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 THE FIRST GREAT CANADIAN 
 
 THE STORY OF PIERRE LE MOYNE 
 
 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
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THE 
 
 FIRST GREAT CANADIAN 
 
 THE STORY OF PIERRE LE MOYNE 
 
 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 BT 
 
 CHARLES B. REED 
 
 Author of " The Masters of the Wilderness " 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 A. C. McCLURG & CO. 
 
 1910 
 

 COPYKIGHT 
 
 A. C. McCluhg & Co. 
 1910 
 
 Published March 19, 1910 
 
 Entered at Stationers* Hall, London, England 
 All rights reierved 
 
 4^ 
 
 THE UNIVEHSITT PRESS, OAHBRIDOB, V. S. A. 
 
 / 
 
To the gallant comrade of town and 
 wilderness^ whose noble elevation of 
 mind and broad human sympathies are 
 a constant source of inspiration^ this 
 monograph is dedicated as a tribute of 
 admiration and affection. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 IN this work for the first time an attempt is made 
 to bring together with some approach to accu- 
 racy and continuity the scattered incidents in 
 the life of Le Moyne d'Iberville. His activities were 
 so various and were conducted in such widely sepa- 
 rate arenas that it is not surprising that much con- 
 fusion and obscurity surround his brief career. It is 
 remarkable, however, that in the two centuries that 
 have passed since his death no one in France or 
 Canada, save only Desmazures, has made any ade- 
 quate effort to commemorate and signalize the 
 romantic and adventurous career of a man whose 
 brave deeds and high ambitions brought wealth, vast 
 territories, and great honor to those realms in whose 
 behalf his life was spent. His feats of endurance 
 and of achievement were so numerous and so ex- 
 traordinary as to be wellnigh incredible if they were 
 not sustained and vouched for by many unimpeach- 
 able testimonies. In a laudable desire to fix his 
 place in history he has been variously termed " The 
 Cid of New France," "Eobin Hood," the "Jean 
 Bart of Canada," and the " Chief of the Maccabees," 
 
Vi PREFACE 
 
 and while some of these appellations may fittingly 
 portray his personality, none of them sufficiently 
 connotates the dignity and intrinsic importance of 
 his exploits. 
 
 The writer has made no effort to produce an 
 analytical and critical biography for which neither 
 the inclination nor the records exist, but on the 
 other hand he has spared no pains to make the 
 narrative as clear, continuous, and complete as 
 the documentary evidence would permit. Original 
 sources have been sought out and taken for the 
 foundation as far as possible, while secondary works 
 of authority have been utilized to furnish the back- 
 ground and to exhibit the fortunes of the hero in 
 their relation to contemporaneous history. All 
 veracious material that threw any light upon the 
 character of Iberville or his stirring exploits has 
 been used with the utmost freedom. 
 
 The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebted- 
 ness to Margry's Decouvertes et Etahlissements, etc., 
 wherein the original official reports, letters, and 
 documents relating to Louisiana and the Mississippi 
 expeditions have been laboriously collected and care- 
 fully summarized in the scholarly introduction. As 
 equally important must be mentioned La Harpe's 
 Journal Historique, Penicaut's Narrative, Baudoin's 
 Journal, Father Silvy's Relation, the N. Y. Col. Docu- 
 ments, the Jesuit Relations of Thwaites (73 vols.), and 
 the Histories of La Potherie and Charlevoix. 
 
PREFACE vii 
 
 Among the secondary works Parkman is, of course, 
 preeminent, although the writer feels and gladly 
 acknowledges his heavy obligation to the valuable 
 labors of Winsor, King, Laut, and Desmazures. To 
 Thwaites also the writer is indebted for many of the 
 explanatory footnotes which were taken from his 
 edition of La Hon tan. Additional works are referred 
 to in the bibliography at the end of the volume. 
 
 Thanks for courtesies extended are due to Arthur 
 T. Doughty, Dominion Archivist, for the copy of 
 Baudoin's Journal, to Judge Prowse for permission 
 to use the map of the Newfoundland Campaign, to 
 Miss Callaghan, who worked on the manuscript, 
 and to Miss Caroline M. Mcllvaine, Librarian of the 
 Chicago Historical Society. To the latter organiza- 
 tion the writer wishes particularly to express his 
 gratitude for the privilege of copying some original 
 maps and plates with which to illustrate the text. 
 
 Conscious that errors must exist in spite of every 
 care, but feeling, nevertheless, that through this effort 
 renewed attention may possibly be directed toward 
 the life and labors of a man of strong purpose, tire- 
 less industry, and lofty soul, the book is herewith 
 
 submitted. 
 
 C. B. R. 
 
 Chicago, 
 
 February 1, 1910. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. New France 13 
 
 II. The Le Moynes 27 
 
 III. Expedition to Hudson Bat 42 
 
 rV. Schenectady and Further Expeditions to 
 
 Hudson Bay 67 
 
 V. Fort Nelson 86 
 
 VI. The Newfoundland Campaign 97 
 
 VII. Battle of Hudson Bay and the Recapture 
 
 OF Fort Nelson 113 
 
 VIII. Louisiana and the Mississippi 128 
 
 IX, Pensacola 143 
 
 X. The Mouth of the Mississippi 148 
 
 XI. The Identification of the River 160 
 
 XII. The Fort at Biloxi and the Return to France 172 
 
 XIII. The English Expedition and Iberville's 
 
 Return to Biloxi 186 
 
 XIV. The Red River Expedition and the Recon- 
 
 noissance of New York Harbor .... 196 
 
 XV. Affairs of State in France and Spain — The 
 
 Colony moves to Mobile 203 
 
 XVI. Further Projects against the English — 
 
 Death of Iberville 220 
 
 XVII. Conclusion 233 
 
 Bibliography 243 
 
 Index 249 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 
 
 PA6B 
 
 Portrait of Le Moyne d'Iberville Frontispiece 
 
 Canadian on Snowshoes prepared for a Winter Campaign 48 
 
 Chief Hendrick (Iroquois) 70 
 
 Map showing Location of Fort Nelson (York Fort) . . 88 
 
 Iberville's Attack on Fort Nelson 90 
 
 Map of Campaign in Newfoundland, 1696-7 106 
 
 Iberville's Ship, the Pelican^ imprisoned in the ice of 
 
 Hudson Straits 116 
 
 Wreck of the Pelican and Escape of the Ship's Company 
 
 to the Shore, after Battle of Hudson Bay .... 120 
 
 Portion of De Lisle's Map, 1700 130 
 
 Portion of Lt. Ross's Map, made in 1765 174 
 
 Portion of De Lisle's Carte de Louisiana, 1718 .... 226 
 
THE FIRST GREAT CANADIAN 
 
 THE STORY OF PIERRE LE MOYNE, 
 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 NEW FRANCE 
 
 FROM the earliest discoveries in America, adven- 
 turers of many nationalities had vied with 
 one another in the prodigal expenditure of 
 time, money, and life itself, to explore the extent 
 and exploit the resources of the wonderful New 
 World, a world veiled in an aureole of mystery and 
 crowned with fabulous tales. 
 
 France among the first sent her hardy sailors and 
 daring navigators to determine the truth or falsity 
 of the wonders reported. As their acquaintance 
 with the New World increased, their pretensions to 
 possession expanded until finally it was claimed by 
 the French that the domain of New France extended 
 from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains and 
 from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. With 
 difficulty could they admit the right of England to 
 that little fringe on the Atlantic seaboard, a fringe 
 which like the cloud from the jar of the genie was 
 to increase and expand until it enveloped the con- 
 
14 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 tinent. New France therefore was an immense tri- 
 angle eleven times the area of the mother country 
 and favored by nature with a wealth and abundance 
 as limitless as it was various and easily accessible. 
 To the west lay the boundless forests, to the north 
 the vast fur trade, to the east the priceless fisheries 
 of the Grand Banks, while on the south an enchant- 
 ing climate and a wonderful fertility of soil furnished 
 in great luxuriance all the products of the Tropics. 
 
 The title of France to the possession of this mag- 
 nificent realm was based with much justice on the 
 feats of her sailors and explorers. From Verazzano 
 (1524) and Cartier (1534) to Roberval (1542) and 
 Champlain (1601), from discovery and exploration 
 to colonization and exploitation, the line of descent 
 was clear and unquestioned and supported further- 
 more by her settlements. The focus of her activity, 
 the nucleus which justified as much as might be the 
 universality of the French claim, was the group of 
 settlements along the lower St. Lawrence. Quebec 
 and Montreal were the points in which the fur trade 
 of France centred and the bases from which her emis- 
 saries took their departure. Her claim to the coun- 
 try adjacent to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi 
 basin excited at first only vague and sleepy objections, 
 but when under the bold, far-seeing Frontenac, La 
 Salle, Du Luth and others attempted to take posses- 
 sion of these regions and hold them with a line of 
 forts, the English saw their commerce in furs cut off, 
 
NEW FRANCE 15 
 
 their Indian trade destroyed, and their position turned. 
 Then the enemy was aroused and the claim was 
 vigorously contested. 
 
 From those English settlements along the Atlantic 
 which France acknowledged were held by right of 
 possession if not by title, sturdy adventurers threaded 
 the passes and pushed steadily across the Alleghanies 
 to dispossess the French, an operation which in the 
 north lasted with some intermissions for over seventy 
 years. From Florida and Mexico, too, came ominous 
 growls and snarling protests from the haughty old 
 Spaniards who saw in this movement encroachments, 
 which they were too feeble to resent, on the realm 
 secured to Spain by the priority of De Soto and wrung 
 by the conquering Cortez from the exhausted Incas. 
 
 Among the shifting scenes and changing figures of 
 the New World the lines of interest were very clearly 
 drawn. Rightfully jealous of both English and French, 
 but particularly arrayed against the latter, in bitter 
 memory of Champlain's attacks, was the great Iro- 
 quois * Confederacy, which for half a century kept the 
 French settlements in dread and their allies in terror. 
 These Indians living just south of Lake Ontario con- 
 stituted a kind of buffer between the English and 
 French colonies, and no nation could have been se- 
 lected more willing or better prepared to perform that 
 
 * "Iroquois" was a title bestowed by the French ; the tribesmen 
 called themselves " People of the Long House " ; while to the English 
 they were known as the " Five Nations." 
 
16 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 office. With an intelligence and foresight far above 
 that of their neighbors and unique in Indian annals, 
 these five tribes, named, respectively, the Mohawks, 
 Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, and Senecas, had 
 formed an offensive and defensive alliance known as 
 the Five Nations or the Iroquois Confederacy. From 
 their advantageous location, they were within easy 
 trading distance of the English and easy striking dis- 
 tance of the French. 
 
 Attracted by the personal ascendancy of the Eng- 
 lish Governors, an ascendancy which only Frontenac 
 was able to nullify, and held by self-interest to the 
 superior trading facilities, they formed a more or less 
 inconstant coalition with the English to limit the 
 power, restrict the growing settlements, and resist the 
 encroachments of France. In this league the atti- 
 tude of the English and their Dutch allies was the 
 result not only of local jealousies and rival conditions 
 of trade but more particularly the outgrowth of Euro- 
 pean contests, begun and continued in European in- 
 terest. In the absence of such provocations, it is 
 probable that both colonies would have lived and 
 thrived largely in peace, except for such conflicts as 
 grew out of the ever-alluring fur trade. 
 
 Louis XIV, through such of his Governors as he 
 could imbue with a national rather than a personal 
 interest, was working for the aggrandizement of 
 France, a purpose which included also New France 
 so far as European politics and the drain of Euro- 
 
NEW FRANCE 17 
 
 pean wars would permit. He was eager also for that 
 storied wealth of the New World as a support to his 
 exhausted treasury, but in particular he aimed to 
 form a mailed fist which he could thrust at will into 
 the face of England. The Canadian Noblesse, by 
 reason of their origin and by natural sympathy, were 
 generally found loyally supporting and zealously for- 
 warding the designs of the King as represented by 
 the Government at Quebec. This was not always 
 true of that other large and influential faction com- 
 posed of the Clericals and led by the Jesuits. This 
 party was striving with every energy and all its im- 
 mense influence to hold and, if possible, to increase its 
 power. It was an effort to obtain in New France 
 that complete religious ascendancy which was denied 
 at home. The Jesuits also labored for an additional 
 strength and leverage in the Huron Nation on Geor- 
 gian Bay, where they were rapidly converting this 
 offshoot of the Iroquois Stock into a Catholic de- 
 pendency with French affiliations. 
 
 The colonists were the pawns which were moved 
 and changed, swayed and divided, as their inclina- 
 tions were enlisted or their force required by the 
 union or conflict or parallelism of interests. All 
 local issues were subordinate to European demands 
 and policies. Both King and Cleric rejoiced in the 
 growth of the colony along Catholic lines, and they 
 were both instrumental in augmenting it with ship- 
 loads of approved immigrants. The numerical in- 
 
18 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 crease was further favored by offering rewards for 
 the encouragement of marriage and the growth of 
 large families and by placing heavy penalties upon 
 the celibate. Both were interested in the wide ex- 
 ploration and exploitation of the interior; the King 
 because it extended his boundaries and increased his 
 wealth ; the Jesuit because it broadened and solidified 
 his influence. The Jesuits themselves bore no small 
 part of this burden, and their enthusiastic devotion 
 and rigid obedience carried them, either alone or with 
 the foraying Noblesse, through the Great Lakes, 
 down the long river valleys, and across the pathless 
 wilderness to remote portions of the New World 
 which they ofttimes consecrated with their blood. 
 
 The coureurs de hois and especially the Noblesse, 
 comprising such partisan leaders as Verendrye, Du 
 Luth, Montigny, La Salle, and the Le Moynes, spent 
 their lives in the same hazardous manner. These 
 are conspicuous names in American history. Unin- 
 spired by religious fervor but driven by love of 
 travel and adventure, by the demands of their 
 fur trade and their own high courage, they kept 
 the forests alive with intrepid wanderers. The 
 Noblesse was composed of seigniors, or proprie- 
 tors, who as a result of wealth, prominence, influence, 
 or services to the State had received a grant of land 
 and a title from the Crown. They in turn furthered 
 the feudal idea by securing vassals to cultivate the 
 soil, who were known as habitants. It is from the 
 
NEW FRANCE 19 
 
 ranks of the Noblesse that many of the most daring 
 of the forest rangers, explorers, and warriors have 
 been recruited. " On the Great Lakes, on the plains 
 of the Northwest, on the shores of Acadia they are 
 found tracing unknown streams, piercing the wilder- 
 ness, trading, fighting, negotiating, and building forts. 
 It was they and such as they who discovered the 
 Rocky Mountains, the source and mouth of the Mis- 
 sissippi, the Ohio, and the Missouri, and who founded 
 such cities as Detroit, St. Louis, and New Orleans." * 
 As far as possible colonization, the establishment 
 of depots, forts, and villages, was made to keep pace 
 with exploration. Thus at Tadousac, Quebec, Three 
 Rivers, Montreal, La Chine, and Fort Frontenac, the 
 line extended inward along the St. Lawrence, ever 
 deeper and yearly stronger. Hindered and poorly sup- 
 ported by France, beleaguered, assaulted, and some- 
 times overwhelmed by enemies, the establishments 
 nevertheless took strong root and sent shoots south 
 and east along the Richelieu River and Acadian 
 coast toward the rival colonies in New England. 
 The settlements themselves constituted an interesting 
 experiment in sociology. Many groups of people 
 living in feudal dependence were transported with all 
 their habits, customs, ideals, beliefs, and traditions 
 into a strange environment wherein nothing recalled 
 their previous life except the religious belief and the 
 social customs which they brought with them. 
 * Parkman. 
 
20 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 The character of this society was thoroughly ro- 
 mantic and mediaeval. There were knights, nobles, 
 priests, pilgrims, nuns, and mendicant friars, each 
 more or less on the defensive against the others and 
 all warring against the paynim and the heretic and 
 the robber barons of the neighboring rocky pinnacles 
 to the south. Troubadours, knights errant, and dis- 
 tressed damsels were there in abundance to increase 
 the romantic glamour. These classes dwelt under 
 the iron rule of the King and in the leash of mediae- 
 val Catholicism, the purpose and design of both being 
 to destroy individuality and reduce all to a common 
 malleable type. 
 
 In retrospect it would seem that the result could 
 not have been unexpected. The Government, which 
 had been retaining a thick fluid substance in its 
 feudal flask, now beheld a sieve in its hand which 
 leaked beyond control. Always on the least suspicion 
 of pressure, knights and nobles took to the woods, 
 the more adventurous spirits to become coureurs de 
 hois J the knights errant of the wilderness, while the 
 others married squaws, joined the tribes, and became 
 Indians in all but name, — true pilgrims of the 
 forest. 
 
 The colonies, both English and French, were 
 greatly handicapped by the control of their home 
 Governments, both of which had approximately the 
 same theories and ideas. The wisdom of coloniza- 
 tion was definitely recognized and materially aided, 
 
NEW FRANCE 21 
 
 but the colonies were expected to develop only along 
 such lines and by such methods as best suited the 
 paternalism of the Fatherland, and only such meas- 
 ures were approved as seemed advantageous to King 
 and Nation, and to the favorites and industries of the 
 European base. As a consequence every industry of 
 the new colony was the subject of most oppressive 
 restrictions, and all commerce and trade was con- 
 trolled by monopolies. This protective spirit was 
 more seriously felt by the French than by the English 
 colonists, since the latter to their great advantage 
 had been left frequently to themselves, while the 
 attention of their English Majesties was diverted by 
 revolutions; but in France, Church and State were 
 sympathetically united in a common and constant 
 policy of meddlesome and oppressive interference. 
 In obedience to authority the French colonies de- 
 veloped, and for the maintenance of authority the 
 colony was controlled abroad and received its great 
 men from the nobility of France with such perfect 
 regularity that for over one hundred years no 
 Canadian achieved national eminence. The only 
 advantage of the system was that it favored military 
 ejBiciency; but while this latter condition presents 
 many desirable features as an accessory to govern- 
 ment it is a repeatedly demonstrated failure as the 
 sole and permanent support of the State. The 
 Canadian population sprang in a great measure from 
 soldiers and was born in the midst of warfare which 
 
22 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 every son was expected to continue. Thus the more 
 efficiency the population as a whole acquired in a 
 military sense, the less efficient it became in the true 
 colonial sense. The result was restriction rather than 
 development, and involution rather than evolution. 
 
 New France was united against the English, 
 Dutch, and Iroquois, but there were intervals in 
 which the Clericals, the colonists, and the King's 
 representatives, animated by self-interest or pro- 
 voked by sense of duty, waged an internecine con- 
 flict. Communication with France being possible 
 only during the Summer, the long Winters enabled 
 the warfare between priest, intendant, and governor 
 general to reach a stage acute enough to inter- 
 est and involve the entire colony. The force of 
 iron as represented by militarism and the sword 
 was striving with the force clerical as represented 
 by the priests, for rule and sway in New France; 
 but a new force stronger than either and destined 
 to dominate was silently instilling its subtle poison 
 into castle and hovel, into high and low. The 
 desire for gold that levels all ranks, shapes the 
 future, develops commerce, promotes industry, in- 
 cites to exploration, and impels to conquest, now 
 took the form of the fur trade. The lawless 
 coureurs de hois, attaching themselves first to one 
 faction and then to another as self-interest required, 
 ebbed and flowed through the vast channels of the 
 forest enthralled by the ^ romance and dangers of 
 
NEW FRANCE 23 
 
 the game which was the most fascinating, prevalent, 
 and remunerative occupation in the colony. For one 
 hundred and seventy-five years the economic interests 
 of Canada were subordinate to the passionate pursuit 
 of the fur trade, and it was much longer before they 
 recovered from the effects of that imperial domina- 
 tion. Like every other industry this too was ruled 
 from the beginning by monopoly and by restrictions 
 that ill suited the bolder spirits, and increased very 
 materially the hazards of the game which secretly or 
 openly all were playing with the utmost concentra- 
 tion. With two such absorbing pursuits as war and 
 the fur trade (or war for the fur trade) furnishing 
 continual opportunities to the colonists, it is no 
 wonder that agriculture was practically abandoned 
 by this versatile and mercurial people. 
 
 Besides the conflict with neighboring colonies 
 which fluctuated according to European policy and 
 local necessity, war was always at the gates, through 
 the relentless activity of the blood-thirsty Iroquois. 
 Relying upon their splendid organization and a re- 
 markable individual ferocity, an Iroquois war party 
 was always in motion. In 1640 their various desul- 
 tory expeditions began to crystallize into a definite 
 purpose of exterminating their neighbors, and they 
 then began that mad quest for scalps which ended 
 only with complete desolation. Like insensate ma- 
 niacs they threw themselves with homicidal fury 
 against every Indian nation far or near. The very 
 
24 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 existence of other tribes, no matter how inoffensive, 
 was a source of anger to the Iroquois. First the 
 Hurons, then numbering about ten thousand, went 
 down before repeated onslaughts, and the battered 
 fragments were driven, some to Mackinac and Lake 
 Superior and some to Quebec, where even the shadow 
 of that frowning rock furnished insufficient protec- 
 tion against the unrelenting animosity of their 
 enemies. With that appalling disaster a blight fell 
 upon the hopes and ambitions of the Jesuits whose 
 success among the Hurons had inspired the belief 
 that they could people the interior of the continent 
 with christianized Indians true to the Faith and 
 France, and erect a bulwark against Protestant and 
 English aggression. After the ruin of the Hurons, 
 the Iroquois destroyed in turn the Eries, the Tobacco 
 Nation, the Neutrals, and the Andastes, until the 
 great Confederacy remained alone in a peace that 
 was a solitude. Their thirst for blood being unap- 
 peased, they now devoted an attention previously 
 divided between the French colonists and their 
 Indian allies, entirely to the colonists, and with such 
 success that appeal after appeal was sent to France 
 for help. The King finally responded, and as much 
 to preserve the colony from extinction as to relieve it 
 from the necessity of constant warfare, the victorious 
 Carignan Regiment fresh from European wars under 
 the great Turenne was sent to play its conspicuous 
 role in the New World. 
 
NEW FRANCE 25 
 
 So the colony grew, and Quebec gave place to 
 Three Rivers as the bulwark on the border, until, in 
 1642, Montreal was founded on the island of that 
 name, and this became in turn the defendant of the 
 frontier. This settlement really owes its importance, 
 in fact all its subsequent prosperity, to the nourish- 
 ing care of Maisonneuve, its founder, who spent over 
 twenty years of his life in its service. In 1646 it 
 had a population of less than one hundred, and in 
 twenty years it had increased only to something less 
 than five hundred people. At that time, however, 
 it constituted a most advantageous post, the distant 
 sentinel of the French, located one hundred and 
 eighty miles toward the frontier from Quebec and in 
 the very midst of the savages. A more beautiful 
 situation could not have been chosen. The village 
 was composed of little one-story houses located on 
 streets running parallel to the water and intersected 
 by others which ran directly to the river. It was 
 originally placed on a slight elevation only a few 
 yards from the shore where the mighty St. Lawrence 
 rolled in majesty its ample flood, while on the oppo- 
 site side of the island a small offshoot from the 
 mouth of the Ottawa River guarded the settlement 
 against surprise and made the site ideally strong for 
 defence. Behind the village and sheltering it from 
 the north winds were the heights of Mount Royal 
 (Montreal) covered with trees and descending like an 
 amphitheatre to the fertile, flower-strewn prairies at 
 
26 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 its foot. Opposite the village lay the two islands, 
 St. H^l^ne and St. Paul, which served as outposts on 
 the river front, while the panorama was completed 
 by the range of hills and mountains that reared a 
 series of emerald domes across the river to the south. 
 
 Montreal was bound to Quebec by mutual ties and 
 dangers, and though numerically feeble the settle- 
 ments were strong in spirit and formed the twin 
 heads of New France, even as Boston and New York 
 formed the backbone of the English and Dutch colonies. 
 These latter colonies, moreover, furnished the main 
 antagonism to the designs of Louis XIV as conceived 
 and interpreted by Frontenac and La Salle, and stren- 
 uously developed by that rarely capable officer whose 
 fortunes form the substance of this narrative. Thus 
 inspired by the jealousies, hatreds, and ambitions of 
 European politics, these crumbled fragments of the 
 Old World hurled into limitless space by the revolu- 
 tions of that orb, still maintained their original 
 attributes and encroached upon one another and 
 fought and worried and ventured and lost with all 
 their former selfishness and virulence. 
 
 What more appropriate stage setting could be 
 devised to surround the introduction of a hero? 
 
CHAPTER n 
 
 THE LE MOYNES 
 
 A LTHOUGH the colony was greatly hampered 
 /-% by the demands of its King and the exac- 
 tions imposed upon its commerce, yet the 
 most serious check to its progress came from the 
 enmity of its neighbors on the south. The raids of 
 the never-resting Iroquois at times brought Montreal 
 to the verge of starvation, a condition which the 
 shrewd traders of New England and Hudson Bay 
 materially aided by securing an almost complete 
 diversion of the peltries to England. The fur trade 
 of the colony at length reached such a deplorable 
 state that the French relied for most of their furs on 
 the "upper nations," or the tribes consisting of the 
 Ottawas, the Pottawattamies, Sacs, Poxes, and Sioux, 
 who lived near the more distant of the Great Lakes 
 or even beyond them. A change was imperative or 
 the colony would perish, and happily a change was 
 at hand through the activity and valor of a native 
 son who played a strenuous part in history during 
 that forty years which marked the transition of the 
 feeble little settlement on the St. Lawrence to the 
 majesty of a colony almost as large as Europe. This 
 
28 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 man, who by his adventurous life brought new 
 possessions to Canada and France and by his brilliant 
 career has given an increased glory to French arms, 
 was the very illustrious Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur 
 d' Iberville, Chevalier of the Orders of the King and 
 Commander of the King's Ships. No lingering line- 
 age with impoverished blood nor ancestry renowned 
 in war gave rise to this Canadian chieftain, but 
 rather the sturdy stock of an innkeeper at Dieppe, 
 France, who sent two young scions to seek their 
 fortunes in the New World. 
 
 Charles Le Moyne and his brother Jacques left 
 Dieppe in 1640 to join their uncle in Canada. 
 Charles, then fourteen years of age, first went with 
 the Jesuit Fathers to the Huron Mission, and there 
 he learned the country, customs, and all the Indian 
 dialects so perfectly that he was in great demand as 
 interpreter and guide. He adopted the Indian dress 
 as most convenient for the trail and the chase and 
 became an adept with paddle, snowshoe, and axe. 
 Courageous, energetic, and cool-headed, he shrank 
 from no enterprise and soon became a leader upon 
 whom all in the colony relied. As his reputation 
 spread, he was called first to Three Rivers and later 
 (1646) to Montreal, where he finally settled and 
 began his lifelong warfare with the Iroquois who 
 beset the frontier village on every side. In 1665, 
 while hunting, he was taken prisoner by a band of 
 these Indians and dragged off for torture and death 
 
THE LE MOYNES 20 
 
 at the stake. His family mourned him as dead 
 when, at the end of three months, he suddenly re- 
 turned. He had gained over his enemies by telling 
 them of the many Iroquois prisoners he had be- 
 friended, besides threatening them with the vengeance 
 of his friends. When he returned he was accompanied 
 by a delegation of the Iroquois, who congratulated 
 the French and felicitated themselves on the fact 
 that he returned with no part of his body burnt nor 
 even one of his nails pulled out. Wonderful stories 
 are told of his battles and hairbreadth escapes in the 
 many Indian combats in which he participated. His 
 name appears constantly during this period in the 
 records of the colony, either as interpreter or am- 
 bassador or as counsellor to the Governor on Indian 
 affairs, or as leader of expeditions against the sav- 
 ages. So efficient and active was he that, in 1668, 
 " in consideration of the great services which Sieur 
 Le Moyne has rendered to this colony," the King 
 granted to him and his heirs in entail the title of 
 nobility as Sieur de Longueuil, with a baronial seat 
 on a little eminence among the ancient pines through 
 whose gaunt arms he could look across the noble 
 St. Lawrence, shimmering in the sun, upon the grow- 
 ing strength and beauty of Montreal, in whose behalf 
 his life was spent. 
 
 Charles Le Moyne had lived eight years in Mon- 
 treal when in 1654 he married Catherine Thierry 
 Primot, the belle of the settlement, who was con- 
 
30 SIEUR DTBERVILLE 
 
 spicuous for her piety, modesty, and precocious 
 wisdom. In course of time Le Moyne qualified to 
 receive the pension of four hundred livres which 
 the Government gave as an encouragement to the 
 father of twelve or more children. Each of the 
 eleven sons in addition to the family name received 
 a surname at birth as a mark of distinction. Usually 
 the child was given the name of one of the villages 
 or landmarks in the neighborhood of Dieppe, as a 
 memento of the country of his father's birth. Thus 
 the eldest was called Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil 
 (b. 1656) ; the second, Jacques de St. Helene (b. 
 1659), from one of the islands opposite Montreal ; 
 the third, Pierre d'Iberville (b. July 20, 1661) ; the 
 fourth, Paul de Maricourt (b. 1663) ; the fifth, Fran- 
 9ois de Bienville (b. 1666) ; the sixth, Joseph de 
 Serigny (b. 1668) ; the seventh, Fran9ois Marie de 
 Sauvole (b. 1670) ; the eighth, Anomyme (b. 1672) ; 
 the ninth, Catherine Jeanne * (b. 1673) ; the tenth, 
 Louis de Chateauguay (b. 1676) ; the eleventh, Marie 
 Anne t (b. 1678) ; the twelfth, Jean Baptiste de 
 Bienville (b. 1680); the thirteenth, Gabriel d'Assigny 
 (b. 1681) ; the fourteenth, Antoine de Chateauguay 
 (b. 1683). All lived to reach eminence or met a death 
 of glory in the service of their country. St. Helene, 
 Bienville I, and Chateauguay I met early deaths 
 
 * Jeanne married Jacques le Ber and became the mother of the 
 celebrated ascetic Jeanne le Ber. 
 
 •(• Marie Anne married Pierre Mareau, Sieur de Chassaigne, Gov- 
 ernor of Montreal and later of Three Rivers. 
 
THE LE MOYNES 31 
 
 while fighting for the colony and the Crown. Mari- 
 court, after many important and hazardous services 
 to the Government, died from exposure in one of the 
 Iroquois campaigns. Serigny attained high rank in 
 the French navy and died Governor of Rochefort. 
 Antoine de Chateauguay II was long associated with 
 Bienville in Louisiana and later became Governor of 
 Cayenne. Bienville II was Governor and the bright 
 particular star of Louisiana for thirty-five years. 
 Charles Le Moyne, Baron de Longueuil, the eldest 
 son, became the Governor of Canada, as did his son 
 after him. Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, was 
 the third and most interesting member of this re- 
 markable family. From boyhood he was distin- 
 guished for his energetic and hardy spirit and his 
 extraordinary force of character. As the children 
 grew up, the family feeling became very strong, but 
 all recognized and bowed to the qualities of leader- 
 ship which Pierre possessed, for he early showed 
 his restless and monarchical disposition. He was 
 a proud, high-spirited, impulsive, and generous lad, 
 intensely loyal and patriotic, and excelled in sports 
 and games of all kinds. He was resolute and 
 ready to espouse a cause, and having accepted an 
 issue, he, far more than his brothers, was willing, 
 nay, eager, to pursue it to the bitter end. In his 
 fortitude, endurance, courage, and quick intelligence 
 lay the claims to leadership which all accepted. 
 Thus in warm emulation but definitely under his 
 
32 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 guidance, they hunted in pairs, and one or more of 
 the brothers in an associated or subordinate capacity 
 are usually found in every expedition made by Iber- 
 ville. " Le Moyne " soon became a word to conjure 
 with, and the brotherhood has been named the 
 " Canadian Maccabees." 
 
 Instead of toys and the puerile pastimes of the 
 nursery the young lads had the steep rocks, the 
 straight pines, the gnarled cedars, and the wild game 
 of the mountains as playthings. As they grew older, 
 they took up the sports most common and necessary 
 to all frontier settlements, and spent their time 
 largely in fishing, canoeing, hunting, and snowshoe- 
 ing, which gave them splendid physical development, 
 together with resolution, self-reliance, and great 
 initiative. At the same time their life on the edge 
 of the wilderness stamped them indelibly with a 
 hatred of the rival English and Dutch colonies and 
 an ineffaceable bitterness toward the Iroquois. Born 
 into and environed by the Canadian Noblesse who 
 held war to be the only vocation of a gentleman, they 
 saw their neighbors and their doughty father go and 
 come from Indian forays, they heard their tales of 
 adventure and personal prowess, while the skill and 
 distinction of their father fired their spirits with 
 pride and emulation. His capture by the Iroquois 
 and narrow escape from the stake seemed only a 
 part of the day's work, though, to be sure, had his 
 offer been accepted to go on the Dollard expedition 
 
THE LE MOYNES 33 
 
 which took place the year previous to the birth of 
 Iberville, his inevitable loss would have been a deep 
 and lasting misfortune to New France. Various in- 
 cidents in that spectacular period combined to influ- 
 ence the unfolding character of young Iberville. 
 
 New France itself was passing through a stirring 
 period of change and stress. Terminating its career 
 as a missionary field, the King about the time of 
 Iberville's birth had taken over the country and 
 erected it into a colony, a change that could not 
 occur without disturbance. In addition there were 
 the quarrels between the Government and the Clergy, 
 between the different branches of the Government 
 service, between the different clerical orders, and be- 
 tween all these and the English and Iroquois. Then 
 too there was the fur trade, always a prolific source 
 of trouble. In consequence the atmosphere of Iber- 
 ville's boyhood was electrically charged with per- 
 sonal feeling and antagonism. All these conditions 
 produced definite effects upon Iberville, but the one 
 event that made the earliest and most permanent 
 impression on his growing mind was the arrival of 
 the Carignan Regiment, with which he felt an in- 
 stinctive congeniality. Six hundred strong they 
 were, these veterans of European wars, when, with 
 the gallant De Tracy, they landed in 1666 on the 
 way to punish the ever-aggressive Iroquois. Drawn 
 from the French nobility, from the very elite of those 
 knightly families who had consecrated their children 
 
34 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 to a military life, they made a brave appearance as, 
 with drums beating and colors flying, they marched 
 with steady stride through the streets of the little 
 frontier village of Montreal. The richly dressed 
 officers especially fascinated the little lad, who 
 watched the parade with beating heart, swelling 
 breast, and intense eyes. Then and there his Nor- 
 man ancestry blazed up with an inspiration to serve 
 the King. He soon realized that discipline and 
 scholarship were the first steps to distinction, and as 
 soon as possible Iberville and other young Le Moynes 
 entered Abbe Queylus' Sulpician Seminary, eager to 
 squeeze dry the educational sponge. This school 
 was modelled after those in France, and the boys 
 received a very good foundation in such essentials as 
 Latin, logic, rhetoric, and literature, and in religious 
 instruction — which was regarded as far more impor- 
 tant. Iberville's instinctive antag;onism to the Enor- 
 lish was also intensified at school, not on the ground 
 that they were rivals in the New World — which he 
 could see even so young, nor yet on the ground 
 that they incited the Iroquois against Canada — as 
 he fully believed, but rather because they were 
 heretics, a charge that meant much in those days of 
 rigorous orthodoxy. So the brothers spent their early 
 years until, at the age of twelve, young Iberville was 
 ready to go to his first communion. It was an inter- 
 esting group of boys who gathered before the little 
 chapel on that pleasant Sunday morning in June, 
 
THE LE MOYNES 35 
 
 1673. There were his older brothers, Charles and 
 St. Helene, and his younger brother Maricourt, and 
 with them Gabriel Montigny, Manthet, and Jean 
 Barrett, all to become known later as writers, sol- 
 diers, explorers, sailors, and coureurs de hois. They 
 were clad in coats of that peculiar blue which dis- 
 tinguished the residents of Montreal, just as white 
 was peculiar to Three Rivers and red to Quebec. 
 Blue leggings with knitted garters ended in deer 
 hide moccasins tied in Iroquois fashion, with the 
 insteps embroidered with stained porcupine quills. 
 Beaver skin caps covered their heads, and broad 
 belts of vivid colors embroidered with beads drew 
 in the coats at the waist. 
 
 Just now they were eagerly discussing the ap- 
 proaching visit of Frontenac,* on his way to meet 
 the Indian tribes at Cataraqui,t for council and 
 treaty. This was an important juncture in the his- 
 tory of the colony, for with the arrival of Governor 
 
 * Louis de Baude, Count de Frontenac (b. 1620), had from his 
 fifteenth year seen service in the French armies and was also an accom- 
 plished courtier. He was made Lieutenant-Geueral of New France 
 in 1672. Wliile the most able of the governors, his imperious dispo- 
 sition and autocratic temper involved him in many disputes. The 
 opposition became so great that he was recalled in 1682. Seven 
 years later, the peril of the colony was such that Frontenac was sum- 
 moned again to defend it. This he did vigorously. His expedition 
 of 1696 crushed the Iroquois and thereby saved Canada to the French. 
 
 •j- Courcelle had recommended the site of Cataraqui (Fort Fronte- 
 nac) on his expedition of 1671, while Frontenac, acting upon the sug- 
 gestion, advanced up the St. Lawrence in 1673 and built the stockade 
 on the site of the present city of Kingston, Ontario. Two years later, 
 La Salle, strongly endorsed by Frontenac, obtained from the King a 
 grant of the fort and district as a seigniory. 
 
36 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 Frontenac began the exploration of the St. Lawrence 
 Valley and the interior and the leaguing of the 
 Indians to France. It was expected that Frontenac 
 would stop a week or more in Montreal, and un- 
 doubtedly some of the settlers would be invited to 
 accompany him. Already they had seen and talked 
 with his lieutenant, La Salle, then a young man 
 about thirty years of age, and in spite of his grim 
 reserve they had heard of his adventures during his 
 recent trip to the interior, while his story of the dis- 
 covery of the Ohio had thrilled and inspired them 
 all. He was now arranging for Frontenac's official 
 reception in the village and securing supplies and 
 men for his expedition. This was an excursion 
 which each of the boys inwardly longed to take, but 
 none more than Iberville, burning with ambition and 
 love of adventure from his infancy. In the muster 
 of Canadians on the arrival of Frontenac (June 20, 
 1673) Le Moyne, the specialist in Indian manage- 
 ment, was among the first to be invited, not only 
 because of his ability as interpreter but because of 
 his prominence among the Noblesse. With him too 
 went the more enterprising of the youth, St. Helene, 
 Iberville, Manthet, and Montigny. It was a highly 
 educational adventure to the young men, and doubt- 
 less the greedy eyes and ears of Iberville took in 
 much of supreme importance to his later career. He 
 saw Frontenac make his imposing arrival at Cata- 
 raqui, he witnessed the effect on the Indian depu- 
 
THE LE MOYNES 37 
 
 ties of his martial display and of the dramatic speech 
 which his father interpreted, and he learned those 
 lessons in Indian management in which he subse- 
 quently became so expert. He watched the building 
 of the fort and saw the submission of the haughty 
 Iroquois, a submission which lasted only until they 
 had swept their Indian neighbors out of their way 
 and were ready to move against the French to secure 
 for themselves and their English and Dutch friends a 
 monopoly of the fur trade. 
 
 The new establishment was named Fort Frontenac 
 and was destined in a couple of years to be the base 
 whence the redoubtable Governor and his energetic 
 lieutenant La Salle launched upon the Mississippi 
 Valley their extensive designs of exploration and 
 trade. Having brilliantly concluded this affair, 
 Frontenac and the entire expedition returned. The 
 Le Moyne boys had been deeply impressed by the 
 character and presence of Frontenac, and ever after 
 maintained with but few interruptions a relationship 
 which was highly advantageous to both sides. The 
 effect of this journey was seen almost immediately in 
 an event which was the turning point in their lives. 
 They had not only secured a large insight into gov- 
 ernment methods, but in addition their far-sighted 
 father seized his period of close association with the 
 new Governor to push an idea he had long consid- 
 ered, of putting some of his boys in the Royal Navy. 
 The suit was successful, and upon their return to 
 
38 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 Montreal it was decided that St. Helene, Iberville, 
 and Maricourt should be recommended by Frontenac 
 for appointment as midshipmen. Their success was 
 the more probable since Colbert at this time was 
 attempting to put the navy on a grand footing. 
 Vessels were building; recruiting and training sta- 
 tions were developing in the fortified ports of Brest, 
 Rochefort, Toulon, and Dieppe, and government in- 
 fluence was exerted to make naval science attrac- 
 tive to the young men of noble families. 
 
 Iberville, enthusiastic and restless, had already 
 made many long trips on the St. Lawrence River and 
 Gulf in a boat belonging to his father, and knew the 
 water more thoroughly than many old navigators. 
 In anticipation of his career he now made longer 
 excursions and studied the sea more attentively. 
 After some delay the appointments were made as 
 desired, and the boys left the following year to learn 
 their duties as naval officers. They were drilled for 
 four or five years in all the naval science of the age, 
 and excelled especially in mathematics, hydrography, 
 artillery, and seamanship, which they found very 
 congenial. Their education was then continued on 
 the King's ships under such men as d'Estrees, Tour- 
 ville, and Jean Bart, and since this was the period of 
 the great sea battles with the English and Dutch 
 they had full experience in actual warfare. During 
 his apprenticeship also his duty brought Iberville 
 many times to Quebec when his frigate acted as con- 
 
THE LE MOYNES 39 
 
 voy for merchantmen, and it is certain that upon 
 arrival he ran down to Montreal, so that his long 
 absence in no way impaired the unison of family 
 feeling and effort. 
 
 By 1683 he had completed his course and returned 
 to Canada, whence he was sent to France by La 
 Barre * with despatches for the King and bearing 
 also the Governor's recommendation for his appoint- 
 ment as Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Failing to 
 receive his commission, he returned the following 
 Spring to Montreal. He was now twenty-three years 
 of age, and an object of pride and joy to his father, 
 who at this time was still active and energetic and 
 advancing in honor and consideration in the colony. 
 On two occasions they made long journeys together 
 into the wilderness, and Iberville perfected his knowl- 
 edge of woodcraft and Indian character. There is no 
 record to show that it was he who accompanied his 
 father t on that difficult but highly successful embassy 
 to the Iroquois in 1684, when Le Moyne brought back, 
 in spite of the English opposition, the fourteen chiefs 
 for council with Governor La Barre, but the event 
 was doubtless impressed on his mind as a direct 
 
 * Le Febre de la Barre was appointed Governor of New France in 
 1682 to supersede Frontenac. In early life he had been a lawyer and 
 government official in France. At the time of his appointment he 
 was an officer of experience, having seen service in the West Indies, 
 been Governor of Cayenne (1664-66), and after defeating an English 
 fleet, recovered Antigua, Montserrat, and Nevis for the French. 
 
 j- Charlevoix says, " two of his sons who accompanied Sieur Le 
 Moyne to Onondaga, reported the expedition to La Barre." 
 
40 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 result oi finesse and determination. In 1685, shortly 
 after this great personal triumph, Charles Le Moyne 
 died at the age of sixty years, causing the first 
 break in that redoubtable family group which was 
 destined to extend with increasing activity until the 
 name Le Moyne should traverse the continent from 
 the Bay of Hudson to the Gulf of Mexico. Charles 
 Le Moyne was dead, but his soul lived on, and the 
 power of his single arm was magically multiplied 
 in those splendid, daring sons whom he bequeathed 
 to the support of Canada, the aggrandizement of 
 France, and to the pride and glory of both. 
 
 America was an apple worthily chosen for discord. 
 Over this expansive territory of thrice the area and 
 wealth of their kingdoms, strove for dominance three 
 great kings. Their battalions met on the silent 
 shores of three desolate gulfs, thousands of miles 
 apart and yet indissolubly related by the union at 
 Newfoundland of the three great ocean currents 
 which there swept together in majestic implication 
 from the remote inland seas which gave them birth. 
 On the ample bosoms of those separate seas rode the 
 contending navies, and throughout the length and 
 breadth of three great river valleys of North Amer- 
 ica the bitter partisans of the rival nations battled 
 not alone for supremacy but for sole possession — a 
 supremacy that was not to remain unchallenged and 
 a possession that was not to pass unquestioned until 
 the lapse of three long centuries. Menendez secured 
 
THE LE MOYNES 41 
 
 a doubtful eminence through the conquest of Florida 
 and the wanton butchery of his helpless French cap- 
 tives; Montcalm and Wolfe earned immortality on 
 the lofty Plains of Abraham; but upon Le Moyne 
 d'Iberville rests the unique distinction that he 
 courted renown and carried to victory the banners of 
 France upon each of the widely separate waters 
 of Hudson Bay, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the 
 Gulf of Mexico. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 
 
 TOWARD the end of 1685 the eagerly expected 
 opportunity knocked at the door of the young 
 Le Moynes. La Barre in turn had been re- 
 called, and the energetic Seignelay * had ordered his 
 successor, Denonville,t to take active measures to de- 
 cide the long-disputed ownership of that northern 
 country occupied at this time by England. The great 
 territory which includes Labrador and the region ad- 
 jacent to Hudson Bay was highly important, not 
 alone on account of its strategic position in the midst 
 of numerous tribes, but more particularly as the centre 
 of the fur trade. 
 
 In 1610 Henry Hudson in search of the illusive 
 northwest passage discovered that great Bay which 
 in the following year received his life and name, — at 
 once his sepulchre and epitaph, a mighty tribute to 
 
 * Jean Baptists Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay, eldest son of the 
 great Colbert, succeeded his father (1683) as Minister of the Marine, 
 which ofl&ce he administered until his death in 1690. The colonies 
 were controlled by this department of the French administration. 
 
 •f Jacques Rene de Brisay, Marquis de Denonville, had served in the 
 French armies for thirty years. He was a zealous officer, but unequal 
 to the difficulties he was called upon to meet in Canada. He was re- 
 called in 1689. 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 43 
 
 his dauntless soul. For sixty years thereafter that 
 huge inland sea, eight hundred miles wide by a thou- 
 sand miles long, lay locked in the ice and the sombre 
 Arctic seclusion, in a silence as deep as when it first 
 arose from chaos. On the east lies the corrugated 
 Labrador, her distorted mountains seamed and rived 
 to pass great rivers to sea or bay; on the south are 
 found the illimitable forests and wintry lakes, and 
 all has been tossed together in a wavelike form as if 
 the ocean had been suddenly petrified while at the 
 very summit of titanesque performance. This ex- 
 pansive wilderness was the home of wild beasts and 
 Indians whose presence in no way diminished the 
 terrors of that grim solitude. The sea itself was a 
 dreary waste. For a few brief weeks the whale and 
 walrus found a welcome retreat in its icy waters, then 
 the frost closed in and the white bear roamed in 
 lonely state upon its frozen deeps, while solitary birds 
 winged their way with harsh discordant cries over 
 its bleak, snow-buried desolation. 
 
 Threading the pathless wilderness on the south 
 came Radisson, the pioneer, and later at his solicita- 
 tion came the " Company of English adventurers " to 
 trade upon the Bay. The English, acting under the 
 broad charter rights granted by Charles II in 1670, 
 had immediately established trading posts which kept 
 the current of skins flowing quite steadily toward 
 England. The abundant success of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company for the next fifteen years tempted the 
 
44 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 alert and avaricious fur traders of New France to try 
 for a foothold on the Bay. In opposition to the 
 " Great Company," an association of Quebec mer- 
 chants was formed under the name of the " Com- 
 pagnie du Nord," and government aid demanded. 
 The particular act which inflamed the Canadians at 
 this time and stimulated them to call the attention 
 of the home Government to Hudson Bay was the 
 treachery of Radisson, who though supposedly French 
 betrayed his post and an entire shipload of furs to 
 the English. 
 
 France and Great Britain were officially at peace, 
 so that there was no excuse for aggression beyond 
 the fact that England had possession of something 
 which France wanted. Louis XIV doubtless felt 
 that inasmuch as he was sending annually large sums 
 of money to James II, as subsidies, in accordance 
 with their secret agreement, James would not seri- 
 ously oppose any steps he might take to make his 
 claims legal, and as it looked safe he had finally re- 
 solved to assume the right and take possession of 
 the disputed territory. Basing his claim on what 
 was probably a fact, though unimportant, that an 
 establishment had been made by the two French- 
 men, Radisson and Groseilliers, at the mouth of the 
 Hayes River before any English settlement had been 
 attempted at that place, the King doubtless felt justi- 
 fied, although the English had erected a trading sta- 
 tion at Rupert River as early as 1668-69. Whether 
 
. EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY ' 45 
 
 justified or not, it is improbable that the King would 
 idly watch the location of English settlements on the 
 Bay, for, besides the very pressing danger to his own 
 colony on the St. Lawrence from the English both 
 north and south, the fur traders at Quebec and 
 Montreal keenly felt the effects of the English compe- 
 tition. To attack the English forts on Hudson Bay 
 therefore according to Seignelay's instructions, Denon- 
 ville assembled at Montreal a troop of one hundred 
 men, comprising thirty soldiers and seventy Cana- 
 dians together with a number of Indians, all under 
 the command of the sagacious De Troyes, an officer 
 of the celebrated Carignan Regiment. Volunteering 
 with the troop but without official status unless, as 
 seems probable, they represented the " Compagnie du 
 Nord," went the three Le Moyne boys, St. Helene, 
 Iberville, and Maricourt. 
 
 They volunteered as guides, interpreters, and 
 scouts, but through experience, hardihood, and abil- 
 ity they quickly assumed the leadership. 
 
 Iberville was now starting on that career of adven- 
 ture, warfare, and exploration which was not to end 
 until his restless, intrepid spirit had left his body. 
 At this time he was in the full bloom of his young 
 manhood. His frame was large, his waist trim, his 
 bearing erect and soldierly. His active life as bush- 
 ranger and seaman had given him a superb physique, 
 with muscles of steel and the springy catlike tread 
 of an athlete. His fine shoulders were surmounted 
 
46 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 by a well-shaped head, which had as its most con- 
 spicuous ornament a profusion of curling yellow hair, 
 which he habitually wore long after the manner of 
 the times. His features were refined though large. 
 A brow, broad and open, rested above his blue pene- 
 trating eyes, which under excitement sparkled like 
 gems. An aquiline nose and finely chiselled mouth 
 agreeably softened the firmness of his square-set jaw. 
 His skin was clear, his manner easy and conciliatory, 
 and his whole person glowed with resolution and self- 
 confidence. " As military as his sword," said a direc- 
 tor of the Hudson's Bay Company who had good 
 reasons for his respect ; " Born canoeist and hardened 
 to the water like a fish," said Frontenac ; " A young 
 man who knows what he knows," said Denonville. 
 His character was fully as pleasing as his physique, 
 and from his youth up he showed that obliging and 
 generous disposition which made him the ideal leader 
 and beloved comrade of his men. From now on the 
 scanty annals of that period are lifted above the com- 
 monplace by the successive appearances of the Le 
 Moynes as each in turn steps forward to consecrate 
 his life, trained and developed in local Indian forays, 
 to the service of France. 
 
 Iberville and his brothers felt that the success of 
 this present undertaking would depend largely on the 
 secrecy and swiftness of the blow, and this required 
 that the line of march should be as unknown to the 
 enemy as the raid was unexpected. 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 47 
 
 There are three canoe routes from the St. Lawrence 
 to Hudson Bay, one of which must be followed for 
 ease of travel, although the expedition was to start 
 on snowshoes. The first, leaving the St. Lawrence 
 at Tadousac, ascends the Saguenay River to Lake 
 St. John and thence to Lake Mistassini, from which 
 the course follows a branch of Rupert River to the 
 Bay. The second starts from Three Rivers and as- 
 cends the St. Maurice, there to take any one of nu- 
 merous rivers which also lead to the Bay. The better 
 to avoid giving warning to the English and to evade 
 the ever watchful eyes of the wandering Iroquois, the 
 Le Moynes chose the third route, which ascends the 
 Ottawa River west of Montreal. 
 
 The departure was fixed for March 20, 1686. 
 Spring had scarcely begun, but it was considered 
 important to arrive before the annual supply ships 
 could reach the forts from England with reinforce- 
 ments and remove the peltries. The troop was well 
 equipped with provisions, clothing, and munitions 
 for several months. Every manual necessity was 
 provided for in making up the company, wherein 
 might be found carpenters, sailors, miners, and can- 
 noneers, together with loyal Indians from the Mon- 
 tague and La Chine Missions, all excellent fighters 
 and wood-rangers, especially chosen for their activity 
 and endurance. 
 
 Having heard mass, they stepped bravely through 
 the eager throng of relatives and friends who clus- 
 
48 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 tered at the shore to look long and anxiously after 
 them as they ascended the frozen channel of the river. 
 They moved rapidly up the snow-padded silences of 
 the Ottawa, past Rideau and Chaudiere Falls, where 
 stands the present city of Ottawa ; past their last out- 
 post at Little Nation, where salutes were exchanged ; 
 past Cat Lake and Mille Lacs, to the Mattawa River ; 
 up the Mattawa to the cliff-margined waters of Lake 
 Temiscaming, where they received a warm welcome 
 from friendly tribes. They were travelling as lightly 
 as possible, without canoes or tents, carrying blankets 
 and provisions on their backs or dragging them on 
 toboggans and sleeping at night in the snow ; never- 
 theless all went smoothly until they crossed over into 
 a branch of the Abittibi River and thence to Abittibi 
 Lake, where their difficulties began. At this point it 
 was necessary to remain until canoes could be built, 
 for now they expected to be free from the ice and 
 snow and to course down the Abittibi and Moose 
 Rivers on the crest of the spring floods. Here they 
 built a small fort and leaving three Canadians in 
 charge, as soon as the canoes were finished, they 
 crossed the lake and started, — "a troop of daredevil 
 bushrangers sweeping down the forested waterways 
 of the North." Often the river was frozen for long 
 distances or else they fought the floating ice cakes 
 in the swift current. At one time barefooted, they 
 tracked the laden canoes for twelve miles amidst the 
 downrushing icy water which swept swirling and 
 
Canadian on Snowsiioes i'kei'aked for a Winter 
 Campaign 
 
 (From La Potherie) 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 49 
 
 roaring to the sea. They cut the ice with their 
 hatchets or portaged over the giant dams of massed 
 cakes. Iberville and four of his men were caught . 
 
 by the current in the fierce rapids and swept against 
 a rock, where the canoe upset and two were lost. 
 Only by his great strength and cool-headedness did 
 Iberville succeed in saving himseH and two of his 
 companions. 
 
 Since the obstacles increased as they advanced 
 north, the troop moved more and more slowly, until 
 Iberville feared they would not reach the Bay in 
 time. The aspect of the country was austere and 
 harsh. The Jesuit Silvy,* chaplain and historian of 
 the expedition, says : " We have passed through forests 
 capable of frightening the most assured traveller, be 
 it by their great extent or be it by the roughness of 
 the rude and dangerous paths. Upon land one can 
 only travel on the precipices, while on the water one 
 can only cross abysses where in a frail bark canoe one 
 fights for life amid whirlpools capable of swallowing 
 great ships." 
 
 Still advancing, there seemed to be no limit to the 
 vast forests ; as far as the eye could see it met noth- 
 ing but valleys and mountains covered by that ex- 
 
 « Antoine Silvy, born Oct. 16, 1638, had come to Canada in 1673. 
 At the Ottawa Missions he had spent four years, but this was his second 
 trip to the Bay, the first being undertaken in 1679 with Jolliet. They 
 then made the trip by way of Tadousac and Rupert River (Gagnon's 
 Jolliet). After this expedition with Iberville he remained at the 
 Bay until 1693. 
 
 4 
 
50 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 traordinary and abundant growth. As day succeeded 
 day with no change in the scenery, no break in the 
 succession of venerable trees, the voyageurs would ex- 
 claim, " All Canada is only a vast forest." The den- 
 sity of the interlacing branches was so great that the 
 march was made for leagues under the continuous 
 dome of pine, fir, and hemlock through which the sky 
 could be seen only at long intervals. At times they 
 met banks covered with vegetation, the branches 
 bending to the water, the rocks covered with roots 
 exposed and inextricably entangled. Again they 
 climbed a mountain whose southern exposure was 
 bare of snow and showing signs of spring vegetation, 
 while upon the opposite side they passed under trees 
 still covered with a blanket of white and with branches 
 that scintillated with reflections from snow crystals 
 and icicles. The chutes at the extremity of a lake 
 or in the course of the river shimmered and sparkled 
 in the sunlight with the splendor of silver, and the 
 water descended over granite stairways resplendent 
 with ice. Either lake or river might at times be in- 
 terrupted by a gigantic barrier of rocks apparently 
 impassable, but after many devious turns and many 
 a cul de sac, an opening would appear and another 
 body of unimpeded water lay before them. 
 
 Besides the ordinary difficulties of such a journey, 
 they were further delayed by the sudden appearance 
 of dense fogs so impenetrable that progress was im- 
 possible; or a sudden rise in temperature produced 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 51 
 
 a thaw so complete that the portages became bottom- 
 less quagmires over which it was impossible to trans- 
 port the baggage and canoes. 
 
 Night, too, had its charms and dangers. The moon 
 shone with but a feeble glow surrounded by rings and 
 strange accessory lights, while the farther north they 
 marched the stronger and more frequent became the 
 appearance of the elusive aurora, its tremulous rays 
 flashing and disappearing with mocking evanescence. 
 At other times an abundant rain in the night would 
 turn to sleet, which converted the trees and twigs 
 into crystal columns and sprays of jewels. The 
 underbrush was decorated with diamonds and the 
 rocks encircled with glittering garlands. Every cliff 
 and crag and jagged peak had its crown of snow and 
 every glen and gorge its drifted shroud. All was 
 very wonderful and fairylike, but this wizardry of the 
 forest had also its dangers. Under the excessive 
 weight the boughs would break with thundering noise, 
 and the travellers stepped with wary feet lest a sudden 
 jar might dislodge the huge masses that hung trem- 
 bling and menacing, beautiful but deadly, just over 
 their heads. When the work of the sleet was ended, 
 the trails were obstructed by uprooted trees and 
 branches broken into so many fragments that passage 
 was wellnigh impossible. 
 
 Father Silvy says that the Le Moyne boys became 
 invaluable to the expedition under these difficulties, 
 and on account of their unusual woodmanship and 
 
52 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 expertness as canoeists, they guided the men through 
 the forests and upon the waters, they chose the por- 
 tages and the camp sites, and kept up the spirits of 
 the band by their constant enthusiasm. Such a trip 
 indeed was a source of continual dehght to the hardy 
 Iberville, who surpassed his brothers in size as well 
 as in mental force. No hardship or danger depressed 
 his spirits or affected his courage ; a call to eat or the 
 menace of death was received in the same spirit of 
 invariable good nature. Within himself was such a 
 love for adventure, such resolution and self-reliance, 
 that nothing daunted him. Norman as he was, he 
 seemed to revert to that ancestry which had produced 
 the champions of Sicily, the heroes of the Crusades, 
 and the conquerors of England. He revelled in the 
 hardships of a winter campaign ; the greater the ob- 
 stacle, the more serious the danger, so much the more 
 buoyantly did his spirit rise to meet and conquer. 
 
 Finally the channel of the river broadened and 
 the canoes swept rapidly forward. The portages be- 
 came less frequent, less rocky, but more unpleasant. 
 Their way led them through vast " muskegs " and 
 juniper swamps, all crusted with snow which yielded 
 under them, so that they marched in snow and icy 
 water mingled with long and tangled grass growing 
 from soft mud. Then from a slight elevation they 
 beheld an immensity of water reflecting the dull 
 tones of a steel-gray sky, and extending infinitely 
 onward to where the water merged with the sky 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 53 
 
 line in the chill misty distance. It was Hudson 
 Bay — it was also June 18, 1686. In three months 
 the hardy voyageurs had covered six hundred miles 
 of new trail, through a most rugged part of Canada, 
 by snowshoe and canoe in midwinter, with no incen- 
 tive but the love of adventure for its own sake and 
 hatred of the English who disturbed their commercial 
 future, and no prospect of pay except such as they 
 might secure from the loot of the forts on the Bay. 
 
 Here the English had erected five posts for the 
 convenience of their Indian trade. Moose Factory 
 at the mouth of the Moose River at the southern 
 end was known as Fort Monsipi (or Monsoni) by 
 the Indians, and Fort St. Louis by the French. 
 East of Moose Factory about forty leagues sat Fort 
 Rupert at the mouth of the river of that name, and 
 about the same distance west was Fort Kitchichou- 
 ane, later known as Fort Albany, and called Fort 
 St. Anne by the French. Higher on the western 
 side of the Bay was the unimportant post of New 
 Savanne, or Severn, called by the French Fort St. 
 Th^rese, and finally thirty leagues north of the 
 latter lay Fort Nelson, later called Fort York, the 
 strongest and best of them all, well located near 
 the mouth of Nelson River. This post was known 
 to the French as Fort Bourbon. It was close by 
 this that Radisson and Groseilliers had established 
 their early station upon which the only French 
 claim could be based, 
 
54 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 These five little specks on the margin of that 
 dreary expanse of sea represented the first feeble 
 attempts of the English to reach out a hand — com- 
 mercial and self-interested, to be sure, but neverthe- 
 less a human hand — to the savage inhabitants of the 
 Northern wilderness. The greed of gold lured the 
 Spaniards to Peru and Mexico, where it is said they 
 destroyed a civilization more developed than their 
 own. The lure of the fur trade was the means, and 
 a gradual improvement in conditions the inevitable 
 result, of those blind groping fags of Fate on Hudson 
 Bay. They were equally covetous, but in the case 
 of the English avarice was tempered with justice 
 and disciplined by the many revolutions necessary 
 to obtain it, while the Spanish were highwaymen 
 pure and simple. Wliere the fur trade invited the 
 English, a rude, deformed, but definite civilization 
 made its compulsory appearance and permanently 
 improved the barbarian tribes, and in this respect 
 the attacks of the French in no iota disturbed the 
 action of those mighty balances in which the des- 
 tinies of nations are weighed. 
 
 In silent ambuscade the restless French lay hidden 
 that long June afternoon, awaiting the fall of night 
 and licking their chops, like the gaunt old timber 
 wolves that they were, as they watched with greedy 
 eyes the thin column of smoke rising from Moose 
 Factory (Fort Monsipi), the only apparent sign of 
 life. White, lonely, and isolated, the post harmo- 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 55 
 
 nized well with the lonely forest and still more deso- 
 late Bay. The garrison sheltered from the rigors 
 of the climate had no warning of attack, and they 
 waited only the spring ships as the first intrusion 
 upon their icy retreat. No guards were placed, 
 no watchmen in the towers, neither patrols nor 
 sentinels. 
 
 The fort was situated on a slight elevation a few 
 yards from the water, and consisted of a square of 
 palisades measuring one hundred feet on each face 
 and eighteen feet high, with bastions at each corner. 
 These in turn were covered with strong planks and 
 furnished within with platforms for the riflemen 
 and cannon. Within the palisaded enclosure was a 
 redoubt about thirty feet high, built in terraces of 
 logs, and upon its top was a parapet with embra- 
 sures for the big guns. This redoubt was the resi- 
 dence of the garrison and the real citadel of the 
 fort. 
 
 With the approach of night Iberville and St. 
 Helene stealthily inspected the post. No hoot of 
 owl from distant thicket, no cry of loon from the 
 lonely shore, disturbed the deep silence. No sign 
 of human life appeared ; the stockade was as quiet 
 as the grave. The tompions were in the great guns, 
 the cannon were not loaded. The scouts faded back 
 into the shadows of the forest. The plan of attack 
 was then arranged. Leaving under guard all the 
 canoes but two, these, laden with planks, mattocks, 
 
56 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 and a battering ram, dropped silently down the 
 river to meet De Troyes, who, over a road sheltered 
 by rocks and trees, marched with moccasined feet 
 to the gate. Iberville and St. Helene with twenty 
 men, and Sergeant Catalogne with twenty more, 
 were each to cut through the palisades at feasible 
 points, while De Troyes and Maricourt assailed the 
 gate with the battering ram. Using the planks as 
 platforms, Iberville scaled the palisades with his men 
 and was the first to arrive in the enclosure. Has- 
 tening to the great gate, he threw the bar and let 
 in De Troyes, then all returned to the redoubt to 
 meet Sergeant Catalogne, whose party was now firing 
 through the windows. At the first shot the Canadi- 
 ans with high shrill voices gave the dreaded war-cry 
 of the Iroquois, " Sassa Koues, Sassa Koues." It was 
 a complete surprise. The English, awakened by the 
 tumult and thinking the Iroquois were upon them, 
 hastened to the defence in their shirts and with such 
 weapons as they could pick up. 
 
 The battering ram was brought up and delivered 
 great blows on the gate of the redoubt, which at 
 length partially opened, and Iberville, impulsive and 
 daring, eagerly hurled himself inside. The English 
 got the gate closed again, while the fearless French- 
 man, trapped and cornered, fought coolly with his 
 sword.* Again the gate burst in and with it more 
 
 * This incident, given on the authority of La Potherie, is called 
 apocryphal by Parkman, but it accords so ■well with what we know of 
 Iberville that it seems best to include it. 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 57 
 
 French. The situation now began to dawn upon the 
 English, and, recognizing the futility of resistance, the 
 garrison surrendered. In the fort were fifteen men, 
 twelve cannon, three thousand pounds of powder, 
 and one thousand pounds of lead. The French 
 promptly began to utilize their prize by melting 
 the lead into bullets. 
 
 "The assailants were much vexed," says Father 
 Silvy, " to learn from the prisoners that the Com- 
 mander, Governor Bridgar, had left on the preced- 
 ing evening with fifteen men on a vessel for Fort 
 Rupert." As this vessel was absolutely necessary 
 to transport the cannon that were needed in the 
 attack on Fort Kitchichouane, it was decided to pur- 
 sue and capture the vessel and Fort Rupert at the 
 same time. Iberville took the longboat and two 
 pieces of cannon from the fort, and the rest followed 
 by canoe. Cutting across a tongue of land, they 
 opened up a trail used even to this day, and covered 
 the forty leagues in five days. 
 
 When they arrived near Fort Rupert, St. Helene 
 was detailed to take observations. He reported a 
 fort similar in all respects to Fort Monsipi except 
 that the redoubt was in one corner of the enclosure 
 and had, alas ! a ladder outside for use in case of 
 fire. All was arranged accordingly. De Troyes 
 detailed Iberville and Maricourt in two canoes with 
 twelve men to take the ship, while he himself 
 assaulted the fort. 
 
58 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 Night came on, and the canoes stole down on the 
 vessel. Iberville silently climbed the side, and be- 
 fore the sentinel awakened to his danger he was 
 killed. The crew, aroused by stamping on the deck, 
 became an easy prey as one by one they climbed the 
 hatchway, until the alarm was taken and the survi- 
 vors fell back. Then the French descended and broke 
 open the cabin with axes. Quarter was asked and 
 given, and the French took command. A small 
 sloop anchored near by was also seized. Fearing he 
 might miss some portion of the adventure, Iberville 
 now left a guard on the ship and hurried shoreward 
 to assist in taking the fort. Meanwhile De Troyes 
 had forced the outer gate with a tree as a battering 
 ram, a man climbed the ladder on the side of the 
 redoubt, and dropped hand grenades through holes 
 cut in the roof and down the chimney. The con- 
 sternation was general, and the French entered the 
 palisaded enclosure sword in hand. The last hope 
 of holding out disappeared, and after a further 
 slight resistance the English surrendered. 
 
 During the attack a woman in confusion and 
 excitement ran into the room in which a grenade 
 had just been dropped, and in spite of warning was 
 seriously injured by the explosion before she could 
 escape. Iberville and Father Silvy put her to bed, 
 called the surgeon, and locked the door to keep out 
 intruders. Ever ruthless in the execution of his 
 orders, Iberville had not yet reached the point, as 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 69 
 
 he did four years later at Schenectady, where he 
 could stand passively by and see women and chil- 
 dren tortured and killed. 
 
 They remained four days at this post, loading 
 the ship with supplies and furs and mounting on 
 it the cannon for the attack on Albany. Leaving 
 the longboat for Iberville, who was to stay and 
 partially dismantle the fort, the redoubt only being 
 saved, De Troyes took the captured stores and pris- 
 oners back to Moose Factory on the ship. As soon 
 as Iberville rejoined the expedition, De Troyes was 
 ready to advance on Albany (Fort Kitchichouane). 
 The prisoners were left on the eastern side of 
 Moose River under guard. As many of the French 
 as possible were crowded on the ship, the rest were 
 provided with canoes, and the expedition started. 
 As usual, Iberville and St. Helene with the Indians 
 led in the canoes, and De Troyes with the French 
 followed in the ship, upon which the cannon were 
 loaded. The sun was just going down as they 
 started, and although the way was unknown and 
 even the location of the fort uncertain, they thought 
 to save time, as well as to deceive the English into 
 the belief that their friends were coming, by steering 
 diagonally across the Bay instead of taking the safer 
 route near the shore. They were well started when 
 one of those wild north gales swept down from the 
 Upper Bay and made battering rams of the floating 
 ice cakes. With the gale came a thick mist, and the 
 
60 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 birch canoes were untenable. Dangerous enough in 
 heavy seas, in heavy seas pkis floating ice it was 
 destruction. Some made for the mainland, but the 
 Le Moynes kept on until a boiling sea of floes 
 thrust in between the canoes and compelled them 
 to camp on the shifting ice. While the voyageurs 
 held the canoes high above their heads for safety, 
 they also clung hand to hand, so that when one 
 dropped through the moving ice the rest could pull 
 him out.* As soon as daylight brightened some- 
 what the thick mist, Iberville hastened on. Keep- 
 ing his guns firing to guide the other canoes, he 
 pushed across the traverse, portaging where there 
 was ice or where the ebbing tide left sand banks, 
 and paddling wherever it was possible. Reaching 
 a point near the western shore, he sought in vain 
 for sign of fort or river mouth, since no one could 
 say whether the land in view was north or south of 
 the fort. This caused considerable delay, but while 
 discussing the situation the sound of guns was heard, 
 and turning toward the sound Iberville at last joined 
 De Troyes at the mouth of the Kitchichouane River 
 before Fort Albany. The journey had taken five 
 days, and the garrison had been put upon its guard 
 by Indian runners. 
 
 St. Helene was again detailed to reconnoitre, and 
 reported a fort similar to the others but a little 
 larger and better armed. Conscious that his ap- 
 * Laut, "The Conquest of the Great Northwest." 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 61 
 
 proach was known, De Tro} es tried negotiation. It 
 had been known at Montreal that a French spy 
 named Pere had been captured and for a while im- 
 prisoned at Fort Albany, and De Troyes now de- 
 manded that he be given up else he would attack 
 the fort. Governor Sargeant replied that the French- 
 man long since had been sent to France, and de- 
 clared that De Troyes had no right to attack the 
 fort since the nations were at peace. However, De 
 Troyes did not intend to be deprived of his prey 
 because his excuse failed him. He landed his 
 men and planted his battery of ten cannon on 
 the opposite side of the river masked among the 
 bushes, then, with a true French instinct for the 
 dramatic, he waited quietly until night, when with 
 his glass he could see the Governor retiring to his 
 chamber with his family. Choosing this glad, aus- 
 picious moment, he opened fire and sent a roaring 
 volley from all the guns straight at the Governor's 
 chamber. The firing was continued for an hour 
 and a half, in which time the besiegers had delivered 
 over one hundred and fifty shots. Meanwhile the 
 cannon fire had stirred up the utmost confusion in 
 the fort. The garrison, already mutinous, flew hither 
 and thither in great disorder. Some took refuge in 
 the cellar, and others insisted that Governor Sargeant 
 should surrender. In the midst of the tumult an 
 under officer announced that the powder had given 
 out. This was the last straw. The Governor, be- 
 
62 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 trayed within and besieged without, gent over a flag 
 of truce, and upon invitation De Troyes returned 
 with it to the fort. After the healths of the two 
 Kings had been politely drunk, the fort was given up.* 
 
 This was the principal depot on the Bay, and large 
 quantities of provisions, trading stores, and another 
 ship fell into the hands of the French together with 
 fifty thousand peltries. This victory made the 
 French masters of the southern part of the Bay. 
 Leaving Iberville to patrol the coast, De Troyes 
 returned overland in August to Montreal.! By 
 virtue of his commission from Denonville, Iberville 
 remained as Commander of all the forts on the 
 Bay. He first disposed of his prisoners by sending 
 them to France in one of the captured ships. 
 During the late Summer of 1686 he captured a 
 large English sloop. The Young, which was on its 
 way to Fort Rupert. 
 
 The ardent leader inspired every man in his little 
 troop with his own ceaseless vigilance and enthusi- 
 astic courage, as the following incident shows. In 
 September Iberville was at Moose Factory when he 
 learned that an English vessel, the Churchill, was 
 caught in the ice at Charlton Island and would be 
 compelled to winter there. Five scouts were sent to 
 
 * Governor Sargeant was severely censured by the directors of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company for his weakness in yielding on this occasion, 
 but, apparently, he had no choice in the matter. 
 
 f The supply of provisions gave out and the troop was disbanded. 
 They returned to Montreal as best they could, but the disorder was 
 so great that the last one arrived a full month after the first. 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 63 
 
 investigate, but two became Ul and returned, while 
 the other three went on, only to be captured and put 
 in irons aboard the Churchill. The Winter passed 
 without action by French or English, but in the 
 early Spring an effort was made to get the ship out 
 of the ice. Being short-handed, one of the prisoners 
 was brought up to aid the work. About the same 
 time the Captain went out hunting in a birch canoe 
 and was drowned. One day when six of the crew 
 were in the rigging, some on shore and only two on 
 deck, the Canadian killed one with an axe, released 
 and armed his comrades, and forced the crew to sur- 
 render. Taking possession of the arms, he kept the 
 English at bay and steered toward Fort Rupert. A 
 sail hove in sight, and at first he feared an enemy, 
 but no ; Iberville, suspecting trouble from the long 
 absence of his scouts, had seized the first moment of 
 open water and was hurrying over sea to rescue 
 or revenge them. The Canadians turned over the 
 ship to Iberville, and the rich cargo of provisions and 
 merchandise saved the French from great suffering 
 during the next Winter. 
 
 Having settled affairs on the Bay, Iberville sailed 
 for Quebec with a shipload of furs late in the season 
 of 1687. He left the command to his brother Mari- 
 court, whom from his incessant activity the Indians 
 had called " the little bird that is always in motion," * 
 
 * Charles Le Moyne had been adopted by the Iroquois, and after 
 his death that nation adopted in his place his two sons, Charles de 
 Loijoraeuil and Maricourt. 
 
64 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 a name that might be as justly applied to any one of 
 that never resting family. 
 
 Meanwhile the " Governor and Company of Ad- 
 venturers trading into Hudson's Bay" sent to King 
 James a humble " peticion " for redress, which stated 
 that '' the French of Canada, this year, have in a 
 piratical manner taken and totally despoiled the 
 Peticioners of three of their Forts and Factories on 
 Hudson Bay, three of their ships or vessels. Fifty 
 Thousand Beaver skins and a great quantity of pro- 
 visions, stores and merchandizes laid in for many 
 yeares trade and have in a small vessel turned out 
 to sea above Fifty of Your Majesty's Subjects who 
 were then in the Peticioners service, to shift for 
 themselves or perish miserably, besides those whome 
 they have killed or detained Prisoners," etc. This 
 remonstrance had no immediate effect, for when 
 Iberville returned to the Bay the next Spring he 
 found little or no opposition. By 1689, however, 
 the powerful influence of the Company began to 
 bring results, and England sent the Hampshire and 
 Northwest Fox to Fort Nelson for the capture of Fort 
 Albany.* This expedition was quickly reported to 
 Iberville, who detailed Maricourt with fourteen men 
 to harass the English. The latter assailed the enemy 
 
 * Charlevoix reports that Iberville had sent despatches overland 
 from Fort Albany Jan. 5, 1G89, while La Hontan reports that in June 
 he met St. Helene on the Ottawa River en route to Hudson Bay with 
 supplies and despatches for Iberville. Iberville in this way kept in 
 close touch with affairs at home. 
 
EXPEDITION TO HUDSON BAY 65 
 
 by night and day, sometimes on the little island upon 
 which they were encamped and sometimes by inter- 
 cepting their canoes and small boats. In this way 
 the English had lost twenty-two men when Iberville 
 came canoeing across the sea of tossing ice floes and 
 found the vessels locked in the ice before Albany. 
 Keeping his men in ambush until the English had 
 landed eighty-two of their men, he rushed the ships. 
 With an uncanny but unerring instinct he quickly 
 recognized the one which carried the furs, and taking 
 possession of the Hampshire as the ice broke up, he 
 sailed gayly away to Quebec. The English became 
 panic-stricken, and setting fire to the other ship they 
 retreated overland to Fort Nelson and burned Fort 
 Severn en route. Sailing across the Bay, Iberville 
 was making fine progress with his prize when in the 
 middle of Hudson Straits he ran full tilt into a fleet 
 of English vessels coming in with supplies, while to 
 make conditions worse the ice closed in around them 
 and kept them all prisoners within gun-shot of one 
 another. Nothing disconcerted by this awkward 
 situation and feeling reasonably sure the English 
 would recognize the ship as one of their own, the 
 resolute Iberville ran up the English flag, and with 
 a spontaneous insolence and truly French audacity 
 signalled the captains to come across the ice to visit 
 him. What might have happened if he had got the 
 English captains into his power we can only surmise, 
 for at this moment the ice cleared, and away he 
 
66 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 sailed, arriving at Quebec in safety with his load of 
 furs. 
 
 While awaiting new orders Iberville hastened on to 
 Montreal, where he was received as a hero by his 
 townspeople, who had rejoiced in his continued success 
 on the Bay and the large inflow of furs which his 
 activity had produced. Thus early he had revealed 
 himself as an excellent tactician, a capable com- 
 mander, and a captain of industry, and in recognition 
 thereof Governor Denonville again urged the Minister 
 to reward him with a lieutenancy in the Royal Navy. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 
 TO HUDSON BAY 
 
 DURING his absence the aspect of affairs at 
 Montreal had changed in some respects. 
 Denonville had arrived at Quebec in 1685 
 and had full knowledge, while the expedition against 
 Hudson Bay was preparing, that a treaty was being 
 negotiated at London between France and England. 
 This was not a treaty of peace, for the most per- 
 fect peace prevailed theoretically between the two 
 Crowns, but it was in order to so establish future 
 relations that war might thereafter be averted in 
 the colonies across the seas. Among the twenty-one 
 articles of the treaty were specifications that no 
 vessels great or small should be equipped, no dam- 
 age, no act of hostility was to be committed directly 
 or indirectly, and no aid was to be given the Indians 
 on either side by means of men, munitions, or pro- 
 visions. There was a faint hope that this instrument 
 might result in peace on Hudson Bay, but this by no 
 means occurred. The warfare went on as before. 
 Neither had it resulted in peace for the colonies. In 
 
68 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 fact it was a diplomatic and tactical peace only 
 under the cover of which both parties pursued their 
 aims as usual. Louis XIV sent secret instructions 
 to the Governor at Quebec "to leave of the English 
 forts on the northern Bay not a vestige standing " ; 
 and in furtherance of his design to attack the Iro- 
 quois, with whom the French were now supposedly 
 at peace, he sent hundreds of men and thousands of 
 livres in money and supplies to New France during 
 the Spring of 1687. The intent was to strike the 
 Senecas unawares and thus shatter the mainspring 
 of English intrigue. Since February it had been 
 spread abroad from the Gulf Seigniories to Fort 
 Frontenac that a great campaign was preparing 
 against the Iroquois. Denonville endeavored to 
 mask his designs under the guise of a peace con- 
 ference, but the Iroquois were suspicious and would 
 not come, the English having warned them that an 
 attack was contemplated. Denonville did, however, 
 succeed in capturing nearly one hundred and fifty 
 men, women, and children, members of a remote, 
 peaceable, and unsuspecting branch of the great con- 
 federacy, and these he distributed, — the women and 
 children who had survived among the Christian 
 Missions, and the men after baptism to the galleys 
 of France. One, however, had escaped and carried 
 the news to the Iroquois. 
 
 Denonville meanwhile had embarked his people 
 and arrived at Fort Frontenac, where he was met by 
 
SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 69 
 
 Henri de Tonty,* Du Lhut, La Forest, and La Duran- 
 taye with a body of voyageurs and Indians from the 
 Upper Lakes. White and red, the French forces 
 numbered about two thousand men as they began 
 their march upon the now thoroughly aroused Sen- 
 ecas. An ambuscade and a sharp skirmish met the 
 French at the Seneca village, after which they 
 marched into the burned and deserted town. The 
 entire tribe had fled to their confederates in the East, 
 where Denonville did not pursue them. The Senecas 
 were furious with rage and refused to treat for peace, 
 as Denonville expected and desired, but prowled, 
 singly and in bands, around the French settlements 
 to waylay the unwary. At length, through the in- 
 fluence of some christianized Iroquois, a deputation 
 was sent to the Governor, which was attacked on 
 the march by a Huron Chief, named Le Rat, who 
 hoped thereby to break off negotiations. After 
 having killed some and captured the rest, he was 
 
 * Henri de Tonty, who appears more and more frequently in the 
 course of the narrative, merits considerable attention. He was a 
 Neapolitan whose father invented the " tontine " system of insurance. 
 Having been concerned with his father in a conspiracy against the 
 Spanish power, Henri retired to France, where at the age of eighteen 
 he entered the army. He won distinction and lost a hand in the ser- 
 vice, and on account of the substitute which he adopted, he was nick- 
 named " Iron Hand." Prince de Conti recommended him to La Salle 
 in 1677, and he accompanied that leader on his voyage of discovery to 
 the Illinois country, where he took command of Fort St. Louis on the 
 Illinois River (Starved Rock). He administered affairs with such 
 consummate skill that the post was granted to him and La Forest as a 
 seigniory. His faithfulness and devotion to La Salle as well as bis 
 great services to France and America have given him high distinction. 
 
70 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 told that it was a peac3 party — which he had very 
 well known, but, feigning astonishment, he told 
 them he had been instructed by Denonville to attack 
 them. Thereupon he released them, saving only one 
 prisoner whom he took to Mackinac and contrived to 
 have shot there by the French. Le Rat told his 
 friends, *^ I have killed the peace " ; and he had, for 
 this treachery and the double dealing of Denonville 
 were deeply resented, and the entire Iroquois Con- 
 federacy burned for revenge. 
 
 Finally the blow fell. On the night of August 4 
 and 5, during a furious storm of wind, rain, and hail, 
 the Iroquois, fourteen hundred strong, descended like 
 a thunderbolt upon the little village of La Chine and 
 wiped it off the earth. Here and in the vicinity sixty- 
 six * were killed and the rest carried off for torture. 
 Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil, hurrying to attack 
 the retreating raiders, was borne back to Montreal, 
 his arm shattered by a musket ball. 
 
 Montreal itself, only nine miles distant, was wild 
 with terror at the news. It had been fortified with 
 palisades since the war began, and there were troops 
 in the town under Denonville himself, but the people 
 were in mortal dread. No attack was made on the 
 town, and such of the inhabitants as reached it were 
 safe, but, as Parkman says, the Iroquois held undis- 
 puted possession of the open country and roamed in 
 
 * This number, given by Girouard, is undoubtedly more neaj*ly 
 correct than the figures quoted by Parkman and others. 
 
Chief Hendiuck (Iroquois) 
 
 {Originnl in possession of Chicrigo Historicnl Society) 
 
SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 71 
 
 small parties, burning, pillaging, and scalping, over 
 more than twenty miles. As Parkman * effectu- 
 ally demonstrates, there is no ground for the belief, 
 prevalent at that time, that this particular at- 
 tack on La Chine was instigated by the Dutch 
 and English colonies, but, nevertheless, this the- 
 ory was proclaimed as a working hypothesis. That 
 they might have done so, unhappily, is not improb- 
 able, but that they were ignorant of the attack is 
 certain. 
 
 While the colony was lying paralyzed and helpless 
 under the shock of this disaster, James II, friend and 
 subsidized ally of France, was driven from his king- 
 dom, and William of Orange ascended the English 
 throne. Deception, intrigue, stealthy foray, and sur- 
 reptitious reprisal gave place to open warfare, and 
 Frontenac was restored to the command of Canada. 
 The prelude was now finished, and it was most fit- 
 ting that to Frontenac should come the congenial 
 duty of inaugurating that long stern contest between 
 New France and New England for the control of 
 North America. He received the news of the La 
 Chine massacre as he entered the mouth of the 
 St. Lawrence, and with characteristic energy and 
 promptness he began immediately upon his arrival to 
 organize an expedition of retaliation, not against the 
 Iroquois who committed the outrage, but against the 
 English and Dutch. He wished to show the Iro- 
 
 * " Frontenac," page 181 note. 
 
72 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 quois that their reliance upon their white allies was 
 a delusion and a mockery. 
 
 Three war parties were sent out — one each from 
 Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers — against Sal- 
 mon Falls, Pemaquid, and Schenectady. The one 
 from Montreal started in the late Fall of 1690, under 
 the command of Ailleboust, Sieur de Manthet, and 
 Le Moyne de St. Helene. With them went FrauQois 
 Le Moyne de Bienville (I) and the tireless Iberville, 
 who was unable to remain quiet while there was an 
 adventure on foot. According to Monseignat, the 
 force consisted of one hundred and sixty Canadians 
 and one hundred and forty so-called Christian In- 
 dians from the Missions of Saint Louis and the 
 mountain of Montreal. So far as the weather was 
 concerned this was an ideal journey for Iberville. It 
 was the depth of Winter when they began their 
 march, striding on snowshoes over the frozen St. 
 Lawrence. Each had the hood of his blanket coat 
 drawn over his head, a gun in his mittened hand, 
 tobacco, knife, hatchet, bullet pouch at belt, and a 
 pack on his back. Their blankets and provisions 
 they dragged behind them on toboggans. They slept 
 in the snow under a sky as clear as the heavens 
 of Naples and as cold as that of Siberia. They 
 broke their bread with hatchets and washed it down 
 with water dug from the streams through many 
 inches of ice. Threading the forest to Chambly, they 
 advanced four or five days up the Richelieu River 
 
SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 73 
 
 and Lake Champlain, and then stopped for council. 
 Frontenac had given positive orders that snch a blow 
 should be struck that the English would feel that 
 matters had reached the final stage ; but he had left 
 the objective to the discretion of the leaders, and 
 when the band reached the head of Lake Champlain 
 the Indians demanded to know where they were 
 going. " To Albany," said St. Helene. The In- 
 dians demurred. " How long since the French are 
 grown so bold?" they asked. The French insisted 
 that their honor demanded that they should take 
 Albany or die in the attempt. The Indians listened 
 sullenly, a decision was deferred, and the troop 
 moved forward. Eight days later they reached the 
 Hudson and came to the point where the roads 
 diverge, one to Albany and one to the Dutch settle- 
 ment of Schenectady. Without discussion they took 
 the latter. Already the hardships had cost the troop 
 fifty men from disability and desertion, but now the 
 march became a desperate affair. At one time there 
 was a thaw, and the troop, benumbed with cold, 
 moved knee-deep through melted snow mingled with 
 ice and mud in gloomy swamps. Then the weather 
 changed and a furious snowstorm came on, and, 
 garbed in ice and snow, the spectral troop moved 
 through a spectral forest over the snow-sheeted 
 ground. For nine long days they forced their pain- 
 racked bodies through this unrelenting wilderness, 
 leagued by a community of affliction and lashed on- 
 
74 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 ward by the intensity of their hate. The men were 
 nearly dead with cold, fatigue, and hunger, when at 
 four o'clock on February 8, they found an Indian hut 
 in which dwelt four Mohawk squaws. Here they 
 partially warmed themselves over a small fire, and 
 then, taking the squaws as guides, they resumed their 
 weary march. About dark they reached the Mohawk 
 River, a little above the village of Schenectady. 
 
 Here they paused, and Great Mohawk, war chief 
 of the Indian contingent, harangued his followers 
 with considerable eloquence, and exhorted them to 
 seize this opportunity to be revenged on the English, 
 the authors of all their wrongs and the cause of all 
 their hardships. Somewhat animated by his ener- 
 getic appeal, the troop, numb with cold and haggard 
 with suffering, resumed its grisly journey. It was 
 planned to make the attack at two o'clock in the 
 morning, but as they could not build fires they must 
 move on or perish, — the limit of endurance was 
 reached, human fortitude could stand no more. One 
 report says they were in such a frightful state that 
 had they met the slightest opposition they must have 
 surrendered.* 
 
 The village at this time consisted of from fifty to 
 eighty houses surrounded by palisades in the form 
 of a rectangle with two gates at opposite sides. Here 
 in false security the inhabitants lay wrapped in slum- 
 ber. They had been warned to be on their guard, but 
 
 * Drake. 
 
SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 75 
 
 ridiculed the advice. The tempest raged so fiercely 
 and the cold was so intense that it was believed to be 
 impossible for human beings to be exposed to it and 
 live. Such entire security was felt that they had 
 vsdthdrawn their sentinels from the snow-covered 
 palisades, leaving only a snow man at the gate in 
 mockery and derision. 
 
 Crossing the river on the ice and toiling through 
 the whirling snow, the French at last reached the 
 village. Iberville with one detachment went to find 
 the gate to Albany and bar it against fugitives, 
 but missing it in the blinding storm he hastened 
 back to the main body. In long files led by St. 
 Helene and Manthet, they passed in moccasined 
 silence through the gate, separated, and like huge 
 snakes, keeping close to the palisades, drew their 
 deadly coils in two white lines entirely around the 
 village until they met on the opposite side. The sig- 
 nal was given and the fiendish work began. With 
 war whoops and yells they broke down the doors and 
 butchered the half-wakened inmates. Every possible 
 cruelty and atrocity was committed. There was little 
 resistance, and in two hours the massacre was ended 
 and the pillage finished. Sixty persons were killed 
 outright and eighty or ninety taken captive. In the 
 village were thirty Mohawks, whose tribe, a member 
 of the Iroquois Confederacy, was friendly to the 
 Dutch and English and hostile to the French, and 
 these the raiders treated with studied politeness to 
 
76 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 show that the foray did not include them, — their 
 natural and inveterate enemies. A party of French 
 then crossed the river and appeared before the gate 
 of a man named John Sander Glen, one of the mag- 
 istrates, whose house, loopholed and palisaded, was 
 manned for defence. The French told him to fear 
 nothing, as they had orders not to hurt him or his. 
 After some parley they left a hostage in the hands of 
 his retainers, and he went with them to the village. 
 At the gate he was met by Iberville and Great 
 Mohawk. Iberville showed him his commission and 
 then told him that he was especially empowered 
 to pay a debt the French owed him. On several 
 occasions he had saved the lives of French prisoners 
 in the hands of the Mohawks, and in return therefor 
 he and his family and all his kindred should be 
 spared. Leading him before the line of wretched 
 captives, Glen stretched his privilege of choice to the 
 utmost, until the French Indians, disgusted at his 
 multiplied demands, observed that everybody seemed 
 to be related to him. In spite of their objections 
 Iberville granted every request with courteous 
 manner and chivalrous words, and by this means 
 nearly sixty were saved. 
 
 At noon Schenectady was in ashes, and the 
 French and Indians laden with booty withdrew in 
 rapid retreat. Thirty or forty captured horses 
 drew their sledges, and a band of twenty-seven 
 men and boys were driven prisoners into the forest. 
 
SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 77 
 
 The French and Indians had lost but two of their 
 number. 
 
 The alarm meanwhile had reached Albany at day- 
 break, but it was two days before the news reached 
 the friendly Mohawk " castles " that their enemies 
 had made a foray. Immediately troops of eager 
 warriors on snowshoes with guns and tomahawks 
 hurried down to pursue the retiring French. Fifty 
 young men from Albany joined the Mohawks, but 
 found the pace too swift and soon returned without 
 overtaking the fugitives. The Indians, however, 
 with less reason but more hatred, held to the 
 trail unswervingly. 
 
 At the head of Lake George, Iberville was de- 
 tached with one Canadian and two Indians to hasten 
 on and carry the news to the Governor. He arrived 
 at Montreal two days ahead of St. Helene, who 
 followed with the troop. The French, having lost 
 their incentive, became careless from fatigue as they 
 neared home and lagged a little, thinking the pur- 
 suit had been given over. Their food was ex- 
 hausted, and the captured horses were killed and 
 eaten. Their retreat was cluttered with booty and 
 held back by the weak, wounded, and prisoners. 
 Thus it happened that almost within sight of Mon- 
 treal the pursuing Mohawks overtook a group of 
 stragglers and killed or captured fifteen of them. 
 
 The other French detachments sent out at the 
 same time had been equally victorious ; the border 
 
78 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 had been ravaged with frightful success. The 
 Indians, who had been sullenly hanging back, now 
 came forward to make treaties with the French. It 
 also united the English colonies in a common defence 
 and brought Phipps and the colonial fleet to the 
 gates of Quebec. This Schenectady expedition was 
 notable, says Kingsford, in that it was the first time 
 that Canada and the French deliberately adopted 
 the Indian policy of war, — the policy of destruction, 
 devastation, and overwhelming desolation, which 
 from this time on to the English conquest was 
 to be their regular method of operation. 
 
 Returning from this raid, Iberville was ordered by 
 Frontenac to take command of two armed merchant 
 ships, the St. Francis and St. Anne, and cruise in 
 Hudson Bay, where during his absence the English 
 had regained Fort Albany. As he passed Fort Nel- 
 son, he could not resist the impulse to inspect the 
 place, and landed with ten men to scout around 
 and possibly capture a straggler from whom he could 
 learn the conditions at the fort. Arriving too near 
 his despised foe, his presence was discovered, a large 
 party left the post in pursuit, while the crews 
 manned the English ships and prepared to resist 
 attack. The iron was evidently too hot to hold, and 
 Iberville dropped it, retired hastily to his ships, and 
 sailed for Albany. Having arrived at this point, 
 he at once acceded to the invitation extended by the 
 English to meet in conference. For some reason he 
 
SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 79 
 
 suspected treachery, and previous to the interview 
 he carefully reconnoitred the point selected for the 
 parley. His suspicions were confirmed by the dis- 
 covery that the place of meeting was commanded by 
 two cannon, masked in underbrush and loaded with 
 small balls.* In swift indignation he put the can- 
 noneers to the sword, drove back the " flag of truce," 
 and returned to his ships. This unfortunate affair 
 made a deep impression on Iberville and greatly inten- 
 sified his bitterness toward the English, though it is 
 difficult to see why this should be thought worse or 
 more treacherous than the midnight attack on Sche- 
 nectady. Some days after this the EngHsh sent out 
 two of their larger ships, mounting twenty-two and 
 fourteen guns respectively, to attack him. The 
 odds being greatly against him, he resorted to a 
 ruse. Calculating accurately the hour of the tide, 
 he feigned flight and drew their ships into shallow 
 water, where the ebb left them stranded. Then he 
 returned with the next tide and took them both 
 with ease. 
 
 During these actions his lieutenant. La Fert^, had 
 run down to Fort Severn (New Savanne) and captured 
 it with its Governor and store of furs. Among the 
 Governor's papers he found orders from the King 
 that Hudson Bay should be proclaimed English terri- 
 tory in violation of the treaty. He now joined his 
 chief before Albany. This fort having been deprived 
 
 * Desmazures. 
 
80 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 of a large part of its defences, as just described, 
 Iberville again approached, prepared his batteries, 
 and opened fire. Recognizing the folly of defending 
 a fort too frail to resist cannon, the garrison at- 
 tempted to fire the buildings in the night and escape 
 to Fort Nelson, but the French entered so promptly 
 that the fort and all the peltries were saved. Leav- 
 ing the post under command of his brother Serigny, 
 he loaded the St. Francis, his largest ship, with furs 
 and returned with Maricourt to Quebec. 
 
 As he sailed up the St. Lawrence in October, 
 1690, he was hailed near the Isle aux Coudres by 
 a vessel, under command of his brother Longueuil, 
 who had been ordered to cruise about the mouth of 
 the St. Lawrence and warn the French ships that 
 Quebec was besieged by Admiral Phipps and that 
 they should take refuge in the Saguenay River. He 
 also learned of the death of his mother and that his 
 older brother, St. H^lene, after many inspiring acts 
 of courage, had been mortally wounded during the 
 siege. Thus Death began to take his toll from 
 the daring Le Moynes. 
 
 Maricourt with a party of voyageurs was detached 
 by Iberville to go to the aid of Quebec. The arrival 
 of this sturdy band bringing the news of the recent 
 French triumphs on Hudson Bay caused great joy 
 and excitement among the anxious inhabitants. A 
 day of rejoicing was proclaimed and public thanks 
 given. Meanwhile, to save his ship and its valu- 
 
SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 81 
 
 able cargo from the English, Iberville sailed for 
 France. 
 
 The Hudson Bay question began to assume greater 
 seriousness, and he returned from France in 1691 
 with the full intent to capture Fort Nelson. Leaving 
 Quebec, he sailed with two ships, of eighteen and 
 twelve guns respectively, and Bonaventure * as his 
 associate in command, to Hudson Bay. Upon arrival 
 he discovered that Fort Nelson was guarded by three 
 ships, including one of forty guns, whereupon the 
 French discreetly withdrew, for in Iberville daring 
 was not alloyed with foolhardiness. But in failing 
 to achieve the main enterprise he did not forget one 
 of no less importance, for he brought back at the end 
 of the season the two ships loaded with eighty thou- 
 sand beaver and six thousand pounds of other skins. 
 
 At Montreal the Iroquois had not been idle. Dur- 
 ing the Spring and Fall they always prowled in small 
 bands about the settlements as they came and went 
 from their winter hunts. This year they were more 
 numerous and bold than usual and attacked their 
 victims in the very shadow of the palisades. No 
 planting could be done nor any hunting, and the 
 colony faced the imminent danger of famine. Parties 
 went out in various directions to drive off the enemy. 
 One band of forty Iroquois had been living in a 
 
 * Claude Denis, Sieur de Bonaventure, belonged to one of the 
 oldest Canadian families and afterward rose to the rank of admiral 
 in the Navy. He was a valuable aid to Iberville. 
 
 6 
 
82 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 deserted house near the fort at Repentigny for 
 several weeks, and from this advantageous point 
 they made their forays at leisure. A force was col- 
 lected to attack them at night, and but one escaped ; 
 but during the attack young Frangois Le Moyne de 
 Bienville was killed. This was his second formal 
 adventure, the first being that terrible Schenectady 
 campaign. The manner of his death was character- 
 istic of the family brand of hardihood. According 
 to the report, he dashed up alone to the house shel- 
 tering the Indians, fired his gun through the window, 
 and shouting his name after the Iroquois custom, 
 started back. He was shot, of course, before he had 
 gone fifty feet. 
 
 While the French nearly always accompanied their 
 Indian allies on their forays, the English did so only 
 exceptionally. Occasionally they went out in a large 
 party with but a few Indians, but their usual method 
 was to furnish the Iroquois with arms and encourage 
 them to send war parties against the French. In 
 time the Iroquois became disgusted with this one- 
 sided arrangement wherein they seemed to be doing 
 a larger part of the fighting, and accused the English 
 of cowardice. Stimulated to disprove the charges 
 of their warlike allies, the industrial English were 
 driven to arms. Assembling some Indians and a 
 troop of the English and Dutch colonists, Schuyler 
 led a raid against the French settlements along Riche- 
 lieu River. This was partially successful, although 
 
SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 83 
 
 the expedition suffered heavily during the return trip. 
 Thus in the cruel, barbarous temper of that age 
 neither colony could be said to be superior to the 
 other in the question of the ethics of warfare. It 
 was slay or be slain, and so alarm followed alarm 
 and raid succeeded raid, while no permanent ad- 
 vantage was gained by either side. 
 
 By an unusual effort in 1692 the unabashed 
 English had retaken Fort Albany for the third 
 time, and again the precious furs were diverted 
 to England. Recognizing clearly that Hudson Bay 
 could not be retained without command of Fort 
 Nelson and being more than ever impressed with 
 its enormous value, Iberville resolved to go to 
 France and secure direct from the King the ships 
 necessary to his undertaking, which Frontenac was 
 unable to furnish him. His ideas of conquest now 
 took definite shape and definite aim. He began to 
 realize his personality and to lay plans for his future 
 life work which apparently involved a constant war- 
 fare with the English. His ambition also took a 
 larger sweep, and he saw himself winning a world 
 power and the entire new continent for France. 
 
 His petition in regard to Fort Nelson was forcibly 
 presented and at length was received with favor. He 
 was made a Captain of Frigates and given two ships, 
 the Poll and Envieux, with which he was ordered to 
 convoy a fleet of twelve merchantmen to Canada and 
 then proceed to Hudson Bay. At Quebec it was ar- 
 
84 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 ranged that two armed merchantships of the " Com- 
 pagnie du Nord " should join him. The whole profit 
 of the undertaking was to go to the Company, while 
 the glory and the danger of the enterprise were to be 
 shared between Iberville and Commander Tast of the 
 King's ships. The latter rebelled at this one-sided 
 arrangement, and the trip was deferred. Frontenac 
 also represented that the season was too far advanced 
 for an attack on the Bay, and insisted that Iberville 
 should use the ships for the conquest of Pemaquid,* 
 to which the English had returned after the foray of 
 the war parties. He w^as ordered to take his ships 
 with four hundred men, pick up two or three hun- 
 dred Indians at Pentagoet, reduce Pemaquid, and 
 then attack Wells, Portsmouth, and the Isle of Shoals, 
 after which he could scour the sea for the English. 
 After cruising about and capturing one small armed 
 vessel he returned to Quebec without making the 
 attack on Pemaquid. This aroused the indignation 
 of Frontenac, who wrote the Minister that the pres- 
 ence of his sister on the ship made Iberville cautious. 
 Iberville's defence was that he found he could not 
 land safely without a good pilot, which he was unable 
 to secure, and, while the defences of Pemaquid were 
 unfinished, there was an English man-of-war in the 
 harbor which would make the landing, already un- 
 safe, quite impossible. Again in the following year 
 he convoyed the merchant fleet, but was detained by 
 
 * Near Bristol, Maine. 
 
SCHENECTADY AND FURTHER EXPEDITIONS 85 
 
 contrary winds and again arrived too late to make 
 the expedition to Hudson Bay. He therefore went 
 into winter quarters at Quebec and seized this op- 
 portunity, the first real period of quiet since he had 
 returned to Canada from his naval apprenticeship, 
 to marry. The bride's name was Marie Therese 
 Pollet de la Combe Pocatiere.* That he had evaded 
 the marriage tie hitherto under the severe penalties 
 imposed on bachelors can be explained not only by 
 his prolonged absences, but by his complete immer- 
 sion in his designs against the English. His mar- 
 riage at this time and the birth of his two children 
 show that he was not entirely impervious to the 
 attractions of domestic life, but that such feelings 
 occupied a very insignificant place in his active 
 career is a logical inference from his character, his 
 intense industry, and his keen interest in matters of 
 State. 
 
 * She was the daughter of a captain in the Carignan Regiment. 
 After D'Iberville's death she went to France and married Bethune, 
 lieutenant-general in the Royal Army. Nothing seems to be known 
 of the children in later life. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 FORT NELSON 
 
 BESIDES controlling Hudson Bay, Fort Nelson 
 commanded the trade in furs north and west 
 of Lake Superior clear to the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, and therefore was a point of utmost im- 
 portance to its possessor. Serigny had returned 
 from France in the Spring of 1694 with positive 
 orders from the King to collect the men and join 
 his brother Iberville in an attack on this post- 
 They left Quebec therefore on August 16 with 
 three ships-of-war, the Poli, the Salamander, and 
 the Envieux, and with them again went Maricourt, 
 who had distinguished himself in the siege of Quebec, 
 and young Chateauguay, eighteen years old, who 
 served as ensign on the Poli. He was burning 
 with zeal and eager to win his spurs in this new 
 adventure. Father Marest* was the chaplain and 
 historian of the voyage, being sent, as he says, by 
 his superiors because, being newly arrived and 
 knowing no Indian language, he was the least 
 valuable to Canada. His narrative of the expedition 
 
 * From 1699 to 1702 Father Marest was in charge of the Eliuois 
 Mission and therefore again within Iberville's sphere of influence. 
 
FORT NELSON 87 
 
 is too circumstantial for full quotation. Amid ice- 
 bergs and storms, calms and contrary currents, 
 Iberville finally passed Hudson Straits on September 
 20 and reached the mouth of Nelson River four 
 days later. It was such bitter weather that the 
 mariners made vows to St. Anne, says Father Marest, 
 hoping thereby to obtain mitigation of the cold. 
 Shifting shoals of sand drift barred the sea from 
 the main coast for ten miles north and south, but 
 across the shoals were gaps visible at low tide 
 through which the current rushed. At this point 
 the Hayes and Nelson Rivers empty into Hudson 
 Bay by a common mouth, but their junction is but 
 a short distance from the Bay. Fort Nelson was 
 located about four miles from the mouth on the 
 triangular tongue of land bounded by the two river 
 channels converging and conjoined. The fort, stand- 
 ing above high water about eighty yards from the 
 river, was the usual stockade structure of the period, 
 with bastions at the four corners, which were used as 
 storehouses and residences. The river front of the 
 fort was further protected by a crescent-shaped 
 earthwork sheltering eight cannon and having at 
 its foot a platform fortified by six cannon. The 
 weakest side was on the north, where there was no 
 provision made for training the cannon toward the 
 woods. In all, the armament consisted of thirty- 
 two cannon and fourteen swivel guns outside the 
 fort and fifty-three inside. The environment was 
 
88 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 not inviting nor the outlook attractive ; in fact, there 
 was absolutely no advantage to induce residence 
 except its commanding importance in the fur trade. 
 The soil was not unproductive, though the season 
 was very short, but large areas of the country were 
 covered by an inundated swamp (muskeg) through 
 which one must wade sometimes to the waist and 
 over most of which there spread an almost im- 
 penetrable growth of low stunted pine. During 
 the summer months the clouds of mosquitoes greatly 
 increased the trouble and danger. 
 
 Hoping their arrival had been unnoticed, a force 
 was sent to attempt the fort by surprise. The water 
 was shallow and the men threw themselves over, 
 thigh deep, into the slush ice, and waded ashore. 
 The English, however, were alert, having seen them 
 a long way off, and the landing party was driven 
 back. Two days were spent in making soundings, 
 and then the ships were conducted past the fort, from 
 which they received several volleys, and anchored, 
 one on either side of the tongue of land, about six 
 miles up the two rivers which form by their ap- 
 proach to a common mouth the peninsula on the 
 south side of which the fort was located. On ac- 
 count of the shallow icy water, the ebb of the tide, 
 and the furious northwest snowstorms, the vessels 
 were nearly lost before the anchorage was secured. 
 Vows were again made to St. Anne before the weather 
 would moderate. The ice hurled against the ships 
 
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 59 
 
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 m 
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 ip 
 r- 
 id 
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 3t 
 
 ts 
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 ly 
 
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Map miowixc Location of Foi;t Nki.son (Youk Kour) 
 
 ^F|■,„„ //»/,«„„•., "Sir )>,„■,,,■„ ll,„ls„„\< l:,ui", 
 
FORT NELSON 89 
 
 by the furious wind made a noise that could be 
 heard a league away, and the hulls were broken 
 in several places by the savage impact. Throughout 
 all Iberville was everywhere, looking after his ship 
 and crew. Some of the cannon were thrown over- 
 board to lighten the vessel before it could be dragged 
 over the bar to a secure anchorage. Men were 
 landed to harass the fort, cut off stragglers, intercept 
 spies, and prevent interference with the small boats 
 from the ship. During this skirmishing to divert 
 the attention of the garrison, the imprudent au- 
 dacity of the young Le Moynes was again rebuked. 
 In a reckless attempt to emulate his brethren and 
 win distinction on this his first adventure young 
 Chateauguay was killed. Although extraordinarily 
 touched by the premature death of this tenderly 
 loved brother, Iberville took the blow with com- 
 pressed lips and only busied himself the more deeply 
 in his preparations, fearing, as Father Marest says, 
 that any sign of weakness on his part might dis- 
 courage the men, who were already almost over- 
 come by the many hardships. Father Marest was 
 the messenger between the two ships and made his 
 first trail in the great wilderness at this place. He 
 was much gratified at his success, which he piously 
 attributed to his patron saint. By the thirteenth 
 of October the batteries had been placed and all was 
 in readiness to open fire. According to custom a 
 summons to surrender was sent to the garrison with 
 
90 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 an offer of good conditions. A delay for considera- 
 tion was requested until the next day, which was 
 granted. The fort was then given up without 
 conditions with its garrison of fifty-three men, and 
 Father Marest says with some scorn that they did 
 not even ask for their arms and flag. Sixty men 
 were sent to take possession. The English burghers, 
 expert in trade but untrained in war, were no match 
 for the fiery voyageurs led by the redoubtable 
 Iberville. 
 
 One is repeatedly impressed by the ease and 
 celerity with which Iberville secured his victories. 
 This is explainable, not alone on the ground that he 
 surpassed his opponents in intellect and militarism, 
 but also because the completeness of his preparations 
 dismayed his antagonists and the determination he 
 exhibited destroyed their courage. Furthermore, in 
 principle the assailants have an energy from their 
 excitement and an impetuosity of courage which the 
 defenders cannot have from the very nature of the 
 conditions. It was a test of character rather than 
 of physique, of resolution rather than of stockades. 
 
 Winter now set in with its usual severity, and 
 with it a new foe appeared and decimated the gar- 
 rison; scurvy broke out in the camp and raged 
 violently throughout the season. The English re- 
 ports also complain bitterly about the way the 
 English prisoners were treated by the French Com- 
 mandant, La Forest, during the frequent absences 
 
FORT NELSON 91 
 
 of Iberville and Maricourt. The writings state that 
 the English suffered such hardships in captivity that 
 many wandered away into the forest and either 
 joined the Indians or perished from exposure, since 
 they were never afterward heard from. During 
 this period the Le Moynes could not remain inactive, 
 and they made various trips around the Bay, and 
 occupied themselves in recapturing from the Eng- 
 lish the other posts, so that the entire region fell 
 under French control. 
 
 Iberville now began to prepare for the spring 
 campaign. By July 30, 1695, the ice had broken 
 up in the Bay, and the ships dropped down to 
 the mouth of the river to await the fleet from 
 England with supplies and merchandise. Having 
 lingered as long as possible on what proved to be 
 a fruitless quest, Iberville left La Forest in com- 
 mand and sailed in September for Quebec. He was 
 delayed by contrary winds off the Labrador coast, 
 and having many sick on board, he changed his 
 plan and sailed for France. 
 
 Shortly after his departure the English fleet of 
 five vessels appeared before the fort with the annual 
 supplies and a strong force of the Company's 
 servants. Resolved upon defence, La Forest sent 
 a squad of his rangers under Jeremie to ambush 
 and, if possible, to destroy the landing party. Their 
 fire was so rapid and deadly that the English were 
 driven back with the conviction that the fort was 
 
92 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 strongly defended. The ships thereupon opened fire 
 with bombs, and La Forest was forced to capitu- 
 late. Good conditions were offered and accepted, but 
 after entering the fort the English, ashamed of 
 their repulse by so small a garrison, violated the 
 articles of surrender and sent the French as prisoners 
 to England. 
 
 During the next Spring, while the English ships 
 still lay before the fort, Le Moyne de Serigny arrived 
 from France with two ships to reinforce the garri- 
 son. Finding the fort in English hands and defended 
 by a superior fleet, he returned without making an 
 attack. 
 
 The French rarely had enough men to garrison 
 the posts which they took from the English, and in 
 a measure this explains the frequency with which 
 they were recaptured. On the other hand, there is 
 the possibility that the small garrison might be in- 
 tentional and that the recapture of the forts was 
 not unwelcome to the French, since the large re- 
 sources of the English company could thereby be 
 utilized to stock the posts with furs, a desirable con- 
 dition to precede another French attack. 
 
 Iberville arrived at Rochelle October 9, 1695, 
 with his shipload of peltries. Pontchartrain* thanked 
 him in behalf of the King for his services, and he in 
 
 * In the Department of the Marine Louis Ph^lypeaux, Count of 
 Pontchartrain, succeeded Seignelay Nov. 5, 1690, and was followed 
 in 1699 by his own son, Jerome Phelypeaux, Count of Maurepas. 
 
FORT NELSON 93 
 
 turn interested the Minister in his new projects, for 
 from this time on his opinion carried great weight 
 in American affairs. 
 
 It was an inspiring time to visit France. Louis 
 XIV reigned in splendor over the most powerful 
 nation and the most brilliant capital of the age. Dis- 
 tinguished scholars and renowned warriors thronged 
 his dazzling court, and laid their honors as a will- 
 ing tribute at the feet of the city whose magnifi- 
 cent buildings and intellectual eminence made her 
 the queen of civilization. The elite of Europe 
 crowded the great boulevards from the Gate of St. 
 Martin to the Bastille, while Les Invalides, Les 
 Tuileries, and Le Louvre reared high their sculp- 
 tured glories for an appreciative world. Versailles 
 also had become a marvel of wealth and grandeur, 
 the peculiar pride of the living and the destined 
 monument of the dead King. Hither naturally 
 came Iberville. From the solitude of the lakes, 
 from the grim shadows of the wilderness, and from 
 the perils of the lonely trail, he came to the glit- 
 tering concourse at Paris and the favor of the 
 Kino;, 
 
 The horizon of the young commander expanded 
 broadly, and his ambitions rose to greater heights 
 from a close survey of the armies and navies of 
 the Grand Monarch, then at the zenith of his power. 
 His fancy was stimulated, his imagination took fire, 
 and he dreamed of great things. His mental at- 
 
94 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 titude had become one of settled hostility toward 
 England as the principal obstacle to the expansion 
 of New France, a hostility comparable only to that 
 of the Iroquois toward the French settlements. 
 His active brain teemed with plans for the destruc- 
 tion of the English colonies. In the magnificent 
 fleet which he found in the harbors of France he 
 saw with his naval training a means to effect his 
 aim. Under a competent commander, one desper- 
 ate battle rightly conceived and properly executed 
 could destroy the English Navy, and thereafter the 
 merchantmen could be swept from the seas at leisure 
 and sent as prizes to France. Then the colonial 
 seaboard would lie open to the French and the 
 coast could be ravaged from Charleston to Pema- 
 quid and the captured cities either ransomed or 
 destroyed. The English whom he had met hitherto 
 were an inferior class who did not merit his re- 
 spect, and he had received a very poor idea of their 
 militarism. 
 
 However, the attack by sea presented many diffi- 
 culties, which he saw very clearly, and laying this 
 plan aside temporarily, he began to consider the 
 feasibility of an alternative campaign which hinged 
 upon a land attack. This he elaborated more fully, 
 and during his trip to Acadia the following year he 
 wrote it out in detail and forwarded it to the Min- 
 ister on the ship sent out by M. de Brouillon in 
 December, 1696. This ship was wrecked on the 
 
FORT NELSON 95 
 
 coast of Spain, and with this mishap Iberville's 
 plan slumbered until he chose to resurrect it later. 
 Frontal attack in force if persistent might in time 
 wear down the English colonies, but in checkmat- 
 ing the English there was one method and one 
 only that could succeed. Iberville insisted that 
 step by step with the growth of New France a 
 chain of agricultural and trading colonies must be 
 established along the Great Lakes and down the 
 Mississippi. This plan, so evident now, was at that 
 time perceived but by a few. Frontenac was one of 
 these and was striving by night and day to make 
 it possible. The great La Salle had seen the light 
 among the first, and his stern, intrepid soul, worn 
 out in a passionate effort to convince the little minds 
 and overcome the more formal obstacles of the 
 Court, had already met martyrdom in his heroic 
 crusade. 
 
 From another viewpoint and with a different aim 
 the Jesuits had sought to produce the same result, 
 but the destruction of the Huron Nation by the 
 Iroquois had ruined their hopes. Pontchartrain also 
 was to have a brief glimpse of the mighty pano- 
 rama that appeared so clearly to the others, but he 
 was overborne by the sheer inertia of ignorance, 
 superstition, and European politics. Iberville had 
 the idea strongly developed, and again and again 
 he urged upon the attention of the Minister his 
 views as outlined above. Later in the narrative 
 
95 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 he will appear with his brethren, following in the 
 wake of La Salle and zealously striving to erect a 
 western barrier to that restless English tide that 
 threatened momentarily to surge through the rocky 
 passes of the Alleghanies and overwhelm the entire 
 Mississippi Valley. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND is situated at the junc- 
 tion of three great ocean currents. At this 
 point the St. Lawrence River from the west 
 meets the ice-burdened current from the Arctic 
 Ocean, both of which are tempered and warmed by 
 the great GuK Stream from the Tropics. The 
 rock-laden icebergs dissolve and drop their burden 
 gradually. Marine animals from the Tropics and 
 animalculae coming north in the Gulf Stream meet 
 their death in the frigid waters of the Polar Sea, 
 and their bodies descend and join the detritus from 
 the icebergs in creating the Grand Banks. Mean- 
 while the shallow water and abundance of food 
 bring hither vast numbers of fish of many species. 
 As early as 1504 the fishing had begun, and by 
 1578 there were one hundred and fifty French 
 vessels on the Grand Banks. The English, too, 
 had established many fishing stations along the 
 eastern coast, and with customary enterprise they 
 had made communication easy between them by 
 opening up roads through the forests. Next to the 
 fur trade, the fisheries brought the greatest re- 
 
98 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 turn, and at this time the sum amounted to about 
 $5,000,000 per year. The English as well as 
 the French fully understood the transcendent com- 
 mercial importance of Newfoundland, and realized 
 that it controlled an industry that was easily the 
 most extensive and could become the most valuable 
 in the world. 
 
 None better than Iberville, the buccaneer fur- 
 trader, recognized the consequences of such a mo- 
 nopoly. He had urged upon Frontenac, and by the 
 advice of the Governor had represented to the Court,* 
 that the commerce of England in Newfoundland 
 could make them powerful enough if unchecked to 
 dominate the French colony, and he offered to lead 
 an expedition against them. After considerable dis- 
 cussion it was arranged that the King's ships should 
 transport the men, while Iberville and others with 
 him should pay them and divide the plunder for 
 their compensation, an arrangement that was not 
 unusual in those days. He began therefore immedi- 
 ately to arrange an expedition against the English 
 fishing stations in Newfoundland. These settlements 
 extended along the coast from Cape Race north to 
 Cape St. Francis, thence along both shores of Con- 
 ception Bay to Grates Point, its most northern 
 extremity, thence along both sides of Trinity Bay 
 to Cape Bonavista, making altogether a line two or 
 
 * Lettre de d'Iberville daus son dossier, aux Archives de la 
 Marine. 
 
THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 99 
 
 three hundred miles long. While Iberville was 
 making his preparations, governmental advices were 
 sent to M. de Brouillon,* in command of the only 
 French establishment on the island, at Placentia on 
 the southeastern part, to use all his power to aid 
 the expedition of which Iberville was given the com- 
 mand. In June, 1696, Iberville returned to Canada 
 with M. de Bonaventure, an ofB.cer of the navy, with 
 two ships. He had assembled a hundred Canadians 
 the previous year for a hazardous enterprise, and 
 these he found ready to join him. He enrolled them 
 with others and took many volunteers from the 
 coureiirs de hois. These men had for their principal 
 merit a tried courage and proved hardihood, and they 
 met so many dangers that in the memoirs of the 
 time it is suggested that they should be called 
 coureurs des risques. But to the same degree 
 that they were brave and hardy, they were also 
 lawless, mutinous, and unmanageable except under 
 a leader of great tact, experience, and determination. 
 Du Luth as well as Iberville excelled in control- 
 ling these bold but irresponsible warriors. Having 
 chosen his men, Iberville sent word to Brouillon that 
 he would join him during the first days of September. 
 But in the midst of this activity Governor Frontenac, 
 
 * Jacques Fran9ois de Brouillon belonged to a good family, of 
 Guienne, France, and had served as an officer of infantry since 1670. 
 He was appointed Governor of Placentia in 1690. Although an 
 officer of merit, he was inclined to peculation, and both merchants 
 and inhabitants made frequent complaints under his administration. 
 
100 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 uneasy over the progress made by the English in 
 Acadia and seeing a force ready at hand, required 
 Iberville to take part in an attack on Pemaquid, 
 which had been reoccupied by the English after its 
 desolation by the Abenaki Indians. 
 
 From Pemaquid the English constantly threatened 
 the Indian allies of France. With two frigates, the 
 Profond and the Unvieux, Iberville and Bonaventure 
 arrived at Spanish Bay, June 26, 1696, where they 
 found letters awaiting them with the information 
 that three English vessels were cruising near the 
 entrance of the St. John Kiver. Here also they 
 met M. Baudoin, erstwhile mousquetaire in the 
 King's Guard and now a Jesuit Father, who joined 
 the expedition as Chaplain and became its historian. 
 This militant churchman was a valuable adjunct to 
 the enterprise and in close sympath}/ with his en- 
 ergetic commander. The news of the English vessels 
 rejoiced him greatly, and he says, " God be praised, 
 for we are resolved to go and find them." They 
 set sail, and about July 14 three English ships were 
 signalled and Iberville went immediately to attack 
 them. The ships were the Newport ^ twenty-four 
 guns, the Sorling^ thirty-four guns, and a tender 
 from Massachusetts. In the contest that followed 
 the Newport was dismasted and taken after a battle 
 that lasted two hours, but the Sorling and the tender 
 escaped in the fog. The French suffered no loss. 
 Baudoin says that Iberville had closed the ports of 
 
THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 101 
 
 the Profond and otherwise disguised her to lure 
 the English into engagement. After taking on some 
 more men at St. Johns they assembled three hundred 
 Abenaki Indians, and having given them a big feast, 
 all started for Pemaquid, the Indians by canoe, the 
 French by ship, and arrived August 14, 1696. The 
 fort of Pemaquid, mounting sixteen guns, stood on 
 the west side of the promontory of the same name, 
 on the river of that name near its mouth. The walls 
 formed a quadrangle, with ramparts of rough stone, 
 incapable, however, of resisting heavy shot. On 
 August 15 the mortars and cannon were disembarked. 
 The summons to surrender was met with a valorous 
 refusal, in which Governor Chubb stated that he 
 would fight "even if the sea were covered with 
 French ships and the land with Indians." By work- 
 ing all night Iberville surrounded the fort with bat- 
 teries so placed that when morning came the 
 Governor was convinced that resistance would be 
 useless. Terms were accorded him, and the fort 
 was evacuated, the men marching out without arms. 
 True to his promise, Iberville sent the people of the 
 fort to an island in the bay beyond the reach of his 
 red allies; otherwise it would have gone hard with 
 them when the Indians discovered an Indian prisoner 
 in chains and nearly dead in the dungeon of the fort. 
 The aim of the expedition was thus accomplished, 
 and Iberville, fearing that the expelled English might 
 return, destroyed the fort and gave the arms and 
 
102 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 ammunition to the Indians as their share of the 
 plunder. 
 
 Meantime the Sorling arrived at Boston with her 
 report of the naval battle, and found there the 
 British men-of-war Arundel and Boston. With 
 these and an armed merchantman, four in all,* the 
 Sorling sailed for Portsmouth, the supposed object of 
 the next French attack. Failing to find the French 
 there, they sailed on toward Pemaquid and dis- 
 covered Iberville's two frigates sailing northward 
 along the shore. They tried to intercept them 
 near Mt. Desert, Maine, but darkness came on and 
 with it a heavy fog, under cover of which the 
 French escaped. 
 
 After the demolition of the fort at Pemaquid, 
 Iberville had set out for Placentia, where he was to 
 meet Brouillon. He arrived there on September 12, 
 only to find to his great surprise that Brouillon 
 was unwilling to serve under another, and, hoping 
 to obtain the glory of its capture and the large 
 booty for himself, had hastened with his fleet to 
 attack St. Johns, on the eastern coast, which was 
 the greatest centre for trade and shipping as well 
 as the oldest settlement on the island. He thus 
 disregarded his promises to Iberville and the orders 
 of the King. Furthermore Iberville had warned 
 him that the city could not be taken by sea alone 
 on account of the tides, winds, and the nature of 
 * Baudoiu says seven. 
 
THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 103 
 
 the shore. This Brouillon soon found to be true, 
 when, beginning the bombardment, he discovered 
 that the vessels could not keep their places in the 
 roadstead but were swept to the south by the cur- 
 rents. He therefore disembarked some troops and 
 captured a few insignificant fishing stations, and 
 then returned, much chagrined, to Placentia, only to 
 find himself face to face with Iberville. Iberville 
 had planned to march overland and surprise Car- 
 boniere, which was the strongest place on the island 
 and harbored, as he had learned, eight ships loaded 
 with cod. As events proved, this would have been 
 the wisest course, but Brouillon would not consent 
 to cooperate and opposed Iberville at every possible 
 point. All the reports seem to agree that Brouillon 
 was a grasping, avaricious, and tyrannical man 
 whom no one hked or even respected. This feel- 
 ing obtained especially among his soldiers, whom he 
 compelled to fish while he took the proceeds. He 
 now insisted that he should be made chief in com- 
 mand, that the expedition should be deferred until 
 the following year, and that Iberville's force should 
 be joined to his for an attack on St. Johns. 
 
 Iberville tried to clear up the matter, said it was 
 not yet too late, and that Winter was by all odds the 
 most propitious time for such an undertaking be- 
 cause the attack would be so unexpected and the 
 forces would not be bothered by the spring floods. 
 Furthermore, the sea method was not desirable on 
 
104 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 account of the many inlets and bays, but by land 
 the troops could move swiftly along the roads the 
 English had built for themselves. Brouillon refused 
 to listen. A winter campaign full of hardships pre- 
 sented to him few of the advantages and none of 
 the delights that thrilled the tireless Iberville. 
 Finally he said, if Iberville wished to go, he might, 
 but he would remove the Canadians from his com- 
 mand and put them under Captain des Muys. 
 Although much disturbed by this decision which de- 
 prived him of the flower of his command, Iberville 
 displayed great self-control and moderation ; he 
 withdrew all his personal claims and said the mat- 
 ter should be referred to the Minister for adjudi- 
 cation, and as he had hired the Canadians he was 
 disposed to accept the proposition rather than give 
 up the expedition and assume the loss. Not so the 
 Canadians. These hardy woodrangers were his 
 Tenth Legion who would fight only under Cassar 
 and under him they were invincible. They made 
 a great outcry, claiming they had been engaged by 
 Iberville, who had received authority from Frontenac, 
 and they refused to march and even threatened to 
 go home unless left under Iberville's command. 
 Brouillon's exhortations, remonstrances, and even 
 threats were equally fruitless, and, knowing they 
 would do as they threatened, he finally yielded with 
 bad grace. The division of the spoil was also a 
 source of irritation and discussion, as Brouillon 
 
THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 105 
 
 claimed and insisted upon receiving the larger 
 share. 
 
 Iberville tactfully yielded in regard to Carboniere, 
 and, the other points at issue being composed tem- 
 porarily, they set out, Iberville over land and 
 Brouillon by sea, to meet at Rogneuse, a few 
 leagues south of St. Johns. Although invited to 
 sail with Brouillon, Father Baudoin gallantly chose 
 the more hazardous trip undertaken by Iberville 
 and his Canadians. The course led over half- 
 frozen marshes where the troop alternately waded 
 knee-deep in the ice-filled water and slid upon the 
 ice-covered surface and crossed foaming rivers of ice 
 and water which came to their waists. Neverthe- 
 less Iberville reached the rendezvous at the appointed 
 time and found Brouillon awaiting him with a new 
 grievance about the booty. Iberville put his foot 
 down sternly, and the objection was withdrawn. 
 Having landed the provisions and munitions from 
 his vessel, the Prof and, Iberville sent it away with 
 prisoners, as he could not use it in land operations. 
 Assuming that now, at any rate, the advantage was 
 his, Brouillon again made a disturbance about the 
 Canadian force and the booty; but Iberville sug- 
 gested that after so much vacillation Brouillon might 
 incite a serious revolt among the restless Canadians, 
 so things were left as before. 
 
 November 20 the march on St. Johns began. 
 Gabriel Montigny, who was next to Iberville in com- 
 
106 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 mand and efficiency, marched ahead with thirty 
 men, then came Iberville and Brouillon with the 
 main body. One vessel and several stations were 
 captured en route. As they neared St. Johns, they 
 were opposed by eighty men who had felled trees 
 for breastworks across the road. After some skir- 
 mishing Iberville led a charge and overcame the 
 enemy, who were driven back into the city. The 
 pursuit was so close, says Baudoin, that Iberville 
 and a few followers entered the city with the 
 fugitives and captured two small outposts and thirty- 
 three men. Being unsupported, he was compelled 
 to retire. With a hundred men the large fort could 
 have been captured at this time. The conduct of the 
 troops under fire in this and various other engage- 
 ments led the observant Baudoin to reflect that 
 Brouillon's men did not compare favorably with the 
 Canadians; he thought they needed some training 
 against the Iroquois. The city of St. Johns was 
 garrisoned by two hundred and fifty untrained men, 
 but the fort was well equipped, surrounded by pali- 
 sades, buttressed with bastions, and provided with 
 cannon. The demand for surrender was refused. 
 Then the garrison asked for a delay of two days 
 in which to consider the matter, as they hoped by 
 that time that two ships which could be seen tack- 
 ing to and fro across the harbor mouth would 
 secure a favorable wind and come to their assist- 
 ance. The French also had seen the ships and de- 
 

 -^ OLD PERL I CAN .{/ 
 
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 HEARTS CUNTCNTii 
 
 78A^ VlRQ V 
 
 
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 HAR KAIN JAN 
 
 20%' 
 
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 j^5r:-v\rr\Ti - 
 
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 AY BULLS NOV '^1 \^^ 
 
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 Map of Campaign in Newfoundland, 1696-7 
 
 {From Prorvse's " History of Neivfoundland." Used by courtesy of D. W. Prowse) 
 
THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 107 
 
 manded an immediate answer, which was again 
 refused. Iberville and Montigny now led two de- 
 tachments to make a night attack on the city and 
 set fire to portions of it. Both succeeded. On the 
 following morning the entrenchments were finished, 
 and when the batteries were brought up and all was 
 ready to open fire, the fort surrendered. Brouillon 
 conducted the negotiations without consulting Iber- 
 ville and made himself as obnoxious as possible. 
 The two ships in the offing sailed away as soon as 
 the place yielded. Sixty-two thousand quintals * of 
 codfish fell into the hands of the French. The city 
 could not be occupied, so it was burned. The news of 
 the event spreading through the English stations 
 produced the greatest consternation. After the fall 
 of St. Johns, Brouillon declared himself overcome 
 with fatigue and decided to return to Placentia, 
 leaving to Iberville the honors and responsibilities 
 of a winter campaign which in his heart he hoped 
 and expected would be fatal to all concerned. 
 
 Iberville was quite delighted to be relieved of the 
 presence of his vexatious and obtrusive associate, 
 and he began his march in midwinter with one 
 hundred and twenty-five Canadians and a few 
 Indians. For two months this indefatigable Knight 
 of the Snows led his hardy band through the wintry 
 forests and wind-swept marshes of Newfoundland. 
 Bivouacking in the snow and carrying their provisions 
 
 * A quintal is equivalent to one hundred pounds. 
 
108 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 and ammunition or\ their backs as they moved from 
 hamlet to hamlet, they carried death and destruction 
 along those desolate and rock-bound coasts. The 
 English were completely surprised, for they had not 
 the slightest idea that a land attack was possible, 
 and especially in midwinter, for up to this time 
 they had never seen snowshoes ; besides, they had 
 yet to learn, as they quickly did, the remorseless 
 pertinacity of the ironlike Iberville in the execution 
 of his tasks. To the English villages the incursion 
 of Iberville resembled nothing less than the fell 
 descent of the Angel of Wrath. Some of the in- 
 habitants were killed, but most were swept up like 
 dust and carried to France. They could have been 
 no more surprised, no more powerless, no more 
 utterly extinguished, if some great cataclysm of 
 Nature had overwhelmed them. 
 
 The hardships of the march were terrible for the 
 French, but they were frankly met and bravely 
 overcome. Baudoin says : " The roads are so bad 
 that we can find only twelve men strong enough to 
 beat the path. Our snowshoes break on the crust 
 and against rocks and fallen trees hidden under 
 the snow, which catch and trip us, but for all that, 
 we cannot help laughing to see now one and then 
 another fall headlong." The climatic conditions 
 made a more serious defence than the English, whose 
 resistance was feeble and fruitless. It was a journey 
 rather than a conquest, but a journey of such fright- 
 
THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 109 
 
 ful hardships that it was inconceivable to his con- 
 temporaries that it could be done by a white man; 
 certainly no human obstacle could have been harder 
 than the grim defence of Nature. The entire shore 
 became panic-stricken as station after station fell 
 into the hands of the French. Portugal Cove, 
 Salmon Cove, Havre de Grace, Bay Verte, Hearts 
 Content, Old Perlican, and twenty other stations all 
 fell before the French raiders. The coast was swept 
 clean for a time, with two exceptions, of all vestiges 
 of English occupation. Bonavista on account of its 
 remoteness was spared temporarily, while Carboniere 
 defied them. This fort was located on an island 
 with lofty, precipitous sides and had only one en- 
 trance to the harbor. This entrance was difficult 
 to pass even during calm weather, while the fierce 
 winter storms and the floating batteries which de- 
 fended it made passage impossible. Once at mid- 
 night in a driving storm of sleet Iberville and ninety 
 men went entirely around the island in boats, so 
 close that they could touch with their hands the 
 steep sides of the frowning cliffs; but no shelf or 
 foothold could they find. Day after day Iberville 
 surveyed that impregnable fortress with eager yearn- 
 ing, but the beating surf and the glassy ice made 
 assault impracticable, and he eventually withdrew, 
 fully determined to return to the attack with better 
 facilities. 
 
 As a whole, the raid had been a great success. In 
 
110 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 a campaign of five months the little band had 
 conquered five hundred square leagues of country, 
 marched two hundred leagues, captured and de- 
 stroyed ninety vessels, made seven hundred prisoners, 
 killed two hundred men, and seized one hundred and 
 ninety thousand quintals of codfish. This expedition 
 was the first of many undertaken during the next 
 ten years in Newfoundland, conducted with the same 
 purpose and on the same plan, but none was so 
 successful nor so thorough as this one. 
 
 The raid of the French caused great alarm all 
 along the coast from New England to Virginia. In 
 England too there was great indignation against the 
 Government that no defence had been furnished the 
 colony. Now, when it was too late for protection, 
 a large naval and military force under Admiral 
 Norris was sent to patrol the coast, survey the ruins, 
 and recapture the desolated land. They found no 
 enemy. The French had swooped down like birds 
 of prey, harried the English settlements, and flown 
 heavily back to Placentia. When the English relief 
 arrived, they found St. Johns completely abandoned. 
 The French had burnt, pillaged, and destroyed every- 
 thing movable and immovable. In that once flour- 
 ishing settlement no building was left standing, the 
 fort was demolished, and, as Prowse says, " literally 
 not one stone was left upon another." Iberville 
 had done his work with characteristic thoroughness. 
 
 He was now at Placentia, daily expecting news 
 
THE NEWFOUNDLAND CAMPAIGN 111 
 
 of the fleet promised him from France for the new 
 Hudson Bay project. While waiting, he armed and 
 outfitted his men for an attack on Bonavista and 
 Carboniere. He picked his people with great care 
 and with an eye to those who could best withstand 
 the greatest hardships. In his selection he had 
 great trouble, for every one was eager to join an 
 expedition which was to be conducted by the young 
 Commander, who had become the most popular and, 
 except Frontenac, the most conspicuous man in New 
 France. During the last campaign the Canadians 
 had not only made war but had acquired wealth. 
 They were under strict discipline, and everything 
 had been saved. Their rich booty, however, was 
 now a source of trouble. The harsh, impracticable, 
 impossible Brouillon made known in the most formal 
 way that he expected to share in all the benefits 
 of the last expedition, an expedition in which he 
 had only partially participated and for which his 
 share had been received. When this preposterous 
 demand was abruptly refused, he imprisoned some 
 of his opponents and attempted to deprive Iberville 
 of the services of his invaluable lieutenant, Montigny. 
 Iberville had now reached the limit of his patience 
 and was about to use forcible measures, when, on 
 May 18, 1697, his brother Serigny arrived from 
 France with the fleet and brought urgent orders 
 for the attack on Hudson Bay. It was specified 
 in the orders that the completion of the campaign 
 
112 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 might be accomplished by Brouillon, while Iberville 
 turned his conquering hand to a more important 
 matter. It is interesting to note that, in spite of 
 Brouillon, the English occupied all their previous 
 stations by the end of the following year. 
 
 Reluctantly leaving unfinished his plans which 
 demanded that no English colonist should remain 
 in Newfoundland, Iberville again took up the problem 
 of Hudson Bay. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY AND THE RECAPTURE 
 OF FORT NELSON 
 
 THE ships were fitted out, the men recalled 
 from various parts of the coast, and when 
 the preparations were finished the squadron 
 sailed, July 8, 1697, for Hudson Bay. Iberville 
 commanded the Pelican, fifty guns and one hundred 
 and fifty men, Serigny the Profond, and Boisbriant the 
 Wasp. Two other ships, the Palmier and the Esqui- 
 maux, completed the fleet, the latter being a supply 
 ship. Besides Serigny, Iberville had with him also 
 his younger brother, Jean Baptiste de Bienville,* the 
 second of that surname, who was now a midshipman 
 sixteen years old and eager to assume his part in 
 sustaining and contributing to the family distinction. 
 The harsh hand of pioneer life brings an early matu- 
 rity, and, trained and hardened by the Newfoundland 
 campaign, he now makes formal appearance in those 
 foreign enterprises from which afterward in Louisi- 
 ana he was to acquire such renown. La Potherie 
 and J^r^mie, who accompanied the expedition, were 
 
 * Afterward Grovemor of Louisiana and founder of New Orleans. 
 
 8 
 
114 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 the two historians by whom it was afterward 
 chronicled. 
 
 In sixteen days the fleet was breaking the ice and 
 dodging the icebergs of Hudson Straits. Unless the 
 ships kept close together they were lost from sight in 
 the multitude of ice mountains. The Pelican was in 
 the lead, and the giant bergs as far as the eye could 
 see moved and mingled like clouds, advanced in line, 
 in clusters, and in platoons. At times two giants 
 three hundred feet high would crash together with a 
 noise like thunder. Again the wind would overturn 
 one of these top-heavy floating mountains and then 
 woe to the ship near by ! In one such phenomenon 
 a mizzenmast was carried away from one ship, and 
 another, the Esquimaux, was lost with her valuable 
 cargo. The crew alone was saved with great diffi- 
 culty. The sky was generally covered with hard 
 white clouds, from which, even in the clearest 
 weather, it was never entirely free, but they always 
 knew when they were approaching the ice, long 
 before they saw it, by a bright appearance on the 
 horizon called by the Greenlanders " the blink of the 
 ice." The navigation, extra hazardous at all times, 
 reached its maximum in the furious storms that fre- 
 quently occur in those Straits, On July 24 the 
 squadron ran into one that lasted for nine hours, 
 and when the wind died down the Pelican was cov- 
 ered with ice from peak to waterline, the ropes and 
 sails immovable, and the watchman on his high sta- 
 
BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 115 
 
 tion was stifE and white like a monument. Worse 
 than all, the other ships of the fleet had disappeared. 
 With considerable anxiety Iberville grappled the ice 
 and waited many days for the consorts. The crew 
 spent the time in hunting and fishing and trading 
 with the Esquimaux. At length, thinking the other 
 ships must have passed and would be awaiting him, 
 the Commander gave up hope and sailed, arriving on 
 September 5 before Fort Nelson; but he found no 
 trace of his fleet. 
 
 Two days later three vessels were sighted in the 
 offing which seemed to be the rest of the squadron. 
 Amid universal joy the flags of welcome were 
 hoisted, but the ships gave no response and came on 
 under full sail in deadly silence. This strange be- 
 havior, though soon explained, caused much perplex- 
 ity. They were three English ships, and they had 
 met the Profond in the Straits and, as Iberville 
 afterward learned from prisoners, two of them, the 
 Hudson's Bay and the Dering, attacked her as she 
 lay fastened in the ice. For six hours the cannon- 
 ading was continued, but when the ice broke up the 
 Profond sailed off, though the English were con- 
 vinced she could not float long. 
 
 The English fleet was made up of the Hampshire, 
 fifty-two guns and one hundred and fifty men, the 
 Dering, thirty guns and one hundred men, and the 
 Hudson's Bay, an armed merchantman of thirty-two 
 guns, in all one hundred and fourteen guns and about 
 
116 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 three hundred and fifty men, to oppose which the 
 Pelican had her fifty guns and one hundred and fifty 
 men. Iberville was thus caught between the fort and 
 the English fleet, but his stout heart never failed. 
 With full appreciation of his danger he made no ef- 
 fort to evade the issue. He says, " Seeing they were 
 English, I prepared to fight them." His ship had 
 been under way to meet his friends, and she continued 
 on her course to meet the enemy. The batteries 
 were manned high and low, his young brother De 
 Bienville having a responsible post on the more ex- 
 posed and dangerous upper tier. La Potherie, St. 
 Martin, and the most experienced men were placed 
 on the forward deck, while Iberville took his station 
 near the pilot to direct all. He recognized at once 
 that this would be a fight to the death, that he or 
 the English must yield, and he was determined that 
 it should not be he. Since the enemy was numeri- 
 cally stronger in ships, guns, and men, he resolved 
 to board at the first opportunity rather than fight the 
 fleet as the centre of a circle of fire. As he directed 
 his ship toward the Hampshire, his well-known 
 blonde hair and martial figure enabled the English 
 to recognize him, and they cried triumphantly, ** You 
 shall not escape us this time." The cries and hurrahs 
 were then redoubled. It was a dramatic moment. 
 The excitement became intense. Iberville advanced 
 steadily, his face calm except for his sparkling eyes 
 that flashed encouragement to his watchful crew. 
 
BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 117 
 
 As soon as the Hampshire got the range, she de- 
 livered her broadside; but the guns were discharged 
 as the ship rose with the wave so that most of the 
 balls flew high and injured the rigging, but some 
 struck the hull and the pumps were manned. " Pre- 
 pare to board" signalled Iberville, and the men of 
 the Pelican crouched low behind the bulwarks, each 
 jealously calculating his chance to be the first on 
 the enemy's ship. As the vessels rapidly approached 
 each other, the captain of the Hampshire took alarm 
 at the situation, and fearing he would be overcome 
 in single contest, swung his sails and avoided the en- 
 counter. Iberville lost not an instant, but directed 
 his ship between the other two hostile vessels. In 
 passing he delivered a thundering broadside at the 
 Bering with his starboard battery and sent his port 
 broadside into the Hudson s Bay. Then he followed 
 after the Hampshire, which, seeing him engaged with 
 her consorts, had returned to the fray. The Bering 
 and the Hudson s Bay were badly crippled, the 
 rigging cut, the sails full of holes, the cannon over- 
 turned, and the wounded numerous. 
 
 Meanwhile Iberville, seeing his fate accomplished 
 if the three got together, drove straight down on 
 the Hampshire. The English fleet in battle line 
 was now firing broadside after broadside. The 
 Pelican was badly crippled, but none of her company 
 so far had been injured. The Hampshire, seeing 
 the futility of the cannon fire, at length decided 
 
118 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 to board, but reserved her broadside for close range. 
 "With rare skill Iberville had at all times kept the 
 weather gauge, and the Hampshire, failing to get 
 to the windward, now returned full speed upon the 
 Pelican, which was imitating every manoeuvre. The 
 vessels finally came side to side. The crisis had 
 come. When they were within pistol shot of each 
 other and rapidly drifting closer, the Hampshire fired 
 her broadside, which again went high. The ships 
 now swung together, yard arm to yard arm, before 
 Iberville replied. He aimed his guns low to hull his 
 antagonist, and so successfully that the vessel sailed 
 only a few fathoms and then went down with all 
 on board, her sails still spread and her flags flutter- 
 ing in the wind. 
 
 This disaster was as swift and unexpected as its 
 effect upon the English was decisive. Stunned by 
 the grewsome tragedy, they thought no more of re- 
 sistance, and for some minutes the other ships lurched 
 about on the weltering sea in apparent stupefaction. 
 The Bering, recovering herself first, fired a broadside 
 and fled, but the Hudson's Bay, being too badly 
 crippled to flee, hauled down her flag. An officer 
 and twenty-five men took possession. The battle 
 had continued for three and one-half hours. It had 
 been conclusive, and on board the Pelican there was 
 but one dead and only seventeen wounded. The 
 ship, however, was so badly cut up that the pursuit 
 of the Bering failed. New perils now threatened the 
 
BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 119 
 
 ship. Although it was early in September, the 
 cold was intense, and during the battle clouds had 
 gathered thickly; a great storm arose which soon 
 became- a terrific blizzard. The ship encased in 
 snow and ice staggered heavily before the gale. 
 The desolation among the sick and wounded was fear- 
 ful. Wilder and wilder raged the tempest, and about 
 seven o'clock the rudder was swept away. To avoid 
 being driven ashore the anchor was dropped, but the 
 cable parted like thread. Then the ship was hurled 
 against a sand bar, where, battered by the great 
 seas she could not resist, her seams opened, and by 
 morning she began to sink. The shore could be seen 
 a few miles away, and Iberville, composed and re- 
 sourceful, determined to abandon the vessel. Since 
 most of the boats had been shot away, he made 
 rafts of the spars and wrecked masts, and putting 
 the wounded on board they were paddled and 
 pushed to shore by the others, partly swimming 
 and partly wading. The cold was so extreme that 
 of the two hundred who made the passage to shore, 
 eighteen perished from exposure. For twelve hours 
 they had battled with the English and the ele- 
 ments without pause for food or desire to eat. Their 
 exhaustion was complete. Some who reached shore 
 barely alive had to be dragged by their stronger 
 companions into such shelter as could be had. Great 
 fires were built and, though lightly clad, the men 
 were much relieved. Food, however, was lacking, 
 
120 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 but with wise forethought Iberville had saved his 
 powder and now sent out the best hunters for game. 
 The ground was covered deep with snow and the men 
 were not successful. 
 
 The landing had been made about two leagues 
 from the fort, and this spot affording apparently 
 a brief respite from death was named Camp de Grace. 
 Being unable to guard the prisoners, seventeen of 
 those taken on the Hudson s Bay escaped to the fort, 
 and the French constantly expected the warm and 
 well-fed English would descend upon them in the 
 midst of their other misfortunes and utterly destroy 
 them. As their sufferings became more acute, it was 
 determined to risk all in one last assault upon the fort 
 rather than perish in the snow and ice. The camp 
 was moved across an intervening marsh to a point 
 about half a league from the post. This marsh, says 
 La Potherie, was so difficult that "horses could not 
 drag themselves through it." 
 
 In this emergency Iberville's star shone forth 
 brightly, and the rest of the squadron now appeared 
 bringing food, clothing, and munitions of war. Amid 
 general rejoicing the camp was again moved up to 
 within cannon-shot of the fort and named Camp 
 Bourbon. The men were landed from the ships and 
 a summons sent to the English. With full knowledge 
 of the desperate condition of the French, the garrison 
 cherished the hope that Iberville especially had per- 
 ished. So when his messenger was led into the fort 
 
BATTLE OF HUDSON BAT 121 
 
 with bandaged eyes to bring the summons, one of the 
 Governor's staff counselled delay, at any rate until it 
 could be learned definitely whether the Commander 
 had been lost. Upon this advice the Governor re- 
 fused to capitulate. The batteries were then erected 
 about two hundred yards from the fort, mortars and 
 bombs were brought up, and the bombardment began. 
 As the ramparts were broken down by the shells, the 
 Canadians gave the shrill " Sassa Koues " of the Iro- 
 quois and dashed forward until repulsed by the Eng- 
 lish musketry. Fort Nelson, manned and ruled by 
 servants of the Company, was a palisaded fort and 
 furnished but slight protection against cannon. A 
 new battery was begun on the undefended northern 
 side, and the French were hacking at the palisades 
 in true Indian fashion when a flag of truce appeared. 
 Bailey, more courageous or better supported than 
 Sargeant at Albany, had been summoned three times, 
 but he did not surrender until he got honorable 
 terms. The garrison then capitulated and was per- 
 mitted to march out with honors of war. 
 
 In this brief campaign Iberville had conquered 
 the English fleet, mastered the English fort, and 
 triumphed over Nature herself in fierce conflict. 
 He had gained a well-earned renown which even 
 the English acknowledged, although, in a quaint 
 effort at mystification, Oldmixon, referring to this 
 contest, dismisses it as follows: "The Hampshire 
 frigate and Owner's Love, a fire ship, two of the 
 
122 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 King's ships, were lost in this Bay [Hudson] and 
 all the men drowned. Indeed, the ice renders it so 
 dangerous that commerce seems not to be worth the 
 risk run for it. Whether those two ships ran against 
 the frozen mountains that float in that sea or 
 foundered is not known, but it is certain they were 
 lost and that all the men perished." 
 
 The campaign had made the French complete 
 masters of the Bay with all its vast wealth. The 
 savages came in throngs to trade. Serigny was 
 given command of the post, which office he retained 
 until the following year, when he turned the forts 
 over to his cousin Martigny and sailed for France. 
 The appearances would indicate that finally the Bay 
 had become permanently and positively French, but 
 this too was an illusion. While Iberville was batter- 
 ing at the walls of Nelson, the French and English 
 commissioners had concluded the Peace of Ryswick, 
 September 20, 1697, according to the terms of which 
 Fort Albany would revert to the Hudson's Bay 
 Company in the restoration of the status quo. While 
 this was the only fort they retained, it nevertheless 
 gave them their foothold on the Bay, a position 
 which they did not hesitate to improve. This situa- 
 tion, on the whole so unfortunate for the English 
 company, was maintained with more or less success 
 until fifteen years later, when the Peace of Utrecht 
 restored the entire region to England, and the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, which had held grimly to 
 
BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 123 
 
 its precarious position throughout the entire period, 
 then reaped an abundant reward. As an indica- 
 tion of the value of the prize for which the rivals 
 were contending, it is well to state that during 
 this period of raid and warfare the English, while 
 suffering heavily, were enabled nevertheless to pay 
 dividends of fifty per cent on the capital stock of 
 the Company in 1688 and 1689 and twenty-five per 
 cent in 1690 on stock that had been trebled. 
 
 It was now September 24, 1697, and, though late 
 in the season, Iberville took the Profond, manned 
 by the crew of the sunken Pelican and many of 
 the prisoners, and left for France. The sun getting 
 closer and closer to the horizon made observations 
 difficult, while the growing darkness impeded navi- 
 gation. Scurvy, the disease of sloth and uncleanli- 
 ness, the scourge of the seas and especially of the 
 Arctic region, became epidemic, and many died. 
 After passing the Straits the ship made good prog- 
 ress, and on November 23 Iberville sailed into 
 the harbor of Rochelle and made official report to 
 the great Pontchartrain, worthy successor of Colbert, 
 who was now to be induced to consider the idea 
 of territorial expansion along lines suggested by 
 La Salle, Iberville, and others. These northern con- 
 flicts, to be sure, were but " episodes " ; as Parkman 
 says, " In Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and Acadia, 
 the issues of the war were unimportant compared 
 with whether France or England should be mistress 
 
124 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 of the West, that is, the whole interior of the 
 Continent." 
 
 The English colonies were rooted in the soil of 
 the Atlantic seaboard, and living by trade and 
 agriculture they felt no impulse and found little 
 or no reason for plunging into the forests beyond the 
 Alleghanies, besides which they were disunited and 
 jealous of one another and of the Crown, and they 
 could not be guided toward a world policy for which 
 they felt no need. 
 
 In Canada, however, the people lived by the fur 
 trade, and their character was developed in con- 
 formity with the adventurous and roving life which 
 this pursuit demanded, while the control of the 
 home Government was such that the entire colony 
 could be mobilized in a moment for any particular 
 purpose. The English colonies grew by slow ex- 
 tension, rooting firmly as they spread, while the 
 other sent long offshoots with few or no roots far 
 out into the wilderness. The fundamental difference 
 between the colonies is well illustrated by the fare- 
 well speech of Duquesne to the Iroquois on his 
 retirement from office, in which he says : " Go, see 
 the forts our King has planted, and you will see 
 that you can still hunt under their very walls ; they 
 are placed for your advantage in the places you 
 frequent. The English, on the contrary, are no 
 sooner in possession of a place than the game is 
 driven away. The forest falls as they advance, and 
 
BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 125 
 
 the soil is laid bare so that you scarce can find 
 shelter for the night." 
 
 The great French scheme of territorial expansion 
 was not born at Court, but on Canadian soil, and 
 in the minds of those colonial leaders, like Iberville, 
 who saw the vast possibilities of the situation and 
 generally had a personal interest in realizing them. 
 The idea of territorial aggrandizement by coloni- 
 zation recurred more and more frequently to the 
 active brain of Iberville, during the next few months, 
 but the germ had been planted during those early 
 adventurous days on Hudson Bay, those days of toil 
 and hardship and concentrated effort. 
 
 Thus Iberville, the indefatigable, with an unin- 
 terrupted series of victories behind him, doubtless 
 made many plans for the future as he winged his 
 way to France. Larger and larger his horizon 
 had grown; more and more often he had taken 
 his prizes and his rapidly increasing fame to France 
 and the King instead of to Quebec and the Governor. 
 Now at the age of thirty-six the young Canadian had 
 become the most skilful and one of the most promi- 
 nent commanders in the Royal Navy. "Norman 
 ancestry had struggled against his Canadian instincts 
 and training, but the Norman won and he cast his 
 lot with the King's ships." He had swept Hudson 
 Bay free of the enemy, and for ten years he had 
 despoiled the English traders with never flagging 
 zeal and caused them a total loss, as they admit, 
 
126 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 of £190,000. He had turned all this booty into 
 the little needy colonies on the St. Lawrence, he 
 had safeguarded the northern frontiers of New 
 France for many years to come, he had given his 
 country a magnificent pawn to play in the political 
 game at Ryswick, and he had demonstrated the able 
 and brilliant qualities of his leadership. Whether 
 spurred by ambition, or by love of adventure, or 
 by the hope of the abundant booty which he ob- 
 tained, his career had been one of constant success 
 against the enemies of his country. "Episodes" 
 they doubtless were, yet they serve even better 
 than larger and more confusing dramas to exhibit 
 the fortitude and dauntless resolution of the princi- 
 pal actor therein, as step by step he advances in 
 the execution of his life-long purpose to abase the 
 English. His character and ambitions became crys- 
 tallized. He personified at this time in the highest 
 degree the antagonism of New France toward the 
 English, their methods and their apparent destiny. 
 What the French colonists vaguely felt, he not 
 only felt but appreciated mentally ; what the French 
 Government and the Governors of New France, 
 save only Frontenac, did not perceive, he had 
 analyzed, and with his high intelligence recognized 
 the remedy which possibly he alone could apply. 
 
 Whatever he may have thought and planned in 
 his teeming brain, it probably did not occur to him 
 that he was leaving his beloved Canada forever, 
 
BATTLE OF HUDSON BAY 127 
 
 that his white sails when spread again would take 
 him to another part of the great new continent 
 and bring him new fame, new honor, and an early 
 death in a remote portion of that realm to which 
 he consecrated his life in a fruitless effort to affix 
 it permanently to the Crown of France. Yet it 
 so happened. Almost on the anniversary of his 
 arrival at Rochelle, Frontenac died (November 22, 
 1698), and this event together with the Peace of 
 Ryswick seemed to diminish his chance of acquiring 
 more honor in Canada, where indeed he was idolized 
 not less for the gallantry of his exploits against 
 the English than for the commercial prosperity 
 that followed them. He now tendered his services 
 to Pontchartrain and requested a much sought for 
 assignment. Long toil and endurance had calmed 
 the adventurous enthusiasm of his youth into a 
 steadfast earnestness of purpose. His extraordinary 
 career of dash, daring, and adventure now merged 
 in his maturer years into the expansive and elabo- 
 rately constructive designs of the statesman. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 
 
 AMONG the heights of the Mesaba Mountains in 
 northern Minnesota lies a spot upon which 
 one can place one arm of a pair of compasses 
 and with the other extended to a radius of fifty miles 
 can draw a circle which will include the watersheds 
 of three of the largest and most important river- 
 basins of North America. In this little area rise the 
 rivers leading to Hudson Bay, the Gulf of St. 
 Lawrence, and the Gulf of Mexico. From the lower 
 St. Lawrence, always distinctively French, the ener- 
 getic Du Luth * followed up that great highway 
 through the Great Lakes and planted posts at De- 
 troit, Thunder Bay in Lake Superior, and Lake 
 Nepigon. La Salle stretched out from Fort Fron- 
 tenac to Mackinac Island and Green Bay, and 
 attached the Sacs, Foxes, and the Mascoutins to the 
 other faithful allies, then passing down to the foot 
 
 * Daniel Greysolon Du Luth, " kiug of the coureurs de bois," had 
 been an officer in the French army. Coming to Canada before 1674, 
 he set out four years later on an expedition to the Sioux country and 
 remained in the Northwest over twelve years, exploring, trading, and 
 •winning the Indians to France. In 1699 he was commandant at Fort 
 Froutenac, and died in 1710. 
 
LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 129 
 
 of Lake Michigan to the St. Joseph and Chicago 
 portages, he secured the Miamis, which, with the 
 Illinois tribe obtained with the assistance of Henri 
 de Tonty, brought the entire St. Lawrence basin 
 under the wing of France. 
 
 It has been shown how the incessant activity of 
 Iberville had brought Hudson Bay and all its 
 tributaries into French control, although the Eng- 
 lish Company still held by a hair to those precari- 
 ous claims which the treaties of Ryswick and 
 Utrecht were destined to confirm and enlarge. Two 
 vast basins were already secured. The great design 
 of hemming in the English colonies grew apace. 
 The struggle for the enormous wealth of the river 
 valleys was fairly inaugurated. The third and 
 greatest was the Mississippi. This was discovered 
 by De Soto in 1541, and its turbid flood became 
 the midnight grave of the great Spaniard. His 
 frightened followers, reduced to one-half the original 
 number, then fled in their frail brigantines down its 
 channel, running the gantlet of hostile tribes from 
 a wilderness that promised only misery and death. 
 From its mouth they sailed westward along the shore 
 of the Gulf until they found a welcome haven at 
 Panuco River in the little Spanish settlement of 
 New Spain, where Tampico now stands. They 
 brought back such stories of hardships and disaster, 
 of Indian opposition and of starvation, that the dis- 
 covery remained not only unutilized but more and 
 
130 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 more obscure with every passing year of the 
 subsequent century. 
 
 On the early Spanish maps the Great River is 
 indistinguishable from the other affluents of the 
 Gulf. Even its existence was doubted by many, 
 while its course and mouth were absolutely un- 
 known. Rumors, however, of the great river in the 
 Sioux country came ever more frequently to the ears 
 of the French Jesuits, as between the years 1641 
 and 1658 they extended their pilgrimages farther 
 and farther into the interior, so that gradually there 
 developed a strong curiosity to know more of this 
 "Hidden River" and the regions through which it 
 took its mysterious flow. Whither did it lead those 
 fabulous waters? Was its mouth in China, Japan, 
 or Mexico, in the South Sea or the Sea of Virginia ? 
 One hundred and thirty years after De Soto the 
 upper waters were again revealed to Joliet and to 
 the fragile but devoted Jesuit Marquette when one 
 morning in June, while " the mist hung on the Wis- 
 consin River like a bridal veil and slowly melted in 
 the sun," they pushed their bark canoes through its 
 wide mouth into the whirling eddies of the Missis- 
 sippi (1673). 
 
 Then came the great La Salle, and before 1684 the 
 Father of Waters was newly explored. French forts 
 were planted upon two of its large tributaries, the 
 Ohio and the Illinois, its course determined, and its 
 waters followed to their ultimate discharge in the Gulf 
 
PoKTiox oi- Db Lisli;\s Map, 1700 
 
 Shows („1 the St-- ^^^'S'""' "' possession 0/ Cliicgo JiMoiical Xoiiel!,) 
 
 Bayr(.,^L'IuV„°„"rfL™iott^trr''^ l>y the English ; M>) French nan,es of forts of Hudson's Bay Company „n Hndson 
 
 (^) chief points of Iter to U e New V" f""'""' '' "' "" ™"' ' °' '""""^ '™"' ^""'^''^l '" ""^^''■' ^^^ "^ I""'^ ^•"«i''i ^ 
 mouthof theMississinnfp;! " '^^ '^•™Pa'gn; (/) loc. "!on of Femaquid and Acadian settlements; (,/) the 
 Mississippi R„ er according to Iberville's explo. 'ation ; (A) Florida as claimed hy the Spanish " 
 
mimxc rr'iiV^-n- 
 
LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 131 
 
 of Mexico. La Salle had carefully taken the latitude 
 of the mouth with his astrolabe ; but at that time 
 instruments did not exist for the accurate deter- 
 mination of longitude, and such means as they had 
 could not be easily transported. This calculation 
 would have made his final journey a triumph and 
 preserved his life. Leaving Henri de Tonty to main- 
 tain Fort St. Louis on the Illinois River * and Fort 
 Prudhomme on the Mississippi,! La Salle returned to 
 Canada from the Gulf by way of the Great Lakes, 
 and projected the scheme of locating the mouth of 
 the Mississippi by the sea route. He recognized that 
 by judiciously placing colonies along the course of the 
 river this immense basin also could be added to the 
 others as a jewel in the Crown of France. This was 
 the object of that final voyage when he missed the 
 long arm of the Delta by sailing too far west and 
 then entered and established a post upon St. Louis 
 Bay (Matagorda Bay). From this point he began 
 that fruitless quest that led to his premature and dis- 
 tressing end on the plains of Texas on March 19, 
 1687. His death left the location of the mouth of 
 the Mississippi undecided and in a state of obscurity 
 which the fictitious narrative of Father Hennepin 
 only increased. 
 
 * At Starved Rock, near Utica, 111., where a band of the lUini took 
 refuge and were starved to death while besieged by their enemies the 
 Potto wattomies. 
 
 t Fort Prudhomme was located near the present village of Tipton- 
 ville, Tennessee. 
 
132 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 The solution of this problem was an exploit worthy 
 of the most ambitious, since many were watching 
 with anxious eyes for another glimpse of that clear 
 white light which La Salle for an instant only had 
 flashed upon the expectant world. The map-makers 
 and geographers with scientific problems to settle 
 paused, compass in hand, impatient to fill the great 
 gaps of the unknown on their charts. The friends 
 of La Salle were eager for such reports as would vin- 
 dicate his name and enable them to defend him from 
 the attacks of his enemies, who in turn were also 
 waiting to destroy if possible even his memory. 
 Besides these who waited with unconcealed yearn- 
 ings, there were military and trading adventurers of 
 all nationalities who were watching with rapacious 
 hands for the information that would further their 
 personal and usually venal ambitions. 
 
 Above all sat the triad of hostile Governments 
 striving for possession of Colonial America. On the 
 one side was grim, suspicious Spain, silent and secre- 
 tive, steel-clad master of Mexico, deeply distrustful of 
 France and jealously watching the domain she could 
 not occupy. In her Colonial Bureau headed by the 
 Junta she was hiding her movements with the utmost 
 stealth behind the shadow of her former grandeur. 
 
 On the other was alert, thick-skinned England, 
 never blind to commercial advantages nor sensitive 
 to the rights of priority in others. She acknowl- 
 edged her interests to be entirely financial, and dif- 
 
LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 133 
 
 fered from the others who had the same aims only 
 in her brutal frankness and her willingness to con- 
 cede a fact which excessive vanity and inordinate 
 conceit inspired the Latins to call by another name. 
 William of Orange, emaciated and asthmatic, dying 
 but inflexible, had also to serve the interests of his 
 disbanded army and the expatriated Huguenots, but 
 was ready at all times to throw himself headlong 
 across the path of France. 
 
 France, with grandiloquent claims to everything 
 everywhere, was still ruled by Louis XIV, who, 
 whatever other deficiencies he possessed, certainly 
 never overlooked a French pretension.* In the case 
 of Louisiana, however, France could present no 
 better title than might be derived from the voyage 
 of Verrazzano and the vague traditions of Breton 
 adventurers. Each furtively watched the other, but 
 none made the eventful decision which would ulti- 
 mately solve the problem. 
 
 France was aroused first through the associated 
 enthusiasms of Vauban, Pontchartrain, and Iberville. 
 La Salle had made his reports to Seignlay, the Min- 
 ister of Marine, who in turn had relinquished his 
 oflSce to Louis Pontchartrain, hardly a worthy suc- 
 cessor to the great colony-maker, Colbert. Young 
 Jerome Pontchartrain was assisting his father. He 
 was a pupil of Vauban, f carefully educated travelled, 
 
 * Vide King's " Iberville on the Mississippi." 
 
 ■f Renowned as military engineer and Marshal of France. 
 
134 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 and trained for a ministerial career. He had de- 
 veloped large views regarding colonial interests of 
 France and clear, honest ones of his own. He could 
 at least appreciate the great possibilities of the New 
 "World as presented by La Salle and Iberville, even 
 if he was not entirely converted to their far-sighted 
 projects. He is described as a cool, cautious, clear- 
 headed man who took no chances, nor gave any, 
 when playing for success. He was a passionate 
 reader and passionate admirer of all heroic adven- 
 tures on the high seas and in the unknown wilder- 
 ness from which he was personally debarred by his 
 feeble physique. Such a man might feel a warm 
 sympathy and admiration for the gallant figure of 
 Iberville, and it was to him that this intrepid com- 
 mander repaired to make his report and to apply 
 for this much desired quest when on the high tide 
 of his prosperous career he sailed his ship into the 
 harbor of Rochelle. 
 
 It was during Iberville's first incursion upon the 
 English on Hudson Bay that La Salle had perished 
 by the hand of an assassin, and during the next 
 ten years, while Iberville was sweeping the Eng- 
 lish crumbs from the French tapestry which he 
 was weaving in the Arctic regions, the project of 
 La Salle for planting a fort at the mouth of the 
 
 Mississippi had slept in the minds of the ministers. 
 « 
 
 " The young Le Moynes felt that, with the death of 
 Frontenac and the Peace of Ryswick, the days of romance 
 
LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 135 
 
 and adventure had ended in Canada ; that for the time be- 
 ing at least diplomacy was to succeed daring, and thoughts 
 of trade were to take the place of plans for the capture of 
 New York and Boston. To them the possibility of col- 
 lision with the Spanish or English was an inducement 
 rather than a drawback. Here perhaps in the exploration 
 on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, courage and audacity 
 might find those rewards and honors for which the op- 
 portunity was fast disappearing in Canada." * 
 
 With such alluring possibilities Iberville felt that 
 he too could easily leave barren, frozen Canada and 
 lead France and civilization into the valley of the 
 Mississippi. Moreover he fully believed that in this 
 way, and this way only, the slow, ponderous, but 
 inevitable march of the English could be checked. 
 He would out-manceuvre them and establish a line of 
 posts in their rear. In addition he greatly desired 
 the new assignment for personal reasons, since, as 
 he wrote the King, he was "tired of conquering 
 the Bay of Hudson." 
 
 Animated by such sentiments and supported by 
 his strong personality, the enthusiasm of Iberville 
 attracted the attention and overcame the reserve of 
 the King, whose imagination also was captivated 
 by the grandeur of the scheme which the young 
 conqueror put before him in glowing colors. France 
 had anticipated the English in possession of the 
 upper waters of the river, and if she could establish 
 
 * Winsor. 
 
136 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 herself at the mouth she could control the entire 
 valley. The idea of mines, as valuable as those of 
 Spain in Mexico, also whetted the greed of the 
 King and awakened the needy Cabinet to the point 
 of action. Louvigny, Tonty, Manthet and Remon- 
 ville each had sought this command, but none had 
 the qualities to compel a decision. Captain of 
 Frigates since 1691, Iberville possessed in the high- 
 est degree the confidence of the Minister, who recog- 
 nized his devotion and energy and who was in 
 search of one who combined the skill of a navigator 
 with the spirit and courage of a warrior. As no 
 one else so fully answered the requirements, Iber- 
 ville was now charged to undertake and finish the 
 interrupted plans of La Salle. At first the King 
 had no intention of colonizing at the mouth of the 
 river, as a letter of Pontchar train's shows, and much 
 less did he purpose to plant colonies along its course, 
 but desired only to complete the discovery and by 
 building a fort to prevent the English from taking 
 possession. For aside from the drain on the treasury, 
 already exhausted by his European wars and the 
 building of Versailles, the opposition of the King to 
 settlements in the interior was due to the feeling 
 that it removed them too far from his paternal 
 control. 
 
 Iberville took his new responsibility with his 
 habitual earnestness and resolution. His prepara- 
 tions were begun at once and continued as actively 
 
LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 137 
 
 as thoroughness would permit. The world was 
 scoured to secure every map that could in any way 
 aid the navigation, and all pamphlets, "relations," 
 and books of voyages that concerned that region were 
 speedily collected. His library in this respect might 
 have been very complete, but it was not large. 
 There was Zenobe Membre's account of the La Salle 
 expedition to be found in Le Clerc's " Etablissement 
 de la Foi," Hennepin's plagiarism of the same, and a 
 " Relation " said to be by Tonty, which he personally 
 disowned to Iberville later. Marquette's Relation 
 and also Hennepin's, alas ! were among the first he 
 obtained. Joutel, the companion of La Salle and 
 the historian of his last expedition, surfeited with 
 its hardships, declined to join Iberville, but sent in- 
 stead the journal of his journey with La Salle, 
 including also that of his return to Canada by way 
 of the Illinois River and the Great Lakes. This was 
 very detailed and for the regions covered could well 
 serve as a guide. Iberville recalled too a conver- 
 sation with La Salle wherein the explorer had told 
 him that while there was a good depth of water at 
 the mouth of the Mississippi, the current was whit- 
 ish, claylike in color, and carried much debris. As 
 an additional precaution he endeavored as far as 
 possible to enlist the men who had sailed in those 
 waters, and chose his officers too with the utmost 
 care. His first and most fortunate choice was his 
 young brother Le Moyne de Bienville, destined to 
 
138 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 be his most valuable aid and the main reliance of 
 the new colony for forty years. 
 
 Having considered the expedition in its many 
 aspects, Iberville in a letter to the Minister explained 
 his plan of operation in detail. From what he had 
 learned he thought the Mississippi ran through 
 Louisiana, the name given to that portion of the 
 country watered by the Mississippi below the mouth 
 of the Illinois, that territory which La Salle had 
 added to the Crown seventeen years before, and, if 
 that was so, it would be highly important to plant 
 a colony on the river, as all that country was of 
 extreme value. On the voyage he purposed to stop 
 at San Domingo for four or five days for water and 
 supplies and to secure such additional information 
 as might be had. Here too he would leave his 
 sick, if any, and sailing thence he intended to ex- 
 plore the country west of the Florida Cape and 
 especially the rivers as far as the Bay St. Esprit 
 (Mobile), where he would rendezvous the vessels. 
 From this point, which is only one hundred leagues 
 from the Bay of St. Louis (Matagorda) where La 
 Salle made his colony, he would enter and explore 
 all rivers entering the Gulf. He intended also to 
 send an expedition to search for news of La Salle's 
 Frenchmen, and if any could be found they would 
 have learned the Indian language, and by attaching 
 them to the expedition they could help in finding 
 the river. He also projected a settlement for Bay 
 
LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 139 
 
 St. Louis if he found that more beautiful and 
 advantageous than St. Esprit. From this latter 
 place he intended to send back such ships as he 
 did not need, and since many things occur on 
 such a voyage that cannot be foreseen he wished 
 his hands to be free and he therefore asked for 
 "general orders.'* 
 
 Again, on June 18, 1698, he wrote Pontchartrain 
 that he had advices from London which informed 
 him that the English were preparing to establish 
 a trading post on the Mississippi, and he suggested 
 a corvette mounting eight or ten guns to defend his 
 discoveries. He stated that if he met the English 
 in those waters he would try to turn them aside 
 or capture them, for knowing them as he did he had 
 no doubt they would dispute the territory. 
 
 The Minister in his final instructions, after compli- 
 ments on his previous career and expressions of 
 confidence, directed Iberville to find the mouth 
 of the river, to choose a place for a colony well 
 situated for defence, and to take soundings along 
 the coast and make charts of the same. Should he 
 meet with vessels of other nations, it would be his 
 duty to oblige them to retire from his waters. He 
 was also informed that Chasteaumorant would be 
 detailed to accompany him as guard with an 
 additional ship. 
 
 From the eager correspondence of the time is 
 revealed much of the intense interest which Pont- 
 
140 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 chartrain and Begon, the Iiitendant at E-ochefort, 
 took in the arrangements which Iberville was mak- 
 ing, as well as the latter's great enthusiasm. But 
 all these preparations were not made without opposi- 
 tion, and while Iberville had conducted his affairs 
 as secretly * as possible for political reasons, yet there 
 were many who for the same reason became in- 
 formed. Among them was Beaujeu,t the man who 
 commanded the ships of La Salle's expedition and 
 who was a source of constant annoyance, distrust, 
 and anxiety to La Salle. From La Salle this med- 
 dlesome hostility was now transferred to Iberville 
 by Beaujeu, who, jealous of the entire expedition, 
 opposed with particular bitterness the idea of coloni- 
 zation. Beaujeu was an irritable old veteran whose 
 pride had been hurt that he should be made to serve 
 under La Salle. Besides differences in temperament, 
 social distinctions, and mental irreconcilability. La 
 Salle was suspicious of the influence of Beaujeu' s 
 wife, who was warmly devoted to the Jesuits. Lack- 
 
 * While outfitting the Marin and Badine, Iberville let it be 
 understood that the expedition was directed toward the Amazon 
 River. 
 
 t Count de Beaujeu, who bears much of the blame for La Salle's 
 disaster, was a naval officer of distinction. At the battle of La 
 Hague he commanded the St. Louis, which carried Marshal Count de 
 Tourville. His nephew commanded the French force which defeated 
 Braddock. Joutel and Cavalier both attribute the ruin of La Salle's 
 hopes to the perverse management of the ships under the command of 
 Beaujeu. When Iberville returned from his successful quest for the 
 mouth of the Mississippi, Beaujeu was so vexed that he refused to 
 meet him. 
 
LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI 141 
 
 ing the tact of Iberville in his relations with Brouillon, 
 La Salle endeavored to beat down opposition by sheer 
 force. Quarrel succeeded quarrel and temperament 
 rasped temperament, until nothing could be done by 
 either that was not an annoyance to the other, and 
 each more than suspected that the other was crazy. 
 La Salle, frail and ill, the conscious bearer of a great 
 message which he alone saw, could with difficulty 
 support the irritating presence of Beaujeu while the 
 latter in turn made his presence as vexatious as 
 possible. Throughout the journey he was irascible, 
 captious, and insubordinate, besides which his judg- 
 ment was much influenced by the prevailing dread 
 of Spain, and in his letters to the Minister Beaujeu 
 shows constant apprehension of the Spaniards and 
 their preponderating force in the waters of the 
 Caribbean Sea. Spain to him seemed to be a kind 
 of demon, horribly malevolent but withal most saga- 
 cious and powerful. Joutel's narrative states that 
 before reaching Matagorda a discussion arose about 
 the position of the ships, and La Salle ordered 
 Beaujeu to sail back eastward and search for the 
 mouth of the Mississippi, which the latter refused 
 to do. It was also believed that he intentionally 
 ran the store ship Aimahle on a reef at the mouth of 
 the bay and wrecked her. Upon leaving La Salle 
 Beaujeu told him that he should coast along the 
 northern shore of the Gulf until he reached Bay 
 St. Esprit (Mobile), and would wait there until 
 
142 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 April ; but after breasting the adverse winds for two 
 days he changed his mind and sailed direct to Cuba. 
 Such was the man who now with envy and jealousy 
 opposed the designs of Iberville, while that com- 
 mander was working night and day to prepare his 
 ships and load them for the voyage. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 PENSACOLA 
 
 IT was intended to be not only a voyage of dis- 
 covery but also a colonizing expedition, not 
 only to locate definitely the mouth of the Mis- 
 sissippi but in case others were found in possession 
 forcibly to drive them away. The preparations must 
 therefore be varied to meet any emergency. The 
 ships not only carried munitions of war, but sheep, 
 pigs, cattle, and poultry for the colony; not only 
 soldiers for battle, but hunters and artisans for the 
 settlement, and all must be fed on shipboard. In 
 addition to the usual crews and the soldiers, as many 
 as possible of the Canadians were enlisted as super- 
 numeraries. Besides the material for war and for 
 the colony, the usual specialties for the Indian trade, 
 such as kettles, hatchets, knives, beads, mirrors, etc., 
 were taken aboard. No emergency could be foreseen 
 that Iberville did not make careful preparation to 
 meet. Impatient as he was to be gone and frequently 
 urged thereto by the more impatient Minister, the 
 Commander refused to be hurried into action until all 
 the preliminaries of the voyage were properly adjusted. 
 The arrangements were finally completed, and 
 leaving Rochelle on September 5, Iberville went 
 
144 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 to Brest, from which he sailed on October 24, 1698, 
 with two small frigates, the Badine, thirty guns, and 
 the Marin, thirty guns, together with two transports, 
 or traversiers, heavily laden with additional supplies 
 and the stores for six months. The Badine he 
 commanded himself, while the Marin was in charge 
 of Sieur de Surgeres, an officer in whom he re- 
 posed great confidence. They followed as nearly 
 as possible the route of Columbus by way of the Ma- 
 deiras, and after a stormy voyage in which one of the 
 transports disappeared, they arrived at San Domingo 
 in a little less than six weeks. Some days later the 
 missing transport also reached port uninjured. Here 
 too they were met by Chasteaumorant, a nephew of 
 the great Tourville, who was to accompany the ex- 
 pedition with his frigate, the Francois, of fifty guns. 
 During the short delay in this port the crew suffered 
 much from the change of diet and from the deadly 
 tropical fevers which seemed especially to affect the 
 Canadians. Some died and many sick had to be left 
 behind. Fortunately Iberville was able to replace 
 his men with filibusters, to whom as a class he was 
 very partial. 
 
 He spent the major portion of his stay in San 
 Domingo trying to secure more certain or at least 
 additional information of the Gulf of Mexico and 
 especially of the river. The Spaniards with whom 
 he talked represented the Gulf as a perfect hell on 
 account of the sudden squalls, but they professed 
 
PENSACOLA 145 
 
 entire ignorance regarding any river. The country 
 was entirely unknown. However, he obtained here 
 a chart from M. de Brach, head of the colony, 
 which was much better than the Spanish chart 
 furnished by the Minister. Fortunately, too, he 
 secured at this port the services of Laurent de Graff, 
 one of the last of the famous buccaneers of the 
 seventeenth century, formerly an associate of Morgan 
 and now the captain of a light frigate. This man 
 knew all the coast and currents as far as the 
 entrance to the Gulf thoroughly. He had also 
 been to Vera Cruz at a time when he was one of 
 the leaders of an expedition that had captured 
 that city and exacted a heavy ransom. While he 
 had never explored the northern shore of the Gulf 
 he once had employed a Spanish pilot who had 
 told him about a beautiful harbor fifty or sixty 
 leagues from Apalachicola, where the Spanish went 
 for masts when necessary and where the Governor 
 had given orders that other nations should not 
 be allowed to establish themselves, but the latitude 
 and longitude of this place he had forgotten. Ac- 
 cording to his calculations this harbor ought to 
 be almost due north of the place where the fleet 
 entered the Gulf. Iberville resolved to explore 
 this region thoroughly, and in any case, as he assured 
 the Minister in a letter from San Domingo, he would 
 find the mouth and ascend the river in boats and canoes 
 with thirty or forty men as far as seemed best. 
 
 10 
 
146 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 The casks were now refilled with water, the flour 
 made up into biscuits, the longboats unpacked and 
 mounted, the sails repaired, and the ships carefully 
 overhauled. Soon it was necessary to terminate 
 quickly all these preparations, for, having heard that 
 four English men-of-war had been reported at San 
 Domingo sailing west on a colonizing expedition, 
 the Commander concluded they were bound for 
 the Mississippi and hastened his departure. Leaving 
 San Domingo on January 1, 1699, the fleet made sail 
 along the southern coast of Cuba, rounded Cape 
 St. Antoine, entered the Gulf, and laid the ships 
 on their course with the intent of striking that 
 fine harbor of which De Graff had spoken. Accord^ 
 ing to their calculations this harbor should be 
 found on the coast almost due north of the point 
 where the ships entered the Gulf. Nothing un- 
 usual was observed until January 23, when in the 
 afternoon land was sighted. Iberville signalled the 
 squadron to crowd on all sail until sunset, where- 
 upon they came so close to the coast that the red 
 glare of burning prairies could be seen, and the 
 next day the long shore line of northern Florida 
 appeared running low and white from east to west. 
 They were almost due south of Apalachicola Bay 
 and anchored for the night off Cape San Bias. 
 The next morning the ships moved slowly along 
 to the west, keeping outside in safe water, while 
 Lieutenant Lescalette in the longboat crept along 
 
PENSACOLA 147 
 
 near the shore. The days were spent in careful 
 observation of the coast, in scanning river mouths, 
 and in taking soundings as they crawled along mile 
 after mile. Every night they came to anchor when 
 the guns of the Badine gave the signal, and every 
 night and morning they cast anxious eyes to the 
 shore to see if any Indians had been attracted by 
 the firing. This method was slow but very certain, 
 and Iberville had no notion of failure through lack 
 of personal attentiveness. 
 
 On January 27, 1699, the fleet approached the 
 harbor of Santa Maria de Pensacola de Galvez, and 
 the longboat came out to the ship with news. Not 
 only had a river been discovered and a bay, but also, 
 alas, shipping. Iberville was not surprised to learn 
 that masts had been seen in the harbor. Having 
 in mind the English expedition, it at once occurred 
 to him that they had arrived before him. He 
 immediately called a council of the officers on board 
 the flag-ship. While considering the various aspects 
 of the affair, the sun went down in all the magnifi- 
 cence of the tropics, and the great gun of the Badine 
 gave the evening salute to the flag and the signal 
 to anchor. The report had hardly died away when 
 a menacing boom came from the ships in the harbor, 
 sullen, distant, and defiant. Darkness came on and 
 with it a dense fog. An unquiet night was spent 
 in ignorance of what the day would bring forth. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 
 
 IIEUTENANT LESCALETTE was sent ashore 
 i in the early morning to learn the name and 
 nationality of the unwelcome occupants of 
 the bay. He took with him Le Moyne de Bienville 
 to have charge of the boat, to keep the men from 
 talking, and to find out as much as possible himself. 
 A white flag was flying from one of the masts in 
 the harbor, and a sloop came out far enough to see 
 the French flag and fleet and then hastily retired. 
 Lescalette landed and was conducted to the Gov- 
 ernor of the port, while Bienville, pretending to 
 be a subordinate, catechised the loungers at the 
 wharf for inofficial information. They learned that 
 this was a Spanish settlement numbering about two 
 hundred and fifty people which the Spanish had 
 made in 1696 (Barcia), but the French were con- 
 vinced that the post had been established only four 
 months previous to Iberville's visit, and that, too, 
 with intent to forestall him after learning of his 
 
THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 149 
 
 proposed voyage.* The Governor was Don An- 
 dres de la Riola.t and the garrison consisted 
 largely of galley slaves who were mostly in irons. 
 All were short of food. The frigates in the harbor 
 were also Spanish, mounting respectively eighteen 
 and twenty guns, and had stopped in to secure new 
 masts from the forest surrounding the bay. They 
 had thought the French squadron was a Spanish 
 expedition long expected from Vera Cruz, and had 
 fired their guns in welcome. The French fleet, 
 claiming a shortage of water and provisions, desired 
 to enter the harbor, but the Spanish forbade this, 
 as they said the settlement was new and feeble, but 
 offered to send wine and water out to the French. 
 Iberville returned this courtesy by sending in some 
 food as a propitiatory offering, and then on the 
 pretext that he was anxious about his anchorage, 
 he took Surgeres and De Graff with him the next 
 morning, and they moved in and carefully took 
 soundings up to the very sides of the Spanish 
 frigates, a proceeding which so alarmed the captain 
 that he offered to lend the French a Spanish pilot 
 to take them to a safe port farther west. Having 
 secured the requisite knowledge of the harbor, the 
 French were now easy to satisfy. Chasteaumorant, 
 who had assumed the command to disguise the 
 object of the expedition, assured the Spaniards that 
 
 * Martin also accepts this view in his " History of North Qarolina." 
 I Don Andres de Arriola — Engayo Cronologico. 
 
150 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 he was only in search of some Canadians who were 
 supposed to be among the Indians on those shores, 
 and he would continue his quest. He did this 
 with the greater reluctance, as he writes the Minister, 
 since he recognized that he could have driven out 
 or captured the Spanish and seized the harbor with 
 the utmost ease. However, the cat had played 
 with the mouse while thoughtfully analyzing his 
 appetite, and now concluded to let it escape, and, 
 to the great relief of the Spaniards, the French fleet 
 took its slow departure. Moving cautiously along 
 the coast and examining attentively every inlet, the 
 fleet arrived in two days at the bar off Mobile Point 
 which guards the entrance of Mobile Bay. The 
 Spanish pilot whom Don Andres had sent proved 
 to have an excellent and valuable knowledge of 
 the coast so far as concerned the soundings and 
 harbors. 
 
 A south wind now sprang up, the storm wind of 
 the Gulf, and no soundings were possible. Squalls 
 and gales, thunder and lightning with torrents of 
 rain, came in tropical abundance from the dark, 
 lowering clouds, while the violent seas drove the fleet 
 into open water. On the sixth of February the 
 weather quieted, and the pass to the Bay was sounded 
 and explored as well as some of the islands near the 
 entrance. 
 
 Having seen and heard nothing of the English fleet, 
 Chasteaumorant delicately suggested that Ws pres- 
 
THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 151 
 
 ence was unnecessary, and it was therefore arranged 
 that the Frangois should return to San Domingo. 
 After several days spent in ceremonial visits and 
 mutual expressions of most distinguished considera- 
 tion, Chasteaumorant put to sea, and the diplomatic 
 Iberville was free from any possibility of that annoy- 
 ance and danger which the presence of Beaujeu had 
 brought to La Salle. 
 
 The Spanish pilot now seemed filled with forebod- 
 ings and uttered dismal prophecies, while at the same 
 time the boats sent out to examine the shore and 
 islands returned with such contradictory reports that 
 Iberville determined to take Bienville and see for 
 himself. Again a terrific storm came up just after 
 they started, and for three days they were imprisoned 
 on a little island to which they had run for shelter. 
 This island subsequently became the site of a settle- 
 ment and merits some description. It was about 
 twelve miles long and one and one-half miles wide, 
 and while exploring it they found at the southwest 
 end a huge heap of skulls and bones, mute witnesses 
 to some fiendish Indian raid, or, as Iberville thought, 
 the remains of the ill-fated Spanish expedition of 
 Narvaez. From this they called the place Massacre 
 Island (now Dauphine Island). Game was very abun- 
 dant, and the Canadians made the most of their 
 opportunity to secure a supply of fresh meat. As 
 soon as the weather had quieted down, Iberville 
 crossed over to the mainland and climbed a tree to 
 
152 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 take a bird's-eye observation of the country, but he 
 was rewarded only by a sight of the limitless forest, 
 the great Gulf, and the indentations of Mobile Bay. 
 No break in the forest revealed the channel of a great 
 river cutting its serpentine way to the sea, and no 
 embrasure in the coast line marked the exit of a 
 mighty stream. Continuing his explorations on foot, 
 he found remains of recent Indian encampments, — 
 probably some family that had been fishing on the 
 Gulf. A short period of fine weather now permitted 
 them to finish the soundings of the channel, after 
 which they collected grass for the live stock and 
 returned to the fleet. 
 
 Sailing on to the west with a light northwest wind 
 and serene sky, they entered a maze of islands and 
 sandbars ; as soon as one disappeared behind, others 
 long and low, white and sandy, appeared ahead, and 
 while in the very midst of them the wind veered 
 suddenly to the south and the Gulf became a boiling 
 caldron. They sought anxiously for shelter, but in 
 vain. As they pressed on, other islands appeared, 
 mere sandbars, bleak and treeless, one to the south 
 and one to the west. They ran to shelter behind the 
 former, which in honor of the recent feast-day they 
 called Chandeleur Island. The boats were then sent 
 out to look for a harbor, and while pursuing this 
 quest they sailed toward the little island north of 
 Chandeleur Island, and another boat reconnoitred the 
 one to the west of that, Landing on this latter, they 
 
THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 153 
 
 found it inhabited by many curious cat-like creatures 
 which suggested the name Cat Island. Thus they 
 made their first acquaintance with that truly Ameri- 
 can product, the opossum. 
 
 The other boat meanwhile had made soundings 
 north of the other island, and after twenty-four 
 hours the party returned with the welcome news that 
 a fine anchorage had been discovered, and the next 
 day responding to signal the fleet moved slowly in 
 and took possession of the harbor of Ship Island. 
 While at anchor here, some of the men fished, while 
 others watched the clouds of wild fowl that flew with 
 hoarse cries over their heads. The appearance of 
 camp-fires on the shore now stirred Iberville to in- 
 vestigate, for he was very anxious to make friends 
 with the Indians. Taking with him in the longboat 
 Father Anastasius Douay,* the former companion of 
 La Salle, they started, Bienville with two Canadians 
 following in a canoe. The distance to shore was 
 about twenty miles ; upon landing they found fresh 
 tracks in the sand, and Iberville and his men set out 
 to follow them, while Bienville and the Canadians 
 kept to the water in the canoe. Night fell before the 
 fugitives were overtaken.. In the morning they saw 
 the Indians lurking about curiously in the distance, 
 but they fled when pursued, abandoning camp, pi- 
 
 * Anastasius Douay, Recollect, accompanied the last expedition of 
 La Salle, and after the leader's death returned to France with Cavalier 
 and Joutel by way of Canada. 
 
154 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 rogues, and all their possessions. Iberville finally ran 
 upon a poor old man so crippled from a wound that 
 he could not escape, and him they loaded with 
 presents and made to understand they were friends. 
 Meanwhile Bienville had pursued a party deep into 
 the forest, and whether from fatigue, curiosity, or 
 what, a woman lagged a little and was soon over- 
 taken. She also was kindly treated, and during the 
 night escaped, as the French expected she would, but 
 returned on the next day and brought in her men to 
 the French camp. They were of the Biloxi tribe 
 and knew nothing of the Big River. The calumet 
 was smoked and much ceremonial enacted in ar- 
 ranging a treaty. Leaving Bienville as a hostage, 
 a few of the Indians were taken on board the 
 ships and entertained by firing off the cannon and 
 by furnishing them with brandy, which they were 
 surprised to find remained warm after entering the 
 stomach. 
 
 The next day all returned to the mainland, where 
 a new delegation had arrived. They were members 
 of the tribes of the Bayagoulas and Mougoulachas, 
 who lived together on the banks of a large river 
 which they called Malbancia. They had come down 
 on a hunting expedition when, hearing the cannon, 
 they had hurried to the shore to investigate. From 
 their description Iberville concluded that the Mal- 
 bancia must be the Mississippi. These Indians were 
 greatly interested in the canoe of birch bark and 
 
THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 155 
 
 inquired if the white men had come down the 
 river. Iberville and the chief exchanged presents, 
 and the chief received as the final gift a massive 
 calumet, or peace pipe, the iron bowl being fash- 
 ioned like a ship and flying the fleur-de-lis. After 
 many ceremonials and protestations of friendship, 
 with much eating, the Indians promised to meet 
 the French in four nights, as by that time they 
 would have finished their hunting and then they 
 would guide them by a short route to their river. 
 The signal agreed upon, a huge fire on the beach, 
 appeared on the third instead of the fourth evening, 
 and upon hurrying to it the French found only one 
 poor Indian, who said the others had gone home, 
 leaving Iberville again to his own resources. Had 
 he been able to get to the river with these people by 
 a short route and then descend to the mouth and fix 
 its location accurately, all would have been easy; 
 but the Mississippi had been hidden too long to yield 
 up its secret to so little effort. 
 
 Stimulated rather than discouraged by the many 
 difficulties, Iberville took thirty-three men with 
 twenty days' supply of food in two feluccas in each 
 of which a cannon was mounted, and taking in tow 
 two canoes, the quest for the " Hidden River " began. 
 The weather was not propitious, but the impatient 
 spirit of Iberville drove him on through wind, rain, 
 fog, around islands and islets and over sandbars and 
 reefs. In spite of a high wind the waves were not 
 
156 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 troublesome on account of the clustered masses of 
 seaward islands. Keeping near the shore, so as to 
 miss no inlet or river mouth, they sailed and paddled, 
 and dragged the feluccas over the sandbars to the 
 music of the breakers dashing against the distant 
 islands. The mainland lay close on their right, and 
 they spent one night on a protruding point which 
 was buried at high tide. The next day the fog and 
 mist were so dense they could not advance, but re- 
 mained some time on a spot of sand and ooze that 
 trembled and shook under them. Afternoon came, 
 and with it the heavens broke loose, a terrific thunder 
 storm came on that lasted all night, and with equal 
 suddenness the wind veered to the northeast and 
 became freezing cold. They had no protection, no 
 shelter, indeed it was necessary to bend over and use 
 their bodies as a shelter to keep the rain from ex- 
 tinguishing the fire. They dug in the sand for 
 drinking water in vain, the Gulf rose and their island 
 was covered with six inches of water. They heaped 
 up the sand for a foundation, and then placed upon 
 it twigs and rushes with which to make a small fire 
 and keep it from the water underneath. They re- 
 mained at this place all day. The next day the 
 weather moderated slightly and they were able to 
 start. Running before a strong north wind, they 
 sought here, there, and everywhere for some opening 
 in the labyrinth of islands, until finally they rounded 
 a point and came in sight of the mainland. This 
 
THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 157 
 
 too brought its dangers, for now they received the 
 full sweep of the storm, which had increased in 
 violence with the approach of night. The sea broke 
 over their little open boats unchecked, while the 
 canoes which the great seas had compelled them 
 to take on board threatened to bring all to a common 
 disaster. At one time they tried to land, fearing to 
 pass the river in the dark and storm without recogni- 
 tion, while at another time they fought for the open 
 sea in fear of wreck on the shore to which every 
 squall was forcing them. The furious gale showed 
 no signs of abating, the waves became more violent 
 and hurled the boats savagely hither and thither, 
 night was fast approaching, and the men were soak- 
 ing wet and chilled to the bone by the fierce wind. 
 After breasting the blast for three hours across the 
 point of a formidable cape of jutting rocks, Iberville 
 concluded they must go ashore or perish. The little 
 shallops could stand no more, and shipwreck must 
 be risked. Sauvole,* in charge of the second boat, 
 saw Iberville put about and steer apparently 
 straight to death against the rocks, but that formi- 
 dable cape opened before him into an aggregation of 
 isolated rocks and received in its sheltering arms the 
 battered longboats, which now sped smoothly on a 
 
 * Many well-known writers have insisted that Sauvole was a 
 younger brother of Iberville. The vrriter agrees with Hamilton and 
 Kong that there is absolutely no foundation for this statement. Vide 
 King, " Sieur de Bienville," page 73 note- 
 
158 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 waveless sea. Straining through the multitude of 
 rocks which dotted the water for miles was a swift, 
 strong current that swept relentlessly out into the 
 Gulf. The men, weary and terrified, now found 
 consolation. They tasted the water; it was sweet 
 and from much sediment whitish in color — it was 
 the mouth of the Mississippi. The rescue of the 
 boats and the object of the expedition were simul- 
 taneously accomplished (March 2, 1699). 
 
 The stream became thicker and whiter and the 
 current so swift that even with the strong wind in 
 their favor and all sail set they made but poor head- 
 way. The rocks at the entrance, twisted, gnarled, 
 and fantastic in form, were the petrified remnants of 
 forest giants which the great current had brought 
 down on its bosom to suffer in time this sea change. 
 The trees with interlocking arms had fastened them- 
 selves to the bottom and to each other, and sediment 
 and slime had been heaped over the mass, which had 
 all solidified into those grotesque and menacing monu- 
 ments — high, dark, and irregularly located — which 
 stood as the clustered guardians of that long-sought 
 channel, rolling its great flood of turbid waters 
 around and through the midst of these monstrous 
 piles. Loath to surrender a long-held individuality, 
 the waters did not readily mingle with those of the 
 Gulf. Pushing on, Iberville came after dark to a 
 narrow sand spit on which the boats again narrowly 
 
THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 150 
 
 escaped wreck, and, pressing forward against the 
 urge of the river, he at last made camp on a sedge- 
 grown shore of sand, across which, not fifty yards 
 away, the sea, cheated of its prey, foamed and roared 
 and beat in impotent fury. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 
 
 THE characteristic appearance of the rock- 
 bound entrance convinced Iberville that he 
 had found the river called by the Spaniards 
 the "Palisades," but was it also the one known 
 to the Indians as the " Malbancia," and were these 
 two only other names for what the northern tribes 
 called the Mississippi ? This was the question now 
 to be determined, but how? He turned this over 
 in his mind as he lay before the fire that night in 
 his lonely camp among the thick reeds and rushes 
 that bind the soil of the delta. He felt all the 
 pleasure possible in seeing himself escaped from a 
 very imminent peril. Sheltered from wind and wave 
 by the sand and sedge, his mind reverted also to 
 the hardships of the day. He says ironically, "It 
 is a very gallant business exploring the shores of 
 the sea on boats that are not large enough to keep 
 out the sea either under sail or at anchor, 
 and too large to land on a flat coast, but strand 
 a mile and a half from shore." It is not difficult 
 to see why he was doubtful about the entrance, 
 since even now it is hard to recognize, and later 
 
THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 161 
 
 Tonty found it unfamiliar in its high stage, pre- 
 senting as it did an appearance so different from 
 that during low water when he and La Salle came 
 down. Instead of a large bay into the bottom of 
 which the river discharges with a broad channel, it 
 stretches out an enormous hand at arm's length 
 into the Gulf, a hand and arm composed of its own 
 alluvial offerings, and grasps the Gulf so eagerly 
 that the water escapes as through the fingers, in 
 a perfect maze of creeks, bayous, and passes which 
 intersect the mass of soil and debris over an area 
 of fourteen hundred square miles. It was as if the 
 Venerable River, dissatisfied with its length, had pro- 
 longed its course into the Gulf upon a trestlework 
 of its own formation. Iberville in his heart was con- 
 vinced of the identity of his discovery, but neverthe- 
 less he had to make his demonstration complete for 
 the doubters at home. In the morning, true to his 
 marine training, he attempted to take the usual 
 soundings, but the weather would not permit this 
 except in the sheltered channel. The river itself, 
 he says, was about three hundred and fifty fathoms 
 wide, with a strong current, but what especially 
 pleased him was the whitish and muddy appearance 
 of the water, since this was the characteristic 
 mentioned by La Salle. 
 
 Unable meanwhile to demonstrate his opinion that 
 it was really the river he sought, he enjoyed his 
 
 triumph with a certain reserve. Not so, however, 
 
 11 
 
162 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 Sauvole, who had no doubts and rejoiced openly, as 
 did all the others, and as it was a feast-day the 
 name Mardi Gras was given to a bayou where a 
 cross was planted, mass said, and a Te Deum sung. 
 Iberville, however, resolved to prove the correct- 
 ness of his belief by ascending as far as the fork of 
 which the "Relations" spoke. According to the 
 journals he should find forty leagues up the river on 
 the left the deserted village of the Tangipahoas ; two 
 leagues above this, the Quinipissas ; and forty leagues 
 above these, a division, or fork, in the river. Thence 
 to the Coroas should be six leagues, and to the Natchez 
 ten, to the Tenzas twelve, to the Arkansas eighty. 
 It all seemed very plain and reliable, and he made 
 ready to ascend the river. This was a difficult task, 
 which was made dangerous by the quantities of 
 logs and great trees that came whirling and tossing 
 like toys down the rapid current. Nevertheless the 
 expedition, led by Bienville in one of the canoes, 
 started bravely out upon the broad expanse of the 
 great river which lay before them. The work was 
 toilsome in the extreme, but they progressed steadily, 
 and every evening the cannon in the bow of the 
 longboat boomed a salute to the flag and every 
 morning they blazed the trees in Canadian fashion 
 to mark the site of the camp. In this enterprise 
 there was no opportunity to dreamily drift in the 
 sluggish current of a tropical stream, but, imbued 
 with a firm purpose to succeed or fail while working 
 
THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 163 
 
 to the utmost, the boats v/ere forced against the 
 swift current by sail where possible but otherwise 
 by oars, mostly the latter, and thus they won their 
 slow way upward. The frequent crooks and turns 
 were a great source of annoyance to the Canadians, 
 who complained that they had to cross the stream 
 four or five times in going a league. To Iberville 
 too the great river with its muddy current and 
 many bends was very different from his own St. 
 Lawrence with its broad and almost straight channel 
 and its deep, majestic current of blue pure water rolling 
 calmly to the sea, save where the occasional rapids 
 gave a life and power to that river which he now 
 missed on the Mississippi. The boats moved steadily 
 on, however, through a scenery new and strange to 
 the Canadians. They saw the sedge and rushes on 
 the sandbars at the mouth gradually change on the 
 more elevated though still marshy land into a dense 
 growth of cane with its tall, straight stems and 
 feathery light-green foliage. This in turn gave way 
 to swamps streaked with strands of cypress, to pine, 
 red cedar, oak, and the fragrant magnolia, and all 
 gracefully hung with festoons of Spanish moss or 
 embossed with the growing masses of mistletoe. 
 Water turkeys sat huddled on the higher limbs of 
 the dead trees or dropped incuriously to the water. 
 Cardinals and mocking-birds flew in great numbers 
 among the trees on the shore, and herons, blue, gray, 
 and white, flapped their lazy wings ahead of the 
 
164 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 boats with discordant cries. Buzzards soared high 
 in the heavens, alert for food, while clumsy pelicans 
 winged their way to and from the Gulf. They 
 noted with interest the huge catfish and were aston- 
 ished at the strange-appearing spade-fish. Various 
 incidents broke the monotonous dodging of drift- 
 wood and sandbars. A barge was dismasted by a 
 squall, and while a new mast was stepped the men 
 found and enjoyed wild blackberries. Then the 
 food became scarce, and all went on rations carefully 
 doled out day by day, although occasionally they 
 secured a feast in the shape of an alligator, a rattle- 
 snake, or a bear 
 
 Nevertheless they resolutely advanced, and after 
 five days of laborious and discouraging exertion they 
 were cheered by meeting some Indians, from whom 
 they inquired their way and received the provoking 
 news that their Bayagoulas friends had arrived at 
 their village by a short cut through a small river. 
 They were able to secure new supplies from these 
 Indians, whom they entertained by exhibiting many 
 little trinkets and by giving them presents, and 
 whom also they frightened by discharging the can- 
 non. They passed the night in a huge cane field of 
 extreme density and height. A guide accompanied 
 Iberville the next day, and about six miles up the 
 river showed him the Indian portage between the 
 river and the Gulf, probably Bayou St. John, through 
 which pirogues could be dragged easily. 
 
THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 165 
 
 The weather changed from hot to cold, and the 
 river from graceful bends and curves to inconceiv- 
 able contortions. The rowers pulled six miles to 
 advance one. On account of fatigue from the con- 
 stant labor and the onset of a heavy tropical rain, 
 one day was spent in rest upon the bank. Some 
 of the men went out hunting, and two Breton sailors 
 from the Marin were lost. Cannon were fired dur- 
 ing the night, and on the following day parties 
 were sent in various directions firing their guns at 
 intervals, while the barges rowed up and down the 
 shore, but no trace of the wanderers could be 
 found, and the expedition proceeded without them. 
 
 Passing Bayou Plaquemines, which the guide called 
 Ouachas River, they met two pirogues containing 
 Indians of the Ouachas and Bayagoulas tribes from 
 whom they secured more corn. The Ouachas then 
 went on to their village, while the Bayagoulas re- 
 turned up stream to announce the arrival of the 
 French to their chiefs. The French ground their 
 corn and seasoned it with salt pork, thus produc- 
 ing a dish which the Indians called "sagamity." 
 Starting early the next day, they soon arrived near 
 the village of the Bayagoulas * and their communal 
 
 * The Mougoulachas and Bayagoulas (Choctaw, meaning " white 
 oak people ") lived together in one village on the west bank of the 
 Mississippi about sixty-four leagues from the sea. The Oumas, or 
 Houmas, were on the east bank just below the mouth of Red River. 
 The Natchez were higher up on the same side. The Tensas lived on 
 the west bank of the river farther north than the Natchez, and the 
 Coroas were still higher up. 
 
166 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 tribe, the Mougoulachas (March 14). A delegation 
 met them with a large calumet, brilliantly deco- 
 rated with colored feathers, which was passed and 
 smoked from barge to barge. Then, standing in 
 the bow of Iberville's boat, the calumet-bearer held 
 aloft his pipe and chanted a peace song as the 
 flotilla gradually approached the Indian-crowded 
 landing of the tribe. Stepping from the boat, Iber- 
 ville was supported by two warriors and led to a 
 cleared space under the trees where on outspread 
 bear skins sat the chief in state surrounded by 
 warriors and women. Resting on a forked stick 
 in the centre of the meeting place and guarded by 
 a noble warrior who was religiously attending to 
 his duty, Iberville beheld the iron calumet which 
 he had given the Indians on the sea shore, the 
 miniature ship with the swinging folds of fleur-de- 
 lis. Food was provided, and Iberville gave out 
 presents and quite won the savage hearts by his 
 tactful methods and gallant mien. 
 
 They reported the passage of "Iron Hand" Tonty, 
 who had stopped at their village both going and re- 
 turning from the mouth, and while this was valuable 
 testimony to the identity of the river, no information 
 could be obtained about the mysterious " fork." The 
 news of Tonty was made more convincing by the 
 knives and hatchets of French manufacture which 
 the Indians possessed, and the Canadians had a mo- 
 ment of joy not unmingled with homesickness when 
 
THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 167 
 
 the haughty chief appeared clad in a coat of Montreal 
 blue which he said had been given to him by Tonty. 
 With that happy facility characteristic of the 
 French people and especially marked in his own 
 family, Iberville by this time had learned enough of 
 the Indian language to understand it and to commu- 
 nicate in it by aid of signs, while Bienville, who had 
 kept the guide in the boat with him, could talk fairly 
 well. There was no linguistic misunderstanding pos- 
 sible therefore ; the Indians were sure the river neither 
 forked nor branched, and they demonstrated this by 
 drawing a map of the river and its tributaries. As 
 to the Tangipahoas, their village had never been on 
 the Mississippi. They had formed one of the seven 
 tribes of the Quinipissas, whose village the Oumas 
 had destroyed and whose national identity they had 
 abolished by incorporating the survivors into their 
 own tribe, where, as they said, they could still be 
 seen. Iberville could not reconcile this in any way 
 with the "Relations," and especially with that of 
 Hennepin, who he could not believe would be guilty 
 of making a false statement to the whole of France. 
 Furthermore he was in a very embarrassing situation, 
 one hundred and ninety leagues from his ships, his 
 provisions exhausted, his men broken from their 
 incessant toil against the current, his colony still to 
 be located, and Surge res under orders to return to 
 France in six weeks. He was convinced if he re- 
 turned from where he was without further proof that 
 
168 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 Tonty had passed, it would not be credited in France 
 that he had found the Mississippi in the face of the 
 contradictory " Relations." 
 
 There seemed to be no course left but to continue 
 the arduous journey up stream. The afternoon passed 
 in more feasting, singing, dancing, and tribal ceremo- 
 nials which Iberville was too wise to neglect. The 
 next day was spent with the Mougoulachas, where 
 similar ceremonies were enacted and presents ex- 
 changed. Iberville made a careful examination of 
 the village and describes exhaustively the temple and 
 the forms of worship of their tutelary deity the 
 " possum." In his wanderings he was delighted to 
 find a glass bottle which also had been left by Tonty. 
 He was not content, however. He says, " Seeing my- 
 self so far and no certainty that I was on the Missis- 
 sippi, which I had been sent to find, and seeing no 
 Nation of whom mention was made in the * Rela- 
 tions,' I resolved to go to the Oumas, where I knew 
 Tonty had been." Iberville was quite disgusted with 
 the Bayagoulas, who he thought did not compare in 
 physique with the sturdy northern Indians of his 
 Canada, and living as they did in the midst of a most 
 rich and fertile country they seemed on that account 
 to be only so much the less industrious. But such as 
 they were he could use them, and when the chief 
 offered to take him to the village of the Oumas in his 
 canoe with eight of his wives at the paddles, he gladly 
 accepted. 
 
THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 169 
 
 A cross bearing the arms of France was planted, 
 and then he started in search of that " fork " which 
 he believed to be the distinctive feature of the lower 
 Mississippi. This point had got on his nerves and 
 must be proved or disproved. No rollicking jests, no 
 Canadian boating song, no lilting ballad, cheered the 
 hearts of that exhausted crew, but every effort at the 
 oars brought an oath or a groan. But despite his 
 grumbling and swearing crew and driven by his very 
 natural anxiety to find positive confirmation, Iberville 
 pushed eagerly forward. On the east bank of the 
 river the chief pointed out, as they ascended, the 
 little stream which led to the home of the Biloxi 
 Indians. He called it the Ascantia and said it was 
 the only fork of the Mississippi he knew of that led 
 to the sea. They passed a pole stripped of its bark 
 and planted near the shore. It was painted red and 
 covered with skulls of fish and bears, and the Indians 
 told him it marked the boundary between the tribes 
 of the Oumas and Bayagoulas. After leaving this 
 Golgotha which they had named Baton Rouge, they 
 came to a bayou about six feet wide which the chief 
 said would save them about thirty-six miles if they 
 could get through it. Bienville examined it and 
 reported it feasible. Then the Canadians took their 
 axes and cut through a huge log jam and felled trees 
 until a pathway was secured, then the luggage was 
 portaged, and by means of pulleys the longboats 
 were dragged through rain and mire to the other 
 
170 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 side. Since then the bayou has been called Pointe 
 Coupee, although the river soon seized upon the new- 
 cut-off and made it its own main channel. 
 
 Their journey involved five days of hard rowing up 
 stream, but at length they arrived at the landing of 
 the Oumas, where they were met by a delegation and 
 conducted to the venerable chief in his palisaded vil- 
 lage. They too had much to say of Tonty, who had 
 spent five days with them, but they knew nothing of 
 any " fork." Iberville now thought that the Indians 
 might have reasons for concealing the truth about 
 the river, so he concluded to go on to the Coroas, be- 
 low whose village about six leagues the " Relations " 
 said the fork was to be found. So on the following 
 day they started on another long nine days' journey 
 up stream. To secure an unbiassed opinion he took 
 a Tensas Indian with him into his own barge and 
 cross-examined him rigorously, but gained nothing 
 new. The Tensas man had been as high as the Ar- 
 kansas and declared positively there was no fork in 
 the river. When they stopped at night he drew a 
 map on the sand showing that in three days they 
 would reach the mouth of the Tassenogogoula River 
 (Red River), but no fork. Then by a large bend the 
 river came back to within a few miles of the village 
 they had just left, and in three days more they would 
 reach the Natchez Tribe, after which they would come 
 in two days to his own village, but no fork. Iberville 
 now sat down and used the deadly parallel, putting 
 
THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIVER 171 
 
 what the friars had stated on one side and what he 
 had found and learned upon the other. The result 
 was conclusive ; the friars knew nothing whatsoever 
 of the lower river. He also concluded that so many 
 Indians could not be mistaken in regard to so simple 
 a fact as a fork in a river. Thoroughly disgusted 
 with the priestly inventions, he decided to search no 
 farther for things that did not exist. Likewise his 
 persistent questioning had brought other information 
 of great consequence. He learned that one of the 
 Mougoulacha chiefs had a letter from Tonty which 
 had been given him for '^ a, man who would come 
 up the river from the sea," which must be La Salle, 
 therefore the river must be the Mississippi. Further- 
 more other conditions were pressing upon him that 
 gave him great anxiety. Much time had been frittered 
 away in ceremonials with the various tribes, and the 
 limit of his stay was at hand. The provisions were 
 low, the expedition was a long way from the sea and 
 much farther from the ships, and he had promised 
 that he would be back in six weeks. His growing 
 indignation at the mendacious friars for their mis- 
 chievous tales and fictitious narratives now culmi- 
 nated in an explosion of wrath in which he expressed 
 himself in no uncertain manner. Father Douay es- 
 pecially felt the weight of his order's disgrace, and 
 was glad to travel in any boat but Iberville's. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE FORT AT BILOXI AND THE RETURN TO 
 FRANCE 
 
 IT was now absolutely necessary to fall back ; so 
 the orders were issued, the boats were turned 
 about, and the retreat began. Picking up the 
 Bayagoula chief again at the Ouma village, the 
 expedition moved cheerfully and rapidly down 
 stream followed by the regretful farewells of their 
 Indian hosts. They saved a day by using Pointe 
 Coupee, where they found alligators collected around 
 the still glowing embers of their recent campfire, 
 and on the next day, March 22, they reached the 
 small stream, the Ascantia, that joins the Mississippi 
 on the east, and here Iberville decided to divide 
 the party. He would explore the Ascantia, while 
 Sauvole and Bienville with the two barges which 
 could not pass the little river should go down the 
 Mississippi with the Indians whom they would leave 
 at their village, and then go on and take soundings 
 at the mouth. Bienville was also charged to buy 
 if possible, but at any rate to secure, that all-im- 
 portant letter of Tonty's from the Mougoulacha chief. 
 Then Iberville with two canoes and four of his 
 
THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO PRANCE 173 
 
 Canadians -witli Indian guides pushed through the 
 tangled undergrowth and began his journey on the 
 little river, which the guides said led to a bay 
 only twenty-four miles from the ships' anchorage. 
 This little stream, then very properly called Iber- 
 ville River, is now known by the shorter but less 
 distinctive name of Manchac Pass. It was about ten 
 feet wide and five feet deep, but much obstructed 
 by fallen trees. The stream was alive with snakes 
 and alligators, but it drained a country composed of 
 a rich and fertile alluvial soil upon which grew a 
 dense vegetation, and this in turn sheltered a great 
 variety and abundance of game. This route was 
 much more difficult than the big river, requiring as 
 it did about eighty portages, but it was much nearer 
 in point of distance. Besides the difficulties of the 
 route other complications appeared to delay and vex 
 him. One of his Canadians fell ill, and Iberville had 
 to take his place on the portages. On the second 
 day the Indian guide abandoned him, but his 
 thorough Canadian training in woodcraft stood him 
 in good stead and he pressed on without a guide. 
 The way led over many portages, through bayous and 
 swamps surrounded by cypress and hung with the 
 ever present Spanish moss or dense with under- 
 growth and dark with thick-growing trees, and 
 across sloughs of clear flowing water beside which 
 sometimes lay half-finished Indian dugouts. After 
 passing a small height of land by portage he entered 
 
174 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 another bayou, then a series of lakes and connecting 
 waters which, in honor of the Minister and his son, 
 Iberville named Maurepas Lake and Lake Pontchar- 
 train. Snakes had menaced them at all times, but 
 in the lakes the alligators * became a very serious 
 danger to the small canoes as they heaved them- 
 selves heavily up from the depths, while their great 
 bellowings at night served to keep the travellers 
 awake, an achievement in which they were indus- 
 triously aided by the myriads of mosquitoes, " fright- 
 ful little beasts to men in need of rest." 
 
 Lake Pontchartrain was quite large and in many 
 places approached the river so closely that the latter 
 could be seen over the intervening cane and marsh. 
 Iberville travelled rapidly, making from twenty-five 
 to thirty-five miles a day, and soon passed the lakes 
 and reached the beach where the broad bosom of 
 the great Gulf opened before him, tossing its restless 
 billows, limitless, voiceless, and lonely, without sign 
 of ship or human life. Here he kindled a great 
 fire to attract the attention of the fleet, so that the 
 longboat would come for him if the Gulf should 
 be too rough for his canoe. On the next day the 
 weather was calm, and he started, but when about 
 
 * Charlevoix says that it was a common belief at the time of his 
 visit that one could hardly make a stroke of the oar in Lake Pont- 
 chartrain without touching an alligator, an assertion that is supported 
 by the following statement by Farrand : " In view of the fact that two 
 hundred and eighty thousand skins are used annually, it is not sur- 
 prising that the supply is becoming rapidly reduced." ("Basis of 
 American History.") 
 
M A 
 
 ^T. Ross's ]\ 
 
 possession of Chic 
 
 {iver to sliips ii 
 catiou of India 
 ntioiiod in first 
 
Portion ok Lt. Ross's Map, made in 1765 
 
 (Original in possession of Chicftgo Historical Society) 
 
 Shows (a) route of Iberville from Mississippi River to sliips in first expedition ; (/;) site of Fort La Boulaye, the first 
 
 establishment on the river ; (c.) the location of Indian tribes along the river as far as the Tunicas ; 
 
 (d) Poiute Con])e'e, mentioned in first expedition ; (e) English Turn 
 
THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 175 
 
 half-way over to Ship Island he met the barges 
 coming to investigate the cause of the fire. He 
 reached the ships on the thirty-first. About eight 
 hours thereafter Sauvole and Bienville, who had 
 descended the Mississippi, also reached the ship. 
 They reported the shores of the river wherever 
 seen to be covered with cane, and at the mouth 
 they had found from eighteen to twenty fathoms 
 of water. They had discovered the two lost sailors 
 among the Bayagoulas, to whom they had been 
 guided by an Indian who had met them starving 
 and exhausted, toiling slowly up the muddy shore 
 of the river in pursuit of the boats. Bienville 
 had had some trouble with the Bayagoulas, who 
 had stolen the diary (''Relations") and breviary of 
 Father Douay, who had accompanied him, and 
 they were greatly annoyed when the Father tried 
 to regain it. Sauvole also reported that he had 
 found a ''dry spot" on the bank of the Mississippi 
 suitable for a settlement, one that was not overflowed. 
 But more important than all was the letter. They had 
 the "speaking bark" from Tonty, dated April 20, 
 1686, which they had bought for a hatchet from 
 the chief of the Mougoulachas. For fourteen years 
 he had carried and preserved it for delivery to " a man 
 who would come up the river." And dated as it 
 was at the village of the Quinipissas, it cleared up 
 another point besides the identity of the river; it 
 showed that the Bayagoulas and Mougoulachas either 
 
176 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 intentionally or ignorantly had concealed the name 
 of their village, which was now revealed by him 
 of the " Iron Hand," Poor Tonty, heartbroken over 
 his failure to meet La Salle, who at that moment 
 was ranging the prairies of Texas and moving in- 
 evitably to his death, had left the letter in the hope 
 that it would be given to La Salle, should he ever 
 reach the river. Hearing, he said, from Quebec, 
 that La Salle had lost a ship in his expedition to 
 find the mouth of the river and that the savages 
 were plundering him, he, Tonty, had descended the 
 Illinois from Fort St. Louis to the mouth of the 
 Mississippi, with twenty-five men, and had sought 
 for him along the shores of the Gulf twenty-five 
 leagues to either side of the delta. He had found 
 the Indians friendly both going and coming. 
 
 When Iberville read Tonty's letter, he was much 
 vexed that he had not gone down the river, for it 
 stated that Tonty would leave another letter in a 
 hollow tree about seven leagues from the mouth. 
 This Iberville said he would have found, since there 
 were but few trees on the river for seven leagues from 
 the mouth, and those were on the west bank. The 
 last doubt was vanquished, — the Malbancia must 
 be the Mississippi. Thus Iberville's long and toil- 
 some journey was rewarded by a certainty regarding 
 the identity of the river and by the acquisition 
 of this valuable letter which he would not have 
 obtained otherwise. 
 
THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 177 
 
 It was now imperative to locate the settlement, but 
 Iberville felt that Sauvole's " dry spot " was too far 
 away to be utilized under the urgent conditions that 
 faced him. Apparently it was too far from the 
 Gulf for commercial convenience and too near the 
 Indians for safety. Nevertheless eighteen years 
 afterward Bienville founded New Orleans on Sau- 
 vole's " dry spot." After much investigation and 
 many soundings both east and west of the ship's 
 anchorage, it seemed best to locate at Biloxi if a 
 good harbor could be found. Neither Lake Pont- 
 chartrain nor the Mississippi seemed entirely satis- 
 factory. Something near at hand was necessary, 
 for the establishment must be founded at once, as 
 supplies were failing rapidly. The mouth of the 
 Pascagoula River which led easily inland offered the 
 most desirable site, but this had been sounded by 
 Iberville's orders during his absence and failed to 
 show sufficient depth of water. The Bay of Biloxi 
 with its guardian island offered the next most suit- 
 able site on account of its proximity to the various 
 Indian tribes. A felucca sent to explore this re- 
 turned with an unfavorable answer, whereupon Iber- 
 ville took the felucca and with the fatigues of his 
 recent journey still upon him sailed back to Lake 
 Pontchartrain to search those shores. About ten 
 o'clock on the following night he returned, having 
 lost his bearings repeatedly in the darkness and heavy 
 seas which all but swamped him. The felucca had 
 
 12 
 
178 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 been drifting rapidly seaward on the ebbing tide 
 when the lights went up on the ship's masts and 
 saved them. He had found the lakes possible only 
 as a last resource, but after some further exploration 
 had about decided to locate there when he took a last 
 look at the Biloxi waters and happily discovered a 
 narrow channel of deep water leading to a comfort- 
 able harbor between the mainland and an island and 
 extending back to a beautiful little bay. 
 
 It was enough. The decision was made, the trees 
 cut, a space cleared, and the plan of the fort laid out ; 
 but the work went all too slowly for the impatient 
 Iberville. The men were reinforced by workmen 
 from the crews, and the boats were constantly busy 
 carrying men and material from the ships to the 
 shore, while the people on shore dug, built, and 
 planted. At length the fort with parapet and 
 cannon occupying the middle of the clearing was 
 completed, and named Fort Maurepas. Guns, ammu- 
 nition, provisions, cattle, horses, and swine were put 
 ashore, and for two days twenty-five men worked at 
 sowing corn and peas for the use of the colony. In 
 the midst of the work five Spanish deserters arrived 
 from Pensacola telling such sad stories of sickness 
 and mutiny there and such glittering tales of the 
 wealth and cowardice of the Spanish at Vera Cruz, 
 that Iberville became quite interested. He kept the 
 deserters to take back to France for reference, and in 
 his journal he notes thoughtfully that with five 
 
THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 179 
 
 hundred Canadians he could keep all New Spain in 
 terror. He now arranged for his departure. Sau- 
 vole was left in charge of the fort, with Bienville 
 next in command, and a garrison of seventy men and 
 boys. With only enough provisions for the voyage 
 and a crew barely large enough to work the ship, 
 Iberville sailed for France on May 3, 1699, shortly 
 after the fort was finished. Thus it was that he 
 found the mouth of that great river whose very exist- 
 ence was denied by some and doubted by many, and 
 only missed by Beaujeu by so slight a chance as his 
 refusal to return when so requested by La Salle. 
 
 In France his return was awaited with impatience. 
 His reports aroused the interest of science, the zeal 
 of commerce, and encouraged the Government to 
 greater exertions. Iberville had carefully taken the 
 latitude and longitude of the places he had visited, 
 and thereby revealed the reasons for the previous 
 geographical errors as well as those of La Salle, who 
 had abandoned himself to incorrect maps. He says, 
 " All the charts hitherto made have been drawn by 
 people who do not know the degrees of latitude and 
 longitude nor how far places are from one another 
 and who do not count the turns and twists of the 
 way." Nevertheless maps continued to be published 
 for a number of years which gave the location of the 
 river incorrectly. 
 
 Joutel now recalled with chagrin that La Salle 
 had originated the enterprise, and he also made claim 
 
180 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 to the points in which his journal had aided Iberville. 
 But more than disagreeable was the return of Iber- 
 ville to that false priest, Hennepin. Iberville did not 
 conceal his wrath, says Margry, against the Recollect 
 friar for that misinformation which had exacted from 
 him so many hardships in proving its falsity, and 
 Hennepin was greatly embarrassed when meeting 
 any of the knowing ones like Thoynard.* Beaujeu 
 was even more annoyed, if possible, than the friar 
 or Joutel by the success of Iberville, for well he 
 realized if he had but obeyed La Salle in that mo- 
 mentous year 1685, and returned by the route se- 
 lected, the wreath of honor then in his very hand 
 would have been placed on his head rather than 
 Iberville's. He had given great attention to the ex- 
 pedition, and before IberviUe had quitted Europe he 
 had written, " I hope he will succeed, but /ear he will 
 fail like La Salle." His real hope was voiced in the 
 latter part of the sentence, and after the departure of 
 Iberville Beaujeu had made allusions to the currents 
 and " feared " they would serve him a bad turn if he 
 was not watchful. He had referred to Iberville in 
 derision as the " Hero of the Mississippi," and when 
 his " Hero " returned in that very capacity, he tried 
 to throw doubt on the discovery and minimize its 
 importance. He says "there is no certainty in the 
 statements of these Canadians whose reports are often 
 
 * Nicholas Thoynard, writer, lawyer, and counsellor to many of 
 the nobility, held an official position in the city of Orleans. 
 
THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 181 
 
 full of dreams, and even if true we shall not profit by 
 it, — the Spanish will not let us." In this last word 
 Beaujeu had put his finger on one of the difficulties 
 of the expedition ; it was now necessary to hold what 
 had been scientifically determined. A colony must 
 be sent out and forts built not only to prevent the 
 encroachment of England but to overcome the resist- 
 ance of Spain. 
 
 The question of the colonies had always attracted 
 Pontchartrain, and especially Canada, which he 
 longed to visit, and he therefore busied himself in 
 arranging new measures to hinder all rival enterprises 
 in the country which Iberville was expected to open 
 up. Directly after the departure of the Badine and 
 Marin Pontchartrain' s enthusiasm was strengthened 
 and his interest encouraged by the influence of his 
 friend and tutor, the noble Vauban. 
 
 In a long document Vauban reviewed for Pontchar- 
 train the various conditions as they existed in the 
 colonies where French and English were watching 
 each other. He says : 
 
 "Virginia and Quebec were settled at the same time, 
 but while the space of the Enghsh colonies was restricted 
 and the population rapidly multiplying, the French terri- 
 tory was vast, but so located that the English could not 
 expand without encroachment. A contest was inevitable. 
 The French held the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi 
 basins by right of discovery and exploration, and were 
 making good their claims as fast as possible by forts and 
 settlements. In justice the English had no right to cross 
 
182 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 the Alleghanies, and yet by the charter rights granted by 
 Charles II and James II, the boundaries were accorded 
 without consideration of the French, and, indeed, as if they 
 did not exist. When complaint was made the English 
 even attempted to claim validity of occupation on the 
 ground of supposititious explorations. The English were 
 reported on the Ohio by Denonville and showed a deter- 
 mination to go forward, and when, therefore, the English 
 from Carohna appear among the Chichachas one perceives 
 the prelude of an antagonism which La Salle felt when 
 he urged the necessity of occupying the territory he had 
 explored. The mistake in regard to the colonization of 
 Hudson Bay and New England should serve as a 
 warning." 
 
 It was in vain, therefore, that Ducasse, Governor 
 of San Domingo, doubted the value of the new terri- 
 tory to commerce, and vaunted the superiority of his 
 own colony both commercially and as a strategic 
 point, being, as he said, the key to Mexico, Peru, 
 Santa Fe, and Quito.* It was in vain too that the 
 Governor of Canada (Caillieres) opposed the coloni- 
 zation of Louisiana, fearing, as did Ducasse, the diver- 
 sion of commerce, royal interest, and a diminution 
 of personal importance. This fear was not altogether 
 unfounded, but it was vitally necessary to both colo- 
 nies, both as politics and strategy, if they were to 
 remain as the two heads of New France, that a 
 close communication by way of the Great Lakes 
 
 * He concludes, " Sieur d'lberville is an excellent man, honest and 
 well intentioned, but one must guard against his spirit of enterprise." 
 (Ducasse to the Minister.) 
 
THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 183 
 
 should unite the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of St. 
 Lawrence. 
 
 This, then, was the situation when Iberville returned 
 to Rochelle, June 29, 1699, to reinforce the Minister. 
 He had given many evidences of his exceptional 
 ability as a leader of men, but in his communication 
 to the Government he now exhibits a rare political 
 sagacity. He demonstrated that it was necessary 
 to act, not to overthrow the Spanish but to arrest 
 the march of the English. With a statesmanlike 
 grasp of the situation he says: 
 
 ** It is necessary to concern ourselves with the perils that 
 menace our establishments. These conditions arise from 
 the neighborhood of powers that are dangerous both by 
 their numbers and superiority of position to the French 
 colonists. Near our colonies on the north, the EngUsh 
 and Dutch colonies occupy a country with a temperate 
 climate and superabundant production. They can draw 
 numberless emigrants whom they can establish advanta- 
 geously and fix for ever. The French who come into New 
 France are attracted by certain advantages, by the ex- 
 ploitation of the immense forests, and the fisheries, but 
 they have to contend with a rigorous climate and they 
 dream only of spending their accumulations in the Mother 
 Country. The English are established in the south in a 
 zone superior to that at home, and after a few years they 
 do not wish to leave. To preserve its position on the 
 north, France must occupy the banks of the Missouri and 
 Mississippi as far as- the Gulf. This is the more urgent, 
 since England is preparing to occupy this same region. If 
 France does not seize this part of America which is the 
 most beautiful to have for a colony, and strong enough to 
 
184 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 resist any which England may have here, the English 
 colonies already considerable in Carolina will so thrive that 
 in less than one hundred years they will be strong enough 
 to seize all America. If we do not increase as fast as the 
 English who have the colonizing spirit and who enrich 
 themselves and remain in those places which France has 
 not found it desirable to retain, how much more might 
 they accomplish in highly valuable and desirable regions." 
 
 After the lapse of two hundred years the situation 
 could not be described more clearly or accurately 
 than in the preceding words of the prophetic Iber- 
 ville. Pontchartrain, too, dimly perceived the ex- 
 istence of a definite and irreconcilable antagonism, 
 and feeling it a duty to erect a barrier against the 
 English flood, with also a strong hope that mines as 
 good as those found by the Spanish might be dis- 
 covered, he empowered Iberville to carry supplies 
 for seven months and material for trade to Biloxi, 
 together with some Canadians who had been with 
 him upon Hudson Bay. Among other things he was 
 instructed to bring back samples of buffalo wool and 
 of pearls and ores; he was to report whether the 
 native women and children could be utilized in the 
 rearing of silkworms and other industries. It was 
 therefore ordered that the frigate Renommee and the 
 store ship Girond should be made ready. While the 
 preparations were going forward, both Iberville and 
 Surgeres were decorated with the cross of the order 
 of Chevaliers of St. Louis. 
 
THE FORT AT BILOXI AND RETURN TO FRANCE 185 
 
 Iberville meanwhile learned from his London 
 correspondent that the English were awaiting word 
 from the two ships which had been sent to the 
 Carolinas the preceding year commanded by Captain 
 Banks, a man whom Iberville had captured in one of 
 his Hudson Bay expeditions and whom he regarded 
 as stupid and inefficient. Daniel Coxe, who bore the 
 cost of this expedition, was the proprietor of the Caro- 
 linas, a grant which embraced the country between 
 the thirty-first and thirty-sixth parallels of latitude, 
 " and all the lands lying westward to the sea," and 
 he was earnestly attempting to colonize at the mouth 
 of the Mississippi in order that the western portions 
 of his grant should be protected. 
 
 The Benommee and Girond sailed October 16, 
 1699.* 
 
 * According to his secret instructions, Iberville was forbidden to 
 attack any English settlement he might find, but was to cause its 
 destruction by the Canadians and Indians in such a way that he could 
 himself disavow it. (Pontchartrain to Iberville, Sept. 22, 1699.) 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION AND IBERVILLE'S 
 RETURN TO BILOXI 
 
 WHILE awaiting the return of the Com- 
 mander, Sauvole and Bienville were by 
 no means idle. The former urged the 
 work on the unfinished buildings and studied the 
 maintenance of discipline. He began with enthusiasm, 
 but gradually lost heart and interest and wrote more 
 and more discouragingly in his diary, until, homesick 
 and depressed by the many misfortunes that afflicted 
 the colony, he ultimately fell an easy victim to 
 yellow fever shortly before the third and last visit of 
 Iberville. Meanwhile the seed sowed by Iberville 
 had sprouted promptly and then withered and died 
 in the hot sun. Drouths and famine had followed 
 quickly upon his departure, plagues of snakes and 
 alligators which were killed at the very gates of 
 the fort kept the colonists in anxiety, and they saw 
 their boats eaten by worms {Teredos) under their 
 very eyes. Much of the illness was among the 
 unacclimated Canadians, whose depressed vitality 
 did not easily throw off the fevers peculiar to the 
 South. Water was so scarce that the swamps 
 
THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION 1S7 
 
 dried up, and if a spring had not been discovered 
 great suffering would have ensued. The men could 
 work only two hours morning and evening, and 
 many were afflicted with dysentery. Fishing, hunt- 
 ing, and searching for pearls had occupied all the 
 attention of the colonists, and agriculture had hardly 
 been attempted. The French realized at once that 
 the climate would not permit white men to work in 
 the fields. In July two seminary priests, Davion 
 and Montigny, who had come down from Quebec to 
 work among the Tunica Indians near the mouth 
 of the Arkansas, journeyed down the Mississippi to 
 visit the new French establishment. They were 
 exhausted from hunger, thirst, and fatigue, and while 
 taken in and entertained, the burden of caring for 
 them and the sixteen hungry men in the party 
 made serious inroads on the slender stores of the 
 colony in famine time. The Indians too came in 
 to see, visit, and eat, and had to be treated cir- 
 cumspectly. Nevertheless the work of the colony 
 went steadily on. 
 
 In spite of all obstacles the active and restless 
 young Bienville explored the coast and visited the 
 tribes from Pensacola to Biloxi and from Biloxi to 
 the Oumas up the Mississippi. While returning from 
 the latter trip he turned a bend in the river and 
 twenty-three miles above the mouth came upon a cor- 
 vette anchored in midstream. The corvette was one 
 of those chartered and sent out by Daniel Coxe and 
 
188 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 was commanded by Captain Banks. The captain 
 stated frankly that he was in search of the Mississippi. 
 Bienville informed him that the river was not the 
 Mississippi, but a river from Canada belonging to 
 France, and that a large French colony was located 
 a short distance up the stream. 
 
 The captain had experienced as much difficulty as 
 Iberville in finding the river. He had first sailed to 
 the western extremity of the Gulf and then moved 
 slowly backward along the coast, in this way missing 
 by a few weeks the discovery which was the reward 
 of Iberville's more direct and certain aim. Captain 
 Banks, with none of Iberville's tenacity of purpose, 
 yielded to the pressure of Bienville's arguments 
 and agreed to retire, though he threatened also to 
 return. From this encounter, the bend in the river 
 where the young French lieutenant and his five 
 Canadians met the English has since been called 
 English Turn. 
 
 While on board the English vessel Bienville had 
 been approached by a French Huguenot engineer who 
 assured him that there were five hundred discontented 
 Huguenots at Charleston who would be glad to move 
 to the new French colony if they could get the King's 
 permission. Bienville had promised to report the 
 matter. When Iberville received the word, he gave 
 it great consideration, for with his comprehensive and 
 unbiassed mind he saw in this situation the solution of 
 most of his difficulties. He saw a powerful French 
 
THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION 189 
 
 nation building up the entire Mississippi Valley and 
 forming an absolute barrier against the English. But 
 when the matter was reported to the Government, the 
 reply came back that the King would hardly care 
 to make France Catholic only to have his colonies 
 heretic. 
 
 Having watched the English safely out of the river, 
 Bienville returned to Biloxi, where the fort routine 
 was again taken up. Shortly after his return the 
 Pascagoulas came in, bringing a Choctaw who con- 
 firmed the impression made by Captain Banks 
 that the English had determined to encroach upon or 
 take possession of the Mississippi region. The Choc- 
 taw came from the upper Alabama country, and he 
 said that the English already had dealings with his 
 tribe and that two Englishmen were established among 
 the Chickasaws in the northern part of what is now 
 the State of Mississippi. 
 
 January 8, 1700, the boom of cannon in the Gulf 
 announced Iberville's return, bringing to the colony 
 everything in the way of stores and provisions and to 
 Sauvole and Bienville their royal commissions. With 
 him came Le Sueur, who had acquired a reputation 
 through his adventures on the Great Lakes ; Juchereau 
 de St. Denis, related to Iberville's wife ; Sieur Bois- 
 briant, afterward celebrated in the annals of the colony, 
 and, better than all, Le Moyne de Serigny and An- 
 toine Le Moyne de Chateauguay, two more of that 
 enterprising brotherhood. Chateauguay was the sec- 
 
190 SIEUR l>'IBERVILLfi 
 
 ond of that surname, and now at the age of seventeen 
 he came to assume his place in that portion of the 
 great family of Canadian Maccabees which was work- 
 ing out the problem of Louisiana. 
 
 Iberville the soldier had now become Iberville the 
 colonist, and interested himself in obtaining fine bulls 
 and stallions to improve the native stock. He brought 
 young girls of good family to become wives of the 
 colonists. He brought cotton seed and sugar cane 
 and began to figure on securing labor, which of course 
 meant slaves. He sent out parties to look for mines, 
 and considered the possibilities of commerce by sea, 
 and with the more remote Indians by the interior 
 waterways. As soon as Iberville arrived the colony 
 came to life. One of his first acts was to plant some 
 of that San Domingo sugar cane which was the first 
 sugar cane planted in Louisiana. He remained at 
 Biloxi only long enough to collect sixty men for a 
 trip up the Mississippi. The first step, however, was 
 to measure and sound Lake Pontchartrain. After 
 this, finding that the barges could not go through the 
 marshy pass to the Mississippi (probably Bayou St. 
 John), they were left in the lake, and only the pi- 
 rogues (dugouts) were carried across the portage, 
 which was about three miles in length and about 
 one-half of it through mud and water to the knees. 
 Since one of the main incentives to this expedition 
 was to find a site for a settlement and fort on 
 the river, much time was spent looking for a place 
 
THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION l9l 
 
 that was free from inundation. Finally, Iberville, who 
 was ill with fever, became so weak that he returned to 
 Biloxi, and Bienville went up to the Bayagoulas and 
 returned with a chief of that tribe who pointed out a 
 spot which he said was never inundated. The location 
 besides being dry was well chosen for its attractive- 
 ness. The forest was open for leagues below, while 
 above them stretched a cypress forest. Iberville came 
 up the river in a transport and joined Bienville, and 
 thirty-eight miles below the future site of New Or- 
 leans, the fort was begun. 
 
 On February 16, 1700, Iberville was joined by Tonty, 
 who by way of Quebec had heard of his first expedition 
 and in anticipation of his return had come paddling 
 down the river from Fort St. Louis with sixty voy- 
 ageurs and a band of the Illinois and Tamaroas Indi- 
 ans. The reinforcement was very welcome, as many 
 of the colonists were ill, and, besides, the newcomers 
 were fellow-Canadians and accustomed to the life in 
 the woods. Tonty' s offer of assistance was promptly 
 accepted, and as the intention was to explore Red 
 River, the construction of the fort was left in charge 
 of a Canadian, while Tonty and the Le Moynes set 
 out up the river. Soon they fell in with Le Sueur, 
 who had come over with Iberville to make an expe- 
 dition to St. Anthony Falls and Mankato Country 
 in search of mines and furs. Overtaking him on a 
 portage, they continued their journey together as far 
 as the village of the Bayagoulas. Among these Indians 
 
192 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 the rumor was again confirmed that the English were 
 pushing westward from Carolina along De Soto's old 
 trail and arming the Choctaws, while two men were 
 stationed permanently among the Chickasaws. Iber- 
 ville tarried a few days with the Bayagoulas and gave 
 them cotton seed to plant, which was also the first to 
 be planted in Louisiana. While there he composed 
 their differences with the Oumas, and by extending his 
 walks in various directions got a comprehensive idea 
 of the country. He took up the march again and 
 soon came to the Natchez village, where he was re- 
 ceived with great joy and ceremony. With this tribe 
 also he cemented a friendship with his tact and pres- 
 ents, especially the latter. This friendship might 
 have been lasting if some years later the senseless 
 conduct of the colonists had not incited the Natchez 
 to break the treaty and wreak a bloody revenge on 
 their French neighbors. 
 
 Leaving Bienville and the rest of the party here to 
 make some necessary preparations for the Red River 
 trip, Iberville himself set out with six men for the 
 great Tensas village. Reaching the landing in a 
 day and a half, he left the pirogue and started over- 
 land, but the guide lost his way, and the night was 
 spent supperless in the woods. Next morning they 
 found the lake, a mere cut-off of the river upon which 
 the tribe lived, and at midday came to the village. 
 As usual, Iberville was received with pomp and cere- 
 mony and immediately attached the Indians to him 
 
THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION 193 
 
 by his tact and discretion. While at this village a 
 great storm arose during which he became the horri- 
 fied witness of human sacrifices to the God of Storms, 
 which he checked only after five children had been 
 burned. Here too he had accumulated a large store 
 of provisions and other essentials for his expedition 
 up the Red River, when his fever again became so high 
 and the pain in his knee (probably rheumatic) so se- 
 vere that he was compelled to abandon the trip, which 
 had been planned primarily with intent to search for 
 traces of La Salle and the unfortunate remnants of 
 his expedition. Relinquishing his command to Bien- 
 ville and sending Tonty on northward with presents 
 for the Illinois Indians, he returned to the fort on 
 the Mississippi. Making only a short stop at the 
 Bayagoula village, he travelled express to the fort 
 (named La Boulaye *), making the one hundred and 
 twenty-six miles in thirty-three hours. He had trav- 
 elled over two hundred leagues along the river and 
 explored the shores, renewed his relations with the 
 tribes and composed their differences. Ill as he was, 
 his insatiable appetite for work and his indomitable 
 will were not only undiminished but seemed to acquire 
 a desperate intensity. The extent of his personal ac- 
 tivities, however, was much circumscribed. But be- 
 sides compelling the reluctant renunciation of the Red 
 River trip his illness had much more serious conse- 
 
 * Fort La Boulaye was located on Poverty Point, about thirty-eight 
 miles below New Orleans. 
 
 Id 
 
194 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 quences. By the attack of fever at this time the 
 rugged health and iron constitution of the great Com- 
 mander was broken. What the severe hardships of 
 the Schenectady campaign and reckless exposure to 
 the wintry tempests on ice-bound Newfoundland 
 shores had failed to do was accomplished by the subtle 
 and insidious fevers of the South. That wonderful 
 physique was shattered. His old ambition burned 
 fiercely, but it fed not on a robust constitution but 
 upon his indomitable spirit and a body wherein waste 
 already exceeded repair. 
 
 Inspired with lofty aims and driven by strenuous 
 purpose, the drama of his life continued to unroll 
 its numerous scenes. Tableau after tableau shows 
 him wresting from man and Nature those dearly 
 bought victories. Unfortunately his intense applica- 
 tion and even his many conquests, like those of the 
 King, his master, were to avail him not at all in 
 the attainment of his supreme and ultimate ambi- 
 tion. Such a drama could have but one, and that 
 a tragic, ending. Yet confident in his strength and 
 happily unsuspecting, he followed the stern behests 
 of his all-compelling star, and wrung success with 
 grim resolve from every opportunity. From this 
 time on the contest was very unequal. Against him 
 were ranged the hostile English, his envious country- 
 men in Canada, France, and San Domingo, the 
 conservatism of the Court, the inconstancy of the 
 Minister, the complications of European politics, 
 
THE ENGLISH EXPEDITION 195 
 
 and the inert but no less serious obstacles of Nature. 
 Nevertheless with health destroyed he valiantly 
 pushed his unavailing battle, and eye held eye and 
 point caught point as the ardent soul of Iberville 
 fenced dauntlessly with Fate. 
 
CHAPTER XrV 
 
 THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION AND THE RECON- 
 NOISSANCE OF NEW YORK HARBOR 
 
 DURING the absence of the Le Moynes Fort 
 La Boulaye had advanced but little. Many 
 of the workmen were ill and unaccustomed to 
 the climate, and under such conditions they worked 
 very slowly when the driving energy of the Le 
 Moynes was removed. They had discovered also 
 that the location had been badly chosen. It was 
 inundated at high tide, and with heavy rains and a 
 south wind the water was sometimes two feet deep. 
 The land in consequence became a bottomless quag- 
 mire on the subsidence of the waters. In spite of 
 this misfortune, in spite of his pain and high fever, 
 Iberville nevertheless hurried the workmen and sent 
 the officers to find routes for the boats through the 
 bayous. He sent to Sauvole at Biloxi for the bulls, 
 cows, hogs, fowls, and other supplies for the new 
 fort, and complacently reports that the trip was 
 made by way of the river mouth in thirty-six 
 hours. By the transport also he had news from 
 Biloxi. De La Riola, the Governor of Pensacola, to 
 show his authority or intimidate the French, had 
 
THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION 197 
 
 paid them a visit with a frigate of twenty-four 
 guns, two smaller armed vessels, and one hundred 
 and forty men. He pompously came to make written 
 protest against the settlement. The French out of 
 their slender stores entertained him handsomely and 
 sent him away with gratifying ceremony. A week 
 later an open boat containing the pompous Spaniard, 
 stripped of his pride and all his effects by the 
 shipwreck of his entire fleet on Chandeleur Island 
 and famishing from a five days' fast, arrived at Ship 
 Island. Here was an opportunity to secure the 
 friendship of the Spanish colony, and the French 
 exerted themselves to relieve his necessities. The 
 Governor was resupplied from the personal wardrobe 
 of Iberville, and his men completely equipped from 
 the scanty French store. 
 
 Bienville, the youth of twenty, returned at this 
 time from his expedition. He had left on March 22 
 with twenty-two Canadians and six Tensas Indians 
 for his exploring trip up the Red River. Their 
 course took them through swamps, sloughs, and little 
 rivers which they waded day after day, sometimes 
 to the neck and nearly always to the thighs or 
 waist. Bienville naively states that a medium-sized 
 man is at a great disadvantage in such a country, 
 because, while some of his men were in water only 
 to the waist, he and others were nearly swimming, 
 and pushing their packs before them on rafts — 
 their usual method of crossinsr rivers. At such 
 
198 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 times it was necessary to fire their guns frequently 
 to frighten away the alligators. By the end of the 
 second day all the Indians deserted, because they 
 could not stand the day-long exposure in cold water. 
 Besides it rained nearly every day, so that they 
 were deprived even of the comfort of a dry camp 
 when they were able to find a resting place above 
 the level of the swamp. Owing to the rains also the 
 water continued to rise until finally they chopped 
 out tree trunks with their hatchets and made 
 pirogues. These helped some, but, as the current 
 of the river now became very strong, their progress 
 was extremely slow. Four weeks had been spent in 
 this constant battle with Nature when Bienville de- 
 cided to fall back, and on the twenty-third of April 
 he began the descent of Red River in four pirogues, 
 in which after considerable difficulty he arrived, on 
 May 18, at the ships. 
 
 As he came down the Mississippi he learned that 
 the Bayagoulas had exterminated their village as- 
 sociates, the Mougoulachas, and filled their places 
 with other Indians. Iberville derived some satis- 
 faction from this, since, as he says, the event gives 
 him a good title to the greater portion of the 
 Bayagoula village, for it had belonged to this 
 Mougoulacha chief from whom he had bought it. 
 Bienville's expedition had not failed, however, for, 
 in addition to the acquisition of very necessary in- 
 formation about the country and the distant tribes, 
 
THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION 199 
 
 it had demonstrated anew the rare qualities of 
 leadership which all the Le Moynes possessed to a 
 degree only slightly less than their great brother, 
 and it gave Bienville his title to an actual and 
 enduring dominance in the colony. 
 
 Montigny and Davion, the seminary priests, 
 again came down the river on a visit about this 
 time and brought the disquieting news that the 
 English were tampering with the Indians to the 
 north. They brought with them a letter from 
 Tonty in which he described his efforts to counter- 
 act these conditions by telling the Indians, as Iber- 
 ville suggested, of the superior trading advantages 
 which the French could offer. From these priests 
 Iberville tried to secure information about the upper 
 Mississippi and its great tributaries on the west, 
 such as the Missouri, for at this time he was 
 deeply interested in the exploration of the sources 
 of the great river and was considering a voyage 
 into the interior to discover, if possible, the " waters 
 of the western sea." In this project, however, he 
 received no aid or encouragement from the mis- 
 sionaries, who knew nothing of the tributaries nor 
 of the country except near the river itself. 
 
 After making one more visit to his fort on the 
 Mississippi to regulate affairs there, he took his 
 departure on May 28, 1700. In pursuance of the 
 design against the Atlantic seaboard which he had 
 been considering for several years, Iberville con- 
 
200 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 eluded that this was as good a time as any to get 
 the necessary data, and so, ill as he was, he sailed 
 directly for New York harbor. His arrival on June 20 
 created great consternation. The Governor of the 
 port reported his presence to Lord Bellomont, of 
 the Captain Kidd connection, who in turn informed 
 the "Lords of Trade," and much correspondence 
 was exchanged in efforts to have the fortifications 
 improved. For, as Bellomont said, while Iberville 
 stated that he had only called for " wood and water " 
 while en route from the Mississippi to France, yet 
 this harbor was very much out of his way and 
 there was no doubt that he was exploring it with 
 ulterior designs. Iberville had entered the harbor 
 by the assistance of an old fisherman who lived 
 well down the bay, and he spent from four to 
 six weeks making soundings until, as he wrote the 
 Minister, he could " easily enter without a pilot." 
 Having completed his work without disturbance, he 
 detached a Jesuit to carry despatches overland to 
 Canada and himself sailed for France. Here he 
 was so ill that for weeks he was unable to make his 
 report to the Minister. At length in October he 
 began to improve, and his report was sent in. 
 
 The Cabinet agreed from necessity and without 
 enthusiasm that Louisiana must be occupied. They 
 were unable to rise to the heights reached by La 
 Salle and Iberville, who saw the opportunity in 
 their very hands to secure to France a dominion 
 
THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION 201 
 
 illimitable in extent and incalculably wealthy, as 
 well as a definite means of checking the growing 
 power of the aggressive English. The Cabinet felt 
 none of this ; they saw only the present, and unless 
 a profitable return could be promised that would 
 immediately fill the empty coffers of the King, the 
 undertaking did not appeal to them. They doubtless 
 believed that they were pouring out a vast treasure 
 that could better be employed nearer home than in 
 those countries from which, as they now felt, the 
 reports had been over-enthusiastic. "Meanwhile, as 
 the river is at least eight hundred leagues in length 
 and flows through a beautiful country from which 
 great riches can ultimately be drawn, it will be 
 necessary to guard the mouth." From this post also 
 it was thought it would be easy to reach the Spanish 
 mines in New Mexico. Pontchartrain finally ad- 
 mitted, as the conclusion of his cautious report, that 
 it was necessary to bar the road to the English on 
 the east. 
 
 While Iberville was receiving such meticulous and 
 half-hearted support from his Government, Peter the 
 Great about the same time (1703) laid the foundations 
 of St. Petersburg. He began with a barren and un- 
 cultivated island which in Winter was a frozen swamp 
 and in Summer a heap of mud into which there was 
 no entry except through pathless forests and deep 
 morasses haunted only by wolves and bears. Clear- 
 ing the forests, draining the marshes, and raising the 
 
202 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 banks, he converted this desolate and uninviting spot 
 in three years into a thriving seaport of one hundred 
 and fifty thousand people resting on the edge of 
 the harbor, which was filled with shipping. If Louis 
 XIV had supported Iberville even to the extent of 
 permitting him to bring to his colony the hundreds 
 of thousands of Huguenots who were eager to leave 
 France, this numerous and industrious French popu- 
 lation would have taken possession of the Mississippi 
 Valley to its remote tributaries, Iberville's problem 
 would have solved itself, and the future of America 
 would have experienced an inconceivable change. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 AFFAIRS OF STATE IN FRANCE AND SPAIN — 
 THE COLONY MOVES TO MOBILE 
 
 IBERVILLE now began preparations for a third 
 and larger expedition. He intended to execute 
 thoroughly the plan of blocking the English 
 by a line of interior forts before resuming his more 
 congenial method of frontal attack. Meanwhile 
 some interesting events were taking place in Europe 
 which were destined quite definitely to influence his 
 designs. In some ways these changes advanced, nay, 
 even hurried his plans, while in others obstacles 
 arose which seriously affected the Louisiana question. 
 King William of England at this time was earnestly 
 beset by interested parties who demanded assistance 
 in taking possession of the territory visited by Cap- 
 tain Banks. Among the most urgent was the son 
 of Daniel Coxe, the man who had borne the principal 
 expense of that expedition. Aid was promised, but 
 before it could be furnished an event occurred which 
 demanded the undivided attention of both England 
 and France. The colonies were forgotten and buried 
 out of sight in the selfish interests of the Mother 
 Countries. 
 
204 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 Early in 1700 the King of Spain lay dying and 
 several princes laid claim to the succession. The 
 King's eldest sister had married Louis XIV. The 
 Dauphin therefore in the common course of inheri- 
 tance would have succeeded to the throne, but Louis 
 and the Infanta at the time of their espousals had 
 solemnly renounced for herself and her heirs all 
 claim to the Spanish Crown. Soon after the Peace 
 of Ryswick, William III and Louis XIV, without 
 consulting the King of Spain, had drawn up a treaty 
 of partition and settled the succession on the Prince 
 of Bavaria, the son of a younger sister of King 
 Charles of Spain. Charles, anxious to avoid dis- 
 memberment of the empire, made a will also leaving 
 the Crown to the Prince of Bavaria. The ink on 
 these various instruments was hardly dry when the 
 Prince of Bavaria died. Louis and William again 
 drew up a partition treaty which settled the succes- 
 sion upon the Archduke Charles, second son of the 
 Emperor of Germany, and satisfied the various other 
 claimants and their friends by presenting them with 
 selected portions of the Spanish possessions. In spite 
 of the secrecy with which it was drawn, intelligence 
 of the second partition treaty reached Madrid, where 
 it roused to momentary energy the languishing ruler 
 of a languishing State. A wave of wrath swept over 
 Spain, and the dying King instructed his ambassadors 
 to remonstrate at the Courts of England and France, 
 while simultaneously he dismissed the ambassadors 
 
AFFAIRS OF STATE 206 
 
 of England and Holland, which States either he held 
 most at fault or feared least. When at length he 
 was at the point of death, he yielded to the influences 
 about him and made another will which remained 
 secret during the rest of his life. November 1, 1700, 
 he died. All Madrid crowded to the palace. The 
 gates were thronged. The antechamber was filled 
 with ambassadors and grandees eager to learn what 
 disposition had been made of the Crown. At length 
 the folding doors were flung open. The Duke of 
 Abrantis came forth and announced that the whole 
 Spanish monarchy was bequeathed to Philip, Duke 
 of Anjou, the son of the Dauphin. 
 
 With hardly a moment of hesitation, Louis XIV 
 broke his obligation in the treaty of partition as well 
 as that made at his marriage, and accepted for his 
 grandson the splendid legacy of Charles. The in- 
 difference of the English people as well as the un- 
 popularity of William and his ambitions would have 
 made this course perfectly safe if pride or passion 
 had not urged Louis to go farther. Just at this 
 crisis, the most important in his life, he committed 
 an error which undid all that forty years of victory 
 and intrigue had accomplished, and produced the dis- 
 memberment of the kingdom of his grandson, and 
 brought invasion, bankruptcy, and famine on his own. 
 James II died at St. Germain, and Louis acknowl- 
 edged his son King of England. The indignation 
 which the Castilians had felt when they heard that 
 
206 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 three foreign powers had undertaken to regulate the 
 Spanish succession was nothing to the rage with 
 which the English learned that their good neighbor 
 Louis had undertaken to provide them with a King. 
 The English rushed to arms as one man, and the 
 War of the Spanish Succession had begun. 
 
 The ever sensitive Spanish pride had been greatly 
 outraged by the treatment which that nation had 
 received by interference in America, and they lost no 
 opportunity of showing their resentment. The hang- 
 ing of Verrazzano, the navigator, captured in 1528, 
 and taken to Porto Rico charged with trespassing on 
 Spanish territory ; and the sickening murder of Jean 
 Ribaut with one hundred and fifty of his disarmed 
 and shackled companions by Menendez in 1565, are 
 but two of the numerous instances which attest only 
 too well the rigorous interpretation of the Spanish 
 claims in the New World. Obliged to yield many 
 of their pretensions, they retired inch by inch until 
 the Gulf of Mexico remained as their final stronghold. 
 Seignelay had also seen, in the discovery of the mouth 
 of the Mississippi in the Gulf, a means whereby a post 
 could be established that would serve as a protection 
 to the French in peace, as a base in case of war, and 
 ultimately result in the expulsion of the Spanish. 
 A part of this the Spaniards also saw and feared. 
 La Salle had been hunted up and down the coast by 
 a hundred men under De Leon, but the wreck of the 
 ships and the cunningly hidden camp on Matagorda 
 
AFFAIRS OF STATE 207 
 
 Bay had led them to believe that the French had all 
 been destroyed, until, on pushing up to Cenis, two 
 Frenchmen were captured and sent to Spain, at 
 which time the truth was discovered about La Salle. 
 The Viceroy thereupon decided to plant a post at La 
 Salle's camp on Matagorda Bay (Fort St. Louis), and 
 in 1690 the St. Francis of Assisi Mission was estab- 
 lished with one hundred and ten men. The King of 
 Spain then ordered that all the Indians of Texas 
 should be reduced to obedience. This apparently 
 simple subjugation was finally accomplished by 
 United States troops under General Miles in 1886, 
 two hundred years later. 
 
 Governor Galva of Coahuila and of Texas (1691) 
 went with fifty soldiers and seven priests to establish 
 posts on Red River, at Natchez, and on Guadalupe 
 River, but owing to crop failures and Indian hostility 
 they were abandoned (1693). The capture of Vera 
 Cruz by the filibusters, the expedition against Car- 
 thagena (1697) following the plans of La Salle, with 
 other similar happenings, did not cause the Spanish 
 to relish France for a neighbor. Then a plan came 
 to light in which the Spaniards purposed capturing 
 San Domingo, and the French realized that something 
 must be done to make the Indies safe. The Peace 
 of Ryswick seemed to satisfy for a time. 
 
 After the death of Charles II of Spain that nation 
 very naturally looked to France for the protection 
 of the new King against the ambitions of other 
 
208 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 States. It was under such conditions that Louis 
 dreamed of occupying Louisiana, and Iberville in the 
 new war saw for himself an opportunity to execute 
 some of his long-maturing designs against the English. 
 Iberville had sailed and returned, had sailed and 
 returned, and was about to sail again. He recog- 
 nized how thoroughly his projects annoyed the Span- 
 ish, for they could not conceal it. The Spanish 
 ships at Pensacola which he had found during his 
 first voyage had gone there, as he fully believed, on 
 advices from Europe so as to be the first on the 
 ground. This idea had also occurred to Beaujeu, as 
 one recalls his objections to the first Iberville expe- 
 dition. The Spanish had made quick protest against 
 the settlement at Biloxi; nevertheless the French 
 had given food to the Spanish fleet in the first voy- 
 age and succored the shipwrecked Governor in the 
 second. Relying upon these evidences of French 
 favor and the Spanish desire for protection, Pont- 
 chartrain wished to profit by the circumstances to 
 induce Spain to give up Pensacola to France, — 
 otherwise the Minister intended to send Iberville to 
 occupy Mobile, this being in his opinion a more suit- 
 able site for a fort than the mouth of the Mississippi. 
 The negotiations however were not easy, and much 
 time was consumed, so that upon Iberville's return 
 from his second trip Pontchartrain requested him to 
 frame a memorial that would aid in bringing Spain 
 to terms. 
 
AFFAIRS OF STATE 209 
 
 The face of Iberville as seen in his portrait reveals 
 a high intelligence joined to the decision of a soldier. 
 This double character we know, but his correspond- 
 ence at this time shows something more, — a politic 
 spirit which well understood the scheme of things 
 which he was preparing for America and which he 
 was destined to inaugurate. The manner of announc- 
 ing it is notable. He completed his memoir in three 
 weeks while at Paris in January, 1701. It had for 
 its' object to prove that the Spanish should not take 
 offence at the Mississippi colony since those colonies 
 protected New Spain against England. He prepared 
 a plan of campaign to resist if possible the encroach- 
 ments of the English in America. He reiterated his 
 previous prophecies in regard to the English advance 
 and made deductions from what he had already seen. 
 The English from Virginia had armed the Chicka- 
 saws with guns and joined with them in pursuit of 
 neighboring peoples, in particular the Colapissas. 
 They had sent away the prisoners to be sold as slaves 
 and kept the children for slaves of their own. He 
 felt sure that if present tendencies were not changed 
 the English in forty or fifty years would occupy all 
 the territory up to the Mississippi, which he says is 
 " the most beautiful country in all the world." 
 
 " They will have the power in connection with the Indians 
 to make themselves masters of all America and the greater 
 part of Mexico, and all can be accomplished before it is 
 even known in France and Spain that such an action is 
 
 14 
 
210 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 contemplated. While the country now occupied is exten- 
 sive, that is no reason against preventing the ruin of the 
 colonies of France and Spain in America and, above all, 
 Mexico, by throwing a good colony promptly into the 
 vicinity of the Mississippi that empties into the Gulf, to 
 occupy Mobile and to hinder the progress of the English." 
 
 Iberville showed also why the Spanish posts at Apa- 
 lachicola, St. Augustine and Pensacola in Florida, at 
 St. Bernard, and with the Cenis in Texas, would not 
 suffice to preserve their possessions against the en- 
 croachment of the English. The redoubtable warrior 
 was learning the tricks of statecraft. " If the Span- 
 ish do not consent," he writes, " and this can only 
 arise from ignorance or obstinacy, I will erect a for- 
 tification at Mobile, make peace with the Chickasaws, 
 and arm them against their neighbors." 
 
 This memorial was presented by the Spanish am- 
 bassador to the Junta, who replied that they could 
 not permit strangers to settle at Pensacola, as that 
 would give them the means, if they increased, of 
 disturbing the most fertile country in New Spain and 
 also the navigation between Vera Cruz and Havana. 
 The Junta added, with characteristic pride, that the 
 English colonies were not so dangerous as those of 
 Iberville, and in respect to the French colony on the 
 Mississippi, a territory belonging to Spain, they hoped 
 that Louis XIV would soon order his commanders to 
 receive the patents of his Most Catholic Majesty, who 
 ought to hold them for his own subjects. 
 
AFFAIRS OF STATE 211 
 
 This was the meeting of June 6, 1701. In that of 
 June 21 the Junta declared that the King of Spain 
 had the power of uniting to his colonies and under 
 his protection those which the French had usurped 
 on the Mississippi Kiver, which was the greatest or- 
 nament of his crown. One of the counsellors re- 
 marked that he could not submit to having any other 
 nation occupy those posts or shores which had been 
 intrusted solely to Spain by Pope Alexander VI under 
 pain of excommunication. 
 
 Pontchartrain, urging the justice of his claim and 
 invoking the bonds that held the two nations, con- 
 cluded, nevertheless, that Louis XIV would not aban- 
 don his settlements on the Mississippi River, which 
 he could conduct with as good title as in Canada, 
 and even if it were true that the Spanish descended 
 the river, they had made no colonies there. 
 
 The young Minister had in fact gone beyond the 
 stage of negotiation, and toward the end of 1701 was 
 sending Iberville to occupy Mobile, since he could not 
 obtain possession of Pensacola. Besides being the 
 better site for a colony. Mobile was a better base 
 from which to watch the Spanish. Taking posses- 
 sion of this post he regarded as an act of force, but 
 not of violence. 
 
 This was the time which Iberville chose again to 
 urge his plan for the attack on Boston and New York. 
 After a general description of the topographical feat- 
 ures of the country which shows his familiarity with 
 
212 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 his subject, he presents in exhaustive detail that de- 
 sign lost at sea which was referred to on an earlier 
 page.* " The essential point," he says, " is to get 
 possession of Boston, but there are many risks and 
 obstacles to be encountered." 
 
 Referring to a similar plan presented by the Mar- 
 quis de Nesmond, he adds : 
 
 " Nothing seems difficult to persons without experience, 
 but unless we are prepared to raise a large and costly arma- 
 ment our only hope is in surprise. We should make the 
 attack in winter, while the seafaring population is absent 
 and the mechanics who are left are ill prepared for fighting 
 and not expecting an enemy. One thousand Canadians, 
 four hundred regulars, and as many Indians should leave 
 Quebec in November, ascend the Chaudiere, cross the 
 height of land, and descend the Kennebec. Boston should 
 be approached with the utmost secrecy under cover of the 
 forest and carried by night attack. This should be easy, as 
 they have no standing army and no discipline." 
 
 New York, he thinks, would not only refuse to aid, 
 but would rejoice to see the fall of her rival, Boston ; 
 " then it in turn can be attacked." 
 
 " Surprise," " winter campaign," " night attack," 
 how familiar these sound to one who has followed his 
 operations ! How thoroughly characteristic, as well, 
 is his reliance upon his trusty Canadians ! Who, to 
 be sure, could lead such an expedition to success but 
 Iberville ? He says : 
 
 • See p. 94. 
 
AFFAIRS OF STATE 213 
 
 " A man who makes it a point of honor to accomplish 
 what he undertakes, manages so as to adopt the best meas- 
 ures. I maintain that in carrying out that project, which 
 appears highly problematical, it is impossible to take the 
 place [Boston] except with a considerable body of troops 
 and an armament such as I describe, and I maintain that 
 the only means to become master of it by land is to sur- 
 prise it, by conducting troops thither across the woods and 
 the unfrequented places. My experience in Canada and 
 its strength leaves me no doubt that it can furnish eighteen 
 hundred men capable of undergoing the fatigue necessary 
 to be endured in order to penetrate into Boston across 
 woods and rivers. This opinion will appear impossible to 
 many oflficers whose rank and seniority would lead them to 
 expect the command of this affair, and I doubt not but they 
 will oppose it ; not feeling strong enough to put themselves 
 at the head of a detachment which is to be conducted with 
 the utmost vigor, they will not fail to impress as much as 
 possible that summer would be best adapted for executing 
 this design. If persons capable of enduring fatigue of so 
 trying a war are put at the head of vigorous young men, I 
 make bold to say, there is no need of managing the enemy 
 in that country ; that effective war consists in the most 
 active and prompt operations, and that marching against 
 the enemy with drums beating has always afforded them 
 time to withdraw into places of security. 
 
 " Those who draw up plans in expectation of seeing 
 others execute them, give themselves little concern whether 
 success will attend their views. They propose nothing but 
 what I am willing to execute. If attention is paid to the 
 success attendant on all my projects, it will be seen that I 
 have succeeded at Hudson's Bay, at Castor in the capture 
 of Pemaquid, Newfoundland, and finally in the discovery 
 of the Mississippi, where my predecessors have failed. If 
 my memorials be reexamined, it will be seen that I have 
 
214 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 submitted nothing but what was correct and what I have 
 adhered to, I hope the memoir which I now submit re- 
 specting Boston will not be less digested, and I doubt 
 whether success can be otherwise gained. I repeat that 
 few persons are so well qualified as I to succeed herein, for 
 I am persuaded that every one in Canada, whether French- 
 man or Indian, will feel a pleasure in following me, 
 and that the officers will evince no difficulty, being com- 
 manded by a gentleman of that Navy from which they are 
 detached." 
 
 Impracticable as it probably was, the above me- 
 morial to the Minister exhibits the tenacity of pur- 
 pose, the resolution, and the strong national feeling 
 which animated Iberville. In this proposal made at 
 a time when he had barely recovered from a long 
 and dangerous illness, he invited hardships which 
 seasoned officers, as he says, would shrink from un- 
 dertaking. What he promises, that is, what he sets 
 out to accomplish, he certainly performs, and that 
 too without the beating of drums or the blowing of 
 trumpets. He inspires the feeling that his plan, 
 impossible as it seems, might have succeeded only 
 too well from the sheer force of the leader's iron 
 determination. Nothing ever resulted from these 
 plans, and Iberville soon took up another when the 
 opportunity presented, which required activity by 
 sea. 
 
 Owing to his illness, Iberville had hitherto been 
 unable to return to the colony which he was eagerly 
 building, but he had sent supplies in the Enflammee, 
 
AFFAIRS OF STATE 215 
 
 which arrived in May, 1700. These stores, however, 
 were only temporary in character and not sufficient 
 in quantity, and were to be followed by another ship- 
 ment. Again in a few months the Pelican appeared 
 with supplies in which the thoughtful care of the 
 Commander was everywhere apparent. He was still 
 far from well, but nevertheless he made arrangements 
 for a new expedition in the vessels at his disposal. 
 Having waited until the last moment for the return 
 of the Enjiammee or word from the Junta, he at 
 length decided to sail. His ships were ready, and, 
 taking command of the Renommee again with the 
 Palmier under his brother Serigny, they took their 
 departure, arriving at Pensacola November 24, 1701. 
 Here they learned of the death of Sauvole, and in 
 turn gave the joyful information to the Spanish of 
 the accession of the Duke of Anjou to the throne of 
 Spain. The Spanish Commander begged Iberville to 
 delay his project at least until he could secure advices 
 from Vera Cruz, but this was refused. Iberville said 
 he had only two months to stay on the coast, which 
 was little enough time for the proper execution of 
 his orders, and that the work must proceed. A boat 
 was sent to Biloxi with orders to Bienville to trans- 
 port everything to Mobile. Serigny and Chateau- 
 guay met them with men and materials from Pensa- 
 cola, and then a large party advanced up the Bay to 
 take possession in the name of the King. Iberville 
 himself did not go to Mobile at first, being confined 
 
216 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 to bed by an abscess in his side from which he had 
 suffered ever since leaving San Domingo. His effi- 
 ciency, however, in this instance was not greatly 
 diminished. Everj^ day his orders went out, now 
 for building the royal magazines on Massacre Island 
 and locating the new establishment on Mobile Bay,* 
 then to send reinforcements to the workmen, or to 
 direct the construction of flatboats. The success 
 of the Commander's plans at Mobile was largely 
 due to the careful attention of his brothers, Serigny, 
 Bienville, and Chateauguay, who enforced their exe- 
 cution with all the vigorous spirit of the family. f 
 Tonty, who had been compelled by royal order to 
 abandon Fort St. Louis on the Illinois River, now 
 came down to join Iberville, who sent him as ambas- 
 sador to the Chickasaws and Choctaws with instruc- 
 tions if possible to bring some of the chiefs down to 
 Mobile for general council. 
 
 The port at Mobile had excellent depth of water 
 for vessels, was well protected from the winds, and 
 more defensible than Pensacola. On March 3 Iber- 
 ville felt well enough to make a visit to the fort, and, 
 taking the Palmier with the last cargo of provisions, 
 he sailed through the little channel south of Massacre 
 Island, of which he had learned from a Spanish pilot. 
 
 • The settlement was located upon or near Dog River. 
 
 t Gabriel Le Moyne d'Assigny, at this time twenty years of age, 
 accompanied his brother on this expedition, but owing to illness he 
 remained at San Domingo, where he died before Iberville's return. — < 
 De Lisle, quoted by Heinrich. 
 
AFFAIRS OF STATE 217 
 
 As the Palmier went through the channel, Iberville 
 remarked that the difficult entrance would make it 
 easy to defend, but he feared a strong south wind 
 might shift the bar at the mouth and close the chan- 
 nel, — an event which happened just as he predicted, 
 about twenty years later. Crossing the bay and as- 
 cending the river, he found Bienville in the midst of 
 operations, clearing the forest, building a boat and 
 the fort. He was greatly delighted with the site se- 
 lected for the fort. It had been beautifully chosen, 
 on a bluff raised more than twenty feet from the 
 water and covered with a thick growth of white and 
 red oak, laurels, sassafras, and other Southern woods, 
 but especially favored with pines suitable for masts. 
 He took advantage of the latter endowment to replace 
 in the Palmier a mast lost on the recent voyage. 
 Bienville was sent by Iberville to explore the bay and 
 take soundings. He began with the small islands, and 
 on one he found five figures — a man, woman, child, 
 bear, and owl — which the Indians worshipped. These 
 images he took to his brother, much to the astonish- 
 ment of the Indians, who expected to see his temerity 
 severely punished. Iberville thought the figures 
 might be the work of the Spanish under De Soto, and 
 carried them with him to France. Thirty miles 
 above the fort were the Mobile Indians, and five or 
 six miles beyond them the villages of the Tohomes 
 were scattered along the islands and banks of the river 
 in small groups. These were the Indians who by their 
 
218 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 industry and frugality furnished the French with the 
 food which many times saved them from starvation. 
 
 Iberville now drew the alignments of the future 
 city and marked out the allotments. The four fami- 
 lies he had brought with him were located and started 
 to clear their land. Messengers from Tonty then 
 came in, announcing the speedy arrival of the Choc- 
 taw and Chickasaw chiefs whom he had gone to visit 
 and convert to French interests. They arrived at 
 night, and the next morning were assembled by Bien- 
 ville, who acted as interpreter for his brother. Iber- 
 ville felicitated them on their desire for peace, and 
 warned them against the ruinous designs of the Eng- 
 lish, who armed tribe against tribe until all were 
 exterminated. He gave them many presents as an 
 aid in convincing them, and painted in glowing colors 
 the benefits to be derived from the French alliance, 
 threatening them besides that he would arm the 
 neighboring tribes against them if they made trouble. 
 They were easily convinced by the combination of ar- 
 gument, bribe, and menace. Iberville calculated this 
 would mean about two thousand Chickasaws and four 
 thousand Choctaws allied to the Crown of France. 
 The friendship of these tribes was very necessary, 
 since, like the Iroquois, they occupied a very important 
 strategic position between the French and English 
 colonists. Upon their return Iberville sent Canadians 
 with them to locate trading stations near their vil- 
 lages. Letters were also sent through them to Quebec, 
 
AFFAIRS OF STATE 219 
 
 asking for missionaries to be located among them for 
 the salvation of their souls — and France. Well satis- 
 fied with his work, Iberville returned on the next day 
 to the frigate, thence to Pensacola, and on April 29 
 he sailed for France. With him too went Le Sueur, 
 who had returned from his adventurous trip up the 
 Mississippi with his two-masted felucca and twenty- 
 five men. He had reached Lake Pepin after many 
 hardships. Thence he moved to Blue Earth River, 
 where he built a stockade and spent the Winter of 
 1700-1701 killing buffalo and trading with the Sioux. 
 He returned bringing a load of earth stained blue 
 with silicate of iron which he thought was valuable 
 ore. His felucca was the first decked and shipbuilt 
 vessel to sail on the upper Mississippi. 
 
 When Iberville sailed, it was with the full intent to 
 return to his colony the following year, but this was 
 the last time his colony or his brother was to behold 
 him. His destiny approached its accomplishment. 
 
 Nevertheless the proud, ambitious Iberville flung 
 himself unsparingly against the obstacles of Nature with 
 the same high courage with which he smote his English 
 foes. Sick but unsubdued, toiling feverishly amid the 
 canebrakes and cypress swamps of tropical Louisiana, 
 he developed his drama, in a gloom that was lighted 
 only by occasional gleams of the courtly splendors at 
 Versailles, while in the imminent background, over the 
 swiftly spinning strands, the inexorable Sisters bent 
 with watchful eyes and ever ready shears. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH — 
 DEATH OF IBERVILLE 
 
 THE return of Iberville to France in 1702 was 
 very different from that of 1700. His suc- 
 cess was quite vexatious to Beaujeu, who 
 frankly said so in his letter to Villeraont. The 
 Spanish, contrary to the prognostics of Beaujeu, 
 had not interfered with the French colonies. This, 
 however, was largely due to the wisdom and tact 
 with which Iberville had managed them, as well as 
 the impression which they quickly received that he 
 was a man of ability and determination whom it was 
 not safe to arouse. The evident commercial value 
 of the new territory also awakened much interest. 
 Thus Thoynard * showed a more than casual curi- 
 osity in this phase of the work, and questioned 
 Iberville very closely on the general appearance 
 and products of the country. Speaking of Mobile, 
 Iberville wrote Thoynard about the beauty of the 
 surrounding country, the fertility of the soil, the 
 
 ♦ Thoynard had awaited the return of Iberville with the utmost 
 impatience. Serigny promised to send him news immediately, but 
 he was ordered to Hudson Bay before the arrival of the frigates. 
 
FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 221 
 
 depth of water in the harbor, and his friendly re- 
 lations with the Indians. He says also : 
 
 " I have built a fort seventy leagues above Mobile, about 
 ten leagues from the Chickasaws, and eight leagues from 
 the Choctaws, where Tonty commands with twenty men. 
 At present we are masters of nearly twenty-four thousand 
 Indians, of whom eighteen thousand are within one hundred 
 and fifty leagues of the fort, and by horse we can commu- 
 nicate in twelve days with the Illinois Indians, and in only 
 twenty days could reach Maryland and Virginia." 
 
 Thoynard, however, was more curious about the 
 commercial possibilities than the military advan- 
 tages, and he desires to know how much copper 
 and lead Le Sueur brought down with him, and its 
 character, and whether it had been found super- 
 ficially or deep. He inquires if silkworms had 
 been seen, if he had planted corn, and if so if it 
 came up and when, and if any attempt had been 
 made to domesticate the buffalo. Iberville had 
 developed many views on the commercial possibil- 
 ities of Louisiana which personal observations had 
 inspired, fortified by his knowledge of the savages 
 and their activities in time of peace. He figured 
 that from 16,000 to 24,000 cattle skins and 500 
 deer skins which he proposed bringing over ought 
 to return more than 2,500,000 fr., besides which 
 one could get from four to five pounds of good 
 wool from each hide at 20 sous, and two pounds 
 of hair at 10 sous, while the skins of other animals 
 
222 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 like bear, wolves, wildcats, foxes, and martens 
 would bring at least 200,000 livres, which under 
 conditions then present would bring the King more 
 than 250,000 livres in customs. As usual, the idea 
 of commerce kept rhythmic pace with the enlarge- 
 ment of the boundaries. 
 
 Iberville, beguiling the opposition of the Spanish, 
 had marked the boundaries in the east, as La Salle 
 with his blood had consecrated them in the west. 
 The French colony was a wedge between the Eng- 
 lish and Spanish colonies as in La Salle's time, 
 but the policy of France at the two epochs was 
 widely different. La Salle had entered the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley as an enemy of Spain, following the 
 traditions of French politics since the era of Fran- 
 cis I, while Iberville had located himself as the 
 ostensible and even ostentatious friend and auxiliary 
 of Spain. Meanwhile he gradually diverted the 
 Spanish Indians to the French posts and the Spanish 
 commerce of Havana, Pensacola, and Vera Cruz to 
 French ports. 
 
 It is unquestionably true that by early education 
 and environment Iberville had acquired a strong an- 
 tagonism to the English that was racial as well as 
 temperamental, and this had been intensified by his 
 many conflicts with them. It is possible that this 
 antagonism had forced upon him the idea of com- 
 bining with the Spanish to resist English aggres- 
 sion, but there is no reason to believe that he 
 
FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 223 
 
 would have maintained such an allegiance longer 
 than was desirable from a French standpoint, nor 
 that he would not have opposed the Spanish as 
 readily as the English if they had not shown 
 themselves more tractable in his skilful hands. 
 But while adroitly managing the supercilious and 
 decadent Spanish as policy demanded, he never 
 for a moment forgot his more vigorous and dan- 
 gerous foes, the English. Hence we see him again 
 at work on his scheme for the fortification of the 
 interior with a chain of forts which were to be 
 placed at the mouth of the Mississippi, at the mouth 
 of the Arkansas, and one each on the Ohio and 
 Missouri Rivers. This he thought would prevent 
 the Anglo-Indian alliances and the English attempts 
 at colonization. In connection with this plan he 
 also developed a scheme for moving the tribes from 
 their various homes to establishments that he would 
 select as most advantageous for their concentration, 
 and thus constitute formidable foci of antagonism 
 to the English. He calculated that in this way an 
 army properly equipped of about 12,000 Indians 
 could be kept at hand, and a descent on the Eng- 
 lish colonies would always be possible. He hoped 
 too that he might enlist the interest of the Indians 
 by furnishing them with goods at a lower price 
 than the English could do, since in the absence of 
 water highways it would be necessary for their goods 
 to be brought across the mountains on horses. 
 
224 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 Thus he would safeguard Canada, Acadia, and, 
 by the same token, Mexico, by his establishment 
 in Louisiana, — at least Mexico would be open only 
 to the French. In this plan he recognized the 
 fundamental differences between the English and 
 the French, — the English as agriculturists, attached 
 to the soil and spreading by continuity ; the French, 
 traders over vast territories, roaming and wishing 
 to roam, culling the richest and choicest of the 
 products, but gradually pressed aside by the steady, 
 relentless encroachment of the English. Quite nat- 
 urally, however, he did not realize that this funda- 
 mental difference was fatal to the ultimate success 
 of his theory. 
 
 Meanwhile Canada felt an increasing hostility to 
 his projects which blazed forth in 1703 when it was 
 expected that Iberville would be made Governor- 
 General of the new colony. They complained that 
 he diverted the trade in beaver to Louisiana.* 
 They insinuated in Quebec and even in his home at 
 Montreal that he sought only his own advantage at 
 their expense, and so they sent their emissaries to 
 antagonize his plans among the Indians, and at the 
 same time these agents were instructed to conceal 
 themselves from him and not see him lest they be 
 corrupted. All who approached him or were asso- 
 ciated with him, even his brothers and friends in 
 Canada, were suspected of being bound to his in- 
 
 * Callieres to the Minister. 
 
FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 225 
 
 terest, and his friends complained to him of the 
 humiliation and indignity which his plans drew 
 upon them. Even Maricourt, who had just negoti- 
 ated an advantageous peace with the Iroquois, was 
 not free from reproach. 
 
 Thus Iberville, while inheriting the unfinished 
 plans of La Salle, also inherited the hostile senti- 
 ment of the Canadians, though to a less serious 
 degree, because he made friends more easily and 
 the antagonism was not complicated by the hatred 
 of the religious orders. It is noticeable, too, that 
 there is always a spirit of jealousy aroused against 
 those who establish themselves in the interior or 
 nearer the founts of trade. Quebec was jealous of 
 Montreal, and both were jealous of the pioneers 
 on the lakes, in the Mississippi Valley, and in 
 Louisiana. The Canadian hostility had become more 
 marked since 1701, when the King, replying to an 
 inquiry of Governor Callieres, had said that it was 
 his intention to maintain Louisiana as a separate 
 colony, since it seemed easier and speedier to govern 
 it direct than via Quebec. To Iberville it seemed 
 quite rational that the St. Lawrence basin should 
 constitute one colony and the Mississippi River Valley 
 another, since the commerce as a means of economy 
 should be by water from the mouth of each river 
 to the interior. At the same time Ducasse and 
 San Domingo were antagonized by the same means 
 and for the same reason as Callieres and Canada. 
 
 15 
 
226 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 Thus a web of jealousy, envy, dissimulation, self- 
 interest, anger, and wounded pride was gradually 
 woven to restrain the activities of the great Canadian 
 and to minimize the results. 
 
 Nicholas de la Salle,* the commissary of the King 
 at Mobile, was engaged most actively in bring- 
 ing accusations against the "league of brothers," 
 whose constant success and growing influence aroused 
 his spiteful animosity. Neither mechanical obstacles 
 nor accusations against their characters were spared. 
 As for Iberville, he complained only of those who 
 impugned the honesty of his intentions. He asked 
 if he ought to be treated like an Englishman or 
 other enemy of his country, and if it was right that 
 his relatives and friends should be made to suffer 
 on his account. He was particularly sensitive to 
 those attacks from Canada, in whose behalf he had 
 toiled terribly and toward which his heart ever 
 turned as home. He felt keenly that the Canadians 
 belittled him when the colonies clashed by contrast- 
 ing their liberality with his poverty. These attacks, 
 however, by men of no name or standing, have left 
 few traces save only the memory of the obstacles 
 he had to encounter, and his perseverance in the 
 midst of miseries and perfidies more cruel and often 
 harder to bear than his physical trials as a soldier 
 
 * Nicholas de la Salle was not related to Robert Cavalier, although 
 associated with him. He wrote a memoir in 1685 on the discoveries 
 of the latter. 
 
Portion of De Lisle's Carte dk Louisiana, 1718 
 
 {Original in possession of Chicago Historical Society) 
 
 Shows (a) De Soto's wanderiu 
 
 gs in 1540 ; {!,) La Salle's landiner'' '"'^ ]""rney to the interior, and place of his death ; (c) Tonty's jouruey to theChickf 
 jyj-jggj^jippi River below New Orleans; {(■) route of Eienville from Tensas''^illage to Bed Riv 
 
 theOhickasaws ; (t/) the old forts at Biloxi, ou Mobile Bay, and on the 
 
9 -i 
 
FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 227 
 
 and seaman. Whatever was alleged against his 
 person, they must admit the more prominent fact 
 that he accomplished much. Whether, as charged, 
 he had affairs apart from those of the King is not 
 known, but it is known that he acquired renown, 
 extended the power of France, and commenced 
 the work of colonization in the South. His means 
 were modest, for, in spite of great efforts, the 
 little colony had only sixty-four Canadians, where 
 he wished to bring one hundred and fifty families, 
 which he thought would suffice until peace would 
 permit him to do more. From 1700 his health had 
 been profoundly affected. He suffered intensely 
 and almost constantly with rheumatism, besides 
 which he had had one attack of yellow fever and 
 a dangerous abscess which required an operation. 
 His illness had been so severe that he had been 
 unable to return to the colony in 1703, but sent 
 the Loire with seventeen passengers, 60,000 livres 
 of money, and provisions and stores for the colony, 
 promising to come himself on the Pelican in Sep- 
 tember. In this year also he prepared an expedition 
 consisting of the Pelican, the Renommee, and a 
 small frigate to attack the Virginian coast, but, 
 owing to European complications, as appears from 
 a letter of Pontchartrain, the project had to be 
 abandoned. 
 
 The Pelican arrived in Louisiana again in the 
 Summer of 1704, but again without the Commander, 
 
228 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 though his personal care and interest were in evi- 
 dence in every part of the cargo, which included 
 French girls as wives for the restless Canadians, 
 whom Iberville hoped thereby to domesticate and 
 anchor to the colony. But besides such blessings as 
 live stock, food, and merchandise, the ship also 
 brought the curse of yellow fever from San Domingo, 
 and this slew two-thirds of the colonists, among 
 whom was the efficient, loyal, gallant Tonty. Iber- 
 ville himself had never recovered entirely from his 
 fever. In February, 1704, he was again summoned 
 to Paris, and was there assigned to his long-desired 
 expedition against the English colonial coast. With 
 high courage he set about his preparations in spite 
 of his fever, but he became so ill that the expedi- 
 tion was again abandoned. His life was despaired 
 of. His brother Serigny and his wife hastened to 
 his side, and under their loving care he began to im- 
 prove slowly. But neither the continued misfortune 
 that seemed to attend this particular expedition 
 nor his own personal suffering in any measure 
 abated the eagerness of his temperament. When he 
 had nearly recovered, he announced to the Cabinet 
 his readiness to make an attack on his old enemies, 
 the English, in the Barbadoes and other western 
 islands. 
 
 This was but a part of his general scheme toward 
 securing French dominion in the Mississippi Valley 
 and upon the Gulf. His previous experience with 
 
FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 229 
 
 the English inspired him with confidence, while 
 his coolness and intrepidity, united to his great 
 sagacity and growing political force, made him a 
 dominant factor that might easily give rise to that 
 groundless suspicion, more than once mentioned, 
 that he wished to create a Government of his own 
 in connection with his league of brothers, the Cana- 
 dian Maccabees. Much glory, to be sure, had come 
 to him, but, in the way of actual compensation, very 
 little. Though he had not yet received his com- 
 mission, he had been made the first Governor-General 
 of Louisiana, an appointment which made him 
 Commander-in-Chief of all the French possessions 
 on the Gulf and north along the Mississippi to the 
 ill-defined boundaries of New France. This com- 
 prised practically all of the vast territory which 
 the United States subsequently acquired by the 
 Louisiana Purchase. This, in addition to his titles 
 Chevalier de St. Louis (1699) and Capitaine de 
 Vaisseau (1702), gave him much honor, but he 
 still felt the need of an income that would provide 
 for his own necessities and those of his family and 
 dependants ; so he asked for the title of Count 
 with a definite salary and for permission to enter 
 the slave trade. In thanking the King for his 
 last honor, he delicately inquired why the services 
 of his brother Maricourt in negotiating the im- 
 portant Iroquois treaty had not been recognized 
 in some way. The query was not answered, and 
 
230 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 beyond the inadequate and unremunerative grant 
 of a tract of wilderness on Chaleurs Bay in Acadia 
 (1691) and the seigniory which his father re- 
 ceived, neither Minister nor King ever recognized 
 officially and materially the immense services ren- 
 dered to France by Iberville and his family, or his 
 companions in arms.* 
 
 His latest offer to serve against the English was 
 accepted, and Iberville the colonist again appears 
 in the more familiar and congenial role of Iberville 
 the warrior. Taking his brother Chateauguay, he 
 departed with vessels and three hundred men to 
 harass the English commerce and attack the English 
 islands. On his way to the Barbadoes he attacked 
 the islands of Nevis and St. Christopher in April, 
 1706, and secured their surrender with all their 
 goods, chattels, horses, cattle, and sheep, besides 
 seven thousand negroes. He captured seventeen 
 hundred and fifty men and thirty ships, one being 
 a man-of-war and the rest armed merchantmen. All 
 this immense wealth he poured into Martinique, 
 his temporary place of deposit, and nearly swamped 
 that little city with the sudden abundance. 
 
 His instructions as usual were "general," and 
 he now saw his way clear to make that long-delayed 
 and eagerly anticipated attack upon the English 
 
 * He had suggested that a more lasting recognition of his services 
 could be effected by naming after him some portion of the country 
 he had explored and developed around Mobile, but even this grati- 
 fication was not accorded him. 
 
FURTHER PROJECTS AGAINST THE ENGLISH 231 
 
 colonies which he had first conceived during the 
 Pemaquid campaign. For a whole decade he had 
 conducted his operations with this darling plan in 
 his mind. Every year it had been deferred, and 
 now, with his fine fleet manned by enthusiastic and 
 devoted crews, with an undivided command, and a 
 splendid prestige, he determined to sweep the At- 
 lantic coast as clean as Hudson Bay. The oppor- 
 tunity and the man stood face to face. He made 
 sail westward with the intention of gathering up 
 any stray vessels of the colonial merchant fleets, 
 after which he purposed to ravage the coast sys- 
 tematically from Charleston to Boston, whence he 
 could return to Louisiana with his victorious and 
 heavily laden ships. First, however, for this more 
 extensive undertaking he thought to add to his 
 equipment. On such an expedition it was especially 
 necessary to go fully prepared. He therefore made 
 a landing at Havana to take on additional supplies 
 and a thousand Spanish auxiliaries. Thus Iberville 
 planned, but the plans of men rest on the knees 
 of the gods. His thoroughness in this instance was 
 unfortunate to the last degree. His errand proved 
 fatal, for an epidemic was raging, and the un- 
 conquered warrior who had run the gantlet of 
 twenty years of close warfare was destroyed by 
 the bite of a mosquito. He died, not as a hero 
 should, in the splendid hour of victory, but, with 
 body poised and hand drawn back to launch the 
 
232 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 bolt, he was betrayed and insidiously undone. For 
 twenty years he had sought a soldier's death, but 
 even this reward was denied him. He fell a victim 
 to the second attack of yellow fever, which in his 
 already reduced health ended his life on July 9, 
 1706.* 
 
 Three months afterward his brother Le Moyne de 
 Chateauguay brought the sorrowful news to Bienville 
 and the little orphaned colony at Mobile. 
 
 To the English colonists on the Atlantic seaboard 
 the death of their inveterate foe brought a shudder 
 of relief, while his loss was bewailed, not in France, 
 to which his exploits had brought an empire, nor 
 yet in his natal province of Canada, the recipient of 
 his glory and the principal beneficiary of his victories, 
 not in civilized communities, but rather among the 
 barbarian and hostile Iroquois, who thoroughly re- 
 spected and could in a measure appreciate the dom- 
 inant qualities of his chieftainship; here indeed his 
 demise was mourned with the pomp and ceremony 
 of a tribal misfortune. 
 
 * Ever since the attack on Pemaquid and Newfoundland it had 
 been well understood among the English colonists that Iberville was 
 only awaiting a favorable opportunity to ravage their coasts. When 
 the news of his capture of the islands of Nevis and St. Kitts was 
 brought to the colonies, the alarm spread clear to Boston, and was re- 
 moved only when the subsequent rumor of his death had been confirmed. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 IBERVILLE had given his country enormous con- 
 quests and had assured to commerce rich and 
 varied products. He had mastered a great 
 continent, and yet, as he saw death approaching 
 with long strides, his only anxiety was for the 
 little colony he had founded and cherished and 
 many times personally supported with his own funds. 
 He feared only his work might fall into incompetent 
 hands. He wished the administration to have clear 
 knowledge of the value of the new conquests and 
 to see to it that the executives were entirely dis- 
 interested. He dreamed constantly of the Louis- 
 iana he had started and of its future relations 
 with its enemy, the English, to whose grand 
 destiny he first called attention. His eyes would 
 have closed more peacefully and his anxiety been 
 considerably abated had he known that for over 
 forty years his capable and energetic brother 
 Bienville would watch over and nourish his tiny 
 settlement until he too, though at a much greater 
 age, should pass out of the drama in which he had 
 
234 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 borne heroic part, unwept by Minister, unrewarded 
 by King, and almost forgotten by his countrymen. 
 Like Iberville in Hudson Bay, the very fibre of his 
 being was inextricably interwoven with the history 
 of Louisiana, where his glory was gained and his 
 life sacrificed. 
 
 Associated with Bienville in the development of 
 the colony, the name of Le Moyne de Chateauguay 
 is often found, and Le Moyne de Serigny, a "Capi- 
 taine de Vaisseau," together with his son. Of all 
 the remaining sons of that splendid Le Moyne 
 brotherhood, Maricourt alone had stayed in Canada 
 to aid and support Charles de Longueuil, the oldest 
 son and heir to the barony. The others, either in 
 the discharge of duty or pursuit of glory, from affec- 
 tion or from Iberville's ascendancy over their minds, 
 followed him to Louisiana and finally died in the 
 service of the King. For seven years at a time poor 
 Bienville could not even draw his salary, and yet he 
 worked with the same zealous optimism as ever. 
 Always he held in mind the plans and projects 
 which Iberville had outlined, and hardly an emer- 
 gency arose which his far-sighted brother had not 
 planned to control. The secret intrigue and machina- 
 tions of Nicholas la Salle gradually began to produce 
 an effect, which was assisted shortly after Iberville's 
 death by M. de la Vente, the recently arrived parish 
 curiy who was estranged by his jealousy of the 
 respect and consideration which Bienville and his 
 
CONCLUSION 236 
 
 brothers had always shown to their father's old em- 
 ployers the Jesuits. Nicholas la Salle, the Commis- 
 sary, and De la Vente, the curi, had begun a war 
 of accusation and denunciation against Iberville and 
 Bienville which reminds one strongly of the old 
 combination of Intendant and Jesuit against Fron- 
 tenac. The attacks had begun before Iberville's death, 
 when they accused him and Bienville of peculation 
 and malversation in office, illicit trade in skins, and 
 personal ill-treatment. M. la Salle, in writing the 
 Minister, begged that the accusations be kept secret, 
 since Iberville and his brothers formed a league 
 which governed everything, even access to the 
 Minister, and, as Iberville had sure ways of learning 
 everything that transpired, they would surely inflict 
 upon him all the sufferings possible if his reports 
 became known. The letters became so numerous 
 and the charges so specific that Pontchartrain finally 
 sent out a new Commissary, M. Diron d'Artaguette, 
 who was instructed to inquire into the truth of the 
 charges, and if substantiated to remove Bienville 
 from office and return him to France for trial and 
 to demand an accounting from Iberville's heirs. 
 
 No more fitting tribute to the long years of un- 
 selfish devotion to the interests of the Crown could 
 be desired than the report of d'Artaguette absolving 
 the Le Moynes from all guilt and expressing admira- 
 tion at their remarkable success among the adverse 
 conditions in which their work was done. As for 
 
236 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 Iberville, not only was he brilliantly acquitted of all 
 wrong-doing, but it was shown that so long as he 
 lived he had sustained the colony of Louisiana with 
 loans of large sums, without interest, the treasury 
 not being able to furnish them, and that his ad- 
 vances had greatly reduced the inheritance of his 
 wife and children. 
 
 Bienville, too, was exonerated with a glowing 
 eulogy that vindicated his name forever. More 
 fortunate than his brother, the value of his services 
 has been recognized in the city he founded, and he 
 has received a permanent place and high rank on the 
 deathless page. King * says : 
 
 " In Louisiana a slight change of the Canadian original 
 is offered in the personality of the young, rude, unlettered 
 Canadian, who from midshipman and Lieutenant of Ma- 
 rines, had been pushed to the first place of a command ; 
 whose entire character and administration constituted one 
 obstinate determination to maintain and increase the grasp 
 of the country left him by Iberville. Bulwarking himself 
 against the Spaniards on the east, spying out their land in 
 the west, fending oif the English at the north, keeping his 
 channel of the Mississippi well open, scouring the Gulf 
 with his little vessels, arming the Indians against one 
 another and against everybody but himself, buying and 
 borrowing food, quartering his men in times of dearth 
 upon the Indians, recalling them at every new invoice from 
 France, Havana, or Vera Cruz, marrying off the girls, 
 breaking the Canadians into farmers, punishing savages, 
 repressing his own bandits, building, sowing, carrying out 
 
 * "Sieur de Bienville." 
 
CONCLUSION 237 
 
 with a handful of soldiers and a pittance of money the 
 great Mississippi and Gulf policy of Iberville. His ac- 
 tivity and dexterity, it would seem, must have compelled 
 acknowledgment even from his detractors." 
 
 He was a worthy brother to the great Iberville, 
 whose death was almost a fatal blow to his little 
 colony. Bienville was not long in finding out that 
 his own position was greatly weakened in the loss 
 of the influence of his doughty brother. Nicholas 
 de la Salle now even taunted him with his helpless- 
 ness and his inability to hurt him. Pontchartrain 
 also keenly felt the loss of his strong and wonderfully 
 efficient aid. Finding at once that his burden was 
 far too heavy, he looked about for some shoulders 
 to which he might shift it, and in 1712 turned the 
 Charter over to Crozat, at the same time prescribing 
 therein that Iberville's scheme for the erection of 
 five posts along the Mobile, Mississippi, and Ohio 
 Rivers should be carried out, as well as his other idea 
 that agriculture and not mining should be made the 
 principal business of the colony. Since the object 
 of Crozat was purely commercial, since he intended 
 to do for himself what Iberville and Bienville were 
 trying to do in the interests of the colony, his work 
 did not succeed, and the colony, fighting, starving, 
 reduced by Indian wars, but steadily growing never- 
 theless, moved on toward the Mississippi bubble and 
 even, in spite of that, to ultimate success. 
 
 Iberville's colony inevitably took its destined place 
 
238 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 in the serried ranks of the States, while the city his 
 brother founded became the metropolis of the South. 
 As for Iberville himself no more romantic or pic- 
 turesque character ever fought his adventurous way 
 through the annals of any country, and yet his mem- 
 ory is not often recalled in this commercial age. No 
 records remain to throw light on many interests which 
 might have concerned him. He was an energetic 
 man of action, and it was doubtless much harder for 
 him to write those clear, modest, unembroidered nar- 
 ratives that constitute his official reports than it was 
 to do the almost incredible feats reported. In geog- 
 raphy he was greatly interested from the practical 
 standpoint of a navigator and explorer, and his 
 voyages were extremely valuable to that branch of 
 science. Toward theory, abstractions, impractical 
 details, and scientific speculations he had no incli- 
 nation or interest, but he was a stalwart organizer, 
 and he struck hard for France. Life was never a 
 sport to Iberville, but a deeply earnest contest, and 
 although he took a terrible joy in the thorough per- 
 formance of his duties, yet his many friends in their 
 constant and unswerving loyalty reveal him as the 
 possessor of unusual social qualities and a rarely 
 gifted personality, while his loftiness of mind and 
 nobility of character preserved in his life a purity of 
 intent and moral practice that was uncommon in that 
 none too fastidious age. The rigor of the monastery, 
 the futile self-imposed penalties of the flagellants, 
 
CONCIUSION 239 
 
 were as nothing to the tasks he undertook for the 
 advancement of his patriotic designs. These formed 
 his life work and life interest. He professed ortho- 
 dox Catholicism and was exemplary in his devotion 
 to its rites and creed. His faith, however, was in his 
 own strong intellect, while his belief, his inmost 
 conviction, his true religion, was the blended love of 
 his own country and an abiding hostility toward the 
 English. These two strong passions dominated his 
 life and compelled him on his career. Napoleon had 
 his star which failed him but once, Nelson had his 
 orb of light which was soaring in the zenith on that 
 last fateful but triumphant day, and Iberville too had 
 his beacons which illumined his perilous path and 
 guided his restless feet. Every act in his brief ca- 
 reer was a tribute to the high seriousness of his pa- 
 triotism as he devoutly understood it and to his 
 intense continuance of purpose. 
 
 On land and sea, both north and south, Iberville 
 had wrung his honors from the unwilling foe. The 
 icy blasts of the Arctic seas, the trade winds of the 
 tropics, and the balmy zephyrs of the Gulf had borne 
 on their winnowing wings the leaves for his garland ; 
 what La Salle fruitlessly conceived, what Fronte- 
 nac helplessly saw, Iberville strenuously executed. 
 " Where La Salle had ploughed, others were to sow 
 the seed ; and on the path which the undespairing 
 Norman had hewn out, the Canadian, d' Iberville, was 
 to win for France a vast though transient dominion." 
 
240 SIEUR D'lEERVILLE 
 
 Thus in his ripe manhood at the age of forty-five, 
 perished Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, the 
 greatest of that family of Le Moynes, whose exploits 
 and inestimable services during the infancy of the 
 colony have brought a glorious inheritance to the peo- 
 ple of Canada. Iberville was a man in whom indom- 
 itable energy, vaulting ambition, and relentlessness 
 of purpose were joined with a rare executive ability 
 to give him the highest qualities of leadership. He 
 was the ideal of a bold, courageous, and resourceful 
 commander of men who exhibited throughout a life 
 of hardship the utmost limit of endurance and forti- 
 tude, and, if stern to others, he was pitiless to himself. 
 He had ability to plan, the strength to execute, and 
 the wise statesmanship to retain and govern both on 
 sea and land, and by this sheer force of character, as- 
 sociated with an amiable and engaging personality, 
 he rose step by step on the ladder of his achievements 
 from an obscure boyhood in the frontier village of 
 Montreal to the eminence of the most distinguished 
 Canadian of his time and the most skilful Commander 
 in the navy of France. It has been well said that if 
 his great talents had been displayed on the seas and 
 continent of Europe instead of in vague and distant 
 portions of the New World, he would have attained 
 the highest place and the greatest renown among the 
 contestants on that vast, confused arena. 
 
 Iberville's ambition was to be a conqueror, and 
 conqueror he was, first on the lists of Hudson Bay, 
 
CONCLUSION 241 
 
 Newfoundland, and New York, until he had reduced 
 all to submission and his relentless course was inter- 
 rupted by the untimely Peace of Ryswick. Then, 
 with expanding wings and growing mind, he laid for 
 himself a vast design in which he could explore, de- 
 fend, and conquer with ruthless and untiring energy ; 
 and if dreams of a nation of his own should come to 
 him, located on the Gulf and extending broadly up- 
 ward and outward, it would not be beyond his ambi- 
 tions nor his capacity ; and the heroes of the nations 
 have been made of such as he. 
 
 So, from turmoil within and from storms without. 
 Death delivered the restless, intrepid spirit of Iber- 
 ville. A gallant soul passed into the unknown, the 
 exalted, inspiring soul of the first great Canadian. 
 
 THE END 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 
 
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 Philadelphia. 1877. 
 Macaulat : War of the Spanish Succession. (Essays, Vol. I.) 
 
 Lovell & Co., N. Y. 
 Margry : Decouvertes et etablissements des Frangais. 6 vols. 
 
 Maisonneuve et Cie, Paris. 1879-88. 
 Martin: History of North Carolina. Pennimen & Co., New 
 
 Orleans. 1829. 
 Martin : History of Louisiana. Gresham, New Orleans. 
 
 1882. 
 Mission du Canada^ 1672-1779. Kelations in^dites de la Nou- 
 
 velle-France. Douniol, Paris. 1861. 
 
 Oldmixon : British Empire in America. Brotherton, London. 
 1741. 
 
 Parkman: France and England in North America. Little, 
 
 Brown & Co., Boston. 1892. 
 Penicaut's Relation : Margry and French's Collection. 
 Potherie: Bacqueville de la: Histoire de VAmerique septen- 
 
 trionale. 4 vols. Paris. 1722. 
 Proulx : A la Baie d' Hudson. Cadieux and Derome, Montreal. 
 
 1886. 
 Prowse : History of Newfoundland. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 
 
 London. 1896. 
 
 Quebec Literary and Historical Society, Documents of. 3rd 
 series, Quebec. 1871. 
 
248 SIEUR D'IBERVILLE 
 
 St. Vallieb : Estat present de VEglise a Paris Urbain Couste- 
 
 lier. 1702. 
 Shea. : Early Voyages up and down the Mississippi. Miinsell, 
 
 Albany. 1861. 
 SuLTE : Histoire des Canadiens-Frangais. 8 vols. Granger 
 
 Freres, Montreal. 1882-84. 
 
 Tangua-Y : Dictionnaire genealogique. Sen^cal et Fils, Mon- 
 treal. 1886. 
 
 Thwaites : Jesuit Relations. 73 vols. Burroughs & Co., 
 Cleveland. 1901. 
 
 Thwaites : France in America. Harper Bros., New York. 
 1905. 
 
 Thwaites : Hennepin^ s New Discovery. McClurg, Chicago. 
 1903. 
 
 ToNTY : Relation de la Louisiane. (Journeys of La Salle.) 
 Barnes & Co., New York. 1905, 
 
 Teevor : Life of Wm. III. Longmans & Co., London. 1835. 
 
 Voltaire: Siecle de Louis XIV. Hachette et Cie, Paris. 
 1906. 
 
 Wallace : Louisiana under the French. Clarke, Cincinnati. 
 1823. 
 
 Winsor: Cartier to Frontenac. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
 Boston. 1894. 
 
 Winsor: The Mississippi Basin. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 Boston. 1895. 
 
 Winsor : Narrative and Critical History of America. Hough- 
 ton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 1889. 
 
 Wrong : Review of Historical Literature relating to Canada., 
 Morang & Co., Toronto. 1897. 
 
INDEX 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abenaki Indians, 100, 101 
 Abittibi River and Lake, 48 
 Abrantis, Duke of, 205 
 Acadia, 19, 94, 224, 230 
 Agriculture, 95, 237 
 Aimahle, French ship, 141 
 Albany, Fort. See Fort Albany- 
 Albany on the Hudson, 73, 75, 77 
 Alexander VI, Pope, 211 
 Alleghany Mountains, 15, 124 
 Alligators, 172, 174 and note, 186, 
 
 198 
 America, English claims in, 13, 15, 
 209. See also English colonies, 
 Hudson Bay, Mississippi River, 
 New England, New York, Vir- 
 ginia, etc. 
 America, French claims in, 13, 14. 
 See also French colonies, Hud- 
 son Bay, Louisiana, Mississippi 
 River, New France, etc. 
 Andastes Indians, 24 
 Anglo-Indian alliances, 223 
 Anjou, Duke of, 215 
 Apalachicola, 145, 146 
 Architecture of forts. See Pali- 
 sades 
 Arctic Ocean, current from, 97 
 Arctic regions, French in, 134 
 Arkansas Indians, 162 
 Arkansas River, 170, 187, 223 
 Arriola. See Riola. 
 Artaguette, Diron d', 235 
 Arundel, British man-of-war, 102 
 Ascantia River, 169, 172 
 Assigny, Gabriel Le Moyne, Sieur 
 
 d', 216, note 
 Astrolabe, 131 
 
 Atlantic Coast, English colonies 
 on, 13, 15, 124, 199, 231, 232. 
 
 See also New England, New- 
 foundland, New York, Virginia, 
 etc. 
 Aurora seen on Hudson Bay Ex- 
 pedition, 51 
 
 Badine, French ship, 140, note, 
 144, 146, 181 
 
 Bailey, Commander of Fort Nel- 
 son, 121 
 
 Banks, Captain, 185, 188, 189, 
 203 
 
 Barbadoes, 228, 230 
 
 Barcia, 148 
 
 Barrett, Jean, 35 
 
 Bart, Jean, 38 
 
 Baton Rouge, 169 
 
 Battering ram, 56 
 
 Baudoin, Jesuit Father, 100, 102, 
 note, 105, 106, 108 
 
 Bavaria, Prince of, 204 
 
 Bay of Biloxi. See Biloxi 
 
 Bay of St. Louis. See Matagorda 
 Bay 
 
 Bay St. Esprit. See Mobile Bay 
 
 Bay Verte, 109 
 
 Bayagoula Indians, 154, 165 and 
 note, 168, 169, 175, 191, 192, 
 198 
 
 Bayou Plaquemines. See Plaque- 
 mines 
 
 Bayou St. John. See St. John 
 
 Beaujeu, Comte de, commander of 
 ships of La Salle's expedition, 
 140-142; connection with Iber- 
 ville, 179, 180, 208 
 
 Beaver skins, 64, 81 
 
 Begon, Intendant at Rochefort, 
 140 
 
 Bellomont, Lord, 200 
 
252 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Bethune, Lt.-Gen. in Royal Army, 
 85 
 
 Bienville (I), Frangois Le Moyne, 
 Sieur de, 30, 72, 82 
 
 Bienville (II), Jean Baptiste, 
 Sieur de (Governor of Louisiana), 
 31, 113 and note, 116, 137, 148, 
 151, 153, 154, 162, 167, 169, 172, 
 175, 177, 186-189, 191, 193, 
 197-199, 215-218, 232-234, 236, 
 237 
 
 Big River. See Mississippi River 
 
 BUoxi, 184, 186-189, 196, 208, 
 215 
 
 Biloxi, Bay of, 177, 178 
 
 Biloxi Indians, 153, 154, 169 
 
 Birds of the lower Mississippi, 163, 
 164 
 
 " Blink of the ice," 114 
 
 Blizzard on Hudson Bay, 119 
 
 Blue, color worn in Montreal, 35 
 
 Blue Earth River, 219 
 
 Boisbriant, 113, 189 
 
 Bonaventure, Claude Denis, Sieur 
 de, 81 and note, 99, 100 
 
 Bonavista, 109 
 
 Books of voyages secured by Iber- 
 ville, 137 
 
 Boston, 102, 135, 211-214, 231, 
 232, note 
 
 Boston, British man-of-war, 102 
 
 Bourbon, Fort. See Fort Nelson 
 
 Brach, M. de, furnishes Iberville 
 with chart, 145 
 
 Braddock, defeated by French 
 force, 140, note 
 
 Brandy furnished to Indians, 154 
 
 Brest, 143 
 
 Breton adventurers, 133 
 
 Bridgar, Governor, 57 
 
 Brisay, Jacques Ren6 de. See 
 Denonville 
 
 Bristol, Maine, 84, note 
 
 Brouillon, Jacques Francois de 
 (Governor of Placentia), 94, 99 
 and note, 102-107, 111, 112 
 
 Buccaneers, 145 
 
 Buffalo, 219, 221 
 
 CAiLLiERE8''(Govemor of Canada), 
 182, 224, note, 225 
 
 Calumet, or peace pipe, 154, 155, 
 166 
 
 Camp Bourbon, 120 
 
 Camp de Grace, 120 
 
 Canada, population sprang from 
 soldiers, 21, 22; arrival of 
 Charles and Jacques Le Moyne, 
 28; forests, 50; Frontenac re- 
 stored to command, 71; fur 
 trade, 124; Iberville leaves for- 
 ever, 126; days of romance 
 ended, 135; Pontchartrain's in- 
 terest in, 181; hostility to Iber- 
 ville's projects, 224. See also 
 New France 
 
 Canadian, Iberville the first great, 
 241 
 
 "Canadian Maccabees," sobriquet 
 of the Le Moyne brothers, 32, 
 229 
 
 Canadian Noblesse, 17-19, 32 
 
 Canadians, 36, 48, 66, 63, 72, 99, 
 104, 105, 107, 111, 121, 143, 144, 
 151, 153, 163, 166, 173, 179, 180, 
 186, 197, 212, 218, 224-226, 228 
 
 Canoe routes from St. Lawrence 
 to Hudson Bay, 47 
 
 Canoeing, perils of, 48-50, 53, 65 
 
 Cape Bonavista, 98 
 
 Cape Race, 98 
 
 Cape San Bias, 146 
 
 Cape St. Antoine, 146 
 
 Cape St. Francis, 98 
 
 Carboni^re, 103, 105, 109 
 
 Carignan Regiment, 24, 33, 34, 45, 
 85. -See also De Troyes 
 
 Carolina, 182, 184, 192 
 
 Carolinas, The, 185 
 
 Carthagena, 207 
 
 Cartier, 14 
 
 Castor, 213 
 
 Cat Island, 153 
 
 Cat Lake, 48 
 
 Catalogue, Sergeant, 56 
 
 Cataraqui, council and treaty of, 
 35 and note; arrival of Fronte- 
 
INDEX 
 
 253 
 
 nac, 36. See also Fort Fronte- 
 
 nac 
 Catfish noted by French, 164 
 Catholic. See Roman Catholic 
 Cattle skins, 221 
 
 Cavalier, cited, 140, note; 153, note 
 Cayuga Indians, 16 
 Cenis, 207, 210 
 Chaleurs Bay, tract granted Iber- 
 
 vUle, 230 
 Chambly, 72 
 
 Champlain, attacks on Iroquois, 15 
 Champlain, Lake, 73 
 Chandeleur Island, 152, 197 
 Charles II, King of England, 43, 
 
 182 
 Charles, King of Spain, 205, 207 
 Charleston, 188, 231 
 Charlevoix, citations from, 39, note, 
 
 64, 174 
 Charlton Island, 62 
 Chassaigne, Marie Anne Le Moyne, 
 
 wife of Pierre Mareau, Sieur de, 
 
 30 and note 
 Chasteaumorant, 139, 144, 149-151 
 Chateauguay (I), Louis Le Moyne, 
 
 (Sieur de, 30 
 Chateauguay (II), Antoine Le 
 
 Moyne, Sieur de, 31, 86, 89, 189, 
 
 215, 230, 232, 234 
 Chaudi^re Falls, 48 
 Chaudiere River, 212 
 Chevaliers of St. Louis, order of, 
 
 184 
 Chicago River, 129 
 Chichacha Indians, 182 
 Chickasaw Indians, 189, 192, 209, 
 
 210, 218, 221 
 Choctaw Indians, 189, 192, 218, 
 
 221 
 Christian Indians, 72 
 Chubb (Governor of Pemaquid), 
 
 101 
 Churchill, English vessel, 62, 63 
 Clericals, 17, 22 
 
 Coahuila, Galva Governor of, 207 
 Codfish, 107, 110 
 Colapissa Indians, 209 
 
 Colbert, 38, 133 
 
 Colbert, Jean Baptiste, Sieur de 
 Seignelay. See Seignelay 
 
 Colonial America, strife of hostile 
 government for, 132 
 
 Colonies, handicapped by home 
 governments, 20-22. See also 
 Dutch, EngUsh, French, Spanish 
 colonies. 
 
 Colonization keeps pace with ex- 
 ploration, 19 
 
 Columbus, Iberville followed route 
 of, 144 
 
 Commerce checked by Indians, 27 ; 
 in French colonies, 222. See 
 also Fur trade 
 
 Compagnie du Nord, 44, 45, 84 
 
 Company of English Adventurers, 
 43 
 
 Conception Bay, 98 
 
 Conti, Prince de, 69 
 
 Coroa Indians, 162, 165, note, 170 
 
 Cortez, 15 
 
 Cotton seed first planted in Louisi- 
 ana, 192 
 
 Courcelles, 35, note 
 
 Coureurs debois, 18,20,'22,23,35,99. 
 See also Canadians, Voyageurs 
 
 Coureurs des risques, 99 
 
 Coxe, Daniel, 185, 187 
 
 Coxe, son of Daniel, 203 
 
 Crozat, 237 
 
 Cuba, 141, 142 
 
 D'Artaguette. See Artaguette 
 Dauphine Island. See Massacre 
 
 Island 
 Davion, seminary priest, 187, 199 
 Deer skins, 221 
 De Grafi^, 149 
 De Leon, 206 
 
 De Lisle, citation from, 216 
 Denis, Claude, Sieur de Bonaven- 
 
 ture. See Bonaventure 
 Denonville, Jacques Ren6 de 
 
 Brisay, Marquis de, 42 and note, 
 
 45, 46, 66-70, 182 
 Bering, English ship, 115, 117, 118 
 
254 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Desmazures, 79, note 
 
 Des Muys, Captain, 104 
 
 De Soto, 15, 129, 130, 192, 217 
 
 De Tracy, 33 
 
 Detroit, 19, 128 
 
 De Troyes, 45, 56-62 
 
 D'lberville, Pierre Le Moyne, 
 Sieur. See Iberville 
 
 Dieppe, France, home of Charles 
 Le Moyne, 28 
 
 Dog River, 216, note 
 
 Dollard expedition, 32 
 
 Douay, Father Anastasius, 153 
 and note, 171, 175 
 
 Drake, citations from, 74 
 
 Dress of French residents, 35 
 
 "Dry spot," Sauvole's. See New 
 Orleans 
 
 Ducasse, Governor of San Do- 
 mingo, 182 and note, 225 
 
 Du Luth, Daniel Greysolon, 18, 69, 
 99, 128 and note 
 
 Duquesne, 124 
 
 Dutch colonies, 71, 82, 183 
 
 Enflammie, French supply ship, 
 214 
 
 England, ownership of northern 
 country disputed, 42; trading 
 posts established by, 43; offi- 
 cially at peace with France, 44 ; 
 supply ships for forts, 47; 
 Treaty with France, 67; ob- 
 stacle to expansion of New 
 France, 94; financial interests 
 in America, 132; Ambassador 
 dismissed by Spain, 205. See 
 also English Colonies in Amer- 
 ica, Peace of Ryswick, War of 
 Spanish Succession, etc. 
 
 English burghers no match for 
 voyageurs, 90 
 
 English claims to Hudson Bay 
 territory, 79 
 
 English colonies in America, 71, 
 78, 82, 129, 135, 183-185, 209, 
 210, 220-232. See also Atlantic 
 coast, Canada, Hudson Bay, 
 
 Mississippi River, New England, 
 Newfoimdland, New York, Vir- 
 ginia, etc. 
 
 English expedition, Iberville's, 
 186-189. iSee also under Iber- 
 ville. 
 
 English fishing stations of New- 
 foundland, 97 et seq. 
 
 English forts on Hudson Bay, 45, 
 53, 68. -See also Fort Albany, 
 Fort Nelson, Fort Rupert, Moose 
 Factory, New Severn 
 
 English Navy, Iberville plans de- 
 struction of, 94 
 
 English prisoners, hardships of, 90, 
 91. 
 
 English relations with Indians, 16, 
 199. See also Fur trade 
 
 English ships, 79, 91, 92, 100, 115- 
 121, 146 
 
 English traders despoiled by Iber- 
 vUle, 125, 126 
 
 English trading post on Mississippi 
 River, preparations for, 139 
 
 English treachery with Iberville, 
 78, 79 
 
 English Turn, 188 
 
 Envieux, French warship, 83, 86, 
 100 
 
 Erie Indians destroyed by Iro- 
 quois, 24 
 
 Esquimaux, French supply ship, 
 113 
 
 Esquimaux, French trade with, 
 115 
 
 Estr^es, d', 38 
 
 European politics, 16, 17, 95, 194 
 
 Factories on Hudson Bay, 64 
 Farrand, citation from, 174, note 
 Feluccas, 155, 156, 177, 219 
 Filibusters employed by Iberville, 
 
 144, 207 
 Fisheries of Newfoundland, 97 
 Five Nations. See Iroquois Con- 
 federacy. 
 Florida, 15; Spanish posts in, 210 
 Florida Cape, country west of, 138 
 
INDEX 
 
 255 
 
 Florida shore line, 146 
 
 Fort Albany (Fort Kitchichouane 
 
 or St. Anne), 53, 59-62, 64 and 
 
 note, 78, 79, 122 
 Fort Bourbon. See Fort Nelson 
 Fort Frontenac, 19, 35, note, 37, 
 
 68, 128. See also Cataraqui 
 Fort Kitchichouane. See Fort 
 
 Albany 
 Fort La Boulaye, 191, 193 and 
 
 note, 196 
 Fort Maurepas, 178 
 Fort Monsippi. See Moose Factory 
 Fort Nelson, 53, 64, 65, 78, 80, 81, 
 
 83, 83-92, 120, 121. See also 
 
 Fort Bourbon 
 Fort Femaquid. See Pemaquid 
 Fort Prudhomme, 131 and note 
 Fort Rupert, 53, 57-59, 63 
 Fort St. Anne. See Fort Albany 
 Fort St. Louis (on Matagorda Bay), 
 
 207 
 Fort St. Louis (on Moose River). 
 
 See Moose Factory 
 Fort St. Louis (on the Illinois 
 
 River). See Starved Rock 
 Fort Severn. See New Severn 
 Fort St. Th^rese. See New Severn 
 Fort York. See Fort Nelson 
 Forts, Iberville's scheme for chain 
 
 of, 223 
 Fox Indians, 27, 128 
 France, claims in America, 13, 14; 
 
 officially at peace with England, 
 
 44 ; prisoners sent to, 62 ; Treaty 
 
 with England, 67; Department 
 
 of the Marine, 92; Court of, in 
 
 1695, 93; fleet of, 94; St. 
 
 Lawrence basin under wing of, 
 
 129; half-hearted support of 
 
 Iberville, 200-202; affairs of 
 
 state in, 203-214. See also Louis 
 
 XIV, New France, etc. 
 Francis I, 222 
 
 Frangois, French frigate, 144, 151 
 French, hardships overcome by, 
 
 108; burning and pillaging by, 
 
 110 
 
 French colonies in America, 136, 
 181, 183, 184, 220. See also 
 Acadia, Canada, Hudson Bay, 
 Louisiana, Mississippi River, 
 New France, St. Lawrence River, 
 etc. 
 
 French cruelty at Schenectady 
 74, 75 
 
 French dominion in Mississippi 
 Valley, 228 
 
 French forts, on Ohio and Illinois 
 rivers, 130; Iberville's scheme 
 for chain of, 237. See also names 
 of forts 
 
 French garrisons small, 92 
 
 French girls sent as wives, 228 
 
 French Government, 126 
 
 French Jesuits. See Jesuits 
 
 French relations with Indians, 16, 
 82 
 
 Frontenac, Fort. See Fort Fronte- 
 nac 
 
 Frontenac, Louis de Baude, Comte 
 de, 14, 16, 35-37, 46, 71, 73, 
 78, 83, 84, 98, 99, 111, 126, 127, 
 134 
 
 Fur trade, 14, 16, 23, 27, 45, 54, 
 65, 83, 86, 124. See also Beaver 
 skins, Peltries, etc. 
 
 Gagnon's "JoUiet," quotation 
 from, 49, note 
 
 Galva, Governor of Coahuila and 
 Texas, 207 
 
 Georgian Bay, 17 
 
 Girond, French store ship, 184, 185 
 
 Girouard, citation from, 70 
 
 Glen, John Sander, 76 
 
 God of Storms, 193 
 
 Gold, influence on exploration, 22, 
 54 
 
 Governor and Company of Adven- 
 turers Trading into Hudson's 
 Bay. See Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany 
 
 Grand Banks of Newfoundland. 
 See Newfoundland 
 
 Grates Point, 98 
 
256 
 
 INDEX 
 
 " Great Company." See Hudson's 
 
 Bay Company 
 Great Lakes, 14, 95, 131, 137, 182, 
 
 189 
 Great Mohawk, Indian chief, 74, 76 
 Great River. See Mississippi 
 Green Bay, 128 
 Greenlanders, 114 
 Groseilliers, 44, 53 
 Guadalupe River, 207 
 Gulf of Mexico, 13, 128, 130, 135, 
 
 144, 145, 150, 152, 156, 157, 174, 
 
 183, 206 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence, 128, 183 
 Gulf Seigniories, 68 
 Gulf Stream, 97 
 
 Habitants, 18 
 
 Hampshire, English vessel, 64, 65, 
 115-118, 121 
 
 Havana, 210, 231 
 
 Havre de Grace, 109 
 
 Hayes River, 44, 87 
 
 Hearts Content, 109 
 
 Hennepin, false narrative of, 131, 
 137, 167, 180 
 
 Hidden River. See Mississippi 
 
 Hides exported from Louisiana, 
 221 
 
 Holland, Ambassador, dismissed, 
 205 
 
 Hudson Bay, boundary of New 
 France, 13; description of, 42, 
 43; canoe routes from St. 
 Lawrence to, 47; aspect of 
 country war, 49-51; arrival of 
 French at, 1686, 53; north gales 
 from Upper Bay, 59; French 
 masters of southern part of, 62; 
 English claims to, 79; French 
 triumphs on, 80, 91; Battle of, 
 115-122; rivers leading to, 128. 
 See also under English colonies; 
 Iberville, Hudson Bay expedi- 
 tion, etc. 
 
 Hudson, Henry, discovered Hud- 
 son Bay, 42 
 
 Hudson Straits, 65, 87, 114 
 
 Hudson's Bay, English ship, 115, 
 
 117, 118, 120 
 Hudson's Bay Company, 43, 44, 
 
 46, 62, note, 64, 91, 122, 123 
 Huguenots, 133, 188 
 Huron Chief (Le Rat), 69 
 Huron Nation, 17, 24, 95 
 
 Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne, 
 Sieur d'. 
 
 Biography: ancestry, 28, 34, 
 125; birth, 30; boyhood, 31-33; 
 education at Sulpician Semi- 
 nary, 34; first communion, 34, 
 35; dress, 35; naval training, 
 38, 39; woodcraft, 39, 173; 
 sent to France, 39 ; personal ap- 
 pearance, 45, 46, 116; lieuten- 
 ancy in Royal Navy, 66; death 
 of his mother and brother, 80; 
 Captain of Frigates, 83, 136; 
 marriage, 85; commander in 
 Royal Navy, 125; Canada left 
 forever, 126, 127; illness, 193, 
 226; titles and decorations, 
 184, 229; appointed Governor- 
 General of Louisiana, 229 ; death, 
 232 
 
 Character: general estimate, 
 133-136, 209, 226, 234, 235, 238- 
 241 ; as a leader of men, 31, 32, 
 34, 46, 52, 62, 111, 126, 141, 214, 
 219; as a statesman, 229. See 
 also Le Moyne family. 
 
 Hudson Bay Expedition, 
 1686-89: De Troyes in com- 
 mand, 45; departure by canoe, 
 March 20, 47; difficulties of 
 journey, 48-52; arrival at Hud- 
 son Bay, June 18, 53 ; capture of 
 Moose Factory, 54-57; capture 
 of Fort Rupert, 57-59; capture 
 of Fort Albany, 60-62; Iberville 
 sailsfor Quebec, 1687, 63; naval 
 encounter with English, 65; re- 
 ception at Montreal, 66. 
 
 Schenectady and other raids, 
 1690, 72-78 
 
INDEX 
 
 257 
 
 Hudson Bay Expeditions, 
 1690-92: conference at Fort 
 Albany, 78; capture of Fort Al- 
 bany, 80; sails for France, 81; 
 English retake Fort Albany, 
 1692, 83; winter quarters at 
 Quebec, 85 
 
 Hudson Bay Expedition, 
 1694-95: leaves Quebec, 86; 
 arrives at Nelson River, 87 ; at- 
 tempts to surprise Fort Nelson, 
 88; death of Chateauguay 89; 
 captures Fort Nelson, 90 ; leaves 
 La Forest in command, 91 ; 
 Fort retaken by English, 92 
 
 Projects against the English, 
 1695-96, 92-96 
 
 Newfoundland campaign, 
 1696: preparations, 98; arrival 
 at Spanish Bay, 100; Fort 
 Pemaquid demolished, 101 ; dif- 
 ficulties with Brouillon, 102-105 ; 
 fall of St. Johns, 105-107 ; raids 
 the coast, 107-110; ordered to 
 Hudson Bay, 111-112 
 
 Hudson Bay Expedition, 
 1697: squadron sails July 8, 
 113; arrives before Fort Nel- 
 son, 115; Battle of Hudson's 
 Bay, 116-119; Camp de Grace, 
 Camp Bourbon, 120; capture of 
 Fort Nelson, 121; results, 122- 
 127 
 
 Plans for French territorial 
 expansion, 125-127 
 
 Mississippi River Expedition, 
 1698-99: preparations, 133-142; 
 leaves France, 143; arrives at 
 San Domingo, 144-146; Pensa- 
 cola, 147-150; Mobile Point, 
 150; Massacre, Chandeleur, and 
 Ship Islands, 151-153; Baya- 
 goula and Mongoulacha Indians, 
 154, 155; Gulf of Mexico, 156, 
 157 ; locates mouth of Mississippi, 
 158-161; begins ascent, 162- 
 164; visits village of the Baya- 
 goulas, 165; Tonty's passage 
 
 17 
 
 reported, 166; finds glass bottle 
 left by Tonty, 168; starts in 
 search of "fork," 169; village 
 of the Oumas, 170; learns of 
 Tonty's letter, 171; retreats, 
 172; explores Manchec Pass, 
 173; Lakes Maurepas and Pont- 
 chartrain, 174; identifies river 
 by means of Tonty's letter, 175; 
 locates settlement at Biloxi, 177; 
 sails for France, 179; reports 
 to government, 180-184 
 
 English Expedition, 1699- 
 1700: sails Oct. 16, 185; 
 Bienville meets Capt. Banks, 
 187, 188; English diverted from 
 the Mississippi, 189 
 
 Louisiana colonization, 1700: 
 returns to Biloxi, 189; ascends 
 river, 190 ; joined by Tonty, 191 ; 
 returns to Fort La Boulaye, 193; 
 illness and efforts for colony, 
 194-196 ; sends Bienville up Red 
 River, 197; sails for France, 
 199 
 
 Projects against English and 
 Spanish, 1701: reconnoitres At- 
 lantic coast, 199-200; plans in- 
 terrupted by War of Spanish 
 Succession, 203-207 ; memori- 
 alizes Spanish Junta, 208-211; 
 urges attack on Boston and New 
 York, 211-214 
 
 Louisiana Colonization, 1701- 
 1702: arrives at Pensacola, Nov. 
 24, 215; moves colony from 
 Biloxi to Mobile Bay, 215; visits 
 fort, 216-218; sails for France, 
 219; criticism of rivals, 220-222 
 
 Projects against the English, 
 1703-06: scheme for chain of 
 forts on Mississippi, 222-224; 
 scheme for diverting trade, 224- 
 225; sufferings from jealousy 
 and illness, 226-227; assigned 
 to expedition against English 
 coast, 1704, 228; attacks Eng- 
 lish islands, 230 
 
258 
 
 INDEX 
 
 See also under names of vari- 
 ous persons with whom Iber- 
 ville had relations, as: Beaujeu, 
 Brouillon, La Salle, Pontchar- 
 train, Tonty, etc. 
 
 "Iberville on the Mississippi," 
 King's, 133, note 
 
 Iberville River. See Accantia 
 River, 173 
 
 Icebergs, 97, 114 
 
 Illinois country, 69, note 
 
 Illinois Indians, 129, 131, 191, 193, 
 221 
 
 Illinois Mission, 86, note 
 
 Illinois River, 130, 137, 176 
 
 Incas, 15 
 
 Indian alliances, Anglo-, 223 
 
 Indian dress adopted by Charles 
 Le Moyne, 28 
 
 Indian language spoken by Iber- 
 ville and Bienville, 167 
 
 Indian trade, specialties for, 143 
 
 Indians, English-French treaty ar- 
 ticle concerning, 67; from the 
 Upper Lakes, 69 ; Christian, 72 ; 
 treaties with French, 78; in 
 Newfoundland campaign, 107 ; 
 Iberville's plans about, 223. See 
 also under names of Indian tribes 
 
 Invalides (Les), 93 
 
 "Iron Hand." See Tonty 
 
 Iroquois Confederacy, relations 
 with English and French, 15, 16; 
 war of extermination on other 
 tribes, 23, 24; raids upon Mon- 
 treal, 27; merciful to Charles 
 Le Moyne, 29 ; Le Moyne broth- 
 ers' bitterness toward, 32; pun- 
 ished by Carignan Regiment, 33 ; 
 Le Moyne's embassy to, 1684, 
 39 and note, 40; Le Moynes 
 evade, 47; war-cry of, 56, 121; 
 Louis XIV 's design to attack, 
 68; Christianized, 69; La Chine 
 massacre, 70, 71; prowl about 
 Montreal, 81 ; accuse English of 
 cowardice, 82; hostility toward 
 French, 94; Duquesne's fare- 
 
 well speech to, 124; Maricourt 
 negotiates peace with, 224; 
 mourns for Iberville, 232. See 
 also Cayuga, Huron, Oneida, 
 Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca In- 
 dians 
 
 Isle aux Coudres, 80 
 
 Isle of Shoals, 84 
 
 James II, King of England, 44, 64, 
 71, 182, 205 
 
 Jealousy towards Iberville, 226 
 
 J^r^mie, 91, 113 
 
 Jesuits, power in New France, 17, 
 18; hopes blighted by Iroquois, 
 24, 95; at Huron Mission, 28; 
 hear rumors of Mississippi River, 
 130; influence, 140; "Rela- 
 tions" misleading, 162, 168, 170, 
 171, 180; respect shown by the 
 Le MojTies, 235. iSee also Hen- 
 nepin, Joutel, Marquette, etc., 
 also Missions 
 
 Jolhet, 49, note, 130 
 
 Joutel, sends Journal to Iberville, 
 137; Journal cited, 140, note, 
 141; return to France, 153; 
 claims of, 179 
 
 Juniper swamps, 52 
 
 Kennebec River, 212 
 
 Kidd, Captain, 200 
 
 King's "Iberville on the Missis- 
 sippi," 133, note 
 
 King's "Sieur de Bienville," cita- 
 tion from, 157, note, 236 
 
 Kingsford, citations from, 78 
 
 Kingston, Ontario, 35, note 
 
 Kitchichouane, Fort. See Fort 
 Albany 
 
 Kitchichouane River, 60 
 
 La Barre, Le Febre de. Governor 
 of New France, 39 and riote, 42 
 
 La Boulaye, Fort. See Fort La 
 Boulaye 
 
 Labrador, 42, 43, 91 
 
 La Chine, 19; massacre, 70, 71 
 
INDEX 
 
 259 
 
 La Chine Mission, Indians from, 47 
 
 La Durantaye, 69 
 
 La Fert^, 79 
 
 La Forest, 69 and note, 90-92 
 
 La Hague, Battle of, 140, note 
 
 La Hontan, citations from, 64 
 
 Lake Champlain. See Champlain 
 
 Lake George, 77 
 
 Lake Michigan, 129 
 
 Lake Nepigon, 128 
 
 Lake Pepin, 219 
 
 Lake St. John. See St. John 
 
 Lake Superior, 24, 86, 128 
 
 Lake Temiscaming, 48 
 
 La Potherie, 56, note, 113, 116, 
 189, 191 
 
 La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, 
 explorer in New World, 18; ob- 
 tains grant of Fort Frontenac, 
 35, note; lieutenant of Fronte- 
 nac, 36, 37; Tonty assists in 
 Illinois country, 69, note; Iber- 
 ville follows in wake of, 96; 
 suggests territorial expansion, 
 123; extent of explorations, 
 128; Mississippi River explora- 
 tions, 130, 131 ; death on plains 
 of Texas, 131, 134; Matagorda 
 Bay colony, 131, 138; friends 
 eager to vindicate, 132; reports 
 to Seignelay, 133; project for 
 fort at mouth of Mississippi, 134; 
 Iberville's conversation with, 
 137; Membre's account of, 137; 
 Joutel's journal of last expedi- 
 tion, 137; .Louisiana added to 
 the Crown by, 138; Beaujeu 
 commands ships of, 140 and 
 note, 142, 180; Douay compan- 
 ion of, 153; mouth of Missis- 
 sippi described by, 161; letter 
 from Tonty for, 171, 176; in- 
 correct maps used by, 179; 
 urged occupation of territory 
 explored, 182; design to secure 
 domain for France, 200 ; hunted 
 by De Leon's men, 206, 207; 
 enemy of Spain, 222 
 
 La Salle, Nicholas de, 226 and 
 note, 234, 235, 237 
 
 Laut, " The Conquest of the Great 
 Northwest," 60, note 
 
 La Vente, cure, 234, 235 
 
 Le Ber, Catherine Jeanne Le 
 Moyne, 30 and note 
 
 Le Ber, Jacques and Jeanne, 30, 
 note 
 
 Le Clerc's " Etablissement de la 
 Foi," 137 
 
 Le Moyne, Anomyme, 30 
 
 Le Moyne, Antoine. See Chateau- 
 guay (II) 
 
 Le Moyne, Catherine Jeanne (sister 
 of Iberville). See Le Ber 
 
 Le Moyne, Catherine Thierry Pri- 
 mot (mother of Iberville), 29, 
 60 
 
 Le Moyne, Charles (brother of Iber- 
 ville). See Longueuil 
 
 Le Moyne, Charles, Sieur de Lon- 
 gueil (father of Iberville), 28-30, 
 32, 36, 40 
 
 Le Moyne, Francois. See Sauvole 
 
 Le Moyne, Frangois. See Bien- 
 ville (I) 
 
 Le Moyne, Gabriel. See Assigny 
 
 Le Moyne, Jacques (brother of 
 IbervUle). See St. H^Iene 
 
 Le Moyne, Jacques (uncle of d'lber- 
 ville), arrival in Canada, 28 
 
 Le Moyne, Jean Baptiste. See 
 Bienville (II) 
 
 Le Moyne, Joseph. See Serigny 
 
 Le Moyne, Louis. See Chateau- 
 guay (I) 
 
 Le Moyne, Marie Anne. See Chas- 
 saigne 
 
 Le Moyne, Paul. See Maricourt 
 
 Le Moyne, Pierre. See Iberville 
 
 Le Moynes (The), belonged to 
 French Noblesse, 18 ; general ac- 
 count of the family, 27-41; in 
 Hudson Bay expedition, 46 et 
 seq. ; woodsmanship, 51 ; as 
 canoeists, 60; audacity of, 89; 
 days of romance ended for, 134; 
 
260 
 
 INDEX 
 
 leadership of, 199; absolved by 
 d'Artaguette, 235; general es- 
 timate of, 240 
 
 Le Rat, Huron Chief, 69, 70 
 
 Lescalette, Lieutenant, 146, 148 
 
 Le Sueur, 189, 191, 219, 221 
 
 Little Nation, 48 
 
 Loire, French ship, 227 
 
 London, Treaty negotiated at, 67; 
 Iberville's advices from, 139 
 
 Long House, People of. See Iro- 
 quois Confederacy 
 
 Longitude, no instruments for de- 
 termination of, 131 
 
 Longueuil, Charles Le Moyne, 
 Sieur de (father of Iberville) . See 
 Le Moyne 
 
 Longueuil, Charles Le Moyne, 
 Sieur de (eldest brother of Iber- 
 ville), 30, 31, 35, 70, 80, 234 
 
 "Lords of Trade," 200 
 
 Louis XIV, King of France, 16, 
 17, 44, 45, 68, 93, 133, 135, 136, 
 202, 204, 205, 208, 210, 211 
 
 Louisiana, 113 and note, 128-142, 
 181-184, 190, 192, 200, 203, 208, 
 221, 224, 227, 229, 233-238. See 
 also Biloxi, Mississippi River, 
 New Orleans, etc. 
 
 Louvigny, 136 
 
 Louvre, 93 
 
 Mackinac, 24, 70, 128 
 
 Madeira Islands, 144 
 
 Madrid, 204 
 
 Maisonneuve, founder of Montreal, 
 
 25 
 "Malbancia," Indian name for 
 
 Mississippi River, 154, 160, 171 
 Manchac Pass. See Ascantia River 
 Mankato Country, 19 
 Manthet, Ailleboust, Sieur de, 35, 
 
 72, 75, 136 
 Maps of Mississippi, 137, 179 
 Mardi Gras, Bayou, 162 
 Marest, Father, 86 and note, 87, 
 
 89,90 
 
 Margry, citation from, 180 
 
 Maricourt, Paul Le Moyne, Sieur 
 de, 30, 31, 35, 56, 57, 64, 80, 86, 
 89, 225, 229, 234 
 
 Marin, French ship, 140, note, 144, 
 165, 181 
 
 Marquette, enters the Mississippi 
 River, 130; "Relation," 137 
 
 Marriage of Frenchmen with 
 squaws, 20 
 
 Martigny, 122 
 
 Martin, "History of North Caro- 
 lina," 149, note 
 
 Martinique, 230 
 
 Mascoutin Indians, 128 
 
 Massacre (now Dauphine) Island, 
 151, 216 
 
 Matagorda Bay (St. Louis Bay), 
 La Salle's post at, 131, 138; St. 
 Francis of Assisi Mission, 207 
 
 Mattawa River, 48 
 
 Maurepas, Fort. See Fort Maure- 
 pas 
 
 Maurepas, Jerome Ph^lypeaux, 
 Count of, 92, note, 133, 134 
 
 Maurepas Lake, 174 
 
 Membre, Zenobe, 137 
 
 Menendez, 206 
 
 Mesaba Mountains, 128 
 
 Mexico, 15, 132, 209, 224 
 
 Miami Indians, 129 
 
 Miles, Gen., 207 
 
 Mille Lacs, 48 
 
 Mines, 136 
 
 Minnesota, 128 
 
 Missionaries, 199. See also Jesuits 
 
 Missions among the Indians. See 
 names of missions, as La Chine, 
 Montreal Mountain, Saint Louis, 
 etc., also names of various In- 
 dian tribes 
 
 Mississippi River, discovery of 
 source and mouth, 19; French 
 colonies on, 95; Louisiana and 
 the, 128-142; De Soto dis- 
 covers, 129; Marquette and 
 Jolliet on, 130; La Salle ex- 
 plores, 130, 131, 134, 137; Eng- 
 
INDEX 
 
 261 
 
 lish trading post on, 139; In- 
 dian and Spanish names for, 
 160; compared with St. Law- 
 rence, 163; mouth reached by 
 Tonty, 176; maps incorrect, 
 179 ; Bienville's descent of, 198 ; 
 upper river and tributaries, 199 ; 
 mouth of 206, 208; French 
 and Spanish claims, 209, 211; 
 Iberville claims discovery of 
 mouth, 213; Le Sueur's trip up, 
 219 ; Iberville's scheme for chain 
 of forts on, 223. See also Iber- 
 ville — Mississippi River Expedi- 
 tion, Louisiana, "Malbancia" 
 River, Missouri River, etc. 
 
 Mississippi, State of, 189 
 
 Mississippi Valley, 37, 202, 225, 
 228 
 
 Missouri River, 19, 183, 199, 223 
 
 Mistassini, Lake, 47 
 
 MobUe, 208, 210, 215-218, 220, 
 221, 226, 230, 232 
 
 MobUe Bay (Bay St. Esprit), 138, 
 141, 150, 152 
 
 Mobile Indians, 217 
 
 Moccasins worn by French resi- 
 dents, 35, 56, 75 
 
 Mohawk Indians, 16, 74, 76, 77 
 
 Mohawk River, 74 
 
 Monseignat, 72 
 
 Monsippi, or Monsoni, Fort. See 
 Moose Factory 
 
 Montague Mission, Indians from, 
 47 
 
 Montigny, Gabriel, 35, 105, 107, 
 111, 118, 187, 199 
 
 Montreal, fur trade in, 14; forts 
 at, 19; founded, 25, 26; raids 
 of the Iroquois upon, 27; 
 Charles Le Moyne settles at, 28 ; 
 arrival of Carignan Regiment 
 at, 34; blue the color worn at, 
 35; Carignan Regiment assem- 
 bled at, 45; canoe route west 
 of, 47; Iberville received as a 
 hero at, 66; affairs at, 67; 
 terrified by Iroquois, 70; Mis- 
 
 sions of the Mountain of, 72; 
 Iberville arrives at, 77; Iro- 
 quois at, 81 ; blue coat from, 
 167; insinuations against Iber- 
 ville, 224, 225 
 
 Moose Factory (Fort Monsippi or 
 Fort St. Louis), 53-57, 59, 62 
 
 Moose River, 48, 53, 59 
 
 Morgan, Laurent de Graff associ- 
 ate of, 145 
 
 Mougoulacha chief, has letter from 
 Tonty, 171, 172; sells letter to 
 Bienville, 175 
 
 Mougoulacha Indians, 154, 165, 
 note, 166, 168, 175, 198 
 
 Mt. Desert, Maine, 102 
 
 Muskegs, 52, 88 
 
 Narvaez, remains of expedition 
 of, 151 
 
 Natchez, Spanish post at, 207 
 
 Natchez Indians, 162, 165, note, 
 170, 192 
 
 Navy, French, 37, 38 
 
 Nelson River, 53, 87 
 
 Nesmond, Marquis de, 212 
 
 Nevis Island, 230 
 
 New England, 19, 71, 110 
 
 Newfoundland, 13, 97, 213, 232, 
 note, 241. For Iberville's cam- 
 paign against, see Iberville. 
 
 New France, early history, 13-26 
 erection into a colony, 33; fur 
 trade on Hudson Bay, 44; dur- 
 ing the Spring of 1687, 68 ; con- 
 test for control of North Amer- 
 ica, 71 ; Iberville's plans for ex- 
 pansion of, 94, 95; Northern 
 frontiers safeguarded by Iber- 
 ville, 126. iSee also Canada, 
 French colonies, Jesuits, etc. 
 
 New Mexico, Spanish mines in, 
 201 
 
 New Orleans, 19, 113, 177, 191 
 
 Newport, English ship, 100 
 
 New Severn (Fort St. Th^rese), 53, 
 65, 79 
 
 New Spain, 129, 179, 209, 210 
 
262 
 
 INDEX 
 
 New York, 135, 200, 212, 241 
 Noblesse. See Canadian Noblesse 
 Norris, Admiral, 110 
 North America, contest for control 
 
 of, 71; river basins of, 128 
 Northwest Fox, English vessel, 64 
 
 Ohio River, 19, 130, 182, 223 
 Oldmixon, reference to Battle of 
 
 Hudson Bay, 121 
 Old Perlican, 109 
 Oneida Indians, 16 
 Onondaga Indians, 16, 39, note 
 Opossum, 153 
 Ottawa, city of, 48 
 Ottawa Indians, 27 
 Ottawa Missions, 49, note 
 Ottawa River, 47, 48, 64 
 Ouachas Indians, 165 
 Ouachas River, 165 
 Oumas, or Houmas, Indians, 165, 
 
 note, 167, 187, 192 
 Owner's Love, English fire ship, 
 
 121 
 
 Palisade architecture, 55, 70, 
 
 74, 76, 121. See also under Forts, 
 
 Stockades, etc. 
 "Palisades," Spanish name for 
 
 Mississippi River, 160 
 Palmier, French frigate, 113, 215- 
 
 217 
 Panuco River, 129 
 Paris, 93, 228 
 Parkman, Francis, quotation from, 
 
 18, 19, 56, note, 70 and note, 71 
 Pascagoula Indians, 189 
 Pascagoula River, 177 
 Peace of Ryswick, 122, 126, 127, 
 
 129, 134, 204, 207, 241 
 Peace of Utrecht, 122, 129 
 Peace pipe. See Calumet 
 Pearls, 187 
 Pelican, French frigate, 113-115, 
 
 117, 118, 123, 215, 227 
 Peltries, 62, 80, 92 
 Pemaquid, 72, 84, 100, 101, 213, 
 
 232, note 
 
 Pensacola, 147-150, 178, 187, 208, 
 
 210, 211, 215, 216 
 Pentagoet, 84 
 Pere, French spy, 61 
 Peter the Great, 201 
 Petrified trees at mouth of Missis- 
 sippi, 58 
 Ph61j^eaux, Jerome. See Maure- 
 
 pas 
 Ph61ypeaux, Louis. See Pontchar- 
 
 train 
 Philip, Duke of Anjou, 205 
 Phipps, Commander of English 
 
 Colonial fleet, 78 
 Pirogues, 153, 164, 165, 190, 192, 
 
 198 
 Placentia, 102, 103, 107, 110 
 Plaquemines, Bayou, 165 
 Pocatiere, Marie Th^rese PoUet de 
 
 la, married by Iberville, 85 and 
 
 note 
 Pointe Couple, Bayou, 170, 172 
 Poll, French ship, 83, 86 
 Pontchartrain, Jerome. See Mau- 
 
 repas 
 Pontchartrain, Lake, 174 and note, 
 
 177, 190 
 Pontchartrain, Louis Ph^lypeaux, 
 
 Count of, 92 and note, 95, 123, 
 
 127, 133, 136, 139, 181, 184, 185, 
 
 note, 201, 208, 211, 235, 237 
 Porto Rico, 206 
 Portsmouth, 84, 102 
 Portugal Cove, 109 
 "Possum," tutelary deity of Mou- 
 
 goulachas, 168 
 Pottawattamie Indians, 27, 131, 
 
 note 
 Poverty Point, 193, note 
 Primot, Catherine Thierry. See 
 
 Le Moyne 
 Prisoners, sent to France, 62; 
 
 escape from Hudson's Bay, 
 
 120 
 Profond, French frigate, 100, 101, 
 
 105, 113, 115, 123 
 Prowse, citation from, 110 
 Prudhomme, Fort. See Fort 
 
INDEX 
 
 263 
 
 Quebec, 14, 17, 19, 24, 25, 38, 45, 
 
 65, 66, 68, 72, 78, 80, 81, 83-86, 
 91, 176, 181, 191, 212, 218, 225 
 Quinipassa Indians, 162, 167, 175 
 Quintal, definition and use, 107 
 and note, 110 
 
 Radisson and Groseilliers, estab- 
 lishment on Hayes River, 44, 53 
 
 Red River, 170, 191, 192, 197-198, 
 207 
 
 "Relations" of Jesuit Fathers. 
 See Jesuits 
 
 Rgmonville, 136 
 
 Renommee, French frigate, 184, 
 185, 215, 227 
 
 Repentigny, Fort at, 82 
 
 Ribaut, Jean, 206 
 
 Richelieu River, settlement along, 
 19, 72 
 
 Rideau Falls, 48 
 
 Riola (or Arriola), Don Andres de 
 la, 149, note, 196, 197 
 
 River basins, three largest, 128, 
 129 
 
 Roberval, 14 
 
 Rochefort, 31; Begon Tntendant 
 at, 140 
 
 Rochelle, France, 93, 123, 134, 143 
 
 Rocky Mountains, 13, 19 
 
 Rogneuse, 105 
 
 Roman Catholics in America. See 
 also Jesuits 
 
 Rupert, Fort. See Fort Rupert 
 
 Rupert River, 44, 47, 49, note 
 
 Ryswick, Peace of. See Peace 
 
 Sac Indians, 27, 128 
 
 Sagamity, 165 
 
 Saguenay River, 47, 80 
 
 St. Anne, Fort. See Fort Albany 
 
 St. Anne, French merchant ship, 78 
 
 St. Anne, mariners' vows to, 87, 
 
 88 
 St. Anthony Falls, 191 
 St. Augustine, 210 
 St. Denis, Juchereau de, 189 
 St. Esprit, Bay. See Mobile Bay 
 
 St. Francis, French merchant ship, 
 78, 80 
 
 St. Francis of Assisi Mission, 207 
 
 St. H^l^ne, Jacques Le Moyne, 
 Sieur de, 30, 35, 38, 45, 55-57, 
 59, 60, 64, note, 72, 75, 77, 80 
 
 St. John, Bayou, 164, 190 
 
 St. John, Lake, 47 
 
 St. Johns, 101-103, 105-107, 110 
 
 St. Joseph River, 129 
 
 St. Lawrence basin, 129, 225 
 
 St. Lawrence River, 36, 38, 45, 72, 
 80, 96, 128, 129, 163 
 
 St. Lawrence River, French settle- 
 ments along, 14, 19, 45, 126 
 
 St. Lawrence River to Hudson 
 Bay, canoe routes from, 47 
 
 St. Louis, Fort. See Fort St. 
 Louis 
 
 St. Louis, foimded by the Noblesse, 
 19 
 
 St. Louis, French ship, 140, note 
 
 St. Louis, Missions of, 72 
 
 St. Louis, order of, 229 
 
 St. Louis Bay. See Matagorda 
 Bay 
 
 St. Martin, 116 
 
 St. Martin, Gate of, 93 
 
 St. Maurice River, 47 
 
 St. Paul, Island, 26 
 
 St. Petersburg founded, 201 
 
 St. Therese, Fort. See New Severn 
 
 Salamander, French war-ship, 86 
 
 Salmon Cove, 109 
 
 Salmon Falls, 72 
 
 San Domingo, 138, 144-146, 151, 
 182, 207, 216, 225, 228 
 
 Santa Maria de Pensacola de Gal- 
 vez. See Pensacola 
 
 Sargeant, Governor, 61, 62 and 
 note 
 
 Sassa Kouis. See Iroquois Con- 
 federacy, war-cry 
 
 Sauvole, Francois Le Moyne, Sieur 
 de, 30, 157 and note, 162, 172, 
 175, 177, 186, 189, 196, 215 
 
 Scalping parties, 71 
 
 Schenectady, 59, 72-78 
 
264 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Schuyler, raid along Richelieu 
 River, 82 
 
 Scurvy, 90, 123 
 
 Seignelay, Jean Baptiste Colbert, 
 Marquis de, 42 and note, 45, 133, 
 206 
 
 Seigniors, 18 
 
 Seneca Indians, 16, 67-70 
 
 S^rigny, Joseph Le Moyne, Sieur 
 de, 30, 31, 80, 86, 92, 111, 113, 
 122, 189, 215, 220, note, 228, 234 
 
 Ship Island, 153, 175, 197 
 
 Silkworms, 221 
 
 Silvy, Antoine, Jesuit, 49 and note, 
 51, 57, 58 
 
 Sioux country, 130 
 
 Sioux Indians, 27, 219 
 
 Skins of animals, 221, 222 
 
 Slave trade, 229 
 
 Snow shoes used by French voy- 
 ageurs, 53, 77, 108 
 
 Sorling, English ship, 100, 102 
 
 Spade-fish, noted by French, 164 
 
 Spain, claims based on discoveries 
 in America, 15; strife for Colo- 
 nial America, 132; prevailing 
 dread of, 141; affairs of State 
 in France and, 203-214; Iber- 
 ville ostensible friend of, 222. 
 See also New Spain 
 
 Spaniards, greed of gold, 54; pro- 
 fess ignorance of Mississippi, 144 ; 
 called Mississippi River the 
 "Palisades," 160; purpose cap- 
 turing San Domingo, 207 
 
 Spanish Bay, 100 
 
 Spanish claims in America, 206- 
 214 
 
 Spanish colony at Fensacola. See 
 Pensacola 
 
 Spanish commerce diverted to 
 French posts, 222 
 
 Spanish deserters, 178 
 
 Spanish maps, early, 130 
 
 Spanish mines in New Mexico, 20 
 
 Spanish pilot conducts Iberville's 
 fleet into Gulf of Mexico, 149- 
 150 
 
 Spanish posts in Florida and 
 
 Texas, 210 
 Spanish procure masts near Apa- 
 
 lachicola, 145 
 Spanish resistance to be overcome, 
 
 181 
 Spanish settlement at Barcia. See 
 
 Barcia 
 Spanish ships at Pensacola, 208 
 Spanish Succession, War of, 204- 
 
 206, 215 
 Starved Rock (Fort St. Louis), 69, 
 
 note, 131 and note, 191 
 Stockade structure of forts, 87. 
 
 See also Palisade architecture 
 Sugar cane first planted in Louisi- 
 ana, 190 
 Sulpician Seminary (Abb6 Quay- 
 
 lus'), 34 
 Surgeres, 144, 149, 184 
 Swamp. See Muskeg 
 
 Tadottsac, 19, 47, 49, note 
 
 Tamaroas Indians, 191 
 
 Tampico, 129 
 
 Tangipahoa Indians, 162, 167 
 
 Tassenogogoula River. See Red 
 River 
 
 Temiscaming, Lake, 48 
 
 Tensas Indians, 162, 165, note, 170, 
 192, 197 
 
 Teredos, 186 
 
 Territorial expansion, 123, 125. 
 See also under Iberville 
 
 Texas, La Salle's death on plains 
 of, 131, 175; Indians to be re- 
 duced, 207; Cenis in, 210 
 
 Thoynard, Nicholas, 180 and note, 
 220 and note, 221 
 
 Three Rivers, 19, 25, 28, 35, 47, 72 
 
 Thunder Bay, 128 
 
 Titles bestowed on IbervUle, 229 
 
 Tobacco Nation of Indians, de- 
 stroyed by Iroquois, 24 
 
 Toboggans, 48, 72 
 
 Tohomes Indians, 217 
 
 Tomahawks, 77 
 
 Tontine system of insurance, 69 note 
 
INDEX 
 
 265 
 
 Tonty, Henri de ("Iron Hand"), 
 69 and note, 129, 131, 137, 161, 
 166-172, 175, 176, 191, 193, 199, 
 218, 221, 228. See also Iberville 
 — Mississippi River Expedition, 
 Illinois River, Mississippi River, 
 Starved Rock 
 
 Tourville, Marshal Cownf de, 38, 140, 
 144 
 
 Traversiers, 144 
 
 Treaty between France and Eng- 
 land, 67 
 
 Tree blazed by French, 162 
 
 Trees of the lower Mississippi, 103. 
 See also Forests 
 
 Trinity Bay, 98 
 
 Troubadours in New France, 20 
 
 Tuileries (Les), 93 
 
 Tunica Indians, 187 
 
 Upper Bay. See Hudson Bay 
 
 Utica, Illinois, 131 
 
 Utrecht, Peace of. See Peace 
 
 Vauban, 133 and note, 181, 182 
 Vera Cruz, 145, 149, 178, 207, 210, 
 
 215 
 Verazzano. See Verrazzano 
 Verendrye, 18 
 Verrazzano, 133, 206 
 Versailles, 93, 136 
 
 Villemont, 220 
 
 Virginia, 110, 209, 221 
 
 Virginia and Quebec contrasted, 
 
 181 
 Virginian coast, Iberville's attack 
 
 abandoned, 227 
 Voijageurs, 50, 53, 60, 69, 80, 90, 
 
 191. See also Canadians 
 
 War of Spanish Succession, 204- 
 206, 215 
 
 War parties from Quebec, Mon- 
 treal, and Three Rivers, 72 
 
 War-cry of the Iroquois. See Iro- 
 quois Confederacy 
 
 Warfare, ethics of, 83 
 
 Wasp, French frigate, 113 
 
 Watersheds of North America, 
 128 
 
 Wells, 84 
 
 William of Orange, 71, 133 
 
 William III., King of England, 
 203-205 
 
 Winsor, citation from, 135 
 
 Winter, on the St. Lawrence River, 
 72; on Hudson Bay, 90 
 
 Wisconsin River, 130 
 
 Yellow Fever, 228, 232 
 York, Fort. See Fort Nelson 
 Young, English sloop, 62