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.
Description of Detroit
(September 25, 1702)
Cadillac, M. La Motte in: Michigan Historical
Collections, Vol. XXXIII, pp. 133-151.
pp. 137, 138, 139.
of white oak, which is even and hard and as heavy as iron. This fort is in no danger provided there are enough people there to defend it.
Its position is delightful and very advantageous; it is [at] the narrowest part of the river, where no one can pass by day without being seen.
You know that I set out from Montreal on the 2nd of June, 1701, with 100 men and three months' provisions; that I arrived at Detroit on the 24th of July, having gone by the ordinary route of the Utaüais, by which I made only 30 portages, in order to try it.
After the fort was built, and the dwellings, I had the land cleared there and some French wheat sown on the 7th of October, not having had time to prepare it well. This wheat, although sown hastily, came up very fine and was cut on the 21st of July.
I also had some sown this spring, as is done in Canada; it came up well enough, but not like that of the autumn. The land having thus shown its quality, and taught me that the French tillage must be followed, I left order with M. de Tonty to take care to begin the sowing about the 20th of Sept., and I left him 20 arpents of land prepared. I have no doubt he has increased it somewhat since my departure.
I also had twelve arpents or more sown this spring, in the month of May, with Indian corn which came up eight feet high; it will have been harvested about the 20th of the month of August, and I hope there will be a good deal of it. All the soldiers have their own gardens.
I believe we shall have 60 arpents of land sown this next spring, hence I count on having a large quantity of corn; and I will have a mill built on the spot, so as to be absolutely independent of Canada for provisions. I have also a fine garden in which I have put some vines, and some ungrafted fruit trees. It is one arpent square, and we shall enlarge it if necessary. In all this I have only complied with the orders of the Governor-General.
All that is no easy task, especially as everything has to be carried on the shoulders, for we have no oxen or horses yet to draw [loads] nor to plough; and to accomplish it, it is necessary to be very active.
I have also had a boat of ten tons burden built which will be useful for many purposes in the river.
On the right of the fort, at a good distance, there is a village of the Hurons to which I have granted lands in the name of His Majesty, according to my order. The chief of this tribe, with four of the most important men, in accepting them shouted "Long Live the King" three times with me; and I have myself set up the landmarks, and marked out the place where I wished them to build their fort and their village. By this means I have set all the tribes on the track of asking me for lands, and for permission to settle there. Having shown the others the way, this tribe has cleared up to the present about 200 arpents of land, and will make a great harvest.
There is also, on the left of the fort, a village of Oppenago, that is, of Wolves, to whom I have likewise granted lands, on condition, however, of giving them up to me if I want them afterwards, on granting them others further off; the spot where they are might be useful for a common land hereafter. These are the most tractable and most peaceable of the savages. I am convinced that, if only a little care is taken of them, they will very soon become Christians. They dress like the French, as far as they can; they are very caressing; they even make rough attempts at our language as far as they can. They have also made fine fields of wheat.
Above this village, half a league higher up, there is a village made up of four tribes of the Oütavois, to whom I have likewise granted lands; they have made some very fine fields of Indian corn there. Thus, within the space of one league, there are four forts and four hundred men bearing arms, with their families, besides the garrison.
Before I set out from the fort, eighteen Miamis came, on behalf of their tribe, to ask me for lands and to beg the savages who are there to approve of their coming to settle there and joining them. Thus the settlements could not promise better; these having prepared the way, the others will not be long before they come there, especially as, before I left, we learnt that the corn at Missilimakinak had been killed this year by the frost as it was the preceding [year], a thing which very often happens at that place.
Last year, my wife and Mme. Tonty set out on the 10th of Sept. with our families to come and join us there. Their resolution in undertaking so long and laborious a journey seemed very extraordinary. It is certain that nothing [ever] astonished the Iroquois so greatly as when they saw them. You could not believe how many caresses they offered them, and particularly the Iroquois who kissed their hands and wept for joy, saying that French women had never been seen coming willingly to their country. It was that which made the Iroquois also say that they well knew that the general peace which the Chev. de Calliere had just made was indeed sincere, and that they could no longer doubt it since women of this rank came amongst them with so much confidence. If these ladies gave favorable impressions regarding us to the Iroquois, those our allies received from them were no less so. They received them at Detroit under arms with many discharges of musketry. They looked upon this move as the most important that could be made to prove to them that we wished to settle there in earnest, and that we wished to make it a post to dwell in, and a flourishing settlement.
That is what we have done, having been unwilling to omit anything in this undertaking to make it a success in spite of the fury of the opponents who thwart it in vain, and act only in connection with their own private interests.
All that I have had the honor to state to you has been done in one year, without it having cost the King a sou, and without costing the Company a double; and in twelve months we have put ourselves in a position to do without provisions from Canada for ever; and all this undertaking was carried out with three months' provisions, which I took when I set out from Montreal, which were consumed in the course of the journey. This proves whether Detroit is a desirable or an undesirable country. Besides this, nearly six thousand mouths of different tribes wintered there, as every one knows. All these proofs, convincing as they are, cannot silence the enemies of my scheme; but they do begin to grow feebler and to diminish in violence. It may be said that nothing more remains to them, good or bad, but their tongues.
If the King had the kindness to look into this matter well, and to follow it up, numberless advantages would be obtained from it, to the profit of the state, the Colony and religion. It is very grievous that this matter, so successfully promoted, should be suddenly destroyed by the obstacles which as it seems to me are rising against it.
I shall ever maintain that, if this post is settled by Frenchmen and savages, it will be the safeguard of our trade with our allies, and the blow which will overpower the Iroquois, because in consequence of it he will not be in a position to begin or to maintain war, as I have proved in the memorandum which I had the honor to present to you in France.
I maintain also, and take the liberty of deciding definitely, that if the King keeps only a mere garrison there, it is a useless post which it would have been better never to have started, and it will without doubt produce troublesome consequences; for our allies, being disappointed in their expectations, and in the promises which were made to them that the French would settle there, may take some course which might make us repent of our instability. The Iroquois, seeing likewise that this post would be anything rather than what they have been led to expect, will infallibly fall into feelings of mistrust which might well upset the peace they have concluded.
Moreover it is not possible that our families could live in a place inhabited by savages only. Their distress would be extreme, for they would be without any relief; as happened to Mme. Tonty who saw her infant die for want of milk, which she had not anticipated. I fear the same may happen to my wife who was just about to be confined when I left. That is not extraordinary because these ladies have wet nurses for their children. Hence there can be no hesitation in sending them down next year, unless a few families are permitted to go and settle there, so that they can find some assistance in these grievous conjunctures.
M. de Calliere having regard to that, has been good enough to permit six families to go and settle there next spring, and the Intendants who are also here thought it necessary. I spoke afterwards to the Directors
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