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.
Extract of a Letter to the Minister
(October 5, 1701)
de Callieres, Chevalier de and M.
Champigny in: Ministere
des Colonies, Canada, Corres. Generale, Vol. 19 (1701),
Fol. 3 and in English Translation of Margry,
Vol. 5, pp. 451-455.
pp. 451, 452, 453, 454, 455.
V.
In
order to preserve the beaver-trade
which is done in the distant countries,
Canada requests that its boundary may be fixed
at the Wabash, and that, from that river,
posts may be established on the other streams
up the Mississippi.
____________
Extract
of a letter from the Chevalier de Callieres
and M. Champigny to the Minister
|
5th of October, 1701. |
We conclude, Monseigneur, from what you are good enough to tell us, that His Majesty desires to establish the Mississippi colony but not to destroy Canada. It appears to us therefore that it would be better that France should form that settlement herself, rather than by means of this colony, which could not be (page 452) dismembered, to however small an extent, without inflicting on it substantial injury. Moreover, since the expense of settling the new colony from France would be less, it is evident that those who advise to the contrary can do so only from motives of private interest, without concerning themselves about the preservation and support of a country to which you have accorded such powerful protection, Monseigneur, since it has been under your control.
We are very glad that His Majesty has pardoned the Coureurs de Bois, but we can assure him that they will not be of much use on the Mississippi; for they are not suited for forming settlements, nor for devoting themselves to the cultivation of the land, since most of them, from a spirit of insubordination, have abandoned the land they have here. They can therefore be of no use there except for the destruction of this country, by going into the backwoods for beaver skins and other furs, to enrich the commanders of the ships which go to those parts, to whom they sell them.
Nor are we ignorant of the fact that these commanders are in league with the Sieur Le Sueur in the plans which he is laying before the Court to attract the Sioux towards the lower part of the River Mississippi as a counterpoise to the Indians whom the English have won over to their side. It is easy to see that those are merely pretexts for prolonging their trading; and moreover it is quite certain that those Indians will never go down there, as they are by no means suited for canoes nor accustomed to navigating the rivers.
We feel bound to tell you, Monseigneur, that at Montreal last summer the Outaouais Indians assured us that Le Sueur had traded for beaver-skins with the Sioux, and that he had contrived that (page 453) his goods should be robbed on purpose that he might be obliged to take their beaver-skins in payment. And, as the Coureurs de Bois are permitted to take their beaver-skins to the Mississippi this year and next year, he will doubtless make use of them to take his own there, which will prevent it being known whether the beaverskin comes from him or from them.
The permission which has just been given to the Sieur de Juchereau to take twenty-four men from this country to the Mississippi in eight canoes, under the pretext of establishing a tan-yard there, completes our ruin; for, on going there, he will not fail to take all the beaver-skins and smaller furs he can find, and will thus have the best part of the trade of the upper countries to the exclusion of this colony. For if this were not his purpose, would he be likely to take goods to the Mississippi by way of Canada, at an exorbitant cost, when he could do so much more cheaply, by the ships which go direct from France to that country? Nor is it probable that the Sieur Juchereau would come here for suitable men to go and set up a tanyard there, since those who have tanyards in this country are obliged to bring workmen from France for them. It is evident therefore that all these people have one and the same object, namely, to trade for beaver-skins and the other furs, which are now Canada's sole means of subsistence.- However, we shall comply with the orders you have given to the Sieur Juchereau, and the Chevalier de Callieres will permit him to leave when he asks to do so.
This lawless conduct has gone so far that the great majority of the boatmen who take missionaries to the distant posts, once they get there, will not come back again; and, in spite of all the precautions the Sieur de Callieres has taken, four canoes also left the Colony a month ago, with three men in each, to (page 454) disperse in the backwoods. We do not doubt that the good reception which the Indians will give them (since brandy constitutes almost the whole of the goods they have to sell to them), and the welcome they will meet with on the Mississippi also, where they will take their furs, will induce many other unruly men here to do the same.
The licenses were suppressed because it was feared that too much beaver-skin was bought in the backwoods. Notwithstanding that, this country is dismayed to see that there are more traders in the distant countries than ever, while it receives no profit from them, the whole trade being carried on solely for Le Sueur, the Coureurs de Bois and the Sioure de La Forest and de Tonty who, it is said, are not content to trade in the Illinois country only, but do so at all the other places in those countries.
We have ascertained that some of these vagabonds have been to the English in Carolina, to open up trade with them, and were very well received there.
The only remedy we can see, to put a stop to these lawless proceedings, is to fix the boundary of this colony at the River Wabash, which is the district where our allies the Miamis hunt, so that we may establish posts there, if His Majesty approves, to prevent anyone going to the English that way; and, instead of receiving our Coureurs de Bois on the Mississippi, the commandants of that colony should be made to send them back to us, with a promise that they should be pardoned. Or, at least, we should be permitted to establish posts on all the rivers as you go up the Mississippi from the Wabash, which runs from this country into the Mississippi, in order to preserve to Canada its trade in furs by preventing it,- in accordance with His Majesty's prohibitions,- from being taken away by the Coureurs de Bois, (page 455) especially in the country of the Sioux, with whom this colony has traded for a long time:
These fixed posts would give great satisfaction to our Indian allies, who urgently requested the Chevalier de Callieres, when they were at Montreal for the peace, that Frenchmen should be sent to be with them. The good order they would establish would keep these Indians entirely under our dominion, and would prevent their drunkenness and the libertinism of the French; this would also enable the missionaries to fulfill the duties of their Ministry with greater success, and would rescue the colony from the danger to which it is exposed.
We will do our best to reduce, as far as possible, the present we are obliged to make to the Indians; but it is not possible, at the present juncture, to help making them large presents, as we have already had the honour of informing you. The Indians do not make any presents after we have made presents to them. Moreover, when we give them anything, it is generally when they are ready to leave, and have finished their trading, so that they have none of their furs left. The Chevalier de Callieres has forbidden the officers in command of Fort Frontenac and Detroit to receive any.
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