Henri Joutel

“ They were all exceptionally strong men, full of ambitions and untiring energy, and their scheme combined not only military occupation, but the reclamation of the Indian tribes and their concentration around the proposed chain of French forts, together with colonies of French immigrants of an agricultural and industrial character, the extension of the buffalo fur-trade, etc.—in fact a most enchanting mirage of future civilization and Christianity in the vast central area of this continent. ”

“ So, in the autumn of 1677, leaving his fort and seigniory in charge of a trusted lieutenant, La Forest, who was also one of his partners in the proposed fur-trade, La Salle sailed again for France. There, lodged modestly in a rather obscure quarter of Paris, he renewed the friendships and associations which he had formed during his previous visit; and added to them by making new and valuable friends. Among these were the Marquis de Seignelay, the Prince de Conti, La Motte de Sussière, and last but not least, Henri de Tonti, thenceforth his foremost companion in his Western labors. ”

“ Omniscience is denied to Man. It belongs only to the Creator, who has given to men, in its place, the limited faculty of foresight. And, with such foresight as they had, the three promoters of the fortunes of New France—Count Frontenac, Talon, and La Salle—formulated their plans, and in the autumn of 1674 the latter sailed for France, to obtain the royal sanction and the moneyed help which were needed. Whatever the strength or the weaknesses of their project, money was their sine qua non. ”

“ They possessed “the courage of their convictions;” and despite the difficulties, dangers, and reverses which befell them, their successive explorations all contributed to the result finally achieved by La Salle,—the discovery of the “Father of Waters”—the Mississippi.
“Second only to Champlain, among the heroes of Canadian history,” says John Fiske, [1] “stands Robert Cavelier de la Salle—a man of iron, if ever there was one—a man austere and cold in manner, and endowed with such indomitable pluck and perseverance as have never been surpassed in the world. ”

“ As for the Genius of the Savages, I am of Opinion, we ought to believe the Missioners; for they are not less capable than other Men to discover the Truth, and they have at least as much Probity to make it known. It is likely, that they, who have for an hundred Years past, wholly apply’d themselves, according to the Duty of their Function, to study those poor Images of Men, should not be acquainted with them? ”

“ We can never sufficiently express our Gratitude to those who apply themselves to the making of new Discoveries; the more Difficulties that attend them, the more we are beholding to those who undertake them. ”

“ An Action for a Religious Man no less ridiculous than extravagant, not to give it a worse Name; for after many great and tedious Encomiums given that Protestant Prince, he exhorts and conjures him to turn his Thoughts towards those vast Countries, as yet unknown, to conquer them and send Colonies thither, to make known to those Savage Nations the true God and his Worship, and to preach the Gospel. ”

“ Such is the Life of those Savages. Tho’ there be some in the Southern Parts, not quite so stupid and brutal as those in the North, yet they are both Savages, who think of Nothing but what is present, love Nothing but what is obvious to the Senses, incapable of comprehending any Thing that is Spiritual; sharp and ingenious in what is for their own Advantage, without any Sense of Honour or Humanity; horribly cruel, perfectly united among themselves to their Nation and their Allies; but revengeful and merciless towards their Enemies. To conclude, their Shape, tho’ hideous, shews they are Men ”

“ We carry’d him to the Cottage, shedding many Tears, the Indians bore Part in our Sorrow, and we paid him the last Duties, offering up the usual Prayers; after which he was buryed in a small Field, behind the Cottage; and whereas, during that doleful Ceremony, we pray’d, reading in our Books, particularly Monsieur Cavelier, the Priest and Father Anastasius, the Indians gaz’d on us with Amazement, because we talk’d, looking upon the Leaves, and we endeavour’d to give them to understand, that we pray’d to God for the dead Man, pointing up to Heaven.
Humanity of the Indians. ”

“ After having said the Good and the Bad of this North America, mentioning the Beauty and Excellency of its Climate and the Brutality of its People, and recited the infinite Hardships, those who design to travel must resolve to undergo, I am of Opinion it will be proper to say something of the late Monsieur de la Sale, who is the principal Person, and as it were, the Hero of this Relation, tho’ having been murdered by his own Men, he fell the unfortunate Victim of the Discovery here treated of. ”

“ This fort, the first civilized act of occupation in the present State of Illinois, he named Fort Crèvecœur.
“La Salle’s men,” says Parkman, “were for the most part raw hands, knowing nothing of the wilderness, and easily alarmed at its dangers, * * * it was to the last degree difficult to hold men to their duty. Once fairly in the wilderness, completely freed from the sharp restraints of authority in which they had passed their lives, a spirit of lawlessness broke out among them with a violence proportioned to the pressure which had hitherto suppressed it. ”

“ The Plains lying on one Side of it, are stor’d with Beeves, wild Goats, Deer, Turkeys, Bustards, Swans, Ducks, Teal and other Game.
Product of the Country. The Trees produce plenty of Fruit, and very good, as Peaches, Plumbs, Mulberries, Grapes, and Wallnuts. They have a Sort of Fruit they call Piaguimina, not unlike our Medlars, but much better and more delicious. Such as live near the Rivers, as that House is, do not want for Fish of all Sorts, and they have Indian Wheat, whereof they make good Bread. There are also fine Plains diversify’d with several Sorts of Trees, as I have said before. ”

“ A miserable Nation, more void of the Light of Heaven, and even that of Nature, than so many other Nations in the East Indies, who, tho’ brutal and stupid as to the Knowledge of the Deity, yet are not without some Sort of Worship, and have their Hermits and Fakirs who endeavour by the Practice of horrid Penances, to gain the Favour of that Godhead, and thereby shew they have some real Notion of it. Nothing of that Sort is to be found among our American Savages, and in Conclusion, it may be said of them in General, that they are a People without a God. ”

“ The Eighth the Wind veering about, we stood out a little to Sea, to avoid those Shoals, which are very dangerous, and anchor’d again a League from thence. Upon Advice, that the Bark la Belle had discover’d a small Island, which appear’d between the two Points of a Bay, Monsieur de la Sale sent a Man up to the round Top, from whence both the one and the other were plainly to be seen, and according to the Sea Charts we had with us, that was suppos’d to be the Bay of the Holy Ghost. ”

“ The Temperature of the Climate is admirable, the Soil excellent for Tillage, and it is extraordinary fertil in all Sorts of Grain and Fruit; which appears by those the Land produces of it self in great Plenty. The Hills and Woods produce Timber for all Uses and Fruit Trees, as well of cold as hot Countries. There are Vines which want but little Improvement; there are Sugar-Canes, large Meadows, and navigable Rivers full of Fish. ”

“ The Streets of Veracruz are streight as a Line; the Houses are handsome and regular; the Fortifications next the Land inconsiderable, but the Front of the Town next the Sea forms a Semicircle, with a little Fort at each End. Directly before that Front, a Quarter of a League out at Sea, there stands, on a Spot of Ground, inaccessible, by Reason of the Breaking of the Sea, a strong Citadel, well built and furnished with all Necessaries, a good Garrison and double Batteries of two hundred Pieces of brass Cannon. ”

“ Nation, what is meant here by it.Before I conclude this short Account of the Religion, Customs and Manners of the Cenis, which belong’d properly to this Place, it is fit here also to observe, that the Word Nation, is not to be understood, among those Indians, to denote a People possessing a whole Province, or vast Extent of Land. Those Nations are no other than a Parcel of Villages, dispers’d for the Space of fifteen, of twenty or of thirty Leagues at most, which compose a distinct People or Nation ”

“ We had not by the Way taken Notice of a Canoe, in which was a Man with two Women, who, being afraid of us, had hid themselves among the Reeds, but that man seeing us stop among his Countrymen, took Heart, came to us, and having told us, that he belong’d to a Village near Fort Lewis, we set out together, and one of our Indians went into that Canoe, to help them to shove, so they call the Way of pushing on the Canoe with Poles instead of rowing. ”

“ The Revenue of the Bishoprick amounts to more than fifty thousand Crowns, and he who enjoy’d it in the Year 1703, as I was inform’d by my Friend, who gave me this Account of what he had seen, was the greatest Ornament of that City, for his Virtues and Charity, being satisfy’d with Necessaries, and spending all the rest upon the Poor, and in repairing decay’d Churches. Tho’ Strangers are prohibited to trade there, yet it is easier carried on than at Veracruz. The Inhabitants are more familiar; the Women have more Liberty, yet they do not go Abroad without their Veils to wrap and hide them. ”

“ And the necessity of maintaining the strictest discipline among the class of men by whose following and aid he had to carry on his work—voyageurs, courriers des bois, traders, canoeists, and Indians—who comprehended him not, but were simply compelled by the force of his will, certainly did not tend to establish that community of interest which should have existed between them. ”

“ The Diet altogether consists in a poor Pap or Hasty-Pudding made of the Meal of Indian Corn, Fish half broil’d or ill boil’d, and some Beef or wild Goats Flesh, dry’d in the Air and Smoke. Besides, what a Trouble is it to invent Signs to be understood by so many several Nations, each of which has it’s peculiar Language? All this an Adventurer must resolve with himself to go through, who designs to make Discoveries in Canada ”

“ Our Indian had kill’d a Cow at a great Distance and shot her quite through, at which the other, who had been an Eye Witness to it, stood a long Time amaz’d, without speaking one Word, admiring the Effect of our Pieces. That Cow was sent for, and the Flesh brought to our Camp.
The 23d, we pass’d by the Cottages we had been told of, where the Natives were with their Wives and Children. Monsr. de la Sale caus’d us to halt in the Village. We were well receiv’d, they presented us with dry’d Beef, and we return’d it in some Knives. We saw two Horses, one of them a little grey, indifferent handsome. ”

“ Supposing that Avarice, Ambition, a restless Temper, or a desperate Fortune, are very often the Occasions of such Undertakings; yet God, who can draw Good out of Evil, makes all those Passions subservient to his Glory, and the Salvation of his Elect, and if long Travels do not commonly make Saints of the Travellers, it is their own Fault. However, they at least prepare the Way to the Sanctification of so many Barbarians, beating a Road for the Missioners, who go to instruct those People. Thus all the World is beholden to them; the Savages for the Knowledge of God that is procur’d them ”

“ I. Our Pleasure is, that all the aforesaid Lands, Countries, Streams, Rivers and Islands be and remain comprised under the Name of The Government of Louisiana, which shall be dependant upon the General Government of New France, to which it is subordinate; and further, that all the Lands which we possess from the Islinois be united, so far as Occasion requires, to the General Government of New France, and become Part thereof, reserving however to Ourselves the Liberty of enlarging as We shall think fit the Extent of the Government of the said Country of Louisiana. ”

“ Veracruz in New Spain. The latter of those Towns is the Port of New Spain, at the Bottom of the Bay or Gulf, in 18 Degrees of North Latitude, Seated in a Sandy Plain, encompass’d with 207Mountains; beyond which there are Woods and Meadows, well Stock’d with Cattle and wild Fowl: the flesh whereof is stringy and tasteless. The Air is very Hot, and not Healthy, when any Winds blow, except the North, which rises commonly once in Eight or Fifteen Days, and holds for the Space of Twenty Four Hours, blowing so hard, that there is no going ashore from the Ships, and then the Cold is very piercing. ”

“ The fur-trade of the Montreal colony was not to be interfered with; nor did the patent include any provision or encouragement of the industrial or colonization scheme which had fully taken 11possession of La Salle’s mind. Content, however, with what he could get in the way of kingly favor—on the principle, perhaps, that “half a loaf is better than no loaf,” the adventurer turned his attention to securing the needed funds, and soon, by loans from friends and family, and by mortgages upon his Fort Frontenac property, had raised sufficient to carry out his purpose. ”

“ La Hontan’s forged Discourse with a Savage, wherein he renders himself ridiculous.A modern Author, who has liv’d in Canada, and in other Respects has writ well enough, has perhaps fancy’d, he might distinguish himself, and be thought more understanding than other Men in discovering the Genius of those People, by assigning more Ingenuity and Penetration to the Savages, than is generally allow’d them. ”

“ The 19th, we came to the Mouth of the River,Houabache River. call’d Houabache, said to come from the Country of the Iroquois, towards New England. That is a very fine River, its Water extraordinary clear, and the Current of it, gentle. Our Indians offer’d up to it, by Way of Sacrifice, some Tabacco and Beef Steaks, which they fix’d on Forks, and left them on the Bank, to be dispos’d of as the River thought fit. We observ’d some other Superstitions among those poor People, one whereof was as follows. ”

“ When he reached his fort at the Miami in October, he found there some of his new Indian allies from the East, and with 18 of them and 23 of his own Frenchmen, started for the headwaters of the Illinois—dragging their canoes and baggage on sledges, as the streams were frozen. They reached the Mississippi on the 6th of February, launched their little fleet of canoes, and—delayed a few days by floating ice—resumed their course, passing successively the mouths of the Missouri, the Ohio, and the Arkansas rivers, and making visits to many tribes along their course, by whom they were well received. ”

“ Religion.As to the Knowledge of a God, they did not seem to us to have any fix’d Notion of Him; it is true, we met with some on our Way, who as far as we could judge, believ’d, there was some Superior Being, which was above all Things, and this they testify’d by lifting up their Hands and Eyes to Heaven, yet without any Manner of Concern, as believing that the said exalted Being does not regard at all, what is done here below. ”