INDEX.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] “The Romance of the French and Spanish Explorers;” an article in Harper’s Magazine, for February, 1882, by John Fiske.

[2] “The Great La Salle,” an article in Harper’s Magazine, for February, 1905, by Henry Loomis Nelson, L. H. D. Also Parkman’s Pioneers of New France, Champlain edition, ii, 258, 260.

[3] This feudal estate, some eight miles from Montreal, bears at the present day the name of La Chine (China), modernly spelled Lachine, which was said to have been applied to it in derision of his first fruitless voyage.

[4] It must be remembered that the voyage of the priest Marquette, and the fur-trader Joliet, in 1673, had reached the Mississippi, down which they sailed as far as the mouth of the Arkansas. At that point, thinking that they had sufficiently established the fact that the waters of the Mississippi discharged, not into the Gulf of California, but into the Gulf of Mexico (although they were then really only within seven hundred miles of its mouth) they returned to Canada and so reported.

[5] One account describes his route as being by way of Lake Chautauqua into the valley of the Alleghany, thence via the Ohio river to Louisville; and, in the following year, the crossing of Lake Erie, from south to north, and via the Detroit river to Lake Huron; thence into Lake Michigan and the Chicago river, and across the short portage to the Illinois river.

[6] La Salle had, in the parlance of the present day, “made himself solid” with the Governor, by his active participation in Frontenac’s plans for the enlargement of the French power in Canada; especially in the matter of holding a council with the Iroquois, at Onondaga, where a treaty of peace was secured from that powerful and warlike tribe, which seemed to ensure peace for many years.

[7] La Salle’s Patent of Nobility is given in the second volume of this series, “Shea’s Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley,” from Paris Doc. in Sec’y’s Office, Albany, vol. ii, pp. 8–11.

[8] Capt. Tonti (or Tonty, as he signed his name in its Gallicized form) was an Italian (the son of the financier who instituted that form of life-insurance known as the Tontine), an ex-officer in the Sicilian wars, where, by the explosion of a grenade, he lost one of his hands. This loss was supplied, in some measure, by an artificial hand of iron, or some other metal, over which he always wore a glove, and the weight of which was, in one or two instances at least, felt by the savages who tried to intimidate him. Tonti’s name will survive in history as that of La Salle’s most faithful and courageous friend and lieutenant, and one who, by reason of his noble qualities is entitled to our admiration and respect. See also Parkman’s La Salle (Champlain edit., i, 129).

[9] Hennepin was a Jesuit priest, a courageous and rather able man, to whose memoirs we are indebted for much information concerning La Salle’s and other early explorations; though the value of his writings is much impaired by his tendency to tell large stories, and to claim for himself the credit which belonged to others; a tendency which seemed to increase more and more with each successive edition of his book.

[10] The animus of this enmity, which persistently followed La Salle for the rest of his life, is fully explained on pp. 101–104 of Parkman’s La Salle, Champlain edition, vol. i.

[11] La Salle often prophesied, says Parkman (La Salle, i, 149), that he “would make the griffin fly above the crows,” i. e., that he would make the influence of Frontenac triumph over that of the Jesuits.

[12] Green Bay was a mission among several Indian tribes of Lake Michigan, established by the Jesuit fathers, Allouez and Dablon, 1669–70.

[13] By the terms of his patent from the King, this was clearly an infringement of the monopoly belonging to the Montreal colony, and was subsequently used against him by his enemies, as well as being the primal cause of his loss of the Griffin.

[14] He clearly foresaw what this journey involved, for as he wrote to one of his associates in his enterprise, “though the thaws of approaching Spring greatly increased the difficulty of the way, interrupted as it was everywhere by marshes and rivers, to say nothing of the length of the journey, which is about 500 leagues in a direct line, and the danger of meeting Indians of four or five different nations through whose country we were to pass, as well as an Iroquois army which we knew was coming that way; though we must suffer all the time from hunger, sleep on the open ground, and often without food; watch by night and march by day, loaded with baggage such as blankets, clothing, kettle, hatchet, gun, powder, lead, and skins to make moccasins; sometimes pushing through thickets, sometimes climbing rocks covered with ice and snow, sometimes wading whole days through marshes where the water was waist-deep, or even more, at a season when the snow was not entirely melted—though I knew of this, it did not prevent me from resolving to go on foot to Fort Frontenac, to learn for myself what had become of my vessel, and bring back the things we needed.”—Parkman’s La Salle (Champlain edit.), i, 189–90.

[15] A Jesuit mission, established among the Hurons, 1670–72, by Father Marquette.

[16] The white man’s name, “The Father of Waters,” applied to this river, is a rather grandiloquent paraphrase of the Indian’s “All Water,” but seems to apply only to one feature of its greatness—viz., its size. The Indian name, however, compounded of Missi, whole, and sipi, river, more nearly describes its collective character, as the great irrigating system of this vast region, receiving many tributaries, both great and small.

[17] Fortunately, his fort and colony were not attacked at that time; but later it withstood a six-days’ siege, under the combined command of Tonti (as La Salle’s representative) and De Baugis, a French officer, representing the Governor-General. The attack, however, was unsuccessful.

[18] The account of these evidences and of La Salle’s consequent anxiety as to Tonti’s fate, are well described by Parkman (La Salle, i, pp. 205–213, Champlain edit.). The record of Tonti’s tribulations in this invasion of the Iroquois into the Illinois town, and his heroic conduct, is given in chapter XVI of same volume.

[19] For, it must be remembered, the fact of the existence of this great river was known to the European world long before La Salle’s time. Its three mouths are shown in the edition of Ptolomy, printed at Venice in 1513—wherein the delta of the Mississippi is traced with more accuracy than in the maps of the next century. Dr. J. G. Shea, in the Introduction (pp. x-lxxv) to the volume of this series (The Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley, 1903) has very carefully and clearly epitomized the results of the earliest explorations down to those of La Salle, viz., that of Garay (1578); of De Vaca (——); of Friar Mark (1539); and of De Soto (1539); of Muscoso (1539–43); of De Luna (1557); of other missionary efforts (1580); and of others of less account, which all kept alive the knowledge of the great river of the North American continent called by the Spanish _Río del Espíritu Santo.

Then early in the seventeenth century, came the French explorers; Champlain and the Jesuits (1608); Nicolet (1639); Jogues (1641); Allouez (1669); Dablon (1670); Marquette (1673), and Joliet—all of whom, by observation or report, confirmed the existence of the Mississippi.

All of these were influenced in their labors by greed, by the spirit of commercialism and adventure, or by a sublime faith and religious zeal. It was reserved for La Salle to enter this region with the distinct idea of colonization, and of making it a source of revenue and a glory to the land which he represented.

[20] This place, of which a view is given at p. 168 of Parkman’s La Salle, vol. i, Champlain edition, is about six miles below the town of Ottawa, Illinois.

[21] La Salle’s estimate of the number of these Indians was about 20,000, or a fighting capacity of 4,000 warriors.

[22] La Salle’s brother, the Abbe Cavelier, Fathers Membre, Douay and Le Clerc, all more or less afterward associated with American exploration, were among this clerical contingent.

[23] Most interesting as to these troubles, and La Salle’s mental condition at this critical point, are the pages 97–109, vol. II of Parkman’s La Salle (Champlain edition).

[24] “Sixteen or seventeen years,” as he says in his Journal, under date of July, 1684; “so that, as he could hardly have entered the service before the age of 18 or 20, he must have been, at the time he linked his fortunes to those of La Salle, about 35 or 37 years old—hence born, probably, about 1643–5.”

[25] “Intendant” is the official French term.

[26] His words are “un fort honnête homme, et seul delatroupe de M. de La Salle, sur qui célèbre voyageur pût compter.”

[27] Knapsack, in modern parlance.

[28] Coureurs de bois.

[29] The Fr. reads thus, “l’un frère & les autres neveus de ...”—the one a brother of M. de La Salle, the others his nephews. There evidently were two nephews, named Cavalier—the name of La Salle’s family; although in this journal the elder nephew is generally styled M. Moranget.

[30] Cavalier gives the date as 23d or 24th July.

[31] Fr. “30 tonneux des Munitiens ou Marchandises, qui estoit fretée pour S. Domingae”—thirty casks of munitions or commodities which were intended for Santo Domingo.

[32] Fr. “sept ou huit jours.”—seven or eight days.

[33] Fr. “furent les secrettes semences, que ...”—which were the hidden seeds, which ...

[34] French original reads “45 minutes.”

[35] The parenthesis does not appear in the French original.

[36] In the original Fr. “the missionary priest.”

[37] In the original “Le 12”—the twelfth.

[38] The French original says “plus de malades”—i. e. more than 50 sick people.

[39] Fr. “les chirurgions”—the surgeons.

[40] Tr. “Francois”—the first French port.

[41] Should be, as in the Fr. “16th.”

[42] Should be “ship.”

[43] In the Fr. “la Religion P. R.”

[44] Fr. “Zenobe,”—Zenobius.

[45] Corrects the Fr. original, which reads “12th.”

[46] The Fr. reads, “il s’éleva un gros meage au nord”—i. e. there arose a great cloud to the northward.

[47] In the original Fr. 28th degree.

[48] In the Fr. “qui estoient devant nous”—and who were ahead of us.

[49] They must have already passed the mouth of the Mississippi (owing to La Salle’s having failed to determine its longitude, in 1682, when he had taken its latitude), and were then sailing along the Texas coast, probably near Galveston Bay, more than 400 miles westward of their desired objective. See note to p. 120, vol. ii, Parkman’s La Salle (Champlain edition).

[50] In the Fr. 28th.

[51] In the Fr. “notre chaloupe”—our boat.

[52] Fr. “a quatre piez d’eau”—i. e. in four feet of water.

[53] Fr. “une partie s’embarqua”—a party embarked.

[54] Fr. “marres.”

[55] Fr. “marres.”

[56] Fr. “canot” [thus explained in a marginal note: “Canot; est un petit batteau fait de bois, ou d’ écorces, ou de peau”—i. e. Canoe, is a little boat made of wood, or bark, or hide]. C. C. edit.

[57] “Chef”—in the French.

[58] Fr. “laides”—i. e. ugly.

[59] Fr. “quatre sentinelles”—four sentinels.

[60] Fr. “village porchain du lieu”—i. e. near the place.

[61] Fr. “jointes au dégoût qui la perte de nôtre navire avoit causé parmi la pluspart des honnestes gens qui avoient suivi M. de la Salle”—together with the anxiety which the loss of our ship had occasioned among most of the people of respectability who had followed M. de La Salle. C. C. edit.

[62] Though evidently not altogether satisfied in his own mind that he had reached the mouth of the Mississippi, La Salle, desirous to relieve himself of the many complications and annoyances arising from the strained relations between himself and Beaujeu, decided to land his soldiers at a place which he named St. Louis Bay (now known as Matagardu Bay), thinking to send them northward along the coast until they should come to the principal outlet of the “fatal river” as Joutel frequently calls the Mississippi. While here the loss of the Amiable and its valuable stores, the sickness of many of the company, and finally the departure of the Joly with Beaujeu, left La Salle in a sad plight. (See note concerning the relations between La Salle and Beaujeu, in Parkman’s La Salle, ii, 133 Champlain edition).

[63] Fr. “trois ou quatre”—three or four.

[64] Fr. “vouloit faire un Fort plus avant dans le pays”—designed to establish a fortified post farther inland. C. C. edit.

[65] Fr. “vaisseau, qui”—i. e. ship, which.

[66] This was on the river Lavaca (La Vache) at the head of Matagorda Bay, and called by Joutel Rivière aux Bœufs.

[67] St. Louis Bay, St. Bernard’s Bay, Matagorda Bay, Espíritu Bay—are all names by which this Bay has been known. La Salle had a peculiar penchant for naming his forts, and after his royal master, Louis XIV; New Fort, St. Louis of the Illinois, Fort St. Louis of Texas, etc.

[68] In the Fr. this sentence is a marginal note.

[69] The construction of this sentence, leaves us somewhat in doubt, as to whether the girl and the woman were not one and the same person. In the Fr. it reads “une fille, une femme blessée à la cuisse d’un coup de fusil, dont elle mourut”—a girl, a woman wounded in the thigh by a gun-shot, who died of the wound.” C. C. edit.

[70] Fr. “paquet,” or knapsack.

[71] Fr. “On voyoit du Côté du midy, & vers l’Orient, la Baye, & les campagnes qui la bordent, de l’Orient au Septentrion, la Rivière se presentoit le long d’un petit costan,”—To the southward and eastward stretched the Bay and the fields which border it, from the east to the north, the river appeared along a gentle slope,—[The phrase, “From the east to the north” squints both ways; the reader must determine the meaning. Perhaps, in the editor’s translation, the comma after the words “border it” should be removed, so as to make the phrase “from the east to the north” qualify the verb “border.” Although the editor’s studies have not qualified him to express an authoritative opinion upon this point of historical geography, he hazards the guess that this river is one of those flowing into Galveston Bay.] C. C. edit.

[72] [The ascription of an agreeable odor to the colors is found in the original. Perhaps the Fr. “couleurs” is a misprint for “fleurs.”] M. B. A.

[73] The original Fr. expression seems preferable: viz., “& Duhaut ayant dit ses raisons, & moy les miennes, ...”—and Duhaut having given his reasons, and I mine. C. C. edit.

[74] La Salle, now apparently convinced that in his approach by sea, he had missed the mouth of the Mississippi which he so eagerly sought, determined to retrace, by land, the long route to Canada, in order to secure supplies and succor for the little colony in Texas, and to report their state to France. In this design, he appears to have been even more reticent than usual; since few, if any, seem to have been informed of the real extent of the journey before them.

Almost at the outset of their undertaking, the little frigate Belle, which was to have accompanied them—as far as possible—along the coast—was lost, and all of her crew perished, except three or four, who were washed ashore, and rejoined Joutel’s party, only after three months’ absence.

[75] Fr. “alesnes”—awls.

[76] Compare p. 2, line 9.

[77] The 22d.

[78] Fr. “pierriers”—swivel-guns. C. C. edit.

[79] Should be Archevêque.

[80] Fr. “belles prairies”—meaning, in this case, fine or beautiful.

[81] Fr. “belles fûtayes.”

[82] Fr. “beaux ombrages.”

[83] Fr. “les mêmes païsages.”

[84] Fr. “dôme.”

[85] Fr. “26th.”

[86] Fr. “le lendemain 27.” [The original appears to be wrong, and the correction extends to the three following dates.] M. B. A.

[87] Fr. “bretelles”—carriers’ or porters’ knots.

[88] Fr. “fort beau paisage”—i. e. pleasant.

[89]

Kiahoba,Fr. Kiaboha
Choumenes, „ Chaumenés
Arhan, „ Arhan
Enepiahe, „ Enepiahæ
Ahonerhopiheim, „ Ahouerhopiheim
Korenkake, „ Koienkahé
Korkone, „ Konkone
Maghai, „ Meghai
Thecamenes, „ Tecamenes
Kavagan, „ Kavayan
Kannehonan, „ Kannehoüan
Tohaka, „ Tohaha
Chanzes, „ Chancres
Orcampion, „ Orcampieou
Ayona, „ Ayano
Canohatino, „ Cannohatinno

[90] Fr. “belle campagne.”

[91] Fr. “quarante anciens Sauvages”—forty old Indians. [Later, the translator uses the proper word “Elders.”] C. C. edit.

[92] The Eng. translator here omits the words in the Fr. original “& to make lime” (“& à fair de la chaux”).

[93] This occurred, according to Douay’s account, on the 19th March, 1689.

[94] Fr. “dans le temps qu’il y avait tout à esperer des ses grands travaux”—at a time when there was the greatest hopes of the success of his enterprise. C. C. edit.

[95] The author referred to here, is Father Douay, whose statement to this effect may be doubted, as Parkman observes that he did not “always write honestly,” and that he probably invented the story of the burial, to cover his own dereliction in having failed (through terror) to discharge this duty. See Parkman’s La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, ii, 176, 178, note, Champlain edition. This assassination occurred in a southern branch of the Trinity River.

[96] Fr. “Tilleul.”

[97] Trappings. The Fr. word used here is “ajustemens.”

[98] Fr. “d’autre leurs arcs & deux fléches seulement,”—“others their bows & two arrows only.” [d’autre is a misprint for “d’autres.”] C. C. edit.

[99] Fr. “Il nous fit bien des caresses, il estoit tout nud, comme eux, & ce qui est surprenant, il avoit presque oublié son langage naturel.”—“He gave us many caresses; he was, like them, quite naked; and what is remarkable, he had almost forgotten his native tongue.” M. B. A.

[100] Fr. “pav halneaux”—probably a misprint for “hameaux”—hamlets. M. B. A.

[101] Fr. “d’espace en espace”—at intervals.

[102] Fr. “presque tout le travail”—almost all the work.

[103]

Takensa,Fr. Tahenssa
Enepiahe, „ Enepiahæ
Ahonerhopiheim, „ Ahouerhopiheim
Ahekouen, „ Ahehoüen
Meghty, „ Meghey
Kouayon, „ Koüayan
Cagabegux, „ Coyabegux
Pickar, „ Pichar
Tokau, „ Tohau
Peihoun, „ Peihoum

[104] Fr. “un cheval entier et fort beau”—a very handsome entire horse. C. C. edit.: i. e., a stallion.

[105] Fr. “Nord’oüest”—Northwest.

[106] This name, although same in French original, is probably a misprint for Leitot.

[107] Fr. “Il apprit de Duhaut”—He learned from Duhaut.

[108] That we might see what direction we could take [i. e., take information as to their future line of march]. M. B. A.

[109] Fr. “qui se mirent â chanter â pleine gorge des chansons differentes”—who began loudly to sing various songs. C. C. edit.

[110] M. Moranget. Following the word “nephew,” in the Fr. are the words “& pour moy”—and for me.

[111] Fr. Nahoudikhe.

[112] In Fr. original, this sentence is in a marginal note. C. C. ed.

[113] Fr. Cahainihoüa. [Cf. pp. 90 and 44, and the notes. A marginal note in the Fr. calls this tribe Cahaynaho.] C. C. edit.

[114] Fr. “aspiroient grandement”—ardently longed for.

[115] Fr. “Quelques une cependant sont plus proprement; mais generalement, non”—Some nevertheless are more cleanly, but generally they are not.

[116] Fr. “des Cannes seiches allumées”—dry reeds aflame.

[117] Fr. “difficile”—difficult.

[118] This was the famous expedition of the Marquis de Nonville against the Senecas, in which Tonty, Du Shut and Duromtage, came to the aid of the Governor, with 180 French coureurs de bois and 400 Indians from the upper lakes.

[119] The Marquis De Nonville, Governor General of Canada.

[120] Fr. “billet & reconnoissance”—i. e., note and receipt.

[121] Father Claude Allouez.

[122] Michilimackinac.

[123] Fr. “manne”—maple sap?

[124] Fr. “cerfeüil”—chervil.

[125] The concealment of the fact of La Salle’s death, which was maintained by this party of survivors, until, and for some time after, their return to France, gave rise to an heroic manifestation of courage and friendship, by the Chevalier Tonti, who had been left in charge of Fort Louis on the Illinois.

Although they had been, on their journey northward, to Canada, the guests of that officer at Fort St. Louis, from September, 1687, till the end of February, 1688, they had made no disclosure of that fact. And, it was not until some months later, that Tonti heard of it, from the lips of one of his own men, Couture by name, who had been left at the Arkansas, and who had been told of it by the Abbe Cavelier himself. Meanwhile Tonti had received from and paid over to his reverend guest an order from La Salle for over 2,500 livres in beaver and supplies, on which money the party had made their further journey homeward.

Learning now, for the first time, with what grief and indignation we may well imagine, of the death of his beloved friend and chief; and also that the Arkansas Indians were anxious to join with the French in an invasion of Mexico—which information was also followed by an official notification from the Governor of Canada, that war had again been declared against Spain, Tonti decided to rescue, if possible, the remaining members of La Salle’s party on the Gulf coast; and, by making them the nucleus of a small army, to cross the Rio Grande, and thus win a new province for France.

Leaving the fort early in December, in a canoe, with five Frenchmen, an Indian warrior and two other Indians, he reached the home of the Caddoes in Red River, by the last of March, 1688, and was preparing to push on to a village eighty miles distant in search of Hiens and his companions, when he was left almost helpless by the refusal of all his men, except one Frenchman and the Indian warrior, to longer pursue the tiresome journey they had thus far made. But, with the two faithful ones, he pushed on, losing nearly all their ammunition in crossing a river, and finding, upon reaching the village where he had expected to find them, that they had been killed. As his ammunition was lost, and the Indians refused to furnish him guides, he could only return to the Arkansas country which he only reached by the end of July, after traversing a flooded country, in a ceaseless rain, sometimes by wading, sometimes by rafts, breaking their way with hatchets through the inundated cane brakes, and finally having to kill and eat their dogs. Even Tonti, the hero of many such emergencies of travel, confessed, “I never in my life suffered so much.” Then followed an attack of fever, after the abatement of which he arrived at his fort, in September, 1689. This heroic attempt marks, more distinctly than any other, the character of Tonti, who, in the language of the missionary, St. Cosmo, who traveled under his escort in 1699, was “beloved by all voyageurs—the man who best knows the country—he is loved and feared everywhere.” Tonti was a robust man in appearance, and had (as has been already said) but one hand, but he truly had a great soul within him—Courageous, generous and loyal. Though holding a captain’s commission, he had, as late as 1690, never received any pay; but in that year the proprietorship of the Fort St. Louis of the Illinois was granted to him jointly with La Forest, La Salle’s then lieutenant—and there they carried on a fur trade; and in 1699, they were granted further privileges of trade, by a royal proclamation. In 1702, a royal order assigned La Forest to Canada, and Tonti to residence on the Mississippi. Tonti, in that year, joined D’Iberville in Lower Louisiana, and was by him sent to secure the alliance of the Chickasaws. His after career or the time of his death are unknown.

Never were mutiny, conspiracy and assassination more signally and justly followed by retribution than in the fate of these miscreants who had murdered La Salle—as graphically portrayed by Parkman (La Salle & the Discovery of the Great West, ii, pp. 212–216. Champlain edition.) Exiled, by their own deeds, from Canada; in fear of their Spanish neighbors, whose dominion they had invaded, they were finally overwhelmed by an Indian attack, many of them butchered and the fort laid waste. Compulsory domestication among their savage captors was the fate of the rest; and when, in 1689 the Spanish general Alonzo de Leon visited the ruined fort of St. Louis in Texas, they were handed over to him, and expiated their sins in the naval service or prisons of Spain.

[126] The eldest son of Louis XIV, who had died a year or two before the publication of the Fr. original of this Journal. C. C. ed.

[127] Fr. “overture au droit de l’œil”—opening opposite the eye.

[128] Fr. “du gros mil”—coarse millet.

[129] Bracketed words not in the French original.

[130] Reprinted, Albany, 1903, edition of five hundred copies.

[131] Reprinted, Albany, 1902, five hundred copies.

[132] New edition, Albany, 1903.

Transcriber’s Notes: