained to let it go where the wind
was carrying it and to get myself back to shore.
This accident caused us a great deal of trouble, for I
had a large quantity of baggage. M. Dollier, who was going
for the purpose of establishing himself, had his two canoes
very heavily loaded. So there we were, consulting what we
should do. At length we decided to withdraw one man from
each of the remaining canoes and to put my baggage in their
places. Thus, of nine men remaining, we went five by land
and two in each canoe until we should reach the one that had
been given me.
We reckoned on only two days' walking to reach it, so
we made up our minds to suffer hardship for one of them, for
the land route was very bad, because of four rivers that had
to be crossed and a number of great gulches that the water
from the snows and rains had scooped out in many places on
its way to the lake — to say nothing of the difficulty there
always is in walking in these woods, because of the obstruc-
tions caused by the trees that fall from time to time, either
from age or being uprooted by the impetuosity of the winds.
We set out accordingly, and decided it was necessary, in order
to cross the rivers that we had to pass, to go a good distance
into the woods, because the farther the rivers run into the
woods the narrower they are, and, indeed, one usually finds
trees, which, having fallen in every direction, form bridges
over which one passes.
We plunged then about four leagues into the woods,
loaded with provisions, ammunition, and our blankets. We
passed the first river easily by this method, but when we came
to the second, far from stopping in the woods, it widened in
the form of a marsh and flowed with great rapidity. There
is no safety in crossing the rivers of this countiy by fording
unless one knows them well, because there are a great many
200 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
quicksands, in which one sinks so far that it is impossible to
get out. This river seems very deep, as in reality it is. When
we reached its bank we held a council as to what we should'
do, and in the first place resolved to go on for some time
longer towards its mouth, in order to cross it on a raft.
We slept that night on the bank of this river, about two
leagues from its mouth, and it was at this place that we
heard towards the east voices that seemed to us to be of men
calling to each other. We ran to the river bank to see if it
was not our men looking for us, and at the same time we heard
the same voices on the south side. We turned our heads in
that direction, but at last were undeceived, hearing them at
the same time towards the west, which gave us to understand
that it was the phenomenon cormnonly called the hunting of
Arthur. I have never heard it, nor have any of those who were
of our company, which was the reason we were deceived by it.
Next day we arrived at the mouth of the river, which was
very deep and rapid, and bordered on both sides by large
submerged meadows.^ Notwithstanding the difficulty of
the crossing, we resolved to make a raft to take all five of us
over. This conveyance is very dangerous, for it is nothing
but pieces of wood fastened together with ropes. We were
an entire day preparing our wretched boat and putting it
into the water, but that is the day we suffered most during
our whole journey, for it snowed frightfully, with an ex-
tremely cold northeaster, so that there fell in fourteen or fif-
teen hours' time a good foot of snow. Notwithstanding this,
as soon as the snow had ceased, we embarked on our machine
with the water up to mid-leg, and landed in a meadow more
than 200 paces wide, which we had to cross, loaded as we were,
in mud, water, and snow up to the middle.
We pursued our way afterward as far as the shore of the
great lake of which I spoke before, and, contrary to all ex-
pectation, found it still quite filled with floating ice, which
made us think our people had not been able to set out upon it.
We were by this time in Holy Week, and very glad to suffer
something at that season in order to conform ourselves to our
Lord; but we were afraid we should not succeed in rejoining
our party before the approaching festival of Easter.
^ Identified by Coyne as Big Creek, Norfolk County, Ontario.
1670] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN:EE 201
Meanwhile we went and awaited them on a ridge of sand,
which joins the peninsula of Lake Erie to the mainland, and
separates the great from the little Lake Erie. As they must
necessarily make a portage over this ridge,^ we decided we
could not miss them. We had no provisions left, and M.
DoUier and myself had deprived ourselves of part of our share
to give to our men, so that they might have more strength to
go hunting, and God willed that they should kill a stag, which
did us much honor, although it was very lean.
We went and camped near the animal, and next day our
men found us at this place, where we met again with much
joy, and resolved not to leave the place until we should re-
ceive the Easter sacrament together, which we did with much
consolation.2
On Tuesday after Easter, we set out after hearing holy
mass, and notwithstanding the ice which still lined the entire
lake, we launched our canoes and proceeded, still five by land,
for two days, to the place of the canoe. As the cold was still
very severe, the game was still in the depth of the woods and
did not come towards the shore -of the great lake. Thus we
were short of meat, and were five or six days eating nothing
but a little Indian com cooked in water.
We arrived at last at the place where our people had
placed the canoe in question and we found it no longer there,
because the Iroquois having come upon it during the winter,
while hunting, had carried it off. I leave you to imagine
whether we were embarrassed. We were without provisions,
in a very severe season, at a place where there was no means
of obtaining any at the time, and without being able to get
away for lack of canoes. We could do nothing else than
recommend the matter to God and prepare for great misery
and suffering. We sent our people hunting for a day, and
they did not see so much as one animal. We could not as yet
strip bark to make a canoe, because the wood was not in sap,
and would not become so for a month and a half, and we were
unable to wait that time for want of provisions.
In short, we were in this perplexity when one of our men,
going in search of dry wood to put on the fire, came upon
^ Now called T^ong Point Portage ; Little Lake Erie was Long Point Bay.
* Easter in 1670 fell on April 6.
202 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
the canoe that we wanted hidden between two large trees.
The Indians had placed it on the other side of a river^ and
hidden it so weU that it was impossible to find it without a
special providence of God. Everybody was delighted over
this discovery ; and although we were without provisions, we
thought we were in a condition to reach some good hunting
spot soon. And in fact at the end of one day's travel we found
ourselves in a place that appeared very suitable to put animals
in and where there was plenty of game. We stopped there
in the thought that we should not die of hunger, there being
always a certainty of killing game enough to keep body and
soul together, whilst the others were off looking for some
animal.
Our men went hunting accordingly, and after missing
their aim at a herd of more than two hundred does that they
came upon, vented their wrath on a poor wolf, which they
skinned and brought to camp, and which was just about to
be put in the kettle, when one of our men on the look-out
told us that he perceived on the other side of a little lake, on
the shore of which we were encamped, a herd of twenty or
thirty does. We rejoiced at this news, and after we had ar-
ranged a plan for securing them, they were surrounded from
behind so successfully that they were obliged to take to the
water. They were immediately overtaken with the canoes, so
that not a single one should have escaped if we had desired:
but we selected those that appeared to us the best, and killed
ten, letting the rest go.
We loaded ourselves in this place with fresh and smoked
meat, and proceeded as far as a long point, which you will
find marked on the map of Lake Erie.^ We landed there on
a beautiful sand beach on the east side of the point. We had
made that day nearly twenty leagues, so we were all very
much tired. That was the reason why we did not carry all
our packs up on the high ground, but left them on the sand
and carried our canoes up on the high ground.
Night came on, and we slept so soundly that a great north-
east wind rising had time to agitate the lake with so much
violence that the water rose six feet where we were, and carried
» Probably Kettle Creek, of Elgin County, Ontario.
' Point Pelee, of Essex County, Ontario.
1670] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINEE 203
away the packs of M. DoUier's canoe that were nearest the
water, and would have carried away all the rest if one of us
had not awoke. Astonished to hear the lake roaring so furi-
ously, he went to the beach to see if the baggage was safe,
and seeing that the water already came as far as the packs
that were placed the highest, cried out that all was lost. At
this cry we rose and rescued the baggage of my canoe and of
one of M. DoUier's. Pieces of bark were lighted to search
along the river, but all that could be saved was a keg of
powder that floated; the rest was carried away. Even the
lead was carried away, or buried so deep in the sand that it
coiild never be found. But the worst of all was that the en-
tire altar service was lost. We waited for the wind to go down
and the waters to retire, in order to go and search along the
water, whether some debris of the wreck could not be found.
But all that was found was a musketoon and a small bag of
clothes belonging to one of our men ; the rest was lost beyond
recall. Even our provisions were all lost except what was in
my canoe.
This accident put it out of our power to have the aid of
the sacraments or to administer them to the rest. So we took
counsel together to know whether we ought to stop with some
tribe to carry on our mission there, or should return to Montreal
for another altar service, and other goods necessary to obtain
provisions, with a view to returning afterwards and estab-
lishing ourselves in some spot, and this suggestion seemed to
us the best. As the route to the Ottawas seemed to us al-
most as short from the place where we were as the way we
had come, and as we purposed to reach Sainte-Marie of the
Sault, where the Ottawas assemble in order to descend in
company, before they should leave, we thought we should
descend with them more easily. Add to this, moreover, that
we were better pleased to see a new country than to turn back.
We pursued our journey accordingly towards the west, and
after making about 100 leagues on Lake Erie arrived at the
place where the Lake of the Hurons, otherwise called the
Fresh Water Sea of the Hurons, or Michigan, discharges into
this lake. This outlet is perhaps half a league in width and
turns sharp to the northeast, so that we were almost retracing
our path. At the end of six leagues we discovered a place
204 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
that is very remarkable, and held in great veneration by all
the Indians of these countries, because of a stone idol that
nature has formed there. To it they say they owe their good
luck in sailing on Lake Erie, when they cross it without ac-
cident, and they propitiate it by sacrifices, presents of skins,
provisions, etc., when they wish to embark on it. The place
was fuU of camps of those who had come to pay their homage
to this stone, which had no other resemblance to the figure
of a man than w^hat the imagination was pleased to give it.
However, it was all painted, and a sort of face had been formed
for it with vermillion. I leave you to imagine whether we
avenged upon this idol, which the Iroquois had strongly
recommended us to honor, the loss of our chapel. We attrib-
uted to it even the dearth of provisions from which we had
hitherto suffered. In short, there was nobody whose hatred
it had not incurred. I consecrated one of my axes to break
this god of stone, and then having yoked our canoes together
we carried the largest pieces to the middle of the river, and
threw all the rest also into the water, in order that it might
never be heard of again. God rewarded us immediately for this
good action, for we killed a roebuck and a bear that very day.
At the end of four leagues we entered a small lake, about
ten leagues in length and almost as many in width, called by
M. Sanson the Salt Water Lake, but we saw no sign of salt
in this lake.^
We entered the outlet of Lake Michigan, which is not a
quarter of a league in width. At length, after ten or twelve
leagues, we entered the largest lake in all America, called the
Fresh Water Sea of the Hurons, or in Algonkin, "Michigan."
It is 660 or 700 leagues in circumference. We travelled about
200 leagues on this lake, and were really afraid of being in
want of provisions because the animals of this lake appear
very unprolific. However, God did not will that we should
lack in His service ; for we were never more than a day with-
out food. It is true that we happened several times to have
^ Nicolas Sanson d'Abbeville's map of 1656 is here referred to. Lake St.
Clair was spoken of as "Salt Water Lake" from the time of Champlain, possibly
because of a knowledge of Michigan salines in the neighborhood. The present
name was assigned by Father Hennepin, who passed through this lake August
12, 1679, the f6te-day of Ste. Claire.
1670] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINEE 205
nothing left, and to pass an evening and a morning without
having anything whatever to put in the kettle; but I did
not see that anyone became discouraged or troubled on that
account. For we were so accustomed to see God aiding us
mightily on these occasions, that we awaited with tranquillity
the effects of His bounty, in the thought that He who nour-
ished so many barbarians in these woods would not abandon
His servants.
Although this lake is as large as the Caspian Sea, and
much larger than Lake Erie, storms do not arise in it either so
violent or so long, because it is not very deep. Thus in many
places, after the wind has gone down, it does not require more
than five or six hours, whilst it will be necessary sometimes to
wait one or two days until Lake Erie is calmed down.
We crossed this lake without any danger and entered
the Lake of the Hurons,^ which conomunicates with it by
four mouths, each of them nearly two leagues in width. At
last we arrived on the 25th May, the Day of Pentecost, at
Sainte-Marie of the Sault, the place where the Reverend
Jesuit Fathers have made their principal establishment for
the missions of the Ottawas and neighboring tribes. They
have had two men in their service since last year, who have
built them a pretty fort, that is to say, a square of cedar posts
twelve feet high, with a chapel and house inside the fort so
that now they see themselves in the condition of not being
dependent in any way on the Indians. They have a large
clearing well planted, from which they ought to gather a
good part of their sustenance; they are even hoping to eat
bread there within two years from now. Before arriving here,
we fell in with three canoes of Indians, with whom we arrived
at the fort of the Fathers. These men informed us of the
custom they had when they reached the fort, of saluting it
with several gunshots, which we also did very gladly.
We were received at this place with all possible charity.
We were present at a portion of vespers on the day of Pente-
cost, and the two following days. We received the communion
with so much the more joy, inasmuch as for nearly a month
and a half we had not been able to enjoy this blessing.
The fruit these Fathers are producing here is more for the
^ Georgian Bay.
206 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
French, who are here often to the number of 20 or 25, than for
the Indians; for although there are some who have been
baptized, there are none yet that are good enough CathoHcs
to be able to attend divine service, which is held for the
French, who sing high mass and vespers on saints' days and
Sundays. The Fathers have, in this connection, a practice
which seems to me rather extraordinary, which is, that they
baptize adults not in danger of death, when they have mani-
fested any good-will toward Christianity, before they are
capable either of confessing or of attending holy mass, or
keeping the other commandments of the Church; so that at
Pointe du Saint-Esprit, a place at the head of Lake Superior,
where the remnant of the Hurons retired after the burning
of their villages, the Father who passed the winter with them
told me that although there was a large portion of them who
had been baptized when the Fathers had been amongst the
Hurons, he had never yet ventured to say mass before them,
because these people regard this service as jugglery or witch-
craft.
I saw no particular sign of Christianity amongst the In-
dians of this place, nor in any other country of the Ottawas,
except one woman of the nation of the Amikoues, who had
been instructed formerly at the French settlements, and who,
being as she thought in danger of death, begged M. DoUier
to have pity on her. He reminded her of her old instructions
and the obligation she was under of confessing herseK, if she
had offended God since her last confession, a very long time
before, and he confessed her with great testimonies of joy on
both sides.
When we were with the Fathers we were still more than
300 leagues from Montreal, to which, however, we wished to
proceed at once, in order to be able to return at an early day
to some of the Ottawa tribes and winter there, and in the fol-
lowing spring to go in search of the River Ohio and the races
settled there, in order to carry the Gospel to them.
We learned that two days previously a fleet of 30 Ottawa
canoes had set out for Montreal, and that there was still an-
other of Kilistinons which was to leave shortly. As we were
not certain at what time the latter were to come, and knew,
besides, the trouble there is in being obliged to follow Indians,
1670] JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALIN^E 207
we judged it more convenient to look out for a guide to con-
duct us to Montreal, because the routes are more difl&cult
and toilsome than can be imagined. We succeeded in finding
one at an expense of 25 or 30 crowns' worth of goods, which
we simply had to promise, so we took leave of Fathers d'Ablon
and Marquette, who were then at this place, it being the 28th
of May.
Hitherto the country of the Ottawas had passed in my
mind, and in the minds of all those in Canada, as a place where
there was a great deal of suffering for want of food. But I
am so well persuaded of the contrary that I know of no region
in all Canada where they are less in want of it. The nation
of the Saulteaux, or in Algonkin Waoiiitikoungka Entaouakk
or Ojibways, amongst whom the Fathers are established, live
from the melting of the snows until the beginning of winter
on the bank of a river nearly half a league wide and three
leagues long, by which Lake Superior falls into the Lake of
the Hurons. This river forms at this place a rapid so teem-
ing with fish, called white fish, or in Algonkin attikamegue,
that the Indians could easily catch enough to feed 10,000
men. It is true the fishing is so difficult that only Indians
can carry it on. No Frenchman has hitherto been able to
succeed in it, nor any other Indian than those of this tribe,
who are used to this kind of fishing from an early age. But, in
short, this fish is so cheap that they give ten or twelve of them
for four fingers of tobacco. Each weighs six or seven pounds,
but it is so big and so delicate that I know of no fish that ap-
proaches it. Sturgeon is caught in this small river, close by,
in abundance. Meat is so cheap here that for a pound of
glass beads I had four minots of fat entrails of moose, which
is the best morsel of the animal. This shows how many these
people kill. It is at these places that one gets a beaver robe
for a fathom of tobacco, sometimes for a quarter of a pound
of powder, sometimes for six knives, sometimes for a fathom
of smaU blue beads, etc. This is the reason why the French
go there, notwithstanding the frightful difficulties that are
encountered.
In going there from Montreal it is necessary to ascend a
river^ in which thirty portages must be made in order to
* Ottawa River.
208 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1670
avoid a like number of falls or rapids, in which, if one ran them,
he would incur the danger of losing a thousand lives. From
this river, which is as large as the River St. Lawrence, one
passes, half by land and half by water, the space of twenty-
five or thirty leagues, to get to the Lake of the Nipissings,
from which one descends by French River, where there are
four or five more waterfalls, to the Lake of the Hurons.
The greatest difficulty is in descending; for if one does
not know exactly where the landings are, to make the port-
ages, he runs the risk of being swallowed up in the falls and
perishing, to say nothing of the difficulty of the portages,
which are generally amongst stones and gravel. One often
ventures into the less difficult channels, in which if the man
who steers the canoe or the man in front were to fail sometimes
by the thickness of a silver crown to pass between rocks and
whirlpools that are found in these channels, the canoe would
be wrecked or fill with water, and one would see himself
swallowed up in places that look horrible. This is only too
common, and a Jesuit brother who descended after us, wrecked
his canoe in one of these channels ; and few canoes are seen
belonging to Indians who have made the Montreal trip which
are not well patched. God protected us so especially that no
harm happened to us, although of forty-five or fifty portages
that are made going up, we saved seventeen or eighteen coming
down. However, we had a very good guide and men who
were not novices in these channels.
We arrived at last at Montreal on the 18th of June, after
twenty-two days of the most fatiguing travelling that I have
ever done in my life. Moreover, I was attacked towards the
end of the journey with a tertian fever, which somewhat
moderated the joy I should have had in arriving at Montreal,
on seeing myself at last back in the midst of our dear brethren,
if I had been in full health. We were received by everybody,
and especially by the Abbe de Queylus, with demonstrations
of particular kindness. We were looked upon rather as per-
sons risen from the dead than as common men.
Everybody desired me to make the map of our journey,
which I have done accurately enough; however, I recognize
rather serious faults in it still, which I will correct when I
have time. I send it to you such as it is, and beg you to have
1670J JOURNAL OF DOLLIER AND GALINJ^E 209
the goodness to accept it, because I have made it just now for
you. I have marked in it nothing but what I saw. Thus
you will find only one side of each lake, since their width is
so great that one cannot see the other. I have made it as a
marine chart, that is to say, the meridians do not converge
near the poles, because I am more familiar with these maps
than with the geographical ones, and, moreover, the former
are comimonly more exact than the others.^
^ Faillon, Histoire de la Colonie Frangaise en Canada, III. 305 (1866), gives
a reproduction of this map and says that it is in the Archives de la Marine at
Paris. Parkman, La Salle, pp. 449-450, describes it. Harrisse, in his Notes
sur la Nouvelle France (1872), No. 200, says that he could not find it there, and
it is not in De la Roncifere's Catalogue of the manuscripts of the Marine. There
is a copy of it, made in 1856 from the original at Paris, in the Library of Parlia-
ment at Ottawa. This is reproduced and compared with other copies by James
H. Coyne in the Ontario Historical Society's Papers and Records, IV.
THE PAGEANT OF 1671
INTRODUCTION
Seventeenth-century France had imperial ambitions.
Louis XIV. and his great minister Colbert aimed not only at
domination in Europe, but at empire in North America. At
the instigation of the intendant, Jean Talon, the royal court
determined to lay claim to all the territory discovered by
French enterprise and all the valleys traversed by French
priests or traders, and to assert supremacy over all the aborig-
ines dwelling therein. In the summer of 1670 plans were
set on foot for a pageant of possession to impress the Indian
tribesmen, and to proclaim to the world the right of France to
the great interior of the North American Continent.
The site chosen was the Jesuit mission of Sault Ste. Marie,
the centre of missionary enterprise in the Northwest, whose
location at the head of the Great Lakes made it appropriate
and commanding. Talon, newly returned from a visit to
France, brought orders for the arrangement of the pageant.
The titular head of the expedition was a French soldier of
fortune who had crossed to Canada on the same vessel with
the intendant. Simon Frangois Daumont, Sieur de St. Lusson,
owes his place in history to the memory of this one event.
Upon its conclusion he was sent with dispatches to the King,
and never returned to the New World.
The other chief actors in the pageant, however, were men
of experience in Western exploration, and of skill in the man-
agement of Indians. Nicolas Perrot, lately arrived at Que-
bec (1670) after five years among the tribes around Green
Bay, was chosen translator and Indian agent for the expedi-
tion ; Louis JolHet, soon to start on his famed voyage of dis-
213
214 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
covery, likewise accompanied Sieur de St. Lusson; while at
Sault Ste. Marie four Jesuits of great experience in Indian
affairs awaited the cortege. Contrary to the usual custom
of inland voyaging the expedition left Montreal in the autumn ;
therefore the winter was passed at Manitoulin Islands, and
in the early spring runners were sent out to notify the North-
em tribes to come and participate in the proposed ceremony.
Perrot himself went to Green Bay, whence he accompanied
to the designated place chiefs of the Potawatomi, Menominee,
Winnebago, and Sauk Indians — ^those of the other bay tribes
attending only by proxy. Upon Perrot's arrival early in June
at the Jesuits' house at the Sault, he found delegates from
fourteen different tribes assembled, awaiting the pleasure of
the King's ambassador.
In solemn conclave the ceremony took place in the lovely
mid-June of the Northern lakes, beside the foaming waters
of the straits, with dark pines and hemlocks standing atten-
tive. St. Lusson, clad in the gorgeous uniform of a French
officer of the seventeenth century, ascended a small height
on which the cross and the arms of New France had been
planted. Jesuits and voyageurs gathered around him while
with bared head and flashing sword he announced the purpose
of the concourse, amidst the hymns of the missionaries, the
whoops of the savages, and the salvos of musketry from all
assembled. With quaint old mediaeval rites of twig and turf,
the King's representative proclaimed thrice in a loud voice
the annexation by the "Most High, Most Mighty and Most
Redoubtable Monarch Louis the XIV. of the Name, Most
Christian King of France and Navarre" of all countries dis-
covered or to be discovered between the Northern, Western,
and Southern Seas — a realm that in all its length and breadth
included an empire many times the size and richness of the
home land of France and Navarre. After the ceremony had
been carefully explained to the assembled Indians papers were
INTRODUCTION 215
drawn up and signed by all the white men present. Father
Allouez then arose and in fitting phrase adapted to Indian
understanding declared to the assembled chieftains the great-
ness and power of the sovereign under whose dominion they
had passed. St. Lusson followed with a martial address, and
the ceremony terminated with a huge bonfire, which lighted
the depths of the dark wilderness with its fitful gleams — strange
emblem of the brief sovereignty of France in the New World,
that flamed so brightly for a time, and so quickly died away.
There are three contemporaneous accounts of the great
pageant at Sault Ste. Marie. Of these the first is the official
state paper or minutes of the ceremony. This was published in
Pierre Margry, Decouvertes et Etahlissements des Frangais dans
I'Amerique Septentrionale, I. 96-99. It appeared in English
form in the New York Colonial Documents, IX. 803-804, from
which it was reprinted in Wisconsin Historical Collections,
XL 26-28. This records the names of the tribes whose rep-
resentatives were present, and gives a resume of St. Lusson's
speech and the signatures of the participants — the Jesuits,
Perrot, and JoUiet, and the fifteen voyageurs and soldiers
who accompanied the expedition.
The second account is that of Nicolas Perrot in his
Memoire, first published in France in 1868, first translated
in full in E. H. Blair, Indian Tribes of the Upper Mississippi
and the Great Lakes Region (Cleveland, 1911). Perrot relates
how Talon enlisted his services for the expedition in the sum-
mer of 1670, and describes the winter passed on Manitoulin
Island where the Chippewa of the vicinity snared more than
two thousand four hundred moose. He tells of his spring jour-
ney to the Bay of Puans (Green Bay) partly by sledge and
partly by canoe, describes the summoning of the tribes, and
the departure of the delegation for Sault Ste. Marie, gives
a brief notice of the ceremony, and concludes in story-tellers'
fashion, "After that, all those peoples returned to their re-
216 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
spective abodes, and lived many years without any trouble
in that quarter."
The third contemporary account, which we have chosen
to present here, is given by the Jesuit missionaries in part
third of the Relation of 1670-1671. This was published in
Paris at the Cramoisy shop in 1672 ; the English translation
that we reproduce is from Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, IV.
105-115.
THE PAGEANT OF 1671
Taking Possession, in the King^s Name, of all the Countries
Commonly Included under the Designation Outaouac.
It is not our present purpose to describe this ceremony
in detail, but merely to touch on matters relating to Chris-
tianity and the welfare of our missions, which are going to
be more flourishing than ever after what occurred to their
advantage on this occasion.
When Monsieur Talon, our intendant, returned from
Portugal, and after his shipwreck, he was commanded by the
King to return to this country ; and at the same time received
his Majesty's orders to exert himself strenuously for the
establishment of Christianity here, by aiding our missions,
and to cause the name and the sovereignty of our invincible
monarch to be acknowledged by even the least known and the
most remote nations. These commands, reinforced by the
designs of the minister, who is ever equally alert to extend
God's glory, and to promote that of his King in every land,
were obeyed as speedily as possible. Monsieur Talon had no
sooner landed than he considered means for insuring the suc-
cess of these plans, choosing, to that end, Sieur de Saint Lus-
son, whom he cormnissioned to take possession, in his place
and in his Majesty's name, of the territories lying between
the east and the west, from Montreal as far as the South
Sea, covering the utmost extent and range possible.
For this purpose, after wintering on the Lake of the Hu-
rons, Monsieur de Saint Lusson repaired to Sainte Marie du
Sault early in May of this year, 1671. First, he summoned
the surrounding tribes living within a radius of a hundred
leagues, and even more; and they responded through their
ambassadors, to the number of fourteen nations. After mak-
ing all necessary preparations for the successful issue of the
whole undertaking to the honor of France, he began, on June
fourth^ of the same year, with the most solenm ceremony
ever observed in these regions.
^This day is incorrect; according to the official minutes the ceremony
occurred on June 14, 1671.
217
218 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1671
For, when all had assembled in a great public council,
and a height had been chosen well adapted to his purpose,
overlooking, as it did, the village of the people of the Sault,
he caused the Cross to be planted there, and then the King's
standard to be raised, with all the pomp that he could devise.
The Cross was pubhcly blessed, with all the ceremonies
of the Church, by the superior of these missions ; and then,
when it had been raised from the ground for the purpose of
planting it, the Vexilla^ was sung. Many Frenchmen there
present at the time joined in this hymn, to the wonder and
delight of the assembled savages ; while the whole company
was filled with a common joy at the sight of this glorious
standard of Jesus Christ, which seemed to have been raised
so high only to rule over the hearts of all these poor peoples.
Then the French escutcheon, fixed to a cedar pole, was
also erected, above the Cross; while the Exaudiat'^ was
sung, and prayer for his Majesty's sacred person was offered
in that far-away corner of the world. After this. Monsieur de
Saint Lusson, observing all the forms customary on such
occasions,^ took possession of those regions, whHe the air
resounded with repeated shouts of "Long live the King!"
and with the discharge of musketry, to the delight and as-
tonishment of all those peoples, who had never seen anything
of the kind.
After this confused uproar of voices and muskets had
ceased, perfect silence was imposed upon the whole assem-
blage ; and Father Claude Allouez began to eulogize the King,
in order to make all those nations understand what sort of a
man he was whose standard they beheld, and to whose sover-
1 This hymn, Vexilla Regis Prodeunt, now a part of the Roman Breviary,
was written by Venantius Fortunatus in the latter part of the sixth century.
2 The twentieth Psalm.
3 According to the official minutes these customary ceremonies consisted
in shouting aloud three times, "In the name of the Most High, Most Mighty
and Most Redoubtable Monarch Louis, the Fourteenth of the Name, Most
Christian King of France and Navarre, we take possession of the said place of
St. Marie of the Falls as well as of Lakes Huron and Superior, the island of
Caientonon (Manitoulin) and of all other countries, rivers, lakes and tributaries,
contiguous and adjacent thereunto, as well discovered as to be discovered, which
are bounded on the one side by the Northern and Western Seas and on the other
side by the South Sea including all its length and breadth ; Raising at each of
the said three times a sod of earth whilst crying Vive le Roy."
16711 THE PAGEANT OF 1671 219
eignty they were that day submitting. Being well versed in
their tongue and in their ways, he was so successful in adapt-
ing himself to their comprehension as to give them such an
opinion of our incomparable monarch's greatness that they
have no words with which to express their thoughts upon the
subject.
"Here is an excellent matter brought to your attention,
my brothers," said he to them, "a great and important
matter, which is the cause of this council. Cast your eyes
upon the Cross raised so high above your heads: there it
was that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, making himself man
for the love of men, was pleased to be fastened and to die,
in atonement to his Eternal Father for our sins. He is the
master of our lives, of Heaven, of Earth, and of Hell. Of
Him I have always spoken to you, and His name and word I
have borne into all these countries. But look likewise at that
other post, to which are afi&xed the armorial bearings of the
great captain of France whom we call King. He lives be-
yond the sea ; he is the captain of the greatest captains, and
has not his equal in the world. All the captains you have
ever seen, or of whom you have ever heard, are mere children
compared with him. He is like a great tree, and they, only
like little plants that we tread under foot in walking. You
know about Onnontio, that famous captain of Quebec. You
know and feel that he is the terror of the Iroquois, and that
his very name makes them tremble, now that he has laid
waste their country and set fire to their villages. Beyond the
sea there are ten thousand Onnontios like him, who are only
the soldiers of that great captain, our Great King, of whom I
am speaking. When he says, 'I am going to war,' all obey
him; and those ten thousand captains raise companies of a
hundred soldiers each, both on sea and on land. Some em-
bark in ships, one or two hundred in number, like those that
you have seen at Quebec. Your canoes hold only four or five
men, or, at the very most, ten or twelve. Our ships in France
hold four or five hundred, and even as many as a thousand.
Other men make war by land, but in such vast numbers that,
if drawn up in a double file, they would extend farther than
from here to Mississaquenk,^ although the distance exceeds
* The present island of Mackinac.
220 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1671
twenty leagues. When he attacks, he is more terrible than
the thunder: the earth trembles, the air and the sea are set
on fire by the discharge of his cannon ; while he has been seen
amid his squadrons, all covered with the blood of his foes,
of whom he has slain so many with his sword that he does not
count their scalps, but the rivers of blood which he sets flow-
ing. So many prisoners of war does he lead away that he makes
no accoimt of them, letting them go about whither they will,
to show that he does not fear them. No one now dares make
war upon him, all nations beyond the sea having most sub-
missively sued for peace. From all parts of the world people
go to listen to his words and to admire him, and he alone
decides all the affairs of the world. WHiat shall I say of his
wealth? You count yourselves rich when you have ten or
twelve sacks of corn, some hatchets, glass beads, kettles, or
other things of that sort. He has towns of his own, more in
number than you have people in all these countries five hundred
leagues around ; while in each town there are warehouses con-
taining enough hatchets to cut down all your forests, kettles
to cook all your moose, and glass beads to fill all your cabins.
His house is longer than from here to the head of the Sault,"
that is, more than half a league, "and higher than the tallest
of your trees ; and it contains more families than the largest
of your villages can hold."
The Father added much more of this sort, which was re-
ceived with wonder by those people, who were all astonished
to hear that there was any man on earth so great, rich, and
powerful.
Following this speech, Monsieur de Saint Lusson took
the word, and stated to them in martial and eloquent lan-
guage the reasons for which he had summoned them, and
especially that he was sent to take possession of that region,
to receive them under the protection of the great King whose
panegyric they had just heard, and to form thenceforth but
one land of their territories and ours. The whole ceremony
was closed with a fine bonfire, which was lighted toward eve-
ning, and around which the Te Deum was sung to thank God,
on behalf of those poor peoples, that they were now the sub-
jects of so great and powerful a monarch.
THE MISSISSIPPI VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND
MARQUETTE, 1673
INTRODUCTION
From the days of Champlain the thoughts of the founders
of New France had been haunted by the mystery of the
Mississippi. Its discovery was the burning question of the
day, and the successful accompHshment of that discovery
has been ascribed to many of the early explorers. Nicolet is
supposed to have visited westward-flowing streams that led
ultimately to the Mississippi. Radisson no doubt crossed the
great river somewhere in its upper reaches. Perrot, before
the voyage of Marquette^ was cognizant of its existence. La
Salle, after leaving DoUier de Casson and Galinee at the head
of Lake Ontario in 1669, may have ventured as far as the
mouth of the Ohio. Allouez, in the same year, first mentioned
the Mississippi by its present name. Whatever these earlier
explorers may have accomplished, the first recorded voyage on
the Mississippi is that of JoUiet and Marquette, who among
their contemporaries stood accredited as the discoverers of the
great river.
By 1673, the year of their departure, the time was ripe
for a definite voyage of discovery. From Indian descriptions
and the vague suggestions of early travellers and traders, all
New France believed in the existence of a great river draining
to the west or south, beyond the rim of the Great Lakes.
Expectation of immediate access to the South Sea had dimin-
ished, and a route to China was less eagerly sought than a
vast new hinterland to explore and occupy.
Coimt de Frontenac, who in 1672 came to New France as
vice-regent for Louis XIV., had the imperial imagination of
the great Frenchmen of his time. The pageant of St. Lusson,
223
224 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
at the outlet of the greatest of the Great Lakes, was to his
mind a prophecy to be fulfilled by the annexation of the great
interior valleys stretching north, west, and south, whose only
boundaries should be the oceans, and whose perpetual sover-
eign should dwell in France. True, the Spaniards were some-
where in this vast domain, but just where no one knew, and
Frontenac cared little, since Louis XIV. was already planning
to annex their crown to his own.
The road that led to the great river was well known to
Canadians. Perrot had traded up and down its length as
far as the Mascoutin village ; Allouez and Dablon had several
times mounted the rapids of the lower Fox and gone far on
the way to the portage ; it only remained to choose qualified
voyagers and prepare them for the journey. The choice fell
upon Louis JoUiet, partly perhaps because of his Canadian
birth, certainly because of his successful journey of 1668-1669,
as narrated in Galinee above, and his connection with St.
Lusson in the pageant of 1671. With all such enterprises it
was customary that a priest should be associated. That the
gentle Jacques Marquette was chosen for this mission seems
to have been a response to his longing "to obtain from God
the grace of being able to visit the nations who dwell along
the Mississippi River," of which he had heard so frequently
in his northern missions of St. Esprit de Chequamegon and St.
Ignace de Michilimackinac.
Marquette seems to have been one of those gifted beings
to whom the satisfaction of desires is granted, because in
themselves the desires are so pure and altruistic. Bom at
Laon (1637), he cherished from childhood ideals of a religious
life. Entering the Jesuit order in 1654, his longing to be sent
to a foreign mission was gratified by a voyage to Canada in
1666. Thence he was detailed in 1669 to replace Allouez on
the shores of the Chequamegon Bay. Two years later he
followed his neophjrtes to Mackinac, where upon the northern
INTRODUCTION 225
side of the strait he built the mission of St. Ignace. Thence
he set forth for the Mississippi journey, never to return to his
northern home, but to obtain his last and final wish to die a
martyr to the cause he loved.
The accident of the loss of the journals of JoUiet made
those of his fellow discoverer doubly valued, and secured his
fame forever. The story is a pleasant one, of gentle rivers,
wide landscapes, friendly Indians for the most part — an un-
eventful chronicle save for the vast significance of the dis-
covery. Although perhaps the courage required for the voy-
age has been exaggerated, it is certain that the Indians tried
to dissuade the travellers by tales of fierce enemies and horrid
monsters. Instead, however, were only timid savages pacified
or reassured by the powerfiil calumet, and painted dragons
on the high cliffs that frowned as the canoes slipped by. Still
more to be dreaded, once famiHar shores were left behind, had
been unknown rapids and falls, which, however, proved to be
almost non-existent, lost in the full current of the onward-
moving stream. The wide entrances of the two great tribu-
taries— the Missouri and Ohio — were located and mapped;
and finally at the Arkansas village, when the course of the
great stream had been clearly determined as descending to
the Mexican Gulf, the return journey was begun. Continued
along the Illinois River, past the Kaskaskia Indian village, and
over the Des Plaines-Chicago portage, skirting the western
shore of Lake Michigan to Sturgeon Bay, the momentous
voyage ended, the last of September, at the mission house at
De Pere.
Thence JoUiet hastened to report to the governor at Que-
bec, while Father Marquette among his trusted and eager
friends set himself to writing the story of the journey which
we here present.
The autograph manuscripts of his account of his two voy-
ages were kept for a century and a half in the Jesuit convent
226 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
at Montreal. An abridged form of Marquette's journal was
early sent to Paris and published there in 1681 by Melchis^dec
Thevenot in his Recueil de Voyages. The Catholic historian
John G. Shea first made known to historians the original
manuscripts, publishing them with an English translation in
1852. Several other editions followed, until in 1899 Dr.
R. G. Thwaites in Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents,
LIX., printed the definitive edition from the original docu-
ments, lent him by their custodian Father Arthur E. Jones of
St. Mary's College, Montreal. We reprint from this edition,
LIX. 87-163, the record of the Mississippi voyage; that of
the final voyage follows.
THE MISSISSIPPI VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND
MARQUETTE, 1673
Of the first Voyage made by Father Marquette toward New Mexico,
and how the Idea thereof was conceived.^
The Father had long premeditated this undertaking, in-
fluenced by a most ardent desire to extend the kingdom of
Jesus Christ, and to make him known and adored by all the
peoples of that countiy. He saw himself, as it were, at the
door of these new nations when, as early as the year 1670, he
was laboring in the mission at the Point of St. Esprit, at the
extremity of Lake Superior, among the Outaouacs ; ^ he even
saw occasionally various persons belonging to these new peo-
ples, from whom he obtained all the information that he could.
This induced him to make several efforts to commence this
undertaking, but ever in vain ; and he even lost all hope of
succeeding therein, when God brought about for him the fol-
lowing opportunity.
In the year 1673, Monsieur the Count de Frontenac, our
govemor,^ and Monsieur Talon, then our intendant, recog-
nizing the importance of this discovery — either that they
might seek a passage from here to the Sea of China, by the
river that discharges into the Vermillion, or California Sea;
or because they desired to verify what has for some time been
1 This introduction was written by Father Claude Dablon, superior of the
mission.
2 For this mission, see Allouez's narrative, pp. 115-118, ante. Marquette
superseded the former at La Pointe du St. Esprit in the autumn of 1669.
3 Louis de Buade, Count de Frontenac, was the greatest governor of New
France during the seventeenth century. Born in 1620, he entered the army at
the age of fifteen, and was in active service for many years. In 1672 he was sent
to Canada as governor-general. Recalled ten years later because of dissensions
with the Jesuits, he was again in 1689 sent to save the colony from destruction
by the Iroquois. In 1696 he invaded their territory, compelled them to peace,
and returned triumphant. He died at Quebec, November 28, 1698.
227
228 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
said concerning the two kingdoms of Theguaio and Quivira/
which border on Canada, and in which numerous gold mines
are reported to exist — these gentlemen, I say, appointed at
the same time for this undertaking Sieur Jolyet, whom they
considered very fit for so great an enterprise ; and they were
well pleased that Father Marquette should be of the party.
They were not mistaken in the choice that they made of
Sieur Jolyet, for he is a young man, born in this country, who
possesses all the qualifications that could be desired for such
an undertaking. He has experience and knows the languages
spoken in the country of the Outaouacs, where he has passed
several years. He possesses tact and prudence^ which are the
chief qualities necessary for the success of a voyage as danger-
ous as it is difficult. Finally, he has the courage to dread
nothing where everything is to be feared. Consequently, he
has fulfilled all the expectations entertained of him ; and if,
after having passed through a thousand dangers, he had not
unfortunately been wrecked in the very harbor, his canoe
having upset below Sault St. Louys, near Montreal, wnere he
lost both his men and his papers, and whence he escaped only
by a sort of miracle, nothing would have been left to be de-
sired in the success of his voyage.
Section 1. Departure of Father Jacques Marquette for the Dis-
covery of the Great River called by the Savages Alissisipij
which leads to New Mexico.
The feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed
Virgin^ — whom I have always invoked since I have been in
this country of the Outaouacs, to obtain from God the grace
of being able to visit the nations who dwell along the Mis-
sisipi River — was precisely the day on which Monsieur Jolly et
arrived with orders from Monsieur the Count de Frontenac,
^ The reference is to sixteenth-century Spanish accounts of explorations
north from Mexico. Theguaio or Tiguex was a pueblo of New Mexico ; see, in
the present series, in the volume entitled Spanish Explorers in the Southern United
States, 1528-1543, Mr. Frederick W. Hodge's edition of the Journey of Coronado,
pp. 312-324. Quivira was the region sought by Coronado (Southern Kansas) ;
ibid., p. 337, note. See also the New Mexico section of Professor Herbert E.
Bolton's Spanish Exploration in the Southwest, 1542-1706, in the same series.
' This feast falls on December 8.
J\l
'
.
^>p
i
J Ui:n:
/-A-<.
» ♦
/,'. .^../
-- .i-*... ■•-'Ji^ ^ ,-
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[ES
CONTEMPORARY MAP MADE TO ILLUSTRATE MARQUETTE'S DISCOVERIES
From the original in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Parii
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 229
our governor, and Monsieur Talon, our intendant, to accom-
plish this discovery with me. I was all the more delighted at
this good news, since I saw that my plans were about to be
accomplished ; and since I found myself in the blessed neces-
sity of exposing my life for the salvation of all these peoples,
and especially of the Ilinois, who had very urgently entreated
me, when I was at the Point of St. Esprit, to carry the word of
God to their country.
We were not long in preparing all our equipment, although
we were about to begin a voyage, the duration of which we
could not foresee. Indian corn, with some smoked meat, con-
stituted all our provisions; with these we embarked — Mon-
sieur Jollyet and myself, with five men — in two bark canoes,
fully resolved to do and suffer everything for so glorious an
undertaking.
Accordingly, on the 17th day of May, 1673, we started
from the mission of St. Ignace at Michllimakinac, where I
then was.^ The joy that we felt at being selected for this
expedition animated our courage, and rendered the labor of
paddling from morning to night agreeable to us. And be-
cause we were going to seek unknown countries, we took
every precaution in our power, so that, if our undertaking
were hazardous, it should not be foolhardy. To that end,
we obtained all the information that we could from the sav-
ages who had frequented those regions; and we even traced
out from their reports a map^ of the whole of that new coun-
try ; on it we indicated the rivers which we were to navigate,
the names of the peoples and of the places through which we
were to pass, the course of the great river, and the direction
we were to follow when we reached it.
Above all, I placed our voyage under the protection of
the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, promising her that, if she
granted us the favor of discovering the great river, I would
^ The mission of St. Ignace, founded by Marquette in 1671, was on the
north shore of the Straits of Mackinac. It was maintained throughout the
seventeenth century. See Thwaites, "The Story of Mackinac," in Wis. Hist.
Colls., XIV. 1-16.
'^ This map, which is preserved with Marquette's manuscript in St. Mary's
College, Montreal, was drawn, as Marquette says, from Indian information
before the voyage was undertaken. See "Marquette's Map" in Wis. Hist. Soc.
Proceedings, 1906, pp. 183-193.
230 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
give it the name of the Conception, and that I would also make
the first mission that I should establish among those new peo-
ples, bear the same name. This I have actually done, among
the Hinois.^
Section 2. The Father visits, in passing, the Tribes of the Folle
Avoine. What that Folle Avoine is. He enters the Bay des
Puants; some Particulars about that Bay. He arrives
among the Fire Nation.
With all these precautions, we joyfully plied our paddles
on a portion of Lake Huron, on that of the Ilinois and the
Bay des Puants.
The first nation that we came to was that of the Folle
Avoine.2 I entered their river, to go and visit these peoples
to whom we have preached the Gospel for several years, in
consequence of which, there are several good Christians among
them.
The wild oat, whose name they bear because it is found in
their country, is a sort of grass, which grows naturally in the
small rivers with muddy bottoms, and in swampy places.
It greatly resembles the wild oats that grow amid our wheat.
The ears grow upon hollow stems, jointed at intervals ; they
emerge from the water about the month of June, and continue
growing until they rise about two feet above it. The grain is
not larger than that of our oats, but it is twice as long, and
the meal therefrom is much more abundant. The savages
gather and prepare it for food as follows. In the month of
September, which is the suitable time for the harvest, they
go in canoes through these fields of wild oats ; they shake its
ears into the canoe, on both sides, as they pass through. The
grain falls out easily, if it be ripe, and they obtain their supply
in a short time. But, in order to clean it from the straw,
and to remove it from a husk in which it is enclosed, they dry
^The name "Conception" for the Mississippi appears only on the map
drawn by Marquette before the voyage. The name applied to the IlHnois mis-
sion persisted — it was known throughout its existence as the Mission of the Im-
maculate Conception.
* The French name for the Menominee tribe, for whom see p. 76, note 1,
ante.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 231
it in the smoke, upon a wooden grating, under which they
maintain a slow fire for some days. When the oats are thor-
oughly dry, they put them in a skin made into a bag, thrust it
into a hole dug in the ground for this purpose, and tread it
with their feet — so long and so vigorously that the grain sepa-
rates from the straw, and is very easily winnowed. After this,
they pound it to reduce it to flour, or even, without pounding
it, they boil it in water, and season it with fat. Cooked in
this fashion, the wild oats have almost as dehcate a taste as
rice has when no better seasoning is added. ^
I told these peoples of the Folle Avoine of my design to go
and discover those remote nations, in order to teach them the
mysteries of our holy reHgion. They were greatly surprised
to hear it, and did their best to dissuade me. They repre-
sented to me that I should meet nations who never show
mercy to strangers, but break their heads without any cause ;
and that war was kindled between various peoples who dwelt
upon our route, which exposed us to the further manifest
danger of being killed by the bands of warriors who are ever
in the field. They also said that the great river was very
dangerous, when one does not know the difficult places ; that
it was full of horrible monsters, which devoured men and
canoes together; that there was even a demon, who was
heard from a great distance, who barred the way, and swal-
lowed up all who ventured to approach him ; finally that the
heat was so excessive in those countries that it would inevi-
tably cause our death.
I thanked them for the good advice that they gave me,
but told them that I could not follow it, because the salva-
tion of souls was at stake, for which I would be delighted to
give my life; that I scoffed at the alleged demon; that we
would easily defend ourselves against those marine monsters ;
and, moreover, that we would be on our guard to avoid the
other dangers with which they threatened us. After making
them pray to God, and giving them some instruction, I sepa-
rated from them. Embarking then in our canoes, we arrived
^ Marquette's description of the wild rice (zizania aquatica) is very accur-
ate. It formed an important article of food for Wisconsin tribesmen and is still
harvested in inland lakes. See A. E. Jenks, "Wild Rice Gatherers of the Upper
Lakes," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology Report, XIX. 1072/.
232 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
shortly afterward at the bottom of the Bay des Puantz, where
our Fathers labor successfully for the conversion of these
peoples, over two thousand of whom they have baptized while
they have been there.
This bay bears a name which has a meaning not so offen-
sive in the language of the savages ; for they call it la Baye
Sallee^ rather than Bay des Puans, although with them this
is almost the same and this is also the name which they give
to the sea. This led us to make very careful researches to
ascertain whether there were not some salt-water springs in
this quarter, as there are among the Hiroquois, but we found
none. We conclude, therefore, that this name has been given
to it on account of the quantity of mire and mud which is
seen there, whence noisome vapors constantly arise, causing
the loudest and most continual thunder that I have ever heard.
The bay is about thirty leagues in depth and eight in
width at its mouth ; it narrows gradually to the bottom, where
it is easy to observe a tide which has its regular ebb and flow,
almost like that of the sea. This is not the place to inquire
whether these are real tides; whether they are due to the
wind, or to some other cause; whether there are winds, the
precursors of the moon and attached to her suite, which con-
sequently agitate the lake and give it an apparent ebb and
flow whenever the moon ascends above the horizon. What I
can positively state is, that, when the water is very calm, it
is easy to observe it rising and falling according to the course
of the moon; although I do not deny that this movement
may be caused by very remote winds, which, pressing on the
middle of the lake, cause the edges to rise and fall in the
manner which is visible to our eyes.^
We left this bay to enter the river that discharges into it ;
it is very beautiful at its mouth, and flows gently ; it is full of
bustards, ducks, teal, and other birds, attracted thither by
the wild oats, of which they are very fond. But, after ascend-
ing the river a short distance, it becomes very difficult of
passage, on account of both the currents and the sharp rocks,
which cut the canoes and the feet of those who are obliged
1 Salt Bay.
2 This phenomenon was noted by many early travellers. The tides in
the Great Lakes are small, but noticeable at certain points.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 233
to drag them, especially when the waters are low. Neverthe-
less, we successfully passed those rapids ; and on approaching
Machkoutens, the Fire Nation, I had the curiosity to drink
the mineral waters of the river that is not far from that vil-
lage.^ I also took time to look for a medicinal plant which
a savage, who knows its secret, showed to Father Alloues
with many ceremonies. Its root is employed to counteract
snake-bites, God having been pleased to give this antidote
against a poison which is very common in these countries.
It is very pungent, and tastes like powder when crushed with
the teeth; it must be masticated and placed upon the bite
inflicted by the snake. The reptile has so great a horror of
it that it even flees from a person who has rubbed himself
with it. The plant bears several stalks, a foot high, with rather
long leaves ; and a white flower, which greatly resembles the
wallflower. 2 I put some in my canoe, in order to examine
it at leisure while we continued to advance toward Maskou-
tens, where we arrived on the 7th of June.
Section 3. Description of the Village of Maskoutens; what
passed there between the Father and the Savages. The
French begin to enter a New and Unknown Country, and
arrive at Missisipi.
Here we are at Maskoutens.^ This word may, in Algon-
quin, mean "the Fire Nation," which, indeed, is the name
given to this tribe. Here is the limit of the discoveries which
the French have made, for they have not yet gone any farther.
This village consists of three nations who have gathered
there — Miamis, Maskoutens, and ICikabous. The former are
the most civil, the most liberal, and the most shapely. They
wear two long locks over their ears, which give them a pleas-
ing appearance. They are regarded as warriors, and rarely
^ For the location of this spring and illustration of its present condition
see Wis. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, 1906, p. 168. It was southeast of the present
town of Berlin, in Green Lake County, Wisconsin.
2 Sufficient indications are not given by Marquette to enable botanists to
identify this plant, which may be one of several "snake roots" found in this
vicinity.
^ This village was located not far from the spring mentioned above. See
Perrot's description, ante, pp. 84-88.
^34 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
undertake expeditions without being successful. They are
very docile, and listen quietly to what is said to them ; and
they appeared so eager to hear Father Alloues when he in-
structed them that they gave him but little rest, even during
the night. The Maskoutens and Kikabous are ruder, and
seem peasants in comparison with the others. As bark for
making cabins is scarce in this country, they use rushes;
these serve them for making walls and roofs, but do not afford
them much protection against the winds, and still less against
the rains when they fall abundantly. The advantage of
cabins of this kind is, that they make packages of them, and
easily transport them wherever they wish, while they are
hunting.^
When I visited them, I was greatly consoled at seeing a
handsome Cross erected in the middle of the village, and
adorned with many white skins, red belts, and bows and ar-
rows, which these good people had offered to the great Man-
itou (this is the name which they give to God) . They did this
to thank him for having had pity on them during the winter,
by giving them an abundance of game when they most dreaded
famine.^
I took pleasure in observing the situation of this village.
It is beautiful and very pleasing ; for, from an eminence upon
which it is placed, one beholds on every side prairies, extend-
ing farther than the eye can see, interspersed with groves or
with lofty trees. The soil is very fertile, and yields much In-
dian com. The savages gather quantities of plums and grapes,
wherewith much wine could be made, if desired.
No sooner had we arrived than we. Monsieur JoUyet and
I, assembled the elders together; and he told them that he
was sent by Monsieur our governor to discover new countries,
while I was sent by God to illumine them with the light of
the holy Gospel. He told them that, moreover, the sovereign
Master of our lives wished to be known by all the nations;
and that in obeying His will I feared not the death to which
^ The rushes are woven into mats which are easily rolled up and transported.
•This cross is supposed by some commentators to have been the symbol
of a "Medicine" society among the Indians. It seems more natural to regard
it as the sign of Allouez's mission, which the superstitious savages regarded as a
"manitou."
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 235
I exposed myself in voyages so perilous. He informed them
that we needed two guides to show us the way ; and we gave
them a present, by it asking them to grant us the guides.
To this they very civilly consented; and they also spoke to
us by means of a present, consisting of a mat to serve us as a
bed during the whole of our voyage.
On the following day, the tenth of June, two Miamis who
were given us as guides embarked with us, in the sight of a
great crowd, who could not sufficiently express their astonish-
ment at the sight of seven Frenchmen, alone and in two
canoes, daring to undertake so extraordinary and so hazard-
ous an expedition.
We knew that, at three leagues from Maskoutens, was a
river which discharged into Missisipi.^ We knew also that
the direction we were to follow in order to reach it was west-
southwesterly. But the road is broken by so many swamps
and small lakes that it is easy to lose one's way, especially as
the river leading thither is so full of wild oats that it is diffi-
cult to find the channel. For this reason we greatly needed
our two guides, who safely conducted us to a portage of 2,700
paces, and helped us to transport our canoes to enter that
river; after which they returned home, leaving us alone in
this unknown country, in the hands of Providence.^
Thus we left the waters flowing to Quebeq, four or five
hundred leagues from here, to float on those that would
thenceforward take us through strange lands. Before em-
barking thereon, we began all together a new devotion to the
blessed Virgin Immaculate, which we practised daily, address-
ing to her special prayers to place under her protection both
our persons and the success of our voyage ; and, after mutu-
ally encouraging one another, we entered our canoes.
The river on which we embarked is called Meskousing.*
It is very wide ; it has a sandy bottom, which forms various
* There is some mistake in the distance stated. Father Arthur E. Jones
thinks it is intended for "three leagues from Maskoutens" River. See Wis.
Hist. Soc. Proceedings, 1906, pp. 175-182.
2 The Fox- Wisconsin portage at the site of Portage, Wisconsin, has now
been cut by a government canal. In 1895 there was erected here on the old
portage route a monument to Marquette.
2 A variant for the name Wisconsin.
236 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
shoals that render its navigation very difficult. It is full of
islands covered with vines. On the banks one sees fertile
land, diversified with woods, prairies, and hills. There are
oak, walnut, and basswood trees; and another kind, whose
branches are armed with long thorns. We saw there neither
feathered game nor fish, but many deer, and a large nimiber
of cattle. Our route lay to the southwest, and, after navigat-
ing about thirty leagues, we saw a spot presenting all the ap-
pearances of an iron mine ; and, in fact, one of our party who
had formerly seen such mines, assures us that the one which
we found is very good and very rich. It is covered with three
feet of good soil, and is quite near a chain of rocks, the base
of which is covered by very fine trees. ^ After proceeding
40 leagues on this same route, we arrived at the mouth of our
river; and, at 42 and a half degrees of latitude, we safely
entered Missisipi on the 17th of June, with a joy that I cannot
express.^
Section 4. Of the Great River called Missisipi; its most notable
Features; of various Animals, and especially the Pisikious
or Wild Cattle, their Shape and Nature; of the First Vil-
lages of the Ilinois, where the French arrived.
Here we are, then, on this so renowned river, all of whose
peculiar features I have endeavored to note carefully. The
Missisipi River takes its rise in various lakes in the country
of the northern nations. It is narrow at the place where
Miskous empties ; its current, which flows southward, is slow
and gentle. To the right is a large chain of very high moun-
tains, and to the left are beautiful lands; in various places,
the stream is divided by islands. On sounding, we foimd ten
brasses of water. Its width is very unequal ; sometimes it is
three-quarters of a league, and sometimes it narrows to three
arpents.^ We gently followed its course, which runs toward
the south and southeast, as far as the 42nd degree of latitude.
^ The traces of a mine seen here were probably those of the lead mines of
southwestern Wisconsin.
"^ In 1910 a monument to Marquette was dedicated at Prairie du Chien,
near the point where he entered the Mississippi.
^ I. e., about 600 feet.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 237
Here we plainly saw that its aspect was completely changed.
There are hardly any woods or mountains; the islands are
more beautiful, and are covered with finer trees. We saw
only deer and cattle, bustards, and swans without wings,
because they drop their plumage in this country. From time
to time, we came upon monstrous fish, one of which struck
our canoe with such violence that I thought that it was a great
tree, about to break the canoe to pieces. On another occasion,
we saw on the water a monster with the head of a tiger, a
sharp nose like that of a wildcat, with whiskers and straight,
erect ears ; the head was gray and the neck quite black ; ^
but we saw no more creatures of this sort. When we cast
our nets into the water we caught sturgeon, and a very ex-
traordinary kind of fish. It resembles the trout, with this
difference, that its mouth is larger. Near its nose, which is
smaller, as are also the eyes, is a large bone shaped like a
woman's busk, three fingers wide and a cubit long, at the end
of which is a disk as wide as one's hand. This frequently
causes it to fall backward when it leaps out of the water.^
When we reached the parallel of 41 degrees 28 minutes, fol-
lowing the same direction, we found that turkeys had taken
the place of game; and the pisikious, or wild cattle, that of
the other animals.^
We call them "wild cattle," because they are very similar
to our domestic cattle. They are not longer, but are nearly
as large again, and more corpulent. When our people killed
one, three persons had much difl&culty in moving it. The
head is very large ; the forehead is flat, and a foot and half
wide between the horns, which are exactly like those of our
oxen, but black and much larger. Under the neck they have
a sort of large dewlap, which hangs down ; and on the back
is a rather high hump. The whole of the head, the neck, and
^a portion of the shoulders, are covered with a thick mane like
* The first monster was a catfish (silurus Mississippiensis), which grows to
great size in western rivers; the second a wildcat, called by the Canadians
pichou du svd.
* This has been identified as the polyodon spatula, a very rare Mississippi
River fish, called by the French inhabitants le spatule.
' The buffalo or American bison. Marquette has drawn a picture of one
of these animals on his map. See article cited in note 2 on p. 229, ante.
238 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
that of horses; it forms a crest a foot long, which makes
them hideous, and, faUing over their eyes, prevents them from
seeing what is before them. The remainder of the body is
covered with a heavy coat of curly hair, almost hke that of
our sheep, but much stronger and thicker. It falls off in
summer, and the skin becomes as soft as velvet. At that
season, the savages use the hides for making fine robes, which
they paint in various colors. The flesh and the fat of the
pisikious are excellent, and constitute the best dish at feasts.
Moreover, they are very fierce ; and not a year passes without
their killing some savages. When attacked, they catch a
man on their horns, if they can, toss him in the air, and then
throw him on the ground, after which they trample him under
foot, and kill him. If a person fire at them from a distance,
with either a bow or a gun, he must, immediately after the
shot, throw himself down and hide in the grass; for if they
perceive him who has fired, they run at him, and attack him.
As their legs are thick and rather short, they do not run very
fast, as a rule, except when angry. They are scattered about
the prairie in herds ; I have seen one of four hundred.
We continued to advance, but, as we knew not whither we
were going, for we had proceeded over one hundred leagues
without discovering anything except animals and birds, we
kept well on our guard. On this account, we make only a
small fire on land, toward evening, to cook our meals ; and,
after supper, we remove ourselves as far from it as possible,
and pass the night in our canoes, which we anchor in the river
at some distance from the shore. This does not prevent us
from always posting one of the party as a sentinel, for fear of
a surprise. Proceeding still in a southerly and south-south-
westerly direction, we find ourselves at the parallel of 41
degrees, and as low as 40 degrees and some minutes, — partly
southeast and partly southwest, — after having advanced over
60 leagues since we entered the river, without discovering
anything.
Finally, on the 25th of June, we perceived on the water's
edge some tracks of men, and a narrow and somewhat beaten
path leading to a fine prairie. We stopped to examine it;
and, thinking that it was a road which led to some village of
savages, we resolved to go and reconnoitre it. We therefore
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 239
left our two canoes under the guard of our people, strictly
charging them not to allow themselves to be surprised, after
which Monsieur JoUyet and I undertook this investigation —
a rather hazardous one for two men who exposed themselves,
alone, to the mercy of a barbarous and unknown people. We
silently followed the narrow path, and, after walking about
two leagues, we discovered a village on the bank of a river,
and two others on a hill distant about half a league from the
first. ^ Then we heartily commended ourselves to God, and,
after imploring His aid, we went farther without being per-
ceived, and approached so near that we could even hear the
savages talking. We therefore decided that it was time to
reveal ourselves. This we did by shouting with all our energy,
and stopped, without advancing any farther. On hearing
the shout, the savages quickly issued from their cabins, and
having probably recognized us as Frenchmen, especially when
they saw a black gown — or, at least, having no cause for dis-
trust, as we were only two men, and had given them notice
of our arrival — they deputed four old men to come and
speak to us. Two of these bore tobacco-pipes, finely orna-
mented and adorned with various feathers. They walked
slowly, and raised their pipes toward the sun, seemingly offer-
ing them to it to smoke, without, however, saying a word.
They spent a rather long time in covering the short distance
between their village and us. Finally, when they had drawn
near, they stopped to consider us attentively. I was reassured
when I observed these ceremonies, which with them are per-
formed only among friends; and much more so when I saw
them clad in cloth, for I judged thereby that they were our
allies. I therefore spoke to them first, and asked them who
they were. They replied that they were Ilinois; and, as a
token of peace, they offered us their pipes to smoke. They
afterward invited us to enter their village, where all the people
impatiently awaited us. These pipes for smoking tobacco
are called in this country calumets. This word has come so
much into use that, in order to be understood, I shall be ob-
liged to use it, as I shall often have to mention these pipes.
*The site of these villages has not been definitely determined. It was
formerly supposed that they were on Des Moines River ; some Iowa archaeolo-
gists, however, locate them on the river of that name.
240 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
Section 5. How the Ilinois received the Father in their Village.
At the door of the cabin in which we were to be received
was an old man, who awaited us in a rather surprising atti-
tude, which constitutes a part of the ceremonial that they
observe when they receive strangers. This man stood erect,
and stark naked, with his hands extended and lifted toward
the sun, as if he wished to protect himself from its rays, which
nevertheless shone upon his face through his fingers. When
we came near him, he paid us this compliment : "How beauti-
ful the sun is, 0 Frenchman, when thou comest to visit us!
All our village awaits thee, and thou shalt enter all our cabins
in peace." Having said this, he made us enter his own, in
which were a crowd of people ; they devoured us with their
eyes, but, nevertheless, observed profound silence. We
could, however, hear these words, which were addressed to us
from time to time in a low voice : " How good it is, my brothers,
that you should visit us."
After we had taken our places, the usual civility of the
country was paid to us, which consisted in offering us the
calumet. This must not be refused, unless one wishes to be
considered an enemy, or at least uncivil ; it suffices that one
make a pretense of smoking. While all the elders smoked
after us, in order to do us honor, we received an invitation on
behalf of the great captain of all the Ilinois to proceed to his
village where he wished to hold a council with us. We went
thither in a large company, for all these people, who had
never seen any Frenchmen among them, could not cease
looking at us. They lay on the grass along the road; they
preceded us, and then retraced their steps to come and see
us again. All this was done noiselessly, and with marks of
great respect for us.
When we reached the village of the great captain, we saw
him at the entrance of his cabin, between two old men, all
three erect and naked, and holding their calumet turned
toward the sun. He harangued us in a few words, congratu-
lating us upon our arrival. He afterward offered us his calu-
met, and made us smoke while we entered his cabin, where
we received all their usual kind attentions.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 241
Seeing all assembled and silent, I spoke to them by four
presents that I gave them. By the first, I told them that we
were journeying peacefully to visit the nations dwelling on
the river as far as the sea. By the second, I announced to
them that God, who had created them, had pity on them,
inasmuch as, after they had so long been ignorant of Him, He
wished to make himself known to all the peoples ; that I was
sent by Him for that purpose; and that it was for them to
acknowledge and obey Him. By the third, I said that the
great captaiu of the French informed them that he it was who
restored peace everywhere; and that he had subdued the
Iroquois. Finally, by the fourth, we begged them to give us
all the information that they had about the sea, and about
the nations through whom we must pass to reach it.
When I had finished my speech, the captain arose, and,
resting his hand upon the head of a little slave ^ whom he
wished to give us, he spoke thus : "I thank thee, black gown,
and thee, 0 Frenchman," addressing himself to Monsieur Jol-
lyet, "for having taken so much trouble to come to visit us.
Never has the earth been so beautiful, or the sun so bright, as
to-day ; never has our river been so calm, or so clear of rocks,
which your canoes have removed in passing; never has our
tobacco tasted so good, or our com appeared so fine, as we now
see them. Here is my son, whom I give thee to show thee my
heart. I beg thee to have pity on me, and on all my nation.
It is thou who knowest the great Spirit who has made us all.
It is thou who speakest to Him, and who hearest His word.
Beg Him to give me life and health, and to come and dwell
with us, in order to make us know Him." Having said this,
he placed the little slave near us, and gave us a second present,
consisting of an altogether mysterious calumet, upon which
they place more value than upon a slave. By this gift, he ex-
pressed to us the esteem that he had for Monsieur our governor,
from the account which we had given of him ; and, by a third,
he begged us on behalf of all his nation not to go farther, on
account of the great dangers to which we exposed ourselves.
^ Slavery among North American Indians arose from the treatment of
captives taken in war. The position of slaves was not as a rule seriously different
from that of other members of the tribe, except that they could be disposed of
by their masters at will.
242 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
I replied that I feared not death, and that I regarded no
happiness as greater than that of losing my life for the glory
of Him who has made all. This is what these poor people
cannot understand.
The council was followed by a great feast, consisting of
four dishes, which had to be partaken of in accordance with
all their fashions. The first course was a great wooden platter
full of sagamite, that is to say, meal of Indian com boiled in
water, and seasoned with fat. The master of ceremonies
filled a spoon with sagamite three or four times, and put it to
my mouth as if I were a little child. He did the same to
Monsieur Jolly et. As a second course, he caused a second
platter to be brought, on which were three fish. He took
some pieces of them, removed the bones therefrom, and, after
blowing upon them to cool them, he put them in our mouths
as one would give food to a bird. For the third course, they
brought a large dog, that had just been killed; but, when
they learned that we did not eat this meat, they removed it
from before us. Finally, the fourth course was a piece of
wild ox, the fattest morsels of which were placed in our mouths.
After this feast, we had to go to visit the whole village,
which consists of fully three hundred cabins. While we
walked through the streets, an orator continually harangued
to oblige all the people to come to see us without annoying
us. Everywhere we were presented with belts, garters, and
other articles made of the hair of bears and cattle, dyed red,
yellow, and gray. These are all the rarities they possess.
As they are of no great value, we did not burden ourselves
with them.
We slept in the captain's cabin, and on the following day
we took leave of him, promising to pass again by his village,
within four moons. He conducted us to our canoes, with
nearly six hundred persons who witnessed our embarkation,
giving us every possible manifestation of the joy that our
visit had caused them. For my own part, I promised, on
bidding them adieu, that I would come the following year,
and reside with them to instruct them. But, before quitting
the Ilinois country, it is proper that I should relate what I
observed of their customs and usages.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 243
Section 6. Of the Character of the Ilinois; of their Habits and
Customs; and of the Esteem that they have for the Calumet,
or Tobacco-pipe, and of the Dance they perform in its Honor.
When one speaks the word "Ilinois/' it is as if one said in
their language, "the men," as if the other savages were looked
upon by them merely as animals. It must also be admitted
that they have an air of humanity which we have not ob-
served in the other nations that we have seen upon our route.
The shortness of my stay among them did not allow me to
secure aU the information that I would have desired ; among
all their customs, the following is what I have observed.
They are divided into many villages, some of wliich are
quite distant from that of which we speak, which is called
Peouarea.^ This causes some difference in their language,
which, on the whole, resembles Allegonquin, so that we easily
understood each other. They are of a gentle and tractable
disposition ; we experienced this in the reception which they
gave us. They have several wives, of whom they are ex-
tremely jealous; they watch them very closely, and cut off
their noses or ears when they misbehave. I saw several
women who bore the marks of their misconduct. Their
bodies are shapely; they are active and very skillful with
bows and arrows. They also use guns, which they buy from
our savage allies who trade with our French. They use them
especially to inspire, through their noise and smoke, terror in
their enemies; the latter do not use guns, and have never
seen any, since they live too far toward the west. They are
warlike, and make themselves dreaded by the distant tribes
to the south and west, whither they go to procure slaves;
these they barter, selling them at a high price to other nations,
in exchange for other wares. Those very distant savages
against whom they war have no knowledge of Europeans;
neither do they know an)^tlling of iron, or of copper, and they
have only stone knives. When the Ilinois depart to go to
war, the whole village must be notified by a loud shout, which
is uttered at the doors of their cabins, the night and the
^ The Peoria were a branch of the Illinois whose later home was on the
Illinois River near the lake of their name.
244 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
moming before their departure. The captams are distinguished
from the warriors by wearing red scarfs. These are made,
with considerable skill, from the hair of bears and wild cattle.
They paint their faces with red ochre, great quantities of which
are foimd at a distance of some days' journey from the village.
They live by hunting, game being plentiful in that country,
and on Indian corn, of which they always have a good crop ;
consequently, they have never suffered from famine. They
also sow beans and melons, which are excellent, especially
those that have red seeds. Their squashes are not of the best ;
they dry them in the sun, to eat them during the winter and
the spring. Their cabins are very large, and are roofed and
floored with mats made of rushes. They make all their
utensils of wood, and their ladles out of the heads of cattle,
whose skulls they know so well how to prepare that they use
these ladles with ease for eating their sagamit^.
They are liberal in cases of illness, and think that the effect
of the medicines administered to them is in proportion to the
presents given to the physician. Their garments consist only
of skins ; the women are always clad very modestly and very
becomingly, while the men do not take the trouble to cover
themselves. I know not through what superstition some
Ilinois, as well as some Nadouessi, while still young, assume
the garb of women, and retain it throughout their lives.
There is some mystery in this, for they never marry and glory
in demeaning themselves to do everything that the women do.
They go to war, however, but can use only clubs, and not
bows and arrows, which are the weapons proper to men.
They are present at all the juggleries, and at the solemn dances
in honor of the calumet; at these they sing, but must not
dance. They are summoned to the councils, and nothing can
be decided without their advice. Finally, through their pro-
fession of leading an extraordinary life, they pass for Manitous,
that is to say, for spirits, or persons of consequence.^
There remains no more, except to speak of the calumet.
There is nothing more mysterious or more respected among
them. Less honor is paid to the crowns and sceptres of kings
than the savages bestow upon this. It seems to be the god
* These persons were known as "berdashes," their condition had some re-
ligious significance, and they received certain especial honors.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 245
of peace and of war, the arbiter of life and of death. It has
but to be carried upon one's person, and displayed, to enable
one to walk safely through the midst of enemies, who, in the
hottest of the fight, lay down their arms when it is shown.
For that reason, the Ilinois gave me one, to serve as a safe-
guard among all the nations through whom I had to pass
during my voyage. There is a calimiet for peace, and one for
war, which are distinguished solely by the color of the feathers
with which they are adorned; red is a sign of war. They
also use it to put an end to their disputes, to strengthen their
alliances, and to speak to strangers. It is fashioned from a
red stone, polished like marble,^ and bored in such a manner
that one end serves as a receptacle for the tobacco, while the
other fits into the stem ; this is a stick two feet long, as thick
as an ordinary cane, and bored through the middle. It is
ornamented with the heads and necks of various birds, whose
plimiage is very beautiful. To these they also add large
feathers — red, green, and other colors — wherewith the whole
is adorned. They have a great regard for it, because they
look upon it as the calumet of the Sun; and, in fact, they
offer it to the latter to smoke when they wish to obtain a calm,
or rain, or fine weather. They scruple to bathe themselves
at the beginning of summer, or to eat fresh fruit, until after
they have performed the dance, which they do as follows :
The calumet dance, which is very famous among these
peoples, is performed solely for important reasons; some-
times to strengthen peace, or to unite themselves for some
great war; at other times, for public rejoicing. Sometimes
they thus do honor to a nation who are invited to be present ;
sometimes it is danced at the reception of some important
personage, as if they wished to give him the diversion of a
ball or a comedy. In winter, the ceremony takes place in a
cabin; in summer, in the open fields. When the spot is se-
lected, it is completely surrounded by trees, so that all may
sit in the shade afforded by their leaves, in order to be pro-
tected from the heat of the sun. A large mat of rushes, painted
^ This peculiar red pipestone is now known as "catlinite" in honor of George
Catlin, who was said to be the first white person to visit (in 1836) the sacred
quarry in the present Pipestone County in southwest Minnesota. See his
North American Indians, II. 164-177.
246 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
in various colors, is spread in the middle of the place, and
serves as a carpet upon which to place with honor the god of
the person who gives the dance; for each has his own god,
which they call their Manitou. This is a serpent, a bird, or
other similar thing, of which they have dreamed while sleep-
ing, and in which they place all their confidence for the suc-
cess of their war, their fishing, and their hunting. Near this
Manitou, and at its right, is placed the calumet in honor of
which the feast is given ; and all around it a sort of trophy is
made, and the weapons used by the warriors of those nations
are spread, namely : clubs, war-hatchets, bows, quivers, and
arrows.
Everything being thus arranged, and the hour of the
dance drawing near, those who have been appointed to sing
take the most honorable place under the branches; these
are the men and women who are gifted with the best voices,
and who sing together in perfect harmony. Afterward, all
come to take their seats in a circle under the branches ; but
each one, on arriving, must salute the Manitou. This he
does by inhaling the smoke, and blowing it from his mouth
upon the Manitou, as if he were offering to it incense. Every-
one, at the outset, takes the calumet in a respectful manner,
and, supporting it with both hands, causes it to dance in
cadence, keeping good time with the air of the songs. He
makes it execute many differing figures ; sometimes he shows
it to the whole assembly, turning himself from one side to
the other. After that, he who is to begin the dance appears
in the middle of the assembly, and at once continues this.
Sometimes he offers it to the sun, as if he wished the latter
to smoke it ; sometimes he inclines it toward the earth ; again,
he makes it spread its wings, as if about to fly ; at other times,
he puts it near the mouths of those present, that they may
smoke. The whole is done in cadence ; and this is, as it were,
the first scene of the ballet.
The second consists of a combat carried on to the sound of
a kind of drum, which succeeds the songs, or even unites
with them, harmonizing very well together. The dancer
makes a sign to some warrior to come to take the arms which
lie upon the mat, and invites him to fight to the sound of the
drums. The latter approaches, takes up the bow and ar-
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 247
rows, and the war-hatchet, and begins the duel with the other,
whose sole defense is the calumet. This spectacle is very-
pleasing, especially as all is done in cadence ; for one attacks,
the other defends himself ; one strikes blows, the other parries
them; one takes to flight, the other pursues; and then he
who was fleeing faces about, and causes his adversary to flee.
This is done so well, with slow and measured steps, and to
the rhythmic sound of the voices and drums, that it might
pass for a very fine opening of a ballet in France. The third
scene consists of a lofty discourse, delivered by him who holds
the calumet; for, when the combat is ended without blood-
shed, he recounts the battles at which he has been present,
the victories that he has won, the names of the nations, the
places, and the captives whom he has made. And, to reward
him, he who presides at the dance makes him a present of a
fine robe of beaver-skins, or some other article. Then, having
received it, he hands the calumet to another, the latter to a
third, and so on with all the others, imtil every one has done
his duty; then the president presents the calimiet itself to
the nation that has been invited to the ceremony, as a token
of the everlasting peace that is to exist between the two
peoples.
Here is one of the songs that they are in the habit of sing-
ing. They give it a certain turn which cannot be sufiiciently
expressed by note, but which nevertheless constitutes all its
grace.
Ninahani, ninahani, ninahani, nani ongo}
Section 7. Departure of the Father from the Ilinois; of the
Painted Monsters which he saw upon the Great River Mis-
sisipi; of the River Pekitanoui. Continuation of the
Voyage.
We take leave of our Ilinois at the end of June, about
three o'clock in the afternoon. We embark in the sight of
all the people, who admire our little canoes, for they have
never seen any like them.
We descend, following the current of the river called
*The music for this chant is published in Thwaites, Jesuit Relations,
LIX. 311.
248 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
Pekitanoui, which discharges into the Mississipy, flowing
from the northwest. I shall have something important to
say about it, when I shall have related all that I observed
along this river. ^
While passing near the rather high rocks that line the
river, I noticed a simple which seemed to me very extraor-
dinary. The root is like small turnips fastened together by lit-
tle filaments, which taste like carrots. From this root springs
a leaf as wide as one's hand, and half a finger thick, with spots.
From the middle of this leaf spring other leaves, resembling
the sconces used for candles in our halls ; and each leaf bears
five or six yellow flowers shaped like little bells.
We found quantities of mulberries, as large as those of
France; and a small fruit which we at first took for olives,
but which tasted like oranges; and another fruit as large as
a hen's egg. We cut it in halves, and two divisions appeared,
in each of which eight to ten fruits were encased; these are
shaped like almonds, and are very good when ripe. Never-
theless, the tree that bears them has a very bad odor, and its
leaves resemble those of the walnut-tree. In these prairies
there is also a fruit similar to hazelnuts, but more dehcate;
the leaves are very large, and grow from a stalk at the end
of which is a head similar to that of a sunflower, in which all
its nuts are regularly arranged. These are very good, both
cooked and raw.^
While skirting some rocks, which by their height and
length inspired awe, we saw upon one of them two painted
monsters which at first made us afraid, and upon which the
boldest savages dare not long rest their eyes. They are as
large as a calf ; they have horns on their heads like those of
deer, a horrible look, red eyes, a beard like a tiger's, a face
somewhat like a man's, a body covered with scales, and so
long a tail that it winds all around the body, passing above
the head and going back between the legs, ending in a fish's
tail. Green, red, and black are the three colors composing
*The Missouri River takes its present name from an Indian tribe that
formerly dwelt upon its banks. The word by which Marquette knew it was an
Indian word for "Muddy."
^ These fruits have been identified respectively as the cactus or prickly
pear, the persimmon, and the chincapin.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 249
the picture. Moreover, these two monsters are so well painted
that we cannot believe that any savage is their author; for
good painters in France would find it difficult to paint so
well, and besides, they are so high up on the rock that it is
difficult to reach that place conveniently to paint them. Here
is approximately the shape of these monsters, as we have
faithfully copied it.^
While conversing about these monsters, sailing quietly in
clear and calm water, we heard the noise of a rapid, into which
we were about to run. I have seen nothing more dreadful.
An accumulation of large and entire trees, branches, and
floating islands, was issuing from the mouth of the river
Pekistanoui, with such impetuosity that we could not without
great danger risk passing through it. So great was the agita-
tion that the water was very muddy, and could not become
clear.
Pekitanoui is a river of considerable size, coming from the
northwest, from a great distance; and it discharges into the
Missisipi. There are many villages of savages along this
river, and I hope by its means to discover the Vermillion or
California Sea.
Judging from the direction of the course of the Missisipi,
if it continue the same way, we think that it discharges into
the Mexican Gulf. It would be a great advantage to find the
river leading to the Southern Sea, toward California; and,
as I have said, this is what I hope to do by means of the
Pekitanoui, according to the reports made to me by the
savages. From them I have learned that, by ascending this
river for five or six days, one reaches a fine prairie, twenty
or thirty leagues long. This must be crossed in a north-
westerly direction, and it terminates at another small river,
on which one may embark, for it is not very difficult to trans-
port canoes through so fine a country as that prairie. This
second river flows toward the southwest for ten or fifteen
leagues, after which it enters a lake, small and deep, which
^ These pictographs on a rock near Alton, Illinois, were called "piasa,"
and supposed to represent the "thunder bird." They were quite distinct when
described by Stoddard in 1803 ; when visited in 1838 only one could be seen, of
which traces were discernible as late as 1848, soon after which the rock was
quarried down.
250 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
flows toward the west, where it falls into the sea. I have
hardly any doubt that it is the Vermillion Sea, and I do not
despair of discovering it some day, if God grant me the grace
and the health to do so, in order that I may preach the Gospel
to all the peoples of this new world who have so long grovelled
in the darkness of infidelity.
Let us resume our route, after escaping as best we could
from the dangerous rapid caused by the obstruction which I
have mentioned.
Section 8. Of the New Countries discovered by the Father.
Various Particulars. Meeting with some Savages. First
News of the Sea and of Europeans. Great Danger avoided
by means of the Calumet.
After proceeding about twenty leagues straight to the
south, and a little less to the southeast, we found ourselves
at a river called Ouaboukigou,^ the mouth of which is at
the 36th degree of latitude. Before reaching it, we passed by
a place that is dreaded by the savages, because they believe
that a manitou is there, that is to say, a demon, that devours
travellers ; and the savages, who wished to divert us from our
undertaking, warned us against it. This is the demon: there
is a small cove, surrounded by rocks twenty feet high, into
which the whole current of the river rushes ; and, being pushed
back against the waters following it, and checked by an
island near by, the current is compelled to pass through a
narrow channel. This is not done without a violent struggle
between all these waters, which force one another back, or
without a great din, which inspires terror in the savages, who
fear everything. But this did not prevent us from passing,
and arriving at Waboukigou. This river flows from the lands
of the East, where dwell the people called Chaouanons in so
great numbers that in one district there are as many as twenty-
three villages, and fifteen in another, quite near one another.
They are not at all warlike, and are the nations whom the
Iroquois go so far to seek, and war against without any rea-
son; and, because these poor people cannot defend them-
^ The present Ohio River was usually known as the Wabash (Ouaboukigou)
below its confluence with the latter stream.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 251
selveS; they allow themselves to be captured and taken like
flocks of sheep ; and, innocent though they are, they never-
theless sometimes experience the barbarity of the Iroquois, who
cruelly bum them.
A short distance above the river of which I have just
spoken are cliffs, on which our Frenchmen noticed an iron
mine, which they consider very rich. There are several veins
of ore, and a bed a foot thick, and one sees large masses of it
united with pebbles. A sticky earth is found there, of three
different colors — purple, violet, and red. The water in which
the latter is washed assumes a bloody tinge. There is also
very heavy, red sand. I placed some on a paddle, which was
dyed with its color, so deeply that the water could not wash
it away during the fifteen days while I used it for paddling.
Here we began to see canes, or large reeds, which grow on
the bank of the river ; their color is a very pleasing green ;
all the nodes are marked by a crown of long, narrow, and
pointed leaves. They are very high, and grow so thickly
that the wild cattle have some difficulty in forcing their way
through them.
Hitherto, we had not suffered any inconvenience from
mosquitoes ; but we were entering into their home, as it were.
This is what the savages of this quarter do to protect them-
selves against them. They erect a scaffolding, the floor of
which consists only of poles, so that it is open to the air in
order that the smoke of the fire made imdemeath may pass
through, and drive away those little creatures, which cannot
endure it; the savages lie down upon the poles, over which
bark is spread to keep off rain. These scaffoldings also serve
them as protection against the excessive and unbearable heat
of this country ; for they lie in the shade, on the floor below,
and thus protect themselves against the sun's rays, enjoying
the cool breeze that circulates freely through the scaffolding.
With the same object, we were compelled to erect a sort
of cabin on the water, with our sails as a protection against
the mosquitoes and the rays of the sun. While drifting down
with the current, in this condition, we perceived on land some
savages armed with guns, who awaited us. I at once offered
them my plumed calumet, while our Frenchmen prepared
for defense, but delayed firing, that the savages might be the
252 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
first to discharge their guns. I spoke to them in Huron, but
they answered me by a word which seemed to me a declara-
tion of war against us. However, they were as frightened as
we were; and what we took for a signal for battle was an
invitation that they gave us to draw near, that they might
give us food. We therefore landed, and entered their cabins,
where they offered us meat from wild cattle and bear's grease,
with white plums, which are very good. They have guns,
hatchets, hoes, knives, beads, and flasks of double glass, in
which they put their powder. They wear their hair long, and
tattoo their bodies after the Hiroquois fashion. The women
wear head-dresses and garments like those of the Huron
women. They assured us that we were no more than ten
days' journey from the sea; that they bought cloth and all
other goods from the Europeans who lived to the east; that
these Europeans had rosaries and pictures ; that they played
upon instruments ; that some of them looked like me, and had
been received by these savages kindly. Nevertheless, I saw
none who seemed to have received any instruction in the
faith ; I gave them as much as I could, with some medals.^
This news animated our courage, and made us paddle
with fresh ardor. We thus push forward, and no longer see
so many prairies, because both shores of the river are bor-
dered with lofty trees. The cottonwood, elm, and basswood
trees there are admirable for their height and thickness. The
great numbers of wild cattle, which we heard bellowing, led
us to believe that the prairies are near. We also saw quail
on the water's edge. We killed a little parroquet, one half
of whose head was red, the other half and the neck yellow,
and the whole body green.^ We had gone down to near the
33rd degree of latitude having proceeded nearly all the time
in a southerly direction, when we perceived a village on the
water's edge called Mitchigamea.^ We had recourse to our
^ The explorers were now in the Chickasaw country ; but the similarity of
this band with the Iroquois, their language and customs, would indicate that they
were either Tuscarora or Cherokee — both tribes of Iroquoian origin.
2 A small species of paroquet was very abundant in the Mississippi and
Ohio valleys in early days.
^ The Michigamea Indians were of Algonquian origin, allied to the Illinois,
from whom they were temporarily separated. Their habitat was probably above
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 253
patroness and guide, the blessed Virgin Immaculate ; and we
greatly needed her assistance, for we heard from afar the
savages who were inciting one another to the fray by their
continual yells. They were armed with bows, arrows, hatchets,
clubs, and shields. They prepared to attack us, on both land
and water; part of them embarked in great wooden canoes,
some to ascend, others to descend the river, in order to inter-
cept us and surround us on all sides. Those who were on land
came and went, as if to commence the attack. In fact, some
young men threw themselves into the water, to come and
seize my canoe; but the current compelled them to return
to land. One of them then hurled his club, which passed over
without striking us. In vain I showed the calumet, and
made them signs that we were not coming to war against
them. The alarm continued, and they were already preparing
to pierce us with arrows from all sides, when God suddenly
touched the hearts of the old men, who were standing at the
water's edge. This no doubt happened through the sight of
our calumet, which they had not clearly distinguished from
afar ; but as I did not cease displaying it, they were influenced
by it, and checked the ardor of their young men. Two of
these elders even, after casting into our canoe, as if at our feet,
their bows and quivers, to reassure us, entered the canoe, and
made us approach the shore, whereon we landed, not without
fear on our part. At first, we had to speak by signs, because
none of them understood the six languages which I spoke.
At last, we found an old man who could speak a little
Ilinois.
We informed them, by our presents, that we were going
to the sea. They vmderstood very well what we wished to
say to them, but I know not whether they apprehended what
I told them about God, and about matters pertaining to their
salvation. This is a seed cast into the ground, which will
bear fruit in its time. We obtained no other answer than
that we should learn all that we desired at another large vil-
lage, called Akamsea, which was only eight or ten leagues
St. Francis River, in the neighborhood of the present Big Lake that takes its
name from this tribe — Michigame, or Big Lake. About the end of the seven-
teenth century the Michigamea were driven north and coalesced with the Kas-
kaskia branch of the Illinois.
254 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
lower down.^ They offered us sagamite and fish, and we
passed the night among them, with some anxiety.
Section 9. Reception given to the French in the Last Village
which they saw. The Manners and Customs of those Sav-
ages. Reasons for not going farther.
We embarked early on the following day, with our inter-
preter; a canoe containing ten savages went a short distance
ahead of us. When we arrived within half a league of the
Akamsea, we saw two canoes coming to meet us. He who
commanded stood upright, holding in his hand the calumet,
with which he made various signs, according to the custom
of the country. He joined us, singing very agreeably, and
gave us tobacco to smoke ; after that, he offered us sagamite,
and bread made of Indian com, of which we ate a little. He
then preceded us, after making us a sign to follow him slowly.
A place had been prepared for us under the scaffolding of the
chief of the warriors; it was clean, and carpeted with fine
rush mats. Upon these we were made to sit, having around
us the elders, who were nearest to us; after them, the war-
riors; and, finally, all the common people in a crowd. We
fortunately found there a young man who understood Ilinois
much better than did the interpreter whom we had brought
from Mitchigamea. Through him, I spoke at first to the whole
assembly by the usual presents. They admired what I said
to them about God and the mysteries of our holy Faith.
They manifested a great desire to retain me among them,
that I might instruct them.
We afterward asked them what they knew about the sea.
They replied that we were only ten days' journey from it —
we could have covered the distance in five days; that they
were not acquainted with the nations who dwelt there, be-
cause their enemies prevented them from trading with those
Europeans ; that the hatchets, knives, and beads that we saw
1 Akamsea was a village of the Quapaw tribe, of the great Siouan stock,
allied to the tribes of the Missouri and upper Mississippi regions. The name
Akamsea means "down-stream people" and their early habitat is supposed to
have been on the Ohio. The village visited by Marquette appears to have been
above the Arkansas River, near the site where De Soto died in 1541.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 255
were sold to them partly by nations from the East, and partly
by an Ilinois village situated at four days' journey from their
village westward. They also told us that the savages with
gims whom we had met were their enemies, who barred their
way to the sea, and prevented them from becoming acquainted
with the Europeans, and from carrying on any trade with
them ; that, moreover, we exposed ourselves to great dangers
by going farther, on account of the continual forays of their
enemies along the river, because, as they had guns and were
very warlike, we could not without manifest danger proceed
down the river, which they constantly occupy.
Duiing this conversation, food was continually brought
to us in large wooden platters, consisting sometimes of saga-
mite, sometimes of whole corn, sometimes of a piece of dog's
flesh. The entire day was spent in feasting. These people
are very obliging and liberal with what they have ; but they
are wretchedly provided with food, for they dare not go and
hunt wild cattle, on account of their enemies. It is true that
they have an abundance of Indian corn, which they sow at
all seasons. We saw at the same time some that was ripe,
some other that had only sprouted, and some again in the
milk, so that they sow it three times a year. They cook it
in great earthen jars, which are very well made. They have
also plates of baked earth which they use in various ways.
The men go naked, and wear their hair short; they pierce
their noses, from which, as well as from their ears, hang beads.
The women are clad in wretched skins ; they knot their hair
in two tresses which they throw behind their ears, and have
no ornaments with which to adorn themselves. Their feasts
are given without any ceremony. They offer the guests
large dishes, from which all eat at discretion and offer what is
left to one another. Their language is exceedingly difficult,
and I could succeed in pronouncing only a few words notwith-
standing all my efforts. Their cabins, which are made of bark,
are long and wide; they sleep at the two ends, which are
raised two feet above the groimd. They keep their com in
large baskets made of canes, or in gourds as large as half-
barrels. They know nothing of the beaver. Their wealth
consists in the skins of wild cattle. They never see snow in
their country, and recognize the winter only through the
256 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1673
rains, which there fall more frequently than in summer. We
ate no other fruit there than watermelons. If they knew how
to till their soil, they would have fruits of all kinds.
In the evening, the elders held a secret council, in regard
to the design entertained by some to break our heads and rob
us ; but the chief put a stop to all these plots. After sending
for us, he danced the calumet before us, in the manner I have
already described, as a token of our entire safety; and, to
relieve us of all fear, he made me a present of it.
Monsieur Jolliet and I held another council, to deliberate
upon what we should do — whether we should push on, or re-
main content with the discovery which we had made. After
attentively considering that we were not far from the Gulf of
Mexico, the basin of which is at the latitude of 31 degrees 60
minutes, while we were at 33 degrees 40 minutes, we judged
that we could not be more than two or three days' journey
from it; and that, beyond a doubt, the Missisipi River dis-
charges into the Florida or Mexican Gulf, and not to the east
in Virginia, whose sea-coast is at 34 degrees latitude, — ^which
we had passed, without, however, having as yet reached the
sea, — or to the west in California, because in that case our
route would have been to the west, or the west-southwest,
whereas we had always continued it toward the south. We
further considered that we exposed ourselves to the risk of
losing the results of this voyage, of which we could give no
information if we proceeded to fling ourselves into the hands
of the Spaniards who, without doubt, would at least have de-
tained us as captives. Moreover, we saw very plainly that
we were not in a condition to resist savages allied to the
Europeans, who were numerous, and expert in firing guns,
and who continually infested the lower part of the river.
Finally, we had obtained all the information that could be
desired in regard to this discovery. All these reasons induced
us to decide upon returning; this we announced to the sav-
ages, and, after a day's rest, made our preparations for it.
1673] VOYAGE OF JOLLIET AND MARQUETTE 257
Section 10. Return of the Father and of the French. Baptism
of a Dying Child.
After a month's navigation, while descending Missisipi
from the 42nd to the 34th degree, and beyond, and after
preaching the Gospel as well as I could to the nations that I
met, we start on the 17th of July from the village of the Aken-
sea, to retrace our steps. We therefore reascend the Mis-
sisipi which gives us much trouble in breasting its currents.
It is true that we leave it, at about the 38th degree, to enter
another river, wliich greatly shortens our road, and takes us
with but little effort to the Lake of the Ilinois.^
We have seen nothing like this river that we enter, as re-
gards its fertility of soil, its prairies and woods; its cattle,
elk, deer, wildcats, bustards, swans, ducks, parroquets, and
even beaver. There are many small lakes and rivers. That
on which we sailed is wide, deep, and still, for 65 leagues.
In the spring and during part of the summer there is only one
portage of half a league. We found on it a village of Ilinois
called Kaskasia,^ consisting of 74 cabins. They received us
very well, and obliged me to promise that I would return to
instruct them. One of the chiefs of this nation, with his
young men, escorted us to the Lake of the Ilinois, whence, at
last, at the end of September, we reached the Bay des Puantz,
from which we had started at the beginning of June.
Had this voyage resulted in the salvation of even one soul,
I would consider all my troubles well rewarded, and I have
reason to presume that such is the case. For, when I was re-
turning, we passed through the Ilinois of Peouarea, and during
three days I preached the Faith in all their cabins; after
which, while we were embarking, a dying child was brought
to me at the water's edge, and I baptized it shortly before it
died, through an admirable act of Providence for the salvation
of that innocent soul.
^The Illinois River, leading via the Chicago portage to Lake Michigan,
then frequently called Lake of the Illinois.
^ The Kaskaskia village, removed later to the stream bearing that name in
southern Illinois. In Marquette's time it was on the Illinois, not far from the
present village of Utica in La Salle County.
MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE, 1674-1675
INTRODUCTION
For a year Father Marquette recuperated at the mission
of St. Frangois Xavier. Then, in the autumn of 1674, there
came to him from Canada the permission he so passionately
desired to found a mission among the Illinois Indians. He
embarked on Lake Michigan in the late autumn of 1674, but
the rigors of an early winter and the weakness of disease in-
capacitated the Father for his chosen work. Nevertheless he
struggled on, and wintered on the site of Chicago, teaching and
baptizing such stray savages as came his way. As soon as
spring opened he hastened to the Illinois village, where he
spent Easter with his red children, after which his two atten-
dants sought to take him home to St. Ignace. Day by day with
patient devotion they paddled the sick man in his canoe along
the eastern shore of the great lake. Finally, May 18, 1675,
at the mouth of the river that now bears his name, they carried
him reverently to land and his spirit escaped to the immortals.
Two years later some Ottawa to whom he had ministered
transplanted his remains to the chapel he had built at St.
Ignace. To-day Marquette's statue in the Capitol at Washing-
ton typifies Wisconsin's remembrance of the discoverer, mis-
sionary, and martyr, Jacques Marquette.
The history of his manuscripts has been recounted in the
introduction to the preceding piece. We reprint here, from
Dr. Thwaites's edition of the Jesuit Relations, LIX. 165-211,
Marquette's unfinished journal of his final voyage, and the
general account of this last expedition and of his death, by
Father Dablon, superior of the Jesuits in Canada, in a contem-
porary relation, of which the manuscript is in the archives of
their College of St. Mary in Montreal.
261
MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE, 1674-1675
Unfinished Journal of Father Jacques Marquette, addressed to
the Reverend Father Claude Dablon, Superior of the Missions.
+
My Reverend Father, Pax Christi.
Having been compelled to remain at St. Francois^
throughout the summer on account of an ailment, of which
I was cured in the month of September, I awaited there the
return of our people from down below,^ in order to learn
what I was to do with regard to my wintering. They brought
me orders to proceed to the mission of La Conception among
the Ilinois. After complying with Your Reverence's request
for copies of my journal concerning the Missisipi River, I
departed with Pierre Porteret and Jacque [ hlank ], on the
25th of October, 1674, about noon. The wind compelled us
to pass the night at the outlet of the river,^ where the Poute-
watamis were assembling ; for the elders would not allow them
to go in the direction of the Ilinois, lest the young men, after
collecting robes with the goods that they brought from below,
and after hunting beaver, might seek to go down in the spring ;
because they have reason to fear the Nadouessi.
October 26. On passing the village, we found only two
cabins of savages, who were going to spend the wdnter at La
Gasparde. We learned that five canoes of Poutewatamis,
and four of Ilinois, had started to go to the Kaskaskia.
27. We were delayed in the morning by rain ; in the after-
noon, we had fine, calm weather, so that at Sturgeon Bay we
joined the savages, who travelled ahead of us.
1 The mission of St. Franpois Xavier at De Pere, Wisconsin.
^ The ordinary term for lower Canada, whence the trading canoes went
each year.
»Fox River, emptying, into Green Bay.
262
1674] MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE 263
28. We reached the portage.^ A canoe that had gone
ahead prevented us from killing any game. We began our
portage and slept on the other shore, where the stormy weather
gave us much trouble. Pierre did not arrive until an hour
after dark, having lost his way on a path where he had never
been. After the rain and thunder, snow fell.
29. Being compelled to change our camping-ground, we
continued to carry our packs. The portage covers nearly a
league, and is very difficult in many places. The Ilinois as-
semble in the evening in our cabin, and ask us not to leave them,
as we may need them, and they know the lake better than we
do. We promise them this.
30. The Ilinois women complete our portage in the morn-
ing. We are delayed by the wind. There are no animals.
31. We start, with tolerably fair weather, and sleep at
a small river. The road by land from Sturgeon Bay is very
difficult. Last autumn, we were travelling not far from it
when we entered the forest.
November 1. After I said holy mass, we came for the night
to a river, whence one goes to the Poutewatamis by a good
road. Chachagwessiou, an Ilinois greatly esteemed among
his nation, partly because he engages in the fur trade, arrived
at night with a deer on his back, of which he gave us a share.
2. After holy mass, we travel all day in very fine weather.
We kill two cats, which are almost nothing but fat.
3. While I am ashore, walking on fine sand, the whole
water's edge being covered with grass similar to that which
is hauled up by the nets at St. Ignace, I come to a river which
I am unable to cross.^ Our people enter it, in order to take
me on board ; but we are unable to go out, on account of the
waves. All the other canoes go on, excepting one, which came
with us.
4. We are delayed. There seems to be an island out in
the lake, for the game go there at night.
5. We had considerable difficulty in getting out of the
river at noon. We found the savages in a river, where I
seized the opportunity of instructing the Ilinois, on account
of a feast that Nawaskingwe had just given to a wolfskin.
1 Sturgeon Bay portage through the Door County peninsula, Wisconsin.
2 Probably Sheboygan River, Wisconsin.
264 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1674
6. We performed a good day's journey. While the sav-
ages were hunting, they discovered some tracks of men, and
this compelled us to stay over on the following day.
9. We landed about two o'clock, because there was a
good camping-ground. We were detained there for five days,
on account of the great agitation of the lake, although without
any wind; and afterward of the snow, which was melted
on the following day by the sun, and a breeze from the lake.
15. After proceeding a sufficient distance, we camp at
a favorable place, where we are detained three days. Pierre
mends a savage's gun. Snow falls at night, and thaws during
the day.
20. We sleep near the bluffs, and are very poorly shel-
tered. The savages remain behind while we are delayed
two days and a half by the wind. Pierre goes into the woods,
and finds the prairie twenty leagues from the portage. He
also goes through a fine canal which is vaulted, as it were,
to the height of a man, in which there is water a foot deep.
23. After embarking at noon, we experienced some diffi-
culty in reaching a river. ^ Then the cold began, and more
than a foot of snow covered the ground ; it has remained ever
since. We were delayed for three days, during which Pierre
killed a deer, three bustards, and three turkeys, which were
very good. The others proceeded to the prairies. A savage
discovered some cabins, and came to get us. Jacques went
there on the following day, with him ; two hunters also came
to see me. They were Maskoutens, to the number of eight
or nine cabins, who had separated from the others in order
to obtain subsistence. With fatigues almost impossible to
Frenchmen, they travel throughout the winter over very bad
roads, the land abounding in streams, small lakes, and swamps.
Their cabins are wretched ; and they eat or starve, according
to the places where they happen to be. Being detained by
the wind, we noticed that there were great shoals out in the
lake, over which the waves broke continually. Here I had an
attack of diarrhoea.
27. We had some trouble in getting out of the river;
then, after proceeding about three leagues, we found the
savages, who had killed some cattle, and three Ilinois who
^ Milwaukee River.
1674] MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE 265
had come from the village. We were delayed there by a wind
from the land, by heavy waves from the lake, and by cold.
December 1. We went ahead of the savages, so that I
might celebrate holy mass.
3. After saying holy mass, we embarked, and were com-
pelled to make for a point, so that we could land, on account
of floating masses of ice.
4. We started with a favoring wind, and reached the
river of the portage, which was frozen to the depth of half a
foot; there was more snow there than elsewhere, as well as
more tracks of animals and turkeys.
Navigation on the lake is fairly good from one portage
to the other, for there is no crossing to be made, and one can
land anywhere, unless one persist in going on when the waves
are high and the wind is strong. The land bordering it is of
no value, except on the prairies. There are eight or ten quite
fine rivers. Deer-hunting is very good, as one goes away from
the Poutewatamis.
12. As we began yesterday to haul our baggage in order
to approach the portage, the Ilinois who had left the Poute-
watamis arrived, with great difficulty. We were unable to
celebrate holy mass on the day of the Conception, owing to
the bad weather and cold.^ During our stay at the entrance
of the river, Pierre and Jacques killed three cattle and four
deer, one of which ran some distance with its heart split in
two. We contented ourselves with killing three or four turkeys,
out of many that came around our cabin because they were
almost dying of hunger. Jacques brought in a partridge that
he had MUed, exactly like those of France except that it had
two ruffs, as it were, of three or four feathers as long as a finger,
near the head, covering the two sides of the neck where there
are no feathers.
14. Having encamped near the portage, two leagues up
the river, we resolved to winter there, as it was impossible to
go farther, since we were too much hindered and my ailment
did not permit me to give myself much fatigue.^ Several
Ilinois passed yesterday, on their way to carry their furs to
1 See p. 228, note 2, ante.
2 A large cross has been erected in the southwestern district of Chicago to
commemorate the site of Marquette's winter quarters in 1674-1675.
266 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1675
Nawaskingwe ; we gave them one of the cattle and one of
the deer that Jacque had killed on the previous day. I do
not think that I have ever seen any savages more eager for
French tobacco than they. They came and threw beaver-
skins at our feet, to get some pieces of it; but we returned
these, giving them some pipefuls of the tobacco because we
had not yet decided whether we would go farther.
15. Chachagwessiou and the other Ilinois left us, to go
and join their people and give them the goods that they had
brought, in order to obtain their robes. In this they act like
the traders, and give hardly any more than do the French.
I instructed them before their departure, deferring the holding
of a council until the spring, when I should be in their village.
They traded us three fine robes of ox-skins for a cubit of to-
bacco; these were very useful to us during the winter. Be-
ing thus rid of them, we said the mass of the Conception.
After the 14th, my disease turned into a bloody flux.
30. Jacque arrived from the Ilinois village, which is only
six leagues from here ; there they were suffering from hunger,
because the cold and snow prevented them from himting.
Some of them notified La Toupine^ and the surgeon that
we were here ; and, as they could not leave their cabin, they
had so frightened the savages, believing that we should suffer
from hunger if we remained here, that Jacque had much diffi-
culty in preventing fifteen young men from coming to carry
away all our belongings.
January 16, 1675. As soon as the two Frenchmen learned
that my iUness prevented me from going to them, the surgeon
came here with a savage, to bring us some blueberries and
com. They are only eighteen leagues from here, in a fine place
for hunting cattle, deer, and turkeys, which are excellent
there. They had also collected provisions while waiting for
us ; and had given the savages to understand that their cabin
belonged to the black gown; and it may be said that they
have done and said all that could be expected of them.
After the surgeon had spent some time here, in order to per-
form his devotions, I sent Jacque with him to tell the Ilinois
' Pierre Moreau dit La Toupine was a noted wood-ranger of the seven-
teenth century, who had been a soldier in the garrison of Quebec. He was with
St. Lusson at Sault Ste. Marie in 1671, and died at Quebec as late as 1727.
16751 MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE 267
near that place that my illness prevented me from going to
see them ; and that I would even have some difficulty in go-
ing there in the spring, if it continued.
24. Jacque returned with a sack of corn and other deli-
cacies, which the French had given him for me. He also
brought the tongues and flesh of two cattle, which a savage
and he had killed near here. But all the animals feel the bad
weather.
26. Three Ilinois brought us, on behalf of the elders, two
sacks of corn, some dried meat, pumpkins, and twelve beaver-
skins : first, to make me a mat ; second, to ask me for powder ;
third, that we might not be hungry ; fourth, to obtain a few
goods. I replied: first, that I had come to instruct them,
by speaking to them of prayer, etc. ; second, that I would give
them no powder, because we sought to restore peace every-
where, and I did not wish them to begin war with the Mui-
amis ; third, that we feared not hunger ; fourth, that I would
encourage the French to bring them goods, and that they
must give satisfaction to those who were among them for the
beads which they had taken as soon as the surgeon started
to come here. As they had come a distance of twenty leagues,
I gave them, in order to reward them for their trouble and
for what they had brought me, a hatchet, two knives, three
clasp-knives, ten brasses of glass beads, and two double mir-
rors, telling them that I would endeavor to go to the village,
for a few days only, if my illness continued. They told me
to take courage, and to remain and die in their country ; and
that they had been informed that I would remain there for a
long time.
February 9. Since we addressed ourselves to the Blessed
Virgin Immaculate, and commenced a novena with a mass,
at which Pierre and Jacque, who do everything they can to
relieve me, received communion, to ask God to restore my
health, my bloody flux has left me, and all that remains is a
weakness of the stomach. I am beginning to feel much
better, and to regain my strength. Out of a cabin of Ilinois,
who encamped near us for a month, a portion have again
taken the road to the Poutewatamis, and some are still on the
lake-shore, where they wait until navigation is open. They
bear letters for our Fathers of St. Francois.
268 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1675
20. We have had opportunity to observe the tides com-
ing in from the lake, which rise and fall several times a day ;
and, although there seems to be no shelter in the lake, we have
seen the ice going against the wind. These tides made the
water good or bad, because that which flows from above
comes from prairies and small streams. The deer, which
are plentiful near the lake-shore, are so lean that we had to
abandon some of those which we had killed.
March 23. We killed several partridges, only the males
of which had ruffs on the neck, the females not having any.
These partridges are very good, but not like those of France.
30. The north wind delayed the thaw until the 25th of
March, when it set in with a south wind. On the very next
day, game began to make its appearance. We killed thirty
pigeons, which I found better than those down the great river;
but they are smaller, both old and young. On the 28th, the
ice broke up, and stopped above us. On the 29th, the waters
rose so high that we had barely time to decamp as fast as
possible, putting our goods in the trees, and trying to sleep on
a hillock. The water gained on us nearly all night, but there
was a slight freeze, and the water fell a little, while we were
near our packages. The barrier has just broken, the ice has
drifted away; and, because the water is already rising, we
are about to embark to continue our journey.
The Blessed Virgin Immaculate has taken such care of us
during our wintering that we have not lacked provisions, and
have stiU remaining a large sack of corn, with some meat and
fat. We also lived very pleasantly, for my illness did not pre-
vent me from saying holy mass every day. We were unable
to keep Lent, except on Fridays and Saturdays.
31. We started yesterday and travelled three leagues up
the river without finding any portage. W^e hauled our goods
probably about half an arpent. Besides this discharge, the
river has another one by which we are to go down. The very
high lands alone are not flooded. At the place where we are,
the water has risen more than twelve feet. This is where we
began our portage eighteen months ago. Bustards and ducks
pass continually; we contented ourselves with seven. The
ice, which is still drifting down, keeps us here, as we d© not
know in what condition the lower part of the river is
1675] MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE 269
April 1. As I do not yet know whether I shall remain
next summer in the village, on account of my diarrhoea, we
leave here part of our goods, those with which we can dis-
pense, and especially a sack of corn. While a strong south
wind delays us, we hope to go to-morrow to the place where
the French are, at a distance of fifteen leagues from here.
6. Strong winds and the cold prevent us from proceed-
ing. The two lakes over which we passed are full of bustards,
geese, ducks, cranes, and other game unknown to us. The
rapids are quite dangerous in some places. We have just
met the surgeon, with a savage who was going up with a
canoe-load of furs; but, as the cold is too great for persons
who are obliged to drag their canoes in the water, he has made
a cache of his beaver-skins, and returns to the village to-mor-
row with us. If the French procure robes in this country,
they do not disrobe the savages, so great are the hardships that
must be endured to obtain them.^
[Addressed : "To my Reverend Father, Father Claude
Dablon, Superior of the Missions of the Society of Jesus in
New France. Quebec."]
[Endorsed: "Letter and Journal of the late Father Mar-
quette."]
[Endorsed: "Everything concerning Father Marquette's
Voyage."]
Account of the Second Voyage and the Death of Father
Jacques Marquette
The mission of the Ilinois was founded in the year 1674,
after the first voyage which Father Jacques Marquet made
to discover new territories and new peoples who are on the
great and famous river Missisipi.
The year following, he made a second voyage in order to
establish there the mission ; it is that one which we are about
to relate.
'This was Marquette's last entry. The succeeding part of the relation,
describing his last voyage, death, and burial, was written by Father Dablon.
270 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1675
Section 1. Narrative of the Second Voyage that Father Mar quel
made to the Ilinois. He reaches them, notwithstanding his
Illness, and begins the Mission of La Conception.
Father Jacques Marquette, having promised the Ilinois
on his first voyage to theni; in 1673, that he would return to
them the following year, to teach them the mysteries of our
religion, had much difficulty in keeping his word. The great
hardships of his first voyage had brought upon him a bloody
flux, and had so weakened him that he was giving up the
hope of undertaking a second. However, his sickness de-
creased; and, as it had almost entirely abated by the close
of the summer in the following year, he obtained the permis-
sion of his superiors to return to the Ilinois and there begin
that fair mission.
He set out for that purpose, in the month of November
of the year 1674, from the Bay des Puants, with two men, one
of whom had made the former voyage with him. During a
month of navigation on the Lake of the Ilinois, he was toler-
ably well ; but, as soon as the snow began to fall, he was again
seized with his bloody flux, which compelled him to halt in
the river which leads to the Ilinois. It was there that they
constructed a cabin in which to pass the winter, amid such
inconveniences that, his malady increasing more and more,
he saw clearly that God was granting to him the favor which
he had so many times besought from Him ; and he even told
his two companions very plainly that he would certainly die
of that malady, and during that voyage. Duly to prepare
his soul, despite the severe indisposition of his body, he began
this so severe winter sojourn by the retreat of St. Ignatius,
which he performed with every feeling of devotion, and many
celestial consolations; and then he passed the whole of the
remaining time in holding communion with all Heaven, hav-
ing, in these deserts, no intercourse with the earth except
with his two companions. He confessed them and admin-
istered communion to them twice in the week, and exhorted
them as much as his strength permitted him. A short time
after Christmas, that he might obtain the favor of not dying
without having taken possession of his dear mission, he in-
1675] MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE 271
vited his companions to make a novena in honor of the Im-
maculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. His prayer was
answered, against all human probability; and, his health
improving, he prepared himself to go to the village of the Ilinois
as soon as navigation should open, which he did with much
joy, setting out for that place on the 29th of March. He
spent eleven days on the way, during which time he had oc-
casion to suffer much, both from his own illness, from which
he had not entirely recovered, and from the very severe and
unfavorable weather.
On at last arriving at the village, he was received as an
angel from Heaven. After he had assembled at various times
the chiefs of the nation, with all the old men, that he might
sow in their minds the first seeds of the Gospel, and after hav-
ing given instruction in the cabins, which were always filled
with a great crowd of people, he resolved to address all in
public, in a general assembly which he called together in the
open air, the cabins being too small to contain all the people.
It was a beautiful prairie, close to a village, which was se-
lected for the great comicil; this was adorned, after the
fashion of the country, by covering it with mats and bear-
skins. Then the Father, having directed them to stretch out
upon lines several pieces of Chinese taffeta, attached to these
four large pictures of the Blessed Virgin, which were visible
on all sides. The audience was composed of 500 chiefs and
elders, seated in a circle around the Father, and of all the
young men, who remained standing. They numbered more
than 1500 men, without counting the women and children,
who are always nimierous, the village being composed of five
or six hundred fires. The Father addressed the whole body
of people, and conveyed to them ten messages, by means of
ten presents which he gave them. He explained to them the
principal mysteries of our religion, and the purpose that had
brought him to their countiy. Above all, he preached to
them Jesus Christ, on the very eve [of that great day] on which
he had died upon the Cross for them, as well as for all the
rest of mankind ; then he said holy mass. On the third day
after, which was Easter Sunday,^ things being prepared in the
same manner as on Thursday, he celebrated the holy mys-
1 April 14, 1675.
272 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTmVEST [1675
teries for the second time ; and by these two, the only sacri-
fices ever offered there to God, he took possession of that land
in the name of Jesus Christ, and gave to that mission the
name of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin.
He was listened to by all those peoples with universal
joy ; and they prayed him with most earnest entreaty to come
back to them as soon as possible, since his sickness obliged
him to return. The Father, on his side, expressed to them the
affection which he felt for them, and the satisfaction that they
had given him ; and pledged them his word that he, or some
other of our Fathers, would return to carry on that mission
so happily inaugurated. This promise he repeated several
times, while parting with them to go upon his way; and he
set out with so many tokens of regard on the part of those
good peoples that, as a mark of honor, they chose to escort
him for more than thirty leagues on the road, vying with each
other in taking charge of his slender baggage.
Section 2. The Father is compelled to leave his Ilinois Mission.
His Last Illness. His Precious Death in the Heart of the
Forest.
After the Ilinois, filled with great esteem for the Gospel,
had taken leave of the Father, he continued his journey, and
shortly after reached the Lake of the Ilinois, upon whose
waters he had to journey nearly a hundred leagues, by an un-
known route, whereon he had never before travelled; for he
was obliged to coast along the southern shore of the lake,
having come by the northern.^ But his strength was so
rapidly diminishing that his two men despaired of being able
to bring him alive to the end of their journey. Indeed, he
became so feeble and exhausted that he was unable to assist
or even to move himself, and had to be handled and carried
about like a child.
Meanwhile, he preserved in that condition an admirable
equanimity, resignation, joy, and gentleness, consoling his
dear companions and encouraging them to suffer patiently
all the hardships of that voyage, in the assurance that God
1 This southern or rather eastern route was taken by voyagers in order to
take advantage of the currents setting northwardly.
1675] MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE 273
would not abandon them after his death. It was during this
voyage that he began to make more special preparation for
death. He held communion, sometimes with our Lord, some-
times with his holy Mother, or with his guardian angel, or with
all Paradise. He was often overheard repeating these words,
Credo quod redemptor mens vivit; or Maria, Mater Gratice,
Mater Dei, memerito mei} In addition to the spiritual exer-
cise, which was read to him every day, he requested toward
the close that they would read to him his meditation pre-
paratory for death, which he carried about with him. He
recited every day his breviary ; and although he was so low
that his sight and strength were greatly enfeebled, he con-
tinued to do so to the last day of his life, despite the remon-
strance of his companions.
Eight days before his death, he was thoughtfiil enough to
prepare the holy water for use during the rest of his illness,
in his agony, and at his burial ; and he instructed his compan-
ions how it should be used.
The evening before his death, which was a Friday, he
told them, very joyously, that it would take place on the
morrow. He conversed with them during the whole day as
to what would need to be done for his burial : about the
manner in which they should inter him ; of the spot that should
be chosen for his grave ; how his feet, his hands, and his face
should be arranged ; how they should erect a Cross over his
grave. He even went so far as to counsel them, three hours
before he expired, that as soon as he was dead they should
take the little hand-bell of his chapel, and sound it while he
was being put under ground. He spoke of all these things
with so great tranquillity and presence of mind that one might
have supposed that he was concerned with the death and
funeral of some other person, and not with his own.
Thus did he converse with them as they made their way
upon the lake, until, having perceived a river, on the shore
of which stood an eminence that he deemed well suited to be
the place of his interment, he told them that that was the
place of his last repose.^ They mshed, however, to proceed
1 "I know that my Redeemer liveth," and "Mary, Mother of Grace, Mother
of God, remember me."
2 Now known as Pere Marquette River, at whose mouth is the city of
liudington, Michigan.
274 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1675
farther, as the weather was favorable, and the day was not
far advanced; but God raised a contrary wind, which com-
pelled them to return, and enter the river which the Father
had pointed out. They accordingly brought him to the land,
lighted a little fire for him, and prepared for him a wretched
cabin of bark. They laid him down therein, in the least un-
comfortable way that they could; but they were so stricken
with sorrow that, as they have since said, they hardly knew
what they were doing.
The Father, being thus stretched on the ground in much
the same way as was St. Francis Xavier, as he had always so
passionately desired, and finding himself alone in the midst
of these forests, for his companions were occupied with the
disembarkation, he had leisure to repeat all the acts in which
he had continued during these last days.
His dear companions having afterward rejoined him, all
disconsolate, he comforted them, and inspired them with the
confidence that God would take care of them after his death,
in these new and unknown countries. He gave them the last
instructions, thanked them for all the charities which they
had exercised in his behalf during the whole journey, and en-
treated pardon for the trouble that he had given them. He
charged them to ask pardon for him also, from all our Fathers
and brethren who live in the country of the Outaouacs. Then
he undertook to prepare them for the sacrament of penance,
which he administered to them for the last time. He gave
them also a paper on which he had written all his faults since
his own last confession, that they might place it in the hands
of the Father Superior, that the latter might be enabled to
pray to God for him in a more special manner. Finally, he
promised not to forget them in Paradise. And, as he was
very considerate, knowing that they were much fatigued with
the hardships of the preceding days, he bade them go and take
a little repose. He assured them that his hour was not yet
so very near, and that he would awaken them when the time
should come, as, in fact, two or three hours afterward he did
summon them, being ready to enter into the agony.
They drew near to him, and he embraced them once
again, while they burst into tears at his feet. Then he asked
for holy water and his reliquaiy ; and having himself removed
1675] MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE 275
his crucifix, which he carried always suspended round his
neck, he placed it in the hands of one of his companions,
begging hun to hold it before his eyes. Then, feeling that he
had but a short time to live, he made a last effort, clasped
his hands, and, with a steady and fond look upon his crucifix,
he uttered aloud his profession of faith, and gave thanks to
the Divine Majesty for the great favor which he had ac-
corded him of dying in the Society, of dying in it as a mission-
ary of Jesus Christ, and, above all, of dying in it, as he had
always prayed, in a wretched cabin in the midst of the forests
and bereft of all human succor.
After that, he was silent, commiming within himself with
God. Nevertheless, he let escape from time to time these
words, Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus; ^ or these. Mater
Dei, memento mei — which were the last words that he uttered
before entering his agony, which was, however, very mild and
peaceful.
He had prayed his companions to put him in mind, when
they should see him about to expire, to repeat frequently the
names of Jesus and Mary, if he could not himself do so. They
did as they were bidden ; and, when they believed him to be
near his end, one of them called aloud, "Jesus, Mary !" The
dying man repeated the words distinctly, several times ; and
as if, at these sacred names, something presented itself to
him, he suddenly raised his eyes above his crucifix, holding
them riveted on that object, which he appeared to regard with
pleasure. And so, with a countenance beaming and all aglow,
he expired without any struggle, and so gently that it might
have been regarded as a pleasant sleep.
His two poor companions, shedding many tears over
him, composed his body in the manner which he had pre-
scribed to them. Then they carried him devoutly to burial,
ringing the while the little bell as he had bidden them ; and
planted a large Cross near to his grave, as a sign to passers-by.
When it became a question of embarking, to proceed on
their journey, one of the two, who for some days had been
so heartsick with sorrow, and so greatly prostrated with an
internal malady, that he could no longer eat or breathe except
with difficulty, bethought himself, while the other was making
^ "My soul hath endured in his word."
276 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1675
all preparations for embarking, to visit the grave of his good
Father, and ask his intercession with the glorious Virgin, as
he had promised, not doubting in the least that he was in
Heaven. He fell, then, upon his knees, made a short prayer,
and having reverently taken some earth from the tomb, he
pressed it to his breast. Immediately his sickness abated,
and his sorrow was changed into a joy which did not forsake
him during the remainder of his journey.
Section 3. What occurred at the Removal of the Bones of the late
Father Marquette, which were taken from his Grave on the
19th of May, 1677, the same Day as that on which he died
in the Year 1675.^ A Brief Summary of his Virtues.
God did not permit that a deposit so precious should re-
main in the midst of the forest, unhonored and forgotten.
The savages named Kiskakons,^ who have been making pub-
lic profession of Christianity for nearly ten years, and who
were instructed by Father Marquette when he lived at the
Point of St. Esprit, at the extremity of Lake Superior, carried
on their last winter's himting in the vicinity of the Lake of
the Ilinois. As they were returning in the spring, they were
greatly pleased to pass near the grave of their good Father,
whom they tenderly loved; and God also put it into their
hearts to remove his bones and bring them to our church at
the mission of St. Ignace at Missilimakinac, where those sav-
ages make their abode.
They repaired, then, to the spot, and resolved among
themselves to act in regard to the Father as they are wont
to do toward those for whom they profess great respect.
Accordingly, they opened the grave, and uncovered the body ;
and, although the flesh and internal organs were all dried up,
they found it entire, so that not even the skin was in any way
injured. This did not prevent them from proceeding to dis-
sect it, as is their custom. They cleansed the bones and
exposed them to the sun to dry ; then, carefully laying them
1 May 18, 1675, was the true date of his death, since Dablon expressly re-
lates that it befell on Saturday.
2 For the Kiskakon Ottawa see p. 121, note 1, ante.
1675] MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE 277
in a box of birch-bark, they set out to bring them to our mis-
sion of St. Ignace.^
There were nearly thirty canoes which formed, in excel-
lent order, that fmieral procession. There were also a goodly
number of Iroquois, who united with our Algonquin savages
to lend more honor to the ceremonial. When they drew near
our house, Father Nouvel, who is its Superior, with Father
Piercon, went out to meet them, accompanied by the French-
men and savages who were there ; and having halted the pro-
cession, he put the usual questions to them, to make sure that
it was really the Father's body which they were bringing.
Before convejdng it to land, they intoned the De profundis^
in the presence of the thirty canoes, which were still on the
water, and of the people who were on the shore. After that,
the body was carried to the church, care being taken to ob-
serve all that the ritual appoints in such ceremonies. It re-
mained exposed under the pall, all that day, which was Whit-
monday, the 8th of June; and on the morrow, after having
rendered to it all the funeral rites, it was lowered into a small
vault in the middle of the church, where it rests as the guardian
angel of our Outaouas missions. The savages often come to
pray over his tomb. Not to mention more than this instance,
a young girl, aged nineteen or twenty years, whom the late
Father had instructed, and who had been baptized in the past
year, fell sick, and applied to Father Nouvel to be bled and to
take certain remedies. The Father prescribed to her, as sole
medicine, to come for three days and say a pater and three
ave's at the tomb of Father Marquette. She did so, and be-
fore the third day was cured, without bleeding or any other
remedies.
Father Jaques Marquette, of the province of Champagne,
died at the age of thirty-eight years, of which twenty-one were
passed in the Society — ^namely, twelve in France and nine
in Canada. He was sent to the missions of the upper Al-
^ The site of this mission chapel and the remains of Marquette were dis-
covered two hundred years after his burial by the priest of the village, Rev.
Edward Jacker. The remnants of a birch-bark box, a number of bones, and part
of a skull were unearthed. Most of these relics are now in the possession of
Marquette University at Milwaukee.
» Psahn 130.
278 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1675
gonquins, who are called Outaouacs ; and labored therein with
the zeal that might be expected from a man who had proposed
to himself St. Francis Xavier as the model of his life and
death. He resembled that great saint, not only in the variety
of barbarian languages which he mastered, but also by the
range of his zeal, which made him carry the faith to the ends
of this new world, and nearly 800 leagues from here into the
forests, where the name of Jesus Christ had never been pro-
claimed.
He always entreated God that he might end his life in these
laborious missions, and that, like his dear St. Xavier, he might
die in the midst of the woods, bereft of everything. Every
day, he interposed for that end both the merits of Jesus Christ
and the intercession of the Virgin Immaculate, for whom he
entertained a singular tenderness.
Accordingly, he obtained through such powerful mediators
that which he solicited with so much earnestness; since he
had, like the apostle of the Indies, the happiness to die in a
wretched cabin on the shore of Lake Ilinois, forsaken by all
the world.
, We might say much of the rare virtues of this noble mis-
sionary : of his zeal, which prompted him to carry the Faith
so far, and proclaim the Gospel to so many peoples who were
unknown to us ; of his gentleness, which rendered him beloved
by all, and made him all things to all men — a Frenchman with
the French, a Huron with the Hurons, an Algonquin with the
Algonquins; of the childlike candor with which he disclosed
his heart to his superiors, and even to all kinds of persons,
with an ingenuousness which won all hearts; of his angelic
chastity ; and of his uninterrupted union with God.
But that which apparently predominated was a devotion,
altogether rare and singular, to the Blessed Virgin, and par-
ticularly toward the mystery of her Immaculate Conception.
It was a pleasure to hear him speak or preach on that subject.
All his conversations and letters contained something about
the Blessed Virgin Immaculate — for so he always called her.
From the age of nine years, he fasted every Saturday; and
from his tenderest youth began to say the little office of the
Conception, inspiring every one with the same devotion.
Some months before his death, he said every day with his two
1675] MARQUETTE'S LAST VOYAGE 279
men a little corona of the Immaculate Conception which he
had devised as follows : After the credo, there is said once the
pater and ave, and then four times these words : Ave Filia Dei
Patris, ave Mater Filii Dei, ave Sponsa Spiritus Sancti, ave
Templum totius Trinitatis: per sanctam Virginitatem et Im-
maculatam Conceptionem tuam, purissima Virgo, emunda cor
et carnem meam: in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti,^
— concluding with the Gloria Patri, the whole repeated three
times.
He never failed to say the mass of the Conception, or,
at least, when he could do so, the prayer of the Conception.
He hardly meditated upon any thong else day and night.
That he might leave us an ever-enduring testimony of his
sentiments, it was his desire to bestow on the mission of the
Ilinois the name of La Conception.
So tender a devotion toward the Mother of God merited
some singular grace ; and she accorded him the favor that he
had always requested — to die on a Saturday. His companions
never doubted that she appeared to him at the hour of his
death, when, after pronouncing the names of Jesus and Mary,
he suddenly raised his eyes above his crucifix, holding them
fixed on an object which he regarded with extreme pleasure,
and a joy that showed itself upon his features ; and they had,
at that time, the impression that he had rendered up his soul
into the hands of his good Mother.
One of the last letters that he wrote to the Father Superior
of the missions before his great voyage, is sufficient evidence
that such were his sentiments. He begins it thus : '* The Blessed
Virgin Immaculate has obtained for me the favor of reaching
this place in good health, and with the resolve to correspond
to the intentions which God has respecting me, since He has
assigned me to the voyage toward the south. I have no other
thought than that of doing what God wills. I dread nothing
— neither the Nadoissis, nor the reception awaiting me among
the nations, dismay me. One of two things will happen :
either God will punish me for my crimes and cowardice, or
1 "Hail, Daughter of God the Father; haU, Mother of God the Son; hail,
Bride of the Holy Spirit ; hail, Temple of the whole Trinity ; by thy Holy Vir-
ginity and Immaculate Conception, most pure Virgin, cleanse my heart and
flesh ; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
280 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1675
else He will give me a share in his Cross, which I have not
yet carried since my arrival in this country. But this Cross
has been perhaps obtained for me by the Blessed Virgin Im-
maculate, or it may be death itself, that I may cease to offend
God. It is that for which I try to hold myself in readiness,
surrendering myself altogether into His hands. I entreat
Your Reverence not to forget me, and to obtain for me of
God that I may not remain ungrateful for the favors which He
heaps upon me."
There was found among his papers a manuscript entitled
"The directing Care of God over a Missionary," in which
he shows the excellence of that vocation, the advantages
which it affords for self-sanctification, and the care that God
takes of Gospel laborers. One sees in this little abstract the
spirit of God which possessed him.
MEMOIR ON LA SALLE'S DISCOVERIES, BY
TONTY, 1678-1690 [1693]
INTRODUCTION
Robert Cavelier de La Salle, whose name is indissolubly
associated with the valley of the Mississippi, although he was
unfortunate in his life and in his death has been fortunate in
his biographers both contemporary and recent. About none
of the French explorers has so large an amount of documentary
material collected. Eveiy detail of his plans and activities
after 1678 has been told and retold. His own letters and
memorials to the court have been preserved in the French
archives, and were in 1879 printed in three volumes by Pierre
Margry. In addition to these materials we have the accounts
of two of the chaplains of his expedition — the gariTilous,
lively, popular reminiscences of Father Louis Hennepin, whose
work appeared in edition after edition; the accurate, pains-
taking narrative of Father Zenobe Membre, who accompanied
La Salle in his earlier and later attempts at penetrating the
Mississippi Valley. For La Salle's last expedition, his tragic
death, and the return of the remnant of his people there are
numerous sources — the narratives of his brother Jean Cavelier
and Henri Joutel being those best known. But among all
who acted with La Salle in his ambitious plans for founding
an empire in the heart of America, no one is more justly en-
titled to credence than his faithful lieutenant and friend
Henri de Tonty.
Tonty was the son of an Italian banker, Lorenzo Tonti,
from whom the tontine system of insurance takes its name.
Having been concerned in Masaniello's Neapolitan conspiracy
of 1647, Lorenzo fled from his native land to France, where he
found service under the Italian premier Cardinal Mazarin.
Henri was born probably near Naples and was a babe when
283
284 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
he was carried to the French court. At the age of eighteen or
nineteen he entered the French service ; he took part in seven
campaigns, lost his right hand in battle, and was taken pris-
oner. After the treaty of Nymwegen in 1678 his regiment
was disbanded, and he returned to Versailles, where he was
presented to La Salle, then a suppliant for permission to colo-
nize the valley of the Mississippi.
It has been well said that of all that La Salle obtained on
his journey to France in 1678 — the support of the king, the
interest of his ministers, and substantial help for the expenses
of his project — none were of more worth than the allegiance
of the young Italian lieutenant, whose services he secured
upon this occasion. Through all the following years of danger,
toil, misfortune, and calumny, Tonty was the one companion
who comprehended and seconded all La Salle's far-reaching
plans, and was ever his efficient and faithful supporter. Even
after his superior's death, Tonty continued his efforts to carry
out those plans, to rescue La Salle's memory from obloquy
and to secure his fortune and his fame
Left by La Salle, in 1682, in charge of his interests in
Illinois, Tonty maintained with great ability the Fort of St.
Louis upon "The Rock" on the Illinois River, pacified his
Indian colonists, introduced agriculture, prosecuted the fur
trade. His journeys took him from the mouth of the Mis-
sissippi to the land of the Assiniboin on the Red River of the
North ; from his seigniory in Arkansas to the French capital
on the St. Lawrence. Deprived at last by royal edict of his
Fort St. Louis, some time about the close of the seventeenth
century he sought the South and joined his fortunes with
those of the Canadian founder of Louisiana. There, not far
from Mobile, the great lieutenant of La Salle died, Septem-
ber 6, 1704.
Tonty wrote two accounts of his experiences in North
America. The first covers the five years, 1678-1683, and
INTRODUCTION 285
exists in two copies in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. It
is published in Pierre Margry, Decouvertes et JStablissements
des Frangais dans I'Ouest de VAmerique Septentrionale, I. 573-
616. The second or longer narrative, covering the years
1678-1691; was sent in 1693 to Count de Pontchartrain, then
minister of the colonies. It is published in Pierre Margry,
Relations et Memoires Inedits (Paris, 1867), pp. 1-36. It
first appeared in an English translation in Thomas Falconer,
On the Discovery of the Mississippi, etc. (London, 1844). The
same translation was used by Benjamin F. French in Louisiana
Historical Collections, part I. 52-66, and is reprinted in
Illinois Historical Collections, I. 128-164, from which we re-
print with many textual corrections. This second memoir
of Tonty formed the basis of a spurious work entitled, Der-
nieres Decouvertes dans VAmerique Septentrionale de Monsieur
de la Salle par Chevalier de Tonti, Gouverneur du Fort St. Louis
aux Rlinois (Paris, 1697). This was Englished in 1698, and
issued in London. Tonty during his lifetime protested the
authorship. This spurious memoir should not be confounded
with the genuine memoir addressed to the Count de Pont-
chartrain, which remained in the French archives until the
nineteenth century. This latter has seemed to the editors
the best brief connected account, by a participant and survivor,
of La Salle's explorations in the Mississippi Valley, his plans
for settlement and exploitation, and his premature and tragic
death.
MEMOIR ON LA SALLE'S DISCOVERIES, BY
TONTY, 1678-1690 [1693]
Memoir Sent in 1693, on the Discovery of the Mississippi and
the Neighboring Nations by M. de la Salle, from the Year
1678 to the Time of His Death, and by the Sieur de Tonty
to the Year 1691.
After having been eight years in the French service, by
land and by sea, and having had a hand shot off in Sicily by
a grenade,^ I resolved to return to France to solicit employ-
ment. At that time the late M. Cavelier de La Salle came to
court, a man of great intelligence and merit, who sought to
obtain leave from the court to explore the Gulf of Mexico by
traversing the countries of North America. Having obtained
of the King the permission he desired through the favor
of the late M. Colbert and M. de Seignelai, the late Mon-
seigneur the Prince of Conti,^ who was acquainted with him
and who honored me with his favor, sent me to ask him to be
allowed to accompany him iu his long journeys, to which he
very willingly assented.
We sailed from Rochelle on the 14th of July, 1678, and
arrived at Quebec on the 15th of September following. We
recruited there for some days, and after having taken leave
of M. the Count de Frontenac, governor general of the coun-
try, ascended the St. Lawrence as far as Fort Frontenac, 120
leagues from Quebec, on the banks of the Lake of Frontenac,
which is about 300 leagues around;^ and after staying there
1 Tonty had this hand replaced by one of metal which he usually wore
covered with a glove. He is said to have used this as a weapon with much effect
among enemy Indians, who called him Bras de Fer (Iron Arm).
2 Colbert was the prime minister of Louis XIV., Seignelay Colbert's son;
the (second) prince of Conti was a prominent courtier who had married a daughter
of the king.
» Count de Frontenac built this post in 1673 and two years later granted it
as a seigniory to La Salle. The Indian name for the site was Cataraqui, at the
modern town of Kingston. La Salle rebuilt the fort in stone, and it was main-
286
1679] TONTY'S MEMOIR 287
four days, we embarked in a boat of forty tons to cross this
lake, and on Christmas day we found ourselves opposite a
village called Tsonnontouan,^ to which M. de La Salle sent
some canoes to procure Indian corn for our subsistence. From
thence we sailed towards Niagara, intending to look for a
suitable place above the Falls where a boat might be built.
The winds were so contraiy that we could not approach it
nearer than nine leagues, which determined us to go by land.
We found there some cabins of the Iroquois, who received
us well. We slept there, and the next day we went three
leagues further up to look for a good place to build a boat.^
There we encamped.
The boat in which we came was lost on the coast through
the obstinacy of the pilot, whom M. de La Salle had ordered
to bring it ashore. The crew and the things in it were saved.
M. de La Salle determined to return to Fort Frontenac over
the ice, and I remained in command at Niagara with a Recollect
Father^ and thirty men. The bark was completed in the
spring. M. de La Salle joined us with two other Recollect
Fathers and several men, to aid in bringing this bark up, on
account of the rapids, which I was not able to ascend on ac-
count of the weakness of my crew. He directed me to wait
for him at the extremity of Lake Erie, at a place called Detroit,
120 leagues from Niagara, to join there some Frenchmen
whom he had sent off the last autumn. I went in advance in
a bark canoe, and when we were near Detroit the ship came up.^
tained until captured in 1758 by the English. Lake Ontario was frequently
called Lake Frontenac.
^ The village of the Seneca near the Genesee River.
2 This shipyard has been identified near the mouth of Cayuga Creek at a
village now called La Salle.
' This Recollect priest was Louis Hennepin, born about 1640 in Belgium.
Fond of adventure, he travelled in Europe, officiated as chaplain in the Nether-
lands during war, and embarked in 1675 for New France, becoming the next year
chaplain at Fort Frontenac. Having accompanied La Salle to Illinois, he was
sent with an exploring party to the upper Mississippi, captured by the Sioux,
and carried past the Falls of St. Anthony, to which he gave the present name.
Rescued by Duluth, he returned to Canada and sailed for Europe, where he pub-
lished several accounts of his journeys, all designed to give prominence to his
own achievements. For his rescue by Duluth, see the succeeding document.
* This first sailing vessel on the upper lakes was called the Griffin, in honor
of Frontenac's armorial bearings.
288 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1679
We got into it, and continued our voyage as far as Missili-
makinak, where we arrived at the end of August, having
crossed two lakes larger than that of Frontenac.
We remained there some days to rest ourselves, and as
M. de La Salle intended to go to the Illinois, he sent me to
the Sault Sainte-Marie, where Lake Superior discharges it-
self into Lake Huron, to look for some of his men who had
deserted, and himself set sail on the Lake of the Islinois.
Having arrived at Poutouatamis, an Islinois village,^ the
calumet was sung, a ceremony of theirs during which large
presents are given and received, and in which a post is placed
in the midst of the assembly, where those who wish to make
known their great deeds in war, striking the post, declaim on
the deeds they have done. This ceremony regularly takes
place in the presence of those with whom they wish to make
alliance, and the calumet is among the savages the symbol of
peace. M. de La Salle sent his ship back to Niagara to fetch
the things he wanted, and, embarking in a canoe, continued
his voyage to the Miamis River. There he commenced build-
ing a house.^
In the meantime I came up with the deserters,^ and kept
on my way to within thirty leagues of the Miamis River,
where I was obliged to leave my men, in order to hunt, our
provisions failing us. I then went on to join M. de La Salle.
When I arrived he told me he wished that all the men had
come with me in order to proceed to the Islinois. I retraced
my way to find them. But the wind increasing, we were forced
to land, and the violence of the waves was such that our
canoe was upset. We were, however, saved, but everything
that was in the canoe was lost, and for want of provisions we
lived for three days on acorns. I sent word of what had hap-
pened to M. de La Salle. He directed me to join hun. I went
in my little canoe. As soon as I arrived we ascended twenty-
^ There seems to be some hiatus here. La Salle set sail from Michilimackinac
for Green Bay, on which there was a Potawatomi (not an Illinois) village.
2 The present St. Joseph River, emptying into Lake Michigan at its south-
eastern extremity. La Salle's fort at the mouth of the stream was named for
the Miami Indians, who had recently removed thither from Wisconsin.
3 Tonty, having apprehended the deserters, came do^vn the eastern shore of
the lake, while La Salle and the main body of the expedition proceeded in canoes
along the western and southern shores to St. Joseph River.
1680] TONTY'S MEMOIR 289
five leagues, as far as the portage,^ where the men whom I
had left behind joined us. We made the portage, which is
about two leagues in length, and came to the source of the
Islinois River. We embarked there and descended the river
for 100 leagues. When we arrived at the village of the sav-
ages, they were absent hunting and as we had no provisions
we opened some caches^ of Indian corn.
During this journey some of our Frenchmen, fatigued,
determined to leave us, but that night was so cold that their
plan was broken up. We continued our route, in order to join
the savages, and found them thirty leagues below the village.
When they saw us they thought we were Iroquois, and there-
fore put themselves on the defensive and made their women
run into the woods ; but when they recognized us, the women
with their children were called back and the calumet was danced
to M. de La Salle and me, in order to mark their desire to
live in peace with us. We gave them some merchandise for
the corn which we had taken in their village.
This was on the 3d of January, 1679.^ It was necessary
to fortify ourselves for the winter. Applying ourselves to it,
we made a fort which was called Crevecoeur.^ Part of our
people deserted and they even put poison into our kettle.
M. de La Salle was poisoned, but he was saved by some anti-
dote a friend had given to him in France. The desertion of
these men gave us less annoyance than the effect which it
had on the minds of the savages, for the enemies of M. de La
Salle had spread a report among the Islinois that we were
friends of the Iroquois, who are their greatest enemies. The
effect this produced will be seen hereafter.
M. de La Salle commenced building a boat to descend the
^ The location of the portage from the St. Joseph to the Kankakee — the
southern branch of the lUinois — has been found by recent investigations of local
historians to be above the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana.
* A cache was a kind of underground storehouse used by Indians and woods-
men to conceal provisions and goods.
' This date should be January 3, 1680; probably it is given according to
an earlier method, that made the year begin March 1 instead of January 1.
^ Early commentators supposed that the fort received its name, Creve-
cceur (heartbreak), from the distressing circumstances of the leader of the ex-
pedition. It is now thought to have been named for a fortress in the Nether-
lands captured by Turenne, in July, 1672.
290 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1680
river. He sent a Recollect Father with the Sieur Acau^
to explore the nation of the Sioux,^ 400 leagues from the
Islinois, toward the north, on the Mississipy River, a river
that runs not less than 800 leagues to the sea without rapids,
and having determined to go himself by land to Fort Fron-
tenac, because he had heard nothing of the bark which he had
sent to Niagara, he gave me the command of this place and
left us on the 22d of March with five men. On his road he
met with two men, whom he had sent in the autumn to Mis-
silimakinak to obtain news of his bark. They assured him
that it had not come down, and he therefore determined to
continue his journey.^ These two men were sent to me with
orders to go to the old village to visit a rock and to build a
strong fort upon it.^
Whilst I was absent all my men deserted. They took away
everything that was finest and most valuable, and left me with
two Recollects and three Frenchmen, newly arrived from
France, stripped of everything and at the mercy of the sav-
ages.^ All that I could do was to draw up an authentic ac-
count of the affair and send it to M. de La Salle. He lay in
wait for them on Lake Frontenac, took some of them and
killed the others. After this he returned towards the Islinois.
As for his bark, it has never been heard ^of.^
^ Michel Accault, the leader of the expedition of three to the Sioux country,
was a native of Poitiers. He was captured by the Sioux, rescued by Duluth,
and settled permanently in Illinois, where he married a woman of the Illinois
tribe. The Recollect was Louis Hennepin, for whom see p. 287, note 3, ante.
2 The country of the Sioux was about the headwaters of the Mississippi
and westward. For its discovery and exploration, see the succeeding narrative
of Duluth.
3 This winter journey of La Salle, overland through northern Illinois, In-
diana, southern Michigan, southern Ontario to the fort at Niagara is proof of
the tremendous determination and physical endurance of the explorer.
*This rock, known tlu-oughout the French regime as "Le Rocher," is
situated on the southern bank of the Illinois, not far from the village of Utica.
It is locally known as "Starved Rock."
* While Tonty had gone to survey the site for the new fort, his men de-
stroyed Fort Crevecoeiu', stole the ammunition and goods, and left in writing the
statement, "We are all savages." The two friars with Tonty were Gabriel
de La Ribourde and Zenobe Membre.
« The fate of the Griffin has never been known. Probably it foundered in
one of the autumn gales.
1680] TONTY'S MEMOIR 291
In the meanwhile, the IsHnois were greatly alarmed at
seeing a party of 600 Iroquois. It was then near the month
of September. The desertion of our men and the journey of
M. de La Salle to Fort Frontenac made the savages suspect
that we were betraying them. They severely reproached me
respecting the arrival of their enemies. As I was recently
come from France and was not then acquainted with their
manners, this embarrassed me and determined me to go to
the enemy with necklaces^ to tell them that I was surprised
they had come to make war upon a nation dependent on the
Governor of New France, and that M. de La Salle, whom he
esteemed, governed these peoples. An Islinois accompanied
me, and we separated ourselves from the body of the Islinois,
who were 400 in number, and were already fighting with the
enemy. When I was within gun-shot the Iroquois fired a
great volley at us, which compelled me to tell the Islinois to
retire. He did so. When I had come up to them, these
wretches seized me, took the necklace from my hand, and one
of them, reaching through the crowd, plunged a knife into my
breast, wounding a rib near the heart. However, having
recognized me, they carried me into the midst of their camp
and asked me what I came for. I gave them to understand
that the Islinois were under the protection of the King of
France and of the Governor of the country, and that I was
surprised that they wished to break with the French, and to
postpone peace.
All this time skirmishing was going on on both sides, and
a warrior came to give notice to the chief that their left wing
was giving way, and that they had recognized some French-
men among the Islinois, who were shooting at them. On
this they were greatly irritated against me and held a council
concerning what they should do with me. There was a man
behind me with a knife in his hand, who every now and then
lifted up my hair. They were divided in opinion. Tegancouti,
chief of the Tsonnontouan, wished positively to have me
burnt. Agonstot, chief of the Onontagues,^ as a friend of M.
de La Salle, wished to have me set at liberty. He carried his
point. They agreed that, in order the better to deceive the
1 Strings of wampum, which were used by the Indians in peace negotiations.
"^ The Onondaga tribe of the Iroquois confederacy.
292 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1680
Islinois, they should give me a necklace of porcelain beads to
show to them that they also were children of the Governor,
and that they all ought to unite and make a good peace.
They sent me to deliver their message to the Islinois. I
had much difficulty in reaching them on account of the great
quantity of blood I had lost, both from my wound and from
my mouth. On my way I met the Fathers Gabriel de la
Ribourde and Zenoble Membre, who were coming to look
after me. They expressed theii' joy that these barbarians had
not put me to death. We went together to the Islinois, to
whom I reported the sentiments of the Iroquois, adding, how-
ever, that they must not altogether trust them. They re-
tired within their village, but seeing the Iroquois present
themselves always in battle array they felt obliged to rejoin
their wives and children, three leagues off. They left us
there : namely, the two Recollect Fathers, the three French-
men, and myself.
The Iroquois made a fort in the village and left us in a
cabin at some distance from their fort. Two days later, the
Islinois appearing on the hills near the Iroquois, the Iroquois
thought that we had had some conference together, which
led them to bring us inside their fort. They pressed me to
go and find the Islinois and induce them to come and make
a treaty of peace. They gave me one of their own nation as
a hostage. I went with Father Zenobe.^ The Iroquois re-
mained with the Islinois, and one of the latter came with me.
When we got to the fort, instead of mending matters, he
spoilt them entirely by saying to the enemy that they had in
all only 400 men and that the rest of their young men were
gone to war, and that if the Iroquois really wished to make
peace with them they were ready to give them a quantity of
beaver skins and some slaves which they had. The Iroquois
called me to them and loaded me with reproaches ; they told
me that I was a liar to have said that the Islinois had 1,200
warriors, and several tribes of allies who had given them as-
1 The name is variously spelled Zenobe, Zenoble, Zenobie. It is the French
form of the Latin Zenobius; the first spelling is the usual one. Father Zenobe
Membre accompanied La Salle on his three principal expeditions, was left in the
dwelling on the coast of Texas (1686), and perished with the remnant of La
Salle's colony.
1680] TONTY'S MEMOIR 293
sistance. Where were the sixty Frenchmen who, I had told
them, were at the village? I had much difficulty in getting
out of the scrape.
The same evening they sent back the Islinois to tell his
nation to come the next day to within half a league of the
fort and that they would there conclude the peace, which in
fact was done, at noon. The Islinois having come to the
meeting-place, the Iroquois gave them presents of necklaces
and merchandise. The first necklace signified that the
Governor of New France was not angry at their having come
to molest their brothers; the second was addressed to M. de
La Salle with the same meaning, and by the third, accompanied
with merchandise, they boimd themselves by oath to a strict
alliance, that hereafter they should live as brothers. They
then separated and the Islinois believed, after these presents,
in the sincerity of the peace, which induced them to come
several times into the fort of the enemies, where, some Islinois
chiefs having asked me what I thought, I told them they had
everything to fear, that there was among these barbarians no
good faith, and that I knew that they were making canoes of
elm bark and that consequently they were intending to pur-
sue them, and that they should take advantage of the time
and retire to some distant nation, for they were most as-
suredly betrayed.
The eighth day after their arrival, on the 10th of Sep-
tember, they called me and Father Zenoble to council, and
having made us sit down, they placed six packets of beaver
skins before us and addressing me they said that the two
first packets were to inform M. de Frontenac that they would
not eat his children and that he should not be angry at what
they had done; the third was to serve as a plaster for my
wound ; the fourth was oil to rub on my own and the Recollect
father's limbs, on account of the journeys we had taken;
the fifth, that the sun was bright ; the sixth, that we should
depart the next day for the French settlements. I asked
them when they would go away themselves. Murmurs arose
among them. Some of them answered me that they would
eat some of the Islinois before they went away ; upon which
I kicked away their presents, saying that there was no use in
making presents to me, I would have none of them, since they
294 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1680
designed to eat the children of the governor. An Abenakis^
who was with them, and who spoke French, told me that the
men were irritated, and the chiefs rising drove me from the
comicil.
We went to our cabin, where we passed the night on our
guard, resolved to kill some of them before they should kill
us, for we thought that we should not live out the night.
However, at daybreak they directed us to depart, which we
did. After making five leagues in the canoe, we landed to
dry some peltries, which were wet. While we were repair-
ing our canoe. Father Gabriel told me he was going aside to
pray. I advised him not to go away, because we were sur-
rounded by enemies. He went about 1,000 paces off and was
taken by forty savages, of the nation called Kikapous, who
carried hun away and broke his head. Finding that he did
not return, I went to look for him with one of my men. Hav-
ing discovered his trail, I found it cut by several others, which
joined and ended at last in one.
I brought back this sad news to the Father Zenoble, who
was greatly grieved at it. Towards evening we made a great
fire, hoping that perhaps he might return; and we went over
to the other side of the river, where we kept a good lookout.
Towards midnight we saw a man appear, and then many others.
The next day we recrossed the river to look for our equip-
ment, and after waiting till noon we embarked and reached
the Lake of the Islinois by short journeys, always hoping to
meet with the good Father. After having sailed on this lake
till All Samts' Day we were wrecked, twenty leagues from the
village of Poutouatamis.^ Our provisions failing us, I left a
man to take care of our thmgs and went off by land, but, as I
had a fever constantly on me, and my legs were swollen,
we did not arrive at the village of Poutouatamis till St. Mar-
tin's Day.^ During this time we Uved on nothing but wild
garlic, which we were obliged to grub up from imder the snow.
When we arrived we found no savages; they had gone to
1 The Abenaki Indians were from Maine and the eastern provinces of
Canada.
2 November 1, 1680. The location of this Potawatomi village is not cer-
tainly known ; it appears to have been the one on the lake shore mentioned in
1698 by St. Cosme as being on the eve of abandonment. See p. 344, note 4, post.
' November 14.
1680] TONTY'S MEMOIR 295
their winter quarters. So we were obliged to go into their
wUds, where we obtained hardly as much as two handfuls
of Indian corn a day and some frozen gourds, which we piled
up in a cabin at the water's side.
Whilst we were gleaning in the wilds, a Frenchman^
whom we had left at the cache came to the cabin where we
had left our little store of provisions. He thought we had
put them there for him, and therefore did not spare them.
We were very much surprised, as we were starting off for
Missilimakinak, to find him in the cabin. He had arrived
three days before. We had much pleasure in seeing him,
and much regret to see our provisions partly consumed. We
did not delay to embark, and after two leagues' sail, the wind
having arisen offshore, I came to land. We saw a fresh trail
and I directed that it should be followed. It was that of
the Poutouatamis village, who had made a portage to the
Bay of the Puans. The next day, weak as we were, we carried
our little canoe and all our things into this bay, to which there
is a league of portage.^ We embarked in a creek called
Sturgeon Creek, and turned to the right at hazard, not know-
ing where to go. After sailing for a league we found the
same number of cabins, which led us to expect soon to find
the savages.
Five leagues from this place we were stopped by the
wind for a week, which compelled us to consume the few
provisions we had collected together, and we were without
anything. At last we held a council to see what we should
do, and despairing of bemg able to come up with the savages,
every one asked to return to the village, since there was wood
there, so that we might die w^arm. The wdnd lulling, we em-
barked and set off. On entering Sturgeon's Creek we saw a
fire and went to it. It was made by savages, who had just
gone away. We thought they were gone to their village and
determined to go there, but the creek having frozen in the
night, we could not proceed in our canoe. W^e made shoes of
^ Sieur de Boisrondet, one of Tonty's party who had been lost for several
days.
^ The Sturgeon Bay portage, across Door County peninsula, Wisconsin.
It is now cut by a canal. See Marquette's journey across this portage, p. 263,
aiUe.
296 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1681
the late Father Gabriel's cloak, havuig no leather. We were
to have started in the morning. One of my men being very
ill from having eaten some pare-flesche/ in the evening,
as I was urging our starting two Outawas savages came up,
who led us to where the Poutouatamis were. We found some
Frenchmen there, who received us kindly. I spent the winter
with them, and Father Zenoble left us to pass the winter with
the Jesuit fathers at the end of the bay.^
When I left this place in the spring for Missilimakinak
we had hardly recovered from the miseries which we had
suffered from hunger and cold during thirty-four days. We
reached Missilimakinak about Corpus Christi in 1680.^ M. de
La Salle arrived some time afterw^ards, on his w^ay to seek us
at the Illinois, with M. de La Forest.^ He was very glad
to see us again, and notwithstanding all reverses, we made
new preparations to continue the exploration which he had
undertaken. I therefore embarked with him for Fort Fron-
tenac, to bring things that we should need for the expedition.
Father Zenoble accompanied us thither. When we came to
Lake Frontenac, M. de La Salle went forward, and I waited
for his boat at the village of Teyagon.^ When it arrived
there I embarked for the Islinois. When we came to the
Miamis River I assembled some Frenchmen and savages for
the exploration, and M. de La Salle joined us in December.
We went in canoes to the River Chicaou, where there is a
portage which joins that of the Islinois. The rivers being fro-
zen we made sledges and dragged our baggage to a point thirty
leagues below the village of Islinois, and there, finding the
navigation open, we arrived at the end of January at the River
^ Dried meat or leather.
2 At the mission of St. Francois Xavier, at the site of De Pere, Wisconsin.
This mission was established by Father Claude Allouez. See pp. 142-146, ante.
3 1681. In that year Corpus Christi fell on June 5.
* La Salle had just come from the Illinois, where he had been to seek Tonty
and his men, and found only the ruins of the fort, and the destruction caused by
the Iroquois. In great desolation he retraced his way to Mackinac, thei'e to be
cheered by finding Tonty and a few of his men safe and well.
Guillaume de La Forest had commanded for La Salle at Fort Frontenac.
He later became Tonty's partner at Fort St. Louis in Illinois. In 1710 he was
commandant at Detroit, where he died four years later.
5 La Salle on this journey took the Toronto portage. The village where
he left Tonty was probably on an island in Lake Simcoe.
1682] TONTY'S MEMOIR 297
Mississipy.^ The distance from Chicaou is estimated at 140
leagues. We descended this river and found, six leagues
below, on the right, a great river, which comes from the west.
There are numerous nations above. We slept at its mouth.
The next day we went on to the village of the Tamaroas, six
leagues off on the left.^ There was no one there, all the
people being at their winter quarters in the woods. We made
our marks to inform the savages that we had passed, and con-
tinued our route as far as the River Ouabache, which is eighty
leagues from that of the Islinois. It comes from the east
and is more than 500 leagues in length. It is by this river
that the Iroquois advance to make war against the nations
of the south. Continuing our voyage, we came to a place,
about sixty leagues from there, which was named Fort Prud-
homme, because one of our men, of that name, lost himself
there when out hunting and was nine days in the woods with-
out food.^ As they were looking for him they fell in with
two Chicachas savages, whose village was three days' journey
from there, in the lands along the Mississipy. They have
2,000 warriors, the greatest number of whom have flat heads,
which is considered a beauty among them, the women taking
pains to flatten the heads of their children, by means of a
cushion which they put on their foreheads and bind with a
band to the cradle, and thus make their heads take this form,
and when they are fat their faces are as big as a large soup-
plate. All the nations on the seacoast have the same custom.*
M. de La Salle sent back one of them with presents to his
village, so that, if they had taken Prudhomme, they might
1 The boat carrying the exploring party entered the Mississippi from the
IlHnois, February 6, 1682.
2 The great river coming from the west was the Missouri. Somewhere
below it on the Illinois side was the village of the Tamarois, a division of the
Illinois tribe. The Tamarois afterward removed to the neighborhood of Ca-
hokia and coalesced with the Cahokia branch of the Illinois Indians.
2 For the use of the name "Ouabache" for the Ohio River, see p. 250, note
1, ante. Pierre Prud'homme was the armorer of La Salle's expedition. The
fort called by his name was located on the Third Chickasaw Bluff, near the pres-
ent city of Memphis.
* The custom of intentional deformation of the heads of children was found
among a few Indian tribes: the Natchez and neighboring tribes near the Gulf
of Mexico, and a few tribes in the Pacific Northwest. The French called the
Chickasaw Tetes Plats.
S98 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1682
send him back, but we found him on the tenth day, and as
the Chicachas did not return, we continued our route as far
as the village of Capa, fifty leagues off. We arrived there
in foggy weather, and as we heard the beating of the drum
we crossed over to the other side of the river, where in less
than half an hour we made a fort. These savages, having
been informed that we were coming down the river, came in
their canoes to look for us. We made them land, and sent
two Frenchmen as hostages to their village. The chief visited
us with the calumet, and we went to visit them. They re-
galed us for five days with the best they had, and after having
danced the calumet to M. de La Salle, they conducted us to
the village of Tongengan, of their nation, eight leag-ues from
Capa. These received us in the same manner, and from
thence they went with us to Toriman, two leagues further on,
where we met with the same reception.^
It should be remarked that these villages, with another
called Osotouy, which is six leagues to the right descending
the river, are commonly called Arkansas. The first three
villages are situated on the Great River. M. de La Salle
erected the arms of the king there. They have cabins made
with the bark of cedar; they have no worship, adoring all
sorts of animals. Their coimtry is very beautiful, having
abundance of peach, plum, and apple trees. Vines flourish
there. Buffaloes, deer, stags, bears, turkeys, are very numer-
ous. They even have domestic fowls. They have veiy little
snow during the winter, and the ice is not thicker than an
ecu."^ They gave^us guides to conduct us to their allies, the
Taensas, sixty leagues distant.^
The first day we began to see and to kill alligators, which
1 "Cappa" was the village visited by Marquette and Jolliet in 1673, that
formed the extent of their voyage. See p. 254, note 1, ante. The other two
villages were neighboring residences of the Quapaw tribe.
2 The coin he had in mind was most likely the three-livre piece, nearly as
large as an American silver dollar.
2 The Taensa was a small tribe closely allied in language and customs to
the Natchez. La Salle was the first of the French explorers to visit their village.
See account of the mission established for this tribe in Introduction to St.
Cosme's Narrative, p. 339, 'post. The French commandants of Louisiana had vari-
ous dealings with this tribe, and in 1764 the Taensa removed to Red River
rather than become subject to the English. About the close of the eighteenth
century they merged with other tribes.
1682] TONTY'S MEMOIR 299
are numerous, and from fifteen to twenty feet long. When
we had arrived opposite to the village of the Taengas, M. de
La Salle ordered me to go to it and inform the chief of his
arrival. I went with our guides. We had to carry a bark
canoe for ten arpents, and to launch it on a small lake^ on
which their village was placed. I was surprised to find their
cabins made of mud and covered with cane mats. The cabin
of the chief was forty feet square, the wall about ten feet high
and a foot thick, and the roof, which was of a dome shape,
about fifteen feet high. I was not less surprised when, on en-
tering, I saw the chief seated on a camp bed, with three of his
wives at his side, surrounded by more than sixty old men,
clothed in large white cloaks, which are made by the women
out of the bark of the mulberry tree, and are tolerably well
worked. The women were clothed m the same manner, and
every time the chief spoke to them, before answering him, they
howled and cried out several times — "Oh! Oh! Oh!" — to
show their respect for him, for their chiefs are held in as much
consideration as our kings. No one drinks out of the chief's
cup, nor eats out of his dishes; no one passes before him;
when he walks they clean the path before him. When he
dies they sacrifice his principal wife, his principal house-
steward, and a hundred men of the nation, to accompany him
into the other world.
They have a form of worship, and adore the sun. They
have a temple opposite the house of the chief, and similar to
it, except that three eagles are placed on this temple who
look towards the rising sun. The temple is surrounded with
strong mud walls, in which are fixed spikes on which they
place the heads of their enemies whom they sacrifice to the
sun. At the door of the temple is a block of wood, on which
is a great shell plaited round with the hair of their enemies in
a plait as thick as an arm and about twenty fathoms long.
The inside of the temple is bare ; there is an altar in the mid-
dle, and at the foot of the altar three logs of wood are placed
end to end, and a fire is kept up day and night by two old med-
icine-men, who are the directors of their worship. These old
men showed me a small cabinet in the middle of the wall, made
of mats of cane. When I wished to see what was inside, the
^ Lake St. Joseph, in Tensas Parish, Louisiana.
300 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1682
old men prevented me, giving me to understand that their
God was there ; but I have since learnt that it is the place
where they keep all their treasure, such as fine pearls which
they fish up in the neighborhood, and European merchandise.
At the last quarter of each moon all the cabins make an
offering of a dish of the best food they have, which is placed
at the door of the temple. The old men take care to carry
it away and to make a good feast of it with their families.
Every spring they make a clearing, which they name "the
field of the spirit," where all the men work to the sound of the
drum. In the autumn the Indian com of this field is har-
vested with ceremony and stored in magazines until the moon
of June in the following year, when all the village assemble,
and invite their neighbors to the feast to eat it. They do not
leave the ground until they have eaten it all, making great
rejoicings the whole time. This is all I learnt of this nation.
The three villages below have the same customs.
Let us return to the chief. When I was in his cabin he
told me with a smiling countenance the pleasure he felt at
the arrival of the French. I saw that one of his wives wore
a pearl necklace. I presented her with ten yards of blue
glass beads in exchange for it. She made some difficulty,
but the chief having told her to let me have it, she did so.
I carried it to M. de La Salle, giving him an account of all
that I had seen and told him that the chief intended to visit
him the next day — which he did. He would not have done
this for savages, but the hope of obtaining some merchandise
induced him to act thus. He came the next day to our cabins,
to the sound of the drum and the music of the women, who
had embarked in wooden canoes. The savages of the river
use no other boats than these. M. de La Salle received him
with much politeness, and gave him some presents ; they gave
us, in return, plenty of provisions and some of their robes.
The chief returned well satisfied. We stayed during the day,
which was the 21st of March. We took an observation and
found ourselves at 31 degrees of latitude.^
We left on the 22nd, and slept on an island ten leagues
from there. The next day we saw a canoe. M. de La Salle
1 This observation was more than a degree out of the way, the true lati-
tude being somewhat more than 32 .
1682] TONTY'S MEMOIR 301
ordered me to chase it, which I did, and when I was just on
the point of taking it, more than 100 men appeared on the
banks of the river, with bows bent, to defend their people.
M. de La Salle shouted to me to come back, which I did.
We went on and encamped opposite them. Afterwards, M.
de La Salle expressing to me a wish to meet them peacefully,
I offered to carry to them the calumet. I embarked, and
crossed to the other side. At first they joined their hands,
as a sign that they wished to be friends ; I, who had but one
hand, told our men to do the same thing.
1 made the chief men among them cross over to M. de
La Salle, who accompanied them to their village, three leagues
inland, and passed the night there with some of his men.
The next day he returned with the chief of the village where
he had slept, who was a brother of the great chief of the
Nache ; he conducted us to his brother's village, situated on
a hill-side near the river, at six leagues distance.^ We were
very well received there. This nation counts more than
3,000 warriors. These men cultivate the ground as well as
hunt, and they fish as well as the Taensa, and their customs
are the same. We departed thence on Good Friday, and
after a voyage of twenty leagues, encamped at the mouth of a
large river, which comes in from the west.^ We continued
our journey, and crossed a great canal, which went towards
the sea on the right.
Thirty leagues further on we saw some fishermen on the
bank of the river, and sent to reconnoitre them. It was
the village of the Quinipissa, who let fly arrows upon our
scouts, who retired in consequence, as ordered.^ As M. de
La Salle did not wish to fight against any nation, he made us
embark. Twelve leagues from this vUlage, on the left, we
found that of the Tangibao.^ Not a week before, this vil-
^The village of the Natchez Indians at the time of La Salle's voyage is
thought to have been about three miles from the present city of that name upon
St. Catherine's Creek,
2 Red River. Good Friday in 1682 fell on March 27.
^ The Quinipissa were a tribe of Choctaw, found in St. Charles Parish not
far above New Orleans. They are identical with the Acolapissa, among whom
Iberville found a letter that Tonty on his second voyage had left for La Salle.
* The Tangipahoa were a tribe (now extinct) related to the Creek Indians.
Their name is perpetuated in a river and parish north of Lake Pontehartrain.
302 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1682
lage had been totally destroyed. Dead bodies were lying
one on another and the cabins were burnt. We proceeded
on our course, and after going forty leagues, arrived at the
sea on the 7th of April.
M. de La Salle sent canoes to inspect the channels. Some
went to the channel on the right hand, some to the left, and
M. de La Salle chose that in the centre. In the evening each
made his report, that is to say, that the channels were very
fine, wide, and deep. We encamped on the right bank,
erected the arms of the King, and returned several times to
inspect the channels. The same report was made.
This river is 800 leagues long, without rapids, to wit, 400
from the coimtry of the Sioux, and 400 from the mouth of
the Islinois River to the sea. The banks are almost unin-
habitable, on account of the spring floods. The woods are
chiefly poplar, the country one of canes and briars and of trees
torn up by the roots ; but a league or two from the river,
is the most beautiful country in the world, prairies, open
woods of mulberry trees, vines, and fruits that we are not
acquainted with. The savages gather the Indian corn twice
in the year. In the lower course of the river, the part which
might be settled, is where the river makes a course north and
south, for there, in many places, every now and then it has
bluffs on the right and left.
The river is only navigable for ships as far as the village
of Nadesche, for above that place the river winds too much ;
but this would not prevent one's setting out from the country
above with pirogues and flatboats, to proceed from the Oua-
bache to the sea. There are but few beavers, but to make
amends, there is a large number of buffaloes or bears, large
wolves, stags, siholas,^ hinds, and roe deer in abundance ; and
some lead mines, with less than one-third refuse. As these
savages are stationaiy, and have some habits of subordina-
tion, they might be obliged to make silk in order to procure
necessaries for themselves, if the eggs of silkworms were
brought to them from France, for the forests are full of mul-
berry trees. This would be a valuable trade.
As for the country of the Islinois, the river runs 100 leagues
from Fort St. Louis, to where it falls into the Mississipy.
1 Cibola {sihola) was the Spanish term for the buffalo.
1682] TONTY'S MEMOIR 303
It may be said to contain the finest lands ever seen. The
climate is the same as that of Paris, though in the 40th degree
of latitude. The savages there are quick, agile, and brave,
but extremely lazy, except in war, when they think nothing
of seeking their enemies at a distance of 500 or 600 leagues
from their own country. This they constantly show in the
country of the Iroquois, whom, at my instigation, they con-
tinually harass. Not a year passes in which they do not
take a number of prisoners and scalps.
A few pieces of pure copper, whose origin we have not yet
sought, are found in the river of the Islinois. Polygamy
prevails in this nation, and is one of the great hindrances to
the introduction of Christianity, with the fact of their having
no form of worship of their own. The nations lower down
would be more easily converted, because they adore the sun,
which is their sole divinity. This is all that I am able to
relate of those parts.
Let us return to the sea coast, where, provisions failing,
we were obliged to leave sooner than we wished, in order to
seek provisions in the neighboring villages. We did not
know how to get anything from the village of the Quinipissa,
who had received us badly as we went down the river. We
hved on potatoes until six leagues from their village, when we
saw smoke. M. de La Salle went to reconnoitre at night.
Our people reported that they had seen some women. We
went there at daybreak and taking four of the women, en-
camped on the other bank, opposite their village. One of the
women was sent with merchandise, to show this tribe that we
had no evil design against them and wished for their alliance
and for provisions. She made her report. One of them came
immediately and invited us to encamp on the other bank,
which we did. We sent back the three other women, keep-
ing, however, constant guard. They brought us some pro-
visions in the evening, and the next morning, at daybreak, the
scoundrels attacked us.
We vigorously repulsed them, and by ten o'clock had
smashed their canoes, and, but for the fear of using up our
ammunition for the future, we should have attacked their
village. We left in the evening in order to reach the village
of the Naches where we had left a quantity of grain as we
304 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHW^EST [1682
passed down. When we arrived there the chief came out to
meet us. M. de La Salle made them a present of the scalps
we had taken from the Quinipissa. They had already heard
the news, for they had resolved to betray and kill us. We
went up to their village armed, and, as we saw no women
there, we had no doubt of their having some evil design.
In a moment we were surrounded by more than 1,500 men.
They brought us something to eat, and we ate with our guns
in our hands. As they are afraid of firearms, they did not
dare to attack us. The chief of the nation begged M. de La
Salle to go away, as his young men had not much sense,
which we very willingly did — the game not being equal, we
havmg only fifty men, French and savages. We then went
on to the Taenga, and then to the Alvansas, where we were
very well received.
From thence we came to Fort Prudhomme, where M. de
La Salle fell dangerously ill, which obliged him to send me
forward, with five others, to arrange his affairs at Missil-
imakinak. In passing toward the Ouabache, I found four Iro-
quois, who told us that there were 100 men of their nation
coming on after them. This gave us some alarm, for there
is no pleasure in meeting warriors on one's road, especially
when they have been unsuccessful. I left them and at about
twenty leagues from the Tamaroas, we saw smoke. I ordered
our people to prepare their arms, and we resolved to advance,
expecting to meet the Iroquois. When we were near the
smoke, we saw some canoes, which made us think that they
could only be Islinois or Tamaroas. They were in fact the
latter. As soon as they saw us, they came out of the wood in
great numbers to attack us, taking us for Iroquois.
I presented the calumet to them. They laid down their
arms and conducted us to their village without doing us any
harm. The chiefs held a council, and, taking us for Iroquois,
had already resolved to burn us; and, but for some Islinois
who were among them, we should have fared ill. They let us
proceed. We arrived about the end of June,^ at the River
Chicacou, and, by the middle of July, at Missilimakinak.
M. de La Salle, having recovered, joined us in September.
Resolving to go to France, he ordered me to go and collect
1 1682.
1684] TONTY'S MEMOIR 305
together the French who were on the River Miamis to con-
struct the Fort of St. Louis in the Islinois. I left with this
design, and when I arrived at the place, M. de La Salle, hav-
ing changed his mind, joined me. They set to work at the
fort, and it was finished in March, 1683.
During the winter I gave all the nations notice of what
we had done to defend them from the Iroquois, at whose
hands they had lost 700 people in the preceding years. They
approved of our good intentions, and established themselves,
to the number of 300 lodges, at the Fort — Islinois and Miamis
and Chaouanons.^
M. de La Salle departed for France in the month of Sep-
tember, leaving me to command the fort. He met on his
way the Chevalier de Bogis, whom M. de La Barre^ had
sent with letters ordering M. de La Salle to Quebec. He had
no trouble in getting him to make the journey, as he found
him on the road. M. de La Salle wrote to me to receive M.
de Bogis well, which I did.
The winter passed, and on the 20th of March, 1684, being
informed that the Iroquois were about to attack us, we pre-
pared to receive them well, and dispatched a canoe to M. de
La Durantaye, governor of Missilimakinak,^ to ask him for
assistance, in case the enemy should hold out against us a
long time. The savages appeared on the 21st. We repulsed
them with loss. After six days' siege they retired with some
slaves which they had made in the neighborhood, who after-
wards escaped and came back to the fort.
M. de La Durantaye, with Father Daloy,^ a Jesuit, ar-
rived at the fort with about sixty Frenchmen, whom they were
bringing to our assistance, and, more particularly, to inform
1 This concentration of Indian tribes had an important influence on aborig-
inal geography and economy. The various villages clustered around Fort St.
Louis are located on Franquelin's "Map of Louisiana" of 1684.
^Antoine Le Febvre de La Barre superseded Count Frontenac in 1682 as
governor-general of New France. He reversed as far as possible all the plans of
the latter, and replaced La Salle's men with his own officers, one of whom was
Chevalier de Baugis (Bogis). The latter was recalled after a year in Illinois.
^ Olivier Morel, Sieur de La Durantaye, came to Canada as officer in the
Carignan regiment in 1665. He commanded in the Northwest 1683-1690; he
died in 1717.
* Father Claude Allouez, for whom see anie.
306 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1685
me of the orders of M. de La Barre, to leave the place, and
that M. de Bogis was in possession of a place belonging to M,
de La Salle. I obeyed orders, and went to Montreal, and thence
to Quebec, where M. de La Forest, who had accompanied M.
de La Salle to France, retm-ned by order of M. de La Salle
with a lettre de cachet, by which M. de La Barre was directed
to deliver up to M. de La Forest the lands belonging to the
Sieur de La Salle, and which were occupied by others to his
prejudice.
As he brought me news that M. de La Salle was sailing by
way of the islands to find the mouth of the Mississipy, and
had at court obtained a company^ for me, and sent me orders
to go and command at Fort St. Louis, as captam of foot, and
governor, we took our measures together, and formed a com-
pany of 20,000 livres to maintain the fort.
M. de La Forest went away in the autumn, for Fort Fron-
tenac, and I began my journey to the Islinois. Being stopped
by the ice, however, I was obliged to halt at Montreal, where
I passed the winter. M. de La Forest arrived there in the
spring. We took new measures. He embarked for Fort
Frontenac, and I for the Islinois, where I arrived in June.^
M. le Chevalier de Bogis retired, according to the orders that
I brought him from M. de La Barre.
The Miamis having seriously defeated the Islinois, it
cost us 1,000 dollars in presents to reconcile these two nations,
which I did not accomplish without great trouble. In the
autumn I embarked for Missilimakinak, in order to obtain
news of M. de La Salle. I heard there that M. le Marquis de
Denonville^ had succeeded M. de La Barre ; and by a letter
which he did me the honor to write to me, he expressed his
wish to see me, that we might take measures for the war
against the Iroquois, and informed me that M. de La Salle
was engaged in seeking the mouth of the Mississipy in the
1 La Salle secured a commission for Tonty as captain of a company in the
colonial troops.
2 1685.
3 Jacques Rene de Brisay, Marquis Denonville, was governor of Canada
from 1685 to 1689. His well-known expedition of 1687 against the Iroquois
was only a partial success, and led to fresh hostilities in 1689, which forced
Denonville's retirement, and the return of Frontenac.
1686] TONTY'S MEMOIR 307
Gulf of Mexico. This made me resolve to go in search of him
and aid him, with a number of Canadians that I should take
to him, and as soon as I should have found him, to return
to execute the orders of M. de Denonville.
I embarked, therefore, for the Islmois, on St. Andrew's
Day,^ but, being stopped by the ice, I was obliged to leave my
canoe and to proceed by land. After gomg 120 leagues I
arrived at the Fort of Chicacou, where M. de La Durantaye
commanded; and from thence I came to Fort St. Louis, where
I arrived in the middle of January, 1685. ^ I departed thence
on the 16th of Februaiy, with thirty Frenchmen and five
Islinois and Chaouanons for the sea, which I reached in Holy
Week,^ after having passed the tribes described above, by
whom I was very well received. I sent out one canoe towards
the coast of Mexico, and another towards Carolina, to see if
they could discover anything. They each sailed about thirty
leagues, in either direction, but were obliged to stop for want
of fresh water. They reported to me that where they had
been the land began to rise. They brought me a porpoise
and some oysters. As it would take us five months to reach
the French settlements, I proposed to my men, that if they
would trust me, we should follow the coast as far as Menade,
and that by this means we should arrive shortly at Montreal,
declaring that we should not lose our time, because we might
discover some fine country and might even take some prize
on our way.'* Part of my men were willing to adopt my plan,
but the rest were opposed to it, so I decided to return the way
I came.
The tide does not rise more than two feet perpendicularly
on the sea coast ; the land is very low at the entrance of the
river. We encamped in the place where M. de La Salle had
erected the arms of the King. As they had been thrown down
by the floods, I took them five leagues farther up, and placed
them in a higher situation. I put a silver ecu^ in the hollow
of a tree to serve as a mark of time and place. We left this
^ November 30, 1685. ^ Meaning 1686. ' April 7-14.
* It was a daring plan conceived by Tonty to skirt the coast all the way to
New York (Menade or Manhattan Island) in the small canoes used for river and
lake transportation.
' See p. 298, note 2, ante.
308 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1687
place on Easter Monday. When we came opposite the
Quinipissa Village, the chiefs brought me the calumet and
declared the sorrow they felt at the treachery they had per-
petrated against us on our first voyage. I made an alliance
with them.
Forty leagues higher up, on the right, we discovered an
inland village, with whom we also made an alliance. These
are the Ouma,^ the bravest savages of the river. When we
were at Akansas, ten of the Frenchmen who accompanied me
asked for settlements on the River Akansas, on a seigniory
that M. de La Salle had given me on our first voyage. I
granted the request to some of them. They remained there
and built a house surrounded with stakes. ^ The rest ac-
companied me to the Islinois, in order to get what they wanted.
I arrived there on St. John's Day.^ I made two chiefs of the
Islinois embark with me in my canoe, to go and receive the
orders of M. de Denonville, and we arrived at Montreal by
the end of July.
1 left that place at the beginning of September to return
to the Islinois. I came there in December, and I directly
sent some Frenchmen to our savage allies to declare war
against the Iroquois, inviting them to assemble in good sea-
son at the fort. They did so in the month of April, 1686.'*
The Sieur de La Forest was already gone in a canoe with thirty
Frenchmen, and he was to wait for me at Detroit till the end
of May. I gave our savages a dog feast, and after having
declared to them the will of the King and of the Governor of
New France, I set out on April 17 with sixteen Frenchmen and
a guide of the Miami nation.
We encamped half a league from the fort, to wait for the
savages who might wish to follow us. I left twenty French-
men at the fort and the Sieur de Bellefontaine to command
there during my absence. Fifty Chaouanons, four Loups, and
^ This is a tribe of the Choctaw nation, usually known as the Huma. Ap-
parently La Salle, in 1682, had passed their village without seeing it.
2 Thus was founded the oldest existing French settlement in the Missis-
sippi Valley. It was later known as Aux Arcs, although technically named the
fort and mission of St. Etienne. The Americans called it Arkansas Post. It is
on the Arkansas River in the present Arkansas County.
» June 24, 1686. « This should be 1687.
1687] TONTY'S MEMOIR 309
seven Miamis came to join me at night ; and the next day-
more than 300 Islinois came, but they went back again,
with the exception of 149, This did not prevent me from con-
tinuing my route ; and after 200 leagues of journey by land,
we came, on the 19th of May, to Fort Detroit. We there
made some canoes of elm wood. I sent one of them to Fort
St. Joseph, which was at the harbor of Detroit, thirty leagues
from where we were, to give Sieur Dulud, the commander
of this fort, information of my arrival.^ The Sieur de Beau-
vais de Tilly, his lieutenant, joined me, and afterwards the
Sieur de La Forest, then the Sieurs de La Durantaye and Du-
lud. I made the French and the savages line up along the
road, and, after the Sieur de La Durantaye had saluted us,
we returned the salute. They had with them 300 English,
whom they had taken on Lake Huron, who had come there to
trade.^ It was the Sieur de La Durantaye who commanded
the party that captured them. We made more canoes, and
coasted along Lake Erie to Niagara, where we made a fort
below the portage to wait there for news. On our way we
took thirty more Englishmen, who were going to Missili-
makinak, commanded by Major Gregoire,^ who was bring-
ing back some Huron and Outawas slaves taken by the Iro-
quois. Had it not been for these two strokes of good luck
our affairs would have turned out badly, as we were at war
with the Iroquois, and the English, from the great quantity
of brandy and merchandise which they had with them, would
have gained over our allies, and thus we should have had all
the savages and the English upon us at once.
1 sent the Sieur de La Forest to inform M. the Marquis
^ Fort St. Joseph, located about where Fort Gratiot now stands, was built
by Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Duluth, in 1686. During the winter of 1687-1688 it
was commanded by Baron Lahontan, who destroyed it in August, 1688. For
Duluth, see the following narrative.
2 A company of English and Dutch traders from Albany had been assured
by the Iroquois that the tribesmen at Mackinac were ready to secede from the
French alliance. The capture of their caravan was of immense importance to
the trade of Canada.
^ Major Patrick Macgregory, a Scottish immigrant to Maryland (1684),
who entered the fur-trade at Albany. After release from captivity (1688) he
was killed in Leisler's revolt (1691). See Charles M. Andrews, Narratives of the
Insurrections (Original Narratives Series), p. 248.
310 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1687
de Denonville of everything. He was at Fort Frontenac,
and he joined us at Fort des Sables.^ The large boat coming,
and bringing us provisions, the Marquis sent us word by it
that he expected to arrive by the 10th of July at the Marsh,
which is seven leagues from the Sonnontouans.
The Poutouatamis, Hurons, and Outawas joined us there,
and built some canoes. There was an Iroquois slave among
the Hurons. Because of some foolish words he spoke of the
French I proposed to have him put to death. They paid no
attention to my proposal, and, twelve leagues on our march,
he ran away and gave our enemies information of our ap-
proach, and of the marks which our savages bore, which did
us great harm in the ambuscade, as will be seen.
On the 10th we arrived at the marsh of Fort des Sables,
and the army from below arrived at the same time. I re-
ceived orders to take possession of a certain position, which
I did with my company and savages. We then set about
building a fort. On the 11th I went with fifty men to recon-
noitre the road, three leagues from camp. On the 12th the
fort was finished, and we set off for the village. On the 13th,
half a league from the clearing, we found an ambuscade.
My company, who were the advance guard, forced it. We
lost there seven men, of whom my lieutenant was one, and
two of my people.^ We were occupied for seven days in
cutting down the com of four villages. We returned to Fort
des Sables, then embarked, and went to build a fort at
Niagara.^
From thence I was going back to Fort St. Louis with my
cousin, the Sieur Dulud, who was returning to his post with
eighteen soldiers and some savages. Having made half the
portage, which is two leagues in length, as we were about to
make the rest, some Hurons who were at the rear, perceived
some Iroquois. They came and gave us warning. There
were only forty of us, and we thought the enemy strong. We
agreed to fall back with our ammunition towards the fort and
1 A temporary post at the mouth of Irondequoit River, New York.
^ This Seneca ambuscade occurred west and north of the present site of
Victor, New York. The French loss was much greater than Tonty mentions;
he enumerates only the losses in his own division.
' This fort was a temporary structure at the mouth of Niagara River.
1688] TONTY'S MEMOIR 311
get an escort. We marched all night, and as the Sieur Dulud
could not leave his detachment, he begged me to go to the
Marquis, while he placed himself in ambush in a veiy good
position. I embarked, and when I came to the fort, the
Marquis was reluctant to give me any men, inasmuch as the
militia had gone away and he had only some infantry remain-
ing to escort him ; however, he sent a captain named Clement
de Valrenne and fifty men to support us. He stayed at the
portage whilst we crossed it. We embarked, and when clear
of the land we perceived the Iroquois on the banks of the lake.
We crossed Lake Erie, and I left the Sieur Dulud at his post
at Detroit, and went on from there in company with the
Reverend Father Gravier^ as far as Missilimakinak, and
thence on to Fort St. Louis.
There I found M. Cavelier, a priest, his nephew, and the
Reverend Father Anastatius, a Recollect, and two men.
They concealed from me the assassination of M. de La Salle ;
and upon their assuring me that he had remained at the Gulf
of Mexico in good health, I received them as if they had been
M. de La Salle himself, and lent them more than 700 francs.
M. Cavelier, brother of M. de La Salle, departed in the spring,
1687, to give an account of his voyage at court.^ M. de La
Forest came here in the autumn, and went away in the fol-
lowing spring.
On the 7th of September, one named Couture^ brought to
me two Akansas, who danced the calumet to me, and informed
me of the death of M. de La Salle, with all the circumstances
which they had heard from the lips of M. Cavelier, who had
fortunately discovered a house I had built at the Akansas,
where the said Couture had stayed with three Frenchmen.
The former told me that the fear of not obtaining from me
^Jacques Gravier, a Jesuit recently arrived in New France. In 1688 he
succeeded Allouez in the Illinois mission, where he served many years.
^Jean Cavelier, a Sulpitian priest, accompanied his brother. La Salle, on
his last fateful expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi. After the latter's
assassination in March, 1687, Cavelier with his young nephew. Father Anastase
Douay, Henri Joutel, and Tessier, the pilot, made his way to Fort St. Louis,
and ultimately to France. Cavelier and his company passed the winter of 1687-
1688 at Fort St. Louis, and left in the spring of 1688.
^ Couture was from Rouen, a carpenter by trade. He came to Illinois in
1683 with Baugis, and formed the Arkansas settlement in 1686.
312 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1689
what he desired had made him conceal the death of his brother,
of which he had told them.
M. Cavelier had told me that the Cadadoquis had one day-
proposed to accompany him if he would go and fight against
the Spaniards.^ He had objected that there were only four-
teen Frenchmen. They replied that their nation was numer-
ous, that they only wanted a few musqueteers, that the
Spaniards had much money, of which they would be the
masters; that, as for themselves, they only wished to keep
the women and children as slaves. Then Couture told me
that a young man whom M. Cavelier had left at the Akansas
had assured him that this was true. Not wishing to under-
take anything without the consent of the Governor of Canada,
I sent the said Couture to the French remaining at Nicon-
diche,^ to get all the information he could. He set off, and
at 100 leagues from the fort was wrecked and, having lost
everything, returned.
In the interval M. de Denonville directed me to let the
savages do as they liked, and to do nothing against the Iro-
quois, and informed me that war was declared against Spain.
This caused me to resolve to go to the Naodiches, to execute
what M. Cavelier had not ventured to undertake, and to bring
back M. de La Salle's men, who had remained on the sea coast
not knowing of the misfortune that had befallen him. I set
off on the 3d of December, and joined my cousin, who was gone
on before, and who was to accompany me, as he expected that
M. de La Forest would come and take the command in my
absence; but as he did not come I sent my cousin back to
command the fort.
1 bought a boat larger than my own. We embarked five
Frenchmen, one Chaouanon, and two slaves. We arrived
on the 17th at a village of the Islinois at the mouth of their
* The Kadohadacho (Cadadoquis) were the principal tribe of the Caddo,
who were the northern confederacy of the southern division of the Caddoan
stock. Their village was located on Red River, not far from the present Texar-
kana. For the Spaniards in this region during La Salle's time see Texas His-
torical Quarterly, V. 171-205.
2 Nicondiche (Naodiches, Naouadiche) was Notedache, a village of the
Cenis tribe, known to ethnologists as the Hasinai. Thither the remains of La
Salle's party had repaired after his murder. It was located on San Pedro Creek,
a western branch of the Neches River, in the northeastern part of Houston County,
Texas.
1690] TONTY'S MEMOIR 313
river. They had just come from fighting the Osages/ where
they had lost thirteen men, but brought back 130 prisoners.
We reached the village of the Kapa on the 16th of January,
where we were received with much joy, and for four days
there was nothing but dancing, feasting, and masquerading
after their manner. They danced the final calumet for me,
which confirmed the last alliance.
On the 20th I came to the Tongenga. They wished to
entertain us as the Kapa had done; but being in haste I
put them off imtil another time. I did the same with the
Torimans, where I arrived on the 22d. Leaving my crew I
set off the next day for Ossotoue, where my commercial house
is. These savages had not yet seen me, as they lived on a
branch of the river coming from the west. They did their
best, giving me two women of the Cadadoquis nation, to
which I was going. I returned to Torimans on the 26th,
and bought there two pirogues. We went away on the 27th.
On the 29th, finding one of our men asleep when on duty as
sentinel, I reprimanded him, and he left me. I sent two of
my people to the Coroa,^ to seek some Frenchmen and ap-
point them a rendezvous at the lower part of their river, in
order to spare myself the fatigue of dragging our goods six
leagues inland. The Frenchman with whom I had quarrelled
made with them a third.
We camped opposite the rivers. Some Taenga coming
from the Akansas found us there. On the 2nd,^ having reached
the place of meeting, my Chaouanon went out hunting on the
other side of the river, where he was attacked by three Cha-
chouma.^ He killed one of them, and was slightly wounded
by an arrow on the left breast. On the 4th, the rest of the
party having arrived, we set out down stream. On the 5th,
being opposite the Taenga, the men whom I had sent to the
^ The Osage were a large and important tribe whose habitat was on the
Big and Little Osage rivers, in the present states of Missouri and Arkansas.
2 The Koroa were a small tribe located on the Mississippi below the Natchez,
with whom La Salle in 1682 made alliance. Later they merged with the Yazoo
and ultimately with the Choctaw. In customs they resembled the Natchez
and Taensa, near whom they dwelt, although their language was reported to be
different.
3 Of February, 1690.
*The Chakchiuma Indians dwelt on the Yazoo, and were allied to the
Chickasaw, with whom they later merged.
314 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1690
Coroa not having brought any news of the two Frenchmen
whom I was anxious about, I sent them to the Nache. They
found that this nation had killed our two men. They retired
as well as they could, making the savages believe that we were
numerous.
They arrived on the 8th of February. We set off on the
12th with thirty Taenga, and after a voyage of twelve leagues
to the northwest^ we left our pirogue, made twenty leagues'
portage, and on the 17th of February, 1690, came to the
village of the Nachicoche. They made us stay at the place
which is in the midst of the three villages called Nachicoche,
Ouasita, and Capiche.^ All the chiefs of the three nations
assembled, and before they began to speak, the thirty Taenga
who were with me got up, and leaving their arms went to the
temple, to show the nations how sincerely they wished to make
a firm peace. After having taken their God to witness they
asked for their friendship. I made them some presents in
the name of the Taenga. Peace having been concluded, they
remained some days in the village to traffic for salt, which
these nations got from a salt lake in the neighborhood.
After the departure of the Taenga the villages where I was
gave me guides to the Yatache ; and after ascending the river,
always towards the northwest, about thirty leagues, we found
fifteen cabins of Nache, who received us pretty well. We ar-
rived on the 16th of March at the Yatache, about forty leagues
from thence. The three villages of Yatache, Nadao, and
Choye are together.^ When they knew of our arrival they
came three leagues to meet us with refreshments. On their
joining us, we went together to their villages. The chief
made many feasts for us. I gave presents to them, and asked
for guides to the Cadodaquis.
They were very unwilling to give us any, as they had mur-
dered three ambassadors only four days before, who went
1 On the Red River.
2 Three tribes of Caddoan stock located near the site of the present town of
Natchitoches, Louisiana.
3 The Yatache were the tribe usually known as Yatasi. They were of
Caddoan stock and lived near the present site of Shreveport, Louisiana. The
Nadao may have been the Nadaco (Anadarko), a related tribe who later dwelt
west of the Yatasi between the Sabine and the Neches. The Choye are not
identified.
1690] TONTY'S MEMOIR 315
to them to make peace. However, by dint of entreatieS;
and assuring them that no harm should happen to their peo-
ple, they granted me five men, and we got to the Cadodaquis
on the 28th. At the place where we were encamped we dis-
covered the trail of men and horses. The next day some
horsemen came to reconnoitre us, and after speaking to the
wife of the chief of their nation, whom I was bringing back
with me, carried back the news to their nation. The next
day a woman, who governed this nation, came to visit me
with the principal persons of the village. She wept over me,
demanding revenge for the death of her husband, and of the
husband of the woman whom I was bringing back, both of
whom had been killed by the Osages. As one takes advan-
tage of everything, I promised that their death should be
avenged. We went together to their temple. After the
priests had invoked their God for a quarter of an hour they
conducted me to the cabin of their chief. Before entering they
washed my face with water, which is a ceremony among them.
During the time I was there I learnt from them that eighty
leagues off there were the seven Frenchmen whom M. Cavelier
had left. I hoped to accomplish my purpose by rejoining them,
but the Frenchmen who had accompanied me, tired of the
voyage, being unwilling to go further, told me so. As they
were unmanageable persons over w^hom I could exercise no
authority in this distant country I was obliged to give way,
and all that I could do was to engage one of them, with a
savage, to accompany me to the village of the Naouadiche,
where I hoped to find the Frenchmen. I told those who
abandoned me, that to prevent the savages knowing this, they
must say that I had sent them to carry back the news of my
arrival, so that the savages should not suspect our disunion.
The Cadodaquis are united with two other villages called
Natchitoches and Nasoui. They are situated on the Red
River. All the nations of this river speak the same language.
Their cabins are covered with straw, and they are not assem-
bled in villages, but their huts are distant one from the other.
Their fields are beautiful. They have fish and game in abun-
dance, but few cattle. They wage cruel war, hence their vil-
lages are but thinly populated. I never found that they did
any work except to make very fine bows, in which they trade
316 EARLY NARRATIVES OP THE NORTHWEST [1690
with distant nations. The Cadodaquis possess about thirty-
horses, which they call cavalis} The men and women are tat-
tooed in the face, and all over the body. They call this river
the Red River, because in fact it deposits a sand which makes
the water as red as blood. I am not acquainted with their
manners, having only seen them in passing.
I left this place on the 6th of April, directing our route
southwards, with a Frenchman, a Chaouanon, a little slave
of mine, and five of their savages, whom they gave me as
guides to the Naouadiche. When I went away, I left in the
hands of the wife of the chief a small box, in which I had put
some ammunition. On our road we found some Naouadiche
savages hunting, who assured me that they had left the French-
men at their habitations. This gave me great pleasure,
hoping to succeed in my whole object by finding them. On
the 19th the Frenchman with me was lost. I sent the savages
who were with me to look for him. He came back on the
21st, and told me that, having lost our trail, he was near
drowning in crossing a little river on a log. His bag having
slipped off, all our powder was lost, which very much annoyed
us as we were reduced to sixty rounds of ammunition.
On the 23d we slept half a league from the village, and the
chiefs came to visit us at night. I asked them about the
Frenchmen. They told me at first that they were at their
village. Arriving there the next day and seeing no one, when
they desired to give me the calumet I refused, until I should
see the Frenchmen. Seeing that I was determined, they told
me that the Frenchmen had accompanied their chief to fight
the Spaniards seven days' journey away from their village;
that the Spaniards, having espied them, had surrounded them
with their cavalry, and that their chief having spoken in their
favor the Spaniards had given them horses and arms. Others
told me that the Quanouatino had killed three of them, and
that the four others were gone in search of iron arrow-heads.
I no longer doubted that they had murdered them. So I told
them that they had killed the Frenchmen. Directly all the
women began to cry, and thus I saw that what I had said to
them was true. I would not, therefore, accept the calumet.
I told the chief I wanted four horses for my return, and having
* C/. Spanish cahallo.
1687] TONTY'S MEMOIR 317
given him seven hatchets and a string of large glass beads,
they gave me the next day four Spanish horses, two of which
were marked on the haunch with an R and a crown above
it, and another with an N. Horses are very common among
them. There is not a cabin which has not four or five. As
this nation is sometimes at peace and sometimes at war with
the neighboring Spaniards, they take advantage of a war to
carry off their horses.
We harnessed ours as well as we could, and departed on
the 29th, greatly vexed that we could not continue our route
as far as M. de La Salle's camp, not having been able to ob-
tain guides from this nation to take us there, though not more
than eighty leagues away, and also being without ammunition,
owing to the accident which I have related.
It was at the distance of three days' journey from hence
that M. de La Salle was murdered. I will say a word, in pass-
ing, of what I have heard of his misfortune.
M. de La Salle having landed beyond the Mississipy, on
the side toward Mexico, about eighty leagues from the mouth
of the river, ^ and having lost his vessels on the coast, saved
a part of the cargo, and began to march along the seashore,
in search of the Mississipy. Meeting with many obstacles to
his plans on account of the bad roads, he resolved to go to
the Islinois by land. So he loaded several horses to carry
what was necessary. The Recollect Father Anastatius,^ M.
Cavelier, the priest, his brother ; M. Cavelier, his nephew ; M. de
Morange, his relative;^ MM. du Haut and Lanquetot,^ and
several Frenchmen accompanied him, with a Chaouanon savage.
^ The site of La Salle's lost colony on the coast of Texas has recently been
discovered by Professor Herbert E. Bolton. It was located on Garcitas River
in Victoria County, Texas. See his article in the Mississippi Valley Historical
Review, II. 166-182.
2 Anastase Douay, a Recollect friar, accompanied La Salle as one of the
chaplains of his final expedition. After his return to France with La Salle's
brother, he wrote an account of the expedition which was published in Chrestien
Le Clercq, Premier Stablissement de la Foy dans \la Nouvelle France (Paris,
1691). Father Anastase afterward returned to Louisiana as chaplain for Iber-
ville.
3 Crevel de Moranget was a nephew of La Salle.
* The name is spelled Liotot, Lanctot, and as printed here. He was the
siu-geon of La Salle's expedition, who was embarked at La Rochelle, having
given no previous account of his history.
318 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1687
When three days' journey from the Naouadiche, finding
himself short of provisions, he sent M. de Morange, his ser-
vant, and the Chaouanon, to hunt in a small wood with orders
to return in the evening. When they had killed some buffa-
loes, they stopped to dry the meat. M. de La Salle was un-
easy, so he asked the Frenchmen who among them would
go and look for them. Du Haut and Lanquetot had for a
long time determined to kill M. de La Salle, because, during
the journey he had made along the seacoast, he had compelled
the brother of Lanquetot, who was unable to keep up, to re-
turn to camp, and as he was returning alone he was mas-
sacred by the savages. This caused Lanquetot to swear that
he would never forgive his brother's death. And as in long
journeys there are always many discontented persons in a
company, he easily found partisans. He offered, therefore,
with them, to search for M. de Morange, in order to have an
opportunity to execute their design.
Having found the men, he told them that M. de La Salle
was uneasy about them ; but, they declaring that they could
not set off till the next day, it was agreed to sleep there.
After supper they arranged the order of the watch, that it
should begin with M. de Moranget ; after him was to follow
the servant of M. de La Salle, and then the Chaouanon.
After they had kept their watch and were asleep, the others
massacred them, as persons attached to M. de La Salle. To-
ward daybreak they heard the reports of pistols, which were
fired as signals by M. de La Salle, who was coming with the
Recollect Father in search of them. The wretches, suspect-
ing that it was he, lay in wait for him, placing M. du Haut's
servant in front. When M. de La Salle came near, he asked
where M. de Morange was. The servant, keeping on his hat,
answered that he was behind. As M. de La Salle advanced
to remind him of his duty, he received three balls in his head,
and fell down dead (March 19, 1687). I do not know whether
the Recollect Father could do anything, but it is agreed that
he was frightened, and, thinking that he also was to be killed,
threw himself on his knees before the murderers, and begged
for a quarter of an hour to prepare his soul. They replied
that they were willing to spare his life.
They went on together to where M. CaveHer was, and, as
1687] TONTY'S MEMOIR 319
they advanced, shouted, "Down with your arms." M.
Caveher, on hearing the noise, came forward, and, when told
of the death of his brother, threw himself on his knees before
the murderers, making the same request that had been made
by the Recollect Father. They granted him his life. He
asked to go and buiy the body of his brother, but they re-
fused.^
Such was the end of one of the greatest men of this age,
a man of an admirable spirit, and capable of undertaking all
sorts of explorations. This murder much grieved the three
Naoudiche whom M. de La Salle had found hunting, and who
had accompanied him to the village. After the murderers had
committed this crime, they seized all the baggage of the de-
ceased, and the rest of the Frenchmen continued their journey
to the village of the Naouadiche, where they found two French-
men domesticated among the savages, who had deserted in
M. de La Salle's time.^
After staying some days in this village, the savages pro-
posed to them to go to war against the Quanouatino, to
which the Frenchmen agreed, lest the savages should ill-
treat them. As they were ready to set off for war, an English
buccaneer,^ whom M. de La Salle had always liked, begged
of the murderers that, as the savages were soon going to war,
they would give him and his comrades some shirts. They
flatly refused, which offended the Englishman, and he could
not help expressing this to his comrades. They agreed to-
gether to make a second demand, and if refused, to revenge the
death of M. de La Salle.
This they did some days afterwards. The Englishman,
taking two pistols in his belt, accompanied by a Frenchman
with a gun, went deliberately to the cabin of the murderers,
whom they found outside shooting with bows and arrows.
Lanquetot bade them good day, and asked how they were.
They answered that they were pretty well, that as for his
^ Professor Bolton concludes in the article noted above, p. 317, note 1,
that La Salle's death occurred on Brazos River just above the mouth of the
Navasota.
* These Frenchmen were Ruter, a Breton seaman, and GroUet, from La
Rochelle.
* This man, whose name was Hiens, is called by some authorities a German.
La Salle took him into his party in the West Indies.
320 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1690
party it was not necessary to ask how they did, as they were
always eating turkeys and good venison. Then the EngUsh-
man asked if they would not give some ammunition and shirts,
as they had taken possession of everything. They replied
that M. de La Salle was their debtor, and that what they had
taken was theirs. "You will not, then?" said the English-
man. "No," replied they. On which the Englishman said
to one of them, "You are a wretch ; you murdered my master,"
and firing his pistol killed him on the spot. Du Hault tried
to get into his cabin, but the other Frenchman shot him also
with a pistol, in the loins, which threw him on the ground.
M. Cavelier and Father Anastase ran to his assistance. Du
Haut had hardly time to confess himself, for the father had
but just given him absolution when he was finished by another
pistol-shot at the request of the savages, who could not en-
dure that he should live after having killed their chief. The
Englishman took possession of everything. He gave a share
to M. Cavelier, who, having found my abode at the Akansas,
went from thence to the Islinois. The Englishman, with five
companions, remained at the Naouadiche.
We reached the Cadodaquis on the 10th of May. We
stayed there to rest our horses, and went away on the 17th,
with a guide who was to take us to the village of the Coroas.
After four days' journey he left us, in consequence of an ac-
cident which happened to us in crossing a marsh. As w^e were
leading our horses by the bridle, he fancied he was pursued
by an alligator, and this led him to try to climb a tree in the
midst of this little marsh. In doing this, he entangled the
halter of my horse, which was drowned. This induced him
to leave us without saying anything, lest we should punish
him for the loss of the horse. This left us in great difficulty
respecting the road which we were to take.
I forgot to say that the savages who have horses use them
both for war and for hunting. They make pointed saddles,
wooden stirrups, and body-coverings of several skins, one
over the other, as a protection from arrows. They arm the
breasts of their horses with the same material, a proof that
they are not very far from the Spaniards.
When our guide was gone I told our Chaouanon to take
the lead ; he said in answer that since he was accompanying
1690] TONTY'S MEMOIR 321
me that was my affair ; and as I was unable to change his pur-
pose I was obHged to act as guide. I directed our course to
the southeast, and after about forty leagues' march, crossing
seven rivers, we found the river of the Coroas. We made a
raft to explore the other side of the river, but, finding there no
dry land, we were compelled to resolve to abandon our horses,
as it was impossible to take them on, upon account of the great
inundation.
In the evening, as we were preparing to depart, we saw
some savages. We called to them in vain — they ran away,
and we were imable to come up with them. Two of their
dogs came to us, which with our two, we embarked the next
day on our rafts, and left our horses. We crossed fifty leagues
of flooded country. The water, where it was least deep,
reached half-way up the leg; and in all this tract we found
only one little island of dry land, where we killed a bear and
dried its flesh. It would be difficult to give an idea of the
trouble we had to get out of this miserable country, where
it rained night and day. We were obliged to sleep on the
trunks of two great trees, placed together, to make our fires
on the trees, [to make] rafts on entering every new field, to
eat our dogs, and to carry our baggage across large tracts
covered with reeds. In short, I never suffered so much in my
life as in this journey to the Mississipy, which we reached on
the 11th of July.
Finding where we were, and that we were only thirty
leagues from the Coroas, we resolved to go there, although
we had never set foot in that village. We arrived there on
the evening of the 14th. We had not eaten for three days,
as we could find no animal, on account of the great flood. I
found at this village two of the Frenchmen who had aban-
doned me. The savages received me very well, and were con-
cerned at the troubles which we had had, for during the week
they did not cease to make good cheer for us, sending men
every day to hunt and fish, and not sparing their chickens
and turkeys. I set out on the 20th, and arrived on the 31st
at the Akansas, where the fever fastened on me, which obliged
me to stay there till the 11th of August, when I left that
place, and it continued with me to the Islinois, where I ar-
rived in the month of September.
322 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1690
I should not know how to describe the beauty of all the
countries that I have mentioned, and, if I had worked them, I
would say for what purposes they might be utilized. As for
the Mississipy, it might produce every year peltries to the
amount of 2,000 crowns, and abundance of lead and of timber
for ships. Commerce in silk might be established there, and
a port to harbor ships and form a base for the Gulf of Mexico.
Pearls will be found, and even if wheat could not be had below,
the upper river would furnish it, and one could furnish the
islands^ with what they need, such as lumber, vegetables,
grain, and salt beef.
If I had not been in haste to compose this narrative, I
might have put into it many details which would have pleased
the reader, but the loss of my memoranda in my voj^ages brings
it about that this narrative is not written as I should have
wished.
Henry de Tonty.
1 The French possessions in the West Indies.
MEMOIR OF DULUTH ON THE SIOUX COUNTRY
1678-1682
INTRODUCTION
The heroic age of French exploration in the Northwest
would be incomplete without an account of the adventures of
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Duluth, the peer of Perrot and La
Salle. Duluth was a native of St. Germain-en-Laye, a suburb
of Paris. His family was allied to that of Tonty, who spoke
of him as his cousin. This family alliance gave Duluth ac-
cess to the court, and advanced him in his chosen career of
arms to a place in the King's Guard — an honor reserved for
youth of noble families alone. Just what his military services
were we do not know, save that he participated as squire to a
great noble in the bloody battle of Seneff in 1674, and es-
caped unharmed while his patron was sorely wounded.
Duluth had before this battle made a visit to New France,
where several of his relatives had preceded him and held
ofiBces in the colony. After his feat of arms he returned to
the new country, whose great rivers and vast silences seemed
ever to call him to solve their mysteries, and to whose explora-
tion he devoted twenty years of his mature life. It was in
1678 that the resolution to explore the Sioux country came to
him in his quiet home among the river-side gardens of old
Montreal. Perchance a hint dropped by the great Count de
Frontenac determined the future career of the young soldier ;
perchance, the lure of the wilderness life directed his va-
grant fancy. At all events, he determined to see for him-
self the great fresh-water seas of the northern country, and
to push beyond toward the setting sun, and the possible hope
of a route to the Vermillion Sea.
After having circled the lofty and picturesque shores of
Lake Superior he found his way through the tangle of lakes,
325
326 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
streams, and marshes that constitute the headwaters of the
Mississippi, and planted the arms and emblems of the French
monarch in the heart of the comitry of the great Sioux tribe.
The alHance with this tribe was to bring unlimited wealth in
furs to the young colony along the St. Lawrence, for the Sioux
were a great people, of many branches, whose territory
abounded in beaver and other valuable peltry.
Duluth next visited the country of the Assiniboin, far
northwest of Lake Superior, and having made peace between
them and their neighbors diverted the stream of the rich
northern fur trade from the chaimels leading to the English
posts on Hudson Bay to those leading to the Great Lakes and
the Ottawa.
On one of his expeditions into the Siouan territory, he was
astonished and annoyed to learn that the tribe was holding
as prisoners three Frenchmen, one of whom was a Recollect
friar, chaplain of La Salle's expedition. Without a moment's
hesitation Duluth changed his plans for farther westward
exploration, and set out to rescue the captives from the hands
of his quondam friends. Spurning the calumets with which
they met him, he sternly demanded why they had violated
their treaty with the French, and from the cowed and re-
pentant chief he carried off Father Hennepin and his two
voyageurs.
Like Nicolas Perrot, Duluth was a master of the art of
Indian domination. Mingling sternness with kindness, and
always meting out a rude justice, he secured an ascendancy
over the savage mind that proved of vital importance to the
colony of New France. He composed the difficulties between
warring tribes, imposed a Pax Gallica upon the northern
country, and made its ways safe for every French wanderer
through the forests of the great Northwest.
Halted in this daring and beneficent labor by the petty
criticism and condemnation of small-minded officials, Duluth
INTRODUCTION 327
was obliged to return to the colony to justify his actions, and
to clear himself of the charge of being a coureur des hois. His
patron Frontenac had him arrested, in reality for the purpose
of keeping him safe from machinations of his enemies. Soon
Duluth was permitted to return again to the great territory
he had explored, whose reservoirs of wealth he had tapped for
the sake of New France, and whose inhabitants he swayed by
the force of truth and justice. In 1686 he was sent by the
governor of that time to build a post on the straits between
Lakes Erie and Huron in order to intercept the Dutch and Eng-
lish traders that were trying to break the monopoly of the
French with the Northwestern tribes. At this Fort St.
Joseph, somewhere on the St. Clair River, the wild tribes of
the West gathered for Denonville's expedition against the
Iroquois in 1687. Thither came Perrot with the tribes of the
Mississippi and Wisconsin, and thither Tonty led his gathered
forces from the Illinois. Great must have been the satis-
faction of these explorers and governors of the great Western
hinterland to meet and relate tales of adventure and plan for
future growth and progress.
After Denonville's disastrous failure, and the return of
Frontenac in 1689 as governor of the distracted colony, it was
to Tonty, Perrot, and Duluth that the great governor turned
to maintain the French empire in the West and keep the
ascendancy over its numerous tribesmen. It was Duluth's
part to spend more years among the Sioux, to explore the
west and northwest shores of Superior, and to build a fort
upon Lake Nipigon. In 1696 he was called to command at
Fort Frontenac on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, after
having been promoted to a captaincy in the colonial troops.
After the death of Frontenac, Duluth returned to Mon-
treal, where his latter years were quietly spent. His death
in 1710 was a release for his brave spirit.
Thus passed away a nobleman of old and new France.
328 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
He had annexed an empire to the colony, had secured it by
forts on Lake Superior, Lake Nipigon, and the River St. Clair ;
he had threaded the portages from Lake Superior to the Mis-
sissippi, had discovered the headwaters of that stream and the
sources of Lake Winnipeg ; he had turned back the threaten-
ing English invasion of the Northwest, and by firmness, de-
cision, good judgment, and sacrifice had saved to New France
a seventy years' tenure of the Upper Country. Singularly
modest in the midst of boasters, always a nobleman in his
treatment of both friends and rivals, this "gentleman of the
King's Guard" was equally at home in the haunts of plea-
sure or the savage wilderness, in the palace at Versailles, or
the council-house of the Sioux. His memory is perpetuated
by the noble city that bears his name at the head of the
mighty lake he delighted to traverse.
The brief account which we here publish of Duluth's early
experiences in the Northwest was a memoir addressed by him
to the French minister of marine in 1685. The manuscript is
in the archives of the Ministry of the Marine at Paris ; it has
been printed by Henry Harrisse, Notes pour Servir a VHisioire
de la Nouvelle France (Paris, 1872), pp. 177-181; also in
Margry, Decouvertes et ^tablissements des Frangais dans VAme-
rique Septentrionale (Paris, 1886), VI. 20-25. It appeared
first in English form in John G. Shea, A Description of Louisi-
ana hy Father Louis Hennepin (New York, 1880), pp. 374-
377, from which we here reprint.
MEMOIR OF DULUTH ON THE SIOUX
COUNTRY, 1678-1682
Memoir of the Sieur Daniel Greyselon du Luth on the Explora-
tion of the Country of the Nadouecioux, of which he gives a
very detailed Narrative.
To my Lord the Marquis de Seignelay: ^
My Lord :
After having made two voyages from here to New France,
where everyone believed that it was impossible to explore the
country of the Nadouecioux,^ nor to have any commerce
with them, both because of their distance, which is 800 leagues
from our settlements, and because they are at war generally
with all sorts of tribes, this difficulty caused me to make the
resolve to go among them, which I could not put into execu-
tion at that time, my affairs having obliged me to come back
here, whence, after having made the campaign of Franche
Comt4, and of the battle of Senef, where I had the honor
to be a gendarme of the guard of his Majesty and squire
of Monsieur de Lassay,^ our ensign, I set out to return to
Quebec, where I had no sooner arrived, than the desire I
already had to carry out this plan increased, and I began to
take my measures to make myself known on the part of the
savages, who having assured me of their friendship, and for
^ Seignelay (1651-1691), eldest son of Colbert, was minister of marine from
1683 to 1690.
2 The Sioux Indians, living in northwest Wisconsin and in Minnesota.
See p. 24, note 1, ante.
' The battle of Seneff occurred August 11, 1674, between the forces of the
United Netherlands and those of Louis XIV. The French general was the great
Conde, one of whose aides-de-camp was Armand de Madaillan de Lesparre,
Marquis de Lassay. The latter had two horses shot under him and was thrice
wounded in this affray. It is interesting to remember that succoring the wounded
in the Flemish ranks was the Recollect monk Louis Hennepin, whom a few years
later Duluth was to meet in the depth of the American wilderness.
329
330 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1679
proof of it given three slaves whom I had asked of them only
in order that they might come with me, I set out from Mon-
treal with them and seven Frenchmen on the first of Sep-
tember of the year 1678, to attempt the exploration of the
Nadouecioux and the Assenipoualaks^ who were unknown
to us, and to cause them to make peace with all the nations
around Lake Superior who dwell in the dominion of our in-
vincible monarch.
1 do not believe that such an expedition can give anyone
ground to accuse me of having disobeyed the King's orders
of the year 1676, since he merely forbade all his subjects to
go into the depths of the woods to trade there with the sav-
ages.'^ This I have never done, nor even been willing to
take any presents from them, though they have several times
thrown them to me, which I have always refused and left, in
order that no one might be able to accuse me of having carried
on any indirect traffic.
On the second of July, 1679, I had the honor to set up the
arms of his Majesty in the great village of the Nadouecioux
called Izatys,^ where no Frenchman had ever been, nor to
the Songaskitons and Houetbatons,^ distant 26 leagues from
the first, where also I set up the arms of his Majesty in the
same year 1679.
On the 15th of September, having made with the As-
senipoulaks and all the other nations of the North a rendez-
vous at the extremity of Lake Superior to cause them to make
peace with the Nadouecioux their common enemy, they all
appeared there, where I had the good fortune to gain their
esteem and their friendship, to bring them together, and in
order that peace might last longer among them, I believed
^ For this tribe, now known as the Assiniboin, see p. 133, note 2, ajtte.
2 This edict was one of several issued by the King against the coureurs des
hois, illegal traders with the Indian tribesmen.
3 Hennepin called the Sioux tribe who captured him "Issati." The vil-
lage in which Duluth placed the King's arms, no doubt with ceremonies similar
to those of St. Lusson at Sault Ste. Marie, is supposed to have been situated on
the shore of Lake Mille Lac in northern Minnesota.
* These were two branches of the Eastern Sioux; the term "Songaskitons"
is translated by some as the "village of the fort," by others the "strong or brave"
ones; the "Houetbatons" are known to ethnologists as the Wahpeton, interpreted
as the "vUlage of the river." See Wis. Hist. Coll., XVI. 193, 194.
1680] DULUTH ON THE SIOUX COUNTRY 331
that I could not better cement it than by causing marriages
to be made mutually between the different nations. This I
could not carry out without much expenditure. During the
following winter I caused them to hold meetings in the forest,
at which I was present, in order to hunt together, feast, and
thus draw closer the bonds of friendship.
A still greater expense arose from the presents which I
had to make in order to cause the savages to come to Mon-
treal, who had been diverted from this by the Openagos and
Abenakis^ under incitement from the English and the Flem-
ings ^ who made them believe that the pestilence was in the
settlements of the French, and that it had gone up as far as
Nipissinguie, where the greater part of the Nipissiriniens had
died of it.^
In June, 1680, not having been satisfied with having made
my exploration by land, I took two canoes, with a savage
who was my interpreter, and with four Frenchmen, to seek
a means of making it by water. For this purpose I entered
into a river which has its mouth eight leagues from the ex-
tremity of Lake Superior on the south side,* where after
having cut down some trees and broken through about one
hundred beaver dams, I went up the said river, and then
made a carry of half a league to reach a lake,^ which emptied
into a fine river, which brought me to the Mississippi, where I
learned, from eight lodges of Nadouecioux whom I met, that
the Reverend Father Louis Henpin, Recollect, now at the
convent of St. Germain, had with two other Frenchmen^
1 For the Abenaki, see p. 294, note 1, ante. The name Openagos is a
variant of Abenaki; it is sometimes appUed to the Passamaquoddy branch of
this tribe.
2 Duluth uses the term "Flemings" to denote the dwellers in the Low
Countries generally; the reference is to the Dutch of the colony of New York,
who were the rivals of the French in the Western fur trade.
^ The pestilence was doubtless smallpox, which was very fatal among the
Indians. For Lake Nipissing and the tribe of that name, see p. 15, note 4, ante.
* The stream now known as the Bois Brule, or simply the Brule, in Douglas
County, Wisconsin.
^ The portage is to Upper Lake St. Croix. See description of this portage
in recent times, in Wis. Hist. Coll., XX. 405, 406, notes 32 and 34.
8 For Father Louis Hennepin, see p. 287, note 3, ante. His companions
were Antoine du Gay Auguel, known from his birthplace as "le Picard"; and
Michel Accault, a native of Poitiers, for whom see p. 290, note 1, ante.
332 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1680
been seized and taken away as slaves for more than three hun-
dred leagues by the Nadouecioux themselves.
This news surprised me so much that, without hesitating,
I left two Frenchmen with these above mentioned eight
lodges of savages, together with the goods which I had for
making presents, and took one of the said savages, to whom
I gave a present in order that he should conduct me with my
interpreter and two Frenchmen to the place where the said
Reverend Father Louis was, and as it was eighty good leagues
I went in my canoe two days and two nights, and the next
day at ten o'clock in the morning I met him with about 1000
or 1100 souls. The want of respect that was being shown to
the said Reverend Father provoked me, and I let them know it,
telling them that he was my brother, and I put him in my
canoe to go with me into the villages of the said Nadouecioux,
to which I took him. There, a week after having arrived, I
caused a council to be held, setting forth the ill-treatment
which they had bestowed both upon the said Reverend Father
and upon the other two Frenchmen who were with him, seiz-
ing them and leading them away as slaves, and even taking
the priestly robes of the said Reverend Father.^ I caused
two calumets (which they had danced to us) to be given
back to them in recognition of the insult they had done
us, these being the things most esteemed among them for
pacifying affaks, saying to them that I took no calumets
from people who, after having seen me, having received
my peace-gifts, and having been constantly for a year with
Frenchmen, kidnapped them when they were coming to see
them.
Each one sought to excuse himself in the council, but
their excuse did not prevent me from saying to the Reverend
Father Louis that he must come with me toward the Ou-
tagamys,^ which he did, I informing him that it would be
1 The vanity of Hennepin did not allow him to admit that he was a captive
and a slave, the cruel sport of the Indians. He represented that he accompanied
Duluth because of the latter's pleasure in his society, and his desire for his com-
panionship. See Hennepin, New Discovery (ed. Thwaites, Chicago, 1903), pp.
293-305.
^ The Fox Indians, dwelling at this time on the river of their name. Set
p. 76, note 2, and p. 81, note 1, arUe.
1681] DULUTH ON THE SIOUX COUNTRY 333
striking a blow at the French nation in a new exploration, to
suffer iQsult of this sort without showing resentment of it,^
though my plan had been to penetrate then to the sea of the
west-northwest coast, which is believed to be the Vermillion
Sea, whence the savages who had gone to war in that direc-
tion gave salt to three Frenchmen whom I had sent to explore
and who brought me some of the said salt, having reported to
me that the savages had told them that it was only twenty
days' journey from where they were to the discovery of the
great lake whose water is not good to drink. ^ This is what
makes me believe that it would not be at all difficult to find
it, if one were willing to give permission to go there. Never-
theless I preferred to retrace my steps, letting them know of
the just indignation I had against them, rather than remain
after the violence they had done to the said Reverend Father
and to the two Frenchmen who were with him, whom I put
in my canoes, and brought them to the Michelimakinak mis-
sion of the reverend Jesuit fathers,^ where wintering together,
I learned that, far from being approved in what I had done,
using up my goods and risking my life eveiy day, I was treated
as the chief of a party, although I have never had more than
eight men with me.'* It was not necessary to say more, to
compel me, on the 29th of March of the year 1681, to set out
over the ice with the said Reverend Father and the two other
Frenchmen, causing my canoe and our provisions to be dragged
along, to come the sooner to our settlements and to make known
the correctness of my conduct, never having been disposed to
depart from the obedience which is due to the orders of the
Kmg.
Accordingly, three months before the arrival of the am-
nesty which his Majesty has been pleased to accord to his
subjects who had disobeyed his orders, I reached our settle-
^ Duluth recognized the necessity of rendering the lives of Frenchmen
secure among such a horde of savages. See his punishment of Indian murderers
related in Wis. Hist. Coll., XVI. 114-125.
^ This is by some historians considered a probable reference to Great Salt
Lake.
2 For the foundation of this mission, see p. 229, note 1, ante.
* See La Salle's complaints of Duluth in Wis. Hist. Coll., XVI. 107-110.
It should be remembered, in this connection, that La Salle could brook no rivals.
334 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTm^^ST [1681
merits without Monsieur the Intendant's^ having been will-
ing to hear what request I had to present.
As to the manner m which I lived during my journey, it
would be superfluous to enlarge upon this subject, and to
weary your Excellency by a long discourse, being persuaded
that thirteen original letters from the Reverend [Father]
Nouvel, superior of the missions to the Outaouas,^ the Rev-
erend Father Enjalran, missionary of St. Francis of Borgia,^
the Reverend Father Bailloquet, missionary of Ste. Marie du
Sault,^ and the Reverend Father Pierson, missionary to the
Hurons at St. Ignace,^ all Jesuits, will for the rest suffice to
inform your Excellency faithfully and amply.
^ Duluth is thought to have been acting for the governor, Count de Fron-
tenac, who was in opposition to the intendant, Jacques de Muelles. The former's
protection was probably the source of the latter's enmity.
2 Henri Nouvel, born in 1624, entered the Jesuit order in 1648 and was
sent to Canada in 1662. He served in lower Canada for seven years, and in 1669
was sent to the Ottawa mission. He was superior for the years 1672-1680 (with
an interregnum in 1678-1679), and again from 1688 to 1695. The date of his
death is uncertain.
3 Jean Enjalran, born in 1639, came to Canada in 1676, and the following
year was sent to the Ottawa mission, where he served for many years. From
1681 to 1688 he was superior of the mission; in 1687, having accompanied as
chaplain Denonville's Iroquois expedition, he was seriously wounded. After a
visit to France, he returned to the Mackinac mission, where he was in service
as late as 1706. He died, probably in France, in 1718. The mission to the Al-
gonquian tribes at Mackinac was known as St. Francis Borgia.
* Pierre Bailloquet came to Canada in 1647 ; he was assigned to the Ottawa
naission in 1673, and spent five years among the Indians of the Manitoulin Is-
lands. Afterward he was stationed at Sault Ste. Marie and at Mackinac, and
died in the Ottawa country June 7, 1692.
^ Philippe Pierson was a native of Flanders, who came to Canada in 1666.
In 1673 he went to the St. Ignace mission at Mackinac, where he resided ten
years. The final years of his ministry were spent among the Sioux, whence he
returned to die at Quebec in 1688.
THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME, 1698-1699
INTRODUCTION
The seventeenth century had but barely turned into its
second half when a group of five young men of religious ten-
dencies met in Paris and formed an ascetic brotherhood, who
dwelt together and stimulated one another to noble deeds.
From this group sprang the Societe des Missions Etrangeres
— a society still in active existence after two and a haK cen-
turies' mission work in foreign lands. One of the group of
five was a young nobleman of a great family closely allied to
the royal house — Frangois Laval de Montmorency. In his
zeal to carry the message of the Gospel to distant lands, he
sought the colony of New France, where he became the first
Canadian bishop. His experiences in Paris led him to found
in Quebec a seminary for the training of priests and mission-
aries, which was under the auspices of the Paris Seminary,
and allied with the movement for foreign missions.
Several years, however, passed before Laval obtained the
opportunity he sought to establish Indian missions in the
heart of the American continent. The Jesuits had pre-empted
the field, and the Sulpitians and Franciscans likewise had
entered into a friendly rivalry to effect the conversion of the
North American Indians. The discoveries and explorations
of La Salle and Tonty had, however, made known a large
number of tribes in the lower Mississippi Valley, that were to
all appearance of a docile and receptive disposition, and
furnished to the eager missionaries a virgin soil to cultivate.
Laval thereupon chose three of his Seminary priests to in-
augurate the work in the far Southwest, and sent them forth
in the summer of 1698 to begin new missions among yet pagan
tribes of aborigines.
337
338 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
The expedition of the Seminary mission was very well
equipped. It is said that the cost was over 10,000 livres, a
large share of which was furnished by the head of the com-
pany, Francois Jolliet de Montigny, whom Laval named
vicar-general of the enterprise. Accompanying him were
Father Antoine Davion, who had been since 1690 in the Ca-
nadian field, and Father Jean Frangois Buisson de St. Cosme,
a native of New France who had seen missionary service' in
Acadia. Another Canadian, Rev. Dominic Thaumer de la
Source, accompanied them, together with several lay brothers,
and the usual complement of voyageurs and engages.
At Mackinac they were fortunate enough to fall in with
Henri Tonty, commandant in the Illinois, whose services to
the reverend fathers were inestimable. Leaving the post and
mission at the Straits early in September, they made their
way along the western shore of Lake Michigan, regretfully
abandoned the Fox-Wisconsin route because of the hostile
Fox Indians, and after vainly essaying a portage from Root
River of Racine to the Fox River of the Illinois, coasted along
until the latter part of October brought them to Chicago.
There the Seminary fathers were the guests of the Jesuits
who had preceded them, and had established at this favor-
able site a mission for the Miami Indians. Thence, after a
few days' rest, the little company of priests and their com-
panions made their way to the Illinois River, and spent some
time among the populous villages of the Illinois Indians, lying
along the banks of the river of their name.
In these villages Tonty was a welcome and honored guest,
and for his sake the priests were received for the most part
with courtesy and kindness. Some of the tribesmen depre-
cated their visits to the Indians of the Mississippi and at-
tempted to place obstacles in their way. The strength of
their retinue and the vigor of Tonty's support forbade serious
opposition, and the only hindrance was the early formation
INTRODUCTION 339
of an ice bridge, which after some delay they broke by the
impact of wooden canoes.
Once upon the Mississippi, the days were passed in gently
drifting down the stream, admiring the wooded bluffs and
grassy islands, enjoying the abundance of game that thronged
the banks and the new and unknown kinds of fruits that sup-
plied them with abundant food. Strange peoples, too, flocked
to the water's edge to see the canoes of the white men pass by.
At all the villages Tonty's presentation of the calumet of peace
opened the way for an honorable reception.
At the site of the old Kappa village near the mouth of the
Arkansas — the village of Marquette's farthest south on his
voyage of 1673 — the expedition halted. Tonty after visit-
ing his post on the Arkansas River returned at once to the
Illinois. The priests, however, remained in order to seek for
favorable locations for missions among the tribes still farther
southward along the Mississippi.
By the returning party, under Tonty's protection, letters
were sent to the Bishop of Quebec, informing him of the suc-
cess of the enterprise and the plans for further action. Among
these letters was that of St. Cosme, which we here present for
its vivid detailed description of the inland journey from
Michilimackinac of the northern lakes to Arkansas Post on the
southwestern rivers.
To follow the fortunes of our travellers farther, we learn
that Davion was left among the Tonica tribesmen to begin
his mission. They, however, proved so inhospitable that he
was soon obliged to retire to the fort at Mobile. In 1704 he
returned to his post, and labored among these Indians for
eighteen years. Then, worn with age and hardships, he with-
drew to New Orleans, and in 1727 returned to die in his native
France.
Montignv attempted a mission for the Taensas tribe, but
was soon discouraged by their lack of response to his appeals.
340 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST
In 1700 he returned to France, and after serving as missionary
in China for several years, was made director of the Society
des Missions Etrangeres at Paris, and devoted his later life
to the superintendency of all the foreign fields.
For St. Cosme, the simple-hearted Canadian priest, was
reserved a sadder fate. He first began his mission work among
the Cahokia and Tamarois tribe, located near the site of the
present Cahokia in Illinois. A few years later (the exact
date is in doubt), on his way down the Mississippi to some of
the lower missions, he was set upon and murdered by a dis-
appointed war-party of the Chitimacha Indians. The mis-
sion he had founded among the Cahokia was maintained by
his colleague Thaumer de la Source until about 1721, when it
was made over to the Jesuits, and the Seminary missions
ceased to exist in the Mississippi Valley.
Iberville, who had in the meanwhile annexed Louisiana
to the crown of France, took summary vengeance on the mur-
derers of St. Cosme by a retaliatory expedition against the
Chitimacha, and the execution of the guilty chiefs.
The letter that St. Cosme wrote, January 2, 1699, from the
Arkansas post to Bishop Laval in Quebec has reposed in the
archives of Laval University to this day. There it was dis-
covered about the middle of the nineteenth century by John
Gilmary Shea, the Catholic historian, and published by him
simultaneously in French and in English. The French version
was included in Shea's Cramoisy series under the title, Re-
lation de la Mission du Mississippi du Seminaire de Quebec
en 1700 (New York, 1861), the St. Cosme letter being supple-
mented by shorter letters from Montigny and La Source. The
English version was published by Joel Munsell at Albany in
the same year, under the title Early Voyages up and down the
Mississippi. With the letters of the Seminary priests Shea
included in this latter volume Jean Cavelier's account of the
death of La Salle; a letter from Father Gravier, a Jesuit
INTRODUCTION 341
missionary ; the voyage of Pierre Charles Le Sueur to discover
mines in Minnesota; and the narrative of Father Guignas,
who, in 1728, escaped from Fort Beauharnois among the Sioux.
In pubhshing the letter of St. Cosme, Shea had recourse to a
transcript of the original manuscript that had been made for
Francis Parkman, of Boston. The transcriber had evidently
been inexpert, and unable correctly to decipher the somewhat
crabbed and peculiar writing of Father St. Cosme. The
original manuscript being accessible in the University of Laval
at Quebec, Dr. R. G. Thwaites, about 1898, had a careful
transcript made and the translation collated by Col. Craw-
ford Lindsay, ofl&cial translator for the Quebec province.
This translation has been kindly put at our disposal by Dr.
M. M. Quaife, the present superintendent of the Wisconsin His-
torical Society. He has also permitted us to see, and compare
with Colonel Lindsay's translation, a photostatic copy of a
transcript in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society.
Using this, we have made a few minor changes in our text.
We believe, therefore, that the translation we here present
has been made from a correct text of the original letter, and
that it will solve some of the difficulties that have been raised
by the text as previously published by Shea. Mgr. A. E.
Gosselin, rector of Laval University, has kindly furnished
tracings of certain names, in the original manuscript, the
reading of which was doubtful.
With this final narrative of our series we are brought to
the closing years of the seventeenth century. The era of ex-
ploration and adventure now merged in the era of exploitation.
For sixty years longer France held the great interior valley
of North America. Then it passed into other hands, and at
present only a few hamlets and a few French-speaking people
remain to remind us of the French regime in the American
Northwest.
THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME, 1698-1699
Letter of M. Jean Frs. Buisson de St. Cosme, Priest of the Semi-
nary of Quebec.
In the Akansgas country, this 2nd January 1699.
My Lord,
The last letter that I had the honor of writing to you was
from Michilimakinac,^ whence we started on the fourteenth
of September, journeying overland to meet our canoe, which
had rounded the Pointe aux Iroquois and had gone to wait
for us at the village of the Outaouacs, which village contains
about three hundred men.^ God grant that they may re-
spond to the care taken and the labors performed by the
Reverend Jesuit Fathers for their instruction ; but they seem
less advanced in Christianity than the Illinois, who, we are
told, have only recently had missionaries. We left that village
on the 15th of September to the number of eight canoes : four
for the River of the Miamis under the Sieur de Vincenne;'
our three canoes and that of Monsieur de Tonty,'* who, as I
have already written you in my last, had resolved to ac-
^ Father Jacques Gravier, who was one of the Jesuit missionaries at Mackinac,
writes September 20, 1698 : "Father de Careil and myself are charmed with the
good judgment, the zeal, and the modesty that Monsieur de Montigny, Monsieur
de St. Cosme, and Monsieur Davion have displayed in the conferences that we
have had together during the seven days they spent here." Jesuit Relations,
LXV. 59.
* Now called Point St. Ignace. For a map of this period showing the lo-
cation of the Ottawa (Outaouac) village, see R. G. Thwaites (ed.), Lahontan'a
New Voyages (Chicago, 1905), I. 36.
' This is one of the earliest notices of Jean Baptiste Bissot, sieur de Vin-
cennes, the founder of the French post among the Miami Indians. Vincennes
was an oflBcer in the regiment of Carignan that came to New France in 1665.
Early in the eighteenth century he was dwelling in the Miami village on the site
of the present Fort Wayne, Indiana, and there in 1719 he died. His nephew
founded the Indiana city of Vincennes. The river of the Miami was the present
St, Joseph River, Michigan.
* For this officer, see Introduction to his Memoir, pp. 283-285, ante.
342
/
A rOUTION OF FRANQUELINS GREAT RLVP OF 1688 (DEPOT DES CARTES, PARIS)
From a copy in the Library of Congress
1698] THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 343
company us to the Acansgas.^ I cannot sufficiently express,
my lord, the obligations we owe him. He conducted us
to the Acansgas; he procured us much pleasure during the
voyage; he greatly facilitated our passage through many
nations, securing us the friendship of some and intimidating
others — I mean the nations who through jealousy or the de-
sire to pillage us sought to oppose our passage. He not only
did his duty as a brave man but he also performed those of a
zealous missionary, entering into all our views, exhorting the
savages everywhere to pray and to listen to the missionaries.
He soothed the minds of our servants in their petty whims ;
he supported by his example the devotional exercises that
the journey allowed us to perform and frequently attended
the sacraments.
It would be useless for me, my lord, to give you a de-
scription of Lake Mietpgan,^ on which we embarked on leav-
ing the fort of the Outaouacs. This route is fairly well known.
We should have gone by the south side, which is much finer
than the north, but as it is the route usually followed by the
Iroquois, who, not long before, had made an attack on the
soldiers and savages proceeding to the country of the Miamis,
this compelled us to take the north side, which is not so agree-
able nor so well stocked with game, though it is easier, I believe,
in the autumn because one is sheltered from the northwest
winds. On the 21st of the month we reached the traverse of
the Bay of the Puants,^ which is distant forty leagues from
Michilimakinac. We camped on an island called L'Isle du
Detour because at that spot the lake begins to trend to the
south.'* We were windbound on that island for six days,
during which our people occupied themselves in setting nets
and caught great quantities of white fish, which are excellent
eating and a very plentiful manna that fails not along that lake,
where there is a dearth of meat almost all the time.
^ For this post, see p. 308, note 2, ante. In 1689 Tonty gave a site at this
post for the establishment of a mission.
* The orthography of the proper names in this document is very peculiar.
It may be due to a crabbed hand-writing, which is difficult to decipher ; but the
manuscript seems clearly to give this form of spelling for the word Michigan.
^ The place where the mouth of Green Bay must be crossed.
* Still known as Point Detour, the southeastern end of Delta County,
Michigan, opposite Summer Island.
344 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHA^^ST [1698
On the 28th we crossed from island to island. The Bay of
the Puants is about twenty or thirty leagues long. One
passes on the right hand another small bay called that of the
Noquest.^ The Bay of the Puants is inhabited by several
savage tribes : the Noquest, the FoUes Avoine, the Renards,
the Poutouatamis and the Saki.^ The Jesuit Fathers have
a mission at the bottom of that bay.^ We should have liked
very much to pass by the bottom of that bay and it would
have greatly shortened our journey. A small river has to be
ascended wherein there are only three leagues of rapids and
which is about sixty leagues long ; then by means of a short
portage one reaches the River Ouiskonsin, which is a very fine
one, and by going down it one takes only two days to reach
the Migissipi. In truth there is a distance of two hundred
leagues from the spot where this river falls into the Missigipi
to the place where the River of the Illinois discharges into
the same Migissipi ; the current however is so strong that the
distance is sooner passed. But the Renards, who live on that
little river that one ascends on leaving the bay to reach Ouis-
konsin, will not allow any persons to pass lest they might go
to the Sioux, with whom they are at war, and consequently
have already pillaged several Frenchmen who tried to go
that way. This compelled us to take the route by way of
Chikagou.
On the 29th of September we arrived at the village of the
Pous, distant about twenty leagues from the crossing of the
bay.^ There had formerly been a very large village here,
but after the death of the chief a portion of the savages had
gone to live in the bay and the remainder were preparing to
go there when we passed. We stopped in that village. On the
30th we purchased some provisions which we needed. We
started on the Slst^and on the 4th of October we came upon
^ Both Big and Little Bay de Noquet are northern arms of Green Bay in
Delta County, Michigan. The city of Escanaba lies on the latter bay.
2 The Noquet, Menominee, Fox, Potawatomi, and Sauk Indians.
3 The mission of St. Francois Xavier at De Pere, Wisconsin, for which see
the Introduction to Allouez's Journal, p. 97.
* The site of this Potawatomi (Pous) village has not been positively deter-
mined. It was on the Lake Michigan side of the Door County peninsula; the
distances would seem to indicate that it was not far from the present Kewaunee,
Wisconsin. * Sic.
1698] THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 345
another small village of Poux, on a small river, where Reverend
Father Marais had spent the winter with some Frenchmen
and had planted a cross. ^ We stayed there for the remainder
of the day. We left on the 5th and after being windbound
for two days we started and after two days of heavy wind
we reached Milouakik on the Qth.^ This is a river where there
is a village which has been a large one, consisting of Mas-
coutins, of Renards, and also of some Poux. We stayed
there two days, partly on accomit of the wind and partly to
recruit our men a little, because there is an abimdance of duck
and teal in the river.
On the eleventh of October we started early in the morning
from the fort of Milouakik, and at an early hour we reached
Edpikaoui, about eight leagues farther.^ Here we separated
from Monsieur de Vincenne's party, which continued on its
route to the Miamis. Some savages had led us to hope that
we could ascend this river and after a portage of about two
leagues might descend by another river called Pesioui^
which falls into the River of the Illinois about 25 or 30 leagues
from Chikagou, and that we should thereby avoid all the
portages that had to be made by the Chikagou route. We
passed by this river [Root] which is about ten leagues in length
to the portage^ and flows through agreeable prairies, but as
there was no water in it we judged that there would not be
any in the Peschoui either, and that instead of shortening our
journey we should have been obliged to go over forty leagues
of portage roads ; this compelled us to take the route by way of
Chikagou which is distant about twenty leagues.
^ This appears to have been on the site of the present Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
The priest was probably Father Gabriel Marest of the Jesuit order, who came to
Canada in 1694. His first service was as chaplain to Iberville's expedition of
1695 to Hudson Bay, where Marest was captured by the English. As soon as
he was exchanged he returned to New France, and was sent to the Illinois mis-
sion, where he remained until his death in 1714.
2 Milwaukee.
' The present site of Racine, Wisconsin, at the mouth of Root River.
* The present Fox River of Illinois, which was called on Franquelin's map
of 1684 the Pestekouy. One of its affluents is still known as Lake Pistakee, in
Lake County, Illinois.
^ The portage is from the upper waters of Root River to Muskego Lake in
the southeastern part of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, thence by its outlet into
Fox River.
346 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1698
We remained five days at Kipikaoui, leaving on the 17th
and after being windboimd on the 18th and 19th we camped
on the 20th at a place five leagues from Chikagou. We should
have arrived there early on the 21st but the wind which sud-
denly arose on the lake compelled us to land half a league
from Chikagou. We had considerable difficulty in landing
and in saving our canoes ; we all had to jump into the water.
One must be very careful along the lakes, and especially Lake
Mixcigan, whose shores are very low, to take to the land as
soon as possible when the waves rise on the lake, for the
rollers become so high in so short a time that one runs the
risk of breaking his canoe and of losing all it contains. Many
travellers have already been wrecked there. We, Monsieur
de Montigny, Davion, and myself, went by land to the house
of the Reverend Jesuit Fathers while om* people remained
behind.^ We found there Reverend Father Pinet and Rev-
erend Father Binneteau,^ who had recently arrived from
the Illinois country and was slightly ill.
1 cannot describe to you, my lord, with what cordiality
and manifestations of friendship these Reverend Fathers re-
ceived and embraced us while we had the consolation of re-
siding with them. Their house is built on the bank of a small
river, with the lake on one side and a fine and vast prairie on
the other. The village of the savages contains over a hundred
and fifty cabins, and a league up the river is still another vil-
lage almost as large. They are all Miamis. Reverend Father
Pinet usually resides there except in winter, when the savages
are all engaged in hunting, and then he goes to the Illinois.
We saw no savages there ; they had already started for their
^ For the Jesuit mission at Chicago, known as that of the Guardian Angel,
see M. M. Quaife, Chicago and the Old Northwest (Chicago, 1913), pp. 40-42.
2 Pierre Francois Pinet was born at Perigueux, France, November 11, 1660.
He entered the Jesuit order in 1682 and was sent to Canada twelve years later.
He was first stationed at Mackinac, and in 1696 founded the mission at Chicago.
He was obliged to leave in 1697, but returned the following year. In 1700 he
abandoned the Chicago mission and settled among the Tamarois Illinois, where
he died in 1704. Some authorities state that he died at Chicago July 16, 1704.
Julien Binneteau came as missionary to Canada in 1691. He was two years
at an Acadian mission, went West in 1695, and the next year was sent to the Il-
linois mission, where his death, December 24, 1699, was due to an illness con-
tracted while following his neophytes in their hunting expeditions.
1698] THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 347
hunt. If one may judge of the future from the short time
that Reverend Father Pinet has passed in this mission, we
may beheve that if God will bless the labors and the zeal of
that holy missionary there will be a great number of good
and fervent Christians. It is true that but slight results are
obtained with reference to the older persons, who are hardened
in profligacy, but all the children are baptized, and the jug-
glers even, who are the most opposed to Christianity, allow
their children to be baptized. They are also very glad to let
them be instructed. Several girls of a certain age and also
many young boys have already been and are being instructed,
so that we may hope that when the old stock dies off, they
will be a new and entirely Christian people.
On the 24th of October the wind fell and we sent for our
canoes with all our effects, and finding that the water was
extraordinarily low, we made a cache in the ground with some
of them and took only what was absolutely necessary for our
journey, intending to send for the remainder in the spring.
We left Brother Alexandre in charge thereof, as he agreed to
remain there with Father Pinet's man. We started from
Chikagou on the 29th, and slept about two leagues from it on
the little river^ that afterward loses itself in the prauies.^
On the following day we began the portage, which is about
three leagues in length when the waters are low, and is only
one-fourth of a league in the spring, for then one can embark
on a smaU lake^ that discharges mto a branch of the river
of the Illinois, and when the waters are low a portage has to
be made to that branch. On that day we got over half our
portage, and would have gone still further, when we per-
ceived that a little boy given us by Monsieur de Muis,' and
who had set out alone although he was told to wait, was lost.
We had not noticed it because all our people were busy. We
were obliged to stop to look for him; everybody went and
1 The south fork of Chicago River.
^ Mud or Portage Lake. For an early map of this region, see Wis. Hist.
Coll., XVIII. 146.
^ Nicolas Daneaux, sieur de Muy, came to Canada in 1685 and served with
distinction in King William's War (1689-1697). After the commencement of
the colony of Louisiana, he was in 1707 chosen governor, but died on his way to
assimie his post.
348 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1698
several gun-shots were fired, but he could not be found. It
was a rather unfortunate accident ; we were pressed for time,
owing to the lateness of the season, and the waters being
very low, we saw quite well, that as we were obliged to carry
our baggage and our canoe, it would take a long time to reach
the Illinois. This compelled us to separate. Messieurs de
Montigny, de Tonty, and Davion continued the portage on
the following day, while I with four other men went back to
look for the little boy. While retracing my steps I met
Fathers Pinet and Binneteau, who were on the way to the
Illinois with two Frenchmen and a savage. We looked for
the boy during the whole of that day also, without finding him.
As it was the day before the feast of All Saints,^ I was com-
pelled to go to Chikagou for the night with our people. After
they had heard mass and performed their devotions early in
the morning, they spent the whole of that day also looking
for the little boy without getting sight of him. It was very
difficult to find him in the long grass, for this country consists
of nothing but prairies with a few groves of trees. We were
afraid to set fire to the long grass lest we might burn the boy.
Monsieur de Montigny had told me to remain only one day,
because the cold weather pressed us, and this compelled me to
proceed, after giving orders to Brother Alexandre to seek him
and to take some Frenchmen who were at Chikagou.^
I started m the afternoon of the 2nd of November. I
crossed the portage and passed the night at the river or
branch^ of the River of the Illinois. We descended the river
as far as an island. During the night we were surprised to see
a slight fall of snow, and on the following day the river was
frozen over in several places. We had therefore to break
the ice and haul the canoe, because there was no open water.
This compelled us to leave our canoe and go by land to seek
Monsieur de Montigny, whom we met on the following day,
the 5th of the month, at the Isle aux Cerfs. They had al-
ready gone over two leagues of portage. We still had four
1 All Saints' Day is November 1.
2 The boy came in to the mission house thirteen days after he was lost.
He was utterly exhausted and out of his mind. See letter of Thaumer de la
Source in Shea, Early Voyages (Albany, 1861), p. 85.
' The River Des Plaines.
16981 THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 349
leagues to do, as far as Mont Joliet. This took us three days,
and we arrived on the 8th of the month.
From the Isle a la Cache to the said Mont Jolliet, a dis-
tance of seven leagues, everything has to be portaged, as there
is no water in the river except in the spring. The banks of
this river are very agreeable ; they consist of prairies bounded
by small hills and very fine thickets; there are numbers of
deer in them and along the river are great quantities of game
of all kinds, so that after crossing the portage one of our men,
while taking a walk, procured enough to provide us with an
abundant supper as well as breakfast on the following day.
Mont Jolliet is a very fine mound of earth in the prairie to
the right, descending a little. It is about thirty feet high.
The savages say that at the time of the great deluge one of
their ancestors escaped, and that this smaU mountain is his
canoe which he upset there.
On leaving Mont Jolliet we proceeded about two leagues
by water. We remained two whole days at our short portage,
about a quarter of a league in length. As one of our men
named Charbonneau had killed several turkeys and bustards in
the morning, together with a deer, we were very glad to give
our people a good meal and to let them rest for a day. On
the tenth we made the short portage and foimd half a league
of water, after which two men carried the canoe for about a
league, the others walking behind, each carrying his load;
and we then embarked for a league and a half. We slept at
a short portage, five or six arpents in length. On the eleventh,
after making the short portage, we came to the river Tea-
tiki,^ which is the true river of the Illinois, that which we
descended being only a distant branch. We put all our bag-
gage in the canoe, which two men paddled, while Monsieur
de Tonty and ourselves, with the remainder of our men, pro-
ceeded by land, walking all the time through fine prairies.
We came to the village of the Peangichias,^ Miamis who
formerly dwelt at the falls of the Migipi and who have for
some years been settled at this place. There was no one in
^The present Kankakee River.
^ This tribe was known to American settlers as the Piankeshaw. It was
a branch of the Miami that later removed to the lower Wabash, and settled in
the neighborhood of Vincennes.
350 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1698
the village, for all had gone hunting. That day we slept near
Massane/ a small river which falls into the River of the Il-
linois. On that day we began to see oxen, and on the mor-
row two of our men killed four ; but as these animals are in
poor condition at this season we contented ourselves with
taking the tongues only. These oxen seem to me to be larger
than ours ; they have a hump on their backs ; their legs are
very short ; the head is very large and so covered with long
hair that it is said a bullet cannot penetrate it. We after-
ward saw some nearly every day during our journey as far
as the Acansgas.
After experiencing considerable difficulty during three
days in carrying and hauling our baggage in the canoe, owing
to the river being rapid, low, and full of rocks, we arrived
on the 15th of November at the place called the Old Fort.
This is a rock on the bank of the river, about a hundred
feet high, whereon Monsieur de la Salle had caused a fort to
be built, which has been abandoned,^ because the savages
went to reside about twenty-five leagues further down. We
slept a league above it, where we found two cabins of sav-
ages ; we were consoled on finding a woman who was a thor-
oughly good Christian. The distance between Chicagou and
the fort is considered to be about thirty leagues. There we
commenced the navigation, that contmues to be always good
as far as the fort of Permetaoui,^ where the savages now are
and which we reached on the 19th of November. We found
there Reverend Father Binetot and Reverend Father Marais
who, owing to their not being laden when they left Chigaou,
had arrived six or seven days before us. We also saw Rever-
end Father Pinet there. All the Reverend Jesuit Fathers
gave us the best possible reception. Their sole regret was to
see us compelled to leave so soon on account of the frost.
We took there a Frenchman who had lived three years with
the Acansgas and who knows a little of their language.
This mission of the Illinois seems to me the finest that the
Reverend Jesuit Fathers have up here, for without counting
1 Now known as Mazon Creek in Grundy County, Illinois.
2 Fort St. Louis on the rock called Le Rocher. See Tonty's Narrative^
p. 290, note 4, ante.
^ This post was on Peoria Lake, whose early name was Pimetoui.
1698] THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 351
all the children who are baptized, a number of adults have
abandoned all their superstitions and live as thoroughly good
Christians; they frequently attend the sacraments and are
married in church. We had not the consolation of seeing all
these good Christians often, for they were all scattered down
the bank of the river for the purpose of hunting. We saw only
some women savages married to Frenchmen, who edified us
by their modesty and their assiduity in going to prayer sev-
eral times a day in the chapel. We chanted high mass in it,
with deacon and sub-deacon, on the feast of the Presentation
of the most Blessed Virgin,^ and after commending our voy-
age to her and having placed ourselves under her protection
we left the Illinois on the 22nd of November — we had to
break the ice for two or three arpents to get out of Lake Pem-
steoui. We had four canoes: that of Monsieur de Tonty,
our two, and another belonging to five young voyageurs who
were glad to accompany us, partly on account of Monsieur
de Tonty, who is universally beloved by all the voyageurs,
and partly also to see the country. Reverend Fathers Bin-
neteau and Pinet also came with us a part of the way, as they
wished to go and spend the whole winter with their savages.
On the first day after our departure we came to the cabin
of Rouenssas, the most notable of the Illinois chiefs and a
very good Christian. ^ He received us with the politeness,
not of a savage but of a well-bred Frenchman. He led us
to his cabin and made us sleep there. He presented us with
three deer, one of which he gave to Monsieur [de Tonty],
another to the Father, and the third to us. We learned from
him that the Chaouanons, the Chikachas, and the Kakinan-
pols^ had attacked the Kaoukias,^ an Illinois tribe about five
or six leagues below the mouth of the river of the Illinois
along the Migissipi, and that they had killed ten men and taken
nearly one hundred slaves, both women and children. As
this Rouensa is very quick-witted, we thought we should give
^ November 21.
2 This chief, usually called Rouensa or Roinsac, was head of the Kaskaskia
branch of the Illinois. He removed about the beginning of the eighteenth cen-
tury to the Kaskaskia River, where the village was frequently called Rouensac.
^ The Shawnee, the Chickasaw, and possibly the Kickapoo.
* The Cahokia, a branch of the Illinois, who lived in the bottom lands op-
posite the site of St Louis.
352 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1698
him some presents, to induce him to facihtate our passage
through the Illinois tribes, not so much for this first voyage
as for the others, when we should not be so strong; for all
these nations up here are very suspicious and easily become
jealous when we go to other nations. We therefore presented
him with a collar,^ to show him that we formed an alliance
mth him and with all his nation, and that as he was a Chris-
tian he should have no greater pleasure than in seeing the
other nations participate in the happiness he enjoyed, and
for that reason he was obliged to facilitate as much as he could
the designs of the missionaries who were going to instruct
them. We afterward gave them a smaU present of powder.
On the 28th, after saying our masses, when Roiiensas and
his family received communion at Monsieur de Montigny's,
we left and came to a small village of savages, on disembark-
ing at which the chief, named L'Ours,^ told us that it was not
advisable that we should go into the Migissipi country. But
Monsieur won him over or intimidated him by his words,
telling him that we were sent by the Master of Life and the
great Master of Prayer to instruct the savages whither we were
going, and that he was hired by the Governor to accompany
us, so that if he molested us he attacked the very person of our
Governor. The chief made no answer to these words. We
embarked and on the 24th we slept at another village of
several cabins where we found one Tiret, a chief who was
formerly famous in his nation but who has since been aban-
doned by nearly all his people. He made several complaints
to Monsieur de Tonty, who reproached him, saying that it
was his evil conduct that earned hitn the hatred of his people ;
that he had long before told him to give up his jugglery — ^for
he is a famous sorcerer — and to pray; but that he had not
yet done so. He afterward went to the prayers, and the
savage promised him that he would be instructed on the fol-
lowing day.
On the 25th of the month we parted from Father Pinet,
who remains in this village to spend the winter, for there are
a good many savages here who pray, and on the 26th we came
1 "Collar" was the French term for the belt of wampum beads, with which
the Indians sealed alliances and treaties with the wliites and with other tribes.
2 The Bear.
1698] THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 353
to a village whose chief was away hunting with all the young
men. Some old men came to meet us, weeping for the death
of their people killed by the Chaouanons. We went to their
cabins, and they told us that we ought not to pass by the
Chaouchias with the Chaouanons, to whom, they said. Mon-
sieur de Tonty had given arms and who had attacked them.
Monsieur de Tonty replied that he had left the Illinois coun-
try more than three years before and could not have seen the
Chaouanons to give them arms. But the savages persisted
in saying several things without reason, and we saw very well
that they were evil-minded, and that we should leave as soon
as possible, before the arrival of the yoimg men who were to re-
turn the following morning. Therefore we went out abruptly,
and when Monsieur de Tonty told them he feared not the
men, they said that they pitied our young men, who would
all be killed. Monsieur de Tonty replied that they had seen
him with the Iroquois and knew what he could do and how
many men he could kill.^ It must be confessed that all
these savages have a very high esteem for him. He had only
to be in one's company to prevent any insult being offered.
We embarked at once, and went to sleep at a place five or
six leagues from that village.
On the following day we were detained for some hours,
owing to quantities of ice drifting down the river, and on the
28th we landed at a village consisting of about twenty cabins,
where we saw the woman chief. This woman enjoys great
repute in her nation, owing to her wit and her great liberality
and because, as she has many sons and sons-in-law who are
good hunters, she often gives feasts, which is the way to ac-
quire the esteem of the savages and of all their nations in a
short time. We said mass in this village in the cabin of a
soldier named La Viollette, who was married to a savage and
whose child Monsieur de Montigny baptized. Monsieur de
Tonty related to the woman chief what had been said to us
in the last village. She disapproved of it all, and told him
that the whole of her tribe were greatly rejoiced at seeing him
once more, as well as us, but that they regretted that they
could not be sure of seeing him again and of having him longer
with them.
^ See pp. 291-294, ante, for Tonty's experiences among the Iroquois.
354 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1698
We left this village and travelled about eight leagues be-
tween the 29th of November and the 3rd of December. We
were detained at the same place by the ice, which completely
barred the river. During that time we had an abundance of
provisions, for no one need fast on that river, so great is the
quantity of game of all kinds : swans, bustards, or duck. The
river is bordered by a belt of very fine timber, which is not
very wide, so that one soon reaches beautiful prairies, contain-
ing numbers of deer. Charbonneau killed several while we
were detained, and others killed some also. Navigation is
not very easy on this river when the water is low. We were
sometimes obliged to walk with a portion of our people, while
the others propelled the canoes, not without trouble, for they
were often obliged to get into the water, which was already
very cold. While we were detained. Reverend Father Bin-
netost, whom we had left at the village of the woman chief,
came to see us, and after spending a day with us he returned
to the village for the feast of St. Xavier.- On that day a
heavy gale broke up a portion of the ice and we proceeded
about a league. On the following day we obtained some
wooden canoes, at a place where there were five cabins of
savages, and after breaking with them about three or four
arpents of ice that barred the river, that was as much as four
fingers thick and could bear a man's weight, we afterward
had free navigation to the Migissipi, which we reached on
the 5th of December after journeying about eighty leagues
from the fort of Pemiteouit.
The Migissipi is a fine, large river flowing from the north.
It divides into several channels at the spot where the River
of the Illinois faUs into it, forming very beautiful islands. It
winds several times, but seems always to keep its course to
the south as far as the Acansgas. It is bordered by very fine
woods. The banks on both sides seem about thirty feet high,
which does not prevent its overflowing them far into the woods
in the spring, when the waters are high, with the exception
of some hills or very high places that are sometimes met with.
All along the river are numbers of oxen, bears, deer, and also
a great many turkeys. We were always so well supplied with
meat, while descending the river as far as the Acansgas, that
1 December 3.
1698] THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 355
we passed many herds of oxen without attempting to fire at
them.
On the 6th of December we embarked on the Micissipi, and
after proceeding about six leagues we came to the great River
of the Myssouries, which flows from the west, and is so muddy
that it dirties the waters of the Micissipi, which until they
meet that river are very clear. It is reported that there are
great numbers of savages on the upper part of that river.
Three or four leagues lower down we saw, on the left bank, a
rock on which some figures are painted and for which the
savages are said to have a certain veneration.^ They are
now nearly effaced. We camped that day at the Kaouchias,
who were still in grief in consequence of the attack made upon
them by the Chikachas and the Chaouanons. On our ar-
rival they all began to weep. They did not seem to us to be
so evil-intentioned or so wicked as some Illinois savages had
sought to make us believe. The poor people excited our pity
more than our fears.
On the following day about noon we reached the Ta-
marois. These savages had received timely warning of our
arrival through some of the Kaoukias, who carried the news
to them, and as a year before they had molested Monsieur de
Tonty's men, they were afraid and all the children and women
fled from the village. The chief came with some of his people
to receive us on the water's edge and to invite us to their
village, but we did not go, because we wished to prepare for
the feast of the Conception. We camped on the other side
of the river on the right bank. Monsieur de Tonty went to
the village, and after re-assuring them to some extent, he
brought the chief, who begged us to go and see him in his
village. We promised to do so and on the following day,
the feast of the Conception,^ after saying our masses, we went
with Monsieur de Tonty and seven of our men well armed.
They came to meet us and led us to the chief's cabin. All
the women and children were there, and no sooner had we
entered the cabin than the young men and the women broke
away a portion of it to see us. They had never seen black
gowns, except for a few days Reverend Father Gravier, who
1 See p. 249, note 1, ante.
^ December 8.
356 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1698
had made a journey to their country. They gave us food and
we gave them a small present, as we had done to the Kaouchias.
We told them that it was to show them that our hearts were
without guile, and that we wished to effect an alliance with
them, so that they might give a good reception to our people
who would pass there and supply them with food. They re-
ceived the gift with many thanks and after that we returned
to our camp.
The Tamarois were camped on an island about [blank in
MS.] lower than the village, probably in order to obtain
wood more easily than in their village, which is on the edge
of a prairie and some distance away, probably through fear
of their enemies. We were unable to ascertain whether they
were very numerous; there seemed to be a great many of
them, although the majority of their people were away hunt-
ing. There would be enough for a rather fine mission, by
bringing to it the Kaouchias, who live quite near, and the
Mechigamias, who live a httle lower down the Migissipi, and
who are said to be pretty numerous. We did not see them
because they had gone into the interior to hunt. The three
villages speak the Illinois languages.
We left the Tamarois in the afternoon of the 8th of De-
cember. On the 10th we saw a hill at a distance of about
three arpents from the Migissipi, on the right side going down.
After being detained for some time on the 11th by rain, we
arrived early on the 12th at Cap St. Antoine,^ where we
spent the remainder of the day and the whole of the next,
collecting gum which we needed. There are many pines
between Cap St. Antoine and a river lower down, and this
is the only place where I saw any between Chikagou and the
Acansgas. Cap St. Antoine is a rocky bluff on the left bank
going down. Some arpents below it is another rock on the
right bank, which projects into the river and towards an
island or rather a rock about one hundred feet high, which
makes the river turn very short and narrows the channel,
1 Cape St. Antoine appears to have been just above the Grand Eddy in
Perry County, Missouri. The present name of the creek entering at this point —
Cape Cinq Homme Creek — is a corruption of the name St. Cosme, by which it
appears on early maps. It seems, therefore, to have been named for our nar-
rator.
1698] THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 357
causing a whirlpool in which it is said canoes are lost during
the high waters. On one occasion fourteen Miamis perished
there. This has caused the spot to be dreaded by the savages,
who are in the habit of offering sacrifices to that rock when
they pass there. We saw none of the figures that we were
told we should find there. We ascended this island or rock
with some difficulty by a hill and we planted a fine cross on
it, chanting the hymn Vexilla Regis, ^ while our people fired
three discharges from their guns. God grant that the Cross,
that has never yet been known in this place, may triumph
here, and that our Lord may abundantly spread the merits
of His Holy Passion, so that all these savages may know and
serve him. Canes begin to be seen at Cap St. Antoine. There
is also a kind of a tree, as large as and similar to the linden,
which exudes a sort of sweet-scented gum. Along the Migis-
sipi also grow a number of fruit-trees unknown in Canada,
some of whose fruit we still found occasionally on the trees.
I forgot to state that as soon as we were on the Micissipi we
no longer perceived that it was the winter season, and the
further we descended the river the greater we found the
heat. The nights however are cool.
We left Cap St. Antoine on the 14th of December and on
the 15th we slept a league above the Ouabache.^ This is
a large and fine river on the left of the Miyissipi, which flows
from the north ; it is said to be five hundred leagues in length
and to take its source near the Sonontouans.^ By this river
one goes to the country of the Chaouanons who trade with
the English.^ On the 16th we left the Ouabache, and noth-
ing particular happened to us nor did we observe anything
remarkable until we reached the Akansgas, except that we
killed a certain bird almost as large as a swan, with a beak about
a foot long and a throat of extraordinary size. Some are
caid to have throats large enough to hold a bushel of corn.
The one we killed was small and its throat could easily have
contained half a bushel of corn. It is said that this bird
1 See p. 218, note 1, ante. ^ Ohio; see p. 250, note 1.
*The habitat of the Seneca (Sonontouans) was on the headwaters of the
Allegheny River.
*The present Cumberland River was formerly known as the Shawnee
(Chaouanon) River.
358 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1698
places itself in a current and by opening its great beak it
catches the fish which it stuffs into its throat.^ Our French
called this bird Chictek. On the 22nd we came to a small
river 2 on the left going down, which is said to be the road
leading to the Chikachas, a numerous tribe. It is believed
that the distance from this small river to their villages is not
great.
On the 24th we camped early, in order that our people
might prepare for the great festival of Christmas. We erected
a small chapel and chanted a high mass at midnight, at which
all our French performed their devotions. Christmas Day
was spent in saying our masses, all of which were attended by
our people, and in the afternoon we chanted vespers. We
were greatly surprised to see the earth tremble about one
o'clock in the afternoon, and though the earthquake did not
last long it was severe enough and was easily felt by every-
body.^
On the following day we started at a somewhat late hour,
because we were obliged to wait for a little savage whom
Monsieur de Tonty had brought with him, and who on the
previous day had gone to the woods to look for fruit and had
lost himself. We thought he might have been captured by
some Chicachas or Acansgas warriors; this compelled us to
watch and be on guard all night. But we were greatly re-
joiced when we saw him return next day. We started and
slept at the place where the Kappas, a tribe of the Acansgas,
formerly dwelt.
On St. John's day,^ after travelling about five leagues,
we observed some wooden canoes and a savage at the water's
edge. As we were near and feared that he would take to flight
on seeing us, one of our men took the calumet and sang. He
was heard in the village, which was close by. Some fled, while
the others brought the calumet and came to receive us at the
water's edge. On approaching us they rubbed us and then
rubbed themselves, which is a mark of attention among sav-
1 This is the pelican (pelecanus erythrorhynchos).
2 The present Wolf River of Tennessee, at whose mouth stands Memphis.
This was known to the French explorers as Riviere a Margot.
' This was the region of the great earthquake of 1811.
* December 27.
1698] THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 359
ages. They took us on their shoulders and carried us into
the cabin of a chief. A hill of heav^^ soil had to be ascended,
and as he who carried me was sinking under the burden, I
feared that he would let me fall, so I got down in spite of him
and walked up the hill. But as soon as I reached the top I
was compelled to get on his back to be carried to the cabin.
The young men brought all our things into the same cabin.
Some time afterward they came to sing the calumet for us,
and in the evening of the following day they carried us to
another cabin, where they made Monsieur de Tonty and the
three of us sit on bear-skins; four chiefs each took a calumet
that they had placed before us, and the others began to sing
and beat drums made of earthenware jars over which a skin
is stretched. Each holds in his hand a gourd containing seeds
that make a noise, and as they sing in accord with the sound
of the drum and the rattle of the gourds, the result is a music
that is not the most agreeable. During this harmony a sav-
age who stood behind us bleated. We were soon tired of this
ceremony, which they perform for all strangers to whom they
wish to show consideration, and it must be endured unless
one wishes to be deemed evil-hearted or as harboring wicked
designs. After remaining a certain time, we put some of our
people in our place, and they had the pleasure of hearing the
lullaby throughout the night. On the following day they
made us a present of a little slave and of some skins, for which
we paid with a present of knives and other things that they
prize highly.
We were greatly consoled at seeing ourselves at the seat
of our missions, but we were deeply afflicted at finding this
nation of the Acansgas, formerly so numerous, entirely des-
troyed by war and by disease. Not a month had elapsed
since they had rid themselves of smallpox, which had carried
off most of them. In the village are now nothing but graves,
in which they were buried two together, and we estimated
that not a hundred men were left. All the children had died,
and a great many women. These savages seem to be of a
very kind disposition. We were invited at every moment
to feasts. Their honesty is extraordinary^ They transported
all our effects to a cabin where they remained two days with-
out anybody taking a thing, and even without a single article
360 EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST [1698
being lost. One of our people forgot his knife in a cabin and
a savage at once took it to him. Polygamy is not common
among them. We saw however in the village of the Kappas
one of those wretches who from their youth dress as girls and
pander to the most shameful of all vices. But this infamous
man was not of their nation; he belonged to the Illinois,
among whom the practice is quite common. The savages
have an abundance of corn, of beans, and of pumpkins. As
to meat, though they are in a country teeming with game, we
found none in their villages, owing to the fact that they were
weakened by disease and in continual dread of their enemies.
They make houses like the Hurons, making use of great earth-
enware pots instead of kettles, and of very well made jars for
holding water. I have not yet seen savages so well formed.
They are quite naked except that when they go out they wear
a buffalo robe. The women and girls are partly naked, as
among the Illinois. They wear a deer-skin hung over one
shoulder.
We remained two days and a half in this village, and after
planting a Cross in it, which we told the savages was to be the
sign of our union, we left on the 30th of November [December]
for their other village, about nine leagues distant from this one.
We were deeply grieved to have to part from Monsieur de
Tonty, who was unable to come with us for various reasons.
He would greatly have liked to accompany us to the other na-
tions whither we were going, but his affairs compelled him to
return as soon as possible to the Illinois country. He is the
man who best knows these regions ; he has twice gone down to
the sea ; he has been far inland to the most remote tribes, and
is beloved and feared everywhere. If it be desired to have dis-
coveries made in this country, I do not think the task could
be confided to a more experienced man than he. I have no
doubt, my lord, that your Grace will deem it a pleasure to
acknowledge the obligations we owe him.
We slept at the mouth of the river of the Acansgas,^ which
is a fine one and distant two hundred and fifty or three hun-
dred leagues from that of the Illinois. On the following day
we reached the village at an early hour. Six savages came to
meet us with the calumet, and led us to the village with the
1 The present Arkansas River.
1699] THE VOYAGE OF ST. COSME 361
same ceremonies as those observed at the first one. We
passed two days there. This village seemed to be more popu-
lous than the first ; there were more children in it. We told
them that we were going further down, to their neighbors and
friends ; that they would see us often ; that they would do
well to live together, and that they would thereby more easily
resist their enemies. They agreed to everything and promised
that they would try to bring with them the Osages/ who
had come from the River of the Missouris and were on the
upper portion of this river. We started on the 2nd of January^
and camped at the mouth of the river, where the French who
were returning would allow us but one day for writing. I
thought I should have more time to do so, as I hoped to go
up from the Acansgas to the Illinois, but, as we are going much
further down, I am afraid the letters we shall write after this
will not be received this year, for the persons by whom we
wished to send them will have left before we can reach the
Illinois. I therefore beg your Grace to excuse me if this one
be somewhat badly expressed, as I am so greatly pressed for
time that I cannot even write to one of our gentlemen, to
whom I beg you to allow me to send greetings, and to com-
mend myself to their holy prayers. I trust your Grace will be
pleased to grant me the same favor, and to remember before
our Lord him who remains, with very profound respect.
My lord.
Your Grace's very humble and very obedient servant,
J. F. BuissoN St. Cosme,
Priest, unworthy Missionary.
I have not time to reread this letter.
1 For this tribe see p. 313, note 1, ante. " 1699.
INDEX
Abenaki Indians, mission for, 160 n.;
in Illinois, 294; in fur trade, 331;
sketch, 294 n.
Acadia, missionary in, 338, 346 n.
Acansgas Indians, see Quapaw In-
dians.
Accault (Acau), Michel, explorer,
290, 331; sketch, 290 n.
Acolapissa Indians, see Quinipissa In-
dians.
Agonstot, Onondaga chief, 291.
Akamsea, Quapaw village, Marquette
at, 253-257; see also Quapaw In-
dians.
Akansas, see Arkansas Post.
Akensea Indians, see Quapaw Indians.
Albany, Dutch at, 21, 30, 309 n.
Alexandre, Brother, at Chicago, 347,
348.
AlgonJdn Indians, habitat, 11, 15 n.;
intertribal relations, 15; hostiUties
with Iroquois, 58, 63, 64.
Algonquian stock, Indians of, 15 n., 19,
20, 23 n., 24 n., 36 n., 45 n., 73 n.,
89 n., 95, 96, 252 n.; language, 24 n.,
25 n., 69, 96, 123, 128, 130, 135, 158,
163, 164, 167, 170, 171, 184, 207,
243; commerce with, 109; missions
for, 115, 160 n.
AHmouek Indians, see Illinois Indians.
Allegheny River, route to, 187 n.; In-
dians on, 357 n.
Alligators, La Salle sees, 298.
AUouez, Father Claude, explorer, 6;
Lake Superior journey, 93-137, 224,
227 n. ; Wisconsin journey, 140-160,
224, 233, 234 n.; in lUinois, 304,
311 n.; mentions the Mississippi,
130, 132, 136, 223; speeches, 109,
215,218-220; sketch, 96.
Allumettes Island, in the Ottawa, 15 n.
Alton (111.), pictographs near, 249 n.
Amherstburg (Ont.), Indians at, 119 n.
Amickkoick Indians, see Beaver In-
dians.
Amikoue Indians, see Beaver Indians.
Anadardo Indians, see Nadao Indians.
Anastatius, Father, see Douay.
Andastes (Antastogue, Antastouais,
Conestoga) Indians, intertribal re-
lations, 181, 187, 192; sketch, 176 n.
Andr6, Louis, Jesuit missionary, 160.
Apples, see Wild apples.
Appleton (Wis.), site, 150 n.
Arkansas, Indians in, 313 n.; St.
Cosme, 342.
Arkansas Indians, see Quapaw Indians.
Arkansas Post, 8, 284, 308, 311, 320,
321, 339> 343 n.
Arkansas River, 7; settlement on, 8,
284, 308,1 311, 339; Marquette
reaches, 254 n., 339; St. Cosme at,
342,360,361; Indians on, 361.
Arpent, term defined, 150 n.
Assiniboin (Assinipoualac) Indians, de-
scribed, 133, 134; Tonty among,
284; Duluth among, 326, 330;
sketch, 134 n.
Assiniboine River, mouth, 133.
Attikamegue (Poissons-blancs) In-
dians, habitat, 134.
Auguel, Antoine du Gay, with Henne-
pin, 331, 332.
BaiUoquet, Father Pierre, at Sault
Ste. Marie, 334.
Barbue, see Catfish.
Barthelemy, , Sulpitian at Mon-
treal, 169, 170.
Basswood-trees on the Wisconsin, 236;
on the Mississippi, 252.
Baugis (Bogis), ChevaHer de, in lUi-
nois, 305, 306, 311 n.
Baye des Puants, see Green Bay.
Beans, Indians raise, 244, 360.
Bears, on the Ottawa route, 41; at-
tack men, 133, 134; used as food,
148, 197, 204; on the Mississippi,
298, 302, 321, 354.
363
364
INDEX
Beaver (castor), in Ontario, 42, 197;
Illinois, 257; legend of, 144; hunted,
51, 262; eaten, 16; skins as pres-
ents, 266, 267, 292, 293; used in de-
fense, 60, 62; fur trade in, 46, 48,
53, 56, 57, 59, 60, 76, 90, 269, 326;
worn skins preferred, 73.
Beaver (Amickkoick, Amikoue) In-
dians, with Radisson, 58, 59; mis-
sion for, 206.
Beaver Lake, see Lake Nipissing.
BeUefontaine, Sieur de, at Fort St.
Louis, 308.
Berdashes, among Indians, 244, 360.
Berlin (Wis.), 84 n., 233 n.
Beverly swamp, in Ontario, 189 n.
Big Creek, in Ontario, 200.
Big (Michigame) Lake, in Arkansas,
253 n.
Big Osage River, 313 n.
Binneteau (Binnetost), Julien, mis-
sionary, 346, 348, 350, 351, 354;
sketch, 346 n.
Black Hawk, Sauk chief, 81 n.
Black River, Huron on, 95.
Blackberries, present of, 178.
Blair, Emma Helen, Indian Tribes of
the Upper Mississippi and Region of
the Great Lakes, 71, 72, 215.
Blueberries, present of, 178, 266.
Bodleian Library, Radisson manu-
scripts in, 32.
Bois Brule River, route via, 331,
Boisrondet, Sieur de, with Tonty, 295.
Bolton, Herbert E., discovers site of
La Salle's lost colony, 317 n.; site of
his death, 319; Spanish Exploration
in the Southwest, 228 n.
Boughton Hill (N. Y.), Indian village
on, 179 n.
Brasse, term defined, 104.
Brazos River, La Salle's death on,
319 n.
Bristol township (N. Y.), spring in,
182 n.
British, see English.
British Museum, manuscripts in, 32.
Brittany, explorers from, 163, 164.
Brul6 River, see Bois Brul6 River.
Buffalo (wild oxen), hunted, 48, 51, 84;
Sioux word for, 48 n.; Spanish word,
302 n.; described, 49, 52, 237, 238,
350; on the Ottawa, 57; on the
Illinois, 257, 266, 350; in Wisconsin,
264; at Chicago, 265; among the
Quapaw, 298, 302; on the Missis-
sippi, 354; robes, 85, 255, 266;
tongues, 267, 350.
Buffalo Indians, 48.
Butterfield, Consul W., History of the
Discovery of the Northwest by Jean
Nicolet in 1634, 14.
Cache, made by Indians, 41; at Chi-
cago, 347; described, 289 n.
Cactus, on the Mississippi, 248.
Cadadoquis Indians, see Kadohadacho
Indians.
Caddoan Indians, stock, 312 n., 314 n.
Cadillac, Antoine La Mothe, sieur de,
at Detroit, 119 n.
Cahokia (Kaoukia) Indians, branch of
the Illinois, 297 n.; habitat, 351 n.,
355; intertribal relations, 351, 355;
mission for, 340, 356.
Calumet Rapids, in the Ottawa, 57.
Calumets, described, 49 n., 84, 245;
made of stone, 62, 75 n.; ceremonial
use, 75 n., 77, 78, 85, 86, 130, 239,
240, 244, 245, 253, 255, 288, 289,
298, 301, 311, 316, 332, 358, 360.
Canada (New France), founders, 3, 4;
struggle with the Iroquois, 15 n., 29;
captured by Enghsh (1629), 11, 19;
importance of fur trade in, 29, 35,
63, 69, 309 n.; governors, 6, 35, 70,
71, 77, 100, 163, 168, 227 n.; in-
tendant, 213; first bishop, 169, 337.
Canandaigua (N. Y.), 182 n.
Canes, on the Mississippi, 251, 302, 357.
Canoes, description of, 172, 173; of
wood, 300, 309.
Cape Cinq Homme Creek, 356 n.
Cape Diggs (Digue), on Hudson
Strait, 73.
Cape St. Antoine (St. Cosme) on the
Mississippi, 356, 357.
Cape St. Ignace, Allouez passes, 143.
Capiche Indians, habitat, 314.
Cappa Indians, see Quapaw Indians.
Carheil (Careil), Father fitienne, 342 n.
Carignan regiment, arrives in Canada,
69, 100 n., 342 n.
Carolina, Indians near, 89; Tonty ex-
plores, 307.
INDEX
365
Castor, see Beaver.
Cat Rapids, see Les Chats.
Cataraqui, see Fort Frontenac.
Catfish (barbue), in the St. Lawrence,
174; in the Mississippi, 237.
Cattle, see Buffalo.
Caughnawaga, mission colony, 91 n.
CaveUer, , La Salle's nephew, 317.
CaveUer, Jean, brother of La Salle,
164, 168, 311, 312, 315, 317-319;
goes to Ilhnois, 320; narrative, 340.
Cayuga Creek, 287 n.
Cenis (Hasinai) Indians, habitat, 312 n.
Chachagwessiou, an Ilhnois Indian,
263, 266.
Chagouamikon Bay, see Chequamegon
Bay.
Chakchiuma (Chachouma) Indians,
hostihties with, 313.
Champlain, Samuel de, explorer, 4, 11,
12, 223.
Chaouanon Indians, see Shawnee In-
dians.
Charbonneau, , with St. Cosme,
349, 354.
Charles II., Radisson serves, 31, 32.
Chartres (France), native of, 169 n.
Cheneaux Islands, of Lake Hiu-on, 143.
Chequamegon (Chagouamikon) Bay,
81; Indian refugees at, 36 n., 73, 96,
107, 116 n.; mission on, 6, 96, 97,
107, 115-123, 141; Allouez on, 107,
115, 116; Marquette on, 141, 224,
229; village on, 116 n., 119.
Cherbourg (France), native, 11.
Cherokee Indians, 252 n.
Chestnuts, in Ontario, 196.
Chicago (Chikagou), pine-trees at,
356; Indians, 23 n. ; battle near, 152
n.; fort at, 307; mission, 345-347;
Marquette winters at, 261, 265-268,
270, 271; St. Cosme at, 338, 345-
348; see also Chicago-Des Plaines
Portage and Chicago River.
Chicago-Des Plaines Portage, 8; La
Salle, 296; Marquette at, 225, 257,
265, 268; St. Cosme, 347, 348.
Chicago Historical Society, 341.
Chicago River, route via, 7, 296, 347;
Tonty at, 304, 307; Indian villages
on, 346.
Chickasaw (Chikachas) Indians, habi-
tat, 252 n., 297, 358; aUied tribes,
313 n.; intertribal relations, 351,
355.
Chictek, word for peUcan, 358.
Chikachas Indians, see Chickasaw In-
dians.
China, route to, 164, 168, 223, 227;
missionary in, 340.
Chincapin, on the Mississippi, 248.
Chiouanon Indians, see Shawnee In-
dians.
Chippewa County (Mich.), 143.
Chippewa (Ojibway, Outchibouec,
Saulteur, Sauteux) Indians, names,
207; first met, 23, 24; intertribal
relations, 50, 51, 58, 73 n., 89, 90;
description of, 50; hunting-party,
215; mission for, 135, 207; sketch,
23 n.
Chitimacha Indians, murder St. Cosme,
340.
Choctaw Indians, 301 n., 308 n., 313 n.
Choye Indians, Tonty among, 314.
Christinaux (Cree, Kilistinon, Kiris-
tinon) Indians, habitat, 24, 46, 133;
intertribal relations, 48, 50-52, 134
n.; Radisson visits, 50, 51; reports
on Hudson Bay, 64, 133; character-
ized, 134; mission for, 134; fur trade
party, 206, 207; sketch, 24 n.
Citruelles, see Pumpkins.
Colbert, Jean Baptiste, French minis-
ter, 213, 286, 329 n.
Company of New France, 15, 164.
Conception River, name for Missis-
sippi, 230.
Cond6, Louis de Bourbon, Prince de,
French general, 329 n.
Conestoga Indians, see Andastes In-
dians.
Conti, Prince de, 286.
Copper, in Lake Superior, 105, 113,
136, 191; inlUinois, 303; transporta-
tion of, 192.
Coroa Indians, see Koroa Indians.
Coronado, Francisco Vasquez de, ex-
plorations, 228 n.
Cottonwood-trees, on the Mississippi,
252.
Courcelles, Daniel de Remy, sieur de,
governor of New France, 78, 168;
encourages La Salle, 168, 169;
sketch, 168 n.
Coureurs des bois, edict against, 330.
366
INDEX
Couture, , in Illinois, 311, 312.
Coyne, James H., editor, 166, 200 n.,
209 n.
Cramoisy, Sebastien, publisher, 13, 97,
216.
Cranberries, in Ontario, 196.
Cree Indians, see Christinaux Indians.
Cumberland (Chaouanon, Shawnee)
River, Indians on, 90 n., 357.
"Cut Tails" Indians, see Kiskakon
Indians,
Dablon, Father Claude, at Sault Ste.
Marie, 141, 207; in Wisconsin, 224;
narrative, 227, 228, 261, 269-280;
superior, 261, 262, 269.
Dakota, Indians of, 24 n.
Dakotan (Siouan) stock, Indians of,
16 n., 254 n.
Davion, Father Antoine, missionary,
338, 339, 342 n., 346, 348.
Decharges, term explained, 42 n.
Deer, kiUed, 51, 196, 202, 204, 263;
drowned, 189; abundance of, 197;
near Lake Chicago, 268; on Illinois
River, 257, 266, 349, 351, 354; near
Lake Erie, 197, 201; Lake Ontario,
188; on Mississippi River, 237, 298,
354; in Wisconsin, 236, 263, 264.
Delaware (Loup) Indians, habitat, 181
n.; on DenonviUe's expedition, 308.
Delaware River, Indians on, 181 n.
Delta County (Mich.), 343 n., 344 n.
DenonviUe, Jacque Rene de Brisay,
marquis, governor of Canada, 306-
308, 312; expedition against the'
Iroquois, 70, 306 n., 308-310, 327,
334 n.; leaves Canada, 71; sketch,
306 n.
De Pere (Wis.), mission at, 97, 150 n.,
225, 262 n., 344 n.
Des Moines River, Indians on, 239 n.
De Soto, Hernando, death, 254 n.
Des Plaines River, route via, 7, 347,
348; described, 349; see also Chi-
cago-Des Plaines Portage.
Des Puans River, see Fox River.
Detour, in Chippewa County (Mich.),
143.
Detroit River, discovered, 5; settle-
ment on, 119 n.; Tonty at, 287, 308,
309; Duluth at, 309, 311.
Dogs, 322; used in sacrifices, 112, 134;
eaten at feasts, 182, 242, 285, 308.
DoUard, Des Ormeaux de, defends
Long Sault, 99 n.
Dollier de Casson, Frangois, explora-
tions, 5, 161-209, 223; praises GaU-
nee's narrative, 165; among Nipis-
sing, 167; illness, 177; sketch, 164.
Door County (Wis.), portage through,
263 n., 295 n. ; village in, 344 n.
Douay, Father Anastase, with Cave-
Her, 311; with La SaUe, 217-219;
confesses miu-derers, 320; sketch,
317 n.
Douglas Coimty (Wis.), stream in,
331 n.
Druillettes, Gabriel, Jesuit missionary,
160.
Ducks, on Fox River, 232; on Illinoia
River, 257, 268, 269, 354; on Mil-
waukee River, 345.
Du Haut, , La SaUe's miu-derer,
317-319; killed, 320.
Duluth, Daniel Greysolon, sieur, ex-
plorations, 7, 323-334; rescues Hen-
nepin, 287 n.; on DenonviUe's ex-
pedition, 309-311; sketch, 325-328.
Duluth (Minn.), 328.
Dutch, at Albany, 21 ; rescue Radisson,
30; as interpreters, 171, 181, 184,
187, 190; trade with Seneca, 182,
183, 188, 192, 193; as guides, 195,
196; in Northwest fur trade, 309 n.,
327, 331.
Earthquake, on the Mississippi, 358.
Eclipse of sun, noted by AUouez, 150,
151.
Eland, see Moose.
Elgin County (Ontario), 202 n.
Elk, on the Illinois, 257; drowned, 189.
Elm-trees, on the Mississippi, 252.
English, capture Canada, 11, 19; take
fort, 287 n.; in Hudson Bay, 326,
345 n.; in fur trade, 309, 327, 328,
331, 357.
Enjalran, Jean, Jesuit missionary, 334.
Erie (Presque Isle, Pa.), route via,
187 n.
Escanaba (Mich.), 344 n.
Esquimaux life, 73.
Essex Coimty (Ontario), 202 n.
INDEX
367
Faillon, Abbe Michel E., Histoire de la
Colonie Frangaise en Canada, 209.
Falconer, Thomas, On the Discovery of
the Mississippi, 285.
Fenelon, Frangois de Sahgnac, abb^
de, in America, 163, 171 n.; sketch,
193 n.
Fire Nation Indians, see Mascoutin In-
dians.
First landing isle, Radisson on, 53, 54.
Fish Creek, on Chequamegon Bay,
116 n.
Florida, exploration toward, 169.
Folle Avoine Indians, see Menominee
Indians.
Fort Beanharnois, among the Sioux,
341.
Fort Crdvecoeur, built, 289; destroyed,
290 n.
Fort des Sables, in New York, 310.
Fort Detroit, see Fort St. Joseph.
Fort Frontenac, La Salle at, 286, 287-
291, 296; La Forest, 306; Denon-
ville, 310; Duluth, 327; sketch, 286 n.
Fort Gratiot, site, 309.
Fort Prud'homme, location, 297; La
Salle at, 304.
Fort St. Antoine, Mississippi post, 70.
Fort St. Etienne, foimded, 308 n.;
see also Arkansas Post.
Fort St. Joseph, at Detroit, 309, 327.
Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois, 8, 97,
284, 296 n., 302, 307; built, 305;
Tonty commands, 305, 306, 310;
Cavelier'sparty at, 311; abandoned,
350.
Fort Wayne (Ind.), 342 n.
Fox (Outagami, Renard, Reynards)
Indians, original home, 170, 171;
Wisconsin habitat, 128, 332 n., 344;
village, 81 n., 146, 345; numbers,
128, 151; customs, 129; rehgion,
113; intertribal relations, 73 n., 76,
81, 152-154, 344; Perrot among, 71,
81, 82; Allouez, 97, 146 n., 149, 151-
155; hostile to French, 338, 344;
sketch, 76 n.
Fox (Pesioui, Pestekouy) River (lU.),
338, 345 n.
Fox (Des Puans, St. Francis) River
(Wis.), 6, 7, 12, 147 n., 149, 150 n.;
rapids, 150, 224, 233; descent of,
158; Indian villages on, 45 n., 84 n..
150, 332 n.; Marquette on, 232-235,
263; upper river, 151 n., 154 n., 155;
route via, 338, 344.
Fox- Wisconsin Portage, 7, 8, 344;
Marquette at, 235.
Franciscans, see Recollects.
Franquehn, Jean Baptiste, map, 305 n.
Fremin, Father Jacques, among the
Iroquois, 181.
French, Benjamin F., editor, 285.
French archives, 283, 285; see also
Paris.
French Creek, in Pennsylvania, 187 n.
French River (des Franyais), aflHuent
of Georgian Bay, 42 n., 102, 208.
Frontenac, Louis de Buade, Count de,
governor of Canada, 71, 72, 193 n.,
223, 286, 293; armorial bearings,
287 n. ; sends JoUiet and Marquette,
227, 228; superseded, 305 n.; re-
turns, 306 n., 327; patron of Duluth,
325, 327, 334 n.; sketch, 227.
Fur-trade, in the Northwest, 5, 6, 73,
191, 284, 326; at Montreal, 34, 63;
Three Rivers, 29, 30, 34; impor-
tance to Canada, 29, 31, 35, 63, 69;
preparations for, 87, 90-92; de-
scribed, 80; furs biu-ned, 70, 71;
rivab-y in, 309, 327, 331; prices, 207.
Gabriel, Father, see La Ribourde.
GaHn^e, Rene de Brehant de, selected
to go on expedition, 170; explora-
tions, 5, 161-209, 223, 224; manu-
script, 165, 166; map, 193, 195, 202,
208, 209; sketch, 164.
Ganastogu6, see Tinawatawa.
Garcitas River, La SaUe's colony on,
317 n.
Garnier, Charles, Jesuit martyr, 119,
120; sketch, 119 n.
Garreau, Father Leonard, killed, 95.
Geese, see Wild geese.
Genesee River, Indian village on, 287 n.
Geneva (N. Y.), site, ISO n.
Georgian Bay (Lake of Staring Hairs),
16; mission on, 4, 19, 43, 95; de-
scribed, 42-44; traversed, 205.
Gode, a sea-bird, 74.
Gold mines, reported, 228.
Gossehn, Mgr. A. E., acknowledg-
ments to, 341.
368
INDEX
Grand Chute (Ooukocitiming), Fox
River site, 150.
Grand Eddy, in the Mississippi, 356 n.
Grand River, of Ontario, Galinee on,
194, 195.
Grand River, see Ottawa River.
Grapes, see Wild grapes.
Gravier, Father Jacques, at Mackinac,
311; in the Illinois, 356; letter, 340,
342 n.; sketch, 311 n.
Great Lakes, discovery, 3, 4, 32; ex-
ploration of, 166; tides in, 232 n;
see also the several lakes.
Great Miami River, 155 n.
Great Salt Lake, referred to, 333.
Green Bay (Bale des Puants), 4, 12,
149; water stagnant, 146; tides in,
232; aboriginal name, 123 n., 142,
232; buffalo on, 52; traverse of,
343; route via, 7, 230-232; de-
scribed, 344; Indians on, 23 n., 46 n.,
70, 74, 76 n., 81 n., 82, 89, 96, 147 n.,
214, 215; fur trade, 5, 46, 81; mis-
sions on, 70, 76, 97, 141, 230; Mar-
quette visits, 207, 262, 270; La
Salle, 288 n.; Tonty, 295, 296; com-
mandant, 70.
Green Lake County (Wis.), 233 n.
Grenadier Island, Indian name for, 174.
Grenville Canal, on Ottawa River, 99 n.
Griffin, built, 287; lost, 290.
Grizzly bears, tradition of, 133, 134.
Grollet, , deserter, 319 n.
GrosseiUiers, Medart Chouart, sieur de,
explorer, 5, 6, 29-65; among Huron,
30, 55 n.; sketch, 30.
Grundy County (111.), 350 n.
Guignas, Father Michel, narrative, 341,
Gulf of California (Vermillion Sea),
route to, 168, 227, 249, 250, 333.
Gulf of Mexico, tributaries, 225, 249;
Marquette nears, 256; exploration
of, 286, 307; La Salle on, 311.
Gulf of St. Lawrence, 74 n.
Harrisse, Henry, Notes sur la Nouvelle
France, 209 n., 328.
Hasinai Indians, see Cenis Indians.
Hennepin, Father Louis, gives geo-
graphical name, 204 n. ; explorations,
290; rescued, 326, 331-333; in bat-
tle, 329 n.; narrative, 283; New Dis-
covery, 332 n.; sketch, 287 n.
Hiens, , with La Salle, 319; kills
his murderers, 320.
Hodge, Frederick W., Journey of Coro-
nado, 226 n.
Holy Spirit Mission, see Chequamegon
Bay.
Honeoye (N. Y.), 182 n.
Honniasontkeron Indians, see Shawnee
Indians.
Houebaton Indians, see Wahpeton In-
dians.
Houston County (Tex.), 312 n.
Hudson Bay, affluents, 133, 144 n.;
Radisson in, 31, 64; Indians see
ships in, 48 n., 133; French traders
in, 72, 73; Indians from, 135; Eng-
Msh in, 326.
Hudson Strait, 73 n.
Hudson's Bay Company, founder of,
31, 32.
Huma (Ouma) Indians, Tonty among,
308; sketch, 308 n.
Huron Indians, Nicolet among, 11, 16;
Radisson, 45, 46, 50; missions for, 4,
19-25, 30, 34, 43, 95, 115, 206, 278,
334; attacked by Iroquois, 29, 54,
58, 59, 95; flee to Wisconsin, 48, 61,
73, 95, 206; intertribal relations, 83,
309; treatment of Allouez, 99; lan-
guage, 252; sketch, 16 n.
Huron Island, 80.
Huronia, location, 19, 20; missiona-
ries at, 21, 25.
Hyroquois Indians, see Iroquois In-
dians.
IberviUe, Jacques Le Moyne, sieur d',
in Hudson Bay, 72, 345 n.; in Louis-
iana, 301 n., 317 n., 340.
lUmouec Indians, see lUinois Indians.
IlHnois (Islinois), Indians of, 16, 154 n.;
Cavelier in, 320; La SaUe, 296 n.;
Tonty, 284, 288-294, 307, 308, 321,
353, 360.
Illinois Historical Collections, 285.
Illinois (Alimouec, Ilimouec, Irinon,
IsUnois) Indians, stock, 45 n., 252 n.;
clans, 297 n., 351 n.; habitat, 24,
130, 257, 266, 305, 312, 338; lan-
guage, 130, 243, 253, 356; religious
belief, 113; intertribal relations, 81,
83 n., 130, 158, 255, 289, 291-293,
303; missions for, 97, 131, 229, 230,
INDEX
369
261-272, 279, 311 n., 345 n., 350-353;
Marquette among, 239-247, 257,
261-272, 279; accompany Tonty,
307-309; characterized, 243-247;
sketch, 24 n.
Illinois River, route via, 7, 225, 257,
289, 296, 338; fort on, 8, 284, 290 n.,
350; Indians on, 243 n., 257 n.;
branches of, 289 n., 345, 347-349;
mouth, 302, 312, 344, 354; described,
302, 303; St. Cosme on, 349-355;
head of navigation, 350; ice in, 354.
Immaculate Conception mission,
founded, 230, 262, 269, 279.
Indian corn, term for, 83; raised by
Indians, 24, 123, 129, 153, 176, 180,
234, 244, 255, 260; used on journey,
53, 54, 174, 175, 186, 201, 229; pres-
ent of, 178, 182, 266, 267; cache of,
289; feast of, 300.
Indiana, Indians in, 23 n., 154 n.; La
Salle crosses, 290 n.
Indians:
Physical characteristics, 82, 233, 234;
beardless, 45, 46, 129; head-flat-
tening, 297; body-painting, 80, 84,
243, 252, 316; dress, 244, 252, 255,
299, 360; hair-dressing, 252, 255;
ornamentation, 44, 242, 244.
Primitive conditions, 81, 82; imple-
ments, 81, 87, 146; food, 84, 85,
132, 133, 145, 153, 174, 231, 242,
255, 360; wild rice gathering, 230,
231; fire-making, 85; cooking,
182; agriculture, 24, 82, 123, 129,
132, 146, 153, 176, 244, 300.
Possessions, snow-shoes, 173; canoes,
172, 173; horses, 316, 317, 320;
wigwams, 132, 153f, 234, 244, 255,
299, 315, 360; villages, 179, ISO;
weapons, 109, 130, 132, 243, 244,
246,315; armor, 320; fishing tools,
150.
Customs, welcoming ceremonies, 205,
240, 359; travelling, 173; smok-
ing, 180; calumet rites, 49, 74 n.,
77, 78, 85, 86, 130, 239, 240, 244,
245, 255, 258, 288, 289, 298, 301,
311, 316, 332, 358, 360; dances,
77, 91, 130, 244-247; songs, 86, 90-
92, 247, 358; feasts, 87, 90-92,
111, 114, 128, 131, 182, 242, 300;
cannibaUsm, 45, 133, 186; treat-
ment of prisoners, 39, 45, 61, 90,
183-186; slavery, 51, 241, 243,
359; drunkenness, 183; present-
giving, 88, 89, 109, 178, 181, 190,
241, 359; picture-writing, 248,
249, 355.
Mental characteristics, 83, 88, "^123,
146, 153, 352; courtesy, 123, 124,
156; honesty, 359, 360; revenge,
177.
Family and tribal life, clan system,
82 n.; polygamy, 113, 116, 122,
123, 151, 153, 243, 303; treat-
ment of women, 263; position of
chiefs, 88, 244, 299, 300; women
chiefs, 315, 353.
Religion and mortuary customs, re-
Ugion, 90, 111-114, 129-131, 134,
246, 298, 299; sun-worship, 299,
300, 303; temples, 315; idols,
112, 123, 129, 204; snake-wor-
ship, 131, 132; priests, 111, 315;
superstitions, 73, 74, 77, 80, 105,
113; sacrifices, 46, 75, 103, 104,
111, 112, 125, 129-131, 134, 204,
234, 300, 357; influence of dreams,
112, 113, 131, 246; legends, 124,
125, 143, 144, 349; medicine-men,
103, 106, 113, 114, 117, 121, 127,
244; medicine bag, 87; beUef in
future hfe, 112, 132; mourning
customs, 44; feast for dead, 20,
21, 23; cremation, 124, 125.
Intertribal relations, trade, 36 n., 46,
47, 81, 84, 89, 243, 255.
Relations to whites, first meet, 16, 74,
75, 107, 151; treatment, 77, 80,
85-88, 129, 151, 155, 179, 359;
French goods among, 73, 87; fur-
trade with, 5, 6, 29, 30, 34, 80;
acquire smaU-pox from, 134 n.,
359.
Interpreters, trained for discovery, 4,
11, 15, 69; at peace conference, 71;
Dutch as, 171, 181, 184, 187, 190.
Iowa, Indians in, 76 n.; discoverers, 32;
Marquette in, 239.
Iowa River, Indians on, 239 n.
Iron mines, on the Mississippi, 251.
Irondequoit (Karontagouat) River, Ga-
Un6e on, 177, 178 n.; Denonville'a
expedition, 310 n.
Iroquoian stock, 16 n., 176 n., 252 n.
370
INDEX
Iroquois (Hyroquois, Iroquoit) In-
dians, clans, 170 n., 180; habitat,
176, 188, 287; language, 168, 171;
Algonquian name for, 50; hunting
party, 197, 201; canoes, 172; French
hostilities with, 29, 31, 36-39, 44, 53-
64, 69, 76 n., 99 n., 100 n., 134 n.,
135, 153, 227 n., 291-293, 306, 308,
327, 343; feared by other tribes, 79,
89, 121, 289, 305; attack Hui-on
missions, 19, 29, 95, 119; martyr
Jogues, 21; capture Radisson, 30,
32, 59; defeat Foxes, 152-154; in-
tertribal relations, 15 n., 34, 76 n.,
89, 130, 155, 190, 191, 250, 251, 304;
expeditions against, 70, 109, 190,
190 n., 227 n., 327; Tonty among,
291-293, 353; war party, 304; mis-
sions for, 175, 181, 277; mission col-
ony, 91 n.; peace with, 71, 72, 154,
168 n., 227 n.; sketch, 15 n.
Iskousogos Indians, see Mascoutin In-
dians.
Iskoutegas Indians, see Mascoutin In-
dians.
Isle k la Cache, in Illinois, 349.
Isle aux Cerfs, in Ilhnois, 348.
Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, 136.
Issati (Izatys) Indians, branch of
Sioux, 330.
Jacker, Rev. Edward, discovers Mar-
quette's remains, 277 n.
Jacob's-staff, astronomical instrument,
177, 178 n.
Jacques, accompanies Marquette, 262,
265-267, 270, 272-275, 279.
James II. of England, 32.
"Jerk," prepared, 174, 175 n.
Jesuit Relations, described, 13; au-
thors of, 181 n.; cited, 12, 14-16, 21-
25, 31, 55 n., 69, 97-137, 132 n., 141-
160, 216-220, 226-247 n., 261-280,
342 n.
Jesuits, missions described, 13, 163,
175, 181, 230; donnes, 30, 55 n., 190
n.; enter Canada, 19; on Georgian
Bay, 4, 16-25, 43, 95; at Sault Ste.
Marie, 160, 165, 205-207, 213-220,
334 n.; on Lake Superior, 95-137,
224; at St. Ignace, 7, 160 n., 224,
225, 229, 334; in Wisconsin, 81 n.,
141-160, 232, 261, 296, 344, 345
n.; in Illinois, 311 n., 338, 340, 350-
352; at Chicago, 346-348; at Mon-
treal, 226; Quebec, 19, 21, 25 n., 96,
137 n., 160 n., 168, 169, 181 n., 334
n.; killed by Iroquois, 21, 29, 95,
119; see also Missions.
Jesus Island, near Montreal, 36 n.
Jogues, Father Isaac, at Sault Ste.
Marie, 5, 21, 24; among Petun In-
dians, 119 n.; Iroquois mission, 175
n.; martyrdom, 21; narrative, 22-
25; sketch, 20.
Jolliet, Louis, at head of Lake Ontario,
191-194; with St. Lusson, 213-215,
224; discovers the Mississippi, 6, 7,
74 n.; Mississippi voyage, 221-257;
journals lost, 225, 228; sketch, 191 n.
Jones, Father Arthm- E., archivist, 226;
cited, 235 n.
Joutel, Henri, in Illinois, 311 n.; narra-
tive, 283.
Kadohadocho (Cadadoquis) Indians,
intertribal relations, 312; as guides,
313; Tonty visits, 314-316, 320;
sketch, 312 n.
Kakinanpol Indians, identified, 351.
Kankakee (TeatUd) River, portage to,
289 n.; mouth of, 349.
Kansas, Indians in, 23 n.; Coronado,
228 n.
Kaoukia Indians, see Cahokia Indians.
Kappa (Kapa) Indians, see Quapaw In-
dians.
Karezi Indians, Allouez hears of, 133.
Karontagouat River, see Irondequoit
River.
Kaskaskia Indians, on Illinois River,
225, 257, 262; tribe unites with,
253 n.; chief, 351, 352; sketch, 257 n.
Kaskaskia River, Indians on, 257 n.,
351 n.
Kaukauna (KekaUng) Rapids, on Fox
River, 150.
Kekaling, see Kaukauna.
Kente Bay, see Quints Bay.
Keshena reservation, in Wisconsin, 76 n.
Kettle Creek (Ontario), explorers on,
202 n.
Kewaunee (Wis.), site, 344 n.
Keweenaw (Ste. Th4r6se) Bay, Me-
nard at, 95, 106.
Keweenaw County (Mich.), 136 n.
INDEX
371
Kickapoo (Kikabou) Indians, inter-
tribal relations, 81, 83, 351; lan-
guage, 157; Marquette describes,
233, 234; kiU Father Gabriel, 294;
sketch, 157 n.
Kikabous Indians, see Kickapoo In-
dians.
Kjllistinon Indians, see Christinaux In-
dians.
Kingston (Ontario), mission near, 171
n.; fort at, 286 n.
Kipikaoui River, see Root River.
Kiristiaon Indians, see Christinaux In-
dians.
Kiskakon (Kiskakoumac, Ticacon) In-
dians, Ottawa clan, 58, 121; remove
Marquette's remains, 276.
Kitchigamich Indians, Allouez among,
157.
Koroa (Coroa) Indians, Tonty meets,
313; visit to, 320, 321; sketch, 313 n.
La Barre, Antoine Lef^bvre, governor
of New France, 70, 305, 306; sketch,
305 n.
La Belle Riviere, see Ohio River.
Lachine (Canada), origin of term, 164.
La Conception mission, see Immacu-
late Conception.
La Durantaye, OUvier Morel, sieur de,
at Mackinac, 305; at Chicago, 307;
on DenonviUe's expedition, 309;
sketch, 305 n.
La Forest, Guillaume de, with La SaUe,
296; joins Tonty, 306, 308, 309, 311;
fails to return, 312; sketch, 296.
La Gasparde, on Green Bay, 262.
Lahontan, Louis Armand, baron de, at
Fort St. Joseph, 309 n.; New Voy-
ages, 342 n.
Lake Alimibegong, see Lake Nipigon.
Lake Butte des Morts, 151 n.
Lake Champlain, discovered, 4, 11.
Lake County (III), 345 n.
Lake des Chaudieres, 100.
Lake des Puans, see Lake Winnebago.
Lake Erie, discovered, 5, 165, 195; In-
dians of, 16 n., 29; map of, 165;
route to, 187, 194, 327; outlet, 188;
portage from, 192; voyage on, 198-
204, 287, 309, 311.
Lake Frontenac, see Lake Ontario.
Lake Huron, size, 43, 204, 205; basin,
21; affluents, 288; outlet, 203, 204,
327; islands in, 36 n.; discovered, 4,
5, 11; route to, 208; traversed, 24,
25, 104, 205, 230; Indians flee from,
73, 95, 121; AUouez on, 102, 104;
GrosseiUiers, 34; Radisson, 40, 41 n.,
47; St. Lusson, 217; English taken
on, 309; feast for dead on shore of,
20, 21.
Lake Michigan (of the Illinois), size,
143; tides in, 268; landing from,
346; discovery of, 4, 5, 12; Indians
on, 23 n., 24 n., 123, 128; battle on,
152 n.; Allouez on, 143; La Salle,
288; Marquette, 225, 230, 257, 261,
263-265, 270, 272-274, 278; Radis-
son, 47; St. Cosme, 338, 343-346;
Tonty, 294.
Lake Mille Lac, village on, 330 n.
Lake Muskego (Wis.), 345 n.
Lake Nipigon (Alimibegong), Indians
on, 135; Indian legend about, 144;
Allouez visits, 137, 141; fort on,
327, 328.
Lake Nipissing (Nipissinguie), 20, 41,
102; size, 42; route via, 208; pesti-
lence on, 331.
Lake of the Illinois (Ilimouek), see
Lake Michigan.
Lake of Staring Hairs, see Georgian
Bay.
Lake Ontario (Frontenac), affluent,
188; discovered, 5, 165, 174, 175;
Indians near, 15, 188; mission on,
163, 171 n., 189 n.; map of, 165;
JoUiet on, 192; fort, 287 n., 327; La
Salle, 296.
Lake Pistakee, 345 n.
Lake Pontchartrain, Indians on, 301 n.
Lake St. Clair (Salt Water), voyage
through, 204; named, 204 n.
Lake St. Francis, on the St. Lawrence,
174.
Lake St. Francois, in Wisconsin, see
Lake Winnebago.
Lake St. Joseph, in Louisiana, 299 n.
Lake St. Louis, in the St. Lawrence, 36,
174.
Lake Simcoe, 19, 296 n.
Lake Superior (Tracy), size, 104;
shape, 104; legend about, 144; out-
let, 4, 5, 21, 104, 207, 224, 288; cop-
372
INDEX
per in, 105, 113, 136, 191, 192; In-
dians on, 23 n., 24 n., 73, 76 n., 95,
105; fur trade, 5; explored, 6, 7, 31;
AUouez on, 96, 104-107, 115, 132,
135-137, 206; Duluth, 325, 327, 328,
330; Marquette, 227, 276; Radis-
son, 48 n., 51, 55 n.
Lake Tracy, see Lake Superior.
Lake Winnebago (des Puans, St.
Francois), Allouez on, 151; sketch,
151 n.
Lake Wianipeg, sources of, 328; In-
dians on, 24 n., 134 n.
Lalemant, Father J6rome, Jesuit mis-
sionary, 21, 22.
Lanquetot (Lanctot, Liotot), , La
Salle's murderer, 317-319; killed,
320.
Laon (France), native, 224.
La Pointe, see Pointe de St. Esprit.
La Potherie, Charles Claude le Roy,
siem- Bacqueville de, among the Es-
quimaux, 73; Histoire de I Amerique
Septentrionale, 72-92; sketch, 71, 72.
La Ribourde, Father Gabriel de, with
Tonty, 290, 292; death, 294; cloak,
296.
La Rochelle, French port, 317 n., 319 n.
La Ronciere, Charles de, Catalogue,
209 n.
La Salle, Robert Caveher de, in the
Mississippi Valley, 7, 8, 80, 97, 154
n., 281-285; joins Sulpitians, 164,
165, 168-171, 178, 181; leaves the
party, 192-194, 223; among the
Iroquois, 180, 182, 183, 185, 186,
190; ilhiess, 189, 304; relation to
Perrot, 74; to Duluth, 233 n.; ex-
plores lUinois, 287-290, 296 n.; re-
turns to Fort Frontenac, 290, 291;
at Mackinac, 296; explores the Mis-
sissippi, 296-304; at French court,
286, 304, 305; last expedition, 306;
death, 311, 317-320, 340; lost col-
ony, 312, 317 n.; characterized, 169,
171.
La Salle County (lU.), site in, 257 n.
La Source, Dominic Thaumer de, mis-
sionary, 338, 340; letter, 340, 348 n.
Lassay, Armand de Madaillan de Les-
parre. Marquis de, 329.
La Toupine, Pierre Moreau dit, French
wood-ranger, 266.
Laval de Montmorency, Prangoig de,
first Canadian bishop, 169, 337; let-
ter to, 340; sketch, 169 n.
Laval Seminary, foimded, 169 n.; ar-
chives, 340, 341.
La VioUette, in Illinois, 353.
Lead mines, in Wisconsin, 236; on the
Mississippi, 302.
Le Borgne, Algonkin chief, 15 n.
Le Clercq, Chrestien, Premier Stablis-
sement de la Foy, 317 n.
Leisler, Jacob, revolt, 309 n.
"Le Rocher," see Starved Rock.
Les Chats (Cat Rapids), on the Ot-
tawa, 100.
Le Sueur, Pierre Charles, explorer, 341.
Lindsay, Col. Crawford, translator,
341.
Liotot, see Lanquetot.
Little Lake Erie, see Long Point Bay.
Little Miami River, 155 n.
Little Osage River, 313 n.
Little Traverse Bay, Indians on, 36 n.
Liverpool (N. Y.), 175 n.i
London (Eng.), Radisson at, 31; his
journals, 32.
Long Point Bay, on Lake Erie, 201 n.
Long Sault, in the Ottawa, 59, 99;
sketch, 99 n.
Louis XIV., sovereign of New France,
70, 213-220, 330 n.; French court
of, 71; piety, 110; annexes Spain,
224; accords amnesty, 330 n., 333.
Louisiana, founded, 8, 284, 340; In-
dians in, 299 n., 314 n. ; governor of,
347 n.
Louisiana Historical Collections, 285.
Loup Indians, see Delaware Indians.
L'Ours (Bear), Illinois chief, 352.
Ludington (Mich.), site, 273 n.
Macgregory, Patrick, captured, 309.
Machkoutench Indians, see Mascoutin
Indians.
Mackinac (Missilimakinak), La Salle
at, 288, 290; St. Cosme, 342; Tonty,
296, 304, 306, 338; commandant,
305; fur trade at, 309; Jesuits, 311,
333, 334, 342 n., 346 n.
Mackinac County (Mich.), 143 n.
Mackinac Island, 143; Ottawa on, 36
n.; Potawatomi, 89; Huron on, 119
n.; legends about, 144; distance
INDEX
373
from Sault Ste. Marie, 219; mission
on, 224.
Mackinac Straits, discovery, 4, 12;
mission on, 7, 225, 229, 276; Allouez
describes, 143.
Maine, Indians of, 160 n.
Maisoimeuve, Paul de Chomedy, sieur
de, founder of Montreal, 34 n.
Malhomini Indians, see Menominee In-
dians.
Manhattan, see New York.
Manistique (Oulamanistik) River, lo-
cation, 79 n.
Manitou, use of term, 87 n., Ill, 114.
Manitouiriniou, significance of, 16.
Manitoulin Island, visited, 43; hunting
on, 215; possession taken of, 218.
Manitowoc (Wis.), mission site, 345.
Marest (Marais), Father Gabriel, mis-
sionary, 345, 350.
Margry, Pierre, historian, 165, 283;
Decouvertes et Etablissements des
Frangais dans VAmerique Septentrio-
nale, 166, 215, 285, 328; Relations et
Memoir es Inedits, 285.
Marie Movena, Potawatomi Christian,
159.
Marquette, Father Jacques, at Che-
quamegon Bay, 141, 227; Sault Ste.
Marie, 207; discovery of the Mis-
sissippi, 7, 74 n., 221-257; second
voyage, 97, 260-280; death, 261,
273-276; burial, 277; journals, 225,
226; map, 228; statue, 261; sketch,
224, 225, 277-280.
Marquette University, at Milwaukee,
277 n.
Masaniello, revolt of, 283.
Mascoutin (Escotecke, Iskousogos,
Mascoutechs) Indians, original habi-
tat, 171, 192; in Wisconsin, 146,
154 n., 233-235, 264, 345; inter-
tribal relations, 73 n., 78, 81, 83, 84;
Allouez among, 97, 155-158, 234 n. ;
Perrot, 84^88, 224; Radisson, 45,
46, 50; sketch, 45 n.
Massachusetts Bay, settled, 12.
Matchedash Bay, 19.
Matouenock (Scratcher) Indians,
Radisson among, 53.
Maumee River, origin of name, 155 n.
Mazaria, Cardinal Jules, French pre-
mier, 283.
Mazon (Massane) River, 350.
Meat, method of curing, 174, 175.
Mechigamia Indians, see Michigamea
Indians.
Melons, Indians raise, 244, 256,
Membre, Father Zenobe (Zenoble), ac-
companies La Salle, 283, 290 n., 296;
with Tonty, 290 n., 292-296; sketch,
292 n.
Memphis (Tenn.), site near, 297 n.,
358 n.
Menade (Manhattan), see New York.
Menard, Father Rene, 106; death, 6,
25, 95; sketch, 25 n.
Menominee (Folle Avoine, Malhomini,
Oumalouminek, Wild Rice) Indians,
habitat, 344; language, 158; hos-
tiUties with Iroquois, 73 n.; Allouez
among, 145, 158; Marquette, 230,
231; Perrot, 76, 78; at St. Lusson's
pageant, 214; sketch, 76 n.
Menominee (St. Michael) River, 158,
230.
Meskousing River, see Wisconsin River.
Metaminens, Indian name for Perrot,
83.
Metouscepriniouek Indians, see Miami
Indians.
Mexico, Radisson mentions, 61; Tonty
explores, 307; La Salle in, 317.
Miami (Metouscepriniouek, Oumami)
Indians, stock, 45, 349 n. ; language,
130, 156; habitat, 83, 342 n., 343,
346, 349; villages, 84 n., 97, 146, 288
n., 305; venerate chiefs, 88; acci-
dent to, 357; as guides, 308; inter-
tribal relations, 81, 84, 154, 267, 306;
Allouez among, 155-158; Marquette,
233-235; Perrot, 71, 84-88; mission
for, 97, 338, 346; on Denonville's
expedition, 309; sketch, 154 n.
Miamis River, see St. Joseph River.
Michabous, term for Great Spirit, 90 n.,
112; legend about, 143, 144.
Michigame Lake, see Big Lake.
Michigamea (Mechigamia) Indians,
habitat, 356; Marquette meets, 157
n., 252, 253; sketch, 252 n.
Michigan, salines of, 204 n.;
Indians in, 23 n., 45 n.; Indians flee
from, 95; La Salle crosses, 290 n.
Michiliraackinak Island, see Mackinac
Island.
374
INDEX
Milouakik River, see Milwaukee River.
Milwaukee (Wis.), Jesuit College at,
277 n.
Milwaukee (Milouakik) River, Indians
at, 23 n., 345; Marquette, 264; St.
Cosme, 345.
Minnesota, Indians in, 23 n., 329 n.,
330 n.; discoverers of, 32, 341.
Minot, a French measure, 196 n.
Minqua Indians, see Andastes Indians.
Missibizi, see Michibous.
Missilimakinak, see Mackinac.
Missions:
By tribes: Christinaux, 134; Foxes,
81 n., 151-155; Huron, 16, 19-25,
29, 30, 34, 43 n., 95, 119-121; Il-
linois, 97, 130-132, 230, 257, 261-
272, 279, 311 n., 345 n., 350-353;
Iroquois, 91, 175, 181; Mascou-
tin, 155-158, 234 n.; Menominee,
158, 230; Miami, 338; Nipissing,
20, 21, 25, 135-137; Sauk, 146,
147; Sioux, 132, 133.
By localities: Chequamegon Bay, 6,
96-137, 141, 224, 227, 229; Chi-
cago, 346-348; De Pere (Wis.), 70,
97, 142, 150 n., 232, 261, 262, 267,
296, 344; Lake Superior, 95, 106;
Mackinac, see St. Ignace; Quinte
Bay, 163, 171, 189 n., 193; Sault
Ste. Marie, 96, 135, 141, 165, 205-
207, 213, 334 n.; Southwest, 337-
340.
Local names: Guardian Angel, 346-
348; Immaculate Conception, 230,
262, 269, 279; St. Francis Borgia,
334 n.; St. Francis Xavier, 70, 97,
142, 150 n., 232, 261, 262, 267, 296,
341; St. Ignace, 7, 160 n., 224, 225,
229, 261, 276, 277, 333, 334, 342.
Mississippi River, first mentioned, 12,
130, 132, 156; headwaters, 7, 24 n.,
31, 290, 326, 328; mouth, 284, 302,
306, 311 n., 317; faUs, 349; floods in,
321, 354; description of, 302, 322,
339, 354; discovery of, 6, 7, 221-257,
262, 269; Radisson's possible dis-
covery, 32, 61 ; Perrot's, 74; explora-
tion of, 287 n., 354r-361; informa-
tion about, 90, 168; La SaUe ex-
plores, 297-304, 307; Indians on, 70,
76 n., 290, 313 n., 327, 328; posts on,
70; route to, 344.
Mississippi Valley, exploration of, 3,
223, 283-285; missions for, 337-361.
Mississippi Valley Historical Review,
317 n.
Missouri, Indians in, 90 n., 313 n.
Missouri (Pekitanoui) River, Indian
name, 248 n.; Indians on, 24 n., 249,
361; mouth passed, 225, 247, 249,
297; described, 355.
Mitihikan, a fish weir, 150.
Mobile, Tonty at, 284; Davion, 339.
Mohawk Indians, expedition against,
100 n., 168 n., 190.
Mont Jolliet, in Illinois, 349.
Montigny, Frangois JoUiet de. Semi-
nary missionary, 8, 338-340, 342 n.,
346, 352, 353; at Chicago portage,
348; letter, 340.
Montreal, 91 n., 95; climate, 198; fur
trade at, 5, 34, 62, 69, 73, 74, 206,
331; Indians visit, 79-81, 88-92,
163; Jesuits at, 226, 261; Sulpi-
tians, 163, 164, 167, 169-172, 214,
330; peace conference at, 163, 164,
167; route to, 207, 208; Duluth at,
325, 327; Radisson, 36, 62; Tonty,
306, 308; sketch, 34 n.
Montreal Historical Society, 166.
Montreal Island, 36; seigneury on,
164, 165.
Moose (eland, orignal, oriniack), de-
scribed, 51, 52, 174; kiUed, 58; used
for food, 207.
Moranget, Crevel de, nephew of La
SaUe, 317; kiUed, 318.
Mud Lake, see Portage Lake.
MueUes, Jacques, intendant of New
France, 334.
Mulberries, on the Mississippi, 248, 302.
Muy, Nicolas Daneaux, sieur de, 347.
Myers, A. C, Narratives of Early Penn-
sylvania, West New Jersey, and Delor-
ware, 176 n.
Nach6 Indians, see Natchez Indians.
Nachicoche Indians, habitat, 314.
Nadao (Nadaco) Indians, Tonty
among, 314.
Nadouessis Indians, see Sioux Indians.
Naodiches, see Notedache.
Nasoui Indians, habitat, 315.
Natchez (Nach6) Indians, habitat.
INDEX
375
301 n., 302, 313 n.; customs, 297 n.,
301, 313 n.; La Salle among, 301,
303, 304; Tonty among, 314.
Natchitoches (La.), site, 314 n.
Natchitoches Indians, habitat, 315.
Navasota River, in Texas, 319 n.
Nawaskingwe, lUinois Indian, 263, 266.
Neches River, in Texas, 312 n., 314 n.
New France, see Canada.
New Mexico, route to, 227; explored,
228 n.
New Netherland Narratives, 21.
New Orleans, capital of Louisiana, 8,
301 n., 339.
New Sweden, Indians of, 176.
New York, Jesuits in, 21; expeditions
in, 168 n.; GaUnee's party in, 177-
188; Dutch in, 331.
New York City (Menade), Tonty plans
to sail to, 307.
New York Colonial Documents, 215.
Nez Percys Indians, see Ottawa In-
dians.
Niagara Falls, first approach to, 5, 165,
170; described, 188, 189; portage of,
192; shipyard near, 287.
Niagara River, described, 188; ship-
yard on, 287; Griffin to return to,
288, 290; fort on, 309, 310; portage
on, 311.
Nicolet, Jean, voyage of discovery, 4,
11-16, 223; traditions of, 30.
Nicondich^, see Notedache.
Nipigon River, 135 n.; Allouez on, 136.
Nipissing (Nipissiriniens) Indians,
Nicolet among, 15, 16; mission for,
20, 21, 25, 135-137; flee to Lake
Nipigon, 135-137; DoUier among,
167; pestilence among, 331; sketch,
15 n.
Nipissirinien Indians, see Nipissing In-
dians.
Nitarikyk, Nipissing chief, 167.
Noquet Bay, 344.
Noquet (Noquest) Indians, habitat,
344.
Norfolk County (Ontario), explorers in,
200 n.
Normans, in Canada, 19, 164.
Notedache (Naodiches, Nicondich6),
Cenis village, 312, 315, 316; La
Salle in, 319.
Nottawasaga Bay, 19.
Nottawasaga township, in Ontario,
119 n.
Nouvel, Father Henri, at Mackinac,
277, 334; sketch, 334 n.
Nymwegen, treaty at, 284.
Oak, openings, in New York, 180;
trees on the Wisconsin, 236.
Oconto River, mission on, 146 n.
Octanac Indians, see Ottawa Indians.
Ogdensburgh (New York), site, 174 n.
Ohio, Indians in, 90 n., 155 n.
Ohio (Ouabache) River, 24 n.; origin
of name, 168; Indians of, 168, 169,
181 n., 191, 206, 254 n.; reports of,
169-171, 186; discovered, 225; de-
scribed, 250, 251, 357; La Salle
passes, 297, 304; St. Cosme passes,
357.
Oklahoma, Indians in, 23 n., 90 n.
Onondaga Indians, mission for, 175,
181; chief of, 291.
Onondaga Lake, mission on, 175 n.
Onontio, title of Canadian governor,
78, 219; treatment of Indians, 80; al-
Ues of, 89; messengers of, 100, 181;
fear of, 187.
Ontario (Can.), Indians in, 15 n., 23 n.,
119 n.; explorers, 165, 195 n., 196 n.,
197-204, 290 n.; missions, 4, 19.
Ontario County (N. Y.), Indian vil-
lage in, 179 n.; spring in, 182 n.
Ontario (Can.) Historical Society, 196;
Papers and Records, 166, 209 n.
Ontonagannhas Indians, see Shawnee
Indians.
Ooukocitiming, see Grand Chute.
Openagos Indians, sketch, 331 n.
Orignal, term for moose, 52 n., 174;
see also Moose.
Oriniack, see Moose.
Orleans Island, raided by Iroquois, 29.
Osage Indians, intertribal relations,
313,315,361; sketch, 313 n.
Oshkosh (Wis.), site, 151 n.
Osotouy, Quapaw village, 298, 313.
Oswegatchie River, mouth of, 174 n.
Otondiata, see Grenadier Island.
Ottawa (Can.), site, 100 n.; ParUa-
mentary Ubrary at, 209.
Ottawa country, origin of term, 121;
tribes of, 228; missionaries in, 274,
376
INDEX
278; council of tribesmen, 109, 110;
journey to, 98-104, 207.
Ottawa (Nez Perces, Octanac, Outa-
ouak) Indians, clans of, 121, 167;
name used generically, 73 n., 193,
203,207; language, 184; habitat, 43,
121, 342; in fur trade, 36, 89, 191,
192,206; at Montreal, 170; customs,
44, 111-114, 122; relations with Iro-
quois, 58, 63, 64, 73, 191, 192; as
guide, 190; as slaves, 309; accident
to, 102; missions for, 205-207, 227;
flee to Wisconsin, 61, 96, 108, 121;
transport Marquette's remains, 261,
276, 277; on DenonviUe's expedi-
tion, 310; Radisson among, 43-47,
51; Tonty, 296; sketch, 36 n.
Ottawa (Grand) River, rapids in, 57 n.,
60, 61, 99, 100, 207, 208; Indians on,
11, 15 n., 121; Radisson, 37-42, 57-
61; hostilities on, 95; route via, 98-
102, 208.
Otters, in Lake Nipissing, 41 ; as food, 42.
Ouabache River, see Ohio River.
Ouaboukigou River, see Wabash River.
Ouasita Indians, habitat, 314.
Ouestatinong, Fox Indian village, 146.
Ouiskonsin River, see Wisconsin River.
OulamanistLk River, see Manistique
River.
Oimia Indians, see Himaa Indians.
Oumalouminek Indians, see Menomi-
nee Indians.
Oumami Indians, see Miami Indians.
Ousaki Indians, see Sauk Indians.
Outagami County (Wis.), 81 n.
Outagami Indians, see Fox Indians.
Outaouak Indians, see Ottawa Indians.
Outchibouec Indians, see Chippewa In-
dians.
Ovenibigoutz Indians, see Winnebago
Indians.
Oysters, in Gulf of Mexico, 307.
Pacific Ocean (South Sea), described,
90; route to, 168; as a boundary,
217.
Panoestigon Indians, Radisson speaks
of, 58, 59.
Paris, Jesuits at, 20; Sulpitians, 163,
165; Missions fitrangeres, 337;
BibliothSque Nationale, 165, 166,
285; archives at, 209 n., 328.
Parkman, Francis, 166, 341; La Salle,
209 n.; The Old Regime, 99 n.
Paroquets, seen by Marquette, 252,
257.
Partridges, Marquette describes, 265,
268.
Patterson's Creek (Ontario), 196 n.,
197.
Pauoitigoueieuhak Indians, significance
of, 23 n.
Peaches, see Wild peaches.
Peangichias Indians, see Piankeshaw
Indians.
Pearls, among the Indians, 300; found
in the Mississippi, 322.
Pekitanoui River, see Missouri River.
Pelicans, described, 49, 357, 358.
Pensaukee River, village on, 146 n.
Peoria (Peouarea) Indians, habitat,
243; baptized, 257.
Peoria (Permataoui, Pimetoui) Lake,
fort on, 350, 354; ice in, 351.
Peouarea Indians, see Peoria Indians.
Pepys, Samuel, owns Radisson jour-
nals, 32.
Pere Marquette River, site, 261, 273 n.
P^rigueux (France), 346 n.
Permataoui Lake, see Peoria Lake.
Perrot, Nicolas, fur trader, 5, 6, 69-72,
96, 147 n., 224; Indian name, 83;
speeches, 77, 78, 86, 87; explora-
tions, 73-92; at pageant, 213-215;
on DenonviUe's expedition, 321;
knowledge of the Mississippi, 223;
gives ostensorimn to mission, 70;
returns to Montreal, 90-92; jour-
nals, 71-72; Mimoire, 71, 215;
sketch, 69-71.
Perry County (Mo.), 356 n.
Persimmons, on the Mississippi, 248.
Peru, Spanish in, 73.
Peshtigo (Wis.), Indian village at,
146 n.
Pesioui River, see Fox River (111.).
Pestekouy River, see Fox River (lU.).
Petun Huron (Tionnontateheronnon,
Tobacco) Indians, missions for, 20,
119-121; sketch, 119 n.
Piankeshaw (Peangichias) Indians,
habitat, 349.
Piasa, Marquette passes, 248, 249; St.
Cosme mentions, 355.
Pichou du sud, see Wildcat.
INDEX
377
Pierson (Piergon), Father Philippe, at
Mackinac, 277, 334; sketch, 334 n.
Pigeons, see Wild pigeons.
Pijart, Father Claude, Jesuit mis-
sionary, 25.
Pimetoui Lake, see Peoria Lake.
Pine-trees, on the Mississippi, 356.
Pinet, Father Pierre Francois, at Chi-
cago, 346, 347; in lUinois, 348, 350-
352; sketch, 346 n.
Pisikiou, word for buffalo, 238.
Plums, see Wild plums.
Point Detour, on Green Bay, 343.
Point Pelee, on Lake Erie, 202 n.
Point Sable, on Green Bay, 147 n.
Pointe aux Iroquois, see St. Ignace.
Pointe de St. Esprit, mission of, 115-
121, 141, 146, 149, 159, 206, 224, 227,
229, 276.
Poissons-blancs Indians, see Attikamd-
gue Indians.
Polyodon spatula, in the Mississippi,
237.
Pontchartrain, Coimt de, 285.
Poplar-trees, on the Mississippi, 302.
Porpoise, in Gulf of Mexico, 307.
Port Dover (Ontario), winter station,
165, 196 n.
Portage (Wis.), 7, 235 n.
Portage (Mud) Lake, at Chicago,
' 347.
Portages: Bois Brule to St. Croix, 331;
Chicago to Des Plaines, 7, 225, 257,
347, 348; on Des Plaines, 349; on
Fox River, 150; Fox to Wisconsin,
7, 235; on the Ottawa, 42, 57, 59;
Root to Fox (Illinois), 345; Sturgeon
Bay, 262, 263.
Porteret, Pierre, accompanies Mar-
quette, 262-265, 267, 270, 272-275,
279.
Potawatomi (Pouteatami, Poux) In-
dians, clans, 82; habitat, 123, 147 n.,
192, 198, 262, 263, 265, 267, 294-296,
344, 345; refuge at the Sault, 23; on
Chequamegon Bay, 122-128; lan-
guage, 123; quaUties, 128, 149; in-
tertribal relations, 73 n., 77, 81, 84,
88, 89; Allouez among, 142, 145,
146 n., 147-149, 158; La SaUe, 288;
Perrot, 70, 74, 78, 82, 83, 88, 147 n.;
Radisson, 45, 53, 74 n.; at St. Lus-
son's pageant, 214; on Denonville's
expedition, 310; visit Montreal, 79,
80, 89, 92; sketch, 23 n.
Pottery, made by Indians, 46, 84, 360.
Pouteatami Indians, see Potawatomi
Indians.
Prairie du Chien (Wis.), Marquette
monument at, 236 n.
Prairie Indians, see Mascoutin Indians.
Prairie River, at Montreal, 36, 98.
Presqu'isle, see Erie (Pa.).
Prince Society, pubUsh Radisson's jour-
nals, 32, 33.
Prud'homme, Pierre, with La Salle,
297, 298.
Puant Indians, see Winnebago Indians.
Pumpkins (Citruelles), raised by In-
dians, 61, 62, 360; given as presents,
267.
Quaife, Milo M., acknowledgments to,
341; Chicago and the Old Northwest,
346 n.
Quanouatino Indians, hostiUties with,
316, 319.
Quapaw (Acansgas, Akensea, Arkan-
sas, Cappa, Kappa) Indians, village
site, 358; French among, 312, 350;
La Salle, 298, 304; Marquette, 254-
256; St. Cosme, 339, 358-361;
Tonty, 308, 313; visit Tonty, 311;
sketch, 254 n.
Quebec, founded, 4, 11; capital of
Canada, 8, 12, 35, 151 n., 165; mis-
sionaries at, 19, 21, 25 n., 96, 137 n.,
160 n., 168, 169, 181 n., 334 n.; Iro-
quois raids near, 29; fur traders at,
63; bishop of, 169 n., 337, 340;
Tonty at, 286.
Queylus, Gabriel, abbe de, head of Sul-
pitians, 167, 168, 208; sketch, 167.
Quinipissa (Acolapissa) Indians, La
Salle among, 301, 303, 304; Tonty,
308; sketch, 301 n.
Quint6 (Kente) Bay, mission on, 171,
189 n., 193.
Quivira, New Mexican kingdom, 228.
Racine (Wis.), site, 345.
Radisson, Marguerite, married, 30.
Radisson, Pierre Esprit, sieur, explorer,
5, 6, 29-65, 223; date of third voy-
378
INDEX
age, 31; manuscript joumala, 31, 32;
speech, 55, 56, 60; sketch, 30, 31.
Rassade, term defined, 87 n.
Rattlesnakes, among the Illinois, 131;
frighten La Salle, 189, 190; de-
scribed, 190.
Rawlinson, Richard, manuscript col-
lector, 32.
Raymbault, Father Charles, at Sault
Ste. Marie, 5, 21, 24; narrative, 22-
25; death, 15, 21; sketch, 19-20.
Recollect missionaries, in Canada, 19,
290, 292, 293, 331, 337; accompany
La SaUe, 311, 317, 326.
Red River, origin of name, 316; La
Salle passes, 301; Indians on, 312 n.,
315; Tonty, 314-316.
Red River of the North, 284.
Renaudot collection, in Bibliothfeque
Nationale, 165, 166.
Rice, see Wild rice.
RicheUeu River, explored, 4, 11.
Rock River, Indians on, 81 n.
Roebuck, hunted, 188; drowned, 189;
killed, 191.
Roinsac, see Rouensa.
Root (Kipikaoui) River, St. Cosme at,
338, 345, 346.
Rouen (France), Jesuits at, 19, 20;
explores from, 164, 311 n.
Rouensa (Roinsac, Rouensas), Kaskas-
kia chief, 351, 352.
Ruter, , deserter, 319 n.
Sabine River, 314 n.
Sacques Indians, see Sauk Indians.
Sagamit6, described, 174, 242, 255.
Saguenay River, fur-trade on, 35;
Jesuit mission, 134 n.
St. Andrew's day, 110.
St. Anthony Falls, named, 287 n.
St. Catherine's Creek, in Mississippi,
301 n.
St. Charles Parish, in Louisiana, 301 n.
St. Clair River, discovered, 5, 204;
fort on, 327, 328.
St. Cosme, Jean Frangois Buisson de.
Seminary missionary, 8, 338-341;
narrative, 342-361; death, 340.
St. Esprit mission, see Pointe de St.
Esprit.
St. Francis Borgia, mission of, 334.
St. Francis River (Ark.), Indians on,
253 n.
St. Francis River (Wis.), see Fox River.
St. Frangois Xavier, feast day, 142 n.,
145, 354; patron saint, 143; Mar-
quette hkened to, 274, 278.
St. Frangois Xavier, mission at De Pere
(Wis.), 97; founded, 142, 150 n.,
296 n., 344; success of, 232; burned,
70; Marquette visits, 261, 267; let-
ter for, 267.
St. Germain, treaty of, 11.
St. Germain-en-Laye, Duluth's birth-
place, 325; convent at, 331.
St. Ignace (Pointe aux Iroquois), 342;
mission at, 7, 160 n., 224, 229, 261,
334; built, 225, 229 n.; Marquette's
remains at, 276, 277; map of, 342 n.
St. Jean Baptiste, mission for Iroquois,
175 n.
St. Joseph-Kankakee portage, 289.
St. Joseph River, Miami on, 97, 154 n.,
288 n.; La Salle, 288, 289, 296;
French, 305; Vincennes, 342, 345.
St. Lawrence River, size, 189; sources,
5, 188; explored, 4, 11; seat of
French power, 8, 13; war parties on,
29; route via, 37 n., 171, 172, 174,
175; fiu--trade on, 69; Indian mis-
sions on, 91 n., 96, 160 n., 181 n.,
189 n.
St. Louis (Mo.), 351 n.
St. Louis Rapids, in the St. Lawrence,
171, 172.
St. Louis River, route via, 24 n.
St. Lusson, Simon Frangois Daumont,
sieur de, pageant, 6, 97, 213-220,
223, 266 n.; escort, 70; sketch, 213.
St. Mark, feast day, 155 n.
St. Mark mission, 81 n., 151-155.
St. Mary's College, at Montreal, 226,
229 n., 261.
St. Maurice River, 16, 29, 134 n.
St. Michael mission, 158, 230.
St. Sulpice, order founded, 163; semi-
nary at Montreal, 163-165, 167 n.;
see also Sulpitians.
Ste. Claire, feast day, 204 n.
Ste. Marie, Huron mission, 19, 23;
built, 20.
Ste. Marie, Onondaga mission, 175 n.
Ste. Therdse, fete day, 106.
Ste. Th^rese Bay, see Keweenaw Bay.
INDEX
379
Saki Indians, see Sauk Indians.
Salt, obtained in Louisiana, 314; from
the West, 333.
Salt Bay, see Green Bay.
San Pedro Creek, 312 n.
Sanson d' Abbeville, Nicolas, map of,
204.
Saskatchewan River, French on, 12.
Sauk City (Wis.), 81 n.
Sauk (Ousaki, Sacques, Saki) Indians,
habitat, 150, 344; migratory, 129;
language, 128, 153, 157; hunting
party, 81; in fur trade, 35; inter-
tribal relations, 73, 82, 83, 90, 120;
hostUe to whites, 129; Allouez
among, 145, 146 n., 147; at St. Lua-
son's pageant, 244; sketch, 81 n.
Sault St. Louis, Indian mission on, 91
n. ; JoUiet wrecked in, 228.
Sault Ste. Marie, Indian legend of, 144;
discovered, 4, 5, 21-25; pageant at,
6, 70, 97, 213-220, 266 n.; described,
50, 104, 207; fur-trade fleet at, 92,
96, 203; mission at, 96, 135, 141, 142,
160, 165, 205-207, 334; DoUier and
Galinee at, 165, 205; Tonty at,
288.
Saulteur Indians, see Chippewa In-
dians.
Sauteux Indians, see Chippewa In-
dians.
Scratcher Indians, see Matouenock In-
dians.
Scull, Gideon D., editor, 32.
Seignelay, Jean Baptists Colbert, mar-
quis de, 286, 329.
Seminary priests, see Soci6t6 des Mis-
sions fitranglres.
Seneca (Sonnontouan, Tsonnontouan)
Indians, of Iroquois league, 152; in-
formation from, 164, 165, 170, 171;
villages, 176, 179, 180, 287, 357;
population, 180; intertribal rela-
tions, 176; treatment of others, 180-
188; relation to whites, 176, 177,
291; expedition against, 310; sketch,
170 n.
Seneff, battle at, 325; date of, 329 n.
Severn River, 19.
Shawnee (Chiouanon, Chaouanon,
Honniasontkeronon, Ontonagann-
has, Shawanon, Touquenha) Indians,
first mention of, 170, 171; intertribal
relations, 89, 90, 250, 251, 351, 353,
355; habitat, 181 n., 187, 192, 250,
305, 357; torture prisoner, 183-186;
as guides, 190, 193, 195, 307, 312,
313, 316-318, 320; on Denonville's
expeditions, 308; sketch, 89 n., 170 n.
Shawnee River, see Cumberland River.
Shea, John Gilmary, A Description of
Louisiana by Father Louis Hennepin,
328; Early Voyages on the Missis-
sippi, 340, 341, 348 n.; History of
the Discovery of the Mississippi, 13,
226; "Indian Tribes in Wisconsin,"
14.
Sheboygan River (Wis.), Marquette
at, 263.
Shreveport (La.), site, 314 n.
SUlery, a mission colony, 137.
Simcoe County, Ontario, Indians in,
119 n.
Sinago (Outaouasinagouc) Indians, Ot-
tawa clan, 121.
Siouan stock, see Dakotan stock.
Sioux (Nadouessis), Nadouessioux In-
dians, name for, 50; clans of, 330;
offshoot of, 134 n.; habitat, 7, 24, 46,
132, 290 n., 330; language, 48 n.,
132; relations to buffalo, 52; inter-
tribal relations, 50, 51, 58, 130, 132,
155, 262, 344; fear of, 151, 262, 279;
Allouez among, 132; Duluth, 323,
326-329, 332, 333; Hennepin, 287 n.,
290 n., 331, 332; Radisson, 48;
coimtry annexed, 70; fort among,
341; mission for, 334 n.; peace with,
109; sketch, 24 n.
Slavery, among the Indians, 51, 241,
243, 292, 359.
Smallpox, among the Indians, 331.
Snake-root, mentioned by Marquette,
233.
Snowshoes, used by Radisson, 53; de-
scribed, 173.
Soci6te des Missions fitrang^res,
founded, 337; missionaries, 338-361;
director, 340.
Songaskiton Indians, Siouan tribe, 330.
Sonontouan Indians, see Seneca In-
dians.
South Bend (Ind.), 289 n.
South Sea, see Pacific Ocean.
Spanish, in Peru, 73 n.; in North
America, 224; Radisson refers to,
3S0
INDEX
48; explorations, 228 n.; [^travellers
fear, 256; Indians hostile to, 312,
316; horses obtained from, 316, 317.
Spring (burning) in New York, 182,
183; salt, 232; near Mascoutin vil-
lage, 233.
Squash, raised by Indians, 176, 244;
present of, 178, 182.
Starved Rock (Le Rocher), fort on,
290 n., 350 n.
Stoddard, Amos, mentioned, 249 n.
Sturgeon, in Lake Huron, 43, 207; de-
scribed, 49; fisheries, 79, 136, 150;
feast of, 80.
Sturgeon Bay (Wis.), Marquette at,
225, 262, 263; Tonty, 295.
Sturgeon Creek (Wis.), Tonty on, 295.
Sulpitians, as explorers, 5, 163-209,
311 n.; at Montreal, 163, 164, 167;
missions, 163, 171, 189 n., 193, 337.
Suite, Benjamin, historian, 14.
Summer Island, in Green Bay, 343 n.
Sun-dial, found on Green Bay, 149 n.
Susquehanna River, Indians of, 176 n.
Susquehannock Indians, see Andastes
Indians.
Swans, see Wild swans.
Syracuse (N. Y.), 175 n.
Tadoussac, Indians at, 134; fur-trade
35; missions, 160 n.
Taensa Indians, habitat, 298, 304;
customs, 299, 300, 313 n.; Tonty
among, 313, 314; mission for, 339;
sketch, 298 n.
Tailhan, Rev. Jules, edits Perrot's
Memoir e, 71.
Talon, Jean, intendant of New France,
213, 215, 217, 227, 229.
Tamarois (Tamaroas) Indians, habitat,
297; Tonty among, 304; mission for,
340, 346 n.; St. Cosme among, 355,
356; sketch, 297 n.
Tangipahoa (Tangibao) Indians, La
SaUe among, 301.
Teatiki River, see Kankakee River.
Tecimiseh, Shawnee chief, 90 n.
Tegancouti, Seneca chief, 291.
Tennessee, Indians of, 90 n.
Tessier, , in Illinois, 311.
Teton Sioux, mentioned, 48 n.
Texarkana (La.), site, 312 n.
Texas, La Salle's colony in, 292 n., 312
n., 317-319; site, 317 n.
Texas Historical Quarterly, 312.
Teyagon, Indian village, 296.
Thaumer de la Source, see La Source.
Theguaio, see Tiguex.
Theriac, a remedy, 107.
Thevenot, Melchis6dec, Recueil de
Voyages, 226.
Three Rivers (Que.), fur-trade at, 5, 29,
30, 42 n.; explorers dwell at, 12, 16,
30, 31, 34, 62; missionaries, 20, 97;
Iroquois threaten, 63; sketch, 16 n.
Thwaites, Reuben G., editor of Jesuit
Relations, 13, 97, 216, 226, 261, 332
n., 341; Lahontan's New Voyages,
342 n.; "The Story of Mackinac,"
229 n.
Ticacon Indians, see Kiskakon In-
dians.
Tiguex (Theguaio), pueblo, 228 n.
TiUy, Sieur de Beauvais de, on Denon-
ville's expedition, 309.
Tinawatawa (Ganastogu^), Iroquois
viUage, 188, 189, 191; JoUietat, 191-
193; La Salle leaves, 194.
Tionnontateheronnon Indians, see
Petun Huron.
Tiret, Illinois chief, 342.
Tobacco, Indians desire, 266.
Tobacco Indians, see Petun Huron In-
dians.
Tongengan, Quapaw viUage, 298, 313.
Tonica Indians, mission for, 339.
Tonti, Lorenzo, Itahan banker, 283.
Tonty, Henri de, explorations, 7, 8,
281-322; among the Iroquois, 291-
293, 353; founds post, 308 n., 393 n.;
at Fort St. Louis, 97, 284, 296 n.,
339, 350; promoted, 306; plans to
sail to New York, 307; cousin, 325;
on Denonville's expedition; with St.
Cosme, 338, 339, 342, 343, 348, 349,
351-353, 355, 358, 359; returns, 360;
characterized, 343, 351, 353; sketch,
283-285.
Toriman, Quapaw viUage, 298, 313.
Toronto portage. La SaUe at, 296 n.
Touquenha Indians, see Shawnee In-
dians.
Tracy, Alexandre de Prouville, mar-
quis de, governor of Canada, 100;
lake named for, 104; presents for
INDEX
381
Indians, 109; war with Iroquois, 109,
190 n.; sketch, 100 n.
Tripe des roches, eaten, 40, 41 n., 101.
Trois Riviferes, see Three Rivers.
Trouvd, Claude, Sulpitian missionary,
171 n., 189, 193; sketch, 189 n.
Tsonnontouan Indians, see Seneca In-
dians.
Turenne, Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne,
vicomte de, French general, 163.
Turkeys, see Wild turkeys.
Tuscarora Indians, of Iroquois stock,
252 n.
Upper St. Croix Lake, portage to, 331.
Utica (111.), Indian village near, 257 n.;
site near, 290 n.
Valrenne, Clement de, French captain,
311.
Vermillion Sea, see Gulf of California.
Vexilla Regis, Latin hymn, 218.
Victor (N. Y.), site, 179 n., 310 n.
Victoria County (Texas), La Salle's
colony in, 317 n.
Vimont, Father Barth^lemy, Jesuit
missionary, 14.
Vincennes (Ind.), foimded, 342 n.; In-
dians near, 349 n.
Vincennes, Jean Baptiste Bissot, sieur
de, with St. Cosme, 342, 345; sketch,
342 n.
Virginia, location, 130, 169.
Wabash (Ouaboukigou, Waboukigou)
River, Indians on, 45 n., 157 n., 349
n. ; named for the Ohio, 250 n., 297 n.
Waboukigou River, see Wabash River.
Wahpeton (Houetbaton) Indians, Siou-
an tribe, 330.
Walnuts, in Ontario, 196; trees on the
Wisconsin, 236.
Wampum, described, 47; French term
for, 78 n., 87 n., 291; uses of, 182,
190, 193, 291 n., 293, 352 n.
Washington (D. C), Marquette's
statue at, 261.
Waukesha County (Wis.), 345 n.
Waupaca County (Wis.), 81 n.
West Indies, La Salle in, 319 n. ; French
possessions, 322.
Westover (Ontario), site, 189 n.
Whitefish, in Sault Ste. Marie, 207,
Whittlesey's Creek, on Chequamegon
Bay, 115 n.
Wild apples, on Fox River, 150; in On-
tario, 196; on the Mississippi, 298.
Wildcats {pichou du svd), Marquette
sees, 237, 257; kills, 263.
Wild geese, on lUinois River, 269.
Wild grapes, in Ontario, 196; in Wis-
consin, 234; on the Mississippi, 298.
Wild oxen, see Buffalo.
Wild peaches, on the Mississippi,
298.
Wild pigeons, at Chicago, 268.
Wild plums, in Ontario, 196; in Wis-
consin, 234; on the Mississippi, 252,
298.
Wild rice (oats, zizania aquatica), as
Indian food, 76 n., 132, 134, 231;
food for birds, 232; in Wisconsin
rivers, 151, 235; description of, 230,
231; sketch, 231 n.
Wild swans, on the Mississippi, 237;
on the lUinois, 257, 354.
Wild turkeys, 49; at Chicago, 265; on
Illinois River, 266, 349; on Missis-
sippi River, 298, 354; in Wisconsin,
264.
Winnebago (Ovenibigoutz, Puans, Pu-
ant) Indians, habitat, 46 n. ; discov-
ery of, 12, 16; language, 159; in-
tertribal relations, 76, 77, 83 n., 158;
Allouez among, 159; at St. Lusson's
pageant, 214; sketch, 16 n.
Wisconsin, Indians of, 16 n., 23 n., 45
n., 76 n., 288 n., 329 n.; Indians flee
to, 36 n., 95, 119 n., 154 n.; lead
mines in, 70; first white man visits,
4, 12, 16; Allouez, 140-160; French
governor, 70; Perrot, 70, 72, 76-92;
missionaries in, 96; erects statue to
Marquette, 261.
Wisconsin Historical Collections, 14,
115 n., 215, 229 n., 330 n., 331 n.,
333 n., 347 n.; Proceedings, 229 n.,
233 n., 235 n.
Wisconsin Historical Society, Perrot's
ostensorium in, 70; manuscript in,
341.
Wisconsin (Meskousing, Ouiskonsin)
River, route via, 344; headwaters, 6;
expedition on, 7; Indian village on,
382
INDEX
81 n.; Mdnard lost on, 96; Mar-
quette on, 235, 236.
Wolf River (Riviere k Margot) (Tenn.),
358.
Wolf River (Wis.), Indian village on,
81 n., 151 n.
Wolves, on the Mississippi, 302.
Wyandot Indians, ancestors, 20, 119 n.
Wye River, mission on, 19.
Yankton Sioux Indians, offshoot from,
134 n.
Yatasi (Yatach6) Indians, habitat, 314.
Yazoo Indians, tribe unites with, 313 n.
Yazoo River, Indians on, 313 n.
Z^nobe, Father, see Membr6.
Zizania aguatica, see Wild ric€k>
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