In August, 1734, sixty Frenchmen under the command of the Sieur De Noyelles set out from Montreal for a winter expedition against the distant tribes.[148] The party was to go to Detroit, and from thence either by way of Mackinac or "in a strait line overland," according to circumstances. In addition to his sixty Frenchmen De Noyelles was accompanied by bands of Iroquois from the Lake of the Two Mountains and Hurons from Detroit, and in case he decided to follow the overland route from Detroit he was to arrange a rendezvous with Celeron who was to lead a mixed force of French and Indians from Mackinac.
[148] For the documents pertaining to this expedition see Wisconsin Historical Collections, XVII, 206 ff.
The ultimate failure of the expedition was decreed even before it started. The chief reliance for the punishment of the Sacs and Foxes was placed in the friendly Indians, who largely outnumbered the French. To provide even the small number of the latter which had been decided upon necessitated stripping Canada of one-tenth of her armed defenders.[149] The policy which had been determined upon with respect to the Sacs has already been indicated. In accordance with it De Noyelles was ordered to grant peace to them on condition that they give up the Foxes; otherwise he was to destroy both nations and to let his red allies "eat them up."[150] The expectation of enjoying this pleasure was the sole inducement for the Huron and Iroquois contingents to engage in the enterprise; yet they were deceived by De Noyelles as to the nature of his orders. When the Hurons, in council, stated that they would not march unless he had orders to destroy the Sacs as well as the Foxes, he replied, without further explanation, that he had orders "to Eat up both nations."[151] When this deception was discovered, the Hurons and Iroquois declined to assist De Noyelles further, and this, as will be seen, caused not only the failure of the expedition, but came near resulting in the complete destruction of the Frenchmen engaged in it.
[149] Ibid., 208, footnote.
[150] Ibid., 209-10.
[151] Ibid., 256-57.
When De Noyelles reached Detroit it was decided to continue overland. This involved passing around the southern end of Lake Michigan and through the tribe of the Ouiatanons, located on the upper Wabash.[152] Here it was learned that six cabins of the Sacs had established themselves on the St. Joseph River, having taken refuge here, in a region where the French influence was strongest, in token of their desire for peace. De Noyelles' Huron and Iroquois allies, however, having come out in search of Sac and Fox scalps, immediately declared their intention of going to "eat up" these six cabins. De Noyelles protested against this, explaining to them, apparently for the first time, his instructions to spare the Sacs who made their submission to the French. In spite of all he could do the Hurons persisted in their design, and departed in a body to execute it. The Iroquois stayed with De Noyelles, but their disaffection, which in the end was to bring the expedition to naught, dates from this incident.
[152] The French established a fort near the site of the modern city of Lafayette, Indiana, about the year 1720. For its location and history see Oscar J. Craig, "Ouiatanon," in Indiana Historical Society Publications, Vol. II, No. 8.
The documents left us do not permit a detailed statement concerning the route followed from the country of the Ouiatanons to the Mississippi. De Noyelles had planned to go by way of the Illinois, but this was given up because of the long détour it would necessitate. From the Ouiatanons he proceeded to the Kickapoo tribe, on leaving which five Sacs en route to the St. Joseph River were captured. Under threat of torture these were forced to guide the party to the Fox village. It is clear that the expedition rounded Lake Michigan and traveled in a general northwesterly direction. It is possible and even probable that it passed by the site of Chicago, as did the Huron-Iroquois party of 1731; but since the party was traveling overland on snow-shoes, and was thus not bound to follow the river courses, the route taken by it cannot be definitely known.
From the prisoners it was learned that the Foxes had left their posts on the Pomme de Cigne River—the modern Wapsipinicon—where they had established themselves on retiring from Wisconsin after the death of the two De Villiers, in 1733, and had withdrawn to the river Des Moines. On crossing the Mississippi, the supply of provisions having become low, the party was forced to content itself with one "very inferior" meal each day. On March 12 the Fox fort was reached; it was deserted, but the intense cold compelled a halt of two days, during which the party was entirely without food. Meanwhile reconnoitering parties had been sent out, and these now returned to report that they had seen smoke. The little army moved forward by night, crossing several rivers with the water up to the men's waists. A halt was made behind a hill and the men, wrapped in their robes, tired, wet through, and hungry, awaited the dawn. They then advanced again; the Indians, believing the goal was at hand, and that the hostile village numbered only four cabins, eager to have the honor of arriving first, proceeded at a run for four or five leagues, the Frenchmen following as best they could. The race ended on the bank of a wide and rapid river, full of floating ice. On the opposite bank stood the village they had come so far to seek; but in place of four or five cabins it numbered fifty-five.