Indians had made an attack upon the settlement, had slain one boy, and
wounded seventeen men. The coward spirit of Wingfield had caused this
disaster. Fearful of mutiny he refused to permit the fort to be palisaded
or guns to be mounted within. The assault of the savages might have been
more fatal, but happily a gun from the ships carried a crossbar-shot
among the boughs of a tree above them, and, shaking them down upon their
heads, produced great consternation. The frightened wretches fled in
dismay from an attack too mysterious to be solved, yet too terrible to be
withstood.
After this disaster the fears of Wingfield were overruled--the fort was
defended by palisades, and armed with heavy ordnance, the men were
exercised, and every precaution was used to guard against a sudden attack
or a treacherous ambuscade.
Smith had indignantly rejected every offer held out to him by the
artifices of the council. He now again demanded a trial in a manner that
could not be resisted. The examination took place and resulted in his
full acquittal. So evident was the injustice of the president that he was
adjudged to pay to the accused two hundred pounds, which sum the generous
Smith immediately devoted to the store of the colony. Thus elevated to
his merited place in the council, he immediately devised and commenced
active schemes for the welfare of the settlers, and on June 15th Newport
left the colony, and set forth on his voyage of return to England.
Left to their own resources, the colonists began to look with gloomy
apprehension upon the prospect before them. While the ships remained,
they enjoyed sea-stores, which to them were real luxuries, but now they
had little whereupon to feast, except a miserable compound of wheat and
barley boiled with water, and even to the larger portion of this the
worms successfully laid claim. Crabs and oysters were sought with
indolent greediness, and this unwholesome fare, with the increasing heats
of the season, produced sickness, which preyed rapidly on their strength.
The rank vegetation of the country pleased the eye, but it was fatal to
the health. In ten days hardly ten settlers were able to stand. Before
the month of September fifty of their number were committed to the grave,
and among them we mark, with sorrow, the name of Bartholomew Gosnold. The
gallant seaman might have passed many years upon the stormy coasts of the
continent, but he sank among the first victims who risked their lives for
colonization.
To this scene of distress and appalling mortality the president Wingfield
lived in sumptuous indifference. His gluttony appropriated to itself the
best provisions the colony could afford--"oatmeal, sacke, oyle, aqua
vitae, beefe, egges, or whatnot"--and, in this intemperate feasting, it
seemed as though his valueless life were only spared that he might endure
the disgrace he so richly merited. Seeing the forlorn condition of the
settlement he attempted to seize the pinnace, which had been left for
their use by Newport, and make his escape to England. These outrages so
wrought upon the council that they instantly deposed him, expelled his
accomplice, Kendall, and elected Ratcliffe to the presidency. Thus their
body, consisting originally of seven, was reduced to three. Newport had
sailed, Gosnold was dead, Wingfield and Kendall were in disgraced
seclusion. Martin, Ratcliffe, and Smith alone remained. They seem to have
felt no desire to exercise their right of filling their vacant ranks. The
first had a nominal superiority, but the genius of the last made him the
very soul of the settlement.
It is related by the best authority that in this dark crisis, when their
counsels were distracted, their hopes nearly extinguished, their bodies
enfeebled from famine and disease, the savages around them voluntarily
brought in such quantities of venison, corn, and wholesome fruits that
health and cheerfulness were at once restored. Their condition now
brought them in almost daily contact with the aborigines.
Ratcliffe and Martin were alike incompetent, and Smith assumed the
guidance of affairs. Finding their provisions again nearly exhausted, he
went with a party down the river to Kecoughtan to obtain supplies from
the natives. Savage irony was all they received; a handful of corn and a
piece of bread were offered in exchange for swords and muskets. The
Indians came against them in numbers, frightfully dressed, and bearing
their okee in the form of a monstrous idol, stuffed with moss, and hung
with chains and copper. But they were received with a volley of
pistol-shot. The omnipotent okee fell to the earth, and with him several
of his worshippers. The rest fled to the woods, and, finding resistance
vain, they brought quantities of corn, venison, turkeys, and wild-fowl,
and received in exchange beads, copper, hatchets, and their discomfited
deity.
During the absence of the ruling mind, Wingfield and Kendall seduced a
few sailors and made another attempt to carry off the bark to England. At
the critical moment Smith returned, and, instantly directing the cannon
of the fort against them, commanded submission. A skirmish ensued, and
the seditious Kendall lost his life. A similar effort to the settlement
was soon made by Captain Gabriel Archer and the imbecile President
Ratcliffe, and again the decision of Smith arrested them and forced them
to their duty. He was ever prompt, and hesitated not at any measures
required to govern his turbulent compeers.
And now the winter came on, and with it immense numbers of swans, geese,
and ducks, which covered the rivers and afforded delightful food to the
settlers. They daily feasted upon them, and enjoyed in abundance the
peas, pumpkins, persimmons, and other vegetable treasures which the
season matured. But Smith could not be contented with a life of
inactivity, however plentifully supplied. The council had ungratefully
charged him with negligence, in not searching for the head of the
Chickahominy, and his own adventurous spirit urged him to renewed
enterprise.
He prepared his boat for a voyage, and, in a season of uncommon rigor, he
set forth upon an expedition destined to add greatly to the fame of his
already wonderful career.
The Chickahominy falls into the James not many miles above the site of
Jamestown. It flows through a very fertile region, and upon its banks
were native settlements well supplied with the stores of savage labor.
Up this stream Smith urged his boat with great perseverence, cutting
through trunks of trees and matted underwood which opposed his progress.
At length, finding the obstacles to increase, he left the boat in a broad
bay, where Indian arrows could not reach her, and, strictly forbidding
the crew to leave her, he pressed on, with two Englishmen and two
Indians, eager to penetrate with their canoe the swamps beyond them.
Hardly had he disappeared before the disobedient seamen left the boat and
sought amusement upon the shore. Opecancanough, an Indian chief of great
subtlety and courage, was near with a lurking band of savages, and,
instantly seizing his advantage, he made prisoner George Cassen, one of
this party, and obtained from him full information as to the movements of
Captain Smith. The cowardice of Cassen did not save him. The savages put
him to death with cruel tortures, and then pursued their more dreaded
foe.
Smith had now penetrated twenty miles into the marshes; and, leaving the
two Englishmen in the canoe, he went forward with an Indian guide. The
savages found the two men sunk in stupid slumber by the side of the
canoe, and shot them to death with arrows ere they could escape. But they
had now to encounter a superior being. Two hundred savages, approaching
with fatal intent, caused no dismay in the heart of Smith. Binding the
Indian guide firmly to his arm, he used him as a shield to preserve him
from the arrows of the enemy, and with his musket he brought two of them
dead to the ground. He would perhaps have reached the canoe--the savages
fell back appalled by his courage--but while in full retreat he sunk to
the middle in a swamp from which his utmost efforts could not extricate
him. Excessive cold froze his limbs and deprived him of strength, yet the
Indians dared not approach him until he threw away his arms and made
signals of submission. Then they drew him out, and, chafing his benumbed
body, speedily restored him to activity. His self-possession was never
lost for a moment. Discovering that Opecancanough was the chief, he
presented to him a small magnetic dial, and made the simple savages
wonder at the play of the needle beneath the glass surface.
On this excursion he was made prisoner, and he himself assures us was
saved by the Indian maiden Pocahontas. After a captivity of seven weeks
he returned to Jamestown, with increased knowledge of savage life and
manners. He treated his Indian guides with great kindness and gave them
two heavy guns and a millstone for the monarch. But the present was too
heavy for his strength, and when one of the cannons was discharged among
the boughs of a tree, and crashing of wood and ice was heard, the timid
natives declined any further interference with agents so formidable.
The absence of Smith had caused disorder and insubordination in the
colony. The pinnace had again been seized, and again he was obliged to
level the guns of the fort against her and compel submission. He was now
personally assailed by a charge replete with stupid malignity. Some, who
believed themselves skilled in the Levitical law, accused him of being
the cause of the death of Emry and Robinson, the two unfortunate men whom
the Indians had slain, and, with this pretext, they clamored for capital
punishment. To their insane charge Smith replied by taking the accusers
into custody, and by the first vessel he sent them for trial to England.
By his courage, his address, and his firmness he now wielded great
influence with the Indians, and proved the salvation of the settlement.
FOUNDING OF QUEBEC
CHAMPLAIN ESTABLISHES FRENCH POWER IN CANADA
A.D. 1608
H. H. MILES
From the period of Cartier's and Roberval's expeditions nearly fifty
years elapsed before France renewed her efforts to colonize the New
World. About the year 1598 the lucrative fur trade began to be
encouraged by Henry IV, of France, who in the brief respite from
religious wars was turning his attention to colonization and
commerce. In 1603 Samuel de Champlain, a French naval officer of high
character and chivalrous instincts, made his first voyage to Canada
in company with M. Pontegravé, a merchant of St. Malo, and together
they pushed their way up the St. Lawrence as far as the rapids above
Montreal, which Champlain named Lachine (_à la Chine_), for he
thought he had at last found a waterway to China. In 1608 he
proceeded to found at Stadacona (Quebec) a fixed trading-post of the
Merchant Company, in whose service he had again come to the country.
Champlain brought with him among the colonists a number of artisans,
who, on the magnificent headland of Quebec, erected a fort which was
to become the refuge of the sadly menaced little European colony, and
was long the centre of French influence and dominion in the New
World.
The rivalries of various commercial companies and the conflicting
colonial policy of France seriously retarded settlement and were a
great vexation to Champlain. Moreover, his quarrels with the powerful
Iroquois Indians, as here related by Dr. Miles, secretary of the
Quebec Council of Instruction, long prevented the southward extension
of French power in America.
In 1627 Cardinal Richelieu, prime minister to Louis XIII, cancelled
the old trading-charters, and established the Company of One Hundred
Associates, with power to trade throughout New France from Florida to
Hudson Bay. By the terms of the charter the "Hundred Associates" were
given the sole right to engage in the fur trade, with control over
the shore and inland fishing and of all commerce with the French
settlements in the country. In return for this monopoly the company
agreed to carry out mechanics and tradesmen to the colony, to settle
within a specified period some six thousand colonists, and to make
provision for the support of a certain number of Catholic clergy. The
French King, at the same time, made Champlain governor, so that he
finished his life in the service of the colony he had founded.
Samuel de Chaplain, who must be regarded as the real founder of the
Canadian colony, was already a noted man when invited by De Chates (or
De Chastes), commandant of Dieppe, to take part in the enterprise for
colonizing New France. He had served in the French marine at the
Antilles, and also in the South of France against the Spaniards, and
De Chates had met him at court. He was a man of noble and virtuous
disposition, chivalrous, and inspired with a deep sense of religion,
and at that time about thirty-six years of age. It will also be seen
that Champlain was gifted with qualities which endeared him both to his
own followers and to the native Indians of Canada. He was of good
address--always able, when he desired it, to render himself acceptable
to the highest personages in France, so as to secure a willing attention
to his representations. Such was the man who, under the auspices of De
Chates and of M. de Monts, first made his appearance in New France, in
whose early annals he figured conspicuously upward of thirty years.
In 1603 Champlain, in conjunction with Pontegravé, made his first voyage
to the St. Lawrence. At Tadoussac they left their ships and ascended the
river in boats to the then farthest attainable point--the Sault St.
Louis, now known as the Rapids, above the city of Montreal. The features
of the country, so far as they could be examined from the river, were
carefully observed. The Indian towns of Carrier's time, Stadacona and
Hochelaga, were no longer in existence; but Champlain regarded with
attention the scenery around their sites. Hochelaga is not even mentioned
by him, although, acting as Carrier had done nearly seventy years before,
he ascended Mount Royal in order to obtain a good view. Returning to
Tadoussac, where their three small vessels had been left, Champlain and
Pontegravé, toward autumn, set sail for France.
De Chates had died during their absence, and the company formed by him
was already almost broken up. Champlain, however, prepared a narrative,
and a map to illustrate what he had seen, and submitted these for the
information of Henry (IV of France), who expressed his willingness to
countenance the resumption of plans for settling the country.
Almost immediately afterward the company was reorganized by M. de Monts.
He also was a Huguenot, patriotic, of great abilities and experience, and
possessing much influence at court, without which he could not have
surmounted impediments that were purposely raised against his designs
from the first. The King, unmoved by the objections to De Monts,
appointed him lieutenant-general of the North American territory between
40° and 46° north latitude, with instructions to establish colonists,
cultivate the soil, search for mines of gold and silver, build forts and
towns, and with power to confer grants of land, as well as the exclusive
right of trading with the natives in furs and all kinds of merchandise.
Although a Protestant, while De Monts and his friends were to enjoy the
free exercise of their religion, he was bound by the charter to provide
for the conversion of the natives, and their training, exclusively, in
the principles and worship of the Church of Rome.
The King was the more willing to grant a charter on these terms, because
De Monts and his company were to bear all the costs that might be
incurred in their enterprise. Preparations were then made for the
despatch of an expedition on a larger scale than any that had yet left
France for America.
Early in the spring of 1604 De Monts set sail with four vessels, well
manned, and equipped with all means requisite both for carrying on the
fur trade and for starting a colony at any place that might be judged
suitable. He had under him Champlain and Pontegravé, also a French
nobleman named Poutrincourt, who was going out to settle with his family
in America, and the subsequently celebrated historian Lescarbot. Two of
the ships were specially intended for the fur traffic, and in the first
instance to scour the coasts and inlets for the purpose of driving away
or capturing all persons found illegally trading with the natives. The
other two ships had on board the intending colonists; among whom were
soldiers and workpeople, priests, ministers, and some gentleman
volunteers. This expedition did not steer for Canada, but for that part
of New France then called Acadia (Nova Scotia), De Monts being under the
impression that he should there find localities more favorable for
settlement than by ascending the St. Lawrence. But it carried with it
those whom Lescarbot justly styled "the hope of Canada"; for besides De
Monts, there were Champlain and Pontegravé, and probably many of inferior
grade, whose participation in this attempt to found an Acadian colony
must have greatly assisted in rendering their future services more
valuable elsewhere.
The effort at colonization in Acadia may be said to have been sustained
under many vicissitudes during about nine years until the year 1613; but
long before this the attention and services of Champlain and Pontegravé
were withdrawn. De Monts lost his charter in 1606, about which time
Champlain having, in conjunction with Pontegravé, made a number of
maritime excursions from Port Royal, and some geographical discoveries,
during the previous two years, became urgent for the renewal of attempts
up the river St. Lawrence, which he never ceased to represent as offering
a more favorable field for enterprise than the shores of Acadia. In 1607,
therefore, De Monts procured the restoration of his charter for the space
of one year; and, following Champlain's suggestions, turned his attention
to Canada. Two vessels were fitted out and despatched in April, 1608.
Arriving at Tadoussac in June, Champlain left his colleague there to
traffic with the natives, while he continued his route up the river,
until he came to the place where Cartier and his companions had wintered
in 1535.
Champlain landed, and having ascended some distance from the mouth of the
St. Charles toward the promontory now called Cape Diamond, judged the
situation favorable for permanent settlement. Artisans, provisions,
merchandise, arms, and tools were brought on shore, and a commencement
made in the work of constructing wooden buildings and defences. At the
same time preparations were made for cultivating the ground and for
testing the productiveness of the soil by sowing various seeds brought
from France. In these operations, begun on July 3, 1608, Champlain had in
view the establishment of a fixed trading-station for the advantage of
the company he represented, as well as the more immediate purpose of
providing for the security and accommodation of his people during the
ensuing winter. But on the site of these rude works the city of Quebec
grew up in after-times. Champlain is, therefore, entitled to be regarded
as its founder, and the date last mentioned as that of its foundation.
During the autumn the works were continued, Champlain himself
superintending them with indefatigable activity. Pontegravé returned to
France with the results of the season's traffic at Tadoussac.
Champlain's experience, previously acquired at Port Royal, doubtless was
of service in giving effect to his forethought and energy as regards
preparations for the winter; for it is recorded that the thirty persons
composing his party were comfortably protected from the ordinary rigors
of the climate.
On the return of spring Champlain's activity of disposition did not
suffer him to await the coming of Pontegravé from France. He set out
at once up the St. Lawrence. Meeting parties of Indians belonging to
Algonquin and Huron tribes, he entered into friendly communication with
them. Between these tribes and the Iroquois, or Five Nations, a state
of warfare subsisted. Champlain, on his part, desired to secure the
friendship of those natives who were to be the more immediate neighbors
of the French on the St. Lawrence, while the Algonquins and Hurons were
equally solicitous about forming an alliance with the Europeans for the
sake of aid against their enemies. An understanding was soon established.
The Indians engaged to visit the French trading-posts with abundance of
furs for the purposes of traffic, and promised to assist Champlain with
facilities for exploring their country westward. On the other hand,
Champlain undertook to help them in their conflicts with the Iroquois. In
pursuance of this agreement the French, under Champlain, first intervened
in Indian warfare. Returning to Quebec, Champlain procured reënforcements
and supplies for his establishment from Pontegravé, who had by this time
arrived at Tadoussac from France. Before the end of May he set out again
on his way up the river to join his Indian allies, and to accompany them
into the country of their enemies, the Iroquois.
During the twenty-seven years following the foundation of Quebec, the
history of the colony consists almost exclusively of the personal history
of Champlain, its founder, upon whose own memoirs we are dependent
chiefly for authentic information. They present details of romantic
incidents, of courage, fortitude, and virtue, of sagacity, and of
indefatigable industry, of self-denial and patience, which will always
entitle him to a high rank among the celebrated in the annals of mankind.
In pursuance of the alliance he had entered into with the aborigines of
Canada, as well as for the purpose of extending his discoveries, he
engaged in three different warlike expeditions into the country of the
Iroquois, viz., in the years 1609, 1611, and 1615.
In his first expedition he passed with a body of Algonquins and
Montagnais up the river Richelieu, which then, and subsequently, was the
principal route followed by the Iroquois when making incursions into
Canada. He discovered that this river formed the outlet of the waters of
a beautiful lake, which he was the first of Europeans to behold, and
which he called "Lake Champlain," after his own name. He was now in parts
frequented by the Iroquois. According to Champlain's description it was a
region abounding in game, fish, beavers, bears, and other wild animals.
Not far from the site upon which, long afterward, Fort Ticonderoga was
constructed, the invaders fell in with a body of two hundred Iroquois,
who were easily beaten and put to flight, chiefly owing to the chivalrous
valor of Champlain, and the terror inspired by fire-arms used by him and
his two attendant Frenchmen.
Here Champlain witnessed for the first time the cruelties and horrors
attendant upon Indian warfare; and he appears to have exerted his utmost
influence vainly in endeavoring to save the wounded and captive Iroquois
from being tortured. To his indignant remonstrances the conquerors turned
a deaf ear, alleging that they were only inflicting upon their enemies
the sufferings which their own people had often endured at their hands,
and which were reserved for themselves should they ever fall into the
power of the Iroquois. After this the allies made their way back to the
St. Lawrence, when the Hurons and Algonquins returned to their
settlements toward the Ottawa region, while Champlain and the Montagnais
descended the river to Quebec.