THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY
ARCHIVES: THE MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and
considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed.
The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or
standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather,
indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was
published.
Voyage of M. de La Salle to North America in the Year 1685
Joutel, Henri,"Voyage of M. de La Salle to North America in the Year 1685,
to form a settlement there in the part which he had previously discovered"
in: Service Hydrographique de la Marine, Carton 67, No. 1 and
in Margry, Vol. III, pp. 70-522.
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474, |
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Narrative of Henri Joutel
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On the 24th of July 1684, after M. de La Salle had completed the despatch of
all the things needed for his journey, and had overcome all the obstacles which
several persons, who were opposed to it, tried to raise against it, we set out
from the roadstead of Chefdebois at La Rochelle numbering four vessels, one of
which was a man-of-war called the Joly of thirty-six to forty guns,
commanded by M. de Beaujeu; the others, a small frigate or barque called the Belle
of about sixty tons' burden, armed with six guns, commanded by two masters (it
had been given to M. de La Salle by the King); a store-ship of about three
hundred tons' burden, called the Aimable, belonging to a merchant of La
Rochelle called Massicotte, commanded by one Aygron,- she carried the greater
part of the goods intended for the settlement and the number of men who were
intended for the settlement; and the last vessel was a ketch,(see
fn. 1) on which M. de La Salle had put a . . .
M. Cavelier made some difficulty about taking the blacksmith as he was very necessary at the fort, and he was the man whom the Indians valued most, as he mended their guns and hatchets; but, as there was another one, although not in their service, who would work on terms, it was finally decided that the other one should go. The next thing was to prepare provisions and take some furs in order to get more provisions when we passed Mililimaquinax, and they set to work to do so as quickly as possible, and also to get the boat ready.
While we were there we had many visitors, among others the Jesuit priest, although he was still not quite well; also the chiefs of the tribes settled around the fort, of which two are Illinois, one called Casquasquia and the other Peroveria, and another the Chaohouannons, who have settled there since M. de La Salle's exploration. There was yet another tribe about a league and a half from the fort, called the Miamis, who are settled at a place which would be a very good one for a fortified town, being on a hill steep on all sides, with the river washing it and running at the foot of the rock, as it does at Fort Saint Louis of the Illinois. Some part of all these tribes had gone with M. de Tonty to the war against the Iroquois by the troops under the command of the Marquis d'Enonville, Governor for the King of New France. The Iroquois, learning that the army was advancing towards their villages, left them and went and set an ambush at the place where the army was to pass, and. . .
(page 472). . .was not water enough in the river, they had been obliged (see fn. 2) to leave their boat on the shore of the lake; this happened very conveniently, for we gave them the one which had been prepared for us, as it saved carrying ours, and the boats were of about the same size. So, on Thursday the 18th, all our small equipment being ready, we took leave of all the dwellers in the Fort, and set out, numbering eight Frenchmen, namely we five and the three who acted as our guides or, rather, who were to do so, with about a dozen Indians to carry some provisions for us and about a hundred and twenty or a hundred and thirty otter-skins a few beaver-skin robes, which we took to enable us to obtain provisions at Michilimaquinak or elsewhere, in case we should need them, and could find any.
XIX.
Return of the Frenchmen who were going to Canada.
Fearing to run short of provisions, they go back to the Illinois.
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We set off at about ten o'clock in the morning. They fired several volleys when we left, as they had done on our arrival, wishing us a good journey. Before leaving, M. Cavelier had written a letter to M. de Tonty, which he handed to the Sieur de Bellefontaine to give to him on his return. So we went our (page 473) way, passing by the village of the Miamis, a distance of about a league from Fort Saint Louis; it is situated on a hill, in a very good position, where a fine town could be made, of great strength, for the place is steep all round, or could be made so, and the river flows at its foot. We went on until Thursday the 25th, when we arrived at a place called Chicagou, which, according to what we were told, has been so called on account of the quantity of garlic growing in this district, in the woods. There is a small river there, formed by the drainage from a great plain or prairie at that place, which flows straight into the lake called, as I have said elsewhere, the Lake of the Illinois or Michigan. At about three or four leagues' distance, on the other side of the great plain, the waters run into the River of the Illinois, which is formed by them; and the higher the waters, the less is the distance things have to be carried. It would appear that this place is the highest ground between the Gulf of Mexico and the River St. Lawrence, for all the streams from this district run towards the coast at one or other of those places. The more water there is in the streams, the less carrying there is to do; for, in navigating rivers of this sort, it is (sometimes) necessary to carry the canoe or boat and the baggage, and it cannot be avoided. On our arrival, we sent back the Indians the next day, otherwise they would have eaten up all our provisions, of which we had no great quantity; for they had consumed a great part of them, the rains having prevented us from getting on as fast as we could have wished. Some Frenchmen from the Fort, who had come to carry some of the things, went back with the Indians.
We found the boat on the bank of the river and took it and went to the shore of the lake where we remained a week, in consequence of the contrary winds and bad weather. Moreover we had no men who had much skill in navigation, which was very much against us, as our provisions were rapidly diminishing and we were making no progress. As I have said before, some part of the provisions had been expended to no purpose, in keeping the Indians during the delay caused by the rains. To add to our misfortunes, one of our men, in firing at some turkeys, burst his gun, either by overcharging it, or by ramming the charge badly, or by some other accident; and he grieved so much over it that he fell ill with a fever. Thus it seemed as if everything was against our journey, which disappointed us very much, and me especially, for I was always very anxious to send news of this country to France; we were therefore greatly troubled. M. Cavelier told the man that he had no need to worry about the loss of his gun, and that he would give him another when we reached Montreal, if indeed we got there; as for me, I told him that he ought to be thankful that he had not been maimed by the accident. We got weary of staying at this place; and, as we did not see the waves on the lake from the spot where we were, which was at the mouth of the river, we decided to take our boat down to the shore of the lake, so as to be ready to embark if we should find it possible; but, having not experience of navigation of this kind, we would not force the voyageurs to start, against their will.
However, when the wind went down a little, we
embarked, and went about eight or ten leagues on the lake, always keeping along
(page 475) by the land towards the north with the intention of
going to a tribe called the Poutouamy, where we hoped to get some Indian corn;
but the wind got round to the offing, and made the water rough, compelling us
to put in to the shore. The water of the lake is like the sea, except that it
is fresh water; the waves run as high as at sea, and the land on the other side
is out of sight. According to what I was told, some of the lakes are as much as
four or five hundred leagues round. Having landed, we encamped there the next
day; and, as the wind still blew from the same quarter, I took my gun and went
to see whether I could find any game. While I was away, M. Cavelier and the
others decided to put back, as we had only a very small stock of provisions,
and they were afraid of dying of starvation; moreover, one of them was
suffering from ague; so, when I got back, I found everyone was inclined to put
back, that is, to return to the Illinois. I stood out, however, as long as I
could, for pushing forward,- as I had always done since we came to the Seny
tribe, where M. Cavelier thought we ought to return to the Settlement. I
pointed out that, the sooner we could get the news to France of what had
happened, the better it would be; because, if it should be thought advisable to
send reinforcements, the sooner it was done, the better. I pointed out that, to
return, would be to lose a year; for, even when we reached Canada, we should
have to wait until the ships left, at their usual time. I also said that, while
we had, for certain reasons, concealed the fact that M. de La Salle was dead,
there was the danger the some of the men whom we had left with the Acancea
might come and make it known. But, notwithstanding all the arguments I put
before them, they were determined to go back, fearing (page 476) starvation; and they quoted the case of some men
who had suffered in that way, and for some days had had to eat wild garlic, or
something of the kind
, which grows in the woods in these parts. Yet there was a
tribe fifty or sixty leagues away who sow Indian corn, from whom we had counted
on obtaining some, and we needed no more than three days' fine weather to go
there; and we could get provisions from them, as we had furs and other things
to buy them with. I was unable, however, to gain them over, for they were all
afraid of starving. They brought to my notice what had happened to the Sieurs
de Tonty and Boisrondet, who had had nothing but garlic to eat for nearly a
fortnight; their boat having broken up, they had been obliged to go on foot,
which is extremely difficult, as there are some places which are almost
impassable. There was yet another difficulty, in the fear of meeting some
Iroquois, which would not have been very pleasant, as there is little hope of
quarter from them at such a time, when we were at war with them; and, beyond
the fear of death, the dread of the tortures which they inflict was still more
terrible. . . .
Thus all my arguments were useless, as they were determined to go back, to my great regret, for I was extremely anxious to go on; but, as I could not undertake the journey alone, I had to submit. We returned, therefore to the mouth of the River of Chicagou, where we had to set about making a hiding-place for the things we had with us, so that the Indians who often come to this district, might not find them, and the rains might not be able to spoil them all. For this purpose we made a hole in the ground, at a spot which was raised a little, so that the water should not get to it; we lined the bottom with stakes and dry grass, and the sides as well, and then we put in our bundles, and the furs and other things, such as powder and bullets. After that, we made a sort of ceiling on top, with stakes and dry grass, and then put back the earth and trod it well down, for fear the water should penetrate; and, as the ground cannot be turned over without it showing, we felled an oak, which was near by, and brought it down on top of the hiding-place, and dug a hole in the thick part of the oak, as if for pounding Indian corn, a thing which is sometimes done,- doing all this to prevent any Indians who might come to the place, from thinking there was a hiding-place there. The fact that the leaves were falling was also of great service, as it helped considerably in concealing that the ground had been turned over. After we had finished our hiding-place, we put the boat on a platform which we had set up; and we then went back to Fort Saint Louis, where we arrived on the 7th of October. We passed the winter there, much to my regret; for, if we had gone to France, reinforcements could have been sent to those who remained at the (page 478) Settlement, and the settlement itself could have been maintained which would have been of advantage to the nation. When we reached the Fort they were greatly surprised at our return, for they thought we were far away; however, we had to think of our winter quarters, and to put our journey out of our minds and leave it until the spring.
XXI.
Journey from the Illinois district to Missilimakinak
and the halt at that island.
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We left on the 21st of March, going up the river, to continue our journey, with God's help. Five leagues above the Fort we came to a rapid, where we were obliged to get into the water, and drag our boats, as there was no way of getting on by punting, the current being too strong to overcome; and I had taken service with the Sieur de Boisrondet, to assist him, in managing his boat, at which I was serving my apprenticeship. I may say that I went through more hardship and pain than I had had during the whole of my journey previously; for, to begin with, the bed of the river, at the place where the rapid was, being full of rocks and stones, was very troublesome, especially for me. For I had very tender feet, although I had had to walk barefoot during part of our journey; the water was extremely cold, and I was so unfortunate as to injure both my feet, though I did not find it out until we had got up the rapid, as the cold prevented me from feeling the pain. However we had to get on, and I made a virtue of necessity, which I did not do without considerable suffering, as I had to enter the water very often although my feet were hurt; but I profited to some extent by a few days of bad weather, which prevented us from continuing our journey, and gave me a little respite.
We reached Chicago on the 29th of the month. We had gone on in advance with our boat, in order to see whether the goods (page 497) we had buried on our previous journey were still there; and, on landing, I saw a cravat of English point, which belonged to me, on the bank of the stream. That made me fear that the things we had buried had been carried off; which would have been awkward for me, as I had some furs and linen of my own there. I therefore went to the place as quickly as possible, to see whether there was anything left; and I found there was a hole over the hiding-place, through which some beaver-skin robes and some otter-skins had been taken out, and my own special bundle was half out. We set to work to get out the rest, after uncovering it, and nothing was missing except a few beaver-skin robes and some otter-skins. I was the one who lost most; for, as my bundle was at the mouth of the hole, the furs which I had obtained in exchange for some clothing were spoiled, and so was my linen, including some shirts. Fortunately, it was not long since the opening had been made; otherwise, everything would probably have been spoiled. This had happened by the fault of a man who had been sent by M. de Tonty, during the winter, to see whether any boats had arrived, and whether there were any Indians at that post. This man, being in need of powder, and knowing that there was a quantity in this hiding-place, had taken some of it but, apparently, had not properly closed the hole he had made; and the wolves had scratched at it, and opened it again, and had pulled out the furs mentioned. Fortunately it was not long before; for, if the rain had got in, everything would have been ruined. When the rest of the party arrived, we set to work to get out the other things, and dried them, throwing away what was spoiled. My bundle having been on (page 498) top, as I have already said, it was accordingly the one that was damaged most; for, besides seven or eight otter-skins lost or spoiled, I also lost some cravats and a shirt, of which one sleeve was carried off whole.
The weather remaining rough, made it necessary for us to stay at this place until the 8th of April, which was an advantage to me by enabling me to get my feet well; for we had not much to do. Game was not abundant, and we had not much meat; but Providence supplied us with a sort of manna, to improve our Indian corn. It was a juice which the trees yield at this time of the year, especially maples, of which there are a large number in this district, growing to a great size. To obtain the juice, we made large cuts in each tree, under which we placed a vessel, and a knife at the bottom of the cut, to guide the liquor, which is really the sap of the tree; when boiled, by dint of boiling down, it becomes sugar. We used this liquid for boiling our Indian corn, or Porridge, and it gave it a rather pleasant flavour, that is, a little sweet. It seems as if Providence supplies all needs; for, as there are no sugar canes in these parts, the trees supply it, for this liquor, when boiled down, becomes sugar, which is of very good quality,- at least I saw some which was excellent; it was redder than ours, that is, than the sugar used in France, but was almost as good. There is also a sort of garlic, in abundance, which is not quite like French garlic, the leaf being shorter and broader, and it is not so strong; but its flavour is very nearly the same, though not so nearly as the flavour of the little onions is to that of the French onion. There is also a kind of chervil, which is very . . .
are well aware that all their beaver skins
come from the upper part of the River Colbert, and that the French people
settled on that river will prevent them from going there whenever they choose
to do so: thus the Outaouacs themselves will be forced to continue their
trading with our fellow-countrymen in Canada, and to abandon the English.
Nothing will be easier than to contrive that the Iroquois shall take no more
beaver-skins to the English,- or very few; for all the beaver-skins which the
Iroquois get in hunting and afterwards take to Orange, comes from the lands
along the River Ohio and Wabash and those towards the River of the Miamis and
the River of the Illinois. Now, in order to carry on this hunting, they must
necessarily separate into small bands, or make up their minds to catching
nothing; and our Indians, who are distributed over all the lands towards these
rivers, will defeat them a few at a time and make them . . .
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2(p. 472, fn. 1) Here Delisle's manuscript ends, and Joutel's original text begins again.
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