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.
Dubuisson to Vaudreuil
(Detroit Pontchartrain, June 15, 1712)
(Due to length divided here into two parts)
Dubuisson, Sieur in: Michigan Historical
Collections, XXXIII, pp. 537-552.
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The destruction of two villages of the Maskoutins and Outagamis is one of the strongest reasons which induces me to despatch this boat; it is Heaven which has allowed these two audacious tribes to perish. They had received many presents and belts from the English to destroy the post of Fort Pontchartrain, by slaughtering us, and then certain tribes allied to us, to which the Hurons and Outauois settled at Detroit Pontchartrain were to be no exceptions; and then these wretches were to withdraw to the English, to be at their disposal for creating constant disturbances. It is asserted that Quinetonant's band, and Makatemangoua's have been received by the Iroquois to form a village among them. Three boats of Outagamis have been destroyed four miles from this post by the Saulteurs, who have brought us the news.
I am much afraid for M. de la Forest, as I have no doubt he has started on his journey up here, since he may meet with a party of these Outagamis out of those who are to set up a village among the Iroquois. The bands of the great chiefs Lamyma and Pemaussa came in the early spring and encamped, in spite of my opposition, within fifty paces of my fort, for they would not listen to me at all, and always spoke most insolently, speaking of themselves as the masters of all the land. It was necessary for me to speak to them fair, for I have only thirty Frenchmen with me, as you know Sir, and I wished to preserve those of the Miamis- to the number of eight- who were with Monsr. de Vincennes, and also to sow (page 538) seed and have the cattle pastured. Moreover the Outtauois and their Hurons had not got back from their winter quarters. I was constantly exposed to a thousand insults; they killed hens, pigeons, and other creatures belonging to the French, and yet I dared not say a word, as I was not yet in a position to speak my mind. Some of them came into my fort to assassinate a settler named La Jeunesse, and a big girl belonging to the man Roy, another settler; but I could not restrain myself so far. I took up arms to resist them in this evil act against me, and compelled them promptly to retire, so as not to give them time to increase their numbers. For they also on their side, were waiting for their allies, the Kikapoos, so that they might all together carry out their detestable project and be sufficiently strong to retire to the English and Iroquois, without fearing anything. These wretches were only waiting until the moment they could set fire to our houses to overwhelm us. It was quite a different matter when they heard that the Maskoutins, who had wintered in the upper part of the St. Joseph's River, had been destroyed, to the number of a hundred and fifty souls, men, women and children, by Saguina, war chief of the Outtavois and the Poutouatamis. They wanted instantly to destroy an Outtavois hut which was at the gate of my fort. I was warned of this by the man Joseph, an Outagami who has long abandoned his tribe to devote himself entirely to the French. It is through him that I have learnt all that has taken place in the village of the Outagamis and Mascoutins. He has the honor of being known to you Sir; he went down to Montreal last year. It was he also who warned me that I was to be burned in my fort, which made me immediately send a boat with some Frenchmen to the place where the Outtavois and Hurons had wintered to tell them to hasten to come and join me. I also sent another boat to the other side of the lakes to warn the Saulteurs, the Mississagues, and the Amiquois to increase my force. The church and Mallett's house were outside the fort, and all the corn of our savages was in them. The contrary winds which constantly prevailed, prevented all the savages allied to us from reaching us, which harassed me greatly. Feeling myself hard pressed, I decided to urge the few Frenchmen I had left to get this corn in promptly. It was well for us that we did so; for, two days later, I was master of nothing, since presently we had to skirmish in order to get it, and they even plundered a good deal of it. But the most important matter was to pull down, as quickly as possible, the church, the store-house, and any other building alongside of my fort, which was also so near that the enemy would have had it in their power to set our buildings on fire whenever they wished; and moreover it was a matter of importance to make some clearance so that we might defend ourselves better in case we were attacked, which in fact happened. . . .
(page 539) As I was afraid lest anything might happen to the Frenchmen who had not yet arrived and as it was necessary to sow seed, and pasture the cattle, I dared not speak my mind nor refuse to let them enter the fort and trade, for fear they should perceive that I knew their wicked designs. All that I could do was to tell them I was afraid of the Miamis who, when they knew I was keeping them near me would make war on me, and that was why I was going to set my fort in order; but they did not pay much heed to my reasons. We had to skirmish to get stakes, which were outside the fort, and they had got possession of them. I devoted myself to have my fort repaired as speedily as possible with what stakes I could get hold of, and I doubled it perfectly well with the materials from the houses. I employed a ruse to obtain a dove cote which the they wanted to keep, which would have given us trouble and caused us to lose some men. I had it set up at once opposite to their fort, with good loop holes; I had two swivel-guns mounted on two great logs to serve me as cannon in case of need, which they did.
On the 13th of May, when I was anxious for the arrival of my allies, whom I had sent for, which was the only succor I could hope for, Monsr. de Vincennes arrived from the Miamis with seven or eight Frenchmen, bringing me no news of the savages whom I was expecting. This troubled me greatly, for I hardly know which way to turn.
But Heaven was keeping watch over our safety for us. When I was least expecting it, a Huron entered my house, quite out of breath, and said to me- "My father, I ask to speak to you in secret." He said to me- "I come from our old men." There were only seven or eight Hurons in their village at that time; it seems that everything has occurred here as by a miracle, for the remainder arrived two hours after, and the Outtauois also. This messenger said to me- "God has pity on us, He wishes your enemies and ours to perish. The news I bring you is that four men have just arrived at our fort, who dared not enter yours, because of the Fox Indians and Mascoutins around you. They are Maquisabé, war chief of the Poutauatamis and the brother of Ickamasimon and two others; he asks to speak to you." I requested Monsr. de Vincennes to go; and when he got there he recognized the four savages. An hour after, he came to bring me an answer and told me from Makisabé that six hundred men would arrive very soon, to come to my help and devour these miserable tribes who had disturbed the peace of the whole land; that I must be on my guard to avoid being taken by surprise by the Outagamis and Mascoutins, who might hear of the arrival of this assistance. I requested Monsr. de Vincennes to go back to the Hurons' fort and find out from Makisabé whether it would not be possible to (page 540) content ourselves with driving the Mascoutins and Outagamis away and compelling them to return to their old villages, since that Sir was your will; but there was nothing to be done. The Hurons were too highly excited, and this important business had been too well planned during all the autumn and winter, with all the tribes, and presents given. Monsr. de Vincennes saw that it would only be irritating them to speak to them of any arrangement, and went on further with it, more especially as the savages said that all these evil people had never kept their word. We had, therefore, to say nothing and go through with the matter with a good grace, fighting with them against our common enemies. The Hurons even asked us, in reproach, whether we were weary of life since we had learnt the wicked scheme of the Outagamis and Mascoutins; and said that it was absolutely necessary to destroy them and extinguish their race; that it was your will that they should perish; that they had learnt your mind on this matter at Montreal. Monsr. de Vincennes returned and said to me- "It is useless to speak of any arrangement." I well knew, indeed, that there was ground for fear in attracting so many tribes to us, not knowing whether they were well disposed towards us. Then it was that I had the gates of my fort closed. I divided the few Frenchmen into four divisions, each having its commander; I examined their arms and got the ammunition all ready. I posted them on each of the bastions; I put four men in the redoubt which I had just made. I reserved some whom I stationed at the two curtains, where there was most danger of attack, with swords fitted in shafts, my two pieces of cannon all ready with wedges of iron to put in them which I had had made by the blacksmith. Our reverend father, for his part, busied himself holding himself ready to give general absolution in case of need, and to succor the wounded, if perchance there were any; he also prepared the consecrated host. Everything being well arranged, when we were only awaiting a good fight. I was presently informed that a number of people were appearing. I got up on a bastion, and casting my eyes in the direction of the wood, I saw the army of the tribes from the South coming out, namely, the Illinois, the Missouri, the Osages and other tribes still more distant; with them was also Saguina, the Outtavois chief, and also the Poutouatamis. Sakis and some of the Malhominy. Detroit has never seen so many people; it is a surprising thing how strongly all the tribes are incensed against the Mascoutins and Outagamis. This army was marching in order, with as many flags as there were different tribes; it made straight for the fort of the Hurons, who said to the chief of this army "You must not encamp, the matter is too pressing. You must enter into the fort of our father and fight for him. As he has always had pity on us, and loves us, it is but just that we should die for him. Do you not see that smoke? It is three women of your village, Saguina, that they (page 541) are burning, and your wife is among them." There was no need to say more, they uttered a great cry, and at the same time they attacked with all speed,the Hurons at their head, as well as the Outtavois of this place. The Outagamis and Miscoutins also shouted their cry, and about forty of them came out of their fort all naked and painted, with their arms waving everywhere, to come and reconnoitre our men and defy them so as to make them believe they were not afraid of them; they were, however, obliged to retire very quickly and go into their village again. Our men asked leave to go into my fort, and I allowed them to do so, seeing they were too excited. My intention had been to make them encamp outside, near the wood, so that we should not be inconvenienced.
The chiefs of all these savages assembled in the square of my fort, and addressed me in these terms: "My father, I speak to you on behalf of all your children, the tribes that are before you. What you did for them last year, in saving their flesh from the fire when the Outagamis wanted to roast and eat it, well deserves that we should bring you our bodies that you may be the master of them and make us do whatever you desire. We do not fear to die when it is necessary to face death for you. We only ask that you will beg the father of all the tribes to have compassion on our wives and children in case we should lose our lives with you; and we ask you to throw a little grass on our bones, to protect them from the flies.
You see, my father, that we have left our villages, our wives and our children that we might come and join you as quickly as possible. We hope you will take pity on us and will give us food, and a little tobacco to smoke; we come from afar and are destitute of everything. We hope you will give us lead and powder that we may fight with you. We will not make a long talk; we perceive that we are wearying you and your Frenchmen because of your earnest desire to fight." I answered them at once, and in few words: "I thank you, my children; your desire to come and offer yourselves to die with me is very gratifying to me and gives me great pleasure. I recognize you as the true children of the Governor; I will not fail to report to him all you do for me to-day. Doubt not that when your interests are in question he will look after them with great zeal; these are the orders which I always receive from him- to watch unceasingly over the safety of his children. As regards your needs, I know that you are in want of everything. The fire which broke out is a misfortune both for you and for me, but I will do my best to see that you have what is most necessary. I invite all the tribes that are assembled here to live in peace, union and good understanding with one another, as well as with my Frenchmen. If we keep on these terms with one another, that will be the way to succeed in destroying our common enemies utterly. Take courage therefore; look to your tomahawks. (page 542) your bows and arrows, and especially your guns; I am going to have some powder and bullets given out to you presently, and then we will attack. That is what I have to say to you."
All the savages gave a great shout of joy and gratitude saying, "Our enemies are dead men; now the sky begins to shine upon us, and the master of life to take pity on us."
All the old men delivered harangues all round the fort to encourage the warriors to listen attentively to my words, and obey me in all the movements I would have them make.
I distributed lead and powder to them at once; and then all together, we shouted the war cry, the very earth trembled with it. The enemy, who were only a pistol-shot distant, shouted their cry also, and at the same time the musket shots began on both sides and the bullets came like hail. We also had to do as our savages did, in order to encourage them; the powder and bullets, which you were good enough to send me, Sir, last autumn, did not last long; we were obliged to have recourse to the three barrels which Monsieur de La Mothe had left with the man Roy to sell, for he did not leave me a single grain when he set out for the defence of the fort, in case of attack. All mine went also, and was not sufficient with the other powder which I was obliged to buy from the French people. I kept the Outagamis and Mascoutins besieged for nineteen days, wearing them out by a continuous fire, night and day; in order to avoid the heavy fire they were obliged to place themselves four or five feet deep in the ground. I had had two large platforms constructed, to a height of twenty feet, in order to fight with them better in their village; they could not get to the water, and were overwhelmed with hunger and thirst. I had four or five hundred men blockading their village day and night so that no one could get out to go for help. All our savages went scouting in the outskirts of the wood, and constantly brought back prisoners with them who were coming to join their people, not thinking they were besieged. They amused themselves by shooting them with guns or bows and arrows, and by burning some of them.
The enemy, whom I was holding in siege, thinking to intimidate me and thus compel me to let them go free, hung their palisade round with scarlet coverings and then shouted to me that they would that the earth were all dyed with blood, and their red coverings were proof of it; they set up twelve red coverlets as standards in twelve different places in their village. I know well that these were English signs and that they were fighting in their cause; and in fact, speaking from their fort to ours at us, they shouted to me that they had no father but the Englishman, saying to all the tribes allied to us that they would do much better to abandon my side and put themselves on theirs. The great war chief of the Poutouatamis, after having asked my leave and my advice, got up (page 543) on one of my platforms and spoke to them in the name of all our tribes in these terms.
"Wicked tribes that you are! You think to make us afraid with all this red you are putting on your village, but be you sure, if the earth is dyed with blood, that it will be with yours alone. You speak to us of the Englishman; it is he who is the cause of your loss for your listened to his evil counsel. He is the enemy of prayer, that is why the master of life chastises him as well as you, evil men you are. Have you not learnt, as well as we, that the father of all the tribes who is at Montreal, continually sends parties of his children to the English to make war on them and brings back prisoners in such large numbers, that they know not where to put them? The English, who are cowards, defend themselves only in an underhand way by killing men with that evil drink, brandy, which has made so many die a moment after drinking it. We shall see, therefore, what will become of you for having listened to their words.
I was obliged to put a stop to the conversation as I perceived that the enemy had only asked to speak to me in order to divert our attention and get a little time to go for water, as thirst was afflicting them heavily. I gave orders for our heavy fire to begin again, and it was so violent that we killed more than thirty of their men and some who had stolen away to go to the water. That day I lost twelve men in my fort, killed by our enemies; in spite of my efforts, they had taken possession of a house on which they had set up a platform behind the gable which was made of earth so that our musket bullets could not pierce it. Hence they killed some of our men every day from this place. This obliged me to set up, on one of my platforms, two great logs on which my two mortars, were mounted. I loaded them with the wedges and had them fired at this gable which was annoying me so much. The first two shots succeeded so well that we heard the platform, which they had set up behind it, tumble down, and some of them were killed. They were so terrified by these cannon shots that we heard them giving vent to terrible cries and howls, and in the evening they cried out and asked whether I would consent to grant them permission to come and speak to me. Then I called together all the chiefs of the tribes who were with me to learn their opinions, and we all agreed together that it was necessary to let them come so that we might attempt by a ruse to get back from them three women belonging to our people whom they had made prisoners a few days before the siege, one of whom was the wife of the great war chief Saguina. I ordered my interpreter to call to them that they might come in complete security to speak to me; that I was willing to give them this pleasure before they died.
They did not fail to do so, and came next morning. We were much surprised not to see these red flags in their village, but only a white flag. (page 544) It was the great chief Pemoussa who constituted this first embassy. He came out of his village with two other savages, with a white flag in his hand. I sent my interpreter forward to bring him to me, and to protect him from attack by any young warrior. He entered my fort; I had him conducted to the middle of the square, and then I called together all the chiefs of the tribe that were with me to listen all together to our ambassador. Here are his words:
By a necklace and two slaves.
"My father, I am a dead man. I see clearly that the sky is fair and bright for you alone, while for me it is all black. When I came out from my village, I hoped that you would consent to listen to me. I ask you, my father, by this necklace which I lay at your feet, to have compassion on your children and not to refuse them the two days they ask you for during which there shall be no firing on your side or on ours, so that our old men may hold council, to find means to soften your heart.
"It is to you that I speak now, children who obey the word of our father. This belt is to beg you to remember that we are your allies. If you shed our blood, know that it is yours also. I beg you then to try to soften the heart of our father whom we have so often offended.
"These two slaves are to replace, it may be, a little blood which you have perhaps shed. These few words are all that I say to you until our old men speak, if you grant us the two days that I ask of you."
This, Sir, is what I replied to them: "If your heart were a little touched, and you did, in truth, recognize the Governor as your father, you would have begun by bringing me the three women whom you have as prisoners among you. That you have not done that, makes me think that your heart is still bad. If you wish me to listen to you, begin by bringing them to me. That is all I have to say to you."
All the chiefs who were with me cried aloud- "My father, after what you have just said, we have no reply to make to this ambassador. Let him be of your mind if he wishes to live."
The ambassador replied "I am but a child; I depart to return to my village and give your answer to our old men." Thus the council ended. I gave him three or four Frenchmen to conduct him back, assuring him that there should be absolutely no firing for the day of which his old men had spoken to me, provided that no one went out of their village to go for water; but that when we saw that, the truce would be broken and we should fire immediately.
Two hours after, two chiefs, Mascoutins, and a third, an Outagamis, came flag in hand, with the three women in question. I sent them into the same place as the first, where all the chiefs of our savages were. The three envoys spoke thus: "My father, there are the three morsels of flesh which you ask us for; we would not devour them, for we thought you (page 545) would call us to account for them. Now do with them, my father, as you wish; you are the master of them. Behold we, the Mascoutins and Outagamis ask you to make all the tribes that are with you retire, so that we may go free to seek the means of subsistence for our women and our children; many are dying every day of hunger and want. All our village repents of having angered you; if you are a good father, as your children who surround you say, you will not refuse us the favor that we ask of you."
As I had the three women I demanded, I no longer cared about humoring them. I replied to them- "If you had devoured this flesh of mine which you have brought me, you would not be alive now; you would instantly have had such heavy blows that they would have beaten you into the earth so deep that you would never be heard of again. As it is, although I love the flesh of the father of all the tribes, as regards, the freedom you ask of me I leave it to my children to answer you. Therefore I have no more to say."
The great chief of the Illinois, called Makouâandely was appointed to speak by the chiefs of the other tribes: in these terms
"My father, we all thank you for your goodness to us, we thank you that you give us leave to speak; we are going to do so"- And, addressing the hostile chiefs,- "Now hear me, therefore, you tribes that have troubled the whole earth. We see clearly, from all that you say, that you are only seeking to impose upon our father and to deceive him again, when you demand of him that we should retire. As soon as we did so you would molest our father again and would certainly shed his blood. You are dogs, who have always bitten him; you have never been grateful for the benefits you have received from all the French. You thought, wretches that you are, that we did not know all the messages that you have received from the English to slaughter our father and the children here, and then to take them there. Therefore retire; for our part we will not move from here, we wish to die with our father, and if he told us to go away we should disobey him because he knew your evil heart, for we will not leave him alone with you. We must therefore see now who are to be masters, you or us. You have only to retire; as soon as you have re-entered your fort we shall begin firing again."
I had the envoys escorted up to their fort, and we began to fire as usual. We were three or four days without speaking to one another, keeping up a heavy fire constantly on both sides. The enemy kept up such a thick flight of arrows that they discharged more than two or three hundred into the air at once at the end of which there was lighted tow, and fuses of powder on others, with the object of setting us on fire, as I had been threatened. I found myself in great difficulty. These arrows fell from all quarters on the houses, which were only covered with straw; and when the fire caught one it frightened the French- (page 546) men so much that they thought they were all lost. I reassured them all, telling them that that was nothing and that it was necessary to provide a remedy as soon as possible. "Come!" I said to them, "take courage, let us quickly remove the coverings of the houses and put bear and roebuck skins in their place." The savages assisted us. With the assistance of a large number of men, I had two large wooden boats brought in, in which I had twenty barrels of water put, with swabs at the end of rods to put out the fire when it caught in any place, and hooks to pull out the arrows. I had four or five French people wounded. I fell into another difficulty much greater than the first; my savages became discouraged and wished to depart, some saying that that tribe would never be conquered, that they knew well that they were braver than any other, and that moreover, I was no longer able to give them provisions enough for their subsistence. The fickleness of these tribes should teach us that it is dangerous to leave such a distant post without troops. I found myself therefore, in consequence of this, on the eve of being deserted and left a prey to our enemies, who would have given me very little quarter; and the English would have triumphed. The Frenchmen were so scared that they said to me that they saw that it was necessary to retire as quickly as possible to Michilimaquina. I said to them- "What are you thinking of? Can such base sentiments be entertained? And why abandon a post in such a cowardly manner? Drive from your minds, my friends, such an evil project. What is it then that seems to you so bad as to put you in such fear? You may be sure that if you had done such a thing as to abandon me, the Governor General would have had you pursued everywhere, to punish you for your cowardice. What the savages have just said to me ought not to frighten you; I am going to speak privately to all the chiefs and put heart into them again. Change your minds therefore, and leave me to act, and you will see that all will go well." They replied that they did not intend to retire without my consent, with me at their head, as they did think we could hold out if the savages deserted us; that they begged me not to bear them any ill will, that they would continue to do all that I wished and in fact I have been greatly pleased with them as they have done their duty like brave men.
I was four days and four nights without any rest, or food or drink, applying myself solely to attaching all the young war chiefs to my interests, to make them stand firm with me and encourage all the warriors not to retire until our enemies had been destroyed utterly. To attain my ends I stripped myself of all I had, to give to one or another of them; you know, Sir, that one must not be stingy with the savages. I am hoping that you will be good enough to accept all these expenses which, for my part I think very small; otherwise, I should be very much to be pitied, as I am burdened with a large family which is a great
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