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.
Du Tisn to Vaudreuil
(January 14, 1725)
Vaudreuil and Raudot in: Wisconsin Historical
Collections, XVI, pp. 450-451.
1725: FRENCH SETTLEMENTS IN ILLINOIS
ARE MENACED BY
THE FOXES; AID FROM FRANCE REQUESTED.
[Letters from Du Tisn, dated Jan. 14, 1725. Source, same as that of preceding document, but fol. 259, 268].
MONSIEUR- I have informed Messieurs De Lignery, Amariton, and Villedonn of the ill-treatment we receive from the Renards - and I am writing to them to Send you The Answer of Our savages. I was Surprised that those Gentlemen at la Baye should have concluded peace So soon; for Monsieur De Lignery writes me that he has Heard that five of our French have been killed. This report is only too true. He should or Can Suspend the peace. You Know, Monsieur, that, on account of that peace So hastily concluded, the chiefs are not masters of (page 451) their young men; and, as allies of the Renards, they will join them to come and Continue Their Cruelties Upon us. Had those Gentlemen let the tribes alone, we would have had to Fight against fewer Enemies who cover themselves with the name of Renard. They cannot deny that Ouayalameque, came to attack us, for The son of le chat blanc was there, and I had previously broken His five canoes below the Ouabache; and they ought not to be Ignorant of the fact that the Renards dance around our scalps with Their allies. Our Illinois have no Slaves belonging to the Renards, and have Never acted Treacherously toward them. They [merely] defended themselves. The last Attack at le Rocher proves It, and they establish it by Monsieur deliette and by the missionaries. We Are not Spared; The Traders from your Quarter give them to understand that we Are other White men. People of that Kind Sacrifice Their country to obtain Beaver-skins. All these Representations, Messieurs, call for your orders, so that a Remedy may be applied to this. Meanwhile, until we take our departure, I shall stop our Illinois from going to that country; but they shall Remain with us at their Head, to defend us On our lands. Give orders also to the miamis; they came to Invite two of our chiefs, of whom We have no news; We fear that, they have killed them. They are named Mamantoinsa and le Chevreuil blanc; they Are highly Esteemed among the Kaskasias. Five of our French have just been killed on the Ouabache; We suspect The Kikapoux. Finally, If the ruin of this colony is desired, that is the way to Succeed. Pardon, Monsieur , If I Importune you by my lengthy discourses; but a sick person is permitted to Allege His Ailments, in order that the proper Remedies Be given him. There is no time to Lose. I have the honor to beg you to Continue your protection, And to permit me to tell you [that I am], with very profound respect,
|
DUTISNE. |
[Endorsed: "Copy of a Letter Written to Monsieur de Vaudreuil at Quebec, on the 14th of January, 1725, from fort de Chartres in the Illinois country."]
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