YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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LIBRARY

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THE
TERCENTENARY
HISTORY OF CANADA
FROM CHAMPLAIN TO LAURIER
MDCVIII-MCMVIII BY
FRANK BASIL TRACY
WITH MANY FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS,
PORTRAITS AND MAPS ESPECIALLY
MADE FOR THIS WORK
VOLUME I

TORONTO
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
1908

Copyright, 1908,
By P. F. COLLIER & SON
Entered at Stationers' Hall

NottoooU y teas :
Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

DEDICATED BY PERMISSION
TO
l
SIR WILFRID LAURIER,
WHOSE STATESMANLIKE BREADTH OF VIEW,
CONCILIATORY SPIRIT, AND EARNEST EFFORT
TO PROMOTE THE GROWTH AND UNIFICATION
OF HIS COUNTRY
CANADIANS WILL EVER HOLD
IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE.

Canada — I I Vol. I

CONTENTS

Chap.Chap.
Chap. Chap.Chap.Chap.Chap.Chap.
Chap. Chap. ro.
Chap. ii.
Chap. 12.
Chap. 13.
Chap. 14.
Chap. 15.
Chap. 16.
Chap. 17.
Chap. 18.
Chap. 19.
Chap. 20.
Chap. 21.
Chap. 22.
Chap. 23.
Chap. 24.
Chap. 25.
Chap. 26.
Chap. 27.
Chap. 28.
Chap. 29.
Chap. 30.
Chap. 31.

PAGE
The Opening of the New World   13
Cartier and the Real Discovery of Canada  25
Qtamplain and Acadia  41
The Founding of Quebec  51
The Great Jesuit Missions  80
Isaac Jogues, Martyr  90
The Settlement of Acadia  124
Quebec in the Middle of the Seventeenth Century  143 ¦
Tracy's Victory over the Mohawks  165
Marquette and the Discovery of the Mississippi  184
Frontenac  201
La Salle's First Great Expedition  205
La Salle's Voyage down the Mississippi  230
La Salle's Grand Proj ect  237
The Quarrels of Frontenac and His Recall  263
The Return of Frontenac  280
Phips's Expedition Against Quebec  292
The New World at the Beginning of the Eighteenth
Century  317
The Founding of Louisbourg  341
The French in Louisiana  349
The First Capture of Louisbourg  356
Another Armada and Its Sad Fate  375
The Exile of the Acadians  383
The Peril to France in the Ohio Country.  406
General Braddock's Defeat  418
The Seven Years' War Begun  431
James Wolfe and the Capture of Louisbourg  461
Montcalm's Triumph at Ticonderoga  474
The Fall of New France  499
Canada Under the British  558
Governorship of Carleton and the Quebec Act  578
3

CONTENTS PAGE
Chap. 32. Real Causes of the American Revolution  584
Chap. 33. Arnold and Montgomery's Invasion of Canada  59°
Chap. 34. Burgoyne's Invasion  608
Chap. 35. The Fighting in the West  632
Chap. 36. Vermont Almost British  640
Chap. 37. Peace and the Settlement of Upper Canada  645
Chap. 38. Dorchester Governor and Canada Divided  659
Chap. 39. The Opening of the War of 1812  693
Chap. 40. The Campaign of 1813  715
Chap. 41. The Events of 1814  745
Chap. 42. Peace and Its Sequences  773
Chap. 43. A Period of Discord  793
Chap. 44. The Papineau Rebellion  807
Chap.' 45. The Uprising in Upper Canada  817
Chap. 46. Administration of the Earl of Durham  855
Chap. 47. The Union of 1840  863
Chap. 48. The Earl of Elgin's Stormy by Successful Career  875
Chap. 49. John A. Macdonald and George Brown  892
Chap. 50. Preparing for Confederation  911
Chap. 51. The Maritime Provinces, 1759-1867  930
Chap. 52. The Dominion of Canada  936
Chap. 53. The Pacific Railway Scandal  964
Chap. 54. Mackenzie's Brief Premiership  972
Chap. 55. The Second Riel Rebellion  979
Chap. 56. Wilfrid Laurier Becomes Liberal Leader  987
Chap. 57. Macdonald's Last Victory and His Death  999
Chap. 58. The Manitoba School Question  1007
Chap. 59. Canada Under Laurier  1019
Chap. 60. The Alaska Boundary  1037
Chap. 61. The New Transcontinental Railway  1046
Chap. 62. The Opening of the Northwest  1072
Chap. 63. The Quebec Tercentenary  1079
Appendix A — Chronological Table of Canadian History  1085
Appendix B — The British North America Act of 1867  1098
Index  1151

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
PAGE
Jacques Cartier  27
Map of Canada in the Seventeenth Century  45
Champlain's Tower in Attack on an Iroquois, Village  .._,. 55
Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve  87
Father Isaac Jogues  91
Sir William Alexander  127
Antoinette, Marchioness de Guercheville  135
Francis Xavier de Laval  147
Jean Baptiste Talon  167
Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle  209
Map of the Mississippi in the Time of La Salle  233
La Salle's Colony on the Illinois  243
ChAteau St. Louis, Quebec  295
Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur de Iberville  309
a coureur de bois of new france  319
"The Golden Dog"  335
Bourget Statue  345
Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville  351
Map of Acadia  359
Map of Louisbourg  367
Hon. William Shirley  371
Map of the French and Indian War  413
General Edward Braddock  421
Marquis de Vaudreuil  439
Marquis de Montcalm  449
William Pitt, First Earl of Chatham  463
5

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS PAGE
Map of Louisbourg  469
Jeffery, First Lord Amherst  477
Map of Ticonderoga  483
Montcalm and Wolfe Monument  505
Map of Wolfe's Capture of Quebec  513
Franqois Gaston, Due de Levis  549
Sir James Murray  563
Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester  569
Map of Burgoyne's Invasion  613
Sir Frederick Haldimand, Governor of Quebec  635
Lieutenant-General Simcoe  681
Map of the War of 1812 in Lower Canada  697
Map of Detroit and Western Lake Erie  741
Map of Niagara Peninsula  749
General John C. Sherbrooke  783
Louis J. Papineau  811
William Lyon Mackenzie  823
Earl of Durham  859
Earl of Elgin  881
Map of Second Riel Rebellion  985
Map of the Alaska Boundary  1039

LIST OF PLATES
PORTRAITS AND STATUES
Portrait of Queen Victoria
Portrait of King Edward VII
Statue of Samuel Cham plain
Statue of Father James Marquette
Statue of Comte de Frontenac
Portrait of General James Wolfe
Portrait of His Excellency, Earl Grey
Portrait of Sir John Macdonald
Portrait of Hon. George Brown
Portrait of Hon. Joseph Howe
Portrait of Sir Charles Tupper and his Four Predecessors
Portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Portrait of Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, K.C.
Portrait of Dr. R. M. Coulter, C.M.G.
Portrait of Sir William -Van Horne
Portrait of Sir Thomas Shaughnessy
Portrait of Charles M. Hays
BUILDINGS AND VIEWS
Dominion Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ont.
Senate Chamber, Parliament Building, Ottawa, Ont.
House of Commons, Parliament Building, Ottawa, Ont.

LIST OF PLATES
Provincial Government Building, Fredericton, N. B.
Provincial Government Building, Quebec, Que.
Provincial Government Building, Toronto, Ont.
Provincial Government Building, Halifax, N. S.
Provincial Government Building, Victoria, B. C.
Provincial Government Building, Edmonton, Alb.
Provincial Government Building, Regina, Sas.
Provincial Government Building, Charlottetown, P. E. I.
Provincial Government Building, Winnipeg, Man.
Post-Office Building, Ottawa, Ont.
Montreal from Mount Royal.
Nelson, Kootenay District, B. C.

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PREFACE
THERE is no more interesting or absorbing
tale in the annals of mankind than the
story of the Canadian people. However
much one may delight in ancient records of classic
lands and the myths of the Greeks and the Scandina
vians, or in the almost modern tales of China, India,
or Peru, or in the astonishing growth of civilization
in the past half-century, he will in none of these
lands or times find figures and events surpassing
in continuity of interest the three centuries of Cana
dian life from Champlain to Laurier. In the aston
ishing diversity and variations of the currents of
this life is material not only for the historian but
also for the artist, the philosopher, and the poet.
There is not a decade that is not exciting, romantic,
or inspiring. The richness of the early days, with
feudal barons transplanted from Europe mingling
with the copper-skinned Indians and the black-robed
priests, seems most vivid when contrasted with the
sombre and gray beginnings of the United States.
The romance and tragedy of the period of explora
tion Americans count as imperishable parts of their
own history, yet its leaders were nearly all men of
France. The colonial strife which followed had as
its supremely dramatic finale the deaths of Mont
calm and Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham. In the
American Revolution the Canadians had an impor-
9

PREFACE
tant, though passive and unappreciated, part. As
its sequel came the founding of the Tory col
ony in what is now Ontario, and the beginning of
the titanic task of attempting to rule English On
tario and French Quebec cequo animo. Hardly had
that era opened before Canada was forced to fight
for her altars and her fires in the inconclusive but
highly interesting War of 1812, in which her
people distinguished themselves above all others.
At its conclusion there opened the most complex
and vexatious part of the whole record — the strife
of Quebec and Ontario. That period is often
shunned by publicists and teachers as petty, bicker
ing, and tiresome, and I confess I began the task
of that portion of this work with much reluctance.
Yet in going over these pages I constantly turn
to that period in anxious inquiry lest I have not
made plain the dramatic elements and supreme issues
of that struggle. It was a stormy, uncomfortable,
and anxious period. Life in either province was
unhappy. In all her varied dealings with colonies,
I question whether Great Britain has ever been in
volved in a more delicate or difficult position than
this : called upon to find a form of government and
code of laws adapted to two adjacent provinces,
radically different in people, language, religion, and
customs. The problem was great, the blunders were
many, but out of them came the Confederation
which saved Canada from disorganization or in
corporation into the Republic. This Confederation
period has been interesting, largely because of two
great figures, John Alexander Macdonald and
Wilfrid Laurier. To-day we are in the Expansion
period, when for the first time in their common
10

PREFACE
history Canada's treasury receipts have increased
more rapidly than those of the United States, and
an empire of Wheat is opening in the fertile, long-
shunned fields west of Manitoba.
It is with an earnest hope to obtain the attention
of many readers to this wonderful story that this
book has been written. I make no apologies for
entering a field already crowded, but I shall hope
that the present work will find its proper niche. Nor
do I claim originality or exclusive use of sources for
the book. The work is, however, designed to be an
accurate, complete and connected story of the main
currents of Canadian history from Champlain to
Laurier. It has not been possible to go into side-
fields and by-paths. But with the large figures and
events I have tried to be generous. Above all, I
have attempted to hold to the story form, so that
whether sketching a battle, a change in government,
or a deep-seated social movement, I may cause the
reader to feel that all are parts of a great novel
or drama, as indeed I conceive history in its true
relations to be. Only enough comment has been
inserted to point out the deeper meanings of his
tory, and such comment, I hope, will be found to
be, while sometimes strongly expressed, invariably
fair and impartial.
For authorities consulted, the reader is referred
to the work itself, where due credit has been given
to them. It would be impossible, however, to close
this overlong preface without special recognition
of Professor George M. Wrong of Toronto for his
patient, keen, and thorough reading of the entire
manuscript, with important corrections and preg
nant recommendations; of Lieutenant-Colonel Wil-

PREFACE
Ham; Wood, author of "The Fight for Canada," who
personally directed me in visiting the battlefields of
Quebec, and read with critical care and admirable
suggestions the manuscript of that portion of the
work devoted to the Conquest of Canada in 1759;
of Mr. Charles K. Bolton, Librarian of the Boston
Athenasum, for privileges and courtesies ; of Profesr
sors Albert Bushnell Hart and William Bennett
Munro of Harvard University, for suggestions and
helps; and of the Dominion Government for data
and maps.
F. B. T.

12

CHAPTER I
THE OPENING OF THE NEW WORLD
THE world was in a low state at the close
of the fifteenth century. It despaired of
progress, for it did not know how free
dom could be got. But behind the thought and
determination of Columbus when he set sail to the
west in 1492 there seems to us to-day to have been
an impulse, a guiding hand, an overseeing power,
of which he knew nothing and of which the world
could have no conception for centuries to come.
The discovery of America may be said to be one
of the most fortunate events for mankind, or one of
the most inspiring and wonderful manifestations of
Providence in all history. For it came at a time
when the individual was quite near extinction. All
the supreme forces- known to the world plunged
forward, bent on the subjection of the body, mind,
and soul of the mass of men. Every nation of princHTnd
Europe revealed swiftly growing concentration of ,he masses
sovereign power. It was a time when, after long
and bloody wars, each king on his throne felt more
secure, more insolent, more cruel.
Spain was at the height of her imperial power.
The thrones of Ferdinand and Isabella had been
united, the northern provinces were bargained away
from France, bloody wars forced one after another
13

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
of the weak states of the peninsula into their realm,
until, in the very year of Columbus's voyage, Gre
nada opened her gates to these sovereigns, and the
Moor was driven from Europe forever. Ferdinand
and Isabella burned with ambition. They yearned
to extend their power into all parts of the earth,
and every point in that progress was to be won by
bloody conquest, in which the individual was used
simply as a machine of war. The power of autoc
racy in Spain was never so high, and upon the
people were fastened the horrors of the Inquisition.
Triumphs Tn France Louis XI, after his long, bitter contests
of Louis XI .,/-¦,« t-> « « t • e <«
with Charles the Bold, saw that rash warrior fall
and the last obstacle to his kingly will swept away.
Then was laid more securely the foundation of the
kingdom of France, which throve and shone and
dwindled until it fell in the mob and hell of the
Revolution. In England the Wars of the Roses ended at last
in the coming of the first Tudor, Henry VII, who
triumphed over the misshapen murderer, Richard
III. This very victory, which ought to have led to
decency and liberty, made stronger and more rigid
the kingly power, which was soon extended and
deepened by his son, Henry VIII, of unfragrant
memory. In Russia Ivan the Great had freed many of his
people from Tartar domination, only to place them
under the rule of that iron autocracy which the
twentieth century may see overthrown.
Italy and Germany were in anarchy. It was the
period of the proud Lorenzo. All the petty princi
palities were engaged in war. On every throne of
Europe lay the mailed fist and the bloody sword.
14

THE OPENING OF THE NEW WORLD
The bare thought of a popular rising would have
been the subject of ridicule. There seemed abso
lutely no chance of relief for the common man. It
was as if a halt had come in the Renaissance and a
retreat was about to begin.
Yet relief was coming. If there was no place
in Europe for a free man, some other place must
be found for him. It was found in America. And Democracy
as men yearned for greater spiritual liberty, that * "rmat*on
want was met in the Reformation. Here are two
titanic events, occurring practically at the same
time. One marked the rebirth of democracy. The
other marked the beginnings of tolerance. It was
a great age.
In these pages it will be my purpose to sketch
in brief the story of the opening of the New World,
to show how Europe at length awoke to the price
less opportunity which lay before it, and to trace
in detail the course of one of the two broad streams
of immigration and settlement in North America.
No one who follows the enchanting tale of the be
ginnings of America can fail to express wonder,
even astonishment, at its slow and timid develop
ment. The mere fact that full one hundred years
elapsed between the voyage of Columbus and the
first permanent settlement in what is now the United
States reveals a condition of apparent torpidity in
public thought and spirit which we to-day can hardly
understand. Yet the causes of this apparent timid
ity and caution, though varied, are not far to seek,
and follow quickly upon the conditions sketched
above. All Europe was keyed to a high monarchical
pitch. Kingship and royalty had become exalted in
IS

for India's
wealth

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
every nation, and each vied with the others in the
assertion of power and majesty. The logical out
come of such conditions was irritation, jealousy,
cupidity, and war. Europe was too small a terri
tory to contain so many monarchs mad with the
thirst for greater glory. Yet the discovery of
America made no impression upon such swollen
The lust minds. Expansion beyond the seas seems never to
have occurred to one of them, except as they looked
toward India. And India undoubtedly led to the
finding of the New World. It was the wealth and
spices of the Far East which most attracted the
merchants of Europe. And it was the overland
journey's length which led navigators to plan and
plot for a shorter route. The conception that such
a route could be found by sailing due west from
Europe must have sprung from the acceptance of
the theory of the spherical formation of the earth.
At the time of Columbus this theory, while still re
sisted by the Church and unheard of in practically
all the scientific haunts of the age, was not un
known to many independent scholars and thinkers.
Columbus, however, was the first navigator bold
and brave enough to offer to put it to the test by
sailing directly west upon a vast and trackless sea.
It was a daring experiment, and regarded as crim
inally rash by those philosophers and scholars of
that time who believed Columbus would sail to the
edge of things and then tumble over into — space.
AMERICA IDENTIFIED WITH INDIA
It is apparent that the European world was much
confused as to the identity of the land which Colum
bus discovered. He thought to his dying day that
16

THE OPENING OF THE NEW WORLD
he had found an unfamiliar part of India, an opin
ion on which at first there was much skepticism.
For the Portuguese navigators who had explored the
West Coast of Africa continued their work after
they must have known of Columbus's discovery, and
the first voyage to India by the Cape of Good Hope
route was not made until 1496, four years after
Columbus's voyage. Four years still later, Cabral,
starting on the Indian journey, was blown off his
course until he reached what was probably Brazil,
but nothing ever came of this voyage, and it should
have no credit in the work of opening America.
At length, however, the hardships of that southern
route and the stories of wonderful wealth in the
new lands of Columbus convinced the doubting
Thomases of Europe that he was right.
The belief in the identity of America and India America an
continued for years and decades, indeed for almost obstf?le to
J ' reaching
a century. This absurd notion furnishes another India
explanation for the blindness of European monarchs
to the great opportunity for expansion and wealth
in the New World. Although dozens of expeditions
were sent out by these monarchs, or under their
patronage, no systematic or logical plan was adopted
by any one. The wars which followed the enor
mous advance of monarchism in the fifteenth cen
tury so filled the time of royalty during the sixteenth
that it had no interest in the dreams of visionaries
or the solid projects of great merchants, statesmen,
and seamen. Even when the fact of a New World
became generally accepted, that great continent was
regarded as an impertinent barrier and obstacle in
the journey to India. Compelled to accept this ob
stacle, the navigators and explorers exhausted all
17

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
their resources and skill in striving to find a pas
sage through or around it. The early French ex
plorers thought to find it by following the St. Law
rence to its source, and as late as 1609, when both
Jamestown and Quebec had been founded, and the
New World was indeed a fact, Hendrick Hudson
The search met his death in the great body of water which bears
Northwest *"s name while trying to find a northwest passage
Passage to India — a passage which indeed he might have
found by following an inlet of that bay and then by
a short portage reaching the Mackenzie River, which
leads to the Arctic seas and the Pacific Ocean.
Thus a century was practically thrown away. It
is unnecessary to record here all the various expe
ditions sent out by England, France, and Spain.
Many of them form an important part of the his
tory of the present United States, but have no bear
ing upon Canadian records. Most of them were
ill-conceived and wholly impracticable. Nearly all
of these explorers had but one purpose in view, the
discovery of gold. The remainder, like Ponce de
Leon, were seeking some visionary end, hoping for
a fountain of youth or striving to find the secret
, hoard of the rainbow. To be sure, there were some
v< genuine colonization projects. Two of these, the
French-Huguenot missions to Brazil and Florida-
Carolina, were as brave and heroic as they were
destitute of prevision and sure foundations. The
history of the first is a brief one, and its ruin is
easily ascribed to internal dissensions and the des
potism of the leaders. The story of the settlements
in Florida and Carolina is one of the most romantic
and terrible in American history. They were ruined
by the folly and lack of care on the part of their
18

THE OPENING OF THE NEW WORLD
projectors, and by the awful brutality of the Span
iards under Menendez. Then came French ven
geance under De Gourges's leadership. The only
portion of the story of these English, French, and
Spanish expeditions which concerns us is that which
relates to the bases for clairns_Jp territory on the
part of these nations. 'Thelreis not even to-day BaS« for
any rule for the right to newly discovered territory. "l^r,al
Certainly, in the old bloody days of the sixteenth
century, no codes on this subject were agreed to by
the nations. The good old rule of claiming every
thing and seizing anything apparently worth having
then prevailed. Spain had, of course, the first right
to all America under Columbus's discoveries and
Papal decree, but Spain was slow to assert this
claim, laboring under the prevalent misconception
both as to the identity of America with India and
as to the value and extent of the continent. Under
the mocking rules of Fate, Spain did not secure the
most valuable part of North America. She found
her possessions in South America a source of in
finite tumult and expense, and after four hundred
years is to-day the only one of those exploring na
tions of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, once
holding much of the New World, which owns not
one foot of soil in America — the hemisphere which
one of her explorers discovered and another named.
England, as usual, when land is in question, put
forth her claims with alacrity. And they rested
upon substantial achievements, the voyages and ex
plorations of the Cabots. Italy, because she was
not then a nation, but a congeries of bickering prin
cipalities, had no share and received no prizes in
the division of the New World spoils, but her sons
19

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
continued the renown of Italian explorers, chiefly
won by Marco Polo. Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci,
and the Cabots were Italians.
THE CABOTS
The John and Sebastian Cabot (Cabotto) were the
Iw-M98°f bravest and most persistent explorers of the time.
John made his first voyage in 1497, but the most
important was in 1498, when they both sailed from
Bristol under England's flag and explored the entire
coast from Labrador down to Carolina. How many
other voyages they made is uncertain, but it is
known that they attempted to find the northwest
passage to India, and were driven back only by
the ice of Hudson Strait. About this time the
renown of the Grand Banks fisheries began to be
known to all the world. Biscayan fishermen as
serted that they had known of these fisheries and
had fished there long before Cabot's time, but had
for obvious reasons kept secret the location of their
rich spoils. But after the Cabots had visited it,- con
cealment was no longer possible, and fishermen from
all parts of Europe hastened there and fought and
quarreled, as they have since done even up to this
day. At any rate, old chroniclers narrate that in
1 5 1 7, only eighteen years after the news of Cabot's
discovery had become known, fifty vessels visited
those fishing grounds. Cortereal, the Portuguese
explorer, followed the fishermen and, because of the
lack of labor in Portugal, set an example for many
of his. countrymen in bringing home a cargo of
natives of Labrador, whom he seized and enslaved.
The early maps of Labrador bear the name Terra
Corterealis, but later the present name was used, a

THE OPENING OF THE NEW WORLD
contraction and corruption of Laboratoris Terra,
a name also recalling Cortereal's infamy.
Now we come to the first French name among The Guif
all the explorers, and fitly enough his name is asso- °l St-
... . . Lawrence
ciated with a region which was under French do- discovered,
minion for one hundred and fifty years. This ex- Iso6
plorer was Jean Denis, or Denys, of Honfleur, and
he discovered and explored the Gulf of St. Law
rence in 1506. A map in the Dominion archives
at Ottawa, said to be a copy of one made by Denys,
seems to sketch, although most crudely, the gulf
and a bit of the surrounding land. Tradition has
it that two years later, or 1508, Thomas Anbrot,
also a Frenchman, ascended the St. Lawrence River
and brought back many natives for exhibition at
Rouen and other French cities. This may well be
a fictitious story, since the rape of the savages of
the St. Lawrence basin by the French became all
too common a few years later, and Anbrot may have
been confused with Cartier or later explorers.1
The first attempt at settlement in North America saweisiand
was by a Frenchman in is 18. It was a foolish *ettled *nd
J u deserted
attempt, and it ended in disaster; but let us not
fail in credit to this brave Gaul, who thought of
something else than India and gold and loot. This
1 Regarding such stories it is often impossible at this distance
of time to separate fact from fiction, and nothing is more
wearying to the reader than the narration of the troubles ex
perienced by the author in endeavoring to reach his judgment
as to values of testimony. For that reason I shall refrain as
much as possible from references to authorities on questionable
data. Affirmative and positive statements must presuppose on
my part diligent search as a basis for them, and where there
are only rumors or dubious references the incident will be
ignored, unless it concerns a very important issue.
21

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Baron de Lery selected Sable Island for his colony.
This lonely island, bordering "the Graveyard of
the Atlantic," was the last place in the New World
for a settlement. With nothing to sustain the peo
ple, and with the wild sea beating about them, they
were soon glad to sail for home, leaving nothing
but their cattle, which so multiplied as to be an ex
tensive monument to the baron's folly. The popu
lation of Sable Island to-day is almost as scant
as then. Thus ended the first lesson in American
colonization by France.
verrazzano In the mean time Francis I had come to the throne
the first Q£ France, a worthy successor to Louis XL It
important ' J
French was not long before he became involved in war
explorer wjtj1 jjjg southern neighbor, Charles V of Spain.
The stories of Cortes in the land of the Aztecs and
his loot of Mexico excited the envy and ire of every
other European monarch, and when some of the
ships, laden with gold and other spoils of conquest,
were found on the high seas off their course by
French warships (under Verrazzano it is said), and
-towed into a French port, the joy of Francis knew
no bounds. While the humor was upon him, he
wrote a facetious note in response to a protest from
Charles, asking him if it were true that he and
his brother king of Portugal had parceled out the
earth between them without leaving anything for
him. Had Father Adam made those two his only
heirs? If so, he asked to see the last will and testa
ment. Failing that, he should feel at liberty to
seize any rich prizes his ships might find on the
Francis ocean. Francis sent John Verrazzano, another
sends out -faXixa navigat0r, to explore the coast of the New
verrazzano World and capture any prizes he might find. Ver-

THE OPENING OF THE NEW WORLD
razzano set sail from Dieppe in 1524. He found
no Spanish prizes, but he explored the coast from
the Carolinas to Newfoundland. He penetrated into
the interior at several places and brought home what
some authorities declare to be the first report ever
published of North America. Undoubtedly one ob
ject of this expedition was to find that mythical His map of
northwest passage to India, and while he did notg^sapeake
find it, he did find Chesapeake Bay, and made a
map of the country, picturing Chesapeake Bay as
the Pacific Ocean — an original but highly exag
gerated conception, which played the mischief with
map-makers and the whole world of explorers for
at least a century.2
Verrazzano was received in France with great verraz-
acclaim, and enough enthusiasm was aroused among *"°'tionin
the merchants of Dieppe to have made a momentous France
change in the history of the governments of the
New World. But the king had too many troubles
at home just then to care for foreign complication.
He could see no possible future glory in a far-off
region at the moment a pretender was invading
France. His impudent letter to Charles of Spain
angered that monarch, who retaliated by engaging
him in battle and capturing him. Francis got free
by signing an abject treaty, but at once repudiated
it. Had he made an honorable peace with Spain, and
used the royal funds in backing up Verrazzano's
explorations by sending other expeditions and col
onists to America, the tricolor might now be wav
ing over us. But the great opportunity was let
s Recent investigations have thrown a cloud over Verrazza
no's exploration story, and that map may have been an
ingenious fiction. 23

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
slip, and when he became interested in the New
World, Englishmen had forestalled him. He did at
length risk a venture in New World stocks a few
years later, chiefly to oblige one of the court favor
ites, Philippe de Brion-Chabot, Admiral of France.
Chabot planned an expedition to follow up poor
Hanged as Verrazzano, who by this time had the bad luck to
be captured by the Spaniards at sea and hanged
at the yardarm as a pirate, which, like Drake and
other choice spirits, he certainly was. Thus enters
the discoverer and first pioneer of New France,
Jacques Cartier, a Breton navigator of courage
and skill.

24

CHAPTER II
CARTIER AND THE REAL DISCOVERY OF CANADA
C ARTIER was equipped by the king, at Chabot's sails
representation, with two ships. He sailed April ^" 30>
20, 1534, from picturesque St. Malo, foremost as a '
seaport then and to-day as a fashionable resort. It
is impossible to know what Cartier's instructions or
his real purposes were. Probably it was only by
accident that he took a much different route to the
New World than Verrazzano's. But the fact that he
sailed due west was epoch-making in its effects upon
American history. That brought him to Newfound
land and the Gulf and River St. Lawrence, and
thus he unconsciously fixed the field of French
activities in the New World. Raleigh and the other
English explorers who set out a few years later by
the same sort of trick of fate steered for the south
west. Hence rose that curious crossing of lines,
that inconsistency of both nations, by which the
southern, warm country chose the frigid Canada
for its sons, and the cold, northern country drove
its vessels to the warm shores of the Carolinian and
Virginian waters.
Cartier followed the old beaten track of the' Bre
ton fishermen, steered for the Banks, passed through
the Strait of Belle Isle, and entered the Gulf of
St. Lawrence. Later he visited a bay which, be-
Canada — 2 25 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
cause of the warm July days, he called the Bay of
Chaleurs, a name which must often have seemed a
bit ironical to the denizens of that region. This bay
to-day separates New Brunswick from the south
eastern tongue of Quebec Province. A few miles
north along the coast of that tongue, at the head
of an inlet, stands the village of Gaspe. Here Car-
tier landed, planted a cross, and solemnly took pos
session of the country in the name of the king. He
was apparently convinced that the Gulf of St. Law
rence was somehow the passage to Cathay, and
having taken possession of the neighboring coun
try, he was ready to go home and spread the news.
One author gives as the reason for his return "au
tumnal storms were gathering"; but as Cartier
started back about August I, we may safely dismiss
that hypothesis as absurd. He made the blunder of
kidnaping two young Indians for use as an exhibit
at home.
The second Cartier's return with his sanguine stories excited
the imagination of the king and his court, and
there was no lack of support to him for a second
voyage. The whole country attended him with
extraordinary interest, and several gentlemen of
wealth and high birth arranged to accompany him.
His charter was received in October, but it was
not until May 19 of the next year, 1535, that he
was ready to sail. He took practically the same
route as before until he had passed through the
Strait of Belle Isle. Then he followed closely along
the shore of the present Province of Quebec until
he reached a small bay opposite Anticosti Island.
This was on August 10, St. Lawrence's day, and
he named that small bay after the saint. Later it
26

voyage, 1535

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
was applied to gulf and river. He did not tarry
there, but sailed on westward, confident that he was
still on the open sea and bound for India. But the
gulf narrowed to a river until he could see both
banks, and at length he came to the mouth of the
Saguenay, where it empties into the St. Lawrence,
and found that the water there was fresh. Then
he was compelled to admit that his dream had been
The first false. Yet spurred on by curiosity and the sight
Quebec °^ so manv savages crowding the river-bank and
calling out to him in an unknown tongue, he sailed
on up the stream.
After a while he came to anchor at a large, rich
island, which, because of the profusion of grapes,
Cartier called the island of Bacchus, now the island
of Orleans. There he was visited by swarms of
Indians, including the Chief Donnacona, who now
learned from the two redskins kidnaped at Gaspe
the year before wondrous stories of France, the
sea, the ship, and the chieftain. The Indians all
marveled, and were loud in their admiration. At
length Cartier took a boat and with a few compan
ions rowed up the river, and returned the state visit
of King Donnacona, much as our diplomats and
monarchs do unto this day. Donnacona's court
was in a group of wigwams, high upon a rock, in
sight of Carrier's island of Bacchus. It was the
first sight a white man had of that rock which,
under the name of Quebec, was to furnish history
with some of its most romantic and most glori
ous chapters. Cartier ascended the St. Charles
River, which he named the St. Croix, and, climb
ing the rock, visited the Indian village called
Stadacone. Paying his devoirs to the king, and

MONTREAL LOOKING WEST FROM MOUNT ROYAL

CARTIER AND THE REAL DISCOVERY OF CANADA
getting a glimpse into Indian ways of living, which
did not greatly charm him, Cartier rowed back to
the ship.
The Stadacone braves, eager to tell something in
return for all they had learned about France, as
sured the French that while Stadacone was a pretty
fine place, the real heart of civilization and grandeur
was at Hochelaga, many days' journey up the river. Hocheiaga,
But as soon as Cartier expressed his determination or Montreal
to visit this wonderful capital, they grew jealous of
Hochelaga and tried to discourage the Frenchman.
This failing, they determined to frighten him by
setting afloat upon the water some ghastly devils,
made up for the purpose, and warning Cartier of
dire results to follow his voyage. Other absurd
devices were employed, which opened Cartier's eyes
to the peculiar traits of his red friends, but did not
deter him in the least ; and in a few days, amid the
protests of Donnacona, he proceeded with fifty men
in boats up the river.
It was now the first of October, and the air was
full of cold, but Cartier heeded it not and pushed
ahead. On the second he saw far ahead of him a
mountain and on the shore hundreds of Indians
dancing and welcoming them with shouts of joy.
By night lights were ablaze on the shore, while the
redskins leaped about in their exultation and frenzy.
It is unfortunate that Frenchmen were years after
ward to see an altogether different sort of greeting
from savages at that place.
The next morning, October 3, Cartier and his
men rose from their camp and marched toward
Hochelaga, which lay at the foot of the mountain.
The manifestations of welcome were renewed at
29

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
their approach, increasing in intensity at every step.
The Indians behaved very like a well-trained stage
mob to-day, and made Cartier feel at home as well
as they could.
Atypical The village which they entered seemed very odd
Image to them, but it was the type of villages to which
French eyes grew well accustomed throughout that
broad region in the years to come. It consisted of
about fifty large bark-covered structures, each about
150 feet long and 35 to 45 wide, and containing
several rude fireplaces, around each of which gath
ered a family. A hole in the roof let out the smoke
from the fire in which was cooking the family meal.
In the midst of the town was a large public square,
in which Cartier's party was formally received. The
whole town, which may have held 2,000 to 3,000
persons, was guarded by a sort of palisade, com
posed of three rows of saplings, the middle upright,
the others bent toward the middle, and all three
fastened together with thongs of bark. Large
stones, to be thrown down upon the enemy, were
stored at the top. It was not as dazzling to Cartier
as his party was to the savages, but it was fully as
interesting. As soon as the Frenchmen had reached this pub
lic square, the whole village flocked about them,
screaming with delight, especially at the beards of
the strangers, which they touched with curious glee,
and at their garb and weapons. Soon the chief of
the tribe, a paralyzed old savage, was brought to
t^heaiX11 Cartier to be healed with his touch. This was a
s°ckea ' '' new role with him, and he performed it only after
hesitation, touching the chief and breathing a prayer
for his recovery. No miracle was performed, but
30

CARTIER AND THE REAL DISCOVERY OF CANADA
at once all the other sick savages were brought T«e =><*
brought
' be cured

before him to be healed. He did not let the oppor- , r°

tunity go by without reading from his Bible the
story of the death of the Saviour, to which, although
it was all French to them, they listened with that
serious attention known to no other race of men.
Then came the distribution of presents — knives,
hatchets, beads, rings, and all sorts of knickknacks,
and the scene was again all noise and excitement.
Then blowing blasts from their trumpets, which in
creased the savages' delight, Cartier's men marched
out of the town. They went with a guide to the
top of the mountain, and Cartier gratified his pas- cartier
sion for nomenclature by naming the superb spot, ^enst
commanding a magnificent view of woods and plain Royai
and river for many miles, Mount Royal. And
Mount Royal, or, as he pronounced it, Montreal, it
is to-day. Then they retraced their steps, again
greeted their savage hosts, and returned by the
river to Stadacone, where their countrymen who
had been left behind and the Indians alike gave
them a most cordial welcome.
THAT TERRIBLE WINTER
Preparations were already under way for the
winter, but the whites could gain no hint of the
sort of thing in the winter line that was coming
upon them. Just why they did not then return,
since it was not yet November, is not known, nor
is it clear whether it was Cartier's intention on set
ting out to spend the winter in the New World. At
any rate, it was a foolish resolve. These Gauls, to
whom the sight of snow was a novelty, and who
had never experienced a temperature much below
31

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
freezing, were now to spend a winter of six months'
deep snow, where the mercury stood at zero for
days at a time and often sank to 20 and 40 below
zero. This was, so far as I can learn, the first win
ter spent in northern North America by any white
man, and it was the irony of fate that the men who
braved it were from a warm clime and chose Que
bec for the experiment.
By the middle of November winter was fully
upon them. Snow lay deep in valley and on hill
and river. To one who is used and inured to it
the sight and the sensation are tonic and rich. But
to these Europeans it meant cold and suffering.
Even Breton fishermen were not prepared for this.
To add to their misfortunes the Indians grew shy
and suspicious, and were no longer at hand to sug
gest and advise. Not being equipped with proper
food for this first siege of Quebec, the besieged
Death from soon fell victims to scurvy, which raged furiously.
scurvy Twenty-five men were soon dead, and scarcely a
man of those remaining was strong and able. In
vain the sufferers offered prayers to the Virgin, and
even in processionals sang litanies and psalms be
fore an image of the Virgin on a tree. Cartier
feared the Indians, grown distrustful, might become
hostile, but it was from a savage that he learned of
a healing decoction. It was called Ameda, and
probably came from the arbor vitce. It saved the
whites, and when summer came Cartier repaid the
savages by luring Donnacona and some of his chiefs
to his ships and bearing them off with him to
France. He did this in order to have their evi
dence to convince the French at home of the mar
velous richness of the land and to help spread the
32

CARTIER AND THE REAL DISCOVERY OF CANADA
stories of gold, a white population, and other fasci
nating features of the country lying beyond Mon
treal. It was a small company that went back with
Cartier — the others lay buried in the shadow of cartier
Quebec Rock — and there was much sorrow as well^^
as joy when, on July 16, 1536, his ships reached theiuiyi6,
harbor of St. Malo. IS36
But Cartier was soon disillusioned of any hopes
he had for a speedy return to Canada — for such
he found the Indians called that country. Francis I
had again become involved in war with Charles V
of Spain, who, having carried the war into Africa
with signal success, burned to extend his triumphs
north. The war continued for several years, and
diverted the king's attention from Canada. What
was even more unfortunate for Cartier was the fact
that his patron, Admiral Chabot, was in disgrace
and powerless to help him. At length, however, the
war slackened, and another friend of Cartier arose
in Jean Francois de la Roque, Sieur de Roberval, a
Picardy nobleman. CARTIER AND ROBERVAL
Francis I liked display and grandiose titles, and
without the slightest comprehension of the location
of the various places mentioned, he commissioned
Roberval as "Lord of Norembega, Viceroy and The name
Lieutenant-General in Canada, Hochelaga, Sague- gras"audsaed
nay, Newfoundland, Belle Isle, Carpunt, Labrador, officially
the Great Bay, and Baccalaos." This is the first
time the name Canada appeared in any official
document. It is the word given Cartier by the Indians
as the name for the country of the valley of the
33

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
St. Lawrence. What it really means, or its real
derivation, is a subject for speculation, on which
there is no actual knowledge. Carpunt was the
name of the islands near the Strait of Belle Isle;
Meaning of the Great Bay is the Gulf of St. Lawrence; Bacca-
names laos originally meant codfish, and was later trans
ferred to the land about the codfish banks, which
might mean any general districts ; while Norembega
at that time meant Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,
and a part of Maine. Francis also gave Roberval
cartier five ships and named Cartier captain-general. In
named ^g r0ya] proclamation it was apparent that the king
gentr'aT still held to the Columbian idea of America as a
part of Asia, for he speaks of the "lands of Can
ada and Hochelaga, which form the extremity of
Asia toward the west." In the same document
was set forth the objects of this expedition as dis
covery, settlement, and the conversion of the In
dians. Francis was growing old and sick and
religious. Exactly how the sort of colonists he
determined to send to Canada could convert the
savages it is difficult to see, for he provided that
criminals and malefactors might be taken from the
jails and impressed to service in the crews and as
colonists. Undoubtedly no one else would go, but
the king put the enlisting of these prisoners on the
pious ground of doing "a compassionate and worthy
work toward criminals and evil-doers."1
The king of Spain was much upset by this com
mission of Francis. To him it was not only a hos
tile but an impious act. The pope had decreed that
•It is only fair to note that many of these prisoners sent to
Canada had been confined for debt or for political reasons and
were not necessarily vicious. 34

CARTIER AND THE REAL DISCOVERY OF CANADA
all of North America was Spain's, and Francis was
guilty of a defiance of the Holy Father and the
Saviour in thus controverting the pope's decree!
However, Spain concluded to let France carry on
the expedition, trusting in the usual Gallic bungling
to make it a dismal failure. Spain reasoned well.
As is inevitable with such enterprises, there was
delay in starting. Some of the supplies did not
arrive on time, and at length Cartier, May 23, i54i,cartier sets
started without Robervai, who was to follow with ^ayaf3ai°s'4I
more ships as soon as possible. Cartier was not
anxious to meet the Indians whom he had robbed
of their chiefs, and he wasted six weeks of the sum
mer in Newfoundland before he reached Quebec.
There he told the Indians that Donnacona was
dead, but the other chiefs were living in luxury and
honor. We learn little about this journey as com
pared with the former one. There was nothing
novel in the experience, and the continued absence
of Robervai paralyzed all efforts. Another unhappy
winter was spent near Quebec, and when the sum
mer came the disgusted colonists determined to re
turn. They knew not what had happened in France
and they feared for their lives among the Indians.
On his way home Cartier stopped at St. Johns,
Newfoundland, only to find Robervai there! The
viceroy was furious at Cartier's desertion. Cartier cartier
demanded an explanation of Roberval's delay, and^"els
when given it was not satisfactory to him. Rober- Robervai
val ordered him to return to Canada, but he knew
his men would not allow him to do so. Accord
ingly, one night Cartier slipped out of St. Johns
and soon gladly dropped anchor at St. Malo. Here
he vanishes from our sight. 35

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
There was nothing for Robervai to do but to pro
ceed to Canada, and this he did with heavy heart.
His troubles accumulated. There is a legend which
must here be recited. No sooner had he left St.
Johns than he learned of disgrace to his own blood.
The legend His niece, Marguerite, was in love with one of the
va£°niMe cavaliers on board. Possibly she had been sent on
this journey to remove her from his sight, but he
secretly boarded the ship and went with her. Love
grew to sin. Their guilt became known to Robervai
in the Strait of Belle Isle, and, enraged, he hove to
near a lonely island and cast her with her nurse
ashore. The lover was refused permission to land
with her, but as the ship was sailing away he sprang
into the sea and swam ashore.
This was the horrible Isle of Demons of which sea
romances are full. These devils raged about the
hut where cowered the trio and strove to capture
them, but Fate was kind and beat the devils back.
Soon the child was born and joy reigned for a
while. But in a short time the dismal life of sea
and sky and sand told on nurse and babe and lover.
Of sterner stuff was Roberval's niece, and she
endured the horror of that experience alone for over
two years. At last a sail drew near. It was a
French fishing smack. She waved frantically to it,
and it rescued her and bore her home. Thevet tells
the story with all the imagery of a vivid fancy, and
asserts that he got it from Marguerite's own lips.
Marguerite de Valois, sister of Francis I, has also
immortalized the other Marguerite by putting the
tale in her "Heptameron."
Now let us return to the viceroy, etc. He soon
dropped anchor near Quebec. Convict and noble
36

CARTIER AND THE REAL DISCOVERY OF CANADA
eagerly worked together to build a city there. One
enormous omnibus affair was put up, and in it all
dwelt and slept. Cartier's forts were rebuilt, and
the power of New France was asserted again with
might. But much was lacking. It was guns and
ammunition that had kept Robervai waiting so long,
and they were there now in abundance ; but it would
have been far better if those supplies had been food
and provisions. It was just the old story of lack
of foresight. The result was famine and sickness.
Cartier's experiences were repeated, and that win- a vain at-
ter, from scurvy and other diseases, one third of^JJ^^
the colony died. There was incipient mutiny, but
Robervai checked it by the most vigorous means,
hanging, shooting, and banishing many of the male
factors. Obviously a colony so constituted and so ruled
could not continue, and either that year or the
next the remnant of this heterogeneous band re-
embarked and sailed for France, while the savages
looked on, wondering and relieved. Robervai pur
sued the fortunes of his king in various fields, but
met his death at the hand of an assassin, possibly Roberval's
one of his old Quebec colony, in the streets of Paris death
on a dark night years afterward.
FRANCE UNDER HENRY OF NAVARRE
No more Frenchmen passed Anticosti for a half
century. The story of the bearded white men who
wore wonderful garments and stole away Indian
chiefs became at length only a tradition and almost
passed out of the savages' memory. Indeed, it be
came a dream. The reason is not far to seek. After
Francis I came a deluge. The very thought of the
37

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
existence of Canada was lost to all France in the
wretched years that followed. The curse of Cath-
France's erine de Medici, widow of Francis's son, Henry II,
unae7 WaS UP011 the land" The StOV^ °f th0SC Swful yeal"S
Catherine of civil and religious strife, in which stands out
most conspicuously the massacre of St. Bartholo
mew, is the story of one woman's mad ambition, in
flamed and distracted by the menace of Spanish,
English, and Navarrais meddling. It was a veritable
hell on earth, exceeded only in horror by the Revo
lution two centuries later. With it we are not here
concerned. The first sign of dawn came when
Henry of Navarre became king of France, em
braced Catholicism for the sake of peace, and again
turned the thoughts of the French away from re
ligious wars and blood-letting and toward new lands
and new enterprises. It was high time. England
and Spain had been sending out expeditions in
abundance, and the voyages of Gilbert, Drake,
Hawkins, Cavendish, and Raleigh showed how
eager was the English desire for knowledge and
possession of this New World. Meanwhile, the only
sight of the French flag in the waters of the New
World was on the Grand Banks, where Biscayan
and Breton fishermen resorted in vast and increas
ing numbers. The ill-fated expeditions to Brazil
and Florida need no mention here. They were the
efforts of the Huguenots to find some spot on earth
in which to live and breathe freely, and had no rela
tion to the imperial designs of France. But al
though France sent out no expeditions and colonists,
her fishermen came to know a business which be
came at once her greatest wealth and curse in the
New World. They began to trade with the Indians,
38

CARTIER AND THE REAL DISCOVERY OF CANADA
and many of them abandoned their lines and nets
for the life of the merchant. Thus they came to
know of the rich furs which the Indians were ready The fur
to barter for gaudy trinkets, and thus the f ounda- trade beeun
tion of the great fur trade was laid. Two residents
of France secured a monopoly of this trade from
the king in 1588, but popular clamor led to its
revocation. It was inevitable that under such a monarch
French colonization schemes should take definite
form. The death of Henry's bitterest foe, Philip
of Spain, in 1598, assisted the impulse toward ex
pansion. That very year another Breton, a noble
man, the Marquis de la Roche, undertook to plant La Roche's
a colony in the New World, and from that day the s^f^at
movement never ceased until Wolfe sealed the fate island
of New France. La Roche was given as many titles
as Robervai, and started out with a ship's company
composed of thieves, thugs, and all sorts of pris
oners. Roberval's route was shunned, and the ship
at length cast anchor off Sable Island. It was no
more inviting than it was eighty years before, when
Baron de Lery led his quixotic expedition thither.
And the result was no more fruitful. The colonists
were landed, and La Roche sailed onward to explore
the neighborhood. His little ship was blown away
by the gales, and he was glad to return safely to
France. His forty convict-colonists on Sable Island
were saved from wholesale destruction by the pro
geny of De Lery's cattle, but they suffered terribly.
La Roche could not help them, for he was thrown
into jail by a political enemy, and it was only after
his release that he prevailed upon the king to rescue
his erstwhile proud colony. Only eleven had sur-
39

Failure
of Pont

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
vived the storms, quarrels, cold, and hunger, and
when they were brought before Henry their great
shaggy beards and clothing of skins made them look
like Druids of eld.
The same year of La Roche's expedition and
gravVand failure, Pontgrave, a merchant, of St. Malo, and
chauvin Chauvin, a navy captain, led an expedition for
fur-trading. Sixteen men settled at Tadoussac,
where the Saguenay flows into the St. Lawrence,
and traded with the Indians. But winter, sickness,
and storms scattered them, and another failure was
chronicled. The attempt was again and again re
newed, and at length Chauvin died there.

ao

CHAPTER III
CHAMPLAIN AND ACADIA
NOW enters the second important figure in character
Canadian history, if we call Cartier the first : p[a^fam'
but Samuel Champlain1 was really the first heroic
character in the story of New France. Champlain
was a Biscayan, brave, chivalrous, but essentially
rational and sensible. He became known to the
king by fighting for him in many battles. His best-
known exploit previous to our story of him was a
visit to the Spanish colonies of the West Indies and
Mexico. It was a risky undertaking, for in spite
of the peace the Spanish still held the French as
their greatest enemy and guarded their new lands
with extraordinary secrecy. But Champlain gained
all possible information, and after two years re
turned home to the delight of the king. He soon
tired of the court, however, and looked about for
more adventures. Luckily for all concerned, Aymar
de Chastes, Henry's best friend and stanchest sup
porter in his greatest extremity, determined to close
his career by service for his God and king in New
France. The youth's fire and enthusiasm charmed
De Chastes, and he eagerly attached Champlain to
his expedition. Pontgrave was again secured, and
1 Not De Champlain, as often written.
4i

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
His first -with Champlain sailed away in 1603 by the old
l6o3 ' pathway to the St. Lawrence.
If Jacques Cartier could have gone with them he
would have cried out in astonishment at the changes
which had taken place in the inhabitants of Canada.
Stadacone and Hochelaga, with all their might and
power, had gone. Something had happened to
them. What was it? No one has been able to do
more than guess. There are traditions, and here
and there references in books of the day to stories
told by the savages. Out of it all we may believe
that Cartier found Iroquois Indians of one sort or
another on Quebec rock and the hills of Montreal,
and that Champlain found no Iroquois, but a few
scattering Algonquins, fishing and trapping in that
region. Probably Cartier's Iroquois were of Huron
stock, and perhaps the Algonquins drove them either
west or up the St. Lawrence and across it into what
is New York State. Or a scourge may have wiped
them out. At any rate, it was a very different sort
of savage that Cartier would have found after his
sixty-eight years' absence, lower in intelligence and.
morals. After attempting to go up the river beyond
the rapids of St. Louis, the explorers returned to
France to be confronted with the unwelcome tidings
of the death of their patron, De Chastes.
DeMonts Another nobleman, Pierre du Gast, the Sieur de
fhe south Monts, now took up the work. Indeed, it was plain
that France meant business at last. De Monts had
accompanied Champlain in the recent exploration
and desired his aid in the new enterprise. But he
did not like the severe climate of the St. Lawrence,
and so, being endowed with power and titles over
any amount of country, he chose a more southern
42

CHAMPLAIN AND ACADIA
land. Nova Scotia is not regarded by us as tropi
cal, and. it is still surprising that the French did not
seek a region more like their own in climate. But
they seemed unable to leave the tracks of the Breton
and Biscayan fishermen. So it was toward Acadia
that De Monts turned his hopes and ambitions. He
was given a large grant of land and a monopoly of
the fur trade on condition that he plant a colony
there. Acadia, or Acadie, is a Micmac word, mean
ing simply place.
This grant to De Monts was not made without
many difficulties. It extinguished the grants made
to De Chastes, which involved many Breton fisher
men and trappers, and they protested. Another
source of complaint was that De Monts was a Prot
estant. The first objection was allayed by De Monts
taking all of De Chastes's stockholders into his
company. The second was circumvented in Henry's
best style. He allowed both priest and pastor to
go with the expedition, but assented to the Romanist
claims by ordering that the Indians be taught by the
Catholic priests. SETTLING IN ACADIA
A start was made in 1604 with four ships. In the Four ships
first two sailed Champlain and the Baron de Pou- start m l6°4
trincourt, of whom we shall hear much henceforth,
and the colonists, who consisted of the usual com
plement of French colonial expeditions — jail-birds
and rogues of all descriptions, as well as some ex
cellent gentlemen. The two other ships sailed later,
one under Pontgrave, to continue the fur trade at
Tadoussac, and the other to warn poachers off the
new lord-lieutenant's fishing grounds. The journey
43

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
was an interesting one to all. The priest and
the pastor did not much disturb their flocks, but
spent most of their time on each other. Their argu
ments frequently led to blows, to witness which ex
hibition the entire ship's company gathered. At
First length land was sighted, Cape la Heve, near Lunen-
giimpses burg, Nova Scotia. They inspected several bays,
Scotia™ but did not land until they had skirted the island
and put in at St. Mary's Bay. This coast they ex
plored, but they were not satisfied, so they reem-
barked and were soon in the Bay of Fundy. What
is now Annapolis Bay charmed Poutrincourt, and
he asked De Monts for a grant of it. De Monts,
having more land than he needed that year, gra
ciously assented, and Poutrincourt named the spot
Port Royal and declared he would settle there with
all the followers he could find. The vessels kept
on around the Bay of Fundy, surveying its shores.
On the northern coast they found the mouth of a
large river, which, in honor of the day, Champlain
called St. John. Farther west they came across
Passamaquoddy Bay, so named by the Indians and
so named to-day. A river emptied into it, and this
was tagged St. Croix, another name that stuck. A
large island at its mouth was also named St. Croix.
They This island, on which the winter winds and snows
s^croix were bound to centre their furies, but which looked
island fair and welcome under a June sun, was chosen by
Champlain as the home of the colony.
It was an absurd choice, and the winter proved
it. Champlain tried to make a garden, but the
sterile soil and the early chill winds made it a
failure. The Frenchmen worked with a will and
built a village in a few weeks — barracks, store-
44

SCALE OF MILES
' I I

Cape Sable
T L A N T I C
OCEAN

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
houses, residences, etc., all about a public square.
Then Poutrincourt started for France, to equip his
own expedition. Soon the winter came, and the
story of Stadacone and Tadoussac was repeated.
Scurvy broke out, and the decoction that saved Car-
tier could not be prepared because the ingredients
could not be found. By the spring forty-four
only of the seventy-nine were alive. Poutrincourt
then returned with provisions and help, but with
tidings for De Monts that his enemies were seeking
the ear of the king. De Monts was impelled at'
once to return, but would not desert the colony in
its perilous condition. They all had had enough of
St. Croix Island, and another home must be sought.
Champlain sailed west, following the coast of New
England. At the mouth of the Penobscot he found
Indians who had a higher degree of comfort than
the Micmacs, who surrounded the little settlement
at St. Croix Island and caused the colony much
uneasiness. There is little doubt that Champlain
landed at or near Plymouth, and that he thought
favorably of locating at the mouth of the Charles,
a French where Boston now stands. He certainly made a
Plymouth complete survey of the coast, but was deterred from
and Boston selecting any place by the vast number of Indians
he saw and by the generally inhospitable and sterile
appearance of the soil. Sand dunes we must admit
are not tempting from an agricultural point of view.
It is the peculiar fate of many of our most famous
men that they commit blunders almost without num
ber. Champlain grievously erred in selecting St.
Croix Island for a settlement, and he blundered
again when he reported that nothing farther south
was better. So De Monts looked about in the neigh-
46

CHAMPLAIN AND ACADIA
borhood of Port Royal and could see no site fairer Port Royai
than Port Royal. Poutrincourt had picked this out settled
for his own, but graciously yielded his claims, and
the little settlement moved across the bay. St. Croix
Island was deserted and indeed little known for
nearly two centuries, until in 1798 its line was
retraced to settle the dispute regarding the boun
dary line between Acadia and the United States.
There in 1904 was held a very successful celebra
tion of the three hundredth anniversary of the
settlement. De Monts was now free to return and face his
enemies; Poutrincourt went with him. The colony
then passed a fairly comfortable winter. The In
dians had ceased to distrust them, and the acquaint
ance begun in the summer was invaluable to the
colonists during the winter. Soon spring came and
passed, then summer, but no news from France.
Champlain at length determined to set out in search
of news. But how ? The vessels were gone. Others
must be built. With two frail, rude boats they all,
except two custodians, set sail from Port Royal in
August for the fishing grounds. Hardly had they
gone than a ship came into the beautiful bay, with
Poutrincourt in command, and a friend of De Monts,
Marc Lescarbot, a lawyer of Paris. De Monts had Marc
remained behind to fight his foes. A boat was ^fescarbot
sent after the colonists, and they were soon at Port
Royal, rejoicing with the newcomers, for Poutrin
court, in spite of De Monts's troubles, had brought
another party of settlers to Acadia.
Lescarbot was an invaluable man for the colony.
He was full of enthusiasm, and kept up the spirits
of this mixed company while Champlain and Pou-
47

Paris

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
trincourt were off on a second exploring expedition,
and in the winter when all was cold and sere. He
cultivated a garden, and made it a success. More
than any one else, he made the colonists feel that
they were living in a Frenchman's world, and he
carried the manners and ways of Paris into this
wilderness, simulating the life of the capital to an
astonishing extent. All sorts of fetes and games
were devised by him and carried out with remark
able success. He provided feasts rich with wine,
game, and fish, at which the Sagamore chief, Mem-
bertou, and some of his braves were always present.
Every day had its incident, for the versatile Lescar
bot never failed in investing the commonest things
with imagery and romance. There was certainly a
"Little France" in America for one winter. But for
one winter only. When spring came the work of
home-making was taken up with greater zeal: a
water-mill was built and farming was attempted
scientifically and earnestly; but with spring came a
ship from St. Malo with the news that De Monts
was overthrown, his patents annulled, and his sup
port gone. The colony received its death-blow, and
The colony its members returned to France, followed by the
abandoned lamentations of the Indians. Lescarbot now drops
out of active life, but we are indebted to him for
three volumes of a history of New France, without
which we should be poor indeed.
English The failure of this first settlement of Acadia is a
cou,n!sTch vivid illusti"ation both of the incapability of Euro-
compared pean monarchs to understand or value aright the
importance of the New World and of the weak
ness of the French in empire building. Henry IV
was undoubtedly the ablest and shrewdest monarch
48

CHAMPLAIN AND ACADIA
of his time. Yet he never realized that New France Henry ive
, Indifferer
' attitude

was a tangible, actual thing, capable of immense !ndl

development. Although this settlement at Port
Royal had survived three winters and was a suc
cess, he was willing, merely because he ceased
longer to care for one of his courtiers, to let Port
Royal be abandoned and all the precious fruits of
that contact with the wilderness be lost to France.
Such folly seems at this distance monstrous. But
there is another side to it. Why did the colonists
lose heart and return merely because De Monts was
overthrown? Why did they not stay and fight it
out with nature and whoever came to dispossess
them? Their condition was excellent; they were
situated in a most fertile region, with game and fish
near by in great abundance, and they were on terms
of friendship with the Indians. Why could they
not have carried on the colony? Probably the idea
never occurred to them. They were so used to
looking to their king for everything, that, with his
active aid in money and provisions gone, they aban
doned all hope. In this circumstance may the whole
history of the settlement of the New World be
read. If Port Royal could have taken a leaf Port Royai
from Plymouth's book, a very different story would p°ymoutn
be told of New France, but alas! Plymouth's book
was not yet written, and even if it had been, Port
Royal had not the eyes to read it. Plymouth stood
for individual initiative and independence, and for
freedom in religion. Port Royal stood for the king's
favor, state aid, and one church. Plymouth burned
all its bridges behind it; Port Royal never ceased
to look Europeward. Plymouth succeeded not be
cause of England and its king, but in spite of them ;
Canada — 3 49 Vol. — I

The inde
pendent
spirit of
Plymouth

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
indeed, because they were not considered at all.
Both settlements had charters and grants; but to
Plymouth they were merely necessary forms, hated
and repudiated from the start, while to Port Royal
they were the hope of salvation. These contrasts
can be carried on throughout the history of New
France and New England.

So

CHAPTER IV
THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
THERE is no evidence to show that, as fond
of Port Royal as was Foutrincourt, he ever
thought of remaining there after De Monts fell into
disfavor. But his heart was true to his first love,
and he later determined to seek Port Royal again.
Champlain, too, loved Port Royal, but he loved it not
so much because of its location and beauty as because
it was the frontier: He returned to Paris, but not
to contentment. The attractions of the court and
the favor of the king were his, but he disdained champlain
them. Nor did what Homer called the "polyphlois-^™^0,1^
bioisy" — the deep, resounding sea — call again to him
with its alluring music as of old. He had got into
his ears the echoes of the forest, and into his brain
the love of strange lands and peoples, a wanderlust,
which neither sea voyage nor civilization could sat
isfy. So he went to the king and pleaded for him
self and De Monts. That nobleman had almost
given up all hopes of a career in the New World,
and was heart-broken over his defeat; but Cham
plain's persistency at length brought back his cour
age, and he again besought the king. Henry,
strange to say, was willing. Just why he had re
voked the previous grant no record tells. But his
life was full of compromise even to the extent of
Si

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
his becoming a Catholic in form while remaining a
Protestant at heart. Probably in order to gratify
De Monts's enemies and his Minister Sully, who
was one of the original anti-imperialists, Henry
had blasted Port Royal. Now it was De Monts's
a new turn, and Henry gave him another grant similar to
D^Mo'nts the first> but with only one year's Iife' promising
extensions if all went well.
But the scene of De Monts's operations was to
shift. Champlain had now become the master-mind
of the enterprise, and he remembered his little jour
ney in 1603 to Cartier's old haunts, the great river
he had seen, and the great cataract he had heard
about, and the greater ocean beyond of which In
dian tradition whispered much. The old idea of
a northwest passage still lingered in explorers'
minds, and the old tales of gold had not yet died
out. Then, too, Champlain was a devout Chris
tian.1 He did not take his religion as tragically
as did the Jesuits, but it was a serious matter with
him, and he longed to spread the Gospel of Jesus
among the aborigines of the New World. Few
explorers ever had more genuine, pure, or disinter
ested purposes than Samuel Champlain. So it was
champlain toward the St. Lawrence that the prow of his ves-
the'stxaw- sel and tnat of the trader Pontgrave' s turned in
rence, 1608 the spring of 1608.
Pontgrave was to carry on the fur trade at Ta
doussac. When he arrived there he found some
Basques. A fight occurred, in which one of the
'There has risen lately among investigators a question as to
Champlain's Catholicism. His baptismal record has not been
found, and this fact inclines some to doubt if he ever was a
Catholic. 52

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
Frenchmen was killed. Then Champlain's ship
came along, and the Basques withdrew. The rock
and the surroundings of the old Iroquois city of
Stadacone attracted Champlain as it has fascinated
millions since his day. So Champlain cast anchor
there on July 3, 1608, and laid the foundations of a Laysfoun.
city, which he called Quebec, from the Indian name 1^"°'
meaning "the Narrows," the Isle of Orleans natu- juiy 3, i<k>8
rally making the channel narrower at that point
than either above or below, although Quebec, of
course, is several miles from "the Narrows." A few
rude houses were built in the section now known as
the Lower Town. A mutiny was discovered among
his men soon afterward. The ringleader, Antoine
Natel, conspired to murder Champlain and turn the
settlement over to the Basques. Champlain made
short work of the mutiny. Natel was decapitated,
and his gory head displayed on a pike at the top of
the highest house, and his three associates were sent
home to work in the galleys. There was no more
mutiny. Only twenty-eight men were left in Quebec when,
in September, Pontgrave sailed for home. To de
scribe the winter that followed would be to tell
again the story of Stadacone and St. Croix. Scurvy
did its work, and by the middle of May only eight
of the twenty-eight were left, but from these eight
New France was destined to spring. For this lit- First
tie town, planted as a rendezvous for Champlain's^™^"
journeys and explorations, turned out to be the first in New
permanent settlement in New France and the sec-France
ond in what was known as the British colonies at
the beginning of the American Revolution, James
town preceding it by one year.
53

renewed

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
It was not until June that Pontgrave returned,
but he brought good news, for the king had re-
Gram to newed the patent of De Monts, and additional sup-
De Monts pjjes were furnished. Champlain was very anxious
to begin his explorations, and it was arranged that
Pontgrave should remain at Quebec during his ab
sence. How he was to find his way through the
wilderness was the only thing that fretted him. But
opportunity came in a red hand, which pointed out
his path. In this way Champlain got an insight
into the feud of the savages; then did he learn of
the old — how old no one knows — warfare between
the Iroquois and the Algonquins, which was to con
tinue almost two centuries more and involve whites
with the reds. A chief of the Ottawas happened
to come to Quebec in the autumn of 1608, and was
amazed at the sight. He came forward, professed
friendship, admired the town's structure and the
Frenchmen, and, like an impetuous suitor, proposed
marriage. He told Champlain that across the great
river lived savage and cruel tribes, known as the
Iroquois, with whom he and the other Algonquins
were in deadly enmity. No one was safe so long
as these Iroquois roamed the forests. They must
be exterminated, and he proposed a treaty of alli
ance between Algonquins and Frenchmen for that
purpose.CHAMPLAIN ESPOUSES THE CAUSE OF THE ALGON
QUINS AGAINST THE IROQUOIS
Champlain scarcely hesitated a moment. It was
impossible to realize what a hornets' nest he was
about to stir up, whose angry insects would play
about the heads and sting himself and successors
54

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC

CHAMPLAIN'S TOWER IN ATTACK ON AN IROQUOIS VILLAGE

Champlain's own account of the building of this tower is as follows:
"I advised them to make with certain kinds of wood a cavalier which
should be higher than the palisades. Upon this were to be placed four or five
of our harquebusiers, who should keep up a constant fire over their palisades
and galleries, which were well provided with stones, and by this means dis
lodge the enemy who might attack us from their galleries. Meanwhile orders
were to be given to procure boards for making a sort of mantelet [wooden
shield] to protect our men from the arrows and stones of which the savages
generally make use. These instruments, namely, the cavalier and mantelets,
were capable of being carried by a large number of men. One mantelet was
so constructed that the water could not extinguish the fire, which might be
set to the fort, under cover of the harquebusiers who were doing their duty
on the cavalier. In this manner, I told them, we might be able to defend
ourselves so that the enemy could not approach to extinguish the fire which
we should set to their ramparts.
"This proposition they thought good and very reasonable, and immediately
proceeded to carry it out as I directed. In fact, the next day they set to
work, some to cut wood, others to gather it, for building and equipping the
cavalier and mantelets. The work was promptly executed, and in less than
four hours, although the amount of wood they had collected for burning against
the ramparts, in order to set fire to them, was very small. Their expectation
was that the five hundred men who had promised to come would do so on
this day, but doubt was felt about them since they had not appeared at the
rendezvous, as they had been charged to do, and as they had promised."

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
for a century and more. He was mixing up in a
family quarrel with a vengeance, and, what is more
to the point, it is quite certain that he took the
losing side, a mistake of policy which spelled calam
ity in forceful tones. It is difficult at this distance
of time to excuse Champlain for taking sides at
all : it looks very much like another big blunder on
his part. Yet he saw in this alliance the hand that
was to point the way through the forest to the
great ocean and Asia beyond, and he may intention
ally have mingled in the civil war in order to
learn the secrets of the country, which he thought
he could learn in no other way. In other words,
Believed he believed he was seizing a great opportunity,
he.T" which if let go would be a subject of poignant
seizing an ° J .
opportunity regret all his hfe. To be sure, he was mortgaging
the future, but who knew anything about the future
of this frail colony?
The six The Iroquois consisted of six tribes, the Mohawks,
tribes of the Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Onondagas, and Tusca-
Iroquois , . ° , . . . ,
roras, nations whose cities were in what is now
northern and central New York. The Algonquins
lived on the north side of the St Lawrence, and to
the west, in what is now Ontario, dwelt the Hurons,
who were really by blood related to the Iroquois,
but by reason of a feud were then in a fast or loose
league with the Algonquins. The Montagnais, who
lived about Quebec, were less intelligent and more
savage than any of the other tribes of the Algon
quins. When it was learned that the whites were
their allies, the savages about Quebec became mad
with delight and proposed an expedition at once.
!The latter often omitted' and combined with the Onondagas,
and then only five tribes are counted. 56

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
In June they went up the St. Lawrence, but not The erst
so far as Champlain hoped, for when they reached "ap^ftlon
the Richelieu they turned up that stream, that is,
south toward New York, the first of those many
expeditions by one of the most fought-over routes
in all history. It was a motley crew of about two
hundred warriors, Hurons, Algonquins, and Mon-
Jagnais. After they arrived at the mouth of the
Richelieu, they spent two days fishing and hunting.
A quarrel arose there, and with true savage childish- The
ness two-thirds of the redskins vowed they wouldn't q°a'rar°t
play and started home. The remainder went on, ac
companied by Champlain and only two other whites,
clad in light armor and bearing the ferocious-
appearing arquebus, almost as fatal at the breech
as at the muzzle. The Indians made a great to-do
over their white allies. They trooped about them
and cheered them constantly. When they arrived
at the rapids above Chambly, Champlain found that
his boat would not go through it, and so the party
had to carry the boats to a point above the rapids.
All this time the savages were consulting their medi
cine man, and Champlain watched his manipula
tions of his tent and pole with amusement, so trans
parent was the fraud to him. At length they reached
the lake which was to bear the great white chief's
name, and then they proceeded more quietly.
It was a long expedition upon which they had
set out, for they purposed to go down this lake and
Lake George, and then cross over to the Hudson
River and attack some Iroquois settlements on its
banks. It would have been one of the wonderful
events of history if this program had been carried
out and they had met Hendrick Hudson, who that
57

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
very year discovered the river and explored it far
up in search of that will-o'-the-wisp northwest pas
sage. But they did not need to go so far to find
their foe. One night when they reached some
heights about where Ticonderoga stood many years
later, they saw dark objects in the water. They
were the canoes of the Mohawks, who landed at
once and began building a barricade. The Algon
quins set up a terrible series of yells and danced all
night in their light canoes. Each side abused the
other and boasted of its own prowess, much as do
the warriors and pugilists of the twentieth century.
When dawn came the whites and Algonquins
landed without opposition. Soon the enemy came
out of his barricades, two hundred splendidly built
Mohawks led by three great chiefs. There were
only about sixty Algonquins, but they were strong
in their confidence in their white allies. Also they
were eager to let them do the fighting. So as soon
as they saw the Iroquois approaching they cried
for the whites to advance, and opened ranks to per
mit them to do so. The Iroquois saw them and
cham- stood as stunned. I quote here Champlain's ac-
acco°unt cotmt> which l have been following: "I looked at
of the them and they looked at me. When I saw them
getting ready to shoot their arrows at us, I leveled
my arquebus, which I had loaded with four balls,
and aimed straight at one of the three chiefs. The
shot brought down two and wounded another. On
this our Indians set up such a yelling that one could
not have heard a thunderclap. The Iroquois were
greatly astonished and frightened at seeing two of
their men killed in spite of their arrow-proof armor.
As I was reloading, one of my companions fired a
58

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
shot from the woods, which so increased their aston
ishment that they abandoned the field and fled into
the depths of the forest." The victory was complete,
some of the Mohawks were killed by their northern The
foes, their camp was ruined, and many were caP'f°^l^a
tured. Champlain made a drawing of this battle,
which is most amusing in perspective and distances
and in other respects. The combatants seem but ten
feet apart, and Champlain is doing great execution
with his old musket.
The captives were reserved for the delicious pleas
ure of torture. Champlain protested and demanded
that the victims be killed. The allies refused, and
Champlain started off as if to return to Quebec
alone. This brought the savages to terms and
Champlain was allowed to shoot the prisoners.
This was the foretaste of the exhibitions of fiendish-
ness which he and many other whites were destined
to witness in the American woods, powerless to
prevent. The return was made quickly, the party
breaking up at what is now Sorel.
THE DEATH OF KING HENRY
Within a few weeks Champlain and Pontgrave
returned to France to assist De Monts in his attempt
to renew again his monopoly. But although the
king received them well and listened with zest to
their stories of adventure, he was obdurate, and De
Monts had to continue his great project without
the king's favor. Just why he had such courage
now, with no fair prospects and little basis for a
colony, and gave up so quickly at Acadia a few
years earlier under much brighter auspices, we do
not know. But Champlain was as eager as ever
59

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
for the wilds, and returned quickly, although very
ill. Affairs wore an air of enterprise with fair pros
pects when he reached Tadoussac. But he turned
Pontgrave over the fur business to Pontgrave and set out
busings'" a1?am exploring. At the same place as before — the
mouth of the Richelieu — a rendezvous was fixed and
another campaign against the Iroquois began. This
time the enemy had anticipated them and descended
the Richelieu. A furious battle took place. The
Iroquois had built a huge stockade and fought be
hind it with great skill. It was not until the French
with their firearms came and made a grand rush for
the stockade that the Iroquois fled. Champlain had
his first experience with arrow wounds, for one of
these darts slit his ear and buried itself in his neck,
but he pulled it out and resumed fighting. Cham
plain's picture of this contest also deserves a place
in any comic history of Canada. After the battle
there were the usual scenes of torture and cruelty,
but no effort was made to pursue the enemy or fol
low up the advantage in any way. This expedition
had taken up most of the summer, and Champlain
felt impelled again to return to France. There the
first word he heard was that the king was dead —
Murder of assassinated one dark night in May, 1610 bv
the king, Jesuits. The death of Henry was a cruel calamity.
Capricious and full of duplicity and deceit as he
was, and with no definite program, his rule was yet
the most beneficent and wise known to France in all
its history. Although on the throne only twelve
years, he really set the nation's face toward prog
ress and light. After him came a terrible deluge,
60

Ravaillac, who was a fanatical sympathizer with the

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
while his widow, Marie de Medici, one of the worst
of a bad family, false to king and country, ruled
as regent during the minority of her feeble son.
Champlain or De Monts could make no headway
there, and ruin fell upon their enterprise. But for
Champlain there was no home but New France. So
early in 1611 he started for Quebec, and was soon
in the old haunts planning for the future.
The repeal of De Monts's monopoly, however,
was a death-blow to his fortunes. Champlain found
Tadoussac filled with fur traders, and they were De Monts's
penetrating even beyond Quebec. Had the colony ™°ncXd
been bent on agriculture, as Port Royal was, this
eager band of fur-gamblers would have made little
difference to the colony, but as the furs were the
sole reliance of the settlement, competition meant
ruin. Champlain fancied that if he went farther
up the St. Lawrence he might get rid of these trap- Annoyed
pers. So he went to the old Hochelaga, which Car- f^^ders
tier had dubbed Mount Royal, and built a new town.
But the traders, hungry and scenting trade, fol
lowed him there. The Indians, pleased to deal with
Champlain in whom they had every confidence,
shrank back from this motley mob and demanded
of Champlain the reason for their presence, fearing
for their lives. Champlain soothed them, but little
business was done, and, winter coming on, the
traders returned to Tadoussac and Quebec. Soon
Champlain made another voyage to France to con
sult De Monts, then governor of Rochelle.
A critical time had come in the affairs of Newchampiain
France. It was found to be impossible to conduct °^ful
De Monts's colonial enterprise on the "open door"
principle. Some sort of subsidy was necessary to
61

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Assistance carry out those ambitious plans. He had lost heavily
was needed -m the Acadian fiasco and also in the recent enter
prise. Furthermore, he was engrossed in his work
at Rochelle. Had Champlain lost for one moment
his interest in New France, the future of that coun
try would have been vastly different. But he per
sisted. In the face of discouragements his zeal in
creased. He had a great mission to perform, he felt
sure, and he could not abandon or lose sight of it.
So he went from place to place seeking support.
At length he found a willing listener in the Comte
de Soissons, a member of the royal family, who
consented to become lieutenant-general in New
France. The project now seemed more sure of suc
cess than ever before. Champlain was given full
Monopoly authority over the fur trade and the monopoly was
restored restored. But his joy was short-lived. Hardly had
the ink on his commission dried before his patron
died suddenly. Another Bourbon, the Prince de
Conde, took his place, but he cared little for the
proposition. The Breton traders were invited to
become partners in the company (in order to stop
their attacks on the monopoly), and accepted, but
the Rochelle traders remained outside, preferring
an illegal traffic. And so venal was Conde that he
accepted bribes from those outlaws as the price of
his protection. A colony so supported could not
prosper. Champlain remained in France for two years,
unable to perfect his plans so as to admit of his
return. The savages were inconsolable without him,
and never ceased afterward to upbraid him because
of his absence. What brought Champlain back at
length was the fever of that fabled route to Asia.
62

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
This time his inspiration came from a young
Frenchman named Nicolas de Vignaud, who had Lured
obtained permission from Champlain to explore into^°^eb
the interior during his absence in France. Thevignaud
story that he told on his return inflamed Cham
plain's passion for discovery. The boy declared
that only seventeen days by canoe up the Ottawa
River he had found another ocean on whose shore
lay the wreck of an English ship. Champlain's
heart leaped as he heard the story. This was in
deed the rich fruit of all his dreams, of those aspira
tions and hopes so fondly cherished that they had
grown almost but not quite into fixed convictions.
Asia must lie just a little way beyond. The story
of the English shipwreck was cumulative evidence,
for rumors of such a catastrophe had previously
reached him in the forest, handed about as tradition
from one to another. Nothing could now keep him
in France.
He left Rochelle early in the spring of 1613, and The ascent
with Vignaud and four other Frenchmen set out °f the .
~ Ottawa,
from his island of St. Helen, opposite Montreal, for
the Ottawa. Reaching its mouth, they began the
ascent and found it a terrible journey. Camp after
camp of Indians was met and all greeted them cor
dially. At length, in the clearing of a forest beyond
Muskrat Lake, they found a great chief named
Tessouat, who greeted them with a magnificent
feast, which Champlain describes at great length
and with minuteness. At its close Champlain made
a speech and asked for boats and guides to take him
to the lake (Nipissing) beyond, where dwelt a
great tribe. This lake was known to exist, and it
formed an important part in Vignaud's tale. Tes-
63

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
souat smoked a long while, and then, after chiding
Champlain for failing to meet them the two previous
years on their visit to the St. Lawrence, and warn
ing him against the Nipissings, who would surely
try to kill him, he gave his promise to provide the
boats. There was more smoking and conversation
until Champlain withdrew and retired.
Indians The next morning all was confusion, for the In-
repudiate dians had repudiated the promise. Again Cham-
promise r , x . . uj
plain went to their council, and this time he scolded
them for their petty jealousy and falsity. They
declared they changed their minds because they
feared for his life. He replied that there was no
danger, that Vignaud had the year before visited
the Nipissings, and was well treated. An uproar
followed, the savages leaping to their feet and call
ing Vignaud "liar" and "lazy bones," and glaring
at him with fierce and ugly looks. Champlain was
thunderstruck, and, turning to the boy, asked him if
he had not spoken the truth. The boy swore that
he had. Tumult again arose, and the savages de
clared that Vignaud had spent the entire summer
with them, stirring not one foot to the north, but
idling away the whole time.
Here was a crisis indeed. After an hour or more
of altercation, Champlain led Vignaud into the woods
and demanded that he speak the truth. After at
vignaud's first insisting that his story was correct, he broke
lies exposed down and on his knees and with sobs confessed
that Tessouat was right and that he had deceived
his great friend. For once Champlain's brain
reeled. Here was the fondest dream of his life shat
tered and himself made a dupe by a boy whom
he had befriended. Not only had he wasted the
64

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
summer, but he had brought upon himself the con
tempt of the Indians. No man fears anything so
much as ridicule. Any man would rather be called
a scoundrel than a fool. Champlain flew into a ter
rible rage and drove the boy from his sight. Crest
fallen, chagrined, and ashamed, he yet manfully
went into the presence1 of Tessouat and acknowl
edged that he had been deceived. There was noth
ing to do but turn back.. The voyage was under
taken with leaden heart. When the small company The return
reached Quebec every object there was hateful totoQuebec
Champlain. His unfinished tasks at home called
him. At once he left for France.
THE RECOLLETS SUMMONED TO CANADA
One of the unfinished tasks which Champlain
burned to complete was the planting of religion in
the New World. We have seen that the settlers
who went to Acadia were well equipped with priests
and pastors, but to Canada none had so far been
sent. Champlain at once proceeded to his friend
Houel, secretary to the king. Near Houel's home
in Brouage was a convent of Recollet friars, and
through Houel, Champlain obtained a chance to ad
dress them. They were fired with missionary zeal,
but had no money to equip such an expedition as
must be fitted out. Champlain went to Paris and
found the States-General assembled. To its dele
gates he appealed with all his power, and the result
was a large subscription of 1,500 livres. The king
gave his permission and the pope blessed the
mission. The Recollets were a branch of the Franciscans,
mendicants, and very devout. Four of them were
65

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The early assigned to this mission, Denis Jamay, Jean Dol-
members beaU) Toseph le Caron, and the lay brother Pacifique
du Plessis. With all the churchly paraphernalia
they sailed from Honfleur and arrived at Quebec
in May, 1615. Soon was said the first mass in Old
Canada. Dividing their labors, Dolbeau set out for
work among the Montagnais, Le Caron among the
Hurons, while the two others remained at Quebec.
ANOTHER WAR EXPEDITION
Doibeau Dolbeau had a hard task, and it was at first too
*nd„ much for him. He went to Tadoussac, where the
Le Caron ... , •
tribes centred, and set out with them on the winter
hunting trip, but the smoke of the tents almost
blinded his eyes, always weak. He concluded that
the sacrifice of his sight was not required and soon
returned to Quebec. Le Caron, on the other hand,
went on with the Hurons to their home on the
borders of the great lake of their name. There had
been a council of war at Montreal that summer, the
chief of the allies meeting Champlain and all agree
ing on a sharp campaign against the Iroquois.
After this agreement Champlain returned to Quebec
to make preparations for this immense campaign,
only to find on again reaching Montreal an all too
common illustration of the instability of red and
brown and black races. The chiefs thought Cham
plain had been gone too long, so they grew impa
tient and separated, the Hurons returning home and
Cham- taking Father Le Caron with them. Champlain
second sorted up the Ottawa along the same route as that
voyage up of two years before when Vignaud so cruelly
the Ottawa deceived him, but he kept on until he reached
Lake Nipissing and at last Georgian Bay and Lake
66

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
Huron. r Champlain was accompanied by ten Indian
guides, Etienne Brule, the famous coureur de bois
and interpreter, and another Frenchman. It was
a frightful journey, in which the terrors of rapids
and beasts and serpents were as nothing in compari
son with the tortures from the insects, the same sort
that still spoil life in the woods to the vast majority
of novices. Champlain has left us his account of
that journey and his great joy on beholding the
Fresh- Water Sea of the Hurons. The first Huron
village he found was Otouacha. He went on to
other villages until he came to Carhagouha, with
triple palisades, where Le Caron was found. Here
on August 12 the first Christian service among the First
Indians was held. The Indians had built for Le Christia° M
service held
Caron a little chapel and an altar, and his French
compatriots assisted in the service. The strange
ceremony, with the unusual sounds of devotion, ac
companied by the musket shots of the whites, made
a deep impression upon the Indians, even if it did
not at once save their souls. Le Caron was par
donably delighted at this auspicious opening of his
mission. Having planted the seed and seen the rich
soil, he could now hope for the harvest.
But Champlain had come for war, and he at once
began his work of visiting the various villages, in
cluding the Huron metropolis Cahiague, between
Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay. From that place
the war party set out in the latter part of August.
When Lake Simcoe was reached, Brule, the inter
preter, was sent forward with a few Indians to
arouse the five hundred allied warriors ; then Cham
plain, with his savage band, all in canoes, resumed
the march. By portage, lake, and river they at
67

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
length reached Trent River, which they followed to
Lake Ontario. Straight across the lake they pad
dled until they landed in what is now New York
State, near Sacketts Harbor. Then they plunged
into the woods.
in the They were now in Iroquois country, and every
th" iroqucus tree was h°stile and meant possible death. This peril
ought to have made them careful in the extreme.
On the contrary, they walked chattering and scream
ing along as if on a summer picnic. Were they not
led by the great Champlain, who with his one
arquebus had scattered the deadly Mohawks? In
vain Champlain ordered quiet. He soon began to
see what an unruly mob he was leading. A few
detached Iroquois parties were met, some were cap
tured, and others put to flight. At length in a clear
ing they came to a town of the Onondagas. Its
exact location is not surely known to-day, a fierce
contest still raging for the dubious honor of its
situation ; but it was doubtless near Lake Oneida in
Madison County.
In Champlain's rude picture of this town its
strength is apparent. It had palisades consisting
of four rows of trunks of trees thirty feet high,
set obliquely and meeting at the top in some such
fashion as those of the old town which Cartier saw
at Montreal. After their rashness, the Hurons, when
Hurons confronted with the real thing, became marvelously
cowardly conservatjve They wjthdrew far away from the
town, out of sight of the enemy. Champlain had
to chide and even insult them to arouse any cour
age in their hearts. Against a town so fortified,
arrows and even guns were not very formidable,
and so Champlain ordered a tower built high enough
68

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
to overlook the walls. It was quickly completed
and dragged near. Upon it four Frenchmen with
arquebuses were stationed, and from it they poured
a rain of shot upon the town. Then the Hurons
lost their timidity and sense at the same moment.
They rushed out into the field, inspired by the fire
of the French, shooting their arrows at random,
shouting like mad, and altogether affording excel
lent marks for the Iroquois bowmen and stone-
hurlers. Champlain in vain tried to call them back.
They did not hear him. The result was, that while The
he and his men did heavy damage to the town, the Iro£iuois
tt i „ . , , . . victorious
Hurons were badly routed and driven away after
three hours of fighting.
Champlain was wounded in the leg with an arrow,
and the Hurons were utterly crushed with the sense
of their defeat. The fact that he had been wounded
and that his guns did not burn the town hurt them
sore. They regarded him as a false prophet, achampiain
spurious leader. Champlain tried to rally them'0"*
for a second attack, but they refused until they
were assured of the reenforcement of the five hun
dred men Brule had been sent to urge forward.
Five days they waited, losing more men in the
desultory skirmishing, and then, Brule and his men
not appearing, they started for home, a thoroughly
whipped pack of redskins. They reached the lake
in safety, found the canoes they had hidden when
they set out for the interior, and continued their
homeward journey. Although they had given their
word to provide Champlain with an escort back to
Quebec, they now all began to make excuses, and
not even a canoe was provided. Had he known his
nearness to Montreal, less than two hundred miles,
69

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
he might have dared the trip, but as it was he was-
forced to accept the winter hospitality of a Huron
chief, Daroutat.
Bruits Brule meanwhile had crossed1 Lake Ontario and
advemures landed at a point in New York near what is now
Ontario Beach, just north of Rochester: He was
bound for Carantouan; a Huron town1 only three-
days distant from the Iroquois town to be attacked,
and situated on the upper courses of the Susque
hanna, possibly- near Ithaca. But his party trav
eled slowly and carefully, and' Carantouan was not
reached' until about the time Champlain's party was-
attacking the Onondaga town. The Huron war
riors were eager to go ahead, but took several days-
in preparation, and when they at last reached the
scene of battle, Champlain's party had retreated.
Brule returned with the Carantouans, and1 then went
down a large river; probably the Susquehanna, to<
the sea. On starting back to the Huron country,
he was captured by the Iroquois, tied to the stake,
a fire lighted about him> and1 his life was saved only
by the coming of a sudden storm, which convinced
the savages of his power. It was three years before
he again saw Champlain.
The latter, meanwhile, kept busy exploring and
The working among the Hurons. The homeward jour
ney to the Huron capital was ended' in February,
and' Champlain found Le Caron at Carhagouha
spending' his time in prayer and trying to learn
the Huron language. After- various journeys and
explorations, they set out for home. Summer had
come when they reached Quebec, and' the village.
rejoiced as over men risen from the grave.
Up to this time Champlain had thought to build up
70

homewardjourney

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
New France by exploring the country and bringing champuin
back tales of its wondrous richness. But after his'?nfin" his work
return from this long war expedition he determined to Quebec
to pursue a different policy. Perhaps the visit to
Lake Huron and the confirmation of the report that
its waters were fresh, thus crushing his lifelong
hope of a discovery of Asia or a way to India via
the Huron country, was responsible for his changed
plans. More likely, however, he did the duty he
saw nearest him, and that certainly was the closer
attention to and administration of the colony, espe
cially the Quebec settlement. There all was at sixes
and sevens. The merchants and friars were not
harmonious, and the merchants quarreled among
themselves, mainly over religion. While the Catho
lic religion was ordained and Protestantism pro
hibited, the Huguenots flaunted their faith in the
faces of the Romanists by singing psalms loudly
from their ships.
The village was small and did not grow, so that
these enmities, instead of being lost in a vigorous
life, were nourished in a petty existence. The rea
son the colony did not grow was apparent. The
merchants saw only one industry, fur-trading, and
the smaller the number of people there the greater
the profit to each one. No one wanted to' farm,
and the beautiful valley of the St. Lawrence with its
rich soil, which now supports hundreds of thou
sands in comfort, was spurned by these seekers after
the easy, lazy life of the trader. In the midst of all
this turmoil Champlain held the even tenor of his
way, laboring with all zeal and almost saintly pa
tience to advance the comfort and peace of the col
ony. He went back to France each year, and always
7i

Mont morency

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
was rewarded. Change of masters became frequent.
Conde got into trouble and was imprisoned. He
Quebec then transferred his monopoly in the New World
™ieJ to the Due de Montmorency for 11,000 crowns.
This was a decided change for the better, and
Champlain was encouraged to bring over his wife.
He had married her when a girl, and her beauty
charmed the Indians and the colony. She remained1
a short time there, but left a fragrant memory. So
imbued had she become with the Catholic faith, al
though reared a Huguenot, that after Champlain's
death she became a nun, even wishing to do so
while he still lived.
Indian plot Troubles continued to accumulate upon the little
t0Jx*ermi" colony. The Indians became quarrelsome, and at
length conspired to exterminate the French. The
plot was discovered, and the eight hundred Indians
who had gathered to sack Quebec ultimately went
there to beg for mercy and food. A little later, in
1622, the vengeance of the Iroquois was felt when
a band of warriors gathered about Quebec. But they
did not feel strong enough to attack, and, having
burned two Indian prisoners, they went their way.
About this time came another source of mischief.
Montmorency, besieged by complaints, repudiated
the trade monopoly given the Breton merchants
and conferred it upon two Huguenots, William and
Emery de Caen. The Bretons refused to give up,
and pitched battles ensued. Champlain could do
nothing, and not until a compromise was arranged,
giving both parties a share in the trade, was peace
restored. This uproar disgusted Montmorency, and
ventadour a*ter having had control but three years he sur
as owner rendered it to Henri de Levis, Due de Ventadour.
72

FATHER JAMES MARQUETTE, S. J.
Statue in United States Caf>itoi, Washington^ D. C.

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
Montmorency got little money or peace out of his
venture, but he certainly secured immortality in
the name of those beautiful falls near Quebec whose
fame has girdled the earth.
the coming of THE JESUITS
If Ventadour's connection with Canadian history
meant nothing else but the fact that he was respon
sible for the entrance of the Jesuits, he would de
serve a conspicuous place. For without the Jesuits
the chronicles of Canada would lose many of their importance
most astonishing chapters. Here were examples of °J ^™'ts
true martyrdom — stories which we to-day, Protes- chronicles
tant or Agnostic, can not read without expressions
of deepest admiration and emotion. Ventadour was
not interested in trade or exploration; his sole care
was that the hosts of heathen aborigines in the for
ests of New France might be converted to Chris
tianity. It is best, perhaps, not to discuss why he sought
to have this work done by the Jesuits when already
the Recollets were cultivating well the field. At
any rate we know that the Recollets did ask for
help from the Jesuits, and three came out. These
were Charles Lalemant, Enemond Masse, and Jean
de Brebeuf, the first and the last to attain imperish
able glory. Others came out in the following years
until the order became very strong.
We find in Champlain's chronicles very little of
importance during the next few years. Ventadour
received glowing reports from the Jesuits of con
versions of the Indians, and the Caens reaped a
beautiful harvest of gold from the fur trade. But
the colony of Quebec grew scarcely at all, while the
Canada — 4 73 VoL- *

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
English colonies to the south were waxing strong
and increasing in numbers yearly. The contrast be
tween the bases of the French and English colonies
is perfectly apparent ; but at this time there was not
even the foundation for a comparison. The English
were real colonies, devoted to agriculture and in
dustry, while the French were mere trading posts.
RICHELIEU IN CONTROL OF NEW FRANCE
Richelieu bought from Montmorency the posi
tion of Admiral of France, abolished it, and in its
place made himself Minister of Navigation and
Commerce. In 1627 he took possession of the
affairs of New France, abolished Caen's monopoly
The and Ventadour's patent, and organized a society
company Qf one hundred members to be known as the
of New
France Company of New France. Richelieu was at the
head, and it consisted of noblemen, merchants, and
burghers, among them, of course, Champlain. This
company was granted a complete monopoly of the
fur trade, and received two ships from the king.
In return the company was to send in the next year,
1628, two hundred to three hundred men, and by
1643 to have increased the colony to four thousand
Every persons. Every settler must be a Frenchman and a
to"bera Catholic. Champlain felt new life when he heard
Frenchman of the arrangement, for at last money (the new con-
cathouc cern started with a capital of 300,000 livres) and
an honest purpose stood behind the settlement of
New France.
Although only a few years had elapsed since the
first permanent English and French settlements
were made in America, the fields were as yet dis
tinct, as if by a sort of understanding. The French
74

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
settled the St. Lawrence Valley and Acadia, the
English obtained all south of those boundaries. French and
The limits were, to be sure, vague and indefinite, boundaries
and quarrels over encroachments were bound to
ensue. Yet in general the lines were fairly well
observed at this time, 1627, although there had been
no treaties or other formal arrangements, and both
France and England, as well as Spain, claimed all
North America, the Dutch modestly confining their
presumptions to the territory first explored by Hen-
drick Hudson.
In spite of this surface harmony between France
and England, each nation was anxious to get a
chance at the other's throat. That chance came
when Huguenot Rochelle broke out in insurrection
against the Roman Catholic king and his sponsors.
That seaport city was at once invested by the royal
troops and a bitter struggle began. Charles I of
England decided to interfere on the side of the
Huguenots. Charles would far better have looked
after his own affairs, for even then the device
of inventing a foreign war in order to turn pub
lic attention from one's own domestic evils was too
transparent. But he tried to injure France at
home and in her colonies. The instrument of
England's offense in Canada was a privateering ex- TheGer-
pedition of three ships under Gervase Kirke. The vase jKi.rke
r r expedition,
foolish expulsion of Huguenots from France had 1628
its just retribution in the enlistment of some of
them in Kirke's crews. These ships sailed for
Quebec early in 1628, a little before an expedition
to relieve that city left Dieppe. So it was that when
the poor, starving settlers by the rock strained their
eyes for a friendly sail it proved to be a foe. How
75

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
many times in history this story has been repeated !
A century and a half later it was a French ship that
Levis expected to make the recapture of Quebec
possible, and it was an English ship that came. In
deed, it was then characteristic of the nations that
the English should come when needed and the French
should fail. Champlain, however, received warning
from Tadoussac and prepared a magnificent bluff.
The On arriving before Quebec, the English sent a small
demand Doat to demand its surrender. Champlain had not
surrender fifty pounds of gunpowder, and his men were al
most gaunt with sickness and privations, for it was
July and the relief ship was far behind time; but
he sent back a defiant note of refusal. The next
day dawned, but with it came no enemy. At length
it was learned that the French expedition had at last
been sighted, and soon the roar of cannon told that
a battle was on. The result could scarcely have
savage been different. The crowded French ships were
the English riddled with shot and sunk with many on board
and with all of Champlain's supplies. But Kirke
did not pursue his advantage, for, deceived by
Champlain's vigorous reply, he sailed off to find and
destroy French fishing vessels. The news was not
wholly welcome.- Many in Quebec would have
hailed a captor with gladness, for the victor in war
fare is compelled to feed his prisoners. Champlain,
however, ordered a service of .thanksgiving and
strove to cheer all hearts by predicting the early ar
rival of another expedition from France. But the
summer wore on, the autumn came, and winter
again set its seal upon the country. The distress
became terrible, and by spring the unhappy inhabi
tants were forced to scour the country for nuts and
76

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
roots. Some wandered away with the Indians, and
their descendants were among the first half-breeds
in America. QUEBEC UNDER THE ENGLISH
At last in July, 1629, a year after the first visit, English
an English fleet again sailed up the St. Lawrence. J^"^
It soon anchored at Quebec and demanded the city's
surrender. Champlain knew that even a brave front
would avail him nothing, so he speedily accepted
the terms, and on July 20, 1629, Quebec fell into
England's lap. After it had been surrendered the
English again encountered a relief expedition in the
St. Lawrence and captured it. But because he
needed money more than land, Charles agreed to cede
it back to France in the peace settlement, when the
full dowry of Queen Henrietta Maria was paid.
Champlain undoubtedly had much to do with this
arrangement, for after the surrender he returned
with Kirke to England and saw the king, entreat
ing him to restore Canada to the French. It was
not, however, until three years later, July 5, 1632,
that Quebec came to know that it was French
again. The news came to the town through Emery decaen
Caen, who* hastened to add that he had received a fUrUme0n0p-
monopoly of the fur trade for one year as indem-oiyfor
nity for his losses in the war, and at the end of that one year
period he was to be succeeded by the Hundred Asso
ciates. Quebec seems to have had no history during
these three years of English rule, and why the
colony did not scatter or vanish no one seems to
know, except as it followed that stern rule of neces
sity which built up the American West : the people
n

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Quebec were distressed and unhappy enough to leave, but
asaia they were unable to get away. At any rate, Quebec
French still existed when Caen landed there, and its settlers
were glad enough to welcome Caen, not for himself,
nor for part of his news, since his monopoly was
not held in affectionate recollection, but because they
were Frenchmen and longed for French dominion
again. Of course, Thomas Kirke, brother of the
admiral, had nothing to do but turn over the keys
to Caen, who tried in the year to recoup himself
for the disasters and bankruptcy into which his
prodigally profitable enterprise had sunk.
Cham- In May of the next year, 1633, Champlain arrived
voyage!!^ at QueDec on his last voyage. The founder of
Quebec, one of the purest souls in the seventeenth
century, was thus to head the movement for the
rebuilding of his colony under the stimulus and the
flag of France. The missionary spirit had now al
most completely dominated him, and under the
Jesuits, Le Jeune as superior, Quebec became more
a mission than a trading station, or even a colony.
Of course, all this zeal was for Catholics alone ; the
Huguenots were banished at once by Champlain,
and no more ribald hymns, bawled by heretic
throats, fretted the Catholic faithful. For two
years peace and religion reigned in Quebec. No
foe but Satan showed his face, and even the rough
soldiers became careful and precise in their devo
tions to the Church. Champlain was living in the
calm and peace which his truly religious nature en
joyed, and earning the sweets of a long life of toil
and loyalty to country and God. But on Christmas
Day> J635, the bell from the tower of the Jesuit
mission tolled to the little settlement on the St.
78

THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
Lawrence that its founder and many times savior Death of
had passed away. Illness seized him in the autumn, J™^~l63B
paralysis, followed, then coma, and at last death
without pain. France sent many knaves, fools, and
adventurers to Canada. Champlain was one of its
few men.

79

F

CHAPTER V
THE GREAT JESUIT MISSIONS
ROM the death of Champlain onward for a
score of years New France made no progress.
Richelieu and the feeble king were too busy with
domestic strife and international complications to
care for the growth of the colony on the St. Law
rence. The fur trade was carried on as usual, and
with great profit to the company of One Hundred
Promised Associates, but the condition in their charter, that
forth" n°' °f furnishing four thousand settlers before 1643,
coming became a dead letter. Yet despite this inertia, a tre
mendous force was, nevertheless, being exerted by
the Quebec settlement. This force was wholly
spiritual. The movement which Champlain so
strongly urged, and which at the last absorbed all
his energies, grew in strength and importance. The
Jesuit mission at Quebec continued to send out
among the Indians workers whose names have
made the early history of Canada far more splendid
Cham- than that of any other country in America. Cham-
successor Plam's successor, Montmagny, was as ardent in the
work of converting the savages as Champlain him
self had been, and the Jesuits, who had awaited his
coming with fear and anxiety, shed tears of joy
when they saw his devotion. With Montmagny
came several men of importance, accompanied by
80

THE GREAT JESUIT MISSIONS
their families and servants, a company the ragged
and humble priests were glad to see, but which added
no. real strength to the colony. Undoubtedly the
Jesuits at that time made no effort to secure colo- Priests
nists. Possibly they even tried to prevent their ^ret"°
coming. They were burning with zeal to extend secure
Christ's kingdom among the heathen, and although colonists
the colony's charter kept out all people except Cath
olics, the Jesuits wished to have the savages to
themselves. The more rapid growth of the settle
ments south of the St. Lawrence than those north
of it may be explained by this Jesuit dominance.
Although Quebec, Plymouth, and Jamestown were
founded at practically the same time, the period
from 1630 to 1665, when Canada was controlled by
the Jesuits, was the very time when the English
colonies, under more liberal guidance, throve and
multiplied and extended in every direction. There
were, to be sure, periods of intolerance in the En
glish colonies, such as the Puritan exclusiveness in
Boston and the Catholic non-conformity in Mary
land, but they were not so effective in checking
settlement as the Jesuits.
THE JESUIT RELATIONS
On the other hand, it is only fair to repeat while
dealing with this subject the eulogies which all
students of their records have poured upon the work
of the Jesuits in North America. Those are records
of some of the great heroic martyrdoms of history.
They are without a flaw so far as we can know in
their absolute devotion to the cause of religion as
the Jesuits conceived it. In courage as well as in
zeal they challenge comparison with the great figures
81

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
value of the ages. It is true, we must largely depend
°l^ upon those wonderful volumes — 103 in number,
called the Jesuit Relations, written by the mission
aries^ — for the accounts of their deeds. Yet we are
not confined to those records, and even if we were,
the simplicity of statement and absence of anything
approaching boastfulness or vaunting are fairly
good evidence of their truth. So true are they that
the priests have not hesitated to chronicle certain
acts and deeds done by them to win souls to heaven
which can not fail to convict them of deceit and in
directness. Either they did not realize that they
were doing things which might accuse them, or
they lived fearlessly true to the maxim often accred
ited to Loyola, their founder: "The end justifies the
means." Certainly while we may not sympathize with
their methods and may point out the futility of their
labors, we can not withhold from them unbounded
admiration and praise.
The history of New France is largely a series of
biographies. Only by recounting the lives of the
leading men can we tell the story of the growth and
progress of the colony. New England's history is
character not so told. In the contrasts which we are com-
and^ngnsh Pelle<l constantly to make between the English and
progress the French colonies, there is no profounder or more
compared significant fact than this. It means, simply stated,
that French progress was by kings, and English
progress by the people. Leadership was essential,
invaluable, indispensable to the French conception
of government, while the English scheme rested
upon the general mass of men. One was a moun
tain-peak, the other a lofty plateau. The distinc
tion, it seems to me, is so clear that I shall leave
82

THE GREAT JESUIT MISSIONS
my reader to carry it into its many interesting rami
fications — a pleasant and profitable task. I shall
only call attention to the fact that up to this time
we have been chiefly occupied with tracing the his
tory of a few men, Cartier, Henry IV; Champlain,
and Richelieu. In them we have the history of New
France. So in the future we shall read of La Salle,
Frontenac, and Montcalm. That will end the story
of New France, and also the telling of the story of
Canada in a biographical form, for with the En
glish regime came in the democratic idea, with all
that it means to government and people. This
Jesuit period constitutes a sort of interregnum. The Jesuit
Richelieu, to be sure, was still alive, but he cared leii°^ter
little and did little for Canada, and La Salle andregnum
Frontenac were yet to come. In that period we
find the chief interest to be in the careers of a few
Jesuits. The colony had no other history.
THE HURON MISSIONS
The chief work of the Jesuits at that time lay in Brebeuf
the Huron country. Brebeuf was in charge of these m char^e
missions, the chief one being at St. Louis, near Lake
Huron. Much of our early knowledge of the geog
raphy of that region comes from these missionaries.
They penetrated into the wilds for hundreds and
thousands of miles, Isaac Jogues preaching far up
at the outlet of Lake Superior. The missionaries
had a very difficult and soul-trying life. In spite
of their sacred mission they were, even while with
the Huron allies of the French, always in danger of
death. Every misfortune to any Indian village was
charged to the priests by the medicine men, who
regarded the Jesuits as interlopers and competitors.
83

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
When awful diseases swept through the villages,
dark looks were cast at the black-robed figures. A
failure of crops, a severe storm, or an unsuccessful
hunting season were all laid at the door of the
Jesuits. The most absurd stories were circulated
and eagerly seized by these credulous savages. Es
pecially did they fear -the influence of the priests
upon the children, and the determination of these
agents of the Church to baptize and save the little
child when in extremis gave these poor barbarians
the belief — most natural, we can see — that it was
these priestly offices, this dip of the finger into
water and upon the little brow, which brought
Priests death. Time and time again were the chapels at-
attackedly tacked and the priests beaten. On several occa
sions great conferences of the tribe were held to
decide the fate of these missionaries. Yet they
went on their way teaching, nursing, feeding, help
ing, and baptizing, all for the glory of God. In
deed, they did not fear death. At last their saintly
lives conquered, and they were safe — so far as the
Hurons were concerned.
CHURCH INSTITUTIONS AT QUEBEC
AND MONTREAL
Meanwhile other Catholic institutions were being
brought to Canada — Canada which had so few resi-
a seminary, dents except the savages. A seminary for Huron
and°ae&e' Doys and a college for French youth were started
convent at Quebec in 1638 by the self-sacrifice of the priests
and a small gift from the Marquis de Gamache. The
Ursulines established their convent atQuebec in 1639.
A school for girls was also begun under the guidance
of a wealthy and devout French widow, Madame de

THE GREAT JESUIT MISSIONS
la Peltrie. Her main agents in carrying on this Madame
work were another widow, Marie de l'lncarnation, pel*rif,
and a nun, Marie de St. Bernard. They established
their school at Sillery, near Quebec These three
women left Canada richer arid sweeter for their
presence. Some critics may accuse Madame de la
Peltrie of vanity in the display of her holiness,
and blame Marie de l'lncarnation for her pecul
iar and solemn fanaticism and psychological mys
ticism, and all may declare their labors brought
absolutely no fruit to the colony, yet it was a beau
tiful and self-sacrificing effort, and such is never lost.
The same may be said of a similar but more am
bitious project at Montreal. It originated in the
pious zeal of Jerome le Royer de la Dauversiere,
receiver of taxes at La Fleche, in Anjou, and a
priest, Jean Jacques Olier, and their associates, who
formed the Society of Notre Dame of Montreal. The society
They got together 75,000 livres for the purpose of °J ^j.rDal°f
founding a colony at Montreal, together with three
religious communities, one of priests to convert the
Indians, a second of nuns to nurse the sick, and a
third of nuns to teach children of colonists and
savages the Word of God and the alphabet. It was,
of course, an utterly unwise project. Quebec with
its garrison and guns was always in peril from the
Iroquois. Here was to be a settlement still nearer
the red devils and without any protection whatever.
How sane men could have embarked upon such a
project is passing strange. But forty men were got
together, the Island of Montreal was bought, and
the Sieur de Maisonneuve was appointed governor.
Reason at length dictated that only the hospital
should be built at first, and of that institution Made-
85

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
moiselle Jeanne Mance was made the head. The
most prominent woman of the colony, however,
was Marguerite Bourgeoys, who had charge of the
vine schools. The church name of the colony was Ville
de Marie . -» r
de Mane.
The company of men and women, with Mai-
sonneuve at the head, started from France for
Montreal in 1641. They spent the winter in
Quebec, and during that time the governor, Mont
magny, used all his powers to persuade them to
select the Isle of Orleans instead of Montreal. His
advice was undoubtedly excellent, though not dis
interested. Maisonneuve would not heed. The ex
pedition was of heaven — by visions, etc. — designed
The found- for Montreal, and it would not stay and be an ad-
Montreal, junct of Quebec. Besides, Maisonneuve wanted to
1642 be a real governor. So on to Montreal they pushed
in the spring and settled, accompanied by Madame
de la Peltrie. It was May 18, 1642, when they
landed and founded the colony with the usual re
ligious exercises. Father Vimont, Superior of the
Jesuit missions in Canada, and Montmagny wel
comed them, and after mass the colonists pitched
their tents, and Montreal began.
THE FIRST IROQUOIS ATTACK
For a long time Providence was kind to this little
settlement. The Iroquois did not dream that mor
tal man would be foolish enough to plant a colony
at this unsheltered spot. But one day in the spring
of the next year, 1643, a band of Algonquins, chased
by Iroquois, took refuge in the rude fort of Mon
treal. The Iroquois were aghast at the rashness of
this little company, but soon rallied and made prep-

87

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
arations for attack. This attack was not in force;
it consisted simply of a single savage or a little
group of savages lying in wait for the whites out
side the stockade, and suddenly leaping upon them
unawares and murdering them. Maisonneuve soon
gave strict orders that no one should leave the fort
except for a short distance and with a guard. When
the Iroquois came near in greater numbers he for
bade a sortie and merely resorted to defensive tac
tics. His foolish compatriots grew discontented
with this policy and complained. They wanted to
fight. One day they crowded about the governor
and told him so. The dogs were barking in the
woods, betokening an enemy near. All was excite
ment. Maisonneuve, to their surprise, agreed to
fight and led them out. He had determined to teach
them a lesson. The usual result followed. The Iro
quois attacked the French from behind trees and
bush-heaps. Three of the whites were killed and
two captured. When Maisonneuve gave the order
to retreat, they all rushed away, leaving him to fight
Maison- alone. He made his way back to the fort carefully,
shows his %hting- every step and making his shots tell, one
courage of them killing the Indian chief. After that, there
was no more question of the courage of the French
commander or of the loyalty and discipline of his
men. During this early history of the settlement, the
zealots burned to accomplish the purpose of their
mission — the saving of souls. They sought after
friendly Indians and got them to listen to their
pleas. At length they secured their attendance at
the church, and finally the service and the kindness
of the whites told upon the aborigines, and several'

.THE GREAT JESUIT MISSIONS
Indians, including the Huron chief, Tessouat, whom
Champlain first met on his heartbreaking Vignaud '°°.°°°
mission, were converted. Things were going well, found* a°
religiously, at Montreal, and when a wealthy French- hospital
woman gave 100,000 francs to found a hospital, al
though there was no possible use for it, all rejoiced.

89

CHAPTER VI

ISAAC J0GUES, MARTYR

Stepstoward" Canoniza
tion

Captured
by the
Iroquois

MEANWHILE the Jesuit missions among the
Hurons flourished. At the time of this writ
ing, 1908, steps are being taken for the canoniza
tion of some of these missionaries. Of course they
became martyrs. First on the list is Jogues. Why
Jogues? Undoubtedly the reader can find in any
Roman Catholic priest's library the full story of
Jogues, one of the most wonderful in all history;
and all who can should get and read it. I have not
the space to tell it all, but I shall try to give it at
some length.
Isaac Jogues was of high birth, and had he not
gone into the Church would have seen a life of
luxury and ease. He was small in frame and un
used to hardships. His face shows the ascetic dom
inant. On his arrival in Canada he went first to
the Huron missions and continued on as far as the
Sault Sainte Marie. The following summer, 1642,
he returned to Quebec for supplies, and it was on
his way back to the Hurons in a canoe, with a large
party of Indians as escort, that he was captured by
the Iroquois near the Lake of St. Peter in the St.
Lawrence. With him were Goupil and Couture,
laymen. All three were terribly maltreated by the
Iroquois, principally because Couture had killed one
90

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
of them during the fight. Even after this cruel
treatment, Jogues with mangled hands baptized the
dying Indians of his party, victims of the Iroquois
assault. The Iroquois with their prisoners first landed at
the mouth of the Richelieu, and then pursued their
way up that stream and on south by way of Lake
Champlain into the Mohawk country. At the end
of the lake they joined another Iroquois war party,
and for sport compelled the French to run the
compelled gantlet of crazed savages armed with thorny clubs.
gantiet1116 Little Jogues fell senseless and covered with blood.
On south the two parties continued the next day,
and soon reached Lake George, probably the first
time this beautiful sheet of water had charmed the
eye of a white man. Soon they left Lake George
and marched west thirteen days into the forest until
they reached a palisaded town of the Mohawks.
There another line was formed by the savages, and
all the prisoners were beaten terribly. They were
jogues then placed on a scaffold and tortured. Jogues's
byrttheed thumb was cut off with a clam-shell, and the fiends
Indians induged in other atrocities. When evening came
the prisoners were all taken down and tied to stakes,
while the delighted children placed red-hot coals on
their naked bodies. The next day and the next
they received the same treatment, each new Mo
hawk town devising new modes of torture. Once
Jogues was hung by the wrists so that his feet did
not touch the ground. Here the first spark of pity
was shown, for a Mohawk, seeing his agony, re
leased him. Indeed it was not uncommon to find
such exhibitions of humanity among the Indians
when alone, but it was when they were in a com-
92

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
pany that each vied with his mates in viciousness
and cruelty.
Couture was terribly tortured because he had Goupil
killed an Iroquois, but for the same reason he was ^"^pbtors
admired and was at length adopted into the family
of the tribe in place of a dead relative. Goupil, like
Jogues, was tortured, and both were under suspi
cion for witchcraft, the one teaching children the
sign of the cross and the other baptizing them. One
day while walking together in the forest, two In
dians came up to them in a threatening way. After
a little parley they proceeded toward the town until
suddenly one Indian struck Goupil. with his toma
hawk. The faithful layman dropped dead. Jogues
also fell, expecting his end had come, but he was
spared. The next day Jogues searched for Goupil's
body at the peril of his own life, and found it in
a brook, gnawed by dogs. He secreted it, hoping
in time to bury it decently. But when he went on
the morrow to the spot his treasure was gone.
There is something fine and noble in Jogues's
actions in these circumstances. They show a big
heart and a loyalty to a friend which need not have
been a part of his religion. In vain he searched
hour after hour for the body, until, weary and
utterly depressed, he burst into tears, and alone in
the forest and beside the swift running brook he
chanted amid his sobs the beautiful Catholic ser
vice for the dead.
Nor did he cease his labors of search. In the
spring the children told him of some human bones -
lying in the stream several rods below where he jogues
had concealed the body. These he found, identi- g°„spil,3
fied them as Goupil's, and hid them in a log against remains
93

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
the time when he hoped he might inter them in
the shadow of a mission or in some other hallowed
ground. Meanwhile he passed his days and nights ex
pecting death. Often was it threatened, but he
did not fear it. He was dragged off with the In
dians on hunting parties, and on these trips almost
froze and starved. He was a model prisoner, and
would respond faithfully to any demand for work
laid upon him, but he never failed to astonish his
captors by his bold defense of his faith when it
was attacked, puzzling them by his two phases of
humility and boldness. He used to baptize secretly
or openly as many of the children or dying adults
as he could find. And so his time was passed.
Month after month went on, and he was compelled
to tramp hundreds of miles and endure the most
miserable hardships, counting all this nothing if
perchance with a drop of water he might here and
there save a soul from eternal pain. At last he
went with a trading party to the Hudson, and in
due course to the Dutch settlement of Fort Orange,
where Albany now stands.
The Dutch This settlement, under both Dutch and English
a°ifb" nhSh ru^e' was t0 t^ie Iroqu°is what Quebec was to the Al
gonquins — a centre for support. Indeed it was the
inspiration of some of the worst campaigns under
taken by the Iroquois. With such ability and wis
dom as the Dutch or English possessed joined to the
unconquerable ferocity and reckless bravery of the^
Iroquois, it was no wonder that the doom of the
French settlements and their cowardly red allies
came swiftly on. Of course the reason for this
copartnership, like most alliances and friendships,
94

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
lay in propinquity. The Iroquois lived near the whites on
English and Dutch settlements, and it became the ^["ema
part of enlightened self-interest to keep on good iroquois
terms with them. This was the usual rule followed
in the New World. Only in New England were
there practically no friendly Indians. Their worthy
ancestors were, Americans are forced to confess, as
much to blame for this condition of affairs as the
aborigines. They were certainly hard to get along
with. The Dutch at Fort Orange at that time were, on
the whole, a friendly folk. They took a humane
interest in Jogues. This was greatly to their credit,
for they abhorred with bitterness and depth his
Church, and regarded the Jesuits as in league with
the devil. They really did more for Jogues than
any other body of men during his whole life in
America. They tried to secure his release, offering
to pay the equivalent of a round sum to that end,
but the savages had not yet done with Jogues. And
now they refused to let him go at any price. His
situation grew more perilous because of a letter
which Jogues sent by an Iroquois party to a French iroquois
fort where Sorel now stands. The letter told of his e™^?
capture and sufferings, and so enraged the French Jogues
commander that he at once attacked the Iroquois
who brought it and scattered them. They at length
reached Fort Orange and demanded Jogues's blood
for what they might justly regard as an act of
treachery. Nothing could now save his life except
the Dutch, and they dared not offend the Indians
by making the attempt openly. How could they
save him?
At that moment there lay in the Hudson a Dutch
95

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Attempt ship ready to sail for Holland. Van Curler, the
to escape governor, offered Jogues passage. It took Jogues
a whole night to make up his mind whether it was
right to accept the offer. There were two objec
tions. One was that it would be running away
from duty, even if duty meant death. The other
was that the savages would be likely to wreak their
vengeance upon the Dutch for aiding him to escape.
Against these arguments was the common-sense one
that in remaining he was sacrificing himself and
practically committing suicide. Even with Jesuits
common sense at times prevails, and in the morn
ing Jogues went to Van Curler and accepted his
offer.
Bitten That night he stole away from the house where
by a dog ke wag confine^ stepping over the sleeping forms of
his Indian guards, but was set upon by a dog and
bitten severely. The Dutch owner of the house was
awakened, .went out, and helped Jogues into the
house, where he lay down, again suffering torture
from his wound and trembling with exhaustion and
the agony of fear that the Indians had learned of
his absence. Luckily they slept on. But he slept
not. In the early morning a Dutch laborer came in,
and Jogues told him in pantomime of his wish to
escape. The man nodded, led him out from among
the blanketed, torpid savages, hushed the dogs, and
showed him the way to the boat. Even when he
reached the river his troubles were not over. The
skiff lay far up on the bank, and the labor of get
ting it into the water was almost too much for him
in his crippled condition. Day had now broken, and
every moment he expected to hear the yells of the
96

by the
Dutch

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
savages hot on his trail. But at length he pushed
the boat off, and soon he was hidden in the vessel's
hold. But he was not yet safe, for the Indians sus- Ransomed
pected his presence there, and so cowed the ship's
officers that after two days they smuggled Jogues
ashore to the fort, where he lay in hiding six weeks.
Meanwhile the ship sailed away. At last the Dutch,
while not making known his whereabouts, ransomed
Jogues from the Indians by paying a very large
sum. Soon afterward Director-General Kieft sent
for Jogues, and -a boat took him to New York,
whose polyglot condition of to-day was then fore
shadowed, for eighteen languages were spoken
there. Kieft then put him on board a ship bound
for England. After a stormy voyage it reached
Falmouth. There he was maltreated and robbed
of his clothing by thugs. In a few days, however,
he got passage on a boat for France, and landed Lands at
north of Brest. Begging his way, he at last reached Brest
Rennes (the place two and a half centuries later of
the Dreyfus court-martial), where a Jesuit college
was located. He asked to see the Father Superior,
who, hearing that he was from Canada, ran and
asked excitedly if he brought news- from Father
Jogues. And the worn, mutilated, meanly clad
and emaciated hero, falling upon his knees to
receive the Superior's blessing, cried with joy:
"I am he!"
Naturally the story of Jogues's adventures touched
all lands, even fickle Paris, where the Jesuit martyr
doms happened to be then the fashion. Jogues was
called to Paris, his queen kissed the fingers cutF&ed
and torn by the savages' shells, and he became the ln Pans
Canada— 5 97 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
sensation of the court. The pope by a special dis
pensation allowed him to say mass in spite of
his deformities, and he rejoiced. Such awful
sufferings ought to have sufficed for him, and he
might well have rested for the remainder of his
life among the quiet scenes of his youth. But he
heard ever in his ears the call of his Master as well
as the call of the wild, and within a few weeks he
boarded a ship for Canada, there to meet his
doom.
His return When he arrived in Quebec it was to witness and
be a part of a remarkable scene — the making of a
peace between the warring savages. It came about
in this way. The Iroquois had become so dominant
and so cruel in their victorious course that a reign
of terror ensued throughout the whole of Canada.
The savage Mohawks penetrated even into the Ot
tawa country, and often surprised the Hurons in
The their homes. The Hurons became utterly discour
aged, and when a pestilence swept their villages
about this time, the double blow almost made them
a conquered and dispersed people. But help was
coming, for among the Algonquins living in an
island of the Ottawa was Piskaret, a brave and
shrewd chief. He became a Christian, and was
among the proud products of the Jesuits in the New
World. Still he burned for vengeance on the slay
ers of his kinsmen, and determined to carry the war
into Africa. So, instead of waiting for the fierce
enemy to come upon him, he started for the enemy,
leading an expedition of six other Christian Indians
by the Richelieu and Lake Champlain. They met
and surprised two canoes of Iroquois, and captured
and killed almost all of them. Two they carried
98

warring
savages

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
back in triumph to Quebec, where the party was
received with shouts of joy and cannon's roar.
There was much feasting and councils of triumph,
but no torture was indulged in. At this the cap- Kindness
tured Iroquois were amazed, and could hardly be-'°.^"°'s
lieve that they were to be spared the gruesome
round of thumb-severing and hot-coal adorning.
When finally convinced that they were free from
the old treatment and were ultimately to be allowed
to return to their homes, their joy knew no bounds.
One of them arose, and with great dignity and maj
esty delivered a speech of thanks to Montmagny,
whom he called "Onontio" (the translation of the origin of
literal meaning of Montmagny — great mountain — a name
into the Indian tongue), and so all the governors
of Canada continue to be called to this day. A few
days later an Iroquois captured before these two
was sent home, well clothed, thoroughly equipped
for the long journey, and provided with a let
ter stating that the two other Iroquois would be
held for the present, but would be restored if their
nation wished to make peace with the French
and the Algonquins. This was a rather adroit
way of evoking a peace, but it had the desired
effect. Within six weeks after the Iroquois had left Three
Rivers he returned with three Iroquois chiefs, one
of whom was Jogues's friend Couture, whom wecfutu"
** ° ' adopted
saw adopted into the tribe because of his bravery by the
in killing one of his captors. He was now a strong Iro<iuois
man among the Mohawks, and had done much to
bring about the acceptance of this peace protocol.
The Iroquois, whose leader was Kiotsaton, were
received with great cordiality and provided with
99

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
a feast. They were delighted, Father Vimont,
head of the Jesuit mission, has given us a story
of that visit and subsequent ones which is most
interesting. Three Rivers was certainly not a regal place, but
the Iroquois, accustomed to their own dirty and
miserable huts and villages, and the unpleasant and
unadorned Dutch life of Fort Orange, were capti
vated by the good taste and French artfulness and
artistry shown at Three Rivers. This was a side
of civilization they had never seen before.
THE MAKING OF A PEACE
Feasts and oratory for a week were the order of
the day, the French, Algonquins, and Hurons in turn
doing the honors to the guests. Then came the
grand peace council, attended by the governor, who
Kiotsaton's came f rom Quebec, and the Jesuit missionaries, in-
W°"chf Ul c^umng Jogues and all the Indians there. Kiotsaton
made some tremendous and wonderful speeches for
peace, showing the Indian's strange instinctive
power of oratory and imagery. His pantomimic
description of the toilsome journey of the Iroquois
envoy sent in May was, says Vimont, "so natural
that no actor in France could hope to equal it."
Belt after belt was hung on a line arranged near
him as the orator told his wonderful story. It is
one of the pathetic and regrettable incidents of his
tory that this indescribable gift of poetry and ora
tory has not been preserved to us, and that it
did not accompany the Indian into civilization.
This is a sufficient proof that, so far as form is
concerned, the orator as well as the poet nascitur
non Ht.

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
At the end of the councils and feasting, peace
was firmly sworn, Piskaret making a present to
each envoy, to atone for the Iroquois he had slaugh
tered, and expressing his hope for an everlasting
peace. The next day the Iroquois set forth to tell
of the peace and secure its ratification later in the
summer at the same place.
Word was sent to the Hurons and Algonquins
in remotest sections, and soon every band of the
allies was represented. The Iroquois were late in
coming, but at length four braves, representing only
the Mohawks, appeared, and peace councils were
resumed. Even more feasts of table and oratory
were indulged in for days and nights. Peace was
solemnly declared and reiterated a thousand times
between the Iroquois on the one hand and the
French and their Indian allies on the other. And
peace was — for a time.
How to make that peace a lasting one was the "The
problem which sorely vexed the French. The gover- ^'X"
nor, Montmagny, came to the conclusion that the Martyrs"
best method was to send a diplomatic embassy to
carry to them, by means of gifts and oratory, the
good will of the whites. The idea was a good one,
but in selecting the delegate such a blunder was
made as is difficult' for us at this distance to
comprehend. He suggested to Vimont, head of the Jesuit mis- Mont-
sion, that Jogues was the proper man for the task. ™agI^ts
Certainly Jogues knew the Iroquois and their ways, jogues
but it seems clear to us to-day that the man to
send on that mission was one who should impress
the savages with both power and tact. The man
whom they had condemned, made a servant of, and

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
tortured, could never again possess their respect.
And Jogues was not a powerful and impressive man
physically. Again, the diplomat ought not to have
been a priest, for — as the Jesuits well knew and de
clared in their letters — all the Indians feared and
the Iroquois hated the priests. But Jogues was
asked to go on the prophetically named "Mission
He starts, of the Martyrs," and in May, 1643, ne set out f°r
May, 1643 tjie jr0qUOis country, accompanied by Jean Bour
don, an accomplished French scholar. Jogues was,
in spite of his saintliness, still a man, and the news
of his appointment he received with an involuntary
terror. This, however, he rose above, and when the
time came it was with a brave heart that he faced
the journey and all its perils.
original On his way he renamed Lake Andiatarocte, Saint
Lake ° Sacrement, and so it was called until General John-
George son, in 1763, called it Lake George in honor of the
king. On June 10 he reached the general assem
bly of the Mohawks convened at Sainte Trinite, a
Mohawk town, the exact location of which is not
known to-day. There he delivered his gifts and
made his grand oration confirmatory of the peace.
The gifts were received, but it was soon plain to
the embassy that there was no lasting peace. In
deed the Mohawks at once warned Jogues and his
party that they should return at once or they might
fall into the hands of the other Iroquois, who were
already on the warpath against the Hurons. So
after baptizing and confessing some of the Chris
tians held as prisoners, Jogues returned a few days
later to Three Rivers. Some good had undoubtedly
been accomplished, but the very leaves of the trees
spoke danger, dread, and treachery.

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
If this journey was perilous, what shall we say of
the second? What need there was of a second or
why it was determined upon is not revealed. It was
at one time decided that Jogues should remain at
Ville de Marie all that summer and winter, but in
September we find him again setting out for the
Mohawk country. He had a presentiment that he
would never return, writing to a Jesuit in France
the now familiar "ibo et non redibo."
These forebodings were quickly realized. Only
a little way from Three Rivers his party met some
voyagers, who informed them that the Mohawks
had again become hostile. The Indians with Jogues
at once fled; but he and his companion, Lalande, a
young Dieppese, pressed on. The change of Mohawk
sentiment toward him was due to a trifling circum
stance, but one which, it seems to us, ought to
have been foreseen. On returning to Three Rivers
Jogues had left with the Mohawks a little box con- The fatal
tainirig a few of his personal effects. Expecting black box
to come back in the autumn, he saw no reason for
burdening himself by taking it with him to Three
Rivers. But he knew the suspicious nature of the
savages, and he often showed them everything in
the box. Now no sooner had he gone than disease
seized upon the village and the whole Mohawk
country. The scourge was terrible. The medicine
men tried in vain to exorcise the demon, and at
last declared that Jogues's little black box was be
witched. Immediately there rose a terrible rage
and thirst for the priest's blood. No such foolish
suspicion could have been aroused against any one
but a priest. Thus the folly of sending Jogues on
this mission becomes clear. Great was the savages'
103

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
satisfaction when a war party bound for Montreal
came upon Jogues. and Lalande near Lake George,
and dragged them into the Mohawk village.
jogues is They made no concealment of their brutal designs,
saying with delightful irony : "You will die to-mor
row; but take courage, we'll not burn you. Your
heads will be chopped off, and on the tops of pikes
will be a gracious sight to your friends whom we
capture." That was one Iroquois promise which
was fulfilled. They cut pieces out of his arms, to
see what the flesh of a Manitou looked like. In
vain Jogues reasoned with them, telling them he
was a man like themselves, and only wished for
their good. They were wild for blood, and frenzied
with religious and superstitious zeal.
Still all of them were not so minded. The divi
sions of the tribe into peace and war parties was
so pronounced that a general assembly of the chiefs
was called to decide Jogues's fate. It met at Tion-
ordered nontagen, the largest Mohawk town, on October
octfriTi646 T^' I046. The peace party won, and Jogues was
ordered set free.
But all too late! Fearing that the peace party
would prevail, some of the most bloodthirsty of
the war party determined to kill Jogues on their
own responsibility. That very evening, before the
news of the council's decision reached the village,
one of this infamous gang went to Jogues and in
vited him and Lalande to his tent for supper. Sus
pecting nothing, they accepted, and as Jogues lifted
The^ the flap of the tent to enter, a savage struck him
a terrible blow on the head with a tomahawk, killing
him almost instantly. The next day Lalande suf
fered the same fate. Their heads were placed on
104

murder

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
pikes above the village and their corpses thrown
into the Mohawk River. When the messengers
came from the council they were told that they
were too late.
However useless and foolish this sacrifice of a a saintly
man's life seems to us, whether we consider it ab-llfe
solutely or in comparison with the murders of a
later time, of Brebeuf and his associates, who died
while protecting their sanctuaries, no one can re
press unbounded admiration at the courage which
marked Jogues's life and death. Nor can any of
us escape the conviction that his courage was some
thing more than mere native grit. Indeed he had
no native grit. His ability to suffer and endure,
his willingness to run risk, and at last to sacrifice
his life were due to his zeal for Christ and a desire His
to die like Him. This was real martyrdom. No^fious
other feeling could have inspired him to go one
inch in that heroic direction. And how willingly he
did it, how joyously even! When first captured by
the Mohawks he spent the moments between the
times of torture in the groves about the village, and
once thus wrote to those he thought he might never
see again : "How many times, although in a strange
land, have I sung the Lord's song, and made the
woods and the mountains resound with praises of
their Maker! How many times have I carved the
name of Jesus upon the high trees of the forest !"
I have given more detail to the story of Jogues
than I shall to any other Jesuit martyr, for the
reason that I consider it one of the most amazing
stories I have ever read in history or fiction, and
because the Roman Catholic Church has at last
taken the initial steps leading to his canonization,
ios

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
and I find a surprising amount of ignorance even
among Roman Catholics as to the record of this
noble life. THE RUIN OF THE HURON MISSIONS
The iro- The assassination of Jogues was the signal of open
the°sSeuieackwarfare- The Iroquois advanced boldly to the at-
ments tack of Three Rivers, Montreal, and Quebec, and all
the other settlements. Unconscious of the rupture
of peace and the murder of Jogues, the first intima
tion many families received of these facts was the
sight of a member suddenly slain by the prowling
savages. It would be only piling horror upon hor
ror to tell the story of these awful events. Every
device known to fiends was employed to draw the
Algonquins and French into traps, and the fate of
the captured was full of terrible agony. The men
were usually burned, while the women and children
after great suffering were adopted by the warriors.
The little line of settlements along the St. Lawrence
Jesuits was bowed with grief and almost despair. Only
co'ura'ed ^e Jesuits kept up their courage. Unable to do
anything more to help the Algonquins or the French,
they yearned to rejoin their comrades among the
Hurons, from whom no messengers had come for
months, and about whom the greatest concern was
felt. So five priests and one coadjutor set out, pro
testing that the fires of the Iroquois were one of
their motives for undertaking the journey. Alas,
says Rochemonteix most truly, they went forth des
tined not to take possession of a crown and an em
pire, but to be present at the last hour of a suffering
people, the dispersion of the sad remnants of the
Huron nation ! To that tragedy let us now turn.
106

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
The blood of the martyrdom of Jogues hadChanged
become the seed of his church in North America, character
Spurred on by his example, the priests labored un- Hurons
ceasingly for the salvation of souls. The Hurons
were very receptive to such teachings, for they were
no longer a proud, cruel nation, but a fearful,
cringing, hunted people. They found themselves
no match for the Iroquois in battle, and they came
to rely upon the black-robed priests of Christ to
save their bodies as well as their souls. To the
Jesuits it was an ideal condition, yet it plainly fore
told the ruin of their hopes.
It was in the summer of 1648 that the blow fell.
The Huron country lay in Ontario between Lake
Simcoe and Georgian Bay. Sainte Marie, near
Georgian Bay, was the centre and capital of the
mission of which Rogueneau was in charge, for
some obscure reasons succeeding Brebeuf. The
mission farthest south was St. Joseph, where Daniel Father
was in charge. It was the 4th of July, whenD.^el
suddenly came the cry "To arms," and the woods juiy 4, 1648
were full of savage yells. No one dreamed that
the Iroquois were near, and nearly all the Huron
warriors were engaged in a grand hunting party.
Some of those remaining rushed forward to the
attack, others cowardly fled. The priest had just
celebrated mass, and at once began to baptize and
absolve the people. He then returned to his chapel,
where were gathered a large number of old men,
women, and children. Then came the cry that the
enemy had beaten down the palisades and were in
the village itself. "Fly!" said the priest, "save
yourselves. As for me, I will stay here. My life
is nothing to me. Let us meet in heaven." Show-
107

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
ing them a way, he watched them escape, and then
to gain time and cover their retreat he left the
chapel and stood before the Iroquois. At first they
First vie- were struck dumb by his action. Then recovering
Huron116 from their surprise, they overwhelmed him with a
country shower of arrows, and he fell dead. They mutilated
and defiled the body, laved their hands in his blood,
set fire to the chapel, and threw his body into the
flames of the building. Thrice afterward, relate
the pious Jesuit historians, Daniel appeared upon
earth — twice to Chaumonot and at another time to
the other fathers, guiding their councils at Sainte
Marie. After this dastardly outrage the Iroquois returned
home, but scarcely was the snow off the hills the
following year, 1649, tnan tney again started one
thousand strong on their bloody mission. Again
had the Hurons become lulled to fatal confidence
and security, and many of them were on hunting
st. ignace, expeditions. On March 16 these devils fell upon
March' 16, tne village of St. Ignace, undefended and inviting
1649 the foe. No resistance was met, and a few hours
saw it in ashes and its people butchered. Three
Hurons escaped to St. Louis, only three miles away,
where the heroic Brebeuf and the little but devout
Lalemant were stationed. And now comes one of
the most dramatic ^and tragical scenes in all history.
The leaders of the Hurons at St. Louis gathered
together the women and children, and prepared to
send them away, urging the priests to follow them,
and saying: "Your presence here can do no good.
You don't know how to handle a tomahawk or a
gun." But Brebeuf said: "There are things more
necessary than arms : they are the sacraments. We
108

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
alone can administer them. Our place is in the
midst of you." Struck with admiration for this
voluntary martyrdom, one of the chiefs exclaimed :
"Can we abandon these two fathers who risk their
lives for us? Let us die with them; let us all go
to heaven together." And so they stood together
and awaited the onslaught of the enemy — twenty-
four warriors, several old men, and the two priests.
They had not long to wait. In the interval the"
priests were baptizing and confessing and prepar
ing all to meet their God. The Iroquois came. It
was an unequal battle, a thousand against less than A thousand
twoscore. Twice the foe were driven back, and against
thirty slain. But by an assault upon all sides at twoscore
once they broke down the palisades and entered the
village, and the massacre followed. The village was
burned, and the two priests, insulted and stripped of
their clothes, were placed at the head of the cap
tives and driven to St. Ignace. Before reaching
that village all the captives were obliged to run
the gantlet, as Jogues had done, incurring fright
ful wounds. As one writer says : "It was the first
station of Calvary."
But that was a mere pin-prick to the agony that
was to come. Already in the village the stakes were
erected upon which the captives were to be burned.
Seeing these instruments of torture, Brebeuf urged
the Christian converts to remain true to their faith
even in the tortures of death. And with the light
of the fires before them, they swore they would be
true. And true they were to the end.
The two priests were led to the stake, and falling Tortures of
down on their knees they kissed their cross. First Brfbeu£
Brebeuf was bound to the stake. The red devils
109

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The in- thrust firebrands into his flesh, threw upon his body
of devils living coals, and hung about his neck a collar of
red-hot hatchets. Firm as a rock and betraying no
suffering, he lifted up his voice and spoke to Chris
tians and murderers, encouraging the former and
iroquois consigning the latter to divine wrath and the fires
athisiShed of heI1- The Ir°quois were astonished at such brav-
bravery ery, and it infuriated them. They cut away his lips
and tore out his tongue, thrusting a hot iron down
his throat. All forms of torture were devised — his
flesh was cut out bit by bit, they lifted the skin of
his head in the form of a crown, and bored his eyes
out with hot irons. Then they mocked him, say
ing: "You told us the more we suffered here the
greater would be our reward in heaven. So you see
we are preparing you for a happy home." At the
devilish suggestion of a Huron convert who had
become a renegade, they poured slowly upon Bre-
beuf's head boiling water, chanting with satirical
glee, "We thus baptize you, that you may be happy
in heaven, for without baptism no one can be saved."
At length, in order that the priest's body might burn
more slowly, they surrounded it with bark covered
with resin and set it on fire. Throughout all this
monstrous, horrible ordeal Brebeuf stood impassive.
He could not speak, he could not see, but his face
showed no twinge of pain, and his giant form tow
ered erect and unfaltering. His courage was com
municated to the other martyrs. His torturers at
length began to fear that he was immortal, and they
grew alarmed at his courage, unprecedented even
among savages so renowned as stolid, impassive,
and brave. One chief cut open his side, tore out his
heart and ate it, while the other savages drank his

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
blood in order that they might with it drink in
his power and endurance. And thus he died.
Poor Lalemant, small, weak, and sick, wasLaiemant
compelled to endure the same torments and evenendures
tt • • the same
worse. He lingered on all night and until the mid- tortures
die of the next forenoon. He lived so long that his as Brfbeu/
captors, tiring of the sport, at last despatched him
with a hatchet. He was but thirty-nine years of
age. For six years his superior in France had re
fused to allow him to go to Canada because of his
delicate health, but his persistency won the day.
Only seven months had he been with the Hurons,
yet, so the Jesuits say, God thought him worthy
of a martyr's crown.
Meanwhile the priests of the central mission at
Ste. Marie saw the smoke rising from St. Ignace
and St. Joseph, and, fearing the worst, awaited with
trembling bodies but calm souls the same fate for
themselves. Ste. Marie had about forty-French sol
diers on guard, but they could hardly without aid
withstand their blood-glutted foe. Soon, however,
reenforcements came in the form of three hundred
Hurons from other posts, and they felt able to defy
the Iroquois. Then a strange thing happened. On
came the Iroquois, an advance guard two hundred
strong, bound for Ste. Marie. Nearing the village
they encountered a little band of Hurons, whom The
they attacked and put to flight. These fled, shriek- £°gqhut°'nsed
ing, toward Ste. Marie, and the Hurons there rushed away
out, attacking the attackers with such impetuosity
and fury as to drive them back. On they fled until
they reached St. Louis, whence the priests had been
taken the day before. The village had been burned,
but the palisades still stood. Behind them rushed

of the
Hurons

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
the hunted Iroquois, but they afforded no shelter,
and the Hurons captured or killed almost all. The
remnant, however, escaping to St. Ignace, only
three miles distant, told their story, and at once
the whole Iroquois force rushed to attack St. Louis
Massacre again. Then came one of the most desperate fights
known to Canadian border warfare, but with only
one possible result. Over one hundred and fifty
Hurons were there at the beginning and less than
twenty at the close. These were carried away into
captivity. Learning of this massacre, the now wholly de
fenseless Ste. Marie waited for the blow which
should wipe it out. But it did not then come. For
once the Iroquois failed to seize the opportunity.
For once they were sated with blood. The fierce
resistance of the Hurons and the loss of so many
of their bravest warriors made them pause to count
the cost. A panic then followed, and some one
started the report that an overwhelming force of
Hurons was marching against them. Hastily bind
ing their captives to stakes and setting them on
fire, the savages rushed away to the south with such
speed and terror that the pursuing band of Hurons
could not overtake them.
Finding the A few days later the priests from Ste. Marie ap-
bodiesof proached St. Ignace with trembling steps. There
andLate- they found the slaughter-pen, and above all the
mant mangled, charred bodies of Brebeuf and Lalemant.
They carried them back to Ste. Marie and buried
them. But the skull of Brebeuf is preserved to-day
as a proud relic by the nuns of the Hotel-Dieu of
Quebec. 112

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR

THE HURONS UNMANNED

Panic seized not alone the Iroquois. In a more
terrible and permanent form it moved the Hurons.
To have two of their best towns burned by their
foe from the south and their people and priests
killed was, in truth, a crushing blow, but it need
not have been an overpowering one. The disaster Disaster
was largely their own fault, due to their neglect, ^"'1^t
laziness, and lack of reasonable precautions. More
numerous than the Iroquois, they needed but to re
build their villages with greater care and to con
stitute themselves genuine and true warriors. But
they were incapable of rising to the occasion. The
terror which this onslaught of the Iroquois caused
left them stripped of even the rudimentary resur
gent demand for vengeance, without which it is
almost impossible to picture the redskin of America.
They lost their manhood and thought only of flight,
so that the odd and pathetic scene was presented of
two peoples simultaneously fleeing from each other
— a picture not unique because familiar to the stu
dents of even modern Caucasian battlefields. The
poor Hurons resembled nothing so much as a prairie
village on fire with its inhabitants wild-eyed and
mad, rushing furiously in any direction that seemed
to promise them a refuge from the flames. To their
frenzied minds the death-knell of their nation had Abandon-
sounded. They abandoned and set on fire their vil- JJ^6"
lages, that they might not fall into their enemy's
hands, and pressed on like the vanguard of an army
in utter rout. Each day they arrived by the hun
dred at Ste. Marie, without chiefs, without organ
ization, terrified, hungry, sick, and even dying.
113

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
six . They sought of the good priests food and rest, and
indtonf they were not denied. While in 1648 the priests
aided gave aid to six thousand Indians, in the first six
m 1648 months of the following year they took care of sev
eral thousand more. It must have been a rare sub
ject for the pen and the brush — that increasing
stream of panic-stricken savages pouring into the
little village, while among them night and day went
the black-robed priests, feeding and soothing and
blessing. Nowhere else could such a scene be found.
Unfortunately the only accounts of it are those
given us by these priests, whose eyes saw none of its
picturesqueness, but only glistened with the joy of
doing good and of embracing this rich opportunity
of saving souls to Heaven. So that picture in its
vividness can only be imagined by us.
AN ISLAND RETREAT AND ITS WRETCHEDNESS
Where should the savages go after resting and re
cuperating at Ste. Marie? That was the question.
They answered it by weakly scattering in many di
rections. The same question presented itself to the
missionaries. They could not stay at Ste. Marie and
endanger their lives for nothing. At length, after
conference- with several Huron chiefs, it was de
cided to remove the mission to the island of St.
The Joseph, in Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, where
Bay^ttie- several hundred Hurons had established themselves.
mem The transfer was made June 14, 1649, almost every
thing movable being taken and the rest burned. In
less than an hour fire consumed the result of ten
years of labor and persevering sacrifice. On the
island a fort was built and a semblance of organ
ization was effected. A few French soldiers were
114

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
there, and, together with the priests, they ruled the
island. Learning of this settlement, the stragglers stragglers
from other Huron camps, weary, sick, and afraid, ad.d to the
drifted to Georgian Bay and made their way across
to the new haven. They were welcomed, but they
only served to increase the great burden laid upon
the struggling savages and missionaries. Winter
approaching, there came with it the inevitable mis
ery of freezing and famine, and the almost as in
evitable scourge of disease and pestilence. Crowded
as these poor refugees were into a few buildings,
they fell easy prey to the pestilence, and day and
night passed in caring for the sick and, burying the
dead. Even to save from starving this multitude, Ten thou-
estimated at ten thousand, required an enormous saad fed
amount of food. The Jesuits bought smoked fish
of the Northern Algonquins and gathered six hun
dred bushels of acorns. It was a poor sort of diet,
but it was fairly wholesome, and it saved many
lives. So scarce was food, however, that some of
the dead were eaten. This practise only aided the
epidemic, and when spring came half of the people
of the island were dead.
MARTYRS IN THE TOBACCO NATION
It was the last day of the year 1649, when the troubles iroquois
of the islanders were greatest, that tidings came to Georgian0"
them of fresh martyrdoms. The Iroquois had soon Bay
recovered from their panic after the destruction of
St. Ignace and St. Louis, and in the autumn set out
again on the warpath. They advanced to Georgian
Bay and meditated attacking the island of St. Jo
seph, but its distance from the shore and its strong
defenses deterred them. So they turned again to
"5

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
the south, where lay the Tobacco nation in the
Blue Mountains south of Nottawassaga Bay of
Lake Huron. These Indians were allied to the
Hurons, and were a rather superior tribe, raising
tobacco and trading it with the whites. One of the
first of Jogues's missions had been a very danger
ous and difficult one among them. At this time
the Jesuits had two missions there, the chief one
warned by at the largest town, St. Jean. Father Ragueneau
Ragueneau sent wonj to fatm 0f the approaching Iroquois, and
they prepared to resist with all their might. Indeed
so warlike and eager did they become that they set
out to meet and engage the foe. It was a master
ful piece of foolhardiness. Even if they had met
the Iroquois, the latter would most probably have
beaten them, but the good luck which seemed to
attend all Iroquois ventures came promptly to hand.
A party of Hurons from St. Jean were captured
by the Iroquois on their way to that village, and
these prisoners kindly told of the warriors' sortie
and of the defenseless condition of the place. It was
a rare chance for the southern devils, and they did
not miss it. The miseries and butcheries of St.
Gamier Louis were repeated at St. Jean. Father Garnier,
martyr" tne Priest m charge, heard the terrible war-whoop
of the Iroquois, and bidding escape all who could,
he remained behind to perform the rites he thought
necessary to prepare for Heaven the souls of those
about to die. So doing, he met his fate by an Iro
quois hatchet. There was no torture in this case,
for the savages were fearful of the return of the
Huron braves. Setting fire to the town and butch
ering all they could find, they hastily retreated.
Two days later the Tobacco warriors, angered by
116

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
the failure of their attempt to intercept the Iroquois, The grief
and striving against a terrible fear of the destruc- of warrior»
tion of the town while they, its defenders, were
absent, turned their steps toward home. When they
reached the village and saw the dastardly work of
the enemy, their behavior was characteristic. They
sat down upon the bare ground in the agony of
grief, but without speaking a word or seeming to
move a muscle. All day long, as immobile as bronze
statues, they sat, their heads bent low and their
eyes fixed on the ground. Thus did they grieve,
any other manifestations of sorrow being deemed
unworthy of a warrior.
The murder of Garnier deprived the Jesuits of
one of their most devoted priests. Like Brebeuf,
he came from a noble family of France. His parents
were wealthy and he was reared in luxury. But he
seemed never to have any other interest in life than
his work among the Huron savages. He manifested
almost no interest in the news and gossip from
France except what concerned his work. The writ
ings of that time abound in tributes to his gentle
ness and self-sacrificing spirit. His associate in
this mission, Noel Chabanel, had been ordered away Noel
and started for St. Joseph the day before the Iro- Chabane«
quois attack. The next night the Iroquois passed
near him, and all of his Huron escort fled in terror
except one, who with Chabanel pressed on. That
was the last word ever heard definitely of Chabanel,
but because his one companion was a renegade Chris
tian, and later was heard to boast to the Iroquois
that he had once killed a Jesuit, it is believed that
Chabanel was murdered by him. Peculiar among
the Jesuits stands Chabanel. He was very sensitive
117

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Personal and delicately constituted, and suffered infinitely
istoaCter more than any of the others. Every detail of life
among the savages was repellent, even abhorrent,
to him, and he had to use every effort of will and
faith to enable himself to continue with them..
The news of this catastrophe, coming to the little
island in the midst of the desperate fight for life
and food and warmth, was almost overwhelming.
It probably induced still more Hurons lurking in
detached groups in the woods to flee to the island.
There the misery and destitution surpassed anything
the Jesuits had ever known. It was the old story.
There was enough and contentment for a few, but
starvation and wretchedness when the rabble crowd
ed in to grab a share of what little there was. So
desperate did they become that some of them, in
their mad search for food, swam to the mainland at
the risk of falling into the hands of the Iroquois.
ABANDONMENT OF THE HURON MISSIONS
An audi- At length, when spring came, some of the chiefs
Fatnw1 one night asked an audience with Father Rague-
Ragueneau neau> Superior of the mission, and informed him
that they had decided to abandon the island. They
said that some of the tribes wished to go farther
north, others to the friendly Andastes, living far
away on the lower Susquehanna, whom they had
visited in Champlain's time, and yet others favored
throwing themselves into the arms of the Iroquois
and joining the Confederacy. These chiefs, how
ever, urged the fathers to save them by taking them
back to Quebec. "Do not wait," they pleaded, "until
famine and war kill us at last."
.The importance and significance of this proposal
118

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
did not escape the fathers. It meant the abolition Retreat
of the Huron mission, the annihilation of this na-of 3°°
_ , ' . Christian
tion. It meant that they must give up a work to Hurons,
which they had devoted years of labor and sacrifice, JuneK>-l65°
which had recently been consecrated with their
blood. This fate was a wretched one, and yet it
was not the first time the thought of it had come
to them. They had hoped over and over again that
in some way the blow might be averted; but now
that the crisis had come, they did not seek pallia
tion, delay, or compromise. They accepted it, after
a long discussion, unanimously. It presented a tan
gible and reasonable means of preserving a large
body of Christian Indians, and promised to bring
forth rich fruit in after years in many more Chris
tian homes. So on June 10, 1650, the expedition set
out in canoes, consisting of the Jesuit fathers and
three hundred Christian Hurons. They went north
until they came to the mouth of the French River.
This they ascended until they reached Lake Nipis-
sing, the source of the Ottawa, which they followed
down to the St. Lawrence. About half-way down
they met several Frenchmen and Hurons acting as
escort to Father Bressani, who had started from
Quebec for the Huron mission, unaware of the
terrible tragedy of the past year. All returned
together. When they reached Montreal, the Indians
were asked if they did not wish to settle there, but
they feared it was too much exposed to attack by
the enemy. At last, on July 28, they reached Quebec. Reach
Undoubtedly this colony was welcome to Quebec. ?u"eb^'
No matter what burden they were, the church in
Quebec — and that meant all Canada — reached with
outstretched arms to all who came to it for shel-
119

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
ter — if they were of the household of faith. Certain
it is that these three hundred Hurons were at once
a very great burden to Quebec, barely able at that
time to care for itself. To reduce expenses and be
cause the abandonment of the Huron mission gave
them nothing to do, several of the Jesuits were sent
back home, among them Bressani, who a few years
before had been captured by the Iroquois and whose
sufferings approached those of Jogues. The col
ony struggled on as best it could, but misfortunes
seemed to accumulate. The Ursulines and the
Jesuits had not received their annual stipend from
France, and were going in debt. To fill the cup
of the Ursulines to overflowing, fire destroyed
their monastery. The distress and crowding were
Move to somewhat lessened the next year by the removal
of the Huron colony to the Isle of Orleans, where
a flourishing village sprang up.
The majority of the Hurons scattered as they
had proposed. Some joined the Iroquois, becom
ing Senecas; these were allowed to live in a town
by themselves and to retain the Christian religion.
Eighteen years after their hegira, good Catholics
were found among them by Father Fremin, a Jesuit
missionary. Other Hurons joined the friendly Neu
trals and Eries, and some even penetrated to the
Andastes. Most wandering of all the tribes were
the Tobacco nation, with whom some of the Hurons
sought shelter. They were in time driven out of
their mountains and sought refuge on the island of
Michilimackinac. But the devilish enemy allowed
them no peace, and attacked them there so persis
tently that in a few years they went across the lake
to some islands in Green Bay, Lake Michigan. The
120

the Isle
of Orleans

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT BUILDING, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
Iroquois still pursued them, and after retreating to
the mainland, they wandered south and west, fall
ing in with and quarreling with various other na
tions, until, after settling on Point Saint Esprit,
Lake Superior, for a time, they at length returned
to Michilimackinac in 1671. From there most of
them removed to Detroit and Sandusky, where they Finally
were known as Wyandots. Within the past half-*"°™n
century the Government removed them to the west- wyandots
ern frontier beyond the Mississippi, where some
of them are still to be found. Those of the Hurons
who remained on the island of St. Joseph had some
exciting experiences, and once succeeded in driving
or frightening away a band of Iroquois bent on their
destruction. But after this affair they saw that their
position was too perilous, and, descending the Ottawa
to Quebec, they joined the other Hurons. This Nearly
united band, after some years of peace at the Isle™pt^°^_
of Orleans, was nearly wiped out by the Iroquois quois, 1656
in 1656. The colony then returned to Quebec, and
later retired to Old Lorette, nine miles from Quebec.
Only a few years afterward they" removed again,
and for the last time, to New Lorette, and there
the only surviving band of the once powerful and
numerous Hurons may be found to-day, and are
visited by thousands each year. They live in aThesurvi-
primitive way, and make moccasins and baskets tovorsto"day
sell to their visitors. But they are an unattractive,
dirty, lazy tribe, and seem to have no power or wish
to lift themselves above their miserable state. The
blow of the Iroquois was a deadly one.
It may not be out of place at this time to explain
why I have devoted such an apparently dispropor
tionate amount of space to the Jesuit period of the
Canada — 6 121 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
history of Canada. A host of objections at once
rise. It is true the Jesuits failed to build up a great
body of aboriginal Christians in America, they left
no permanent impression on the country and its his
tory, and no feature of Canada's life to-day is trace-
interest of able to the Jesuit regime. Yet their story is so
the Jesuit interesting that it must be told. In my judgment
this Jesuit story is one of the finest and most ab
sorbing known to all history. And I have been
amazed at the absolute ignorance prevalent in the
United States and in Canada itself regarding these
wonderful heroes and their time. People living
south of the St. Lawrence, as well as those north
of it, ought to know the history of the continent
better, for much of the mission field of the Jesuits
lay in territory now in the United States. The
scene of the terrible suffering and the martyrdom
of Isaac Jogues was in the State of New York.
Now that it is proposed to canonize Jogues and
Lalemant, and various Jesuit fathers are deliver
ing addresses throughout the United States on the
work of Jogues, perhaps the Roman Catholics will
learn more of him. To interest Protestants also in
that story has been my endeavor.
was the The great Parkman, as fair as any man can be
^failure? *n ^citing the story of their work and lives, says
in effect most drearily, "Cui bono?" The mission
was indeed a failure. The basis of it — the power
and strength of the Christian Indians — was removed
when the Huron nation was destroyed. And I am
not sure that the destruction of that nation was not
in a measure due to the coddling policy adopted
toward the Hurons by the Jesuits. Also it is clear
that the policy of the Church in New France at
122

ISAAC JOGUES, MARTYR
this period in refusing admittance to Huguenots or
any other form of Protestants immensely damaged
the struggling colony at the very moment when a
liberal policy might have made New France a real
rival of New England. For this attitude the Jesuits
must be largely held responsible. In spite of all
this, the influence of the Jesuits upon civilization in character
America was for good. They certainly made of°f*e
the Hurons a more decent, unselfish, and honest influence
people. They also implanted even in the blood
thirsty Iroquois a respect for themselves and their
faith which the machinations and lies of the medi
cine men could not wholly remove. Greater than
all else, however, has been the posthumous influence
of their lives, heroism, and martyrdom. No man
can read their story without being quickened in his
heart to better thoughts and higher purposes. The
Lutheran who in New Amsterdam stooped in ho
mage before the mangled, ragged Jogues, and called
him "Martyr of Jesus Christ," showed how deep
an influence one Jesuit made upon a Protestant in
the terrible years of religious intolerance and sec
tarian hatred. Throughout Europe the Jesuit Re
lations were everywhere read with enthusiasm, and
although attacked as biased and exaggerative, they
have been so confirmed by independent investigators
¦as to make us safe in accepting them as reliable
annals so far as they go. They have been ofstinuves
infinite value in elevating the aims and ambitions as a £orce
of the Catholic youth of three and one-half cen
turies. So because of this apparently intangible
but really most powerful factor of moral influence,
the Jesuits in Canada must be regarded as benefac
tors of mankind. 123

I

CHAPTER VII
THE SETTLEMENT OF ACADIA
N telling the story of the Jesuit era, much im
portant historical material was passed over, that
Poutrin- the line of narrative might not be interrupted. Let
settles at us now retrace our steps. We shall first turn to Aca-
Port Royai, dia, which we have ignored since we followed Cham
plain away from it. The heart of the Baron de
Poutrincourt was true to Acadia, and he could not
forget that sweetly smiling inlet and pasture-land
which he called Port Royal. So in 1610, three
years after De Monts's failure, he returned to Port
Royal with Father la Fleche, and began an active
campaign for the conversion of the Indians. The
savages, who had been heart-broken at the depart
ure of the French, now welcomed them warmly
and were ready to espouse almost any plan the
whites suggested. Their chief, Membertou, was
converted at once, and all the tribe followed. Mem
bertou, following out his savage instincts as well as
the customs in some civilized lands even in this day,
wanted to declare war upon all tribes which would
not accept the new faith. Poutrincourt's son, then
only eighteen years of age, was soon able to return
to France with a long list of baptisms. Although
he found France in an uproar because of the assas
sination of Henry, he was able to secure the ear
124

THE SETTLEMENT OF ACADIA
and financial assistance of the queen, Marie de Assistance
Medici. By her patronage, pious women became France
interested, and in Madame de Guercheville, a lady
of the court who in her youth rejected Henry's
suit, the enterprise found its chief beneficiary. She
bought for the Jesuits a large share of the colony,
and two of these priests, Biard and Enemond Masse,
returned to Acadia with Poutrincourt's son. These
Jesuits were not welcomed by Poutrincourt. On his
first voyage they had tried to accompany him, but
he managed to slip away without them. Now, how
ever, there was nothing to do but accept the inevi
table, which he did with poor grace. Biard was
fortified not only by his priestly office, but also by
his sense of proprietorship, and constantly inter
vened in the administration of the little colony.
Once Poutrincourt exclaimed to him: "Show me
my path to heaven. I will show you yours on
earth." This priestly interference so exasperated
him that he soon sailed for France, leaving his son,
Biencourt, in chief command.
Like many another newly come to power, Bien- Biencourt
court lost no time in manifesting his possession of j^^
it. Besides being head of the colony, he held the
office of Vice-Admiral for New France. So he
began to survey the waters and coasts about Port
Royal and to assert his authority over them. He
clashed at once with young Pontgrave, who had
a trading post on the St. John, and took him and
his whole party prisoners. He then continued along
the coast as far as the Kennebec, meeting some
Abenaki Indians and narrowly avoiding a clash with1
them. Biencourt's was a small colony, but provi
sions were scanty, and the winter was a gloomy
125

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
and uncomfortable one. Among its depressing in
cidents was the death of Membertou, the Micmac
chief.
Aiady In late January, 1611, however, a ship from
North France plowed its way through the ice to Port
America Royal and landed its welcome load of supplies. It
brought also a Jesuit lay brother, Du Thet, who
came as Madame de Guercheville's agent. Nom
inally and theoretically that agent had to be a very
busy man, for Madame de Guercheville had ob
tained from the young king the petty gift of North
America, except Florida, the king basing his right
to the territory on the voyage of Verrazzano. So
Jamestown belonged to the French lady-in-waiting,
although possibly she knew nothing of it, and it
certainly knew nothing of her. Of course Port
Royal remained Poutrincourt's, for he had it by
charter from the hand of Henry IV, and that char
ter could not be repudiated. But the Jesuits made
life intolerable for Biencourt. He would not stand
the insults of the priests, and drove them away.
They retaliated by excommunicating him, but in the
end they were compelled to recognize his rights,
lauded him in a letter to Poutrincourt, and restored
him to his place in the Catholic fold.
JAMESTOWN ATTACKS ACADIA
a battle The restless Jesuits were not satisfied with Port
^l M°unt Royal, where they were subordinate. They deter
mined to plant a colony of their own in this huge
territory of theirs. So in 1613 they sent out from
France an expedition under a courtier, La Saus-
saye, to Acadia. The ship touched at Port Royal,
to take aboard Biard and Masse, and proceeded on
126

Desert

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
its way along the Atlantic Coast. When Mount
Desert came into view, La Saussaye decided to
erect his colony there and call it St. Sauveur.
Hardly had they got on shore, with the ship still
unladen, when down upon them swept a semi-
piratical craft from Jamestown, commanded by
Samuel ArgalL He had come from the south to
fish, but taking aboard some Indians he saw by
their bows and gestures that they had been asso
ciated with the French. By questioning the red
skins, and pretending to be a friend of the French,
he learned of this colony, and sailed to attack it.
He took the ground that all of this region belonged
to England. Of course the French, being wholly
unprepared, were overwhelmingly defeated. Insig-
First nificant as was the engagement, it was the first sea
brtwfm %ht between tne French and English in the waters
French and of the New World. Argall set some of the colo-
mlmerica ™sts> including La Saussaye and Father Masse,
adrift in an open boat, and carried the remainder,
including Father Biard, back to Jamestown. Du
Thet, the agent of Madame de Guercheville, was
killed in the attack. La Saussaye and his compan
ions, by the aid of the Indians, managed to make
their way along the coast until they were picked up
by a French ship and borne to St. Malo.
port Royai When Argall returned with his captives to James-
taken by town, the governor of Virgina, Sir Thomas Dale,
the English determined t0 hang them at once) tut Argall coun-
. seled more politic measures, and prevailed. Un
doubtedly through these captives Dale learned of
the settlement at Port Royal, and determined upon
its overthrow, taking- the stand of Argall that the
French were intruders. Whether Biard was the
128

THE SETTLEMENT OF ACADIA
one who gave the information we can not know,
but the conduct of the Jesuit throughout was little
to his or his order's credit. At any rate, within
a few weeks after his return to Jamestown, Argall,
taking Biard with him, sailed again for the North,
and soon cast anchor in what is now Annapolis
Bay. Unluckily for the little settlement, Biencourt Port Royai
and his force were away at the time, and the place burned
was defenseless. It was an easy, quick task to ran
sack and burn the buildings and destroy the stand
ing crops. Biencourt returned before the ruin was
completed, and an acrimonious but useless parley
ensued, in which Biard was directly accused of
being a traitor to the French. On the way back
from Port Royal a storm arose, and one of Argall's
ships, which contained Biard, was blown far off its
course, first sighting land at the Azores. It was
the French ship taken at Mount Desert, and the
English captain had a narrow escape from being
hanged for piracy and his vessel from confiscation
at the hands of the Portuguese authorities. It
would have gone hard with him if the suspicious
Portuguese had known there were Jesuits on board,
but they were early hidden in the hold, and at
length the ship was allowed to pursue its way in
peace to England. Biard was finally returned to Biard
France, and we hear no more of his missionary pr1"™ to
work. Like several' of the Jesuits who followed
him in Acadia, he was far less spiritual than the
priests of Quebec. This capture of the two French
settlements and ship by the English was a most
outrageous act to perpetrate upon a friendly nation,
but aside from the restoration of her ship to Ma
dame de Guercheville, no reparation was made.
129

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Biencourt and his associates passed a wretched
winter in the woods, and when spring came and
with it Poutrincourt it was a happy time for
them. For the baron, however, the news which
greeted him seemed the finale of a series of misfor
tunes in an enterprise to which he had devoted his
tenderest hopes. He returned to France the next
year, and, although fifty-eight years of age,' took
up arms for the young king, Louis XIII, against
The death a rebellion on account of the king's marriage to
trincourt Anne of Spain. After a successful attack upon
Mery, he was killed by a stray or a traitor's shot.
A singular chain of trouble seemed always to at
tend him, and his tragic death was a fit ending for
a career of misfortunes.
It is difficult to find a parallel in history for
the tortuous path of Acadian settlement In no
other region were so many futile attempts made
to establish a permanent settlement. It seems
to us a wonder that so fair and charming a
land should have seen so many failures to ac
complish her conquest. Possibly her very attrac
tiveness made her coquettish of all suitors. The
French and English had tried her; now came
the Scotch. SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER AND THE
KNIGHTS BARONETS
scotch at- As previously stated, French and English monarchs
tempt at freely bestowed grants in America without regard
se^em en, ^ ^ grants of the other, or any comprehension
of the country so generously donated. In 1621
King James I remembered a loyal supporter in Scot
land by bestowing upon Sir William Alexander a
130

THE SETTLEMENT OF ACADIA
section of North America comprising what is now
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Gaspe penin
sula of Quebec. He also got another grant of the The
"River and Gulf of Canada," three hundred miles g™££er
from north to south, and extending across the con
tinent. He never used this last territory, but he
believed in having plenty of cards in his hand, as
we shall soon see. He gave the whole region the
name Nova Scotia, and established a small settle
ment that year at Port Royal. Meanwhile, Pou
trincourt's son, Biencourt, succeeded to his father's
rights, his name, and his enthusiasm for Acadia.
With a few companions he kept up the fiction of
ruling Acadia, although life there was very hard
and they were often in dire need. However, they
were self-supporting, and succeeded in building a
small house of defense near Cape Sable, which he
named Fort Lomeron.
At length Biencourt died, and one of his 1'ieuten-LaTour,
ants, Charles de la Tour, succeeded in command father
and asserted his rights to his chief's grant. To
the court of King Louis, La Tour sent his father,
Claude, to beg for men and munitions to uphold
French prestige against the aggressive Scotch. Al
though a Huguenot, he gained the king's ear, and
started for New France with supplies and arms on
the ship "De Roquemont." As ill-luck would have
it, that was the ship destroyed off Tadoussac by the
English, under Admiral Kirk, who had been sent
out to take Quebec, and all this aid to French power
in Acadia as well as Quebec was lost. Claude de
la Tour was sent with the other prisoners to Eng
land. There the fact that he was a Huguenot pre
disposed the English to treat him well. He was not
131

vs. son

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
insensible to these attentions, and he soon found his,
loyalty to France leaving him. And, indeed, he
had little reason for loving France. He had owned
great estates there, but was utterly ruined by the
civil war, and, glad to leave the. scene of his mis
fortunes, he had joined; Poutrincourt's colony at
Port Royal. The kind treatment he received from
the English, and especially one Englishwoman,
quite turned his head. He married her, a lady of
the court, and Sir William Alexander made him
Knights and his son knights baronets of Nova Scotia on
^noto condition that he. should win his son to the English
scotia cause. This order of knights baronets was a
clever device of Alexander's, by which, in return
for certain contributions to his colony and with the
pledge of planting actual settlements on the land,
eighteen square miles and the title of knight baro
net were bestowed on the donor.1 Claude de la Tour
accepted his grant gladly and soon set out for Aca
dia to convert his son to Albion. But the son was
made of sterner stuff. He had been waiting and
waiting in desperate doubts -and fears as to the fate
Two of his father, and the promised succor. Two years
of 'colonists he waited, and at last two ships loaded with colo-
arrive niS£S an(i commanded by his father arrived. With
joy he greeted his father, but he must have at once
asked why they were sailing under the British flag.
For not long after they met in council within the
fort high words arose, and soon it became known
that the son, like many a country's son living on its
fringes, had grown in his isolation more loyal than
'These titles have been preserved, and many of the de
scendants of those noblemen are found in Canada and" tlrer
United States. 132

THE SETTLEMENT OF ACADLA
those dwelling; in the centre of the nation and en
joying its greatest, advantages and luxuries. In vain
the father pleaded and threatened. The son stood
firm and defiant. Then the father tried force, and
made an assault on the fort, but was beaten back.
Humiliated and discouraged, he was compelled to
sail to Port Royal and the Scotch colonists. Mean
time negotiations for the treaty of. peace between Acadia
France and England dragged along: When the"dpda^k
terms of the Treaty of St. Germain, were announced -.1632
in 1632, Sir William Alexander found, to his in
finite astonishment, and disgust, that his king had,
in an excess of good-nature, ceded back to France*
all that Scottish valor had won and Scottish enter
prise dared. So the Scotch had to leave Port. Royal,
and the unfortunate Claude de la Tour had to knock.
on his son's door for a. haven. It was opened to
him and to his wife, who had remained true in spite
of his false promises.
THE RIVAL LORDS OF ACADIA
The future now looked very bright for the younger
La Tour. He was commissioned the king's: lieu
tenant-general in Acadia, and was fortified by
stores, men, and provisions. But he was soon to
have a rival. In 1632 Louis XIII sent Isaac de Isaac de
Razilly to Acadia', to receive the submission of theRazi"y
English colonists. With him came as his lieutenant Louis xiii
the Seigneur d'Aunay Charnisay: Headquarters:
were established at La Heve, directly across Nova
Scotia from Port. Royal on the ocean side. Char
nisay induced some more Frenchmen to come over,
and soon about forty families in all lived in Acadiai..Charnifay
_. , "' succeeds
Qn.Razilly's death Charnisay succeeded to authority, him
133

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Exactly what the authority was seems difficult to
learn, but that it interfered with young La Tour
was at once patent. After Razilly's death Charnisay
moved the headquarters back to Port Royal. Soon
afterward La Tour secured from the Company of
a gram New France a grant of land at the mouth of the
rnomh St John River, and removed thither, building the
of the Fort de la Tour, known later and commonly as Fort
st. jonn gt Jean. So now, not across the peninsula, but
across the Bay of Fundy, these rival lords glowered
upon each other. La Tour's was a primitive, rude,
and crude settlement, with all the marks of the pio
neer. Charnisay, on the contrary, had a sort of
medieval court. He had two hundred fighting men
armed with spear and pike, twelve Capuchin friars,
and a manor-house and seminary of logs. All this
meant the favor of the court and king, and boded
evil for his rival. Only one circumstance was in
La Tour's favor. His fort was better situated for fur
trading than was Port Royal. And as fur-trading
had become the chief business of Acadia as well as
Canada, that advantage was worth fighting for.
Divergent Upon these preliminaries to the story of the con-
the7w°f test between these two feudal lords of Acadia his-
cweftains torians generally agree. But onward there is much
division of opinion. To one party La Tour was a
pure patriot and Charnisay a treacherous intriguer;
to the other La Tour became a rebel, a man of no
conscience or convictions, and in general a desperate
freebooter, while Charnisay was an earnest patriot,
who labored hard for his colony and tried to bring
about peace with his rival. The conventional, usual
opinion to form from such clashing judgments is a
compromise, a feeling that both were to blame for
134

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
the quarrel. However repugnant such a verdict
must be to him who seeks the absolute truth, in
this case it is a probably accurate statement. My
sympathies, however, are decidedly with La Tour.
La Tour He was first on the ground — the real pioneer. He
pioneer had upheld the power of France after many mis
fortunes, and it was certainly an outrage that an
other man who had in no way earned the right as
he had to rule Acadia should be set above him.
This situation excuses much of his resentment and
rebellion. It shows, too, the fatal weakness of the
French government in failing to designate clearly
the possessor of authority. This weakness will be
more clearly shown in the administration of New
France, for whose loss, more than any other one
thing, divided and disputed authority was responsible.
The incongruity of having a lieutenant-general
of Acadia and a seigneur who disputed with the
lieutenant-general does not seem to have disturbed
the king's ministers in the least. An occasion for
occasion an open outbreak could not always be delayed. The
for an open English colonists of Massachusetts began to push
along their line of trade up toward Acadia, fixing
stations at what are now Machias and Castine,
Maine. La Tour in 1633 attacked Machias, killed
two men, and carried off the goods. Charnisay
two years later duplicated the feat at Castine, after
asking La Tour to help him and being met with
a refusal. It was not until 1642 that the opening
for a split came. Charnisay heard that the Plym
outh colonists were about to attempt to reopen
the Castine trading-posts, and sent a small expedi
tion to prevent it. This party La Tour captured
and brought to Fort St. Jean. A short time later
136

THE SETTLEMENT OF ACADIA
a general combat took place between the forces of
the rival lords, and La Tour was captured and
taken to Port Royal. Then a truce was arranged,
by which each agreed to lay his case before the
French court. This was done and Charnisay won.
La Tour's commission was revoked, and he was
ordered to France to answer to charges against him.
He refused and defied the king. Charnisay was La Tour
not strong enough to attack him at once. But the^eksin
next year, 1643, he led an army of five hundred
men to the attack. The little band of St. Jean was
ready, and repulsed the much heavier force. But
Charnisay's force remained at the mouth of the
river, determined to starve out the enemy. Just at
this time came a ship1, the "St. Clement," from
Rochelle to help La Tour. It had been equipped
by the Huguenots of that city, who were Madame
de la Tour's friends and relatives. This ship was
unable to force its way to Fort St. Jean because
of Charnisay's obstructing ships. La Tour's situa
tion was desperate, and after a short wait he decided
to make a bold dash for liberty. One dark night,
in a small boat and accompanied by his wife, a
heroic character, he ran the blockade and joined the
"St. Clement." "Where shall we go?" asked the
captain. The answer to this question La Tour had
. long before framed. "To Boston," he replied.
The arrival of a French ship in Boston harbor La Tour
created great excitement, especially because its of-£oesto
<• « , r% „„ , Boston
fleers happened to come upon Governor Winthrop for help
when they went ashore on what is now Governor's
Island. The people thought an attempt was being
made to kidnap him, and several companies of
troops were hastily rowed to the island. Their
137

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
and the governor's misgivings being removed, La
Tour made his appeal for aid. He showed his
commission as lieutenant-general without saying
anything about its revocation, and showed also the
charter of the ship, which stated that it was to take
supplies to La Tour, not mentioning that an
order from the king for its recall was too late.
Winthrop was perplexed, and consulted his magis
trate. Boston was only thirteen years old and not
very strong, and a proposition to lend aid to a
neighbor whose enemy might retaliate was a serious
matter. At length, after many parleys, consent
was given, and La Tour made a bargain with
two Bostonians for four ships to be armed with
cannon. They were to be used for two months
and were to cost La Tour £250 a month, "the plun
der (sic) to be equally divided." No sooner had
this agreement been ratified than attacks were made
a 17th upon Winthrop for aiding "idolaters," etc. A joint
"Round letter from some of the chief men of the colony,
Robin" a sort of "Round Robin," called the "Ipswich Let
ter," hurt Winthrop most. The agitators ran riot,
the Bible being read and quoted with appalling so
lemnity and zeal. But all this did not stop the expe
dition, which sailed July 14. On its arrival before
Fort St. Jean, Charnisay's ship fled to Port Royal.
Some of the English followed, burned a mill in which
Charnisay's men sought refuge, and stripped a pin?
winthrop's nace of a rich load of furs. In this they disobeyed
di^beyed orders, for by Winthrop's express direction they
were to carry La Tour's ship to Fort St. Jean and
give battle only if opposed. The next summer La
Tour, expecting another attack from Charnisay,
again appealed to Massachusetts for help. John
138

THE SETTLEMENT OF ACADIA
Endicott of Salem was the governor and seemed
willing to help, but the magistrates were immovable.
' While Charnisay was in France, Madame de la Mme.
Tour was also there, each intriguing against the de la Tour
other. His influence naturally was the greater, and
she was forbidden to leave France. She defied the
prohibition, escaped to England, and at last reached
La Tour via Boston. She advised her husband to
go to Boston, proclaim himself a Protestant, and
demand assistance against the Catholics. He was
not so unwilling to desert his faith as he had been
to shift his country at the behest of his father, and
so he set out for Boston. Unluckily, about that time
some of La Tour's Catholic soldiers deserted to the
enemy, and told Charnisay of the headless con
dition of the garrison. His ships attacked at once,
but were repulsed, chiefly owing to Madame de la
Tour's enthusiastic defense. But he maintained so
complete a blockade that La Tour's ship from Bos- Fort
ton could not nose its way to the fort. Two months cap;tualates
was the blockade maintained. In April Charnisay to
made a land attack, a breach was effected in the wall harnlsay
(or, as one account puts it, a Swiss bought with
Charnisay's gold opened the gate), and the fort
capitulated and was destroyed. Charnisay is be
lieved to have guaranteed the men under La Tour
their lives, but he hanged most of them and com
pelled Madame de la Tour to look on. She was
so enraged and heartbroken by the events that she
died three weeks later.
Again was La Tour a wanderer upon the face
of the earth. For some time he lived upon the
bounty of Samuel Maverick, on Noddle's Island,
now East Boston. The Bostonians, having found
139

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
that he had deceived them about his commission,
refused aid to recover his estates. There is a story
that he led a trading expedition of Boston men to
Cape Sable, and there deserted them to wander for
months and finally, through the kindness of the Mic
mac Indians, to reach home again. There is also a
story that Charnisay, after his triumph at Fort St.
Jean, finding no one in Acadia to oppose his au
thority but Nicolas Denys, who had a small hold
ing from the king at Cape Breton, attacked Denys,
although they had been schoolmates, and drove him
to Quebec. I am not convinced of the truthfulness
of either story. But certain it is that Charnisay
became absolute dictator in Acadia, having a mo
nopoly of the fur trade, which yielded him great
wealth.
charnisay jror five years he enjoyed this rich heritage
drowned, J / J , . . °
May 24, and supreme power, when, on May 24, 1050,
1650 by the overturning of his canoe in the Port Royal
River he was drowned. As Charnisay had attacked
his rival's fortress as soon as he learned that La
Tour had gone, so La Tour now hastened to France
and attempted to regain favor in the king's sight.
It is a sufficient commentary upon the mutability of
the king's will that in a short time La Tour was
governor and lieutenant-general in New France,
and, strangely enough, Charnisay's aged father was
his attorney, and did valiant service for him. Even
more closely was he to become allied to Charnisay's
charnisay's memory. When he returned to Acadia it was to
widow fin(j a hopeless tangle of conflicting claims. Char-
LaTwr nisay, or his widow, had got into the power of a
rich merchant of Rochelle, Le Borgye, who came
to Acadia to seize all the widow's property at Port
140

THE SETTLEMENT OF ACADIA
Royal. La Tour induced her to restore to him
Fort St. Jean. She was in danger of losing every
thing, and was in such desperation that she accepted
La Tour's proposal of marriage.
Meanwhile Le Borgye was making himself un- England
popular by grasping all lands possible, and he was^™^n
preparing to attack Fort St. Jean when everything
was swept from his grasp. England, at war with
Holland that year, 1654, fitted out an expedition
against New Amsterdam'. The vessels first stopped
at Boston, where they were joined by five hundred
colonists, who bitterly hated the Dutch and were
enthusiastic for the war. But a day or so before
the expedition was to sail, a packet came from Eng
land, calling off the expedition because a treaty of
peace had ended the Dutch-English war. It was
too bad to spoil an expedition so well prepared as
that. Something must be attacked. The nearest
enemy's country was Acadia. England was always
at odds with France. Why not attack Port Royal?
No good reason appearing against the scheme, the
expedition in a few days set out under Major Rob
ert Sedgwick. Fort St. Jean was utterly surprised
and readily capitulated. So did Port Royal and
all the other places. It was a glorious victory, Fort st.
but not generally appreciated, because there was "0^^od
butcher's bill. There was really no war on at that captured
time between France and England, and the French
ministers demanded the repudiation of Sedgwick's
act. Cromwell, however, would not agree to it, and
as France feared Cromwell and dared not go to war
with him, she had to swallow the insult. To La-
Tour, however, Cromwell was more gracious. The
ruined lord of Acadia besought the Lord Protector
141

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
for a restoration to himself of the rights granted:
him and his father by King Charles I, and Crom
well agreed, bestowing upon him; Colonel Thomas
Temple, and Rev. William Crowne, a vast domain
in Maine. La Tour decided at last that he had,
had enough of pioneering in the New World, and,
selling out his rights to his partner s^ retired to
France and lived in peace with his wife and chil
dren for the remainder of his days. Temple was
governor of the new lands; but the restoration of
the Stuarts, the succeeding war with France, and
The treaty the Treaty of; Breda in 1667, by which England
again restored her Acadian .possessions to France in
exchange for Jamaica, completed his ruin. Thus,
in Acadia as well as in Canada, almost no progress
had yet been made toward great and secure settle
ment, while the English colonies grew rapidly and
strong.

142

CHAPTER VIII
QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
THE abandonment of the Huron mission was
regarded by the Iroquois as a signal for re
newed efforts to stampi out the feeble posts along „
. £. . r , Unsuccess-
the St. Lawrence. Having done so much, why fUi attacks
should they not go farther and complete the job? by Iroquois
But the French, after being caught napping a few
times, remained safely within the forts, which, with
all their wiles and weapons, the savages could not
successfully assail. Montreal being most exposed
was, the Catholic chroniclers tell us, saved by a
continuous miracle. At length, in 1653, bored by
their inability to find more Canadian scalps and
angered by hostile acts by the Eries to the west
ward, the Iroquois turned their battle-cry in that
direction. The task was not easy. It was the first
of those bitter, hard-fought victories which in the
end proved the ruin of the great nation. One of
them, the Onondagas, was left so weak by this cam
paign that it sought an alliance with some Hurons.
These feared either to accept or to refuse, but on
consultation with the governor at Quebec they ac
cepted on condition that the Onondagas allow them
to have a Jesuit mission. This was agreed to, and
Fathers Chaumonot and Dablon were sent. Then,
143

'THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
in 1653, the Onondagas demanded that some French
men also go to live with them.
Jesuit That any Iroquois should seek a compromise with
missions an ancjent foe angered the Mohawks, most blood-
among tne " ,
iroquois thirsty of the five nations, and as soon as the t rencn
colonists, consisting of Captain Dupuy with fifty
soldiers, started from Quebec they were attacked
by the Mohawks. The savages were beaten off and
had to make apologies to the Onondagas. They
then turned back and leaped upon the Hurons re
cently under Chaumonot's care at the Isle of Or
leans, and killed and captured many of them. These
were the remnant of the Hurons with whom the
Onondagas wished to be in alliance. Later the Mo
hawks again attacked and captured more of them.
Now comes one of the most thrilling stories in all
The scene American history. It is such stories as this that
actors make the chronicles of the English Colonies seem
tame, filled though they are with romance and peril.
Look at the scene and the actors. Here were Jesuit
priests and fifty Frenchmen from Quebec founding
a French, Christian colony in the heart of the coun
try of their sworn, bloodthirsty enemy. Could folly
farther go? These Frenchmen and priests had ab
solutely no guaranty that they were not to be used
a colony to furnish forth a gay, savage feast. The accept-
by'sTvages ance of such an invitation shows clearly how worldly
innocent and gullible were the French in spite of
their bravery and romance, and how easily deceived
and destitute of common-sense were the Jesuits
when the chance of heathen conversion was before
them. The mission of Jogues was foolhardy enough.
This was in all respects similar except that it was
more perilous. But the idea had a fatal fascination
144

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT BUILDING, QUEBEC, PROVINCE OF QUEBEC

QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE I7TH CENTURY
for the priests.. They set great store by it, for they
had hoped thus to influence these savages. When
the colonists, arrived at Onondaga in 1656 they were
warmly greeted, and the wit and tact of Chaumonofc
made the outlook promising.. A huge lodge: was: a lodge
built by them, and here the Jesuits had a chapel for ^^ for
their work. They were not satisfied, to work among
the Onondagas alone. They were bound to' spread
the Gospel among the Five Nations. To have a van.-
tagerground from which to carry on this campaign
was in their eyes such a sublime opportunity as
could not be missed. And if they failed— -well, it
would be only one more martyrdom by which, the
Church of Christ was built up.
So they scattered among the Five Nations, using
all the arts and tact which their training and long"
residence among the savages had given them. At
first success seemed within their grasp. Nowhere
were they received ill. But in many camps they
soon found only women, children, and old men.
The warriors had gone forth to murder the Hurons
or the French. The Onondagas, of course, kept up.'
a nominal adherence to their treaty of peace, but
the tidings o£ the gory triumph of the Mohawks
were to- them as the trophies of Miltiades to his
rival. But one party of Iroquois were too. bold.
They came to know in one of their exploits that a
brave mani,. D'Ailleboust, had become governor. He
sent out a party, which surprised the Iroquois party
and captured a dozen of their braves. These he
held as hostages, and they were potent in delaying
the storm. Meanwhile the very air about Lake
Onondaga seemed to have become surcharged with
death. The woods whispered to the French of def-
Canada — 7 145 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
warning inite plots for their annihilation. At last, from a
massacre dying converted Onondaga they learned that they
and all the French settlements were to be butchered
in one great campaign to start in a short time. No
one doubted now that the peril was genuine, but
they acted as if unconscious of it. Quietly all the
priests were sent for, and the whole colony, except
Father le Moyne among the Mohawks, gathered
together for death or life.
Meanwhile the savages seemed to grow more
friendly: they pressed about the great lodge of the
colonists until escape, day or night, seemed impos
sible. But fortunately the French decided that if
the way did not appear clearly, the means should
not be neglected. So, in the loft of the mission-
house, carpenters were set to work to build two
huge, flat boats, which, in addition to their canoes,
would hold the party of fifty-three. Now for the
way.
Masterly In the spirit of the Roman "te morituri salu-
theaFrenc°h tamus," the French invited the whole tribe to a
huge feast. There is a story that this feast was a
grand one, devised by the Onondagas themselves
in obedience to the dream of a young Frenchman.
This dream, which he told to the Iroquois chief
with whom he had lived, was that unless the tribe
held a mystic, or medicine, feast they should all be
destroyed. At any rate a feast was held, and the
French, having provisions stored up, contributed of
them freely. There were dances and games and
music all day until evening, when the feast began.
At such a feast it was an unforgivable insult to
leave the board early or to cease entirely to eat as
long as any viands were at hand. So well provi-
146

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
sioned were the French and so greedy were the In
dians that by an hour or so after midnight every
Onondaga lay about the camp-fire in a stupor like
a boa constrictor. Even before the feast was ended
the Frenchmen, who seem to have eaten little or
nothing, began carrying the boats from their house
to the lake, leaving effigies of soldiers in the fort
to deceive any who might notice the absence. It
Escape was March 20, 1658, and snow was falling. Over
March *,, the surface 0f the jake a th;n sheet 0f ;ce iay-
Through it they pushed their boats and canoes, and
by daybreak were gliding down the Oswego. Furi
ously they rowed, so that Montreal was reached on
April 3 and Quebec, April 23. One can imagine the
fury and chagrin of the savages when they awoke
and found their prey had fled. And with this act
of daring and heroism closes another chapter of
French foolishness only partially redeemed by its
freedom from great loss of life. To the Jesuits it
was a sad and bitter failure. Nothing resulted, not
even a martyrdom, for Father le Moyne, who was
working among the Mohawks and had not been
reached by the messenger, returned to Quebec a
few days after the colonists.
THE FIRST BISHOP OF QUEBEC
Queyius New France was at this time about as near a fail
s'? Sans ure as any c°l°ny m the world. Successive gov-
ambitious, ernors became disheartened or were recalled. The
1657 jealousy between Quebec and Montreal grew, ap>-
parently the only thing that did grow. This rivalry
was increased by the change in the control of Ville
Marie, the name given by the church to the relig
ious settlement of Montreal. The Society of Notre
148

QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY
Dame de Montreal, pauperized by the defalcations
of Dauversiers, the treasurer, was glad to turn the
colony over to the Sulpitians, and thus, in 1657,
another religious order was introduced upon Cana
dian soil. The Sulpitians were rich as an order and
individually, for they take no vow of poverty like
the Jesuits. The transfer of the colony to the Sul
pitians saved it, but it also excited the resentment
of the Jesuits. The Abbe de Queyius was sent out
by the Sulpitians with three others of the order to
take charge of their settlement. About the same
time the Vicomte d'Argenson replaced the incom
petent De Lauzon as governor. The aggressions
of the Iroquois were then very pronounced, and the
new governor got a dismal introduction to his duties
on the very day of his arrival by hearing the war-
whoops of an Iroquois party that ventured near
enough to the settlement to capture or kill a few
men and women and then eluded pursuit. But the
religious strife soon became more bitter than the opposition
Indian warfare. Queyius had no sooner arrived fj^ts
than the Sulpitians with him and those in France
began to agitate the subject of a bishop for New
France. There could not have been more than two
thousand French in all that region, and a bishop was
as unnecessary as a cathedral. But the agitation
grew. Queyius himself certainly wished to be made
bishop, and his order united on him. The assem
bly of French clergy voted for him, and Cardinal
Mazarin assented. Not so fast, cried the Jesuits.
And when that majestic order that had dared and
died in Canada for the faith held up its hand, even
Rome paused. The Jesuits were not willing that
an order new to that land should have one of its
149

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
number set over them, the pioneers. None of them
could be a bishop, but they could say who should
be. So a veto was put upon the hopes of Queyius.
But if Canada was not to be a bishopric, how
should she be ruled? To what archdiocese did she
belong? These questions gave the Sulpitians an-
ciaimof other chance at power. The Archbishop of Rouen,
wshtr°of *rorn wnose ports all the expeditions to Canada
Rouen sailed, had always asserted that New France was
in his jurisdiction. So he now appointed Queyius
as his vicar-general for all Canada, thus giving him
all the powers of a bishop. Apparently eager to
show his power and to exult over the Jesuits, Quey
ius at once removed from Montreal to Quebec, an
nounced his new dignity, and began to assume epis
copal functions. The Jesuits took this act, which
they must have regarded as impertinent, with good
grace and courtesy. But their conduct did not bend
the acting bishop toward them. He preached ser
mons against them and accused them of many un
christian acts. At last his immoderation became so
pronounced that the governor, Argenson, inter
vened and persuaded him to return to Montreal.
Aiesuit A short time afterward Canada received the news
victory j.^ ^ p0pe ^ad ma(je 0f New France a vicariate-
apostolical, and had appointed Francois Xavier de
Laval-Montmorency to the position, consecrating
him as Bishop of Petraea. Probably the Jesuits knew
of this appointment at the time of Queylus's as
sumption of power. At any rate the appointment was
a Jesuit victory, Le Jeune, whom we have met as the
first Jesuit supervisor at Quebec, having selected
Laval for the place.
The new bishop was Abbe of Montigny, was of
150

QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY
high birth, and had been trained under Jesuits. He The new
arrived at Quebec soon after the beginning of the^v°epsi639
year 1659. Thus enters after a contest one of the
most conspicuous figures of early Canadian history,
a man whose entire career is marked with conflicts.
This is not the place to characterize him : his traits
will appear as we sketch his history, but there is no
doubt that his career and ideals have been among
the most potent in shaping the future of Catholic
Canada. It would have been much better for him
and his people if he had possessed more sanity and
been less contentious, but he lived in the midst of
strife, and his own elevation was won only after a
battle. He had youth — he was only thirty-six years
of age — great ability and great zeal in his favor, and
he plunged at once into his work.
Naturally his first trouble came from Queyius,
who at Montreal soon put himself in an attitude of
defiance toward the bishop's authority. Laval acted Lavai
with alacrity, sent a party of soldiers from Quebec q^1us
to Montreal, seized Queyius, and shipped him home home
to France. In order to keep him there, Laval wrote
his agents in France to exert themselves to secure
from the king an order to Queyius not to return
to Canada. The king issued the order, but Queyius
paid no attention to it. With great energy he pro
ceeded to Rome, and made such representations at
the Vatican that the pope issued several bulls in
favor of the colony at Ville Marie and in recogni
tion of the claims of the Sulpitians to independence
of Quebec's authority. Jubilant, Queyius then de
fied the king and secretly returned to New France.
Laval was furious, and issued several mandates
against him, all of which he refused to recognize.
151

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Then Laval called upon the governor to arrest him.
Naturally Argenson disliked to interfere in an ec
clesiastical fuss, but receiving orders from France
to support Laval, he sent an expedition to Montreal
and again Queyius was returned to France. The
pope later rescinded the bulls that favored the rebels,
and Laval's will remained supreme. Seven years
later, on a visit to France, he met Queyius, and such
Queyius amicable relations were established that the Sulpitian
Canada s00n returned to Canada and spent his remaining
days there as a missionary.
Meanwhile the Iroquois did not cease for one mo
ment to show their venomous hatred of the St. Law
rence settlements. Bolder and more savage became
their attacks, and the colony began to fear that a
crusade more violent and terrible than ever before
was planned by the red devils. These fears were
1™q"0is confirmed in May, 1660, by the dying confession
of a captured Iroquois. He declared that a great
expedition, numbering thousands of warriors, would
soon start down the St. Lawrence to wipe out ut
terly every vestige of French settlements in Canada
The colony was panic-stricken, and preparations for
defense began with frantic haste. Several exciting
events occurred to increase their apprehensions. Sal
vation, however, was coming from an unexpected
quarter. THE HEROISM OF DOLLARD
Early in the spring a young Frenchman of noble
family in Montreal, named Daulac, the Sieur des
Ormeaux, and popularly known as Dollard, organ
ized an expedition against the Iroquois. It was as
quixotic a scheme as was ever planned in New
152

attacks

QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY
France, a region that might well have interested
Cervantes's hero. Before any hint had come to
Montreal of the concerted plot to destroy New
France, Dollard heard that a large force of the
Iroquois were spending their winter along the Ot
tawa, the old haunts of the Algonquins. He pro
posed that a party be sent to waylay them as they
came down in the spring, and so cripple them as to
checkmate their murderous program, whatever it
might be. So he enlisted sixteen young men, the a party of
eldest being thirty-one years of age, in the expedi- seventeen
tion. It was to be victory or death in a cause where
victory was impossible. They all made their wills,
which may yet be seen on the parish records of Mon
treal, and after confessing their sins and receiving
together the sacrament, they set out. It is said that
the first impulse of Dollard came from a desire to
wipe off a blot on the family 'scutcheon in France.
He so far succeeded that, while we of this century
can not learn what the blot was, his act in the for
ests of New France will never die.
In the first week of May, almost the same day Long saut
that their little colony heard from the dying Iro- the scene
quois of the plot for its annihilation, these young exploit
heroes drew up their canoes at the foot of a great
rapids of the Ottawa called the Long Saut. There,
as luck would have it, stood a palisaded enclosure,
built only a short time before by the Algonquins,
but deserted when they heard that the Iroquois
were approaching. Here Dollard and his men de^
cided to take their stand. Soon they were joined
by a party of Hurons and Algonquins, who had
heard at Montreal of this expedition and hastened
to help. 153

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The French had not long to wait for the enemy.
After a little brush with an advance canoe load,
The the whole band of two hundred warriors came
at°ackT screaming down the rapids, mad for blood. Their
fail precipitous attack was promptly repulsed, and they
then withdrew for deliberation. Seeing that they
had a serious task before them, they began the erec
tion of a fort opposite the other. Meanwhile the
French were strengthening their defenses and con
structing twenty loopholes, from each of which
three men could fire. As soon as their rude fort
was completed, the Iroquois rushed to the attack.
A dozen braves fell, among them the stalwart chief
of the Senecas. The sight of this great warrior
prone on the earth and gasping his last utterly
demoralized and unmanned the savages for the
moment, and they fled like frightened sheep, leaving
wounded and dead. Immediately several French
men leaped from the fort, cut off the head of the
chief and stuck it on the palisade, while his men
howled and groaned in their impotent rage. For
the third time they attacked with the same result.
Again they retired for long consultation. Then they
sent for help.
At the mouth of the Richelieu were gathered five
hundred Iroquois, waiting for this band to join them
before starting on the long-planned campaign for
the annihilation of New France. Now it was pos
sible for Dollard's assailants to make a detour and
avoid the embattled Frenchmen, just as it was pos
sible for them to send a message to the Richelieu.
But escape was not now what they sought. They
wanted revenge for their brethren slain and solace
for their wounded pride. It was less injurious to
i54

QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY
their pride to ask for aid than to admit defeat at
the hand of these seventeen whites and a few dozen
reds. Five days passed, and although the fighting was Rcenforce-
constant, a general attack was not resumed. Then °™t'hse
came the arrival of the five hundred, and the force, iroquois
seven hundred strong, confident and wily, advanced
to a fourth attack. Again were the intrenched suc
cessful. The Iroquois were almost in despair, some
of them urging that they should all return home.
Meanwhile the condition of the besieged was daily
growing more desperate. The July days were hot,
their work was very exhausting, and they had no
water, except what oozed from the ground after
patient digging. Nor were they able without water
to swallow much of their food. Their forces were
growing weaker, for all the Hurons, except their
chief, Annabataba, deserted on the promises of some
Hurons who were fighting with the Iroquois that
they would be protected. No such promises were
held out to the Algonquins, so they fought on. At
length out of the quarreling councils of the enemy
came a determination to stake all on a general as
sault. Crafty where before they had been rash,
they advanced, .protected by huge wooden shields.
By this protection they reached the palisades, and
began hewing and hacking them down. Dollard
aimed a barrel of powder with a lighted fuse over
the wall. But his aim was not accurate, and it
struck the top of the barrier and fell back among
his men, exploded, and killed and wounded some
of them. In the awful uproar and confusion the
Iroquois crept to the loopholes and, firing within,
increased the slaughter. With superhuman strength
i55

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
and bravery, Dollard and his remaining men re-
Doiiard sumed the gage of battle. One breach had already
struck dead ^^ made, and numbers poured through it. Dol
lard was struck dead, and one by one his men were
slain in their furious resistance. Four Frenchmen's
bodies were found in which life remained. Three
of them were burned and the other was taken home
and tortured. The traitorous Hurons, despite the
promise made them, were also burned, with the
exception of five, who escaped to tell this story sub
stantially as it is given above, a story which has
been fully confirmed from other sources.
The Thus ended one of those brilliant adventures of
notinvato which the story of Canada is perhaps fuller than
that of any other country in the world. Unlike
many similar stories, the martyrdom of these young
men was not in vain. It was their immortal lot to
save New France. After the gluttony of the Iro
quois for vengeance and blood had been sated, they
had no courage or heart to continue their original
purpose. Gloomily and mournfully they sought the
path to the south and their own camp-fires, and. for
one season more at least Quebec and Montreal knew
that they were safe. Te Deums were sung in the
churches, and the saints were thanked for the
miracle.

QUARRELS OF BISHOP AND GOVERNOR
Aggressive- Peril from without being removed, there was a
ness of "*~
clergy

e chance for discord within, and the chance was

promptly embraced. Laval seems to have been at
the centre of most of this trouble. Furiously as
serting one's prerogatives is quite the favorite duty
and pleasure of many otherwise fairly sane and
156

QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY
reasonable individuals. Undoubtedly in his assertion
of the supremacy of his office and of the clergy
Laval was merely the child of circumstances and the
times. New France had been from the outset a
sort of theocracy. There were sometimes more
priests than people, and always more priests than
civil officials. By reason of this fact and their ag
gressiveness and education, the clergy had come to
perform some of the civil duties of the parishes.
In addition to the duties and powers naturally ac
quired, they began to assume more.
All this Monseigneur Laval tremendously stimu- The
lated. It seemed to him right We little realize, liv- ^tawreee'*
ing in the twentieth century — so lustily berated and church
abused as the sodden period of iniquity and evil — andState
how incessantly and bitterly once raged the contest
between Church and State for civil power. Civil
power, like alcohol to the individual, never helped,
but always hurt any church. Laval and Argenson
did not "get along" at all. The young bishop
asserted his precedence on almost every occasion,
and the aged governor was too seriously minded
a man to fail to challenge such assumption. The
Jesuits' chronicles of that time abound with accounts
of petty quarrels between bishop and governor in
regard to precedence and rank. Should the school
children salute bishop or governor first on fete days ?
At the annual Jesuit dinner should the governor or
the bishop have the higher seat ? On Corpus Christi
should the soldiers kneel or was uncovered head
sufficient ? And so on to the point of weariness. The
governor seldom consulted the bishop, preferring
the Jesuit Lalemant. Argenson made frequent ap
peals to Paris for a clearer definition of the scope of
iS7

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The his authority, but as usual Paris was too busy with
re°signs°r °ther things or would not be bothered by those
little vexations. Laval complained to the governor's
brother, a councilor of state in France, that Ar
genson ignored him, while the governor wrote his
brother that the bishop was opinionated and had
boasted that he could do what he liked. The up
shot of these continual spats could easily be pre
dicted. The governor's tenure was terminable at
any time. The bishop was there for life. Hence
it was the governor who got out, applying for his
recall in 1661.
Baron The Baron d'Avaugour succeeded him, and his
gourde- first act showed that the bishop had not profited by
ceedshim the change. He declined all ceremony on landing,
but consented to visit the Jesuits and would not
go to call on the bishop. He was an old soldier,
and blunt and self-centred. He at once wrote
home to inform the government what a rich
land it was, and how much it needed men and
money. But the government was just then in a
transition state, Colbert having taken the reins and
not having formulated a policy, so New France had
to wait.
At odds The first subject upon which the governor and
Hquorhe Laval definitely and violently quarreled was the
traffic liquor traffic among the Indians. It was a silly
quarrel on the governor's part, for he was inde
fensibly wrong. There had been no open friction
at all on the question. Governor and priests had
been agreed in opposition to the traffic. Perhaps
the governor would have preferred regulation to
prohibition, but officially prohibition was the law,
which was frequently violated as prohibitory laws
158

QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY
often are. But one day a priest came to Avaugour
to intercede for a woman who had been found guilty
of selling liquor to the Indians, and had been sent
to prison. Exactly what his plea was is not known :
probably he wished only to secure her release after
a considerable term of punishment. But the gov
ernor took umbrage at once and flamed forth:
"Since selling liquor is not a crime for this woman,
it shall not be a crime for anybody," and forthwith
announced that the prohibition days were ended.
As a chronicler of that day says, "The general made
it a point of honor never to retract the hasty ex
pression that had escaped him." The disorders that
followed were most disgraceful. The whole town
of Quebec became besotted. Those who disliked
the priests — and one can readily see how they might
be many — drank and became drunk in order to spite Drunkards
them. Laval, from his pulpit, raged and threatened, ^^vat
but to no effect. At length in solemn procession he
pronounced excommunication against all those tak
ing part in the traffic. Even this did not avail, and
at length, almost crazed by the dissoluteness and
depravity of the city, Laval took passage for France
and secured the recall of Avaugour, and chose as
his successor one of his own creatures, on whose
obedience he was sure he could rely.
It can not be said that Avaugour's administra
tion of two years was of no benefit to Canada. It
was his correspondence with the young king which
awoke the monarch to a realization of the riches of
New France. Louis promised that an adequate force
of soldiery should be sent, and actually detailed one
of his courtiers to visit the colony and make a re
port on its needs. These attentions at the hands of
159

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Avaugour's the king mightily encouraged the colonists. They
todonTto" thought something was going to happen; but they
the king were deceived. Had Louis really followed up Avau
gour's and the royal envoy's recommendations to
ship a regiment or two of French regulars, and
build a fort where the Dutch had had one at Fort
Orange, in all probability New France would have
grown widely, sanely, and strong. But the inter
minable wars in Europe shut the king's and his
ministry's eyes, and they let slip an empire.
The great It was during the bishop's absence in France that
earthquake, ^e great earthquake occurred. In such a supersti
tious colony that catastrophe could not take place
without an extraordinary number of visions, dreams,
and portents. It is not necessary to dwell on these
or to describe them in any way. To-day they might
be called evidences of an unsteady brain. Then
they were regarded as divine manifestations. The
earthquake was violent but not disastrous, shaking
all Canada and producing extensive and peculiar
geographical changes. It began on February 5,
1663, and continued at intervals throughout the
summer. The usual scenes of hysteria and excite
ment occurred, but no lives were lost.
Canada When Laval returned in September, after an ab-
rot" a sence °f nearly a year, he brought with him not
province only a new governor but the news of a change in
the government of New France. The One Hundred
Associates had returned their rights to the king, and
Canada became again a royal province. The king
decreed that all power in the province should be
exercised by a sovereign council of Quebec, com
posed of the governor, the bishop and of five coun
cilors,- an attorney-general, and a secretary to be
160

QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY
chosen by the bishop and governor jointly. Since
the governor knew absolutely nothing about the
men of the colony, this order meant at the outset
at least that the entire government was in Laval's
own hands.
Absolutism is to many an ideal form of govern- Lavai in
ment. Theoretically, a strong man at the headcontro1
makes a responsible and an efficient ruler. In prac
tise and actually, absolutism is always the worst
form of government, for it always means sooner
or later arrogance, then favoritism, and then cor
ruption without remedy or recourse. A democracy
will inevitably purify itself, for by its very ma
chinery it enables a new set of officials or a new
ring to secure control, and no new ring ever gets
power except by a pledge to remedy evil or base
conditions. There never was any real democracy in New corrupt
France, and now under this new regulation ofmeni"the
1 " council
Colbert's there was not even a pretense of it. It
is not pleasant to record that Laval, in forming his
council, honored men who he should have known
were charged with speculation and fraud. His
action in this matter shows how warped absolute
power can make an honest man.
Two of the men whom he selected for membership Dumesnii
in the council were Villeray, keeper of the seals, *°^ Vl1"
and Bourdon, attorney-general. These were among
those accused by Dumesnii of speculation. This
was a very interesting episode. Dumesnii had been
in 1660 sent out by the company to probe the con
dition of the colony especially with reference to
the peltries. He was given extraordinary powers
as intendant, and did not hesitate to exercise them.
161

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
At that time the inhabitants of the colony were al
lowed to engage freely in the fur trade, guarantee
ing to the company in return for that freedom a
certain number of skins annually. Of course a
committee was necessary to administer this trust,
and that committee, acting in connection with sev
eral wealthy merchants, grabbed the trade, shut
ting out the inhabitants at large and creating a
monopoly. For thus allowing these merchants such
a rich swag, the members of the committee, or at
least some of them, received a very handsome per
centage. Thus, in the first half-century of Quebec's
existence, we see growing and flourishing a system
of graft which we have been fond of calling mod
ern and of associating with our own peculiar civil
ization. It was this corrupt regime that Dumesnii
attacked boldly and without reserve. The commit
tee or council was shocked and indignantly denied
Dumesnii Dumesnil's charges, at the same time refusing to
an honest acknowledge his authority as inquisitor and judge.
gator As often in such cases, the populace seemed to side
with the thieving officials. One day Dumesnii was
attacked on the street and beaten. He at length
succeeded in convincing the inhabitants of his hon
esty and wisdom, and, undoubtedly, had it not been
for the war over the liquor traffic, some of the most
respectable citizens of Quebec would have been put
in jail. As it was, the colony was in constant tur
moil. The councilors were called upon by Dumes
nii to disgorge their stealings and to give up their
offices. They affected to ignore him. What part
the governor took is not certain, but his dissolution
and reorganization of the council were probably oc
casioned by Dumesnil's charges. With the return
162

QUEBEC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY
of Laval and the news that Canada had become a Dumesnil's
arrestordered

royal province, Dumesnil's authority at once ceased."

Bourdon and Villeray acted quickly when the new
council was formed. They ordered Dumesnil's ar
rest, and with ten soldiers went to his house and
seized all his public and private papers. He was
plucky enough to denounce them openly, and in
revenge they planned to put him in jail until the last
ship had sailed that fall for France. But he out
witted them and made his escape. Little good did
it do him, however, for Colbert seems to have paid
only the most perfunctory attention to his charges.
Indeed, there is no record that his bill for services
to the company in Canada was ever paid.
Mezy, the new governor, did not long remain Me'zy
in ignorance of the character of his councilors. ^"Svai
Whether he knew that they were corrupt or not,
he soon saw that they were merely the bishop's
creatures. In February, 1664, he wrote Laval that
he had been deceived in Bourdon, Villeray, and
Auteuil, and demanded that they absent themselves
from the council; he asked that the bishop should
assent to their expulsion and unite with him in
calling for a popular election of their successors.
Laval was astounded at the act of rebellion on the
part of his creature, and naturally refused to allow
his favorites to be removed. This quarrel between
bishop and governor lasted for months. The gov
ernor made a capital blunder when he suggested
such a thing as an appeal to the people. Louis
XIV was not basing his rule on popular assent.
So when Bourdon and Villeray, whom the governor
banished, arrived in France, they carried with them
Laval's accusations against the governor, and he
163

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
M&y dies Was recalled. Before the new viceroy arrived, How
ever, Mezy had died from his worries. He was an
honest man, who had been dissolute in his youth,
but became devout and pious toward the end. Had
he been as wise as he was true, the resourceful Laval
could not have prevailed against him.

164

CHAPTER IX
tracy's victory over the mohawks
IT must bewilder the reader to be told at this point Under th«
that another change came in the control of the company1.*
colony. It had been a royal province only a year l66+
when, May 24, 1664, the king turned it over to a
new and great corporation, the West India Com
pany, whose dominions reached almost to the utter
most ends of the earth. The whole western coast
of Africa and the eastern coast of South America,
the Antilles, of course, and New France from Hud
son Bay to Florida, constituted the most of this
company's holdings. For these regions in America,
Louis appointed a new officer, a sort of viceroy, as
well as a governor and intendant. Alexandre de
Prouville, Marquis de Tracy, was this imperial vice
roy; Daniel de Remy, Sieur de Courcelles, became
governor, and Jean Baptiste Talon, first intendant of
New France.
The Marquis de Tracy was a lieutenant-general The first
in the royal army, and a brave and efficient officer. ™jjj™ynt
The king trusted him and sent with him the Cari- the king
gnan-Salieres Regiment, which had distinguished
itself in Hungary against the Turks — the first regi
ment ever sent to America by France. Tracy's en
trance into Quebec in June, 1665, was a military
and religious triumph. Soon afterward came the
165

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
new governor and intendant, and many settlers, live
stock, and supplies. Tracy at once began a cam
paign against the Iroquois, establishing forts at
Sorel, Chambly, and a third farther up called Ste.
Therese. The governor, Courcelles, was even more
anxious for war than was Tracy, and started out
in midwinter against the Iroquois. Tracy was ill
with a fever he had contracted in Mexico on his
way to Canada. Otherwise he would have forbid
den such an expedition or would have led it.
courceiies's In January, Courcelles, taking with him thirty
rfaliure"1 Algonquin guides, set out for the Iroquois country
by the old route that Jogues and Champlain had
followed, the Richelieu River. He had about five
hundred men, two hundred of whom were Indian
fighters. Those who know the gigantic masses of
snow and the intensity of cold in winter in that val
ley to-day can imagine the titanic task which lay
before the French in this march into hostile country.
Storm after storm fell upon them, and great suf
fering ensued. The guides lost their way, aided no
doubt by the brandy they got at Ste. Therese, and
instead of reaching Mohawk territory, they came to
the Dutch village of Schenectady or Corlaer. There
they were told that the Mohawks and Senecas had
gone away to make war upon the Eries, and so
were not available for battle. Soon a despatch ar
rived from Albany to announce that New Amster
dam was now New York, and the English ruled
that region. The English envoys were friendly
enough, and invited Courcelles and his men to
Theexpedi- enter the village, but he declined. There was noth-
toQuebee"5 *n& t0 ^° ^nt marcn b&& to Quebec since there was
no foe to fight. The dreary retreat was harassed
1 66

167

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
by vagrant bands of Iroquois, but cold was the
greater source of misery, and sixty men died on
the way home. The expedition was a miserable
failure, and Courcelles did not help matters by
blaming the Jesuits for detaining the guides.
Treachery Courcelles and the French generally were much
Mohawks discouraged over the results, but they had no reason
to be. The savages were impressed greatly with
the martial appearance and bravery of the French
troops, and hastened to sue for peace. Tracy had,
learned to distrust such representations, and sent
a Jesuit priest, Bechefer, to the Iroquois country to
learn if their penitence was genuine. But about
this time came the news that a party of French
officers from the fort at Sorel, believing the Ma-
hawks meant peace, went hunting nearby, and were
killed or captured by the Mohawks. Tracy lost
here a nephew and, in addition, a cousin was cap
tured. An expedition set out at once, retook the
captives, and brought to Quebec a chief who pro
fessed contrition and a wish to make any amends
- possible. Other Iroquois representatives came to
Quebec, among them a Mohawk chief, Agriata.
At the grand council this chief sat beside Tracy.
The death of Chasy, Tracy's nephew, was men
tioned, and Agriata, like Tannhauser, boasted of
his wickedness, declaring that it was his hand that
killed Chasy. "Enough," cried the stern viceroy;
p'o^f "tlia1: sha11 De y°ur kst murder." And from the
vengeance feast the braggart was led forth and hanged in the
presence of all the Iroquois deputies. That act
showed that a strong hand was at the helm of New
France. It struck terror throughout the whole Iro
quois country, and that terror increased when Tracy
168

TRACY'S VICTORY OVER THE MOHAWKS
locked up the other envoys in prison, and told them'
he had done with peace negotiations and meant war.
At the head of thirteen hundred men Tracy set Tracy's
out in September, 1666, for the Mohawk country *™ymen
by the old Champlain route. The expedition pro
ceeded by strict military rules, and, in spite of the
trials of the march, good time was made and disci
pline maintained. It was a brilliant scene as those
six hundred French regulars, six hundred Canadians,
and one hundred Hurons advanced over the lakes
and through the forests. For the first time in all
history men in martial array, finely uniformed and
accompanied by bands of music, woke the echoes
with bugle calls, and startled the animals of that
forest through which in after years many other
armed forces were to march.
When within sight of the Mohawk towns a storm a crushing
came up, but the army rushed on without waiting ^et*'e
for their cannon, and assaulted the first stronghold. Mohawks
The savages had prepared for the attack, but the
impetuosity of the enemy and especially the rolling
of the drums terrified them, and they abandoned
their works and fled to the next town. On rushed
the colors of France with the redoubtable though
aged commander in the van. The second, third,
fourth, and fifth towns fell in rapid succession,
and by nightfall the whole Mohawk country was
in ashes, and the warriors killed or in retreat. Few
indeed had fallen, so precipitous had been their
flight. Tracy did his work thoroughly. Not only
were the towns burned, but the stores of) corn,
except what the victors needed, were destroyed.
Tracy at once returned with his command to Que
bec, where he was received with the honors due
Canada — 8 169 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
such a notable exploit. Governor Nicholls of New
York protested indeed against the expedition as an
invasion of English territory, and as soon as it
began he wrote the New England governors, urg
ing them to join him in sending troops to destroy
Tracy's army. But the New Englanders thought
it best to mind their own business and refused.
The iro- Early in the spring the good results of Tracy's
brought campaign became manifest. Deputies even from
to their the remote nations not attacked appeared at Que-
knees bee in March and from the Mohawks in April. It
had been a terrible winter for this arrogant people,
and their pride was humbled. Not pride but fear
made them tardy in sending their envoys. Peace
was readily secured, and it was a lasting peace, for
it endured twenty years. Among the good fruits
of the expedition was the welcoming of the Jesuits
among the Iroquois. They went, backed by the
only kind of argument that red or brown races can
promptly understand, and their mission was a suc
cess — a meaning contrast to the foolish mission of
Jogues, behind whom stood not muskets and balls,
but a tenuous pact with no guaranty except the word
of a lying people.
Tracy's Tracy returned to France the next year, and was
name in- received with honors by the court. Considering
sufficiently , ¦> *»
honored the small amount of time he was in Canada, less
than two years, he accomplished more for it than
any other Frenchman had ever done before. Not
only was the savage foe subdued, but there was
peace within. Even Laval seems to have forgotten,
to fight. On the outer wall of the Parliament House
at Quebec stands Tracy's name among the others
who have been conspicuous in Canada's history.
170

TRACY'S VICTORY OVER THE MOHAWKS
In the old Church of St. Anne de Beaupre hangs a
picture presented to it by Tracy in gratitude for his
preservation from the sea during a storm while on
his way to Quebec. It is an excellent picture, for
almost alone among the paintings there it stands out
fresh and clear, and not cracked and cheap. But,
except in these two places, there is no reminder in
Canada of the splendid and enduring work done by
the great viceroy. A NEW ERA UNDER TALON
After Tracy's departure the colony devoted itself The inten-
to the new task of government. Courcelles was^,^
governor, but he was overshadowed first by Tracy defined
and then by Talon, the intendant. This new officer
seems to have been devised as a sort of spy on the
governor and the bishop. Officially, the intendant
was the supreme court of the colony, but actually he
was the personal representative of the king. He con
trolled the finances, the public works, and the courts.
Colbert had especially enjoined upon the intendant
that he must teach the clergy to keep their hands off
civil power. Laval's triumphs, in the long run, cost
him dear. Talon held this balance admirably. In
fact his whole career was inspiring for New France.
He put his shoulder to the wheel, and trade revived.
He sent out expeditions to search for mines, to seek
new passages to the West, and to open up trade with
the West Indies. He built a ship, established a Ur es the
brewery, and encouraged agriculture. He kept me- seizure of
morializing the king and Colbert on the need 0fNewYork
immigration, and he constantly urged the seizure of
New York, in order that New France might have
another outlet to the sea. Indeed it would require
171

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
pages to tell the number of enterprises in which
he was engaged for the upbuilding of New France.
The Carignan Regiment was no longer needed
against the savages, and he secured its disband-
ment, and some settled in Canada. To the soldiers
large grants of land were made, and from this
source some of the leading and most honored fam
ilies of Canada sprang.
Bringing It must strike the most superficial observer that
se7tierseW Canada with the epoch of Tracy and Talon en
tered upon a new era. Whoever it was that turned
the vain and fickle but great king's fancy at that
time toward Canada wrought for that struggling
colony a great boon. Whenever Louis went into any
enterprise he did it with his whole heart. When
latior! o°PU" ^av assumed the spiritual oversight of New
New France its total European population was not more
France tjjan two thousand five hundred, of which Quebec
had eight hundred. When, ten years later, Tracy
landed in Quebec it contained but seventy-seven
houses. What Canada needed first in order to be
come worth considering was not more missionaries
or, after Tracy's regime, more troops, but more
actual inhabitants. That lack the king determined
to supply. The impulse which sent with Tracy
many settlers from France did not die out. Even
before the time of Tracy and Talon the king had
begun sending shiploads of immigrants. But when
he saw how the colony was thriving after peace
was secured with the Iroquois and a solid basis for
government and society was made, he redoubled
his efforts and opened his purse more widely. Most
of the settlers came from Normandy, and in many
cases they were given bonuses and land. While
172

TRACY'S VICTORY OVER THE MOHAWKS
the records are incomplete, it is evident that dur
ing the three years of greatest immigration activity
the king sent out over one thousand settlers annu- r,coo
ally. At first these settlers were only men or men ""l^,
with families. Later shiploads of girls were sent
over, and match-making was carried on in a sys
tematic manner. The chroniclers describe with sol
emn details the scenes when the ship arrived at
Quebec. The girls were taken into large halls, and
visited there by the bachelors, who made their choice
on the spot. Any girl could reject any offer, but
usually all were paired off quickly, and in much the
same manner as prevailed earlier in Jamestown.
Few bad women were in the lot. With these abun
dant opportunities to embrace matrimony, celibacy
was not only discouraged but was unpopular and
penalized. Bachelors were not allowed to hunt,
fish, or trade with the Indians. Bounties were of
fered for children, and larger ones for large fam
ilies. With great satisfaction Talon informed the
king one summer that most of the young women
sent out in the preceding year were pregnant, and
the next year that between six hundred and seven over 600
hundred children were born in the colony. PaceJ^"11
suicide was not dreamt of in those halcyon days, one year
It may be well to remember that at the same time
child-bearing was encouraged at Plymouth and Bos
ton, but by different methods. A Massachusetts
widow was not only expected but almost ordered
to marry again if she had a chance, the ministers
and the ruling bodies laying on the injunction.

173

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
THE SEIGNETJRIAL TENURE
Thesei- The system of land-holding in New France was a
fysunT1 survival of feudal days.1 No one was really held
to own the land except the king. He granted to
certain of his favorites, chiefly noblemen, called
"seigneurs," tracts of land as a reward for their
services to him, and the only payment they made
to the king was in military service when called upon.
These holdings were divided by the "seigneur" into
smaller tracts, whose occupants were called censi-
taires. Over these renters or censitaires the sei
gneur had much power, administering justice and
fixing terms of work and pay for services of all
sorts. Only when the crime was treason or mur
der did the general officers of the crown step in.
In fact, the general character of the seigneurs of
New France resembled in a startling manner the
"trust magnates" and monopolists of the present
day. A seigneur's censitaires were compelled to
grind their grain at the seigneur's mill and pay him
one-fourteenth of the grist. If one censitaire trans
ferred his holding to another, the seigneur received
one-twelfth of the amount paid. This system made
of each seigneury a sort of village, and as the St.
The farms Lawrence River was the only means of transporta-
onthest. tj t^ result was that the censitaires lived on
Lawrence '
the river and as near each other and the seigneur
as possible. This meant that the farms were very
narrow, and we see these little ribbons of land ex
tending along the St. Lawrence in Quebec Prov-
1 For a full and exhaustive treatment of this most intricate
system, the best treatise is "The Seigniorial System of Can
ada," by Professor W. B. Munro. 174

TRACY'S VICTORY OVER THE MOHAWKS
ince to-day. There is a story about a farm so nar
row that a tree on it shaded three farms! This
system was productive of much gregariousness, but
it did not tend to the stanch individualism of the
Anglo-Saxon pioneers in their lonely homes in the
woods or on the prairie. Yet it remained in effect
in French Canada until 1854.
Throughout all this time we are struck with the Liberal
sudden obscurity of Laval. Neither he nor the ££££" °f
Church seem to play the conspicuous part they priests
had enjoyed in civil affairs. This was exactly what
Talon was ordered by Colbert to accomplish. At
times Governor Courcelles would sputter out at
some of the aggressions of the bishop or the Jesuits,
but Talon was usually able to hold him in check
and prevent explosions. Yet the king was liberal
to generosity in maintaining the clergy. Out of the
36,360 francs which in one year he gave for the
support of the colony, 28,000 francs were assigned
to the church, chiefly for the support of the parish
priests. While these improvements and this growth were
going on in that little stretch of water and land
between Montreal and Tadoussac, it must not be
supposed that the love for exploration and discovery
which inflamed the blood of Cartier and Champlain
was not in other Frenchmen of the latter part of
the sixteenth century. True, by this time probably
few men expected to find India by sailing west, but
many yet hoped to find that great sea of which In
dian tradition was full. We are thus introduced to
a new line of pioneers in the names of Joliet, Mar
quette, and, greatest of all, La Salle.
17s

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
THE REVIVAL OF EXPLORATION
No immedi- After the death of Champlain no one stepped for-
cessorcto ward to take his place in exploration and discovery.
Champiam Those who may have yearned to accomplish some
thing were held back by fear of the bloodthirsty
Iroquois and by the absorption of the colony in
religious zeal. A complete paralysis came upon
exploration through the murder of Brebeuf and his
colleagues, and the annihilation of the Huron mis
sions and people. For years New France, as we
have seen, consisted of quaking, trembling traders
and priests living in villages practically always sur
rounded by savage foes^ The West, where the
Huron missions had flourished, lay desolate and
alone, save for occasional Iroquois excursions in
search of game or of some poor remnant of the
Hurons whom they might surprise and destroy.
But gradually these expeditions ceased. Far north,
about Lake Superior and in secluded places on Lakes
Huron and Michigan, lived tribes of various na-

missions

established tionalities. We have already traced the Hurons to
Lake Superior ; and near them dwelt Foxes, Illinois,
Sioux, Pottawattamies, and many others. The in
trepid Jesuits, traveling the Ottawa, found out these
hiding places and established missions among them.
The chief of these were Ste. Marie du Saut, at the
outlet of Lake Superior, and St. Esprit, near the
western extremity of the same lake, where the Hu
rons and other tribes lived. These tribes dwelt in
fairly assured harmony until the Sioux broke the
peace and drove out the Hurons and Ottawas so far
that they ventured to return to the old Huron coun
try, where, to their great surprise and thanksgiving,
176

TRACY'S VICTORY OVER THE MOHAWKS
the Iroquois did not disturb them, being wasted by
recent wars and having felt the iron hand of Tracy.
It was among these that a Jesuit priest, Jacques, or
James Marquette, was sent. We shall hear of him
again. Talon, the great intendant, had heard at Quebec Taion
of the work of the Jesuits in the Lake Superior and parchingfor copper
Huron regions, and eagerly sought from returned
missionaries for some account of the character and
value of the country. But they were so full of
missionary zeal, and so few of them saw the eco
nomic or even physical side of the country that his
inquiries were resultless. Then he determined him
self to send an expedition to that country. In 1670
he despatched Daumont de Saint Lusson to search
for copper, of which he had heard, and to take pos
session of the country in the name of Louis XIV.
Nicolas Perrot, as interpreter, and a few other Nicolas
men went along. Perrot had an acute case of Perrot
cacoethes scribendi, and to it we are indebted for
a fair account of this epoch-marking journey. They
proceeded to the Superior region, and by couriers
and Perrot's enterprise they notified all the Indian
tribes to meet the governor's envoy at Ste. Marie.
The meeting took place on May 14, 1671, and was
a solemn affair. Father Dablon and three other
Jesuit priests were present. A large wooden cross
was erected and blessed by Dablon. Then St.
Lusson dramatically proclaimed the assumption of
all this region by the king of France, and assured
all the inhabitants of his protecting hand. Salutes
were fired by the French, and the Indians yelled in Father
response. Then Father Allouez addressed the red- AUouez
skins in one of the most flamboyant speeches ever
177

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
recorded of the humble Jesuits. By boasting of the
greatness of his king he meant, of course, so to im
press the savages that they would always fear him
and his subjects. . He certainly drew the long bow;
declared that Louis was the greatest king on earth ;
no other king dared wage war against him ; he per
sonally went into battle, and killed so many of his
enemies that they could not be counted; his house
was a mile and a half long and his army contained
a million men — and more of the same stuff. Noth
ing further came of the expedition. No copper was
found, and St. Lusson and Perrot soon returned
to Quebec.
So far so good, said Talon, but we must find the
Great River, of which even Cartier had heard and
descriptions of which Indian chiefs had given to
Talon in Quebec. So he commissioned Louis Joliet
to go forth and find it. Meanwhile another expe
dition had already started in that direction. Let us
retrace our steps and get its story and the story of
its leader, La Salle. LA SALLE
His early His full name was Rene-Robert Cavelier, the Sieur
history de la Salle. He was born at Rouen in 1643, the son of
a prosperous merchant. Like many of the men
connected with the early history of Canada, he had
been trained by Jesuits. Indeed he is said to have
been a novice in the society. There is a story that
he came to distrust and hate the order, and while
in the seminary escaped and sailed for America.
Probably it is untrue, although there are abundant
evidences that throughout his life in America he
disliked and distrusted the Jesuits. At any rate, in
178

TRACY'S VICTORY OVER THE MOHAWKS
1666, at the age of twenty-three, he came to Can-comesto
ada, where lived an elder brother, Abbe Jean Cave- Canada.
lier, a Sulpitian priest. La Salle had only a small
income, his connection with the Jesuits by law dis
inheriting him. The abbe lived with the other Sul
pitians at Montreal, and there La Salle found a
hearty welcome at the hands of Laval's ancient
.enemy, Queyius, now superior of the seminary.
La Salle was the type of man they wanted to see
established among them, and they made a grant of
a tract of land to him at Lachine. He thus seemed
destined to become merely a feudal lord of New
France, beginning to cultivate the soil and arrang
ing for fur trade with the Indians. But one winter
a party of Senecas visited him and told him of a Hears o(
river called the Ohio because of its great charm, the Ohio
which was very long and flowed into the sea.
From that moment farming' and fur-trading
seemed the veriest drudgery to La Salle. The pas
sion for pioneering and discovery had got into his
blood, and as soon as the winter was gone he de
scended the river to Quebec to seek aid and authori
zation from the colony's head for an expedition to
find and descend the Ohio to its mouth. Talon and
Courcelles were more than glad to give the latter, but
they could not afford the former. Returning to Mon
treal, he proposed the rather audacious arrangement
with the Sulpitians that they buy back the land they
had donated to him. Otherwise his expedition was
impossible. Without much hesitation Queyius con
sented. He then told La Salle that he had been His first
preparing for an expedition into the Nipissing coun- expedition
try, where they had heard of heathen savages. But
when the priests went to Quebec to secure their
179

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA

Lake
Ontario,August i,
1669

outfit, Courcelles urged that they change their plans
and join La Salle. The idea did not appeal to La
Salle, but because of its obvious financial advantages
he consented, and on July 6 they set out from La-
chine. In the party were twenty-four men with
seven canoes, besides the Senecas, who acted as
Tiiey reach guides. By the 1st of August they had reached
Lake Ontario, and a few days later they were wel
comed at Irondequoit Bay, on the south side of
the lake, by some Senecas, who invited them to their
town, a few miles away.
The invitation was accepted, and the reception
the French received could not be criticized on the
score of cordiality, although the general conditions
of filth and the dog meat the savages with great
pride set before them did not tickle the palates of
the epicures. It was only when the French spoke
of going farther that this cordiality grew less pro
nounced — an Indian trait which we have seen exhib
ited in Cartier's day and many times since. The
Senecas soon furnished them the entertainment of
the torture of a prisoner, which greatly distressed
the whites, but which they were powerless to pre
vent. The Senecas either would not or could not
give them a guide. A month passed in this way,
until at length an Indian from another Iroquois
colony at the head of Lake Ontario offered to take
them to his town, where they could be shown an
other route to the Ohio. They were glad to accept,
and going along the south shore of the lake they
soon reached the Indian village, hearing for the
first time the roar of Niagara. Here they were
warmly welcomed, and a guide was promised to
take them to the Ohio within six weeks. All re-
180

Senecasobject to
furnishinga guide

TRACYS VICTORY OVER THE MOHAWKS
joiced, and the expedition had started when they
heard that two Frenchmen had just arrived at a
neighboring village. At once they hurried to see
them, and there for the first time two men met.
whose names are yoked together in exploration
annals. They were Joliet and La Salle. Joliet had Joiiet meets
been sent by Talon on another expedition, to search La Salle
for a copper mine in the Lake Superior regions,
and was on his way home from an unsuccessful
venture. He told all the La Salle party of his wan
derings and of the general condition of the Indians
in that neighborhood. He dwelt especially on the
impious and heathenish state in which the Pottawat-
tamies lived. The Sulpitians had burned with envy
at the prodigious results of the Jesuits' labors, and
they at once decided to abandon the simple ex
ploration journey to the Ohio, and to seek and save
the lost Pottawattamies. La Salle protested. The
whole Superior region, he pointed out, was under
the jurisdiction of the Jesuits, who would brook
no competition. But they would not be persuaded Tne Su1p>-
against their thirst for glory, and pushed on. LaLansal^ve
Salle pleaded illness and remained behind.
We shall not follow these priests in detail, and
we can not follow La Salle at all. La Salle's warn
ing to the priests was prophetic. After many ad
ventures and making the first recorded passage of
the Strait of Detroit by white men, they reached
Sault Ste. Marie. Two Jesuit priests, Dablon and
Marquette, were there, and, while they were cordial,
it was plain to be seen that as missionaries in that
region the Sulpitians were not wanted. So, with a They
guide furnished by the Jesuits, they followed the ^on'tre?!
old trail home to Montreal. I have said we can
181

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
not follow La Salle. That is one of the numerous
puzzles in history.
La saiie's But it is of no consequence to us what occurred
disappwr- to La Salle during the two years of which all rec-
ance ords are lost or are so confused as to defy intelli
gent identification. It is of no account, because
nothing that he did then influenced him, so far as
we can see, or influenced others of his time. If, as
some chronicles allege and a recent romance of La
Salle's life puts it, he actually made his way to the
Not the Mississippi during those years, he can yet in no
o^the"" ProPer sense be called the discoverer of the Missis-
Mississippi sippi. He may have seen it, but he did not un
cover or dis-cover it to any one. We are pretty sure
that over a century before him De Soto saw and
his corpse was buried in the Mississippi, but be
cause he left no definite facts about the river and
his successors did not follow and improve upon his
findings, we can not call De Soto that river's discov
erer. In the same way we are right in declaring
that Columbus did discover America, for although
Ericson and a thousand other white men may have
been in America before Columbus, nothing came of
their work, while his proved the real un-covery of
America. We are pretty certain, on the whole, that La Salle
after leaving the Sulpitians pursued his way to the
Ohio, probably by means of the guides offered his
party before Joliet was encountered, and that he
descended to the rapids where Louisville now stands.
That he went any farther is improbable, for if La
Salle had discovered the Great River he was not so
modest a man as to keep it to himself, especially
since in a short time he was to hear the names of
182

TRACY'S VICTORY OVER THE MOHAWKS
the others, Marquette and Joliet, bruited about the La saiie-s
world as the discoverers of that great river. Prob- "°°^
ably he returned to Montreal and prepared for his i67I
second journey, which we know he took in the
following year, 1671. In that journey he visited
Detroit, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan, and prob
ably the Illinois. We are, therefore, fairly sure that
La Salle discovered the Ohio and probably the Illi
nois, but we are not at all convinced that in those
two years he ever saw the Mississippi. Certainly he
did not discover it.

183

CHAPTER X
MARQUETTE AND THE DISCOVERY OF
THE MISSISSIPPI
Reason "jV/TEANWHILE the expedition which did dis-
He/was" ¦»-*-¦- cover the Mississippi to the world was under
selected Way. On Joliet's return to Quebec he was not repri
manded by Talon, but was told to prepare at once
for a greater mission. Just why Talon selected
Joliet it is difficult to see. Probably it was be
cause of his vigorous physique, youth, and cour
age. Otherwise he had no especial fitness. In only
one other way is his choice noteworthy; he was a
native of Canada. Thus New France had gone
along so far in her history as to be able to furnish
a son to do something worth while — the first son
who we know did achieve any big thing. Indeed
so old was New France that its father, Champlain,
had been dead ten years before Joliet first saw the
light, for he was born in Quebec in 1645, and was
Quebec, thus only twenty-eight years of age when he started
on this memorable journey. It was thought advis
able to have a companion and a priest with him,
and he accordingly selected Marquette, whom we
have seen in his company at least once before. He
found Marquette at the Point St. Ignace mission-
house. 184

loliet
born in

MARQUETTE AND THE MISSISSIPPI
We have few facts concerning the early life of
this priest, for whom immortality was dawning.
There was nothing remarkable about his previous
, . TT i. • t- • Marquette
history in any way. He was born in France in born in
1638, and became a Jesuit at the age of seventeen. France,
After eleven years' study he came to Canada, and l638
in 1668 entered the field in which Joliet found him.
At first he was in charge of the mission of St.
Esprit, near the extreme western point of Lake
Superior. There he heard of the Great River, as
the Indians called it and as it is called in its orig
inal Indian form to-day. He longed to visit it, but
he presumed it would be a journey of great length
and terrible hardships. Yet by going less than
twenty-five miles through the woods he could have
reached the river St. Croix, and in one day could
have floated down to the Mississippi, just below the
Falls of St. Anthony. It is almost impossible to
understand why Marquette did not know this, or,
if knowing it, why he did not try to make the jour
ney. Possibly the sudden and fierce attack upon
the Hurons by the Sioux, the Iroquois of the West,
explains his failure. It was the remnant of this
band of Hurons that he had gathered at St. Ignace
and over whom he was exercising spiritual over
sight when Joliet arrived and proposed the new
expedition. Marquette wais overjoyed at the prospect, for it The start,
gave him the opportunity he had long prayed for, May 17'
to see the Great River and to bring the Word of
God to the Illinois, who, when he was at St. Esprit,
had begged that he come and preach to them. On
May 17, 1673, they started in two birch canoes with
only five other men, taking the southwestward route,
185

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The route passing the Strait of Michilimackinac and coasting
consin™5' along the northwestern shores of Lake Michigan.
At length they entered Green Bay on their way to
the Jesuit mission at its head. Before proceeding
farther they made a little trip to visit the Menom-
inees at the north. These Indians received them
cordially, but, on learning of their purpose, warned
them, as usual, of the horrors and pitfalls beyond.
Nothing daunted, the travelers continued on their
way. Leaving Green Bay, they went up Fox River
and around the rapids of that little but treacherous
stream. Presently they came to a town of Miamis,
Mascoutins, and Kickapoos. They were cordially
greeted, because Fathers Dablon and Allouez had
visited these tribes five years before and erected
there a large wooden cross. This point was then
the "Farthest West" station of France and Chris
tianity. The Frenchmen asked for guides to reach
the Mississippi. These were gladly furnished, and
the party was given a hearty Godspeed in approved
Indian fashion. It was not long before they came
to the portage, and after going only a mile and a
half through the woods and marsh they reached the
Wisconsin, and all their preliminary journeys were
at an end.
The It was on the 17th of June, 1673, that Joliet and
discovered' Marquette saw rolling swiftly southward at right
angles with the Wisconsin a stream whose identity
could not be mistaken. The little city of Prairie du
Chien marks the place where the Mississippi was
really discovered. It is a majestic river, the main
artery of the largest and widest-reaching river
system of the world, and those to-day who know
the joy of passage on it by steamer or canoe or sail-
186

MARQUETTE AND THE MISSISSIPPI
boat can easily understand the thrill of delight which
Marquette felt in gliding on its bosom. But none
to-day can appreciate the impression of novelty and
freshness which the view from those canoes afforded
the travelers. In place of the tilled farms and
hustling cities of to-day, they saw rich verdant fields
and great forests. Most picturesque of all to them
seemed the immense herds of buffalo that stared
stupidly in utter amazement at the strange sight.
By day they floated or paddled down the stream, a strange
and by night, after supper on land, they anchored j^'eanthe
out in the stream until morning. This routine was Illinois
followed for eight days without finding a trace of
humankind. Then they found what Crusoe found
— footprints in the mud. Following these cau
tiously, they came to a well-trodden path. Joliet
and Marquette left their men and took up the trail.
It led after a few miles to an Indian village. Were
the reds friends or foes? The shouts of the whites
produced a great sensation in the village, all the
Indians pouring out to see the strange men. Then
four chiefs came toward them, holding toward the
sun two pipes of peace adorned with feathers.
Their dignified, deliberate procession, themselves
not uttering a word, followed by the whole village,
wondering and silent, would have struck the two
travelers as an extraordinary picture, even were
they used to savage scenes ; but they were very anx
ious as to the intentions of the savages, and the Their meet-
sight of the calumet (peace-pipe) did not wholly j"g witb
dissipate this anxiety, for it might be only a ruse.
When the chiefs came nearer, however, it was plain
that they wore cloth which must have been got from
the French, and Marquette felt that he was among
187

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The pipe friends. Knowing six Indian languages or dia-
of peace jectSj ije broke the silence to ask who they were.
Great was his delight to hear that they were Illi
nois, the very tribe he wished to meet. They
offered the pipe, and after it was smoked they all
went to the village. There they were received and
welcomed by the chief, standing stark naked, an
especial act of honor. More smoking followed, and
then they were bidden to a neighboring village to
see the great chief of all the Illinois. Warriors,
squaws, and children followed them as in the wake
of a circus in modern times. The great chief,
standing between two aged men, all three naked,
welcomed them with dignity but cordiality. Mar
quette replied, announcing his divine authority and
the power of France in the New and the Old World,
and asked for information regarding the Missis
sippi and its peoples. The chief replied in a speech
Beautiful full of that beautiful imagery known best to the
oTttT5' American aborigines. Because of their visit:
American "Never has the earth been so beautiful or the sun
aborigines g0 bright as to-day. Never has our river been so
calm. Never has our tobacco tasted so good or
our corn seemed so fine." He proffered them a
young slave and a calumet, invited them to a feast,
and, of course, urged them not to go farther down
the Mississippi. Then came more smoking. What
would have happened to a Frenchman who couldn't
smoke one can not imagine. The feast was to In
dian taste a rich one. The piece de resistance was,
as with other tribes, boiled dog, and the Frenchmen
were compelled to run the risk of offending their
hosts by declining it. The feast ended, they spent
the night in the town, and the next morning the
188

MARQUETTE AND THE MISSISSIPPI
chiefs and six hundred Illinois accompanied them 600 Illinois
to their canoes and bade them good-by. This event ^_*em
took place in what is now the State of Iowa, not
far from Burlington.
On they paddled, and as they passed the mouth
of the Illinois they marked the peculiar rock for
mations afterward known as "The Ruined Castles."
On one of the rocks was painted a horrible and lurid
manitou in fantastic colors, which frightened them.1
Soon afterward they suddenly came upon the mouth
of the Missouri, which Marquette called the Pekita-
noui. From it poured, as to-day, in an angry flood The muddy
turbulent, roaring water, yellow with mud andmet01]
bearing logs and trees in its mad rush from the
mountains and clay banks of the northwest. The
roaring current almost upset the canoes. Beyond the
mouth of the Ohio, which they soon passed, they
met another band of Indians on the east shore.
They, too, were friendly, showing by their clothing
and weapons that they knew the ways of white men.
After giving the Frenchmen a delectable repast of
bear's oil and buffalo meat, they sent them away
with the comforting but unreliable assurance that
the mouth of the Mississippi was but ten days
distant. The voyagers encountered no more human faces
until they reached the Arkansas. There the Indians
were at first hostile and rushed at them from the
banks, throwing clubs and paying no attention to
the calumet held aloft by Marquette. The elders,
'Parkman observes that when he visited the place in 1867
part of the rock had been quarried away and a huge adver
tisement of "Plantation Bitters" covered the spot of the
demon. It is not now there. 189

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
They however, came up and drove the headstrong young-
ArkansS' sters ^ac^ anc* welcomed the French kindly. At
the second Arkansas village they were given an
elaborate feast and filled almost to bursting. These
savages, they found, had many of the customs of
the northern Indians, but were not so keen or ener
getic. Like the other tribes, they pictured the lower
Mississippi as infested with wild and murderous
people and urged their guests not to advance far
ther. This time the advice was followed. The
Frenchmen had gone far enough to know that the
Mississippi flowed into the Mexican gulf, and this
They start was the chief object of the expedition. Mishaps
jui^'i might occur to them if they invaded any farther the
country of Spain. So on July 17, just one month
after they found the river, they began their return.
THE RETURN
Ascend the This was naturally not so easy or rapid, and the
t" Lake itme °f year' tne "dog days," was most unhealthful.
Michigan Marquette contracted dysentery and was fatigued
by the journey. By this time he had a sufficiently
clear idea of the geography of the country to enable
him to dare returning by another route. When they
reached the mouth of the Illinois they boldly started
to ascend it. A chief kindly offered them guidance
to the Lake of the Illinois, now Lake Michigan,
and they quickly reached it, then by following its
western shore they came at last to Green Bay. It
was now the last of September ; they had been absent
four months and had traveled over 2,500 miles in
their birch canoes. It was an amazingly quiet and
safe experience. It would be difficult for a party
similarly equipped to-day to make the journey with-
190

MARQUETTE AND THE MISSISSIPPI
out mishaps, although now the perils are infinitesi
mal in comparison.
Leaving Marquette behind to recruit his strength, >°liet's
Joliet pressed on to report to the governor at mis£ortune
Quebec. He had almost reached Montreal without
mishap when his canoe capsized; two men were
drowned and all his papers were lost. The irony
of the situation was only too apparent to Joliet, and
in his letter to the governor he speaks of the catas
trophe in that vein. It was as if a man had gone
through the plague to die with colic or had survived
wars without a scratch and then broken his leg on
his own doorstep. It was the loss of those papers The loss of
which was Jolet's greatest misfortune, although hehispapers
did not then realize it. The scribbler occasionally
gets not only his due but vastly more. It was after
the man who first wrote of the New World that it
was named and not after the man who discovered it.
And so it came to pass that it was not to Joliet,
who was the nominal and official head of the expe
dition, that the chief credit for the discovery of the
Mississippi is given, but to Marquette, who wrote
of it, and whose writings were published. Joliet's
canoe was overturned and fame for him sank with
its contents.
Subsequent biographical data about him are very Makes a
scant. We find him in 1675 married to the daugh- £' ^°on
ter of a wealthy Canadian merchant, and four years Bay
later he made a trip to Hudson Bay by way of the
Saguenay. He returned to report three English
forts there, and urged that France assert her rights
and drive the English away. About the same time
he received as a gift from the king the islands of
Mignan, and later the great island of Anticosti fell
191

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
to him. He lived there in affluence until 1690,
when Sir William Phips, on his way from Boston
to capture Quebec, burned Joliet's buildings and
took prisoner his wife and her mother. This ca
lamity swept away his fortune. A few years later
he tried to reestablish himself in the whaling and
fishing industries of Labrador, and later he held
minor appointments from the governor of New
Dies in France. But he died, in 1700, a poor man, and
was buried on one of his islands of Mignan.

1700

THE PASSING OF MARQUETTE
Let us now follow the fortunes of Father Mar
quette. It is not a long journey, and when we have
taken it in its quiet way through the woods of the
Mississippi Valley, we shall return to the world
again — the world of conflict and passion and jeal
ousy and strife as it was centred in the capital of
New France. But for a little while we shall know
nothing of these things: we shall dwell on the
simple story of a simple priest of God, whose only
ambition was to work and die for his Master.
We left Marquette at the Green Bay mission recu
perating after his Mississippi voyage. He had con
tracted dysentery and he was never again wholly
free from it. When autumn came he gained
strength and asked to continue his labors. One
Marquette's thing rested heavy on his soul. He had promised
toTe" the Illinois when he and Joliet left them that he
minois would return and again preach the word of God
to them. The change in the route prevented the
prompt redemption of that pledge and his illness
still further postponed it. Now he pleaded to be
allowed to go to them and his Superior consented.
192

LOUIS DE BUADE, COMTE DE FRONTENAC
Statue by Ne'bert, Quebec

MARQUETTE AND THE MISSISSIPPI
He wished to found a mission among them to be
called the "Immaculate Conception," a name he had
already given to the Mississippi River, but which
never obtained general acceptance. The dogma of
the "Immaculate Conception" was very dear to him,
although his Church was not formally to declare
it for almost two centuries. His associates speak
of his fondness for this dogma, how often in con
versation and addresses he dwelt upon it. He now
felt that probably he could not live many years, and
that if he could establish this mission he would die
in peace.
So in October, 1674, with two men, Pierre and Mar-
Jacques, Marquette set out on his journey to the II- ^laJ
linois. Accompanying him from Green Bay were ten
canoes of Pottawattamies and Illinois; it was fated
that not many months later the same sort of escort
was to attend his return to Green Bay. Marquette's
journal tells the story of this winter in great detail.
The party followed along the lake, going on shore
often to seek relief from the storms and to rest.
The lake was often very rough and boisterous, as
indeed it is to-day (often giving a globe-trotter his
worst case of "sea-sickness"). These hardships
wore heavily upon Marquette, his disease returned,
and travel became very difficult. At length the
party reached what was probably the mouth of the
Chicago River and started to ascend it. But Mar- They spend
quette's illness increased, and although he knew that ^wmter
the Illinois villages were only a short distance away, Chicago
he could go no farther, and there they spent the
winter. The escorting Indians returned to their
homes, but Jacques and Pierre remained, building
a rude hut and waiting upon him in every possible
Canada— 9 193 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
way. The neighboring Indians came constantly
from their camps and brought provisions, and
Pierre Moreau, a famous coureur de bois, whom
Marquette calls by his nickname, "La Taupine,"
called upon him, bringing his surgeon to prescribe
for the priest. During the whole winter Marquette
journey continued his holy offices with utmost fidelity. In
M™ched0 ^e spring his health surprisingly improved and he
urged his men to resume the journey. This they did
on March 30. Here Marquette's journal abruptly
ceases, and we must follow the story by means of
the Jesuit "Relation" of Father Dablon, Superior of
the mission. The men proceeded by portage to the
Des Plaines River. After floating down that stream,
they reached the Illinois River, and at last arrived
at the Illinois village which he had so longed to
see. Eleven days had been spent on this journey
and Marquette was almost exhausted. But the re
ception he received compensated him by its warmth
and depth for all his sufferings. He realized that
his time was short, and he began at once his labors.
After holding several conferences with the various
chiefs, he called for a great council or meeting of
all the people of the village.
Marquette What a scene it was! Picture a broad meadow
preaching ^ village covered with mats and skins. In
to 5,000 ©
savages the centre stands Marquette, pointing to four great
pictures of the Virgin visible to every one. Sitting
in a circle around him are all the chiefs, to the
number of 500. Standing in another circle are the
young men, 1,500 strong, and all the women and
children, perhaps 3,000 more. Here he stands
preaching of the passion and death of the Lord
(for it was the eve of Good Friday) to 5,000 red
194

MARQUETTE AND THE MISSISSIPPI
men on the banks of the Illinois near the present
village of Utica, 111., 2,000 miles from the capital
of New France, 5,000 miles from his home by the
Rhone.2 After his discourse, in which he explained as well
as he could the principles of his faith, he said mass.
On Easter Sunday, three days later, he again said The mis-
mass, and by these two masses he instituted the?"m°^u?
mission and gave it the name he so much loved, the late con-
"Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin." ceptlon"
Now Marquette was ready to chant his Nunc
Dimittis. The sands of his life were running out
fast. He could tarry no longer. On Easter Mon
day he said good-by to his friends, and promising
that he would return or some one of his society
would be sent to continue the mission, he set out.
So overjoyed were the Illinois to see and hear him
that they furnished him a grand escort for, we are
told, the extraordinary distance of one hundred
miles, giving him by word and act every token of
their love.
He proceeded as rapidly as his waning strength
would permit to the shores of Lake Michigan, On
this he and his two men embarked for Green Bay.
It was an unknown journey by this route and very
trying to him. All this time he was making prep
aration for the end, often repeating the blessed
assurances of the Bible and reading from his holy
books as long as his eyesight allowed. He gave
2 The critical reader by consulting his map will observe that
this village or city of the Illinois was about 100 miles north
east of the Illinois camps or villages in Iowa, which Marquette
visited with Joliet. It is probable that the Illinois when he
saw them in Iowa were engaged in a great hunting expedition.
195

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Gave in- minute instructions as to his burial and the service
forUhis°own on that occasion. On a Thursday he told them that
funeral he would die on the morrow. This was a source of
joy to him, for Friday was the day on which the
Saviour died.
This is the account of his death as given by
Father Father Dablon in the Jesuit "Relations" :3
Dabion-s "His dear companions having afterward rejoined
account of , . ,, . , , ° J
Mar. him, all disconsolate, he comforted them, and m-
quette's spired them with the confidence that God would
take care of them after his death in these new and
unknown countries. He gave them the last instruc
tions, thanked them for all the charities which they
had exercised in his behalf during the whole jour
ney, and entreated pardon for the trouble that he
had given them. He charged them to ask pardon
for him also from all our fathers and brethren who
live in the country of the Outaouacs [Ottawas].
Then he undertook to prepare them for the sacra
ment of penance, which he administered to them
for the last time. He gave them also a paper on
which he had written all his faults since his own
last confession, that they might place it in the hands
of the father superior, that the latter might be en
abled to pray to God for him in a more special
manner. Finally he promised not to forget them
in paradise. And as he was very considerate, know
ing that they were much fatigued with the hardships
of the preceding days, he bade them go and take a
little repose. He assured them that his hour was
f„ not yet so very near, and that he would awaken
Extremis them when the time should come — as, in fact, two
3 Republished by courtesy of Dr. R. G. Thwaites and
the Burrows Bros. Co. 196

MARQUETTE AND THE MISSISSIPPI
or three hours afterward he did summon them,
being ready to enter into the agony.
"They drew near to him, and he embraced them
once again, while they burst into tears at his feet.
Then he asked for holy water and his reliquary ; and
having himself removed his:crucifix,-which he carried
always suspended round his neck, he placed it in
the hands of one of his companions, begging him
to hold it before his eyes. Then, feeling that he
had but a short time to live, he made a last effort,
clasped his hands, and, with a steady and fond look
upon his crucifix, he uttered aloud his profession of
faith, and gave thanks to the divine majesty for
the great favor which he had accorded him of dying
in the society, of dying in it as a missionary of Jesus
Christ ; and, above all, off dying in it, as he had al
ways prayed, in a wretched cabin in the midst of
the forests and "bereft of all human succor
"After that he was silent, 'communing within him
self with God. Nevertheless, he let escape from
time to time these words: 'Snstinuit anima mea ha
verbo ejus ;' or these, 'Mater Dei, memento mei' —
which were the last words that he uttered before
entering his agony, -which -was, however, very mild
and peaceful.
"He had prayed his companions to put him in
mind when they should see him about to expire, to
repeat frequently the name of Jesus and Mary if he
could not himself do so. They did as they were
bidden^ and when they believed him to be near his nisiast
end, one of them called aloud: 'Jesus, Mary !' The words
dying man repeated the words distinctly several
times; and as if, at these sacred names, something
presented itself to him, he suddenly raised his
197

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
eyes above his crucifix, holding them riveted on that
object, which he appeared to regard with pleasure.
And so, with a countenance beaming and all aglow,
he expired without any struggle, and so gently that
it might have been regarded as a pleasant sleep.
"His two poor companions, shedding many tears
over him, composed his body in the manner which
he had prescribed to them. Then they carried him
devoutly to burial, ringing the while the little bell
as he had bidden them; and planted a large cross
near to his grave, as a sign to passers-by."
Thus died Father James Marquette on the
shores of Lake Michigan in what is now the State
of Michigan. We can not but rejoice at the holi
ness and utter humility and devotion of this priest.
Truly he belonged among the saints of earth. How
sweet and trustworthy he appeared to all who met
him! He must have been one of those very rare
His char- and choice characters who disarm rancor and draw
acter all men toward them. Wherever he went he was
greeted with affection, which grew with the ac
quaintance. While there is in man's superficial
aspect that which attracts or repels, there must
have been something deeper in Marquette which
brought his associates in the Society of Jesus, the
peasants who lived with him, the French soldiers,
and the rude savages, to feel the utmost confidence
in him, joy at his coming, and happiness in his
presence.
memories It: is PIain that he was tlie reaI Ieader of the ex
pedition, and he deservedly shares with Joliet the
honor of the discovery. To-day his name is found
over the entire Northwest, and especially in Wis
consin and Michigan. Little could this lowly and
198

MARQUETTE AND THE MISSISSIPPI
pious priest have dreamed that his name should be
attached to a city in the iron or copper regions, to
a diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and
to a great office building in the city of Chicago, in
which beautiful tablets tell the story of his voyages,
discovery, and death. Least of all could he conceive
that in Statuary Hall in Washington a great State
should place his statue as one of the two men in all
its history whom it regarded as most worthy of
honor. It would have puzzled him greatly to learn
that opposition to this recognition was based on the
fact that he was a Roman Catholic. No one to-day
pretends that Marquette was a great man. Com
pared with La Salle, Talon, Frontenac, and others
of his time, he was insignificant. But the world at
times likes to turn from the blare of the trum
pet and the roar of the gun. In such times it is
apt to give its laurels to a good man. And James
Marquette was, in the highest and noblest sense of
the phrase, a good man.
So loved in life it was certain that he would not
be forgotten in death. It was impossible for Mar
quette's companions either to bear his body to the
mission or afterward to return to the place and
bring back the bones. That honor was reserved to
savages. A band of Kiskakons (Ottawas), who
had been under Marquette's teaching at St. Esprit,
heard of his death, and the next spring, returning His bones
from their winter's hunting, they went to the spot preserved
of the burial. They found the grave, opened it, and \l^DS
easily identified the body. According to their cus
tom, they dissected the body, cleaning the bones and
drying them in the sun, and laid them in a box of
birch bark. 199

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA

A pageant
funeral

Even the
Iroquois
join

Then began the funeral procession, than which
none was ever more stately. Nearly thirty canoes,
Dablon's "Relation" tells us, formed in a strictly
kept line, and proceeded up the lake toward Mich
ilimackinac and the mission of St. Ignace. A pro
cession of Indians in canoes had started with him
on this journey: a similar procession brought him
back. Even the bloodthirsty Iroquois, humbled by
the good man's life, asked to join in this proces
sion. On their drawing near the little settlement
at Michilimackinac the father superior came out
of the mission and asked the usual questions to
make sure of the body's identity. Then the priests
intoned the De Profundis while the thirty canoes
of Indians in the water and the people on the shores
joined in the triumphant Amen. The remains were
then brought into the church, and after the usual
ceremonies on June 9, 1677, they were lowered
into a small vault under the church. The spot
was marked and became a sanctuary, where the
savages came to worship and pray. The mission-
house was burned a few years later, but in 1877
human' bones were found on the supposed site of
the house. Probably they were Marquette's.

200

CHAPTER XI

FRONTENAC

I

T was a quiet, simple life which we have been courceiies
following for a long time. Now, with a sigh, *nd

we must return to the world with all its intrigues
and miserable scandals, promising the reader that,
after a period as brief as possible in that heated
atmosphere, we will again plunge into the woods.
When we began to follow La Salle and Marquette,
Courcelles was governor and Talon was intendant
of New France. When we return both are gone.
Indeed Courcelles had resigned before Joliet started
out on his Mississippi discovery, and it was the new
governor, Count Frontenac, who, at Talon's request,
had signed his commission. Courcelles had tired of
his comparative obscurity, being placed in the back
ground at first by Tracy in military affairs and later
in the civil rule by Talon, and he resigned. Talon
waited until he had met the new governor, and
wisely decided that two such masterful figures could
not rule New France in harmony. So he too re
signed, and Duchesnau was sent in his stead.
The new governor, Louis de Buade, Count
Frontenac, was a man of great renown in France,
and is decidedly' the most noted of all the governors
of New France. He came of an ancient noble fam
ily of Basque ancestry, and he early took to the

resign

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA

governor, 1672

His career profession of arms. He served in various cam
paigns before he was twenty, attaining at the re
markably youthful age of twenty-six the rank of
marechal de camp, equivalent to brigadier-general
in a modern army. Soon afterward he married
the daughter of Sieur de Neuville, a young girl
aged sixteen. The marriage was unfortunate, and
after the birth of a son they lived apart. He spent
a good many years in court life from this time on
ward. In 1669 Frontenac was chosen to lead a
French and Venetian army in defending Candia
against the attacks of the Turks. He acquitted him-
Appoimed self with distinction, although Candia fell. Three
years later, 1672, he was appointed governor of New
France. Financially he was at that time ruined, and
undoubtedly he left France in order that he might
recoup his fortunes. But he was fully alive to the
responsibilities of his office, and he exulted in this
command. Like many thousands since, the site of
Enthusias- Quebec excited his enthusiasm. He wrote home:
"I never saw anything more superb than the posi
tion of this town. It could not be better situated
as the future capital of a great empire."
MASTER FROM THE BEGINNING
The first step taken by Frontenac was to summon
the council and require its members to take the oath
of allegiance. Then he bade all the people of Que
bec do the same. Next he determined to make a
trip through the upper settlements in force suffi
cient to inspire the Indians with respect. He had
no royal authority and no funds for such an expe
dition, but this did not deter such a masterful man.
He called upon the inhabitants to furnish him with

tic over
Quebec

Deter
mined to
inspire
respect

202

FRONTENAC
canoes and a sufficient amount of armed men. He
also bade the ex-army officers who had become
farmers to join the expedition. It was a bold step,
and there was much grumbling at the various set
tlements, but the order was in the end obeyed. It
was a large party which set out from Quebec on
June 3, 1673. When Frontenac arrived at Mon
treal it became known that he was preparing to meet
the Iroquois. He chose La Salle as the messenger
to make known his desire to the savages and to
arrange for the meeting. He had met La Salle
some months previous and had become impressed
with one of the latter's pet schemes, the building
of a fort on Lake Ontario. This idea really had
its inception with Courcelles, and was designed to
intercept the fur trade which the Dutch and English
were carrying on with the Indians north of the St.
Lawrence in the old Huron country, and to divert
it to French control. Frontenac undoubtedly saw
a chance to fill his empty purse by getting hold of
this trade. At any rate he determined at all hazards The
to erect the fort, and the large force which he tookjroquois.
.... , . impressed
with him was designed to accomplish that result,
as well as make a demonstration of strength for
the benefit of the Iroquois. The latter were di
rected to join Frontenac at the mouth of the river
Cataraqui, where Kingston now stands. Thither
Frontenac took his way after a ten days' stay at
Montreal. It was a hazardous journey through the
rapids of the St. Lawrence, but the expedition finally
arrived safely at the rendezvous and found the Iro
quois already there. These were times of peace,
and their presence was easily secured. Frontenac
had arranged his company in military formation,
203

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
painted his canoes in garish colors, and used all the
armament and gold lace he could find for his men.
Himself an impressive figure, his party's appearance
as they approached struck the Iroquois almost dumb
with admiration.
He wins A council was opened at once, and, in his address,
quois™" Frontenac called the Iroquois "children," as a sign
of his paternal authority. He threatened them on
the one hand and cajoled them on the other, and
between petting and scolding he became their mas
ter. Beginning with Montmagny, they had called
all the governors of Canada "Onontio." Here was
Onontio after their own heart. While the councils
were being held, the engineers were drawing plans
for the fort, and the work of construction began at
once. He did not tell them that this was to be a
fort, but he called it a storehouse, where they could
buy goods and come into closer relations with the
French. He completely won them over, and they
were even induced to send some of their children,
both boys and girls, to Quebec to be educated. A
grand council closed the meetings, and, laden with
presents and loudly praising his name, the Iroquois
Returns to returned to their cantons, while the governor, seeing
Quebec, tjjat t^e fort was weu unfjer way aIKj provisioned,
i633 returned to Quebec in triumph about the middle of
August, 1673.

204

CHAPTER XII
LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
FROM this time La Salle was the firm friend of
Frontenac and supported him in his inevitable
quarrels with the intendant and the clergy. Fron
tenac, in turn, lent the full force of his official and
personal influence to advance La Salle and aid him
in his vast schemes. The year after the erection
of "Fort Frontenac," as it was called, La Salle re
turned to France to secure royal endorsement for
his position and plans. His own family name, his
explorations, and the letters of endorsement given
him by Frontenac afforded him an entree to the high
est circles. He made propositions to the king which
were fully granted, and he returned to Canada a
nobleman, though untitled, and seigneur of Fort seigneur
Frontenac and the lands and islands adjacent. In pro'Jtenac"
return he pledged himself to repay the ten thou
sand francs which the expedition of Frontenac and
the building of the fort had cost the king and to cost of
maintain a colony in addition to the garrison at the the Fort
fort. His family advanced him the ten thousand
francs and promised him support as he might need
it. It did not appear that he was likely to need it,
for with this large seigniory and the possession of
a fort and storehouse, where it was sure to be
patronized by the Indians, he ought to have become
205

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
wealthy. But La Salle had grander ideas than
huckstering. The same spirit which inflamed the
soul of Champlain was in him also. He yearned
to complete his own and the explorations of Mar
quette. After three years spent in the solitude of
Fort Frontenac, rebuilding the fort with stone, con
structing boats and ships for service in the fur
trade, opening a mission, with Recollets in charge,
and, as we should say to-day, "building up a busi
ness" that netted him about five thousand dollars a
year, he made another journey to Europe filled with
the spirit of exploration and armed with coherent
data and plans.
La saiie's These plans embraced the possession by France of
phfnT*1 tne whole Mississippi Valley. This was the real
spring of his ambition. To fortify his purpose and
secure the king's countenance he presented to him
a memorial in which he set forth the natural rich
ness and wealth of the region, its fitness for colo
nies, and the advantage it enjoyed in climate and
fertility as compared with Canada. To enable him
to explore and colonize this country he asked the
permission of the king to erect forts and authority
to hold seigniorial rights over all discovered and
colonized land. The king was prompt in his reply
Endorsed and generally acquiesced in La Salle's demands, ex-
by the king cept ^at he guaranteed no colonists, not wishing to
lose any settlers from Canada. Having the king's
support, La Salle was able to borrow large sums
of money from his own family and from other
friends. Among those he met in France at this
time were Henri de Tonty, an Italian officer and
relative of the Prince de Conti, and La Motte de
Lussiere. These two men accompanied La Salle to
206

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
Canada and were to have important parts in his
history. FATHER HENNEPIN
The start on this great mission of discovery and The fort at
empire-founding was made in November of thatNiaBara
year, 1678. A party of fifteen men was sent ahead
as an advance-guard to trade with the Indians of
Lake Michigan and Illinois and collect provisions
for La Salle and his men. Soon after, on Novem
ber 18, La Motte set sail for Niagara to build there
a fort. He was accompanied by a Recollet priest,
Father Louis Hennepin, whose name figures much
in the story of the opening of the West. Hennepin
had chronic wanderlust not quite consistent with
his sacred calling, and he had already traveled
largely in Europe and in the New World, his most
notable feat being a winder's journey among the
Iroquois of New York State, which, while it held
many perils, advantaged nothing to the Church.
With La Salle his relations were not the most
amicable, but the great Frenchman was willing to
let him go, especially since he was not a Jesuit, and
some priest was thought necessary to the success of
the expedition. After a tempestuous voyage the
little vessel carrying La Motte and Hennepin
crossed the lake and entered the mouth of the
Niagara River, where dwelt a small band of Sene
cas. After a brief rest there Hennepin went on
up the river in a canoe. At Lewiston Heights he The first
abandoned this, and climbing the ascent and push- ^°arya°a
ing on through the forests, he came upon the falls Fails
of Niagara. Probably white men had never before
seen Niagara. Its fame was abroad as early as the
207

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
days of Champlain, but Hennepin's description is
the first written, and on that account valuable. It
is valuable on account of its accuracy also, which
we shall soon see was not a peculiar or distin
guishing mark of this Recollet father.
Attempt to Having seen so much, Hennepin returned to
sennas'116 the m°uth of the river, and fort-building began
promptly. The Senecas plainly did not welcome
this enterprise. Already Fort Frontenac was divert
ing part of the fur trade to Quebec, and this new
fort would prevent trade of the western' Indians
from reaching the Dutch and English traders
through the Iroquois. To placate the Senecas, La
Motte and Hennepin made a visit to their capital.
They were not cordially received, and while the
savages accepted La Motte's gifts and listened to
his harangue; they would riot give their endorse
ment to the Niagara scherne. So the delegation
returned much crestfallen and disturbed. By this
time, however, La Salle and Tonty had come to
join the advance party at the mouth of the Niagara.
In some way La Salle must have learned of the re
cent mission, and he proceeded to the Seneca village,
arriving there just after the others had gone. He
soon gained the Senecas' good-will, and at length
they agreed to his plan. On returning to the Ni-
The vessel agara he found that by a blunder or the deviltry
wrecked o£ ^jg pilot his vessel had been wrecked. This
blocked the whole expedition, and for some months
nothing was accomplished except a huge mass of
gossip, jealousy, and scandal, heaped up by the
heterogeneous band. This was the beginning of
the long story of dissensions and mutiny which
cursed La Salle's career in America and ended in
208

The ''Griffin

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
La saiie the tragedy of the southwest. La Salle soon saw
Momrea? thr°ugh Hennepin, and heartily wished he had even
a Jesuit in his place. The glare of the snow in the
sun soon caused an inflammation of La Salle's
eyes, and he returned to Montreal for medical treat
ment, leaving Tonty in charge.
Meanwhile work began on the vessel with which
launched La Salle meant to navigate Lake Erie and proceed to
the country of the Illinois. This ship was built above
the cataract, at a place near .Cayuga Creek, on the
east, now the American, side of the river. Through
out the winter the work went on in spite of a
mutinous spirit among the men, which manifested
itself in various ugly quarrels. But at last the ship
was completed and launched, amid the enthusias
tic shouts of the Frenchmen and the yells of the
savages, who gathered on the banks. Meanwhile
where was La Salle? After his trip to Montreal
for surgical aid he had returned to direct the work
of building the ship and to mark out the two new
blockhouses on the Niagara. In February he had
set out from Niagara on foot for Fort Frontenac
to secure building and other materials which had
been lost in his vessel. He was expected back at
Niagara in the spring, but it was midsummer before
he appeared. Trouble in huge quantities had de
scended upon him. On his arrival at Fort Fron
tenac he had found that he was no longer its mas
ter. Because he had not paid promptly the debts
His incurred in his great enterprise his enemies had
sdtThis seized all his property in Canada and he was thus
property a ruined man. But La Salle did not stop to dicker
with them. He simply left them gloating over his
ruin, and, trusting to the future to see justice done,
210

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
he returned to the little company on the Niagara
River. The "Griffin," named after Frontenac's armorial The
bearings, was now ready for its work. It was D°grunney
towed up the river and on August 7, started on its
fateful mission on Lake Erie, the first sailing ves
sel of European build known to its waters. West
ward they took their way and in three days reached
St. Clair. Thence they sailed northward until Lake
Huron was reached, and at length, after a storm,
the "Griffin" reached the Point of St. Ignace or
Michilimackinac. The Jesuit mission stood here
in the midst of a large settlement. Traders, Indians,
and priests gave the party a loud welcome, and
cheered the cannon salutes of the "Griffin." Here
La Salle found four of the fifteen men sent in canoes
as an advance party the year before. They had
played him false and sold his goods. At the falls
of Ste. Marie he found two more. This defection
troubled La Salle greatly, and he pushed onward
to learn what had become of the others. The
"Griffin" entered Lake Michigan and at Green Bay
he found, to his great relief, several of his men who
had been true, and had in exchange for his provis
ions collected a large quantity of furs. With these The
La Salle thought he saw an opportunity to payoff"!*
off some of his debts, and he determined to send to Niagara
them back to the Niagara River on the "Griffin." He
intended putting Tonty in charge of the ship, but
Tonty was at Ste. Marie looking after the traitors.
La Salle resembled Champlain in many respects,
and like him he at times displayed astonishingly bad
judgment. To send back the "Griffin" in the hands
of the pilot who had lost his other vessel, and who

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
was, he feared, a traitor if not a bungler, was an
act of optimism bordering on folly. On September
1 8, however, she set forth from Green Bay, and
La Salle with his men resumed their way south
along the western shores of Lake Michigan.
Discontent The story of the succeeding months as told in
men La Salle's journal, and in Hennepin's story, is a
wretched one. Storms beset them and no food was
to be had. All sorts of accidents occurred, and the
spirits of the men drooped, and mutterings arose.
When they reached a certain place on the lake
shore where Tonty was to have joined them, he
was not there, and La Salle compelled them to
await him. This period of inaction increased their
discontent. When Tonty came it was nearly
December, and the days and nights were very cold,
and the lake was often lashed with fury by the
storms. His men urged him to go on to find the
Illinois tribe, and spend the winter with them.
But he hesitated. What was his reason? The
No news "Griffin." She ought ere this to have made her way
"Griffin" to the Niagara River and returned. On her hung
the fate of his expedition. After a long delay he
decided to send two trusted men to Michilimackinac
to find any possible news of the "Griffin," while
he with his men would push on to the Illinois. It
was December 3 when La Salle started up the St.
Joseph, by no means the most direct route to the
Tllinois. Indeed it was going east, while the
Jlinois lay southwest. But he thought to find a
stream which flowed to the Illinois, and this after
many hardships they did in the headsprings of the
Kankakee. It was a two-mile portage, a most toil
some, desolate experience, and one of its incidents
212

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
was the attempt by one of the men to shoot
La Salle. THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY REACHED
But at length the Illinois River was reached, and a deserted
presently an Illinois town loomed up in the distance town
like a veritable fairy city to the half-starved and
discouraged Frenchmen. But when they reached
the town they found not a soul ; all had gone on a
great winter's hunt. La Salle could not stand on
etiquette, but proceeded at once to rifle the town's
supplies of corn, and thus fed his famished men.
It was now New Year's Day, 1680, and after a
mass they went on down the river. A few days
later they came upon an Illinois camp. All there
was excitement, for the Indians had heard of La
Salle's coming and had been told that he was their
enemy. He presented a menacing front, arranging
his men in hostile groups, with gun in hand, as if
ready for a fight. The redskins hastened to offer
peace and presented the calumet. La Salle re
sponded with a calumet, and peace was assured.
Then came the usual feast and gifts. La Salle told
them that he was their friend and would protect
them against the Iroquois, and that he wished to go
on down the river to the Mississippi, and he asked
their help. This was freely promised, and a gala
day followed. AN INDIAN PLOT FOILED
The dramatic element in this scene is already Enemies
prominent enough, but we have just begun to see it. in camp
That very night a Mascoutin chief, Monso, secretly
reached the camp and asked the ear of the chiefs.
213

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
This audience granted, he told them that La Salle
was a spy of the Iroquois and was going to incite
the western tribes against the Illinois so that they
should be destroyed. He urged them to stop La
Salle and thus save their lives. Then he left the
camp as secretly as he had come.
The chiefs sat and smoked and talked over this
turn of affairs most of the night. And when morn
ing came La Salle at once saw that some one had
been whispering lies against him. But such secret
councils can not long remain secret, and one
chief, to whom he had been especially lavish with
gifts, told him what had taken place. That after
noon another chief invited the Frenchmen to a feast,
and when all were seated he urged them not to go
further, and pictured the terrible dangers of the
Mississippi, the great demons and fierce savages
of its waters and shores. Most of La Salle's party,
not knowing of the plot, were greatly disturbed by
this speech, but La Salle was ready. He boldly
accused Monso, and demanded that he come for
ward and make his charges in public instead of
running away in the dark. It was a telling blow
and the Indians seemed satisfied.
That night, fearing fresh foes, La Salle set a
guard over his tents, but in the morning six of his
men, including two carpenters, were found to have
deserted. Here appears plainly the result of La
La saiie's Salle's policy of aloofness. That policy, or manner,
aloofness was yet to CQSt j^ more dearly. Had he on re
ceiving the news of Monso's visit told his men of
it and prepared them for the sort of "scare" the
Indians would attempt, this fright and desertion
might have been avoided. But La Salle kept his
214

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
own counsel and was never popular with his men. Attempt
This desertion was followed by an attempt to poison ^P^B
him. These incidents greatly depressed him and'
induced him to change his plans. There was
nothing to gain by going on that winter, as without
a large boat he was utterly unprepared for any
campaign, and he must hear from the "Griffin"
before he proceeded farther. So he determined
to build a fort apart from the Indians, and leaving
his men there start back himself to learn the
fate of the "Griffin." The fort was at once built Fort
a mile or so down the river, and named, most fitly, buut
"Crevecceur" (broken heart). Reassured by some
visiting Indians from the Arkansas and Osage region
that a friendly welcome would await them, the
French soon plucked up courage and began to build
a large vessel for the expedition down the Mis
sissippi. Within six weeks the hull was half finished.
Then La Salle determined to begin his trip to the
east. But first he detailed Hennepin to explore the
Illinois to its mouth. Whether he really expected
to derive any benefit from Hennepin's voyage, or
merely wished the men to be rid of his presence
during his own absence, it is difficult to know.
Hennepin's courage oozed out at the thought, but he
at length consented to go, and on February 28, with
two habitants, he started on this memorable voyage. Hennepin
The very next day La Salle began his wonderful v'y"sehis
journey back to Frontenac. A Mohegan hunter,
who had been indispensable to him in finding the
Illinois, and four Frenchmen, accompanied him.

215

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
THE TRAMP QF A. THOUSAND MILES
a desperate It was a desperate journey on1 which he set out —
experience fjggpgfg^ m pU1,p0se md in experience. He felt
that the "Griffin''' certainly was lost, and If so, he
must replace the stores and equipment which were
on her in order to secure any possible basis for his
grand scheme.. It was desperate in experience, for
it was almost more difficult than if taken in mid
winter. The streams froze at night and thawed by
day, and the mud — betokening the fertile soil of
Illinois — was of that sort which no native of the
Mississippi valley can ever forget, or find an equal
to; Canoes, rafts, snow-shoes, and any other pos
sible means of locomotion were used On passing
through, the still deserted capital of the Illinois
La. Salle noted a huge cliff of yellow sandstone now
called "Starved Rock," an obvious stronghold, and
by some Frenchmen, whom he met a few days
later on Lake Michigan, he sent a note back to
Tonty ordering him to examine it for possible
refuge; To order Tonty to leave his men, for
even a moment, seems to us at this distance so
palpable a blunder that we wonder at the act By
the eighteenth of March La Salle had reached a
point near the present city of Joliet, where the river
was completely frozen over. Here they gave up
canoe locomotion, arid, hiding their barks on an
island, set out on foot for Lake Michigan. Wading
through marshes and bogs, drenched by cold rains,
almost frozen by the chill nights, covered with mud,
and almost starved, they at last reached the lake on
the 24th, and that night came to the fort at the
mouth of the St Joseph, which had been built in
216

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
the previous autumn. There La Salle actually The loss
found two faithful souls, men who were at a ren-°ftI?e
dezvous which he had appointed for them. These known"
were the men he had sent in search of the "Griffin."
From them he received his first definite news that
the boat was lost. They had made a circuit of the
lakes and found no trace of the vessel. Nor has
any one else since. Whether the pilot and crew
hypothecated the skins and sank the ship, or
through incompetency all went down in one of
those furious lake storms which engulf stancher
craft to-day, or whether the Jesuits connived at
her disappearance, as some stories hold, nobody
knows. It is but one of the many unsolved mys
teries of history.
In the face of this terrible shock La Salle lost no impedi-
time in lamentation, but, ordering these two men to ^^^oa
rejoin Tonty, he pressed on through a terrible rain
storm eastward toward his goal. Hunting for game
to supply his table, his party betrayed their presence
to hostile Indians, whom they had to frighten away.
Some of the men grew sick, and the heavy rains made
their journey increasingly difficult. In spite of all
these misfortunes and handicaps, they managed to
make a canoe, and, floating on a little river which
Parkman thinks was the Huron, they traveled a
while very pleasantly. But soon they were stopped
by fallen trees, and instead of going around this
barricade, for some reason they pressed through
the forest until they reached the Detroit. Here the
party separated, La Salle sending two men to
Michilimackinac. With the three others he crossed
the Detroit and through the woods reached Lake
Erie, near what is now Point Pelee. Here two
Canada — 10 217 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
of his men fell ill, and he and the remaining one,
with as much skill as indomitable courage, built
another canoe, put the sick men into it, and paddled
on across the broad bosom of beautiful Lake Erie
toward Niagara. This journey was uneventful, and
La Salle's journal, which I have been following
pretty closely, dismisses it briefly. Possibly he was
too tired and sick at heart to see anything or to
write of it.
Another -^ut sometmng worse than physical distress met
crushing him when on Easter Monday he reached the launch-
disaster jng piace 0f the "Griffin." Here some of his men
had remained, and they confirmed the news of the
loss of the "Griffin," but added that a ship from
France, laden with his goods, had been wrecked
near the island of Anticosti and that some of his
men had been turned back by the news of his
death. This was an almost crushing blow. But it
seems only to have inspired him to more vigorous
efforts. His three men were exhausted, but he
sprang up as alert as ever, and, taking three others,
Fort Fran- he resumed his journey, and on May 6 reached Fort
tenac,May6 Frontenac — the end of an adventure which ex
hausts all our language's superlatives to express its
spirit of courage and physical strength. It might
be called his "tramp of a thousand miles." One
could better use the word "wade" than tramp.
Certainly it was "the most arduous journey ever
made by Frenchmen in America." It lacked but
one element to make it matchless in all heroic
annals — there was no peril from man. Aside from
the little fright he gave the Indians while hunting
in Michigan, he saw no hostile face. Had the Iro
quois been on his trail, La Salle's escape would have
218

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
been miraculous. As it was, it was marvelous, but
it was destined in dramatic and perilous features to
be eclipsed by his own experiences within a few
years. At Fort Frontenac he found little to cheer him. Rebellion
The fort was in possession of his enemies, and hemIUiilois
discovered more evidence of fraud by his agents. He
went at once to Montreal, where he had been given
up for dead. There, in spite of his ruined condi
tion and the Quixotic aspect of his plans, he
promptly secured enough credit and supplies to
enable him to return to Illinois. But when he
reached Fort Frontenac jubilant, he found there
two men with dire news from Tonty. His men at
Fort Crevecceur, whom he had risked his life to
succor, had turned out to be traitors and villains.
During Tonty's absence, inspecting the spot to
which La Salle ordered him, his cowardly country
men, released from all discipline, destroyed the fort,
plundered the magazine, carried away some of the
stores, and burned the rest. Later La Salle heard
from some inhabitants belonging to the fort, who
had just returned from a fishing trip on the lake,
that these devils followed La Salle's trail to theLaSaiie-s
St. Joseph Fort, which they ruined, pressed on to |ife
Michilimackinac, where they seized some furs, then
arrived at Niagara, where they plundered the maga
zine. Eight of them went on to Albany, which was
for many years a sort of Robbers' Roost or Cut
throats' Snug Harbor — a fact of which Anglo-
Saxons are not effusively proud. The remaining
dozen of this merry gang of scoundrels left Ni
agara with the pleasant announcement that they
meant to kill La Salle. But La Salle pulled the
219

ened

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
trigger first. He took out a party to meet them
and surprised them on their way to execute their
benevolent purpose. All but two of them were
captured in short order. These two resisted arrest,
pointed their guns at La Salle's party, and were
shot. Because of this affair La Salle's enemies
charged him with murder.
August 10 jt was now midsummer, and La Salle bent every
starts to
rescue effort toward the relief of Tonty. So rapid were
Tonty hjg preparations that on August 10 he embarked on
the mission with twenty-five men. This time he
took a more direct route, one of the first journeys
by way of the Humber River and Lake Simcoe.
When he reached Michilimackinac he found a most
unfriendly feeling, for which he could not help
holding the Jesuits in part responsible. But he
bought some supplies of the Indians there, and, leav-
half his men under his partner La Forest to follow
as soon as possible, he rushed on. Time was pass
ing indeed, for winter was drawing near. It was
November 4 when he saw the ruins of his fort at
the mouth of the St. Joseph River. Losing no
time, he followed the old route, and was soon on
the Illinois. Swiftly they paddled down its cur
rent, shooting buffalo and enjoying the early win
ter scenes and that exhilarating crispness of air
which that season in the northern Mississippi Val
ley brings, but meeting no human being, not even
a coureur de bois. The men thought nothing of
this, but to La Salle it meant foreboding of some
great disaster. The nearer he approached the spot
where he expected to find Tonty the more over
powering became this feeling — as if the very quiet
and peace of stream and woods held a profound
220

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
and horrible mystery. They passed the rock of
sandstone whereon Tonty had been ordered to build
his stronghold. Of course no one was there, and
yet La Salle had hoped that there might be. Below
he must find the key to this terrible secret. And
so he did.
On the great meadow where the chief town of a ghastly
the Illinois had stood he saw nothing but ashes scene
and skulls and mangled corpses. One word could
explain all this horror, and it flashed at once upon
La Salle — the Iroquois ! The capital of the Illinois
had been wiped out, and, while few fresh corpses
were seen, the graveyard had been rifled, every
sacred relic torn from its last resting-place, and the
bones strewn over the fair plain. The caches had,
of course, been opened and their contents destroyed
or pillaged. La Salle and his men cried out with
horror at the scene. All day long they searched
among the ghastly remains for some sign of Tonty,
but nothing appeared. Night came on, and, with
the banishment of the scene from their sight, they
hoped for rest and relief. They got neither. For
with the night came the wolves, and their terrible
howls, heard by these Frenchmen a thousand miles
from home, produced that freezing horror which
no one can ever forget. There was no danger to
them, however, and with the coming of dawn La
Salle and four men pressed on, leaving three be
hind. They passed deserted camps of the Illinois
and of their foes; Fort Crevecceur deserted, of
course, and demolished; the hull of the vessel on
the stocks unharmed, but marked with a French
inscription, "Nous sommes tous sauvages ce 15,
1680;" here and there the half-burnt bodies of

search for
Tonty

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
women and other revolting sights ; and yet he found
no signs of the Frenchmen nor evidences as to the
La saiu present abodes of the Illinois. At length La Salle
Muslssippi came to t^ie Mississippi, the goal he had so long
hoped to reach ; now alas ! attained under such de
pressing circumstances. Seeing it meant to him
simply that he could no farther go in search of
Tonty or the Illinois. So, with a heavy heart, he
returned to the little band he had left, and the eight
men, near Christmas time, began the trip back. By
January 6 they reached the junction of the Kanka
kee with the northern branch of the Illinois River,
and there La Salle saw a piece of wood that had
The vain been cut with a saw. Tonty or some other white
man had passed that way. Enheartened they went
on, and at length reached Fort Miami, on the St.
Joseph, where La Forest awaited him, but with no
news of Tonty. At this fort La Salle decided to
abide for the remainder of the winter, planning a
new campaign. THE ADVENTURES OF TONTY
But what of Tonty and Hennepin? The latter's
story is perhaps more interesting, but, as we have
seen that Tonty must have been in danger or worse
than that, we hasten on to his story, making no
apologies to the friar for allowing any one to pre
cede him in our plans. Tonty soon found, if he
had not before known it, that he had with him a
dissolute and untrustworthy lot. By some couriers
they got hold of the news that La Salle's creditors
The fort had seized Fort Frontenac, and that he was ruined.
destroyed So when Tonty, in obedience to La Salle's orders,
went to examine what we now know was the Rock

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
of St. Louis, the villains destroyed the fort and de
serted, taking with them furs, provisions, and other
things, as we have already seen. Four men were
sent by Tonty to carry the news to La Salle, and
with him remained three men and two Recollet
friars. Tonty at once moved his headquarters into
the heart of the Illinois village, making a shrewd
pretense that he had confidence in them. The only
problem before him now, so far as he could see,
was to keep the Illinois at peace with his band until ¦
La Salle could return, a return in which Tonty had
implicit faith. But, as we have seen, fate had some
thing much more difficult in store for him.
It was on the ioth of September, about a month An Indian
after La Salle had set out to the relief of Tonty, plot
that the news of the approach of the Iroquois
reached the village of the Illinois. The motive of
the coming of the Iroquois was easily enough di
vined. Shut out of wars with the Indians of Can
ada by the peace with the French, and needing both
game and furs, they were driven to seek them in a
new country. They could not invade it on a peace
mission, and SO' a resolution for war, which was
always in order at an Iroquois meeting, was car
ried, and the march began. A Shawanoe bore the
news to the Illinois camp. Tumult ensued, amid
which all eyes were turned upon the French. Were The
not the Iroquois in league with the French, and, ™™™°*
if so, were the French not involved in this plot?
Tonty and his men were, as a result, handled pretty
roughly, and their forge and tools were thrown into
the river. Then the warriors prepared for the Iro
quois, greasing their bodies, painting their faces,
dancing, singing, and otherwise behaving in true
223

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The Indian fashion. The next day the Iroquois arrived,
ofThT and a weird sort of battle began. In the midst of
iroquois it Tonty essayed the part of the peacemaker, and, as
is proverbial, was almost killed for his pains. He
saw that a battle of this sort would end as Iroquois
battles usually did, in the annihilation of their foes,
and it was largely, if not almost wholly, due to his
heroic action and keen sagacity that the issue was
not the usual one. He advanced toward the Iro
quois alone, holding out the wampum belt. At first
they thought, because of his dress and dark features,
Tonty that he was an Illinois, and one Iroquois stabbed
him, cutting a gash in his side. But, just in time
to save his life, some one shouted that he was
French, and he was led carefully away and eager
efforts were made to stop the bleeding. But the
fighting continued, and soon it was bruited about
that the Illinois were winning and that Frenchmen
were fighting with them. This made it very uncom
fortable for Tonty, and one savage actually had his
knife raised and his hand under Tonty's hair, pre
paring to scalp him. Tonty did not plead for mercy,
but lied lustily about the great force of Illinois and
French at hand, and succeeded in frightening the
foe. So they sent him back with a flag of truce.
A cessation of fighting followed for a while. Then
the Illinois withdrew across the river, but, as the
Iroquois followed, the Illinois retreated down stream
to an island where the women and old men were.
Meanwhile Tonty and the French remained in their
peace little quarters, hoping for the best. More peace
parleys followed, and Tonty was sent as ambassa
dor from one side or the other. At length a sort
of treaty of friendship was signed, but the Iroquois,
224

parleys

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION v
having found out that Tonty had deceived them as to iroquois
the strength of the Illinois, told him. and the French f,haseTonty
to clear out. This was a mild course for the Iro-away
quois to pursue, but they had a wholesome fear of
the vengeance of Onontio at Quebec. Tracy's tour
was not yet forgotten. Tonty saw that by staying
he would be jeoparding his own and his party's
lives, and so, unable to do more for the Illi
nois, he set out for the north. With him went
the two friars, Membre and Ribourde, and three
Frenchmen. On the way they stopped for a rest
one day, and Father Ribourde wandered off for
a quiet hour in the woods. He never returned,
being murdered by some wandering Kickapoos
eager for renown but afraid to attack the party
openly. After weeks of suffering and toil theTnevreach
party finally reached Green Bay, where they
found in the Pottawattamies kind and hospita
ble friends.
Meanwhile an odd campaign went on in the Illi- An .Iro-
nois country. The Iroquois, cheated of their liv- failure
ing prey, took vengeance, as we know, on the dead.
Then they followed the Illinois down the river.
They overtook some of the women and tortured
and butchered them, but they did not engage the
warriors in battle. For some reason they were
afraid of them, possibly still crediting Tonty's yarn
of their great numbers. At last having chased the
Illinois to the Mississippi, and captured many wo
men and children they turned back. It was a new
end to an Iroquois raid. True, they had made of
the Illinois capital a blackened plain, but they had
not really vanquished their foe and had almost no
scalps to carry home in triumph to the lodges beside
225

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
the Susquehanna. For the Iroquois it was almost
equivalent to a failure.
HENNEPIN ON THE MISSISSIPPI
The reader will now turn to> the third object of
our divided attention, the journeys of Father Hen
nepin. It will be recalled that, rather to Henne
pin's disgust, La Salle sent him on an expedition
to explore the lower Illinois and the Mississippi.
La saiie, Two men were with him, Accau and Du Gay, and
DUCGayT ^y set out m a canoe laden with presents for the
Feb. 29, Indians on February 29, 1680. It is impossible to
trace this journey with any sort of intelligence, be
cause the explorer was so untrustworthy. It is
very doubtful if he went down the Mississippi at
all. His first journal contains almost nothing about
the early part of his journey. It was not until after
La Salle's death that he "revised" it, so as to claim
Hennepin's that he anticipated La Salle's journey to the mouth
claim false Qf ^ ^^ R.yer by ^^ g^ ^ external and
the internal evidences of deceit in this claim are so
patent that we need not dwell any longer on it,
but confine our attention to his story of the upper
Mississippi, where, on April 12, we find the party
encamped at about the mouth of the Wisconsin.
They had been on their way about forty-two days,
arid the merest glance at the map will show that all
this time could have been employed in the journey
in drifting down the Illinois and in rowing up the
Mississippi, a distance of about five hundred miles
in all. What possible advantage could have accrued
to La Salle from an expedition up the Mississippi,
Hennepin in his "Memoirs" does not attempt to
show. What La Salle wanted to know was the
226

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
nature of the country and tribes from the mouth
of the Illinois down the Mississippi to its mouth,
where La Salle hoped to plant a French colony,
and by that act claim sovereignty of the country
in the name of the king. Knowing Hennepin to
have undertaken the journey reluctantly, we must
assume that his courage had left him and that he
chose the northern trip rather than the southern
because of its lesser danger. As it was it is not
sure that he chose wisely. At any rate he had
enough perils to satisfy any man hungry for hazards.
On the evening of this 12th of April, as they were Prisoners
resting at the mouth of the Wisconsin, repairing ^aSg0UX
their canoes, a large party of Sioux warriors came
dashing down the river. On seeing the whites, the
whole party of one hundred and twenty braves began
that terrible din — an Indian war song. In a few sec
onds they had surrounded the trio with the apparent
intention of making them immediate victims of their
war fury. In vain Hennepin held up the peace-
pipe : one of them snatched it from him. Then they
continued to convey to Hennepin the fact that they
sought the Miamis, and when told that the Miamis
had gone across the Mississippi they wept copiously.
Many other amusing incidents occurred, and some The sioux
that to the French were not at all amusing. At^^elTes
length, however, the Sioux made it very plain that
they would give up their war expedition and return
home, but the whites must return with them. This
journey homeward was anything but a happy one
to the aliens. All sorts of indignities were offered
them and they were never certain any night that it
might not be their last.
At length the canoeing was over; the warriors
227

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
They land landed where St. Paul now is, and started overland
pau-i '' for their villages near Lake Buade, now called Mille
Lac. This trip was even more distressing to their
guests. Hennepin had to swim creeks and rivers,
and keep up a walking pace which, if one may credit
his story, would have worn out any track champion
of the present day. His companions were not at
all equal to such a life, and had to be carried.
When they reached the villages, Hennepin saw
stakes and bundles of straw, which he thought
were prepared for French funeral pyres. But, while
other omens were as inauspicious, the prisoners
were not harmed.
It is unnecessary to follow the various happen
ings to these Frenchmen while in the Sioux villages.
Several months passed, and when Hennepin saw
that their lives were not menaced, he began to plan
to escape. He invented a story that he was to meet
a band of Frenchmen at the place where he had
been captured, and was given permission to return
thither. Du Gay went with him, but Accau, who
never had liked the friar, preferred Indian life.
Their purpose of going to this spot was for several
reasons never realized, and the most important event
of this campaign was falling in with a hunting party
The great of Sioux, and through them meeting Du Lhut and
four other Frenchmen, whom they came across near
the Falls of St. Anthony.
Du Lhut was commonly known as the leader of
the coureurs de bois. He was, indeed, a remark
able figure in the life of New France in the latter
part of the seventeenth century. After him, by a
curious transposition of letters, the city of Duluth
was named. He was a cousin of Tonty, and was
228

Du Lhut

LA SALLE'S FIRST GREAT EXPEDITION
undoubtedly connected with Frontenac's enterprises, Du Lhut
especially in the fur trade, in which, if we believe a P™erful
, . ' and brave
the governors enemies, they were reaping a tre- man
mendous revenue. Du Lhut roamed constantly
through the forests of the whole Northwest, and
was known by every Indian tribe as a powerful
and brave man. His reputation made him valuable
to the French in cultivating friendly relations be
tween themselves and the Indians. On this trip he
had been two years away from Quebec. He gave
Hennepin a cordial greeting, and all returned to the
villages near Mille Lac, where a feast was given in
Du Lhut's honor. Then the eight white men began
their journey down the Mississippi to the mouth of
the Wisconsin. This they ascended, and Hennepin
and his companions spent the winter at Michili
mackinac. The following spring Hennepin returned
to Quebec, where he was received with great re
joicing by his fellow Recollets, and with honors
from Frontenac. This is the last mention of him
we find in the chronicles of New France. He soon
returned to Europe, and, although his stories were The last of
popular for a time, he never secured the confidence ennepn
of his associates, and he died without distinction.
His was a peculiar character, yet one need not go
beyond one's own village or ward to see men very
like him — men of good enough disposition and in
tentions, but so full of vanity and a passion for re
nown that they spend all their energy in vaunting
themselves. Such men eventually reach their level,
but are never satisfied with the world's verdict. It
was singularly appropriate that the projectors of an
impracticable waterway in Illinois should have called
it "The Hennepin Canal." 229

CHAPTER XIII
LA SALLE'S VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI
^eftle TV/fEANWHILE what of La Salle? The author
winter of -*-*-*- and architect of this wonderful drama of the
1681 at Mississippi Valley was compelled to pass the winter
of 1681 waiting at Fort Miami, near the south
western shores of Lake Michigan. It was the last
period of rest of which we find any record in this
man's wandering life. Yet he was by no means
idle. With a vision of startling keenness and an
energy so vast that it seems superhuman, he set
a league about forming a league against the Iroquois. In
iroquois11" snc^1 a ^eague the French soldier and priest would
be the central figure, but its necessary elements must
be all the Indians living in that whole vast region
into which the Iroquois had just carried horror and'
death. So La Salle proceeded to the camps of In
dians near Fort Miami and urged upon them the
peril of the Iroquois, and that the only possible
means of resistance lay in an alliance with the
French and the Illinois. The Miamis, who had
recently quarreled with the Illinois, were visited
and urged to forget their petty troubles in the face
of this vast danger. He made a winter's journey
back to the Illinois country to get their consent to
the pact with the Miamis. That gained, he was
apparently wholly, successful in his negotiations with
230

LA SALLE'S VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI
the Miamis, and the prospects of the league against
the Iroquois seemed very bright.
He must first return to Fort Frontenac to Tonty
straighten out the financial snarl in which he had[°™dat
become involved, and secure means and equipment
for the long purposed journey to the mouth of the
Mississippi. He went this time by the lakes, and
when he reached Michilimackinac, he found Tonty
and the Jesuit priest Membre. After joyful greet
ings and exchanging narrations of their tales of
hardships and calamities, they proceeded together
by boat to Fort Frontenac. With indomitable •
purpose and optimistic presence he faced his angry
creditors and succeeded in mollifying them. More
over, by Frontenac's assistance, he secured a loan
which not only paid off part of his debts, but gave
him capital for his great journey. After a visit to
Montreal he set out in October with a new force
of men from Fort Frontenac. By November he
had reached Fort Miami and begun his final prep
arations for the journey down the Illinois, which
turned out to be a journey down the Mississippi.
The expedition consisted of 18 Indians (Abe-Theexpe-
nakis and Mohegans) and their squaws, together Q^tw'°ts1^rts
with 23 Frenchmen, making 54 in all. The start MfesLippi,
was made Christmas week, 1681, and the route was1681
what seems to us, wise in the wisdom of modern
maps, the most obvious one. They no longer went
east from Fort Miami seeking a feeder to the
Illinois, but went straight across Lake Michigan to
the Chicago River in their canoes. From the
Chicago River to the north branch of the Illinois
they had to make a portage. They found the
Illinois River frozen from bank to bank. At length
231

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
La saiie they reached the great Illinois village, still deserted.
ItZT A little below it they found what we call Lake
Mississippi Peoria and open water. It was not very far now
to the Mississippi and by February 6, only a little
over a month after starting from Miami, they had
reached it, filled with floating ice and dark with
storms. La Salle has told in his "Relation de la
Decouverte de l'Embouchure" the story of this
journey in detail in diary form. We are not con
cerned with it to that extent, but its main events
are most interesting. The first landing was made
on February 24, on the Third Chickasaw Bluffs.
There a fort was built, named after Pierre Prud-
homme, who, with a few others, was left in charge.
sun-wor- The first human beings encountered were in a
shipers village of Arkansas Indians, on March 13, near the
mouth of the Arkansas River. There they were
most hospitably greeted and entertained with dances
and various ceremonies. La Salle raised the banner
of France, planted a cross and took possession of
the country in the name of his king. After visiting
other towns, they went on their way down the river,
past the site of Vicksburg, for three hundred miles,
when they stopped in order to visit the chief city
of the Taensas Indians, which the Arkansas guides
who had accompanied them declared was within
a few miles of that place. Tonty and the Jesuit
Membre were sent ahead. From Tonty's account
of this visit we learn what a remarkable tribe and
cult he saw there — large, square houses, built of
mud and straw, with a high roof of cane, and sur
rounding a large open court or area. The two
largest structures were the lodge of the chief and
the temple. In his lodge, awaiting the Frenchmen,
232

LA SALLE'S VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI

THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY IN LA SALLE'S TIME
233

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA ,
court sat the chief, flanked by three wives who howled
"'the10"1'* *n aPPlause at his every utterance, and attended by
wilderness his councilors, who deferred with utmost obse-
quience to him. The chief bade them welcome, and
promised to visit La Salle. After this audience
Tonty and Membre went into the temple. There
was evidence of the worship of the sun. Before a
kind of altar burned a perpetual fire, kept going by
two old men who were honored with this pious duty.
Back of this was a dark gallery which led to the
tribe's strong box, in which were kept jewels and
gold, which they probably got from the Spaniards,
perhaps through the Aztecs whom they in a degree
resembled. Their chief visited La Salle in great
state, and formalities more fitting a court than the
wilderness were observed.
The next day La Salle resumed his way and
ran into a band of Indians. Tonty gave chase
only to find warriors with drawn bows suddenly
appear on the banks ready to shoot. He beat a
retreat, but later went forward with the calumet,
and the two parties had a love feast in which La
Salle was conspicuous. This tribe was found to
be allied to the Taensas, and the French proceeded
to visit their chief town, the site of Natchez, the
name the tribe bore. There they found many
rites and ceremonies like those of the Taensas. In
this city La Salle planted a cross and took posses
sion of the country with the usual ceremonies.
The delta Other villages were visited, and soon they came to
Mississippi tne delta of the Mississippi. By its various arms
they proceeded onward until they at last reached
the Gulf. La Salle reconnoitred the shore and at
length assembled his men on a dry island, and there
234

LA SALLE'S VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI
a column was erected, and with elaborate cere- Proclaimed
monies and religious rites, La Salle took possession Free^ntry
of all Louisiana, from the mouth of the Ohio to
the Gulf of Mexico, in a resounding proclamation
which he has handed down to us. On the column
was inscribed: "Louis le Grand, Roy de France et
de Navarre, regne; le neuvieme Avril, 1682." A
cross was planted near the column and acclaimed.
The entire territory included in this proclamation
is a region stretching from Lake Erie west and
north to the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian
Northwest, south from Lake Erie to the gulf,
about where Alabama is now, and west to the Rio
Grande. It was a magnificent tract, the richest agri
cultural section of the world, and had France pos
sessed the wisdom and courage to back and fortify
La Salle in this supreme act, the whole course of the
history of America, and perhaps of Europe, might
be vastly different to-day.
Of course La Salle could do nothing then toThedismai
hold it. He could leave no men there so far from return trip
his new base — a most uncertain one — in the country
of the Illinois. His instant duty was to return at
all speed, report his action to the king and urge
upon him the fulfilment of the great scheme thus
unfolded and begun. So the return began. Like
so many backward journeys, it was marked by a
severe relapse. The party was badly crippled by
lack of food, and they found the natives not as
friendly as they had been. They were attacked at
night by one tribe, unvisited on the way down, but
were not harmed. Then La Salle fell ill and had
to be left at Fort Prudhomme, on the Chicksaw
Bluffs. Tonty was sent on to Michilimackinac,
235

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
and to report the news to Quebec. La Salle was
not able to reach Fort Miami until August, and
Michilimackinac until September. He ought to
have gone to Quebec and France himself to carry
to the highest authorities the full details of his
labors, and obtain for them the endorsement and
support which only personal effort and presenta
tion could obtain. But he was too ill to undertake
the journey, and he had heard that the Iroquois
purposed another invasion of Illinois. That would
mean the ruin of all his plans, and he hastened
preparations to warn the French and Illinois settle
ment before the red savages from New York could
pounce upon their prey. Near the great city of
the Illinois, and overlooking the river, stood the
cliff, afterward called "Starved Rock," on which
in December La Salle and Tonty began to build
Fort st. their fort, St. Louis, and storehouses. Their coming
and the erection of these buildings were the sub
stantial token which the Indians sought. There
fore they flocked from all directions around this
rock. The old Illinois city took on new life, the
warriors and their families returned, and with them
came several other tribes with whom La Salle had
been treating and settled in the neighborhood of
the Illinois. So that when La Salle reported to
the French Minister of Marine what he had done
he could truthfully boast of 4,000 warriors sur
rounding his rock of defense.

Louis built

236

CHAPTER XIV
LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
IT has been a satire of history that when a great
leader is bending all his efforts to uphold his
cause and save his people, then it is that a blinding
blow falls upon him from an unexpected quarter.
It was so with La Salle. Holding the rock and all
Louisiana against the English and the Iroquois, he
needed, if ever a man needed it, the hearty support
of his king. This he soon came to know he had
lost. How? Because his mediator had played him
false. Not Frontenac, but Frontenac's successor.
While La Salle, lonely on that rock, saw stretched
before him the great empire which his genius had
given to France, and was writing letters to Fron
tenac regarding his great project, these letters were
going to the new governor, La Barre, who was back- La Barre
capping him in every possible way before the king, "adsuc.jS
using those very letters to accuse La Salle of ego
tism and utter wildness and impracticableness. Of
the causes of the recall of Frontenac we shall know
more fully somewhat later. Go Frontenac did, and
La Barre at once played into the hands of Fron
tenac's enemies. The easiest way to gain favor in
La Barre's sight was to abuse his predecessor. La
Salle, as Frontenac's protege and illustrious friend,
came in for the heaviest portion of the new gov-
237

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
La saiie ernor's enmity. When La Salle heard of the change
France1" ^e did not know how complete it was, and proceeded
on the assumption that La Barre was friendly to
him. When he learned the truth, his duty became
clear. In peril though the little colony on the Illi
nois was, his position before the king was in greater
peril. In its restoration or correction lay the only
means of salvation for the whole gigantic enter
prise. Hastily bidding Tonty and his friends fare
well, he left the prairie and, with scarcely a pause
at Fort Frontenac, now in the hands of his enemies
by La Barre's order, or at Quebec, he set sail for
France. In two circles La Salle was eminent and
conspicuously successful-— in the court and in the
camp, before the king and among the savages. With
the middle classes of men he was not so easily the
master. His success at court, therefore, could be
easily anticipated.
wins favor The time and the man were most happily in favor
with the king. For the man had definite, specific prop
ositions — and where is the king or head of any great
enterprise who does not welcome the man who has a
definite, clearly wrought-out scheme backed with facts
and illuminated with information? — and the time
was most opportune for their execution. The very
propositions are evidence of the fertility of La Salle's
mind. Probably they had not been conceived by him
on his expedition down the Mississippi, but now at
court he quickly saw what the king desired, and he
made his plans to meet those desires. War with
Spain was on. Spain had not touched elbows with
France in America for a century, but in La Salle's
discoveries lay a future of much intercourse in peace
and an opportunity for attacks in time of war. Spain
238

in Paris

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
had held Mexico since Cortes's time, and continued
to work the mines and maintain a small military
force there. Here was a chance to strike her in a
weak spot in her armor. So La Salle made pro
posals to the king to take a colony from France to
the mouth of the Mississippi via the Gulf of Mexico
and establish the colony there for a double purpose;
first, to seize and maintain the hold his explorations
gave France on this vast empire of Louisiana; sec
ond, to make that colony and settlement the base
for an attack upon the Spanish forces in Mexico
which he assumed, erroneously of course, lay west
of the mouth of the Mississippi, and was attainable
by following the river Seignelay, named after the
Minister of Foreign Affairs in succession to Col
bert, which we identify with the Red River.
However wild and visionary the scheme had been An impos-
up to this point, it now exceeds all bounds. He Slble Tlsl0n
asked only two hundred men from France and a ves
sel armed with cannon, and to this force he would
add the four thousand Indians on the Illinois at St.
Louis, and with these he could easily conquer the
Spaniards. It is impossible for us to-day to know
whether La Salle really regarded this madcap scheme
as workable. His enemies and the turn of fortune's
wheel had dealt harshly with him, and he was really
in a desperate situation. To give up his. scheme of
extending French power from Quebec to the Gulf of
Mexico and of thus winning an empire for France,
would mean not only his own personal ruin, but
would in the years to come show France to have
been most short-sighted and inappreciative of mag
nificent opportunities. Here was a glittering prize
worth striving for, a great stake to play for; and
239

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA

The king
fascinated

other to win it one must not be overnice about means and
have'be- weapons. And, even granting that he broached this
come facts scheme to conquer Mexico merely to protect and as
sure the success of his grand colonization scheme,
the history of the world is not barren of almost as
Utopian fancies becoming permanent fact. La Salle
might point to the brilliant campaign of Cortes in
that same region. We know how different were
the circumstances and the equipment of the two
expeditions, but as little hope for success at the
outset seemed to attend the one as the other. It
was a desperate chance, and. on it La Salle threw
his whole fate. We shall see how he fared.
Louis and his minister were fascinated'by the pic
ture La Salle drew. They accepted almost at once
his propositions, and even went beyond his demands
in their response. The first step was taken in re
gard to Fort St. Louis. When La Salle left that
post to lay his schemes before the king, he gave
over the reins to La Forest. Him La Barre sum
marily deposed a few weeks later and sent back to
France, and with his own forces, sent from Quebec,
took command of Starved Rock. Soon afterward,
we are informed by a most meagre record, the Iro
quois made another bloody incursion into the coun
try of the Illinois, and besieged the rock and the
inhabitants of the town who took shelter there. It
was a desperate contest, and for a long time Fort
St. Louis was in peril and its defenders in danger
of massacre or starvation. But at last the Iroquois,
baffled or fearing the return of La Salle, withdrew.
To this post the king now sent back La Forest to
take command in the name of La Salle and the king.
At the same time a letter of rebuke was sent to La
240

DOMINION PARLIAMENT BUILDING, OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
Barre, which foreshadowed his recall a short time
later. THE EXPEDITION
Then began the preparations for one of the most The prepa-
remarkable expeditions that ever set sail outside the rations
domain of fiction and golden legend. Four vessels
were given to La Salle, under the command of Beau-
jeu, captain in the navy, who was, however, to be
subordinate to La Salle in control of the expedition
as a whole. One hundred soldiers were enrolled,
as well as mechanics and laborers. Thirty gentle
men of rank and fortune volunteered, and a score
of girls who sought matrimony in the New World.
Of course there were priests — three Sulpitians, in
cluding La Salle's brother, the Abbe Jean Cavelier,
and three Recollets, including Membre, who had
accompanied La Salle on his journeys into Illinois.
At the outset the policy of a divided command, fol- a divided
lowed by France everywhere with the same dismal command
failure, caused friction. La Salle had asked for
supreme command, and Beaujeu's authority, small
as it was, distressed and annoyed him. Beaujeu,
accustomed to rule vessels and expeditions without
a master, chafed under La Salle's premiership, es
pecially as it was accompanied by reserve, hauteur,
and evident suspicion. Even before they set sail,
Beaujeu began to bombard Seignelay with com
plaints and appeals for larger powers, but got no
satisfaction. At length a division of powers was
specifically agreed to, and a document incorporating
the provisions therefor was drawn up and signed
by both. But even this did not stop the bickering,
and the letters of the captain, which have fortunately
Canada — n 241 Vol.1

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
been preserved, reveal a decidedly interesting con
dition of constant quarreling on board the "Joly,"
the main vessel of the expedition, during the time
she lay at Rochelle awaiting the start.
was ln one of those letters Beaujeu voices a sus-
mtndaun'S picion which was current, and to which Parkman
clouded? and other historians seem to give some credence;
namely, that La Salle's mind was turned. Certainly
this whole scheme was most fantastic and impos
sible, but that it may have been devised by the
soundest of minds has been already shown. And
it was in petty matters that La Salle showed in
firmity of purpose and morbid suspicions. After
weighing all these accusations and following his
succeeding conduct, I fail to see any evidence of
unsound mind. He was agitated and irritable and
volatile and suspicious, and undoubtedly fearful of
the failure of the expedition, and physically not well,
but his mind was clear. At length the various mem
bers and the vast impedimenta of the expedition
sailed were ready, and on July 24, 1684, the four ships
juiy ,4, 1684 ieft Rochelle.
To tell the story of that voyage in detail would
be merely to repeat a wearisome journal of daily
disputes and wrangling. All the leaders of the ex
pedition, including the priests, soldiers, and women,
were on board the "Joly." The sailors took Beau—
jeu's part and the soldiers took La Salle's. The
quarrels kept the atmosphere of the ship in a con
stantly disturbed condition. It took two months to
Arrived reach St. Domingo, then a French colony. A quar-
atst. rej arose on the landing there, La Salle wishing to
mne° stop at one port and Beaujeu landing at another.
In this Beaujeu was clearly jn the wrong, for the
242

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT

LA SALLE'S COLONY ON THE ILLINOIS
243

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Pirates landing at Petit Goave and not at Port de Paix
tooi'shi the resulted in giving pirates a chance to capture a ship.
They took the "St. Francis," on which were provi
sions and tools. That loss of itself doomed the ex
pedition. Then La Salle fell ill, and it was Novem
ber before he was well enough to resume his jour
ney. Meanwhile the whole party was demoralized,
so many men deserting that it was necessary to con
fine the remainder on the ships. Those going ashore
proved again Watts's proverb that Satan finds mis
chief for idle hands to do, for they brawled and
drank, and, worse yet, fell a prey to the vices of
the island, contracting loathsome diseases, from
which they were afterward to rot on the tropical
shores of the Gulf.
Only three ships now sailed, and La Salle and his
brother were on board the "Aimable," because he
distrusted Aigron, her captain. Beaujeu had his
own way now on the "Joly," and the frigate "Belle"
kept up as well as she could. The voyage from
this time on was uneventful. They touched at the
Isle of Pines, and were delayed at Cape St. Antoine
by bad weather. Finally, in December, they entered
the Gulf of Mexico, and steered northwest. There
was no pilot aboard who had ever sailed the gulf,
and while La Salle had taken the latitude of the
mouth of the Mississippi, he could only guess at its
longitude — and he guessed badly. Land was sighted
on December 28, and on January 1 they anchored
off shore. La Salle felt sure that the land he saw
was the delta of the Mississippi. Instead it is plain
Missed the that they had sailed too far west, and probably they
Missis- were near Galveston Bay! But at this point the
mouth ships were separated by fogs and mists, and it took
244

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
several days of waiting and cruising to get them Matagorda
together. After much bickering and quarreling, in ^Deiu
which La Salle asked Beaujeu to go back and look
for the mouth of the river, which he now felt sure
he had passed, a party of soldiers was landed to
explore the coast northward. They at length dis
covered what they declared was the mouth of a
river, but which was, it is thought, Matagorda Bay.
THE WRETCHED COLONY IN TEXAS i
Here La Salle landed and announced that the place
was a mouth of the Mississippi, and ordered the
"Aimable" to come in and anchor. It is a bad har
bor, shallow and shifting, and difficult for pilots.
The "Aimable" ran aground just at the moment that The "Aim-
La Salle's attention on shore was occupied by the*blr'^ns
task of releasing some of his men whom neighboring
Indians had captured This accomplished, he hast
ened back to the shore, to see the "Aimable''' fast
going to pieces. It was only with the greatest diffi
culty that some of the provisions and other sup
plies on board were saved. The ship itself was soon
pounded to pieces by the surf. La Salle and others
believed that Captain Aigron deliberately ran her
aground. It was another crushing blow to the expe
dition, and only a veritable Stout Heart like La Salle
could bear it with equanimity. Troubles kept on
heaping up. The Indians were plainly hostile and
made several attacks upon this shivering little band.
Then Beaujeu asked permission to return to France.
It looked very like desertion, but he fortified his
request by declaring that he had done what he had
been directed to do, landed his passengers at the
mouth of the Mississippi, and rather than continue
245

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
to run the risk of losing his vessel in the winter
storms off the coast, he thought he had best weigh
anchor and return. To this suggestion La Salle
seems to have interposed no strenuous objection.
He did not even take advantage of Beaujeu's pro
posal that he take the "Joly" back only to Marti
nique, and, getting help there, return to La Salle.
Beaujeu At length, on March 12, Beaujeu sailed, and with
France'0 *"m went several OI the colonists, including Minet,
the engineer, whose aid was greatly to be missed,
but who had quarreled with La Salle. Only the
frigate "Belle" remained to him of the four proud
vessels which left Rochelle the summer before.
Building A rude fort was built at the landing-place, and
a£ort while the colonists who were to drive Spain from
America were settling down to the new life, La Salle
made various exploring expeditions, to find out ex
actly where he was. It did not take him long to
learn that he was not on or near the Mississippi.
The agony of mind which he suffered when he came
La saiie to know this awful truth can only be imagined, for
truth he has left us no record of this expedition as he did
of his earlier ones. But he did not despair ; he never
despaired. He faced the duty first at hand, and
began to make provision for the colony, which was
now exposed to the Spaniards from sea and land,
as well as to the savages daily growing more dan
gerous. La Salle found a more favorable site on
the river La Voche, now the Lavaca, which flows
into Matagorda Bay. To that place at length the
whole colony was removed, and a fort built, called,
as usual, Fort St. Louis. The building of this fort
under the hot Texas sun was a terribly exhausting
work, and few of the men had skill enough to do
246

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
such work when at their best. But La Salle, who wretched
was a hard task-master, kept them at it, and soon*°"£f°n
other buildings were erected, and the place had the colonists
appearance of strength and thrift. But it was only
the appearance. Actually the colonists' condition
was wretched. Their supplies soon began to fail,
and they were unable to raise much ih their gardens
and fields. To add to the colony's misery, many fell
ill. The usual diseases of new countries, especially Disease and
those so near the tropics, attacked them. From those death
ills some recovered, but those men who had borne
with them to Texas the diseases contracted in St.
Domingo died miserable deaths, as they deserved.
Why should we follow these wretches through
the miserable, lonesome days and months that came
and passed? It is too painful a story to tell in
such detail. Its end was the only end possible —
utter ruin. But La Salle we must follow, for in
him moved the spirit of colonizing France in Amer
ica, and his herculean efforts to rescue the colony
and reconstruct the broken fabric of his plans chal
lenge our absorption and admiration. No sooner
had he seen the fort and houses built than he began
his journey to the Mississippi. But the first attempt
was fruitless, and he had to return to his base, only
to get the crushing tidings that the "Belle" had been The last
lost, and all hope of succor and return was gone. **°™ £or
This ship was the gift of the king to La Salle, and gone
he treasured her highly. It is impossible to see how
he could have borne up under this terrible blow.
But he did bear up. Only in his increased severity
of disposition could his men see working the grief
of his soul. It was unfortunate that he could not
have become more gentle and suave and tolerant in
247

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
such bitter times. Such an attitude would have
greatly helped and cheered the colonists, but for
him that was impossible. If he had relaxed in the
slightest degree, he might have gone mad. It was
only by hiding his sorrow and preserving a stern
temper that he was able to keep up and not lose
his hold on himself and his overwhelming task.
Attempts to s0 he tried again to reach the Mississippi, but his
Mississippi party, after wretched weeks, were again forced to
return. Then La Salle fell ill, and it was not until
spring that he recovered enough to plan his next
journey. He decided not only to make his way to
the Mississippi, but to ascend it and thus reach
Canada again, and there secure help and send news
to France of the colony's awful plight. On April
22, 1686, the party set out for a long journey.
With La Salle went his brother Jean, the priest;
Moranget, his nephew; Anastase Douay, a friar,
and about twenty others. This is another story
of disaster and despair. They had troubles with
some of the Indians, but were well treated by the
Cenis, and remained with them for several weeks.
Then La Salle again fell ill, and for two months
lay prostrated while some of his men deserted, the
supplies and ammunition ran low with no hope
of replacing them. So again did La Salle turn back.
THE FINAL TRAGEDY
But 45 left By this time it was winter and a more pleasant
out of 180 seasonj £>ut tne coiony had suffered terribly from
the hand of Fate. Of the 180 colonists, but 45
remained. The annihilation of this proud expedi
tion was close at hand, although scarcely a hostile
hand had been raised against it, and the Spaniards,
248

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
whom it came to destroy, did not even know of its The last :
presence in Texas. The return of La Salle con-^'^'5
vinced all but himself that the doom of the colony uary, 1687
was sealed and that its last day was nigh. He
again fell ill, but by Twelfth Night he was able to
start on another expedition for Canada and France.
About twenty men, women, and children, including
the friar Membre, were left at Fort St. Louis, while
the strong arms went with La Salle. These were
Joutel, the priest Jean Cavelier, and the friar Douay,
Moranget and the boy Cavelier ( La Salle' s nephews ) ,
Duhaut, Liotot, the surgeon; Hiens (a German, once
a buccaneer), and others, to the total number of sev
enteen. Joutel, Cavelier, and Douay are the his
torians of this party, and while they do not always
agree, modern archivists construct a fairly accu
rate tale from their somewhat rambling narratives.
They tell of the day's doings, of the steady prog
ress northeast through both friendly and unfriendly
territory, through vast buffalo herds, and across
swamps and rivers. The Brazos was soon forded
and the Trinity reached. Here they were detained a mutinous
by rainy weather, and while waiting for the cold, spirit rising
wet days to pass, the barometer of the party's hopes
noticeably and menacingly fell. La Salle grew even
more reserved and distant, and a conspiracy against
him soon began to take form. Of the party, Duhaut
and Liotot were plainly malcontents. At the begin
ning, in France, they had invested heavily in the
expedition, and were now angry at its failure and
their loss. They had no confidence in La Salle, and
each thought himself a better leader. Joutel had
had trouble at the fort with Duhaut, who harshly
resented Joutel's reprimand. Moranget had quar-
249

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The leaders reled with both Duhaut and Liotot, and denounced
quarrel them roundly. At times like these all such bad
blood comes to a head, and there grew a spirit of
treason and anarchy in this little group of broken
men wandering in the vast prairies and deep woods
of the Southwest.
Crossing the Trinity when the weather cleared,
they soon came near a spot where La Salle had
hidden some vegetables. La Salle sent Duhaut,
Liotet, Hiens, Teissier, L'Archeveque, Nika, arid
Saget, La Salle's servant, to open this cache and
bring its contents into camp. When they opened
it they found the vegetables spoiled and worthless.
On their way back Nika shot a buffalo, and while
they were dressing the meat they sent Saget, the
servant, for horses to bring the meat to La Salle's
camp. La Salle sent back his nephew Moranget,
and De Marie with the horses. When they arrived
The foolish Moranget became involved with the others in a
Moranget dispute over the manner of preparing the meat, and
angrily seized all of it, including the parts reserved
by Duhaut and the others for themselves. It was
now too late to reach La Salle's camp before dark,
so, after more argument, they decided to remain on
that spot for the night. The fury of the foolish
young Moranget, the curses he heaped upon Duhaut
and the others, and his inexcusable action in seiz
ing the meat so embittered the men that they
The plot determined on vengeance. A plot, which they had
probably half outlined many times before, now
assumed definite shape in the darkness of the woods.
Moranget must die, and with him Saget and Nika.
These three were given the first watches, and after
each had relieved the other and lay asleep, every
250

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
other man in camp arose, and then began the con- Moranget,
summation of the plot whose consequences were to jjj^"' and
be far weightier than they dreamed. To Liotot, murdered
the surgeon, was given the honor of the murder.
One after another he struck with an ax. All wa^
over in a few moments, and scarcely a sound broke
the silence of the deep, peaceful forest.
Only six miles away slept La Salle and his
friends. He had expected the return of the men
that night. When another day passed, and another
night, he grew alarmed, and insisted on starting
out to seek them. Meanwhile the villains were
lost in perplexity. The murder of his nephew,
Moranget, would bring upon them the wrath of La La saiie
Salle, and this meant that their own lives must pay must
the penalty. The only way to save themselves lay
in killing La Salle. Only one of them, Hiens,
seems to have hesitated at this alternative, for he
had been treated well by his chief ; but at length he
was won over, and, knowing that the crisis must
soon come, they sat and waited.
It was a scene and a circumstance quite unlike The scene.
anything else in all history. The continent of North a0^fely e
America then was peopled with straggling settle- actors
ments along the Atlantic Coast, the St. Lawrence,
and the Great Lakes, while in the woods of the
Upper Mississippi and Ohio Valleys roamed a few
coureurs de bois. But aside from these, and the
little band dying at Fort St. Louis, on the Gulf,
these men in the woods of Texas, in camps six miles
apart, were the only white men in all North Amer
ica — the only Caucasians between the Spaniards
in the mines of Mexico, and the little band on
Starved Rock of the Illinois, almost two thou-
251

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
sand miles away. And these men, who had sailed
from France in great spirits and high state a year
before to drive the Spaniards out of North America,
after enduring the perils of sea and plains, now stood
in hostile camps, the one awaiting .the approach of
the leader of them all, to slay him ! The loneliness,
the misery, the irony of the picture!
La saiie Led by an Indian guide, and accompanied only
through by Douay, the friar, La Salle set out that morning.
the brain, Douay records that his chief's conversation was all
ar. 18,1687 t^e way Qn k0jy themes, and that in it was promi
nent a spirit of thanksgiving to God that his life
had been spared through so many perils. The walk
did not take long, and indeed the conspirators,
hearing his gun fired, advanced to meet him. When
he came in sight, however, they were all hidden
in the undergrowth, except L'Archeveque, the decoy.
La Salle asked him where Moranget was. The
fellow replied in a surly manner that he was some
where near. Angered at the man's insolence, La
Salle rushed forward to chastise him, a procedure
that, we fear, was only too often resorted to' by
La Salle in enforcing order and obedience. A shot
rang out from the bush, then another, and La Salle
fell dead, shot through the brain.
THE CAREER OF LA SALLE
What an end to such a career! It often baffles us
to account for the wisdom and justice of Providence
when we see man brought down by an animal, a horse,
or dog, or other brute. All the more should we
lament that it is possible for a great, heroic, and noble
figure to be slain by another man, so low in the scale^
and so despicable, as not fit to be classed with men.
252

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
That a few villains should be able, with a single The hope of
French
dominion

rifle shot, to take out of this world the one man Fl

with an empire in his brain, on whom' hung the
chances and hopes of French dominion in the New
World, seems to us inexplicable. Yet it was part,
undoubtedly, of its great destiny that this Amer
ica should not be under the rule of the Gallic
race. We shall see more clearly later why great
geniuses like Champlain, and Frontenac, and La
Salle, and Talon, and Montcalm could not lift their
people up to mastery and leadership in America,
but that the task should come to that race which is
better fitted for pioneering because in its average
and not in its heights it is great.
If is hardly necessary for me to sketch the char
acter of La Salle in this place. The reader has
drawn it himself, as he has gone through these
pages with me. I can hardly recall any man in
all history who in the forty-three years of his life
underwent so many hardships in pursuit of great
enterprises. True, these projects were visionary,
impracticable with the means he had in hand. He weakness
had not learned that soundest of business maxims of °f !?'!
training
the twentieth century : "Enter no undertaking with
out reserves." La Salle was never content to sit
and wait for his equipment to become adequate to
the task; he never had even enough for a start.
Undoubtedly he believed that the only way to make
any headway in his grand schemes was to take the
initiative, and to trust that the world and his king
would soon see from the progress that he made, the
vitality of his projects, and the necessity that they
be supported with all the kingdom's treasure and
men. But he never gained anything tangible, and
253

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
he could never point to one of his promises ful
filled. It is not a sufficient defense to cite his "bad
luck," the loss of the "Griffin," the Iroquois attack
on the Illinois, etc., etc. All these were probable,
and were within his fears. It was only when he
broached the wildest, most absurd scheme of all
that any royal support was given him, and then it
was, compared with the project, ridiculously in
adequate. And through this, more than through
any of the others, we see evidences of bad judg
ment. Hence we can see how his proudest expecta
tion should have ended in the greatest calamity.
La saiie's But his chief lack was his lack of tact. The man
rutemen'0 wfio can not rule men can not build an empire.
La Salle tried in America to drive men as he might
have driven them in the narrow, limited areas of
France. But on the broad fields of America, and
far away from the hold of king and soldier, men
would not be driven, chastised, and beaten. They
drew back and struck, and La Salle was their victim.
Yet what a great hero and splendid figure he
was! No pioneer of the New World was greater
Americans than he. And to him English-speaking America
^ehaim owes a deep debt of gratitude. He could not draw
France into the great, boundless fields of the
Mississippi Valley, but the story of his expeditions,
told in every corner of America, found in almost
every Anglo-Saxon heart a spring which responded,
awoke a love for exploration, a passion for the
frontier, a determination to go into and possess
the lands for whose conquest this great hero of
France wrought and died. Undoubtedly his story
was a powerful influence in stimulating the im
pulse toward frontier settlement, among the people
254

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
of the Atlantic seaboard, so that by the end of
the next century American colonists were work
ing with ax and shovel and gun, in those vast
regions, for the upbuilding of an Anglo-Saxon
nation, whose heart should be as it is to-day, in
those then dense -woods and great prairies of the
Mississippi Valley.
Thus Americans and Canadians owe La Salle aAcaiifor a
debt of gratitude which ought to have a tangible, testimonial
material sign. Aside from a Chicago street and a
county in Illinois, there is almost nothing to remind
the coming generations of his great name and great
deeds. Others far less deserving have been accorded
noble memorials. Why is he neglected? Let us
erect, somewhere in Montreal, or Quebec, at Fort
Frontenac, or in the great West, in Chicago, in St.
Louis, or at the delta of the Mississippi where
he planted the column and cross — let us erect some
symbol or statue that shall speak his name and fame
to all men who pass along.
THE FATE OF THE ASSASSINS
When La Salle fell, his murderers leaped forward
with cries of exultation, and heaped insults upon
his body, tearing off the clothes and dragging it
into the bushes. The poor friar, aghast at the awful
deed, stood silent until Duhaut assured him that he
would not be harmed. Then he turned away, and
at first walking slowly, then more rapidly, and at
last running, he rushed into the camp with such
telltale face that Cavelier exclaimed, "My poor "My poor
brother is dead!" Fast following him were the^,ris
conspirators. All the innocent expected to be killed,
but mercy prevailed, and all were spared. Duhaut
255

THE . TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
thus became La Salle's successor as leader of the
expedition.
a confused But an expedition whither? That was the upper-
and head- most qUestion now. After the first shock of the
less party /
assassination, Cavelier warned them that in killing
La Salle they had killed themselves, for he only
could get them out of the country. Joutel was ap
palled at the situation, but held his peace. Duhaut
at length decided to go to the village of the Cenis
Indians, who had befriended La Salle on his former
expedition. After a long journey they reached it,
and were cordially welcomed. Here were found
two Frenchmen, Router and Grollet, who had de
serted La Salle on a previous expedition, and had
already become savages.
The headless party remained there for several
weeks. In the mean while Joutel and his friends
were devising all sorts of means for escaping from
the companionship of the desperadoes. They tried
to secure Duhaut's consent to allow them to leave
and make their way to Canada alone. He did
agree to it at first, but afterward changed his mind,
and declared that all should go to Canada together.
Hiens was then away from the camp, but heard of
Duhaut's new scheme, and returned at once in high
dudgeon, accompanied by the two French outlaws,
Router and Grollet. No sooner had they reached
the camp than Hiens became involved in a quarrel
with Duhaut over the distribution of La Salle's
effects. Suddenly Hiens drew his revolver, and
Retribution shouting : "You are a scoundrel ! You killed my
swift to master," shot Duhaut dead. At the same moment
Router killed Liotot; and thus the two chief con
spirators met with retribution only a few weeks
256

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
after their horrible deed. The knaves fell out, with
the usual result. Joutel caught up his gun to de-The
fend himself, but Hiens told him not to be fright- „y£^y
ened, for they were only avenging La Salle's death
— a neat way for him to make amends for a crime
which, while he did not actively assist in commit
ting, he could have prevented by a resolute stand.
Joutel tells how the Indians, who saw this affray,
were amazed at it and marveled that white men
should seek the woods of a strange land in order
to settle their mortal quarrels. The Cenis were long
in seeing another white party: probably it was al
most a century before the curiosity of the descend
ants of these Indians was satisfied.
Hiens, while determined not to run the risk him- The return
self of returning to Canada, consented to allow the ?f tne ,
° ' innocent
others to go', stipulating only that he receive from
Cavelier, the priest, a written statement that he had
had no hand in the slaying of La Salle. The priest
did not hesitate, but gave him at once a clean bill of
conduct. Then Hiens bade them an effusive good-
by, after presenting to them many of La Salle's
effects, and they started on that long trip to Starved
Rock and civilization.
It was now June, and, by the aid of the Indians, cordiality
they pushed forward rapidly. At times they were *j^^T
embarrassed by the attentions they received from
the aborigines. Particularly was this so in the case
of Cavelier, who, as La Salle's brother, they re
garded as the leader of the expedition, and wives
were urged upon him in a way that shocked the
timid priest. On one occasion all the Frenchmen
had their faces washed in warm water by an old
chief, as a token of respect, and were placed on a
257

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
rude cane rostrum and there compelled to listen
for four mortal hours to speeches of welcome in
a tongue that was wholly foreign to them. After
two months' wandering, they came to the Arkansas
just before it flows into the Mississippi, and saw
an Indian town on the opposite bank. In it, to
their great joy, they discovered a wooden cross,
adjacent to which was plainly a white maris house.
Two of Their shouts brought out two white men, who at
I^'JILh once sent canoes across the river for them. These
men found two men were Couture and De Launay. They were
from Starved Rock, and had been left there by
Tonty on an expedition which he sent out to join
La Salle and rescue his party. After being rein
stated at Fort St. Louis by order of the king, Tonty
had heard of La Salle's new project, and later there
came the baneful tidings brought to France by Beau
jeu, the captain of the "Joly," of the sad beginnings
of the colony. At once Tonty set out to find that
colony. He went first to the delta of the Missis
sippi, and searched a hundred miles or more along
the coast east and west of the delta. At length com
pelled to return, he left with singular foresight six
men on the Arkansas, to succor any of the colonists
who might come that way.
This was the company the wandering Frenchmen
found. To them the story of La Salle's death was
told, but not to the Indians, who in La Salle's name
welcomed them with a feast, a dance, and other
joyful ceremonies most tiresome to them because of
their interminable length and enigmatical signifi-
The cance. At length, refreshed in body and mind, Joutel
reached'PPI anc^ ^is P3^ kft tne town on August i, and soon
August i reached the Mississippi. They make no reference in
258

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
their journals to Fort Prudhomme, which La Salle The Illinois
, react
'last

built on the Chickasaw Bluffs, so it is likely that this feached at

little rescue home had been torn down or at least
abandoned. On September i they passed the mouth
of the Missouri, and on the 14th of that month they
at last saw, to their overwhelming delight, Fort St.
Louis on the Illinois. They were saluted by gunfire
from the fort, and a cordial welcome awaited them.
Tonty was absent, fighting the Iroquois, but his
associates made them at home and bade them tell
the story of their wanderings.
Here occurred a thing inexplicable as an act of LaSaiie-s
honest men. Cavelier had been "thinking it over" co^ceaied
on that long journey from the Arkansas to the Illi
nois, and had devised a scheme of falsification, con
cealing from all he might meet the news of his
brother's death and asserting that he would come
late in the fall. Tonty on his return ought to' have
seen through this scheme and unmasked the con
spirators, but he probably did not dream that La
Salle's brother, a priest, would be guilty of such
deception. The reason for this lie may be seen in
Cavelier' s demand in La Salle's name on Tonty for
a large quantity of furs, a canoe, and other goods,
and they were given him. Why Joutel should have
assisted in this lie can not be understood. He ap
pears to have received no financial benefit from it,
and must have deferred to Cavelier's judgment out
of respect to his dead friend's brother. At any rate
the deception was not discovered by any one at Fort
St. Louis, and after spending the winter with
Tonty the whole party started for Canada in March
by way of Michilimackinac, reaching Montreal on Quebec and
July 17. After refitting there they went to Quebec, France
2S9

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
and thence in August sailed for France. Arrived
there, they told the true story, which horrified Eu
rope, and Canada still more when late that fall the
news was brought back.
THE RUIN OF THE TEXAS COLONY
Tonty's Tonty had, however, learned the truth almost as
attem t soon as France, for in September Couture came up
at rescue to the Illinois from the Arkansas. At once Tonty's
mind was excited by the prospect of rescuing the
miserable colonists left starving and sick in Texas.
While he was preparing for this expedition he re
ceived a letter from the governor informing him
that France had declared war against Spain. This
gave him a new idea, that of combining his rescue
expedition with an attack upon the Spaniards in
Mexico. In the latter project Couture assured him
he could receive help from the Indians of the South
west, who had a long-standing grudge against the
Spaniards. So he set out in December with five
Frenchmen and three Indians. He reached the Ar
kansas in March, and was preparing to go onward
Tonty-s when his men refused to advance farther. Lack of
confidence in a leader, it will be observed, seemed
to be characteristic of Frenchmen. The only good
feature of this trait is that sometimes the leader or
his project is not worth following. Such lack of
confidence, curiously enough, is in the same people
apparently not at all inconsistent with hero worship
and idolatry when some sweeping, dashing figure
like Napoleon arises. Tonty's scheme was, without
doubt, quixotic, and his men were justified in refus
ing to go on; but we can only lament that we may
not read to-day a story of the march of French and
260

men balk

LA SALLE'S GRAND PROJECT
Indians into the land of the Mexicans, and a fierce mens
battle about the temples of the Aztecs. But Tonty ™e"^e ¦
pushed on, nevertheless, as he heard that Hiens was
near with some Indians. On reaching their village
he could secure no information as to the buccaneer,
but the wailing of the squaws when his name was
mentioned told as plainly as words that the braves
had put him to death. Thus perished ignobly an
other of the band that murdered La Salle. Tonty
was now compelled to return, and the glorious ex
pedition of rescue and conquest thus failed.
Meanwhile King Louis had refused to send a re
lief expedition to Texas, and even the Spanish war
ships, hearing of the settlement, were unable to find
it to destroy after a diligent search along the coast,
so far inland was it. At last, in 1689, an order
came from the Spanish viceroy, Galve, to find and
destroy the colony, and a force under Alonzo de
Leon set out from Coahuila, across the Rio Grande,
for Fort St. Louis. It was only three hundred miles
distant. When they reached it they found nothing The
but desolation and confusion. Three bodies, one a sPaniards
too late
woman's, lay on the prairie near by. The Indians
who came to the spot would tell them nothing, but
L'Archeveque, the decoy to La Salle, and Grollet,
who were with the Indians, at length told the
Spaniards how the Indians had suddenly attacked
the fort and butchered the inhabitants. These two
Frenchmen were promised immunity if they would
tell what they knew, but the promise was broken,
and they were taken back to Spain and thrown into
prison. Some of the colony captured by the Indians
were given up. One was imprisoned at Vera Cruz.
Pierre and Jean Talon, two brothers, were com-
261

What
becameof the
survivors

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
pelled to join the Spanish navy, but the warship
they were on was captured by the French, and they
at last got their liberty and returned to La Belle
France. What became of the others is not surely
known. It is marvelous and a tribute to the inde
fatigable labors of French historians, the most pa
tient and tireless in the world, that we have been
able to trace this story out to these extreme details.
I have gone into it thus fully, bewitched by its fas
cination to give it more space than, perhaps, its im
portance justifies, but hoping that the reader will
have been caught with the same spell and will have
followed the recital as eagerly to its close.

262

CHAPTER XV
THE QUARRELS OF FRONTENAC AND HIS RECALL
WE shall now once again leave the frontier and The un-
the woods with all the charm such a life and^tp^st
such a story imply, and return to the court region Canada
of Canada — the court so envied by the mere citizens
of New France, but which was indeed the unhap-
piest spot in the whole country. In following La
Salle's history we have seen how he was aided and
encouraged by Count Frontenac, the new governor.
We have seen how the latter got a grip on the
Indians and so secured their respect and inspired
their fear that his administration was a guaranty of
peace. It was on his return from his famous visit
to the Iroquois, preceding the erection of Fort Fron
tenac, that the first serious quarrel of his Canadian
career began. It is a petty incident, yet it must
be known to appreciate the many quarrels that
followed. Frontenac found at Montreal as governor one Perrot,
Perrot, a relative of Talon by marriage. Perrot f^™^ of
was a forehanded fellow, arid well understood the
game of graft, which seems to be not as modern as
pessimists of to-day think. He thought the gov
ernor at Quebec was making too much money out
of the fur trade, and determined to dam the stream
that flowed past Montreal to Quebec. This he did
263

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
a rich idea by building a storehouse near Montreal and placing
one of his own men in charge. The scheme was a
success. The Indians were glad to save themselves
the long journey to Quebec, and so Perrot waxed
rich. Of course, in that day of official debauchery,
when so great a man as Frontenac did not consider
it beneath the governor to profit by trade alliances,
Perrot did nothing very unusual or degrading. But
he soon introduced into the conduct of business
some of the methods of later-day American land-
offices. He advised his own soldiers to desert and
Graft escape to the woods, there as coureurs de bois to
inthe trade with the Indians in their own country, and
seven- J '
teemh share their gains with him. Naturally these fel-
century ]ows, being under the wing of the governor of
Montreal, felt very free in their movements and
actions, and committed sundry outrages on the in
habitants. When the judge of Montreal and promi
nent residents came to Perrot and complained of
these coureurs de bois, Perrot abused the citizens
and clapped the judge into prison. These things
at length came to Frontenac's ear, and a long contest
Perrot and began. Perrot defied Frontenac's authority, and ar-
quarreinaC rested his representatives sent to Montreal to cap
ture the offending coureurs de bois. All Montreal
was excited, and among those who took Perrot's
part was an Abbe Fenelon of Montreal, half-brother
of the famous author. He stormed against Fron
tenac in the pulpit and accompanied Perrot to Que
bec to present his case to Frontenac. The latter,
amazed by Perrot's impudence, promptly put him
in jail and sent La Nouguere to take command at
Montreal. The new governor proceeded with vigor.
He captured the two ruffians who had caused the
264

THE QUARRELS OF FRONTENAC
complaints and sent them to Quebec, where one was Perrot and
publicly hanged. The rest of the coureurs de bois, banished0
who were regarded in French law as outlaws, and from
whose arrest was ordered by the king, were soonCanada
driven out of Montreal. The quarrels between Per
rot and Fenelon on the one hand and Frontenac on
the other continued until the two former were at
length ordered to return to France and were never
allowed again in Canada.
All such contests, as any politician knows, are
expensive. Frontenac won, but it cost him heavily
in the loss of the king's favor. The letters sent to
Frontenac by the king and by Colbert were usually
in approval of his conduct, but there were often
warnings in them which he would have been wise
to heed. Colbert at length flatly and specifically
ordered him not to trade in furs, but to attend
strictly to the administration of the colony. He
also placed the power of appointing the colonial
council in the hands of the king, and thus took
away a large source of Frontenac's strength. But,
most serious of all, he revived the office of intendant,
and Duchesneau was ordered to Canada to fill it.
This clearly cut Frontenac's authority in two. Un- The
doubtedly Frontenac would continue the dominant ™t^anl
personality, but the office of intendant gave an am- governor
bitious and able man a chance to rival the governor
or even efface him, as Talon did Courcelles. All
sorts of wrangling ensued soon after Duchesneau's
arrival, mainly over petty questions of precedence.
In these and other little disputes, Laval, who had
been pretty quiet for some years, joined with Duches
neau against the governor, and this alliance, although
Colbert warned the intendant against it, became a
Canada — 12 265 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Frontenac regular feature of court life in Quebec. There were
uiarage wranglings at the council meetings that lasted for
days, in which Frontenac flew into a rage and foamed
at the mouth. Personal encounters were not infre
quent. The result of all this was that king and
minister were swamped with letters from governor
and intendant until they cried for peace. They ex
horted and warned both Frontenac and Duchesneau,
and those worthies replied by heaping up charges
against each other. Most of these charges refer to
the fur trade, in which both seem equally involved.
In 1681 Seignelay, Colbert's son, took charge of the
Department of the Colonies, and thus had to bear
his father's burden. He did it for a year, when,
the stream of criminations not diminishing and
Both even increasing in volume, he determined to recall
recalled j^jj men gQ jfl ^g Sprjng 0f 1 682 Frontenac and
Duchesneau returned to France. Of the latter we
shall hear no more.
CANADA UNDER BARRE AND DENONVILLE
a lawyer The king appointed as Frontenac's successor La
bea°glnerai Felve de la Barre, a queer old fellow without abil
ities of a high order, but possessed, as we shall see,
of an enormous amount of egotism and bombast.
He had been a lawyer most of his life, hence he
was especially proud of his record as soldier, and
insisted upon being called Monsieur le general in
stead of Monsieur le gouverneur. He had led in
a successful campaign against the English in the
West Indies, and was supposed to be especially well
qualified for the post in Canada. When he and the
intendant Meules landed at Quebec they found a
most calamitous condition of affairs, for the great
266

THE QUARRELS OF FRONTENAC
fire of 1682 had laid waste the city, consuming more The great
property in value than was left in all Canada. fire oi l682
The first problem which presented itself to La
Barre was the old one of the Iroquois. He
undertook several expeditions against them, but all
ended in total failure. All this time, of course, the
nominal peace first established by Tracy and con
firmed by Frontenac was not broken, but there were
dozens of casus belli, and it was desired to bring all
these sources of quarrel to a clearing-house, clean
them up, and start all over again. One conference
with the Iroquois was held, but the treaty then
made gave them everything, and also abandoned to
their rapacity the Illinois, to whom La Salle had
guaranteed protection. It is unnecessary to follow
La Barre into all his record of bombast. Pretending
to be pious, and asking for a high salary since he,
unlike the governors that preceded him, must live
on his pay, he began at once to form trading alli
ances, and secured in his brief stay a quite neat re
ward of graft. He and the intendant, of course, La Barre is
quarreled, and after they had served but two years recalled
they were recalled.
It was during the stormy times in Canada that Lavai
the episcopate of Laval came to an end. He re- g^" and
signed in 1685, partly because of ill health and partly vaiiier
because of friction with Rome over Jansenism and {Jj^™
with the king over civil affairs. His successor was
Saint- Vaiiier, who was selected by him, but with
whom he quarreled over the control of the
seminary at Quebec and on other subjects. Laval
was in France when he resigned, and was forbidden
by the king to return to Canada because of the dis
sensions he would stir up. Three years later, how-
267

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
ever, he was allowed to return, and he remained
in Canada until his death in 1708, for he lived to
Lavai, the a great old age, longer indeed in retirement in Can-
bishop ada than as bishop- Saint- Vaiiier was a man in
temper like Laval, but not nearly so great. On a
voyage from Canada bound to France in 1700 he
was captured by the English and was compelled to
remain a prisoner in England until 1710. During
those ten years Canada seemed somehow to get
along without a bishop. Laval is still to-day re
garded as the great bishop of Canada's history,
and the pious guide at the Quebec Seminary shows
with pride the coffin in which he was buried. A
fair estimate on his career and character is difficult,
but of his ability, energy, and devotion to New
France and the Church there is no doubt.
Denonviiie The Marquis de Denonville, who succeeded La
La Bam Barre, was a decided improvement. He rally made
some headway in the inevitable and unending ma-
neuvring with the Iroquois. He had been a colonel
of dragoons, and was reputed to be as pious as his
predecessor. Had he possessed some of the guile
of Frontenac, the colony would have fared much
better. He was energetic, and had he not failed at
a supreme crisis he might have left a good record.
The task before him was a frightful one. The Iro
quois, human devils that they were, could not be
satisfied merely with trade and hunting and even
rum, with which they were abundantly supplied by
The English and French alike. They thirsted for blood.
w^gadflies They wanted dominion, and only by war could they
get it. Without war they would fight among them
selves. They were also conniving, with the aid of
the English, to get control of the Hurons about
268

THE QUARRELS OF FRONTENAC
Michilimackinac. The insolence of this attempt, Effort to
which of course carried with it the transfer of the HuronVhe
trade of these Hurons to the English, was astound
ing. Here was a frontier post which the French
had founded, and defended and kept alive — a plant
that literally they had watered with their blood —
this post was asked to desert its savior in favor of
his enemy. And there is abundant evidence, grow
ing stronger, as later we shall see, that many of
these Hurons were really ready to go, preferring
English goods.
The head and front of the English offending and Denonviiie
conspiracies was Governor Dongan of New York. ™* ' |^
This wily ruler kept up a busy intrigue with the governor
Iroquois, and while perhaps not inciting them to
war, stopped just short of it. Denonville knew of
these things through scouts and stray bands of In
dians, but chiefly through Father Lamberville, who
conducted the Jesuit mission among them. From
the very first Denonville saw the proper remedy —
troops — and for them he asked the king again and
again. Only by force and a display of force could
these miscreants and murderers be kept in check.
It was not until Tracy marched with a great force
of soldiers into their country that the Iroquois were
dominated, and when they again became restive it
was Frontenac's display of force that brought them
to terms. But Denonville pleaded in vain. Only
eight hundred men were sent over from France.
Meanwhile Denonville had correspondence with
Dongan, which to-day is rich reading. These twoAUveiy
governors made battledore and shuttlecock of the ^dence
Iroquois issue back and forth for years. The En
glish governor was at first all courtesy, deference —
269

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
and mendacity. It was then that he wrote in French.
But later, when he got angry, he wrote in bad but
expressive English. Denonville had hoped to be
able to live on good terms with him, because he
also was a Catholic, but the English governor's
religion did not apparently weaken his loyalty to
Albion. It became evident that the only way by
To stop which the French could hold the commerce of the
tradersellSh uPPer lakes was to keep out the English traders.
One such expedition, under a Dutchman named
Rooseboom, went up there in 1685 and did a thriv
ing business with the savages, who cordially urged
him to come again and often. "They like," wrote
Denonville to the king, "our manners better, but
they like still better the cheap English goods." A
second expedition was to set out the next year
under Rooseboom, and Denonville made up his
mind to stop it. He sent Du Lhut, with coureurs
de bois from Michilimackinac, to take a stand and
erect fortifications at Detroit, and prevent the party
from proceeding farther. But to make assurance
doubly sure he determined to fall upon the Senecas,
with whom the English trading party was spending
the winter, and strike them a blow which should
never be forgotten.
Denon- The expedition was secretly planned. Pretending
treacherous that he wished to hold a conference with the Iro-
act at Fort qUOis at Fort Frontenac, Denonville led to this con
ference 800 regulars and 1,200 French militia, leav
ing the other 800 regulars, who had just arrived
from France, at Montreal to guard the settlements.
But before they all arrived he had executed as neat
a piece of strategy as ever Spain could boast of in
Cuba. His officers at Fort Frontenac extended its
270

THE QUARRELS OF FRONTENAC
courtesies to all the Iroquois living or fishing nearby. Indians
seized a
tortured

Some of them, to the number of fifty-one, accepted. se

They really belonged to neutral villages, the Sul
pitians had a mission among them, and they hunted
and fished for the garrison. Once inside the fort,
these unsuspecting Indians, were seized and detained.
So far so good. It was perfectly justifiable to hold
these Iroquois and prevent them from sending word
to their brethren of the coming of the great French
force. It was a sort of concentration camp, and,
unfortunately, it was like the Spanish concentration
camps of Cuba in 1897. Indeed, it was even worse,
for Weyler merely let the people so captured starve,
while these French and their Christian savages em
ployed their leisure in torturing those poor wretches
who had been friends to them. Each one was tied
to a stake and tortured by the delicate French and
their allies. It is impossible in this age to under
stand such barbarous cruelty. One of the Iro- one escaped
quois leaped from a window of the fort, escaped, ^^
and took the news to the Senecas. Meanwhile the
Jesuit Lamberville was as innocent as a babe not
only of this cruelty but of the whole campaign.
When this news reached the camp where he was
ministering, he was in despair and expected instant
death, but so fine a fame for holiness and truthful
ness had he achieved among them that they unhesi
tatingly believed him when he denied all knowledge
of the campaign. Yet it was unsafe for him to re
main, the chiefs told him, after the young men's
fighting blood was up, so he was urged to leave the
camp at once. He did so, and joined the French at
Fort Frontenac to Denonville's great relief. All the
signs were auspicious for the French. Denonville
271

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
had there two thousand fighters — regulars, militia,
and Indians, and help was coming from an unex
pected source.
Tonty The previous autumn he had ordered Tonty on
again ^he Illinois to join him with as many men as he
appears J J
could get. Tonty went to work with a will, and
assembled sixteen Frenchmen and two hundred In
dians. These he brought early in the summer to
Detroit. Thither he found that La Durantaya, the
commander at Michilimackinac, had also brought a
great number of French and Indians, who had been
got together by the united labors of Jesuits, soldiers,
and coureurs de bois, working over a vast region.
The Indians were most uncertain in mood, quite as
ready to fight for English as for French. While
all were waiting at Detroit, and the warwhoops of
the various nations were resounding through the
a happy still air, just at the moment when something was
stroke needed to turn the fickle warriors to one side or
for the .
French the other, that something happened in favor of the
French. Rooseboom appeared, bound for Michili
mackinac with his goods. He had left the Seneca
camp before the news of Denonville's march reached
it. At once the French sallied out to meet him,
and, in the face of overwhelming numbers, all the
Dutchman could do was to surrender gracefully.
Thus an enormous amount of supplies came into the
hands of the French just when they needed them,
an enemy was removed from their path, and the
loyalty of the Indians was confirmed. From that
time there was no trouble in getting the Indians
to go on to Niagara. Indians, as we have often
seen, like a great many Anglo-Saxons, dearly love
a fighting man, and also like to be with the win-
272

THE QUARRELS OF FRONTENAC
ning side. So they went gladly and madly with Another
Du Lhut. On the way to Niagara, as good luckE°r^ish
would have it, they ran across another English captured
trading expedition led by one McGregory, and
gobbled up him and his goods and prisoners. It
was a rich haul.
THE EXPEDITION AGAINST THE IROQUOIS
When they arrived at Niagara they were told to
rendezvous at Irondequoit Bay, Lake Ontario, at
the mouth of what is now the Genesee River. De
nonville had already preceded them. What a poly
glot and motley collection of humanity it was that
gathered about and on the shores of that lake!
French regulars, Canadian militia, coureurs de bois,
Christian Indians, pagan Indians, and camp-follow
ers of every sort. They spoke divers tongues, and
they held one another in mutual disdain. Almost
any army without a battle soon degenerates into a
mob. This army was a mob all the time. The Sene- An army
cas were not long in ignorance of their presence and !j jj™
intentions, and although the braves of the Senecas
were absent on a hunting expedition, the remnant
acted with great wisdom and caution. They took
the radical step of burning their chief town after
they had hidden their best goods, and had hurried
the women and children off farther into the forest.
They had not long to wait for Denonville. On he
came that hot July day, leading his men and march
ing in his shirt. The various nations with him were
incapable of surprising any enemy unless he were
blind and deaf, for they took no pains to conceal
themselves, and whooped in every savage tongue
as they marched along. 273

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The French Of course there was the usual ambush (near
ambushed the present viliage of Victor, N. Y.), and at first
the Senecas had all the advantage, while the French
and their allies were thrown into utter confusion,
and many of them tried to get away. But Denon
ville acted with great coolness and restored order
in a few minutes. The columns were re-formed, the
other troops came up, and in a short time the Sene
cas, overwhelmed by numbers, fled in dismay. And
that was the only conflict the French had with them.
Denonville, like many another general, did not pur
sue the enemy, as he ought to have done. Undoubt
edly he was acting through experience and discretion
in dreading a chase of the nimble Senecas into their
own fastnesses, but his failure to annihilate them
cost him dear at a later time, just as did his treach
ery at Fort Frontenac. Five or six of his men were
killed and twenty wounded. The Seneca loss was
much heavier.
a fiasco Imagine Denonville' s chagrin when the next day
and a he came to the Seneca town and found it in ashes.
s There was no enemy to fight, no buildings to de
stroy. The French did find some hogs and large
quantities of growing and stored corn, and three
small Indian villages gave their appetites for plun
der something upon which to feast. After ten days
they withdrew, on July 24, to Irondequoit Bay, and
there-built a fort. At Niagara they built another fort.
It was not long before Denonville started back to
Montreal and Quebec, and began his despatches to
France, telling of the glorious result of his cam
paign. In reality it was almost a failure. The
Senecas were not seriously damaged, but their
hatred was increased, and the affair seemed to
274

THE QUARRELS OF FRONTENAC
infuriate the other tribes of the Confederation. It Dongan
was one of those incomplete jobs whose comple- *coids V"
r j r Iroquois
tion distinguishes the statesman or soldier from
the amateur and neophyte. Dongan, the governor
of New York, was appropriately enraged at the
invasion of a friendly country in time of peace;
he wrote countless letters to Denonville in bad En
glish and worse orthography, and, what was more
important, he summoned the Iroquois to council.
There he scolded them for ever having any inter
course with the French, and told them never to do
so again. He promised them help if they would
always be hostile to the French, and then, having
incited them to bloody deeds, the good man retired
to New York in righteous satisfaction.
In his letters to Denonville, Dongan demanded
the return of Rooseboom's and McGregory's parties,
and defended himself against the too easily proved
charge that he had the year before supplied the
Iroquois with arms and ammunition. Denonville
soon lost his defiant mood and was only too glad
to sue for peace. In spite of his victorious cam
paign, he found the colonies harassed by the Iro- Denonviiie
quois more than ever before, and the fur trade *"°"ghly
with the upper lakes checked almost entirely. He
got a momentary relief in hearing from' France
that Dongan had been recalled, and he hoped that
his successor would be less aggressive. His hope
was vain. Dongan was recalled but promoted as
a reward for his militant prowess, and Sir Edmund
Andros became his successor, and a sort of viceroy
of the English New World. Andros did not
abandon the aggressive ways of Dongan, but
pressed them even more energetically. He de-
275

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Humiiu- manded the return of the English prisoners cap-
iiODfor.„ tured by the French during Denonville' s expedition
Denonville J ° r ,
against the Senecas, and after many letters the
French governor was compelled to accede. It was
a bitter pill, but the condition of the French had
been growing steadily more and more desperate.
The Iroquois were now bound by no treaty, and
lay in wait for all French settlers so that up the
river from Montreal safety lay only within the
stockades. Denonville had 1,400 French regulars,
and ought to have made this force effective. But,
frightened by the Iroquois and beset by the English,
he constantly asked his superiors for more troops.
It was an impolitic thing for him to do at that time.
The king was just them practising economy ; further
more he was becoming bored by Canada. He had
spent far too much money there already. It was
time Canada did something to show what the king's
money had been spent for.
The Rat" Left to rely upon his own resources, Denonville
decided, since he could not use force, to try diplo
macy. So he got a few friendly Iroquois to be
gin negotiations with their brethren to bring about
an understanding. Things were progressing pretty
well toward a meeting of Iroquois and Denonville
— indeed Big Mouth, one of their chieftains, had
already signed a declaration of neutrality and
was arranging for the meeting — when there stepped
into the game a little Huron chief /called "the
Rat," whose real name was Kondiaronk. He
was as bloodthirsty as any Iroquois, and loved
a fight as dearly as an Irishman. So when that
summer he came down from Michilimackinac
for the innocent purpose of exterminating as
276

as a
diplomat

THE QUARRELS OF FRONTENAC
many Iroquois as he could find, his feelings
were hurt on learning at Fort Frontenac that a peace
conference was brewing. Peace was clearly not in "Th<= Rat"
his line, and he made up his mind that this peace pea°eS
conference should be for a long time overdue. So
he cleverly lay in wait for the envoys from the
Iroquois. These he did not really find, but he
attacked the advance guard of the envoys, well-
known chiefs and warriors. One of these chiefs
was killed, others were wounded and captured.
But the captives wailed : "We are envoys of peace."
"Impossible!" cried the Rat; "why, Onontio told
me that an Iroquois war party was to pass this
way, and I acted on his suggestion and lay in wait
for it. What a perfidious wretch !" On and on he
stormed, amazement changing into indignation,
indignation to sorrow. At last in heart-broken
tones he exclaimed: "Go home to your people. I
am so shocked by this treachery of Onontio that
I shall never rest until you take vengeance upon
him!" A cleverer bit of acting was never per
formed in the woods of North America, where
dissimulation and part-taking were carried into
real life far beyond the possible limits of moderns
who have been driven by a frank ancestry to say
what they mean, and who lie very badly. The Rat
was satisfied that he had done a good job, and re
marked complacently : "I have killed the peace." "J nave
He had. One Iroquois who escaped went to Fortp^ce" e
Frontenac and told the true story, and was given an
escort to return to the capital of the Senecas, Onon
daga. The braves there seemed to believe him, and
Denonville thought the affair had blown over. But
these Iroquois were like Bourbons — they never for-
277

bide their
time

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
got or forgave an injury. The plain, bold treachery
of Denonville at Fort Frontenac the year before
rendered them very prone to believe any tale of evil
iroquois conduct by him that they might hear. Meanwhile
they kept him on the ragged edge, neither going
into conference with him nor refusing to do so.
At length in August, 1689, almost exactly two years
after Denonville's attack upon the Senecas, his long
suspense was over. The Iroquois threw aside the
mask and showed their horrid faces.
THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE
There is a little village on the St. Lawrence, just
above Montreal, called Lachine. It was there that
La Salle had his seigniory and it got its name from
the old belief that just beyond it lay China. In
1689 it was a thriving, pleasant place, as it is to
day. So close to Montreal and having three forts
with a camp of regulars not far away, the inhabit
ants of the town did not dream of the calamity
that was to blast it. On the night of a furious hail
storm, such as that region often sees even to-day,
about 1,500 Iroquois braves crept noiselessly into
Two the sleeping town, butchered its people and burned
hundred their homes. Two hundred perished. It was the
massacred . r
most horrible massacre in all Canadian history.
As luck would have it, Subercase, commander of
the regulars, was visiting Denonville, who had just
arrived at Montreal. Although the troops were
aroused at four o'clock by shots from the fort, it
was nearly noon before Subercase returned from
Montreal and took command. He was about to
set out in pursuit of the red devils when the usual
fool appeared. In this case it was the Chevalier de
278

THE QUARRELS OF FRONTENAC

Vaudreuil, who came with orders from Denonville caution
to run no risks. This name Vaudreuil we shall thatcost
much
unpleasantly hear only too often in subsequent
years. Savages have only contempt for a foe who
will not avenge an attack. Denonville knew this,
but in the agony and excitement of the moment he
lost his head. And so the troops were compelled
to remain idle when an attack at that moment by
them on the savages, besotted with liquor, would
have wiped out the entire band. The next day
they had sobered up, and cut off a small detachment
of eighty soldiers on the way to join Vaudreuil.
They kept up the bloody work all about Montreal
for months, while the town was paralyzed with fear, impudence
Having sated their thirst for blood, the warriors incarnate
in October took their leave, carrying over one hun
dred captives. On leaving they had the audacity
to file in canoes past the forts of Montreal in plain
view of the town, shouting: "You deceived us,
Onontio, and now we have deceived you." Thus
Fort Frontenac's horror was avenged.

— Id—

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279
CHAPTER XVI
THE RETURN OF FRONTENAC
Frontenac t jr au jjjg, other blunders had not condemned him
viiiX ¦*¦ in the sight of the king, the massacre of Lachine
successor wouid have proved the undoing of Denonville. But
the king had already had enough of him, and just
about the time the Iroquois were mocking him at
Montreal, Denonville's successor arrived at Quebec
in 1689. Who was he? None other than the wise,
valiant, arid headstrong Frontenac. Things had been
going on badly for New France ever since his
recall, and the king summoned him on his own
volition, and told him that he was satisfied that his
conduct in Canada had been misrepresented to him
and he was willing to trust him again. Frontenac
had been in France all the time since his recall,
seven years, and while his age, seventy, made this
post at Quebec a heavy task, he was glad to become
active again, to patch up mistakes, to exult in
achievements.
How The first problem before him was an item of un-
w^°re- e finished business left by Denonville's regime. Cal-
caiied Heres, governor of Montreal, was a warm partizan
of Denonville's, and he had gone to France in the
fall of 1688 to beg for more troops. The king pon
dered over the matter all winter, but could reach
no decision. The more Callieres dilated upon the
280

THE RETURN OF FRONTENAC
desperate condition of Canada's affairs the more a French
thoughtful grew the king. At length he announced capture'0
that, since matters had grown so bad, it was ap- New York
parent that a new governor was the thing most
needed, a man who could take a masterly grip on
affairs. It was then that he sent for Frontenac.
But Callieres, in hunting for means to fortify his
own position and Denonville's, had at length come
to see that his plea for more troops was of no avail,
and now he hit upon another scheme, one of those
grand, spectacular projects which so appealed to
the French imagination. And this only remained
in the king's mind of all that Callieres had urged
upon him. The scheme was in brief merely — to
capture New York and Albany. There were only
about one hundred soldiers at Albany and four hun
dred at New York. With the aid of the troops in
Canada, two men-of-war operating in New York
Harbor could take the city and province in a very
short time. How the French were ever to hold this
country was a detail the king failed to fill in. At
any rate the scheme was approved, and Frontenac
was directed to carry it into effect. What that saga
cious old brain thought of it we can well imagine,
but he entered into it as well as he could. We shall
not follow all the details of this scheme. It was
magnificent, but it was not war; and, what was
luckier for the French, it was not really tested.
There was delay in sending out the ships and delay Delay and
in every other detail. So that by the time Fron- abandon-
J J ment
tenac reached Quebec it was October, and the im
possibility of carrying out the scheme that winter
was apparent to all. It is only necessary to show
that the king's plan for subduing the English
281

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
inhuman people was inhuman and unworthy of a civilized
French tbe Power- All lands except those of Catholics were
king to be confiscated and given to French soldiers.
After enough English laborers and mechanics had
been put in prison in order to have them available
for needed work, the remainder of the English set
tlers were to be distributed about in New England,
Pennsylvania, and other colonies.
TRYING TO SAVE NEW FRANCE
The coming of Frontenac to New France was "like
a sovereign cordial to the dying." As I have said
before and shall say again, New France was no
coherent unit, independent and stanch. It was
dependent upon individuals. It needed leadership.
There could be no general movement of the masses ;
they must cling to some one above them for prog
ress and strength. Only a great figure like Fron
tenac could save New France. When he came, it
Quebec leaped from utter despair to highest hope. The
people of Quebec received him with a torchlight
procession, and even the Jesuits told him how glad
they were to see him back. He remained there only
a day or so; then went at once to Montreal, where
Denonville, impotent, awaited him. He then learned
what tried his temper, not too even, to the utmost.
Denonville had ordered Fort Frontenac to be de
stroyed, to prevent its falling into the hands of
the Iroquois. That was one of the useless and
frantic things Denonville did after the massacre
of Lachine, which we must remember had taken
place while Frontenac was on the sea bound for
America. Frontenac's first task obviously was to treat with
282

honors Frontenac

THE RETURN OF FRONTENAC
the Iroquois, win them from their friendship with Frontenac
the English, and at least make them neutral if not ^ d^'°"
amicable. It was practically an impossible thing to fails
do. Denonville had spoiled all that. But Fronte
nac came to know a Cayuga chief, Ourehaoue, who
had been taken prisoner and carried off to France,
and under Denonville's pledge was being brought
back to Canada on the same ship with Frontenac.
He won the chief's good-will, and he promised to
aid in restoring peaceful relations. He did send
a message to Onondaga, telling the Senecas that
they were foolish and ought to become Onontio's
friends. This message resulted in a grave council,
but also in a complete defeat of Frontenac's scheme.
Worse than this, it acted as a boomerang. This
came in the appeal of the tribes of the Upper Lakes (
for a coalition with the English and the Iroquois.
The same Indians who had been dragooned into
serving with the French in the attack upon the
Senecas were now so disgusted with the French
because of the Lachine massacre that they sought
an alliance with their enemies. And it was there
concluded. This was a stinging blow to French prestige and The Huron
pride. The lake region had been discovered andc°"ntry
r ° .in danger
explored by the French, there the priests had es
tablished their missions and suffered countless tor
ments in endeavoring to Christianize the savages.
Over that region the French exercised a sort of
overlordship, and to see it all taken out of their
hands by hated Albion was most grievous and
agonizing. At the close of the conference a note
was sent to Frontenac, answering his own message
respectfully, but promising nothing and declaring
283

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
that the Iroquois were themselves in league with
the Lake tribes. Frontenac sent another embassy to
them, accompanied by a French officer, but the latter
narrowly escaped with his life, and his Indian es
corts were compelled to endure painful treatment
and torture. It was evident to Frontenac that if
he was to save the Upper Lake region he must
strike, and strike at once. News of the most dis
quieting nature had come from Michilimackinac,
and the next spring he sent an expedition, led by the
famous voyageur, Nicolas Perrot, to suppress any
mutiny, and hold, if possible, this region loyal to
Perrot France. Perrot happened to come across a party
captures j iroquois hunters on his way and captured them
an Iroquois ^ J r m
party handily. He was thus girt about with the prestige
of victory when he arrived at Michilimackinac. It
was undoubtedly that brave stand which saved the
Northwest again to France. At any rate the Indians
there were satisfied with the French for the time
at least, and after a council in which presents were
exchanged, and powwows held, Perrot was able
to send word to Frontenac of the success of his
mission.
Then It was good news, and it came at a time when
Frontenac prontenac needed encouragement, for he was deep
in plans for much larger and more important expe
ditions. These were three, and were aimed at the
English settlements about Albany, those of New
Hampshire, and those of Maine. Frontenac now,
as always, meant business. What he contemplated
was in our eyes and in the light of civilization a
fiendish thing, but he believed with all his heart in
these bloody measures, and there is nothing to show
that he regretted the murders of innocent people
284

THE RETURN OF FRONTENAC
involved in punitive expeditions. We shall soon see
how the effect of his infamous acts reacted on him
self and his followers.
The first party, consisting of Indian converts and scnenec-
coureurs de bois, in all 210 men, left Montreal in*a<Jy^e^
the middle of winter and struck out south over the 169°
frozen Richelieu and" Lake Champlain. It was a
desperate march. A thaw set in and they were
compelled to drag themselves through mud and
slush and snow often knee-deep. They reached the
Hudson and pointed their way toward Schenec
tady. Within a few miles of that place a furious
storm arose, and they were almost dead with the
cold and exposure by the time they reached the
Mohawk River. Desperately crossing it on the ice,
they stood before the palisades of Schenectady at
eleven o'clock on the night of February 4, 1690.
The town was absolutely unguarded and was more
than usually quiet that night, because of a festival
to which all the village had gone. Led by Iberville,
the suffering band from the north, quite as ready to
surrender as to attack, rushed into the village and
with wild yells burst in the doors of the dwellings
and began the work of slaughter. No quarter was
given. Women and children were hacked to pieces women and
without compunction. Even the minister, whose *a„^^red
life Iberville had ordered spared, was butchered
with the rest. Sixty were killed outright and about
eighty taken prisoners. Thirty Mohawks who lived
in the town were not molested, the Indian converts
in the attacking party insisting that not they but
the English were the enemy of Onontio. A promi
nent man named Glen was also spared, because he
had saved French lives and ministered to French
28S

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Too many prisoners among the Mohawks. Glen was even
relatives ajiowetj to choose from the prisoners his relatives
who would thus be saved. He was generous in
his recognitions until the Indians grumbled at the
size of his family. Then the town was burned, and
the victors and vanquished started on the long, bitter
journey to Canada. Although some who had sur
vived this massacre, by managing to escape in the
first moments of inky-black confusion, reached
Albany, and there gave the alarm, such a terror had
spread over the settlements that the invaders had
little else than Nature to oppose their retreat to
Montreal, which they reached in triumph. The
first expedition of Frontenac was a complete suc
cess. The westernmost post of English dominion
in New York had been wiped out, and the name
of Louis and Onontio exalted in the eyes of the
Iroquois. FIRST EXPEDITIONS AGAINST NEW ENGLAND
salmon The second party rendezvoused at Three Rivers,
Falls .
burned and consisted of only about fifty persons, almost
equally French and Indian, under Francois Hertel.
They started on January 28, and it was nearly three
months before they had reached the frontier village
of Salmon Falls, on the border to-day of New
Hampshire and Maine. The settlers of that region
had received abundant warnings and sufficient
proofs of the French menace. Indeed, for several
years they had been victims of the Abenaki In
dians spurred on by the French authorities. But a
lull meant false security, and so it was that Salmon
Falls was as little prepared as Schenectady had
been. The entire village and the farmhouses about
286

THE RETURN OF FRONTENAC
it were burned, and about thirty persons killed. Hertei
With about fifty prisoners Hertei rapidly retreated J^8 £ay
to the north, but was compelled to make a stand
at Wooster River against a pursuing party from
Portsmouth. He delayed them long enough to
enable him to make a safe retreat to the Abenakis
on the Kennebec. Here he heard that Frontenac's
third party bound from Quebec to Casco Bay had
recently passed down. So with thirty of his party
he hastened to join its leader, Portneuf, who com
manded the one hundred odd French and Indians.
They were soon joined by a large body of Indian
warriors, chiefly Abenakis, who were delighted to
have help and leadership in their long war against
the English.
Thus with the Indian reenforcement, and with
Hertel's band, Portneuf had a very large war party,
and he moved confidently toward Casco Bay, where
stood the forts which he was to attack. The chief
of these was Fort Loyal, commanded by Capt. Syl-
vanus Davis. The location of this fort has been
ascertained to be on India Street, in the present city
of Portland. The French and Indians began a
regular siege of the fort and conducted it with
great skill. After a day of fighting, when it became
evident that the attacking party must win, the
English asked for a parley. It was granted and a French
capitulation was arranged, it being stipulated that I^p^and
quarter should be shown to all in the town, and that
they should be allowed to take refuge in a neigh
boring town. It seems odd that the English,
acquainted as they were with French arid Indian
trickery, could have believed that such terms would
be honestly offered. It was beyond the possibility
287

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
of the mercy of the white savages of that time
that they should allow their victims to escape un
harmed to another English camp. But the English
were deceived, and, all unsuspecting and guileless,
they laid down their arms and marched out of
the fort. No sooner had they done so than the
Indians pounced upon them like devils that they
were, butchered them, or carried them away into
captivity. Another triumphal expedition started for
Canada, after the fort had been burned and the
neighboring farmhouses destroyed, and the bodies
of the slain left out in the fields as a proud evidence
of the valor of the French. Captain Davis was
carried off to Quebec and there was well treated
Frontenac's by Frontenac, who affected to disapprove of this
triumph treachery to the flag of truce, but who in his pagan
heart probably secretly exulted in it. For it was a
gala time for Louis de Buade. He had proved that
his vision was as unerring and his arm as mighty
as ever. And the whole of North America stood in
awe at the prowess which his men had shown.
The loyalty of the Northwest was assured, and
in the woods of New York the Iroquois chiefs
whispered to each other of the greatness of Onontio,
and the need of winning his favor.
THE WRATH OF MASSACHUSETTS
a congress but such triumphs are not without their boomerang
meetsliT attachments. Onontio could strike dumb the In-
NewYork, dians, and for a moment paralyze the Dutch, but
in the English heart there burned a flame which
such deeds of diabolism could only fan. Within a
few months the settlers of New England and New
York determined that a bloody lesson should be
288

INTERIOR OF THE SENATE CHAMBER, OTTAWA, ONTARIO
Photograph by Topley

THE RETURN OF FRONTENAC
requited in kind, and in May, 1690, a congress of Massa-
them met in New York and determined on an^^ly
expedition against Quebec There was a scheme aroused
on foot for a joint land attack by Indians and the
New York militia, but as this was a complete failure
we need not look at it. Let us rather turn to rug
ged Massachusetts, which in pioneer days was slow
to act, but was as serious as she had been slow.
Massachusetts had very little money, but it was plain
that if she allowed such buccaneers as Frontenac's
men to come down upon peaceful villages, and if
she allowed French warships to attack her shipping
on the high seas, she would have still less. So she
borrowed money and went sternly and seriously
after the French "devils." These French cruisers
which had preyed upon Massachusetts boats had
made Port Royal a base of supplies, and to the
Massachusetts men it seemed the proper thing to
destroy that base. An expedition was fitted out and
Sir William Phips was given command.
This man Phips was what New England people phips "a
have always called "a character." Yet he belonged cnaracterK
there, for it is one of the odd, yet ever recurring,
incidents of New England and especially Boston life
that an "Outlander," a foreigner, shall occasionally
come to rule over the people. Like many Boston
leaders to-day, Phips hailed from Maine. He
was of "poor white trash," and his mother had
twenty-five other children. Tired of herding
sheep, he went to Boston to seek his fortune,
and found it in a widow with some property
whom he married. Meantime he had acquired
the trade of ship-carpenter, and, learning to
read from his wife, he became ambitious to sail
Canada — 13 289 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
the seas. He had heard (as who has not?) the
tales of the buried booty of the buccaneers of the
Spanish Main, and he made up his mind that he
could discover some of it. So he went to England
with his project, and actually got the British Admi
ralty to endorse it and loan him a frigate. He
sallied forth and accumulated nothing but a mutiny,
which he subdued with his good right arm and fist.
This valorous achievement so impressed the British
Admiralty that they gave him another ship and crew.
And, mirabile dictul he actually found a treasure
Phips amounting, in gold, silver, and jewels, to about
ends'117 f 300,000. His worthy crew now demanded their
pirates' share, and he had to promise it them. So that
treasure wnen he got back to England and divided the spoils
his share was only £16,000, but he was knighted
and reached Boston in great splendor. The "real
Bostonians" who had sniffed at him, and called
him an "upstart" and "boaster," were astonished at
his prowess and had to confess that somehow he
had "amounted to something." Anxious to show
their appreciation, they made him commander of
the Port Royal expedition.
Toot He sailed for Port Royal in April, 1690, and by the
Te°£Roya1' middle of May Port Royal had surrendered. There
was really nothing else for it to do, for it was in
the usual condition of French fortresses in Amer
ica. The English marched into the place, and they,
too, disregarded the articles of capitulation. True,
they did not butcher the inhabitants, but they plun
dered the merchants, imprisoned the troops, and
smashed the idols in the church with Calvinistic
zeal. Phips also sent expeditions along the south
coast of Acadia, and in a short time had the whole
290

THE RETURN OF FRONTENAC
island in his grasp. Then he sailed for home in Amusing
Roman triumph style. With him he took Meneval, charges
the governor of Port Royal, and two priests. They
were thrown into prison on their arrival in Boston,
but after considerable discussion they were released.
The records of that time are filled with amusing
details of the charges that Phips had plundered
the governor and his household of various articles
of personal adornment, including "three new wigs,"
"four pairs of silk garters," "four night-caps with
lace edgings," etc. Not a creditable achievement,
was this.

291

CHAPTER XVII
PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC

Massa-

"DUT more stirring and important things than
plans J-* quarrels over garters and wigs soon began to
retaliation agitate Boston. Port Royal was good, but Port
Royal was not enough. The chickens of Frontenac
were coming home to roost. Massachusetts burned
to avenge the massacres of Salmon Falls and Casco
Bay. Only by seizing the rock of Quebec and its
hated dictator could vengeance and reparation be
obtained. Massachusetts was beggarly poor, but no
matter. Funds could be got some way, and anyhow
the booty of Quebec would go far toward paying all
the bills — so forehanded and calculating was the
New England conscience of 1690. England was ap
pealed to, but she was subduing the Irish and having
her hands full, so she could not help. Funds were
raised by extra taxes, and men by conscription.
Thirty-two vessels of all sorts, the largest of which
was the "Six Friends," carrying forty-four guns,
were gathered for the expedition, and Phips, who
Fleet sails, by this time had been elected governor, was placed
^f18'9' in command. The fleet sailed from Nantasket on
1090 August 9. On the ships were 2,200 men with pro
visions for four months. Verily New England was
in dead earnest.
Meantime all was going well with Frontenac.
292

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
He had his quarrels with his council and the
priests, but in general things were much to his
liking. He was especially delighted with the atti
tude of the tribes from the Huron country. With- indians
out warning 500 Indians from the upper lakes came Frontenac
down to Montreal with furs in abundance, all eager
to trade with the French and show their loyalty
to Onontio. This was the result of Frontenac's
bloody raids upon the English settlements, and
showed how true his divination was. These Indians
performed all sorts of incantations and held war
feasts without number in which perpetual alliance
and fealty were solemnly vowed. It was on
October 10, while he was at Montreal, that Fron
tenac first heard of the Phips expedition which had
then reached Tadousac. The governor hurried back
to Quebec and landed amid great enthusiasm. He
sent word to all outlying settlements to forward men
to Quebec, inspected the fortifications, and directed
the work of preparation and defense. On the morn
ing of October 16 the fleet slowly came into view
of the watchers on the rock, and Quebec became
an excited, chattering camp.
FRONTENAC'S DEFIANCE
Phips was rudely surprised by the reception which pmPs
awaited him. He supposed that a mere show of ,oiteredon
force would bring the French to their knees. He way
had heard that Quebec was poorly fortified and
carelessly guarded. This was true when it was
told him, but by dilly-dallying for days, and even
weeks, on the way, and especially after entering
the St. Lawrence, he had given his enemies such
abundant warning of his coming that they were
293

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
alert. Quebec had become fairly well protected,
its troops were well drilled and ready for action.
Phips's first taste of the Canadian quality was any
thing but pleasant. A boat-load of his men tried in
vain to land at one point and were repulsed by the
villagers along the shore, led by the cure, and several
men were killed. Similar things happened all along
the river. Still Phips did not lose faith in his
star, and so sent a messenger with a flag of truce to
The Quebec. The messenger, after landing, was blind-
meidengerd foIded to c<>nfuse him, he was led over barricades
and through divers intricate passages, and when
the handkerchief was removed from his eyes he
found himself in the great Council Hall in the
Chateau St. Louis, in the midst of a brilliant, gaily
dressed company of courtiers and soldiers. Stand
ing before him was "a tall, thin old man of com
manding presence, with a nose like an eagle's beak,
who looked at him sternly out of a pair of fierce
gray eyes, deep set under great tufted brows — a
weatherbeaten, age-lined face, which better than
the upright figure and the easy grace of manner
bespoke years of campaigning on the field. It
was Frontenac." To him the envoy delivered
Phips's Phips's cool demand for surrender, giving Fron-
demand for tenac one hour m which to return his decision.
Frontenac answered that he would not ask so much
but would reply at once with cannon shot. He went
on to excoriate Phips and his king, the Prince of
Orange, whom Catholic France did not recognize
as the rightful monarch of England, and he had
the audacity to rebuke Phips as a breaker of the
capitulation agreements at Port Royal — this from
the director of the infamous Casco Bay campaign!
294

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The messenger was again blindfolded and sent back
to Phips.
no help By this time the Yankee swashbuckler had begun
New York *° aPPreciate the magnitude of the task he had to
perform. This was no child's play, but real battle.
Besides, what had become of his Iroquois and En
glish adjuncts who were to march down Lake Cham
plain, the Richelieu and the St. Lawrence ? Evidently
they had failed to reach that neighborhood. It is
not certain that he knew until he returned home the
utter failure of that land expedition. But bluff hav
ing won him all his victories thus far, must be relied
upon now. He kept up a brave front, held a council
of war and decided upon a plan of campaign. It
Phips plans was designed to land a party under Major Walley
an attack at BeaUp0rt jUst below Quebec, advance to the St.
Charles, which divided Beauport from Quebec, cross
it and then press on to the right by way of the Cote
Ste. Genevieve until the rear of the city was reached.
To help this force, some of Phips's boats were to
go up the St. Charles and by their fire protect the
militia's advance. Meantime the heavier ships were
to be pounding the city's walls and dividing the
attention of the enemy. It was a good scheme and
might have succeeded under competent direction.
Another scheme was suggested to Phips by one of
his prisoners; this was to ascend the rock above
the city. Phips did not try it. In the middle of the
following century James Wolfe did.
Montreal But Phips let one golden day go by, and by that
saves night Callieres arrived from Montreal with seven
hundred men ; Quebec was now safe. The old town
exulted in its reenforcements and it was gay with
lights and loud with laughter and song. Nothing
296

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
was done the next day, which was stormy, but on waiiey
the next, which was Wednesday, Phips began toapTtaneCg°
move. Thirteen hundred men under Major Walley Charles
landed at Beauport. They were attacked by sharp
shooters, and on their advance a lively skirmish
occurred. Its upshot was that Walley lost four men
killed and sixty wounded, and the French loss was
heavier. Walley had now advanced to a. point near
the St. Charles, and naturally expected the support
ing boats from the warships. But they did not come.
Phips had got excited at this fighting and rushed
into battle himself. Instead, however, of going to
the aid of Walley, he took his ships up the St.
Lawrence, anchored them opposite the town and
opened fire on it. Nothing is more natural than
for a naval commander to want to "take a crack at"
a well-defended city, and nothing is less dangerous
to the city. Phips should not be blamed for this
temptation. Even in the recent war with Spain,
American naval officers bombarded and battered a useless
Santiago de Cuba with many shells and shot, cost- m°™t an
ing many thousands of dollars, without doing any
very great damage to the town. Phips opened
fire on the walls, and Frontenac responded with
avidity and good, hard shots. The balls from
Phips's guns seldom reached Quebec's walls, and
when they did made no impression. The next day
Frontenac renewed the attack on the ships with even
greater precision than before. It was not longPnips's
before two of them were in a desperate condition, ^died
Their cabins were pierced and, seeming ready to
sink, they retired from range. The other ships did
the same, and Phips was roundly beaten, after wast
ing nearly all his ammunition in his foolish attack.
297

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Meanwhile Walley and his men waited for the
help that never came. While Phips was thundering
impotently against Quebec's rock, he did not know
of the petty quarrel between the commanders of
the small boats which prevented the consummation
of the plan of campaign. Most of these commanders
owned their boats and were afraid they would be
a plucky in danger in thus ascending the St. Charles. On
the'En'iish Friday morning Walley left his camp, where cold
and famine and smallpox made all wretched, and
went to see Phips to learn the cause of his desertion.
While he was away, his men advanced toward the
ford of the St. Charles and found a large force
opposing them. A brisk fight ensued; the Mas
sachusetts men lost heavily but held their ground.
The French commander, Lemoyne de Ste. Helene,
was killed, and his men withdrew. On the next day,
when it had been decided by Walley to' bring his
men back to the fleet, they made a parting recon
naissance of the neighboring thickets, and another
phipS little fight occurred in which the Americans had
beaten and rather the advantage and were the objects of the
retreats admiration of the French. By Sunday morning,
one week from the arrival of the expedition, the
men were back on ship again and ready to go home.
On Tuesday the decision to return was reached,
and the fleet retired behind the Isle of Orleans, there
to be repaired. After a day so spent, Phips finally
weighed anchor and disappeared, the leader of an
expedition that failed.
Meanwhile the city of Quebec had not been with
out its anxieties. The Lower Town had been aban
doned, and the inhabitants flocked to the cellars of
the convents and the Seminary. Scares were fre-
298

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
quent. On the first advance of Walley, the Beau-
port villagers rushed into Quebec, shouting that
the English were driving the French headlong and
would soon be on the city, and this created a great
stampede. After Phips had sailed away, all sorts
of sacred jubilees were indulged in, and a grand
bonfire, in honor of Frontenac, closed the day.
Later the Church of Notre Dame des Victoires Afamous church
was built in honor of this event, and still stands buiit
with its memorial windows.
HEROIC EXPLOITS
That ended for a time the war between Massachu
setts and Quebec, but it by no means ended the war
between Frenchmen and Englishmen. English war
ships kept up such a close watch in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence that almost no ships from France could
get in with supplies and none from Canada could
reach France with the furs. So the Canadians were
in the doldrums again soon after their joy over
Phips's defeat. Then there were the Iroquois, who
were always seeking their scalps. Their war parties,
reluctant when they had a chance to fight in the
open with Phips, resumed their prowling tactics*,
and cut off many a family and a party just outside
the settlements. One Iroquois party, betrayed into
carelessness by their successes, was surprised by
Vaudreuil near Repentigny and exterminated. The Bienvuie
heaviest French loss in this attack was the brave klUed
but rash Francois de Bienville, son of Charles Le
Moyne. Only one Iroquois escaped. Three of them
were turned over to settlements that had suffered
from their outrages, and were by these Christian,
but vengeful, communities burned alive. The Iro-
299

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA

Very
desperatefighting

A winter's
surprise

quois got tired after that of fighting alone, and a
force of English, under Major Peter Schuyler, ac
companied by Iroquois, 266 all told, was organized
the next year to ravage Canada. Several encoun
ters occurred, and at length Valrenne, with 160
troops and Canadians, together with a body of
Christian Hurons and Iroquois and some Algon
quins, was sent to Chambly to cut off the retreat
of Schuyler. A most desperate fight took place;
it was largely hand to hand, and the slaughter
was great. Frontenac, in his report to the king,
declares the fighting was the hottest and most stub
born ever known in Canada. The English claimed
a victory, in that Schuyler did break through the
French lines and bring the bulk of his force to his
canoes on the Richelieu, and thus escaped back to
Albany; but it was a bitter victory, for he left forty
dead on the field and carried many wounded away.
The French loss is not stated, but it was heavy. It
was really a drawn battle.
Raids of all sorts continued. Frontenac sent a
party in February, 1692, to the Ottawa, to surprise
the Iroquois, who were hunting and passing the
winter there, waiting for spring to come, so they
might pounce upon the Hurons on their way to
Montreal with peltries, and destroy them. This ex
pedition was led by Beaucour, a mere boy, but an
officer of French regulars. Only by his eloquence
and zeal could his men be induced to bear the awful
hardships of a march through the woods in a Que
bec winter. But when they found the Iroquois they
set upon them and killed or captured nearly all.
Some of the captives were burned by the Christian
Indians and the Christian French. They said it

300

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
operated to deter the Iroquois from, similar out- Madeleine
rages upon their captives. But this is doubtful. vercMre*
It makes one's blood tingle to read of the heroic heroine
deeds of those days. That is the great, immediate
recompense of pioneer existence. Were it not for
the perils and the excitement of contest and com
bat, pioneering would be dreary enough with its
hardships, its struggle for existence, its crushing
blows from nature and man and its very monotony.
But the history of Canadian development is full
of. heroic deeds and sacrifices. Some of them have
been told in this volume, others will be told, but
none of them surpasses the story of Madeleine de
Vercheres. Only fourteen years of age when this
wonderful act was done, she was the daughter
of the seignior of Vercheres, on the south shore of
the St. Lawrence, twenty miles below Montreal.
There stood a fort, leading from which was a cov
ered way to the blockhouse, the usual arrangement.
One day in October, 1692, while she stood near
the landing-place with an employee named Lavio- The attack
lette, they were startled by shots from the fields. on the ion
Laviolette called to her to run, for the Iroquois
were coming. Sure enough, only a few hundred"
feet away a half-hundred were seen racing toward
the fort and screeching like madmen. She ran in the
same direction, and they fired upon her, but missed.
She rushed into the fort, calling "To arms" — to deaf
ears. Only two soldiers were there, and they were so
frightened that they had hidden away. She hurriedly
looked over the fort and found several palisades
fallen down. She ordered her two brothers, aged
ten and twelve, and an old man, the only males
about the place, to set them up again, and helped
301

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
cowards them to do it. Meantime she closed the gate, and
attempt to £or tne t jme tnev were safe. But in a few moments
blow up J #
the fort she saw a light in a dark comer of the fort, and
found the two soldiers, one half dead with fear,
the other with a lighted match in his hand near a
keg of powder, preparing to blow up the place. She
dashed it from his hand, and after more scolding
and urging they came out and became men, ready
to fight. Until then she had worn her sunbonnet.
Now she threw it off and, putting on a hat, took
up a gun. Her courage fired her two brothers with
enthusiasm and bravery, and they began firing out
of the loopholes upon the puzzled Iroquois. Fear
ing such a courageous front and suspecting that the
fort held a strong force, the Iroquois proceeded cau
tiously. Their caution was increased by the firing
of the cannon of the fort, which the girl ordered.
It was a brave bluff. Presently she saw a canoe,
with a settler and his family, approaching the land
ing-place. Unless they were helped, they would be
murdered before they could reach the fort. No one
would go to help them until Madeleine herself
marched boldly out and conducted them within,
the savages gazing with open-mouthed wonder and
feeling sure that a trick lay behind this apparent
courage. That is just what she expected1 them to
do. The game succeeded perfectly, and not a shot
An anxious was fired. It was now night, and another strata-
night gem was devise(i. She stationed the men and boys
at blockhouse and fort, and all night long cries
of "All's well" passed back and forth, indicating to
the listening Iroquois that the place swarmed with
soldiers. It was a night horrible with anxiety and
fear, but with the dawn came confidence and hope.
302

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
For twenty-four hours this fourteen-year-old hero- Rescued
ine neither ate nor slept, all the while keeping aaf"gek,s
smiling face and leading her people to believe that siege
all would be well. For a week they dwelt in per
petual terror. At last a lieutenant with forty men
arrived from Montreal, and the siege was over.
When the lieutenant entered the fort she saluted
and said: "Monsieur, I surrender my arms to you."
He replied : "Mademoiselle, they are in good hands."
Acting on the defensive all the time was most re- Expedition
pugnant to Frontenac, and he determined to vary Mohawks
the course of events by organizing an expedition
against the Mohawks. This was done especially
to widen the breach between the savage and the
Christian Mohawks. Of the latter there were many
about Montreal, and the savages were constantly
trying to induce the Christians to return. In order
to make the enmity eternal between these two, the
expedition included a large body of Christian Mo
hawks and other Iroquois, who pledged themselves
to kill any captured Mohawks. In fact this de
lectable task was set aside for them as a sugar plum
for good children. The expedition left Chambly
in January, 1693, and in a fortnight arrived be
fore the two lower Mohawk towns. Unfortunately
the alarm had been given, and, while the towns
were taken and burned, practically no captives were
seized." The third town, however, afforded a rich
haul. There was a bloody fight, in which twenty
or thirty Mohawks were killed and about three hun
dred captured. Now the Christian Iroquois had a Blood
fine chance to destroy their brethren according to*^"
their pledge. But they balked. Blood, after all, religion
was thicker than religion ! They refused to slay the
303

Peter

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
captives, in spite of entreaties and threats. So the
only thing to do was to burn the town and begin
the retreat, with the huge number of prisoners ham
pering the march. They were pursued by the inde-
schuyier fatigable Peter Schuyler, and a pitched battle took
pursues place in the Mohawk woods, in which charge after
charge was made by both sides. The advantage
was rather with the French, and they were able to
retreat unharmed by the English. Both parties suf
fered terribly from cold and hunger. It is related
that the pagan Mohawks invited Schuyler to soup,
but his appetite disappeared when he saw in it a
human hand and realized that the chief ingredient
of that soup was boiled Frenchman. The expedi
tion reached Montreal at last, and Frontenac re
ported to the king that it was a glorious success,
but it was in reality a costly one.
a three Now, however, cheered by this expedition, the re-
years' pulse of Phips, and the impression they had made on
furabroken the savages, Frontenac determined on the one step
necessary to save Canada. Not since he had re
turned from France had the furs been brought down
the Ottawa to the markets at Montreal and Quebec.
Canada's prosperity rested as fully on furs then as
it does to-day on wheat. Three years without in-
An come simply meant ruin. So he contrived an expe-
expedition dition up the Ottawa, to inform the Indians there
ind'a'ns' " of the French victories and to bid them come down
with the beaver skins. The whole Ottawa coun
try was alive with Iroquois, but the expedition got
through, and in a few weeks the spoil of three win
ters and summers was riding on the St. Lawrence
at Montreal. Such a formidable number of boats
.was equipped and so well were they guarded that
304

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
the Iroquois did not dare attack them. The nextThe
ships that went to France were laden deep with didn'oTdare
furs, and, on the return from their sales Canada »"ack
was again happy and solvent. To add to the peo
ple's joy, soldiers came with the supplies. It was
a happy time for Frontenac. The king sent him
an autograph letter, thanking him for his defense
of Quebec, and inclosed for his own use 2,000
crowns. Frontenac asked for a better place than
the governorship of Canada, but was granted instead
a continuance of this gift annually.
Having thus saved his country, Frontenac ought
to have had from that country nothing but praise
and honor. But such is not the nature of man.
We humans are fond of idols and fond of demol
ishing them. The Intendant Champigny, of course,
quarreled with Frontenac. That was what the in
tendant had to do to really fulfil his mission. Yet Quarrels of
because he did quarrel with Frontenac and made Frontenac
reports against him, the king's ministers rebuked
him. The Jesuits would not defer to< Frontenac,
chiefly because he would not trust them but had a
Recollet confessor. So they criticized the governor,
and a lively quarrel arose between the Bishop Saint-
Vallier and Frontenac largely on account of the
Jesuits. The bishop waxed very wroth, and sailed
to France to lay his grievances before the king's
privy council. The upshot of it was that all were
censured more or less, and all commanded to live
peaceably together. Such was French administra
tion at the end of the seventeenth century.

305

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
WARFARE IN ACADIA
Now we are compelled to take up the broken skein
of Acadian history. Acadia had really been worth,
An on the whole, little attention. Nothing had hap-
uneventfui pened) nothing had been done. If the famous old
French proverb is true, the Acadians ought to have
been the happiest of all modern peoples. The quar
rels of the rival leaders had exhausted the colony,
and it grew even less rapidly than Quebec. Only
at Port Royal, Beaubassin, and the Basin of
Mines were there farming settlements. The other
Acadians were fishermen, and generally rovers and
ne'er-do-wells. There was perfect accord with the
Indians, the French missions among them being
very successful, and whites and Indians lived to
gether in an odd, loose sort of way. Only with
the Bostonians was there any trouble. It will be
remembered that the French explorations and claims
extended far along the coast of what is United
States soil to-day. Without following the tortu
ous course of the numerous marauding expeditions
since last we viewed Acadian affairs, it will only
be necessary to point to two important places held
by the French on the coast of Maine during the
latter years of the seventeenth century. One of
Pentegoet these was Pentegoet, at the mouth of the Penob-
™d_ , scot, where Castine now is; the other was Pema-
quid. Pentegoet was really the trading-house of
Saint-Castin, a dissolute but talented and wealthy
Frenchman, who had lived among the Indians until
he was almost one of them. Being warned by the
king, he reformed, married, and was made Baron
de Saint-Castin. 306

Pemaquid

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
The capture of Port Royal by Phips, we have Port Royai
seen, was merely a sort of "campaign thunder," ^"^
for he left no English garrison, and when Vil-
lebon, the successor to the French governor, Me
neval, arrived at Port Royal the next year he
had no trouble in reassuming control of the
town and of all that we now think of as Aca
dia. Villebon found that the Abenaki Indians had
become so impressed with English valor, by the
capture of Port Royal by Phips, that they were
of a mind to join these bold and daring Anglo-
Saxons. Of course this did not fit in with French
schemes at all, for only by an alliance with the
Abenakis could the French be safe. So Villebon
sent enormous presents to the reds, and used the
converted Abenakis to carry on his crusade of rec
onciliation. He then arranged an expedition against
the English as an antidote to Phips's deeds. It is
said by the chroniclers of that time that Thury, the
priest on the Penobscot, urged these converts, a9
their Christian duty, to attack English settle
ments. So they set out at dead of winter of The York
1692 for the village of York, just east of Kittery, ™
on the Maine coast. About three hundred settlers
were there. The attack was a complete surprise and
a thorough French victory. About a hundred per
sons were killed and eighty captured. All the
farms were destroyed for four or five miles around.
The warriors returned to Acadia in triumph and
held a grand feast on the St. John, at Naxouat,
where Villebon had completed a new fort.
Another expedition was at once projected for
the summer, with headquarters at Pentegoet. The
town of Wells, lying near York, was to be the
307

massacre, 1692

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
next object of attack. It was menaced by a very
large and powerful war party, and all the English
settlements trembled when they heard of it. But
Wells was prepared. Thirty men, commanded by
Captain Convers, had occupied the fortified house
of Joseph Storer when the savages burst upon the
settlement. These brave fellows opened up a with
ering fire upon the Indians that gave them pause.
weiis They were not ready for such a defense. All sorts
FrenciTand °* expedients were employed to take the place, but
Indians the vigilance and good aim of the thirty discour
aged this great war party, and it retired well beaten.
This is the sort of fighting men they then had
whose descendants are being told to-day that New
Englanders are not a military or pugnacious people.
Iberville's career in the north
Let us now be introduced to another of those great
sons of New France who in the less extensive field
may be compared to Champlain and La Salle and
Frontenac. This was Pierre le Moyne dTberville.
We have already seen something of the deeds of
his father, Charles le Moyne of Montreal, and re
member that one of his brothers was killed in
Phips's attack on Quebec, and another in an
assault on the Iroquois in 1692. Pierre, whom we
ibervflie shall here call and who is known to fame as Iber
ville, was not only a most rugged character, but
had an excellent training in the French navy. He
commanded the attack on Schenectady in 1690. In
1696 he sailed from France to Quebec and Cape
Breton. Leaving Cape Breton with two warships,
the "Envieux" and the "Profond," he sailed for
the mouth of the St. John. There he met two Brit-
308

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
ish warships, and after a hot fight he defeated both,
one of them being captured. He then proceeded
to Pemaquid, and the story of the capture of that
place is most interesting and exciting. One would
have thought that this notable capture was enough
for one season, but Iberville at once sailed for New
foundland, where he was joined by Brouillan, the
governor of Placentia.
Newfound- Thereupon they made an attack on St. Johns,
Images captured it, and burned it to the ground. St. Johns
burned was, as now, on the coast, and its capture would
seem sufficient, but Iberville was on a campaign of
annihilation, and, although it was midwinter, he
and his soldiers went from village to village along
the coast of the island, creating havoc at every
place. Every small settlement was sacked and
burned. There was no resistance, because no Brit
ish soldiers were on the island. Then there came
a lull in his conquest, but it was only a brief one,
for, when he was preparing to go to Quebec, his
brother arrived from France with orders to pro
ceed to Hudson Bay.
Early days Hudson Bay, as the world knows, was discov
er Hudson ered by Henry Hudson, sailing under an English
flag, but the French first undertook the establish
ment of posts there. It was about 1686 that the
English ventured to plant a post at the mouth of
the Nelson River, by direction of the famous Hud
son's Bay Company. Later this company established
three other forts at the southern end of the bay.
This was regarded by Denonville as an invasion of
French rights, and he sent that year (1686) a party,
under Troyes from Montreal, to wipe out those
posts. With Troyes went eighty men, including
310

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
Iberville and two other sons of Charles le Moyne. English
This party made its way overland from Montreal, driven out
a journey that is almost incredible and that seemed
impossible. They reached the bay in safety, and
surprised the English forts, killed or captured the
English, and sent them out of the country, one of
the most remarkable achievements of that remark
able age.
Fort Nelson was reoccupied by the English a a
year or two afterward, and it was this fact that expedition
sent Iberville up to that land by sea in 1697.
There were four warships in the expedition. Of
these Iberville was in command of the "Pelican,"
and his brother commanded the "Palmier." They
encountered a storm on the way, and their store-
ship was smashed in the ice. The "Pelican" was the
first to make her way out of this ice-field, and when
she had got into the open sea her three compan
ions were still held. Not at all disturbed by this
mishap, Iberville sailed a direct course for the En
glish Fort Nelson, on the west shore of the bay.
When he had almost reached it, three ships hove
in sight. He thought, of course, they were the
three boats that he had left behind, and was
very glad to see them. They proved, on the con
trary, to be three English armed merchantmen,
the "Hampshire," the "Daring," and the "Hudson
Bay," carrying all together 120 guns, as against
the "Pelican's" 44. This discrepancy in weight of
metal did not discourage Iberville, and on the broad
bosom of this great inland sea occurred the first
naval battle of the North. It was a hot fight The first
while it lasted, and from 9.30 a. m. till 1 p. M.na^battle
the roar of the cannon was scarcely interrupted. North, r^
3"

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
a French It was one of the few sea fights of history whicH
the French won. Iberville was a really great cap
tain, and he so managed his ship that a thing
happened which we very seldom see in any naval
combat in these days, and which was not very fre
quent even then — a warship went down with all
on board. This was the "Hampshire." When she
was out of the way, Iberville attacked the "Hud
son Bay," which soon surrendered. Her example
was not lost on the "Daring," which, despite her
name, was the only English ship that turned tail
and fled. The "Pelican" was shattered in almost
every part. She was anchored in order to save her,
but in spite of all she split amidships and was lost.
Few, however, of the crew were lost, and most of
them reached the land with weapons and ammuni-
The plight tion. Theirs was a bitter plight, however, for win-
victors ter h3^ already set in, and there was no succor any
where in sight. One hundred men were stranded
on the hostile shores of Hudson Bay, 3,000 miles
at least from any French settlement. Luckily the
three French warships then arrived, and an attack
was made on Fort Nelson, which after three days
surrendered. It was this Iberville who later became the founder
of Louisiana, and it was his brother, Bienville, who
founded New Orleans. Not until the Treaty of
Utrecht, in 1713, did England undo his work and
finally secure the Hudson Bay territory, as well as
Newfoundland and Acadia.
THE TREATY OF RYSWICK
We have almost lost sight of the fact that this
war in America was only a small part of the
312

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
great war raging in Europe between France and Frontenac
England. Frontenac was so used to fighting Iro-t°fight
quois and English that he hardly thought a dec
laration of hostilities between the parent nations
was essential to legitimize his campaigns. Just at
this time he was quite anxious to keep on fighting,
at any rate to claim all the fruitage of his recent
victories and to project his and French influence
through war and war's ways. It was, of course,
highly irregular for him to arrange any sort of
peace with the English in America, so long as the
Anglo-French war was still on in Europe. Yet he
was ready to arrange peace with the allies of the
English themselves. The Viceroy of New France
had a quite imperial sway in those days. At all
events Frontenac sought anything but peace, except
of his own making. Yet while he was treating
with the Iroquois for terms, he chanced to' learn
through English1 sources that his monarch had
signed a peace. It was the treaty of Ryswick, con- An indeter-
cluded in 1697. It had no bearing on affairs in™^l6g7
America, except to conclude a peace, and it affected
little else in Europe. William III was recognized
as King of England. France retained Strasbourg,
and in general the conquests made by the several
powers were restored by this peace. All the Euro
pean combatants were weary and glad to cease
fighting. This peace was not officially known at Quebec
until midsummer. Then it was celebrated in due
form by Frontenac and John Schuyler, the English
envoy. The question of the exchange of prisoners
created much discord, the English demanding that
the Iroquois held by the French be given up to
Canada — 14 313 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Frontenac's them. Acceptance^ of this would have been tanta
mount to Frontenac's acknowledgment that the
Iroquois were English subjects, whereas it was his
constant claim that they were rebellious French
subjects. THE DEATH OF FRONTENAC
But the old lion had fought his last fight. Soon
after he sent Schuyler back to Albany with his
ultimatum on the Iroquois prisoners, to be delivered
to the new governor, the Earl of Bellemont, and
winter had come down upon the citadel of Quebec,
he fell ill with a malady against which his giant
will could not contend. His ailment made rapid
progress, and on the 28th of November, 1698, at
the age of 78, he died in peace. During his last days
he lay in his chair and listened to the lamentations
of the people as they gathered in front of his
Frontenac, chateau, mourning already the fatal end of his
heard' the sickness. If a dying man who loves life and power
people as Frontenac loved them can think of death with
waiimg any sentiment except horror, then Frontenac must
have heard those wailing murmurs with a secret
joy. The really supremest satisfaction any man
can have in life is in being loved — loved by his
family, friends, and associates. The good esteem
of our fellow men is after all the dearest prize we
cherish, talk we never so sneeringly of the "common
herd." It was this common herd that loved Fron
tenac, just as it was they who were cold to La
Salle. But at the end Frontenac's relations with
all men were peaceful. The intendant, Champigny,
became thoroughly in accord with him and even
the Jesuits had abandoned much of the rancor with
314

PHIPS'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
which they regarded him. Bishop Saint-Vallier
officiated at his funeral, which was held, by Fron
tenac's own orders, in the church of the Recollets,
and there he was buried. Later his body was
removed, it is believed, to the Basilica.
And so passed from the stage, near the close of the The char-
century, one of its most conspicuous figures in the Frontenac
Western Hemisphere. Whether we can credit him
with true greatness or not, we can not fail to see
that in practical achievements arid statesmanship
he ranked above all the English, Spanish, or any
other nation's leaders in the New World in that
century which saw the first settlements and promise
of greatness of this region of the earth. No other
man did so much for his country as Frontenac did
for Canada. An egotist, a blowhard ; choleric, self-
willed, domineering, and perhaps corrupt, he did
what only a gigantic man could do — interposed for
his time a barrier to the steady march of Anglo-
Saxon influence which was destined to sweep New
France from its path. Wherever Frontenac sat
was the head of the table. His mastery over the His mastery
Indians was that of a magician. He seemed as if ^dLn?
by intuition to grasp the Indian character and to
be able to see as the savage saw. His vision in
this regard was marvelous, even startling. He
never lost a campaign against them where he had
a chance to exert his personal influence upon them.
Yet successful though he was, he was never happy.
That was impossible. A man of as many sorrows
might sometimes have felt gay or serene ; but always
before him was the peril of his country. Month
after month, and year after year, he must have been
agitated by the fear of calamity to New France.
315

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
a nfe fun The Huron country was always on the verge of
of anxiety revojt) an(j tne Tjpper St. Lawrence was daily in
danger of annihilation at the hands of the Iroquois.
Such a fear must have made many nights full of
terror. Always too were there disputes with the
intendant, and often rebukes and warnings from
Paris. His wife would not live with him, his son
had died, he had seen La Salle, whom he trusted
implicitly and who seemed destined with him to
make New France an imperial power, slain by ruf
fians and traitors in the woods of Texas, and one
can not help feeling that, in spite of the society of
Quebec, and the honor and deference paid him as
the colony's chieftain, he must have felt friendless
and alone. His was indeed a solitary figure, and
it is not at all wonderful that his associates and
His finest intimate friends were few, and that few monuments
to his name endure in Canada to-day. It was re
served for a railway company, a strange and anach
ronistic action, to build his best memorial. Very
proper and fitting was it to give the name "Chateau
Frontenac," to the Canadian Pacific Railway's mag
nificent hotel built on the rock just below the Citadel
at Quebec — built on the very spot where the old
giant was wont to stroll, and from which he would
often stand and peer away off, either down the St.
Lawrence to the east, watching for the ships with
tidings and supplies from France, or up the river to
the west looking for a messenger from La Salle,
or the murderous Iroquois, or the fur-laden canoes
of the Hurons.

316

memorial

CHAPTER XVIII
THE NEW WORLD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
THE treaty of Ryswick and the death of Fron- Beginning
tenac round out the seventeenth century, the eighteenth
first century of the settlement of North America, century
Considering the fact that two hundred years had
now elapsed since the discovery of America, this
less than one hundred years of settlement had seen
wonderful and quick changes in the life and being
of this continent. The interior was, to be sure,
scarcely penetrated, but the irresistible tide of
European civilization arid power had by this time
surely set in. The Aborigines had scarcely yet
come to a realization of their doom and in many
places fought every step of the progress of the white
man with blind fury. But the downfall of French Always a
power was as clearly apparent at this time as was the J^'Jnce
extinction of the savages. It was apparent chiefly
in the always precarious condition of New France.
If the reader chooses to look back upon the story
we have been tracing out in these chapters, he will
see that in one sense it is merely the recital of a
struggle for existence against the Iroquois with
scarcely any apparent progress. It has been a con
stant and almost monotonous succession of raids
back and forth, with murder and slaughter and
317

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
famine and treachery as their gruesome incidents.
One year the Iroquois ravaged the St. Lawrence,
the next the soldiers of France laid waste the vil
lages along the Mohawk. Always was the danger
that the Iroquois would cut French power in two
by lying along the Ottawa and stopping the pro
cession of the beaver skins from the north to the
marts of Montreal and Quebec, and too often this
it toid danger was realized. It was a fierce, bitter, wear-
upon'the *nS fight- The Iroquois also lost heavily by it,
iroquois and their tribesmen were so reduced that when the
eighteenth century dawned less than 2,000 remained1.
But they were defiant and had actually checked the
progress and plans of the greatest monarch of his
time. That they could hold at bay a colony of
15,000 people, backed by the vast and outpoured
wealth of the French sovereign, showed not only
their own might but the weakness of the colony.
Little real help did these savages get from the En
glish colonists ; mainly they did the work alone.
Another vital weakness in the French colony was
its small numbers. While every English, Dutch,
and Swedish settlement in America was growing
surely and steadily, by immigration and natural
increase, until at the opening of the century south
of the St. Lawrence lived about 30,000 souls, New
France, which had 7,832 in 1675 when Laval was
New made Bishop, contained in 1700 but 15,355. No col-
lacked'in ony con^ ever hope to become great which lacked
numbers numbers ; and as the genius of the French coloniza
tion was directed toward covering a huge territory
with many outposts, it needed, to sustain it, large
bodies of soldiers and a strong central organization
at the colony's capital. The scheme could not ex-
318

A Coureur de Bois of New France
319

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
tend so far; it broke down at a most vital point.
This was evident to any student. Yet the French
had a splendid weapon for the fight in the match
less character of their organization. Why they did
not and could not win has been already shown in
a broad way. We shall now proceed to trace this
history more in detail.
Auspices The auspices for New France at the opening of
"ace verT the eighteenth century were on the surface very
favorable favorable. Frontenac had subdued the Iroquois, as
we have seen, and they were ready to sue for peace.
Callieres came down from Montreal as his successor,
and soon concluded a treaty which, while not so
favorable to the French as Frontenac would have
made, was in effect a genuine peace pact. In the
West, under' Cadillac, Detroit was founded in 1699,
and held by the French, thus blocking very effec
tually the only passageway open to the English
and Iroquois by which they might get to the upper
lakes, now that the Ottawa was fairly well watched.
The The establishment of Detroit was designed, more-
ofUjDetroit over, to offset the abandonment of Michilimackinac
1699 and all the fur trade of that region was to
be concentrated at Detroit, and in a measure this
design was accomplished. By royal decree Detroit
and Fort Frontenac were designated as the depots
for the fur trade, and a new company was created
to handle this business for the king. It did not
work any better than the previous schemes, and the
fur trade continued to be the curse of the colony,
enriching a few, pauperizing many, and creating
a basis for colonial existence which was utterly
insecure and mischievous.
With the Iroquois subdued and the English shut
320

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY
out from the old Huron country, Frontenac's plans
were all working well and rounding out as if under
his sagacious eye. It was really the most satisfac
tory period that New France had ever seen. There
was only one fly in the ointment, one weak link Acadia a
in the chain. The Indians of Acadia and Maine, Wl
chiefly Abenakis, had, we have seen, been most in
constant in their allegiance. They were nearer the
settlements of the English than those of the French,
and if let alone might have lived peacefully with
them. The French could not endure the idea
of that peace. They feared that in case of a
French raid on Boston, or an English raid on
Quebec, these forest Indians might have the deter
mining voice. So they employed all possible in
trigues to kill the peace, sending out priests and
laymen to stir up the Abenakis against the English.
Then, too, the French claimed all that region lying
east of the Kennebec as Acadia, and declared that
all the English settlers on the eastern or main coast
were trespassers. Pierre Rigaud de Vaudreuil had
succeeded Callieres as governor and fairly yearned
to crusade against the English settlements, but
he was estopped by the peace of Ryswick. Even
in such barbarous times one couldn't attack one's
friends, although in disguise.
The peace of Ryswick, happily for such bloody a valueless
designs, was of little avail. It had one very impor- treaty
tant result, of course, that of confirming William III
as the rightful sovereign of England and obtaining
his formal recognition by all Europe, thus assuring
Protestant control over England for all the centuries
since. But otherwise it had little effect. It settled
nothing and only gave a chance for the reopening
321

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
war of the of old sores. In five years it was broken, and in
succession, I702 began the war of the Spanish Succession,
170a called in many old school-books and in America
at the time Queen Anne's War. It was an interest
ing contest in Europe as well as here. Louis XIV
determined to put his grandson, Philip of Anjou,
on the throne of Spain. To this Spain, France's
ancient foe, agreed. The design of France un
doubtedly was to combine with Spain in getting
control of all the colonial business in the Western
Hemisphere. That meant France's sharing Spain's
profit from South America and crushing out the
English colonies of North America. It was a
scheme in which New England had a vital interest.
Of course England could not sit still under such
circumstances. She had no candidate of her own,
but supported the claims of Archduke Charles
of Austria, who really had hereditary rights to the
throne.. Austria and England had no difficulty in
persuading Holland, embittered by Louis's cruel
attacks in former years, to unite with them — and
The worst the war was on. Of all the blunders made by Louis
LouTs'xiv XIV this was the most fatal to his country. Had
it not been for this war and the enormous cost of
it to France, she might have rallied from her down
ward course and begun to build herself up. As it
was, Louis had long since ceased to put on the
brakes, and his extortions and crimes following
upon this war made Revolution inevitable. We
shall see how it worked to ruin New France at its
most flourishing and opulent period.

322

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY
DEERFIELD AND OTHER NEW ENGLAND
VILLAGES SACKED
No sooner had war been declared than Vaudreuil Indians
let loose his bloodhounds upon the frontier settle- J^1^^
ments of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachu
setts. The Abenakis had responded promptly to the
urgings of the French, who threatened them with
dire results here and hereafter if they did not ex
terminate the English, and had made several ruth
less and sudden attacks upon settlements and towns
along the coast, but without signal success. Then,
in the winter of 1704, a large party set out from
Quebec for the Massachusetts village of Deerfield,
on the Connecticut, the farthest west of all the New
England settlements, Northfield having been aban
doned the previous year. The attack upon Deerfield
is justifiable only on the plea that one must strike
one's enemy where he least expects it ; for the people
of Deerfield had not injured Canada or the Cana
dians, nor was the town within the disputed terri
tory. The party consisted of 50 Canadians and
200 savages under Hertei de Rouville, who thus
immortalized himself in a way his descendants may
not relish. The story of this Deerfield attack is
in its complete detail a most absorbingly interest
ing one, but it belongs rather to New England
than to Canadian history. The attack took place
on February 29, 1704, and was a complete surprise.
There were fewer able-bodied men in the town than Deerfield
in the attacking party. Under such circumstances ma^sa"e'
there could be but one result to this contest — wholes »7°4
sale slaughter. Few were able to make any resist
ance at all, only one house, that of Benoni Steb-
323

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Fifty were bins, succeeding in mustering its men quickly and ef
fectively enough wholly to withstand the enemy, and
Stebbins himself was killed. Before the destruction
of the town and the massacre of its inhabitants was
complete, help was summoned from a neighboring
village, and the retreat began. About 130 English
were carried off as prisoners and about 50 were
killed. The English in pursuit were not able to
catch up with the invaders, and, moreover, they
feared a precipitate attack would result in the
butchery of the English prisoners. Among those
captured was the Rev. John Williams, minister of
the church at Deerfield, whose refusal to espouse
the Roman Catholic religion cost him much suffer
ing. In the end, however, he was well treated by
Vaudreuil and at last restored to his home. His
chief and lifelong regret was that his family became
separated and one of his daughters actually became
an Indian's squaw. She visited Deerfield years after-
Deerfieid ward, but could not be persuaded to remain. Deer
field was at once rebuilt, and has since been, as it
is to-day, a stanch, sedate village.1
This is not a history of New England ; if it were
it would be as pertinent as it undoubtedly would be
interesting to follow in detail the vicissitudes of the
colonists of that region during the next ten years.
It is only fitting here to narrate that many small
bands of Indians and Canadians skulked about the
frontier villages, picking off the inhabitants much
'The relics and mementos of the raid of 1704 constitute the
chief material on exhibition in the Memorial Hall at Deerfield.
To-day the town's main distinction lies in its Arts and Crafts
Society, one of the earliest and most flourishing and practical'
of those interesting societies in New England'.
324

rebuilt

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY
as the Iroquois had done in Canada. Meanwhile
hundreds of young colonists were scattered through
the invaded country as its defenders. The French Tbe French
made one other large raid, that of 1708, when Hav- Haverhiii
erhill, on the Merrimac, was attacked by 400 men
from Quebec, sent out by Vaudreuil, and many of its
inhabitants were massacred. It is difficult to name a
village in that region which was not afflicted by
these murderous bands. Their object has already
been defined. But what was their result? In an
swering that question we begin to forecast history.
Vaudreuil was one of those numerous personages
in history who could not let well enough alone.
Canada was doing better, had better prospects, and
seemed more securely established than at any pre
vious time in her history. In only one direction
was she weak — the southeast. So without thinking
of the danger of the scheme or learning of the sort
of people he was to rob and murder and pillage,
Vaudreuil ordered again those predatory expedi
tions which Frontenac first instituted. It was the New
crowning blunder of all French Canadian policy. fu°^
For its effect was to arouse again in the New abused
England man a hatred and fury against New France
which ultimately led to her overthrow. Previous
to these raids Quebec had not assumed the shape of
a monster. Behind Phips's expedition was, to be
sure, a feeling of antagonism toward the French.
After Frontenac's death, however, the lull that fol
lowed had rather soothed the spirit of hatred. But
when Vaudreuil began his crusade, with every
fresh murder and other tragedy, deeper grew
in the New England heart the horror of it all and
a bitter hatred and desire for revenge upon any
325

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA

Indirect
retaliation

Canada "delenda
est"

such horrible deeds. There is no doubt that there
was much guile among the New Englanders. They
were by no means always actuated by philanthropic
and humane motives in their attitude toward the
Canadians. We shall see later how the Massachu
setts leaders did the same thing that they accused
the leaders at Quebec of doing — lashing one party
over another one's shoulders. Because the English
in New York,, as we have said, inspired Iroquois
raids against Canada, Canada retaliated, not always
against English settlements in New York but more
often against Massachusetts. The latter hated Que
bec most, but as Quebec seemed unattainable, Massa
chusetts sent expeditions against Acadia. This pot
and kettle argument obtains throughout the re
lations of New England and New France. When
the French king planned a great expedition to take
New York, he intended to expel its English inhabi
tants, and that fact was later used as an excuse
for the expulsion of the Acadians by the British.
But the offense of the raids under Vaudreuil's
direction was by far the greater. These raids
made the conquest of Canada inevitable. There
was no stopping the Puritans once their blood
was up. This conquest might have come under
Walker, as it did come under Wolfe, but it had
to come some time. Previously Quebec had been
to Massachusetts remote, inconsequential, and de
spised. Now it had come to be the object of un
dying hate, and every New Englander might have
ended his every speech, as Cato did, with a "delenda
est." Indeed, so infuriated with the sight of these
massacres did many of the young men become that
they begged their governor to let them quit the
326

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY
service of watching in the woods and go in a body
to Quebec and tear down its walls. But about that vaudreuil
time, 1709, Schuyler from Albany sent word that £er°™ises to
he had secured from Vaudreuil a promise to send bloodshed
no more such parties for fear of exciting the war
frenzy of the Iroquois, who could not bear to learn
that others of their kind were reveling in slaughter
while they were compelled to pace the "long house"
in peace.
We are not given the intimate knowledge of life
in New France at this period that we had of an
earlier time. We learn, however, that the severity Quebec
of the Jesuit regime, which grew less in Fronte- ^ ^o"
nac's time, had under Vaudreuil changed to laxity
and license. The colony was prosperous and light-
hearted, and its ways and customs came to partake
of the general gay feeling. Vaudreuil himself was
not the pattern of all virtues, and his wife was not
averse to unconventional ways in the convents, which
shocked the bishop. She was a native of Canada,
and had become a marquise, a great honor, on her
husband's elevation to the title of marquis. She
and Vaudreuil actually got the nuns to come to din
ners at the chateau. All this shows the ease
and prosperity of New France and the natural re
action after so many years of gloom and poverty. ._
The people were, however, soon to be aroused to
their peril. EXPEDITIONS AGAINST ACADIA FROM
MASSACHUSETTS
The first impulse of the people of Massachusetts
was, as we have seen, to send an expedition to
Quebec. But they soon came to see some of the
327

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
difficulties of such a scheme, and they determined
to strike the French nearer home. Acadia was, of
course, the natural, first-hand object of their wrath.
We have seen that Acadia had stood still for dec-
Port Royai ades. At the beginning of the eighteenth century
m 1704 poft R0ya] was the capital, and De Brouillan was
the governor. It was a quarreling community with
a small population but much assumption of Paris
ian modes of life. The farmers were prosperous,
but had little to do with Port Royal, whose inter
ests lay largely in the fisheries. There were in
numerable disputes between the Acadian and the
Boston fishermen, and in Queen Anne's War their
encounters were not infrequent. So it was natural
that, Quebec being unattainable, an expedition
from Massachusetts to punish the French should be
directed toward Acadia.
church's This expedition was commanded by Major Ben-
expedition jamjn Church, a swashbuckler of the extreme type.
fruitless J J r
It consisted of about 700 men, including Indians,
and sailed from Boston in the summer of 1704.
Governor Dudley had encouraged the expedition;
indeed, he had counseled the legislature to organ
ize an expedition to capture Quebec, but he would
not allow Church to attack Port Royal, because, he
said, the queen had not approved of the plan — a
rather lame excuse, and one giving color to the sus
picion that Dudley was secretly interested, through
Frenchmen, in trade with Acadia, and did not want
Port Royal to fall into English hands. After de
stroying all things French at Castine, Church pro
ceeded to Acadia, and poured his forces upon the
country. The innocent peasants of Grand Pre made
no resistance and suffered great destruction of crops,
328

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY
but Church murdered no one and carried off only
a few prisoners. He then proceeded to Port Royal
and demanded its surrender. This demand being
refused, he returned to Boston. The expedition
was only a casual affair, but it paved the way
for others.
In 1 707 Massachusetts made a serious attempt March
to take Port Royal. Dudley himself proposed it, jjJ£E£
and the General Court ordered it. A thousand men Port Royai
were raised, and Colonel John March of Newbury
was given command. It was a raw, undisciplined
force, badly led. It reached Acadia in June and
proceeded toward Port Royal. There the Acadians
made a sturdy resistance, and soon all was in con
fusion. March showed himself utterly incompe
tent, and seeing this his men became demoralized.
French prisoners told of the alleged strength of
the fort and of reenforcements on the way. This
frightened March and his officers. There was diffi
culty in getting the guns to the scene of action,
other things appeared to harass this verdant crowd,
and at length they returned to Casco Bay and soon
afterward went home. The French interpreted the
result as a great victory for them, and Louis was
pleased. A GENERAL COLONIAL PLAN AGAINST QUEBEC
But these persevering and irritating Yankees,
once determined to accomplish anything, were not
easily dissuaded. One Samuel Vetch,' who had vetch's
spent much time in Canada and knew the St. ^™e to
Lawrence well, became an ardent propagandist of Canada
a scheme for the reduction of Canada and Acadia.
The Massachusetts General Court gave him encour-
329

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
agement, and recommended that he go to England
for additional help. This was readily obtained.2
An Vetch's was an ambitious, large project, and he
ambitious was promised, on the capture of Canada, that he
planned should be made its governor. The other colonies
were directed to aid Massachusetts and the English'
forces with troops. These colonial auxiliaries were
to assemble at Albany, and march to Montreal and
Quebec by the old lake route. New England was
to furnish 1,200 men, to join five regiments of En
glish regulars, which, escorted by a squadron, were
to sail up the St. Lawrence to the capture of Que
bec. Pennsylvania and New Jersey refused to help
in this expedition. So only New York assembled
troops for this land campaign. It consisted of 1,500
men, with some Iroquois, and was commanded by
Colonel Francis Nicholson, who had been lieutenant-
governor of the province. Meantime Vetch was at
Boston, anxiously awaiting the British forces from
across the sea. Invariably tardy were these expedi
tions from either France or England to America.
They never arrived on time. The English were
little better than the French.
Help from The English squadron with its five regiments was
faiif *" due in Boston the middle of May, and the volun
teers from New England were encamped at Boston
2 Readers of this work must have noticed how easy it was for
adventurers and persons of little importance in America to go
to England or France and raise money for almost any purpose,
no matter how grotesque or impossible. We should smile at
the credulity or gullibility of our ancestors were it not so patent
that the same sort of promoters come to New York or Boston
or Montreal from out West or down South with precisely' the
same good fortune. But Vetch was not in that class. He
really knew his facts, and had a definite, workable scheme.
330

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY
soon after that time. All summer those troops colonists
waited there, drilling day after day, and scanning by £r'*at
the horizon for the ships or word of them. In Britain
vain Vetch and Dudley wrote to learn the cause
for the delay, and it was not until October n that
Dudley received word that the force intended for
Canada had been diverted to Portugal. That
note was just eleven weeks on the way. Such
cool contempt for the comfort of the colonies,
and the great strain upon them and the enor
mous expense which this long wait entailed, cer
tainly justified right then a declaration of inde
pendence. Meanwhile Nicholson's force had suffered terri
bly in the New York woods during those broiling
summer days from heat, mosquitoes, and pestilence.
Early in the summer an expedition set out from
Montreal under its governor, Ramesay, to attempt
to surprise Nicholson, but utterly failed. Ramesay
became separated from his men, who were com
pletely demoralized by their encounter with Nichol- Nicholson
son's scouts, and imagined the whole English army miserablf
° ° J summer in
was upon them. At length the French, almost as the woods
numerous as the English, succeeded in retreating to
Charnbly and finally returned to Montreal, a thor
oughly disgraced set of men. The English under
Nicholson were fit for fighting, but not for waiting,
as few armies are, and when pestilence broke
out it cut them off by scores. Long before notice
came from England of the abandonment of the ex
pedition, Nicholson's force had scattered, and the
. breach between New York and New England over
plans of campaign grew until it was learned that
Vetch was not to blame. 331

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
EMISSARIES SENT TO ENGLAND
Nicholson Still Massachusetts was not discouraged, and that
ier sail for winter theAssembly requested Nicholson and Schuy-
Engiand jg^ wh0 were sailing for England, to ask again for
help in this campaign against Canada, in which Mas
sachusetts, in spite of the enormous expenses and
widespread discouragement of the failure of the pre
vious summer, stood ready again to engage. New
York was in earnest in the same cause, and Schuy
ler was accompanied by five Mohawk chiefs. One
of them died on the way, but the others created a
Mohawks furore in London drawing-rooms, which had not
dratrtng-D seen savages since the coming of Pocahontas with
rooms Rolfe. So impressionable was London society and
officialdom that these miserable redskins, each prob
ably with a fine rogues' gallery record, were actu
ally made the guests of England, driven about in
carriages, given feasts, and saluted by cannon, as
personages of great distinction. Thus at times
do barbarians exact their toll from civilization.
These painted Mohawks and Nicholson's elo
quence fetched the English people and nation.
Again the promise of abundant help was given,
and, full of high hopes, Nicholson sailed for home.
Again there was delay. The ships were due in
March, 1710, and it was July when they appeared.
Then Massachusetts and the other colonies set to
work with haste and enthusiasm. It had been
decided to limit the expedition to the taking of Port
Royal, and hence only New Hampshire, Massachu
setts, and Rhode Island sent troops. On September 18
the squadron left Nantasket, and six days later sailed
into the entrance of Port Royal. It was a formi-
332

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY
dable force. There were five men-of-war with 24
transports and other ships, 1,500 provincial troops,
and 400 British marines. They landed the next
day. Less than a week was spent in bombarding Port Royai
and slight engagements, when on October 1, 1710, "°j^
Subercase, the French governor, informed the En- Oct. 1', 1710
glish that he was ready to treat for capitulation.
The terms were speedily arranged. Only 248 men
constituted the defenders, and they were sent to
France on English warships. Vetch was made gov
ernor and Port Royal was changed to Annapolis
Royal. Acadia thus again became English, and this
time the British monarch did not, in arranging
a peace treaty, give it back. It has ever since been
under the British flag.
WALKER'S EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC
This victory, after so many miscarriages, spurred
on the people of New England to greater zeal in
the larger project, the destruction of French power
on this continent. The same idea was popular in
England, and there the representations of the en
voys from New England were cordially received.
Lord Bolingbroke, then Mr. St. John, in the spring
of 171 1, ordered seven regiments with proper con
voy and warships. Over these troops he put John a pair of
Hill, a court favorite and a good fellow, but with
out army experience, although a brigadier. Who
was responsible for Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker
as commander of the ships does not appear, but it
was a fatal blunder. Nicholson was sent on from
London to prepare for the expedition, and he
summoned a conference of governors. The plans
of the campaign against Quebec in 1708 were
333

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The fleet adopted in general, Nicholson again leading the land
f'me^iune force by way of the lakes and the Richelieu. On
24, 17" June 24, only a fortnight after Nicholson's ar
rival, the fleet came and was received with great
enthusiasm. The promptness of its despatch seemed
a sure forecast of the triumph of the expedition.
All was excitement in Boston and New York, and
the volunteers were mustered with the greatest pos
sible speed. Conscription was employed in free
Massachusetts, and the result was an immense force
from that small province. When the expedition
sailed, as it did on July 30, it consisted of 1,500
provincials in addition to 5,500 British regulars and
500 marines. There were nine warships and 60
transports. The entire force numbered almost 12,-
000 men, by all odds the largest expedition that had
ever set out from or to a city of North America.
Vetch left his gubernatorial duties at Annapolis
to command the provincials. His prominence in
this and the previous campaigns was due to his
alleged acquaintance with Canada and the St. Law
rence. But it was found that he did not know them
intimately and was not actually a sailor. His ig
norance was fatal, for he had no reliable pilots.
From a Frenchman, who agreed to accept a large
fee to betray his countrymen by piloting the fleet
up the St. Lawrence, Admiral Walker got a lot of
absurd notions. So frightened was he at the pros
pect of having to spend the winter in Canada that
he was already faint-hearted and useless before his
ship had got out of Massachusetts waters. One
Fearful of of these notions was that the St. Lawrence froze
Oufbec solid, clear to the bottom, and another pictured
great mountains of snow, which would bury and
334

The Golden Dog, an old relic in the Post-Office Building, Quebec

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
a man destroy all forms of life. A more desperate case
afraid Qf «t>lue funk" was never seen in mortal man than
in Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker, R. N. But ig
norance of Canadian climate and the picturing of
impossible frost horrors are almost as prevalent out
side Canada to-day as in the eighteenth century.
On the very day when Sir Hovenden was writing
in his journal his gloomiest forebodings over the
weather of a city less than 500 miles north of
Boston, that city was sweltering in July heat.
The start was auspiciously made early in August,
and as the days wore on and nothing occurred to mar
the serenity of the prospects, the admiral may have
begun to feel easier. But on August 18, when the
ships had rounded Cape Breton and were in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, a violent headwind was en
countered. For shelter they sought the Bay of
a hombie Gaspe. After two days they came out, and on
August 22, they were sailing along peacefully, hav
ing passed Anticosti and being well on their way
up the river. But Walker then imagined he was
near the south shore, although he was really in
midstream, the river being seventy miles wide at
that point. The possibility of a ship's grounding
at that distance from shore seemed most remote.
But Walker evidently could not avoid fatal blun
dering. Without taking pains to get his bear
ings he assumed that he was near the south shore
of the river, and he ordered the ships to turn north.
The wreck became inevitable. -It was the night of
the 22d when the calamity came. The flagship
escaped going ashore, and Walker's miserable life
was spared. But alas, no such good fortune at
tended the whole expedition. There was a storm
336

disaster

INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, OTTAWA, ONTARIO
Photograph by Topley ,Jt

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY
and wind that night, and the ships became separated,
but rockets and other signals showing throughout
the night caused many of the officers on the flagship
the keenest anxiety as to the fate of the other ships.
It was three days before they learned what had
actually happened, and then the tidings were over
whelming. No warships were wrecked, but eight one
British transports, one storeship and a sloop were ^"^
missing, and the number of lives lost was nearly one
thousand. Their bodies were scattered upon the
shores of the fie aux GEufs, where they were found
by Canadians who plundered them and the boxes
and baggage cast up with them. The English men-
of-war hovered about the place and rescued prob
ably four hundred survivors, but the one thousand
souls who had already gone, when the work of
rescue began, could not be brought back. This
disaster, overwhelming as it was, did not necessarily
impair the integrity of the force. There were
nearly 11,000 men left with which to take Quebec.
But Walker acted as if he wereiglad to get an excuse walker's
to back out. In spite of Vetch's indignant protest, "^f7
Walker ordered a retreat to the harbor of what is
now Sydney, in Cape Breton. Half of 11,000 brave
men, well officered and intelligently disposed, could
then have easily taken Quebec; but Walker was
undoubtedly wise in retreating. Under him that
expedition would have resulted in nothing but fail
ure and a further sacrifice of lives and money.
News of the disaster and retreat was at once sent
to Boston and New York, and forwarded with all
speed to Nicholson, with his 2,300 men. He had
been delayed in starting and had not yet entered
Canada. When he heard the news he was white
Canada — 15 337 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Nicholson's with rage, and cried in his anger, "Roguery !
Treachery!" It was a severe blow to him, who
had so labored and planned for the movement and
its success. Never again was he to see the attempt
renewed, for when Wolfe climbed the heights of
Abraham, Nicholson and Vetch and Schuyler had
long before passed on.
Canada had been frantic with fear when she
heard of the approach of the British expedition.
The defenses of the city of Quebec were in poor
condition, but everything possible was done to pre
pare for the foe. There was a long period of
waiting. Curiously enough, the first news of the
English failure came to Quebec from Montreal,
where the withdrawal of Nicholson's force was
learned, although the cause was not then known.
Quebec's Indeed, it was not until mid-October that the sus
pense was over. Then two ships were seen approach
ing Quebec. It was supposed that they were from
Boston, and the city's excitement and panic were
indescribable. They proved, however, to be French
ships and brought the tidings of the failure of
Walker's expedition — two months after the disaster
which happened less than 500 miles away; news
did not travel fast in North American waters at the
opening of the eighteenth century. The usual re
ligious feasts and thanksgivings at Quebec followed,
and the city began to consider itself impregnable.
In the mean time Walker's shattered forces
reached Sydney Harbor and after a brief halt there
separated, the New Englanders going home and the
British to England. Walker did not go unpunished.
His name was stricken from the half-pay list. He
soon afterward removed to South Carolina, and
338

joy

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE I8TH CENTURY
later to Barbados, -where he died. The anger andwaikerin
chagrin of Boston *and all New England over thedlsgrace
disaster, and the miserable incompetency of Walker
and Hill, was only slightly tempered by the consoling
reflection that none of the lost troops were Colonials.
True, they had not lost lives, but they had lost time
and money. And they had lost something more — a
belief that England meant to give them a really
helping hand in their contest with Canada. Either
this was true or the incompetency of the British
commanders was such that they could not be trusted.
England was welcome to take whichever horn of
the dilemma she chose.
Just how far this disgust which the northern
colonies felt regarding England's inability, or un
willingness, to help them might have led them we
can not know, for the peace of Utrecht, concluded
in 1712, put a stop to all chance they might soon
have had for open contest with the French.
THE TREATY OF UTRECHT
This treaty, while almost wholly favorable to the
French, had two clauses which were French conces
sions in the New World. The Iroquois were
acknowledged to be British subjects (what Fron
tenac would have done had this treaty been brought
before him one can imagine!), and Hudson Bay,
Newfoundland, and Acadia became English. But
Acadia was not clearly defined, and that vagueness
left a large chance for a continuation of petty con
flicts. Cape Breton, moreover, remained French — cape
an arrangement fraught with interminable mis- rer^a°°s
chief to both French and. English. Any one whoF™Mn
has passed his vacations in the two parts of the
339

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA

Frenchplans at
onceambitious

Nova Scotia of to-day, knows how different are its
east and its west. Cape Breton and its Bras d'Or
lake is a good place for the rugged Scotch who now
inhabit it, and Acadia is more adapted to farming.
This handicap the French could not easily over
come. But they did not at first realize it. Im
mediately after the cession of Acadia they began
large plans for the building up of French power in
Cape Breton.

340

CHAPTER XIX
THE FOUNDING OF LOUISBOURG
LOUISBOURG was selected as Cape Breton's Louisbourg
port, and the king gave it a rich endowment. ™^edby
He sent several companies of soldiers, and a strong the king
fortress was built. There was, of course, a church
with priests, and a hospital, and all that it lacked of
being a really strong and valuable settlement was a
civil population. But it was not a good place for
civilians, at least not for farmers. The soil was not
productive, and the seasons were inclement. The
king could send out soldiers and girls to marry
them, but as usual he found it difficult to find
French farmers and civilians in general who were
willing to leave La Belle France. Some fishermen
did go indeed, but a farming settlement was essen
tial. The only way to get it was to lure away the Luring
French settlers of Acadia. That scheme would fttlers
... from
enrich Cape Breton, and at the same time injure Acadia
Acadia, now become English. So from this time
forth for nearly a half century the poor Acadian
farmer was pulled and hauled about by both French
and English. To be sure, the English did not at
first pay much attention to the French plans. They
assumed that these peasants having taken an oath
to be loyal subjects would keep it. And indeed the
Acadians had no other wish. They were satisfied
341

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
with Acadia, they were prosperous and as happy
as such simple-natured folk can hope to be. To
move away was the last of their desires. But the
French officers and the priests were trying to make
Frighten- them discontented, and succeeded. The officers sought
peasants to attract them with glowing descriptions of Cape
Breton, and the priests, it is asserted, went among
their flocks telling the poor dupes that their churches
were in danger under English authority. These
assaults upon the peace of the Acadians left them in
a sorry condition of mind and soul.
It would not have been a very great undertaking
for the French to seize the whole of Acadia. After
its capture by the English, and the assumption of
the governorship by Samuel Vetch, the English
ministers and king seem to have pretty thoroughly
forgotten Acadia. They sent poor Vetch no sup
plies, or money, or even kind words, and the first
official information he received after his appoint-
v«ch ment was four years thereafter, that he had been
byPer superseded by Nicholson — another "war hero."
Nicholson \yhen Nicholson got there he. found the people all
in a flutter, due to the work of the French. The
question naturally comes: "Why did the English
allow it?"
Aside from the usual easy-going ways of the
English, there was another reason. It lay in a
provision of the Treaty of Utrecht which allowed
the Acadians who wished to leave within a
year liberty to do so. This, of course, might be
interpreted to give the priests a sort of permission
to use their influence to persuade them to leave.
Many promised, but very few did leave. Nicholson
when he saw some settlers actually going became
342

THE FOUNDING OF LOUISBOURG
aroused, and by his arbitrary action made things English
worse. He refused to permit others to go, and thus ™t "neto
broke the Treaty of Utrecht. But a dozen families settlers
or so from about Annapolis did get to Louisbourg, e'
and had a most wretched time of it with cold and
hunger. Their experience evidently had its effect
upon the other Acadians. Even those in the ex
treme eastern portion of the island who were
separated from Cape Breton only by the Strait of
Canseau were most unwilling to go. Years went
on and these conditions continued. England kept
on neglecting Acadia, and France kept on intriguing
to secure the Acadians for Cape Breton. But mean
while the Acadians were multiplying and acquiring
land and property. There was scarcely a day for
twenty years after the Peace of Utrecht in which,
if they had so desired, they could not have over
thrown the British garrison. The commanders were
constantly alarmed at their own defenseless con
dition, and had several times to endure insults with
out retaliation. When George I ascended the
English throne the commander essayed to compel
all the Acadians to take the oath of loyalty to the
new sovereign, but such a tumult was raised that he
gave it up. Later a non-committal sort of oath
was arranged and sworn to quite generally, but it
really bound the Acadians to nothing. In all this
was abundant material for that future trouble of
which the world knows.
While affairs were in this uneasy and unsatisfac-in disputed
tory condition in and about Annapolis they were terntory
no better at the western end of Acadia. This
western end was not as now the portion of Acadia
bordering on the Bay of Fundy, but was that region
343

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
French lying east of the Kennebec River in what is now
EatTem tne State of Maine. It is a very peculiar and even
Maine absurd condition of ownership that we find here.
When the French held Acadia they claimed that
it extended west at least as far as the Kennebec
River, but after they had ceded Acadia to England
they pretended to regard Acadia as only the present
peninsula. That left Eastern Maine and New
Brunswick as a sort of No Man's Land, yet the
French soon came to claim it as belonging to
Canada. At any rate they tried to do all they could
to "save their face" after they were compelled,
legally, to give up their land. The English in
Canada took the French claims philosophically,
neither admitting nor contesting, and had the French
acted discreetly there is little doubt, that their claims
might have been recognized for a time at least.
But it was not in the nature of the French to act
with discretion. Vaudreuil had started all the latter
trouble, and the priests kept it up. While there is
some evidence of aggression on the part of the
American colonists in America toward Canada, the great ma-
wanted8 Jo^ty tnen cared little about boundaries; all they
peace wanted was peace and a chance to earn a living.
They were willing to let all these boundary ques
tions alone, and so they were allowed to drift
along until, angered to the depths by French and
Indian aggressions and deviltry, the Americans and
the English put an end to all boundary talk by
wiping New France off the map of North America.
A notable instance of French incapacity to let a
neighbor dwell in peace was shown, just after the
Peace of Utrecht, in the conduct of French interests
in this west Acadian country bordering on the Ken-
344

3®a^Bs«sfc«as^^";:.4-«'w*'»

Monument to Mgr. Ignace Bourget, Montreal
345

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
sebastien nebec. A Jesuit priest, Sebastien Rale, headed a mis-
stfractes>n" si°n amonS tne Abenakis on the Kennebec where
the village of Norridgewock now stands. If he had
been content to work for the salvation of the souls
of the savages, as Jogues or Brebeuf was, all
would have been well, but he began at once, as his
predecessor in that same region had done, to
agitate politically, and to conspire against the Amer
icans on the other side of the stream. To be sure,
he was moved to take this course by his interpreta
tion of the action of the Governor of Massachusetts,
who went to the mouth of the Kennebec with an
expedition to hold a conference with the Indians
of that region, and there asserted British authority
over all Acadia. Possibly the attitude of the gov
ernor seemed menacing, but ostensibly his impulse
was to secure peace. Rale would not so interpret
it and aroused the Abenakis to threaten the English
at a second conference. Later, after burning many
The fight at houses, the Indians attacked the fort at Georgetown,
Norridge- jjUt were repulsed. This led to reprisals, and a
number of encounters occurred, in one of which,
papers were found proving the connection of Vau
dreuil with Rale and his savage acts. This stirred
up deeper resentment, and was but another torch
for the burning of French Canada. At length an
expedition, under Captain Harmon, set out in 1724
from Port Richmond to destroy Norridgewock and
capture Rale. In the fight that followed the Indian
town was destroyed, and many were killed. Rale
himself was among these. He resisted capture,
and was shot in a house by a colonist who evidently
believed Rale would kill him if he did not shoot first.
The people of New France mourned Rale as
346

THE FOUNDING OF LOUISBOURG
another Jesuit martyr, but there is no doubt that
his removal was a good thing for peace and civiliza
tion. The fighting continued, however, for some
time, but with nothing like the virulence of Rale's
day. Various attempts were made to patch up a
peace, but this sort of thing would not abide. ItTnebattie
was the next year that the fighting occurred about ofFryeburg
Fryeburg, Maine, which, in colonial records, was
one of the most desperate hand-to-hand encounters
known in the woods of America. In the end, of
course, the Indians were badly shattered in these
campaigns, and the line of English settlement
pressed back farther and farther the French frontier.
It must strike the reader that most of the history Quiet in
of this period has little to do with Quebec andQuebec
Montreal, in contrast with the previous century,
in which those cities were the seats of action as
well as of power. There are several reasons for
this change. The greatest of these was, plainly,
the decline of the Iroquois. From the close of the
seventeenth century the Iroquois ceased to be the
chief menace to the success of New France. Quebec
and Montreal, therefore, became safe, and grew in
strength and prosperity. These conditions do not
produce history. Another factor was the absence
of conspicuous personalities in the seats of power.
After Frontenac there was no giant until Montcalm,
and these unimportant and mediocre governors
gave no impetus to any movements that chiefly
centred in old Canada. On the other hand, fortified
by the ease and safety of old Canada, the young
Canadians began to press forward into the outskirts
and the frontier, and became the source of news
and history. As mentioned in a previous chapter,
347

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Quebec Quebec society was in those days losing its serious
ofF-rance™1 aspect and becoming more like a town of France —
not a little Paris, of course, but with a something
almost Parisian. Laval died early in the century,
and the restraining influence of this strong, grave
personality was removed.
There is little else we can find of interest to say
about Quebec in those days. It was prosperous
The and peaceful, and almost gay. The Iroquois, con-
now reT sci°us °f their weakness, played off French against
upon their English, Quebec against Albany, so adroitly as to
diplomacy win our admiration. They allowed Vaudreuil to
build a fort at Niagara, and then when Albany pro
tested and urged them to destroy it they went to
Niagara and ordered the French to cease building
it, probably knowing that their demand would be
refused, as it promptly was. Then the English
retorted by building a fort and planting a settlement
at Oswego, which clearly was within their rights to do,
but which was plainly a menace to French trade with
Indians on the St. Lawrence. The French had al
ready built a fort at Chambly, and continued south
along Lake Champlain to construct trading posts
which were designed to build up French trade and
prevent the possible ingress into Canada of hostile
parties by that route, just as they aimed to prevent
similar ingress through the Chaudiere route by seek
ing to gain control of the Kennebec through the
agency of the French priests and the Abenakis. Thus
the main activities of the rulers of Canada were now
directed toward commerce as they had been succes
sively toward conquest, exploration, and religion.
But on the outskirts and frontier there were inter
esting movements well worth our attention.
348

CHAPTER XX
THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA
FROM Quebec to New Orleans to-day, whether
one travel by the Great Lakes and mighty
rivers or by rail, one passes through towns and
cities of varying conditions and life, but with none
that are very like either Quebec or New Orleans.
Yet these two cities are fundamentally the same.
Their people and their distinctive peculiarities are
in all respects similar. Quebec and New Orleans Quebec
are both French to the core, for Frenchmen founded 0nriefnesw
both and have dominated both from the beginning.
Most of us are surprised to find any connection be
tween the two cities, forgetting that New Orleans
was Canada South at one time, and that the im
pulse which led to its beginnings came from Can
ada and Canadians. It was Iberville who really
founded Louisiana, and it was his son who was its
father. And, earlier, it was La Salle who conceived
the idea, and so set men to thinking that in the
nature of things an Iberville or some one else must
arise to carry out La Salle's ideas.
Nothing was done for a decade after La Salle's
death in 1687, except Tonty's fruitless journey. In
1697 the Sieur de Remonville, a friend of La Salle's, sieurde
brought before the French court a scheme for a set- ^iX"
tlement at the mouth of the Mississippi, in order to scheme
349

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
head off the English, who were proposing a sim
ilar plan. This suggestion, although not then acted
upon, had the effect of discouraging the English.
ibenriiie The next year Iberville, fresh from his triumphs
Louisiana *n Hudson Bay and other northern waters, took up
Remonville's suggestion, and urged it with such en
thusiasm and vigor that his offer to plant a colony
and build a fort at the mouth of the Mississippi was
accepted. He set out in the winter of 1698-99, and
after a stop at Pensacola, where he met some Span
ish ships, whose commander ordered him to move
on, he cruised along the northern shore of the gulf
until the first week in March, when he entered the
Mississippi. Ascending it, he found tribes whom
La Salle had met, and one of the Indians gave him
a letter left by Tonty for La Salle in case of his
return. The appearance of the country, with its
low marshes and lagoons, was not very enticing,
so Iberville went back to where he thought was a
better harbor, at what is now Biloxi, in the State
a fort buiit of Mississippi. Here he built a fort and then re-
at Biioxi, turned to France. Bienville, his brother, went on an
1699 , ,
exploring expedition up the Mississippi, and came
upon a party of French Protestants in an English
ship, bound for somewhere on the Mississippi.
The reader must have been struck in reading this
and other wilderness history with numerous exam
ples of such meetings. Let one search in his own
village for a man whom he and every one else
knows, and he may miss him altogether or find
him only after a long search; but set the two men
in a thousand-mile-square forest and they are sure
to run across each other before sunset! These
occurrences (using the word literally) are not al-
3So

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA .
ways so happy as that example, but the principle
holds good. These French Protestants whom Bien
ville ran across were from Carolina, and were hunt
ing for an English party a thousand miles or so
Bienviiie, up the river. Could Bienville tell them anything
thewily about the others? No, he couldn't. Could he
even tell them if this was the Mississippi River?
"The Mississippi!" exclaimed the veracious Bien
ville. "Certainly not. The Mississippi is over there
somewhere," with a vague gesture, and paddled off
smiling, and leaving them utterly bewildered. But
before he went he got from the captain of the ship
a petition from the Huguenots of Carolina addressed
to the French king, asking permission to settle in
Louisiana. In time they got his answer. The reader
can guess it. Louis told them he had not expelled
them from France in order to let them settle in some
other part of his domains. It was by such liberal
and far-sighted measures that France expected to
build up an empire in the New World.
Iberville, on reaching Paris, was ordered back
with reenforcements, so great was the fear of En
glish expeditions. To frighten the English he built
a rude fort at the rnouth of the Mississippi. On his
colony third voyage a year later he moved the colony to
Mobile'0 wnere Mobile now stands. This was really included
in Florida, and Spain made a protest, to which Louis
paid little attention. After his third expedition, the
connection of Iberville with the enterprise ceased,
and his brother, Bienville, was left in charge. The de
tails of the long story of quarreling between himself
and the intendants and other officers, and his re
movals and reinstatements, are too complicated and
tedious even for recapitulation. Starvation and dis-
352

THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA
ease afflicted the colony, which was composed of An
roues and rascals of both sexes from France, Bering'
practically the only exception being some Canadi- settlement
ans whom Iberville induced to come. Gold or any
other precious metal, for which all French and other
Continental European colonists sought first, was not
discovered, and as these founders of Louisiana would
not work and could not get slaves they had a dis
agreeable time with many hardships. The king got
tired of them, and farmed out the colony to one
individual and company after another, who always
lost money if they did not incur ruin in the opera
tion. After thirteen years of troubled existence the
total population of Louisiana was only 380.
It was in 171 7 that the king turned over the con-J°hnLaw
trol of the colony to the Mississippi Company. The Mississippi
story of this "Frenzied Fiatism" scheme, originated bubble
by John Law, is so fascinating and interesting that
the writer passes it by with regret, but as its chief
scene was in France and not in America, and as its
operations are so well known, it really has no place
here. It was a Mississippi bubble indeed, yet its
success in the land which in the twentieth century
the Humberts duped so completely is not at all
surprising. The chief thing done by the company
in Louisiana was the sending of more troops and
settlers in order that a settlement on the Mississippi
should be made. This Bienville did, and the site was New
the site of New Orleans, founded thus in 1 7 1 7. In five ^^
years the bubble burst, but the colony was still sus- 1717
tained and now had about 5,000 inhabitants. Indian
wars added peril to the general misery. The blacks,
imported as slaves from San Domingo, were in
creasing rapidly and threatening to overwhelm the
3S3

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
character whites. But as the years went by a better class oi
cotony whites came in, and by the middle of the century,
improves where we must now leave them, the French had
established a fairly firm foundation for their colony,
and it bade fair to become in time prosperous and
strong — if it should be fortunate enough to escape
attack from without.
The carrying out of La Salle's dream of a French
colony at the mouth of the Mississippi pointed to
the execution of the other part of that dream — forts
and trading posts from the St. Lawrence to Louisi
ana, thus to make this vast stretch a French colony
indeed. Only one of La Salle's posts had survived,
that on the Illinois, at Fort St. Louis, where the
faithful Tonty was in command. That region was
united to Louisiana soon after the settlement at
New Orleans and the formation of the Mississippi
Fort Company. The new governor of Illinois estab
lished a fort on the Mississippi a few miles above
Kaskaskia, named Fort Chartres. This was the
only other post of any consequence established in
the Illinois country. The greatest peril to it and
to the Starved Rock post came from the Foxes, or the
Outagami tribe that called themselves Musquawkis.
These were as fierce as the Sioux or the Iroquois.
Their home was on or near the Fox River, in Wis
consin. There they abided very little, sallying forth
from time to time to attack with almost maniacal
fury any tribe which might have offended them. They
The story made an assault upon the French fort at Detroit
early in the century, and had not help come
from the Hurons, the fort would have fallen. They
made frequent campaigns against the Illinois, and
so persistent was their activity that no one was safe
3S4

Chartresfounded

THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA
in Illinois. Without doubt this tribe kept back the Down
settlement of that territory at least twenty-five years. ^.ent day
Expedition after expedition was sent after them
with only partial success, until in 1731, by a com
bined attack of French, Hurons, Iroquois, and
Ottawas, the tribe was almost annihilated. Five
years afterward less than one hundred warriors
were found to be alive, but the tribe recovered its
strength in a measure, though not in ferocity, and,
uniting with the Sacs, they now live on a reserva
tion in Iowa. This tribe made a tour of the Eastern
States about 1850, and gave exhibitions in various
cities. It continued this practise in Iowa in the sev
enties, and those chants^ songs, and antics are still
fresh in the memory of many Iowans. As I write
there are reports that, owing to their restlessness
and dissatisfaction over their reservation rights in
Iowa, that reservation is to be broken up. If this
occurs, then indeed will take place the annihilation
which the allied force thought they had accom
plished two centuries ago.

355

CHAPTER XXI
THE FIRST CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG

WE now fix our gaze again upon the outskirts of
New France, althrmcrri nur pvps must swern

The War
Austrian * ' New France, although our eyes must sweep
succession, across half the continent. It is Acadia which occu
pies the centre of attention as the American battle
ground of another European war, and again old
Canada is left at one side in the rushing tide of
big events. This war was the War of the Austrian
Succession, a contest in which primarily neither
England nor France had anything at stake, but
into which both were dragged by their allies.
Charles VI of Austria, on his death in 1740, left
his sovereignty to his daughter, Maria Theresa,
In his as in most other European countries at that
time the Salic Law, prohibiting women from be
coming sovereigns, obtained; but as Charles had
no son he had secured from the other Powers as
sent to the waiving of the law. This authorization
was called the Pragmatic Sanction, and it seemed
to guarantee the young empress a peaceful and
prosperous reign. But neither she nor her father
Frederick counted on the opposition of the young, ambitious
theGrea- Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia, and the en
trance of this prince and his country into world
politics was the most sensational feature of the con
flict. France got into the war purely to prevent
356

THE FIRST CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG
Austria from seizing Lorraine, and England, which How
held aloof for several years, was finally dragged benCame
into it for various reasons, one of which was toinvolved
crush the menace from Spain and France on the
sea. In the end Frederick got Silesia, which he
seized at the outset, and Maria Theresa's right
to her throne was recognized. What France and
England got was inconsiderable, and their contests
in Europe were not very interesting. But the cam
paign in America was full of zest.
Revenge, as we have seen, was a French passion Annapolis
which was always getting that country and its peo- ™**^ e
pie into trouble. The news of the entanglement 1744
of Great Britain in 1744 reached the garrison at
Louisbourg before it arrived at Boston or Annap^
olis. The governor of Louisbourg, Duquesnel, knew
that he had his news first, and bestirred himself to
take advantage of his prior information. His main
object, of course, was to take Annapolis, and after
that Boston. He set out at once for Canseau, then
and now a small fishing town in Acadia on the
Atlantic, just across the Strait of Canseau from
Cape Breton. That was taken at once, and then the ex
pedition, directly under Duvivier, proceeded against
Annapolis. That little Acadian capital was the
especial aim of the French, because its commander
was one whom they regarded as a traitor, Major
Mascarene, a French Protestant driven out of
France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
He had only about 100 men, poorly armed, provi
sioned, and clothed, and the fort was in a dilapi
dated condition. But they put up such a stiff fight
that Duvivier's 600 men were surprised and demor
alized by their losses. He was also disappointed
357

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
by the failure of the Acadian farmers to rise. (Ar
nold and Montgomery were deceived by the same
class of people thirty years later in old Canada.)
Fearful of a sortie, Duvivier began a siege after
often calling upon Mascarene to surrender. After
three weeks two small ships arrived from Boston
to aid the besieged, and Duvivier in despair gave
up the campaign. It was a disastrous experience
This Annapolis campaign took place in July, 1744,
but it was not until the following winter that any
one in Massachusetts was bold enough to suggest
retaliation. That one was a "brash" young man,
William Vaughan of Damariscotta, interested in
fisheries. Fishing was a hazardous enterprise in
those days, largely because of the depredations of
the French privateers which had in Louisbourg a
The gmdge base of supplies. So Vaughan, the harum-scarum
vaughan"1 young fisherman, with a grudge against Louisbourg,
went up to Boston to ask Governor Shirley to send
an expedition against and capture Louisbourg. It
is a monumental -wonder that Shirley didn't laugh
in his face It was a most absurd suggestion.
Parkman calls the chapter devoted to it "A Mad
Scheme." But something in the idea caught the
fancy of the usually cool and cautious Shirley.
Possibly he had a hidden vein of imagination, for
he listened with attention, and when Vaughan had
gone it was plain that his mission might bear fruit.
shiriey In the second week of January, 1745, Shirley met the
proposes Assembly, called General Court, in session, pledged
the capture , J , , , - , . ,
of Louis- them all to secrecy, and then told them of his plan
bourg to capture Louisbourg.
The dull, stupid, Conservative legislators
looked at him in silent amazement. Take Lottis-
35«

MAGDALEN
.ISLANDS^

>| PRINCE EDWARD *^ *
GULF OF
I
S n. Z^l WME NCE

CUP*

A T L J. JXV-X I G

0 C Es A, &

0 20 40

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The Mas- bourg ! Why, Louisbourg was as invulnerable as
statesmen Gibraltar or Quebec, and the French had spent
5ieid nearly $6,000,000 in making it impregnable! For
a regiment of raw New Englanders to try to take
that fortress was insane, they thought, and they so
told the governor, with politeness. Shirley was
disappointed, but not defeated. If secrecy wouldn't
work, perhaps publicity would. So he began to
bring pressure upon the doughty councilors, got
petitions signed and letters written, much as those
things are done to-day, and after a long struggle
the General Court surrendered by the unrobust
majority of one.
While they were deliberating, Shirley sent a ship
post-haste to England to seek the aid of the mother
Newcastle's country. .The Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of
State, got the message. It was his delightful mot
which Walpole has given us: "Defend Annapolis!
Annapolis! Oh, yes, Annapolis must be defended!
Ah! where is Annapolis?" He acted better than
he knew or talked, and really saved the day; but
Shirley did not know it and went bravely on, as
Planning if he must rely upon New England alone. He did
Lon^bour senc* despatches to the other colonies, asking help,
but they all declined. Louisbourg was New Eng
land's trouble ; they had troubles of their own. New
England, as usual, was not unanimous in support
of the project. Connecticut sent only 500 men, and
Rhode Island, sore because of Roger Williams's
ostracism and a boundary dispute with Massachu
setts, refused to aid at all, except with a sloop of
war. Massachusetts furnished 3,000 men and New
Hampshire 500. To get New Hampshire, Shirley
had to flatter the gouty governor, Wentworth, by
360

THE FIRST CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG
writing him that if it had not been for his gout he
(Wentworth) would have been given chief com
mand. Wentworth sent back word post-haste that
he didn't have enough gout to hurt him, and that
he'd be delighted to take command. But by this
time Shirley had discreetly appointed William Pep-
perell. Pepperell lived in Kittery and Wentworth
in Portsmouth, and so the latter could glare at his
rival just across the bay. Pepperell had more gump
tion than genius. In fact, he had seen almost nowiuiam
military service, although he had held various offices f ePPereU
J ' ° in command
in the militia, and when chosen was in command of
all the militia of that region. He was a merchant,
and his chief occupations and interests were civil.
Yet it was a good choice, and he served Shirley well.
Having heard nothing from Newcastle, Shirley
sent an appeal for aid to Commodore Peter Warren,
who had a few vessels at Antigua, West Indies. War
ren wished to comply, but as he had no instructions
from the home government he was compelled to
decline. His reply reached Shirley just before the
time for the expedition to sail, but it did not deter
him in the least. He simply destroyed Warren's swriey's
note, trusted to luck, and started the ships off. Awarded
There were about a dozen ships, ranging from a
converted frigate to a sloop, and carrying in all
about 150 guns, besides many transports, making
perhaps 100 vessels in all, and convoying 4,300 men,
of whom stout Massachusetts and Maine contrib- Expedition
uted about 3,300. It was on March 24, after 0nlysetsout>
1 <• • < < . r ,« 1 March 24,
seven weeks of preparation, that this foolhardy ex- I74S
pedition left Nantasket, and on April 5 it entered
the harbor of Canseau.
There is not much travel to Cape Breton as
Canada — 16 361 Vol. I

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Good luck early as April 5. It is too cold. These hot-blooded
aii the way rustjcs fOUnd the same thing true. They had to
mark time, because the harbor of Louisbourg was
blocked with ice. The soldiers employed this period
in drilling and getting acquainted with the country,
and the vessels in running in French prizes with
provisions bound for Louisbourg. But the delay
was a blessing, for on April 22 a large English
frigate bore down upon them. She proved to be
the advance guard of the three warships of War
ren. He had received orders from Newcastle just
a few days after Shirley's messenger had gone, and
he hastened to follow. As good luck would have
it, on his way to Boston he fell in with a ship whose
crew informed him that the expedition had already
gone. How valuable was the delay at Canseau, the
opportuneness of the orders from England, and this
message at sea, can not be overestimated. A week
after Warren's arrival the fleet sailed out of Can
seau Harbor, and on the next day Louisbourg came
into view. Their hearts must have grown faint
Louisbourg when they saw that great fortress. So far as en-
>n sig t gineermg skiH was concerned, Louisbourg was un
doubtedly not only the strongest fortified place in
America, but one of the strongest in the world. All
possible means of attack had been anticipated, every
point guarded. It was practically permanently im
pregnable. Only one feature of defense could not
be assured — the personal element. That failed.
FORMIDABLE LOUISBOURG
The southern shore of Cape Breton at that point
runs almost due east and west. From the sea by
a rather narrow passage one enters the harbor, a
362

THE FIRST CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG
large bay. To the left or west of this narrow pas- command- '-g position
: the fort

sage stood Louisbourg, first the fort and then the^gtpo1

town. The fort commanded on the east the har
bor and the passage, and on the west the town and
beyond. To further guard the fort were two bat
teries, one just to the east of the southeast corner
of the fort and running on a narrow neck to the
sea and passage, called the Island Battery; the other
directly opposite or north of the harbor mouth, on
the north shore of the harbor, called Royal Battery.
Any ship entering the harbor was sure to meet the
fire of the Island Battery from the left or flank, and
the Royal Battery from the front. The fort itself
was admirably built. There were deep ditches and
thick ramparts and a vast marsh, over which an
attacking party could hardly come. There were
mounts for 148 cannon in the fort itself, although
only a Tittle over one-half were probably in use,
while in the batteries were 60 more cannon. Shir
ley had but 34 cannon and mortars with which to
oppose this great force, and 4,500 untrained men
to match the 560 regular troops of the fort and
1,300 militia. It looked like a ludicrously unequal
battle. But the personal element with the French
was weak. The regulars had not been paid promptly, The weak
and almost a mutiny had broken out during the pre- e^en*'
vious winter; and this feeling inspired discontent
when all ought to have been harmonious. They
were weak in their leader also. Duquesnel had: died
soon after the fruitless attack on Annapolis, and
Duchambon, his successor, was unreliable and in
competent. Given Frontenac in such a place, and
he would not only have defeated the besiegers, but
more than likely would have captured the larger
363

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
part of their numbers. That is the genius of the
French — well led and with confidence in their lead
ers, they are brave and impetuous and efficient, but
if not sure of their leaders they are likely to be
come nervous and impotent. On the other hand,
the Anglo-Saxon will swear about his leader and
even damn him roundly, but he will fight well
whether well led or not. It is a trite comparison,
and is employed here only because it is so inevitable.
Ducham- Duchambon blundered from the outset. To oppose
blunders the landing of an army of 4,500 men protected by
warships, he sent 120 men, who must fight out of
the range of the guns of the fort. The landing was
at Freshwater Cove, nearly six miles west of the
town. The first landing party was only 100 men,
but they easily drove off the little force sent to
oppose them, killing six, capturing others, and en
abling the bulk of the army to land that day. As
if that were not enough to demoralize the mercurial
French, two days later, or May 2, came the crush
ing blow of the campaign — as fatal to the success
of the French as if it were a touchdown against
a team during the first five minutes of play. Fish
erman Vaughan took a small body of men and
marched northeast, skirting the town and continu
ing to the north side of the harbor. Like lusty
Americans that they were, glad to get a chance to
stretch their legs and eager for "business," they
yelled and shouted in what the French regarded
yens as a highly scandalous and unprofessional manner.
If these Yankees actually designed to scare the
French, they could have adopted no more effective
tactics. Then to accentuate their noisy, roisterous
behavior, they marched to a spot just due north of
364

Loud
Yankee

THE FIRST CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG
the Grand or Royal Battery, and set fire to some
naval stores, by some inexplicable blunder left un
guarded. These stores consisted largely of pitch
and tar and other nasty and smoky messes. The
smoke from this burning magazine rolled toward
the harbor and over the Royal Battery, and seems
to have thrown the garrison into frenzy and panic,
for soon they actually abandoned this strategic coign a fine coign
of vantage without firing a shot or even carefully ^j™^6
spiking the guns. Nor did they leave any pretense the Yankees
of occupying the battery, so as to deceive the enemy,
taking away the flag and leaving no man and no
fire. Had these precautions been observed, Vaughan
would not have dreamed of taking the battery; but
the next morning he saw that the place seemed
deserted, and by reconnoitring — getting an Indian
drunk and bribing him to go and look, one story
has it — he found the place in confusion and deserted.
His party rushed to the place with a shout and hung
up a red coat on the flagstaff. No sooner had this
little party of thirteen got within the battery than
a boat pushed off from the fort, evidently to remove
some of the stores, but so pluckily did the Yankees
hold their ground that, in spite of the fire from the
fort and the boat, they drove it back. Then, after
getting reenforcements, they began to look around.
They found twenty-eight forty-two-pounders and
two eighteen-pounders, and a large quantity of am- An expen-
munition. The guns were easily unspiked and soon slve pan
ready for use. When they opened fire on the town,
which they did the next day, with the Frenchmen's
own guns, doing much damage and distressing the
inhabitants, Duchambon must have begun to see the
criminal folly of that panic. It was not of itself a
36s

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
fatal blunder, but it gave the English confidence and
still further weakened the faith of the French in
themselves, so that they feared to take any step lest
it should prove to be wrong.
Peppereii From the very first Pepperell seems to have done
plans weii we^ especially for an amateur. He used what was
valuable and threw aside what was worthless of
Shirley's plans to conquer the place, and seems to
have gone ahead without any considerable drawback.
The landing of the guns and supplies was a hard
task with his primitive equipment, but it progressed
amazingly. The raw volunteers behaved very well,
doing prodigious labors and undergoing hardships
with good nature and cheerfulness. Five batteries
were speedily planted on as many eminences over
looking the town, and cannon from the Royal Bat
tery were used in them with good effect. Mean
while Duchambon was doing nothing, being afraid
because of the recent mutiny to trust his men in a
sortie. Brisk firing from batteries and fort took
place daily, and the marksmanship on both sides was
good. But while the French balls occasionally put
a gun out of action and killed a gunner, the English
shots were slowly destroying the town, smashing
the walls of the fort and rendering its defense more
and more difficult. Meanwhile the French, while
shouting defiance at the besiegers, were losing their
spirits and beginning to fear that they might in the
long run be beaten. Physically, the besiegers were
sickness not so well off as the besieged. The usual camp
English"16 diseases among volunteers broke out and, while not
very fatal, they reduced the available fighting force
one-half. Yet with summer coming on and the
southern breezes blowing, the New Englanders
366

THE FIRST CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG

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367
THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The high acted like a lot of schoolboys on a picnic. They
bel"egersthe Played games, told stories, laughed, and "cut up"
with the jollity and bubbling-over of the hearty
spirits of healthy youth. It was a great holiday
for them, and they refused to take it very seri
ously. Down deep in their hearts, they no doubt
felt that they were engaged in a righteous war and ¦
must win, but there was no strongly religious senti
ment, and one can hardly imagine a more striking
contrast than the armies of Pepperell and Cromwell.
Boyish Naturally this boyish enthusiasm at times led to
thatTen?1 trouble. They would "double-shot" their guns, and
too far several of them burst, injuring the gunners or of
ficers severely. It led, moreover, to a disaster which
at first seemed to have turned about the fortunes of
war. The Island Battery, it will be remembered,
commanded the entrance to the harbor and kept
Warren waiting outside with his ships. To take
that battery was obviously a necessity, and volun
teers for the task were easily got. After several
nights of postponement, they left their rendezvous,
the Royal Battery, on the night of May 23 and
quietly made their way in boats across the harbor
to the neck of land on which the Island Battery
stood. They landed safely and apparently unseen,
but there was too much good New England rum
aboard, and some of the men had to cheer on reach
ing the shore. At once the battery was alive with
lights. The guns belched forth fire with destructive
French effect. Yet on rushed the New Englanders and
attariiean planted twelve scaling ladders against the walls.
But few if any reached the top, so quick were the
French gunners, who were also able to sink several
boats of the men who had not got ashore when the
368

THE FIRST CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG
ribald and foolish cheers were given. An unequal
fight, meanwhile, was going on between the pro
tected garrison and the exposed men, the English
were falling fast, and by daybreak 119 surrendered.
The total American loss was 189 — a calamity which
sobered the colonists greatly and led them to more
carefully matured plans. Of course Louisbourg
went wild with delight, and once more confidence
was restored. The tide at last was running the
way of the French.
But it was not for long. Even before this dis-AFrench
aster, but coming to the knowledge of the French taken
after it, occurred the capture of the "Vigilant," a
French warship of 64 guns and 560 men, loaded
with stores and provisions for the garrison at Louis
bourg. She was discovered on the high seas by a
small British ship and lured by her into a chase
which ended by the eager but verdant "Vigilant's"
finding herself surrounded by the entire British fleet
— small, to be sure, but large enough to compel her
to strike her colors. The stars in their courses
again were fighting against Sisera. The English
men's ammunition and food had been dangerously
diminished, and this French cargo was a lucky find.
So the spirits of the garrison and people of Louis
bourg were again plunged into gloom.
Meanwhile the cannonading kept up on both sides, Thegriiiing
but the English erected a battery at the lighthouse ^°^e
just across the mouth of the harbor, and thus its
guns kept pouring upon the Island Battery a hot
fire which completely demoralized the men, shat
tered the walls, and silenced most of the guns.
The first part of June was now at hand, and the
commanders of the English forces decided to run
369

THE. TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Thegam- no risk of further delay, but to make a combined
son's phght army an(j navv attack upon the works. Pepperell
and Warren had been in correspondence for some
time regarding a plan to force the harbor and take
the town, and Warren had shown himself hot-tem
pered because his rather precipitous plans did not
commend themselves to the general merchant and
merchant general of Kittery. But Pepperell kept
his head and insisted upon being civil and gentle
manly to the naval chief. At length, however, they
got together on a plan of assault. The Island Bat
tery had become harmless, and no peril would attend
an attempt to enter the harbor.
When the people of Louisbourg saw the prepara
tions for a general assault they wilted, and on June
15 brought a petition for capitulation to Ducham-
bon. The French commander acted so promptly
that one is pardoned for suspecting that he had
long been anxious for an excuse to surrender. He
had hoped against hope that a force sent down from
Quebec would reach him in time to raise the siege.
Indeed, an army of 2,000 men had been promised
from France to cooperate with this party which
a relief had been sent from Quebec. Under Marin the
expedition canafjjans marched through the woods and pro-
that failed . * ,. ,
ceeded at first against Annapolis, not having heard
of Louisbourg's investment. The commander of
Annapolis was Mascarene, the same plucky man
who had baffled Duvivier the summer before, and
he held Marin at bay, but with difficulty. One
morning, however, Marin and his men quietly
disappeared. They had heard of the siege of
Louisbourg, and left, presumably, to help their
brethren. That, at least, was the opinion of French
370

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
and English at Louisbourg. But, as the days went
by, Duchambon came to the despondent opinion that
Marin had decided that the case was hopeless and
had gone back to Quebec.
THE CAPITULATION
So, on the same day on which the petition was
presented to him, Duchambon sent word to Pep
perell and Warren, asking for an armistice pending a
proposition to surrender. They gave him until next
morning to make his proposals. When they were
made they were unsatisfactory, but he soon came
June i7, 1745 to time, and the articles were signed on June 17,
the ships sailed peacefully into the harbor, and
Louisbourg was British for the first time. Thus the
colonials had won an amazing victory, and at
the cost of much blood and treasure had captured
the strongest fortified position in the New World.
To their simple bucolic minds ¦ this capture meant
that they were to occupy Cape Breton and Louis
bourg forever. But within a few years the English
king gave them back to France. Among the causes
of the American Revolution, Louisbourg, although
it does not appear in the Declaration of Independ
ence, had a no inconsiderable part.
Quarreling There was, to be sure, much bickering as to the
kudos e proper share of English and Yankee in the victory.
Warren asserted that he did it, and Pepperell, while
not at all vain for himself, insisted that the New
Englanders had borne the brunt of the battle, and
had been the main force in the capitulation. His
arguments are the better. The navy really did
little else than maintain the blockade, but that
blockade was most efficient and essential to the suc-
372

THE FIRST CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG
cess of the campaign. The achievement of captur
ing the "Vigilant" also wrought incalculably for the
defeat of the French. But the governor of Canada,
who hated the New Englanders more than he did
the English, had to report to his government that
it was the deadly fire of the colonial troops that
made Louisbourg untenable.
Boston was overjoyed at the news. Bonfires Boston
were lighted, crowds shouted in the streets day anddellghted
night, and every house was illuminated. It would
be difficult to imagine any event that could to-day
so much excite the people of that staid and ultra-
quiet town. New York and Philadelphia, although
they had refused to contribute to the expedition and
really had no right to shout, did so with enthusiasm,
ignoring their own impertinence. Perhaps from
another point of view one might declare that their
joy was more fitting and unselfish than that of
Boston, for the latter had paid for its fun and felt
bound to have it.
London was thunderstruck, glad that the French
had lost so much, but worried at the military
prowess of the colonials. Pepperell was honored Rewards
with a baronetcy, and Warren was made an admiral. *°rdWarre
France could hardly believe the news, although Peppereii
despatches regarding the desperate straits of the
garrison had somehow been carried to Paris.
But no sooner had the news come than preparations
began for an expedition to retake Louisbourg, and
then capture and sack Boston.
Undoubtedly the French for some time after the
capitulation need not have envied the English their
possession of the city. The weather was miserable,
the soldiers wished to go home to their families,
373

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Trouble in and even almost mutinied when all were not allowed
Louisbourg t? gQ_ Pepperell sent for Shiriey) ^d he quieted
the men, raised their pay, and peace again reigned.
But pestilence came on and men died. This sickness
added to the inevitable quarreling and homesickness
made Louisbourg anything but a happy place.

374

CHAPTER XXH
ANOTHER ARMADA AND ITS SAD FATE
SHIRLEY was not satisfied to rest with this con- Another
quest. He burned to take Quebec, and he so scheme t0
urged the matter upon Newcastle that the fickle Quebec,
duke agreed and promised Imperial help if the1746
other northern colonies would assist Massachusetts.
They all promised, except Pennsylvania, where the
Quaker influence was too strong. Private funds
were raised there, however, to supply a reasonably
large force. Preparations were made for a great
expedition which was, as usual, to consist of two
parts, one to sail from Boston and reach Quebec
via the St. Lawrence, the other to go by land over
the familiar Champlain-Richelieu route. Of course
the bulk of the naval support was to be British,
and, of course, it never came. With his usual lack- Newcastle's
adaisical conduct Newcastle got the ships with the^er^nt
promised eight battalions on board at Portsmouth, of the
but they did not leave for weeks after the time set, colomes
and then were sent on a silly crusade against French
ports which amounted to nothing. Newcastle ex
plained to Shirley that they were delayed by head
winds until too late, but both knew better. It was
only of a piece with the usual inconsiderate treat
ment of the colonies by England which was to bear
its deadly fruit with undreamt-of rapidity.
375

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
swriey Shirley thought unutterable things, but swallowed
his wrath and quickly turned his thoughts in another
direction. He had the men all ready; why not use
them in an expedition against Crown Point, which
war parties of French and Indians used as a sort of
basis from which to start for the murderous raids
on New England towns? It was a good idea, but
just as it was about to be carried out Shirley got
another shock which threw all his plans askew. The
French were coming to retake Louisbourg! Not
only that, but they were going to wipe out Boston
and the other cities of the North Atlantic coast.
It was to be expected that the king and his court
would not receive the news of the capitulation of
Louisbourg with equanimity, but it was hardly to' be
assumed that the divine wrath of the king would
mount to such heights as the despatch of a huge
squadron across the Atlantic. Yet it did. Some
thing stirred in the brain of the foolish sovereign,
and he' turned aside from his great European war
a huge and employed all the forces at hand to wipe out the
France'0111 disgrace of Louisbourg. The Due d'Anville was in
command of about thirty-two men-of-war, with as
many transports. As this was chiefly to be a naval
expedition, only 3,500 soldiers were taken. The
fleet sailed from Brest, and was to put in at Chibucto,
now Halifax, and there be joined by four men-of-
war from the West Indies. This expedition was to
sail in May, and had it done so, and had the British
fleet sailed, too, for America, there might have been a
terrific sea battle, or if the French had been lucky
they might have reached Boston and New York
and found them practically defenseless because of
the departure of the English forces to conquer
376

ANOTHER ARMADA AND ITS SAD FATE
Quebec While this was going on, such a force as
English and Americans were to send against Quebec
might have captured it, and we would then have had
the rollicking farce of two great regions exchang
ing rulers simultaneously and fortuitously. But
Unfortunately for the gaiety of nations no such joke
was perpetrated.
Canada,, which had prepared in frenzied haste for
the approach of the heretics, was now thrown into
paroxysms of joy by the news of the coming of
D'Anville. Massachusetts, on the other hand,
became tremendously alarmed over the news, and
got ready with a vengeance to receive the French.
But as usual the fleet did not sail on time. Indeed,
it was June 20, 1 746, when the ships left France, storms and
Trouble came from the start. Black care constantly "°^l^be
perched upon the prow of every boat. Storms, calms, start
lightning, an explosion, and disease accompanied
them on the voyage. Still they went on their way,
and after almost three months, on September 14, they
were approaching the coast of Acadia. Then came
what was probably one of those terrible equinoctial
storms which have sent many a gallant fisherman's
boat, and even ocean liners, in that part of the
North Atlantic down to the bottom or upon the
cruel rocks. The storm raged all that September Great storm
day and night, and when morning came the ships ^'ttersthe
were widely scattered. How many finally made
their way into Chibucto Harbor is not certain, but
D'Anville arrived there in the "Northumberland,"
far ahead of the remainder, and he found there only
one transport, and gained the distressing knowledge
that the ships from the West Indies had waited for
him three weeks, and had in disgust sailed for
377

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
Death of France a few days before. It was a staggering blow
mander" f°r D'Anville, and it really killed him, for on Sep
tember 27 he died from apoplexy, or poison. Had
he lived a day longer, he might have had courage to
go on, for D'Estournel, the vice-admiral, arrived
with a few ships the afternoon of the day of the
admiral's death.
These French officers were certainly not made of
very stern stuff, for the feeling of dismay and agita
tion that overcame D'Estournel when he learned of
D'Anville's fate, and saw the wretched condition
of the fleet, with provisions almost gone, and the
men dying from pestilence by scores, was not that
of a true soldier or sailor. The king had recom
mended that in case the attempt to recapture
Louisbourg was impracticable, Annapolis be taken.
D'Estournel was in a sad state of alarm when he
called the officers in council. He strongly urged
that the expedition was surely a failure, and that
they return at once to France. The officers voted
Suicide to attack Annapolis, and, retiring from the room in
great agitation, he rushed into his cabin, stabbed
himself with his own sword and died.
These misfortunes are almost unparalleled in
modern warfare, except in the case of the Spanish
Armada, with which this has often been compared.
But they were by no means ended ; indeed they had
only begun. The Marquis de la Jonquiere succeeded
in command. He had been appointed governor of
New France, and expected soon to reach Quebec,
La ^ ^ but, as we shall see, Quebec was almost a Carcas-
htrTtask S sonne to him. He did not attempt anything im
mediately; the demands of the hungry and sick had
first to be attended to. There is a story that over
378

of his
successor

ANOTHER ARMADA AND ITS SAD FATE
1,100 Frenchmen were buried at Chibucto. At any Acadians
rate, it was only by appealing to the Acadians and f0TsuppUes
giving them hard cash that supplies were got
for the starving. La Jonquiere did not feel himself
strong enough to venture to attack Annapolis until
late in October. Even under the best of auspices the
attempt was a foolhardy one, for the garrison there
had just received heavy reenforcements. This was
after the Yankee skippers had nosed about Chibucto
and learned of the forlorn condition of the French,
and had borne home the news that Boston stood in
no danger from such. But La Jonquiere set forth
at length, and the elements once more showed that
Heaven frowned upon the French cause. When
rounding Cape Sable a storm came upon the fleet and
scattered the ships. Those that proceeded to Annap
olis quickly got out again on finding two English
warships in the harbor. The French ships were then
got together and it was decided that the only course
was to return to France. So they started back,
"but not, not the 600." Another storm arose, and
the ships again drifted apart. More sickness broke Home at
out, and corpses were thrown overboard by thelastafter
' r J more
score. It was not until December 7 that the last disasters
ship reached France, after what was in many re
spects the most remarkable and disastrous naval
expedition in all history, when one considers that
no enemy was encountered. The Puritans of Boston,
and the pious New Englanders in general, boldly and
exultantly proclaimed the result as a triumph of
God over the minions of Satan and Rome.

379

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
RAIDS BACK AND FORTH
Raids and The next few years were filled with the usual raids
expeditions and expeciitions from Canada into the English ter
ritory. The same fatal policy of the gadfly or the
pin-prick was continued without substantial justice
or excuse. Because the colonists of Massachusetts,
in fair fight and open battle, had taken Louisbourg,
the French officials in Quebec thought it logical and
retaliatory to send down gangs of Canadians and
Indians to burn innocent and sleeping hamlets of
New England and New York. This argument, of
course, had its origin in the old raids of the Iro
quois. But these raids had practically ceased foT
almost a half-century, and even then the Massachu
setts people had practically nothing to do with them.
That point was, of course, understood by French
officials, but they never allowed the Indians or
the ignorant Canadians to realize it. To them all
"Anglais" looked alike. One of the few Iroquois
raids of the eighteenth century occurred, however,
about the time of which we are writing, and was
wuiiam due wholly to the personal persuasion of William
lohnson T , T . . , , ,
a leader Johnson, a young Irishman, who, as nephew and
representative of Admiral Warren in looking after
the latter's large estates on the Mohawk, became
well acquainted with and identified himself with
that tribe. Johnson got some Mohawks to go on
a raid to Canada even as far as Montreal. This
was in revenge, however, for raids by French In
dians as far as Albany. This retaliatory process
is an endless chain, and the next link in it was an
expedition into Massachusetts. Because of John
son's and the Mohawks' vigilance, these Canadians,
380

ANOTHER ARMADA AND ITS SAD FATE
under Rigaud, brother of Vaudreuil, the governor Nonhfieid
of Canada, could not proceed against any of theatlacked
New York towns, and so they directed their steps
toward Northfield. This attack and defense are
among the most interesting stories of Massachu
setts border life. It was a summer campaign, un
like most of these attacks upon defenseless towns,
and almost no atrocities were perpetrated upon the
prisoners. This border warfare kept on until 1748,
when" news came of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
The only result of this warfare was to keep alive
the hot hatred of New England for the power and
the place which encouraged and equipped these war
parties. THE TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE
The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle brought to a close France
a war of few conspicuous events on sea or land. w°hip naenrt
England was handicapped by mediocrity and blun
derers, and lost almost all her battles on land. The
sea she continued to rule, and this saved her prestige.
France emerged in good trim, so she could insist
upon the restoration of Louisbourg and all Cape
Breton. That was about the only land victory
England's troops had won during the war, and
she wished very much to hold it. But France held
the whip hand, and Louisbourg went back to her
in exchange for Madras in the East Indies. This
action infuriated the New England and New York
colonies to a dangerous pitch, and was, as pointed
out before, another in that long list of causes and
tendencies driving them away from their mother
across the sea.
But the restoration of Louisbourg to France car-
381

THE TERCENTENARY HISTORY OF CANADA
The ried with it as a corollary the need of better posts
HahfM?°f to guard Acadia. Annapolis was not the place, but
1749 some southeastern point of Acadia not far from
Louisbourg. Chebucto Harbor was chosen, and
Halifax began. This station was from the first
well fortified, and became the real capital of the
peninsula. It had, to begin with, what the French
posts never had, a settlement of sturdy, numerous
emigrants from home. Nearly 2,500 of these came
in transports the next summer (1749), after peace
was declared. This is said to have been the only
one of all the British settlements in America due
to royal initiative and not to private enterprise.
Edward Cornwallis, uncle of Lord Cornwallis who
was to surrender at Yorktown, was the governor
and commander-in-chief. England seemed at last
to take Acadia seriously. The place grew and
thrived both from without and from within, and
by 1752 it contained 4,000 people.

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