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.
Raymond to La Jonquiere
(May 22, 1750)
In: "Reports to Raymond," Archives
Nationales,
Ministere des Colonies, C11A 95:394 and in
Illinois Historical Collections,
French Series, vol. III,
pp. 201-216.
|
By a Letter of May 22, 1750 |
Monsieur:
Inclosed is the speech of Les Grands Ongles which is authenticated by two calumets which are wrapped in a robe of beaver. The robe authenticates the two strings of wampum inclosed. This speech is sent you by Le Gris, chief of the village of Tippecanoe, as I had the honor to report to you. It is addressed to you, and I am sending it to M. de Sabrevois to be forwarded to you.
You will be surprised to learn what follows. Le Pied Froid, after several backslidings, had engaged me to tell you that he would conform to the message M. de la Galissoniere sent him and would to hear your words this spring when his son returned from his winter quarters. On the eve of his departure he chose the time the interpreter was away to tell me that they were all no better than dead men, and that he would not (page 202) go down. It was true, he said, that he had had me inform his father that since he called for him, nothing could stop him from going to hear his word; but he would remain in his village as he did not know what would happen. If I wished to go down with him, he would go down. In vain I gold him that my body remaining here was the guaranty for his, which should reassure him in the fear which he might feel. Finally in spite of all I could do, I could not engage him to keep his promise. Next morning I sent to seek him and his son by the interpreter. He sent word to me that he would not come back; he had told me he would not go, and that was enough. The young men held him back. He was obliged to do what they wished, or otherwise they would listen to him no more. At this very time his son, one of his nephews, and a party of his relatives were leaving for Oswego. I augur no good from this relapse of Le Pied Froid, which proves to me that they are all in an understanding. The interpreter and his brother, Pacane, who were born and brought up here, and who know the Indians through and through, give it out publicly that (page 203) all the tribes are in agreement and no longer conceal their evil design, being worse intentioned than ever they were at the height of the disorder during the last year. The Indians do not cease to treat me haughtily and to say they will attack the French.
They sent after Pacane, whom I had the honor to tell you I was sending in the guise of a runaway, to be at the council at Great Miami River. They said they sent after him only to prevent him from being killed. That is a bad excuse since he is their nephew and of their blood, being the son of a Miami squaw whom his father had married. For my part I think they sent after him to prevent our learning about this council, if it was not on some other misapprehension. I was resolved on sending off the interpreter that you might by him be informed of the general unsettlement of all the tribes of this country on whom there is no longer any dependence to be placed, and against whom a large and immediate reinforcement is necessary. But fearing lest after his departure something should come up adverse to the (page 204) safety of this post, and it should be said that it would not have happened had I not sent him off, I assembled all the traders to get their opinion in order to take nothing on myself. They decided he should remain and have signed the present letter to signify to you how much help is needed immediately to preserve this post. They agreed that if he had the honor to give you himself an account of all he knows, you wold be more easily convinced of the truth of all the accounts I have had the honor to give you and which I give you by this letter in their presence. They say this post is less safe and more exposed than it ever has been before. What is proof of this is that the Sieur Roy, who is the child of the Miami tribe, is sending his wife and all his cattle to Detroit. The Sieur Clermont, domiciled here, is sending his also and is himself going to Detroit. No one wishes to remain here to have his throat cut. Without an interpreter I could neither speak to nor listen to the Indians, as I neither speak nor understand their language. All that I have the honor to write you, and all the accounts I give you, I have learned and (page 205) learn only through the interpreter, who is the king's man.
To see the Miami of Le Pied Froid's band, they appear good people except that they are a nuisance when they beg for brandy. Le Pied Froid up to now has always done my will; he has even seemed to be more for the French than the French themselves.
Pacane, brother of the interpreter, is said to give it out that he is withdrawing to St. Joseph River out of discontent at not having been recompensed for his services when the fort was pillaged and burned, when he spent his own property to save the French. If his brother goes to Detroit as he seems to intend, or if he remains at St. Joseph and away from here, the king's service will be without an interpreter. Accordingly I beg you, Monsieur, to give your orders to the commandant at St. Joseph to send back Pacane, if he retires to that post or to its neighborhood.
Le Pied Froid also complains of not having been recompensed for having got back more than half the packets of peltry which (page 206) were stolen, for having returned them to the owners, and for having also taken in the French, fed them, and saved them. The want of recompense for services rendered of that nature, disgusts people, and in the end the king's service suffers. I believe, Monsieur, that sending a good present personally for Le Pied Froid and one for his band would have a good effect, were it only to let the people of Great Miami River see that they are treated here as well as the English who treat them. The Kickapoo and Mascoutens deserve to be rewarded for their fidelity and for having rejected the words of La Tortue.
Signed: DE RAYMOND, BONDY, SANCER, CHARLES LE BLOND, AND FRANCHEVILLE GODET.
Words of Les Grands Ongles, a Wea Chief
May 17, Les Grands Ongles, chief of the Wea, brother of the late Le Jarret, formerly chief of the Miami of Tippecanoe, with two other Indians of Les Grands Ongles' band, came from Ouiatanon expressly to assure me of his fidelity and that of all his band (which may be very doubtful) which numbers eighty men. What follows are his words, authenticated by two calumets.
My father, I heard you words last autumn when I was returning from seeing our father at Montreal. You took pity on me and gave me a little barrel of your milk which I asked of you that I might not arrive in shame at my village. You advised me to remain ever faithful to the French and to do only the will of our father. I promised it to you, and I come to assure you that I shall always be faithful and never mix in any ill affair. I promised that to our father last year, and promised also that I would always have a truly French heart.
La Tortue came to our village and spoke to stir me up to (page 208) go to Great Miami River to hear the words of the great council which is to be held there. All the tribes are bidden to be present, and they are all to go, according to what was told me by La Tortue, who did all that he could to induce me to go there. I answered him, "What do you want me to do there? The French have always taken pity on me. I cannot go there." La Tortue replied, "Our brothers are going to make us a large present, and since you and your brother got nothing at Montreal, you will get your share there, and you will be very glad to have been to hear the words of the council; and the English will take pity on you." Part of our brother the Wea's and Le Comte's band have gone there.
This band numbers one hundred men.
On my asking him what were the sentiments and the designs of this band, he answered me, "My father, they have an English heart and have been won over, but I do not know what they will do. Part of them may well remain at Great Miami River. I shall be informed of what they do and of what happens in the (page 209) council. I have promised M. de Carqueville that I would tell him all I learned and I will not fail to do so. Le Comte wished to carry me off with him, and when I refused him, mocked me with having returned in shame from Montreal.
On my questioning him as to the sentiments and designs of the Piankashaw, who are 150 men and have as their chief La Mouche Noire, he answered me,
"My father, they have all gone to Great Miami River with ill designs. They are to remain there. They have gone only to seek the English and to settle them with themselves at the Falls of the Ohio. (This settlement is to be made at All Saints.) They will sustain the English there. Their design is to establish them in all those parts. Those, my father, are the sentiments of the Piankashaw."
Being asked as to the designs of the Kickapoo and Mascountens, who are three hundred men, he answered me,
"My father, the Kickapoo and the Mascoutens would not listen to La Tortue and have not been at the council at (page 210) Great Miami River. The Piankashaw last winter held a council to kill the blacksmith and another Frenchman. One alone of their people and a Kickapoo prevented the murders."
On my reproaching him with the evil speech of La Peau Blanche, he answered me,
"My father, La Peau Blanche often speaks without knowing what he is saying. Sometimes he is of one sentiment, sometimes of another."
On my reproaching him that they had declared that they had rejected the French to give themselves to the English, and that they would strike the French before the summer was over, and were only waiting for the return of their people who were at Oswego, to cut off the French as all the people of Great Miami River according to my information gave out publicly, he answered me,
"My father, I have no knowledge of that. It is true that L'Enfant, the Piankashaw chief, speaks very ill, and that they are all ill-intentioned. I answer only for myself and my band. I shall always be faithful. Our father can count on it, since I (page 211) have promised him; and I will give warning of all that comes to my knowledge and of what happens at Great Miami River."
On my reproaching him also with having received in their village last summer a flag and a red English wampum belt which came from the Illinois, he answered,
"My father, that flag and that belt referred only to the Shawnee of Chartier's band who daily offer fresh insults to us and to other tribes."
On my asking him to what end the belt which had been brought them by La Tortue was going to the Illinois, he answered me,
"Only two strings of wampum are going to the Illinois, and the belt has remained in our village. It is only to cover the death of Le Jarret."
That evening I took him outside the fort to a remote spot to have him questioned a second time as to the real designs of the Piankashaw and of the Wea of Le Comte's band. He answered me,
"My father, they will do all the English and La Demoiselle wish. If they tell them to strike, they will strike the French, and they will sustain the English wherever they come to settle. The Piankashaw and Le Comte wish, as I have already told you, to settle the English at the Falls of the Ohio River. That settlement is dangerous, and our father should not allow it. I beg you to tell him to send many men to Ouiatanon and here to keep these places. If these bad people perceive were are too weak, they will inflict on us a thousand insults and be able to make themselves masters. For my part I will be slain with my young men sustaining the French, and I will die with them."
On my asking him the meaning of the two strings of wampum sent to the Illinois, he answered me,
"My father, they have only been as far as the Kickapoo. Manihouba would not receive them. If he had received them they would have been carried to the Illinois on his behalf. They have been given back to La Mouche Noire, who is carrying them back to Great Miami River."
On my asking him what La Graine had been about at St. Joseph River, he answered me,
"My father, La Graine went to answer the Kickapoo who had sent me eight strings of wampum, of which La Graine has got possession, to offer me their services against the Shawnee; their warriors were all ready to march to avenge my blood, which as they had learned, had been shed. The Kickapoo and I have exchanged messages and promised to sustain each other against our enemies."
I answered him, "The Kickapoo have been accused by the people of Great Miami River of working underhand against the French. I informed their chiefs who have sent me three of their people with six strings of wampum to assure me of the contrary and to offer me their service."
He answered me, "My father, I am very glad the Kickapoo and I are but as one. I offer you also my services, and I will come to your help with my young men, if you find yourself hard pressed. I have promised my father that I would be faith- (page 214) ful; I will keep my word. Tell our father to send us plenty of traders; the more men we have, the better able we shall be to defend you. We beg him to recommend them to sell to us cheaper than they do. You know well, my father, that we pay for a wool blanket of 2 1/2 points, 9 beavers; for a yard and a half of cloth, 12 beavers; for a linen trade shirt, 4 beavers; for one of cotton, 5 beavers; a pair of leggings, 3 beavers; a pound of powder, 3 beavers; 2 pounds of lead, a beaver. It is that which rebuffs all our young men, and we are no longer able to hold them back. It is that which makes them go to the English, who give them everything very cheap. That is what makes the English loved, and draws to them all the tribes which all declare for them because they find all sorts of advantages among them. You see yourself, my father, that the traders are hard on us; it takes a man's year's hunt to clothe him. With the English our young men for an undressed deerskin have a yard and a half of cloth and everything in proportion." (This Indian in this matter (page 215) speaks the truth.) "That should make our father see, if he wishes the tribes not to abandon him to give themselves to the English, that he must have things given to us cheap. It is long since we were promised it, and we still buy things dear. It is that only which rebuffs and disgusts everybody and is the cause of ill affairs. Never would anyone have listened to the English if the French had treated us as they do. I beg therefore that you tell my words to our father, and that he have the goodness to hear them, if he wishes to reestablish good dealings and assure tranquillity."
I am not sure that this Indian speaks from sincerity of heart. I cannot look into him. Under the pretense of great fidelity he may be a traitor the better to cover his treason. You have to distrust everything in the disorder into which the English throw all the tribes; the better to attain their ends, they not only overwhelm them with presents, but they make them masters of what they have. It is incontestable that all the tribes which come from Great Miami River are covered and loaded with benefits by the (page 216) English. I see it daily and am not surprised that all the tribes prefer them to the French. The French themselves devote themselves to those who treat them most favorably. It is a maxim obeyed in all past ages, and it is moreover the universal law of all the world to be for him from whom one draws the greatest advantage.
A true copy La Jonquiere
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