1683-1686.
Feigned Anger of Lewis -- He writes to La Barre -- Importance
Attached to Indian Treaties -- Duluth's zeal -- Gauthier de
Comportier -- Denonville made Governor -- Capture of the
_Merchant of Perpetuana_ -- Expedition of Troyes against the
Company's Posts in the Bay -- Moose Fort Surrendered.
When the news of the expedition of 1684 reached the Court of
Versailles, Lewis professed anger that the peace between the two
crowns should be broken even in that remote corner of the world. He
related the discussion which had taken place between the English
ambassador and himself with regard to Radisson's treachery. He had
been happy, he said, to inform King Charles's representative that he
was unwilling to afford his "brother of England" any cause of
complaint. Nevertheless, as he thought it important to prevent the
English from establishing themselves in that river, it would be well
to make a proposal to the commandant at Hudson's Bay that neither
French nor English should have power to make any new establishments.
Long before that he had written to Governor La Barre, in no measured
terms, demanding of him what he meant by releasing the Boston vessel,
the _Susan_, without calling on the Intendant, or consulting the
sovereign council.
"You have herein done," said he, "just what the English would be able
to make a handle of, since in virtue of your ordinance you caused a
vessel to be surrendered which ought strictly to be considered a
pirate, as it had no commission; and the English will not fail to say
that you so fully recognized the regularity of the ship's papers as to
surrender it."
[Sidenote: Duluth in the West.]
Simultaneously with the receipt of this letter from his monarch, there
came to the perplexed Governor a letter from the Sieur Duluth, stating
that at great expense of presents he had prevented the western tribes
from further carrying their beaver trade to the English. He had, it
appeared, met the Sieur de la Croix with his two comrades, who had
presented the despatches in which the Governor had urged him to use
every endeavour in forwarding letters to Chouart, at Nelson River.
"To carry out your instructions," wrote Duluth, "there was only
Monsieur Péré, who would have to go himself, the savages having all at
that time withdrawn into the interior." He added that Péré had left
during the previous month, and doubtless at that time had accomplished
his mission. Duluth invariably expressed himself with great confidence
on the subject of the implicit trust which the savages reposed in him.
More than once in his letters, as well as in verbal messages forwarded
to his superiors, he boasted that before a couple of years were out
not a single savage would visit the English at Hudson's Bay. To this
end they had bound themselves by the numerous presents they had
received at his hands; and he was assured that they would not go back
on their word.
As with Duluth so with the other officials, pioneers and emissaries
amongst the French, great importance was attached to treaties and
compacts with the aborigines. Every endeavour was made to obtain the
good-will and amity of the Indians.
[Sidenote: French and English relations with the Indians.]
Perhaps nothing exhibits so powerfully the totally differing attitude
and motives of the Company, compared with the French traders, than the
manner in which, in those early times, the Red man was trusted and
believed by the one and distrusted and contemned by the other. One may
peruse neither the narratives of the Jesuits nor of the traders
without an emotion of awe at the simple faith of those pioneers in the
honesty and probity of the Red men. To the very end, when disaster
succeeding disaster overwhelmed the propaganda of Loyola amongst the
northern tribes and exterminated its disciples, we read of the
Frenchman trusting to the word and deferring to the prejudices of his
Indian brother. It was as if the latter were indeed of a common
steadfastness and moral nature with his own. Contrast that trait in
the English character which is exhibited in his early dealings with
inferior and black peoples in India and Africa, to that he has
retained to the present day. Never was the contrast greater than
during the acute conflict of English and French interests in Hudson's
Bay at this time. The early governors and traders almost without
exception openly despised the Indian and secretly derided his most
solemn counsels. August treaties were set aside on the most flimsy
pretexts, and if the virtues of the savages were too highly esteemed
by the French, they were on the other hand perhaps much too cheaply
held by their rivals.
But to whatever extent they may have held themselves bound by compacts
of this kind, the Company's officials were not so foolish as to doubt
their potency amongst savages. Thus we find that from the years 1682
to 1688 the Company regularly instructed its servants to enact the
strongest treaties with the "captains and kings of the rivers and
territories where they had settlements." "These compacts," observes
one of the Company's servants, "were rendered as firm and binding as
the Indians themselves could make them. Ceremonies of the most solemn
and sacred character accompanied them."
Duluth had already built a fort near the River à la Maune, at the
bottom of Lake Nepigon, and thither he expected at least six of the
northern nations to resort in the spring. Lest this should not be
sufficient for the purpose he designed building another in the
Christineaux River, which would offer an effectual barrier to the
expansion of the English trade. With characteristic zeal Duluth, in a
letter written at this time, concluded with these words:
"Finally, sir, I wish to lose my life if I do not absolutely prevent
the savages from visiting the English."
But with every good will to serve his monarch and stifle in infancy
the growing trade of the Hudson's Bay Company in the northern regions,
Duluth vastly undervalued the forces of circumstance as well of
enterprise at the command of the enemy. The plans of the French were
destined to be confounded by the unforeseen and treacherous action of
Radisson and Chouart in the following year.
"What am I to do?" now became the burden of La Barre's appeals to the
King. The young priest who acted as his secretary at Quebec was kept
perpetually writing to Versailles for instructions. His letters are
long, and filled with explanations of the situation, which only served
to confuse his superiors. Fearful of offending the English on one hand
and thereby precipitating New France in a war with New England, and on
the other of arousing the resentment of the colonists by a supine
behaviour, the unhappy Denonville was in an unpleasant dilemma.
"Am I to oppose force to force?" he asks in one letter. "Am I to
venture against those who have committed these outrages against your
Majesty's subjects at sea? It is a matter in which your Majesty will
please to furnish me with some precise and decisive orders whereunto I
shall conform my conduct and actions."
[Sidenote: Lewis unwilling to oppose the English.]
But the Most Christian King was by no means anxious to quarrel with
his cousin Charles either for the dominion of, or the fur-trade
monopoly in, the north. Charles was in possession of a handsome
subsidy paid out of the exchequer of Lewis. Europe was spectator of
the most cordial relations between these two monarchs, relations which
are described by more than one candid historian as those commonly
subsisting between master and vassal. That tempest of indignation
which was to break over England in the reign of Charles's successor
would have not so long been deferred had but a real knowledge of the
"good understanding and national concord" been known to Englishmen at
large.
Under the circumstances it is not surprising that Lewis concluded to
do nothing. It was not that opportunities to regain what was lost were
lacking. An old soldier, Gauthier de Comportier, who with a number of
other patriots had learned of the jeopardy in which French interests
lay in the north, presented a memoir to the King offering, if a grant
were made him, to win all back from the English and to establish three
posts on the Bourbon River. The grant was refused.
A change then came which altered the aspect of affairs.
In February, 1685, Charles II. died, and the Duke of York, second
Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, ascended the throne of England.
Lewis was not the last to perceive that the accession of James would
cause but little real difference, as the latter and himself were bound
together by ties as strong as had bound Charles, yet saw at the same
time that full advantage might safely be reaped from the change of
monarchs. Proceedings were instantly therefore set on foot to retrieve
the fortunes of the French in the fur countries.
The conduct of Groseilliers and Radisson had deeply offended the
inhabitants of Quebec. An excited populace burnt the pair in effigy,
and a decree was issued for their arrest should they at any time be
apprehended, and for their delivery to those whom they had betrayed.
But it was the anger of La Chesnaye and his associates of the Company
which was especially strong. An expedition which they had sent out to
Port Nelson, with the intention of collecting the wealth in peltries,
returned to the St. Lawrence without so much as a single beaver.
The success of the English made some decided action on the part of the
French inevitable. La Barre was recalled and his successor, the
Marquis de Denonville, determined to take matters into his own hands,
rather than see the interests of New France in the Bay suffer. He
relied upon the success of the expedition to atone for the boldness of
the initiative, but his action was not taken without repeated warnings
addressed to the Minister. "All the best of our furs, both as to
quality and quantity, we must expect to see shortly in the hands of
the English." If the English were not expelled they would secure all
the fat beaver from an infinite number of tribes in the north who were
being discovered every day; besides abstracting the greater portion of
the peltries that ordinarily reached them at Montreal through the
Ottawas, Assiniboines and other tribes.[21]
[Sidenote: The French capture a Company's ship.]
In the month of July, 1685, two ships belonging to the French Company,
returning in disappointment to Canada from Port Nelson, met, at the
mouth of the Straits, one of the Hudson's Bay Company's vessels named
the _Merchant of Perpetuana_, commanded by one Edward Humes. She was
bound for York Fort with a cargo of merchandise and provisions. No
time was lost on the part of the French in intercepting her. Captain
Humes not surrendering with sufficient alacrity to please the enemy,
the _Merchant of Perpetuana_ was boarded and forcibly possessed in the
name of King Lewis. Several English sailors lost their lives. The
vessel having been seized in this manner, her prow was headed for
Quebec, where her master and crew were summarily cast into gaol.
After a miserable confinement, lasting eleven months, the sufferings
of Captain Humes ended with his death, and the other prisoners,
exposed to the insults and indignities of the Quebec populace, were
ultimately sent away to Martinique on board their own ship, and there
sold as slaves. The mate, Richard Smithsend by name, managed to
escape. Upon reaching London the tale he unfolded to his employers
excited general indignation. A memorial of the outrage, couched in
vigorous language, was presented to the King, but James, resolved not
to give offence to his friend and ally the Most Christian King, took
no notice of the matter.
Amongst the French in Canada there were not wanting bold spirits to
follow up this daring stroke. Chief amongst them, not merely for the
character of his achievements, but for his uncommon and romantic
personality, was the Chevalier de Troyes. This Canadian nobleman, who
was of advanced years, was a retired captain in the army. He believed
he now saw an opportunity to win a lasting distinction, and to rival,
and perhaps surpass, the exploits of Champlain, Lusson, Frontenac and
the other hero-pioneers of New France. Scholarly in his tastes, and
frail of body, though by profession a soldier, he emerged from privacy
on Christmas Eve, 1685, and asked of the Governor a commission to
drive the English utterly from the Northern Bay.
The authority the old soldier sought for was granted. He was empowered
to "search for, seize and occupy the most advantageous posts, to seize
the robbers, bushrangers and others whom we know to have taken and
arrested several of our French engaged in the Indian trade, whom we
order him to arrest, especially the said Radisson and his adherents
wherever they may be found, and bring them to be punished as
deserters, according to the rigour of the ordinances." The rigour of
the ordinances was death.
Fourscore Canadians were selected to form part of the expedition
against the Hudson's Bay Company's posts by the Chevalier de Troyes.
For his lieutenants, the leader chose the three sons of a nobleman of
New France named Charles Le Moine. One, the eldest, a young man of
only twenty-five, was to bear an enduring distinction in the annals of
France as one of her most able and intrepid naval commanders. This was
the Sieur d'Iberville. His brothers, taking their names, as he had
done, from places in their native land, were called the Sieurs de
Sainte Hèlène and de Marincourt. Thirty soldiers were directly
attached to the Chevalier's command, veterans who had, almost to a
man, seen service in one or other of the great European wars. That
they might not be without the ministrations of religion, Father
Sylvie, a Jesuit priest, accompanied the expedition.
[Sidenote: Expedition of de Troyes.]
"The rivers," writes a chronicler of the Troyes expedition, "were
frozen and the earth covered with snow when that small party of
vigorous men left Montreal in order to ascend the Ottawa River as far
as the height of land and thence to go down to James' Bay." At the
beginning of April they arrived at the Long Sault, where they prepared
some canoes in order to ascend the Ottawa River. From Lake
Temiscamingue they passed many portages until they reached Lake
Abbitibi, at the entrance or most southern extremity of which they
built a small fort of stockades. After a short halt they continued
their course towards James' Bay.
The establishment first doomed to conquest by Troyes and his
companions was Moose Factory, a stockade fort having four bastions
covered with earth. In the centre was a house forty feet square and as
many high, terminating in a platform. The fort was escaladed by the
French late at night and the palisades made short work of by the
hatchets of their bushrangers.
Amongst the garrison none appears to have attempted a decent defence
save the chief gunner, who perished bravely at his post of duty.[22] A
cry for quarter went up and the English were made prisoners on the
spot. They were sixteen in number, and as the attack was made at night
they were in a state of almost complete undress. Troyes found in the
fort twelve cannon, chiefly six and eight-pounders, three thousand
pounds of powder and ten pounds of lead.
[Sidenote: Capture of Moose Factory.]
It is worthy of record that the capture was effected with an amount of
pomp and ceremony calculated to strike the deepest awe into the hearts
of those fifteen unhappy and not too intelligent Company's
apprentices, who knew nothing of fighting nor had bargained for
anything so perilous. For so small a conquest it was both preceded and
followed by almost as much circumstance as would have sufficed for the
Grand Monarque himself in one of his theatrical sieges. The Chevalier
announced in a loud voice that he took possession of the fort and
island "in the name of his Most Christian Majesty the Most High, Most
Mighty, Most Redoubtable Monarch Lewis XIV. of the Most Christian
Name, King of France and Navarre." In obvious imitation of Lusson, a
sod of earth was thrice raised in the air, whilst a cry of "Vive le
Roi" rang out over those waters wherein were sepultured the bodies of
Henry Hudson and his men.
* * * * *
NOTE.--The career of the Chevalier de Troyes ended abruptly and
tragically in 1687, when he and all his men, to the number of ninety,
were massacred at Niagara.
FOOTNOTES:
[21] Our Frenchmen have seen quite recently from Port Nelson some
Indians who were known to have traded several years ago at Montreal.
The posts at the head of the Bay Abbitibi and Nemisco can be reached
through the woods and seas; our Frenchmen are acquainted with the
road. But in regard to the posts occupied by the English in the River
Bourbon or Port Nelson it is impossible to hold any posts below them
and convey merchandise thither except by sea. Some pretend that it is
feasible to go thence overland; but the river to reach that quarter
remains yet to be discovered, and when discovered could only admit the
conveyance of a few men and not of any merchandise. In regard to
Hudson's Bay, should the King not think proper for enforcing the
reasons his Majesty has for opposing the usurpation of the English on
his lands, by the just titles proving his Majesty's possession long
before the English had any knowledge of the country, nothing is to be
done but to find means to support the Company of the said Bay, formed
in Canada, by the privilege his Majesty has been pleased this year to
grant to all his subjects of New France; and to furnish them for some
years with a few vessels of 120 tons, well armed and equipped. I hope
with this aid our Canadians will support this business, which will
otherwise perish of itself; whilst the English merchants, more
powerful than our Canadians, will with good ships continue their
trade, whereby they will enrich themselves at the expense of the
Colony and the King's revenue.--Despatch of Denonville, 12th November,
1685.
[22] Iberville declares that he split his head into fragments.