CHAPTER II. JOLIET AND MARQUETTE'S VOYAGE. " THE day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, whom I had always invoked, since I have been in this Ottawa country, to obtain of God the grace to be able to visit the nations on the River Mississippi, was identically that on which M. Joliet arrived with orders of the Comte de Froutenac.. our governor, and M. Talon, our intendant, to 'mike this discovery with me. I was the more enraptured at this good news, as I saw my designs on the point of being accomplished, and myself in the happy necessity of exposing my life for the salvation of all these nations, and particularly for the Illinois, who had, when I was at Lapointe du Esprit, very earnestly entreated me to carry the word of God to their country." "We were not long in preparing our outfit; although we were embarking on a voyage the duration of which we could not foresee. Indian corn, with some dried meats, was our whole stock of provisions. With this we set out in two bark canoes, M. Joliet, myself and five men, firmly resolved to do all and suffer all for so glorious an enterprise." "It was on the 17th of May, 1673, that we started from the mission of St. Ignatius, at Michilimakinac, where I then was." " Our joy at being chosen for this expedition roused our courage and sweetened the labor of rowing from morning to night. As we were going to seek unknown countries, we took all possible precautions that, if our enterprise was hazardous, it should not be fool-hardy. For this reason we gathered all possible information from the Indians who had frequented those parts, and even from their accounts, traced a map of all the new country, marking down the rivers on which we were to sail, the names of the nations and places through which we were to pass, the course of the Great River, and what direction we should take when we got to it." "Above all, I put our voyage under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, promising her that, if she did us the grace to discover the Great River, I would give it the name of the concep- MARQUETTE'S VOYAGE - 17 tion; and that I would also give that name to the 7first mission I should establish among these new nations, as I have actually done among the Illinois." After some days they reached an Indian village, and the journal proceeds: "Here we are, then, at the Maskoutens. This word, in Algonquin, may mean Fire Nation, and that is the name given to them. This is the limit of discoveries made by the French, for they have not yet passed beyond it. This town is made up of three nations gathered here, Miamis, Maskoutens, and Kikabous. As bark for cabins, in this country, is rare, they use rushes, which serve them for walls and roofs, but which afford them no protection. against the wind, and still less against the rain when it falls in torrents. The advantage of this kind of cabin is that they can roll them up and carry them easily where they like in hunting time." "I felt no little pleasure in beholding the position of this town. The view is beautiful and very picturesque, for, from the eminence on which it is perched, the eye discovers on every side prairies spreading away beyond its reach, interspersed with thickets or groves of trees. The soil is very good, producing much corn. The Indians gather also quantities of plums and grapes, from which good wine could be made if they choose!' " No sooner had we arrived than M. Joliet and I assembled the Sachems. He told them that he was sent by our governor to discover new countries, and by the Almighty to illumine them with the light of the gospel ; that the Sovereign Master of our lives wished to be known to all nations, and that to obey his will I did not fear death, to which I exposed myself in such dangerous voyages ; that we needed two guides to put us on our way ; these, making them a present, we begged them to grant us. This they did very civilly, and even proceeded to speak to us by a present, which was a mat to serve us on our voyage." " The next day, which was the 10th of June, two Miamis whom they had given us as guides, embarked with us in the sight of a great crowd, who could not wonder enough to see seven Frenchmen, alone in two canoes, dare to undertake so strange and so hazardous an expedition." " We knew that there was, three leagues from Maskoutens, a river emptying into the Mississippi. We knew, too, that the point of the compass we were to hold to reach it was the west-southwest, but the way is so cut up with marshes and little lakes that it is easy to go astray, especially as the river leading to it is so covered with 18 - HISTORIC NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. wild oats that you can hardly discover the channel; hence we had need of our two guides, who led us safely to a portage of twenty-seven hundred paces and helped us transport our canoes to enter this river, after which they returned, leaving us alone in an unknown country in the hands of Providence." " We now leave the waters which flow to Quebec, a distance of four or five hundred leagues, to follow those which will henceforth lead us into strange lands." " Our route was southwest, and after sailing about thirty leagues we perceived a place which had all the appearances of an iron mine, and in fact one of our party who had seen some before averred that the one we had found was very rich and very good. After forty leagues on this same route we reached the mouth of our river, and finding ourselves at forty-two and a half degrees north, we safely entered the Mississippi on the 17th of June, with a joy that I can not express." "Having descended as far as 41̊ 28', following the same direction, we find that turkeys have taken the place of game, and pisikious (buffalo) or wild cattle that of other beasts." "At last, on the 25th of June, we perceived foot-prints of men by the waterside, and a beaten path entering a beautiful prairie. We stopped to examine it, and concluding that it was a path lead-to some Indian village we resolved to go and reconnoitre. We accordingly left our two canoes in charge of our people, cautioning them to beware of a surprise ; then M. Joliet and I undertook this rather hazardous discovery for two single men, who thus put themselves at the mercy of an unknown and barbarous people. We followed the little path in silence, and having advanced about two leagues we discovered a village on the banks of the river, and two others on a hill half a league from the former. Then, indeed, we recommended ourselves to God with all our hearts, and having implored his help we passed on undiscovered, and came so near that we even heard the Indians talking. We then deemed it time to announce ourselves, as we did, by a cry which we raised with all our strength, and then halted, without advancing any farther. At this cry the Indians rushed out of their cabins, and having probably recognized us as French, especially seeing a black gown, or at least having no reason to distrust us, seeing we were but two and had made known our coming, they deputed four old men to come and speak to us. Two carried tobacco-pipes, well adorned and trimmed with many kinds of feathers. They marched slowly, lift- PRESENTATION OF THE CALUMET - 19 ing their pipes toward the sun as if offering them to it to smoke, but yet without uttering a single word. They were a long time coming the little way from the village to us. Having reached us at last, they stopped to consider us attentively." "I now took courage, seeing these ceremonies, which are used by them only with friends, and still more on seeing them covered with stuff's, which made me judge them to be allies. I, therefore, spoke to them first, and asked them who they were. They answered that they were Illinois, and in token of peace they presented their pipes to smoke. They then invited us to their village, where all the tribe awaited us with impatience. These pipes for smoking are all called in this country calumets, a word that is so much in use that I shall be obliged to employ it in order to be understood, as I shall have to speak of it frequently." "At the door of the cabin in which we were to be received was an old man awaiting us in a very remarkable posture, which is their usual ceremony in receiving strangers. This man was standing perfectly naked, with his hands stretched out and raised toward the sun, as if he wished to screen himself from its rays, which, nevertheless, passed through his fingers to his face. When we came near him he paid us this compliment: 'How beautiful is the sun, 0 Frenchman, when thou comest to visit us ! All our town awaits thee, and thou shalt enter all our cabins in peace.' He then took us into his, where there was a crowd of people, who devoured us with their eyes but kept a profound silence. We heard, however, these words occasionally addressed to us : ' Well done, brothers, to visit us!' As soon as we had taken our places they showed us the usual civility of the country, which is to present the calumet. You must not refuse it unless you would pass for an enemy, or at least for being very impolite. It is, however, enough to pretend to smoke. While all the old men smoked after us to honor us, some came to invite us, on behalf of the great sachem of all the Illinois, to proceed to his town, where he wished to hold a council with us. We went with a good retinue, for all the people who had never seen a Frenchman among them 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 this was done without noise, and with marks of a great respect entertained for us." " Having arrived at the great sachem's town, we espied him at his cabin door between two old men; all three standing naked, with their calumet turned to the sun. He harangued us in a few words, 20 - HISTORIC NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. to congratulate us on our arrival, and then presented us his calumet and made us smoke ; at the same time we entered his cabin, where we received all their usual greetings. Seeing all assembled and in silence, I spoke to them by four presents which I made. By the first, I said that we marched in peace to visit the nations on the river to the sea ; by the second, I declared to them that God, their creator, had pity on them, since, after their having been so long ignorant of Him, he wished to become known to all nations ; that I was sent on His behalf with this design ; that it was for them to acknowledge and obey him ; by the third, that the great chief of the French informed them that he spread peace everywhere, and had overcome the Iroquois ; lastly, by the fourth, we begged them to give us all the information they had of the sea, and of nations through which we should have to pass to reach it. " When I had finished my speech, the sachem rose, and laying his hand on the head of a little slave whom he was about to give us, spoke thus : `I thank thee, Blackgown, and thee, Frenchman,' addressing M. Jollyet, ' for taking so much pains to come and visit us. Never has the earth been so beautiful, nor the sun so bright, as today ; 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 today. Here is my son that I give thee that thou mayest know my heart. I pray thee 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 word; ask Him to give me life and health, and come and dwell with us that we may know Him.' Saying this, he placed the little slave near us and made us a second present, an all mysterious calumet, which they value more than a slave. By this present he showed us his esteem for our governor, after the account we had given of him. By the third, he begged us, on behalf of his whole nation, not to proceed farther on account of the great dangers to which we exposed ourselves. "I replied that I did not fear death, and that I esteemed no happiness greater than that of losing my life for the glory of Him who made us all. But this these poor people could not understand. The council was followed by a great feast which consisted of four courses, which we had to take with all their ways. The first course was a great wooden dish full of sagamity—that is to say, of Indian meal boiled in water and seasoned with grease. The master of ceremonies, with a spoonful of sagamity, presented it three or four times to my FLOATING ISLANDS - 21 mouth, as we would do with a little child; he did the same to M. Jollyet. For the second course he brought in a second dish containing three fish ; he took some pains to remove the bones, and having blown upon it to cool it, put it in my mouth as we would food to a bird. For the third course they produced a large dog which they had just killed, but, learning that we did not eat it, withdrew it. Finally, the fourth course was a piece of wild ox, the fattest portions of which were put into our mouths. " We took leave of our Illinois about the end of June, and embarked in sight of all the tribe, who admire our little canoes, having never seen the like. "As we were discoursing, while sailing gently down a beautiful, still, clear water, we heard the noise of a rapid into which we were about to fall. I have seen nothing more frightful ; a mass of large trees, entire, with branches—real floating islands—came rushing from the mouth of the river Pekitanoui, so impetuously that we could not, without great danger, expose ourselves to pass across. The agitation was so great that the water was all muddy and could not get clear. "After having made about twenty leagues due south, and a little less to the southeast, we came to a river called Ouabouskigon, the mouth of which is at 36 deg. north. This river comes from the country on the east inhabited by the Chaouanons, in such numbers that they reckon as many as twenty-three villages in one district, and fifteen in another, lying quite near each other. They are by no means war-like, and are the people the Iroquois go far to seek in order to wage an unprovoked war upon them ; and as these poor people cannot defend themselves they allow themselves to be taken and carried off like sheep, and, innocent as they are, do not fail to experience the barbarity of the Iroquois, who burn them cruelly. "Having arrived about half a league from Akansea (Arkansas River), we saw two canoes coming toward us. The commander was standing up, holding in his hand a calumet, with which he made signs according to the custom of the country. He approached us, singing quite agreeably, and invited us to smoke, after which he presented us some sagamity and bread made of Indian corn, of which we ate a little. We fortunately found among them a man who understood Illinois much better than the man we brought from Mitchigameh. By means of him, I first spoke to the assembly by ordinary presents. They admired what I told them of God and the mysteries of our holy faith, and showed a great desire to keep me with them to instruct them. 22 - HISTORIC NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. " We then asked them what they knew of the sea. They replied that we were only ten days' journey from it (we could have made the distance in five days); that they did not know the nations who inhabited it, because their enemies prevented their commerce with those Europeans; that the Indians with firearms whom we had met were their enemies, who cut off the passage to the sea, and prevented their making the acquaintance of the Europeans, or having any commerce with them ; that, besides, we should expose ourselves greatly by passing on, in consequence of the continual war parties that their enemies sent out on the river; since, being armed and used to war, we could not, without evident danger, advance on that river which they constantly occupy. "In the evening the sachems held a secret council on the design of some to kill us for plunder, but the chief broke up all these schemes, and sending for us, danced the calumet in our presence, and then, to remove all fears, presented it to me. "M. Jollyet and I held another council to deliberate on what we should do, whether we should push on, or rest satisfied with the discovery that we had made. After having attentively considered that we were not far from the Gulf of Mexico, the basin of which is 31 deg. 40 min. north, and we at 33 deg. 40 min.; so that we could not be more than two or three days' journey off; that the Mississippi undoubtedly had its mouth in Florida or the Gulf of Mexico, and not on the east in Virginia, whose seacoast is at 34 deg. north, which we had passed, without having as yet reached the sea, nor on the western side in California, because that would require a west, or west-southwest course, and we had always been going south. We considered, moreover, that we risked losing the fruit of this voyage, of which we could give no information, if we should throw ourselves into the hands of the Spaniards, who would undoubtedly at least bold us as prisoners. Besides it was clear that we were not in a condition to resist Indians allied to Europeans, numerous and expert in the use of firearms, who continually infested the lower part of the river. Lastly, we had gathered all the information that could be desired from the expedition. All these reasons induced us to return. This we announced to the Indians, and after a day's rest prepared for it. "After a month's navigation down the Mississippi, from the 42d to below the 34th degree, and after having published the gospel as well as I could to the nations I had met, we left the village of Akansea on the 17th of July, to retrace our steps. We accordingly ascended the Mississippi, which gave us great trouble to stem its currents. We left LOUIS JOLIET - 23 it, indeed, about the 38th degree, to enter another river (the Illinois), which greatly shortened our way, and brought us, with little trouble, to the lake of the Illinois. "We had seen nothing like this river for the fertility of the land, its prairies, woods, wild cattle, stag, deer, wild cats, bustards, swans, ducks, parrots, and even beaver ; its many little lakes and rivers. That on which we sailed is broad, deep and gentle for sixty-five leagues. During the spring and part of the summer, the only portage is half a league. "We found there an Illinois town called Kaskaskia, composed of seventy-four cabins ; they received us well, and compelled me to promise them to return and instruct them. One of the chiefs of this tribe, with his young men, escorted us to the Illinois Lake, whence at last we returned in the close of September to the Bay of the Fetid (Green Bay), whence we had set out in the beginning of June. Had all this voyage caused but the salvation of a single soul, I should deem all my fatigue well repaid, and this I have reason to think, for, when I was returning, I passed by the Indians of Peoria. I was three days announcing the faith in their cabins, after which, as we were embarking, they brought me, on the water's edge, a dying child, which I baptized a little before it expired, by an admirable providence for the salvation of that innocent soul." Count Frontenac, writing from Quebec to M. Colbert, Minister of the Marine, at Paris, under date of November 14, 1674, announces that "Sieur Joliet, whom Monsieur Talon advised me, on my arrival from France, to dispatch for the discovery of the South Sea, has returned three months ago. He has discovered some very fine countries, and a navigation so easy through beautiful rivers he has found, that a person can go from Lake Ontario in a bark to the Gulf of Mexico, there being only one carrying place (around Niagara Falls), where Lake Ontario communicates with Lake Erie. I send you by my secretary the map which Sieur Joliet has made of the great river he has discovered, and the observations he has been able to recollect, as he lost all his minutes and journals in the shipwreck he suffered within sight of Montreal, where, after having completed a voyage of twelve hundred leagues, he was near being drowned, and lost all his papers and a little Indian whom he brought from those countries. These accidents have caused me great regret." Louis Joliet, or Jolliet, or Jollyet, as the name is variously spelled, was the son of Jean Joliet, a wheelwright, and Mary d'Abancour. He was born at Quebec in the year 1645. Having finished his studies 24 - HISTORIC NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. at the Jesuit college, he determined to become a member of that order, and with that purpose in view, took some of the minor orders of the society in August, 1662. He completed his studies in 1666, but during this time his attention had become interested in Indian affairs, and he laid aside all thoughts of assuming the " black gown." That he acquired great ability and tact in managing the savages, is apparent from the fact of his having been selected to discover the South Sea by the way of the Mississippi. The map which he drew from memory, and which was forwarded by Count Frontenac to France, was afterwards attached to Marquette's Journal, and was published by Therenot at Paris in 1681. Sparks, in his "Life of Marquette," copies this map, and ascribes it to his hero. This must be a mistake, since it differs quite essentially from Marquette's map, which has recently been brought to public notice by Dr. Shea. Joliet's account of the voyage, mentioned by Frontenac, is published in Hennepin's " Discovery of a Vast Country in America." It is very meagre, and does not present any facts not covered by Marquette's narrative. In 1680 Joliet was appointed hydrographer to the king, and many well-drawn maps at Quebec show that his office was no sinecure. Afterward he made a voyage to Hudson's Bay in the interest of the king, and as a reward for the faithful performance of his duty, he was granted the Island of Anticosti, which on account of the fisheries and Indian trade was at that time very valuable. After this he signed himself Joliet d'Anticosty. In the year 1697 he obtained the seigniory of Joliet on the river Etchemins, south of Quebec. M. Joliet died in 1701, leaving a wife and four children, the descendants of whom are living in Canada still possessed of the seigniory of Joliet, among whom are Archbishop Taschereau of Quebec and Archbishop Tache of Red River. Mount Joliet on the Desplaines River, above its confluence with the Kankakee and the city of Joliet in the county of Will, perpetuate the name of Joliet in the state of Illinois. Jacques Marquette was born in Laon, France, in 1637. His was the oldest and one of the most respectable citizen families of the place. At the age of seventeen he entered the Society of Jesus; received orders in 1666 to embark for Canada, arriving at Quebec in September of the same year. For two years he remained at Three Rivers, studying the different Indian dialects under Father Gabriel Druillentes. At the end of that period he received orders to repair to the upper lakes, which he did, and established the mission of Sault Ste. DEATH OF MARQUETTE - 25 Marie. The following year Dablon arrived, having been appointed Superior of the Ottawa missions. Marquette then went to the " Mission of the Holy Ghost" at the western extremity of Lake Superior. Here he remained for two years, and it was his accounts, forwarded from this place, that caused Frontenac and Talon to send Joliet on his voyage to the Mississippi. The Sioux having dispersed the Algonquin tribes at Lapointe, the latter retreated eastward to Mackinaw; Marquette followed and founded there the Mission of St. Ignatius. Here he remained until Joliet came in 1673, with orders to accompany him on his voyage of discovery down the Mississippi. Upon his return, Marquette remained at Mackinaw until October, 1674, when he received orders to carry out his pet project of founding the "Mission of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin" among the Illinois. He immediately set out, but owing to a severe dysentery contracted the year previous, he made but slow progress. However, he reached Chicago Creek December 4, where, growing rapidly worse, he was compelled to winter. On the 29th of the following March he set out for the Illinois town, on the river of that name. He succeeded in getting there on the 8th of April. Being cordially received by the Indians, he was enabled to realize. his long deferred and much cherished project of establishing the " Mission of the Immaculate Conception." Believing that his life was drawing to a close, he endeavored to reach Mackinaw before his death should take place. But in this hope he was doomed to disappointment; by the time he reached Lake Michigan "he was so weak that he had to be carried like a child." One Saturday, Marquette and his two companions entered a small stream—which still bears his name—on the eastern side of Lake Michigan, and in this desolate spot, virtually alone, destitute of all the comforts of life, died James Marquette. His life-long wish to die a martyr in the holy cause of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin was granted. Thus passed away one of the purest and most sacrificing servants of God ; one of the bravest and most heroic of men. The biographical sketch of Joliet has been collated from a number of reliable authorities, and is believed truthful. Our notice of Father Marquette is condensed from his life as written by Dr. Shea, than whom there is no one better qualified to perform the task.