1667-1672.
FRANCE TAKES POSSESSION OF THE WEST.
Talon.--Saint-Lusson.--Perrot.--The Ceremony at Saut Ste.
Marie.--The Speech of Allouez.--Count Frontenac.
Jean Talon, intendant of Canada, was full of projects for the good of
the colony. On the one hand, he set himself to the development of its
industries, and, on the other, to the extension of its domain. He meant
to occupy the interior of the continent, control the rivers, which were
its only highways, and hold it for France against every other nation. On
the east, England was to be hemmed within a narrow strip of seaboard;
while, on the south, Talon aimed at securing a port on the Gulf of
Mexico, to keep the Spaniards in check, and dispute with them the
possession of the vast regions which they claimed as their own. But the
interior of the continent was still an unknown world. It behooved him to
explore it; and to that end he availed himself of Jesuits, officers,
fur-traders, and enterprising schemers like La Salle. His efforts at
discovery seem to have been conducted with a singular economy of the
King's purse. La Salle paid all the expenses of his first expedition
made under Talon's auspices; and apparently of the second also, though
the intendant announces it in his despatches as an expedition sent out
by himself.[35] When, in 1670, he ordered Daumont de Saint-Lusson to
search for copper mines on Lake Superior, and at the same time to take
formal possession of the whole interior for the King, it was arranged
that he should pay the costs of the journey by trading with the
Indians.[36]
[Sidenote: SAINT-LUSSON AND PERROT.]
Saint-Lusson set out with a small party of men, and Nicolas Perrot as
his interpreter. Among Canadian _voyageurs_, few names are so
conspicuous as that of Perrot; not because there were not others who
matched him in achievement, but because he could write, and left behind
him a tolerable account of what he had seen.[37] He was at this time
twenty-six years old, and had formerly been an _engagé_ of the Jesuits.
He was a man of enterprise, courage, and address,--the last being
especially shown in his dealings with Indians, over whom he had great
influence. He spoke Algonquin fluently, and was favorably known to many
tribes of that family.
Saint-Lusson wintered at the Manitoulin Islands; while Perrot, having
first sent messages to the tribes of the north, inviting them to meet
the deputy of the governor at the Saut Ste. Marie in the following
spring, proceeded to Green Bay, to urge the same invitation upon the
tribes of that quarter. They knew him well, and greeted him with clamors
of welcome. The Miamis, it is said, received him with a sham battle,
which was designed to do him honor, but by which nerves more susceptible
would have been severely shaken.[38] They entertained him also with a
grand game of _la crosse_, the Indian ball-play. Perrot gives a
marvellous account of the authority and state of the Miami chief, who,
he says, was attended day and night by a guard of warriors,--an
assertion which would be incredible, were it not sustained by the
account of the same chief given by the Jesuit Dablon. Of the tribes of
the Bay, the greater part promised to send delegates to the Saut; but
the Pottawattamies dissuaded the Miami potentate from attempting so long
a journey, lest the fatigue incident to it might injure his health; and
he therefore deputed them to represent him and his tribesmen at the
great meeting. Their principal chiefs, with those of the Sacs,
Winnebagoes, and Menomonies, embarked, and paddled for the place of
rendezvous, where they and Perrot arrived on the fifth of May.[39]
Saint-Lusson was here with his men, fifteen in number, among whom was
Louis Joliet;[40] and Indians were fast thronging in from their
wintering grounds, attracted, as usual, by the fishery of the rapids or
moved by the messages sent by Perrot,--Crees, Monsonis, Amikoués,
Nipissings, and many more. When fourteen tribes, or their
representatives, had arrived, Saint-Lusson prepared to execute the
commission with which he was charged.
[Sidenote: CEREMONY AT THE SAUT.]
At the foot of the rapids was the village of the Sauteurs, above the
village was a hill, and hard by stood the fort of the Jesuits. On the
morning of the fourteenth of June, Saint-Lusson led his followers to the
top of the hill, all fully equipped and under arms. Here, too, in the
vestments of their priestly office, were four Jesuits,--Claude Dablon,
Superior of the Missions of the lakes, Gabriel Druilletes, Claude
Allouez, and Louis André.[41] All around the great throng of Indians
stood, or crouched, or reclined at length, with eyes and ears intent. A
large cross of wood had been made ready. Dablon, in solemn form,
pronounced his blessing on it; and then it was reared and planted in the
ground, while the Frenchmen, uncovered, sang the _Vexilla Regis_. Then a
post of cedar was planted beside it, with a metal plate attached,
engraven with the royal arms; while Saint-Lusson's followers sang the
_Exaudiat_, and one of the Jesuits uttered a prayer for the King.
Saint-Lusson now advanced, and, holding his sword in one hand, and
raising with the other a sod of earth, proclaimed in a loud voice,--
"In the name of the Most High, Mighty, and Redoubted Monarch, Louis,
Fourteenth of that name, Most Christian King of France and of Navarre, I
take possession of this place, Sainte Marie du Saut, as also of Lakes
Huron and Superior, the Island of Manitoulin, and all countries, rivers,
lakes, and streams contiguous and adjacent thereunto,--both those which
have been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in all
their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas of the
North and of the West, and on the other by the South Sea: declaring to
the nations thereof that from this time forth they are vassals of his
Majesty, bound to obey his laws and follow his customs; promising them
on his part all succor and protection against the incursions and
invasions of their enemies: declaring to all other potentates, princes,
sovereigns, states, and republics,--to them and to their subjects,--that
they cannot and are not to seize or settle upon any parts of the
aforesaid countries, save only under the good pleasure of His Most
Christian Majesty, and of him who will govern in his behalf; and this on
pain of incurring his resentment and the efforts of his arms. _Vive le
Roi_."[42]
The Frenchmen fired their guns and shouted "Vive le Roi," and the yelps
of the astonished Indians mingled with the din.
What now remains of the sovereignty thus pompously proclaimed? Now and
then the accents of France on the lips of some straggling boatman or
vagabond half-breed,--this, and nothing more.
[Sidenote: ALLOUEZ'S HARANGUE.]
When the uproar was over, Father Allouez addressed the Indians in a
solemn harangue; and these were his words: "It is a good work, my
brothers, an important work, a great work, that brings us together in
council to-day. Look up at the cross which rises so high above your
heads. It was there that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, after making
himself a man for the love of men, was nailed and died, to satisfy his
Eternal Father for our sins. He is the master of our lives; the ruler of
Heaven, Earth, and Hell. It is he of whom I am continually speaking to
you, and whose name and word I have borne through all your country. But
look at this post to which are fixed the arms of the great chief of
France, whom we call King. He lives across the sea. He is the chief of
the greatest chiefs, and has no equal on earth. All the chiefs whom you
have ever seen are but children beside him. He is like a great tree,
and they are but the little herbs that one walks over and tramples under
foot. You know Onontio,[43] that famous chief at Quebec; you know and
you have seen that he is the terror of the Iroquois, and that his very
name makes them tremble, since he has laid their country waste and
burned their towns with fire. Across the sea there are ten thousand
Onontios like him, who are but the warriors of our great King, of whom I
have told you. When he says, 'I am going to war,' everybody obeys his
orders; and each of these ten thousand chiefs raises a troop of a
hundred warriors, some on sea and some on land. Some embark in great
ships, such as you have seen at Quebec. Your canoes carry only four or
five men, or, at the most, ten or twelve; but our ships carry four or
five hundred, and sometimes a thousand. Others go to war by land, and in
such numbers that if they stood in a double file they would reach from
here to Mississaquenk, which is more than twenty leagues off. When our
King attacks his enemies, he is more terrible than the thunder: the
earth trembles; the air and the sea are all on fire with the blaze of
his cannon: he is seen in the midst of his warriors, covered over with
the blood of his enemies, whom he kills in such numbers that he does not
reckon them by the scalps, but by the streams of blood which he causes
to flow. He takes so many prisoners that he holds them in no account,
but lets them go where they will, to show that he is not afraid of
them. But now nobody dares make war on him. All the nations beyond the
sea have submitted to him and begged humbly for peace. Men come from
every quarter of the earth to listen to him and admire him. All that is
done in the world is decided by him alone.
"But what shall I say of his riches? You think yourselves rich when you
have ten or twelve sacks of corn, a few hatchets, beads, kettles, and
other things of that sort. He has cities of his own, more than there are
of men in all this country for five hundred leagues around. In each city
there are store-houses where there are hatchets enough to cut down all
your forests, kettles enough to cook all your moose, and beads enough to
fill all your lodges. His house is longer than from here to the top of
the Saut,--that is to say, more than half a league,--and higher than
your tallest trees; and it holds more families than the largest of your
towns."[44] The father added more in a similar strain; but the
peroration of his harangue is not on record.
Whatever impression this curious effort of Jesuit rhetoric may have
produced upon the hearers, it did not prevent them from stripping the
royal arms from the post to which they were nailed, as soon as
Saint-Lusson and his men had left the Saut; probably, not because they
understood the import of the symbol, but because they feared it as a
charm. Saint-Lusson proceeded to Lake Superior, where, however, he
accomplished nothing, except, perhaps, a traffic with the Indians on his
own account; and he soon after returned to Quebec. Talon was resolved to
find the Mississippi, the most interesting object of search, and
seemingly the most attainable, in the wild and vague domain which he had
just claimed for the King. The Indians had described it; the Jesuits
were eager to discover it; and La Salle, if he had not reached it, had
explored two several avenues by which it might be approached. Talon
looked about him for a fit agent of the enterprise, and made choice of
Louis Joliet, who had returned from Lake Superior.[45] But the intendant
was not to see the fulfilment of his design. His busy and useful career
in Canada was drawing to an end. A misunderstanding had arisen between
him and the governor, Courcelle. Both were faithful servants of the
King; but the relations between the two chiefs of the colony were of a
nature necessarily so critical, that a conflict of authority was
scarcely to be avoided. Each thought his functions encroached upon, and
both asked for recall. Another governor succeeded; one who was to stamp
his mark, broad, bold, and ineffaceable, on the most memorable page of
French-American History,--Louis de Buade, Count of Palluau and
Frontenac.
FOOTNOTES:
[35] At least, La Salle was in great need of money, about the time of
his second journey. On the sixth of August, 1671, he had received on
credit, "dans son grand besoin et nécessité," from Branssac, fiscal
attorney of the Seminary, merchandise to the amount of four hundred and
fifty livres; and on the eighteenth of December of the following year he
gave his promise to pay the same sum, in money or furs, in the August
following. Faillon found the papers in the ancient records of Montreal.
[36] In his despatch of 2d Nov., 1671, Talon writes to the King that
"Saint-Lusson's expedition will cost nothing, as he has received beaver
enough from the Indians to pay him."
[37] _Moeurs, Coustumes, et Relligion des Sauvages de l'Amérique
Septentrionale._ This work of Perrot, hitherto unpublished, appeared in
1864, under the editorship of Father Tailhan, S.J. A great part of it is
incorporated in La Potherie.
[38] See La Potherie, ii. 125. Perrot himself does not mention it.
Charlevoix erroneously places this interview at Chicago. Perrot's
narrative shows that he did not go farther than the tribes of Green Bay;
and the Miamis were then, as we have seen, on the upper part of Fox
River.
[39] Perrot, _Mémoires_, 127.
[40] _Procès Verbal de la Prise de Possession, etc., 14 Juin, 1671._ The
names are attached to this instrument.
[41] Marquette is said to have been present; but the official act just
cited, proves the contrary. He was still at St. Esprit.
[42] _Procès Verbal de la Prise de Possession._
[43] The Indian name of the governor of Canada.
[44] A close translation of Dablon's report of the speech. See
_Relation_, 1671, 27.
[45] _Lettre de Frontenac au Ministre, 2 Nov., 1672._ In the Brodhead
Collection, by a copyist's error, the name of the Chevalier de
Grandfontaine is substituted for that of Talon.