The Conquest of Canada, Vol. 1

In the mean time the expedition to the country of the Onnontagués suffered great privations, and only escaped starvation by the generosity of the natives. Their spiritual mission was, however, at first eminently successful, the whole nation seeming disposed to adopt the Christian faith. But the allied tribes having carried their insolence to an intolerable degree, and massacred three Frenchmen near Montreal, the commandant at Quebec seized all the Iroquois within his reach, and demanded redress. The answer of the haughty savages was, to prepare for war. Dupuys and his little colony were now in a most perilous position: there was no hope of aid from Quebec, and but little chance of being able to escape from among their dangerous neighbors. They labored diligently and secretly to construct a sufficient number of canoes to carry them away in case some happy opportunity might arise, and found means to warn the people of Quebec of the coming danger. By great industry and skill the canoes were completed, and stored with the necessary provisions; through an ingenious stratagem, the French escaped in safety, while the savages slept soundly after one of their solemn feasts. In fifteen days the fugitives arrived at Montreal, where they found alarm on every countenance. The Iroquois swarmed over the island, and committed great disorders, although still professing a treacherous peace. The savages soon, however, threw off the mask, and broke into open war.

On the 11th of July, 1658, the Viscompte d'Argenson landed at Quebec as governor. The next morning the cry "to arms" echoed through the town. The Iroquois had made a sudden onslaught upon some Algonquins under the very guns of the fortress, and massacred them without mercy. Two hundred men were instantly dispatched to avenge this insult, but they could not overtake the wily marauders. In the same year, however, a party of the Agniers met with a severe check in a treacherous attempt to surprise Three Rivers. The lesson was not lost, and the colony for some time enjoyed a much-needed repose. The missionaries seized this interval of tranquillity to recommence their sacred labors: they penetrated into many remote districts where Europeans had never before reached, and discovered several routes to the dreary shores of Hudson's Bay. In the year 1659, the exemplary François de Laval, abbé de Montigny, arrived at Quebec to preside over the Canadian Church as the first American bishop.352

The temporal affairs of the colony were falling into a lamentable condition; no supplies arrived from France, and the local production was far from sufficient. Terror of the Indians kept the settlers almost blockaded in the forts, and cultivation was necessarily neglected. It was proposed by many that all the settlements should be abandoned, and that they should again seek the peaceful shores of their native country. Many individuals were massacred by the savages, and two armed parties, one of thirty and the other of twenty-six men, were totally destroyed. But some of the Indians, too, began to weary of this murderous war, and to long again for Christian instruction and peaceful commerce. The new governor was at first little inclined to negotiate with his fierce and capricious enemies; but, influenced by the miserable state of the colony, which even a brief truce might improve, he at length agreed to an exchange of prisoners and a peace.

In 1662 the King of France was at last induced to hearken to the prayers of his Canadian subjects. M. de Monts353 was sent out to inquire into the condition of the country, and 400 troops added to the strength of the garrison. But these encouraging circumstances were more than neutralized on account of the permission then granted by the new governor, Baron d'Avaugour, for the sale of ardent spirits.354 The disorder soon rose to a lamentable height, and the clergy in vain opposed their utmost influence to its pernicious progress. At length the worthy bishop hastened to France, and represented to the king the dreadful evil that afflicted the colony. His remonstrances were effectual; he succeeded in obtaining such powers as he deemed necessary to stop the ruinous commerce.

The year 1663 was rendered memorable by a tremendous earthquake, spoken of in a preceding chapter. In the same year the Associated Company remitted to the crown all their rights over New France, which the king again transferred to the West India Company.355 Courts of law were for the first time established, and many families of valuable settlers found their way to the colony. Up to this period extreme simplicity and honesty seems to have prevailed in the little community, and it was not till then that a Council of State was appointed by the crown to co-operate with the governor in the conduct of affairs.356 The king sent out the Sieur Gaudais to inquire into the state of his newly-acquired dependency, and to investigate certain complaints preferred against the Baron d'Avaugour, who had himself prayed to be recalled. The sieur performed his invidious task to the satisfaction of all parties: he made valuable reports as to the general character of the colonial clergy, of the advantages and disadvantages of the local administration of government, and imputed no fault to the Baron d'Avaugour, but a somewhat too rigid and stern adherence to the letter of the law, and the severity of justice. The baron then joyfully returned to France, but soon afterward fell in the defense of the fort of Serin against the Turks, while, with the permission of the French king, serving the emperor.

M. de Mésy succeeded as governor, upon the recommendation of the Bishop of Canada, whose complaints on the subject of the sale of spirituous liquors had been the principal cause of the Baron d'Avaugour's recall. The new appointment proved far from satisfactory to those by whose influence it was made. M. de Mésy at once raised up a host of enemies by his haughty and despotic bearing. He thwarted the Jesuits to the utmost extent of his power; the council supported them, alleging that their influence over the native race was essential to the well-being of the colony. Various representations of these matters were made to the court of France, and the final result was, that the governor was recalled.

Alexandre de Prouville, marquis de Tracy, was next appointed viceroy in America by the king, with ample powers to establish, destroy, or alter the institutions of the Canadian colony. Daniel de Remi, seigneur de Courcelles, the new governor, and M. Talon, the intendant, were conjoined with the viceroy in a commission to examine into the charges against M. de Mésy. [1665,] M. de Tracy was the first to arrive at Quebec; he bore with him the welcome re-enforcement of some companies of the veteran regiment of Carignan-Salières.357 He sent a portion of this force at once against the Iroquois, accompanied by the allied savages. The country was speedily cleared of every enemy, and the harvest gathered in security. The remaining part of the regiment arrived soon after, with the viceroy's colleagues; a large number of families, artisans, and laborers; the first horses that had ever been sent to New France; cattle, sheep; and, in short, a far more complete colony than that which they came to aid.

Being now established in security, and confident in strength, the viceroy led a sufficient force to the mouth of Richelieu River, where he erected three forts358 to overawe the turbulent Iroquois.359 These works were rapidly and skillfully executed, and for a time answered their purpose; but the wily savages soon perceived that there were other routes by which they could enter the settlements. In the mean time M. Talon remained at Quebec, collecting much valuable information concerning the country and its native inhabitants. He was spared, however, the task of inquiring into the conduct of M. de Mésy, for that gentleman died before the news of his recall reached Canada.

Toward the end of December, 1665, three tribes of the Iroquois nation dispatched envoys to the viceroy at Quebec with proposals for peace and for an exchange of prisoners. The terms were readily complied with. M. de Tracy received the Indians with politic kindness and attention, and sent them back with valuable presents. But the formidable tribes of the Agniers and Onneyouths still kept sullenly apart from the French alliance; it was, therefore, determined to give them a severe lesson for their former insolence and treachery, and make them feel the supremacy of France. M. de Courcelles and M. de Sorel were sent with two corps to humble the haughty savages. The hostile Indians, alarmed at the preparations for their destruction, now sent deputies to Quebec to avert the threatening storm, although some of their war parties still infested the settlements, and had lately put to death three French officers, among them M. de Chasy, the viceroy's nephew. One of the Indian deputies boasted at M. de Tracy's table that he had slain the French officers with his own hands. He was immediately seized and strangled, and the negotiations broken off.

The two French expeditions found the hostile country altogether deserted, and returned without effecting any thing, having suffered great fatigue and hardship. M. de Tracy then took the field in person, at the head of 1200 French and 600 friendly Indians, with two pieces of cannon. As he was setting out on the march, chiefs again came from the Agniers and Onneyouths to pray for peace; but he would hear of no accommodation, and even imprisoned the deputies. The French army marched on the 14th of September, 1666; provisions soon failed in the solitary desert through which they had to pass; in their greatest necessity, however, they entered a wood abounding in chestnut-trees, whose fruit supplied them with sustenance till they gained the first village of the enemy. The warriors had abandoned the old men, women, and children, and ample stores of food, and retired through the forest. The French found the Indian cabans larger and better than any they had seen elsewhere, and in ingeniously contrived magazines, sunk under the ground, sufficient grain was discovered to supply the whole colony for two years. The invaders burned and utterly destroyed all the villages, and carried away, as captives, all the inhabitants that remained, but they could not succeed in overtaking the warriors to force them to action. They then retraced their steps, strengthening the settlements on the River St. Lawrence as they passed. When M. de Tracy reached Quebec, he caused some of the prisoners to be put to death as a warning, and dismissed the remainder. Having established the authority of the West India Company instead of that of "The Hundred Associates," he returned to France the following spring.

The humiliation of the Iroquois restored profound peace to New France. Then the wisdom and energy of M. Talon were directed to the development of the resources of the country. Scientific men were sent to examine the mineral resources of several districts where promising indications had been observed. The clearing of land proceeded rapidly, and invariably discovered a rich and productive soil. The population increased in numbers, and enjoyed abundant plenty: all were in a condition to live in comfort. According to the perhaps partial authority of the Jesuit missionaries, the progress in morality and attention to religious observances kept pace with the temporal prosperity of this happy colony.

Although M. de Courcelles showed little activity in conducting the internal government of the colony, which was principally directed by M. Talon, he was highly energetic and vigorous in his relations with the Indians. Having learned that the Iroquois were intriguing with the Ottawas to direct their fur trade to the English colonies, thus probably to ruin the commerce of New France, he resolved to visit the Iroquois, and impress them with an idea of his power. For this purpose he took the route of the deep and rapid St. Lawrence, making his way in bateaux for 130 miles above Montreal. His health, however, suffered so much in this difficult expedition that he was obliged to demand his recall.

On his return to Quebec he found that several atrocious murders and robberies had been committed upon Iroquois and Mahingan Indians by Frenchmen, which filled the savages with indignation, and roused them to a fury of revenge. They attacked and burned a house in open day, and a woman perished in the flames. Numbers of the two injured nations and their savage allies hovered round Montreal, awaiting an opportunity for vengeance. M. de Courcelles, with his wonted vigor in emergencies, hastened to the threatened settlement, and called upon the Indian chiefs to hold parley. They assembled, and hearkened with attention while he enumerated the advantages that both parties derived from the existing peace. He then caused those among the murderers who had been convicted of the crime to be led out and executed on the spot. The Indians were at once appeased by this prompt administration of justice, and even lamented over the malefactors' wretched fate; they were also fully indemnified for the stolen property. The assembly then broke up with mutual satisfaction.

But soon again, the repose of the country was threatened by the Iroquois and Ottawas, who had begun to make incursions upon each other. M. de Courcelles promptly interfered to quell this growing animosity, declaring that he would punish with the greatest severity either party that would not submit to reasonable conditions. He required them to send deputies to state their wrongs, and the grounds of dispute, and took upon himself to do justice to both parties. He was obeyed: the chiefs of the contending tribes repaired to Quebec, and by the firmness and judgment of the governor, the breach was healed, and peace secured.

At this time a scourge more terrible than even savage war visited the red race of Canada. The small-pox first appeared among the northern tribe of the Attikamegues, and swept them totally away: many of their neighbors shared the same fate. Tadoussac, where 1200 Indians usually assembled to barter their rich furs at the end of the hunting season, was deserted. Three Rivers, once crowded with the friendly Algonquins, was now never visited by a red man, and a few years after the frightful plague first appeared, the settlement of Sillery, near Quebec, was attacked; 1500 savages took the fatal contagion, and not one survived. The Hurons, who had been always most intimately associated with the French, suffered least among the native nations from the malady. In 1670 Father Chaumonat assembled the remnant of this once powerful tribe in the neighborhood of Quebec, and established them in the village of Lorette,360 where a mixed race of their descendants remains to this day.

Even the presence of the dreadful infliction of the small-pox and the fear of French power could not long restrain the savage impulse for war. The most distant tribe of the Iroquois became engaged in a sanguinary quarrel with a neighboring nation, and took a number of prisoners. The governor immediately sent to warn these turbulent savages that if they did not desist from war, and return their prisoners, he would destroy their villages as he had those of the Agniers. This peremptory message raised the indignation of the Iroquois, they at first proudly disclaimed the right of the French to dictate to the free people of the forest, and vowed that they would perish rather than bow down to the strangers' will; but, finally, the wisdom of the old men prevailed in the council: they knew that they were not prepared to meet the power of the Europeans; it was therefore decided that they should send a portion of their prisoners to the governor. He either believed, or pretended to believe, that they had fully complied with his demands, deeming it prudent not to drive the Indians to extremities.

CHAPTER XIII

Taking advantage of the profound peace which now blessed New France,361 M. Talon, the intendant, dispatched an experienced traveler, named Nicholas Perrot, to the distant northern and western tribes, for the purpose of inducing them to fix a meeting at some convenient place with a view of discussing the rights of the French crown. This bold adventurer penetrated among the nations dwelling by the great lakes, and with admirable address induced them all to send deputies to the Falls of St. Mary, where the waters of Lake Superior pour into Lake Huron. The Sieur de St. Lusson met the assembled Indian chiefs at this place in May, 1671; he persuaded them to acknowledge the sovereignty of his king, and erected a cross bearing the arms of France.

M. de Courcelles was succeeded by the able and chivalrous Louis de Buade, comte de Frontenac. The new governor was a soldier of high rank, and a trusty follower of the great Henry of Navarre; his many high qualities were, however, obscured by a capricious and despotic temper. His plans for the advancement of the colony were bold and judicious, his representations to the government of France fearless and effectual, his personal conduct and piety unimpeachable, but he exhibited a bitterness and asperity to those who did not enter into his views little suited to the better points of his character, and it is said that ambition and the love of authority at times overcame his zeal for the public good.362

M. Talon, the intendant, was at this time recalled by his own wish, but before he departed from the scenes of his useful labors he planned a scheme of exploration more extensive than any that had yet been accomplished in New France. From the rumors and traditions among the savages of the far West, with which the meeting at St. Mary's had made the French acquainted, it was believed that to the southwest of New France there flowed a vast river, called by the natives Mechasèpè, whose course was neither toward the great lakes to the north, nor the Atlantic to the east. It was therefore surmised that this unknown flood must pour its waters either into the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean. The wise intendant was impressed with the importance of possessing a channel of navigation to the waters of the south and west, and before his departure from America made arrangements to have the course of the mysterious stream363 explored. He intrusted the arduous duty to Father Marquette, a pious priest, who was experienced in Indian travel, and an adventurous and able merchant of Quebec, named Jolyet. [1673.] The Comte de Frontenac gave hearty aid to this expedition, and in the mean time he himself extended the line of French settlement to the shores of Lake Ontario,364 built there the fort that still bears his name, and opened communication with the numerous tribes westward of the Allegany Mountains.

The exploring party, led by Marquette365 and Jolyet, consisted of only six men, in two little bark canoes: at the very outset the Indians of the lakes told them that great and terrible dangers would beset their path, and recounted strange tales of supernatural difficulties and perils for those who had ventured to explore the mysterious regions of the West. Hearkening carefully to whatever useful information the natives could bestow, but despising their timid warnings, these adventurous men hastened on over the great lakes to the northwestern extremity of the deep and stormy Michigan, now called Green Bay. Numerous Indian tribes wandered over the surrounding country; among others, the Miamis, the most civilized and intelligent of the native race that they had yet seen. Two hunters of this nation undertook to guide the expedition to one of the tributaries of the great river of which they were in search. The French were struck with wonder at the vast prairies that lay around their route on every side, monotonous, and apparently boundless as the ocean.

The Fox River was the stream to which the Miamis first led them. Although it was broad at its entrance into the lake the upper portion was divided by marshes into a labyrinth of narrow channels; as they passed up the river, the wild oats grew so thickly in the water that the adventurers appeared to row through fields of corn. After a portage of a mile and a half, they launched their canoes in the Wisconsin River, a tributary of the Mississippi, and the guides left them to find their way into the unknown solitudes of the West. Their voyage down the tributary was easy and prosperous, and at length, to their great joy, they reached the magnificent stream of the Mississippi. The banks were rich and beautiful, the trees the loftiest they had yet seen, and wild bulls and other animals roamed in vast herds over the flowery meadows.366

For more than 200 miles Marquette and his companions continued their course through verdant and majestic solitudes, where no sign of human life appeared. At length the foot-prints of men rejoiced their sight, and, by following up the track, they arrived at a cluster of inhabited villages, where they were kindly and hospitably received. Their hosts called themselves Illinois, which means "men" in the native tongue, and is designed to express their supposed superiority over their neighbors. Marquette considered them the most civilized of the native American nations.

Neither fear for the future nor the enjoyment of present comfort could damp the ardor of the French adventurers; they soon again launched their little canoes on the Father of Waters, and followed the course of the stream. They passed a number of bold rocks that rose straight up from the water's edge; on one of these, strange monsters were curiously painted in brilliant colors. Soon after they came to the place where the great Missouri pours its turbid and noisy flood into the Mississippi; and next they reached a lofty range of cliffs, that stretched nearly across from bank to bank, breasting the mighty stream. With great difficulty and danger they guided their little canoes through these turbulent waters. They passed the entrance of the Ohio,367 and were again astonished at the vast size of the tributaries which fed the flood of the mysterious river. The inhabitants of the villages on the banks accepted the calumet of peace, and held friendly intercourse with the adventurers; and although, after passing the mouth of the Arkansas River, a proposition was made in the council of one tribe to slay and rob them, the chief indignantly overruled the cruel suggestion, and presented them with the sacred pipe.

At the village where they were threatened with this great danger they were inaccurately informed that the sea was only distant five days' voyage. From this the travelers concluded that the waters of the Mississippi poured into the Gulf of Mexico, and not, as they had fondly hoped, into the Pacific Ocean. Fearing, therefore, that by venturing further they might fall into the hands of the Spaniards, and lose all the fruits of their toils and dangers, they determined to re-ascend the stream and return to Canada. After a long and dreary voyage, they reached Chicago, on Lake Michigan, where the adventurers separated. Father Marquette remained among the friendly Miamis, and Jolyet hastened to Quebec to announce their discoveries. Unfortunately, their enlightened patron, M. Talon, had already departed for France.

There chanced, however, to be at Quebec at that time a young Frenchman, of some birth and fortune, named Robert Cavalier, sieur de la Salle, ambitious, brave, and energetic. He had emigrated to America with a hope of gaining fame and wealth in the untrodden paths of a new world. The first project that occupied his active mind was the discovery of a route to China368 and Japan, by the unexplored regions of the west of Canada. The information brought by Jolyet to Quebec excited his sanguine expectations. Impressed with the strange idea that the Missouri would lead to the Northern Ocean, he determined to explore its course, and having gained the sanction of the governor, sailed for France to seek the means of fitting out an expedition. In this he succeeded by the favor of the Prince of Conti. The Chevalier de Tonti, a brave officer, who had lost an arm in the Sicilian wars, was associated with him in the enterprise.

On the 14th of July, 1678, La Salle and Tonti embarked at Rochelle with thirty men, and in two months arrived at Quebec. They took Father Hennepin with them, and hastened on to the great lakes,369 where they spent two years in raising forts and building vessels of forty or fifty tons burden, and carrying on the fur trade with the natives. The party then pushed forward to the extremity of Michigan. Their friendly relations with the Indians were here interrupted by a party of the Outagamis having robbed them of a coat. The French held a council to devise means of deterring the savages from such depredations, and it was somewhat hastily determined to demand restitution of the coat under the threat of putting the offending chief to death. The Outagamis, having divided the stolen garment into a number of small pieces for general distribution, found it impossible to comply with this requisition, and thinking that no resource remained, presented themselves to the French in battle array. However, through the wise mediation of Father Hennepin, the quarrel was arranged, and a good understanding restored.