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rivers, one of which takes its rise near Lake Erie, and is called Saint-Jerosme
or Wabash; another, called the Ohio, rises in the Iroquois country; and the
other two, called the River of the Chaouanons, and the River of the
Casquinamboux, take their rise near Virginia. The country watered by these
rivers abounds in wild oxen, and is not yet occupied by any Europena nation.
As it is by the first of these rivers that communication is kept up between Louisiana and Canada, and this communication would be entirely destroyed if the English should settle at the confluence of one of the other three rivers, and at the same time the Illinois country would be laid open and all the upper part of the colony endangered, the Company has given orders for the establishment of a post on the River Wabash. It has also requested the Governor of Canada, for his part, to instruct the Sieur de Vincennes, who is in command among the Ouyatanons - Miamis settled near the upper part of the Wabash, to make arrangements with the commandant of the new post to bring that tribe nearer it, in order to protect the post and to watch the proceedings of the English and to drive them out in case they should approach.
From the attached copies of the letter written to M. de Boisbriant and the memorandum sent to the Comte de Beauharnois, M. Perrier will see what the Company considers should be done in this matter. M. de Boisbriant, in reply, writes that he has been prevented from sending to establish the said post by the lack of goods; and that he thinks it necessary to give the command of the post to M. de Vincennes, who is already a half-pay lieutenant of infantry in Louisiana, and will set the Miamis in action better than anyone else.
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settle in the neighbourhood of Detroit, - for fear that, if they settle on the
Wabash, it may give the English an opportunity of approaching still nearer to
us. M. Bertet writes, on this subject, that if he were in a position to supply
that tribe with the goods they require, he would answer for it that he could
not only prevent them from doing any trading with the English, but also drive
the latter from our rivers, where they have long had warehouses.
The belts and calumets which were being circulated among the tribes of the Illinois and the Wabash, of which I had the honour of sending you an account,Monseigneur, in a previous letter, proceeded from the English, who employed the Miamis of the Portage to circulate among them the report that the Iroquois were to come and destroy them. The report alarmed those tribes greatly; but M. Bertet has reassured them so completely that they have all agreed to take up the tomahawk and go and attack the English. They are to set out this month and proceed to the River of the South, where they are to muster, with a party of Frenchmen, for this expedition.
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it would have been an unsuccessful undertaking and brought discredit on the French.
The Outaouas, sent by M. de Sabrevois, arrived and brought me letters by which I learnt that there was nothing in what M. La Naudiere had told me with regard to the disposition of the Indians of Detroit; on the contrary, notwithstanding every effort made by M. Longueil and himself to get them to march, they had constantly refused. I gave the messengers some provisions, though I was very short of them, and wrote to M. de Sabrevois to ask him to have in readiness for me below Detroit, twenty canoes with provisions for my detachment, in the beginning of October.
On the 26th, I set out at ten in the morning from St. Yotoc. All the Indians were under arms and fired a salute when I passed before the village.
The 27th of August I arrived at the White River about ten in the evening. I knew that at a distance of three leagues there were six Miamis huts, and that influenced me to pass the night in this place.
On the 25th, I sent M. DeVilliers and my son to these huts in order to tell the Indians to come and speak with me. They returned with them, and I induced them two come with me to the village of La Demoiselle, whither I was going to bring the word of their father Onontio. They agreed and asked me to wait till the next day to give them time to fit themselves out. There are in this same village two huts of the Sonnontouans, it being the policy of these nations to keep some always with them as a protection. I hired one of these Sonnontouans who spake Miamis very well, to come with me to La Demoiselle. I had need of him, having no interpreter for that language, and matters of consequence
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to arrange with them.
On the 29th I wrote to M. Raimond, captain and commandant among the Miamis, and begged him to send me the man named Roy, the interpreter, with as many horses as possible, to transport our baggage over a portage of fifty leagues.
On the 30th, the Indians of the White River having arrived, I embarked for the Rock River, and at the entrance I buried a leaden plate, and affixed the arms of the King to a tree, of which I drew up an official statement.
Proces-verbal of the sixth leaden plate buried at the entrance of the Rock River, the 31st day of August, 1749.
In the year 1749, we Celoron, Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis, Captain commanding a detachment sent by the orders of the Marquis de la Galissoniere, Governor-General of Canada, to the Beautiful River, otherwise called the Ohio, accompanied by the principal officers of our detachment, have buried at the point formed by the right bank of the Ohio and the left bank of Rock River, a leaden plate, and have attached to a tree the arms of the King. In testimony whereof we have drawn up and signed with the officers, the present official statement."
The inscription is always the same.
September. This done, I embarked; owing to the scarcity of water In this river, we took thirteen days in ascending it.
On the 12th, the Miamis of the village of La Demoiselle having learned that I was near at hand, sent four chiefs to meet me with pipes of peace. As half of my people were on land, there not being water enough in the river to carry the loaded canoes, I was informed by M. de Courtemanche an officer of the detachment, of
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the arrival of the messengers. I landed at the place where they were, and when we were all seated they began their ceremony and presented the pipe. I accepted it. They then took it to M. de Contrecoeur, 2d captain of the detachment, and to all the officers and the Canadians, who, longing for a smoke, wished that the ceremony could have lasted longer. The hour having come for camping, we passed the night in this place, the messengers remaining with us. I was obliged, in spite of my scarcity of provisions, to give them supper.
On the 13th, I arrived at the village of La Demoiselle. I pitched my camp, set the guard, and awaited the arrival of the interpreter I had asked of M. de Raimond. During this interval, I sounded them in order to learn if they were disposed to return to Kiskakon, for that is the name of their ancient village. It seemed to me that they had not much objection. They had two hired English in their village whom I sent away before speaking to these people. Those who had spent the summer there trading, had already departed overland with their goods; they have roads communicating between one village and another.
On the 17th, tired of waiting for the interpreter and of seeing my provisions meanwhile being used up, I determined to give my talk by means of an Iroquois who spoke Miamis well. I showed them magnificent presents from the General to induce them to return to their village, and explained to them his intentions in these terms;
Message of the General to the Miamis of the Band of La Demoiselle, settled at Rock River, and to the Baril at the White River, brought by M. de Celoron, the 17th of September, 1749, with eight strings of wampum for the two villages.
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"My children: The way in which I act toward you, in spite of all you have done to the French which I gave you to maintain your wives and your children, ought to prove my attachment and the honesty of my sentiments. I forget what you have done, and bury it in the depth of the earth never more to be remembered, persuaded that you have done it only at the instigation of a people whose policy is to trouble the land and corrupt those with whom they have intercourse, and who, profiting by unfortunate ascendency which you have let them get over you, make you commit faults and incite you to evil ways without seeming to take any part themselves, in order to break away from me. It is then to enlighten you that I send you my message; listen carefully and pay attention to it, my children; it is the word of a father that loves you, and to whom your interests are dear. I extinguish by these two strings of wampum the two fires you have lighted during the last two years, at the Rock River and the White River, and I so extinguish them that not a spark remains."
A belt to La Demoiselle and one to the Baril.
"My children, I have just told you that by these strings of wampum, I extinguish the fires you lighted at Rock River and White River. By these belts I raise you up from your mats and take you by the hand in order to lead you to Quiskakon, where I relight your fire and make it more enduring than ever. In that country, my children, you will enjoy a perfect peace, and I shall be ever at hand to give you marks of my friendship; in that country, my children, you will enjoy the pleasures of life, it being the place where repose the bones of your ancestors, and those of M. de Vincennes, whom you loved so much and who always governed you in such a way that things always went well. If you have forgotten
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the counsels he gave you, these ashes will recall them to your memory. The bones of your fathers suffer from your distance. Have pity on the dead who call you back to your village. Follow along with your wives and children, the chief whom I send with my message, who will again light your fire at Quiskakon in such a way that it shall never go out . I will give you all the help you have a right to expect from my friendship, and remember my children, that I am doing for you what I have never done for any other nation."
Another speech with four strings of wampum for La Demoiselle, and two for the Baril.
By these strings of wampum I block up every passage leading to the Beautiful River, so that you go there no more, and that the English who are the authors of all the troubles may no longer come near this land, which belongs to me. At the same time I make an easy road to lead you to Kiskakon, where I will relight your fire. I break off all trade with the English, whom I have warned to go off my territories, and if they come there they will have reason to repent.
Two strings of wampum to La Demoiselle, and two to the Baril.
"My children: When you have done what I ask which is only for your advantage, I invite you to come and see me next year, and receive from myself special marks of friendship. The same invitation is given to all your brothers on the Beautiful River. I hope that you will, one and all, be encouraged to respond to this invitation as you ought; and, to begin by giving you a proof of my friendship, I send these presents to clothe your wives and your children; I ass gunpowder and bullets, so that you may be well supplied when you take the journey to Quiskakon. Leave
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the place where you are; it is hurtful to you; and avail yourselves of what I am doing for you.''
The council over, every one withdrew. They carried away the presents to their village where they assembled to prepare their answer.
On the 18th, about nine in the morning, they came to give the answer.
Answers of La Demoiselle chief of the Miamis, settled on the Rock River, and of the Baril on White River, the 18th of September 1749, with pipes of peace.
"It is an ancient custom among us when we talk of agreeable things to offer, first of all, pipes of peace, We beg you will be good enough to listen to us . We are going to answer what you have said. This pipe is a token of the pleasure which we have in smoking together, and we hope to smoke the very same pipe with our father next year."
A belt .
"My father: Yesterday we listened with pleasure to your speech. We saw clearly that you are come only on a good mission. We have none other but good answers to give you. You have made us remember the bones of our forefathers, who grieve to see us in this place, and who are always calling us back. You have made us a beautiful road to return to our ancient home. We thank you, my father, and promise you to return thither early next spring. We thank you for your kind words; we see that you have not forgotten us. Be persuaded that we will always try to be on good terms with the Chaouenons. We recall the good advice which M. de Vincennes gave us. My father, you are dealing with people of no intelligence, who cannot perhaps answer you as you hoped; but
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they speak truly - not from their lips, but from the bottom of their heart. You have bid us reflect seriously upon what you told us. We have done so, and we shall continue to do so during the whole winter. We hope to have the pleasure of giving you a good talk in the spring. If the hunting is good, we shall make amends for our faults. We assure you, my father, that we will no longer listen to evil counsel, nor to bad news now that we are encouraged.
Reply to La Demoiselle and the Baril in the same council, by M. de Celoron.
I have listened to you, my children and I have weighed well your words. Whether you have not understood me, or are pretending not to have done so, you do not answer at all what I said. I proposed to you on the part of your father Onontio, to come with me to Kiskakon - there to relight your fire and to set up again your dwelling; you put off doing so till next spring. I would have been delighted to be able to tell your father Onontio that I had led you back; it would have given him great pleasure on account of the interest he takes in all that concerns you. You give me your word to return there at the end of the winter; be faithful to your promise. You assert it in the strongest manner, and if you fail, fear the resentment of a father, who has only too much reason to be angry with you, and who has offered you the means of regaining his favor."
Answer by the Demoiselle and the Baril.
"My father, we shall be faithful in carrying out the promise made; at the end of the winter, shall return to our ancient habitation, and if the Master of Life favors our hunting, we hope to make amends for our past faults. Be persuaded that we
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do not speak from our lips but from the bottom of the heart. We cannot at present return whither you would have us go; the season is too far advanced."
The council being ended, I detained some of the old men to try to find out if what they had just said was sincere. They assured me that both villages would return in the spring to Quiskakon, that what kept them back was the fact of having no huts ready there; also that in their hunting during the winter they would be getting nearer, and would eventually return to it. While I was speaking with them, Rois, the interpreter whom I had asked of M. de Raimond arrived.
The 19th. I lingered to endeavor by means of Rois, to determine La Demoiselle with some other chiefs to come with me to relight their fires and make their wigwams at Quiskakon, but could not succeed. They kept saying and assuring me that they would return thither next spring.
On the 20th, all being ready for our departure, we broke up our camp. After having burned the canoes, which we could not take with us, we set out on the march by land, each one carrying his provisions and baggage, except the officers, for whom I had procured horses and bearers. I disposed all my people into four companies, each with an officer on the right and another on the left. I led on the right and M. de Contrecoeur on the left. We took only five days and a half to travel what was reckoned to be fifty leagues.
On the 25th, I arrived at M. de Raimond's, who commands at Quiskakon, staying there only as long as was necessary to buy provisions and canoes to convey me to Detroit.
On the 26th, I called to me Cold Foot, chief of the Miamis