Leather, Wool, and other Commodities and Effects of the said Country,
and transport them to _France_ during the said Fifteen Years: And as
our Intention is to favour, as much as we can, our Inhabitants of
_New France_, and to hinder the Lessening of their Trade, we forbid
him Trafficking for Castor in the said Country under any Pretence
whatsoever; nor to Convey any from thence into our Kingdom or Foreign
Countries.
VI. We Grant to the _Sieur Crozat_, his Heirs or those claiming
under him or them, the Property of, in and to all Settlements and
Manufactories which he shall erect or set up in the said Country for
Silk, Indigo, Wooll, Leather, Mines, Veins and Minerals, as likewise
the Property of, in and to the Lands which he shall cause to be
Cultivated, with the Mansions, Mills, and Structures which he shall
cause to be built thereon, taking Grants thereof from Us, which Grants
he shall obtain upon the Verbal Process and Opinion of our Governor
and of the Subdelegate of the Intendant of _New France_ in the said
Country, to be by him Reported unto Us.
We will that the said _Sieur Crozat_, his Heirs, or those claiming
under him or them, shall keep in Repair the said Settlements,
Manufactures, Lands and Mills; and in Default thereof during the Space
of three Years, he and they shall Forfeit the same, and the said
Settlements, Manufactories, Lands and Mills shall be Reunited to our
Domaine fully and amply, and in the same Manner as is mentioned above
in the Third Article concerning the Mines, Veins and Minerals.
VII. Our Edicts, Ordinances and Customs, and the Usages of the
Mayoralty and Shreevalty of _Paris_, shall be observed for Laws and
Customs in the said Country of _Louisiana_.
VIII. The said _Sieur Crozat_ shall be oblig’d to send to the said
Country of _Louisiana_ Two Ships every Year, which he shall cause to
set out in the proper Season, in each of which Ships he shall cause to
be imbark’d, without paying any Freight, 25 Tun of Victuals, Effects
and necessary Ammunition, for the Maintenance of the Garrison and Forts
of the _Louisiana_; and in Case we should cause to be laden above the
said 25 Tun in each Ship, we consent to pay the Freight to the said
_Sieur Crozat_, at the common Merchantile Rates.
He shall be oblig’d to convey our Officers of _Louisiana_ in the Ships
which he shall send thither, and to furnish them with Subsistance and a
Captain’s Table for 30 Sols per Day, which we will cause to be paid for
each.
He shall likewise give Passage in the said Ships, to the Soldiers,
which we shall please to send to the said Country; and we will cause
the necessary Provisions for their Subsistance to be furnish’d to
him, or will pay him for them at the same Price as is paid to the
Purveyor-General of our Marine.
He shall be furthermore oblig’d to send on Board each Ship, which he
shall cause to set out for the said Country, Ten young Men or Women, at
his own Election.
IX. We will cause to be deliver’d out of our Magazines to the said
_Sieur Crozat_, 10000 Weight of Gunpowder every Year, which he shall
pay us for at the Price that it shall cost us, and this for so long
Time as the present Privilege shall last.
X. The Wares and Merchandize which the said _Sieur Crozat_ shall
consign to the said Country of _Louisiana_ shall be exempt from all
Duties of Exportation, laid or to be laid, on Condition, that his
Directors, Deputies or Clerks, shall engage to give within the Space of
a Year, to be reckon’d from the Date thereof, a Certificate of their
Unlading in the said Country of _Louisiana_; under Penalty, in Case
of Contravention, to pay the Quadruple of the Duties, reserving to
our selves the Power of giving him a longer Respite in such Cases and
Occurrences as we shall think proper.
XI. And as for the Goods and Merchandize, which the _Sieur Crozat_
shall cause to be brought from the said Country of _Louisiana_, and
upon his Account, into the Ports of our Kingdom, and shall afterwards
cause to be transported into Foreign Countries, they shall pay no
Duties either of Importation or Exportation, and shall be deposited
in the Custom-House, Warehouses of Ports where they shall arrive,
until they be taken away; and when the Deputies and Clerks of the said
_Sieur Crozat_ shall be minded to cause them to be transported in
Foreign Countries, either by Sea or Land, they shall be oblig’d to give
Security to bring within a certain Time, a Certificate from the last
Office, containing what they Exported there, and another Certificate
of their unlading in Foreign Countries.
XII. In Case the said _Sieur Crozat_ be obliged, for the furtherance of
his Commerce to fetch from Foreign Countries some Goods and Merchandize
of Foreign Manufacture, in order to TRANSPORT them into the said
Country of _Louisiana_. He shall make Us Acquainted therewith, and
lay before Us States thereof; upon which we, if we think fit, will
Grant him our Particular Permission with Exemptions from all Duties of
Importation and Exportation, Provided the said Goods and Merchandize
be Deposited afterwards in our Custom-House Ware-houses until they be
Laden in the Ships of the said _Sieur Crozat_, who shall be obliged
to bring in one Year, to be reckoned from the Day of the Date hereof,
a Certificate of their unlading in the said Country of _Louisiana_,
under Penalty, in Case of Contravention, to pay quadruple the Duties:
Reserving to our selves, in like Manner, the Liberty of granting to the
said _Sieur Crozat_, a longer Respite, if it be necessary.
XIII. The Feluccaes, Canoes, and other Vessels belonging to us, and
which are in the said Country of _Louisiana_, shall serve for loading,
unloading and transporting the Effects of the said _Sieur Crozat_, who
shall be bound to keep them in good Condition, and after the Expiration
of the said Fifteen Years shall restore them, or a like Number of equal
Bulk and Goodness, to our Governor in the said Country.
XIV. If for the Cultures and Plantations which the said _Sieur Crozat_
is minded to make he finds it proper to have Blacks in the said
Country of the _Louisiana_, he may send a Ship every Year to trade for
them directly upon the Coast of _Guinea_, taking Permission from the
_Guinea_ Company so to do, he may sell those Blacks, to the Inhabitants
of the Colony of _Louisiana_; and we forbid all other Companies and
Persons whatsoever, under any Pretence whatsoever, to introduce Blacks
or Traffick for them in the said Country, nor shall the said _Sieur
Crozat_ carry any Blacks else where.
XV. He shall not send any Ships into the said Country of _Louisiana_
but directly from _France_, and he shall Cause the said Ships to Return
thither again; the whole under Pain of Confiscation and Forfeiture of
the Present Priviledge.
XVI. The said _Sieur Crozat_ shall be obliged, after the Expiration
of the first nine Years of this Grant, to Pay the Officers and the
Garrison which shall be in the said Country. During the Six last Years
of the Continuance of this Present Priviledge: The said _Sieur Crozat_
may in that Time propose and nominate the Officers, as Vacancies shall
fall, and such Officers, shall be Confirmed by us, if we approve of
them.
Given at _FONTAINBLEAU_ the Fourteenth Day of September in the Year of
Grace 1712. And of Our Reign the 70th.
SIGNED _LOUIS_
By the KING
_PHELIPEAUX_, &c.
Registered at _PARIS_ in the Parliament, the Four and Twentieth of
September, 1712.
_Discovery of the Mississippi._
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF THE TRAVELS OF NICOLET, ALLOÜEZ,
MARQUETTE, HENNEPIN, AND LA SALLE IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
The pioneer of French travellers to the country west of the great
lakes, and the first white man who is reputed to have reached a
northern tributary of the Mississippi, was Jean Nicolet, who in 1634,
or thereabouts, made treaties with the Indians at Green Bay, and
ascended Fox River.
The “Relation de ce qui s’est passé en la Nouvelle France, 1640,”
Paris, 1641, gives the earliest indication of this voyage, and a
summary description is given in the Relation of 1642–43. These reports
are reprinted in the “Relation des Jésuites,” vol. i., Québec, 1858.
Margry’s “Découvertes et établissements des Français,” vol. i., pp.
47–53, contains the portions of the above which refer to Nicolet,
and a translation of the account in the Relation of 1640 is printed
in Smith’s “History of Wisconsin,” vol. iii. Du Creux’s “Historia
Canadensis,” Paris, 1664, gives the first connected history of the life
and exploits of this explorer. A translation of Du Creux’s narrative is
appended to Butterfield’s “History and Discovery of the Northwest, by
John Nicolet,” Cincinnati, 1881.
Shea states, in his “Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi,”
that Nicolet descended the Wisconsin to the Mississippi. This opinion
was adopted by Parkman in his “Jesuits in North America,” p. 166, but
his later judgment is given in the “Discovery of the Great West.” A
more careful examination of the evidence demonstrates the improbability
that his travels extended farther than the Wisconsin, and in the
opinion of Butterfield, the latest writer upon this voyage, he did not
reach that river, but stopped at the country of the Mascoutins upon Fox
River.
Benjamin Sulté, a Canadian historical writer, in writing upon Nicolet,
in his “Mélanges d’Histoire et de Littérature,” Ottawa, 1876, shows,
for the first time, that this journey was probably made in 1634,
instead of 1638 or 1639, as before thought.
Sulté’s article with notes by L. C. Draper, is printed in the
“Wisconsin Historical Society Collections,” vol. viii., pp. 188–194;
also in the “Canadian Antiquarian,” vol. viii., pp. 157–164.
Butterfield, who has carefully investigated the records, agrees with
Sulté in assigning 1634 as the true date, and brings out additional,
if not conclusive evidence to support this theory, in his monograph
cited above. Margry, in the “Journal de l’Instruction publique,” 1862,
under the caption, “Les Normands dans les Vallées de l’Ohio et du
Mississipi,” describes Nicolet’s travels and Gravier’s “Découvertes et
établissements de la Salle;” Harrisse’s “Notes pour servir à l’Histoire
[etc.] de la Nouvelle France,” and Parkman’s “La Salle,” also give some
account of the expedition.
In 1642 Jogues and Raymbault, two missionaries, penetrated as far west
as Sault Ste. Marie, at the outlet of Lake Superior. See account of
this mission in the Jesuit Relation of 1642. Margry’s Collection, vol.
i., pp. 45–47, contains a reprint of the narrative of this journey. See
also Shea’s Charlevoix, vol. i., p. 137, for notice of the undertaking.
The next recorded visit to the West is that of two French traders,
who wintered upon the shores of Lake Superior in 1658. See the Jesuit
Relation of 1659–60, and the extract in Margry’s Collection, vol. i.,
pp. 53–55, and translation in Smith’s Wisconsin, vol. iii., p. 20.
Father Ménard began a mission at St. Theresa Bay, Lake Superior, in
1661. See Lallemant’s letter in the Relation of 1662–63. A translation
of this letter is in Smith’s Wisconsin, vol. iii. See also Perrot’s
“Mémoire sur les mœurs des sauvages,” Paris, 1864; Shea’s Charlevoix,
vol. i., p. 49, and a note by Shea in _Historical Magazine_, vol.
viii., p. 175. Ménard’s letter, written just before his departure
for Lake Superior, with notes by E. D. Neill, may be found in the
“Minnesota Historical Society Collections,” vol. i., pp. 135–138.
In 1665, Claude Alloüez, another missionary, began a mission at
Chegoimegon, Lake Superior. See the journal of his travels in Le
Mercier’s Relation of 1666–67, a translation of which is in Smith’s
Wisconsin, vol. iii. Marquette took charge of this mission in 1669, and
Alloüez went to the Baie des Puantes (Green Bay), and in 1670 made a
visit to the Mascoutins on Fox River. Harrisse thinks he crossed to the
Wisconsin at this time. In reporting his operations, Alloüez describes
the “Messi-sipi” from information given by the Indians. See Dablon’s
Relation of 1669–70, p. 100. Translation in Smith’s “Wisconsin,” vol.
iii.
Alloüez spent many years among the Indians upon Green Bay, and in the
Illinois country. See the Jesuit Relations covering the years 1669–79.
The full titles of these Relations are given in chronological order
in Harrisse’s “Notes pour servir à l’Histoire [etc.] de la Nouvelle
France.” Dr. Shea printed in the Cramoisy series the abridged Relations
for 1672–79, and Martin’s “Mission du Canada” prints them for the
first time in full. Shea gives a life of Alloüez in his “Discovery and
Exploration of the Mississippi.” See also notes upon him in Margry’s
Découvertes, etc., vol. i., pp. 57–72; also in Bancroft, in Shea’s
Charlevoix, vol. iii., and in Shea’s “Catholic Missions in the United
States.” Gravier and Parkman also give some account of his travels.
In June, 1671, St. Lusson, in the presence of a large number of
Indians, took possession of the country on the lakes in the name of
France. The “Procès verbal” of the ceremony is in Margry, vol. i., pp.
96 _et seq._
Perrot, a noted Canadian _voyageur_, in 1670–71 travelled along the
shores of Green Bay. Perrot’s journal, which records the daily events
of his life among the Indians from 1665 to 1726, was edited for the
first time at Paris, in 1864, by Father Tailhan. It is entitled
“Mémoires sur les mœurs et coustumes et relligion [sic] des sauvages de
l’Amérique septentrionale.” Tailhan’s notes add value to the work. See
regarding Perrot, Shea’s Charlevoix, vol. iii., p. 165, and _Historical
Magazine_, vol. ix., p. 205.
A description of the geography of the country as known previous to
the exploration of the Mississippi by Joliet and Marquette is given
by Dablon in the “Relation de la Nouvelle France, les années 1670 et
1671,” Paris, 1672. See the Quebec reprint in “Relation des Jésuites,”
vol. iii. The Relation, as printed in 1672, gave a map of the great
lakes; for a description of which see Parkman’s “La Salle,” p. 450.
In 1673 Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet navigated the Mississippi
in canoes to the Arkansas. Father Marquette’s narrative of the voyage,
in an imperfect form, was published by Thevenot in his “Recueil de
Voyages,” Paris, 1681. Thevenot also published it as an independent
work, with the title, “Voyage et découverte de quelques pays et
nations de l’Amérique septentrionale.” In this latter shape it was
reproduced by Rich, at Paris, in 1845. The map accompanying this
version, and which is inserted in fac-simile in Bancroft, is said not
to be by Marquette. The authentic map was first published in Shea’s
“Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi,” where the two maps are
compared. The Thevenot text appears translated in French’s “Historical
Collections of Louisiana,” pt. 2, pp. 279–297, and Spark’s “Life of
Marquette,” in the “Library of American Biography,” vol. x., is, in a
measure, a translation of it.
Marquette’s complete journal, prepared for publication, in 1678,
by Claude Dablon, Superior of the Canadian Missions, remained
inedited until Shea published it in his “Discovery and Exploration
of the Mississippi,” New York, 1853, giving the original text and
a translation. This version, known as the _Ste. Marie_ text, was
reprinted in 1855, with important annotations, by Shea, under the
title, “Récit des voyages et des découvertes du R. P. J. Marquette,
en l’année 1673, et aux suivantes; la continuation de ses voyages
par C. Alloüez, et le journal autographe, du P. Marquette en 1674 et
1675.” [Albanie: Imprimerie de Weed, Parsons et Cie.] 1855 (10), 169
(2), pp. Map, 12mo. Martin’s “Mission du Canada, Relations inédites
(1672–1679),” vol. ii., contains a modified version of the _Ste. Marie_
text. Hennepin’s spurious “New Discovery,” London, 1698 and 1699, has,
as an appendix, a poor translation of the Thevenot production.
Joliet, while on his way to Montreal to report his discoveries, lost
his memoranda and maps. He was enabled, however, to draw up a brief
recital from memory, which, with a map, he presented to Frontenac in
1674.
Two versions of this narrative are printed in Margry’s Collection, vol.
i., pp. 259–270. Dablon despatched to his Superior at Paris an account
derived from Joliet’s verbal testimony, which may be found printed in
Martin’s “Mission du Canada,” vol. i., pp. 193–204. A translation is
given in the _Historical Magazine_, vol. v., pp. 237–239. A letter
sent by Joliet from Quebec, October 10, 1674, briefly recounts his
late adventures. It may be found in Harrisse’s “Notes pour servir à
l’Histoire [etc.] de la Nouvelle France,” pp. 322 and 323. A narrative
based upon Joliet’s report is appended to Hennepin’s “New Discovery,”
London, 1698.
Joliet made several maps, showing his discoveries, only one of which
has been edited. Gravier’s “Étude sur une carte inconnue, la première
dressée par L. Joliet en 1674,” contains a fac-simile of the map in
question. A letter from the discoverer to Frontenac is inscribed upon
it. Gravier considers this map, apparently with good reason, to be the
earliest representation of the course of the Mississippi from personal
knowledge.
Frontenac’s letter announcing the successful result of Joliet’s mission
is printed in Margry, vol. i., p. 257, and a translation is inserted in
the “New York Colonial Documents,” vol. ix., p. 116. See the following
for notices of Joliet: Faillon’s “Histoire de la Colonie française en
Canada,” vol. iii.; Ferland’s “Notes sur les régistres de Notre-Dame;”
Margry’s articles in the _Revue Canadienne_, December, 1871, January,
March, 1872. French’s Historical Collections, second series, has a
brief biography. The works hereafter cited upon the history of the
discovery of the Mississippi necessarily include a history of the
Marquette-Joliet expedition.
We now come to La Salle, Hennepin, and Tonty, 1669–87. Margry’s
“Découvertes et établissements des Français dans l’Ouest et dans le sud
de l’Amérique septentrionale, 1614–1698,” Paris, 1879–81, contains the
documents which the editor collected in the archives of France. This
work now comprises four large octavo volumes, three of which are mainly
devoted to documents upon La Salle’s explorations. The contents of
these three volumes are arranged under the following heads: 1re partie,
“Voyages des Français sur les grands lacs et Découverte de l’Ohio et du
Mississipi (1614–1684);” 2me partie, “Lettres de La Salle;” 3me partie,
“Recherche des bouches du Mississipi (1669–1698).” The more important
of these papers are indicated hereafter in their chronological order.
The fourth volume of this collection embraces the documents relating to
D’Iberville’s colony, at the mouth of the Mississippi, 1698–1703.
In 1669 La Salle, accompanied by Dollier and Gallinée, set out from
Montreal to discover the Mississippi. They proceeded in company
to the western extremity of Lake Ontario. At this place La Salle,
professing illness, parted from the missionaries, ostensibly to
return to Montreal. Dollier and Gallinée continued their journey
along the northern shores of Lake Erie, thus taking a course hitherto
untravelled, and reached Sault Ste. Marie in May, 1670, having spent
the winter on the shores of Lake Erie. Gallinée’s journal, entitled
“Récit de ce qui s’est passé de plus rémarquable dans le voyage de MM.
Dollier et Gallinée,” is printed in Margry, vol. i., pp. 112–166. The
Abbé Faillon, who first discovered the records of this journey, gives
a synopsis of Gallinée’s recital, with a fac-simile of his map, in the
third volume of his “Histoire de la Colonie française en Canada.”
O. M. Marshall’s pamphlet, entitled “The First Visit of La Salle to
the Senecas,” Buffalo, 1874, contains a textual translation of this
document. The Société historique, of Montreal, published in 1875 an
edition of this journal, with notes by the Abbé Verreau. Margry prints
in his collection, vol. i., pp. 342–402, a narrative which he calls
“Récital d’un ami de l’Abbé de Gallinée.” This purports to be notes,
taken by the writer, who Margry thinks was the Abbé Renaudot, of
conversations had with La Salle at Paris in 1678, in which he recounted
his adventures in Canada from 1667 to 1678. In it is stated that after
leaving Dollier and Gallinée, instead of going to Montreal, La Salle
kept on until he reached the Ohio, and later went to the Mississippi
by way of the Illinois. Parkman prints extracts from this paper in
his “Discovery of the Great West,” but does not credit it wholly; he,
however, admits that La Salle discovered the Ohio, and most likely the
Illinois. It is upon this document, that Margry bases his claim that La
Salle was the first to reach the Mississippi.
The following writers take issue with Margry: Brucker, “J. Marquette
et la Découverte du Mississipi,” Lyon, 1880, and in the “Études
religieuses,” vol. v.; Harrisse, in “Notes pour servir à l’Histoire
[etc.] de la Nouvelle France,” Paris, 1872; in an article entitled
“Histoire critique de la Découverte du Mississipi,” in the _Revue
maritime et coloniale_, vol. xxxii, pp. 642–663.
Shea, in whom Margry finds perhaps his most strenuous opponent,
discusses the question in an address read on the bi-centennial of
Marquette’s voyage, published in the “Wisconsin Historical Society
Collections,” vol. vii., pp. 111–122. He has, however, published a
pamphlet, in which he examines the matter more in detail, entitled “The
Bursting of P. Margry’s La Salle Bubble,” New York, 1879. Tailhan, in
notes to Perrot, and the Abbé Verreau in his edition of Gallinée’s
journal, also refute Margry. Colonel Whittlesey’s tract, forming No.
38 of the Western Reserve Historical Society’s publications, entitled
“Discovery of the Ohio by La Salle, 1669–70,” is an inquiry upon the
subject. Margry presents his arguments in full, in articles upon “Les
Normands dans les vallées de l’Ohio et du Mississippi,” published
in the _Journal géneral de l’Instruction publique_, Paris, 1862.
See also a paper by him in the _Revue maritime et coloniale_, vol.
xxxiii., pp. 555–559; his pamphlet, “La Priorité de La Salle sur le
Mississipi,” Paris, 1873; a letter in the _American Antiquary_, vol.
i., pp. 206–209, Chicago, 1880, and in remarks in the preface to his
“Découvertes et établissements des Français,” vol. i.
Gravier in his “Découvertes de La Salle,” Paris, 1870, in the “Compte
rendu of the Congrès des Américanistes,” 1877, pt. i., pp. 237–312, and
in _The Magazine of American History_, vol. viii., p. 305, supports the
Margry theory.
In August, 1679, La Salle having completed his arrangements and
obtained letters patent from the king for another attempt upon the
Mississippi, set sail in the Griffon, upon Lake Erie, and arrived at
Michilimackinac about two weeks later. The Illinois was reached in
January, 1680, but owing to adverse circumstances, La Salle being
compelled, for want of supplies and other causes, to make twice the
journey between the Illinois and Canada, the exploration of the
Mississippi was not accomplished until April, 1682. The adventures of
La Salle’s party upon the great lakes and in the Illinois country,
previous to the voyage down the Mississippi in 1682, are recounted with
minute detail in the “Relation des Descouvertes et des Voyages du Sieur
de La Salle, 1679–81,” printed in Margry’s Collection, vol. i., pp.
435–594.