1698-1703
THE GREAT INDIAN PEACE SIGNED AT MONTREAL. THE FOUNDATION OF DETROIT
THE GOVERNMENT OF DE CALLIERES
DE CALLIERES--PREPARATIONS FOR PEACE--DEATH OF THE "RAT"--THE
GREAT PEACE SIGNED AT MONTREAL--LA MOTTE-CARDILLAC--THE FOUNDATION
OF DETROIT--THE DEATH OF MARGUERITE BOURGEOYS.
By a writ of June 4, 1689, Louis Hector de Callières, the governor of
Montreal (1685-1698), had already received the appointment of commander
general of New France during the projected absence of M. de Frontenac.
Also in 1688, on March 8th, an order of the king gave him the command
of the troops in the absence of M. de Denonville, which indicated that
he was a "persona grata" and reserved for some higher post. On the
death of Frontenac, de Callières, who had been Frontenac's right-hand
man in his campaigns and had supported him in his Indian policy,
naturally assumed the government of Canada _ad interim_. De Callières
had every qualification for the position, having been opportunely
trained as an apprentice by his government of Montreal and as second
in command in the wars with the Iroquois. He was the man of the hour.
For as we know that, although by the peace of Ryswick hostilities had
ceased between the two colonial rival powers in North America, yet,
the Iroquois loudly protested their independence of the treaty and
were ever taking means to continue their warfare on Canada. Luckily,
like Frontenac, the new governor held the Iroquois in awe and respect
of him, a respect arising from his firmness in keeping his word and in
holding them to theirs. A solid and strong man was needed. De Callières
was this; and according to the Jesuit historian Charlevoix, "he had
straight and disinterested views, without prejudices and without
passions; a firmness always in accord with reason; a valour which
always knew how to moderate itself and render useful service; great
common sense, much uprightness and honour, a clear mental vision and
great application to duty, joined to great experience."[159] The same
writer also speaks of him as the most accomplished general the colony
had ever received and the man who had rendered the most important
services.
But Champigny, the intendant, and La Potherie, the controller of the
marine department in Canada, writing home at this period, say he was
haughty, ambitious, vain and fond of incense and flattery. Perhaps
they were jealous. La Potherie, writing on June 2, 1699, accuses the
governor _ad interim_ of wanting more honors paid to him than the
governor generals themselves, adding, "M. de Frontenac is no sooner
dead than the cockle is spread in this country. We have seen M. de
Callières take all of a sudden, a control so despotic that it seems as
if the intendant himself must obey him blindly." On his part Champigny
had never "seen such _hauteur_ since he had come to the colony."
All the same de Callières inaugurated his government by an honourable
and successful piece of statesmanship. Seeing that there was now by the
treaty of Ryswick (September 20, 1697), a temporary peace, at least,
between the English and the French, he desired to make all the Indians
of the north of America share in it--a no easy task, since the English
desired to keep the Iroquois in hostility toward the French still. It
was not for nearly two years after the overtures had commenced that
peace was definitely settled. In March, 1699, three Iroquois deputies
had arrived at Montreal before the death of Frontenac, and besides
desiring an exchange of prisoners, asked de Callières to conclude peace
at Albany. According to La Potherie, they asked for the Jesuits Bruyas
and Lamberville, for whom they had great esteem, to be sent with M. de
Maricourt for this purpose.
But de Callières, seeing through their ruse, that they wanted their
prisoners while they still would keep the French captives with the Five
Nations, firmly told them that the peace had to be signed at Montreal
and nowhere else. On July 18, 1700, a further embassy came to Montreal
with six Iroquois ambassadors, two from the Onondagas and four from the
Senecas, to pray the governor to send Father Bruyas and de Maricourt,
and in place of Father Lamberville, then in France, the interpreter,
Joncaire, who had married an Iroquois squaw and whose valour was
much respected by them, so that they might seek the French prisoners
themselves. The governor consented on condition that they should bring
back with the prisoners the ambassadors from Onneyout and Gogogouen,
with full powers to treat of peace. He did not speak of the others
of the Five Nations, e. g. the Agniers (Mohawks), who living near
Albany, were under English influence. The mission of Father Bruyas,
de Maricourt and Joncaire was successful, and towards the beginning
of September they returned with nineteen deputies from the country,
and but ten French prisoners, the rest either not being able to secure
their liberty, or preferring to adopt the Indian life.
On September 8th de Callières received the embassy in solemn audience,
when a provisional treaty of peace was signed by all the chiefs of
the tribes present. It was witnessed by the governor, intendant,
the ecclesiastical, civil and military authorities, the Hurons, the
Ottawas, the Abenakis and the Christian Iroquois from the missions
of the Mountain and of Sault St. Louis. The month of August of the
following year was appointed by de Callières for the final treaty to
be signed at Montreal, for he aimed at a general alliance with all
the Five Nations, to be preceded by a complete exchange of prisoners.
But would they ever return? The governor with his calm confidence
determined that they should and for this purpose he made use of the
missionaries. To prepare the minds of the people for peace, Father
de Bruyas, de Maricourt and Joncaire were again sent to Onondaga;
Father Enjalran and M. de Courtmanche to the nations above. Among the
Abenakis, Father Vincent Bigot, the Recollect Fathers in Acadia, and
Father Carheil at Michillimackinac, and others, were also to promote
the same great universal peace.
At last the great assembly opened at Montreal on July 25, 1701. Never
had there been seen such a representative union of the Five Nations.
There were present the Abenakis with Father Vincent Bigot; the Iroquois
with Father Bruyas; the Hurons with Father Garnier; the Ottawas
with Father Enjalran, and the Illinois and Miamis with the intrepid
voyageur, Nicolas Perrot. There were also the Christian Indians from
the mission settlements of Sault St. Louis, the Mountain, Lorette,
Sillery, of the River St. Francis and St. Francis de Sales with the
Algonquins, the Micmacs and many tribes from the west.
But all was not harmony; there were mutual recriminations and disputes
and it looked as if the treaty would never be signed, had not the Rat,
the Huron Chief Kondiaronk, swayed the minds of the assembly with his
eloquence and saved the peace. It was he who had formerly broken the
peace between Denonville and the Iroquois, but now he was to win the
undying gratitude of the French by his masterly and tragic espousal
of their cause. The historian Charlevoix speaking of Kondiaronk (Vol.
2, p. 278) says: "Never had savage more merit than he, a more noble
character, more valour, more prudence and more discernment in knowing
how to treat with others." He was so eloquent that he aroused the
plaudits even of his enemies and those jealous of him; since he had
so much intelligence and animation, he made such lively and witty
repartees, and had ever such ready reply, that he was the only man in
Canada who could cope with the Count de Frontenac. When the latter
wished to divert his officers he invited the Rat to his table. On his
side the Rat knew how to esteem his French contemporaries. "Among the
French," he said, "I know only two men of sense, the Count de Frontenac
and Father Carheil," the latter being the Jesuit missionary who had
converted him, and for whom he had the tenderest veneration.
Amid the havoc of dissentient voices at the great assembly, the Rat,
though suffering from great feebleness of health, demanded to be heard.
He was accorded an arm chair in the middle of the assemblage and all
drew near to hear him. "He spoke long," says Charlevoix, "and was
listened to with infinite attention. He explained the necessity of
peace, of the advantages accruing therefrom for the country in general
and each tribe in particular." The emotion he aroused was great and he
drew forth unanimous applause. But the brave orator had outpassed his
strength and his once vigorous constitution was now broken. At the end
of the discourse he was taken, a dying man, to the Hôtel-Dieu, where
he died the following night with sentiments of religious fervour and
fortified by the sacraments of the church.
His funeral obsequies were magnificent. He was buried in the parish
church and over his tomb was inscribed:
"Ci-gît le Rat, Chef Huron"
(Here lies the Huron Chieftain, the Rat.)
Four days after his death, on August 14th, the ceremony of the signing
of the peace took place. High placed on a dais sat the representative
of France, her lieutenant governor, M. de Callières, having by his side
the intendant, Champigny, the governor of Montreal, de Vaudreuil, and
principal officers of the county. Before him passed in single file all
the contracting nations. Then took place the exchange of prisoners.
The customary calumet of peace, was offered the Governor de Callières,
who after smoking it passed it on till it had circulated among the
encircling throng of Indian deputies. Thirty-eight of these then signed
singly, each his own peculiar mark, a bear for the Agniers (Mohawk), a
spider for the Onnontagues (Onondagas) and the Tsonnontouans (Senecas),
a beaver for the Hurons, a caribou for the Abenakis, for the Ottawas
a hare, etc. Then resounded the Te Deum of thanksgiving and the
assemblage dispersed to be regaled by a grand and monstrous banquet,
with salvos of artillery and fireworks, to terminate this auspicious
day.
[Illustration: SOME SIGNATURES OF THE INDIAN CHIEFS AT THE GREAT PEACE]
It was a momentous occasion. It was looked upon as the triumph of
civilization and Christianity over barbarism and paganism. Montreal, so
long the beleaguered outpost, the scene of many a bloody onslaught and
carnage, was fittingly the arena of the joyous peace celebrations of
that evening of August 14, 1701, heralding brighter days for the colony.
In the meantime, while the Indians were gathering at Montreal for the
conclusion of the peace, a body of fifty regular soldiers and fifty
Canadians left Lachine on June 1, 1701, under the command of Antoine
de la Motte-Cardillac and accompanied by Capt. Alphonse de Tonti,
the younger brother of Henri de Tonti, and the Lieutenants Dugué and
Chacornelle. Not to draw the attention of the Iroquois, the expedition
ascended the Ottawa River, entered Lake Huron and thence proceeded to
Détroit to the new fort of Pontchartrain (or Détroit) rapidly rising
and situated on the strait (Détroit) between Lakes Erie and Huron.
The establishment of this fort was the great desire of la
Motte-Cardillac, for he deemed it of utmost importance and had obtained
the permission from the secretary of the marine, Jérome Count de
Pontchartrain. It secured the communications of the colony with the
countries of the Miamis and the Illinois, and thence with Louisiana
by the Mississippi. It was the key of the three upper lakes, a most
desirable possession for the French. Moreover the climate of the strait
was pleasant, the air healthful, the soil excellent and fruitful, and
the hunting good. Incidentally the commandant saw an opportunity of
enriching himself. But, to make such a settlement profitable, it was
necessary to induce the Indians to settle there. At the congress of
Montreal, the Governor de Callières, who had at first been hostile to
the settlement of Détroit, as he feared with others like Champigny
that it would be the ruin of Michillimackinac, invited the Hurons and
Ottawas of Michillimackinac then present to change over to the new
fort, and finally many of them did so. Thus was born the germ of the
present Détroit.
Its founder was a familiar figure in Montreal. Antoine de la
Motte-Cardillac belonged to a good family of Languedoc. At first a
cadet in the regiment of Dampierre-Lorraine, then lieutenant in that of
Clairembault, he passed over into Canada about 1683, desirous of making
his fortune, being then not more than twenty-three years of age. His
ready wit, intelligence, active ambition and never failing humour soon
saw him advanced to a lieutenancy in the colonial troops, then to the
rank of ensign of the navy and captain of the troops. Being a thorough
Gascon, he gained the confidence of Frontenac, especially as he had no
great love for the clergy, particularly the Jesuits. He was a railler,
a skeptic and a critic of religion and morality, but knew how to play
the game to suit his interests. He had undoubted ability and he acted
as the ready tool of Frontenac. On September 16, 1694, he became the
governor of Michillimackinac following Durantaye, and de Louvigny de la
Port. His reign there was marked with the abuses prevalent among the
trading posts of the period, where private commerce and self-interest
among the soldiers were of more importance than the good of the natives
or the development of the country. His frequent mêlées with the
Jesuits, about whom he related contrary accusations of self-interested
trading, brought it about that the French court determined to abandon
Michillimackinac and when the order was rescinded, La Motte was so
chagrined that finding it no longer likely to serve his interests, he
refused to return there, being replaced by Alphonse de Tonti. Instead,
he went to France to justify himself and to push the establishment
of Fort Pontchartrain or Détroit as narrated, for he considered that
wealth was in store for Détroit if the fur trade was restricted
to it as he desired. This was likely to happen, for the policy of
concentration was then in the ascendant, it being intended that the
trade should seek the cities, while the western posts were being
discouraged. Eventually the new trading company, which had been founded
in October by the _habitants_ of the colony for the exploitation of the
beaver traffic and had most of the principal men as its shareholders,
among them being many Montrealers who desired to concentrate the peltry
trade towards Montreal, was restricted to Forts Frontenac and Détroit
of the western forts. Finally, owing to trouble with the directors of
the company, whom he bitterly accused of no desire but for gain, so
that the fields were not sown and the cattle were destroyed, Détroit
was handed over to Cardillac as commandant. But his ambitions were
clipped, for by the ordinances of June, 1706, he could not trade in
castors to more than fifteen to twenty thousand _livres_ a year, so
as not to increase the number of beaver skins, with which the company
was already overloaded. He was forbidden, moreover, to trade except in
his fort. His voluminous letters of this period are full of complaints
against the Jesuits, the company and the head of the government. Thus
Détroit struggled through a critical infancy but was gaining strength
so that it had reached 200 souls, when its founder,[160] by letters
of May 10, 1710, was appointed governor of Louisiana to succeed de
Bienville.
On the first day of January, 1700, Marguerite Bourgeoys, now in her
eightieth year, passed into her agony and on the 12th breathed her
last, surrounded by the community she had founded and whose rule of
life had at last been approved by Bishop St. Vallier on June 24, 1696.
The funeral, which took place on January 13th in the parish church,
was attended by all classes of Montreal from the governor general
down to the simplest _habitant_, for she had been looked upon as the
universal mother of the community. The vicar general of the diocese
and the superior of the seminary, the aged Dollier de Casson, now bent
under the weight of fourscore years of life and labours, pronounced
the funeral oration. On the tablet of steel placed on the coffin, the
epitaph ordered by him read as follows:
Here lies Sister Marguerite Bourgeoys, Teacher,
Founder and First Superior of the Congregation of
Notre-Dame, established in the Island of Montreal
for the instruction of girls in town or country,
Deceased on the 12th of January, 1700.
Pray for the repose of her soul!
Thirty days after the death of Marguerite Bourgeoys a solemn requiem
was chanted in the Congregation Church and an eloquent panegyric was
delivered by M. de Belmont. After mass the preacher carried the heart
of the deceased founder, embalmed in a leaden box, to a shrine prepared
in a niche, and solemnly blessed the resting place and then closed the
opening with a leaden slab, over which lay a copper tablet, bearing the
following lines in French:
"Beneath this stone is hid a heart
To flesh a foe, from earth apart,
Its treasure sole, the virgin band
Its zeal had gathered in this land."[161]
Then her daughters hung her portrait over the shrine. For sixty-eight
years the sacred relics remained there until a fire broke out in
the church and convent of the congregation on April 11, 1768, when
the ashes were recovered and placed in a silver box that is still
preserved. The memory of the saintly life of Mother Bourgeoys remained
long in the land. On December 7, 1878, in the opening years of the
pontificate of Leo XIII, a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites,
at Rome, pronounced Marguerite Bourgeoys, Venerable. The title of
"Blessed" was pronounced by Pius X. Her daughters look forward to the
day when she may be invoked by them as St. Margaret of Canada.
Thus passed away one of the earliest figures of the infant colony of
Montreal. We may aptly quote Parkman's tribute to this saintly woman:
"To this day in crowded schoolrooms of Montreal and Quebec,[162] fit
monuments of her unobtrusive virtue, her successors instruct the
children of the poor, and embalm the pleasant memories of Margaret
Bourgeois. In the martial figure of Maisonneuve and the fair form of
this gentle nun, we find the true heroes of Montreal." (Jesuits, p.
202.)
FOOTNOTES:
[159] Charlevoix I, 288. Charlevoix lived for some time at the
Caughnawaga settlement, about 1721, and there prepared his manuscript
for his history. At the presbytery of the church is shown his old hard
wood writing desk, still containing the historian's books in their
sixteenth and seventeenth century bindings.
[160] The Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal, published
quarterly by the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Montreal,
started 1872, has the following note: "In June, 1701, La
Motte-Cardillac was sent to construct a fort at Détroit. A fort, where
Fort Gratiot now stands south of the present city, had been built in
1686 but had decayed. Modern inquiry establishes that the site (chosen
by Cardillac) was in the center of the city, the present Jefferson
Avenue, in the neighbourhood of the Exchange and is described by La
Motte-Cardillac as being three miles from Lake Erie and two miles from
Lake St. Claire. The fort was surrounded by a picket fence. Its fate
was to be partially destroyed by fire in 1703; to be rebuilt in 1716-17
and to be extended at intervals."
[161] Faillon's Vie de la Soeur Bourgeoys, Vol. II, p. 88.
[162] At present the Congregation founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, has
under its control 140 missions (including the schools depending on
them) divided among six provinces, under the direction of a provincial
superior. These provinces are: (1) Montreal, (2) Quebec, (3) Notre
Dame, (4) Ville Marie, (5) Ontario and the United States, (6) the
Maritime Provinces (Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick).
The following seven missions were founded by Mother Bourgeoys: (1) The
Mission of the Mountain--Notre Dames des Neiges. (2) L'enfant Jésus at
Pointe aux Trembles. Ile d'Orleans near Quebec. (3) Les Saint Anges
at Lachine. (4) La Visitation at Champlain. (5) Ste. Famille at the
Notre Dame des Victoires at Quebec (Lower Town). (6) Notre Dame de la
Visitation at Château Richer.