La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West Part 30

[Sidenote: A HOSPITABLE RECEPTION.]

Cavelier and his companions, followed by a crowd of Indians, some carrying their baggage, some struggling for a view of the white strangers, entered the log cabin of their two hosts. Rude as it was, they found in it an earnest of peace and safety, and a foretaste of home. Couture and De Launay were moved even to tears by the story of their disasters, and of the catastrophe that crowned them. La Salle's death was carefully concealed from the Indians, many of whom had seen him on his descent of the Mississippi, and who regarded him with prodigious respect. They lavished all their hospitality on his followers; feasted them on corn-bread, dried buffalo meat, and watermelons, and danced the calumet before them, the most august of all their ceremonies. On this occasion, Cavelier's patience failed him again; and pretending, as before, to be ill, he called on his nephew to take his place. There were solemn dances, too, in which the warriors--some bedaubed with white clay, some with red, and some with both; some wearing feathers, and some the horns of buffalo; some naked, and some in painted shirts of deer-skin, fringed with scalp-locks, insomuch, says Joutel, that they looked like a troop of devils--leaped, stamped, and howled from sunset till dawn. All this was partly to do the travellers honor, and partly to extort presents. They made objections, however, when asked to furnish guides; and it was only by dint of great offers that four were at length procured.

[Sidenote: THE MISSISSIPPI.]

With these, the travellers resumed their journey in a wooden canoe, about the first of August,[344] descended the Arkansas, and soon reached the dark and inexorable river, so long the object of their search, rolling, like a destiny, through its realms of solitude and shade. They launched their canoe on its turbid bosom, plied their oars against the current, and slowly won their way upward, following the writhings of this watery monster through cane-brake, swamp, and fen. It was a hard and toilsome journey, under the sweltering sun of August,--now on the water, now knee-deep in mud, dragging their canoe through the unwholesome jungle. On the nineteenth, they pa.s.sed the mouth of the Ohio; and their Indian guides made it an offering of buffalo meat. On the first of September, they pa.s.sed the Missouri, and soon after saw Marquette's pictured rock, and the line of craggy heights on the east sh.o.r.e, marked on old French maps as "the Ruined Castles." Then, with a sense of relief, they turned from the great river into the peaceful current of the Illinois. They were eleven days in ascending it, in their large and heavy wooden canoe; when at length, on the afternoon of the fourteenth of September, they saw, towering above the forest and the river, the cliff crowned with the palisades of Fort St. Louis of the Illinois. As they drew near, a troop of Indians, headed by a Frenchman, descended from the rock, and fired their guns to salute them. They landed, and followed the forest path that led towards the fort, when they were met by Boisrondet, Tonty's comrade in the Iroquois war, and two other Frenchmen, who no sooner saw them than they called out, demanding where was La Salle. Cavelier, fearing lest he and his party would lose the advantage they might derive from his character of representative of his brother, was determined to conceal his death; and Joutel, as he himself confesses, took part in the deceit. Subst.i.tuting equivocation for falsehood, they replied that La Salle had been with them nearly as far as the Cenis villages, and that, when they parted, he was in good health. This, so far as they were concerned, was, literally speaking, true; but Douay and Teissier, the one a witness and the other a sharer in his death, could not have said so much without a square falsehood, and therefore evaded the inquiry.

Threading the forest path, and circling to the rear of the rock, they climbed the rugged height, and reached the top. Here they saw an area, encircled by the palisades that fenced the brink of the cliff, and by several dwellings, a store-house, and a chapel. There were Indian lodges too; for some of the red allies of the French made their abode with them.[345] Tonty was absent, fighting the Iroquois; but his lieutenant, Bellefontaine, received the travellers, and his little garrison of bush-rangers greeted them with a salute of musketry, mingled with the whooping of the Indians. A _Te Deum_ followed at the chapel; "and, with all our hearts," says Joutel, "we gave thanks to G.o.d, who had preserved and guided us." At length, the tired travellers were among countrymen and friends. Bellefontaine found a room for the two priests; while Joutel, Teissier, and young Cavelier were lodged in the store-house.

[Sidenote: THE JESUIT ALLOUEZ.]

The Jesuit Allouez was lying ill at the fort; and Joutel, Cavelier, and Douay went to visit him. He showed great anxiety when told that La Salle was alive, and on his way to the Illinois; asked many questions, and could not hide his agitation. When, some time after, he had partially recovered, he left St. Louis, as if to shun a meeting with the object of his alarm.[346] Once before, in 1679, Allouez had fled from the Illinois on hearing of the approach of La Salle.

The season was late, and they were eager to hasten forward that they might reach Quebec in time to return to France in the autumn ships.

There was not a day to lose. They bade farewell to Bellefontaine, from whom, as from all others, they had concealed the death of La Salle, and made their way across the country to Chicago. Here they were detained a week by a storm; and when at length they embarked in a canoe furnished by Bellefontaine, the tempest soon forced them to put back. On this, they abandoned their design, and returned to Fort St. Louis, to the astonishment of its inmates.

[Sidenote: CONDUCT OF CAVELIER.]

It was October when they arrived; and, meanwhile, Tonty had returned from the Iroquois war, where he had borne a conspicuous part in the famous attack on the Senecas by the Marquis de Denonville.[347] He listened with deep interest to the mournful story of his guests.

Cavelier knew him well. He knew, so far as he was capable of knowing, his generous and disinterested character, his long and faithful attachment to La Salle, and the invaluable services he had rendered him.

Tonty had every claim on his confidence and affection. Yet he did not hesitate to practise on him the same deceit which he had practised on Bellefontaine. He told him that he had left his brother in good health on the Gulf of Mexico, and drew upon him, in La Salle's name, for an amount stated by Joutel at about four thousand livres, in furs, besides a canoe and a quant.i.ty of other goods, all of which were delivered to him by the unsuspecting victim.[348]

This was at the end of the winter, when the old priest and his companions had been living for months on Tonty's hospitality. They set out for Canada on the twenty-first of March, reached Chicago on the twenty-ninth, and thence proceeded to Michilimackinac. Here Cavelier sold some of Tonty's furs to a merchant, who gave him in payment a draft on Montreal, thus putting him in funds for his voyage home. The party continued their journey in canoes by way of French River and the Ottawa, and safely reached Montreal on the seventeenth of July. Here they procured the clothing of which they were wofully in need, and then descended the river to Quebec, where they took lodging,--some with the Recollet friars, and some with the priests of the Seminary,--in order to escape the questions of the curious. At the end of August they embarked for France, and early in October arrived safely at Roch.e.l.le. None of the party were men of especial energy or force of character; and yet, under the spur of a dire necessity, they had achieved one of the most adventurous journeys on record.

[Sidenote: THE COLONISTS ABANDONED.]

Now, at length, they disburdened themselves of their gloomy secret; but the sole result seems to have been an order from the King for the arrest of the murderers, should they appear in Canada.[349] Joutel was disappointed. It had been his hope throughout that the King would send a ship to the relief of the wretched band at Fort St. Louis of Texas. But Louis XIV. hardened his heart, and left them to their fate.

FOOTNOTES:

[332] The lodges of the Florida Indians were somewhat similar. The winter lodges of the now nearly extinct Mandans, though not so high in proportion to their width, and built of more solid materials, as the rigor of a northern climate requires, bear a general resemblance to those of the Cenis.

The Cenis tattooed their faces and some parts of their bodies, by p.r.i.c.king powdered charcoal into the skin. The women tattooed the b.r.e.a.s.t.s; and this practice was general among them, notwithstanding the pain of the operation, as it was thought very ornamental. Their dress consisted of a sort of frock, or wrapper of skin, from the waist to the knees. The men, in summer, wore nothing but the waist-cloth.

[333] _Journal Historique_, 237.

[334] "Tu es un miserable. Tu as tue mon maistre."--Tonty, _Memoire_.

Tonty derived his information from some of those present. Douay and Joutel have each left an account of this murder. They agree in essential points; though Douay says that when it took place, Duhaut had moved his camp beyond the Cenis villages, which is contrary to Joutel's statement.

[335] Joutel, _Relation_ (Margry, iii. 371).

[336] These are described by Joutel. Like nearly all the early observers of Indian manners, he speaks of the practice of cannibalism.

[337] These Indians were a portion of the Cadodaquis, or Caddoes, then living on Red River. The travellers afterwards visited other villages of the same people. Tonty was here two years afterwards, and mentions the curious custom of washing the faces of guests.

[338] Joutel, _Journal Historique_, 298.

[339] _Journal de St. Cosme_, 1699. This journal has been printed by Mr.

Shea, from the copy in my possession. St. Cosme, who knew Tonty well, speaks of him in the warmest terms of praise.

[340] In the autumn of 1685, Tonty made a journey from the Illinois to Michilimackinac, to seek news of La Salle. He there learned, by a letter of the new governor, Denonville, just arrived from France, of the landing of La Salle, and the loss of the "Aimable," as recounted by Beaujeu, on his return. He immediately went back on foot to Fort St.

Louis of the Illinois, and prepared to descend the Mississippi, "dans l'esperance de lui donner secours." _Lettre de Tonty au Ministre, 24 Aoust, 1686; Ibid., a Cabart de Villermont, meme date_; _Memoire de Tonty_; _Proces Verbal de Tonty, 13 Avril, 1686._

[341] The date is from the _Proces Verbal_. In the _Memoire_, hastily written long after, he falls into errors of date.

[342] Iberville sent it to France, and Charlevoix gives a portion of it.

(_Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, ii. 259.) Singularly enough, the date, as printed by him, is erroneous, being 20 April, 1685, instead of 1686. There is no doubt whatever, from its relations with concurrent events, that this journey was in the latter year.

[343] Tonty, _Memoire; Ibid., Lettre a Monseigneur de Ponchartrain_, 1690. Joutel, _Journal Historique_, 301.

[344] Joutel says that the Parisian boy, Barthelemy, was left behind. It was this youth who afterwards uttered the ridiculous defamation of La Salle mentioned in a preceding note. The account of the death of La Salle, taken from the lips of Couture, was received by him from Cavelier and his companions, during their stay at the Arkansas. Couture was by trade a carpenter, and was a native of Rouen.

[345] The condition of Fort St. Louis, at this time, may be gathered from several pa.s.sages of Joutel. The houses, he says, were built at the brink of the cliff, forming, with the palisades, the circle of defence.

The Indians lived in the area.

[346] Joutel adds that this was occasioned by "une espece de conspiration qu'on a voulu faire contre les interests de Monsieur de la Salle."--_Journal Historique_, 350.

"Ce Pere apprehendoit que le dit sieur ne l'y rencontrast, ... suivant ce que j'en ai pu apprendre, les Peres avoient avance plusieurs choses pour contrebarrer l'entreprise et avoient voulu detacher plusieurs nations de Sauvages, lesquelles s'estoient donnees a M. de la Salle. Ils avoient este mesme jusques a vouloir destruire le fort Saint-Louis, en ayant construit un a Chicago, ou ils avoient attire une partie des Sauvages, ne pouvant en quelque facon s'emparer du dit fort. Pour conclure, le bon Pere ayant eu peur d'y estre trouve, aima mieux se precautionner en prenant le devant.... Quoyque M. Cavelier eust dit au Pere qu'il pouvoit rester, il part.i.t quelques sept ou huit jours avant nous."--_Relation_ (Margry, iii. 500).

La Salle always saw the influence of the Jesuits in the disasters that befell him. His repeated a.s.sertion, that they wished to establish themselves in the valley of the Mississippi, receives confirmation from a doc.u.ment ent.i.tled _Memoire sur la proposition a faire par les R. Peres Jesuites pour la decouverte des environs de la riviere du Mississipi et pour voir si elle est navigable jusqu'a la mer_. It is a memorandum of propositions to be made to the minister Seignelay, and was apparently put forward as a feeler, before making the propositions in form. It was written after the return of Beaujeu to France, and before La Salle's death became known. It intimates that the Jesuits were ent.i.tled to precedence in the valley of the Mississippi, as having first explored it. It affirms that _La Salle had made a blunder, and landed his colony, not at the mouth of the river, but at another place_; and it asks permission to continue the work in which he has failed. To this end, it pet.i.tions for means to build a vessel at St. Louis of the Illinois, together with canoes, arms, tents, tools, provisions, and merchandise for the Indians; and it also asks for La Salle's maps and papers, and for those of Beaujeu. On their part, it pursues, the Jesuits will engage to make a complete survey of the river, and return an exact account of its inhabitants, its plants, and its other productions.

[347] Tonty, Du Lhut, and Durantaye came to the aid of Denonville with a hundred and eighty Frenchmen, chiefly _coureurs de bois_, and four hundred Indians from the upper country. Their services were highly appreciated; and Tonty especially is mentioned in the despatches of Denonville with great praise.

[348] "Monsieur Tonty, croyant M. de la Salle vivant, ne fit pas de difficulte de luy donner pour environ quatre mille liv. de pelleterie, de castors, loutres, un canot, et autres effets."--Joutel, _Journal Historique_, 349.

Tonty himself does not make the amount so great: "Sur ce qu'ils m'a.s.suroient qu'il etoit reste au Golfe de Mexique en bonne sante, je les recus comme si c'avoit este lui mesme et luy prestay [_a Cavelier_]

plus de 700 francs."--Tonty, _Memoire_.

Cavelier must have known that La Salle was insolvent. Tonty had long served without pay. Douay says that he made the stay of the party at the fort very agreeable, and speaks of him, with some apparent compunction, as "ce brave gentilhomme, toujours inseparablement attache aux interets du Sieur de la Salle, dont nous luy avons cache la deplorable destinee."

Couture, from the Arkansas, brought word to Tonty, several months after, of La Salle's death, adding that Cavelier had concealed it, with no other purpose than that of gaining money or supplies from him (Tonty), in his brother's name. Cavelier had a letter from La Salle, desiring Tonty to give him supplies, and pay him 2,652 livres in beaver. If Cavelier is to be believed, this beaver belonged to La Salle.

[349] _Lettre du Roy a Denonville, 1 Mai, 1689._ Joutel must have been a young man at the time of the Mississippi expedition; for Charlevoix saw him at Rouen, thirty-five years after. He speaks of him with emphatic praise; but it must be admitted that his connivance in the deception practised by Cavelier on Tonty leaves a shade on his character, as well as on that of Douay. In other respects, everything that appears concerning him is highly favorable, which is not the case with Douay, who, on one or two occasions, makes wilful misstatements.

Douay says that the elder Cavelier made a report of the expedition to the minister Seignelay. This report remained unknown in an English collection of autographs and old ma.n.u.scripts, whence I obtained it by purchase, in 1854, both the buyer and seller being at the time ignorant of its exact character. It proved, on examination, to be a portion of the first draft of Cavelier's report to Seignelay. It consists of twenty-six small folio pages, closely written in a clear hand, though in a few places obscured by the fading of the ink, as well as by occasional erasures and interlineations of the writer. It is, as already stated, confused and unsatisfactory in its statements; and all the latter part has been lost. On reaching France, he had the impudence to tell Abbe Tronson, Superior of St. Sulpice, "qu'il avait laisse M. de la Salle dans un tres-beau pays avec M. de Chefdeville en bonne sante."--_Lettre de Tronson a Mad. Fauvel-Cavelier, 29 Nov., 1688._

Cavelier addressed to the King a memorial on the importance of keeping possession of the Illinois. It closes with an earnest pet.i.tion for money in compensation for his losses, as, according to his own statement, he was completely _epuise_. It is affirmed in a memorial of the heirs of his cousin, Francois Plet, that he concealed the death of La Salle some time after his return to France, in order to get possession of property which would otherwise have been seized by the creditors of the deceased.

The prudent abbe died rich and very old, at the house of a relative, having inherited a large estate after his return from America.

Apparently, this did not satisfy him; for there is before me the copy of a pet.i.tion, written about 1717, in which he asks, jointly with one of his nephews, to be given possession of the seigniorial property held by La Salle in America. The pet.i.tion was refused.

Young Cavelier, La Salle's nephew, died some years after, an officer in a regiment. He has been erroneously supposed to be the same with one De la Salle, whose name is appended to a letter giving an account of Louisiana, and dated at Toulon, 3 Sept., 1698. This person was the son of a naval official at Toulon, and was not related to the Caveliers.

CHAPTER XXIX.