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.
Letter from M. de Vaudreuil
(November 5, 1708)
Vaudreuil, Marquis de in: Michigan Historical
Collections, XXXIII, pp. 395-399.
LETTER FROM M. RAUDOT, JR.
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Endorsed- M. Raudot, junior. |
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Quebec, the 25th of Octr. 1708 |
My Lord,
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Detroit has brought the savages only too near the English. Almost all the beaver skins produced go to Orange, and we see hardly any here from that post.
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My Lord, |
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Your very humble and most obedient servant, |
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Raudot. |
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LETTER FROM M. DE VAUDREUIL.
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Endorsed- M. de la Touche, M. de Vaudreuil, |
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Quebec, the 5th of Novr. 1708. Colonies. |
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M. de Vaudreuil. |
My Lord,
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I annex to this second letter copies of three letters which I received at the same time from Father D'heu1, missionary to the Annontagues, Father Marest, missionary at Michilimakina and Father Chardon2, missionary to the Poutouatamis. These three letters will show you, My Lord, the state of things at the time; and it is partly on this first news that I have been obliged to act up to the present time.
MM. Raudot and I have the honor of giving you an account, in our joint letter, of everything concerning Detroit, and of the result of the affair of Pesant. If the Sr. de La Mothe had pursued my first objects, and had been content to leave this savage at Michilimakina as an outlaw, instead of inducing him, as he did, to come to Detroit, the savage would (page 396) have remained among his tribe disgraced, and the Miamis, would never have dreamt of attacking the French, for they only did so in order to revenge themselves on the Sr. de La Mothe, who had deceived them by promising them that he would put the offender to death, and not doing so. The Miamis, My Lord, would never have attacked the French if the Sr. de La Mothe had not, last year, prevented Father D'Aveneau, their missionary, from returning with them, with the view of putting a Recollet there. It is certain that this missionary by his influence would have diverted the savages of his mission from doing anything contrary to the welfare of the service. The Sr. de La Mothe will not agree to that, for, far from doing that, he defames them to your Highness as far as he can, and injures them in the minds of the French and of the Savages.
What he has written to you, My Lord, concerning Father Marest is a falsehood. Hitherto this missionary appears to me to have been strongly inclined to carry out your orders in detail, as he himself writes to me in his letter of the 4th of June, a copy of which I have the honor to send you. Nothing keeps these savages of Michilimakina from going to Detroit except that they have a natural aversion to that post, of which they informed me again this year in their speeches when they came to bring back to me the rest of the slaves which they were to hand over to me, to give to the Iroquois. From these speeches, My Lord, you will learn their true feelings. The carelessness which the Sr. de La Mothe shows about giving me news from him, places me in a serious difficulty, and when the savages come to speak with me I do not know what I ought to answer them, especially at the present juncture when it is no less dangerous to declare war than not to do so. The extraordinary thing, My Lord, is that the Sr. de La Mothe pretends that it is I who prevents war from being made; whereas it is he himself who keeps me in a constant state of uncertainty by furnishing me with no news of his post; and prevents me from saying anything definite in reply to the savages, lest I should cause any action contrary to the welfare of his settlement, to be taken. It would be well if he would act with as much sincerity and uprightness as I. The King would thereby be better served, and our reputation with the savages would be different from what it is.
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So far, the Iroquois appear very well
disposed towards us, in spite of the desire of the English to make them
mistrust us. It was not the fault of the latter that they did not set us
quarreling this summer; for they induced, for that purpose, a young savage
among those who take their side in the village of Onnoutagué, to kill one of
the soldiers of the Detroit garrison who, with another, had deserted. When this
matter became known in the village several of the chiefs and elder men came to
Montreal to request me to consider, myself, what steps should be taken in the
matter, assuring me that the village as a whole, took no part in it, and
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