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.
Beauharnois to the Minister
(October 17, 1736)
Beauharnois in: Wisconsin
Historical
Collections, XVII, pp. 255-260.
(page 255) you will be pleased to allow him 10 livres per month to help him in providing for himself. Moreover, such a reward will be an encouragement to the other habitants whenever warlike expeditions are undertaken.
We remain with very profound respect, Monseigneur, Your very humble and very obedient servants
|
BEAUHARNOIS |
|
HOCQUART |
QUEBEC, October 16th, 1736.
Indorsed: "Received the 15th of April, 1737. The 16th of October, 1736. Invalid Fund. Monsieur Hocquart."
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1736: CONDITION OF THE FOXES AND SAUK
[Letter of Beauharnois to the French Minister, dated Oct. 17, 1736, Source, same as preceding document, but vol. 65, c. 11, fol. 142.]
MONSEIGNEUR- I have Received the letter that you did me the honor of writing me on the Seventeenth of April last with Reference to The affair of the Renards and Sakis.
I fully expected, Monseigneur, that the ill Success of that Expedition would not be agreeable to the King. Nevertheless, you Know that I took every Care to ensure a Successful result, and you were even pleased to write me on the nineteenth of April of last year that His Majesty had approved the orders that I had given to the Sieur Denoyelle, and the measures I had taken.
When I Informed you of The Condition of the Renards after the Attack made On Them by the Sieur de Villiers, I stated Nothing, Monseigneur, beyond what Had been written to me from all the Posts of the upper country; and I have since (page 256) learned that The increase in the number which I Had the honor of mentioning to You as being that of the Renards Remaining at that time, Was due to the fact that all the Savages who had Renards Slaves, had Returned them, and that the tribes supplied them with guns and ammunition.
You may imagine, Monseigneur, that the Savages have their policy as we have Ours, and that they are not greatly pleased at seeing a nation destroyed, for Fear that their turn may come.
They manifest Much ardor towards the French, and act quite differently We have had a Recent proof of This among the Outawois, who have begged for mercy for the Sakis, although they Had an Interest in Avenging the death of their people and of their great chief.
The Savages as a rule greatly fear the French, but they do not love them. All that they manifest towards them is Never Sincere.
You will Observe, Monseigneur, in the Reply to the King's Memorial of one thousand Seven Hundred and thirty four, that the Sieur Denoyelle had orders to pass by Detroit to levy the hurons and other Savages at that post; and that I had ordered him, in His Instructions respecting the request of the Outawois, to grant the Sakis their Lives if they delivered up the Renards to him. He had also orders to consult there with Monsieur Peau, the other Officers, and the tribes, respecting the measures to be taken in accordance with the information he might have. He was extremely Embarrassed by the question put to him at the Council, by the Huron's asking whether he had orders to destroy the Sakis with the Renards, and saying that otherwise they (page 257) would not march. He told them Without other Explanation, that he had orders to Eat up both nations. He Detached two canoes to send word to the Sieur De Celeron who commanded at Missilimakinac, and to indicate a Rendezvous to Him. He left Detroit to go to the Miamis, and Afterward to the Ouyataons in order to Keep the Savages away from the River St Joseph where Six cabins of Sakis had taken Refuge. As soon as the hurons arrived among the Kickapoux they held a council with the Iroquois, and said to the Sieur Denoyelle: "Thou hast told us that We should eat the Sakis and the Renards. There are Sakis at the River St Joseph; we will begin by destroying these." In vain did he Remonstrate with the hurons, and tell them the orders he had received; they Would listen to nothing and departed from him in that fashion.
It was not, Monseigneur, the Passage through the country of the miamis that caused the hurons to abandon Him. The Sole reason was that which I have just had the honor of giving You; for it was our settled Savages who asked that they might pass by the lakes that they might more easily procure Food along the Road. The Provisions that we give them previous to their departure when they go to war, are left by them at the Village for the Subsistence of their families, and this cannot be Prevented. Moreover, before leaving la Chine, they had agreed to pass through the country of the miamis in order to induce them to join the expedition. They chanted the war-song with Them at that Place, and it was the miamis whom the Sieur Denoyelle had brought with him to Montreal who were the first to strike the Post at that feast.
If the Sieur Denoyelle did not induce the Savages to march with him, it may be due to the Voyageurs, who no doubt Secretly dissuaded them from it for their own Interests, as has happened several times.
This Affair does not appear, Monseigneur, to have had any regrettable results. On the contrary, the Collar given to the Sakis on my behalf by the Sieur Denoyelle, has had all The effect I could have Hoped.
The Sieur de St Pierre, the commandant among the Scioux, and Father Guignas, the missionary of that Post, Wrote me on the tenth and eleventh of April last that Ouabasseban or le Chat blan, the great Chief of the Sakis, Had Come to tell them on the first of the same month that the Renards Were about to divide Themselves into several war parties, and attack on all sides, since they had no longer any Hope of their Lives; that all that he could obtain from them Was that they should suspend Their Expeditions Until his return; that afterward they would act according to the good or bad tidings he might bring them; that as for Him and His people, they had Resolved to separate from that desperate nation.
The Sieur De St Pierre Replied to him: "Since the Sakis Are the cause of the Renards Still Being in a Condition to give trouble because they have not abandoned them, you should now Prevent Them from Carrying out their evil design, and Induce Them to remain quiet Until Onontio, to whom I Shall Write, has made Known His Intentions."
A proposal was made to the Sieur De St Pierre to let them form Villages partly with the Puants in whom they had confidence and partly with the Sakis, that then there would no longer be any question of the Renards. Le Moyne, the Sakis chief who is faithful to the French and Onnontat, a Nipissingue chief, Came down to bring me this News. They asked me what my plans were and I sent them Back saying that I Was a good Father who forgave his Children when they asked for mercy; that I Willingly granted the Sakis Their Lives, because I Was informed that what they had done was solely through the solicitation of the Renards; that I also wished to have pity on the Renards And to grant them their Lives, since the Sakis asked me to pardon Them, but only on condition that they should disperse among the nations, and that no mention should Ever be made of the name of the Renards, who had so often Disturbed the earth. This, Monseigneur, was the best line of conduct that I could follow with respect to that post, which the Sieur De St Pierre had written to me they would be obliged to abandon, and that there Was danger in driving (page 259) the Renards to despair because the Scioux intended to give them an Asylum. The unfortunate affair of Monsieur Dartaguiette, which has made All the Savages still more Insolent than they were, has contributed, in no slight degree, to induce me to take this decision.
The Sieur de Lusignan, the commandant at the River St Joseph, Wrote me on the eighth of July last that the Sakis with their women and Children Had started on the first of the Same month to Come to his post to beg for their lives. By another Letter of the same Date, he informed me that he had learned from His Savages that the Renards had entered into an alliance with some of the Prairie Scioux on The other side of the Mississipi. I have Had the honor of conveying this information in the King's memorial.
I think, Monseigneur, that when they Learn the Reply that I gave to le Moyne and to onnontate they will leave the Scioux (if they Are with Them) to form villages with the Puants and the Sakis.
By a third letter of the twenty fifth of July, the Sieur De lusignan informs me that the Sakis came to the River St Joseph on the nineteenth of the same month; that they came to His (page 260) fort, quite naked and in tears, to offer him a Calumet and to beg for their Lives; that they Were Followed by the Chiefs and elders of the Poutouatamis, Jlinois, Miamis, And Outawois who had Gone to meet Them and take them Food, because one of their People had come to tell them that they had none. He adds that they have Established themselves at The Place that he pointed out to them, Between the Poutouatamis, Miamis and Jlinois Villages, and that they asked him leave to go down to Montreal next spring to beg for mercy. He has Sent me their Words and His Answers.
The Nations Established On the bank of the Missouris who last year Joined five or Six hundred Savages And French Voyageurs, have all Gone home Without having done anything.
I Remain with very profound Respect, Monseigneur, Your very humble and very obedient Servant,
|
BEAUHARNOIS |
QUEBEC, October 17th, 1736.
_______________
1737: THE KING'S ORDERS FOR THE UPPER COUNTRY
[Extracts from the yearly memorial of the king in reply to the report of the governor and intendant. Transcript from N. Y. Colon. Docs., ix, pp. 1059, 1060.]
********
His Majesty has learned with pleasure that Captain Desnoyelles' expedition against the Foxes and Sacs in 1735 has not been attended by any bad consequences. As he causes his intentions regarding those Indians to be fully explained to the Marquis de Beauharnois, he will content himself here to recommend him to conform thereto.
He hopes to learn that the Chaouanons will have kept the promise they gave
Sieur Joncaire, the commandant in their country, to come down this spring to
Montreal, to hear the Marquis de Beauharnois discourse on their migration. It
is probable that, should they determine on that course, they will easily be
persuaded to settle at Detroit; and that it is very
_______________________________
1 Father le Boullenger, Jesuit missionary among the Illinois, wrote to the Minister in 1736: "The court was deceived when it was informed that the Renards were destroyed. 1st. In the colony of Canada they have incurred more expenses than are necessary to destroy the Renards; but they have treated them too gently, and this management has only served to augment the expenses, and to render this nation more insolent. 2nd. In order to succeed, the natives of the two colonies of Canada and Louisiana must be united. 3d. Nothing must be concealed from the savages. If the Iroquois had known, that it was desired to pardon the Sakis, they would not have marched; or they would not have been the cause of a division such as that which caused Monsieur de Noyelles' enterprise to fail. 4th. Soldiers are in no wise suitable for a march of six months by land. Incapable of providing their own subsistence, they are a charge upon the savages, which gives rise to complaints. For such expeditions, only Canadians, accustomed to this kind of journeys, should be employed.- Ferland, Cours d'Histoire du Canada (Quebec, 1865), ii, p. 441- ED.
(1, p. 259) Beauharnois here refers to the defeat and capture in March, 1736, of a French detachment from the post of the Wabash and the Illinois, who were on their way to second the expedition of Bienville from Louisiana against the Chickasaw. Pierre D'Artaguette was the leader of the northern division of the army, which having failed to make a junction with the main body, attacked the Chickasaw with disastrous results. Twenty-two French were taken prisoners, among others the commander, the Jesuit missionary Snat, Vincennes, one of the Sieurs de St. Ange, and other officers, most of whom were tortured and burned at the stake.- ED.
(2, p. 259) Paul Louis Dazenard, Sieur de Lusignan, was born in 1691, and being made ensign in the colonial troops in 1724, served long and arduously, obtaining a lieutenancy in 1735, and a captaincy in 1744. After commanding at River St. Joseph, 1735-39, he was among the Sioux in 1745; in charge of Fort Frederic, 1755; and at the post of danger, Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga), 1757-58. Later (1759), he commanded at Isle aux Noix, and was at St. John in 1760.- ED.
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