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.
Journal of the Voyage of Father Gravier
In: Shea, Early Voyages Up and Down the Mississippi, pp. 115-130.
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"JOURNAL OF THE VOYAGE OF FATHER GRAVIER(see fn. 1) Of the Society of Jesus, in 1700, from the Country of the Ilinois to the Mouth of the Mississipi, addressed to Father de Lamberville, and sent from the Fort of the Mississipi 17 leagues from its Mouth in the Gulf or Sea of Mexico, Feb. 16, 1701.
Reverend Father:
Pax Christi. On my return from Michilimackinac I received your letter which you did me the honor to write by the Mississipy, addressed to Father Aveneau, who sent it to me at Chika-(page 116)goua,(see fn. 2) whence I set out on the 6th of September, 1700, to come here. I arrived too late at the Illinois du Detroit,(see fn. 3) of whom Father Marest has charge, to prevent the transmigration of the village of the Kaskaskias, which was too precipitately made on vague news of the establishment on the Mississipi. I do not believe that the Kaskaskias would thus have separated from the Peouaroua and other Illinois du Detroit, had I arrived sooner.
At all events I came soon enough to unite minds a little, and to prevent the insult which the Peouaroua and the Mouingouena were bent on offering to the Kaskaskias and French as they embarked. I spoke to all the chiefs in full council, and as they continue to preserve some respect and good will for me, we separated (page 117) very peaceably. But I augur no good from this separation, which I have always hindered, seeing too clearly the evil results. God grant that the road from Chikagoua to the Strait (au Detroit) be not closed, and the whole Illinois mission suffer greatly. I avow to you, Rev. Father, that it rends my heart to see my old flock thus divided and dispersed, and I shall never see it, after leaving it, without having some new cause of affliction. The Peouaroua, whom I left without a missionary (since Father Marest has followed the Kaskaskias) have promised me that they would preserve the Church, and that they would await my return from the Mississipi, where I told them that I went only to assure myself of the truth of all that was said about it. This gave them great pleasure; they promised me that they would leave their village only when 1 should direct them, or the great chief down the river wished them to transport it. I much doubt whether they will keep their word.
After having marched four days with the Kaskaskias,(see fn. 4) I went ahead with Father Marest, whom I left sick at the Tamarouha, where Father Pinet discharges peaceably all the functions of missionary, and Mr. Bergier,(see fn. 5) who gets along very well with (page 118) us, has care only of the French, and this is a good relief for Father Pinet.
I started from the Tamarouha the 9th of October, to come here at the lower part of the Mississipi, to assist Father du Ru.(see fn. 6) I was accompanied by five canoes of Frenchmen. For my part I had in my canoe only Brother Guibert and a Frenchman sick with the tertian fever. At two leagues from the village I found the Tamarouha, who have taken up their winter quarters in a beautiful bay, where they await the Metchigamia, who are to come over sixty leagues to winter, and form only one village with them. One of our missionaries is to visit them every second day all the winter long, and do as much for the Kaoukia, who have taken their winter quarters four leagues above the village.
We made only four leagues the first day, in consequence of one of our canoes being opened by a snag [chicot] hidden in the water, which stopped us to repair it.
On the 10th day, after a league's progress, we discovered the river Miaramigoua,(see fn. 7) where the very rich lead mine is, twelve or thirteen leagues from its mouth, This mine yields three-fourths.
On the 11th we killed a buffalo or wild-ox, which cost us ten or twelve gun-shots, so well did he defend his life. The fever which seized my pilot obliged us to land at one in the afternoon, and in five days, although the current was strong, we made only thirty-five leagues, because the sick obliged us to land early, and because much time is lost firing on the buffaloes that line the river, and who are almost always left to be devoured by the wolves.
On the 14th we doubled Cape St. Croix. It is a small rock which makes a little island on the north of the Mississipi, on which Mr, de Montigny planted a cross.(see fn. 8) We took two bears there,
On the 15th, continuation of fair weather. We saw that day over fifty bears, and of all that we killed, we took only four to have the oil. Those that came down along the Mississipi were lean, and those that came from the direction of the river Ouabachci were fat. They were constantly going from south to north. It must be better for them there.
You meet a number of islands and shoals in the course of the Mississipi river, from the Tamarouha(page 120) to the river Ouabache; this river keeps quite closely its direction of north to south; but three or four leagues from Ouabachi it begins to turn to the N. N.W., and does nothing but wind. We could not judge by the distance we made on the 15th what direction it takes. Father Marquette (who first discovered it nearly thirty years ago) puts it in his journal three leagues from Ouabachi, 36 deg.47 min. We cabined in sight of this river, which comes from the south and empties into the Mississippi. At its mouth it makes a great basin two arpents from its discharge. It is called by the Illinois and by the Oumiamis the river of the Akansea, because the Akansea formerly dwelt on it. (see fn. 9) Three branches are assigned to it, one that comes from the northwest, passing behind the country of the Oumiamis, called the River St. Joseph, which the Indians call properly Ouabachci.(see fn. 10) The second comes from the Iroquois and it is called by them Ohio; and the third from the S.S.W., on which are the Chaouanoua,(see fn. 11) and all three uniting to empty into the Mississipi, it is commonly called(page 121) Ouabachi; but the Illinois and the other Indians call it the River of the Akansea. Its water is clear, and it does not seem very rapid. It falls gently into the Mississipi, which loses a little of the muddy color given it by the River of the Missouris.
Now to resume my route. We started on the 16th of October from the mouth of Ouabachi, with very favorable weather, and we found the Mississipi less rapid than above the Ouabachi. As we had a great quantity of meats we dried in haste a part of the beef, and the great heat obliged us to throw away the rest. We saw so great a quantity of wild pigeons, that the air was darkened and quite covered by them. We ran all day S.S.W., and five leagues below Ouabachi on the south side, we found great bluffs of sand, where there is said to be an iron mine. The pretended plates of iron attached to pebbles, are anything but what was supposed and what I was told. They are merely veins of hard and almost petrified earth, which have indeed the color of iron, but which are not heavy, and break easily. I took a piece to show that if there is an iron mine, it must not be judged by that earth.
On the 18th, in three hours time, we boxed the compass, and after running a little while E.S.E., we went half round it again in a bay of more than two leagues, which can be cut across at high water.
On the 19th we overtook the two canoes that had left us, and about two o'clock in the afternoon we found on the north side, three or four leagues further down, beyond a little prairie, an echo which repeats five words distinctly, and begins to repeat what you say only when you finish pronouncing the last word.
On the 20th great heat; we slept in sight of great bluffs of stone, called Fort Prud'homme, because Mr. de la Salle, going on his discovery, entrenched himself here with his party, fearing that Prud'homme, who had got lost in the woods, had been killed by the Indians, and that he himself would be attacked. Last year a quantity of bears were killed at this place. . . .
(page 124). . .
On the 26th we passed the Riviere a Mayot(see fn. 13) on the south, from the name of an Indian of the Mohegan nation who was of Mr. de la Salle's party. This river does not seem to be very large, but is said to be a good hunting ground, and that the Chickacha come to its mouth,, from which they are only three day's journey, cutting south inland.
A league or two lower down we found a periagua of Taogria.(see fn. 14) They are people of the Mohegan (page 125) nation, who trade much with the English. There were only six men, a woman, and a child; they were coming from the Akansea. The one who seemed to me the most considerable said some Illinois words, and spoke Chaouanoua. He made me sit down on a bear skin spread before his field cabin, and presented me sagamity to eat; he then told me as news that Father de Limoges,(see fn. 15) (whom he called Captain Pauiongha) had capsized his canoe and lost every thing; and that the Kappa Akansea had given him provisions and a canoe to continue his journey. I gave him a knife and half a box of vermilion. He made me a present of a large piece of meat of his chase. A league after parting with him we killed four does. We did not expect such a piece of good luck' and we neither killed nor saw another beast from Riviere a Mayot to the sea.
On the 27th we passed St. Francis river at the point of a turn to the north, eighteen leagues from the Akansea.
On the 29th leaving our cabinage we ran west and then kept southwest. About noon we discovered four periaguas of Akansea; when my canoe got near land, an old man came into the water and carried me ashore on his shoulders, The chief made me sit down on a great bearskin and the French on osier branches, which he made his young (page 126) men cut. He presented me two piakimina cakes, which I distributed among the French; and afflicted as I was that they did not understand me, wishing to speak to them of God, I retired to pray for them, while the kettles were boiling. They served me a plate of sagamity of small Indian corn, and another of small corn whole, seasoned with excellent squash. I made a little present to the chief of the band, and on the 30th we went and cabined a league lower down, half a league from the old village of the Akansea, where they formerly received the late Father Marquette, and which is discernible now only by the old outworks (dehors), there being no cabins left.
On the 31st, about 9 A.M., we arrived at the village of the Kappa Akansea, who are at 24 deg. according to Father Marquette's estimate. The village is half a league from the water's edge. Mr. de Montigny planted a cross on the hill, which is very steep, and forty feet high. After saluting the cross and chanting the Vexilla Regis with the French we notified the Akansea by three guns, and in less than half a quarter of an hour at most, two young men appeared sword in hand, followed close by the chief of the Kappas and the chief of the Tourima, and twenty or thirty well made young men with their bows and arrows. Some had swords, and two or three English guns, given to them last year by the man who brought them a lot of merchandise to alienate them from the French, and especially from the missionaries, whom he had an aversion (page 127) against, boasting that he would put the first he met in irons and put them to death. The French who took him found wherewith to make him a pair of handcuffs with irons, and prevented his doing all the harm he proposed to do.(see fn. 16) He had already two concubines at the Kappas.
To resume; the chiefs invited me to go to their village, which consists of forty cabins. A part of the French accompanied me there, while the others guarded the canoes at anchor. They took me to the cabin of the chief, who made me sit down on a mat of dressed canes, and at the same time put on the fire a kettle of small Indian corn, seasoned plentifully with dried peaches. They brought me from another cabin a large platter of ripe fruit of piakimina. It is pretty much like the French medlar. The platter was presented to the chief to hand to me. As it is the most excellent fruit the Indians have from the Illinois to the sea, the chief did not fail to begin his feast with it. After tasting a little I passed the dish to Brother Guibert and the French who sat opposite me. I did the same with the sagamity. I remarked that all who entered the cabin stood at the door, and advanced only when the chief told them to do so and sit down. There was a Metchigamikoue woman there, who acted as my interpreter, and confirmed the story of (page 128) Father de Limoges' capsizing and loss of all he had. She gave him her provision of indian corn and squashes to carry him as far as the Natchez, and the chief gave him an earthen pot, after regaling him as well as he could. I asked him whether he recollected to have formerly seen a Frenchman dressed in black, attired like me, in their village. He replied that he recollected it well, but that it was so long ago that he could not count the years. He added that they danced the Captain's calumet to him, which I did not at once understand, supposing that he spoke of the calumet of the Illinois, which the Kaskaskias had given Father Marquette to carry with him on the Mississipi as a safeguard; but I found in the Father's journal that they did in fact dance the calumet to him. He then had me asked in how many days I would start, and having told him that I had come ashore merely to salute him in his cabin, and that I was going to embark, he begged me to remain at least one day, to have provisions prepared, and that all the young men of his village were very glad to see me. I replied to his compliment and stated that I was in haste to get to my journey's end. I had previously inquired whether there were any sick; my interpreter informed me that there were none. At last, after a good deal of going and coming, and many consultations with his peoples the chief of the village asked me to stay till next day, because he wished to dance the chief's calumet with his young men to me. As this is a special (page 129) honor which is done but rarely, and only to persons of distinction, I thanked him for his good will, saying that I did not esteem myself a captain, and that I was starting immediately. My answer pleased the French, but it was scarcely agreeable to all the others, who by doing me this honor hoped to draw presents from me, The chief conducted me to the water's edge, followed by all his people, and they brought me a quantity of dried peaches, piachimina, and squashes. I made a present to the chief of a little lead and powder, and a box of vermillion to daub his youth, and some other trifle which he was much pleased with, telling him that I thanked him for the service he had rendered Father Limoges. After I embarked they fired four guns, to which the people with me responded. Two leagues from the village there is a little river, on which they go in canoes in the spring, behind the hills, to their cabin doors.
As I have here mentioned the calumet, you will be pleased to have me tell you something of it here. There is nothing among these Indians more mysterious or commendable. No such honor is paid to the crowns and sceptres of kings as they pay to it. It seems to be the god of peace and war, the arbiter of life and death. To carry and show it enables you to march with assurance amid enemies who in the heat of the combat lay down their arms when it is shown. It was on this account that the Illinois gave one to the late Father Marquette as a safeguard among the nations of the Mississipi, (page 130) through whom he was to pass on his voyage going to the discovery of this river and the nations dwelling on it.
There is a calumet for peace and one for war,
which are distinguished simply by the colour of the feathers with which they
are trimmed. The red is a mark of war; they use it also to settle their
disputes, to confirm alliances and to speak to strangers. It is a kind of pipe
to smoke tobacco, made of a red stone polished like marble and pierced so that
one end serves to receive the tobacco and the other fits on the handle. This is
a hollow piece of wood, two feet long, and as thick as an ordinary cane. It is
by reason of this that the French have styled it calumet, corrupting the word Chalumeau,
because it resembles a pipe, or rather a long flute. It is embellished with the
head or neck of various birds, whose plumage is very beautiful. They add also
large red or green or other coloured feathers, with which it is all trimmed.
They esteem it, especially because they regard it as the calumet or pipe of the
sun, and in fact they proffer it to him to smoke when they wish to obtain calm,
rain or fair weather. They would scruple to bathe in the beginning of hot
weather, or to eat new fruits till after they had danced the calumet, that is
to say, the chief holds it in his hands singing airs, to which the others
respond, dancing and making gestures in time with the sound of certain
instruments of the fashion of small drums. . . .
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11The Shawnees. This branch is the Tennessee.
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