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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/78668-0.txt b/78668-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1769df9 --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3477 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78668 *** + + + + + WHEN CANADA + WAS NEW FRANCE + + BY + GEORGE H. LOCKE + CHIEF LIBRARIAN OF THE + PUBLIC LIBRARY, TORONTO + + [Illustration] + + _Love of country is born + of a knowledge of its institutions, + its traditions and history + wherein are revealed + the lives of its people + and their heroic achievements._ + + WITH SEVEN + ILLUSTRATIONS + + PUBLISHED AT THE END OF THE + GREAT WAR BY + + TORONTO: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD. + PARIS: J. M. DENT ET FILS + 1919 + + COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY + J. M. DENT & SONS + + Published September, 1919 + + + + +[Illustration: THE LANDING OF THE CANADIANS IN FRANCE, 1915.] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + INTRODUCTION 7 + + I. CARTIER AND THE ST. LAWRENCE 13 + + II. CHAMPLAIN AND THE GREAT LAKES 25 + + III. JOLIET, MARQUETTE AND THE RIVER OF A HUNDRED THOUSAND STREAMS 40 + + IV. LA SALLE AND THE GREATER NEW FRANCE 48 + + V. RADISSON AND THE GREAT NORTH WEST 59 + + VI. MONTCALM AND THE FALL OF NEW FRANCE 72 + + VII. PONTIAC AND THE LAST HOPE OF INDIAN SUPREMACY 82 + + VIII. THE GRAY GOWNS AND THE BLACK 96 + + IX. THE IROQUOIS AND THE HURONS 111 + + X. THE COUREUR-DES-BOIS AND THE VOYAGEUR 126 + + XI. THE SEIGNIOR AND THE HABITANT 134 + + XII. STORIES WHICH ILLUSTRATE REFERENCES IN THIS BOOK. 143 + + XIII. POEMS WHICH ILLUSTRATE REFERENCES IN THIS BOOK. 151 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + THE LANDING OF THE CANADIANS IN FRANCE, 1914 _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + SENECA HUNTER GROUP 16 + + THE RETURN OF THE WARRIORS 34 + + COUNCIL OF THE TURTLE CLAN 68 + + THE CAYUGA FALSE FACE CEREMONY 86 + + THE CORN HARVEST 104 + + TYPICAL IROQUOIS INDUSTRIES 122 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The Great War has had a special meaning for Canadians. Soldiers from our +shores, citizen-soldiers, have been landing on the northern coast of +France in tens of thousands, and passing through the same seaport towns +whence nearly four hundred years ago men sailed forth to the westward to +discover a fabled land. + +This country, discovered by the French and colonized by them and by the +English, this land which was now French and now English as the fortune +of war changed in Europe as well as in America, has become a nation, and +when the time of trial came and danger threatened the ancestral homes +in the two Motherlands, Canada hesitated not a moment but offered her +services in the cause of freedom. + +Canada has been fighting more truly perhaps than any other nation in what +we speak of as “the common cause,” and it is to make clear to ourselves +as well as to others the great meaning of this in the development of +nationality in our Dominion that this story of the two centuries when +Canada was New France has been told and in this form. + +The early history of Canada is a history of men, and if Canada is +to become a great nation, its future history will depend upon the +development of men who can and will inspire, guide and lead us to the +greater things. + +This is not intended for children only, but for the youth of every age, +those who are young enough to enjoy a story and who know not, or know +but dimly, our wonderful history during the two hundred years of our +country when its history was bound up with that of the two great empires +of France and England, France of the times of Henry of Navarre and of +Richelieu, England of the days of the Tudors and of the Pitts. + +The frontispiece of this little book illustrates a dramatic incident in +our history. The landing of the Canadians at St. Nazaire in 1915 to help +Old France against the ruthless invader brings to one’s mind the landing +of a French exploring expedition under Cartier nearly three hundred years +ago when the flag of France was raised high upon the cliff of Gaspé and +the newly discovered land was called New France. Our thanks are due to +the Canadian War Memorials Committee for permission to reproduce this +picture. + +To the kindness of Dr. John M. Clarke, the Director of the New York +State Museum, himself a contributor to the history of New France, we +are indebted for the great privilege of reproducing the illustrations +of the Iroquois Indian Groups which form the Myron H. Clark Memorial +in the Museum at Albany. They portray the aboriginal activities of the +Confederacy of the Six Nations. + + GEORGE H. LOCKE. + + + + +WHEN CANADA WAS NEW FRANCE + + + + +OLD FRANCE. + + Le Gaulois semble au saule verdissant: + Plus on le coupe et plus il est naissant, + Et rejetonne en branches davantage, + Prenant vigueur de son propre dommage. + + —RONSARD. + + The Gaul is like the verdant willow-bush: + The more you prune, the more it’s lithe and lush, + Shooting a crown of branchy twigs all round, + And draws new life and vigour from a wound. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +CARTIER AND THE ST. LAWRENCE + + “He told them of the river, whose mighty current gave + Its freshness for a hundred leagues to ocean’s briny wave; + He told them of the glorious scene presented to his sight + What time he reared the cross and crown on Hochelaga’s height, + And of the fortress cliff that keeps of Canada the key, + And they welcomed back Jacques Cartier from his perils over sea.” + + —HON. T. D’ARCY MCGEE. + + +Almost four hundred years ago, when bluff King Hal ruled over Merry +England and Francis over Sunny France, there were strange stories told in +the ports of the west of England and the north of France of lands away to +the Westward. The voyage of Columbus was the talk of Europe, and while +the Spaniards were joyfully telling how he had come to the edge of a +great new world which would give them a new route to the marvellous East +with all its treasures, John Cabot, of the port of Bristol, the pioneer +of English adventurers, sailed off to the west and it is likely saw +the continent itself as soon as did Columbus. Both Columbus and Cabot +discovered islands first, Columbus on his way to the west, Cabot after he +had passed along the coast. + +So, from the northern country of England, as well as from the southern +land of Spain, the men of the seaports talked of nothing as much as the +great land over the sea. It was but natural that the hardy mariners of +the northern French ports should join in the search, and for nearly half +a century vessels manned by the more adventurous spirits visited the cod +banks of Newfoundland and brought back cargoes of fish. + +One can picture the interest that would be aroused in a port like Bristol +in England or St. Malo or Dieppe in France when a vessel came back to +harbour after an absence of many months and the mariners spun their tales +of adventure to an eager audience. It was in this kind of an atmosphere, +hearing these stories and wishing that he would grow old quickly so +that he too could go and see these lands, that Jacques Cartier grew up. +He was a clever and ambitious boy and when he became a master mariner +had made such a reputation that the King sent for him to discuss the +possibility of finding an opening in the coast of America in the vicinity +of Newfoundland, which was then thought to be but a projection of the +eastern coast of Asia. There is no doubt that Cartier had made trips to +the fishing banks many times in company with his fellow fishermen of +Brittany, whose enterprise is preserved to us in the name of Cape Breton. + +King Francis was anxious that France should have a share in the great +discoveries that so far had been made by England and by Spain. Indeed, +the whole land had been claimed by the King of Spain and Francis is said +to have been so annoyed by this statement that he exclaimed: + +“I should like to see the clause in our father Adam’s will which +bequeathed to him this fine heritage.” + +It was on an April day in 1534 that Cartier set sail in two ships of 60 +tons each to find what was beyond the shores known to the sailors, and in +the hope that he would be able to penetrate to India and the treasures of +the East by a shorter route. On his way out, and in what are known now as +the Straits of Belle Isle, he passed a great ship which had sailed from +Rochelle, thus proving that those straits and the adjacent waters were +known to the French mariners. + +[Illustration: SENECA HUNTER GROUP + +This group represents a Seneca family clustered about the door-yard +of their hunting lodge, each individual being engaged in his allotted +duties. The old father, who no longer goes to war (indicated by his +clothing and hair), is bringing in a fawn. The mother is busy skiving +a dry deer skin, while the daughter is cutting strips of venison for +“jerking.” The elder son is a hunter and warrior and the younger son is +burning down a tree which obstructs the yard. The wad of clay about the +tree trunk confines the flames. The exterior of the hunting cabin is +shown on the left. + +The scene depicts Canandaigua lake with Ganundewa, the sacred hill of the +Senecas, in the distance. + +The time is early morning and the season midspring. + +The purpose of this group is to depict a Seneca family during the hunting +season. The activities represented show the utility of the deer as a +source of raw material. Deer meat was a favorite food, the skin furnished +leather for mats, bags, clothing and thongs. The antlers and bones were +used for tool material, the jaws for scrapers, the hoofs for ornaments +and the hair for stuffing cushions. The group also faithfully represents +the various costumes ornamented with hair embroidery.] + +Cartier and his ships kept on westward, and we can imagine his feelings +when they passed from the cold straits where doubtless he had seen +icebergs, into a part of what is now the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where +the heat of July was so oppressive that he called it the Bay of Chaleur +(heat), a name preserved to this day. On these shores they found +gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries and roses growing in abundance +and the rivers were full of salmon. They reached what we call Gaspé on +July 24th, and at once raised a great cross with a shield on which were +the lilies of France and “Vive le Roi de France.” + +The Indians (for Cartier thought and hoped that he was on the road to +India) were friendly, and Cartier persuaded two sons of the chief to go +back to France with him. Being unprovided for a longer stay and fearful +of the stormy weather, he set sail for home and entered the harbour of +St. Malo early in September. + +For a person of his imagination and daring and with the two Indian +princes to show to the court of France, there were no difficulties in +getting ready an expedition for the next year, and in July, 1535, he left +St. Malo with three small vessels. One can picture the excitement in +that seaport town when the vessels weighed anchor and stood out to sea, +vessels commissioned by the King and commanded by a son of St. Malo who +had proved his worth already, and who had on board the evidence of his +discoveries in the persons of the Indian princes now on their way back +home with him. + +In August he was in the great Gulf, and aided by the knowledge of these +princes, he sailed boldly on until he saw the banks drawing together +and he realized that he was going out of the gulf into a great river. +They stopped at the narrows where Quebec now stands and met the Indian +chief, Donnaconna, in his village of Stadacona, which in the language of +the Huron-Iroquois, means “wing,” the formation of land between the St. +Lawrence and St. Charles rivers. This chief they saluted as the Lord of +Canada, the chief of the village or collection of huts. This is the first +time we meet the word “Canada,” a collection of huts, for Cartier had +taken possession of the country as New France. + +Nearly four hundred years afterwards, from the same port went forth great +vessels bearing tens of thousands of troops from Canada to help old +France against the ruthless invader.[1] + +Cartier was told of the great river which stretched on for miles and that +after many days’ journey there was a large town. He gave the river the +name “St. Lawrence,” and up it he made his way, astonished at the beauty +and grandeur of the ever-changing scene. And in those days it must have +been wonderful, for he tells us that he was impressed with the great +trees on the banks, the oak, the walnut, birch and willow and with the +vines heavy with grapes. It was September, and even to this day with so +many of those features gone, it would be difficult anywhere to find a +more impressive and beautiful journey than from the ancient Quebec to the +almost as ancient Montreal, when autumn tints the trees. + +It was in the last days of this autumn month that he entered the +expansion of the river, which is now called Lac St. Pierre, so named +nearly a century afterwards by Champlain and known to many to-day by +Drummond’s famous poem.[2] + +Landing on October 2nd he found the well-built town of Hochelaga, and was +welcomed by the inhabitants, the first white man they had ever seen. The +reception must have been impressive to both parties, and was made still +more so by the Indians taking Cartier up on the great hill to which he +gave the name of Mount Royal, and from which he looked over fields of +maize and beans and peas and wild fruits, with the silver river winding +its way among the beautiful foliage of the autumn, and away in the +distance the faint outline of what now are known as the Adirondacks of +New York State and the Green Mountains of Vermont. His men were full of +wonder and it is interesting to read that what attracted them most was “a +great pile of rats, which live in the water and are as large as rabbits +and are wonderfully good to eat.”[3] + +He returned to Quebec, where he built huts in which to spend the winter. +Unaccustomed to so severe a climate and not well provisioned, disease +broke out and so many of his men died that when spring came and he set +sail for France he had to abandon one of his vessels, “La Petite Hermine.” + +Cartier had a story worth telling. Whereas Columbus had touched the New +World and Cabot had sailed along its shores, Cartier had penetrated +a thousand miles into the continent—“Up the greatest river without +comparison that is known to have ever been seen,” as Cartier told the +King, and when he stood on Mount Royal on that October day he was the +only white man in all that country now known as Canada and the United +States of America. It makes one think of another great adventurer who, at +almost the same time, upon the same continent, is depicted as standing +“silent upon a peak in Darien.”[4] + +This was Cortez of Spain and so we have the French and the Spanish in the +North American continent. + +To confirm his story and to illustrate the transfer of the land to +France, Cartier took back with him Donnaconna and two other chiefs who +were presented to the King. They really were kidnapped, and sad to tell +they did not live to return to their own land. + +When Cartier reached France there were serious political troubles +which prevented the authorities from acting at once, and so it was not +until 1538 that Francis took up the question of New France overseas. +He organized an expedition of which Lord Roberval was to be chief and +Cartier captain-general, and with a crew recruited mainly from the +prisons Cartier left St. Malo in 1541, sailed up the St. Lawrence, +explored the rapids (afterwards known as La Chine), spent a miserable +winter and returned to St. Malo a disappointed man. The Indians had lost +faith in him, for when they welcomed him and asked for their chiefs, +whose loss they had felt keenly, Cartier told them that the chiefs had +stayed in France, whereas they had died. Superseded at home by political +favourites, and distrusted in New France by the natives, Cartier retired +from the sea, his name passes from history and the first chapter of the +history of New France comes to an end. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CHAMPLAIN. + + “There are few chapters in history so full of romantic + interest, so compelling in their demands for sympathy and + admiration, as the record of the century and a half that began + with the wooden fortress of Champlain under the bluff at + Quebec, and ended with the fall of Montcalm on the Heights of + Abraham.” + + —HON. ELIHU ROOT. + + +CHAMPLAIN AND THE GREAT LAKES. + +On the Bay of Biscay, on the west coast of France, and not very far from +Rochelle, there is a small village now some miles from the sea, but +which in the days of Cartier and for some years after was a flourishing +seaport. This is called Brouage, and is almost a deserted village to-day, +the sea having receded and the railway passed it by. The great salt +marshes are still there to remind one of the time when cargoes of salt +were shipped from this harbour, and where ships, then considered great, +found safe anchorage. + +In this seaport, with its face to the great mysterious Western land, +young Samuel de Champlain, son of a sea captain, grew up during the +stirring times of civil war in France. When a boy of nine[5] his city was +captured by Henry of Navarre, who, after years of struggle, during which +were many mighty deeds of valour, finally overcame his enemies, entered +Paris in triumph, and was crowned King of France. Indeed, the struggle +was so long that Champlain grew up sufficiently to be accounted a gallant +officer in Henry’s army. + +When peace was declared and the country had settled down, Champlain in +his love for adventure entered the service of the King of Spain, and made +trips to the West Indies, going inland in America even to the city of +Mexico. + +On his return he made a report to the King of France, concerning this +Western land, in the hope that his own country might once more send +expeditions of discovery. In this report he says: “One might judge if the +territory four leagues in extent, lying between Panama and the river were +cut through, he could pass from the South Sea to that on the other side, +and thus shorten the route by more than fifteen hundred leagues. From +Panama to Magellan would make an island and from Panama to the Newlands +(Newfoundland) would make another, so that the whole of America would be +in two islands.” + +Three hundred years afterwards this was done, and by the people of a +country then undiscovered, and supplies from the Pacific Coast of that +great nation passed through that canal to help the cause of the France +which Champlain loved and served so well. + +During the years of civil strife in France, the exploration of the +Western world was being pushed forward by the merchant adventurers of +England, and especially of Spain. Spies from the court of Spain watched +every port and sent home the news of prospective sailings so that these +rivals might be intercepted and America be preserved for Spain. + +But now that peace was established enterprising mariners of the northern +seaports of France remembered the expeditions of Cartier, and so the +governor of Dieppe induced Champlain to undertake a voyage to New France. +They left that port in March, 1603, and after coasting along the shores +of Newfoundland, Anticosti and Cape Breton, sailed up the St. Lawrence +and anchored at Tadoussac at the mouth of the Saguenay. Thence Champlain +made a journey up the great river to Hochelaga, which in Cartier’s time +was a flourishing town. Now all was deserted and nothing remained of what +had been a great Indian community. Gathering up what furs they could, +Champlain and his party sailed for home, which they reached in September. + +This was a journey of inspection, spying out the land, and the King +was so impressed by Champlain’s account that he gave his patronage to +a larger expedition. This was under the command of Sieur de Monts, a +nobleman, with Champlain as the King’s geographer, and was sent out in +the hope that a colony might be established, and so actual possession of +New France might be maintained against European nations who were claiming +parts of the New World. + +De Monts became the first Lieutenant-Governor of New France, and with +nobles, soldiers, priests, and peasants, about 120 in all, his little +fleet discovered and entered the harbour and river of St. John on the +24th of June, 1604, exactly to the day one hundred and seven years +after the discovery of Newfoundland by Cabot; and there on the island +of St. Croix (Holy Cross) established a colony, the only settlement of +Europeans north of Florida. It was an exceptionally severe winter and the +colonists suffered almost as much as Cartier’s men so many years before +at Quebec. + +In the spring Champlain set out to find some place for the settlement +which might have a more congenial climate. Although he went south and +passed the islands at the mouth of what is now the harbour of Portland, +Maine, and even entered the harbour of Boston, he returned to Port Royal +in Nova Scotia, the situation of which had appealed to him, and there the +colony moved. + +It was a prosperous settlement, and it is of interest in these days of +grain growing, hydro-power development and ship building in Canada to +know that these settlers raised the first wheat grown in America; here +was used the first wheel to turn a millstone upon this continent; and in +this harbour in 1606 the first Canadian vessel was built. + +The position on the sea, with fertile soil and great forests near by, was +very attractive, and perhaps is best described by Longfellow centuries +afterwards: + + “This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, + Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, + Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic, + Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. + Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep voiced neighboring ocean + Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.” + +To-day in its loneliness it reminds one of Brouage and it is difficult to +think that it has been the most besieged city in America. + +But it was when Champlain came back from France in 1608, after a year’s +absence from the colony, that our great interest begins, for then he +determined to press inland and re-assert the sovereignty claimed for +France by Cartier. The bold headland where Cartier had spent the winter +had attracted his attention upon his previous voyage, and so he founded +there in 1608 a town, really the capital of New France, and to it he gave +the native Algonquin name, “Quebec,” which means “the narrowing of the +stream.” + +In the following year he went up the St. Lawrence, and finding a party +of Huron and Algonquin Indians about to set out on an expedition against +their great enemy, the Iroquois, who were encroaching upon Algonquin +territory near what is now Lake Champlain, he joined with them, thinking +thereby to establish friendly and profitable relations with such +powerful tribes. The result was that he made the fighting Iroquois the +everlasting and unrelenting enemies, not only of himself but of France. + +This was one of the great fights of history, full of meaning in the after +years of Canadian life. When the Algonquins came within fighting distance +of their adversaries they opened ranks, and Champlain, steel armour on +breast and thighs, a plumed helmet on his head, a sword at his side, and +a musket in his hands, stepped out to the front, and for the first time +the Indians saw the death-dealing firearms of the white man.[6] + +In his own words: + +“I looked at them and they looked at me. When I saw them getting ready to +shoot their arrows at us, I levelled my arquebus which I had loaded with +four balls and aimed straight at one of the chiefs. The shot brought down +two and wounded another.” + +This day of fateful beginnings was two months before Hudson discovered +the river that bears his name and eleven years before the Pilgrim +Fathers landed upon the stern and rock-bound coast of America. One of our +own poets, Bliss Carman, pictures the setting out of the expedition: + + “On such a day three hundred years ago + By toilsome trails, and slow, + But with the adventurer’s spirit all aflame + The great discoverer came + Finding another Indies that he guessed + To reward his darling quest + And fill the wonder-volume of Romance, + The sailor of Little Brouage, the founder of New France, + Sturdy, sagacious, plain + Samuel de Champlain.” + +During the next few years Champlain crossed the sea almost annually and +arranged for the development of the fur trade, for which he established a +post on the site of the ancient Hochelaga and where Montreal now stands. +Then he resumed his search for the great “Western Sea” which lured on +these early adventurers, or some outlet through the great continent to +the fabled land beyond; and in 1613 he followed up the waterway of the +St. Lawrence by going up the Ottawa beyond where now is the capital of +the Dominion of Canada. His journey really began when he left the end +of the island of Montreal at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and +the Ottawa, where St. Anne de Bellevue now stands and where, many years +after, Tom Moore, the famous Irish poet, lived for a short time and wrote +the Canadian Boat Song.[7] + +He soon came back, his information having proved unreliable, and he +returned to France to make his report on the fur trade and the state +of the country. He set sail again in 1615 for New France, having with +him four Franciscan Fathers called Récollet friars from the convent in +Brouage, who were anxious to convert to Christianity the savages of this +great new world of which Champlain had told them. + +He stayed but a short time at Quebec as he wished to follow up a party +of Huron and Algonquin Indians who had gone up the Ottawa to gather the +tribes for a raid against the Iroquois. With them went Father Le Caron, +one of the Récollets who had come out from Brouage with Champlain. + +[Illustration: THE RETURN OF THE WARRIORS + +The advance party of a Mohawk war expedition has returned to Theonondiogo +(Two Noses), the Mohawk capital (1634). They have brought with them two +Mahikan Indian captives from the vicinity of Skanehtade (Albany). + +One prisoner in defiance has thrown down his burden and his captor is +about to strike him when a chief woman of the village coming up the steep +hill interposes by holding up a string of white ransom wampum saving the +captive from death. Another warrior examines the bag of booty dropped by +the prisoner. To the right near the stockade wall is seen a Mohawk war +chief in full regalia leading a captive Mahikan, who bends beneath his +burden. In the background is a figure calling the rest of the warriors to +the hilltop council. + +The scene is laid on the hill overlooking the ancient Mohawk site of Two +Noses, just above the present village of Sprakers in the Mohawk valley, +and the observer is looking north toward the foothills of the Adirondacks. + +The purpose of this group is to illustrate (1) the treatment of +prisoners, (2) the authority of the Iroquois woman, (3) the difference +between the Mohawks and the Hudson river Mahikans, (4) an Iroquois +village with its stockade wall, (5) a typical Mohawk valley landscape in +Indian times.] + +Accompanied by Etienne Brulé, his interpreter, a brave and skilful +woodsman, Champlain’s party went up the Ottawa, crossed over the divide +from the Upper Ottawa and launched their canoes on Lake Nipissing. Thence +they paddled down the French River into Lake Huron. One can imagine the +joy of Champlain when he saw this great body of water stretching away +beyond his vision and which he christened Mer Douce (Fresh Water Sea). +This was the first of the Great Lakes to be discovered by a white man, +and Champlain, with Le Caron and Brulé, were the first white men to sail +on its waters. + +Down the shore they went for more than a hundred miles until the Indians +came to the outlet of a well-known trail leading into the heart of the +territory of the Hurons, to the palisaded town of Otoucha. This part of +the country had many permanent Indian villages whose inhabitants were +more agricultural than those in the east, and Champlain was greatly +impressed with the fields of maize and pumpkins and sun flowers. Here he +found Le Caron, who had preceded him on the journey, and on August 12th, +1615, the first mass, the first religious service in what was afterwards +known as Upper Canada, was celebrated in what is now the township of +Tiny, near Penetanguishene, in the county of Simcoe. This event was +commemorated three hundred years later by the Archbishop of Toronto, who +celebrated mass as nearly as possible on the same spot, and to mark which +a monument has been erected. + +The Indians gathered up their warriors and started southward. When the +expedition reached Lake Simcoe, Brulé left Champlain that he might go +directly south and persuade an Indian tribe who lived in that part of the +country west and south of where Buffalo now stands, to join them against +the Iroquois. Brulé paddled up the Holland river, crossed over the height +of land and thence down the Humber river until he came to its mouth where +the city of Toronto now stands. He was the first white man who saw Lake +Ontario; and this was some five years before the landing of the Pilgrim +Fathers. + +Champlain in the meantime crossed Lake Simcoe, portaged to Balsam Lake, +thence through the Otonabee River, Rice Lake, and the Trent River, into +Lake Ontario, which he too saw for the first time, and with his Huron +companions crossed over to the country of the Iroquois. The raid was a +failure, and Champlain, himself wounded, returned with the retreating +Hurons and spent the winter with them in Huronia on the Georgian Bay. + +The remaining years of Champlain’s life were spent in trying to build up +this little colony[8] in a vast country and reconciling the conflicting +elements in it. The most important event was the capture of Quebec in +1629 by an English fleet under Sir David Kirke, a descendant of French +Huguenots who had taken refuge in England. Those were times when news +travelled slowly, and much to their mutual surprise it was found that a +peace had already been signed between England and France, and so Quebec +was restored to France in 1632 and Champlain, who had been taken to +England as a prisoner, was released and restored to his governorship. + +But his spirit was failing, and on Christmas Day, 1635, one hundred years +after Cartier had first sailed up to the great rock at the narrowing of +the stream, this brave soldier, resourceful general, and true gentleman, +passed away in the country which he loved and in the city he had founded. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +JOLIET, MARQUETTE AND THE RIVER OF A HUNDRED THOUSAND STREAMS. + + “The first French followers of the river courses were devotees + of a religion for the salvation of others, bearers of advancing + banners for the glory of France, and lovers of nature and + adventure.” + + —PRESIDENT J. H. FINLEY. + + +JOLIET AND MARQUETTE. + +Frontenac landed at Quebec in 1672 as governor of New France, full +of plans for the development of the country, the extension of its +boundaries, and the exploration of “the fabled West that is charted +dim but certain in the volume of the breast,” as our own Bliss Carman +phrases it. He found among the coureurs des bois (runners of the woods) a +native Canadian, Louis Joliet, the son of a wagon-maker in Quebec, a man +reputed to be courageous, enterprising, of good nature and endowed with +common sense. Him he commissioned to go up to Sault Ste. Marie and thence +explore for the great South Sea. This was an exceedingly wise choice and +due to the advice of the Intendant, M. Talon, a very able man, who knew +of Joliet’s previous exploits. + +Some three years previously the governor of the time, Courcelles, +sent Joliet to learn the truth about the reputed copper deposits on +Lake Superior. He went by the great highway of the Ottawa river, Lake +Nipissing and French River to Georgian Bay, and thence to the Sault. On +his return he went down Lake Huron from the Sault through what we now +call St. Clair and Detroit, and then along the north shore of Lake Erie +and up the Grand River. The reason for leaving the lake at this point was +the fear of his Indian guide for the warlike tribes at the end of the +lake. + +Joliet was the first white man known to have passed through Lake Erie and +this lake was the last of the Great Lakes to be discovered. Leaving the +Grand River he was making his way eastward when in an Indian village in +what is now known as the Beverley Swamp, near the present city of Galt, +he met La Salle, Galinée and his Sulpician companion, Father Dollier. La +Salle, greatly impressed by the dashing Joliet, who was much more to his +taste than his priestly companions, turned back with him. + +It was to this seasoned explorer that the commission was given and +he left for the Sault, near which he was told he would find Father +Marquette, who would be his companion. Marquette was of a noble family +of Laon, a city of Northern France, associated with nearly all the +epoch-making incidents in the history of France, and which has been one +of the great centres of fighting on the Western Front in the Great War +of to-day. His mother was Rose de la Salle of Rheims. Marquette had +been in the country about five years, and after two years of training +in the mission at Three Rivers had been sent to the remnants of the +Huron nation driven north-westward by the Iroquois, until near the +western end of Lake Superior they established themselves in a village +where they hoped to be far enough away from their great enemy to recover +themselves. Hither in the summer came wandering Indians of a tribe called +the Illinois, who told Marquette of the great river which flowed through +their country, of the fertile lands, and how glad they all would be if he +would visit them. After the village was broken up by the Sioux Indians, +the Hurons determined to go back to more familiar haunts and settled at +Michillimackinac, fifty miles to the south-west of the Sault. Marquette +accompanied them and there he was found by Joliet. + +They spent the winter making their plans for the journey, and in May, +1673, they started westwards with their party of Frenchmen and Indians, +through Lake Michigan to Green Bay. Thence up the bay they went and up +the Fox River to its source. A short portage over a narrow strip of +prairie and they dropped their canoes into water flowing southwards, now +the Wisconsin River, and after about 40 leagues they glided out into the +great river, the Mississippi, first christened by a religious name, then +called by a statesman’s name and finally back to its Indian name, with +the significant meaning of “great water.”[9] + +Down they floated through the land of the buffalo and the wild turkey, +until seeing upon the bank traces of men, they landed and came to the +villages of the Indian tribe who had invited Marquette to visit them. +The Black Gown, the distinctive garb of the Jesuit brotherhood, was at +once recognized and here they stayed for some days, exchanging gifts and +courtesies and making enquiries about the further reaches of the river. + +Before leaving these friendly Indian villages the Illinois Indians +gave them a calumet, or pipe of peace, as a safeguard for them in their +passage through hostile savages, probably just to show to the savages by +using their own sign that they were coming in friendship. The calumet +used by these Indians was made of a bowl of red stone with a long stick +as a stem. This stick was covered along its whole length with heads of +birds all coloured like flame, while a bunch of red feathers shaped like +a great fan adorned the middle of the stick. + +Southwards again they went as far as the Arkansas, where, fearing the +Spaniards, who were in that part of the country, they turned northwards, +and following the advice of the Indians, they entered the Illinois River. +Marquette was greatly impressed with the fertility of that wonderful +valley, and well he might be, for his experience hitherto in New France +had not been in very fertile regions. “I have seen,” said he, “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.” + +On that river, in the great Indian village of Kaskaskia, seven miles +below the present city of Ottawa, Illinois, Marquette was so kindly +treated that he promised to return to them as soon as he could. +Following up one of the branches of the river they portaged across only +about 1,000 paces and put their canoes into a little stream that emptied +into Lake Michigan. That portage is where stands to-day the city of +Chicago, the great city of the State called after the Indians for whom +Marquette had made the journey. Along the shore they went, across the +portage at Sturgeon Bay, and at the end of September reached the mission +at Green Bay, where they spent the winter. + +Early in the spring they separated, Marquette to return to his mission +to recruit his strength that he might redeem his promise to his Indian +friends at Kaskaskia, Joliet to report to Frontenac the result of his +voyage. Unfortunately, Joliet’s canoe was upset in the Lachine rapids and +all his papers, including the map of the discovered region, were lost. +In his report he said, with the insight of the prophet: “We could easily +go to Florida in a ship, and with very easy navigation. It would only be +necessary to make a canal by cutting through but half a league of prairie +to pass from the foot of the lake of the Illinois (Michigan) to the River +St. Louis (Des Plaines),”—and we have lived to see that done in the +great sanitary and ship canal connecting the Chicago River with the Des +Plaines River at the present city of Joliet. Joliet held minor positions +until 1680, when he was granted fishing rights in the lower St. Lawrence +and later the island of Anticosti was included. But in 1690 the English +invasion under Phips destroyed his establishment and ten years later he +died in poverty. + +Marquette, weak in body but with a giant spirit, was preparing himself +to fulfil his promise and in the fall of the next year, 1674, he started +for Kaskaskia. Bad weather and his physical weakness made him halt so +many times that it was April before he reached the village. Here he was +welcomed as an angel from heaven, and on the Easter Sunday, before an +altar erected on the prairie at the edge of the great wood, he preached +to thousands of the Indians as they squatted in a semi-circle, chiefs, +young men, women and children, to hear the impressive words of the +black-robed missionary. + +Leaving them that he might get treatment for his ailment and promising +that he never would forget them, he started for home, but he succumbed +on the banks of the Great Lake on May 18th, 1675. In compliance with +his request, he was buried there, but a year later the Ottawa Indians, +finding the grave, opened it, and took the remains to St. Ignace in +a great procession of canoes and buried under the chapel the great +priest with solemn ceremonies. Early in the next century the chapel +was destroyed by fire. In 1877 the remains of a burned building were +discovered at the site of the old mission and the remains wrapped in +birch bark were discovered. + +Small wonder it is that his name lives throughout that great fertile +valley, drained by the river of a hundred thousand streams, the man +of courage, kindliness of heart and speech, of unselfish devotion and +high ideals, a fitting hero for a land that becoming fabulously rich in +material wealth needs the inspiration of the life of the simple, zealous +priest who put the good of others above his own pleasure and comfort. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +LA SALLE AND THE GREATER NEW FRANCE. + + “The fertile plains of Texas, the vast basin of the Mississippi + from its frozen springs to the sultry borders of the gulf; from + the wooded ridges of the Alleghanies to the bare peaks of the + Rocky Mountains,—a region of savannas and forests, sun-cracked + deserts and grassy prairies, watered by a thousand rivers, + ranged by a thousand warlike tribes.” + + —PARKMAN. + + +LA SALLE AND THE GREATER NEW FRANCE. + +With the exception of Champlain, the most romantic figure in the history +of New France is that of La Salle, the young adventurer from Rouen. He +landed at Quebec in 1666, the same year as Marquette, and went at once to +Montreal where he had relatives among the Sulpician order of priests, to +whom most of the island of Montreal belonged. Here he purchased from them +an estate or seigniory, as it was called. This was but a few miles west +of Montreal, and was called in derision by his friends “La Chine,” having +reference to La Salle’s dream of finding a road to China by following +westward. + +In preparation for his explorations he settled down to acquaint himself +with the Indian languages, and hearing from some Seneca Indians that +there was a great river called the Ohio, which he thought might lead him +to the great Western Sea, he joined the expedition of Galinée and Father +Dollier, the Sulpician, who were setting out to establish a mission +in the Far West. With nine canoes and twenty-one men they skirted the +eastern and southern shores of Lake Ontario, and about the middle of +September reached the mouth of a river which Galinée describes: “We +discovered a river one-eighth of a league wide and extremely rapid.” The +Indians told them of a great cataract up this river which was “higher +than the highest pine trees,” and indeed he tells us he could hear the +roar. But they had a set purpose and pressed on their way, thus losing +the opportunity to be the first white men to visit the Falls of Niagara. +Indeed this is the first description of the river by any one who is known +to have reached it. + +They passed on to Burlington Bay and leaving it about where Hamilton now +stands, they struck across the country, and on the 24th of September, +in an Indian village in what is known as the Beverley Swamp, near the +present city of Galt, they met Joliet returning from his search for the +copper mines on Lake Superior. La Salle was so attracted by Joliet, a +kindred adventurer in spirit, that he turned back and left Dollier and +Galinée to go on to the West, guided as to their course by the advice of +Joliet, who told them of the Pottawatomies, a tribe of Indians to whom no +missionary had yet come. + +They went down the Grand River and as the season was so far advanced +they built a shelter on the lake shore near where Port Dover now stands, +erected a cross and took formal possession of the Lake Erie country in +the name of Louis the Magnificent.[10] + +Here they spent the winter and are enthusiastic in their praise of the +mildness of the climate and the luscious autumn fruit. This is of great +interest to many of us who to-day look upon that county (Norfolk) as one +of the greatest fruit centres of the province of Ontario. + +La Salle returned east, and we know that during the next few years he was +with Frontenac, and doubtless made many exploration trips. But in 1675 +he received from the French Government a grant on Lake Ontario similar +to the seigniory at La Chine, and so at Cataraqui, where Kingston now +stands, he built a fort to control the trade coming east and to prevent +it from going to the English colony in New York. This he called “Fort +Frontenac.” He was raised to the nobility and was given a commission in +1678 to discover the “Western part of New France” and “to construct forts +in the places you may think necessary.” This meant that he would seek +out the mouth of the great Mississippi and erect a chain of forts which +would connect and hold for France the country from the mouth of the St. +Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi. + +Here was the great chance for which this adventurous man had longed and +for which he had toiled, and so in November of that year he began to +gather men and material for the great project. He threw himself into this +work with energy and was backed up by Frontenac, whose policy had ever +been the extension of the boundaries of New France. Indeed, Frontenac had +advised the Home Government as early as 1673 that a fort at the mouth of +the Niagara River and a vessel on Lake Erie would enable the French to +command the Great Lakes. Like many other Home Governments when urged to +progressive measures, Colbert, the Colonial Minister, advised caution.[11] + +When La Salle arrived from Rochelle with these wonderfully indefinite +powers these two men saw great possibilities and went to work at once. +Ship carpenters, blacksmiths, and other artisans were gathered at the +Niagara River, and while a fort was being built at the mouth of the river +to cut off the trade of the English, a store house was erected below the +Falls near where Lewiston now stands, and a shipyard was planned above +the Falls, where a large boat was to be built for the great western +expedition. This was the work of La Salle’s lieutenant, Henry Tonty. With +La Salle was a Récollet priest, Father Hennepin, and to him we owe our +first written account of Niagara Falls. + +After many disappointments, the Griffon, named after Frontenac’s armorial +bearing, was launched, equipped, and set sail. Tonty rejoined La Salle +on board the Griffon at Detroit. He has an interest for us to-day in +that his name is preserved to us in the Tontine plan of insurance, which +was the invention of his father, a Neapolitan nobleman. And in a greater +sense this Henry Tonty was a nobleman, for through all his wandering and +discouragements La Salle found in him a sincere and trustworthy friend. +At Mackinac they were to meet with advance guards of traders sent on +by La Salle, but most of them had deserted. Gathering up a few whom he +thought would be loyal, La Salle made his way to the Illinois River, +where a fort was built and a boat begun by Tonty for exploration of the +great river. The Griffon was sent home from Green Bay, loaded with furs, +and there our knowledge of her ends. + +In the meantime La Salle determined to return to Fort Frontenac to get +more material and more men to undertake the great journey. By canoe +and on foot they crossed Southern Michigan and passed over the Detroit +on a raft, thence on foot along the shores of Lake Erie (in the month +of March), and utterly worn out he, his faithful hunter, and two white +companions reached the Falls, only to hear heart-breaking news. He had +travelled more than a thousand miles in 65 days in the very worst season +of the year. There was no news of his ship—his fortune and his hope. + +Deceived and even robbed by his men, in addition to all his other +disappointments, La Salle, undaunted and undismayed, sent Dautray, one +of the white men who had accompanied him, with four others, to reinforce +Tonty, and pushed on to Fort Frontenac. As if he had not already enough +bad news, just as he arrived at the Fort, messengers from Tonty told +him that the men who were building the vessel in the Illinois River had +stolen what they could and had deserted. These precious rascals, joined +by other deserters, must have been following close behind the messengers, +as we hear of them breaking into La Salle’s storehouse on the Niagara, +looting everything they could and setting out for the East. La Salle +heard of it, intercepted some of them, killed two, and took the rest +prisoners to Fort Frontenac. + +But Tonty must be rescued and the exploration go on, so La Salle gathered +men and supplies and started for the West. With twelve men he went up the +Humber River, crossed to Lake Simcoe, and thence down the Severn River to +the Georgian Bay; the others with the heavier freight went by Niagara and +Lake Erie. They were to meet at Mackinac, but La Salle could not wait, +and hastened on with a foreboding that something awful may have happened +to Tonty at his Fort Crevecoeur (broken heart) in the Illinois country. + +And when they arrived it was to see where once had been the chief town +of the Illinois, nothing but ashes, skulls, and mangled corpses. The +Iroquois had been there. Down the river he went looking for Tonty, even +into the Mississippi. Discouraged, they turned back to the St. Joseph +River and there at Fort Miami, where La Forest was in charge, they +settled down for the winter. In the meantime, Tonty, after trying in vain +to prevent the battle between the Iroquois and the Illinois, had escaped +and after weeks of suffering had reached Green Bay. + +La Salle in the spring set out for Fort Frontenac to refit and went +by Michillimackinac. We can imagine his joy when he found Tonty, who +accompanied him to the East. By October they had arranged their affairs +and arrived at Fort Miami in November. Here they organized their +expedition of 18 Indians and 23 Frenchmen, and in Christmas week, 1681, +they set out. Across Lake Michigan to the Chicago River, thence portaging +to the north branch of the Illinois, they entered the Mississippi on +February 6th, but saw no human beings until March 13th, near the mouth +of the Arkansas River. Landing there La Salle raised the banner of +France, planted a cross, and took possession of the country in the name +of the King. + +Thence down the river they went for three hundred miles to the Taensas +Indians, who lived in large square houses built of mud and straw with a +high roof of cane and surrounding a large open court. Soon they came to +the mouth or delta of the Mississippi, and going in different parties +down the channels they joined together on an island at the mouth, erected +a column, and took possession of all Louisiana from the mouth of the +Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico. And so from Lake Erie west and north to the +Rocky Mountains and the Canadian North West, and south from Lake Erie to +the Gulf, and west to the Rio Grande was added to the New France whose +capital was at the narrowing of the stream of the mighty St. Lawrence. + +La Salle had realized his dream, and against obstacles which would have +staggered any ordinary man; and New France now extended from the Gulf +of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. They retraced their way up the +Mississippi and after a long illness he reached Mackinac, whither he had +sent Tonty to announce their success. It was too late to go to Quebec, +and there was a rumour that the Iroquois were on the warpath, so La Salle +and Tonty returned to the Illinois and spent the winter of 1682-3 in +fortifying Starved Rock, which was to be one of the chain of forts to +hold the new country. + +But in the meantime Frontenac was recalled, the forward policy entirely +changed, and La Salle’s own possessions at Fort Frontenac seized. This +seemed the cap stone of all his troubles, and he passed eastward in the +fall of 1683, reached Quebec in November, and finding his case hopeless, +sailed for France to lay his case personally before his King. + +He was a wonderful man. His vessels had been wrecked, his goods lost, +his possessions confiscated. He had been deserted by his men, been +robbed, and yet he retained that faith in himself and in his cause, and +so impressed the King that he was given command of an expedition to sail +for the mouths of the Mississippi to drive the Spaniards out of North +America. They landed somewhere near where Galveston, Texas, now stands, +having missed the Mississippi. Again through wrecks and desertion La +Salle found his numbers depleted. Added to this, dreadful sickness broke +out. La Salle determined to seek a way out to the Mississippi and thence +up to New France. He made repeated attempts, and at last, deserted by +nearly all his men who despaired of ever seeing home again, he was shot +by one of his own followers on March 18th, 1687. + +Thus perished one of the most remarkable men in our history, the first +great Imperialist, who had an empire in his brain, and who if he had been +given backing would have made a New France greater than Old France could +ever hope to be. And the map of North America would have been greatly +changed! + +Tonty, the faithful friend and companion of La Salle, stayed for some +years in the country of the Illinois, joined Iberville in Louisiana +in 1702, and died near where Mobile now stands about 1704. Faithful, +not only to the erratic La Salle, but also to the Home Government, he +received no recompense in any form, but has left for us an undying +picture of how true and faithful a friend can be, and under the most +trying circumstances. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +RADISSON AND THE GREAT NORTH WEST. + + “If he had not had his faults, if he had not been as impulsive, + as daring, as reckless, as inconstant, as improvident of the + morrow as a savage or a child, he would not have accomplished + the exploration of half a continent. Men who weigh consequences + are not of the stuff to win empires. He went ahead and when the + way did not open he went around, or crawled over, or carved his + way through. + + “Memorial tablets commemorate other discoverers. Radisson needs + none. The Great Northwest is his monument for all time.” + + —AGNES C. LAUT. + + +RADISSON AND THE GREAT NORTH WEST + +Before Joliet, Marquette, or La Salle had made their memorable +expeditions in search of the Western Sea, a man unattached to any +religious order, and under the protection of no government, had traversed +these unknown wilds for the sheer joy of exploration and excitement. The +hair-breadth escapes of the hero of modern fiction cannot compare in +thrills to the marvellous adventures of this man to whom the country from +Quebec to the prairies of the great North West were alike his hunting +and his playground. + +This was Pierre Radisson, who left his native St. Malo about a century +after the great Cartier, and settled at Three Rivers, which then was a +comparatively large place, having a population of about 200 souls. + +With the enthusiasm and recklessness of youth he disregarded the warnings +of his friends and went duck shooting with a couple of equally reckless +and youthful companions. They were but boys and were at the age when +Indians had no terrors for them. Separated in the chase, Radisson had +splendid luck, and returning to where they had agreed to meet, he found +his two companions dead among the rushes. When he looked about, the heads +of Indians appeared everywhere. They set upon him, and after a game +struggle he was disarmed, stripped, tied around the waist with a rope and +brought to the camp fire. + +The very recklessness of the youth compelled the admiration of the +Indians, who spared his life, gave him his clothes, dressed his hair and +daubed his face as of an Indian brave. Though but a boy he showed the +coolness in the face of danger which was to characterize him throughout +his adventurous life. We are told that he slept that night between +two warriors under a common blanket and so soundly that he was with +difficulty awakened at the break of day. + +Taking no chances, they tied him to the cross bar of a canoe when the +party set off for the Indian village many miles distant. On the fourth +day he was released from the cross bar, and being given a paddle, entered +with zest into the work of helping onward the canoe. He was a cheerful +lad, and the Indians, instead of allowing him to work himself out in +his awkward manner, taught him how to give the light feather strokes of +the true canoe man. He, in turn, took his share of the burdens, and was +always eager to help. Their village was near Lake George in what is now +New York State, and there they prepared to make merry with their captives +and their plunder. He had to run the gauntlet of the braves, and was so +successful that he was sought for adoption by a captive Huron squaw who +had been adopted by the tribe. She pleaded for his life before the Great +Council and was allowed to take him as her son. He was now a Mohawk of +the Iroquois nation. + +Watching his opportunity, and with an Algonquin captive, they made their +escape, after killing three of the Mohawks; and after wandering many +days, they were within sight of Three Rivers when the Iroquois overtook +them, killed the Algonquin, and Radisson was again a prisoner. He was +recognized and subjected to tortures, his thumb being thrust into a +pipe of live coals, and the soles of both feet burned. Still worse was +in store for him, but his adopted father, a chief among them, and his +adopted mother, purchased his freedom by a recital of their own deeds of +valour and by gifts of wampum. + +This seventeen year old lad seemingly had won the hearts of all. He +accompanied them on their expeditions and visited the lodges of the +Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas, and Cayugas in their wanderings about what +is now known as the Niagara district. Indeed, he won the confidence of +his Mohawk friends to such an extent that they took him with them when +they visited the white man’s village of Orange (Albany), and he justified +their confidence by returning with them, even though the Dutch offered to +pay a great ransom to free him. + +He wanted to make himself free and was ever on the alert for the suitable +moment. It came in 1653, and alone he made his way back to Orange after +many hair-breadth escapes. Here he was befriended—indeed he seemed +always and everywhere to make friends—by a Jesuit priest who gave him +enough money to enable him to sail down the Hudson to New York, whence he +took boat for Amsterdam, which he reached in 1654, and thence he made his +way home to France. + +This adventure I have dwelt upon in some detail, because it is an +illustration in miniature of his eventful life. One would think there had +been enough crowded into these months to suffice for a life time, but the +lure of the West was upon him, and his relatives, like himself, had gone +overseas. + +Therefore he joined the fishing fleet that was sailing for the Banks of +Newfoundland, and made his way back to Three Rivers in May of 1654, just +two years after he had disappeared. + +His sister, Marguerite, had lost her husband in a fight with the Mohawks, +and had married Chouart, a famous fur trader. This man was a widower, his +wife having been a daughter of Abraham Martin, whose farm near Quebec +City was in another century to become famous as the scene of the battle +of the Plains of Abraham. + +These two men, Radisson and Chouart, became not only fast friends, but +inseparable companions in a life of adventure. The traders coming East to +dispose of their furs told of a great country beyond the Great Lakes, +and these two lovers of the wild set off up the Ottawa across Lake Huron +and Michigan, over what is now Wisconsin, and came to a “mighty river, +great, rushing, profound, and comparable to the St. Lawrence.” This +undoubtedly was the Upper Mississippi, and these two white men were the +first to see it and the “farflung, fenceless prairie, where the quick +cloud-shadows trail,” which make up what we call the Great North West. + +The Indians told them of a great river to the south which divided itself +in two, the Forked River, the junction of Missouri and Mississippi, +but the adventurers decided to make their way back again, and crossing +through what is now Nebraska, North Dakota, and Minnesota, they came to +Lake Superior and the Sault. Here the Crees told Radisson of a great +sea to the north, Hudsons Bay, where there were quantities of furs. +So alluring was the description that he set off on snow shoes, but +the season was too late and he returned and made his way east. At the +rapids of the Long Sault his large party came upon the Iroquois who had +massacred Dollard and his noble band of Frenchmen. These they put to +flight and as deliverers they made a triumphant journey to Montreal, +Three Rivers and Quebec. + +Their one thought was when could they resume their explorations in the +North, and as they could not come to terms with the Governor, who wanted +all the profits without assuming any of the risks, they stole away and in +October reached Lake Superior. Pressing on they came to where Duluth now +stands, and there they established a fur trading post, the first between +the Missouri River and the North Pole. This marks the opening of the +Great West as truly as when the railway passing through unknown portions +of our Great West established a station as a centre of influence and +trade. + +In the spring they set off with their hosts of the winter, the Crees, to +find the Great Sea, and it is possible that they were successful, but +after great hardships. However, we know that they returned in 1663 with +costly furs, and instead of the welcome which might reasonably be looked +for, they were heavily fined by the French governor for trading without +a license, and most of their furs were confiscated. They tried to get +redress in France, but utterly failed, and so with no support in either +Old France or New France they sought out new friends and joined the +English in an expedition against Port Royal. This was unsuccessful, and +being taken prisoners by the Dutch they were landed in Spain, whence they +made their way to England. This was in 1666, when the great plague was +raging in London, and Charles II. and his court were at Oxford. + +They met at the court a man who was greatly impressed with their stories, +and whose name was to be intimately associated with the great Northland. +This was Prince Rupert, the dashing cavalry leader of the Stuarts, who +became their patron, outfitted them for exploration, and they set off for +Hudsons Bay. Chouart was successful, but Radisson, shipwrecked, returned +to England where, in 1670, on the return of Chouart, a “company of +adventurers trading with Hudsons Bay” was formed through the influence of +Prince Rupert, who became the first governor of the Hudsons Bay Company, +to whom was given an empire. + +In the following spring ships were sent out, posts established, and so +successful was their venture that the French not only sent expeditions +and exploring parties northward, but the great gathering of the Indian +tribes at the Sault Ste. Marie, which Perrot organized, was to strengthen +the French against the English traders who were trying to divert trade +from the posts of the French. + +But negotiations in England fell through and Radisson made more +satisfactory terms with his old allies, the French, and sailed under that +flag to Hudsons Bay, outwitted both the officials of the Hudsons Bay +Company and the free traders from New England and France became supreme +in the Bay. But again the government of New France threw away the prize, +for when Radisson and Chouart arrived at Montreal they were prosecuted +for trading without a license. They were summoned to France to explain +the circumstances to the Home Government, but when they arrived they +found that Colbert, the minister who summoned them, was dead. Chouart, +thoroughly discouraged, retired to end his days in quietness, for the +outlook was anything but encouraging. + +However, Radisson, looking with eagerness still for the life of +adventure, and having a family to support, played French against English +offers until at last he went across to England and in 1684 he sailed for +Hudsons Bay under the flag of the Company. Here he found young Chouart, +the son, who had been holding the Bay for France, who, when he heard of +the treatment given his father and Radisson, surrendered the fort and +the furs to Radisson, who thereupon gathered the Indian tribes and made +a treaty with them and the Hudsons Bay Company, which in essence lasts +unto this day. Returning to England they received a great welcome, and +for five years Radisson made annual visits to the Bay and the Company +flourished. + +[Illustration: COUNCIL OF THE TURTLE CLAN + +The Turtle Clan chiefs of the Onondagas are discussing some important +tribal subject within the private bark lodge of their fire-keeper. The +presiding chief must give the decision. The chief woman of the clan feels +that the council’s action is adverse to her interests and requests her +secretary, a young man, to register her protest. + +The bark cabin is a typical Iroquois lodge of the individual type. + +All the furnishings of the council lodge are of genuine Indian make and +typical of prehistoric times in an Onondaga village. The figures are cast +from living Onondaga models. + +The purpose of this group is to illustrate (1) one of the political units +of the Iroquois Confederacy, which had a stable government and a definite +code of law, (2) the interior of a bark cabin (many of which were more +than 100 feet in length), (3) the four Turtle clan sachems in council, +(4) the method of recording by wampum the transactions of a council, (5) +the privilege of the Iroquois woman to voice her opinions in the highest +or lowest councils of the nation, (6) typical Onondaga Indians and a +scene in the Onondaga country.] + +The great Seven Years’ War between France and England broke out in 1688 +with the accession of William and Mary, and the Bay was invaded by the +French, the fur trade badly disorganized, and the profits of the Company +greatly decreased. + +As is too often the case with corporations, gratitude for what had been +accomplished was wiped out by the disappointment of the present, and +Radisson, who had done so much for the company, was ignored; too old to +be of aggressive service to them, he drops out of sight, and is forgotten +except for the record of the payment of a small pension up to the year +1710. + +His was a wonderful life. Impulsive, yet cool-headed at critical times, +daring, reckless and inconstant, but generous and brave, he was the true +adventurer who, with no thought of himself, braved danger for the very +love of it, and whose memory is preserved among the Indians as one who +was untainted by the vices of the white man, who never was cruel and who +was admired for his sheer bravery. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MONTCALM AND THE FALL OF NEW FRANCE. + + “The history of French America is far more picturesque than the + history of British America in the period of 1608-1754. But the + English were doing work more solid, valuable and permanent than + their northern neighbours. The French took to the lakes, rivers + and forests; they cultivated the Indians; their explorers were + intent on discovery, their traders on furs, their missionaries + on souls. The English did not either take to the woods or + cultivate the Indians, they loved agriculture and trade, state + and church, and so clung to the fields, shops, politics and + churches. As a result while Canada languished, the English + states grew up on the Atlantic plain modelled on the Saxon + pattern, and became populous, rich and strong. At the beginning + of the war there were 80,000 white inhabitants in New France, + 1,160,000 in the British colonies.” + + —PROFESSOR B. A. HINSDALE. + + +MONTCALM AND THE FALL OF NEW FRANCE. + +What the gold mines of Mexico and Peru were to the Spaniards the fur +trade of New France was to the French, and until the furs arrived in +Montreal or Quebec, they could not be considered safe, for in the Ohio +country and especially at the Niagara portage, and even on the way to +Frontenac, they were liable to attack from the English and their Indian +allies. + +To protect this trade the French built a strong fort at the mouth of the +Niagara River, part of which may be seen to-day in what is known as Fort +Niagara on the American side of the river. At the head of the portage, +above the Falls, there was a smaller fort called Fort Little Niagara. + +This was the great trading centre, not only for the district immediately +tributary to it, such as Toronto (at the mouth of what is now called +the Humber River, and which in summer was very busy) but for all the +north-west country which with the development of Detroit had increased in +wealth and inhabitants. Toronto was really an outpost of Niagara and was +established with the great French forward movement in 1749. It had been +officially named Fort Rouillé after the Colonial Minister of the day, who +was also a man of letters, and the head of the Royal Library. However, +this name was too artificial to survive and the old name for the bay and +river, Toronto, maintained its hold upon the people. + +In 1749 the French determined upon a great expedition to show their power +and assert their sovereignty over the Ohio country and to warn off all +strangers from trading on French territory. So in June of that year with +23 canoes and 250 men they left Lachine, passed through Niagara in July, +and made their triumphal way through the Ohio country to Detroit, and +thence back to Montreal in November. + +The headquarters of the English on the Lakes was at Oswego. This was +the great rival of Niagara as a trading centre. When the war had raised +the prices in France the French traders at Niagara raised their prices +correspondingly—and even more. The Indians grumbled and went on to +Oswego, where they could trade with the English to better advantage. The +French, feeling that their trade with the Indians was being endangered +urged an expedition against Oswego, and in 1756 Montcalm took the place +by storm in the greatest battle which up to that time had been fought +between the French and the English for control of the Lakes. + +This disaster followed closely upon the defeat of Braddock at Duquesne, +made especially famous because of the presence of George Washington, +the colonial, as junior officer, who, accustomed to the Indian manner +of fighting, warned General Braddock, but whose advice the haughty +English general thought beneath notice; and still more was heaped upon +the unfortunate English when Montcalm defeated them at Ticonderoga. It +certainly looked as if there must needs be a vigorous policy on the part +of the English if they were to have any of the trade on the great inland +waters. + +Pitt, the Premier of England, saw this and made plans for an aggressive +campaign. In 1758 Colonel Bradstreet, with American provincials, captured +Fort Frontenac, burned and sank seven vessels of war, captured sixty +cannon and destroyed the Fort and incidentally the shipyard, which was +the first upon the Great Lakes. This success greatly heartened the +English and made them think how simple might be the conquest of other +places if they had ships of war. It was the awakening of the English to +the importance of “sea power” on the Lakes. + +Now Niagara was the centre of French power and influence, situated on the +great portage which practically controlled the great trade from the West. +The fort had been greatly strengthened during 1756-7, and the English +carefully gathered a strong force. It was a real siege, in which the +assailing force used trench warfare to make steady and safe advances. +After nineteen days the garrison surrendered to Sir William Johnson, who +was ranking commander on account of the deaths of the superior officers +during the siege. Sir William had joined the investing force with 900 +Indians, the largest number ever led into battle by a white man. When he +entered the fort one of the most interesting of his companions was Joseph +Brant, a Mohawk lad of 17, destined to become one of the most renowned +men of his day. And now the English for the first time had access to the +great fur trade. + +While speaking of this fort it will be of interest to note that in the +common English speech of that day the pronunciation of the name of the +fort was Niagàra. Our present pronunciation would have been impossible to +the Iroquois tongue, which requires that each syllable should end in a +vowel. + +While these disasters were overtaking the French on the Lakes, the +English under Wolfe had sailed up the St. Lawrence after clearing the +coasts below, and were preparing to attack Quebec. Indeed the news of +the capture of Niagara, which came at a very opportune moment, greatly +heartened the English and correspondingly depressed the French. + +The situation was perilous. Fort Frontenac was destroyed, Fort Niagara in +the hands of the English, Amherst was advancing, as part of Pitt’s plan, +through New York State by way of Oswego, against Montreal, and a strong +English force under Wolfe, selected specially for this work by Pitt, was +before the capital city of Quebec. + +The internal affairs of the country were not promising. Montcalm, the +general of the French forces, an able military man of good experience, +was not supreme, but had to take his orders from Vaudreuil, the governor, +a weak and jealous man, fatal failings in a position of authority. And +with almost the powers of the governor, was the Intendant, a man called +Bigot, to whose looseness in matters of morals and money may be partially +ascribed the loss of New France. The defects of the rulers were to be +seen in the officials under them, and it was a difficult task that +confronted Montcalm. + +The advance against Quebec was made by water, and up to the battle +itself the movements were those of a fleet. The commander of the army +was General Wolfe, selected by Pitt, the Prime Minister of England, and +to him was given what was then the extraordinary privilege of selecting +most of his staff and thus providing for unity of aim and community of +interest. Saunders was Admiral of the fleet. + +At first they lay below the city and tried sundry attacks by land, but +without success. Then they made a skilful movement up the river and in a +better position to make a direct attack. + +Quebec is a natural stronghold, and had to depend largely upon this +for protection. Large sums of money had been assigned for the greater +development and strengthening of the fortifications, but in those days of +corruption and thoughtlessness the money had doubtless been squandered. +Its great cliffs might have presented a hopeless appearance to the enemy +if properly guarded, but Wolfe knew through his capable Intelligence +Department, that there was but little ammunition and little food in the +garrison. Above all, there was a lack of intelligence and co-operation +among the rulers of the French, an evidence of which was the fact that +a great fleet could make its way up the dangerous St. Lawrence with +practically no opposition. + +Wolfe studied out the situation and, emboldened by the good news from +the Lakes, planned an assault by night. Carefully selecting the place, +he told no one but the admiral and the captain who was to lead the great +procession of boats to the assault. Shortly after midnight on September +12th, 1759, the boats in line dropped down the river with Wolfe and his +staff in the leading boat. They passed successfully a French sentry who +thought they were a French convoy, and about four o’clock on that autumn +morning Wolfe leaped ashore at a cove about a mile and a half above the +city, and led his men up the steep path which he had already carefully +investigated. Again they successfully answered the challenge of a sentry +and by six o’clock the whole landing force was on the heights. + +It was a surprise to the French, but even then the chance for recovery +would have been greater if Montcalm had not been hampered by having to +consult the governor on all details. This was a national crisis. Half a +continent was at stake and yet the man whose training had been for this +purpose, whose business it was to know what to do at such a crisis, had +to lay his plans before a political appointee, who in turn used his power +for the humiliation of the expert military leader. + +But Montcalm was a patriot, and he made the best of the situation. By +nine o’clock the French marched out in battle array against Wolfe’s army, +which by this time had reached the level known as the Plains of Abraham. +The armies were almost equal in numbers, approximately 5,000 each, and +as the French advanced to the attack, which was their best policy, Wolfe, +advancing his men so that the action would be close, gave the order that +no shot was to be fired until the enemy was within forty paces. It was +a difficult matter to remain steady and resist the temptation to fire, +but they did, and when at forty paces a volley was let loose, followed +immediately by a second, the French line wavered and Wolfe gave the order +to charge. + +The French could not withstand the shock and the battle was won. Wolfe, +already wounded, received a death wound in the first moment of the +charge. While being carried to the rear he heard some one say, “They run, +they run!” Wolfe roused himself and asked, “Who run?” “The French, sir! +Egad! they give way everywhere!” “Then I die content.” And so passed +away the young intrepid general, who had recognized fully the great +issues involved in this encounter and on the previous evening had made a +disposition of all his belongings. + +And Montcalm, while trying to rally the fugitives, was stricken down, and +when told that he could not live, replied calmly, “So much the better. I +am happy not to live to see the surrender of Quebec.” + +The battle lasted until mid-day, and the result was a triumph for Wolfe’s +tactics, for it was a carefully planned attack, and nothing was left +to chance. Quebec surrendered, the French troops marched out with the +honours of war, and the reign of France was virtually over in the New +World. + +Montcalm was buried in the Ursuline chapel at Quebec, while Wolfe’s body +was carried on the Royal William to Portsmouth in charge of Sergeant +Donald MacLeod, of the Black Watch, all his years a soldier and with +twelve sons in the army and navy. + +Years afterwards, to these two great generals, noble and self-sacrificing +men, each doing his duty to his country even to the sacrifice of his +life, a monument was erected in the city for whose possession they had +fought. On one side is the word Montcalm; on the other Wolfe; and on the +pedestal between these words: + + MORTEM VIRTUS COMMUNEM + FAMAM HISTORIA + MONUMENTUM POSTERITAS + DEDIT. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +PONTIAC AND THE LAST HOPE OF INDIAN SUPREMACY. + + “For a mausoleum a city has arisen above the forest hero; and + the race whom he hated with such burning rancour trample with + unceasing footsteps over his forgotten grave.” + + —PARKMAN. + + +PONTIAC AND THE LAST HOPE OF INDIAN SUPREMACY. + +We sometimes speak of the victory of Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham +and the subsequent surrender of Quebec as having involved the transfer +of Canada or New France from the French to the English. It really was +the first and most important in the series of events which led to this +transfer. + +The situation at Quebec presented many difficulties. England had but a +small force, and had barely defeated the French. It was the Fall of the +year with the cold winter approaching which proved a terrible time for +the English, unaccustomed to so severe a climate, and in a city much +of which was in ruins. Unity of purpose and decisive action on the part +of the French might have cut off the English, but in the dread of being +separated from their base of supplies the French retreated to Montreal. + +Early in the spring Chevalier de Levis, second in command to Montcalm, +gathered an army in Montreal of 7,000 men and reached Quebec in April. +Murray, the English commander, marched out to the attack, but was badly +defeated and retreated into the city. + +And now the fate of New France was in the balance. Quebec was not in +condition to stand a siege. The English forces had met with a decided +reverse. The French were heartened by the victory, but were not strong +enough to follow it up vigorously. Word was received that ships were +coming up the river. Were they French or English? It was an anxious +moment, and when at last the English flag was seen floating at the +masthead the French fell back upon Montreal and the fate of New France +was practically settled. + +Against Montreal Murray led the forces from Quebec expecting there to +make connections with Amherst, who was on his way from New York by way of +Oswego and the St. Lawrence. The junction of forces was so well managed +that Vaudreuil surrendered, and was able to make excellent terms with his +generous conquerors. + +And so from Louisbourg to Quebec, to Montreal, to Frontenac (taken by +Bradstreet) to Niagara (taken by Sir William Johnson) New France was in +the possession of the English. + +But New France extended far beyond Niagara, and the forts at Pitt (where +Pittsburg now stands), Detroit, Michillimackinac, Sault Ste. Marie, +and the strongly fortified Fort Chartres near the present city of St. +Louis, had heard nothing of the happenings in the Far East; and in this +connection it must be remembered that all the Indians except the Iroquois +were allies of the French or friendly disposed towards them, and none but +an Englishman of that day could have imagined, as Amherst did, that the +Indians were hardly worth considering and that the fighting was now over. + +These outposts of the French were to be formally taken over and Major +Robert Rogers, of Rogers’ Rangers, was despatched to Detroit. He sent a +messenger ahead to acquaint the commander with what had taken place at +Montreal, so to give him time to consider the question of surrendering +the fort. + +When nearing Detroit Major Rogers was stopped by Pontiac, an Indian chief +of the Ottawa nation, who demanded of him by what right he was entering +upon the territory of the Ottawas and allied tribes. He was given a +friendly answer; they smoked the pipe of peace and seemingly parted good +friends; but the English made no further efforts to conciliate him by +presents or friendly overtures. In other words, they were not diplomatic +in their dealings, and the Indians resented the lack of tact and +consideration shown them, the original inhabitants of the country. + +There is nothing which so hurts a sensitive man or a sensitive nation as +contempt, and Pontiac, gathering about him a great council of the Indians +of that region, spoke in an impassioned and eloquent manner of this +opportunity, perhaps the last, to drive out the white man. + +Pontiac was the Napoleon of the Indian tribes of New France. He was not +only courageous in battle but he was a genius in the art of war and was +eloquent in council, with a power of winning others to his cause. It is +said that he was in command of the Indians on the occasion of Braddock’s +famous defeat at Fort Duquesne, made especially noteworthy because of +the presence of George Washington on Braddock’s staff. At any rate it is +known that Pontiac had been the guest of Montcalm at Quebec, certainly a +tribute to his greatness, and that he proudly wore a uniform presented to +him by that general. + +[Illustration: THE CAYUGA FALSE FACE CEREMONY + +This is the midwinter purification rite, when evil spirits are driven +from all the houses of the Iroquois village. Grotesquely clad and masked +medicine men burst into the cabins throwing open the doors and windows +and commence to scatter the ashes of the hearth and to kindle a new +fire. Then they sprinkle white ashes on the heads of the people, blowing +through their hands. This is supposed to cure any disease. The medicine +man’s reward is a pipe bowl of tobacco, which one dancer is begging from +the frightened boy. + +The Indian cabin is genuine and typical of the period (1687-1850) when +New York Indians had traders’ cloth and tools. The figures are life casts +of Cayuga Indians. + +The purpose of this group is to show the changes wrought by the +acquisition of European metallic tools, cloth and other articles. +Material culture was greatly changed by the giving up of native tools +and materials. The methods of labor to a degree also changed, but the +religious, social and civil organization yet remained and was more slowly +disintegrated. The false face ceremony is one of the more spectacular +rites common among all the Iroquois.] + +This, then, was the man who in 1763 assembled a council near Detroit, +at which were present Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Sacs, +Foxes, Menominees, Wyandots, Mississagas, Shawnees and Delawares, +representing nearly 2,000 warriors, and told them that he had received a +wampum belt from their father, the King of France, who commanded his red +children to fight the English. + +When Major Rogers reached Detroit the city at once surrendered and Rogers +planned to go to Mackinac, but it was too late in the year and he had to +return to New York. + +In the spring Pontiac laid out his great plan of campaign by which +Detroit was to be the first fort to be assailed. Having obtained +permission to hold a peace dance at Detroit, his braves had carefully +spied out the fort, and after consultation with him fifty warriors were +selected who were to saw off their gun barrels, so that the weapons +might be hidden under the blankets, and in this fashion were to ask for +a parley with the English commander. Fortunately for the garrison, the +commander was informed of these plans by a spy, and when Pontiac and his +fifty followers entered the fort they were surprised to see the warlike +preparations. With a bland innocence which often had served him well, +Pontiac asked why so many of the young men were in the streets with guns. +“Just for exercise and discipline,” said the equally bland commander, and +asked Pontiac to state his case. Just as the Indian was about to present +the wampum belt in the reverse way—which was to be the signal for the +massacre—the commander made a sign, the war drums of the garrison crashed +out a charge and Pontiac saw that he was detected. He then presented it +in the usual way and the English commander told him that as long as they +behaved they would be taken care of and peace would be maintained. He +then approached Pontiac, pulled open his blanket and disclosed the short +rifle concealed beneath. There was nothing for Pontiac to do but retire, +which he did with his fifty braves. + +This was really the beginning of the contest and Detroit was in a state +of siege. The fort was in the midst of what was a military colony +extending from twelve to sixteen miles along the west bank of the river. +It had been founded in 1701 by Cadillac, who was virtually a feudal lord, +owning the fort, the church, the gristmill, the brewery, warehouses, barn +and the very fruit trees themselves, which had been brought from France. +Cadillac was a remarkable organizer, and against great difficulties and +severe opposition from forts already established, he had been able to +persuade the French Government to support him in the development of this +colony. + +Indeed, this is one of the earliest instances in Canada of assisted +immigration and subsidies to settlers, such as we are accustomed to think +of as belonging to modern times. In 1748 the French Government offered +any settler who would go to Detroit one spade, one axe, one plough, one +large and one small wagon, a cow, and a pig. Seed would be given to be +returned after the third harvest. The women and children were supported +for one year after coming to the colony. In this way Detroit had come to +be a place of about 2,500 people. + +The plan now was to starve out the garrison by killing all the settlers +outside the fort who were in any way sympathetic with the English cause. +At the same time they waylaid all relief expeditions sent from the +East, and at first were very fortunate, as the English officers did +not understand the Indian method of warfare and were easily led into +ambuscades. For five months this little garrison had been surrounded by +a thousand or more savages, but notwithstanding various successes the +Indians were becoming tired. + +Siege warfare long continued was not congenial to them, and little by +little they began to desert until by October there were only the Ottawas, +his own tribe, left. When, therefore, at the end of that month the French +governor at Fort Chartres sent a message to Pontiac that the Great Father +in France had given up all his possessions over here to the English, the +great chief raised the siege in disgust and left for the south. There he +hoped to rally the Indians for a final stand, but when he found it could +not be done he reluctantly made terms of peace with the representative +of Sir William Johnson at Detroit in August of 1764. On that occasion he +spoke in the Peace Council as follows: + + “Father, we have all smoked out of this pipe of peace. It is + your children’s pipe; and as the war is over and the Great + Spirit and Giver of Light who has made all the earth and + everything therein has brought us all together this day for + our mutual good, I declare to all nations that I have settled + my peace with you before I came here, and now deliver my pipe + to be sent to Sir William Johnson that he may know I have + made peace and taken the King of England for my father in the + presence of all the nations now assembled; and whenever any of + these nations go to visit him they may smoke out of it with him + in peace. Fathers, we are obliged to you for lighting up our + old council fire for us and desiring us to return to it, but we + are now settled on the Miami river not far from hence. Whenever + you want us you will find us there.” + +In 1766 Pontiac visited Sir William Johnson at his castle on the Mohawk +and smoked the pipe of peace with that great warrior. Thence he went +south to Fort Chartres, the last place in New France where floated the +lilies of France, that flag which for over two centuries had been the +symbol of sovereignty from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of +Mexico. There he became embroiled in a quarrel and was killed by one of +the Illinois in a cowardly manner, an act for which that tribe had to pay +dearly in the vengeance exacted by the friends of the great old chief. + +But this story would hardly be complete if we did not point out that +Pontiac’s plot for the surprise of Detroit was not a merely local +attack, but was part of a comprehensive plan for the surprise of all +the forts held by the English against which, as far as possible, a +simultaneous attack was to be made so that it would be difficult for the +English to help the garrisons and impossible for the forts to help one +another. + +The most striking of these attacks was that on Fort Michillimackinac. On +June 4th the English garrison planned to celebrate the anniversary of the +birthday of George III. Games were to be held on the plain outside the +fort and the Chippewas and Sacs asked that they be allowed to take part +and give the garrison the pleasure of seeing the great Indian national +game of lacrosse played by experts. This was granted and a great crowd +gathered. + +The game was well played and so warmly contested that the excitement was +intense. Player pursued player, tripping and slashing in true Indian +fashion. When the game was at its height a player threw the ball at a +point near the gate of the fort. There was a wild rush for the ball, and +when they reached the gate lacrosse sticks were thrown aside and the +closely blanketed squaws who were there in large numbers opened their +blankets and threw out tomahawks and knives to the braves. Madly they +rushed in, took possession of the fort, fell upon the garrison and the +traders, butchered some and carried off the others as prisoners. + +Smaller trading posts were taken in like fashion by cunning or by direct +attack when cunning failed, and for a short time it looked as if the +English would have a difficult task to capture and hold the Mississippi +Valley. But the rebellion ceased with the fall of the genius who had +conceived it, the last great Indian chief of New France. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE GRAY GOWNS AND THE BLACK. + + “My boatmen sit apart, + Wolf-eyed, wolf-sinewed, stiller than the trees. + Help me, O Lord, for very slow of heart + And hard of faith are these. + Cruel are they, yet Thy children. Foul are they, + Yet wert Thou born to save them utterly. + Then make me as I pray, + Just to their hates, kind to their sorrows, wise + After their speech, and strong before their free + Indomitable eyes.” + + MARJORIE PICKTHALL. + + +THE GRAY GOWNS AND THE BLACK. + +When Champlain on his return from New France to his native village of +Brouage told of the vast country which lay beyond the seas, with its +thousands of inhabitants who knew nothing of Christianity, the priests of +the monastery in that village were so impressed with the magnitude of the +work and the necessity for having Christianity presented to these heathen +and savages, that four volunteered to accompany him to New France. They +reached Quebec in May, 1615. They were Franciscans of the Récollet +Order, and were distinguished in dress by the gray robe girt with the +white cord. Hence they are often referred to as the priests of the Gray +Gown. + +The most prominent of these was Le Caron, who joined a band of Hurons +returning after a successful sale of their winter’s hunting. Their route +was up the Ottawa, Lake Nipissing and French River to Lake Huron. This +was a memorable trip in many ways, but especially because Le Caron was +the first white man to see what we now call Lake Huron—indeed the first +of the Great Lakes to be discovered by a white man—or to sail upon its +waters. Down among the islands of what is now Georgian Bay they went +until they came near where Penetanguishene now stands, and at a large +Huron village he awaited the coming of Champlain. + +On the 12th August Le Caron celebrated mass and held the first religious +service in all this territory, which afterwards was known as Upper +Canada. Three hundred years afterwards this event was remembered by mass +being celebrated as nearly as known on the same spot, and a monument +erected. + +Champlain and he spent most of the winter with the Hurons and made visits +to their neighbours, the Petuns, or Tobacco Indians, along the south +shore of Nottawasaga Bay, and at the foot of the Blue Hills near where +the town of Collingwood now stands. + +After returning to Quebec to consult with the other members of the Order +who had come out to reinforce the small number of missionaries, Le Caron +in 1623 returned to his Hurons with Father Viel and Brother Sagard. To +the industry of the latter we owe a dictionary of the Huron language. + +They laboured on with zeal but without making much lasting impression and +they realized that the field was too large and the priests were too few. +The Récollets had been in New France for about ten years and had founded +missions in Acadia in the east, Huronia in the west, Nipissing and Upper +St. John. They now realized that the Order was not equipped with the +machinery or organization necessary to deal with so great a problem and +in their despair they sent a deputation to the Jesuits in France to state +the problem and ask their aid. + +The invitation to come to their help was accepted by the Jesuits and in +1625 three of these priests of the “Black Gown” landed at Quebec. They +were met by the Récollets, who became their hosts and took care of them +until the work of organizing the mission could be undertaken. Two of +these were Brebeuf and Lalemant, the former of whom set off for Huronia +but turned back when he heard of the death of the Gray Robe, Father Viel, +who was on his way from Huronia to Quebec. He was drowned in what is +known as the Riviere des Prairies near Montreal, where the rapids are +known to this day as the Sault au Récollet—The Récollet Rapids. + +Champlain granted to the Jesuits land for their headquarters, where +they might build their mission, and establish their farm in connection +therewith, for they were practical men. Indeed, so firmly did they +believe in having a definite investment in the country in which they were +labouring that by the end of the French rule in this country the Jesuits +were the largest land owners in New France. In planning their missionary +labours Brebeuf was assigned to Huronia, the field which for nearly +twenty-three years was to be his home. + +When Quebec was taken by Kirke four years afterwards, the priests with +the other official inhabitants were taken away as prisoners, and when the +country was restored to France and the conduct of affairs given over to +the Company of 100 Associates, the Récollets were not allowed to return. +The excuse was that one Order was all that could be supported by the +Company, and the Jesuits were the better organized. Thus passed away the +Brethren of the Gray Robes except in some isolated cases in later days, +when as in 1669, under the Intendant Talon, some few returned. + +And now commences the romantic story of the Jesuits, the priests of the +Black Robe, to whose mission journals called “Relations,” we owe most of +our information of the early history of our country. From 1632 to 1673 +there appeared annually in Paris a volume called a Relation, in which the +work of the Jesuits in New France for the twelve months was described and +reports from the missionaries incorporated or quoted. + +These were very popular for they were interesting, romantic, full of +information that was new and strange, and often were the means of +stimulating wealthy people to help the cause of evangelisation; in some +cases impelling persons to offer themselves as helpers in the great work, +and still others to come out to this great land for the sheer adventure. + +All the work of the Jesuits was characterized by the spirit of +self-sacrifice on the part of the individual and by the efficiency of +machinery. This is noticeable in the Relation or Annual Report published +each year and which in form and method furnishes even to-day a model +for the annual report of great institutions. Another aspect of their +efficiency is seen in the way in which they prepared their missionaries +for the task before them. There was a training period of two years during +which the Jesuit studied the languages of the tribes among whom he was +likely to live and became accustomed to the methods of living and the +customs of the new country. + +A striking illustration of the worldly wisdom of the superior officers of +the Order is found in a circular issued to the missionaries who were to +go up with the Indians to Huronia: + + “You should love the Indians like brothers with whom you are + to spend the rest of your life. Never make them wait for you + when embarking. Take a flint and steel to light their pipes + and kindle their fires at night; for these little services win + their hearts. Try to eat their sagamité, as they cook it,—bad + and dirty as it is. Fasten up the skirts of your cassock + that you may not carry water or sand into the canoe. Wear no + shoes or stockings in the canoe, but you may put them on in + crossing the portages. Do not make yourself troublesome even + to a single Indian. Do not ask them too many questions. Bear + their faults in silence and appear always cheerful. Buy fish + for them from the tribes you will pass; and for this purpose + take with you some awls, beads, knives, and fish hooks. Be not + ceremonious with the Indians; take at once what they offer you. + Ceremony offends them. Be very careful when in the canoe that + the brim of your hat does not annoy them. Perhaps it would + be better to wear your night cap. There is no such thing as + impropriety among Indians. Remember it is Christ and His cross + that you are seeking; and if you aim at anything else you will + get nothing but affliction for body and mind.” + +There were some, of course, who had not the gift of learning languages. +These returned to France or were employed in the missions in the white +settlements. It was from such training and with the motto of the Order +animating every thought and action they went forth: “Ad majorem Dei +gloriam,”—for the greater glory of God. + +Naturally, the first great mission was to the Hurons, who had been the +firm friends of the French, and who had been introduced to Christianity +already by the Récollets; and who, moreover, lived in permanent +settlements, and cultivated their fields. So the Jesuits followed the +trail of Le Caron and for nearly a quarter of a century Brebeuf and his +companions worked faithfully in Huronia, that part of what is now known +as the province of Ontario called the county of Simcoe and bordering upon +the Georgian Bay. His brother priest in this great missionary enterprise +was Lalemant. Headquarters with a school were now established in a +well-planned fort, which they built on the eastern bank of the Wye and +from which missionaries were sent out to some twelve stations in Huronia, +and among the neighbouring tribes. This was really a model settlement for +the Hurons, who could see fields of corn, beans, pumpkins and wheat, with +pigs and cattle outside, and shops of useful trades inside where were the +men at the forge, the shoe shop, the laundry and the carpenter shop. + +The Hurons, however, were ignorant and superstitious and the medicine men +took advantage of epidemics of sickness, which arose from the unsanitary +living, to blame the missionaries, who indeed must have been men of +infinite patience and unselfish devotion to their work. + +[Illustration: THE CORN HARVEST + +Among the Iroquois the cultivation of maize, beans, squashes and other +garden produce was extensive and furnished a large portion of their food +supply. The women of each village were organized in companies to plant +and harvest the grain. The men cleared the land and provided the meat +supply, but they seldom worked in the fields. + +This group depicts a harvest scene in the Genesee valley on the flats +near Squakie hill at Mount Morris. The activities are gathering and +braiding corn, shelling beans, pounding corn for meal and baking corn +bread. The man has just come from his canoe and reaches the field in time +for lunch. + +The figures are life casts of Seneca Indians.] + +And now just when it seemed as if they might see some result of their +long and unselfish labour the Iroquois began to make raids upon this +northern country. There were constant encounters on the trading journeys +to Quebec, but in 1642 a great Huron village near where the town of +Orillia now stands was wiped out by a marauding party of Iroquois. +And yet the Hurons would not take seriously the warnings of their +missionaries and made no preparations against their unrelenting enemies. + +Watching for the departure of the great canoe fleet to Quebec in 1648, +the Iroquois made a sudden attack on Huronia and Father Daniel and his +village of St. Joseph were slaughtered. Next spring they returned, put +St. Ignace to the sword, took the village of St. Louis and stripped and +bound to stakes the Fathers Brebeuf and Lalemant. The tortures to which +these good men were put before they were killed can hardly be imagined +and cannot be described, all of which they stood with amazing fortitude. +Indeed, even the Indians, stolid as they were, could not help admiring +the courage of these martyrs for they drank the blood of Brebeuf that +they might be as brave as he. + +The spirit of these men can be understood in the description given us +by Marjorie Pickthall, one of our own poets, of Father Lalemant, on a +missionary journey: + + “My hour of rest is done; + On the smooth ripple lifts the long canoe; + The hemlocks murmur sadly as the sun + Slants his dim arrows through. + Whither I go I know not, nor the way, + Dark with strange passions, vexed with heathen charms, + Holding I know not what of life or death; + Only be Thou beside me day by day, + Thy rod my guide and comfort, underneath + Thy everlasting arms.” + +And so the Iroquois went through Huronia burning and scalping until there +was only a mass of ruins, and the remnant of the Hurons fled to St. +Joseph, on Christian Island, in Georgian Bay. Here they built a fort, but +soon realized that in such an isolated position they could be starved +out. Part of the nation went to Quebec, where they were protected and +given some land, and part went to Michillimackinac, and thence to Lake +Superior, where Father Marquette found them. Driven out by fear of the +Sioux they returned to Mackinac, and thence some of them settled near +Detroit, where under the name of Wyandots, they took part in the rising +against the English known as Pontiac’s war, just after the capture of +Quebec by Wolfe. + +This story of Huronia has been told in some detail because it illustrates +the work of the men of the Black Robe who shrank from no sacrifice, who +knew no fear, and for whom there could be no earthly reward. Huronia was +the greatest of the missions of the Jesuits, for there were twenty-five +members of the Order working among these people. + +But there were other missions. That among the fickle and warlike +Iroquois, with Jogues and Le Moyne, that at Ville Marie (Montreal), +afterwards given over to Sulpicians, who to this day are an extremely +powerful Order in this great city, and that at Sault Ste. Marie, where +Allouez, Dablon and Marquette had a mission which exercised a powerful +influence southwards to Michillimackinac and the country of the Illinois, +and westwards to where Fort William, Duluth, and even Winnipeg, now +stand. It was from this mission that Joliet, the Government official, and +Marquette, the Black Robe, set out on their journey to discover the great +Southern Sea, and which resulted in the discovery of the Mississippi. + +And so from Nova Scotia to the southern Mississippi and northwards to +Hudsons Bay, wherever there were Indian settlements of importance there +were Black Robes ministering to the wandering tribes, teaching methods +of greater production and less waste in the more settled places, and +everywhere endeavouring to show the benefits of law, order, and settled +government. There were seven churches or missions of the Jesuits in +New France—Acadia (Maine, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Cape Breton); +Tadoussac (lower St. Lawrence and Saguenay); Quebec, Montreal and Three +Rivers as one; Huronia; to the Iroquois; the Ottawa or Sault Ste. Marie +(Ojibways, Beaver, Crees, Ottawas, Menominees, Pottawatomies, Sacs, +Foxes, Winnebagoes, Miamis, Illinois and refugee Hurons), Louisiana. + +What they have left to us is not material wealth, but something +infinitely greater, the record of self devotion, self sacrifice, fearless +zeal and unflinching bravery even to a lingering death in a cause which +they put above all renown. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE IROQUOIS AND THE HURONS. + + “Stripped to the waist, his copper-colored skin + Red from the smouldering heat of hate within, + Lean as a wolf in winter, fierce of mood— + As all wild things that hunt for foes, or food— + War paint adorning breast and thigh and face, + Armed with the ancient weapons of his race, + A slender ashen bow, deer sinew string, + And flint-tipped arrow each with poisoned tongue,— + Thus does the Red man stalk to death his foe, + And sighting him strings silently his bow, + Takes his unerring aim, and straight and true + The arrow cuts in flight the forest through, + A flint which never made for mark and missed, + And finds the heart of his antagonist. + Thus has he warred and won since time began, + Thus does the Indian bring to earth his man.” + + From the poem, “The Archer,” by the late Pauline + Johnson, of the Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois. + + +THE IROQUOIS AND THE HURONS. + +When Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence nearly four hundred years ago the +Indians whom he met were of the Algonquin nation, one of the four great +divisions of Indians east of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The +others were the Iroquois, the Maskoki or Southern, and the Siouan of the +West. + +The Algonquin country extended from Tennessee to Hudsons Bay and from +the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and included the Delawares, Miamis, +Ojibways, Ottawas, Sacs, Foxes, Pottawatomies, and Illinois. They +lived in wigwams covered with bark or skins and were a warlike nation, +subsisting on hunting and fishing. There were probably 100,000 in number +when at the height of their prosperity. + +The Iroquois occupied the territory now known as Pennsylvania, New York, +the south shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and on the Upper St. +Lawrence. They were known as the Five Nations, the Mohawks, Oneidas, +Ononadagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, to which were added in 1715 the +Tuscaroras, who came north from Carolina and whose speech even to this +day differs much from the other Iroquois tongue. These made up what we +know so well as the Six Nations. They never numbered more than 40,000, +but they were mobile and made forays from their towns in New York, +sweeping over the country like a scourge and returning to their villages +for feasting. A Jesuit, describing the raids of the Iroquois, said “They +approach like foxes, they attack like tigers, disappear like birds.” + +Algonquin was the general name for the tribes enumerated, but there was +no bond of union except a likeness of language, while, on the other hand, +the tribes of the Iroquois were in a real confederacy, which enabled them +to join together against a common enemy. It was this power of organized +and sustained warfare that made them so formidable. Even as early as the +time of the coming of the white man they had reached a comparatively +high stage of social development and government, so that they lived in +villages, and the Long House or community dwelling in which many families +lived under one roof, indeed in one room, was being displaced by the +separate hut. In the centre of the village was the Council House, the +place of meeting, of ceremonials and of trade, just as the Town Hall and +Market are to-day in many a town. + +We are given an interesting picture of the Council in a Mohawk village in +New York: + +“Sixty old men sat on a circle of mats smoking around the central fire. +Before them stood the captives.... After passing the Council pipe from +hand to hand in solemn silence, the Sachems prepared to give their views. +One arose, and offering the smoke of incense to the four winds of +heaven, to invoke witness to the justice of the trial, gave his opinion +on the matter of life and death. Each of the chiefs in succession spoke. +Without any warning whatever one chief rose and tomahawked three of the +captives. That had been the sentence. The rest were driven to lifelong +slavery.” + +When the palisaded or stockaded village life was abandoned for the freer, +more independent life of the great village, the location was generally +upon the banks of a stream so that there might be a plentiful supply of +water, and in many cases easier transportation. While not an agricultural +people they had always enough women and captives to provide the means of +living, for the warriors and the hunters returning with game. Fields of +corn, pumpkins, and squashes, orchards of plum and apple, and small herds +of hogs and cattle were to be found in these villages; for the handling +of the fruit and water, baskets and pots were made with great skill by +the women. + +The Iroquois were great travellers, and a thousand mile journey was +little to them if the object to be attained seemed worth while. They were +intelligent in the making of trails so as to get the shortest and easiest +route, an illustration of which may be seen to-day in the fact that the +New York Central Railway from Lake Erie to the Hudson River follows an +Iroquois trail. + +Their principal ceremonies were in honour of the season, the Maple Sugar +Festival at the going of the snows of winter, and the Green Corn Dance, +and the Harvest Home Festival of the autumn. + +The legend of Hiawatha, the most popular of all poems relating to Indian +life, was told by Longfellow as if Hiawatha were an Ojibway, whereas it +is likely that the story in its original form was from the Ononadaga +nation of the Iroquois, and Hiawatha is the very wise man who formed a +plan of universal peace among the nations of the Iroquois. However, it +may have been because the Iroquois and the Ojibways were very friendly up +to the middle of the seventeenth century, when the Ojibways sympathized +with the Hurons whom the Iroquois had driven from Huronia on the Georgian +Bay. They afterwards made peace and became as brothers. So much so +indeed that when many, many years afterward the Mississagas, a band of +the Ojibways, were forced to give up their reserved lands on the River +Credit, near Toronto, the Iroquois on the Grand River Reservation took +them in and gave them a tract of valuable land. Longfellow took many +phases of the legend and grouped them so as to give the atmosphere of +Indian life and interpret the meaning of its ceremonies. The leading +thought in all the legends is: + + “How he prayed and how he fasted, + How he lived, and toiled, and suffered. + That the tribes of men might prosper, + That he might advance his people!” + +This is the great legend of the Indians of New France told in every +winter lodge, and told in a somewhat different form among different +tribes. It gets local colour from the traditions of the particular tribe. + +How they became the unrelenting enemy of the French we are told in the +story of Champlain, who joined the Hurons and Algonquins in 1609, when +they were on an expedition against the Iroquois, who lived near Lake +Champlain. It was in that battle the Iroquois first saw and experienced +the effect of the death dealing musket of the white man, and they never +forgot that it was used against them by the French. + +Each nation was divided into tribes or clans with names such as Wolf, +Bear, or Turtle, and as the same tribes were in all the nations, the +section in each nation was related to the corresponding section in all +the other nations. So the Seneca Turtle was a brother to the Mohawk +Turtle. The families belonging to the Turtles were the most respected and +were accorded the highest honours. + +Each of the nations had its own government for local affairs and elected +sachems to sit in the Great Council of all the Nations, where fifty +sachems dealt with national affairs. It is not too much to say that the +Iroquois were the most intelligent of the Indians of New France, for +they were always ready, well organized, and watchful, and knew how to +take defeat. When pressed back by the French and village after village +destroyed by a great expedition organized to severely punish them, they +retired in good order, and when things had calmed down they returned, +rebuilt their villages, replanted their fields and planned revenge. + +The Hurons are said to have been relatives of the Iroquois, but if so +they must in some earlier time have ceased to be even friendly, for we +find them allied with the Algonquin, and from the time of Champlain on +the side of the French in the great international conflict. They lived +on the shores of the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, in what is called now +the County of Simcoe. This district was known as Huronia, and at the +height of their power there were about 30,000 inhabitants, almost as +many as live in the corresponding district to-day. They traded with the +French at Quebec by sending each year a fleet of canoes up the Bay and +by the French River, Lake Nipissing and the Ottawa River to the St. +Lawrence. This was the route by which Le Caron and Champlain entered this +great northern country in 1615, and were the first white men to see the +Great Lake, afterwards called Huron, the first of the Great Lakes to be +discovered by the French. The route by the Great Lakes was unknown, and +indeed all that southern country was dangerous because of the presence of +the dreaded Iroquois. + +They were more of an agricultural nation than were the Iroquois. Possibly +they were not better farmers, but they were poorer warriors and so +remained on the land more than their fighting relations. They raised +pumpkins, sunflowers and rye. The corn they planted in hills higher, +larger, and much further apart than we do to-day. + +They lived in villages in the Long Houses or community dwellings which +were to be found among the Iroquois in their early days. These were built +by bending saplings and tying them together to form the frame, which they +sheathed with bark. Down the centre were the fires, each of which was +shared generally by two families. The smoke was supposed to go out by a +hole in the roof. On either side of the fire and stretching from end to +end were platforms on which the families slept, while underneath were the +stores of clothing and provisions. No wonder the dogs, dirt and disease +impressed the missionaries to these people, and made them plan for huts +rather than a share in these dwellings. + +Some of the greater villages were palisaded for protection, but the +smaller ones were not permanent, being moved about at the will of the +people or because of the unsanitary condition of the land that had been +occupied. The villages became large when the necessity for protection +became greater and some had as many as 2,000 inhabitants. The favourite +site for a village was on high ground near springs or an inland lake, +so that there would be a good water supply. There was a village Council +or Assembly, which dealt with local matters and a tribal assembly for +matters of general importance but there was no union for offence and +defence well organized and ready for action, as among the Iroquois. + +The Hurons were smaller in stature than the Iroquois, the largest men +being about five feet eight inches in height. They had their feast +days, which resembled those of other nations in being associated with +the seasons, but their custom of burying the dead has a somewhat marked +character. The body was wrapped and placed on a platform away from +marauding animals and every ten years or thereabouts there was a great +Feast and Dance for the Dead, when, after preparing a great pit, the +bodies were placed in it sometimes in rows, sometimes in circles and +sometimes in parcels of bones of those who had been long dead. + +Into the pit were cast pottery, implements of warfare and kettles which +were first rendered useless so that the graves might not be desecrated. +This is in contrast to some other nations of Indians who bury with the +deceased the things which they think will be useful to him in the “happy +hunting ground” to which he has gone. This pit is called an Ossuary, and +to the excavation of these we owe much of our knowledge of this nation. +This communal burial with the Hurons corresponded to the communal life +which preceded the era of the individual burial and the individual wigwam. + +This Huronia county enjoyed great prosperity during the first half of +the seventeenth century with constantly increasing immigration, growing +villages, better implements for increased comfort in living, great +production and skill in handicraft owing to the influence and example of +the Jesuit mission. Into this peaceful country, unprepared for war, there +came in the last decade of this first half of the century the Iroquois +much as the Assyrian, “like the wolf on the fold.” In a series of well +planned, vigorous attacks the Hurons were massacred or driven out of the +country, the villages burned, the Jesuit missionaries slaughtered in the +fight, or reserved for a death by torture. + +First on one of the Christian Islands off the shore they built a fort, +but soon realized that the important question of food supply could not +be met as long as the Iroquois remained on the mainland and intercepted +all messengers. Part of the nation then set off for Quebec, and there +threw themselves upon the kindness of their friends, the French, who +gave them a grant of land and their protection. Others went north +to Michillimackinac, and in their fear went even well up into Lake +Superior, where they were ministered unto by Father Marquette. But they +were not long there until the warlike Sioux became so great a menace +that with their protector, the great Marquette, they went back again +to Michillimackinac. Afterwards many of them went still further south +and under the name of Wyandottes they settled near Sarnia and Windsor, +opposite the present city of Detroit. + +[Illustration: TYPICAL IROQUOIS INDUSTRIES + +This group depicts a company of Oneida Indians gathered in a sheltered +spot in their capital village on Nicols pond, township of Fenner, Madison +county. This was the fort unsuccessfully stormed by Champlain in 1615. + +The arrow maker is telling an amusing tale while he chips his flints. To +his right are a basket maker and a belt weaver. To his left are a wood +carver, a moccasin maker and a potter, all engaged at their trades as +they listen to the arrow maker’s tale. + +In aboriginal times among the Iroquois each person had an occupation and +was by necessity industrious. Both men and women had their special forms +of labor, which with the men was often arduous. + +The figures are casts of Oneida Indians made upon the New York and +Canadian reservations. + +The purpose of this group is to show six typical Iroquois industries and +to indicate the social nature of the workers. The Iroquois at home among +his own folk is social in habits and full of humor. To the stranger he +appears taciturn and diffident and oftentimes indolent.] + +These are typical nations of Indians of the days of New France, the +crafty, strong, nomadic, warlike and well organized Iroquois on whom +the missionaries could make little or no impression, the allies of the +English and the most feared of all the nations; and the less intelligent +and more domesticated, the traders and the canoemen, the hunter and +fisher, the unorganized Hurons, who suffered the missionaries to settle +among them and pretended to be converted because it did not interfere but +rather increased their comfort, the allies of the French, with little +initiative and no cohesion. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE COUREUR DES BOIS AND THE VOYAGEUR. + + “I have passed the warden cities at the Eastern watergate, + Where the hero and the martyr laid the cornerstone of State, + The habitant, coureurs-des-bois, and hardy voyageur, + Where lives a breed more strong at need to venture or endure.” + + SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. + + +THE COUREUR DES BOIS AND THE VOYAGEUR. + +An island just where the Ottawa River joins the St. Lawrence always +suggests to me in its name a Frenchman who, in the days following +Champlain, penetrated beyond the Mer Douce (Lake Huron) and was one of +the first white men to sail on Lake Superior. This was Perrot,[12] who, +like Etienne Brulé with Champlain, was known as a coureur des bois, a +runner of the woods, a trader, a guide, a hunter, a woodsman. Without him +and his companion, the voyageur, the efforts of priest and noble alike +to penetrate the great forests would have been all in vain. + +They followed the trails of the deer and other wild animals who were the +ancient roadmakers, and took advantage of all the waterways in their +light canoes. These journeys were not only full of danger, but were +attended by much hardship. In one of the journals of a missionary priest +from Quebec to the Huron Indians who lived on the south-eastern shore of +Georgian Bay, we read: + + “Of two difficulties regularly met with, the first is of rapids + and portages for these abound in every river throughout these + regions. When a person approaches such cataracts, or rapids, + he has to step ashore and carry on his back through forests + or over high, vexatious rocks not only his baggage, but also + the canoe. This is not accomplished without much labour, for + there are portages of one, two, and three leagues, each of + them requiring several journeys if one has ever so small a + number of packages. At some places where the rapids are not + less swift than at the portages, but of easier access, the + Indians, plunging into the water, drag their canoes and conduct + them with their hands with utmost difficulty and danger for + sometimes they are up to their necks in the current, so that + they have to let go their hold upon their canoes and save + themselves as best they can from the rapidity of the water + that snatches the canoe out of their hands and carries it off. + I have computed the number of portages and find that we carried + thirty-five times and dragged at least fifty times. The second + ordinary difficulty is that of food. A person is often obliged + to fast, especially if he happens to lose the places where he + stored away provisions on his down-river course. (Note.—The + familiar word to this day for such a hidden store is ‘cache.’) + Even when he finds them his appetite remains none the less + keen for having regaled himself with their contents, for the + usual repast is only a little corn broken between two stones, + and sometimes simply taken in fresh water, which is insipid + food. Sometimes he has fish, but this is mere chance unless he + happens to pass some tribe from whom he can buy it. Add to this + that a person must sleep upon the bare ground, perhaps on a + hard rock.” + +Such was the experience of the missionary, new and hard and very real to +him, whom the voyageurs carried on his apostolic way. But the coureurs +and the voyageurs were traders and explorers and, as one might infer, +they were always young men and in the prime of life, because of the +hardship they had to endure in making their long hazardous journeys +through trackless forests. Father Tailhan gives a graphic description of +their life. He says: + + “As all Canada is only one vast forest without any roads + they could not travel by land; they make their journeys on + the rivers and the lakes in canoes that ordinarily contain + each three men. These canoes are made of sheets of birch-bark + smoothly stretched over very light and slender ribs of cedar + wood. They are divided into six or seven or eight sections + by light wooden bars which strengthen and hold together the + sides of the canoe.... As an entire canoe cannot be made with + a single sheet of bark the pieces which compose it are sewed + together with the roots of the spruce tree, which are more + flexible and white than the osier, and these seams are coated + with a gum which the savages obtain from the spruce.... The + savages, and especially their women, excel in the art of + making these canoes, but few Frenchmen excel in it.... The + coureurs des bois themselves propel their canoes with small + paddles of hard wood, very light and smooth; the man at the + rear of the canoe guides it, which is the part of their calling + which requires skill. The two other men paddle ahead. A canoe + properly manned can make more than fifteen leagues a day in + still water.... When they meet rapids or waterfalls which + cannot be passed they go ashore and unload the bales.... These, + as well as the canoe, are carried on their backs and shoulders + until they have passed the falls or rapids and find the river + suitable for again embarking on it; and this is called ‘making + portages.’... In such a canoe these three men embark at Quebec + or Montreal to go three hundred, four hundred, and even five + hundred leagues from the colony to procure beaver skins among + savages, whom very often they have never seen.” + +As the fur trade was supposed to be a monopoly controlled by the King of +France and granted by him to a Trading Company, many of these coureurs +were in the service of the company on a commission basis, but there +were others who took the risk of disposing of their furs to a greater +advantage, and so were known as “free traders.” If one were to make any +distinction between the coureurs and the voyageurs he would speak of the +former as the hunters and the latter as those who transported the furs by +water, but in general there was not a distinct difference except in large +trading companies where the work was highly organized. + +They were picturesque in their dress and fond of striking colours. +A bright cotton shirt, cloth trousers, leather leggings, deer skin +moccasins and a small scarlet cloak or capot made up their attire with +a wide worsted belt with flowing ends (such as we see worn with the +blanket suit of the snowshoers of to-day) a stout knife and a tobacco +pouch. Cheerful, careless, heedless of danger and fond of adventure the +hardy descendants of the Breton or Norman fishermen sang their chansons, +keeping time with their paddles, the quickened notes for the dangerous +places, the slower for the easy passage across the placid lake. + +One of the greatest of all these coureurs des bois and voyageurs was +Nicholas Perrot who, at the age of sixteen, was the companion of the +missionary priests on their journeys from Quebec to the Indian tribes, +and thus gained for himself not only experience in woodcraft and +knowledge of the country, but what was still more important he developed +his natural aptitude for languages by close study of the Indian dialects, +and thus made himself valuable, not only to himself but to his country. +Many other coureurs had had similar opportunities but did not improve +these opportunities and so remained mere coureurs des bois, and average +ones at that, until the end of their days. + +This ambitious youth soon became an independent trader, but without the +selfishness that was usually attached to that name. He was a man of some +education and certainly of vision. He saw clearly that it was to the +interests of New France that there should be united feeling and action +among Indians and French against their common enemy, the Iroquois, and +this was ever in his mind in the negotiations which at various times +took him to the tribes of the Chippewas, the Foxes, the Hurons, the +Dakotas, the Iowans, the Mascoutens, the Miamis, the Pottawatomies and +the Sioux, as well as the Iroquois. + +To him was entrusted by the governor the arrangement and management of +the great gathering of the Indian tribes at Sault Ste. Marie where, on +the fourteenth of June, 1671, the tribes for a hundred leagues were +gathered in a great council that the Deputy Governor might formally +take possession of that country in the name of the King of France. In a +spectacular manner—that it might impress the Indians by its grandeur—a +cross was erected and the arms of France were raised on a great pole and +Perrot, doubtless in a loud voice, acting as herald and interpreting to +the Indians, proclaimed three times over that “in the name of the Most +High, Most Powerful, and Most Redoubtable Monarch, Louis XIV. of name, +most Christian King of France and Navarre, we take possession of said +place Ste. Marie du Sault, as also of Lake Huron and Superior, the island +of Manitoulin, and of all the lands, rivers, lakes and streams contiguous +to and adjacent here as well, discovered as to be discovered, which are +bounded on the one side by the seas of the North and on the other side +by the seas of the South in its whole length and breadth,”—and at the +end of each time of reading the proclamation he took up a sod of earth +calling out “Vive le Roi,” which was repeated in a great shout by all +the people. The demonstration was intended to offset the influence of +Radisson and Chouart, who, at Hudsons Bay in the service of the English, +were drawing the trade of the Indians beyond Lake Superior. + +Perrot was especially useful to Frontenac, the next great governor after +Champlain, in that he acted as ambassador to the ever-restless tribes +and maintained harmony and peace. He seems to have been a welcome man in +every Indian village, and was the best informed man of his time in regard +to the affairs of New France. He was in command at Green Bay and over the +Mississippi Valley country in the winter of 1685-6, when he discovered +the lead mines. In 1699 the King of France closed many of the western +posts and Perrot retired and wrote his memoirs, which have proved of +such great value to us in giving us knowledge of our own country during +the latter half of the seventeenth century. He was a brave, loyal, and +devoted man who gave much of his life to the public service and who +deserves to be remembered among the heroes of New France. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE SEIGNIOR AND THE HABITANT. + + “The original tillers of the soil in Lower Canada, who first + assumed the title of ‘Habitants’ while holding their land + under feudal tenure, would not accept any designation such as + ‘censitaire’ which carried with it some sense of the servile + status of the feudal vassal in Old France, but preferred to be + called a Habitant or inhabitant of the country—a free man and + not a vassal.” + + —SIR LOMER GOUIN. + + +THE SEIGNIOR AND THE HABITANT. + +The colony of New England was planted by men who protested against the +kind of government under which they had lived and it was to be expected +that customs of government in their new home would differ materially from +those under which they had suffered. On the other hand the colony of New +France was essentially a part of France subsidized and supported by the +Government of that country. Hence we can understand how the customs of +government of New France in practically all respects would be like the +customs at home. + +It is hardly worth while to speak of government or social life in New +France until after the restoration of Quebec and the return of Champlain +in 1633. Valued at home merely as a possible revenue producer through +the fur trade, the Home Government gave over the general direction of +the affairs of New France into the hands of a company known generally as +the Company of One Hundred Associates. In return for fulfilling certain +obligations this Company was to have exclusive control of the fur trade +and have power to govern, create trade, grant lands and bestow titles of +nobility. The chief obligation laid upon it was to furnish to the colony +each year at least two hundred settlers and give them support until they +should get a fair start. In this way the Home Government thought the +country would gradually have a number of people on the land who could be +looked upon as permanent settlers in contrast to the wandering hunters +and traders. + +This method of governing a colony by means of a chartered company was +not unique. India was governed by the East India Company for many years, +Java by a Dutch trading company, and the incident of the Jameson Raid +illustrated some aspects of the great Company of South Africa. + +To further encourage settlement the Government recognized the title of +seignior given to the man who, taking up a fair amount of land, undertook +to settle persons upon it, live upon it himself, and thus develop an +estate. In return for this social and political distinction he engaged to +serve his country with his men about him in time of need. In other words, +the idea of it was an adaptation of the feudal system of holding lands in +return for national service. + +This system was more or less in operation for over a quarter of a +century, but the company was so intent on making money out of the fur +trade that they neglected their obligations in regard to settlement on +their land, and there were less than 2,000 people and not more than 4,000 +acres of cultivated land in this great country. + +When this state of affairs was brought to the attention of King Louis +XIV., who was genuinely interested in the colony, he cancelled the +charter of the company, and in 1663 New France was made a crown colony +under a governor who represented the dignity and military power of the +Crown, an Intendant, who was something more than a Minister of the +Crown and less than a Governor, and who looked after the details of +government, and the Bishop who as head of the church shared the problems +of government in this triumvirate. + +While much depended upon the Governor, much more to help or hinder +progress was in the power of the Intendant, and the colony was very +fortunate in the earliest years in having such a capable man as Talon, +just as we shall find she was equally unfortunate in the last years in +having Bigot, a corrupt holder of that office. It is interesting to +notice that the two holders of this office who are of such prominence +as to be remembered in anything other than name, were the first and the +last, to the one the colony owing much of the stability of government, to +the latter much that led to the loss to France of her greatest colony. + +Talon was the real organizer of the seigniorial system and was perhaps +the most capable man who ever administered the affairs of the colony. +On his own farm on the St. Charles River he gave this country the first +scientific farming, rude as it was in that early time, and this was +the first of the model farms which we think of as comparatively modern +institutions. He encouraged ship-building at Quebec by actually building +ships; he distributed looms in the farmhouses that the settler might +be independent in the matter of clothing, a very important matter in a +country with such a climate; and he built a tannery that the precious +commodity of leather might be available for protection of men and +equipment of beast. + +Under the Intendant in the actual working out of the Government came +the seigniors, and hence the real social and political life of the +colony. True, it was before the governor in the Chateau St. Louis in +Quebec, seated upon the throne under the clustered white flags stamped +with the golden lilies of France, the seignior appeared and on bended +knee presented his homage and oath of allegiance, but it was with the +Intendant that he transacted his business, and it was the report of the +Intendant to the King of France which the neglectful seignior had cause +to fear. + +The Home Government at once undertook to help emigration and the +Council of New France gave seigniories with a lavish and not always +discriminating hand. During this century of royal rule there were about +three hundred seigniories granted. In size these differed greatly but +practically nothing could be called by that name which had not at least a +dozen square miles. This land the seignior was expected to have surveyed +into farms and to place settlers upon them. + +As the St. Lawrence was the roadway of the colony and the means of +communication, the seigniories were granted first along its shores and +the farms were as close to the river as possible. The shape of a farm was +that of a parallelogram with the short end fronting the river. Usually +this frontage was nearly a quarter of a mile, and the depth from about +a half to three miles with an orchard, meadow, grain and woods. So for +purposes of protection, as well as access to fish and water supply, +the shores of the St. Lawrence showed a row of whitewashed cottages in +contact with the highway, even as it does to-day. + +This brought about a very interesting land problem, for when the habitant +died, his property, according to the French law known as Custom of +Paris, was divided into equal parts among his children. Each of these +was anxious to have a part of the river front, so that soon some farms +were divided into ribbons of perhaps fifty to sixty feet frontage. The +habitant each year paid a small fee in money to his seignior and brought +him some of the produce of the farm. It was generally on St. Martin’s Day +in November and they gathered at the seigniory for a genuine harvest home +with games and feasting. + +The seignior’s house, or the manor house, as it was often called, was the +centre of his estate. It was generally built of stone, with four rooms +and an attic. Behind the house was a great store room and root house. +Nearby was the bake-oven built of stones, mortar and earth, into which +the wood was thrust until the oven was heated sufficiently, when the +ashes were pulled out and the bread pans inserted. Even to this day in +some parts of the Province of Quebec one may see the bake-oven near the +roadway and sometimes upon its roof the brown crusted loaves put out to +cool. Sometimes there was an oven common to the village, so that even the +idea of communal cooking, about which we hear so much these days, is a +reversion to early practices in our country. Somewhere near was the grist +mill to which all habitants must bring their grain to be ground, and of +which the seignior took every fourteenth bushel as his pay. + +The habitant’s house followed the general plan of that of the seignior’s, +long and narrow with projecting eaves and high peaked dormer windows, +whitewashed each year, a red roof, and among the green trees it is +decidedly picturesque even to this day. There were but few windows as +glass was a rarity. The cooking as well as heating was by the open +fireplace. The habitant was, and in some respects still is, a very +independent person, for the family wove its own cloth, made its own shoes +and the knitted toque of many colours, and grew its own tobacco, besides +the general produce of the farm. Happy and contented in disposition, fond +of music, especially that of the ballad and the dance, they enjoyed the +long winter evenings. + +The other great man of the seigniory was the curé, or priest, for +generally the parish and the seigniory had the same boundaries. The +church was near the seignior’s manor house and often in the early days +the curé and the seignior lived together. It was supported by a tax by +which each habitant brought to the curé one-twenty-sixth of the grain he +raised. In every way the church was the centre of the community life. In +it all children were baptised, all marriages performed, and all burial +services held. It was the source of all information on secular, as +well as religious affairs, and the curé was the general counsellor of +the parish as the seignior was the judge. Matters of local or national +importance which could not be discussed in the church were explained +after mass in front of the church, a custom which prevails to this day. + +The seigniory was sometimes held, not by one man, but by a church +corporation such as the Order of the Jesuits, the Franciscans, or the +Sulpicians. This reminds us of the feudal days in England when the Abbey +was often as powerful a part of the man power of the army as was the +Castle. + +There were but two seigniories granted outside of what is known as the +Province of Quebec. One of these was that given to La Salle at Frontenac +(Kingston) and one granted to Repentigny at Sault Ste. Marie, both French +settlements of importance. Cadillac, who founded Detroit, asked to be +granted one on Lake Erie along the banks of the Grand River, and to have +conferred upon him the title of Marquis, but he was unsuccessful in both +requests. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +STORIES WHICH ILLUSTRATE REFERENCES IN THIS BOOK + +Where possible the name of the publisher in England is given first, in +America second. + + +THE LIFE AND SPIRIT OF OLD ENGLAND AND OLD FRANCE DURING THESE TWO +CENTURIES, AS TOLD IN STORY FORM: + + +OLD ENGLAND: + + +STRANG, HERBERT + + With Drake on the Spanish Main. + + (Frowde: Bobbs, Merrill.) + + +BARNES, JAMES + + “Drake and His Yeoman: a true account of the Character and + Adventures of Sir Francis Drake as told by Sir Matthew + Maunsell, his friend and follower.” + + (Macmillan.) + + +BULLEN, FRANK T. + + “Sea Puritans:” the romance of the life of Admiral Blake. + + (Hodder.) + + +HAVENS, HERBERT + + “For Rupert and the King.” + + (S.P.C.K.) + + +MCCHESNEY, DORA G. + + “Rupert, by the Grace of God.” + + (Macmillan.) + + +KINGSLEY, CHARLES + + “Westward Ho! or Voyages and Adventures of Sir Aymas Leigh.” + + (Dent, _Everyman_.) + + +DOYLE, SIR ARTHUR CONAN + + “Micah Clarke:” a rattling story of fights and adventures in + the time of James II. and the Monmouth Rebellion (1685). + + (Longmans.) + + +HENTY, G. A. + + “A Cornet of Horse:” a tale of Marlborough’s wars. + + (Low: Scribner.) + + +STEVENSON, ROBERT LOUIS + + “Treasure Island.” The nearest approach to a book for the youth + of every age. Time of action supposed to be just before the + fall of New France. + + (Cassell: Scribners.) + + +OLD FRANCE: + + +DUMAS, ALEXANDRE + + “Marguerite de Valois.” + + (Dent: Little, Brown.) + + +CROCKETT, S. R. + + “The White Plumes of Navarre.” + + (Dodd, Mead.) + + +JAMES, G. P. R. + + “Richelieu: Or a Tale of France.” + + (Dent, _Everyman_.) + + +WEYMAN, STANLEY + + “A Gentleman of France.” + + (Longmans.) + + “Under the Red Robe.” + + (Longmans.) + + +SOME STORIES WHICH HELP TO MAKE THE LIFE OF THESE TWO HUNDRED YEARS IN +CANADA MORE VIVID AND REAL: + + +ALTSHELER, J. A. + + “A Soldier of Manhattan.” Seven Years’ War, Royal American + Regiment of New York, and Wolfe’s Victory at Quebec. + + (Smith Elder: Appleton.) + + +AUBERT DE GASPÉ, PHILIPPE + + “Canadians of Old.” + + (Appleton.) + + “Cameron of Lochiel.” A good account of French Canadians, + translated by C. G. D. Roberts. + + (Page.) + + +BESANT, SIR WALTER AND JAMES RICE + + “Le Chien d’Or.” The same legend is in “The Golden Dog,” by + Kirby. It is in “’Twas in Trafalgar’s Bay; and other stories.” + + (Chatto: Dodd, Mead.) + + +BRERETON, CAPTAIN F. S. + + “How Canada Was Won: A Tale of Wolfe and Quebec.” + + (Blackie.) + + +BROWNE, G. W. + + “With Rogers Rangers.” Seven Years’ War. + + (Page.) + + +BURTON, J. E. BLOUNDELLE + + “The Hispaniola Plate.” A treasure hunt in the West Indies by + Sir William Phips, afterwards governor of Massachussetts. + + (Cassell.) + + +CANAVAN, M. J. + + “Ben Comee: A Tale of Rogers Rangers.” Attack on Fort + Ticonderoga. + + (Macmillan.) + + +CATHERWOOD, MRS. + + “The Romance of Dollard.” Dollard, with his Hurons repulsing + the Iroquois. + + (Unwin: Century.) + + “The White Islander.” A romance of the old Indian wars. + + (Unwin: Century.) + + “The Chase of St. Castin.” Seven tales of French Indian and + English in the latter days of New France. + + (Houghton.) + + “The Story of Tonty.” + + (McClurg.) + + “The Lady of Fort St. John.” A story of Acadia. + + (Low: Houghton.) + + +COOPER, J. FENIMORE + + “The Deer Slayer.” + + “The Path Finder.” + + “The Last of the Mohicans.” + + Famous romances noted for the wonderful description of forest, + lake and prairie. + + (Dent, _Everyman_.) + + +CRADDOCK, C. E. + + “A Sceptre of Power.” The struggles of the French and English + in the Mississippi Valley. + + (Houghton.) + + +CROWLEY, MARY C. + + “A Daughter of New France: With some Account of the Gallant + Sieur Cadillac and his Colony in Detroit.” Brilliant picture of + New France. + + (Little, Brown.) + + +DICKSON, HARRIS + + “The Black Wolf’s Breed: A Story of France in the Old World and + the New happening in the Reign of Louis XIV.” Principal scene + in Louisiana, and the main action is the capture by French and + Indians of Pensacola from the Spaniards. + + (Methuen: Bobbs, Merrill.) + + +DOYLE, SIR ARTHUR CONAN + + “The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents.” Of the time of Louis + XIV. + + (Longmans: Harper.) + + +ELLIS, E. S. + + “Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas: A Tale of the Siege of Detroit.” + + (Cassell: Dutton.) + + +FOOTE, MARY H. + + “The Royal Americans.” Seven Years’ War. + + (Houghton.) + + +FOX, ALICE WILSON + + “A Regular Madam.” Two young ladies, one French, the other + English, on their way from Europe to Quebec during Seven Years’ + War. + + (Macmillan.) + + +GORDON, W. J. + + “Englishman’s Haven: A Tale of Louisburg.” + + (Warne: Appleton.) + + +GREEN, E. EVERETT + + “The Young Pioneers: or with La Salle on the Mississippi.” + + (Nelson.) + + “French and English.” Ticonderoga to capture of Quebec by Wolfe. + + (Nelson.) + + +GROSVENOR, JOHNSTON + + “Strange Stories of the Great River.” Stories of exploration on + the Mississippi by Marquette and La Salle. + + (Harper.) + + +HENHAM, E. G. + + “The Plowshare and the Sword: A Tale of Empire”. Quebec, New + England and Acadia. + + (Cassell.) + + +HAWORTH, P. L. + + “The Path of Glory.” Culminating with Wolfe’s victory. + + (Ham Smith: Little, Brown.) + + +HENTY, G. A. + + “With Wolfe in Canada: Or the Winning of a Continent.” + Braddock’s defeat, to Quebec. + + (Blackie: Scribner.) + + +KALER, J. O. + + “Boys of 1745 at the Capture of Louisburg.” + + (Estes.) + + +KIRBY, WILLIAM + + “The Golden Dog: A Romance of the Days of Louis Quatorze in + Quebec.” Historical romance rich in local colour. + + (Montreal News Co.) + + +LAUT, AGNES C. + + “Heralds of Empire; Being the Story of one Ramsay Stanhope, + Lieutenant to Pierre Radisson in the Northern Fur Trade.” + + (Appleton.) + + +LIGHTHALL, W. D. + + “Master of Life.” An aboriginal romance, the early scene being + at Hochelaga, the great Indian town visited by Cartier. There + are no white men in the story. Later scenes are laid in the + Mohawk country and the origin of the League of Nations (five, + afterwards six) is developed in an interesting manner. + + (Musson) + + +MACHAR, AGNES M., AND T. G. MARQUIS. + + “Stories of New France.” Seventeen stories of historical + interest. + + (Lothrop.) + + +MCLENNAN, WILLIAM AND JEAN N. MCILWRAITH + + “The Span o’ Life.” 1745 Rebellion in Scotland; Louisbourg and + Quebec. + + (Harper.) + + +MCPHAIL, ANDREW + + “The Vine of Sibmah.” Romance of a Cromwellian captain in + Restoration times in quest of a London merchant’s daughter in + New England and New France. + + (Macmillan.) + + +MERWIN, SAMUEL + + “The Road to Frontenac.” + + (Murray: Doubleday.) + + +MOTT, LAWRENCE + + “Jules of the Great Heart.” In the early days of the Hudson’s + Bay Company. + + (Heineman: Century.) + + +MUNROE, KIRK + + “At War with Pontiac: A Tale of Redcoat and Redskin.” + + (Blackie: Scribner.) + + +OXLEY, J. MACDONALD + + “Fife and Drum at Louisburg.” + + (Little, Brown.) + + +PARKER, SIR GILBERT + + “The Seats of the Mighty.” The memoirs of Captain Robert Moray, + some time an officer in the Virginia Regiment, and afterwards + of Amherst’s Regiment. Romance culminating in battle of Quebec. + + (Methuen: Appleton: Copp, Clark, Toronto.) + + +PARKER, SIR GILBERT + + “The Trail of the Sword.” Romance of struggle between French + and English, d’Iberville being central figure. + + (Methuen: Appleton: Copp, Clark, Toronto.) + + +POLLARD, ELIZA F. + + “Roger the Ranger: A story of Border Life among the Indians.” + Fort William Henry, to capture of Quebec (1759). + + (Partridge.) + + +PARRISH, RANDALL + + “A Sword of the Old Frontier: A Tale of Fort Chartres and + Detroit.” + + (Putnam: McClurg.) + + +ROBERTS, C. G. D. + + “The Forge in the Forest.” Acadia in the times of French and + English wars. + + (Paul: Silver, N.Y.) + + “A Sister to Evangeline: The Story of Yvonne de Lamourie.” At + the time of the expulsion of the Acadians. + + (Lane: Silver, N.Y.) + + +ROBERTS, THEODORE + + “Brothers of Peril.” A story of Old Newfoundland. + + (Nash: Page.) + + +RICHARDSON, MAJOR JOHN + + “Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy.” + + (McClurg: Musson, Toronto.) + + +SEAWELL, MOLLY E. + + “The Virginia Cavalier.” The youth of George Washington. + + (Harper.) + + +SMITH, MRS. A. P. + + “Montlivet.” He was a chivalrous Frenchman who rescued the + English heroine from the Indians in the days of Frontenac. + + (Constable: Houghton.) + + +STEVENSON, B. E. + + “A Soldier of Virginia: A Story of Colonel Washington and + Braddock’s Defeat.” The defeat by the French at Fort Duquesne. + + (Duckworth: Houghton.) + + +STRANG, HERBERT, AND G. LAWRENCE + + “Roger, the Scout.” England in the ’45 and New England and New + France during French wars. + + (Frowde.) + + +STRANG, HERBERT + + “Rob, the Ranger: A Story of the Fight for Canada.” + + (Frowde: Bobbs, Merrill.) + + +THACKERAY, WILLIAM MAKEPEACE + + “The Virginians.” George Washington appears in this story. + + (Dent, _Everyman_.) + + +TOMLINSON, E. T. + + “A Soldier of the Wilderness.” The fall of Fort Frontenac. + + (Wilde, Boston.) + + +VAN ZILE, E. S. + + “With Sword and Crucifix.” Adventures of La Salle. + + (Harper.) + + +WILSON, R. A. + + “A Rose of Normandy.” La Salle and Tonty in Mississippi Valley. + + (Little, Brown.) + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +POEMS WHICH ILLUSTRATE REFERENCES IN THIS BOOK + +NOTE.—The author, title and first lines of the poems are given, except in +the case of “Richelieu.” + + +MILLER, JOAQUIN + +COLUMBUS. + + Behind him lay the gray Azores + Behind the Gates of Hercules, + Before him not the ghost of shores, + Before him only shoreless seas. + The good mate said, “Now must we pray, + For lo! the very stars are gone. + Brave admiral, speak, what shall I say?” + “Why, say ‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’” + + +MCGEE, HON. THOMAS D’ARCY + +JACQUES CARTIER. + + “In the seaport of Saint Malo, ’twas a smiling morn in May, + When the Commodore Jacques Cartier to the westward sailed away; + In the crowded old Cathedral, all the town were on their knees + For the safe return of kinsmen from the undiscovered seas; + And every autumn blast that swept o’er pinnacle and pier + Filled manly hearts with sorrow, and gentle hearts with fear.” + + Songs of the Great Dominion, edited by W. D. Lighthall. (Walter + Scott.) + + +DRUMMOND, W. H. + +THE WRECK OF THE “JULIE PLANTE”. + + On wan dark night on Lac St. Pierre + De win’ she blow, blow, blow, + An’ de crew of de wood-scow “Julie Plante,” + Got scar’t an’ run below. + + The Habitant (Putnam.) + + +KEATS, JOHN + +ON FIRST LOOKING INTO CHAPMAN’S HOMER. + + Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold, + And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; + Round many western islands have I been + Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. + Oft, of one wide expanse had I been told + That deep-brow’d Homer ruled as his demesne: + Yet did I never breathe its pure serene + Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold: + Then felt I like some watcher of the skies + When a new planet swims into his ken; + Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes + He stared at the Pacific—and all his men + Look’d at each other with a wild surmise + Silent, upon a peak in Darien. + + +LONGFELLOW, HENRY WADSWORTH + +EVANGELINE. + + This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, + Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, + Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic, + Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. + + +CARMAN, BLISS (Mitchell Kennerley) + +CHAMPLAIN. + + “When the sweet summer days + Come to New England, and the south wind plays + Over the forests, and the tall tulip trees + Lift up their chalices + Of delicate orange green + Against the blue serene,” etc. + + The Rough Rider and other Poems. + + +LYTTON, SIR EDWARD BULWER + +RICHELIEU. + + Adrien de Mauprat, men have called me cruel,— + I am not; I am just! I found France rent asunder— + The rich men despots, and the poor, banditti;— + Sloth in the mart, and schism within the temple; + Brawls festering to Rebellion; and weak laws + Rotting away with rust in antique sheaths,— + I have re-created France; and, from the ashes + Of the old feudal and decrepit carcass, + Civilization on her luminous wings + Soars, phœnix-like to Jove!—What was my art. + + +MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON + +THE BATTLE OF IVRY (1590) + + Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are! + And glory to our Sovereign Liege, King Henry of Navarre! + Now let there be the merry sound of music and of dance, + Through thy corn fields green, and sunny vines, + oh, pleasant land of France! + + +MOORE, THOMAS + +CANADIAN BOAT SONG. + + Faintly as tolls the evening chime, + Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time, + Soon as the woods on shore look dim, + We’ll sing at St. Ann’s our parting hymn. + Row, brothers, row! the stream runs fast, + The rapids are near, and the daylight’s past. + + +HEMANS, FELICIA + +THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS—(1620) + + The breaking waves dashed high + On a stern and rock-bound coast, + And the woods, against a stormy sky + Their giant branches tossed, + And the heavy night hung dark + The hills and waters o’er, + When a band of exiles moored their bark + On the wild New England shore. + + +BROWNING, R. + +HERVE RIEL (1692) + + On the sea and at the Hogue, sixteen hundred ninety-two, + Did the English fight the French—woe to France! + And, the thirty-first of May, helter-skelter through the blue, + Like a crowd of frightened porpoises a shoal of sharks pursue, + Came crowding ship on ship to St. Malo on the Rance, + With the English fleet in view. + + +PICKTHALL, MARJORIE + +PERE LALEMANT. + + I lift the Lord on high, + Under the murmuring hemlock boughs, and see + The small birds of the forest lingering by + And making melody. + These are mine acolytes and these my choir, + And this mine altar in the cool green shade. + + The Drift of Pinions. (Lane.) + + +SULLIVAN, ALAN + +BREBEUF AND LALEMANT. + + Came Jean Brebeuf from Rennes in Normandy + To preach the written word in Sainte Marie— + The Ajax of the Jesuit enterprise, + Huge, dominant and bold—augustly wise. + + +JOHNSON, PAULINE + +THE ARCHER. + + Stripped to the waist, his copper coloured skin + Red from the smouldering heat of hate within, + Lean as a wolf in winter, fierce of mood— + As all wild things that hunt for foes, or food. + + Flint and Feather (Musson, Toronto.) + + +LONGFELLOW, HENRY WADSWORTH + +THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. + + Should you ask me whence these stories? + Whence these legends and traditions, + With the odors of the forest, + With the dew and damp of meadows, + With the curling smoke of wigwams, + With the rushing of great rivers, + With their frequent repetitions, + And their wild reverberations, + As of thunder in the mountains? + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + +[1] Colonel George Nasmith in his book, “On the Fringe of the Great +Fight,” tells of the departure of this first contingent of the Canadian +Expeditionary Force in the autumn of 1914 within six weeks of the +outbreak of the Great War. + +“Imperceptibly the pier and the lights of the city receded and we steamed +down the mighty St. Lawrence to our trysting place on the sea. The second +morning afterwards we woke to find ourselves riding quietly at anchor +in the sunny harbour of Gaspé with all the other transports about us, +together with four long grey gunboats, our escort upon the road to our +great adventure.... Never before had there been gathered together a fleet +of transports of such magnitude—a fleet consisting of 33 transports +carrying 33,000 men, 7,000 horses, and all the motors, wagons, and +equipment necessary to place in the field not only a complete infantry +division and a cavalry brigade, but in addition to provide for the +necessary reserves.” + +[2] “The Wreck of the Julie Plante”: + + “On wan dark night on Lac St. Pierre,” etc. + +[3] These are known to us as muskrats, the Algonquin name being +mooskovesson, from which we get the name of the fur, musquash. + +[4] Keats: “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer.” + +[5] There is in the museum of the Chateau de Ramezay in Montreal a part +of the rock that formed the key stone of the arch over the doorway (which +is reproduced) of the house, in which it is said Champlain was born. +This was presented by President J. H. Finley, of the University of the +State of New York, who visited Brouage when writing his famous book, “The +French in the Heart of America.” + +[6] Three hundred years afterwards this battle scene was reproduced on +Lake Champlain by descendants of the Iroquois, and this illustration of +the great matters which are kindled by little fires was portrayed by the +Indians with a zest that drew great audiences and held them spellbound. + +[7] + + “Faintly as tolls the evening chime, + Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time, + Soon as the woods on shore look dim, + We’ll sing at St. Ann’s our parting hymn. + Row, brothers, row! the stream runs fast, + The rapids are near, and the daylight’s past.” + +[8] When Quebec was taken in 1629 the white population in that city was +only 60, and in the whole of Canada, less than 100, whereas the English +colony of Virginia had more than 4,000 souls. + +[9] River of the Holy Ghost, Colbert, and finally Mississippi. + +[10] The pomp and splendour of the armies of Louis XIV. was worthy of a +prince in a fairy tale. Every campaign ended in a sort of royal pageant; +coaches of crystal and gold, horses draped in cloth of gold, courtiers +and conquerors dazzling with diamonds, ladies all silks and plumes and +laces. + +He built Versailles where two hundred years afterwards the Conference +following the Great War of 1914-18 met to settle the terms of peace—“a +palace such as the world had never seen, glittering with mirrors and +gold, paved and lined with precious marbles, decorated with paintings +representing the battles and triumphs of the great monarch and looking +over an immense park peopled with bronze and marble statues and reflected +in vast sheets of water where lovely fountains played.”—DUCLAUX. + +[11] Colbert had troubles of his own in trying to provide money for the +extravagances of his king, Louis XIV. Colbert was the son of a merchant +of Rheims, a hard-working, economical minister, a hater of waste and +profusion. He was a marvellous administrator; in ten years he doubled +the king’s revenues. But his factories and model farms, his canals and +his colonies, his fleet, his finance could not bring money in as fast as +Louis could spend it. Colbert was at once Chancellor of the Exchequer, +Minister of Agriculture, Director of the Board of Trade, Chief Lord of +the Admiralty, Home Secretary and Colonial Secretary. It was in this last +capacity that he had special connection with New France. + +[12] As a matter of history the island is called after another Perrot +much less distinguished. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78668 *** diff --git a/78668-h/78668-h.htm b/78668-h/78668-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2032bfd --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/78668-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5098 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + When Canada was New France | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +a { + text-decoration: none; +} + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +h3,h4 { + clear: both; + font-weight: normal; + text-align: justify; + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +h2.nobreak { + page-break-before: avoid; +} + +h3.center { + text-align: center; + padding-left: 0; + text-indent: 0; +} + +hr.chap { + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + clear: both; + width: 65%; + margin-left: 17.5%; + margin-right: 17.5%; +} + +img.w100 { + width: 100%; +} + +div.chapter { + page-break-before: always; +} + +p { + margin-top: 0.5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +table { + margin: 1em auto 1em auto; + max-width: 40em; + border-collapse: collapse; +} + +td { + padding-left: 2.25em; + padding-right: 0.25em; + vertical-align: top; + text-indent: -2em; + text-align: justify; +} + +.tdr { + text-align: right; +} + +.tdpg { + vertical-align: bottom; + text-align: right; +} + +blockquote { + margin: 1.5em 10%; +} + +.author { + padding-left: 1em; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.book { + padding-left: 4em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +.center { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; +} + +figcaption p.p1 { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; +} + +figcaption p { + font-size: 90%; +} + +.figc { + margin: 3em auto auto auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + border: 1px dashed gray; + padding: 0.5em; +} + +.footnotes { + margin-top: 1em; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.footnote { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em; +} + +.footnote .label { + position: absolute; + right: 84%; + text-align: right; +} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +.larger { + font-size: 150%; +} + +.noindent { + text-indent: 0; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + right: 4%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; +} + +.poetry-container { + text-align: center; +} + +.poetry { + display: inline-block; + text-align: left; +} + +.poetry .stanza { + margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; +} + +.poetry .verse { + padding-left: 3em; +} + +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3.0em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2.0em;} +.poetry .indent4 {text-indent: -1.0em;} +.poetry .indent8 {text-indent: 1.0em;} + +.right { + text-align: right; +} + +.smaller { + font-size: 80%; +} + +.smcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; +} + +.allsmcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; + text-transform: lowercase; +} + +.titlepage { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 3em; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.x-ebookmaker img { + max-width: 100%; + width: auto; + height: auto; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .poetry { + display: block; + margin-left: 1.5em; +} + +.x-ebookmaker blockquote { + margin: 1.5em 5%; +} + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} + </style> + </head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78668 ***</div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage larger">WHEN CANADA<br> +WAS NEW FRANCE</p> + +<p class="titlepage">BY<br> +GEORGE H. LOCKE<br> +<span class="smaller">CHIEF LIBRARIAN OF THE<br> +PUBLIC LIBRARY, TORONTO</span></p> + +<figure class="figc illowp100" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/cover-deco.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p class="titlepage smaller"><i>Love of country is born<br> +of a knowledge of its institutions,<br> +its traditions and history<br> +wherein are revealed<br> +the lives of its people<br> +and their heroic achievements.</i></p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">WITH SEVEN<br> +ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">PUBLISHED AT THE END OF THE<br> +GREAT WAR BY</p> + +<p class="center">TORONTO: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD.<br> +PARIS: J. M. DENT ET FILS<br> +1919</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1919, by</span><br> +J. M. DENT & SONS</p> + +<p class="center smaller">Published September, 1919</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus1" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="p1"><span class="smcap">The Landing of the Canadians in France, 1915.</span></p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td class="tdr smaller">CHAPTER</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">7</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">I.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Cartier and the St. Lawrence</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">13</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">II.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Champlain and the Great Lakes</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">25</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">III.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Joliet, Marquette and the River of a + Hundred Thousand Streams</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">40</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">IV.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">La Salle and the Greater New France</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">48</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">V.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Radisson and the Great North West</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">59</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VI.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Montcalm and the Fall of New France</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">72</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VII.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Pontiac and the Last Hope of Indian + Supremacy</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">82</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VIII.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">The Gray Gowns and the Black</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">96</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">IX.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">The Iroquois and the Hurons</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">111</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">X.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">The Coureur-des-bois and the Voyageur</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">126</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XI.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">The Seignior and the Habitant</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">134</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XII.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Stories Which Illustrate References in + this Book.</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">143</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XIII.</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Poems which Illustrate References in + this Book.</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">151</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="List_of_Illustrations"><span class="smcap">List of Illustrations</span></h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Landing of the Canadians in France, 1914</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus1"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">FACING PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Seneca Hunter Group</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus2">16</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Return of the Warriors</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus3">34</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Council of the Turtle Clan</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus4">68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Cayuga False Face Ceremony</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus5">86</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">The Corn Harvest</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus6">104</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="smcap">Typical Iroquois Industries</span></td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus7">122</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +</div> + +<p>The Great War has had a special meaning +for Canadians. Soldiers from our shores, citizen-soldiers, +have been landing on the northern +coast of France in tens of thousands, and passing +through the same seaport towns whence nearly +four hundred years ago men sailed forth to the +westward to discover a fabled land.</p> + +<p>This country, discovered by the French and +colonized by them and by the English, this land +which was now French and now English as the +fortune of war changed in Europe as well as in +America, has become a nation, and when the +time of trial came and danger threatened the +ancestral homes in the two Motherlands, Canada +hesitated not a moment but offered her services +in the cause of freedom.</p> + +<p>Canada has been fighting more truly perhaps +than any other nation in what we speak of as +“the common cause,” and it is to make clear +to ourselves as well as to others the great meaning +of this in the development of nationality in +our Dominion that this story of the two centuries +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>when Canada was New France has been +told and in this form.</p> + +<p>The early history of Canada is a history of +men, and if Canada is to become a great nation, +its future history will depend upon the development +of men who can and will inspire, guide +and lead us to the greater things.</p> + +<p>This is not intended for children only, but +for the youth of every age, those who are young +enough to enjoy a story and who know not, or +know but dimly, our wonderful history during +the two hundred years of our country when its +history was bound up with that of the two great +empires of France and England, France of the +times of Henry of Navarre and of Richelieu, +England of the days of the Tudors and of the +Pitts.</p> + +<p>The frontispiece of this little book illustrates +a dramatic incident in our history. The landing +of the Canadians at St. Nazaire in 1915 to help +Old France against the ruthless invader brings +to one’s mind the landing of a French exploring +expedition under Cartier nearly three hundred +years ago when the flag of France was raised +high upon the cliff of Gaspé and the newly discovered +land was called New France. Our +thanks are due to the Canadian War Memorials +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span>Committee for permission to reproduce this picture.</p> + +<p>To the kindness of Dr. John M. Clarke, the +Director of the New York State Museum, himself +a contributor to the history of New France, +we are indebted for the great privilege of reproducing +the illustrations of the Iroquois Indian +Groups which form the Myron H. Clark Memorial +in the Museum at Albany. They portray +the aboriginal activities of the Confederacy of +the Six Nations.</p> + +<p class="right">GEORGE H. LOCKE.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span></p> + +<h1>WHEN CANADA WAS NEW FRANCE</h1> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="OLD_FRANCE">OLD FRANCE.</h2> + +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Le Gaulois semble au saule verdissant:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Plus on le coupe et plus il est naissant,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Et rejetonne en branches davantage,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Prenant vigueur de son propre dommage.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right">—<span class="smcap">Ronsard.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The Gaul is like the verdant willow-bush:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The more you prune, the more it’s lithe and lush,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Shooting a crown of branchy twigs all round,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And draws new life and vigour from a wound.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br> +<span class="smaller">CARTIER AND THE ST. LAWRENCE</span></h2> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“He told them of the river, whose mighty current gave</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Its freshness for a hundred leagues to ocean’s briny wave;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He told them of the glorious scene presented to his sight</div> + <div class="verse indent0">What time he reared the cross and crown on Hochelaga’s height,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And of the fortress cliff that keeps of Canada the key,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And they welcomed back Jacques Cartier from his perils over sea.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right">—<span class="smcap">Hon. T. D’Arcy McGee.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<p>Almost four hundred years ago, when bluff +King Hal ruled over Merry England and Francis +over Sunny France, there were strange stories +told in the ports of the west of England and +the north of France of lands away to the +Westward. The voyage of Columbus was +the talk of Europe, and while the Spaniards were +joyfully telling how he had come to the edge of +a great new world which would give them a new +route to the marvellous East with all its treasures, +John Cabot, of the port of Bristol, the +pioneer of English adventurers, sailed off to the +west and it is likely saw the continent itself as +soon as did Columbus. Both Columbus and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>Cabot discovered islands first, Columbus on his +way to the west, Cabot after he had passed +along the coast.</p> + +<p>So, from the northern country of England, +as well as from the southern land of Spain, the +men of the seaports talked of nothing as much +as the great land over the sea. It was but +natural that the hardy mariners of the northern +French ports should join in the search, and for +nearly half a century vessels manned by the +more adventurous spirits visited the cod banks +of Newfoundland and brought back cargoes +of fish.</p> + +<p>One can picture the interest that would be +aroused in a port like Bristol in England or St. +Malo or Dieppe in France when a vessel came +back to harbour after an absence of many +months and the mariners spun their tales of +adventure to an eager audience. It was in this +kind of an atmosphere, hearing these stories +and wishing that he would grow old quickly so +that he too could go and see these lands, that +Jacques Cartier grew up. He was a clever and +ambitious boy and when he became a master +mariner had made such a reputation that the +King sent for him to discuss the possibility of +finding an opening in the coast of America in +the vicinity of Newfoundland, which was then +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>thought to be but a projection of the eastern +coast of Asia. There is no doubt that Cartier +had made trips to the fishing banks many times +in company with his fellow fishermen of Brittany, +whose enterprise is preserved to us in the name +of Cape Breton.</p> + +<p>King Francis was anxious that France should +have a share in the great discoveries that so far +had been made by England and by Spain. +Indeed, the whole land had been claimed by +the King of Spain and Francis is said to have +been so annoyed by this statement that he +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>“I should like to see the clause in our father +Adam’s will which bequeathed to him this fine +heritage.”</p> + +<p>It was on an April day in 1534 that Cartier +set sail in two ships of 60 tons each to find what +was beyond the shores known to the sailors, +and in the hope that he would be able to penetrate +to India and the treasures of the East by +a shorter route. On his way out, and in what +are known now as the Straits of Belle Isle, he +passed a great ship which had sailed from +Rochelle, thus proving that those straits and +the adjacent waters were known to the French +mariners.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus2" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="p1">SENECA HUNTER GROUP</p> + <p>This group represents a Seneca family clustered about the door-yard + of their hunting lodge, each individual being engaged in his + allotted duties. The old father, who no longer goes to war (indicated + by his clothing and hair), is bringing in a fawn. The mother is + busy skiving a dry deer skin, while the daughter is cutting strips of + venison for “jerking.” The elder son is a hunter and warrior and + the younger son is burning down a tree which obstructs the yard. + The wad of clay about the tree trunk confines the flames. The + exterior of the hunting cabin is shown on the left.</p> + <p>The scene depicts Canandaigua lake with Ganundewa, the sacred + hill of the Senecas, in the distance.</p> + <p>The time is early morning and the season midspring.</p> + <p>The purpose of this group is to depict a Seneca family during the + hunting season. The activities represented show the utility of the + deer as a source of raw material. Deer meat was a favorite food, + the skin furnished leather for mats, bags, clothing and thongs. The + antlers and bones were used for tool material, the jaws for scrapers, + the hoofs for ornaments and the hair for stuffing cushions. The + group also faithfully represents the various costumes ornamented + with hair embroidery.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a><a id="Page_18"></a><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span></p> + +<p>Cartier and his ships kept on westward, and +we can imagine his feelings when they passed +from the cold straits where doubtless he had +seen icebergs, into a part of what is now the +Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the heat of July +was so oppressive that he called it the Bay of +Chaleur (heat), a name preserved to this day. +On these shores they found gooseberries, strawberries, +raspberries and roses growing in abundance +and the rivers were full of salmon. They +reached what we call Gaspé on July 24th, and +at once raised a great cross with a shield on +which were the lilies of France and “Vive le +Roi de France.”</p> + +<p>The Indians (for Cartier thought and hoped +that he was on the road to India) were friendly, +and Cartier persuaded two sons of the chief to +go back to France with him. Being unprovided +for a longer stay and fearful of the stormy +weather, he set sail for home and entered the +harbour of St. Malo early in September.</p> + +<p>For a person of his imagination and daring +and with the two Indian princes to show to the +court of France, there were no difficulties in +getting ready an expedition for the next year, +and in July, 1535, he left St. Malo with three +small vessels. One can picture the excitement +in that seaport town when the vessels +weighed anchor and stood out to sea, vessels +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>commissioned by the King and commanded by +a son of St. Malo who had proved his worth +already, and who had on board the evidence of +his discoveries in the persons of the Indian +princes now on their way back home with him.</p> + +<p>In August he was in the great Gulf, and +aided by the knowledge of these princes, he +sailed boldly on until he saw the banks drawing +together and he realized that he was going out +of the gulf into a great river. They stopped at +the narrows where Quebec now stands and met +the Indian chief, Donnaconna, in his village of +Stadacona, which in the language of the Huron-Iroquois, +means “wing,” the formation of land +between the St. Lawrence and St. Charles rivers. +This chief they saluted as the Lord of Canada, +the chief of the village or collection of huts. +This is the first time we meet the word +“Canada,” a collection of huts, for Cartier had +taken possession of the country as New France.</p> + +<p>Nearly four hundred years afterwards, from +the same port went forth great vessels bearing +tens of thousands of troops from Canada to +help old France against the ruthless invader.⁠<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>⁠</p> + +<p>Cartier was told of the great river which +stretched on for miles and that after many days’ +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>journey there was a large town. He gave the +river the name “St. Lawrence,” and up it he +made his way, astonished at the beauty and +grandeur of the ever-changing scene. And in +those days it must have been wonderful, for +he tells us that he was impressed with the great +trees on the banks, the oak, the walnut, birch +and willow and with the vines heavy with grapes. +It was September, and even to this day with +so many of those features gone, it would be +difficult anywhere to find a more impressive +and beautiful journey than from the ancient +Quebec to the almost as ancient Montreal, +when autumn tints the trees.</p> + +<p>It was in the last days of this autumn month +that he entered the expansion of the river, which +is now called Lac St. Pierre, so named nearly +a century afterwards by Champlain and known +to many to-day by Drummond’s famous poem.⁠<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>⁠</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span></p> + +<p>Landing on October 2nd he found the well-built +town of Hochelaga, and was welcomed by +the inhabitants, the first white man they had +ever seen. The reception must have been +impressive to both parties, and was made still +more so by the Indians taking Cartier up on +the great hill to which he gave the name of +Mount Royal, and from which he looked over +fields of maize and beans and peas and wild +fruits, with the silver river winding its way +among the beautiful foliage of the autumn, and +away in the distance the faint outline of what +now are known as the Adirondacks of New +York State and the Green Mountains of +Vermont. His men were full of wonder and it +is interesting to read that what attracted them +most was “a great pile of rats, which live in +the water and are as large as rabbits and are +wonderfully good to eat.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>⁠</p> + +<p>He returned to Quebec, where he built huts +in which to spend the winter. Unaccustomed +to so severe a climate and not well provisioned, +disease broke out and so many of his men died +that when spring came and he set sail for France +he had to abandon one of his vessels, “La +Petite Hermine.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span></p> + +<p>Cartier had a story worth telling. Whereas +Columbus had touched the New World and +Cabot had sailed along its shores, Cartier had +penetrated a thousand miles into the continent—“Up +the greatest river without comparison +that is known to have ever been seen,” as +Cartier told the King, and when he stood on +Mount Royal on that October day he was the +only white man in all that country now known +as Canada and the United States of America. +It makes one think of another great adventurer +who, at almost the same time, upon the same +continent, is depicted as standing “silent upon +a peak in Darien.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>⁠</p> + +<p>This was Cortez of Spain and so we have the +French and the Spanish in the North American +continent.</p> + +<p>To confirm his story and to illustrate the +transfer of the land to France, Cartier took +back with him Donnaconna and two other +chiefs who were presented to the King. They +really were kidnapped, and sad to tell they did +not live to return to their own land.</p> + +<p>When Cartier reached France there were +serious political troubles which prevented the +authorities from acting at once, and so it was +not until 1538 that Francis took up the question +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>of New France overseas. He organized an +expedition of which Lord Roberval was to be +chief and Cartier captain-general, and with a +crew recruited mainly from the prisons Cartier +left St. Malo in 1541, sailed up the St. Lawrence, +explored the rapids (afterwards known as La +Chine), spent a miserable winter and returned +to St. Malo a disappointed man. The Indians +had lost faith in him, for when they welcomed +him and asked for their chiefs, whose loss they +had felt keenly, Cartier told them that the +chiefs had stayed in France, whereas they had +died. Superseded at home by political +favourites, and distrusted in New France by +the natives, Cartier retired from the sea, his +name passes from history and the first chapter +of the history of New France comes to an end.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br> +<span class="smaller">CHAMPLAIN.</span></h2> + +<p>“There are few chapters in history so full of romantic +interest, so compelling in their demands for sympathy +and admiration, as the record of the century and a half +that began with the wooden fortress of Champlain +under the bluff at Quebec, and ended with the fall of +Montcalm on the Heights of Abraham.”</p> + +<p class="right">—<span class="smcap">Hon. Elihu Root.</span></p> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Champlain and the Great Lakes.</span></h3> + +<p>On the Bay of Biscay, on the west coast of +France, and not very far from Rochelle, there +is a small village now some miles from the sea, +but which in the days of Cartier and for some +years after was a flourishing seaport. This is +called Brouage, and is almost a deserted village +to-day, the sea having receded and the railway +passed it by. The great salt marshes are still +there to remind one of the time when cargoes +of salt were shipped from this harbour, and +where ships, then considered great, found safe +anchorage.</p> + +<p>In this seaport, with its face to the great +mysterious Western land, young Samuel de +Champlain, son of a sea captain, grew up during +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span>the stirring times of civil war in France. When +a boy of nine⁠<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> his city was captured by +Henry of Navarre, who, after years of struggle, +during which were many mighty deeds of valour, +finally overcame his enemies, entered Paris in +triumph, and was crowned King of France. +Indeed, the struggle was so long that Champlain +grew up sufficiently to be accounted a gallant +officer in Henry’s army.</p> + +<p>When peace was declared and the country had +settled down, Champlain in his love for adventure +entered the service of the King of Spain, +and made trips to the West Indies, going inland +in America even to the city of Mexico.</p> + +<p>On his return he made a report to the King +of France, concerning this Western land, in the +hope that his own country might once more +send expeditions of discovery. In this report +he says: “One might judge if the territory +four leagues in extent, lying between Panama +and the river were cut through, he could pass +from the South Sea to that on the other side, +and thus shorten the route by more than fifteen +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>hundred leagues. From Panama to Magellan +would make an island and from Panama to the +Newlands (Newfoundland) would make another, +so that the whole of America would be in two +islands.”</p> + +<p>Three hundred years afterwards this was +done, and by the people of a country then +undiscovered, and supplies from the Pacific +Coast of that great nation passed through that +canal to help the cause of the France which +Champlain loved and served so well.</p> + +<p>During the years of civil strife in France, +the exploration of the Western world was +being pushed forward by the merchant adventurers +of England, and especially of Spain. +Spies from the court of Spain watched every +port and sent home the news of prospective +sailings so that these rivals might be intercepted +and America be preserved for Spain.</p> + +<p>But now that peace was established enterprising +mariners of the northern seaports of +France remembered the expeditions of Cartier, +and so the governor of Dieppe induced Champlain +to undertake a voyage to New France. +They left that port in March, 1603, and after +coasting along the shores of Newfoundland, +Anticosti and Cape Breton, sailed up the St. +Lawrence and anchored at Tadoussac at the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>mouth of the Saguenay. Thence Champlain +made a journey up the great river to Hochelaga, +which in Cartier’s time was a flourishing town. +Now all was deserted and nothing remained of +what had been a great Indian community. +Gathering up what furs they could, Champlain +and his party sailed for home, which they +reached in September.</p> + +<p>This was a journey of inspection, spying out +the land, and the King was so impressed by +Champlain’s account that he gave his patronage +to a larger expedition. This was under the +command of Sieur de Monts, a nobleman, with +Champlain as the King’s geographer, and was +sent out in the hope that a colony might be +established, and so actual possession of New +France might be maintained against European +nations who were claiming parts of the New +World.</p> + +<p>De Monts became the first Lieutenant-Governor +of New France, and with nobles, +soldiers, priests, and peasants, about 120 in all, +his little fleet discovered and entered the harbour +and river of St. John on the 24th of June, +1604, exactly to the day one hundred and seven +years after the discovery of Newfoundland by +Cabot; and there on the island of St. Croix +(Holy Cross) established a colony, the only +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>settlement of Europeans north of Florida. It +was an exceptionally severe winter and the +colonists suffered almost as much as Cartier’s +men so many years before at Quebec.</p> + +<p>In the spring Champlain set out to find +some place for the settlement which might have +a more congenial climate. Although he went +south and passed the islands at the mouth of +what is now the harbour of Portland, Maine, +and even entered the harbour of Boston, he +returned to Port Royal in Nova Scotia, the +situation of which had appealed to him, and +there the colony moved.</p> + +<p>It was a prosperous settlement, and it is of +interest in these days of grain growing, hydro-power +development and ship building in Canada +to know that these settlers raised the first wheat +grown in America; here was used the first +wheel to turn a millstone upon this continent; +and in this harbour in 1606 the first Canadian +vessel was built.</p> + +<p>The position on the sea, with fertile soil +and great forests near by, was very attractive, +and perhaps is best described by Longfellow +centuries afterwards:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep voiced neighboring ocean</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">To-day in its loneliness it reminds one of Brouage +and it is difficult to think that it has been the +most besieged city in America.</p> + +<p>But it was when Champlain came back from +France in 1608, after a year’s absence from the +colony, that our great interest begins, for then +he determined to press inland and re-assert the +sovereignty claimed for France by Cartier. +The bold headland where Cartier had spent the +winter had attracted his attention upon his +previous voyage, and so he founded there in +1608 a town, really the capital of New France, +and to it he gave the native Algonquin name, +“Quebec,” which means “the narrowing of the +stream.”</p> + +<p>In the following year he went up the St. +Lawrence, and finding a party of Huron and +Algonquin Indians about to set out on an +expedition against their great enemy, the Iroquois, +who were encroaching upon Algonquin +territory near what is now Lake Champlain, he +joined with them, thinking thereby to establish +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>friendly and profitable relations with such +powerful tribes. The result was that he made +the fighting Iroquois the everlasting and unrelenting +enemies, not only of himself but of +France.</p> + +<p>This was one of the great fights of history, +full of meaning in the after years of Canadian +life. When the Algonquins came within fighting +distance of their adversaries they opened +ranks, and Champlain, steel armour on breast +and thighs, a plumed helmet on his head, a +sword at his side, and a musket in his hands, +stepped out to the front, and for the first time +the Indians saw the death-dealing firearms of +the white man.⁠<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>⁠</p> + +<p>In his own words:</p> + +<p>“I looked at them and they looked at me. +When I saw them getting ready to shoot their +arrows at us, I levelled my arquebus which I +had loaded with four balls and aimed straight +at one of the chiefs. The shot brought down +two and wounded another.”</p> + +<p>This day of fateful beginnings was two +months before Hudson discovered the river that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>bears his name and eleven years before the +Pilgrim Fathers landed upon the stern and +rock-bound coast of America. One of our own +poets, Bliss Carman, pictures the setting out +of the expedition:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“On such a day three hundred years ago</div> + <div class="verse indent0">By toilsome trails, and slow,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But with the adventurer’s spirit all aflame</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The great discoverer came</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Finding another Indies that he guessed</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To reward his darling quest</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And fill the wonder-volume of Romance,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The sailor of Little Brouage, the founder of New France,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sturdy, sagacious, plain</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Samuel de Champlain.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>During the next few years Champlain crossed +the sea almost annually and arranged for the +development of the fur trade, for which he +established a post on the site of the ancient +Hochelaga and where Montreal now stands. +Then he resumed his search for the great +“Western Sea” which lured on these early +adventurers, or some outlet through the great +continent to the fabled land beyond; and in +1613 he followed up the waterway of the St. +Lawrence by going up the Ottawa beyond where +now is the capital of the Dominion of Canada. +His journey really began when he left the end +of the island of Montreal at the confluence of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span>the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa, where St. +Anne de Bellevue now stands and where, many +years after, Tom Moore, the famous Irish poet, +lived for a short time and wrote the Canadian +Boat Song.⁠<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>⁠</p> + +<p>He soon came back, his information having +proved unreliable, and he returned to France to +make his report on the fur trade and the state +of the country. He set sail again in 1615 for +New France, having with him four Franciscan +Fathers called Récollet friars from the convent +in Brouage, who were anxious to convert to +Christianity the savages of this great new +world of which Champlain had told them.</p> + +<p>He stayed but a short time at Quebec as he +wished to follow up a party of Huron and +Algonquin Indians who had gone up the Ottawa +to gather the tribes for a raid against the Iroquois. +With them went Father Le Caron, +one of the Récollets who had come out from +Brouage with Champlain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus3" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="p1">THE RETURN OF THE WARRIORS</p> + <p>The advance party of a Mohawk war expedition has returned to + Theonondiogo (Two Noses), the Mohawk capital (1634). They + have brought with them two Mahikan Indian captives from the + vicinity of Skanehtade (Albany).</p> + <p>One prisoner in defiance has thrown down his burden and his + captor is about to strike him when a chief woman of the village + coming up the steep hill interposes by holding up a string of white + ransom wampum saving the captive from death. Another warrior + examines the bag of booty dropped by the prisoner. To the right + near the stockade wall is seen a Mohawk war chief in full regalia + leading a captive Mahikan, who bends beneath his burden. In the + background is a figure calling the rest of the warriors to the hilltop + council.</p> + <p>The scene is laid on the hill overlooking the ancient Mohawk site + of Two Noses, just above the present village of Sprakers in the + Mohawk valley, and the observer is looking north toward the foothills + of the Adirondacks.</p> + <p>The purpose of this group is to illustrate (1) the treatment of + prisoners, (2) the authority of the Iroquois woman, (3) the difference + between the Mohawks and the Hudson river Mahikans, (4) an + Iroquois village with its stockade wall, (5) a typical Mohawk valley + landscape in Indian times.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a><a id="Page_36"></a><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span></p> + +<p>Accompanied by Etienne Brulé, his interpreter, +a brave and skilful woodsman, Champlain’s +party went up the Ottawa, crossed over +the divide from the Upper Ottawa and launched +their canoes on Lake Nipissing. Thence they +paddled down the French River into Lake +Huron. One can imagine the joy of Champlain +when he saw this great body of water stretching +away beyond his vision and which he christened +Mer Douce (Fresh Water Sea). This was the +first of the Great Lakes to be discovered by a +white man, and Champlain, with Le Caron +and Brulé, were the first white men to sail on its +waters.</p> + +<p>Down the shore they went for more than a +hundred miles until the Indians came to the +outlet of a well-known trail leading into the +heart of the territory of the Hurons, to the +palisaded town of Otoucha. This part of the +country had many permanent Indian villages +whose inhabitants were more agricultural than +those in the east, and Champlain was greatly +impressed with the fields of maize and pumpkins +and sun flowers. Here he found Le Caron, +who had preceded him on the journey, and on +August 12th, 1615, the first mass, the first +religious service in what was afterwards known +as Upper Canada, was celebrated in what is +now the township of Tiny, near Penetanguishene, +in the county of Simcoe. This event was commemorated +three hundred years later by the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>Archbishop of Toronto, who celebrated mass +as nearly as possible on the same spot, and to +mark which a monument has been erected.</p> + +<p>The Indians gathered up their warriors and +started southward. When the expedition reached +Lake Simcoe, Brulé left Champlain that he +might go directly south and persuade an Indian +tribe who lived in that part of the country west +and south of where Buffalo now stands, to join +them against the Iroquois. Brulé paddled up +the Holland river, crossed over the height of +land and thence down the Humber river until +he came to its mouth where the city of Toronto +now stands. He was the first white man who +saw Lake Ontario; and this was some five +years before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.</p> + +<p>Champlain in the meantime crossed Lake +Simcoe, portaged to Balsam Lake, thence +through the Otonabee River, Rice Lake, and +the Trent River, into Lake Ontario, which he +too saw for the first time, and with his Huron +companions crossed over to the country of the +Iroquois. The raid was a failure, and Champlain, +himself wounded, returned with the +retreating Hurons and spent the winter with +them in Huronia on the Georgian Bay.</p> + +<p>The remaining years of Champlain’s life +were spent in trying to build up this little +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>colony⁠<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> in a vast country and reconciling the +conflicting elements in it. The most important +event was the capture of Quebec in 1629 by an +English fleet under Sir David Kirke, a descendant +of French Huguenots who had taken refuge in +England. Those were times when news travelled +slowly, and much to their mutual surprise it +was found that a peace had already been signed +between England and France, and so Quebec +was restored to France in 1632 and Champlain, +who had been taken to England as a prisoner, +was released and restored to his governorship.</p> + +<p>But his spirit was failing, and on Christmas +Day, 1635, one hundred years after Cartier +had first sailed up to the great rock at the +narrowing of the stream, this brave soldier, +resourceful general, and true gentleman, passed +away in the country which he loved and in the +city he had founded.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br> +<span class="smaller">JOLIET, MARQUETTE AND THE RIVER OF A HUNDRED THOUSAND STREAMS.</span></h2> + +<p>“The first French followers of the river courses +were devotees of a religion for the salvation of others, +bearers of advancing banners for the glory of France, +and lovers of nature and adventure.”</p> + +<p class="right">—<span class="smcap">President J. H. Finley.</span></p> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Joliet and Marquette.</span></h3> + +<p>Frontenac landed at Quebec in 1672 as +governor of New France, full of plans for the +development of the country, the extension of +its boundaries, and the exploration of “the +fabled West that is charted dim but certain in +the volume of the breast,” as our own Bliss +Carman phrases it. He found among the +coureurs des bois (runners of the woods) a +native Canadian, Louis Joliet, the son of a +wagon-maker in Quebec, a man reputed to be +courageous, enterprising, of good nature and +endowed with common sense. Him he commissioned +to go up to Sault Ste. Marie and +thence explore for the great South Sea. This +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>was an exceedingly wise choice and due to +the advice of the Intendant, M. Talon, a very +able man, who knew of Joliet’s previous exploits.</p> + +<p>Some three years previously the governor +of the time, Courcelles, sent Joliet to learn the +truth about the reputed copper deposits on +Lake Superior. He went by the great highway +of the Ottawa river, Lake Nipissing and French +River to Georgian Bay, and thence to the Sault. +On his return he went down Lake Huron from +the Sault through what we now call St. Clair +and Detroit, and then along the north shore of +Lake Erie and up the Grand River. The reason +for leaving the lake at this point was the fear +of his Indian guide for the warlike tribes at the +end of the lake.</p> + +<p>Joliet was the first white man known to +have passed through Lake Erie and this lake +was the last of the Great Lakes to be discovered. +Leaving the Grand River he was making his +way eastward when in an Indian village in +what is now known as the Beverley Swamp, +near the present city of Galt, he met La Salle, +Galinée and his Sulpician companion, Father +Dollier. La Salle, greatly impressed by the +dashing Joliet, who was much more to his +taste than his priestly companions, turned +back with him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span></p> + +<p>It was to this seasoned explorer that the +commission was given and he left for the Sault, +near which he was told he would find Father +Marquette, who would be his companion. Marquette +was of a noble family of Laon, a city of +Northern France, associated with nearly all the +epoch-making incidents in the history of France, +and which has been one of the great centres of +fighting on the Western Front in the Great +War of to-day. His mother was Rose de la +Salle of Rheims. Marquette had been in the +country about five years, and after two years +of training in the mission at Three Rivers had +been sent to the remnants of the Huron nation +driven north-westward by the Iroquois, until +near the western end of Lake Superior they +established themselves in a village where they +hoped to be far enough away from their great +enemy to recover themselves. Hither in the +summer came wandering Indians of a tribe +called the Illinois, who told Marquette of the +great river which flowed through their country, +of the fertile lands, and how glad they all would +be if he would visit them. After the village +was broken up by the Sioux Indians, the Hurons +determined to go back to more familiar haunts +and settled at Michillimackinac, fifty miles to +the south-west of the Sault. Marquette +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>accompanied them and there he was found by +Joliet.</p> + +<p>They spent the winter making their plans for +the journey, and in May, 1673, they started +westwards with their party of Frenchmen and +Indians, through Lake Michigan to Green Bay. +Thence up the bay they went and up the Fox +River to its source. A short portage over a +narrow strip of prairie and they dropped their +canoes into water flowing southwards, now the +Wisconsin River, and after about 40 leagues +they glided out into the great river, the Mississippi, +first christened by a religious name, +then called by a statesman’s name and finally +back to its Indian name, with the significant +meaning of “great water.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>⁠</p> + +<p>Down they floated through the land of the +buffalo and the wild turkey, until seeing upon +the bank traces of men, they landed and came +to the villages of the Indian tribe who had +invited Marquette to visit them. The Black +Gown, the distinctive garb of the Jesuit brotherhood, +was at once recognized and here they +stayed for some days, exchanging gifts and +courtesies and making enquiries about the +further reaches of the river.</p> + +<p>Before leaving these friendly Indian villages +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span>the Illinois Indians gave them a calumet, or +pipe of peace, as a safeguard for them in their +passage through hostile savages, probably just +to show to the savages by using their own sign +that they were coming in friendship. The +calumet used by these Indians was made of a +bowl of red stone with a long stick as a stem. +This stick was covered along its whole length +with heads of birds all coloured like flame, while +a bunch of red feathers shaped like a great fan +adorned the middle of the stick.</p> + +<p>Southwards again they went as far as the +Arkansas, where, fearing the Spaniards, who +were in that part of the country, they turned +northwards, and following the advice of the +Indians, they entered the Illinois River. Marquette +was greatly impressed with the fertility +of that wonderful valley, and well he might be, +for his experience hitherto in New France had +not been in very fertile regions. “I have seen,” +said he, “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.”</p> + +<p>On that river, in the great Indian village of +Kaskaskia, seven miles below the present city +of Ottawa, Illinois, Marquette was so kindly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>treated that he promised to return to them as +soon as he could. Following up one of the +branches of the river they portaged across only +about 1,000 paces and put their canoes into a +little stream that emptied into Lake Michigan. +That portage is where stands to-day the city +of Chicago, the great city of the State called +after the Indians for whom Marquette had made +the journey. Along the shore they went, across +the portage at Sturgeon Bay, and at the end of +September reached the mission at Green Bay, +where they spent the winter.</p> + +<p>Early in the spring they separated, Marquette +to return to his mission to recruit his +strength that he might redeem his promise to +his Indian friends at Kaskaskia, Joliet to report +to Frontenac the result of his voyage. Unfortunately, +Joliet’s canoe was upset in the Lachine +rapids and all his papers, including the map of +the discovered region, were lost. In his report +he said, with the insight of the prophet: “We +could easily go to Florida in a ship, and with +very easy navigation. It would only be necessary +to make a canal by cutting through but +half a league of prairie to pass from the foot of +the lake of the Illinois (Michigan) to the River +St. Louis (Des Plaines),”—and we have lived to +see that done in the great sanitary and ship +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>canal connecting the Chicago River with the +Des Plaines River at the present city of Joliet. +Joliet held minor positions until 1680, when he +was granted fishing rights in the lower St. +Lawrence and later the island of Anticosti was +included. But in 1690 the English invasion +under Phips destroyed his establishment and +ten years later he died in poverty.</p> + +<p>Marquette, weak in body but with a giant +spirit, was preparing himself to fulfil his promise +and in the fall of the next year, 1674, he started +for Kaskaskia. Bad weather and his physical +weakness made him halt so many times that it +was April before he reached the village. Here +he was welcomed as an angel from heaven, and +on the Easter Sunday, before an altar erected +on the prairie at the edge of the great wood, he +preached to thousands of the Indians as they +squatted in a semi-circle, chiefs, young men, +women and children, to hear the impressive +words of the black-robed missionary.</p> + +<p>Leaving them that he might get treatment +for his ailment and promising that he never +would forget them, he started for home, but he +succumbed on the banks of the Great Lake on +May 18th, 1675. In compliance with his request, +he was buried there, but a year later the +Ottawa Indians, finding the grave, opened it, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span>and took the remains to St. Ignace in a great +procession of canoes and buried under the +chapel the great priest with solemn ceremonies. +Early in the next century the chapel was destroyed +by fire. In 1877 the remains of a burned +building were discovered at the site of the old +mission and the remains wrapped in birch bark +were discovered.</p> + +<p>Small wonder it is that his name lives +throughout that great fertile valley, drained by +the river of a hundred thousand streams, the +man of courage, kindliness of heart and speech, +of unselfish devotion and high ideals, a fitting +hero for a land that becoming fabulously rich +in material wealth needs the inspiration of the +life of the simple, zealous priest who put the +good of others above his own pleasure and +comfort.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br> +<span class="smaller">LA SALLE AND THE GREATER NEW FRANCE.</span></h2> + +<p>“The fertile plains of Texas, the vast basin of the +Mississippi from its frozen springs to the sultry borders +of the gulf; from the wooded ridges of the Alleghanies +to the bare peaks of the Rocky Mountains,—a region +of savannas and forests, sun-cracked deserts and grassy +prairies, watered by a thousand rivers, ranged by a +thousand warlike tribes.”</p> + +<p class="right">—<span class="smcap">Parkman.</span></p> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">La Salle and the Greater New France.</span></h3> + +<p>With the exception of Champlain, the most +romantic figure in the history of New France is +that of La Salle, the young adventurer from +Rouen. He landed at Quebec in 1666, the same +year as Marquette, and went at once to Montreal +where he had relatives among the Sulpician +order of priests, to whom most of the island of +Montreal belonged. Here he purchased from +them an estate or seigniory, as it was called. +This was but a few miles west of Montreal, and +was called in derision by his friends “La Chine,” +having reference to La Salle’s dream of finding +a road to China by following westward.</p> + +<p>In preparation for his explorations he settled +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span>down to acquaint himself with the Indian languages, +and hearing from some Seneca Indians +that there was a great river called the Ohio, +which he thought might lead him to the great +Western Sea, he joined the expedition of Galinée +and Father Dollier, the Sulpician, who were +setting out to establish a mission in the Far +West. With nine canoes and twenty-one men +they skirted the eastern and southern shores of +Lake Ontario, and about the middle of September +reached the mouth of a river which Galinée +describes: “We discovered a river one-eighth +of a league wide and extremely rapid.” The +Indians told them of a great cataract up this +river which was “higher than the highest pine +trees,” and indeed he tells us he could hear the +roar. But they had a set purpose and pressed +on their way, thus losing the opportunity to be +the first white men to visit the Falls of Niagara. +Indeed this is the first description of the river +by any one who is known to have reached it.</p> + +<p>They passed on to Burlington Bay and +leaving it about where Hamilton now stands, +they struck across the country, and on the 24th +of September, in an Indian village in what is +known as the Beverley Swamp, near the present +city of Galt, they met Joliet returning from his +search for the copper mines on Lake Superior. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>La Salle was so attracted by Joliet, a kindred +adventurer in spirit, that he turned back and +left Dollier and Galinée to go on to the West, +guided as to their course by the advice of Joliet, +who told them of the Pottawatomies, a tribe of +Indians to whom no missionary had yet come.</p> + +<p>They went down the Grand River and as the +season was so far advanced they built a shelter +on the lake shore near where Port Dover now +stands, erected a cross and took formal possession +of the Lake Erie country in the name of +Louis the Magnificent.⁠<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>⁠</p> + +<p>Here they spent the winter and are enthusiastic +in their praise of the mildness of the +climate and the luscious autumn fruit. This is +of great interest to many of us who to-day look +upon that county (Norfolk) as one of the +greatest fruit centres of the province of Ontario.</p> + +<p>La Salle returned east, and we know that +during the next few years he was with Frontenac, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>and doubtless made many exploration trips. +But in 1675 he received from the French Government +a grant on Lake Ontario similar to the +seigniory at La Chine, and so at Cataraqui, where +Kingston now stands, he built a fort to control +the trade coming east and to prevent it from +going to the English colony in New York. +This he called “Fort Frontenac.” He was +raised to the nobility and was given a commission +in 1678 to discover the “Western part +of New France” and “to construct forts in the +places you may think necessary.” This meant +that he would seek out the mouth of the great +Mississippi and erect a chain of forts which +would connect and hold for France the country +from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the +mouth of the Mississippi.</p> + +<p>Here was the great chance for which this +adventurous man had longed and for which he +had toiled, and so in November of that year he +began to gather men and material for the great +project. He threw himself into this work with +energy and was backed up by Frontenac, whose +policy had ever been the extension of the +boundaries of New France. Indeed, Frontenac +had advised the Home Government as early as +1673 that a fort at the mouth of the Niagara +River and a vessel on Lake Erie would enable +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>the French to command the Great Lakes. +Like many other Home Governments when +urged to progressive measures, Colbert, the +Colonial Minister, advised caution.⁠<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>⁠</p> + +<p>When La Salle arrived from Rochelle with +these wonderfully indefinite powers these two +men saw great possibilities and went to work at +once. Ship carpenters, blacksmiths, and other +artisans were gathered at the Niagara River, +and while a fort was being built at the mouth +of the river to cut off the trade of the English, +a store house was erected below the Falls near +where Lewiston now stands, and a shipyard +was planned above the Falls, where a large +boat was to be built for the great western +expedition. This was the work of La Salle’s +lieutenant, Henry Tonty. With La Salle was +a Récollet priest, Father Hennepin, and to him +we owe our first written account of Niagara Falls.</p> + +<p>After many disappointments, the Griffon, +named after Frontenac’s armorial bearing, was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>launched, equipped, and set sail. Tonty rejoined +La Salle on board the Griffon at Detroit. +He has an interest for us to-day in that his +name is preserved to us in the Tontine plan of +insurance, which was the invention of his father, +a Neapolitan nobleman. And in a greater +sense this Henry Tonty was a nobleman, for +through all his wandering and discouragements +La Salle found in him a sincere and trustworthy +friend. At Mackinac they were to meet with +advance guards of traders sent on by La Salle, +but most of them had deserted. Gathering up +a few whom he thought would be loyal, La Salle +made his way to the Illinois River, where a fort +was built and a boat begun by Tonty for exploration +of the great river. The Griffon was sent +home from Green Bay, loaded with furs, and +there our knowledge of her ends.</p> + +<p>In the meantime La Salle determined to +return to Fort Frontenac to get more material +and more men to undertake the great journey. +By canoe and on foot they crossed Southern +Michigan and passed over the Detroit on a raft, +thence on foot along the shores of Lake Erie (in +the month of March), and utterly worn out he, +his faithful hunter, and two white companions +reached the Falls, only to hear heart-breaking +news. He had travelled more than a thousand +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span>miles in 65 days in the very worst season of the +year. There was no news of his ship—his fortune +and his hope.</p> + +<p>Deceived and even robbed by his men, in +addition to all his other disappointments, La +Salle, undaunted and undismayed, sent Dautray, +one of the white men who had accompanied +him, with four others, to reinforce Tonty, and +pushed on to Fort Frontenac. As if he had not +already enough bad news, just as he arrived at +the Fort, messengers from Tonty told him that +the men who were building the vessel in the +Illinois River had stolen what they could and +had deserted. These precious rascals, joined +by other deserters, must have been following +close behind the messengers, as we hear of them +breaking into La Salle’s storehouse on the +Niagara, looting everything they could and +setting out for the East. La Salle heard of it, +intercepted some of them, killed two, and took +the rest prisoners to Fort Frontenac.</p> + +<p>But Tonty must be rescued and the exploration +go on, so La Salle gathered men and supplies +and started for the West. With twelve men +he went up the Humber River, crossed to Lake +Simcoe, and thence down the Severn River to +the Georgian Bay; the others with the heavier +freight went by Niagara and Lake Erie. They +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>were to meet at Mackinac, but La Salle could +not wait, and hastened on with a foreboding +that something awful may have happened to +Tonty at his Fort Crevecoeur (broken heart) +in the Illinois country.</p> + +<p>And when they arrived it was to see where +once had been the chief town of the Illinois, +nothing but ashes, skulls, and mangled corpses. +The Iroquois had been there. Down the river +he went looking for Tonty, even into the Mississippi. +Discouraged, they turned back to the +St. Joseph River and there at Fort Miami, +where La Forest was in charge, they settled +down for the winter. In the meantime, Tonty, +after trying in vain to prevent the battle between +the Iroquois and the Illinois, had escaped and +after weeks of suffering had reached Green Bay.</p> + +<p>La Salle in the spring set out for Fort Frontenac +to refit and went by Michillimackinac. +We can imagine his joy when he found Tonty, +who accompanied him to the East. By October +they had arranged their affairs and arrived at +Fort Miami in November. Here they organized +their expedition of 18 Indians and 23 Frenchmen, +and in Christmas week, 1681, they set out. +Across Lake Michigan to the Chicago River, +thence portaging to the north branch of the Illinois, +they entered the Mississippi on February 6th, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>but saw no human beings until March 13th, +near the mouth of the Arkansas River. Landing +there La Salle raised the banner of France, +planted a cross, and took possession of the +country in the name of the King.</p> + +<p>Thence down the river they went for three +hundred miles to the Taensas Indians, who +lived in large square houses built of mud and +straw with a high roof of cane and surrounding +a large open court. Soon they came to the +mouth or delta of the Mississippi, and going in +different parties down the channels they joined +together on an island at the mouth, erected a +column, and took possession of all Louisiana +from the mouth of the Ohio to the Gulf of +Mexico. And so from Lake Erie west and +north to the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian +North West, and south from Lake Erie to the +Gulf, and west to the Rio Grande was added to +the New France whose capital was at the narrowing +of the stream of the mighty St. Lawrence.</p> + +<p>La Salle had realized his dream, and against +obstacles which would have staggered any +ordinary man; and New France now extended +from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of +Mexico. They retraced their way up the Mississippi +and after a long illness he reached +Mackinac, whither he had sent Tonty to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>announce their success. It was too late to go +to Quebec, and there was a rumour that the +Iroquois were on the warpath, so La Salle and +Tonty returned to the Illinois and spent the +winter of 1682-3 in fortifying Starved Rock, +which was to be one of the chain of forts to hold +the new country.</p> + +<p>But in the meantime Frontenac was recalled, +the forward policy entirely changed, and La +Salle’s own possessions at Fort Frontenac seized. +This seemed the cap stone of all his troubles, +and he passed eastward in the fall of 1683, +reached Quebec in November, and finding his +case hopeless, sailed for France to lay his case +personally before his King.</p> + +<p>He was a wonderful man. His vessels had +been wrecked, his goods lost, his possessions +confiscated. He had been deserted by his men, +been robbed, and yet he retained that faith in +himself and in his cause, and so impressed the +King that he was given command of an expedition +to sail for the mouths of the Mississippi to +drive the Spaniards out of North America. +They landed somewhere near where Galveston, +Texas, now stands, having missed the Mississippi. +Again through wrecks and desertion +La Salle found his numbers depleted. Added +to this, dreadful sickness broke out. La Salle +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>determined to seek a way out to the Mississippi +and thence up to New France. He made +repeated attempts, and at last, deserted by +nearly all his men who despaired of ever seeing +home again, he was shot by one of his own followers +on March 18th, 1687.</p> + +<p>Thus perished one of the most remarkable +men in our history, the first great Imperialist, +who had an empire in his brain, and who if he +had been given backing would have made a +New France greater than Old France could +ever hope to be. And the map of North +America would have been greatly changed!</p> + +<p>Tonty, the faithful friend and companion of +La Salle, stayed for some years in the country +of the Illinois, joined Iberville in Louisiana in +1702, and died near where Mobile now stands +about 1704. Faithful, not only to the erratic +La Salle, but also to the Home Government, he +received no recompense in any form, but has +left for us an undying picture of how true and +faithful a friend can be, and under the most +trying circumstances.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br> +<span class="smaller">RADISSON AND THE GREAT NORTH WEST.</span></h2> + +<p>“If he had not had his faults, if he had not been as +impulsive, as daring, as reckless, as inconstant, as +improvident of the morrow as a savage or a child, he +would not have accomplished the exploration of half +a continent. Men who weigh consequences are not of +the stuff to win empires. He went ahead and when the +way did not open he went around, or crawled over, or +carved his way through.</p> + +<p>“Memorial tablets commemorate other discoverers. +Radisson needs none. The Great Northwest is his +monument for all time.”</p> + +<p class="right">—<span class="smcap">Agnes C. Laut.</span></p> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Radisson and the Great North West</span></h3> + +<p>Before Joliet, Marquette, or La Salle had +made their memorable expeditions in search of +the Western Sea, a man unattached to any +religious order, and under the protection of no +government, had traversed these unknown wilds +for the sheer joy of exploration and excitement. +The hair-breadth escapes of the hero of modern +fiction cannot compare in thrills to the marvellous +adventures of this man to whom the +country from Quebec to the prairies of the great +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>North West were alike his hunting and his +playground.</p> + +<p>This was Pierre Radisson, who left his +native St. Malo about a century after the great +Cartier, and settled at Three Rivers, which +then was a comparatively large place, having a +population of about 200 souls.</p> + +<p>With the enthusiasm and recklessness of +youth he disregarded the warnings of his friends +and went duck shooting with a couple of equally +reckless and youthful companions. They were +but boys and were at the age when Indians had +no terrors for them. Separated in the chase, +Radisson had splendid luck, and returning to +where they had agreed to meet, he found his +two companions dead among the rushes. When +he looked about, the heads of Indians appeared +everywhere. They set upon him, and after a +game struggle he was disarmed, stripped, tied +around the waist with a rope and brought to +the camp fire.</p> + +<p>The very recklessness of the youth compelled +the admiration of the Indians, who spared his +life, gave him his clothes, dressed his hair and +daubed his face as of an Indian brave. Though +but a boy he showed the coolness in the face of +danger which was to characterize him throughout +his adventurous life. We are told that he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>slept that night between two warriors under a +common blanket and so soundly that he was +with difficulty awakened at the break of day.</p> + +<p>Taking no chances, they tied him to the +cross bar of a canoe when the party set off for +the Indian village many miles distant. On the +fourth day he was released from the cross bar, +and being given a paddle, entered with zest +into the work of helping onward the canoe. +He was a cheerful lad, and the Indians, instead +of allowing him to work himself out in his +awkward manner, taught him how to give the +light feather strokes of the true canoe man. +He, in turn, took his share of the burdens, and +was always eager to help. Their village was +near Lake George in what is now New York +State, and there they prepared to make merry +with their captives and their plunder. He had +to run the gauntlet of the braves, and was so +successful that he was sought for adoption by +a captive Huron squaw who had been adopted +by the tribe. She pleaded for his life before the +Great Council and was allowed to take him as +her son. He was now a Mohawk of the Iroquois +nation.</p> + +<p>Watching his opportunity, and with an +Algonquin captive, they made their escape, +after killing three of the Mohawks; and after +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>wandering many days, they were within sight +of Three Rivers when the Iroquois overtook +them, killed the Algonquin, and Radisson was +again a prisoner. He was recognized and subjected +to tortures, his thumb being thrust into +a pipe of live coals, and the soles of both feet +burned. Still worse was in store for him, but +his adopted father, a chief among them, and his +adopted mother, purchased his freedom by a +recital of their own deeds of valour and by gifts +of wampum.</p> + +<p>This seventeen year old lad seemingly had +won the hearts of all. He accompanied them +on their expeditions and visited the lodges of +the Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas, and Cayugas +in their wanderings about what is now known +as the Niagara district. Indeed, he won the +confidence of his Mohawk friends to such an +extent that they took him with them when they +visited the white man’s village of Orange +(Albany), and he justified their confidence by +returning with them, even though the Dutch +offered to pay a great ransom to free him.</p> + +<p>He wanted to make himself free and was +ever on the alert for the suitable moment. It +came in 1653, and alone he made his way back +to Orange after many hair-breadth escapes. +Here he was befriended—indeed he seemed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>always and everywhere to make friends—by a +Jesuit priest who gave him enough money to +enable him to sail down the Hudson to New +York, whence he took boat for Amsterdam, +which he reached in 1654, and thence he made +his way home to France.</p> + +<p>This adventure I have dwelt upon in some +detail, because it is an illustration in miniature +of his eventful life. One would think there had +been enough crowded into these months to +suffice for a life time, but the lure of the West +was upon him, and his relatives, like himself, +had gone overseas.</p> + +<p>Therefore he joined the fishing fleet that was +sailing for the Banks of Newfoundland, and +made his way back to Three Rivers in May of +1654, just two years after he had disappeared.</p> + +<p>His sister, Marguerite, had lost her husband +in a fight with the Mohawks, and had married +Chouart, a famous fur trader. This man was a +widower, his wife having been a daughter of +Abraham Martin, whose farm near Quebec City +was in another century to become famous as +the scene of the battle of the Plains of Abraham.</p> + +<p>These two men, Radisson and Chouart, +became not only fast friends, but inseparable +companions in a life of adventure. The traders +coming East to dispose of their furs told of a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>great country beyond the Great Lakes, and +these two lovers of the wild set off up the Ottawa +across Lake Huron and Michigan, over what is +now Wisconsin, and came to a “mighty river, +great, rushing, profound, and comparable to the +St. Lawrence.” This undoubtedly was the +Upper Mississippi, and these two white men +were the first to see it and the “farflung, fenceless +prairie, where the quick cloud-shadows +trail,” which make up what we call the Great +North West.</p> + +<p>The Indians told them of a great river to +the south which divided itself in two, the +Forked River, the junction of Missouri and Mississippi, +but the adventurers decided to make +their way back again, and crossing through +what is now Nebraska, North Dakota, and +Minnesota, they came to Lake Superior and +the Sault. Here the Crees told Radisson of a +great sea to the north, Hudsons Bay, where +there were quantities of furs. So alluring was +the description that he set off on snow shoes, +but the season was too late and he returned +and made his way east. At the rapids of the +Long Sault his large party came upon the +Iroquois who had massacred Dollard and his +noble band of Frenchmen. These they put to +flight and as deliverers they made a triumphant +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>journey to Montreal, Three Rivers and +Quebec.</p> + +<p>Their one thought was when could they +resume their explorations in the North, and as +they could not come to terms with the Governor, +who wanted all the profits without assuming +any of the risks, they stole away and in October +reached Lake Superior. Pressing on they came +to where Duluth now stands, and there they +established a fur trading post, the first between +the Missouri River and the North Pole. This +marks the opening of the Great West as truly +as when the railway passing through unknown +portions of our Great West established a station +as a centre of influence and trade.</p> + +<p>In the spring they set off with their hosts +of the winter, the Crees, to find the Great Sea, +and it is possible that they were successful, but +after great hardships. However, we know that +they returned in 1663 with costly furs, and +instead of the welcome which might reasonably +be looked for, they were heavily fined by the +French governor for trading without a license, +and most of their furs were confiscated. They +tried to get redress in France, but utterly failed, +and so with no support in either Old France or +New France they sought out new friends and +joined the English in an expedition against +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>Port Royal. This was unsuccessful, and being +taken prisoners by the Dutch they were landed +in Spain, whence they made their way to +England. This was in 1666, when the great +plague was raging in London, and Charles II. +and his court were at Oxford.</p> + +<p>They met at the court a man who was greatly +impressed with their stories, and whose name +was to be intimately associated with the great +Northland. This was Prince Rupert, the dashing +cavalry leader of the Stuarts, who became +their patron, outfitted them for exploration, +and they set off for Hudsons Bay. Chouart +was successful, but Radisson, shipwrecked, returned +to England where, in 1670, on the return +of Chouart, a “company of adventurers trading +with Hudsons Bay” was formed through the +influence of Prince Rupert, who became the +first governor of the Hudsons Bay Company, +to whom was given an empire.</p> + +<p>In the following spring ships were sent out, +posts established, and so successful was their +venture that the French not only sent expeditions +and exploring parties northward, but the +great gathering of the Indian tribes at the +Sault Ste. Marie, which Perrot organized, was +to strengthen the French against the English +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>traders who were trying to divert trade from +the posts of the French.</p> + +<p>But negotiations in England fell through +and Radisson made more satisfactory terms +with his old allies, the French, and sailed under +that flag to Hudsons Bay, outwitted both the +officials of the Hudsons Bay Company and the +free traders from New England and France +became supreme in the Bay. But again the +government of New France threw away the +prize, for when Radisson and Chouart arrived +at Montreal they were prosecuted for trading +without a license. They were summoned to +France to explain the circumstances to the +Home Government, but when they arrived they +found that Colbert, the minister who summoned +them, was dead. Chouart, thoroughly +discouraged, retired to end his days in quietness, +for the outlook was anything but encouraging.</p> + +<p>However, Radisson, looking with eagerness +still for the life of adventure, and having a +family to support, played French against English +offers until at last he went across to England +and in 1684 he sailed for Hudsons Bay under +the flag of the Company. Here he found young +Chouart, the son, who had been holding the Bay +for France, who, when he heard of the treatment +given his father and Radisson, surrendered the +fort and the furs to Radisson, who thereupon +gathered the Indian tribes and made a treaty +with them and the Hudsons Bay Company, +which in essence lasts unto this day. Returning +to England they received a great welcome, and +for five years Radisson made annual visits to +the Bay and the Company flourished.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus4" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="p1">COUNCIL OF THE TURTLE CLAN</p> + <p>The Turtle Clan chiefs of the Onondagas are discussing some + important tribal subject within the private bark lodge of their fire-keeper. + The presiding chief must give the decision. The chief + woman of the clan feels that the council’s action is adverse to her + interests and requests her secretary, a young man, to register her + protest.</p> + <p>The bark cabin is a typical Iroquois lodge of the individual type.</p> + <p>All the furnishings of the council lodge are of genuine Indian + make and typical of prehistoric times in an Onondaga village. The + figures are cast from living Onondaga models.</p> + <p>The purpose of this group is to illustrate (1) one of the political + units of the Iroquois Confederacy, which had a stable government + and a definite code of law, (2) the interior of a bark cabin (many of + which were more than 100 feet in length), (3) the four Turtle clan + sachems in council, (4) the method of recording by wampum the + transactions of a council, (5) the privilege of the Iroquois woman to + voice her opinions in the highest or lowest councils of the nation, + (6) typical Onondaga Indians and a scene in the Onondaga country.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a><a id="Page_70"></a><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span></p> + +<p>The great Seven Years’ War between France +and England broke out in 1688 with the accession +of William and Mary, and the Bay was invaded +by the French, the fur trade badly disorganized, +and the profits of the Company greatly decreased.</p> + +<p>As is too often the case with corporations, +gratitude for what had been accomplished was +wiped out by the disappointment of the present, +and Radisson, who had done so much for the +company, was ignored; too old to be of aggressive +service to them, he drops out of sight, +and is forgotten except for the record of the +payment of a small pension up to the year 1710.</p> + +<p>His was a wonderful life. Impulsive, yet cool-headed +at critical times, daring, reckless and inconstant, +but generous and brave, he was the true +adventurer who, with no thought of himself, braved +danger for the very love of it, and whose memory +is preserved among the Indians as one who was untainted +by the vices of the white man, who never +was cruel and who was admired for his sheer bravery.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br> +<span class="smaller">MONTCALM AND THE FALL OF NEW FRANCE.</span></h2> + +<p>“The history of French America is far more picturesque +than the history of British America in the +period of 1608-1754. But the English were doing work +more solid, valuable and permanent than their northern +neighbours. The French took to the lakes, rivers and +forests; they cultivated the Indians; their explorers +were intent on discovery, their traders on furs, their +missionaries on souls. The English did not either +take to the woods or cultivate the Indians, they loved +agriculture and trade, state and church, and so clung +to the fields, shops, politics and churches. As a result +while Canada languished, the English states grew up +on the Atlantic plain modelled on the Saxon pattern, +and became populous, rich and strong. At the beginning +of the war there were 80,000 white inhabitants in +New France, 1,160,000 in the British colonies.”</p> + +<p class="right">—<span class="smcap">Professor B. A. Hinsdale.</span></p> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Montcalm and the Fall of New France.</span></h3> + +<p>What the gold mines of Mexico and Peru +were to the Spaniards the fur trade of New +France was to the French, and until the furs +arrived in Montreal or Quebec, they could not +be considered safe, for in the Ohio country and +especially at the Niagara portage, and even on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>the way to Frontenac, they were liable to attack +from the English and their Indian allies.</p> + +<p>To protect this trade the French built a +strong fort at the mouth of the Niagara River, +part of which may be seen to-day in what is +known as Fort Niagara on the American side of +the river. At the head of the portage, above +the Falls, there was a smaller fort called Fort +Little Niagara.</p> + +<p>This was the great trading centre, not only +for the district immediately tributary to it, such +as Toronto (at the mouth of what is now called +the Humber River, and which in summer was +very busy) but for all the north-west country +which with the development of Detroit had +increased in wealth and inhabitants. Toronto +was really an outpost of Niagara and was established +with the great French forward movement +in 1749. It had been officially named Fort +Rouillé after the Colonial Minister of the day, +who was also a man of letters, and the head of +the Royal Library. However, this name was +too artificial to survive and the old name for +the bay and river, Toronto, maintained its hold +upon the people.</p> + +<p>In 1749 the French determined upon a great +expedition to show their power and assert their +sovereignty over the Ohio country and to warn +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>off all strangers from trading on French territory. +So in June of that year with 23 canoes +and 250 men they left Lachine, passed through +Niagara in July, and made their triumphal +way through the Ohio country to Detroit, and +thence back to Montreal in November.</p> + +<p>The headquarters of the English on the +Lakes was at Oswego. This was the great +rival of Niagara as a trading centre. When the +war had raised the prices in France the French +traders at Niagara raised their prices correspondingly—and +even more. The Indians +grumbled and went on to Oswego, where they +could trade with the English to better advantage. +The French, feeling that their trade with +the Indians was being endangered urged an +expedition against Oswego, and in 1756 Montcalm +took the place by storm in the greatest +battle which up to that time had been fought +between the French and the English for control +of the Lakes.</p> + +<p>This disaster followed closely upon the +defeat of Braddock at Duquesne, made especially +famous because of the presence of George +Washington, the colonial, as junior officer, who, +accustomed to the Indian manner of fighting, +warned General Braddock, but whose advice +the haughty English general thought beneath +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>notice; and still more was heaped upon the +unfortunate English when Montcalm defeated +them at Ticonderoga. It certainly looked as if +there must needs be a vigorous policy on the +part of the English if they were to have any of +the trade on the great inland waters.</p> + +<p>Pitt, the Premier of England, saw this and +made plans for an aggressive campaign. In +1758 Colonel Bradstreet, with American provincials, +captured Fort Frontenac, burned and +sank seven vessels of war, captured sixty cannon +and destroyed the Fort and incidentally the +shipyard, which was the first upon the Great +Lakes. This success greatly heartened the +English and made them think how simple +might be the conquest of other places if they +had ships of war. It was the awakening of the +English to the importance of “sea power” on +the Lakes.</p> + +<p>Now Niagara was the centre of French +power and influence, situated on the great +portage which practically controlled the great +trade from the West. The fort had been greatly +strengthened during 1756-7, and the English +carefully gathered a strong force. It was a real +siege, in which the assailing force used trench +warfare to make steady and safe advances. +After nineteen days the garrison surrendered to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>Sir William Johnson, who was ranking commander +on account of the deaths of the superior +officers during the siege. Sir William had +joined the investing force with 900 Indians, the +largest number ever led into battle by a white +man. When he entered the fort one of the most +interesting of his companions was Joseph Brant, +a Mohawk lad of 17, destined to become one of +the most renowned men of his day. And now +the English for the first time had access to the +great fur trade.</p> + +<p>While speaking of this fort it will be of +interest to note that in the common English +speech of that day the pronunciation of the +name of the fort was Niagàra. Our present +pronunciation would have been impossible to +the Iroquois tongue, which requires that each +syllable should end in a vowel.</p> + +<p>While these disasters were overtaking the +French on the Lakes, the English under Wolfe +had sailed up the St. Lawrence after clearing +the coasts below, and were preparing to attack +Quebec. Indeed the news of the capture of +Niagara, which came at a very opportune +moment, greatly heartened the English and +correspondingly depressed the French.</p> + +<p>The situation was perilous. Fort Frontenac +was destroyed, Fort Niagara in the hands +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>of the English, Amherst was advancing, as part +of Pitt’s plan, through New York State by way +of Oswego, against Montreal, and a strong +English force under Wolfe, selected specially +for this work by Pitt, was before the capital +city of Quebec.</p> + +<p>The internal affairs of the country were not +promising. Montcalm, the general of the French +forces, an able military man of good experience, +was not supreme, but had to take his orders +from Vaudreuil, the governor, a weak and +jealous man, fatal failings in a position of +authority. And with almost the powers of the +governor, was the Intendant, a man called +Bigot, to whose looseness in matters of morals +and money may be partially ascribed the loss +of New France. The defects of the rulers were +to be seen in the officials under them, and it was +a difficult task that confronted Montcalm.</p> + +<p>The advance against Quebec was made by +water, and up to the battle itself the movements +were those of a fleet. The commander of the +army was General Wolfe, selected by Pitt, the +Prime Minister of England, and to him was +given what was then the extraordinary privilege +of selecting most of his staff and thus providing +for unity of aim and community of interest. +Saunders was Admiral of the fleet.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span></p> + +<p>At first they lay below the city and tried +sundry attacks by land, but without success. +Then they made a skilful movement up the +river and in a better position to make a direct +attack.</p> + +<p>Quebec is a natural stronghold, and had to +depend largely upon this for protection. Large +sums of money had been assigned for the greater +development and strengthening of the fortifications, +but in those days of corruption and +thoughtlessness the money had doubtless been +squandered. Its great cliffs might have presented +a hopeless appearance to the enemy if +properly guarded, but Wolfe knew through his +capable Intelligence Department, that there +was but little ammunition and little food in the +garrison. Above all, there was a lack of +intelligence and co-operation among the rulers +of the French, an evidence of which was the +fact that a great fleet could make its way up the +dangerous St. Lawrence with practically no +opposition.</p> + +<p>Wolfe studied out the situation and, emboldened +by the good news from the Lakes, +planned an assault by night. Carefully selecting +the place, he told no one but the admiral +and the captain who was to lead the great procession +of boats to the assault. Shortly after +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>midnight on September 12th, 1759, the boats +in line dropped down the river with Wolfe and +his staff in the leading boat. They passed successfully +a French sentry who thought they were +a French convoy, and about four o’clock on that +autumn morning Wolfe leaped ashore at a cove +about a mile and a half above the city, and led +his men up the steep path which he had already +carefully investigated. Again they successfully +answered the challenge of a sentry and by six +o’clock the whole landing force was on the +heights.</p> + +<p>It was a surprise to the French, but even +then the chance for recovery would have been +greater if Montcalm had not been hampered by +having to consult the governor on all details. +This was a national crisis. Half a continent +was at stake and yet the man whose training +had been for this purpose, whose business it was +to know what to do at such a crisis, had to lay +his plans before a political appointee, who in +turn used his power for the humiliation of the +expert military leader.</p> + +<p>But Montcalm was a patriot, and he made +the best of the situation. By nine o’clock the +French marched out in battle array against +Wolfe’s army, which by this time had reached +the level known as the Plains of Abraham. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>armies were almost equal in numbers, approximately +5,000 each, and as the French advanced +to the attack, which was their best policy, +Wolfe, advancing his men so that the action +would be close, gave the order that no shot was +to be fired until the enemy was within forty +paces. It was a difficult matter to remain +steady and resist the temptation to fire, but +they did, and when at forty paces a volley was +let loose, followed immediately by a second, +the French line wavered and Wolfe gave the +order to charge.</p> + +<p>The French could not withstand the shock +and the battle was won. Wolfe, already +wounded, received a death wound in the first +moment of the charge. While being carried to +the rear he heard some one say, “They run, +they run!” Wolfe roused himself and asked, +“Who run?” “The French, sir! Egad! they +give way everywhere!” “Then I die content.” +And so passed away the young intrepid general, +who had recognized fully the great issues +involved in this encounter and on the previous +evening had made a disposition of all his belongings.</p> + +<p>And Montcalm, while trying to rally the +fugitives, was stricken down, and when told +that he could not live, replied calmly, “So much +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span>the better. I am happy not to live to see the +surrender of Quebec.”</p> + +<p>The battle lasted until mid-day, and the +result was a triumph for Wolfe’s tactics, for it +was a carefully planned attack, and nothing +was left to chance. Quebec surrendered, the +French troops marched out with the honours of +war, and the reign of France was virtually over +in the New World.</p> + +<p>Montcalm was buried in the Ursuline chapel +at Quebec, while Wolfe’s body was carried on +the Royal William to Portsmouth in charge of +Sergeant Donald MacLeod, of the Black Watch, +all his years a soldier and with twelve sons in +the army and navy.</p> + +<p>Years afterwards, to these two great generals, +noble and self-sacrificing men, each doing his +duty to his country even to the sacrifice of his +life, a monument was erected in the city for +whose possession they had fought. On one side +is the word Montcalm; on the other Wolfe; +and on the pedestal between these words:</p> + +<p class="center allsmcap">MORTEM VIRTUS COMMUNEM<br> +FAMAM HISTORIA<br> +MONUMENTUM POSTERITAS<br> +DEDIT.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br> +<span class="smaller">PONTIAC AND THE LAST HOPE OF INDIAN SUPREMACY.</span></h2> + +<p>“For a mausoleum a city has arisen above the forest +hero; and the race whom he hated with such burning +rancour trample with unceasing footsteps over his +forgotten grave.”</p> + +<p class="right">—<span class="smcap">Parkman.</span></p> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Pontiac and the Last Hope of Indian Supremacy.</span></h3> + +<p>We sometimes speak of the victory of Wolfe +on the Plains of Abraham and the subsequent +surrender of Quebec as having involved the +transfer of Canada or New France from the +French to the English. It really was the first +and most important in the series of events which +led to this transfer.</p> + +<p>The situation at Quebec presented many +difficulties. England had but a small force, +and had barely defeated the French. It was +the Fall of the year with the cold winter approaching +which proved a terrible time for the +English, unaccustomed to so severe a climate, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>and in a city much of which was in ruins. +Unity of purpose and decisive action on the +part of the French might have cut off the +English, but in the dread of being separated +from their base of supplies the French retreated +to Montreal.</p> + +<p>Early in the spring Chevalier de Levis, +second in command to Montcalm, gathered an +army in Montreal of 7,000 men and reached +Quebec in April. Murray, the English commander, +marched out to the attack, but was +badly defeated and retreated into the city.</p> + +<p>And now the fate of New France was in the +balance. Quebec was not in condition to stand +a siege. The English forces had met with a +decided reverse. The French were heartened +by the victory, but were not strong enough to +follow it up vigorously. Word was received +that ships were coming up the river. Were +they French or English? It was an anxious +moment, and when at last the English flag was +seen floating at the masthead the French fell +back upon Montreal and the fate of New France +was practically settled.</p> + +<p>Against Montreal Murray led the forces +from Quebec expecting there to make connections +with Amherst, who was on his way +from New York by way of Oswego and the St. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>Lawrence. The junction of forces was so well +managed that Vaudreuil surrendered, and was +able to make excellent terms with his generous +conquerors.</p> + +<p>And so from Louisbourg to Quebec, to +Montreal, to Frontenac (taken by Bradstreet) +to Niagara (taken by Sir William Johnson) New +France was in the possession of the English.</p> + +<p>But New France extended far beyond +Niagara, and the forts at Pitt (where Pittsburg +now stands), Detroit, Michillimackinac, Sault +Ste. Marie, and the strongly fortified Fort +Chartres near the present city of St. Louis, had +heard nothing of the happenings in the Far +East; and in this connection it must be remembered +that all the Indians except the Iroquois +were allies of the French or friendly disposed +towards them, and none but an Englishman of +that day could have imagined, as Amherst did, +that the Indians were hardly worth considering +and that the fighting was now over.</p> + +<p>These outposts of the French were to be +formally taken over and Major Robert Rogers, +of Rogers’ Rangers, was despatched to Detroit. +He sent a messenger ahead to acquaint the +commander with what had taken place at +Montreal, so to give him time to consider the +question of surrendering the fort.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span></p> + +<p>When nearing Detroit Major Rogers was +stopped by Pontiac, an Indian chief of the +Ottawa nation, who demanded of him by what +right he was entering upon the territory of the +Ottawas and allied tribes. He was given a +friendly answer; they smoked the pipe of peace +and seemingly parted good friends; but the +English made no further efforts to conciliate +him by presents or friendly overtures. In +other words, they were not diplomatic in their +dealings, and the Indians resented the lack of +tact and consideration shown them, the original +inhabitants of the country.</p> + +<p>There is nothing which so hurts a sensitive +man or a sensitive nation as contempt, and +Pontiac, gathering about him a great council of +the Indians of that region, spoke in an impassioned +and eloquent manner of this opportunity, +perhaps the last, to drive out the white +man.</p> + +<p>Pontiac was the Napoleon of the Indian +tribes of New France. He was not only courageous +in battle but he was a genius in the art of +war and was eloquent in council, with a power +of winning others to his cause. It is said that +he was in command of the Indians on the occasion +of Braddock’s famous defeat at Fort +Duquesne, made especially noteworthy because +of the presence of George Washington on +Braddock’s staff. At any rate it is known that +Pontiac had been the guest of Montcalm at +Quebec, certainly a tribute to his greatness, +and that he proudly wore a uniform presented +to him by that general.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus5" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus5.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="p1">THE CAYUGA FALSE FACE CEREMONY</p> + <p>This is the midwinter purification rite, when evil spirits are + driven from all the houses of the Iroquois village. Grotesquely clad + and masked medicine men burst into the cabins throwing open the + doors and windows and commence to scatter the ashes of the hearth + and to kindle a new fire. Then they sprinkle white ashes on the + heads of the people, blowing through their hands. This is supposed + to cure any disease. The medicine man’s reward is a pipe bowl of + tobacco, which one dancer is begging from the frightened boy.</p> + <p>The Indian cabin is genuine and typical of the period (1687-1850) + when New York Indians had traders’ cloth and tools. The figures + are life casts of Cayuga Indians.</p> + <p>The purpose of this group is to show the changes wrought by the + acquisition of European metallic tools, cloth and other articles. + Material culture was greatly changed by the giving up of native + tools and materials. The methods of labor to a degree also changed, + but the religious, social and civil organization yet remained and was + more slowly disintegrated. The false face ceremony is one of the + more spectacular rites common among all the Iroquois.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a><a id="Page_88"></a><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span></p> + +<p>This, then, was the man who in 1763 assembled +a council near Detroit, at which were +present Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, +Miamis, Sacs, Foxes, Menominees, Wyandots, +Mississagas, Shawnees and Delawares, representing +nearly 2,000 warriors, and told them +that he had received a wampum belt from their +father, the King of France, who commanded +his red children to fight the English.</p> + +<p>When Major Rogers reached Detroit the +city at once surrendered and Rogers planned +to go to Mackinac, but it was too late in the +year and he had to return to New York.</p> + +<p>In the spring Pontiac laid out his great plan +of campaign by which Detroit was to be the +first fort to be assailed. Having obtained permission +to hold a peace dance at Detroit, his +braves had carefully spied out the fort, and +after consultation with him fifty warriors were +selected who were to saw off their gun barrels, +so that the weapons might be hidden under the +blankets, and in this fashion were to ask for a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>parley with the English commander. Fortunately +for the garrison, the commander was +informed of these plans by a spy, and when +Pontiac and his fifty followers entered the fort +they were surprised to see the warlike preparations. +With a bland innocence which often +had served him well, Pontiac asked why so +many of the young men were in the streets with +guns. “Just for exercise and discipline,” said +the equally bland commander, and asked Pontiac +to state his case. Just as the Indian was +about to present the wampum belt in the +reverse way—which was to be the signal for +the massacre—the commander made a sign, the +war drums of the garrison crashed out a charge +and Pontiac saw that he was detected. He +then presented it in the usual way and the +English commander told him that as long as +they behaved they would be taken care of and +peace would be maintained. He then approached +Pontiac, pulled open his blanket and +disclosed the short rifle concealed beneath. +There was nothing for Pontiac to do but retire, +which he did with his fifty braves.</p> + +<p>This was really the beginning of the contest +and Detroit was in a state of siege. The fort +was in the midst of what was a military colony +extending from twelve to sixteen miles along +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span>the west bank of the river. It had been founded +in 1701 by Cadillac, who was virtually a feudal +lord, owning the fort, the church, the gristmill, +the brewery, warehouses, barn and the very +fruit trees themselves, which had been brought +from France. Cadillac was a remarkable organizer, +and against great difficulties and severe +opposition from forts already established, he +had been able to persuade the French Government +to support him in the development of this +colony.</p> + +<p>Indeed, this is one of the earliest instances +in Canada of assisted immigration and subsidies +to settlers, such as we are accustomed to +think of as belonging to modern times. In 1748 +the French Government offered any settler +who would go to Detroit one spade, one axe, +one plough, one large and one small wagon, a +cow, and a pig. Seed would be given to be +returned after the third harvest. The women +and children were supported for one year after +coming to the colony. In this way Detroit +had come to be a place of about 2,500 people.</p> + +<p>The plan now was to starve out the garrison +by killing all the settlers outside the fort who +were in any way sympathetic with the English +cause. At the same time they waylaid all +relief expeditions sent from the East, and at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>first were very fortunate, as the English officers +did not understand the Indian method of warfare +and were easily led into ambuscades. For +five months this little garrison had been surrounded +by a thousand or more savages, but +notwithstanding various successes the Indians +were becoming tired.</p> + +<p>Siege warfare long continued was not congenial +to them, and little by little they began to +desert until by October there were only the +Ottawas, his own tribe, left. When, therefore, +at the end of that month the French governor +at Fort Chartres sent a message to Pontiac that +the Great Father in France had given up all his +possessions over here to the English, the great +chief raised the siege in disgust and left for the +south. There he hoped to rally the Indians +for a final stand, but when he found it could not +be done he reluctantly made terms of peace +with the representative of Sir William Johnson +at Detroit in August of 1764. On that occasion +he spoke in the Peace Council as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Father, we have all smoked out of this +pipe of peace. It is your children’s pipe; and +as the war is over and the Great Spirit and +Giver of Light who has made all the earth and +everything therein has brought us all together +this day for our mutual good, I declare to all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span>nations that I have settled my peace with you +before I came here, and now deliver my pipe to +be sent to Sir William Johnson that he may +know I have made peace and taken the King +of England for my father in the presence of all +the nations now assembled; and whenever +any of these nations go to visit him they may +smoke out of it with him in peace. Fathers, we +are obliged to you for lighting up our old council +fire for us and desiring us to return to it, but we +are now settled on the Miami river not far from +hence. Whenever you want us you will find +us there.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>In 1766 Pontiac visited Sir William Johnson +at his castle on the Mohawk and smoked the +pipe of peace with that great warrior. Thence +he went south to Fort Chartres, the last place +in New France where floated the lilies of France, +that flag which for over two centuries had been +the symbol of sovereignty from the Gulf of St. +Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. There he +became embroiled in a quarrel and was killed +by one of the Illinois in a cowardly manner, an +act for which that tribe had to pay dearly in +the vengeance exacted by the friends of the +great old chief.</p> + +<p>But this story would hardly be complete if +we did not point out that Pontiac’s plot for the +surprise of Detroit was not a merely local +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span>attack, but was part of a comprehensive plan +for the surprise of all the forts held by the +English against which, as far as possible, a +simultaneous attack was to be made so that it +would be difficult for the English to help the +garrisons and impossible for the forts to help +one another.</p> + +<p>The most striking of these attacks was that +on Fort Michillimackinac. On June 4th the +English garrison planned to celebrate the anniversary +of the birthday of George III. Games +were to be held on the plain outside the fort +and the Chippewas and Sacs asked that they +be allowed to take part and give the garrison +the pleasure of seeing the great Indian national +game of lacrosse played by experts. This was +granted and a great crowd gathered.</p> + +<p>The game was well played and so warmly +contested that the excitement was intense. +Player pursued player, tripping and slashing +in true Indian fashion. When the game was +at its height a player threw the ball at a point +near the gate of the fort. There was a wild +rush for the ball, and when they reached the +gate lacrosse sticks were thrown aside and the +closely blanketed squaws who were there in +large numbers opened their blankets and threw +out tomahawks and knives to the braves. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>Madly they rushed in, took possession of the +fort, fell upon the garrison and the traders, +butchered some and carried off the others as +prisoners.</p> + +<p>Smaller trading posts were taken in like +fashion by cunning or by direct attack when +cunning failed, and for a short time it looked as +if the English would have a difficult task to +capture and hold the Mississippi Valley. But +the rebellion ceased with the fall of the genius +who had conceived it, the last great Indian +chief of New France.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br> +<span class="smaller">THE GRAY GOWNS AND THE BLACK.</span></h2> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“My boatmen sit apart,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Wolf-eyed, wolf-sinewed, stiller than the trees.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Help me, O Lord, for very slow of heart</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And hard of faith are these.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Cruel are they, yet Thy children. Foul are they,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Yet wert Thou born to save them utterly.</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Then make me as I pray,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Just to their hates, kind to their sorrows, wise</div> + <div class="verse indent2">After their speech, and strong before their free</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Indomitable eyes.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Marjorie Pickthall.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">The Gray Gowns and the Black.</span></h3> + +<p>When Champlain on his return from New +France to his native village of Brouage told of +the vast country which lay beyond the seas, +with its thousands of inhabitants who knew +nothing of Christianity, the priests of the +monastery in that village were so impressed with +the magnitude of the work and the necessity +for having Christianity presented to these +heathen and savages, that four volunteered to +accompany him to New France. They reached +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>Quebec in May, 1615. They were Franciscans +of the Récollet Order, and were distinguished +in dress by the gray robe girt with the white +cord. Hence they are often referred to as the +priests of the Gray Gown.</p> + +<p>The most prominent of these was Le Caron, +who joined a band of Hurons returning after a +successful sale of their winter’s hunting. Their +route was up the Ottawa, Lake Nipissing and +French River to Lake Huron. This was a +memorable trip in many ways, but especially +because Le Caron was the first white man to +see what we now call Lake Huron—indeed the +first of the Great Lakes to be discovered by a +white man—or to sail upon its waters. Down +among the islands of what is now Georgian Bay +they went until they came near where Penetanguishene +now stands, and at a large Huron +village he awaited the coming of Champlain.</p> + +<p>On the 12th August Le Caron celebrated +mass and held the first religious service in all +this territory, which afterwards was known as +Upper Canada. Three hundred years afterwards +this event was remembered by mass +being celebrated as nearly as known on the +same spot, and a monument erected.</p> + +<p>Champlain and he spent most of the winter +with the Hurons and made visits to their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span>neighbours, the Petuns, or Tobacco Indians, +along the south shore of Nottawasaga Bay, and +at the foot of the Blue Hills near where the +town of Collingwood now stands.</p> + +<p>After returning to Quebec to consult with +the other members of the Order who had come +out to reinforce the small number of missionaries, +Le Caron in 1623 returned to his +Hurons with Father Viel and Brother Sagard. +To the industry of the latter we owe a dictionary +of the Huron language.</p> + +<p>They laboured on with zeal but without +making much lasting impression and they +realized that the field was too large and the +priests were too few. The Récollets had been +in New France for about ten years and had +founded missions in Acadia in the east, Huronia +in the west, Nipissing and Upper St. John. +They now realized that the Order was not +equipped with the machinery or organization +necessary to deal with so great a problem and +in their despair they sent a deputation to the +Jesuits in France to state the problem and ask +their aid.</p> + +<p>The invitation to come to their help was +accepted by the Jesuits and in 1625 three of +these priests of the “Black Gown” landed at +Quebec. They were met by the Récollets, who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span>became their hosts and took care of them until +the work of organizing the mission could be +undertaken. Two of these were Brebeuf and +Lalemant, the former of whom set off for Huronia +but turned back when he heard of the death of +the Gray Robe, Father Viel, who was on his +way from Huronia to Quebec. He was drowned +in what is known as the Riviere des Prairies +near Montreal, where the rapids are known to +this day as the Sault au Récollet—The Récollet +Rapids.</p> + +<p>Champlain granted to the Jesuits land for +their headquarters, where they might build +their mission, and establish their farm in connection +therewith, for they were practical men. +Indeed, so firmly did they believe in having a +definite investment in the country in which +they were labouring that by the end of the +French rule in this country the Jesuits were the +largest land owners in New France. In planning +their missionary labours Brebeuf was assigned +to Huronia, the field which for nearly twenty-three +years was to be his home.</p> + +<p>When Quebec was taken by Kirke four years +afterwards, the priests with the other official +inhabitants were taken away as prisoners, and +when the country was restored to France and +the conduct of affairs given over to the Company +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>of 100 Associates, the Récollets were not allowed +to return. The excuse was that one Order was +all that could be supported by the Company, +and the Jesuits were the better organized. +Thus passed away the Brethren of the Gray +Robes except in some isolated cases in later +days, when as in 1669, under the Intendant +Talon, some few returned.</p> + +<p>And now commences the romantic story of +the Jesuits, the priests of the Black Robe, to +whose mission journals called “Relations,” we +owe most of our information of the early history +of our country. From 1632 to 1673 there +appeared annually in Paris a volume called a +Relation, in which the work of the Jesuits in +New France for the twelve months was described +and reports from the missionaries incorporated +or quoted.</p> + +<p>These were very popular for they were +interesting, romantic, full of information that +was new and strange, and often were the means +of stimulating wealthy people to help the cause +of evangelisation; in some cases impelling +persons to offer themselves as helpers in the +great work, and still others to come out to this +great land for the sheer adventure.</p> + +<p>All the work of the Jesuits was characterized +by the spirit of self-sacrifice on the part +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>of the individual and by the efficiency of machinery. +This is noticeable in the Relation or +Annual Report published each year and which +in form and method furnishes even to-day a +model for the annual report of great institutions. +Another aspect of their efficiency is seen in the +way in which they prepared their missionaries +for the task before them. There was a training +period of two years during which the Jesuit +studied the languages of the tribes among whom +he was likely to live and became accustomed to +the methods of living and the customs of the +new country.</p> + +<p>A striking illustration of the worldly wisdom +of the superior officers of the Order is found in a +circular issued to the missionaries who were to +go up with the Indians to Huronia:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“You should love the Indians like brothers +with whom you are to spend the rest of your +life. Never make them wait for you when +embarking. Take a flint and steel to light +their pipes and kindle their fires at night; for +these little services win their hearts. Try to +eat their sagamité, as they cook it,—bad and +dirty as it is. Fasten up the skirts of your +cassock that you may not carry water or sand +into the canoe. Wear no shoes or stockings in +the canoe, but you may put them on in crossing +the portages. Do not make yourself troublesome +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>even to a single Indian. Do not ask them +too many questions. Bear their faults in +silence and appear always cheerful. Buy fish +for them from the tribes you will pass; and +for this purpose take with you some awls, beads, +knives, and fish hooks. Be not ceremonious +with the Indians; take at once what they offer +you. Ceremony offends them. Be very careful +when in the canoe that the brim of your +hat does not annoy them. Perhaps it would be +better to wear your night cap. There is no +such thing as impropriety among Indians. +Remember it is Christ and His cross that you +are seeking; and if you aim at anything else +you will get nothing but affliction for body +and mind.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>There were some, of course, who had not the +gift of learning languages. These returned to +France or were employed in the missions in the +white settlements. It was from such training +and with the motto of the Order animating +every thought and action they went forth: +“Ad majorem Dei gloriam,”—for the greater +glory of God.</p> + +<p>Naturally, the first great mission was to the +Hurons, who had been the firm friends of the +French, and who had been introduced to Christianity +already by the Récollets; and who, +moreover, lived in permanent settlements, and +cultivated their fields. So the Jesuits followed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span>the trail of Le Caron and for nearly a quarter +of a century Brebeuf and his companions +worked faithfully in Huronia, that part of what +is now known as the province of Ontario called +the county of Simcoe and bordering upon the +Georgian Bay. His brother priest in this great +missionary enterprise was Lalemant. Headquarters +with a school were now established in a +well-planned fort, which they built on the +eastern bank of the Wye and from which missionaries +were sent out to some twelve stations +in Huronia, and among the neighbouring tribes. +This was really a model settlement for the +Hurons, who could see fields of corn, beans, +pumpkins and wheat, with pigs and cattle outside, +and shops of useful trades inside where +were the men at the forge, the shoe shop, the +laundry and the carpenter shop.</p> + +<p>The Hurons, however, were ignorant and +superstitious and the medicine men took advantage +of epidemics of sickness, which arose from +the unsanitary living, to blame the missionaries, +who indeed must have been men of infinite +patience and unselfish devotion to their work.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus6" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus6.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="p1">THE CORN HARVEST</p> + <p>Among the Iroquois the cultivation of maize, beans, squashes and + other garden produce was extensive and furnished a large portion of + their food supply. The women of each village were organized in + companies to plant and harvest the grain. The men cleared the + land and provided the meat supply, but they seldom worked in the + fields.</p> + <p>This group depicts a harvest scene in the Genesee valley on the + flats near Squakie hill at Mount Morris. The activities are gathering + and braiding corn, shelling beans, pounding corn for meal and + baking corn bread. The man has just come from his canoe and + reaches the field in time for lunch.</p> + <p>The figures are life casts of Seneca Indians.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a><a id="Page_106"></a><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span></p> + +<p>And now just when it seemed as if they +might see some result of their long and unselfish +labour the Iroquois began to make raids upon +this northern country. There were constant +encounters on the trading journeys to Quebec, +but in 1642 a great Huron village near where +the town of Orillia now stands was wiped out +by a marauding party of Iroquois. And yet +the Hurons would not take seriously the warnings +of their missionaries and made no preparations +against their unrelenting enemies.</p> + +<p>Watching for the departure of the great +canoe fleet to Quebec in 1648, the Iroquois made +a sudden attack on Huronia and Father Daniel +and his village of St. Joseph were slaughtered. +Next spring they returned, put St. Ignace to +the sword, took the village of St. Louis and +stripped and bound to stakes the Fathers +Brebeuf and Lalemant. The tortures to which +these good men were put before they were killed +can hardly be imagined and cannot be described, +all of which they stood with amazing fortitude. +Indeed, even the Indians, stolid as they were, +could not help admiring the courage of these +martyrs for they drank the blood of Brebeuf +that they might be as brave as he.</p> + +<p>The spirit of these men can be understood +in the description given us by Marjorie Pickthall, +one of our own poets, of Father Lalemant, +on a missionary journey:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“My hour of rest is done;</div> + <div class="verse indent2">On the smooth ripple lifts the long canoe;</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span> <div class="verse indent0">The hemlocks murmur sadly as the sun</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Slants his dim arrows through.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whither I go I know not, nor the way,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Dark with strange passions, vexed with heathen charms,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Holding I know not what of life or death;</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Only be Thou beside me day by day,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thy rod my guide and comfort, underneath</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Thy everlasting arms.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>And so the Iroquois went through Huronia +burning and scalping until there was only a +mass of ruins, and the remnant of the Hurons +fled to St. Joseph, on Christian Island, in +Georgian Bay. Here they built a fort, but soon +realized that in such an isolated position they +could be starved out. Part of the nation went +to Quebec, where they were protected and +given some land, and part went to Michillimackinac, +and thence to Lake Superior, where +Father Marquette found them. Driven out by +fear of the Sioux they returned to Mackinac, +and thence some of them settled near Detroit, +where under the name of Wyandots, they took +part in the rising against the English known as +Pontiac’s war, just after the capture of Quebec +by Wolfe.</p> + +<p>This story of Huronia has been told in some +detail because it illustrates the work of the men +of the Black Robe who shrank from no sacrifice, +who knew no fear, and for whom there could be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span>no earthly reward. Huronia was the greatest +of the missions of the Jesuits, for there were +twenty-five members of the Order working +among these people.</p> + +<p>But there were other missions. That among +the fickle and warlike Iroquois, with Jogues +and Le Moyne, that at Ville Marie (Montreal), +afterwards given over to Sulpicians, who to this +day are an extremely powerful Order in this +great city, and that at Sault Ste. Marie, where +Allouez, Dablon and Marquette had a mission +which exercised a powerful influence southwards +to Michillimackinac and the country of the +Illinois, and westwards to where Fort William, +Duluth, and even Winnipeg, now stand. It +was from this mission that Joliet, the Government +official, and Marquette, the Black Robe, +set out on their journey to discover the great +Southern Sea, and which resulted in the discovery +of the Mississippi.</p> + +<p>And so from Nova Scotia to the southern +Mississippi and northwards to Hudsons Bay, +wherever there were Indian settlements of importance +there were Black Robes ministering +to the wandering tribes, teaching methods of +greater production and less waste in the more +settled places, and everywhere endeavouring +to show the benefits of law, order, and settled +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>government. There were seven churches or +missions of the Jesuits in New France—Acadia +(Maine, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Cape +Breton); Tadoussac (lower St. Lawrence and +Saguenay); Quebec, Montreal and Three Rivers +as one; Huronia; to the Iroquois; the Ottawa +or Sault Ste. Marie (Ojibways, Beaver, Crees, +Ottawas, Menominees, Pottawatomies, Sacs, +Foxes, Winnebagoes, Miamis, Illinois and +refugee Hurons), Louisiana.</p> + +<p>What they have left to us is not material +wealth, but something infinitely greater, the +record of self devotion, self sacrifice, fearless +zeal and unflinching bravery even to a lingering +death in a cause which they put above all +renown.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br> +<span class="smaller">THE IROQUOIS AND THE HURONS.</span></h2> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Stripped to the waist, his copper-colored skin</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Red from the smouldering heat of hate within,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lean as a wolf in winter, fierce of mood—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As all wild things that hunt for foes, or food—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">War paint adorning breast and thigh and face,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Armed with the ancient weapons of his race,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A slender ashen bow, deer sinew string,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And flint-tipped arrow each with poisoned tongue,—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thus does the Red man stalk to death his foe,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And sighting him strings silently his bow,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Takes his unerring aim, and straight and true</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The arrow cuts in flight the forest through,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A flint which never made for mark and missed,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And finds the heart of his antagonist.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thus has he warred and won since time began,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thus does the Indian bring to earth his man.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right smaller">From the poem, “The Archer,” by the + late Pauline<br>Johnson, of the Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">The Iroquois and the Hurons.</span></h3> + +<p>When Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence +nearly four hundred years ago the Indians +whom he met were of the Algonquin nation, +one of the four great divisions of Indians east of +the Rocky Mountains in North America. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>others were the Iroquois, the Maskoki or +Southern, and the Siouan of the West.</p> + +<p>The Algonquin country extended from Tennessee +to Hudsons Bay and from the Atlantic +to the Mississippi, and included the Delawares, +Miamis, Ojibways, Ottawas, Sacs, Foxes, Pottawatomies, +and Illinois. They lived in wigwams +covered with bark or skins and were a +warlike nation, subsisting on hunting and fishing. +There were probably 100,000 in number when +at the height of their prosperity.</p> + +<p>The Iroquois occupied the territory now +known as Pennsylvania, New York, the south +shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and on +the Upper St. Lawrence. They were known as +the Five Nations, the Mohawks, Oneidas, +Ononadagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, to which +were added in 1715 the Tuscaroras, who came +north from Carolina and whose speech even to +this day differs much from the other Iroquois +tongue. These made up what we know so +well as the Six Nations. They never numbered +more than 40,000, but they were mobile +and made forays from their towns in New +York, sweeping over the country like a +scourge and returning to their villages for +feasting. A Jesuit, describing the raids of +the Iroquois, said “They approach like +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span>foxes, they attack like tigers, disappear like +birds.”</p> + +<p>Algonquin was the general name for the +tribes enumerated, but there was no bond of +union except a likeness of language, while, on +the other hand, the tribes of the Iroquois were +in a real confederacy, which enabled them to +join together against a common enemy. It was +this power of organized and sustained warfare +that made them so formidable. Even as early +as the time of the coming of the white man they +had reached a comparatively high stage of +social development and government, so that +they lived in villages, and the Long House or +community dwelling in which many families +lived under one roof, indeed in one room, was +being displaced by the separate hut. In the +centre of the village was the Council House, +the place of meeting, of ceremonials and of +trade, just as the Town Hall and Market are +to-day in many a town.</p> + +<p>We are given an interesting picture of the +Council in a Mohawk village in New York:</p> + +<p>“Sixty old men sat on a circle of mats +smoking around the central fire. Before them +stood the captives.... After passing the +Council pipe from hand to hand in solemn +silence, the Sachems prepared to give their +views. One arose, and offering the smoke of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>incense to the four winds of heaven, to invoke +witness to the justice of the trial, gave his +opinion on the matter of life and death. Each +of the chiefs in succession spoke. Without any +warning whatever one chief rose and tomahawked +three of the captives. That had been +the sentence. The rest were driven to lifelong +slavery.”</p> + +<p>When the palisaded or stockaded village life +was abandoned for the freer, more independent +life of the great village, the location was generally +upon the banks of a stream so that there +might be a plentiful supply of water, and in +many cases easier transportation. While not +an agricultural people they had always enough +women and captives to provide the means of +living, for the warriors and the hunters returning +with game. Fields of corn, pumpkins, and +squashes, orchards of plum and apple, and +small herds of hogs and cattle were to be found +in these villages; for the handling of the fruit +and water, baskets and pots were made with +great skill by the women.</p> + +<p>The Iroquois were great travellers, and a +thousand mile journey was little to them if the +object to be attained seemed worth while. +They were intelligent in the making of trails so +as to get the shortest and easiest route, an +illustration of which may be seen to-day in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>fact that the New York Central Railway from +Lake Erie to the Hudson River follows an +Iroquois trail.</p> + +<p>Their principal ceremonies were in honour +of the season, the Maple Sugar Festival at the +going of the snows of winter, and the Green +Corn Dance, and the Harvest Home Festival +of the autumn.</p> + +<p>The legend of Hiawatha, the most popular +of all poems relating to Indian life, was told +by Longfellow as if Hiawatha were an Ojibway, +whereas it is likely that the story in its original +form was from the Ononadaga nation of the +Iroquois, and Hiawatha is the very wise man +who formed a plan of universal peace among the +nations of the Iroquois. However, it may have +been because the Iroquois and the Ojibways +were very friendly up to the middle of the +seventeenth century, when the Ojibways sympathized +with the Hurons whom the Iroquois had +driven from Huronia on the Georgian Bay. +They afterwards made peace and became as +brothers. So much so indeed that when many, +many years afterward the Mississagas, a band +of the Ojibways, were forced to give up their +reserved lands on the River Credit, near Toronto, +the Iroquois on the Grand River Reservation +took them in and gave them a tract of valuable +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>land. Longfellow took many phases of the +legend and grouped them so as to give the +atmosphere of Indian life and interpret the +meaning of its ceremonies. The leading thought +in all the legends is:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“How he prayed and how he fasted,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">How he lived, and toiled, and suffered.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That the tribes of men might prosper,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That he might advance his people!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>This is the great legend of the Indians of +New France told in every winter lodge, and told +in a somewhat different form among different +tribes. It gets local colour from the traditions +of the particular tribe.</p> + +<p>How they became the unrelenting enemy of +the French we are told in the story of Champlain, +who joined the Hurons and Algonquins +in 1609, when they were on an expedition +against the Iroquois, who lived near Lake +Champlain. It was in that battle the Iroquois +first saw and experienced the effect of the death +dealing musket of the white man, and they +never forgot that it was used against them by +the French.</p> + +<p>Each nation was divided into tribes or clans +with names such as Wolf, Bear, or Turtle, and +as the same tribes were in all the nations, the +section in each nation was related to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>corresponding section in all the other nations. +So the Seneca Turtle was a brother to the +Mohawk Turtle. The families belonging to the +Turtles were the most respected and were +accorded the highest honours.</p> + +<p>Each of the nations had its own government +for local affairs and elected sachems to sit in the +Great Council of all the Nations, where fifty +sachems dealt with national affairs. It is not +too much to say that the Iroquois were the most +intelligent of the Indians of New France, for +they were always ready, well organized, and +watchful, and knew how to take defeat. When +pressed back by the French and village after +village destroyed by a great expedition organized +to severely punish them, they retired in good +order, and when things had calmed down they +returned, rebuilt their villages, replanted their +fields and planned revenge.</p> + +<p>The Hurons are said to have been relatives +of the Iroquois, but if so they must in some +earlier time have ceased to be even friendly, for +we find them allied with the Algonquin, and +from the time of Champlain on the side of the +French in the great international conflict. They +lived on the shores of the Georgian Bay of +Lake Huron, in what is called now the County +of Simcoe. This district was known as Huronia, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span>and at the height of their power there were +about 30,000 inhabitants, almost as many as +live in the corresponding district to-day. They +traded with the French at Quebec by sending +each year a fleet of canoes up the Bay and by +the French River, Lake Nipissing and the +Ottawa River to the St. Lawrence. This was +the route by which Le Caron and Champlain +entered this great northern country in 1615, +and were the first white men to see the Great +Lake, afterwards called Huron, the first of the +Great Lakes to be discovered by the French. +The route by the Great Lakes was unknown, and +indeed all that southern country was dangerous +because of the presence of the dreaded Iroquois.</p> + +<p>They were more of an agricultural nation +than were the Iroquois. Possibly they were +not better farmers, but they were poorer warriors +and so remained on the land more than +their fighting relations. They raised pumpkins, +sunflowers and rye. The corn they planted in +hills higher, larger, and much further apart than +we do to-day.</p> + +<p>They lived in villages in the Long Houses or +community dwellings which were to be found +among the Iroquois in their early days. These +were built by bending saplings and tying them +together to form the frame, which they sheathed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span>with bark. Down the centre were the fires, +each of which was shared generally by two +families. The smoke was supposed to go out +by a hole in the roof. On either side of the fire +and stretching from end to end were platforms +on which the families slept, while underneath +were the stores of clothing and provisions. No +wonder the dogs, dirt and disease impressed +the missionaries to these people, and made them +plan for huts rather than a share in these dwellings.</p> + +<p>Some of the greater villages were palisaded +for protection, but the smaller ones were not +permanent, being moved about at the will of +the people or because of the unsanitary condition +of the land that had been occupied. The +villages became large when the necessity for +protection became greater and some had as +many as 2,000 inhabitants. The favourite site +for a village was on high ground near springs or +an inland lake, so that there would be a good +water supply. There was a village Council or +Assembly, which dealt with local matters and a +tribal assembly for matters of general importance +but there was no union for offence and defence +well organized and ready for action, as among +the Iroquois.</p> + +<p>The Hurons were smaller in stature than the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>Iroquois, the largest men being about five feet +eight inches in height. They had their feast +days, which resembled those of other nations in +being associated with the seasons, but their +custom of burying the dead has a somewhat +marked character. The body was wrapped and +placed on a platform away from marauding +animals and every ten years or thereabouts +there was a great Feast and Dance for the Dead, +when, after preparing a great pit, the bodies +were placed in it sometimes in rows, sometimes +in circles and sometimes in parcels of bones of +those who had been long dead.</p> + +<p>Into the pit were cast pottery, implements +of warfare and kettles which were first rendered +useless so that the graves might not be desecrated. +This is in contrast to some other +nations of Indians who bury with the deceased +the things which they think will be useful to +him in the “happy hunting ground” to which +he has gone. This pit is called an Ossuary, and +to the excavation of these we owe much of our +knowledge of this nation. This communal +burial with the Hurons corresponded to the +communal life which preceded the era of the +individual burial and the individual wigwam.</p> + +<p>This Huronia county enjoyed great prosperity +during the first half of the seventeenth +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span>century with constantly increasing immigration, +growing villages, better implements for increased +comfort in living, great production and skill in +handicraft owing to the influence and example +of the Jesuit mission. Into this peaceful +country, unprepared for war, there came in the +last decade of this first half of the century the +Iroquois much as the Assyrian, “like the wolf +on the fold.” In a series of well planned, +vigorous attacks the Hurons were massacred or +driven out of the country, the villages burned, +the Jesuit missionaries slaughtered in the fight, +or reserved for a death by torture.</p> + +<p>First on one of the Christian Islands off the +shore they built a fort, but soon realized that +the important question of food supply could not +be met as long as the Iroquois remained on the +mainland and intercepted all messengers. Part +of the nation then set off for Quebec, and there +threw themselves upon the kindness of their +friends, the French, who gave them a grant of +land and their protection. Others went north +to Michillimackinac, and in their fear went even +well up into Lake Superior, where they were +ministered unto by Father Marquette. But +they were not long there until the warlike Sioux +became so great a menace that with their +protector, the great Marquette, they went back +again to Michillimackinac. Afterwards many +of them went still further south and under the +name of Wyandottes they settled near Sarnia +and Windsor, opposite the present city of +Detroit.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus7" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/illus7.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="p1">TYPICAL IROQUOIS INDUSTRIES</p> + <p>This group depicts a company of Oneida Indians gathered in a + sheltered spot in their capital village on Nicols pond, township of + Fenner, Madison county. This was the fort unsuccessfully stormed + by Champlain in 1615.</p> + <p>The arrow maker is telling an amusing tale while he chips his + flints. To his right are a basket maker and a belt weaver. To his + left are a wood carver, a moccasin maker and a potter, all engaged + at their trades as they listen to the arrow maker’s tale.</p> + <p>In aboriginal times among the Iroquois each person had an + occupation and was by necessity industrious. Both men and women + had their special forms of labor, which with the men was often + arduous.</p> + <p>The figures are casts of Oneida Indians made upon the New York + and Canadian reservations.</p> + <p>The purpose of this group is to show six typical Iroquois industries + and to indicate the social nature of the workers. The Iroquois at + home among his own folk is social in habits and full of humor. To + the stranger he appears taciturn and diffident and oftentimes indolent.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a><a id="Page_124"></a><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span></p> + +<p>These are typical nations of Indians of the +days of New France, the crafty, strong, nomadic, +warlike and well organized Iroquois on whom +the missionaries could make little or no impression, +the allies of the English and the most +feared of all the nations; and the less intelligent +and more domesticated, the traders and +the canoemen, the hunter and fisher, the unorganized +Hurons, who suffered the missionaries +to settle among them and pretended +to be converted because it did not interfere but +rather increased their comfort, the allies of the +French, with little initiative and no cohesion.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.<br> +<span class="smaller">THE COUREUR DES BOIS AND THE VOYAGEUR.</span></h2> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“I have passed the warden cities at the Eastern watergate,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Where the hero and the martyr laid the cornerstone of State,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The habitant, coureurs-des-bois, and hardy voyageur,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Where lives a breed more strong at need to venture or endure.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">The Coureur des Bois and the Voyageur.</span></h3> + +<p>An island just where the Ottawa River joins +the St. Lawrence always suggests to me in its +name a Frenchman who, in the days following +Champlain, penetrated beyond the Mer Douce +(Lake Huron) and was one of the first white +men to sail on Lake Superior. This was Perrot,⁠<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> +who, like Etienne Brulé with Champlain, was +known as a coureur des bois, a runner of the +woods, a trader, a guide, a hunter, a woodsman. +Without him and his companion, the voyageur, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span>the efforts of priest and noble alike to penetrate +the great forests would have been all in vain.</p> + +<p>They followed the trails of the deer and other +wild animals who were the ancient roadmakers, +and took advantage of all the waterways in their +light canoes. These journeys were not only +full of danger, but were attended by much +hardship. In one of the journals of a missionary +priest from Quebec to the Huron +Indians who lived on the south-eastern shore of +Georgian Bay, we read:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“Of two difficulties regularly met with, the +first is of rapids and portages for these abound +in every river throughout these regions. When +a person approaches such cataracts, or rapids, +he has to step ashore and carry on his back +through forests or over high, vexatious rocks +not only his baggage, but also the canoe. This +is not accomplished without much labour, for +there are portages of one, two, and three leagues, +each of them requiring several journeys if one +has ever so small a number of packages. At +some places where the rapids are not less swift +than at the portages, but of easier access, the +Indians, plunging into the water, drag their +canoes and conduct them with their hands with +utmost difficulty and danger for sometimes +they are up to their necks in the current, so that +they have to let go their hold upon their canoes +and save themselves as best they can from the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>rapidity of the water that snatches the canoe +out of their hands and carries it off. I have +computed the number of portages and find that +we carried thirty-five times and dragged at +least fifty times. The second ordinary difficulty +is that of food. A person is often obliged to +fast, especially if he happens to lose the places +where he stored away provisions on his down-river +course. (Note.—The familiar word to +this day for such a hidden store is ‘cache.’) +Even when he finds them his appetite remains +none the less keen for having regaled himself +with their contents, for the usual repast is only +a little corn broken between two stones, and +sometimes simply taken in fresh water, which +is insipid food. Sometimes he has fish, but +this is mere chance unless he happens to pass +some tribe from whom he can buy it. Add to +this that a person must sleep upon the bare +ground, perhaps on a hard rock.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>Such was the experience of the missionary, +new and hard and very real to him, whom the +voyageurs carried on his apostolic way. But +the coureurs and the voyageurs were traders +and explorers and, as one might infer, they +were always young men and in the prime of +life, because of the hardship they had to endure +in making their long hazardous journeys through +trackless forests. Father Tailhan gives a +graphic description of their life. He says:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>“As all Canada is only one vast forest without +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>any roads they could not travel by land; +they make their journeys on the rivers and the +lakes in canoes that ordinarily contain each +three men. These canoes are made of sheets +of birch-bark smoothly stretched over very +light and slender ribs of cedar wood. They are +divided into six or seven or eight sections by +light wooden bars which strengthen and hold +together the sides of the canoe.... As an +entire canoe cannot be made with a single sheet +of bark the pieces which compose it are sewed +together with the roots of the spruce tree, which +are more flexible and white than the osier, and +these seams are coated with a gum which the +savages obtain from the spruce.... The +savages, and especially their women, excel in +the art of making these canoes, but few Frenchmen +excel in it.... The coureurs des bois +themselves propel their canoes with small +paddles of hard wood, very light and smooth; +the man at the rear of the canoe guides it, +which is the part of their calling which requires +skill. The two other men paddle ahead. A +canoe properly manned can make more than +fifteen leagues a day in still water.... When +they meet rapids or waterfalls which cannot be +passed they go ashore and unload the bales.... +These, as well as the canoe, are carried on their +backs and shoulders until they have passed the +falls or rapids and find the river suitable for +again embarking on it; and this is called +‘making portages.’... In such a canoe these +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span>three men embark at Quebec or Montreal to go +three hundred, four hundred, and even five +hundred leagues from the colony to procure +beaver skins among savages, whom very often +they have never seen.”</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>As the fur trade was supposed to be a +monopoly controlled by the King of France and +granted by him to a Trading Company, many +of these coureurs were in the service of the +company on a commission basis, but there were +others who took the risk of disposing of their +furs to a greater advantage, and so were known +as “free traders.” If one were to make any +distinction between the coureurs and the voyageurs +he would speak of the former as the +hunters and the latter as those who transported +the furs by water, but in general there was not +a distinct difference except in large trading +companies where the work was highly organized.</p> + +<p>They were picturesque in their dress and +fond of striking colours. A bright cotton shirt, +cloth trousers, leather leggings, deer skin moccasins +and a small scarlet cloak or capot made +up their attire with a wide worsted belt with +flowing ends (such as we see worn with the +blanket suit of the snowshoers of to-day) a stout +knife and a tobacco pouch. Cheerful, careless, +heedless of danger and fond of adventure the +hardy descendants of the Breton or Norman +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>fishermen sang their chansons, keeping time +with their paddles, the quickened notes for the +dangerous places, the slower for the easy +passage across the placid lake.</p> + +<p>One of the greatest of all these coureurs des +bois and voyageurs was Nicholas Perrot who, at +the age of sixteen, was the companion of the +missionary priests on their journeys from Quebec +to the Indian tribes, and thus gained for himself +not only experience in woodcraft and knowledge +of the country, but what was still more important +he developed his natural aptitude for languages +by close study of the Indian dialects, and thus +made himself valuable, not only to himself but +to his country. Many other coureurs had had +similar opportunities but did not improve these +opportunities and so remained mere coureurs +des bois, and average ones at that, until the +end of their days.</p> + +<p>This ambitious youth soon became an independent +trader, but without the selfishness that +was usually attached to that name. He was a +man of some education and certainly of vision. +He saw clearly that it was to the interests of +New France that there should be united feeling +and action among Indians and French against +their common enemy, the Iroquois, and this was +ever in his mind in the negotiations which at various +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>times took him to the tribes of the Chippewas, +the Foxes, the Hurons, the Dakotas, the Iowans, +the Mascoutens, the Miamis, the Pottawatomies +and the Sioux, as well as the Iroquois.</p> + +<p>To him was entrusted by the governor the +arrangement and management of the great +gathering of the Indian tribes at Sault Ste. +Marie where, on the fourteenth of June, 1671, +the tribes for a hundred leagues were gathered +in a great council that the Deputy Governor +might formally take possession of that country +in the name of the King of France. In a spectacular +manner—that it might impress the +Indians by its grandeur—a cross was erected +and the arms of France were raised on a great +pole and Perrot, doubtless in a loud voice, +acting as herald and interpreting to the Indians, +proclaimed three times over that “in the name +of the Most High, Most Powerful, and Most +Redoubtable Monarch, Louis XIV. of name, +most Christian King of France and Navarre, +we take possession of said place Ste. Marie du +Sault, as also of Lake Huron and Superior, the +island of Manitoulin, and of all the lands, +rivers, lakes and streams contiguous to and +adjacent here as well, discovered as to be discovered, +which are bounded on the one side by +the seas of the North and on the other side by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span>the seas of the South in its whole length and +breadth,”—and at the end of each time of reading +the proclamation he took up a sod of earth +calling out “Vive le Roi,” which was repeated +in a great shout by all the people. The demonstration +was intended to offset the influence of +Radisson and Chouart, who, at Hudsons Bay +in the service of the English, were drawing the +trade of the Indians beyond Lake Superior.</p> + +<p>Perrot was especially useful to Frontenac, +the next great governor after Champlain, in that +he acted as ambassador to the ever-restless +tribes and maintained harmony and peace. He +seems to have been a welcome man in every +Indian village, and was the best informed man +of his time in regard to the affairs of New France. +He was in command at Green Bay and over the +Mississippi Valley country in the winter of +1685-6, when he discovered the lead mines. In +1699 the King of France closed many of the +western posts and Perrot retired and wrote his +memoirs, which have proved of such great +value to us in giving us knowledge of our own +country during the latter half of the seventeenth +century. He was a brave, loyal, and devoted +man who gave much of his life to the public +service and who deserves to be remembered +among the heroes of New France.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.<br> +<span class="smaller">THE SEIGNIOR AND THE HABITANT.</span></h2> + +<p>“The original tillers of the soil in Lower Canada, +who first assumed the title of ‘Habitants’ while holding +their land under feudal tenure, would not accept any +designation such as ‘censitaire’ which carried with +it some sense of the servile status of the feudal vassal +in Old France, but preferred to be called a Habitant or +inhabitant of the country—a free man and not a vassal.”</p> + +<p class="right">—<span class="smcap">Sir Lomer Gouin.</span></p> + +</div> + +<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">The Seignior and the Habitant.</span></h3> + +<p>The colony of New England was planted by +men who protested against the kind of government +under which they had lived and it was to +be expected that customs of government in their +new home would differ materially from those +under which they had suffered. On the other +hand the colony of New France was essentially +a part of France subsidized and supported by +the Government of that country. Hence we +can understand how the customs of government +of New France in practically all respects +would be like the customs at home.</p> + +<p>It is hardly worth while to speak of government +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span>or social life in New France until after +the restoration of Quebec and the return of +Champlain in 1633. Valued at home merely +as a possible revenue producer through the fur +trade, the Home Government gave over the +general direction of the affairs of New France +into the hands of a company known generally as +the Company of One Hundred Associates. In +return for fulfilling certain obligations this +Company was to have exclusive control of the +fur trade and have power to govern, create trade, +grant lands and bestow titles of nobility. The +chief obligation laid upon it was to furnish to +the colony each year at least two hundred +settlers and give them support until they should +get a fair start. In this way the Home Government +thought the country would gradually +have a number of people on the land who could +be looked upon as permanent settlers in contrast +to the wandering hunters and traders.</p> + +<p>This method of governing a colony by means +of a chartered company was not unique. India +was governed by the East India Company for +many years, Java by a Dutch trading company, +and the incident of the Jameson Raid illustrated +some aspects of the great Company of South +Africa.</p> + +<p>To further encourage settlement the Government +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>recognized the title of seignior given to +the man who, taking up a fair amount of land, +undertook to settle persons upon it, live upon it +himself, and thus develop an estate. In return +for this social and political distinction he engaged +to serve his country with his men about +him in time of need. In other words, the idea +of it was an adaptation of the feudal system of +holding lands in return for national service.</p> + +<p>This system was more or less in operation +for over a quarter of a century, but the company +was so intent on making money out of the fur +trade that they neglected their obligations in regard +to settlement on their land, and there were +less than 2,000 people and not more than 4,000 +acres of cultivated land in this great country.</p> + +<p>When this state of affairs was brought to the +attention of King Louis XIV., who was genuinely +interested in the colony, he cancelled the charter +of the company, and in 1663 New France was +made a crown colony under a governor who +represented the dignity and military power of +the Crown, an Intendant, who was something +more than a Minister of the Crown and less than +a Governor, and who looked after the details of +government, and the Bishop who as head of the +church shared the problems of government in +this triumvirate.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span></p> + +<p>While much depended upon the Governor, +much more to help or hinder progress was in the +power of the Intendant, and the colony was very +fortunate in the earliest years in having such a +capable man as Talon, just as we shall find she +was equally unfortunate in the last years in +having Bigot, a corrupt holder of that office. +It is interesting to notice that the two holders +of this office who are of such prominence as to +be remembered in anything other than name, +were the first and the last, to the one the colony +owing much of the stability of government, to +the latter much that led to the loss to France of +her greatest colony.</p> + +<p>Talon was the real organizer of the seigniorial +system and was perhaps the most capable +man who ever administered the affairs of the +colony. On his own farm on the St. Charles +River he gave this country the first scientific +farming, rude as it was in that early time, and +this was the first of the model farms which we +think of as comparatively modern institutions. +He encouraged ship-building at Quebec by +actually building ships; he distributed looms +in the farmhouses that the settler might be +independent in the matter of clothing, a very +important matter in a country with such a +climate; and he built a tannery that the precious +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>commodity of leather might be available +for protection of men and equipment of beast.</p> + +<p>Under the Intendant in the actual working +out of the Government came the seigniors, and +hence the real social and political life of the +colony. True, it was before the governor in the +Chateau St. Louis in Quebec, seated upon the +throne under the clustered white flags stamped +with the golden lilies of France, the seignior +appeared and on bended knee presented his +homage and oath of allegiance, but it was with +the Intendant that he transacted his business, +and it was the report of the Intendant to the +King of France which the neglectful seignior +had cause to fear.</p> + +<p>The Home Government at once undertook +to help emigration and the Council of New +France gave seigniories with a lavish and not +always discriminating hand. During this century +of royal rule there were about three hundred +seigniories granted. In size these differed greatly +but practically nothing could be called by that +name which had not at least a dozen square +miles. This land the seignior was expected to +have surveyed into farms and to place settlers +upon them.</p> + +<p>As the St. Lawrence was the roadway of +the colony and the means of communication, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>the seigniories were granted first along its shores +and the farms were as close to the river as +possible. The shape of a farm was that of a +parallelogram with the short end fronting the +river. Usually this frontage was nearly a +quarter of a mile, and the depth from about a +half to three miles with an orchard, meadow, +grain and woods. So for purposes of protection, +as well as access to fish and water supply, the +shores of the St. Lawrence showed a row of +whitewashed cottages in contact with the highway, +even as it does to-day.</p> + +<p>This brought about a very interesting land +problem, for when the habitant died, his property, +according to the French law known as +Custom of Paris, was divided into equal parts +among his children. Each of these was anxious +to have a part of the river front, so that soon +some farms were divided into ribbons of perhaps +fifty to sixty feet frontage. The habitant +each year paid a small fee in money to his +seignior and brought him some of the produce +of the farm. It was generally on St. Martin’s +Day in November and they gathered at the +seigniory for a genuine harvest home with +games and feasting.</p> + +<p>The seignior’s house, or the manor house, +as it was often called, was the centre of his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>estate. It was generally built of stone, with +four rooms and an attic. Behind the house +was a great store room and root house. Nearby +was the bake-oven built of stones, mortar and +earth, into which the wood was thrust until the +oven was heated sufficiently, when the ashes +were pulled out and the bread pans inserted. +Even to this day in some parts of the Province +of Quebec one may see the bake-oven near the +roadway and sometimes upon its roof the brown +crusted loaves put out to cool. Sometimes +there was an oven common to the village, so +that even the idea of communal cooking, about +which we hear so much these days, is a reversion +to early practices in our country. Somewhere +near was the grist mill to which all habitants +must bring their grain to be ground, and of +which the seignior took every fourteenth bushel +as his pay.</p> + +<p>The habitant’s house followed the general +plan of that of the seignior’s, long and narrow +with projecting eaves and high peaked dormer +windows, whitewashed each year, a red roof, +and among the green trees it is decidedly picturesque +even to this day. There were but few +windows as glass was a rarity. The cooking as +well as heating was by the open fireplace. The +habitant was, and in some respects still is, a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>very independent person, for the family wove +its own cloth, made its own shoes and the +knitted toque of many colours, and grew its own +tobacco, besides the general produce of the +farm. Happy and contented in disposition, +fond of music, especially that of the ballad and +the dance, they enjoyed the long winter evenings.</p> + +<p>The other great man of the seigniory was the +curé, or priest, for generally the parish and the +seigniory had the same boundaries. The church +was near the seignior’s manor house and often +in the early days the curé and the seignior lived +together. It was supported by a tax by which +each habitant brought to the curé one-twenty-sixth +of the grain he raised. In every way the +church was the centre of the community life. +In it all children were baptised, all marriages +performed, and all burial services held. It was +the source of all information on secular, as well +as religious affairs, and the curé was the general +counsellor of the parish as the seignior was the +judge. Matters of local or national importance +which could not be discussed in the church were +explained after mass in front of the church, a +custom which prevails to this day.</p> + +<p>The seigniory was sometimes held, not by +one man, but by a church corporation such as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>the Order of the Jesuits, the Franciscans, or +the Sulpicians. This reminds us of the feudal +days in England when the Abbey was often as +powerful a part of the man power of the army +as was the Castle.</p> + +<p>There were but two seigniories granted outside +of what is known as the Province of Quebec. +One of these was that given to La Salle at +Frontenac (Kingston) and one granted to +Repentigny at Sault Ste. Marie, both French +settlements of importance. Cadillac, who +founded Detroit, asked to be granted one on +Lake Erie along the banks of the Grand River, +and to have conferred upon him the title of Marquis, +but he was unsuccessful in both requests.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br> +<span class="smaller">STORIES WHICH ILLUSTRATE REFERENCES IN THIS BOOK</span></h2> + +<p class="center smaller">Where possible the name of the publisher in England is given +first, in America second.</p> + +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The Life and Spirit of Old England +and Old France during these Two Centuries, as Told in Story Form</span>:</h3> + +<h4>OLD ENGLAND:</h4> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Strang, Herbert</span></p> + +<p class="book">With Drake on the Spanish Main.</p> + +<p class="right">(Frowde: Bobbs, Merrill.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Barnes, James</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Drake and His Yeoman: a true account of the +Character and Adventures of Sir Francis Drake as +told by Sir Matthew Maunsell, his friend and +follower.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Macmillan.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Bullen, Frank T.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Sea Puritans:” the romance of the life of Admiral +Blake.</p> + +<p class="right">(Hodder.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Havens, Herbert</span></p> + +<p class="book">“For Rupert and the King.”</p> + +<p class="right">(S.P.C.K.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">McChesney, Dora G.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Rupert, by the Grace of God.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Macmillan.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Kingsley, Charles</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Westward Ho! or Voyages and Adventures of +Sir Aymas Leigh.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Dent, <i>Everyman</i>.)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span></p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Micah Clarke:” a rattling story of fights and +adventures in the time of James II. and the +Monmouth Rebellion (1685).</p> + +<p class="right">(Longmans.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Henty, G. A.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Cornet of Horse:” a tale of Marlborough’s +wars.</p> + +<p class="right">(Low: Scribner.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Stevenson, Robert Louis</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Treasure Island.” The nearest approach to a +book for the youth of every age. Time of +action supposed to be just before the fall of +New France.</p> + +<p class="right">(Cassell: Scribners.)</p> + +<h4>OLD FRANCE:</h4> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Dumas, Alexandre</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Marguerite de Valois.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Dent: Little, Brown.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Crockett, S. R.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The White Plumes of Navarre.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Dodd, Mead.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">James, G. P. R.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Richelieu: Or a Tale of France.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Dent, <i>Everyman</i>.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Weyman, Stanley</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Gentleman of France.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Longmans.)</p> + +<p class="book">“Under the Red Robe.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Longmans.)</p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Some Stories Which Help to Make the Life of these Two Hundred Years +in Canada more Vivid and Real</span>:</h3> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Altsheler, J. A.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Soldier of Manhattan.” Seven Years’ War, +Royal American Regiment of New York, and +Wolfe’s Victory at Quebec.</p> + +<p class="right">(Smith Elder: Appleton.)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span></p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Aubert de Gaspé, Philippe</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Canadians of Old.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Appleton.)</p> + +<p class="book">“Cameron of Lochiel.” A good account of +French Canadians, translated by C. G. D. +Roberts.</p> + +<p class="right">(Page.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Besant, Sir Walter and James Rice</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Le Chien d’Or.” The same legend is in “The +Golden Dog,” by Kirby. It is in “’Twas in +Trafalgar’s Bay; and other stories.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Chatto: Dodd, Mead.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Brereton, Captain F. S.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“How Canada Was Won: A Tale of Wolfe and +Quebec.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Blackie.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Browne, G. W.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“With Rogers Rangers.” Seven Years’ War.</p> + +<p class="right">(Page.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Burton, J. E. Bloundelle</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Hispaniola Plate.” A treasure hunt in the +West Indies by Sir William Phips, afterwards +governor of Massachussetts.</p> + +<p class="right">(Cassell.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Canavan, M. J.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Ben Comee: A Tale of Rogers Rangers.” +Attack on Fort Ticonderoga.</p> + +<p class="right">(Macmillan.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Catherwood, Mrs.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Romance of Dollard.” Dollard, with his +Hurons repulsing the Iroquois.</p> + +<p class="right">(Unwin: Century.)</p> + +<p class="book">“The White Islander.” A romance of the old +Indian wars.</p> + +<p class="right">(Unwin: Century.)</p> + +<p class="book">“The Chase of St. Castin.” Seven tales of French +Indian and English in the latter days of New +France.</p> + +<p class="right">(Houghton.)</p> + +<p class="book">“The Story of Tonty.”</p> + +<p class="right">(McClurg.)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Lady of Fort St. John.” A story of Acadia.</p> + +<p class="right">(Low: Houghton.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Cooper, J. Fenimore</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Deer Slayer.”</p> + +<p class="book">“The Path Finder.”</p> + +<p class="book">“The Last of the Mohicans.”</p> + +<p class="book">Famous romances noted for the wonderful +description of forest, lake and prairie.</p> + +<p class="right">(Dent, <i>Everyman</i>.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Craddock, C. E.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Sceptre of Power.” The struggles of the +French and English in the Mississippi Valley.</p> + +<p class="right">(Houghton.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Crowley, Mary C.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Daughter of New France: With some Account +of the Gallant Sieur Cadillac and his Colony +in Detroit.” Brilliant picture of New France.</p> + +<p class="right">(Little, Brown.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Dickson, Harris</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Black Wolf’s Breed: A Story of France in +the Old World and the New happening in the +Reign of Louis XIV.” Principal scene in +Louisiana, and the main action is the capture +by French and Indians of Pensacola from the +Spaniards.</p> + +<p class="right">(Methuen: Bobbs, Merrill.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents.” +Of the time of Louis XIV.</p> + +<p class="right">(Longmans: Harper.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Ellis, E. S.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas: A Tale of the +Siege of Detroit.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Cassell: Dutton.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Foote, Mary H.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Royal Americans.” Seven Years’ War.</p> + +<p class="right">(Houghton.)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span></p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Fox, Alice Wilson</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Regular Madam.” Two young ladies, one +French, the other English, on their way from +Europe to Quebec during Seven Years’ War.</p> + +<p class="right">(Macmillan.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Gordon, W. J.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Englishman’s Haven: A Tale of Louisburg.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Warne: Appleton.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Green, E. Everett</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Young Pioneers: or with La Salle on the +Mississippi.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Nelson.)</p> + +<p class="book">“French and English.” Ticonderoga to capture +of Quebec by Wolfe.</p> + +<p class="right">(Nelson.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Grosvenor, Johnston</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Strange Stories of the Great River.” Stories of +exploration on the Mississippi by Marquette +and La Salle.</p> + +<p class="right">(Harper.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Henham, E. G.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Plowshare and the Sword: A Tale of +Empire”. Quebec, New England and Acadia.</p> + +<p class="right">(Cassell.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Haworth, P. L.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Path of Glory.” Culminating with Wolfe’s +victory.</p> + +<p class="right">(Ham Smith: Little, Brown.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Henty, G. A.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“With Wolfe in Canada: Or the Winning of a +Continent.” Braddock’s defeat, to Quebec.</p> + +<p class="right">(Blackie: Scribner.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Kaler, J. O.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Boys of 1745 at the Capture of Louisburg.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Estes.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Kirby, William</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Golden Dog: A Romance of the Days of +Louis Quatorze in Quebec.” Historical romance +rich in local colour.</p> + +<p class="right">(Montreal News Co.)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span></p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Laut, Agnes C.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Heralds of Empire; Being the Story of one +Ramsay Stanhope, Lieutenant to Pierre Radisson +in the Northern Fur Trade.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Appleton.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Lighthall, W. D.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Master of Life.” An aboriginal romance, the +early scene being at Hochelaga, the great +Indian town visited by Cartier. There are no +white men in the story. Later scenes are laid +in the Mohawk country and the origin of the +League of Nations (five, afterwards six) is +developed in an interesting manner.</p> + +<p class="right">(Musson)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Machar, Agnes M., and T. G. Marquis.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Stories of New France.” Seventeen stories of +historical interest.</p> + +<p class="right">(Lothrop.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">McLennan, William and Jean N. McIlwraith</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Span o’ Life.” 1745 Rebellion in Scotland; +Louisbourg and Quebec.</p> + +<p class="right">(Harper.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">McPhail, Andrew</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Vine of Sibmah.” Romance of a Cromwellian +captain in Restoration times in quest +of a London merchant’s daughter in New +England and New France.</p> + +<p class="right">(Macmillan.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Merwin, Samuel</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Road to Frontenac.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Murray: Doubleday.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Mott, Lawrence</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Jules of the Great Heart.” In the early days of +the Hudson’s Bay Company.</p> + +<p class="right">(Heineman: Century.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Munroe, Kirk</span></p> + +<p class="book">“At War with Pontiac: A Tale of Redcoat and +Redskin.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Blackie: Scribner.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Oxley, J. Macdonald</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Fife and Drum at Louisburg.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Little, Brown.)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span></p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Parker, Sir Gilbert</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Seats of the Mighty.” The memoirs of +Captain Robert Moray, some time an officer +in the Virginia Regiment, and afterwards of +Amherst’s Regiment. Romance culminating +in battle of Quebec.</p> + +<p class="right">(Methuen: Appleton: Copp, Clark, Toronto.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Parker, Sir Gilbert</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Trail of the Sword.” Romance of struggle +between French and English, d’Iberville being +central figure.</p> + +<p class="right">(Methuen: Appleton: Copp, Clark, Toronto.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Pollard, Eliza F.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Roger the Ranger: A story of Border Life +among the Indians.” Fort William Henry, to +capture of Quebec (1759).</p> + +<p class="right">(Partridge.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Parrish, Randall</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Sword of the Old Frontier: A Tale of Fort +Chartres and Detroit.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Putnam: McClurg.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Roberts, C. G. D.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Forge in the Forest.” Acadia in the times +of French and English wars.</p> + +<p class="right">(Paul: Silver, N.Y.)</p> + +<p class="book">“A Sister to Evangeline: The Story of Yvonne +de Lamourie.” At the time of the expulsion +of the Acadians.</p> + +<p class="right">(Lane: Silver, N.Y.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Roberts, Theodore</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Brothers of Peril.” A story of Old Newfoundland.</p> + +<p class="right">(Nash: Page.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Richardson, Major John</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy.”</p> + +<p class="right">(McClurg: Musson, Toronto.)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span></p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Seawell, Molly E.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Virginia Cavalier.” The youth of George +Washington.</p> + +<p class="right">(Harper.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Smith, Mrs. A. P.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Montlivet.” He was a chivalrous Frenchman +who rescued the English heroine from the +Indians in the days of Frontenac.</p> + +<p class="right">(Constable: Houghton.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Stevenson, B. E.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Soldier of Virginia: A Story of Colonel +Washington and Braddock’s Defeat.” The +defeat by the French at Fort Duquesne.</p> + +<p class="right">(Duckworth: Houghton.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Strang, Herbert, and G. Lawrence</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Roger, the Scout.” England in the ’45 and New +England and New France during French wars.</p> + +<p class="right">(Frowde.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Strang, Herbert</span></p> + +<p class="book">“Rob, the Ranger: A Story of the Fight for +Canada.”</p> + +<p class="right">(Frowde: Bobbs, Merrill.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Thackeray, William Makepeace</span></p> + +<p class="book">“The Virginians.” George Washington appears in +this story.</p> + +<p class="right">(Dent, <i>Everyman</i>.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Tomlinson, E. T.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Soldier of the Wilderness.” The fall of Fort +Frontenac.</p> + +<p class="right">(Wilde, Boston.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Van Zile, E. S.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“With Sword and Crucifix.” Adventures of La +Salle.</p> + +<p class="right">(Harper.)</p> + +<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Wilson, R. A.</span></p> + +<p class="book">“A Rose of Normandy.” La Salle and Tonty in +Mississippi Valley.</p> + +<p class="right">(Little, Brown.)</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.<br> +<span class="smaller">POEMS WHICH ILLUSTRATE REFERENCES IN THIS BOOK</span></h2> + +<p class="center smaller"><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—The author, title +and first lines of the poems are given, except in the case of “Richelieu.”</p> + +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Miller, Joaquin</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">COLUMBUS.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Behind him lay the gray Azores</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Behind the Gates of Hercules,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Before him not the ghost of shores,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Before him only shoreless seas.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The good mate said, “Now must we pray,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">For lo! the very stars are gone.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Brave admiral, speak, what shall I say?”</div> + <div class="verse indent2">“Why, say ‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">McGee, Hon. Thomas D’Arcy</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">JACQUES CARTIER.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“In the seaport of Saint Malo, ’twas a smiling morn in May,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When the Commodore Jacques Cartier to the westward sailed away;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In the crowded old Cathedral, all the town were on their knees</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For the safe return of kinsmen from the undiscovered seas;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And every autumn blast that swept o’er pinnacle and pier</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Filled manly hearts with sorrow, and gentle hearts with fear.”</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right">Songs of the Great Dominion, edited by W. D. +Lighthall. (Walter Scott.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span></p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Drummond, W. H.</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">THE WRECK OF THE “JULIE PLANTE”.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">On wan dark night on Lac St. Pierre</div> + <div class="verse indent2">De win’ she blow, blow, blow,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">An’ de crew of de wood-scow “Julie Plante,”</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Got scar’t an’ run below.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right">The Habitant (Putnam.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Keats, John</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">ON FIRST LOOKING INTO CHAPMAN’S HOMER.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Round many western islands have I been</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Oft, of one wide expanse had I been told</div> + <div class="verse indent2">That deep-brow’d Homer ruled as his demesne:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Yet did I never breathe its pure serene</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then felt I like some watcher of the skies</div> + <div class="verse indent2">When a new planet swims into his ken;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes</div> + <div class="verse indent2">He stared at the Pacific—and all his men</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Look’d at each other with a wild surmise</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Silent, upon a peak in Darien.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">EVANGELINE.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Carman, Bliss</span> (Mitchell Kennerley)</h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">CHAMPLAIN.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“When the sweet summer days</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Come to New England, and the south wind plays</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Over the forests, and the tall tulip trees</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lift up their chalices</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of delicate orange green</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Against the blue serene,” etc.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right">The Rough Rider and other Poems.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span></p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Lytton, Sir Edward Bulwer</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">RICHELIEU.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Adrien de Mauprat, men have called me cruel,—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am not; I am just! I found France rent asunder—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The rich men despots, and the poor, banditti;—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sloth in the mart, and schism within the temple;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Brawls festering to Rebellion; and weak laws</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Rotting away with rust in antique sheaths,—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have re-created France; and, from the ashes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of the old feudal and decrepit carcass,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Civilization on her luminous wings</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Soars, phœnix-like to Jove!—What was my art.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Macaulay, Thomas Babington</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">THE BATTLE OF IVRY (1590)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And glory to our Sovereign Liege, King Henry of Navarre!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Now let there be the merry sound of music and of dance,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Through thy corn fields green, and sunny vines,</div> + <div class="verse indent8">oh, pleasant land of France!</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Moore, Thomas</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">CANADIAN BOAT SONG.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Faintly as tolls the evening chime,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Soon as the woods on shore look dim,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We’ll sing at St. Ann’s our parting hymn.</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Row, brothers, row! the stream runs fast,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">The rapids are near, and the daylight’s past.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Hemans, Felicia</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS—(1620)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">The breaking waves dashed high</div> + <div class="verse indent2">On a stern and rock-bound coast,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the woods, against a stormy sky</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Their giant branches tossed,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the heavy night hung dark</div> + <div class="verse indent2">The hills and waters o’er,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When a band of exiles moored their bark</div> + <div class="verse indent2">On the wild New England shore.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span></p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Browning, R.</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">HERVE RIEL (1692)</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">On the sea and at the Hogue, sixteen hundred ninety-two,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Did the English fight the French—woe to France!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And, the thirty-first of May, helter-skelter through the blue,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Like a crowd of frightened porpoises a shoal of sharks pursue,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Came crowding ship on ship to St. Malo on the Rance,</div> + <div class="verse indent4">With the English fleet in view.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Pickthall, Marjorie</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">PERE LALEMANT.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I lift the Lord on high,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Under the murmuring hemlock boughs, and see</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The small birds of the forest lingering by</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And making melody.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">These are mine acolytes and these my choir,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And this mine altar in the cool green shade.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right">The Drift of Pinions. (Lane.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Sullivan, Alan</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">BREBEUF AND LALEMANT.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Came Jean Brebeuf from Rennes in Normandy</div> + <div class="verse indent2">To preach the written word in Sainte Marie—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The Ajax of the Jesuit enterprise,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Huge, dominant and bold—augustly wise.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Johnson, Pauline</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">THE ARCHER.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Stripped to the waist, his copper coloured skin</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Red from the smouldering heat of hate within,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lean as a wolf in winter, fierce of mood—</div> + <div class="verse indent2">As all wild things that hunt for foes, or food.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right">Flint and Feather (Musson, Toronto.)</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth</span></h3> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="center allsmcap">THE SONG OF HIAWATHA.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Should you ask me whence these stories?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Whence these legends and traditions,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the odors of the forest,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the dew and damp of meadows,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the curling smoke of wigwams,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With the rushing of great rivers,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With their frequent repetitions,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And their wild reverberations,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As of thunder in the mountains?</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</h2> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> Colonel George Nasmith in his book, “On the Fringe of the +Great Fight,” tells of the departure of this first contingent of the +Canadian Expeditionary Force in the autumn of 1914 within six +weeks of the outbreak of the Great War.</p> + +<p>“Imperceptibly the pier and the lights of the city receded and +we steamed down the mighty St. Lawrence to our trysting place +on the sea. The second morning afterwards we woke to find ourselves +riding quietly at anchor in the sunny harbour of Gaspé with +all the other transports about us, together with four long grey +gunboats, our escort upon the road to our great adventure.... +Never before had there been gathered together a fleet of transports +of such magnitude—a fleet consisting of 33 transports carrying +33,000 men, 7,000 horses, and all the motors, wagons, and equipment +necessary to place in the field not only a complete infantry +division and a cavalry brigade, but in addition to provide for the +necessary reserves.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> “The Wreck of the Julie Plante”:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“On wan dark night on Lac St. Pierre,” etc.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> These are known to us as muskrats, the Algonquin name being +mooskovesson, from which we get the name of the fur, musquash.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> Keats: “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> There is in the museum of the Chateau de Ramezay in Montreal +a part of the rock that formed the key stone of the arch over the +doorway (which is reproduced) of the house, in which it is said +Champlain was born. This was presented by President J. H. +Finley, of the University of the State of New York, who visited +Brouage when writing his famous book, “The French in the Heart +of America.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> Three hundred years afterwards this battle scene was reproduced +on Lake Champlain by descendants of the Iroquois, and this +illustration of the great matters which are kindled by little fires +was portrayed by the Indians with a zest that drew great audiences +and held them spellbound.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Faintly as tolls the evening chime,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Soon as the woods on shore look dim,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">We’ll sing at St. Ann’s our parting hymn.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Row, brothers, row! the stream runs fast,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The rapids are near, and the daylight’s past.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> When Quebec was taken in 1629 the white population in that +city was only 60, and in the whole of Canada, less than 100, whereas +the English colony of Virginia had more than 4,000 souls.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> River of the Holy Ghost, Colbert, and finally Mississippi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> The pomp and splendour of the armies of Louis XIV. was +worthy of a prince in a fairy tale. Every campaign ended in a sort +of royal pageant; coaches of crystal and gold, horses draped in +cloth of gold, courtiers and conquerors dazzling with diamonds, +ladies all silks and plumes and laces.</p> + +<p>He built Versailles where two hundred years afterwards the +Conference following the Great War of 1914-18 met to settle the +terms of peace—“a palace such as the world had never seen, glittering +with mirrors and gold, paved and lined with precious marbles, +decorated with paintings representing the battles and triumphs of +the great monarch and looking over an immense park peopled with +bronze and marble statues and reflected in vast sheets of water +where lovely fountains played.”—<span class="smcap">Duclaux.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> Colbert had troubles of his own in trying to provide money +for the extravagances of his king, Louis XIV. Colbert was the son +of a merchant of Rheims, a hard-working, economical minister, a +hater of waste and profusion. He was a marvellous administrator; +in ten years he doubled the king’s revenues. But his factories and +model farms, his canals and his colonies, his fleet, his finance could +not bring money in as fast as Louis could spend it. Colbert was at +once Chancellor of the Exchequer, Minister of Agriculture, Director +of the Board of Trade, Chief Lord of the Admiralty, Home Secretary +and Colonial Secretary. It was in this last capacity that he +had special connection with New France.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> As a matter of history the island is called after another Perrot +much less distinguished.</p></div> + +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78668 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/78668-h/images/cover-deco.jpg b/78668-h/images/cover-deco.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6f8c972 --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/images/cover-deco.jpg diff --git a/78668-h/images/cover.jpg b/78668-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e03b20c --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/78668-h/images/illus1.jpg b/78668-h/images/illus1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c6f133 --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/images/illus1.jpg diff --git a/78668-h/images/illus2.jpg b/78668-h/images/illus2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c834891 --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/images/illus2.jpg diff --git a/78668-h/images/illus3.jpg b/78668-h/images/illus3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..19e8266 --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/images/illus3.jpg diff --git a/78668-h/images/illus4.jpg b/78668-h/images/illus4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..845e0d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/images/illus4.jpg diff --git a/78668-h/images/illus5.jpg b/78668-h/images/illus5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..589a395 --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/images/illus5.jpg diff --git a/78668-h/images/illus6.jpg b/78668-h/images/illus6.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..627cc5b --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/images/illus6.jpg diff --git a/78668-h/images/illus7.jpg b/78668-h/images/illus7.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b02c007 --- /dev/null +++ b/78668-h/images/illus7.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e0b8fd6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #78668 +(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78668) |
