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.
Vaudreuil to the Council of the Marine
(October 22, 1720)
Vaudreuil in: Wisconsin Historical
Collections, XVI, pp. 392-395.
1720- 21: MORE JESUITS NEEDED IN
UPPER COUNTRY; HOS-
TILITIES BETWEEN FOXES AND OTHER TRIBES; MIAMIS REFUSE TO MIGRATE.
[Letter of Governor Vaudreuil to
Council, dated Oct. 22, 1720. Source,
same as that of preceding documents, but fol. 164.]
I have received the Letter which the Council did me The honor of writing on June 7th, last.
I will carefully conform with the Intentions of His Majesty as regards the expenses for the Inspection of the posts, which Monsieur de Louvigny, lieutenant of the King at Quebec, is to make in the capacity of Commandant general of the Posts; and no license will be given to meet this expense, Since His Majesty desires that it be charged to his account.
The Procurator of the Jesuits not having sent to Canada this year the four Missionaries whom the Council had asked him to Send, I beg the Council to be pleased to oblige the Procurator to Send them next year, as we need that number.1
The Renards, Kikapous, and Mascoutins still continue their war Against the Ilinois, and threaten all the other nations, without consideration for any except That of the Sious, whom they for a time induced to espouse their cause, but who have again withdrawn from them, according to The last news that I have received by Way of detroit.
The Renards have forgotten the sorry State to which they found Themselves reduced four years ago. The peace that was granted to them has served only to increase their pride and their Insolence. They have paid no attention to all that Ouachala, one of their principal chiefs, who came to Montreal last year, has been able to say in my name to induce them to make peace with The Ilinois. On the Contrary, They have despised this Chief, because he seemed too well-affected toward the French. He himself has sent me word that The Young men had lost their Senses, and that he would be Constrained to abandon it [the peace].
They have recently violated The law of nations in killing a Miami who had gone to see the Sakis, who Are their Neighbors and their allies; and the latter, foreseeing the grievous consequences of this murder and of the bad Conduct of the Renards, appear determined not only to concern themselves no longer with their affairs, but even to abandon them absolutely, and go to settle on the St. Joseph River, for fear of being confounded with Them in the Vengeance which the other nations, our allies, wish to take for the Continual Insults which they have suffered from the Renards. This fear is not ill-founded, since Sieur de Tonty writes me (Aug. 27th) that the Principal Chief of the Pouteouatamis has Secretly declared to him that those nations are ready to make war on the Renards, if I will abandon that tribe to Them, and that he Counts on at least a thousand men, people from the lake and from the Miamis, Ouayatanons, and Ilinois; but he said that the would not undertake anything without first knowing my Wishes in the Matter. The Disposition of all those nations to attack The Renards, without concerning ourselves with the matter, seems to me favorable in that this proud nation, Finding all the others declaring against them, may finally decide to act with more (page 394) Moderation- especially as Ouacantap, Chief of the Sious, has decided to abandon their Cause, which will greatly humiliate Them; And as they will be obliged, in case the League of nations should march against them, to make a firm peace with the latter, by yielding the Satisfaction they ask, or by going so far away that they can no longer Trouble those tribes. Accordingly I shall not hesitate to abandon the Renards to these nations, if I learn next year that they have not made suitable amends to the Miamis, and that they Continue to make War against the Ilinois.
According to advices received from St. Joseph River and the Ouyatanons post, some savages of That nation, to the number of forty or 50, have gone to settle at the Teatiky, And it was Hoped that the rest would Follow Them this autumn. It is, however, to be Feared that the Pianginchias, who are more numerous than all the rest, may decide to remain where they are; for they have been solicited by the Canadians who have fled to Caskakias, Who have told the Savages that they would take care to bring them merchandise, and that the officer who was in command in the country of the Ilinois, claiming that they were his dependents, was on the point of having their post occupied by an officer with a Garrison. This, according to my views, is wholly Prejudicial to the welfare of This Colony and to the union which ought to exist between the ouyatanons and the Miamis; for they are one and the same nation, having separated into two Bodies on account of the Jealousy of the Chiefs who formerly governed them. Besides, that nation has never been Considered as belonging either to the Ilinois country or to Louisiana.
A part of the Miamis, numbering about one hundred men, have gone to Settle
on the St. Joseph River, where still others were expected. However, The
majority of the Savages of that nation continue to remain in their usual
territory, and do not appear at all disposed to go to the St. Joseph River.
Some of their Chiefs, who are very much under the influence of the English and
the Iroquois, on seeing that I was causing all the French who were in their
Village to withdraw, have taken advantage of this to insinuate that I wished to
abandon the na- (page 395) tion,
and that they ought, therefore, to make up their minds to go and Settle back of
the Iroquois country, in a Place to which the English are trying to attract
them. Having been informed of these intrigues of the Chiefs and of the
perturbation which the Retreat of the French had produced among that nation, I
sent from Montreal, in the month of August last, Sieur Dumont, half-pay Ensign,
accompanied by Sieur simon Reaume, a former Voyageur, who has a reputation
among the Savage nations, with two Canoes to bring presents to the Miamis, in
order to pacify that nation and prevent them from being deceived by the
Intrigues of Those Chiefs who favor the English, and to induce them if it can
be done to go as soon as possible to the St. Joseph River. These Frenchmen are
to go thence Among the Ouayatanons, and to those on the Teatiky, in order to
nullify the influence of the Collars Sent to that nation by the Miami Chiefs
who are in the Interests of the English, with an Invitation to go with them to
Orange. Every effort is to be made to persuade them to quit the place where
they are living, and to go to the Teatiky. This precaution seemed to me all the
more necessary as I have foreseen that Sieur Du Buisson, upon whom I have
always Relied, and whom the Council has allowed me to name as commandant at the
post of the Ouayatanons, could not arrive early enough to get there This year.
He will go next spring, and I hope that his Influence will suffice to Persuade
the Savages and the Miamis to do what it is expedient that they should do.
__________________________
1 Marginal note: "Mention this to the Father Procurator of the Jesuits."
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