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.
Cloron's Expedition Down the Ohio
(1749)
Cloron in: Wisconsin Historical
Collections, XVIII, pp. 36-58.
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When about quarter of a league from the village the expedition was discovered, and salutes fired. After considerable negotiations the chiefs agreed to come next day to Cloron's camp across the river80 to listen to his message. After the Indians had returned to their own village, guards were set, and the rounds carefully made during the entire night at the camp. At the native village, besides the Chaouanons and Iroquois of which it was composed, there were several Indians of the Sault St. Louis mission, some from that of the Lake of Two Mountains, as well as Miami, Loups, and some from nearly all the tribes of the Upper Country, all entirely devoted to the English.
A council was held the following day, during which a Chaouanon . . .
The 27th I arrived at White River about ten o'clock at night. I knew that three leagues in the interior there were six cabins of Miamis, which caused me to camp at this place.81
The 28th I sent Monsieur de Villiers82 and my son to these (page 47) cabins to request those Savages to come and speak with me. They brought them and I engaged them to come with me to the village of la Demoiselle, where I was about to go to carry the message of their father Onontio. They consented to this and asked me to wait until the morrow in order to give them time to go and prepare for their journey. There are in this same village two, cabins of Sonnontouans; the policy of these tribes is to always have some of the latter with them who are shields for them. I engaged one of the Sonnontouans who speaks miami well to come with me to the home of la Demoiselle. I had need of him, having no interpreter for that language, and I had matters of consequence to treat of with the Miami chief.
The 29th I wrote to Monsieur Raimond,83 captain and commandant at the Miami fort, and begged him to send me a certain Roy, an interpreter,84 with as many horses as he possibly could to transport our baggage over a portage fifty leagues in length.
The 30th, the Savages of White River having come, I embarked in order to arrive at Rock River, at whose mouth I had a leaden plate buried and the arms of the King attached to a tree, concerning which I drew up an official report.85
Official-report of the sixth leaden plate buried at the mouth of Rock River, the 31st of August, 1749.
"Year 1749, we Cloron, knight of the royal and military order of Saint-Louis, captain commanding a detachment sent by the orders of Monsieur the marquis de La Galissonire, commandant general of Canada upon the Beautiful River, otherwise called the Ohio, accompanied by the chief officers of the detachment, have buried on the point formed by the right bank of the Ohio and the left bank of Rock River, a leaden plate, and fastened to a tree the arms of the King, in witness whereof we have drawn up and signed with Messieurs the officers, the present official report."
This done, I embarked. The shallowness of the water in the river caused me to be thirteen days ascending it.
The 12th the Miamis of the village of la Demoiselle, having learned that I had arrived near them, sent four chiefs to me with peace calumets for me to smoke. As I had half of my people on land, there not being enough water in the river to float loaded canoes, I was informed by Monsieur de Courtemanche,86 officer of the detachment, of the arrival of these envoys. I disembarked at the place where they were, and when we had all sat down. they commenced their ceremony and presented to me the calumet; I accepted it. They carried it, (page 49) thereupon, to Monsieur de Contrecoeur, captain87 second in command of the expedition, and to all the officers, and to the Canadians who, hungry for a smoke, would have wished the ceremony to last longer. The time to camp having arrived, we slept at that place; the envoys remaining with us. I was obliged despite the scarcity of the provisions that I possessed to give them supper.
The 13th I arrived at the village of la Demoiselle,88 I had my camp pitched and sentinels placed, and awaited the arrival Of the interpreter that I had requested of Monsieur de Raimond. During this time I sounded their minds to know if they were disposed to return to Kiskanon, this is the name of their ancient village.89 It seemed to me that they had no great repugnance to this. They had two English engags in their village whom I made depart. Those who had passed the summer in trading there had alrady gone away with their effects by the land route; they have paths of communication from one village to the other.
The 17th, annoyed that the interpreter had not arrived and that my provisions were being consumed in waiting, I determined to speak with la Demoiselle by means of an Iroquois who spoke miami well. I showed them the magnificent presents on the part of Monsieur the General,90 in order to induce them to return to their village and explained to them his intentions in the following terms:
Words of Monsieur the General to the Miamis of la Demoiselle, established on Rock River, and to le Baril established on White River, brought by Monsieur de Cloron, the 17th of September, 1749, by eight branches of porcelain for the two villages.
"My children, the manner that I have treated you, spite of what you have done to the French, what I have given you to (page 51) maintain your wives and children, ought to prove to you the attachment that I have for you and the sincerity of my sentiments. I forget what you have done and I bury it in the depths of the earth, in order nevermore, to recall it, persuaded that you have done nothing but at the instigation of people, whose policy is to trouble the earth and to spoil the spirit of those with whom they communicate, and who, without appearing therein themselves, profiting by the unfortunate ascendency that you have allowed them to gain over you, have caused you to commit faults and engaged you in evil affairs, in order to ruin you in my estimation. It, is to enlighten you that I send you my word, listen well and give good heed thereto, my children; it is the word of a father who loves you and has your interests at heart. By these two branches of porcelain I put Out the two fires that you have lighted within the past two years at Rock River and White River, I extinguish them in such a manner that there will not appear even a single spark."
By a collar to la Demoiselle and one to le Baril.
"My children, I come to say to you by these branches of porcelain that I extinguish the two fires that you have lighted within the past two years at Rock River and at White River. By these collars I raise you from your mats, and take you by the hand to bring you to Kikakon, where I relight your fire and make it more enduring than ever. It is in that land, my children, that you will enjoy perfect tranquility and that I shall be present at each instant to give you the marks of my friendship; it is in that land, my children, that you will enjoy the pleasures of life, being the spot where repose the bones of your ancestors, and those of Monsieur de Vincennes, whom you loved so well and who governed you always in such manner that your affairs always went well.91 If you have forgotten the (page 52) counsels that they gave you these ashes will recall their memory to you. The bones of your ancestors suffer from your absence, have pity on your dead who desire you again in your village. Go thither with your wives and children; the chief whom I send you, carries my word, and will light your fire anew at Kiskakon in such manner that it will never be extinguished. I will give all the succor that you may expect from my friendship, and consider, my children, that I do for you what I have never done for any other nation."
Another word by four branches of porcelain and two to le Baril.
"By these branches of porcelain I erect a barrier to all passage to the Beautiful River, so that you shall no longer go thither and so that the English who are the authors of all evil designs may not approach this territory which belongs to me. I make for you at the same, time a beautiful road to conduct you to Kiskikon, where I relight your fire. I break off all trade with the English whom I have notified to retire from my lands, and if they come thither they shall have cause to repent."
By two branches of porcelain to la Demoiselle and two to le Baril.
"When you have done my children, what I request of you, which is solely for your advantage, I invite you to come and see me., next year, and to receive from me particular marks of my esteem; I give the same invitation to all your brothers of the Beautiful River. I hope that you have one and all sufficient spirit to respond to me as you should, and in order to begin to give you a proof of my friendship I send you these presents to cover your wives and children; I add to these gun-powder and balls that, yon may live more conveniently en route when you return to Kiskanon. Abandon the country where you are, it is pernicious for you, and profit by what I do for you."
The council finished, everyone retired. They carried the presents to their village where they assembled to deliberate on their replies.
The 18th at nine o'clock in the morning, they came to make their response.
Reply of la Demoiselle, chief of the Miamis, established at Rock, River, and of le Baril established at White River, the 18th of September 1749, by peace calumets:
"It is an ancient custom among us, when we speak of pleasant matters first to present the calumets, we pray you to have the goodness to listen to us. We come to reply to what you have said to us. This calumet is a token of the pleasure that I have in smoking with you, and we hope to smoke this same calumet with our father next year."
By a collar.
"My father, we have listened with pleasure to your words. We have truly seen that you come only with good intentions. You have brought to our memory the bones of our ancestors, who groan at seeing us in this place and who continually recall us. You prepare for us a fine road to return to our former mats. We thank you for it, our father, and we promise you to return thither the very beginning of next spring. We thank you for the kind words which you have given us, we see in truth that you have not forgotten us. Be persuaded that we shall endeavor always to have only pleasant relations with the Chaouanons. We recollect the good counsel which Monsieur de Vincennes gave us. My father, you address people without spirit and who cannot reply to you, perhaps, as you have hoped, but they speak sincerely to you. It is not with the tips of the lips that they speak to you, but from the bottom of the heart. You have bid us to reflect seriously on what you have said to us; we have done so, and shall continue to do so during the entire winter. We hope to have the pleasure of giving you a good word in the spring. If the hunting is abundant, we will repair our faults. We assure you, my father, we will listen no longer either to bad discourse or to evil rumors. Such at present is our intention."
Reply of Monsieur de Cloron to la Demoiselle and to le Baril in the same council.
"I have listened to you, my children, and I have weighed well your words. Whether you have not well understood me, or whether you pretend not to have done so, you have not replied to what I said to you. I proposed to you, on the part of your father Ontonio, to come with me to Kiskanon in order there to relight your fire, and replace your mats; you postpone this until next spring. I should have been charmed to tell your father Onontio that I had brought you back; that would have given him pleasure because of the interest that he takes in whatever concerns you. You have given me your word to come there at the end of the winter; be faithful to your promise. You assure me of this in the strongest manner, and if you fail, fear the resentments of a father who has only too much reason to be irritated against you and who has offered you the means of regaining his good graces."
Reply to these words by la Demoiselle and le Baril.
"My father, we will be faithful in executing the promise that we have given you; we will return at the end of the winter to our former abode, and, if the Master of life favors our hunting, we hope to repair our past faults. Be persuaded that we do not speak with the tips of our lips, but from the bottom of the heart. We could not at present, return whither you wish to conduct us, as the season is too far advanced."
The council finished, I detained several old men to try and discover if what
they had just said to me was sincere. While I spoke with these Savages, who
assured me that all these two villages would return, in the spring to Kiskakon
and that what detained them was not having any cabins built where I wished to
conduct them, and that whilst hunting in the winter, they would approach their
former village and would certainly return thither, Roy, whom I had requested of
Monsieur de Raymond arrived the 19th. I waited to try, by means of Roy, to
induce la Demoiselle with some other chiefs to go with (page
55) me and relight their fires, and replace their
mats at Kiskakon. In this I could not succeed. They kept saying always and
assuring me that they would return next spring.
_________________________________
80 Cloron's camp was apparently on the east side of the Scioto, where Portsmouth now stands, while the village lay on the west bank; some of the cabins were probably on the south side of the Ohio.- ED.
81 For this village and its location see Wis. Hist. Colls., xvii, p. 475.- ED.
82 This was probably Louis Coulon de Villiers (1710-57). The several sons of Nicolas-Antoine Coulon de Villiers, who was killed at Green Bay in 1733, had much experience in the Western country. Their identity has been confused; but in the careful study of Abb Amde Gosselin, in Bulletin des Rcherches Historiques (Lvis, 1906), xii, is to be found the statement of their services. By this it will be seen that the son, who carried news of the defeat of the Foxes (1730), and who commanded at La Baye upon his father's death, also at St. Josephs (1740-43), was not Louis, but Nicolas Antoine fils (1708-50). Louis, later known as "Le Grand Villiers," was with his father at Fort St. Josephs in 1729 and 1731. In 1732 he became a second ensign, and was probably at Green Bay (1733), since his father was there accompanied by his six sons. In 1739 he was with Longueuil on the Chickasaw expedition, and with his elder brother in Acadia (1746). Feb. 10, 1749, he was in Montreal, also in 1750 upon returning from this expedition with Cloron. His rank at this period was lieutenant. In 1750 he was assigned to command at Fort Miami, and after the customary three years of service returned to Montreal, where he married December, 1753. The following year, having become captain, he led a detachment to Fort Duquesne, and secured the capitulation of Washington at Fort Necessity. The next year he was commandant at Niagara, and in 1756 distinguished himself in the capture of Fort Oswego. His last campaign was that of Fort William Henry, for which he received the decoration of the cross of St. Louis. Dying of smallpox Nov. 2, 1757, he was buried in the cathedral at Quebec.-ED.
83 For the services of Captain Raymond see Wis. Hist. Colls., xvii, p. 477.-ED.
84 Pierre Roy, alleged to have been the first white man to settle on the site of Detroit, married (1703) a Miami Indian woman named Marguerite Ouabankikoue. They had two sons, Pierre being born in 1706, and Franois in 1713. Probably the interpreter here desired, was one of these sons.- ED.
85 Great Miami River was, Bonncamps says, also called Rock River, because of its rocky bed. As far as known no trace of this leaden plate has been found- ED.
86 Franois le Gardeur de Repentigny Crozille, Sieur de Courtemanche, was born in 1711, son of Charles, Sieur de Crozille and grandson of Jean Baptiste de Repentigny. He early entered the army, and receiving the estate of the elder Sieur de Courtemanche, who died without heirs, was thereafter known by that title. In 1742, he became first ensign, and was second in command at Detroit (1739-43). In 1748 he became lieutenant, and eight years later received his captaincy. That year (1756) he served with Montcalm at Oswego, and the two following years was active in the Lake Champlain region, commanding large detachments of Indians. During the siege of Quebec, he held an important post on Isle d'Orleans. After the surrender, Courtemanche retired to France, living as a pensionaire at Loches until about 1776. His widow, Marie-Louise St. Ours, was still living on the king's pension in 1784.- ED.
87 Claude Pierre Pcaudy (Pcody), Sieur de Contrecoeur, was the third of that name to serve as an officer in New France. Born in 1706 at Contrecoeur, he entered the army while young, receiving a commission as second ensign about 1727. In 1734 he was promoted to a full ensignship, and in 1742 became lieutenant. While stationed at Niagara (1744) as second in command, his superior fell ill, and the command of this important post fell to his lot. The governor wrote that he was a wise, talented, and reliable officer, and he retained this position until relieved at his own request in 1747. The following year he became captain, and after accompanying Cloron on this expedition was occupied with garrison duties until sent in the spring of 1754 to relieve St. Pierre on the Ohio. Leaving Venango with a large detachment, he drove Ensign Ward from the half-finished stockade at the site of Pittsburgh. For his summons, see Craig, Olden Time, 1, p. 83. It was Contrecoeur who sent out Jumonville, and later Coulon de Villiers, against Washington, and received the hostages brought from Fort Necessity. Still in command the following year, he dispatched the forces that routed Braddock, and received the English prisoners at the fort. He is credited with having been humane, and endeavoring to restrain his savage allies. For his success in this campaign he was rewarded with the cross of St. Louis and a pension of 400 livres. Late in 1755, Contrecoeur was relieved at Fort Duquesne by Dumas. In 1756 he was prominent in operations on Lake Champlain. There his eldest son was killed by an accidental discharge of his own gun- a mischance which proved a grievous affliction for the father. After this date he undertook but little in military operations, and Jan. 1, 1759, was retired on account of infirmity. After the surrender of Canada, Contrecoeur remained in the colony, and was a member of the legislative council of 1775, dying at Montreal, Dec. 13 of the same year. He was twice married, to Madeleine Boucher (1729) and to the widow Morandire (1768).- ED.
88 For this village see Wis. Hist. Colls., xvii, p. 482. The exact site was at the mouth of Loramie's Creek, on the west side of the Great Miami. Some traces thereof were seen as late as 1790. At the time of Cloron's visit there were but forty or fifty warriors at this village. Its subsequent history will be related post.- ED.
89 For the location of this village, which was also the site of the Miami French post, see Ibid., pp. 131, 185.- ED.
90 See the Miami report of these presents to Gov. James Hamilton of Pennsylvania, in A. T. Goodman, Journal of Captain William Trent (Cincinnati, 1871), p. 27: "The French brought them a present, consisting of four half barrels of powder, four bags of bullets, and four bags of paint, with a few needles, and a little thread."-ED.
91 For this officer see Wis. Hist. Colls., xvi, p. 228, xvii, p. 29. It was the elder Vincennes, who is here referred to; the younger, founder of Post Vincennes having been burned by the Chickasaw in 1736. The elder Vincennes was the founder of Fort Miami, and of great influence among the tribe of that name.-ED.
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