Transcriber's note:
The following typographical errors have been corrected:
Page 48: "... Brouillan, governor of Placentia, who assumed entire
command, interfered with Iberville's contemplated movements, and
declared that his own troops, the Canadians, should not accompany
him on the opening campaign." 'Brouillan' amended from
'Brouillian'.
Page 157: "The difficulties of communicating with the Chopunish
were very great, and if errors occurred it was not astonishing."
'Chopunish' amended from 'Chopunnish'.
Page 180: "... well armed and prepared as braves to sell their
lives dearly; that they should go on, and if the Pawnees opposed,
the great American father would send other warriors to avenge the
dead." 'Pawnees' amended from 'Pawness'.
Page 202: "Most unfortunately, on the chart transmitted to Ross by
Wilkes, he entered, without distinguishing marks, land between
longitudes 160° E. and 165° E., near the sixty-sixth parallel ..."
'parallel' amended from 'paralled'.
Page 289: "The consensus of opinion in the Lady Franklin expedition
pointed to Cape Joseph Goode, 80° 14´ N., ..." 'consensus' amended
from 'concensus'.
[Illustration: A. W. Greely]
_MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT_
EXPLORERS AND TRAVELLERS
BY
GENERAL A. W. GREELY, U.S.A.
GOLD MEDALLIST OF ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY AND SOCIÉTÉ DE
GÉOGRAPHIE, PARIS
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1894
COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
TROW DIRECTORY
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY
NEW YORK
PREFACE
The compiler of a series of sketches of American Explorers and
Travellers experiences at the very outset a serious embarrassment from
the superabundant wealth of original material at his command. The
history of America for two hundred years after the voyage of Joliet has
been the history of courageous, persistent, and successful exploration,
wherein the track of the explorer, instantly serving as a trail for the
pioneer, has speedily broadened into the wagon-road of invading
immigrants.
Explorations and journeys of such an extent as in other and older lands
would have excited praise and merited reward have been so frequent in
this continent as to pass almost unnoticed. Hence the scope of this
modest volume is necessarily confined to explorations of great
importance or peculiar interest, and when made by men of American birth
who are no longer living.
In deference to the author's advisers, two exceptions have been made--Du
Chaillu and Stanley, Americans by adoption--otherwise African
exploration, so wondrously successful in this generation and so fruitful
in its results, would have been unrepresented. Again, the unparalleled
growth and progress of our American republic owes no small debt to the
wealth of physical vigor and strong intellectuality contributed by its
sturdy emigrants. These men, American in idea, purpose, and action,
whose manhood outgrew the slow evolution of freedom in their natal
country, merit recognition. What thousands of other naturalized citizens
have industrially wrought of the wonderful and great in this country,
these selected representatives have equalled in African exploration.
A chronological arrangement appeared best suited to these sketches,
which from Joliet to Frémont exhibit the initiation, growth, and
development of geographic discovery in the interior and western portions
of the United States. Since the sketches rest very largely on original
narratives some current errors at least have been avoided.
Generalization and criticism have been made always with reference to
later exploration, which necessarily enhances or diminishes the
importance of any original work.
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. LOUIS JOLIET, Re-discoverer of the Mississippi, 9
II. PETER LE MOYNE, SIEUR D'IBERVILLE, Founder of Louisiana, 41
III. JONATHAN CARVER, the Explorer of Minnesota, 71
IV. CAPTAIN ROBERT GRAY, the Discoverer of the Columbia River, 88
V. CAPTAIN MERIWETHER LEWIS AND LIEUT. WILLIAM CLARK, First
Trans-Continental Explorers of the United States, 105
VI. ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE, Explorer of the Sources of the
Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, 163
VII. CHARLES WILKES, the Discoverer of the Antarctic Continent, 194
VIII. JOHN CHARLES FRÉMONT, the Pathfinder, 212
IX. ELISHA KENT KANE, Arctic Explorer, 240
X. ISAAC ISRAEL HAYES, and the Open Polar Sea, 272
XI. CHARLES FRANCIS HALL, and the North Pole, 293
XII. GEORGE WASHINGTON DE LONG, and the Siberian Arctic Ocean, 312
XIII. PAUL BELLONI DU CHAILLU, Discoverer of the Dwarfs and
Gorillas, 330
XIV. STANLEY AFRICANUS AND THE CONGO FREE STATE, 349
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FULL-PAGE
FACING PAGE
GENERAL A. W. GREELY, U. S. A., (_Frontispiece._)
ON THE SHORES OF THE PACIFIC, 96
A BLACKFOOT TEPEE, 112
CASTLE ROCK, ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER, 140
CHARLES WILKES, 194
PAUL BELLONI DU CHAILLU, 330
HENRY M. STANLEY, 349
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
PAGE
SIGNATURE OF JOLLIET (OLD SPELLING), 10
"MARQUETTE'S MAP," 15
THE RECEPTION OF JOLIET AND MARQUETTE BY THE ILLINOIS, 25
DE SOTO, 34
SIGNATURE OF LE MOYNE, 42
BIENVILLE, 57
BIENVILLE'S ARMY ON THE RIVER, 63
NEW ORLEANS IN 1719, 70
INDIAN TOMAHAWK, 74
THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY IN THE RIVER MISSISSIPPI, 77
A CALUMET, 80
NAUDOWESSIE INDIANS, 85
INDIAN MAUL, 93
CAPTAIN MERIWETHER LEWIS, 119
BUFFALO HEAD, 125
LIEUTENANT WILLIAM CLARK, 132
BUFFALO SKULL, 162
GENERAL Z. M. PIKE, 165
INDIAN SNOW-SHOES, 172
THE ICE-BARRIER, 199
THE VINCENNES IN A STORM, 202
VIEW OF THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENT, 205
IN AN ICE-FIELD, 208
JOHN CHARLES FRÉMONT, 214
JESSIE BENTON FRÉMONT, 215
ASCENDING FRÉMONT'S PEAK, 218
KIT CARSON, 226
LAKE KLAMATH, 231
ELISHA KENT KANE, 242
THE ARCTIC HIGHWAY, 246
A SLEEPING-BAG FOR THREE MEN, 251
THE COMING ARCTIC NIGHT, 256
ESQUIMAU BOYS FISHING, 260
AN ARCTIC STREAM, 264
ISAAC ISRAEL HAYES, 273
UPERNIVIK, 276
HAYES'S WINTER-QUARTERS, 280
ADRIFT ON A BERG, 285
CHARLES FRANCIS HALL, 294
IGLOOS, OR ESQUIMAU HUTS, 299
IN WINTER-QUARTERS, 302
AN ARCTIC FIORD, 305
A WOMAN OF THE ARCTIC HIGHLANDERS. SKETCHED FROM LIFE, 308
ESQUIMAU WOMAN. SKETCHED FROM LIFE, 310
GEORGE WASHINGTON DE LONG, 313
HERALD ISLAND, 317
IN THE PACK, 321
WHERE THE BODIES WERE FOUND, 323
NOROS AND NINDEMANN, 326
FINDING THE BODIES, 328
THE GORILLA (TROGLODYTES GORILLA), 334
A VILLAGE OF DWARFS, 339
A PIGMY WARRIOR, 342
A DWARF PRISONER, 345
ARROWS OF THE AFRICAN PIGMIES, 348
THE HUT WHERE LIVINGSTONE DIED, 352
MAP SHOWING POSITION AND BOUNDARIES OF THE CONGO STATE, 355
TIPPU TIB, 359
EMIN PASHA, 363
FINDING NELSON IN DISTRESS AT STARVATION CAMP, 366
A STOCKADED CAMP, 370
RUWENZORI (THE SNOWY MOUNTAIN), IDENTIFIED BY STANLEY
WITH "THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON," 372
EXPLORERS AND TRAVELLERS
I.
LOUIS JOLIET,
RE-DISCOVERER OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
If one should ask which is the most important river basin in the world,
there is no doubt that the Mississippi would be named, with its million
and a quarter square miles of area and its twenty-five or more billions
of aggregated wealth. Favored in climate, soil, and navigable streams,
and endowed with practically inexhaustible veins of coal, copper, iron,
and silver, feeding the world with its hundreds of millions of bushels
of corn and wheat, and clothing it by other millions of bales of cotton,
it is hardly so astonishing that within 217 years from its discovery by
Joliet this greatest of river basins should be the abiding-place of
twenty-seven and a half millions of people.
Speaking of Joliet, Bancroft wrote that his short voyage brought him
immortality; but in the irony of fate his explorations have not even
given his name a place in the last edition of the Encyclopædia
Britannica. In writing on American explorers, it seems most fitting that
this series of sketches should be headed by this Canadian, whose name
is scarcely known by one in a thousand. That aught is obtainable
concerning the details of his life is due to the investigations of Shea,
which later were admirably summed up by Parkman.
[Illustration: Signature of Jolliet (Old Spelling).]
Louis Joliet, the son of John Joliet and Mary d'Abancour, was born at
Quebec, September 21, 1645. His father was a wagon-maker, in the service
of the Company of One Hundred Associates, then owners of Canada.
The son in youth was imbued with devout feelings, which, possibly
fostered by the elder Joliet as certain to bring station and influence
in manhood, led to his being educated in the Jesuit College for the
priesthood, in which indeed he received the minor orders in 1662. Four
years later, in the debates on philosophy, which were participated in by
the Intendant and listened to by the colonial dignitaries, Joliet showed
such skill as to elicit especial commendation from the Fathers.
His future career shows that his studies with the Fathers were not lost
on him, and doubtless they contributed largely to make Joliet that
intelligent, well-poised leader who filled with credit all duties and
positions incident to his varied and adventurous life.
It is probable, however, that during all these years he was at heart a
true voyageur, and that his thoughts turned continually from the
cloister and books to the forest and its attractive life. Be this as it
may, he practically abandoned all ideas of the priesthood at the age of
twenty-two, and turned to the most certain, and indeed, in Canada, the
only path to wealth, that of a trader in furs with the Indians. In this
trade only the hardy, shrewd, intelligent, and tireless subordinate
could hope to thrive and rise. Success meant long and hazardous journeys
into the very heart of the Indian country, where were needed great
physical courage and strength, perfect skill with gun, paddle, axe,
sledge, or snow-shoe, a thorough knowledge of wood-craft, indomitable
will or casuistry and tact according to the occasion. To paddle a canoe
from sunrise to sunset of a summer day, to follow the sledge or break a
snow-shoe path before it as far as a dog can travel in a march, to track
a moose or deer for leagues without rest, to carry canoes and heavy
packs over long portages through an untravelled country, were the
ordinary experiences of a voyageur, which were accomplished for the
great part on a diet of smoked meat and boiled Indian corn, with no
shelter in fair weather and the cover of an upturned canoe or bark hut
in stress of storm.
Joliet did not long remain in private adventure, for in 1669 Talon, then
Intendant of Canada, sent him to discover and explore the copper-mines
of Lake Superior, in which quest he failed. It was on his return trip
that Joliet met with La Salle and the priests Dolier and Galinée, on
September 24, 1669, near the present town of Hamilton, in which
direction Joliet's Indian guide had misled him when returning from Lake
Erie, through fear of meeting enemies at the Niagara portage.
Joliet's facility for map-making in the field is evident from the fact
that at this time he showed to the priests with La Salle a copy of the
map that he had made of such parts of the upper lakes as he had visited,
and gave them a copy of it. He moreover evidenced continued interest in
religious matters by telling them that the Pottowattamies and other
Indian tribes of that region were in serious need of spiritual succor.
La Salle later, in November, 1680, repaid this frank tender of
information of the little-known west by intimating his belief that
Joliet never went but little south of the mouth of the Illinois, and is
also stated to have declared that Joliet was an impostor.
In his account of La Salle's last journey, Father Douay, referring to
Joliet's discoveries as related by Marquette, says: "I have brought with
me the printed book of this pretended discovery, and I remarked all
along my route that there was not a word of truth in it."
The efforts to deprive Joliet of the credit of the original discovery of
the Mississippi falls before the despatch of Count Frontenac to Colbert,
then Minister, dated Quebec, November 14, 1674: "VI. Sieur Joliet, whom
Monsieur Talon advised me, on my arrival from France, to despatch for
the discovery of the South Sea, has returned three months ago, and
discovered some very fine country, and a navigation so easy through the
beautiful rivers he has found, that a person can go from Lake Ontario
and Fort Frontenac in a bark to the Gulf of Mexico, there being only one
carrying-place, half a league in length, where Lake Ontario communicates
with Lake Erie.... He has been within ten days of the Gulf of Mexico....
I send you by my secretary the map he has made of it.... He has lost all
his minutes and journals in the shipwreck he suffered in sight of
Montreal.... He left with the Fathers at Sault St. Marie copies of his
journal."
But to return to the circumstances under which Joliet made the voyage.
Among other orders of Louis XIV. regarding Canada was a charge to
discover the South Sea and Mississippi, and Jean Talon, Intendant of
Canada, lost no chance of furthering this object. La Salle's journey of
1670 had failed to reach the great river, though he descended the Ohio
to the falls at Louisville, and at his recall in 1672 Talon had the
subject of further exploration in hand. Joliet had lately returned from
his unsuccessful efforts to discover copper mines on Lake Superior,
during which he had probably been the first white man to pass through
the Straits of Detroit. Despite his late failure he had impressed Talon
as the man best fitted to lead such an expedition, and so before sailing
for France the Intendant recommended Joliet for the work to Count
Frontenac, the new Governor.
In those days the Church and Government went hand in hand, and but few
French expeditions went westward from Montreal without a priest to carry
the faith to such Indian tribes as were allies of France or liable to be
won over. As Joliet's priest-associate, James Marquette, a young Jesuit,
then a missionary at St. Esprit, La Pointe, Lake Superior, was chosen.
No better man could have been sent. Marquette was in the prime of life,
an expert linguist--as he had learned in six years to speak fluently six
Indian languages--gentle, patient, and tactful with the natives, devout
in faith, singularly holy in life, fearless, imaginative, nature-loving
and observant, as shown by his journal, which, owing to Joliet's
shipwreck, is the only original story of the voyage. His enthusiasm is
shown by the opening sentences of his journal: "I have obtained from God
the favor of being enabled to visit the nations on the Mississippi
River, ... and find myself in the happy necessity of exposing my life
for the salvation of all these tribes, especially the Illinois."
Joliet followed the St. Lawrence to Fort Frontenac, at the entrance of
Lake Ontario, and with the exception of the portage at the Falls of
Niagara, skirted in his canoe the shores of the Great Lakes until he
reached the Straits of Mackinaw, on the north side of which, at Point
St. Ignace, he found the enthusiastic Marquette devotedly laboring for
the spiritual welfare of the Hurons and Ottawas there gathered.
[Illustration: A Part of the Map Published in Paris by Thevenot as
"Marquette's Map." It shows the route taken by Joliet across Wisconsin
from the Baie des Puans (now Green Bay) to the Mississippi River, also
part of the return journey, that is, from the present site of Chicago,
northward along Lake Michigan.]
The contemplated line of travel was that of Jean Nicollet, an
interpreter who had spent many years with the Indian tribes, who was
sent in 1638 to bring about a peace between the Hurons and Winnebagoes
who lived near Green Bay. After his negotiations he ascended the Fox
River, and making a portage to the Wisconsin, descended that stream some
distance, so that, as he thought, from the designation of "the great
water" by the Indian guide to the Mississippi, he was within three days
of the South Sea.
Joliet, however, was too practical to trust entirely to tradition or
oral description. He had already carefully charted all that was
definitely known of the western lake regions, and now at St. Ignace,
with Marquette's invaluable assistance, gathered all possible
information from such Indians at the mission as had frequented the
unknown country. This information being duly weighed and considered,
Joliet extended his map to cover all the new country, marking thereon
the navigable rivers, the names of nations and villages along their
proposed route, the course of the great river, and other useful
information.
Their means of subsistence and travel were the simplest imaginable, two
canoes and as large quantities of smoked meat and Indian corn as could
be conveniently carried. Their canoes were of the usual Canadian
pattern, of birch-bark covering, stayed with spruce-root ribs and
cedar-splint, with white-pine pitch smeared over the birch-bark joints
so as to render them water-tight. Such canoes were of astonishing
strength and carrying capacity, and of such lightness that four men
could carry the largest across portages.
On a bright spring morning, May 17th, Joliet and Marquette, with five
other men, left behind them the palisaded post and chapel of St. Ignace.
Plying briskly their paddles from sunrise to sunset, they made rapid
progress, coasting the lake shore until they turned aside to visit the
Menominees, or Wild-rice Indians, whose village was on the river of that
same name. Here inquiries for information of the "great river" brought
from the savage allies strenuous efforts to dissuade them from visiting
this Mississippi, where, they said, the unsparing ferocity of the tribes
brought unfailing death by the tomahawk to even inoffensive strangers,
and that war now raged among the intervening nations. They further
recited the dangers of navigating the rapids of the Great River, the
presence of frightful water monsters who swallowed up men and canoes,
the roaring demon who engulfed all travellers, and lastly the existence
of such excessive heat as to ensure certain death. After religious
instruction and service the explorers embarked in their canoes and soon
reached the southern extremity of Green Bay, where, says Marquette, "our
fathers labor successfully in the conversion of these tribes, having
baptized more than 2,000."
Joliet from Green Bay entered Fox River, finding it a gentle, beautiful
stream, promising easy and pleasant passage and abounding in wildfowl.
Soon, however, these agreeable aspects gave way to the sterner phases of
exploration, for sharp rapids were fallen in with where the strong and
uncertain cross-currents often threatened the total destruction of their
frail canoes, which would have proved fatal to their plans, by dashing
them against the sharp bowlders.
A serious but lesser evil to these enduring voyagers was the injury to
their mocassin-shod feet, which were cut and bruised by the sharp edges
of the rocky bed of the river over which they slowly and painfully
dragged their canoes for long distances.
The many rapids were safely passed, and on the 7th of June, 1673, our
explorers reached an Indian town which marked the extreme western limits
of French discoveries, being the farthest point reached by Nicollet in
his adventurous journey.
In this town dwelt bands from three different tribes, the Miamis,
Maskoutens, or Fire Nation, and Kickapoos. The latter two were inferior
in manners and appearance to the Miamis, who, more civil, liberal, and
well-made, wore two long ear-locks that Marquette thought becoming;
besides they were reputed warriors, who rarely failed in their forays.
They proved docile, attentive, and interested in religious matters, as
was shown not only by their talk with Father Allouez, but also by a
cross standing in the centre of the town, which was adorned with votive
offerings of skins, belts, bows and arrows to the Great Manitou for an
abundance of game during the dreaded famine time of winter.
The Indians used for their beds mats, probably made of rushes, which in
default of bark also served as material for the walls and roofs of
their unsubstantial shelters. Since Marquette refers to the advantage of
such building material as capable of being rolled up and easily moved
during hunts, it is probable that this town was of a temporary
character. It appears to have been well located, being on an eminence,
whence the approach of an enemy or the presence of game could be readily
observed in the open country. Marquette says of it: "The view is
beautiful and very picturesque, for from the eminence on which it is
perched are seen stretching out on every side, as far as eye can reach,
prairies broken by thickets or groves of lofty trees." The Indians grew
much corn, and gathered wild plums and "grapes, from which," his
thoughts turning to home, he says, "good wine could be made if they
chose."
Joliet lost no time, but immediately on arrival assembled the sachems
and told them that he was sent by his Governor to discover new
countries. He made them a present and asked that two guides be sent to
show him the way, which resulted in the gift to Joliet of a mat to serve
as a bed, and the sending of two Miamis as guides.
The next day, June 10th, they proceeded, two Miamis and seven Frenchmen
in two canoes, up the river to the portage, through a net-work of
marshes, little lakes, and meandering channels so hidden by the wild
rice that their guides were very useful. Conducting Joliet to a portage
of 2,700 paces, and assisting in the transportation of the canoes across
it, the Miamis then returned, leaving the explorers "alone in an
unknown country, in the hands of Providence."
Before launching their canoes into strange waters, which were to bear
them into unknown lands, they knelt on the bank and offered up devout
aspirations to God for continued success. The new river was the
Weskousing (Wisconsin), whose broad shallows and sandy bottom, while
rendering navigation slow and very laborious, yet contrasted
delightfully with the rocky rapids of the Fox.
Father Marquette sets forth delightfully the ideal voyage down this
stream, past vine-clad islets, along sloping banks, now bordered by the
lovely prairie, with its sweet odors of fresh grasses and blooming
flowers, and anon fringed by the primeval forest, beautiful with its
tangle of shrubbery and in its June foliage. The gnarled oak, the
straight walnut, the elegant whitewood, and other stately trees of
unknown species met their vision at times, while again their eyes
scarcely separated from the heavens the distant horizon of the green
level plains, whose luxuriant vegetation afforded the richest pasturage
for numerous herds of deer and moose, and in spots showed the fertility
of its alluvial soil by the fields of Indian corn.
Each morning, before they relaunched their canoes, they attuned their
voices to the praise of God, and, in their unique joy of successful
discovery, must have felt on those delightful June days that their
devotions had not been uplifted in vain. From sunrise to sunset they
labored unceasingly, now paddling briskly along the deep reaches, and
then struggling stoutly through mazes of shallows and sand-bars, where
tedious and frequent portages were patiently made.
Each evening their hearts rejoiced and their tired limbs found
delightful repose at some spot where Joliet's judgment directed the
canoes to be drawn out, inspected, and upturned by some, while others
started the camp-fire and prepared the evening meal. This camp was
always so placed that the approach of an enemy could be seen from afar,
and where fuel for fire and branches for bedding were at hand. The best
hunter was told off for game, and rarely did the meal lack fresh meat or
fruit and berries in season. After supper the soothing pipe, prayers and
songs of praise, and then under the over-arching trees such sound
slumber as only comes to men sleeping under the open sky.
As they advanced it was often possible to use sail and relieve the men
to some extent from the fatigue of the paddle, and such rapid progress
was made that, on June 17th, they safely entered the long-desired
Mississippi, "with a joy," writes Marquette, "which I cannot express."
They were then in latitude 43° 03´ N., opposite the site of the present
city of Prairie du Chien.
Turning eagerly southward, their progress facilitated by the gentle
current of the Mississippi, they journeyed more than a hundred leagues
without seeing on the land aught save birds and beasts. The solitude of
the great river appalled them: a vast torrent of rolling water,
bordered by forest and plain, so well fitted for the happiness of man,
and yet no human being in all this land! What could it mean, and what
would be the outcome? Joliet, of long experience with savage tribes, and
astute in forest craft, distrusted the silence and solitude, and kept as
keen guard as though on the war-path. A tiny camp-fire was built only
for meals, and the nights were passed in the crowded canoes as far from
shore as it was possible to anchor them in the deep river. Even then
strict watch was kept, and every strange or unusual noise excited
feelings of trepidation lest a hidden foe be the cause.
Their journey by day was not entirely devoid of incident and excitement,
says Marquette. "From time to time we met monstrous fishes, one of which
struck the canoe so violently I took it for a large tree. Another time
we perceived on the water a monster [probably an American tiger-cat]
with a head like a tiger and a pointed snout like the wild-cat, with
beard and ears erect, a grayish head, and entirely black neck." They
cast their nets successfully, and once caught a spade-fish, whose
appearance caused much astonishment. In 41° 28´ N. latitude (near Rock
Island), wild turkeys took the place of wild fowl; while as to animals,
only buffalo were seen, being so numerous and fearless as to be easily
killed, and thus offering a welcome change of food. These new beasts
presented themselves to our explorers as hideous, especially those with
thick, long manes falling over their eyes in such tangles as to prevent
their seeing clearly. Marquette records that the Indians tan
buffalo-skins into beautiful robes, which they paint into various
colors; and further recites the ferocity of the buffalo as yearly
causing the death of some Indian. When near the present city of Keokuk,
at the mouth of the Des Moines River, on June 25th, they perceived the
first signs of man in all this solitude: foot-prints by the riverside,
and then a beaten path, which, entering a beautiful prairie, impressed
them as leading to some Indian village.
They had journeyed seventeen days without seeing the face of man, and
so, after deliberation, they resolved to visit the village; this
decision doubtless being urged by Marquette, who for years had sought by
prayer "to obtain of God the grace to be able to visit the nations on
the river Mississippi," and who now would allow no danger to deter him.
Joliet was fully aware of the great risk, and took most careful
precautions to ensure the safety of their canoes and people by charging
them strictly to beware of surprise, while he and Marquette ventured to
put themselves at the discretion of an unknown savage people. Cautiously
following the little path in silence across the beautiful prairie and
through the thickets for a distance of two leagues, they suddenly came
in view of an Indian village, picturesquely placed on a river bank, and
overlooked by two others on a neighboring hill; they pressed on with
successful caution and silence, but with much doubt and fear. Having,
as Marquette says, "recommended ourselves to God with all our hearts,"
and "having implored his help, we passed on undiscovered, and came so
near we even heard the Indians talking." Stepping into the open, they
halted and announced themselves by a loud cry; at which the Indians
rushed out of their cabins, and recognizing them as French, and seeing a
"Blackgown" (the well-known Indian name for a Jesuit), sent four of
their chief warriors forward. Two chiefs, carrying calumets, or
tobacco-pipes, elaborately trimmed with various feathers, advanced very
slowly and in silence, lifting their calumets as if offering them for
the sun to smoke. Marquette, encouraged by their friendly attitude, and
still more on seeing that they wore French cloth, broke the silence; to
which the Indians answered that they were Illinois, who, in token of
peace, presented their pipes to smoke and invited the strangers to their
village.
[Illustration: The Reception of Joliet and Marquette by the Illinois.]
Joliet and Marquette were received at the door of a wigwam, as was usual
for strangers, by an old chief, who stood perfectly naked, with
outstretched hands raised toward the sun, as if to screen himself from
its rays, which nevertheless passed through the open fingers to his
face. As they came near him, he said: "How beautiful is the sun, O
Frenchmen, when thou comest to visit us. All our town awaits thee, and
thou shalt enter all our cabins in peace." After smoking the calumet,
they went by invitation to visit the Great Sachem of all Illinois, at a
near village. With good nature and childish curiosity, a throng of
Indians went along, and says Marquette, "could not tire looking at us;
they threw themselves on the grass by the wayside; they ran ahead, then
turned and walked back to see us again, all in silence, with marks of
great respect." They were received by the Great Sachem and two old
chiefs, all naked and with their calumet turned to the sun. After
smoking the calumet, Marquette, speaking in Algonquin, said that they
marched in peace to visit the nations on the river to the sea; that God
their Creator had pity, and had sent his messenger to make him known as
their Creator, whom they should acknowledge and obey; that Frontenac had
spread peace everywhere; and last asked for all the information they had
of the sea and the nations between them and it.
The Sachem answered in a beautiful speech worthy of the occasion:
"I thank thee, Blackgown, and thee, Frenchman," addressing M. Joliet,
"for taking so much pains to come and visit us; never has the earth been
so beautiful, nor the sun so bright, as to-day; never has our river been
so calm, nor so free from rocks, which your canoes have removed as they
passed; never has our tobacco had so fine a flavor, nor our corn
appeared so beautiful as we behold it to day. Here is my son, that I
give thee, that thou mayst know my heart. I pray thee to take pity on me
and all my nation. Thou knowest the Great Spirit, who has made us all;
thou speakest to him and hearest his words: ask him to give me life and
health, and come and dwell with us, that we may know him."
It is interesting to note the condition of the Illinois when first
visited. Their chiefs wore over the left shoulder a belt, ingeniously
made of the hair of bear and buffalo, which passed around the waist and
ended in a long fringe; arm, knee, and wrist bands of deer or
buffalo-skin, and the rattles of deer hoofs were also worn, and the face
was painted with red ochre. In addition to abundant game, they raised
beans, melons, squashes, and Indian corn. Their dishes were of wood,
their spoons of the bones of buffalo, their knives stone, their arms,
bows and arrows with an occasional gun bought from other tribes.
The word calumet is due to Father Marquette, and his description of this
interesting Indian pipe and its uses among the Indians over two hundred
years ago is best given in his own words:
"It now remains for me to speak of the calumet, than which there is
nothing among them more mysterious or more esteemed. Men do not pay to
the crowns and sceptres of kings the honor they pay to it. It seems to
be the god of peace and war, the arbiter of life and death. Carry it
about you and show it, and you can march fearlessly amid enemies, who
even in the heat of battle lay down their arms when it is shown. Hence
the Illinois gave me one, to serve as my safeguard amid all the nations
that I had to pass on my voyage. There is a calumet for peace and one
for war, distinguished only by the color of the feathers with which they
are adorned, red being the sign of war. They use them also for settling
disputes, strengthening alliances, and speaking to strangers. It is
made of a polished red stone, like marble, so pierced that one end
serves to hold the tobacco, while the other is fastened on the stem,
which is a stick two feet long, as thick as a common cane, and pierced
in the middle; it is ornamented with the head and neck of different
birds of beautiful plumage; they also add large feathers of red and
green and other colors, with which it is all covered. They esteem it
peculiarly, because they regard it as the calumet, or pipe, of the sun;
and, in fact, they present it to him to smoke when they wish to obtain
calm, or rain, or fair weather."
Leaving the Illinois one afternoon, about the end of June, they embarked
in sight of the whole admiring tribe, and, following the river, reached
the mouth of the muddy Missouri. They were the first white men who had
ever gazed on the turbulent waters of this mighty stream. Impressed by
the size and majesty of the Missouri Marquette believed and hoped that
later, by making a prairie portage of twenty or thirty leagues, he could
reach a deep westerly running river that would carry him to the Red Sea
(the Gulf of California).
The Missouri, or Pekitanoui, as Marquette called it, was evidently at
the flood stage, for he says: "A mass of large trees, entire with
branches, real floating islands, came rushing from the mouth of the
river so impetuously that we could not pass across without exposing
ourselves to great danger. The agitation was so great that the water was
all muddy."
Immediately above the site of Alton, Ill., they came in sight of the
famous Piasa pictograph, which was totally destroyed about fifty years
ago. Of it Marquette wrote: "As we coasted along rocks, frightful for
their height and length, we saw painted thereon two monsters, which
startled us at first, and on which the boldest Indian dare not gaze
long. They have a fearful look, are as large as a calf, have red eyes,
the horns of a deer, the beard of a tiger, and the face of a man, while
around the scale-covered body was a fish's tail twice encircling it. The
two monsters were very well painted in green, red, and black colors, and
so high upon the rocks that they were apparently inaccessible to man."
Later they discovered a very rich iron-mine of many veins, one a foot
thick, and large masses of metal combined with pebbles; also purple,
violet, and red clay, which colored the water a blood red. They now
passed the dreaded home of the Manitou, or demon, who devours all who
pass; which proved to be a frightful rapid where large detached rocks
and a narrow channel caused a furious commotion of the waters tumbling
over each other, and a tremendous roaring, which struck terror to the
Indian's heart. Passing this, they reached the mouth of the Ohio, which
Marquette calls "Ouaboukidou," on which there were no less than
thirty-eight villages of the Chaouanons (Shawnees). A little beyond,
Marquette's eye was delighted by the appearance of breaks, wherein the
canes were of an exquisite green, with knots crowned by long,
narrow-pointed leaves. At every landing the keen eyes of the Canadian
explorers searched out everything that was new or that seemed suitable
for food; so we find the persimmon and the chicopin and other fruits and
nuts described in detail.
By this time, in early July, they found themselves suffering from the
double annoyance of mosquitoes and the excessive and insupportable heat
of the sun, from which they sheltered themselves as best they could by
making a kind of cabin with their sails, while their canoes were borne
on by the current.
Finally they perceived on the river-bank Indians armed with guns, who
awaited their approach. Joliet, ready either for peace or war, put
Marquette forward with his feathered peace calumet upraised, while the
rest stood to arms, ready to fire on the first volley of the savages.
Marquette hailed them in Huron, and the party was not only peacefully
received, but invited to their village and presented with food of
various kinds. Joliet found among them guns, axes, hoes, powder, etc.,
and was assured that they bought cloth and other articles from Europeans
to the east, doubtless the Spaniards of Florida. Marquette was troubled
to find they had received no instruction in the faith, which, as far as
he could, he gave them.
Being assured that the sea was not more than ten days' journey distant,
they were greatly encouraged, and instead of drifting with the current,
took up their paddles with renewed ardor.
Passing beyond the prairie land, they found both sides of the river
lined with dense woods, wherein the cottonwood, elm, and white-wood were
of such height and size as to excite their admiration. That the forests
were not dense seemed evident from the bellowing of cattle behind the
fringe of trees, which were enlivened for our travellers by flocks of
quail along the water's edge and an occasional parrot with its brilliant
coloring of red, yellow, and green.
Nearing the mouth of the Arkansas, they saw on the river-bank an Indian
village called Mithiganea, near which Joliet and his party had an
exciting and fearful experience, which Marquette thus describes:
"We heard from afar the Indians exciting one another to the combat by
continual yells. They were armed with bows, arrows, axes, war-clubs, and
bucklers, and prepared to attack us by land and water. Some embarked in
large wooden canoes, a part to ascend, the rest to descend, the river,
so as to cut our way and surround us completely. Those on shore kept
going and coming, as if about to begin the attack. In fact, some young
men sprang into the water to come and seize my canoe, but the current
having compelled them to return to the shore, one of them threw his war
club at us, but it passed over our heads without doing us any harm. In
vain I showed the calumet, and made gestures to explain that we had not
come as enemies. The alarm continued, and they were about to pierce us
from all sides with their arrows, when God suddenly touched the hearts
of the old men on the water side, doubtless at the sight of our calumet,
which at the distance they had not distinguished; but as I showed it
continually, they were touched, restrained the ardor of their youth, and
two of the chiefs, having thrown their bows and quivers into our canoe,
and as it were at our feet, entered and brought us to the shore, where
we disembarked, not without fear on our part."
An old chief was at last found who spoke a little Illinois, and through
him they were told that they could get full information regarding the
sea at another great village called Akamsea, about ten leagues down the
river. Presents were exchanged and the night passed among them with some
uneasiness. The loving missionary spirit of Marquette is shown here for,
he says: "I know not whether they understood what I told them of God and
the things which concerned their salvation. It is a seed cast in the
earth which will bear its fruit in season."
At Akamsea (Arkansas) they were received by the sachem holding up a
peace calumet, after which they had the customary smoke and a repast of
different dishes made of Indian corn. Presents were interchanged and
speeches made through a young Indian who understood Illinois. The whole
day was spent in feasting, and the dishes of Indian corn were
continuously supplemented by pieces of dog flesh.
Joliet and Marquette learned from them that the sea was only ten days'
journey distant for the Indians, which meant five days for our explorers
in their birch canoes. They further set forth the very great danger of
passing on, owing to the continual war parties moving along the river. A
secret council of the sachems with a view to killing the party for
plunder was only broken up through the influence of the chief, who,
sending for the explorers, danced a calumet dance as a mark of perfect
assurance, and then to remove all fears, presented his peace calumet to
Marquette as a guarantee of safety.
The famous calumet dance is performed only on important occasions--to
strengthen peace, for a war assembly, at public rejoicings, and in honor
of important personages or invited strangers. The principal features
are, first, a dance; second, a mock combat; third, a self-laudatory
speech, during all of which the pipe plays an important part, being
smoked and handled to the measured cadence of voices and drums.
Joliet and Marquette now took counsel together as to whether they should
continue their voyage in face of such adverse conditions or turn back.
Finally, after long and careful consideration it was decided to return.
They realized that in their present latitude, 33° 40´ N., they could not
be more than two or three days from the sea, and that the Mississippi,
by its general course, undoubtedly flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, and
not into the South Sea through California.
Neglecting the dangers from warlike Indians along the lower river, they
considered, moreover, that they risked losing the fruit of this voyage
if they should throw themselves into the hands of the Spaniards, who
would at least imprison them.
[Illustration: De Soto.]
Joliet's farthest was on the east bank, opposite a river, probably the
Arkansas, and could not have been far from the point where De Soto more
than a hundred years before, in April, 1541, reached the Mississippi.
What a contrast between the means and experiences of these two
explorers! De Soto, a noble Spaniard, with an armament of ten vessels
equipped with all the paraphernalia of war, having, with three hundred
and fifty horsemen, a thousand picked men in mail who had been chosen
from the flower of the Spanish and Portuguese nobility. His followers
were animated by ambition, eager seekers for wealth and power, their
track marked by fire and sword, their action often treacherous and
always characterized by the savageness of their age. They reaped the
natural harvest, and although they reached the Mississippi, yet constant
warfare, continued privations, toil, and disasters had sadly wasted
their strength and numbers, and finally not one man in four ever reached
again a Spanish settlement. Joliet, an American of humble birth, with
two frail canoes equipped only with an ordinary hunting outfit, had six
followers who, inspired by neither hope of gold nor desire of conquest
other than that of a spiritual kind, came with peace and confidence,
were received by all tribes with hospitality, and returned to their own
without harm or contumely.
The result of De Soto's work was an unprofitable, soon-forgotten
discovery, utterly barren of results. Joliet reduced the fables of the
Indians to facts, discovered the muddy Missouri, and what is more, gave
definite knowledge to the world of the fertile valleys of the
Mississippi basin, wherein he planted the first germs of civilization,
which speedily took the practical form of missions and settlements.
After a day's rest, Joliet and his party left Akamsea July 17th, and
tediously retraced their course against the strong currents of the
Mississippi. Through the advice of the Indians they quitted the great
river at the mouth of the Illinois, which greatly shortened their way
and brought them with little trouble to the present site of Chicago,
they passing on the way through an Illinois town, Kaskaskia, of
seventy-four cabins, from which an escort of braves guided them to Lake
Michigan.
Marquette appears to have had a prophetic eye for the great future of
the present State of Illinois, for he says, "We have seen nothing like
this river for the fertility of the land, its prairies, woods, wild
cattle, deer, wild-cats, bustards, swans, ducks, parrots, and even
beaver; its many little lakes and rivers."
Coasting the shores of Lake Michigan, the end of September, 1673,
brought them to Green Bay, where the rude comforts of a frontier mission
and the solace of friendly intercourse were once more theirs. They had
been absent four months, and in that time had paddled their frail canoes
more than twenty-five hundred miles. Here Marquette remained to recruit
his health, impaired by physical hardships, continued exposure, and lack
of suitable food. The hardy Joliet lost no time, however, but pressed
on, too eager to report his grand discoveries to Frontenac.
As mentioned in Frontenac's dispatch, the misfortunes of Joliet began
when his long and perilous voyage was practically ended. In the rapids
of La Chine, near Montreal, his canoe overset; three of his party were
drowned, all his papers lost, and he himself narrowly escaped. In a
letter to Frontenac he says: "I had escaped every peril from the
Indians; I had passed forty-two rapids, and was on the point of
disembarking, full of joy at the success of so long and difficult an
enterprise, when my canoe capsized after all danger seemed past. I lost
two men, an Indian boy and my box of papers within sight of the first
French settlements, which I had left almost two years before. Nothing
now remains to me but my life and the ardent desire to employ it on any
service which you may be pleased to direct."
We have to rest content with the graphic account written by Marquette,
as it was impossible for Joliet to reproduce his lost journal. As
regards the map, his natural and acquired skill in cartography was such
that Joliet reproduced his discoveries in the shape of a small map,
which he presented to Frontenac, by whom it was sent to Colbert, with a
despatch dated November 14, 1674, and now is in the famous Chart Office
at Paris. It is entitled, "Map of the Discovery of Sieur Joliet," etc.,
and has a brief explanatory letter thereon, from which I have quoted
above.
Joliet's discoveries were most joyfully received in France, Colbert
especially appreciating their value and importance both as regards the
extent and fertility of the countries traversed and also as to the easy
water communication therewith. It afforded an opportunity of extending
the limits of French possessions in America, which was not neglected. It
did not fall, however, to Joliet to play any part in this great work,
which was the lot of his great rival, the energetic, persistent, and
far-seeing La Salle, who received in 1678 a royal patent with seignorial
rights over all lands which he might discover and colonize within twenty
years, and who gave Louisiana to the French crown.
The natural despondency of Joliet over the loss of his maps and
journals soon gave way to happier experiences; for the following year,
October 7, 1675, he married Clare Frances Bissot. His father-in-law, a
Canadian, was a wealthy Indian trader, so Joliet naturally resumed his
former occupation, and in 1679 made a journey to Hudson Bay by way of
the Saguenay. He found the English strongly intrenched in their
successful efforts to monopolize the Indian trade of that quarter. The
usual attempts to draw Canadians into their service were made in
Joliet's case. He not only declined service, but on his return to Quebec
made such representations of the inevitable effect of English rivalry,
if unopposed, on the trade of Canada, that a competing company was
organized by French merchants.
Joliet in the meantime had only received fair words, but after strenuous
efforts he succeeded in 1679 in obtaining a grant of the Islands of
Mignan, and in the following year the French Government granted him the
Island of Anticosti, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here he established
himself with his family, and with six servants engaged in fisheries.
In the course of time he added to his buildings and extended his
interests, but his peaceful pursuits were destined to interruption and
devastation. In 1690 an English fleet, under command of Sir William
Phipps, sailed to attack Quebec, and in course of time anchored at
Anticosti. In those days war was waged with utter disregard of the
rights of private property. Joliet was then absent. A detachment from
the English fleet landed on the island, devastated Joliet's
establishment, destroyed his buildings by fire, and even carried away as
prisoners his wife and mother-in-law, who fortunately were soon
exchanged.